Текст книги "Take Me"

Автор книги: T. A. Grey

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

Chapter 9

Felicity moved into the Blackmoore estate.

Or rather, Dominic moved her into the Blackmoore estate himself. His mother protested then quieted at a few harsh words from Dom. Felicity blushed the whole time and stared daggers at Dom’s back. She did try protesting, but he turned his glare on her and she’d clamped her mouth shut. She wasn’t stupid. If someone wanted to hurt her they could and Dominic had the power to protect her.

Ian came along and showed her to a wing of the house. Yes, it was actually called the East Wing according to Ian. He set her up in a room worthy of being on MTV Cribs then ducked out of the room.

Felicity called Beth only to get no answer. Worried, she started biting her lip as she unpacked her suitcase into an empty dresser. She checked out the room and found a lavish four-poster bed with white gauzy curtains hanging from the ends. Two tall windows had that same protective tinting over it, and the room even had an en suite bath that was literally the size of her living room at home.

This was starting to look like a good idea. The bathtub had jets in it and could easily fit at least three people. There were two sinks, a closet filled with fluffy white towels, and amenities for a man or woman.

Felicity could easily see herself living here. This kind of home and lifestyle was exactly what she’d always dreamed. If she never made it in the designing business then at least she’d have the memory of this house to remind her that she’d once had it for a little while.

Four days passed and she didn’t see Dom once. This put Felicity in a tough spot seeing as she had a wedding plan. She went on with it even though she had about a thousand questions to ask. Such as where did you want to have the ceremony at? Vampires sometimes chose modern locations, but Felicity had a feeling the Blackmoores would want something old and vampiric. In the meantime, she compiled notes with ideas on fabrics, designs for the centerpieces, goblet choices, and so on.

She kept to her room and the dwindling supply of blood that had been stored in the warming oven before she got there. It felt weird being in someone else’s house, and like a coward, she stayed in her rooms. She didn’t want to go searching around for Dom because she didn’t know what to do if she ran across Julianna who also stayed here. Worse, what if she ran into his mother? No way did she want to have to answer any curious questions about her and Dom. Nope, no way. So she hid like a little coward.

Hiding had its downside, she learned. Being cooped up in the same room for four days made her a bit stir crazy. She’d been steadily working in her shopping list for supplies for the ceremony. The list grew and grew until it covered the paper front and back in two columns. She couldn’t stay in the house any longer. Her work here was done. She needed supplies.

Felicity grabbed her briefcase with her shopping list and set off. She still hadn’t discussed the financial account for the ceremony with Dom because he’d ignored her after he dropped her off, but she had over a hundred grand in her own account to get started. Besides, she needed to buy some blood too.

Felicity opened the bedroom door and peered down the empty hallway. A lavish rug with a dark design of red and gold covered the hallway. It had to be over hundred feet long and cost a fortune. Paintings rested in sturdy frames on the wall and small side tables sat on either side of the hall holding vases and little statues.

Felicity quietly slipped down the hall then turned at the intersecting hallway and made her way towards the spiral staircase that would led downstairs. As she neared the stairs and passed closed bedroom doors, probably all unoccupied, she heard voices. One in particular sounded like a woman. A very unhappy woman whose voice nearly shook the ceiling from her shouting.

Felicity perked up a bit. The Blackmoores didn’t seem like the yelling type. She moved to the top of the stairs and peered over the railing. The front hallway was empty. The chandelier above lit the area up with bright golden light. The study stood to the right and its door was open, light coming out of it. Seeing no one else around, Felicity made her way down the steps, her curiosity getting the best of her.

“How could you?” the woman seethed. “I gave you everything! If you think you can just—”

“I know I can because I did,” came the sharp reply. Felicity blinked fast at the voice. Dom’s voice, though now he spoke in an impatient growl than with his usual baritone.

“I have rights, dammit! I will not let you cast me aside as if I’m nothing. And who is this woman I’ve been hearing about? So quick to replace me are you?”

“Damn right I am, and she’s none of your concern.”

“It’s Julianna Greenwich. Everyone is talking about your new bruid,” she spat the word out.

Felicity went down the last of the stairs and slipped across the floor to flatten herself against the wall by the study doors. This had to be his ex, Helena. She shouldn’t listen, but no way was she going to pass up this opportunity. This was the juiciest thing that had happened since Lucas leaped off the stage to chase after Beth.

“I care nothing for Julianna.”

Silence for a moment. “Then it’s someone else?”

Dom didn’t say anything.

“Who is she?”

Felicity tensed. Her entire body froze as she waited for his answer.

“She’s none of your concern. Leave it, Helena.”

“I will not just leave it. You are mine!”

He laughed; it was a cruel, mocking sound. “I haven’t been yours for a long time, and officially I am very much not yours, Helena. Tell me what you want and be gone from my life. I never want to see you again.”

Helena gasped as if he’d struck a blow and Felicity rolled her eyes at the obviously fake sound. “How can you speak to me like that after all this time? After all we’ve been through?”

“Rather easily after all the shit you’ve pulled.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Another scornful laugh. “The men, the jewelry, the clothes, the houses, all of it.”

“Men?” Helena said, a hint of fear in her voice.

“Yes, I know about your affairs, Helena.”

“How?”

He said nothing, and Felicity knew the answer: because he was Dominic Blackmoore and he got whatever he wanted. Information would be easy for him.

“Well then,” she said slowly.

“Helena, I’m at my wit’s end. You have exactly ten seconds to tell me what you want before I have you thrown out.”

She sobbed. “I love you.”

Felicity’s heart squeezed painfully tight.

Dom laughed. He actually sounded as if he was enjoying himself. “No you don’t. You love my money and power.”

“No, I miss you. I want you back, my love. Please! I need you!”

Felicity heard the jingling of jewelry and the swishing of a dress as Helena moved.

Dom’s hard voice cut. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

“But-but—”

“I loathe you. Any day that I don’t see your face is a pleasant one. You disgust me. You’re a filthy whore and now, thank god, I get to have nothing to do with you.”

Crushing words that felt like blows. Felicity winced and waited, eager to know what Helena would say after such a barb.

“I see.” Helena’s voice had changed. Now it was hard and cold. “This is how it’s going to be then.”

“This is how it’s been for a long time. You were too stupid to notice it.”

“I’ll not be easily put off, Dominic. I’m not a bag of trash you can simply throw away.”

“Do your worst.”

Footsteps sounded, coming closer to the door. Felicity looked around wildly then sped back up to the stairs. She was halfway up when Helena spoke.

“I know her name. Felicity Shaw. Some nobody who’s not worth the pair of shoes I’m wearing. I’d watch her closely if I were you. Sometimes accidents happen.”

A shadow passed over the doorway then the door slammed shut as if something, or someone, had been slammed into it. Felicity ran down a few steps to hear what he was saying, but all she could make out was his low, threatening tone. The door flew open and Dominic held a gorgeous redhead by the back of her neck. She fought in his hold but he didn’t budge. With a toss, he threw her at the front door.

She spun around on him, wobbling in her tall heels. “You’ll regret this.”

Dom looked like a warrior with his broad shoulders, wide stance, and fisted hands. He looked ready to fight and to kill.

“No, I won’t. But you will, Helena, if you pursue this in any way.”

Suddenly, Felicity found herself the object of Helena’s cold stare. Her ruby red lips pulled into a chilling smile. “Well it looks like your little mouse came out to peek.”

Dom didn’t turn to look at her, but he growled. A low, inhuman sound that made the hair on her arms stand up. Helena felt it too for her eyes flared with fear for a moment. Then she ducked out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

Felicity didn’t know what to do, but she had the distinct feeling that she’d just done something wrong. Quietly, she started moving back up the steps, but she didn’t turn her back on Dom. Maybe if she pretended she hadn’t witnessed such a personal fight then he would too.

Quietly, Dom turned around to face her. Just like that her heart started beating too fast. She was intensely aware of him. She hadn’t seen him in days, and it felt like forever. She’d actually missed him, really. Their little banter together. The way he pursued her did wondrous things for her self-esteem, and plus, she liked him a little. Okay, more than a little.

His green eyes centered with gold landed on hers, and then in a blur of movement he stood in front of her, pushed her back into the railing. He cupped her jaw.

“Felicity...”

“I’m sorry!” she blurted out.

His eyes traced over her face. They turned darker and darker as the look came into them. She trembled. It had been four days since she saw him. The effect of seeing him after so long felt like a punch to the gut that left her winded and a bit dizzy.

“For what?” he asked, his voice rumbling.

“For eavesdropping. I was just going to get some work done and then I heard...I shouldn’t have listened.”

“I’m glad you did.”

A brow arched in surprise. “You are?”

She could feel his heat. He wore another suit but he’d popped the top few buttons of his shirt to reveal dark skin. She wanted to lean forward and lick the hollow of his throat, over the bones of his collar, nick him with her fangs, and then sink into him.

“That’s my ex. I separated from her before my father grew ill.”

Separation was a hard thing to do and very rare among vampires. One had to petition the council then convince them to vote in one’s favor. The petitioner also had to pay a large sum to the separated party for the rest of his or her days, which could be quite a long time for a vampire. Felicity would bet in this case it would be in the tens of millions for Helena and who knows what kinds of houses, jewelry, and cars she also got in the process.

“She seems like a real bitch.”

His furrowed brow relaxed as his laughter came slow and low. “Yeah, she is.”

“What did she want?”

His thumbs stroked her jaw making her sigh. It felt good to have him back, to feel him touching her again. She’d really missed him. God, she was in over her head in trouble with this man.

“To try to taunt me with what I don’t want. She wants me back, but until now I don’t think she’s realized just how much I hate her.”

“Oh.” Felicity touched his stomach. She couldn’t not touch him when he was this close to her. Even as she told herself not to do it, her hands spanned across his waist to his back. The heat of him pressed into her fingertips. It wasn’t enough. She wanted to pull his shirt out of his pants and touch bare, smooth skin.

He leaned in making her breath catch. His lips traced her ear. “Did you miss me?”

She found she didn’t want to lie to him. “Maybe, did you miss me?” God, he smelled so good. Breathing became a chore.

His teeth latched onto her earlobe, bit, then disappeared. “I thought of you constantly. I dreamt of you when I slept. Everywhere I went it felt like you were with me.”

He was making her melt. Her hands tightened, crushing their bodies together. He could make her lose her mind, and she loved it.

“Where did you go?”

He tongued her pulse while one hand squeezed her shoulder before sliding down to cup her backside. He didn’t cup her gently, but squeezed, pulling her into his erection with a groan.

“Business. We’re searching out Zeke for the attempt on our lives. He’s a hard were to find. Alpha of the pack makes him the best. If he doesn’t want to be found he won’t be, and his people won’t turn him over. If anyone can find him, it’ll be Grayson.”

“So he’s hiding?”

He lifted her by her backside and the motion pulled her to her toes as his cock nudged against her mound.

She couldn’t keep her eyes open, couldn’t breathe. Damn it, she thought and pulled his shirt up to touch the hot, smooth skin at his lower back. He made a gruff sound as he ground his erection into her.

“Not hiding. He isn’t a coward. He’s just crazy. He’s probably out doing something else. He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

“Oh,” she said on a sigh. “Did you think about me while you were gone?” She didn’t have time to feel mortified that she’d asked that incredibly revealing question because he answered quickly.

His lips pressed softly against hers. She could feel him smile. “I did.”

“Me too,” she said very, very quietly.

His hand stilled on her bottom, his hips stopped its subtle rocking, and then her eyes opened to meet his serious ones.

“What’s here between us is something different. We both know it. I need you, Felicity. I want you so fucking bad I dream about it. Let me have you. Not once. That wouldn’t be nearly enough. I want you in my bed every fucking day, waking up next to me, with me filling you. Just say yes and I’ll make it happen right now.”

In and out, she breathed in gasps. Her eyes were wide in shock. Worst of all, she wanted that too. To see where they could go and what they could be. She’d bet it’d be something incredible.

None of that could happen though. “You know why I can’t,” she said.

His eyes slashed with anger, brow furrowing hard. “I don’t give a damn about her. I want you. Be my mistress.”

Felicity jerked at his words. She shook this time, in shock. “I will not be someone’s whore, not even yours.”

“It won’t be like that. I don’t want Julianna, in any way. Only you.”

“You can’t really expect me to believe you won’t take Julianna to bed. She’ll be yours to do with what you want. She’s far prettier than I am.” God it hurt to admit that.

“I don’t fucking want her. I want you!” His highly charged words echoed around them.

A soft sound sent both their heads to the top of the staircase.

Felicity cursed. Dom didn’t say anything, didn’t even tense.

Julianna Greenwich stood at the top of the stairs. Her cheeks were red, her eyes wide and stark with pain and something else.

“Julianna,” Dom called.

She turned and ran out of sight.

Felicity stood stock still as Dom kissed her hard, told her to think on it, and then ran after Julianna. That hurt, she thought, rubbing the heavy pain over her heart.

He kissed her then ran off after his bruid.

Fitting.

Felicity didn’t have to think about it. She calmly went to her room, packed her suitcase, and left out the front door without running into anyone. She didn’t have her car with her but after she got through Dom’s gate, she kept walking.

She was not a home wrecker. She could not do this if he was going to mate with her. Felicity pulled her cell phone out and called Beth who finally, thank god, decided to answer. Beth had been incognito since the theater scene with Lucas Blackmoore. In fact, even with her stay in at the estate for the last four days she hadn’t seen or heard anything about Lucas either.

Beth came and picked her up several miles from the estate.

Beth looked tired, her eyes red around the rim, and her forehead creased with lines.

“Hey, honey,” she called as Felicity piled her and her suitcase into the car.

“Hey, back. What the hell’s been going on with you? Ignoring my phone calls, running out of an LBB concert like the building caught fire, and then not returning my calls. You have some serious explaining to do.”

Beth looked contrite as she pulled away from the curb. Felicity watched the gate of Blackmoore manor fade in the side mirror. No Dom running after her like some kind of white knight. She was done for real. She’d return the money he gave her and find a different job, because what she felt for him right now was bordering beyond some petty feelings. And that only spelled trouble for the both of them.

“I’m not ready to talk about it.”

Felicity’s jaw dropped. “You cannot be serious. We talk about everything. You really cannot think to leave me out of this juicy gossip, Beth.” Felicity turned in her seat to level a narrowed gaze on Beth.

Beth’s eyes darted to her, spotted the look, and then she bit her lip. “I just...I’m still processing it.”

“It’s been four days! How long do you need to process?”

Beth laughed. “Longer than that apparently.”

Felicity crossed her arms. “Then it better be worth the wait.”

Beth breathed out a fluttery sigh. “Oh, it will be.”

“Tease,” muttered Felicity.

Laughing, Beth reached and flipped on the radio. Her CD player turned on surrounding them with Lucas Blackmoore’s deep tenor singing about the power of a warrior, strength through resilience, and some other nonsense.

Felicity heard the ringtone of her cellphone go off over the music. That was one of the little vampire perks that came with being supernatural. She pulled the phone out and didn’t have to wonder. She knew who it was.

“Want me to turn the music down?” Beth said.

Felicity shook her head no then answered the phone. She’d be able to hear fine, and a part of her grinned at the idea of Dom hearing his brother singing around her. It’s the least he deserved for kissing her then running after Julianna. God that hurt.

He began with, “Where the hell are you?”

She trembled, her eyes closing. He sounded hot when he was angry. God, she wished she didn’t think that. “I’m going...home.” She hesitated to tell him, but she found it difficult to lie to him.

He paused for a moment. “Why?”

Felicity looked out at the deep night with the yellow streetlights beaming past as they drove. “I told you why. I can’t do this. I don’t even know you.”

“I’ll remedy that. Come back to the house now.”

“No.”

“Then I’m coming to you.”

“No!” she said much firmer.

She could almost hear him grinding his teeth. “If I want to come get you there’s nothing you can do can stop me.”

“Yeah, that’s part of the problem.” A hard, heavy knot grew in her chest like a blooming flower. One that made it hurt to breathe.

“I don’t understand.”

“My opinion needs to matter to you, Dom.”

Another pause then, “It does.”

“It doesn’t if you come after me, if you keep ignoring my wishes. That’s no way to win me.” Oh hell what was she doing now? Was she seriously trying to coach him on how to win her? Bad Felicity!

His voice lowered to a deep tremble. “What do I need to do?”

She could almost feel him giving her the look through the phone. “You know.”

“I am sending some of Grayson’s men to guard you. They will be in your house, outside of your house, and anywhere you go at all times.”

Felicity ignored the pang in her chest. Of course he wouldn’t acknowledge what she just said. That’d mean he’d have to abandon a tradition hundred’s of years old if he didn’t bond with Julianna.

“Fine.”

“Felicity—”

She didn’t want to hear anything else he said. He’d done enough. So she hung up on him and shoved the phone back into her purse. When it started beeping again a few moments later, she didn’t answer.

Beth gave her a worried glance. “Everything okay?”

“Nope.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not unless you wanna talk about what happened with Lucas Blackmoore.”

“Nope,” Beth said.

“Okay then.”

Chapter 10

Dom needed to find Zeke. After the attempt on his and Felicity’s lives, the alpha could not stand any longer.

The were Zeke lived with his pack in a town outside of Nixa in southwestern Missouri. He owned the huge chunk of land, the largest out of all the were alphas in the country. His land extended from southwestern Missouri down into northern Arkansas and across to Oklahoma, and even included a portion of the southern tip of Kansas.

Zeke had built a nice little army to protect it too. The men and women of his little coalition were trained well from all the intel Dom had gathered on him. Zeke was a smart man, but a crazy one. He killed his own father to claim the Alpha position, widowing his own mother. He’d yet to take his own woman but his intel suggested it was his top priority. Some rumors even said that not having his mate and being alive for so long when most weres had already found their mate was part of the madness. He craved his mate, he yearned to find her, and as a were he’d stop at nothing until he did.

That’s why Zeke wants the presidency. With two weres already on the council, his third vote would pass the new nonsense he’d been spouting. As of right now, the weres had a strict law about mating rituals. Zeke wanted his population to grow to be even bigger than it already was. To do that he wants to bring forth a new law that will make males seek out their mates and claim them no matter which pack they came from.

Most weres do this naturally on their own, but Zeke wanted to push against nature’s work. Possibly out of his own frustration from not finding his mate. If Zeke did win the presidency and get a law like this passed it would spell trouble for all weres. Weres from different packs were highly territorial by nature. Under Zeke’s law any man, alpha or not, could enter another pack’s territory on the claim of finding his mate. He could technically bed as many as possible under the premise. Packs were very territorial about their own, maybe more so than over their land. There would be bloodshed between packs. Dom couldn’t let this happen.

The were had finally gotten a hold of Dom to come and meet with him. So here Dom was in southern Missouri on the border of Arkansas in one Zeke’s camps. Dom brought Grayson and his men as guards, a simple formality. Zeke’s men—four tall, strong looking bastards stood outside his tent.

Yes, the great alpha, the mad were leader, lived out of a damned tent. He had money, Dom was sure of it. He could order his pack to build him a damn castle and they’d do it like perfect little slaves. Instead he lived in a large nomadic tent big enough to fit a queen-style bed and maybe a wash basin and some small furniture. Some weres preferred to live in tents, but for an Alpha to do it was rather odd. They lived above the standard as proof of their difference. Not Zeke. The mad were.

A tanned arm reached out from within the tent and pulled back the folds as Zeke strode out. He had sandy hair cut raggedly about his face and ears and worn longer in the back to his neck. The haircut made him look menacing with how it slung across his eyes to hide them. Not that he needed the haircut to get that wild look. His light blue always looked on edge like an animal that might strike out at any moment. You never knew what the alpha might do.

Water slid in rivulets down the weres torso wetting the khaki shorts he wore. The man didn’t look like he’d just gotten out of the shower so much as if he’d tossed a bucket of water tossed over himself.

Zeke stepped in front of his guards and they tensed. He should always stay behind them. They were there for his protection after all, and they couldn’t do their job if he placed himself between them and Dom.

Dom smiled. He appreciated Zeke’s confidence. It showed that he didn’t think of Dom as a threat. Good, he wanted the alpha relaxed for when Grayson and his team made their attack. Zeke stopped close then shook his head like a dog. Water flung from his body and slapped across Dom’s suit like the spray from a sprinkler.

Slowly, Dom gazed down at the specks of water over his thousand-dollar suit and bit his tongue. He didn’t miss the gleam in Zeke’s eye. He’d done it on purpose.

“Good to see you still have the animals of a rabid mutt, Zeke.”

The alpha grinned, his wild eyes beginning to glow blue. The glowing eyes were another reason the alpha was so strange. Weres could control the urges to shift, to fuck, and to fight with age. An alpha could especially do this. Except for Zeke...the man’s beast always seemed to lurk at the edge as if he might shift and start biting off heads at any moment.

“You know why I came,” Dom said.

Zeke’s eyes grew unfocused and faraway. This lasted for more than two minutes before he blinked fast, twice. He shook his head again sending more water flying around him. “What’d you say?”

Dom prided himself on keeping his anger in check. When you dealt in politics, you couldn’t let emotions get the best of you. “A were attacked me. A were you sent and endangered an innocent in the process, not to mention killing my driver.”

Zeke didn’t fidget. “Yeah.”

Dom’s fangs elongated in his mouth, an old sign even he couldn’t always hide when anger gripped him. With effort, he forced them back because he wouldn’t be fighting tonight. “Did you call the attack on me?”

“Yeah,” Zeke said. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair pulling it back from his face but it only fell forward again.

“You admit to making an attempt on my life?”

Zeke rolled his neck in a circle as a growl rumbled out of his throat, like an animal. “I didn’t attempt anything. I don’t attempt anything. When I want something done I do it. If I’d have been there then you wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

Dom’s fangs knifed down so hard his gums throbbed. Old, buried instincts rushed forth taunting him to fight the were, to see who’d come out, and to drink the alpha dry. He couldn’t do any of those things though. So he took a deep breath and let it out, and made sure his hands weren’t balled. Show no emotion and give nothing away. He learned that about politics from his father many years ago.

“There was a woman with me when the attempt was made. I’ll not have her drawn into this.”

Zeke’s head twitched like a dog that had something in his ear. He started pacing in agitated steps back and forth. “The woman...what was her name?”

Dom only lifted a brow. He wasn’t giving him anything on Felicity, not even the color of her hair.

Zeke waved his hand impatiently at his guards then one of them spoke up. “Felicity Shaw. A vampire hired by the Blackmoores to plan the mating ceremony that’s taking place in one month’s time between Dominic Blackmoore and one Julianna Greenwich.”

Zeke pulled his arms above his head as he walked, arching in a stretch. “Ah, yes. Well there you have it, Dom.”

Dom growled low under his breath. Too late did he realize what a mistake he just made. Zeke froze at the sound, turned to watch Dom with shrewd eyes.

“She means something to you.”

Fuck. Zeke might be mad but he wasn’t stupid.

“I want her. That’s all, and I won’t be able to do that if your idiot flunkies kill her when they’re trying to kill me.”

Zeke’s bright, glowing eyes met his. They wobbled as if his eyes couldn’t quite lock on anything steadily for longer than a second. “Liar,” he said softly.

“Leave the assassination attempts out of this, Zeke. Let’s run our campaigns the old-fashioned way, shall we? Let’s let the people decide.”

Zeke grinned, a knowing little smile. “You know a were has never won presidency of the council.”

“And?”

“This year is a year for change.” Zeke stepped forward, stopping a foot away from Dom. Dom’s entire body tightened with the urge to push back, to fight. “Your father’s dead. You’ve left your mate. You’re mating to another, and in the meantime you have a young vampire keeping your bed warm and your dick wet.”

Dom froze for only a quarter of a second before Zeke’s words registered. If he’d said such a thing about Julianna he wouldn’t have given a shit. If he’d said anything like that about Helena he would have laughed for even when they were together, she’d stopped doing either of those things. But Felicity...he spoke those crass, vulgar words about his woman like that. The woman he planned to make his. Dom couldn’t let that happen.

Dom attacked.

Zeke welcomed it as if he’d been waiting for it.

Asshole probably had too.

Dom landed a punch to the stomach, taking Zeke to the ground in a spine-cracking blow. He didn’t waste any time. He buried his fangs in the weres throat gulping down mouthfuls of blood like it poured out of a spout. Blood loss was the best way to fight a were. They were strong and fast, but couldn’t function so well without their blood. Of course, the same could be said about him.

Zeke laughed. A fist curled into Dom’s hair and jerked. Pain flair as his hair pulled, strands snapped. He soared back from the throw, flying through the air. His back cracked against a fully-grown Catalpa tree. It groaned as he hit it, shuddered. Wood cracked as it doubled in half and fell to the earth with a heavy sigh.

Zeke took off on a sprint, transforming in the process. Muscle contorted, hair thickened, lengthened, and grew into fur. His heavy animal body nearly plowed into him, but Dom flashed behind the were at the last second. He jumped on the mighty were and sent them both rolling to the ground. Rocks jabbed into his back. Mud splattered across his clothes and face. The wolf growled low in his throat.

Dom reached up, grabbed the snarling wolf by the side of its head, and held on. Thick, coarse fur filled his hands. It became a power of wills and strength as Zeke pushed forward. His muzzle had elongated into a snout, sharp, big teeth snapped in Dom’s face trying to reach his throat. The damn were would tear it out if given the chance. Dom’s arm shook as all of his concentration went to keeping the beast’s head from his throat. The alpha was renowned for his kills. He’d literally bitten off both vampire and weres heads before, effectively ending their lives.

They might have stayed like that for hours until one finally bested the other, if not for Grayson.

Grayson stepped forward looking even more haggard than usual. “We get it; you both have big fucking dicks. Now put them away so I can get home to my bruid.”