Chapter 8

Every single one of Marcus' senses was heightened. He’d had superior reflexes and senses to the Turned vampires his age—even before he’d peaked—but now, he was certain he could surpass even the Born twice his age. 

As he stood on one end of his balcony looking towards the city, he could zoom in on the smallest detail on a woman’s purse as she walked down a residential road over a mile away. Usually, he would have been able to sense her there, but to actually see her? It was impossible. But he could even hear the tapping of her shoes and the annoying smacking of the chewing gum in her mouth. 

Breathing deeply was a mistake. The city slammed into his nostrils. The smell of perfume, sweat, exhaust fumes. Blood. Lust. Rot. It was like drowning in humanity, each scent its own wave.

It was disorienting, almost like relearning how to focus, how to separate and catalogue everything again. He’d always known how to do it, an inherent ability he was born with, but now it was overwhelming. The scents clashed, stabbing against him like broken glass. 

Dani had smelled of nothing but her sweet blood and of him. 

And, of course, wolf. The very species they would soon be at war with again.  

He scanned the area again. Frowning, he realised he could sense even further than the three-mile radius he had scanned the first time. He was getting stronger. 

The first time he realised something was wrong was when he went for a run that morning. He hadn’t been hunting; he’d just needed to be as far away from Dani as possible. Running at his usual pace—or so he assumed—had seen him overshoot his destination by a good five miles. Deep in the forest, among the ancient, sacred Redwood trees, he’d been disoriented for the first time in his life.

But he had known that whatever was happening to him had to do with the blood that flowed in his body. Dani’s blood.

He could still taste the sweetness in his mouth. He could feel it coursing through his veins. And he could feel its power. Was all werewolf blood like this?

As he thought of her, he looked toward the outskirts of the city again. She was still there. Still holed up in the motel room. And she was pissed off. 

Usually, a vampire could sense someone’s general location if their blood was in his system. Nothing specific. If they felt any strong emotions, the vampire could feel some of it, too. But the emotional link wasn’t strong because vampires couldn’t normally identify with them. Empathy wasn’t something they were known for. That annoying link lasted only a few hours, even though the blood was in their system for days.

But Danielle was in that motel, and he had felt every single thing she’d felt since he’d tasted her. It was driving him insane.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

He looked at Aidan as he appeared on one of the balcony chairs behind him. It had been years, so he no longer questioned how Aidan always managed to slink into his space unnoticed. 

“Nothing.” 

He turned back towards the town again. He was supposed to be preparing for the Elders’ meeting. His father required round-the-clock attention, and he had already slacked off by disappearing for two days. He needed to get that wolf out of his head.

“Where’s your new girlfriend?”

He bit his jaw.

“I don't know what you mean.”

“Dude, you were a fucking beacon down there. If I hadn't been around, your energy would have invited all sorts of crazies.”

He looked at his friend, frowning at the thought of that intrusion.

“You stayed?”

“It’s the least you could have done for me after taking me to a place with no fucking women,” Aidan grumbled.

 “I feel so violated,” he muttered.

 He had never been embarrassed about sex, at the thought of Aidan being a part of what he’d shared with Dani, even if he had just been feeding off the energy... 

Something gnawed at his gut that he couldn't pinpoint. It was sharp, primal. Foreign.

 “Why are you jealous?”

 Jealousy was beneath him. That was a human emotion. He left such trifling things to the lesser beings.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You're so green right now it's not even funny.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Look, now you’re here, I need your help. Have you gone through the wards?” He turned and leaned back against the railing.

Aidan smirked and sat back. 

“Piece of cake.”   

That was terrible news for the city but good news for him.    

“I need you to get her out.”    

The smirk left Aidan’s face.    

“You mean to get her out, and you’ll never see her again? Or take her somewhere you could meet freely?”   

“Why would I want to see her again?”    

Aidan frowned. For a change, he looked very serious.    

“I suppose that's the right thing to do. I mean, you're enemies, war's coming, and all that bullshit.”    

He turned back to the city, avoiding his friend's gaze. He didn't like how it seemed to look right through him.    

“I guess I'll just nip down to the motel and fix this, then.”    

“Yes,” he bit out.    

“And you’re okay with that?”    

He turned his head to find Aidan had come to stand next to him.   

“Why wouldn’t I be okay with that?”   

The seriousness returned in Aidan’s eyes again.     

“I’ve never seen you behave like this before.”    

“Like what?” he asked.    

Aidan looked back at the view before he answered, “Human.”

He snorted. He’d never behaved like a human in his life. Unlike the Turned, he had never been acquainted with his humanity.    

“I’m serious. I'd never have believed it if I hadn’t been there the other night.”    

“Everyone has needs. There’s nothing abnormal about that.”    

“You’d kick old humans for fun if you were the type to have fun. You don’t care about sex. You don’t care about anything except the stupid war. You’ve watched countless beings meet their deaths, usually at your hand. Soon you’re going to fuck your sacrificial girl until you get her pregnant. Then you’ll carry on like nothing’s happened,” Aidan said.    

“I have a duty—”  

“Yes, I know. I’ve heard it all before. You have to produce as many heartless bastards as you can so they can annihilate us,” Aidan snorted.    

“What’s your point?” he snapped.    

“My point, you dick, is that you’ve never given a shit about anyone. All of a sudden, you’re just one big clusterfuck of emotions. So work it out.”    

“If I didn’t give a shit about anyone, you wouldn’t be standing here.”    

“I’m only here because you couldn’t kill me.”   

The shapeshifter had the audacity to grin.    

“You’re here because I let you.”    

“And because you couldn’t stop me,” Aidan repeated. “You couldn’t stop Dani, either. She wanted you to fuck her, and you did.”    

“Well, she’s going, so forget whatever shit you have clouding your head. Everything will be fine after we get her out,” he said.    

His eyes turned towards the city again. His world would return to normal once her blood was out of his system. The images of himself buried deep inside the tightness of her body would go away, too. Eventually.     

“Maybe,” Aidan said. “Maybe not.”   

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”    

“Think about it. You’ve seen vampires behaving out of character before. You’ve seen them so consumed with lust that they went after the object of their desires with no thought to the consequences.”    

He knew what his friend was getting at. It was a whisper he’d drowned since he left her. A quiet certainty he refused to let surface.   

“I’m not consumed with lust.”   

Even as he said that, more images hit him. Dani’s legs wrapped tightly around him as he continually rammed himself into her. The throaty sounds. The tightness. The sweet, sweet taste between her legs.   

His fangs lengthened. He felt himself harden.    

“You’re obviously not,” Aidan snorted.     

He brought himself under control and faced Aidan again.    

“I know what you’re trying to say, but it’s impossible.”     

“Isn’t it? But you have all the signs,” Aidan said.    

“I was born. I’ve never had a soul; therefore, a soulmate is impossible.”    

“Okay. So you really wouldn’t mind if I headed to that motel and took her somewhere you’ll never see her again? She’s so hot—after what I felt from her when you two were at it, I might even try a little—”    

Before Aidan had even finished speaking, he pinned him against the wall. He almost crushed Aidan's neck as he pushed his face into the exposed brick and pulled his arm as high as it would go up his back.    

The red haze came fast.  

It lasted seconds, but it was enough. Aidan had made his point.  

Fuck.    

“I’m sorry,” he said, backing off. 

He slowly walked to the chairs and dropped himself onto one. It had to be Dani’s heat. That was the only explanation. 

The Born didn't mate.     

If they did, then that would mean someone had lied to him. Betrayed him. And put Dani in unimaginable danger.   

If, and that was a big if, it was true, and she didn't accept this bond, then he would eventually get consumed by his need for her and drain her dry. 

He would kill her. 

Not out of rage. Not willingly. But out of hunger. Out of a need so complete it would devour them both.