The air was subdued as they arrived back at the Armand-Hanlon Pack. Rafe drove into the main compound first, his mate, Lacey, at his side, with Liam and Reasa in the back seat. As the trees parted to open up into a wide, circular enclosure, the Alpha had a split second to decide where he was going to stop.His large three-storey house was set a bit higher and off to the right of the compound, but he continued forward until he stopped at the two-storey dwelling that belonged to Nors and Ashleigh. It was Liam's home and from the way the redheaded Vârcolac was holding onto the woman in his arms, it was clear that he wasn't going to be willing to part from her. The man in Rafe could understand that because he would never allow anyone to come between him and his mate. For the Alpha -- he didn't need the additional headache.Rafe was concerned on so many different levels. He was bringing a woman into his pack who had come here with the intent to murder the Vârcolac. His wolf wanted her gone
Nors moved forward, understanding her need to protect their son. He felt the same need but could take a step back to analyse all the variables in play. Yes, the woman in his son's arms had tried to kill him. However, that threat was now nullified and Liam had claimed her as his mate. To take her from him would do more damage than being shot by a poisoned bullet. His mate was reacting emotionally and wasn't able to see that right now.He pulled Ashleigh's protesting body against his, wrapping her in a bear hug. "Hmmm guess that means I'd have to go on the hunt again," he murmured against her temple, dropping a soft kiss there as he sent soothing love down their mate bond. "We haven't done that for a while...could be fun.""Let me go!" Ashleigh's tried to free herself, tears running down her face as she wriggled against him. She couldn't believe he was making jokes when their son's would-be murderer was right there in front of them. She couldn't believe he was siding against her, was go
Nors watched the play of emotions crossing his mate's face and it was all he could do to sit there and let her work it out in her own mind. Every instinct within him wanted to gather Ashleigh into his arms and sooth her but he knew she wasn't ready for that yet. When Liam had been hurt, he'd thought his heart would stop beating. His fear for his son had been boundless but his fear for his mate had been even more so. She had been through so much pain in her life, so much grief that had almost been too much for her to stand. Losing Liam would have killed her.He understood her reaction to Reasa. He wasn't feeling particularly kind-spirited towards the woman either but he was older and had long ago learned that not everything was black and white. It would harm their son more to try to remove Reasa from his life. They had to protect the woman to protect their son. Maybe, over time, he would find some forgiveness in his heart for what she'd done. For now, all he could do was be as civil as
"I can still do an exam to check the physical health of the babies," the doctor agreed. "I can do that now, Lacey, and then I can check over the woman you brought home with you. I have an appointment with Pietro in an hour so I can fit her in before I attend him."Rafe and Lacey looked at each other, silently communicating as Mallen waited. The Alphas finally turned to him. "We'll hold off on that, Mallen. " Rafe answered. "The less the pack knows the better right now. Someone would notice us heading over to the medical centre and they'd start to speculate. Give me an update on both Reasa and Pietro when you're finished with them."The Alphas waited for the doctor to leave and then Rafe gathered Lacey close and kissed her deeply. "Everything is going to be fine, Lacey. As soon as Annie's back, you'll see the babies are just fine."Lacey held her mate close, silently saying a prayer that his words were true. It would break her heart to lose her babies. Everything had to be okay. It jus
Liam's low, deep voice sent a shiver through her and she started with surprise at the sensation. She wouldn't fall under his spell. She wouldn't accept his claim no matter what he tried. If she was lucky and what he thought was true, then maybe her resistance would send his wolf rogue and she would ultimately be responsible for his insanity and the pack would have to put him down. Maybe there was more than one way to achieve her goal."It's Reasa," she finally answered, moving around the bed carefully, keeping him in her line of sight. "My father called me Thereasa. I killed him when I became a vampire." Her cold detachment appeared to concern him and it brought a small smile to her face as she sniffed at the sandwiches and bit into one experimentally. It felt strange to eat and yet her body clearly wanted the nourishment. She viewed him objectively as she chewed.He was one of the hugest males she had ever seen and she'd seen a fair few over the centuries. His auburn hair was thick a
His first impression was one of danger. The young man before him had dark glasses shading his eyes, his black hair cut short at the back, though it was longer at the front, falling over his brow to partially obscure one the lenses. He sat so still, dressed entirely in black, his surprisingly wide lips neither smiling nor grimacing. There was an aura of waiting around the male, as if he could sit there for hours on end without moving.There was something disconcerting about being viewed so dispassionately and Pietro sucked in a deep breath, swallowing down the acrid fear that was threatening to overwhelm him again. The woman had stopped screaming and the compound sounded eerily quiet after her shrill cries. Even though it had only been screams he'd heard, Pietro had recognised the voice. It was the vampire from his torture. The woman with soft caramel skin and silky black hair, the one who had invaded his mind and violated him in a way her accomplices never could.A shiver ran through
Pietro threw his head back and screamed into the air. "God damn that bitch to hell! May each moment she lives as a human cause her never-ending torment, the same torment she has subjected me to! May her nightmares never ease, as mine do not." He turned from the Vârcolac and slammed the bathroom door behind him, the sound of muffled weeping clear to Kothari's enhanced hearing.The Vârcolac watched the bathroom door, a calculated expression on his face as he considered how hard it must be for Pietro to know that the object of his torture was so close and yet untouchable. He felt a kinship with the vampire, he hadn't lied about that. However, Liam would always come first and he was glad the vampire had seen sense quickly and not provoked a response from him. He would have used force to stop Pietro if he'd tried to harm the woman. It would have been regretful if he'd been placed in that position.The barest of sounds was enough to alert Kothi to the approach of others, no doubt brought on
Cassia Romanov brushed back the short blonde curl that refused to stay secured behind the bright green butterfly hair clasp at her temple. There was always one thick strand of hair that refused to do as it was told, a constant source of irritation when she was so intent on her work. The rest of her shoulder length curls were forced into a larger butterfly clasp at the nape of her neck, drawing the eye to the curve of her jaw and her slender neck.She was completely oblivious to the admiring glances she was receiving from two of her pack mates and the one lone vampire in the hastily arranged lab. If she'd been less absorbed in her microscope, she would have noticed the heated looks from the male Weres and equally speculative glance from female vampire.Tall and sleekly built, Cassia was the image of her mother Cedar, carrying the same inherent grace in her posture, an aura of class oozing from her without any real effort on her part. The lenses of the microscope hid her pale blue eyes,