Page 9 of Never His Mate

I decide to let the ‘puppy dog’ crack slide as I unbuckle my seat belt and slowly ease the strap over my shoulder. Like I know exactly what they are, all it takes is one look, one sniff, even one lucky bite, and these vamps know what I am.

I have one thing in my favor, though. Because I never shifted, I’m still wearing my sundress and my flats. My blonde curls are windblown, but that just adds to my purposely cultivated air of innocence.

They must think they’re dealing with a gentle packmate instead of the big, bad wolf otherwise they wouldn’t stalk toward me, bloodlust already turning their light eyes a shining red color.

Though this patch of road is unlit, I use the waxing gibbous moon to focus on this latest threat. Three vampires, all of them stunning knock-outs. Tall yet voluptuous, each one has a face that I deem almost unnaturally perfect before I remember what I’m dealing with and, yeah, it’s not natural, is it?

They’ve arranged themselves in a triangle formation, a striking blonde with iridescently pale skin in the lead; she’s the one who spoke. To her left, there’s a dazzling Black female whose box braids clink softly as she sweeps toward me. To her right, a freckled redhead giggles as she tiptoes toward the Jeep. The three of them fan out, and I wonder how many of them will be able to get their fangs in me before I can shift.

As a wolf, I can probably take two of them at the very least. But in my skin? It’s a little dicey.

And that’s when another voice whispers across the still night air.

“What’s so interesting, ladies?”

Ah, crap. There’s not three.

There’s four.

And I’m super outnumbered.

I can’t see him at first—and it is a him. His voice makes that obvious. Though it’s soft and lyrical, with a noticeable yet faint European accent, it’s still undeniably male. I can hear him, but I don’t see him until, suddenly, there’s a fourth figure in the distance.

“It’s nothing, Aleksander,” coos the blonde. “We don’t need any of the Cadre to step in. We’re fine.”

Oof. If she had said anything else, I might’ve been able to try to bluff my way out of this. Be harmless Omega Gem who wouldn’t hurt a fly. But after the night I’ve had, I don’t know if I can ever be Omega Gem again.

This alpha bitch is looking for an excuse to make someone else hurt as much as she is.

As I am.

“Nothing?” I snarl. My claws are out again as I brace myself, poised to leap out of my Jeep and go for Blondie’s throat. “I’ll show you nothing.”

The redhead bares her fangs, hissing at me while Blondie lowers herself into a crouch.

She might be sizing me up, but she’s giving me a perfect target.

Before I can prepare to shift, though, the male vampire moves closer. “I think that’s enough. Find your midnight snack elsewhere, ladies. You’re not to feed on this one.”

If that’s all he thought was going to go down here before he showed up, I’ve got a bridge in New York that I can sell him for cheap. From one predator to another, these vamps aren’t just hungry. They have murder on their minds, and I’m the idiot shifter who appears to be easy prey.

Blondie clearly agrees with me. She slowly rises from her crouch before turning toward the shadow at her back. “What? No. I want her.”

“Go on, Gretchen.”

“Aleks—”

“You know the rules. No unauthorized biting outside of Muncie. You wouldn’t want me reporting this to Roman, would you?”

“Unauthorized?” echoes Gretchen. “She should’ve known better than to leave the mountain. This is our city.”

The vampire walks out of the shadows. My eyesight is keen—like my sense of smell, it’s a shifter thing—and even I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Vamp, I have to remind myself. I’m a shifter, and he’s a vamp, and if he’s one of the most achingly beautiful males I’ve ever seen in my life, that doesn’t mean we’re not mortal enemies. But, coming so close on the heels of Ryker’s rejection, forgive me for staring. This vamp is so different from the ruggedly handsome Alpha that it’s almost a relief.

Despite his autocratic and gentle appearance, something about him has two of the three female vampires backing away even before he says, “That’s not for you to decide. Take Tamera and Leigh with you. You can’t have this female.”

Gretchen is the only one left holding her ground. She stamps her foot, throwing her hand out toward me as she snaps, “Can’t you see? She’s a—”

“I know exactly what she is,” he announces firmly before turning those eerily pale eyes of his on me. “She’s mine.”

Um.

What?

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