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I wanted everything to be perfect when she finally emerged from my bedroom.
We were already obsessed with her, forgetting the Empusa moon was only a day away. Valko was so furious when he caught Fillian with her outside the cave yesterday that he was threatening to throw them both in the dungeon. It was only her luscious lips around his cock that soothed his rage.
Yet he trusted me, the love-struck idiot, to guard her. We knew she wouldn’t leave, not now that we had bonded.
I let my smile grow wider as I shook my head. I was in love, and it was fucking ridiculous.
I could feel her so clearly. Though my hands worked to separate the leaves of garlic, all my attention was on her.
I felt her breath change as she woke, her happy groan as she stretched her muscles and opened her eyes. There was a quick jump of her heart as she realised she was alone. I sent her a wave of love down our bond, and she instantly relaxed.
What a fucking pleasure it was to love her this way.
Our pack bond was so strong that I could sense Val and Fil far in the north, beyond the border. She had joined us together in a way I didn’t know was possible. I should have hated that I couldn’t hide from them, but I loved that we could all feel her.
I heard a branch snap and the ravens scatter in a burst of cries. My eyes shot up.
Too late. A green-clad hunter stood five feet from me, hidden by the darkness of the trees. He already had his gun raised, aimed straight at me. He fired, no time to react, no mercy in his eyes.
The bullet slammed into my shoulder, throwing me against a tree, the garlic leaves falling from my hands as shock ripped through me. All the breath knocked from me as my back hit the trunk and pain exploded, dulling my senses.
Silver, slicing into the wound my darling Red had marked me with when I first saw her.
Her panic flooded our bond. She was already up, trying to find me. I couldn’t tell her to stay away, not with agony tearing through me. My bones, my flesh, the warm blood cooling as it ran onto my skin. And, even then, I still tried to focus on her.
I roared, my wolf taking over as I collapsed under the pain. I needed to defend myself, stop the five men who emerged into the clearing from finding our princess.
My claws extended, and I dug my hands into the earth, preparing to push myself up. But I stood no chance, not when the man behind the hunter raised his sword beside his cheek and raced towards me.
I met him head on, snarled as I tried to leap for him. But it was futile. All I saw was the rage in his brown eyes as he ran his sword through my left shoulder, pain deadening any other sense. My body jerked against the cool blade, and I threw my head back and howled.
“Where is she?” the man roared, his face inches from mine as he pressed his sword deeper. “Where is the princess?”
I shifted, my vision sharpening as the change came over me.
One twist of his sword was all it took for my senses to snap. I yelled as my body convulsed.
He was older than me, grey in his auburn beard, the rest of him shrouded by chain-mail and red cloth. The only thing that gave him away as a human was his scent, though the stench of vampire clung to him.
I would have let my wolf take over - my muscles pushing the sword from the trees to slice the man’s throat - if not for the high gasp of pure horror from my mate as she rushed into the clearing and came upon the scene. She wore one of my ragged cream shirts that fell just above her knees. Any other time, I would have melted at the vision of her red hair curling around my clothes that both shaped her curves and hung from her body.
Despair filled me. I couldn’t tell if it was hers or mine. Our eyes met and the shift subsided, though my wolf was snarling, desperate to be free. I reached for her, tried to calm her. They were here for her. I couldn’t let them take her.
She let out a choked gasp as her eyes fled from mine to his.
“Jasper?” Her voice trembled, lifting a hand to her lips as she held his gaze.
There was a surge of joy through our bond, so sudden I could taste it. And then, silence. Nothing. No happiness, no fear, no terror, no love.
I struggled against the sword, battling the pain as Red’s chest heaved, her eyes welling with tears.
The man holding the sword rose, releasing the blade, leaving me fixed to the tree as he turned to face her.
“Red…” I panted, agony consuming me. “Run…” But she heard none of it.
She moved, sprinting the short distance between us. I thought she was here to save me. I tried to warn her again, but all that came from me was a cry of pain.
My jaw dropped, shock pounding through me as I watched the man throw open his arms, and she launched herself into them.
