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Draven fell backagainst Flora’s door and resisted the screaming, clawing urge to go back inside.
You didn’t have to, she had said. She was right; he didn’t have to do a single thing for Flora, nor should he. But damn if he didn’t want to.
The woman had crawled under his skin and burrowed inside what was supposed to be a heart of stone. He’d resigned himself to being alone—to face the world with no one at his side, because if he was honest, he didn’t want a vampire to live forever beside him.
His wolf huffed in agreement.
He may be both vampire and wolf, but his heart aligned with the moon. Draven wanted a mate. A true, Goddess-blessed mate like his parents were. Aside from them, he’d only ever met one other mated pair, and their story ended in tragedy because one of them was like him—immortal. Ansel hadn’t been the same since the loss of his mate. He was withdrawn and moody. It should have turned Draven off from ever wanting to experience that kind of loss, but in a way that only fueled him to want it more. Was there any devotion more true than loving someone so wholly that you would lose a piece of yourself when they were gone?
That was what love was.
That was what he wanted.
Flora wasn’t that. She couldn’t be.
That kind of love wasn’t in the cards the fates had dealt him, and Flora didn’t deserve to be a fling. No matter how tempting the notion was.
Ice clinked against glass down the hall, and he didn’t need to open his eyes to know it was Kade. He’d heard his second the moment he’d started up the stairs; his irregular heartbeat was a dead give away.
“Is he taken care of?”
Kade handed Draven the glass with two fingers of whiskey. “He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re asking. But he’s not coming back.”
Draven let out a non-committal grunt and sipped his whiskey. The bastard confirmed the story Flora told. Not that he hadn’t believed her. He had. But hearing the piece of shit comment on exactly how long he’d been waiting for her left him murderous. Petey was lucky it was Mateo and Kade who handled him, because if it had been Draven, he would no longer be breathing.
Spending the day with her only solidified his need to protect her from everything in his world and hers that sought to break the beautiful person she’d become.
“Thank you for taking care of it.” He pushed off the wall and placed a hand on Kade’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m going to head to bed. I don’t want her to be alone up here. Will you and Mateo make sure there aren't any more of her father’s men lurking around before you head up?”
Kade nodded, “Sure thing, boss.”
“Thank you.”
Draven had already turned to his door and placed his hand on the knob when Kade let out a weighted sigh. “She’s something isn’t she?”
A growl rumbled deep in Draven’s chest, and his wolf jumped on high alert.
For fucks sake, she doesn’t belong to us, simmer the fuck down,Draven chastised his wolf.
Kade threw his hands up. “Shit, Draven. I’m not trying to steal your girl. I’m just saying she’s not like the rest of them—the vampires I mean. And she’s not quite human either. She’s just… Flora.”
“She’s not my girl, but you’re right, she is something.” The words were sticky in his mouth, and his wolf nipped at his heart, telling him that she was very much their girl.
Kade ran his hand through his dark blonde hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “You should know Mateo got a call from home.”
Fuck.
Draven scrubbed his face. No call from the Ambersy pack was ever good. They were the high class scum of the wolves and had been a thorn in the side of the Moon Ridge Pack for centuries. There was a reason Mateo had disowned his family and defected.
He opened the door to his room and stepped inside, leaving the door open so Kade could follow behind him. The room wasn’t anything fancy. It was the mirror image of Flora’s and as outdated as the entire town of Lune. There was a four-poster bed with matching night tables in solid oak and an armoire where a closet should be. Through the door on the left was a bathroom complete with a clawfoot shower tub like the one he hoped Flora was soaking in. Draven looked to the door on the right, the one that led into Flora’s room and resisted the urge to check on her.
Kade shut the door behind him, and Draven asked the question that burned the tip of his tongue. “What did Ambersy want?”
Kade leaned against the wood pillar of the four-poster bed at the center of the room. “They’ve somehow caught word of your heritage. Moon Ridge hasn’t called for interference, but Ambersy put in word to the tribes. They don’t think you should be searching for the moonstone, nor do they trust the vamp-loving girl you’ve brought along with you. They think Callum is using the wolves.”
His wolf jerked to attention inside him, and his low snarl caught Draven off guard. His throat bobbed as he bit it back.
“My brother is one hundred percent using the wolves.” The fact that he called Callum his brother out loud left him feeling uneasy, but he pressed on. “But he is doing it to protect a hybrid child. Someone like me. That’s the issue here. The tribes don’t have a problem with Flora or the vampires. They would lend their help too if Callum had reached out to them with the moonstone. It doesn’t matter that it’s our fucking job to protect supernatural beings.”
