Page 4 of Until Forever Comes
BYMIDDAYmy arms were throbbing a fair bit and my chest felt like it was just on the wrong side of tight, but I chalked it up to the shifting. After all, those bones changing and moving was something foreign to me, so it made sense I’d be sore after. It seemed odd that the pain got worse, instead of better, as the day went on, but I ignored it. I’d hurt more than that for as long as I could remember, so if my heart was beating a tad faster than it had in the morning and my skin felt a smidge tighter, well, I reckoned I was still doing all right.
But then the strangest thing happened. I was outside, taking a little walk after supper in the hope it would ease the tightness in my legs so I could go to sleep, when the image of that black-haired bloodsucker’s face popped into my head. I remembered meeting his gaze and wishing I could see the color of his eyes in the dark. I remembered his long, lean frame gliding toward me. I remembered my body’s reaction to him, to the thought of his fangs piercing my skin and drawing out my blood. I shuddered and the throbbing in my veins intensified.
What was wrong with me? That vampire and his buddies had been planning to kill me and I was getting turned on by the memory? Apparently, being able to shift didn’t mean I was no longer weird.
I shook off the unwelcome thoughts about long hair and a strong body and kept walking, trying to focus on the beauty of the sunlight filtering in through the trees and the familiar scents of pine and earth. I failed on both counts, because all I could think about was the beauty of the strong warrior as his hair flowed behind him when he flew at me, and the scent of his skin, spicy and warm, like cinnamon and cloves. It had instantly brought my pecker to attention in the alley, and I was having the same reaction in response to the memory. But it wasn’t only my prick that was throbbing: all my veins pulsed with blood, and I wanted more than anything to have the vampire suck me and release the pressure.
Super. I was just coming out of my run as the pack freak because I was the only male shifter in memory who’d been unable to take his wolf form by so late in life and because I was smaller than the other males, and because I was weaker than, well, it seemed like I was weaker than everyone and…. Wait. Where was I going with this uplifting internal monologue?
I couldn’t remember what I’d been thinking or doing. My body just moved, seemingly of its own accord. And suddenly I was surprised to find myself in town alone, the sky completely black. Had I walked there? I was having trouble concentrating on anything except the pounding in my veins. I clung to a thread of clarity in my head that said I didn’t belong on that street, surrounded by half-soul shops and houses.
Deciding that I needed to shift and run home, I ducked into an alley and stripped out of my clothes. But when I called my wolf form, nothing happened. Or rather, I couldn’t shift, but something did happen. The dull ache I’d been enduring turned into a pain so sharp it stole my breath. I felt too full, like my body was carrying more than it should, like my heart and my veins and my skin were going to explode. I collapsed onto the ground and curled into a ball, trying to catch my breath.
And that’s when I heard him.
“I’m hungry,” my vampire growled.My vampire.Even in my foggy mental state, I knew something wasn’t right about that thought, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“You’ve been feeding all night, Miguel. This one is your third, and you’ve already drained him more than you should. Let’s go.”
“Hungry,” Miguel’s deep voice rumbled. And then I heard a frightened scream.
“If you take any more, you’ll kill him, and we don’t need that kind of attention. This town isn’t as big as what we’re used to. Besides, you can’t still be hungry. Let’s go.”
I crawled on forearms and knees, body held low to the ground, and peeked around the corner. Miguel had a pale, trembling half-soul pinned to the wall, two unconscious males lay at his feet, and another vampire stood next to him, his hand on Miguel’s shoulder, seemingly trying to restrain him.
My arms and knees felt damp. I lifted one arm at a time in front of my face and turned them. Red, slick, warm. I was bleeding. When I lowered my gaze to my legs, I saw blood drizzling there too. It looked as if I had been dragged over gravel, probably because I’d been dragging myself over exactly that. Sharp rocks and glass had pierced my skin, and my veins were happy at the opportunity to release their burden. I kept crawling forward, looking down at the ground so I might could avoid any more damage.
“I’m hungry,” Miguel rumbled again, and I returned my focus to him. He dipped his face toward the man’s neck and opened his mouth. I barked.
Barked? I shook my head and looked down to see my bloody skin had been replaced by fur. When had I shifted?
I wasn’t the only one surprised by my bark. Miguel and the other vampires turned their heads in my direction. The half-soul stayed as he was: crying and shaking. The stench of urine told me he had soiled himself.
I walked over to them, no thought, no plan, just an uncontrollable need to keep the bloodsucker away from that man. I didn’t want Miguel touching him, feeding from him. So much so that I growled at the mere possibility. And it wasn’t because I wanted to protect the frightened half-soul.
“What the hell?” the vampire who wasn’t Miguel said as he stared at me. “More dogs? I would’ve thought the ones last night would’ve gone home and warned the rest of the mutts to stay where they belong.” He shook his head and sneered. “There was no point in letting them live. Damn dogs can’t seem to understand their place.” He took a step toward me. “Well, I’m sure as fuck not making that mistake again.”
Miguel let go of the half-soul and reached for his comrade, preventing him from moving closer to me. Without the vampire holding him up, the half-soul slid down the wall and sat on the ground, gasping as tears streamed down his face.
“You deal with the humans,” Miguel ordered the other vampire. “I’ll take care of the wolf.”
The vampire ran a disdainful gaze over the three half-souls collapsed on the ground. “Deal with the humans?” he asked.
“Yes. You said we don’t need the attention, right? They were all drunk before we fed. Take them to their homes, and by morning, they won’t remember any of this. And if they do”—Miguel shrugged—“they’ll think it was all a dream.”
Looked more like a nightmare to me, but I wasn’t in any form to comment. Literally.
“Wedidn’t feed,” the vampire grumbled. “Youfed. And you didn’t share.”
Faster than my eyes could follow, Miguel backhanded the other vampire, sending him flying several feet until he slammed against a parked truck. Blood dripped from his nose and lip. He licked his upper lip and wiped a hand across his face, smearing a streak of red across it. Though he didn’t roll over and show his belly, the vampire did as he was told. He climbed to his feet and with slumped shoulders, approached the human male Miguel had released, who was now just as passed out as his friends.
If I hadn’t already felt the power rolling off Miguel, the interaction I was witnessing would have told me who was Alpha. Or the vampire version of Alpha. I had no idea what they called their leaders. Regardless of his title, this was the vampire who was staying behind totake careof me. Those had been Miguel’s words, right?
I should have been terrified.
I should have fled.
My whole life, I’d been warned about the bloodsuckers. They had no souls, no values, no respect for nature or community or family. And while my kind limited interaction with the half-souls as a general rule, we didn’t abuse them. They were weaker than shifters and we didn’t prey on the weak, a concept the bloodsuckers didn’t understand. The one in front of me, Miguel, looked to be the worst of their kind, hurting and terrifying defenseless half-souls without mercy.
