But mating with a vampire was… complicated. As soon as I gave in to my urges and made her mine, Bloom would be a target. Even more than she already was.
I’d hoped I could erase the danger while she was locked in that apartment, but we still didn’t have a damn clue who the murderer was.
“Giving in to the obsession would be a bad idea right now.”
He bobbed his head once. “It would.”
“But she smells like cherries.”
“You and fucking cherries.”
We’d grown up in the same pack, with a cherry orchard to one side and an apple orchard on the other. Times had been simpler, then.
Before the war. The deaths. The losses.
I’d spent my childhood in the kitchen, making baked goods with my parents. We sold it all at the markets, and I learned the arts of charm, negotiation, and persuasion from the best: my mother.
“What would you do if fate handed you the perfect woman?” I asked.
Rhone scoffed. “Fate doesn’t match couples because they’re perfect together. She fucks with weres when she’s bored.”
He was old and jaded. Unlike me. Even though we were the same age.
“Humor me,” I said.
We both knew he wouldn’t just walk away. He was as obsessive as I was. It was one of the things that made us so damn good at our jobs. “I don’t know what I’d do. Ignore it, probably. I have no desire for a mate.”
“You never have.”
“Unlike you.” He studied me.
I didn’t deny it. He’d see through any denial.
Rone stretched his legs out in front of him. “At least your vampire’s not the murderer.”
I liked the sound of that.
Myvampire.
She was mine. That wasn’t up for debate.
He snagged a peppermint candy from the bowl in the corner of my desk. It was only there for him.
“You can fight the pull if you have more things with her scent on them. I heard one of the enforcers talking about it a few years back.” He paused. “Maybe a few decades back.”
“The clothes I took from her have helped a little. I could take more. Or I could takeher.”
Rhone was unsurprised. “I knew you were thinking about it. You just let her go. At least wait until fate’s pull fades.”
That would be the better call.
Mating with a vampire would affect my pack, so not jumping in until my mind was clear would be safer for everyone involved. And a lot of people who weren’t involved.
I dragged a hand through my hair. Patience was not one of my strong suits. It would still be another week before the pull faded completely, and I was barely suppressing the urge to abduct the woman.
“You’ll survive,” Rhone said.
“Fine. I’ll try to wait a week.”
