Page 31 of Claimed By Blood

Immy and Morwen don’t notice the exchange. They’re too busy whirling to face their sister, and I see the moment the truth dawns on them both.

“Frost was never special,” Immy breathes. “It was your blood all along.”

Morwen barks out a laugh. “God, that’s ironic as fuck. Do you know how many ghouls he’s had me capture trying to create more of Frost? All along he had the answer to the problem buried under lock and key? Typical.”

Eve shrugs off the topic and is saved from confirming anything by Vane pulling the door shut, sealing us in with a loud bang that echoes through the cabin. Gideon gives the lot of them one last evaluating look before disappearing back into the cockpit, seconds later, the engines whirr to life beneath us before I clear my throat.

“We’re swapping planes in about an hour,” I mutter. “Don’t get too comfortable. Eve, there’s a change of clothes for you in the bedroom at the back.”

“I can show you,” Finn says, tugging her from Silas’s arms and pulling her towards the door.

“Clothes only,” I grumble. “One hour, remember?”

Finn’s smirk is unrepentant. “Two people can do a lot in one hour. Or maybe it’s been so long that you’ve forgotten?”

The door shuts behind them with a quiet snick, and I grind my teeth, counting the seconds that she’s out of my sight. Part of me is waiting for the scent of her arousal to drift under the door, but Finn must sense today isn’t the day to test my patience, because it doesn’t happen.

Gideon tosses Draven a familiar set of keys. “Your bike is in storage,” he mutters.

Draven’s hands fist on the keys, going white-knuckled, and I brace myself for violence.

No one touches his bike except him… and apparently Eve.

“Not a scratch?” he checks, stiffly.

“I checked myself,” Gideon confirms.

Draven visibly collects himself, and nods. “Thank you.”

I blink in surprise… Not that Gideon took care of his bike—the other alpha is always making sure that none of us lose the few possessions we care about—but that Draven is just going to let this go.

Evidently, none of the others can believe it either. Silas is too shocked to come up with a way to tease the vampire, which must be a new record.

Fortunately, Eve and Finn choose that moment to return, practically cuddling as they walk like they can’t bear to be apart.

She used to hug me like that.

Fuck.

Mia seizes on the opportunity.

“You know, your profile picture makes you look a lot more muscular,” she says to the omega.

It takes me a second to realise what the fuck she’s going on about, and then it clicks. Finn joined the pack after Mia was sent to ‘safety’ by her brothers. The two of them have been working together online for decades with a kind of quiet rivalry, but they’ve never met in real life.

Eve looks ready to defend Finn, but he’s got this. “Can you really talk?” he asks, smirking. “Yours has cat ears.”

“Now that we’re all here,” Gideon begins, cutting off their banter.

His bored monotone shocks the shit out of me. I’ve been so focused on Eve that I didn’t even see him open the cockpit door.

Eve’s eyes widen. “Shouldn’t you be… flying the plane?”

The other alpha doesn’t even blink. “Pilots aren’t even necessary for takeoff and landing these days. More importantly, I need our heading.”

He turns to Morwen who in turn swivels to look at Eve.

“Egypt,” they say in unison.