Marcus took a deep breath while he focused on controlling his temper. Olivia was found dead almost a month earlier, yet they still hadn’t managed to get to the bottom of what really happened.
“You know it was the vampires,” Freya hissed as she paced back and forth. “Why are you hesitating?”
“Her wounds don’t coincide with the killing method of a vampire,” he explained. “They’re more in line with a wolf.”
“A werewolf?” she screeched. “Are you saying that you think a member of your pack ripped my poor niece to pieces?”
He vigorously shook his head as he snapped, “I said no such thing and I’ll thank you to not toss such accusations again.”
She looked genuinely confused as she grumbled, “You just said her wounds were…”
Annoyed and on the verge of losing control, he barked, “Madam, you are an original.&n
Such a thick coating of sweat had formed on his forehead that beads of it trickled into his eyes as Joseph nervously paced the exterior of the cave where Ingrid’s coven met.Meeting with the coven leader was no small feat. It was no secret that he held minimal tolerance for werewolves and even less for vampires. It was also a well-known fact that he had a temperament that was considered by most to be precarious. One wrong thing said or done could set him off into a magical torrent of which Joseph was sure he wouldn’t fare well. He’d practically begged Ingrid for tutelage on how to speak to Benjamin, but she’d simply gently kissed him and insisted that being himself would be more than sufficient.He groaned at the thought. He was far from the diplomat of the pack. That title went to Marcus, his friend Sam, or even Freya. He was nothing more than a ‘fetch it’ man for the pack leader. At least that&rs
“I should be staying here with you,” Lila complained as Jasper escorted her to the door of the werewolves’ lodge. “We’ve been together from the start. I don’t like separating now.”“You have your people to be with,” Jasper muttered. “You’ll be safe with them.”“You’re my people,” she grumbled. “Besides, I’ve been perfectly safe with you right along and that was with vampires. I can’t imagine it being worse with werewolves. They, at least, have a human side.”“If I’m not mistaken, we corrected that fact with our subjects before we escaped,” he observed.“True,” she said with a voice that hinted of irritation and conviction, “but that was only a handful of them and even they were still mostly vampire with a touch of humanity in them. It certainly wasn’t enough to make
“Do you realize what you have done?” Freya screeched. She needed to raise her petite form up onto her toes in order to properly shove her face a mere inch away from Jasper’s, but it didn’t deter her from doing just that. “Vampires and lycans have altered in makeup since we were sent here, but not to such an extent as to allow those blood suckers the ability to make babies. It’s bad enough that they create more of their own by infecting the human with venom. I cannot imagine a vampire born of the womb. Oh! Yes, I can! That is what we lycans were forced to contend with prior to being sent to this hellish dimension. There is a reason Goethe took the ability to procreate from those demon bastards when he sent them here. It is bad enough that they discovered a means of surviving and multiplying through the transference of venom without them being able to naturally procreate. You have opened Pandora’
Lila adjusted the cold cloth on her forehead. Her slender body lay stretched out on the oversized sofa that dominated the better part of Freya’s living room.“I think what I want should be taken into consideration,” she pouted.“What do you want?” Freya asked as she poured tea into two mugs. Holding one out for the younger woman to take, she said with a demanding tone, “Sit up and drink this.”“I’m not thirsty,” Lila complained as she sat up and removed the cloth from her forehead. Accepting the mug, she added, “I’m so upset that I’m nauseous.”“That is more than likely the pregnancy,” the she-wolf mused.“Oh, I see,” Lila snipped, “It’s pointed out that I’m pregnant and now I’m suddenly experiencing pregnancy sickness. Gee. Maybe I should have been left in the dark.”“I
“His name is Samuel. He was the first to be made by Rowan and is his right hand man,” Jasper said as Marcus studied the vampire who, after endless days of hunting and waiting for the right opportunity to arise, they’d managed to capture and secure behind bars.Samuel angrily sneered, “How long do you think you can hold me before Rowan catches wind. You know that, when he does, heads will roll.”Marcus scoffed through a smug grin, “I’ll take my chances.”Turning to address Jasper, Samuel’s face grew serious as he said in a soft tone, “Rowan saved your life, yet you align yourself with these dogs.”“These dogs helped me to learn control of my wolf side. I no longer turn whenever I’m angry,” Jasper replied in a voice just above a whisper. He sensed that Marcus’ acute hearing would still make him privy to their verbal exchange, but he hoped the
Oscar waited at the door for Rowan to motion him to enter the room. The vampire king had all but become a recluse as he drained the old witch of her magic. He snickered as he strode past her limp body. She looked like a rag doll that was simply tossed onto the cushion of an oversized chair without care of how it settled. He'd always despised the arrogance she projected as she strutted about on her stilettoes. It did him good to see her taken down to such a state.Rowan sat with majestic flair as he watched Oscar approach. He wore only a smoker’s robe that was loosely tied at the waist. The robe was opened enough to expose a good deal of his flesh, but he made no move to cover it. Still feeling the rush of the magic that he’d recently syphoned from Cerie, he gave his underling a good-natured smile and offered him a seat.“To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” he lazily asked.Looking back over
The three-hundred acres felt more like three-hundred miles as Lila made her way across the fields to an old cinderblock building at the far end of Freya’s horse farm. She was an adept rider, but, because of the value of the child in her womb, both Freya and Jasper refused to risk allowing her to get on the back of a horse. She abhorred long hikes, but if she wanted to get a look at the vampires who Freya’s people had managed to capture without the tediousness of someone constantly monitoring her, she had no choice than to make the trek.She used the time making her way over what she considered rough terrain contemplating the development of Jasper’s relationship with Freya. Where, in the beginning, it appeared as if they’d be lucky to get through a day without taking each other’s head off, of late, they seemed almost bonded. Lila assumed that it had a lot to do with the closeness that was required in order for him to study
“I expected to see you two with your heads together in research over how to fix this vampire mess,” Marcus said as he carried Lila into the main room of Freya’s estate house, “not in a lip lock that’s enough to make a man blush.”Hearing his words, Lila’s head shot up. Her red rimmed, wet eyes shot daggerous stares at Freya as the couple separated from a lover’s embrace.Jasper nervously cleared his throat as he said, “We weren’t expecting anyone.”“Obviously,” Lila managed to choke out.Freya gave a smug grin. Sliding her hand over Jasper’s chest, she moved past him to sit on a nearby overstuffed chair. Her petite frame looked out of place as she sank into the cushions with a satisfied look on her still lovely face.“We are not only working on the vampire mess, but he is studying me,” she said as she preened her hair. “If he can