Mine to Have
Page 16

The faint snarl of the motorcycle engines finally penetrated her awareness.
Oh, crap, if he could scent her desire…could they all?
Yes. The answer was right there on his face.
Her own face burned. Talk about humiliating.
But Alerac shook his head. “They know you’re mine,” he said simply. “None would dare speak ill to you.”
His. “I’m not…yours, Alerac.” They needed to be clear on that.
His hold tightened on her hand. “Wasn’t that the deal?” He murmured. “Your safety, but in return, I have you.”
A desperate deal. She hadn’t even realized just what she’d been giving away.
Had she?
“You fear me.”
“I’d be a fool not to.” A werewolf with glowing eyes and razor sharp claws. Um, yes, a smart girl would fear him.
So would a dumb girl for that matter. So would any freaking one.
The sound of the snarling engines outside seemed to grow even louder.
“Fear can be a good thing. It will help keep you alive.”
He wanted her afraid of him?
Alerac climbed from the bed. Looked even bigger. She swore the guy had grown while she slept.
Then she realized that the pillow beside her bore the impression of—of a head. The covers near her were rumpled. She jumped up from that bed. “You slept with me!” He’d stormed out. Done his angry wolf routine, then he’d come back and crawled in bed with her.
While she hadn’t even realized he’d been there.
“I protected you.” He’d already turned away.
“Protected me from what? The motel maid?” She rushed after him, but had to do a fast halt when he hurried out of the room. What the hell, Alerac? You don’t leave in the middle of an argument. She yanked on her shoes, adjusted her sleep-wrinkled clothes, and followed fast. “You crawled into bed with me because—“
At least six werewolves were on their motorcycles. All of them were staring at her.
Jane clamped her mouth closed. Jerk wolf.
Alerac glanced back at her, and a faint smile lifted his lips. “You were saying, a rúnsearc?”
What she’d been saying would be finished—in private. But her eyes narrowed to slits. “What did you just call me?”
That faint smile faded. “It’s an Irish expression. It means vampire.”
Liam coughed. Or choked. Hard to tell for sure.
Alerac eased onto on his motorcycle. Darkness had fallen again, but the moon wasn’t blocked by clouds tonight. It shone, high and heavy, though not quite full, in the sky above them.
All of the men were staring at her. Waiting.
“Has she fed?” Finally, that suspicious question came from Liam.
Her gaze cut to him. “She can tell you herself.” Her fangs weren’t even aching. She didn’t need blood every day. “And the answer is, no. I haven’t fed tonight. But don’t worry, I’m not about to start biting anyone.”
A murmur—an angry one—seemed to go through the pack.
“Wolves aren’t on the vampire menu,” Liam told her, but only after a quick glance at Alerac. “Or rather, for you, only one is.”
And that one had lifted his hand toward her. He held that hand, palm open, toward her. “Come, Jane.”
Like she had a choice. But she wasn’t a dog to be called. So she held her ground a moment longer. Get the point, wolf. I don’t jump at your command. “Where are we going?”
“My home.” A pause. “Your home.”
She didn’t have a home.
Her chest began to ache. Unwanted. Forgotten.
“And maybe we’ll find a damn witch along the way,” Alerac added, voice darkening.
Jane wasn’t so sure she wanted to find a witch. Was her past worth remembering?
Maybe it was time to find out. Alerac knew her, he held her secrets—so why didn’t the guy just spill them? “Why are my own kind hunting me?”
His hand lowered. He kicked up the stand on the motorcycle. Then he came to her, easily controlling the bike as he circled around and advanced on her.
She had to hold back her smile. She’d wanted that. For him to be the one to make the move. I’m not jumping for you.
But when that big, snarling bike and the equally big wolf came to a stop right in front of her, Jane stiffened. Yes, I’m afraid of him.
Afraid, yet she could admit—she was also drawn to the wolf. She should be running away from him. But she wasn’t moving.
“The vamps think you committed a crime against them.”
She’d turned on the other vampires? It just gets worse for me.
“And some of them won’t stop coming, not until—well, not until I make sure they’re dead.”
Wonderful. “I-I thought vampires already were dead. The undead, right?” That was what she’d seen on TV. She’d made sure to watch every vampire movie that she could find, hoping that maybe she’d find some kind of secret message or insight into her own biology.
The movies hadn’t been helpful. She didn’t sparkle. She didn’t serve the devil. She didn’t attack children. She didn’t do any of the things that those vamps had done.
Well, except she did drink blood. But only when she absolutely had to do so.
“Some folks do have to die, for a little while, in order to come back as vamps.” Alerac gave a slow shake of his head. “That’s not what happened to you. You never died. You were born as you are.”
Born as a vampire? That hadn’t been in the movies.
“That’s why you have power to them. Why you’re a threat and why they won’t stop coming.”
She still didn’t understand.
“Your birthmark. The circle of gold that surrounds your pupils. Those are both signs that you are a pureblood. Not made from a bite, but born to be a vampire.”
The little mark on her left palm seemed to burn.
“I’m telling you the truth. And you have to trust me.”
Like trust was easy. Trusting a human was hard enough. Trusting a werewolf?
“Get on the bike,” Alerac ordered with a curt nod. “With darkness, they’ll be coming soon.”
She looked beyond him. At the thin row of pine trees. At the darkness. Were the vampires already stalking her? “They all want me dead?” All of her kind? Surely there was at least one who wanted her alive. She had a family somewhere, didn’t she?