“Ay?” Rasha’s tone dropped from her haughty high-pitched voice to the soft one she reserved only for her sister. “What’s wrong?” For all Rasha’s faults, she read Aylin like a book and never wanted to see her upset. Unless, of course, Rasha was the person who’d caused it.
Aylin’s stomach got all tied up in knots. Maybe Hunter should have come along, because she had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well.
“There’s something I have to tell you.” She swallowed, but it didn’t help relieve her suddenly dry mouth. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Hunter. You know, the cabin . . . and the demon’s challenges . . .”
Rasha frowned, and then her eyes shot wide. “Spirit strike me,” she said. “You have a crush on him.”
“It’s not a crush.”
Snorting, Rasha came to her feet, a little off balance. “You think you love him?”
“Yes. And he loves me.”
Amusement and pity flickered in Rasha’s expression. “And what makes you think that?”
There was no easy way to say this. Aylin doubted that saying it while Rasha was drunk was a good idea, but with Hunter’s imprint mark so blatantly visible, there was no putting it off.
“He imprinted on me,” she blurted. “Tonight.”
Rasha barked out a laugh. “I’ve never understood your sense of humor, but that was funny.”
“It’s not a joke.”
Rasha laughed harder, and the anxiety Aylin had experienced a moment ago turned to smoldering anger.
“Rasha!” Aylin kicked the bottle aside. “For once, can you look at me like I’m more than a twisted leg? Like I’m a female vampire, born from the same dam as you?”
Rasha’s laughter died away, leaving her looking confused. “You’re serious.” She shook her head. “You couldn’t be. There’s no way Hunter had sex with . . . with you.”
Now Aylin was pissed. Straight-up furious, and she stepped right up to Rasha. “Maybe if he hadn’t caught you with Myne, he never would have come to my chambers. But he did, and I don’t regret a single second of it.” She swept her hair away from her neck so her sister got a good look at the puncture marks. “He fed from me. Drank my cripple blood right down.” She took perverse pleasure in watching Rasha’s expression fall as the truth settled into her alcohol-logged brain. “It happened, Rasha. Ask him. Ask the imprint mark on the back of his hand.”
That last part was unnecessary, but it felt good. Felt good right up to the point where Rasha’s fist slammed into Aylin’s face.
Aylin wheeled backward, the loss of balance twisting her bad leg and sending her tumbling over the back of the couch. She hit the floor hard, and the breath rushed from her lungs.
“You traitorous bitch!” Rasha’s shrill scream pierced the pounding in Aylin’s ears as she struggled for a breath. Suddenly, she was yanked off the ground and slammed hard into the coffee table. She heard a crack, and agony tore through her torso.
Blood spurted from her mouth, and then she felt what she was pretty sure was a kick to the gut. She tried to breathe, but she choked on blood as she curled in on herself to stop the pain. Distantly, she heard her sister’s voice, a buzz in the haze of her brain.
Aylin? Aylin! Shit, I’m sorry . . . oh, Ay, I’m so sorry . . .
Aylin tried to speak, but nothing came out. Black spots filled her vision, expanding as she struggled for air. Then there was nothing.
AYLIN WAS HURT. Hunter could feel it as if her pain was his. The imprint didn’t work that way for most males, but the closer the male was to the original vampire bloodlines, the more intense the bond was to the female he imprinted on.
So yeah, he felt Aylin’s distress as he tore through MoonBound’s halls and hit Rasha’s quarters at a dead run. The door tore off its hinges as he burst through it.
Rasha let out a surprised scream, but instantly, upon seeing his face, she settled into a fighting stance.
It didn’t do any good. He clamped his hand around her throat and lifted her into the air. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to squeeze until she was no longer breathing.
“Where’s Aylin?” he rasped.
“I-I took her to the lab. She’s okay,” she added quickly.
He shook her. Hard. “What did you do to her?”
Rasha bared her fangs, but it was a defensive move, not an aggressive one. She was scared. She should be. “She . . . she betrayed me.”
“The way you betrayed me with Myne?” he snarled.
“Listen to me, Hunter—”
He got right up in her face, his temper near cracking. “She risked her life for the sake of your firstborn child!”
“I know,” she rasped. “I was wrong. I thought she owed me for protecting her for decades. For making sure she got enough food and clothes. I made sure her beatings didn’t kill her. I let her have a place at the fire in the winter. And then she took you . . . and I lost my temper.”
“You seriously thought she owed you for that? If she killed you for it, no one would be surprised.” He practically shook with rage. He did shake Rasha. “You and your clan have treated her like a stray dog, tossing her scraps and relegating her to the very edges of your society. Has she ever had anything that made her happy?”
He felt her throat work beneath his palm. “She had a pet rabbit once.”
Hunter blinked in surprise and finally released Rasha. “Kars let her keep it?”
“When he learned about it, he made her eat it.”
What. The. Fuck. Hunter took a step back from Rasha before he made her pay for what Kars had done. “Your father is a fucking fiend. I can’t imagine that she willingly ate her pet.”
“He held her down and forced it down her throat.”
Hunter closed his eyes. What a nightmare existence Aylin had endured. “So she went through all of that, and you still tried to destroy her tonight.”
“I did warn you,” she said softly. “I told you I wouldn’t tolerate another female.”
“No, Rasha, you don’t understand.” Lightning-fast, he gripped her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. “I love her. You are the other female. Forget that at your own peril.”
He left Rasha to stew in her own bitter juices and rushed to the lab. He caught Nicole as she was on her way out.
“How’s she doing?”
Nicole tucked her hands into her lab coat’s pockets. “It could have been bad, given her blood issues, but—”
“What blood issues?”
“Her blood wasn’t clotting right. It’s a problem in vampires who aren’t fed from during the appropriate moon phase. I told her she needed to participate.” Nicole shrugged. “Looks like she did, because her internal bleeding has slowed far faster than it would have just yesterday.”
“So she’s going to be okay?”
Nicole nodded. “She’s tough.”
“I know.” He shot an impatient glance at the door. “Can I see her?”
“She’s asleep,” Nicole said, “but she should wake up any minute.”
“Asleep?”
“I gave her a sedative.” Nicole held up her hand. “Don’t worry, it was mainly a precaution. I wanted to help boost her clotting ability, and vampires heal best when they’re out.”
He relaxed, but only a little. “You’re sure she’s okay?”
Smiling, Nicole patted him on the arm. “I promise. Go see her. And if that mark on your hand means what I think it means . . .” She trailed off, her expression going fierce. “Get Rasha the hell out of here.”
He dared anyone to try to stop him.
Leaving Nicole, he found Aylin resting in one of the patient beds, her silky hair spread out over the pillow, her ivory skin marred by the faint shadow of a bruise along her cheekbone. She was healing, but the sight still ramped up his anger.
She stirred as he appro
ached, opening groggy eyes with a smile. “Hey.”
He didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “I should have been there when you told her.”
She reached out to pat his hand. “I didn’t think she’d react so violently. She’s never hurt me before. Not like that. But I don’t blame her. I’d react the same way if I lost you.”
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.” He lifted her hand to his lips, and with the tenderest of kisses, he pressed his lips to each finger and then lingered with his mouth in her palm, telling her without words that what she held in the palm of her hand was more than a kiss.
She held his heart and soul.
AS HUNTER’S ANCESTORS would say, it was time to look the wolves in the eye.
For all of Hunter’s authority and years of successful leadership, he was still unsure how his senior warriors were going to react to his news. The developments between him and Aylin were going to have some serious repercussions for the clan, and he needed his people to be on board.
When he arrived in the meeting room, Jaggar, Takis, Katina, Riker, and Baddon were already seated. As he strode to his seat at the head of the table, Baddon shot him a glare. Hunter returned it, holding the other male’s gaze until Baddon finally looked down with extreme interest at the skull ring on his right hand.
Took for-fucking-ever, though.
“Where’s Aiden?” Hunter took a seat.
“On patrol,” Takis answered.
Damn. Hunter had really wanted everyone here. Takis, as if reading his mind, added, “He gave me his voice.”
Meaning that Takis had Aiden’s permission to speak for him. The pair’s thoughts had been in sync from the day they’d met and became a couple a few years ago. Hunter was glad; Takis had been alone for far too long.
“Okay, let’s get to it.” Hunter looked each of his warriors in the eye, lingering a little on Baddon as the memory of the big male in Aylin’s chambers flickered in the back of his mind. “There’s no easing into this, so I’m just going to say it.” He held up his hand, revealing the raven feather marking his skin. “I imprinted on Aylin.”
Three sets of eyebrows shot up.
Riker blew out a breath.
Baddon let out a whispered “Fuck.”
That’s right, buddy. She’s mine.
“So what now?” Riker asked. “Don’t get me wrong . . . I’m happy for you, man. But dayum. Kars and Tseeveyo are going to blow a gasket.”
“Tseeveyo?” Katina scowled. “NightShade’s chief? What’s he got to do with anything?”
Hunter’s chair squeaked as he leaned back. “Aylin is supposed to mate with him next month.”
A chorus of curses and groans made their way around the table. “I’m guessing that’s not going to happen now,” Jaggar said. “And I’m also guessing that’s going to be a huge problem.”
“Which is why I called you here,” Hunter said. “I’m supposed to mate with Rasha in two weeks, but I’m not giving up Aylin.”
“So basically,” Riker said, “you have two choices. Mate with Rasha and keep Aylin, which isn’t going to go over well with either of the other clans. Or you can refuse Rasha and keep Aylin, which will go over even worse, since you’ll be breaking the contract with Kars.”
“That about sums it up.”
Baddon flexed his fingers on the tabletop, leaving grooves in its surface. “So you fucked Aylin and us.”
Hunter didn’t remember shoving to his feet. Didn’t remember diving across the table and taking Baddon down to the floor in a tumble of bodies and chairs. But he remembered slamming his fist into the male’s face. Several times.
And he’d remember the knee to the gut Baddon gave him for a while.
“Knock it off!” Riker’s bellow echoed in the chamber as he and the others hauled Hunter off Baddon.
Blood blazing with anger, Hunter struggled to land a few more punches. He managed two hard hits and one kick that would have shattered a lesser male’s thigh bone, and then he was wrestled to the ground and pinned there by Katina, Takis, and Jaggar. Riker tackled Baddon, knocking him into the wall.
“You stupid son of a bitch!” he yelled at Baddon. “You should be happy for him.”
“It could have been me.” Baddon’s furious tone carried a note of pain Hunter knew wasn’t physical, and his own anger eased a little.
Long ago, Baddon had lost a female he loved, and after decades of mourning, he’d gotten back into the game with a vengeance. He was desperate to find a mate, was desperate to imprint on a female, but he’d already slept with pretty much everyone at MoonBound. Outside the clan, worthy females weren’t easy to find.
“You know that’s unlikely,” Riker said. “So let it go.” When Baddon ground his molars and said nothing, Riker gave him a little shake. “Hey. I said to let it go. This is your first warning. There won’t be a second. You’ll go straight into the pit. Feel me?”
Baddon inclined his head in a single sharp nod. Riker released him and turned to Hunter. “Let’s get this figured out.”
Although Hunter’s blood still ran hot, he wasn’t a complete fool. Baddon was right, and he’d probably voiced what everyone else had been thinking.
“Thanks, Rike, but Baddon isn’t wrong. I put the clan in a dangerous position. I intend to accept full responsibility, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone at MoonBound safe, even if that means stepping down as chief.” Swallowing his pride, which felt like a flint arrowhead was lodged in his throat, he said grimly, “I’m sorry. I’ve let you all down.”
Baddon swore, and Hunter braced himself for the others to jump all over this. If Hunter were them, he’d be pissed as hell, and he wouldn’t blame them if they dragged him before the clan and forced him out.
“Fuck that,” Riker said quietly. “You’ve led us through wars with other clans and battles with humans, and you’ve done what you needed to do for our survival. You deserve to be with a female you love.” He glanced at the other warriors in turn. “I’m standing behind him.”
Katina stepped forward. “Ditto.”
“You aren’t going anywhere, man,” Jaggar said. “You’ve saved this clan more than once. We’re in this together.”
Takis bowed his head deeply. “My loyalty has always been yours.”
Hunter didn’t bother looking at Baddon. He’d be the dissenting vote, and it was what Hunter deserved.
“Mother. Fuck,” Bad muttered. “Yeah, you fucked up, but I’d have done the same thing. You’re not going anywhere, chief.”
Son of a bitch. Damn, but their loyalty touched him, humbled him, honored him. There had been occasions—not many, but a few—in the past when he’d wondered if his father’s methods of leading the clan had garnered more respect than Hunter had earned, but he would never wonder again.
His father would have demanded devotion; these warriors gave it freely.
“Thank you,” he croaked. “I promise—”
The chamber door flew open, and Aiden burst into the room, panting, his blond hair damp with sweat. “We have a problem,” he blurted. “Tena and I ran into ShadowSpawn warriors—”
“ShadowSpawn?” Hunter interrupted. “Here? In our territory?”
Aiden’s voice lowered ominously. “There are dozens of them. They’ve set up camp not far away. Kars is with them.”
“Why the hell would they be here?” Katina’s dark skin flushed even darker with anger. “The mating isn’t for two weeks.”
“It gets worse.” Aiden jammed his hand through his hair. “NightShade is here, too. And Tseeveyo is demanding Aylin.”
HUNTER DIDN’T LIKE surprise visits. He especially didn’t like surprise visits from enemy asshole visitors. And now he had to choose which enemy asshole visitor to confront first.
While Hunter assigned a permanent shadow for Rasha—no way was he letting her have f
ull run of the compound after what she’d done to Aylin—Riker and Baddon went to scout out the enemy camps and determine the threat level. Barely half an hour later, they returned with a message from Kars.
Apparently, the ShadowSpawn leader wanted to meet right away.
“Both clans are camped out a quarter of a mile from here.” Riker addressed Hunter and the others now that they’d reassembled around the massive battle table. “There are approximately thirty enemy warriors in the ShadowSpawn camp and forty in NightShade’s.”
“That’s a lot of damned vampires gathered in one place,” Katina said. “How are they concealing themselves from the humans?”
“ShadowSpawn brought a mystic-keeper to piggyback off our wards.”
“Bastards,” Baddon growled. “We’d be within our rights to demand payment.”
Yes, they would. But until Hunter knew what ShadowSpawn was up to, there was no point in antagonizing them. Besides, their mystic-keeper could only strengthen MoonBound’s wards, which were intended to repel humans so subtly that they didn’t even know why they would feel the need to turn around and go in the opposite direction.
“Is NightShade doing the same?”
Riker shook his head. “They concealed their camp from human eyes by themselves. Seems that one of Tseeveyo’s mates is a dark shaman.”
Hunter drew a sharp breath, and so did pretty much everyone else. MoonBound’s mystic-keeper drew from positive natural energy to create wards and to activate a spell that concealed the entrances to the clan’s headquarters, and maintaining the wards and the spell took up every drop of his power. Dark shamans used negative natural energy to spin up their magic, and even weak dark shamans were generally more powerful than the strongest mystic-keepers.
But for a dark shaman to hide an entire camp from humans, even if those humans were standing right next to a tent, took more power than Hunter had known existed.
“Both chiefs are demanding an audience with you,” Riker said. “They’re waiting for an escort.”