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“Okay. Since you’re his friend, I’ll give you the chance to turn around and walk away. I don’t know what your problem with me is, but you can take it up with Roman. He gave me permission to be here, and you really don’t want to try me. Trust me on that.” I gesture to the wolf hovering just behind. “Let’s go, Jace.”
“But, Alpha—”
Nope.
“We’re leaving. Now.”
Hoping that I put enough of my alpha wolf into my voice to override his instincts to defend me or something equally as ridiculous, I give my back to the vampire and purposely stride forward.
Oh, the vamp doesn’t like that one bit.
It’s early autumn, but the night grows cold with the force of his vampiric fury. Jace catches it, too, and he begins to spin, his intent to go after the vampire obvious. Throwing my hand out, I stop him in time, but his wolf isn’t too happy about it.
So, of course, the vampire has to keep testing us.
“Don’t walk away from me,” he orders. Then, after the tiniest of pauses, the vamp sneers in his accent, “Bitch.”
As insults go, that’s pretty weak. I mean, I am a female wolf. Calling me a ‘bitch’ is pretty on point. Still, ignoring him will only make this worse. The vamp is looking for a fight, but instead of giving him one, I just turn and offer him another tight-lipped smile as I shake my head.
Come on. Take a freaking hint already. You don’t want to do this—
His red eyes gleam, like freshly spilled blood.
Oh, yeah. That’s not a good sign.
Neither is the way Jace is snarling under his breath next to me.
He hasn’t shifted. At least that’s one thing in my favor. Another is that he has kept close to me so he had obviously listened when I told him we had to go. So far, Jace is in his skin, but something tells me that won’t last if he feels like he has to protect me.
See? This is exactly why I didn’t want to bring him with me. If it was just me, I could walk away from any kind of confrontation. My wolf would be annoyed, but the human half of me would realize that rising to a vampire’s bait while in Muncie would be nothing but trouble. I’ve already received a visit from two members of the Cadre after the last time I had a run-in with a vamp. I don’t need another one on my record for when I finally return to the Fang City.
With Jace here, the stakes are upped. Even worse, the only shifters who get a pass to walk around without a target are me and Ryker. As a show of respect from one leader to another, Roman has his patrollers look the other way when one of Ryker’s pack council—including my new guards—came to watch over me while he was indisposed.
How much do you wanna bet he won’t overlook Jace taking a rogue vamp up on his taunting challenge?
“Like I said, if you have a problem with me being in Muncie, take it up with Roman.”
The vampire’s red eyes glitter viciously. “Not everyone follows Zakharov. When his head is on a spike, we’ll keep plenty of space for every one of you Mountainside dogs.”
I exhale roughly. Could he be any more of a dumb fuck?
The way he stood up for Aleks, I thought he was Cadre. Now I know better. This idiot has got to be part of the vamp rebellion that I learned about a couple of weeks ago. When Shane first found a vamp to give him a fang, then when my bio-dad was able to sneak into Muncie by promising he would back the rebellion going after Roman and the Cadre.
The small sect believes that the Cadre is holding them back. They wanted life in Muncie to go back to what it was like when Marcel Claret was the leader, humans were an unending buffet, and any wolf caught in their city was turned into a rug.
My guard understands the meaning of what the vampire just said a split second before I do. As seconds go, he makes it count. Before I can stop him, he lunges for the vampire.
I was able to keep Jace from attacking when it was just me the vampire was targeting. For this vamp to threaten the rest of the pack? Nothing short of a howl would’ve frozen him in place and, damn it, I’m too late. If I try controlling him now, I risk the vampire winning.
Luna damn it.
It all happens so quickly after that, mainly because the bloodsucker is fast, Jace is fast, and I never expected a challenge within a few feet of my old apartment. The vamp was prepared for the fight. Jace has no fear. They collide in a sound that rolls like thunder, and I hope that none of the vamps nearby decide to give Roman a head’s up that two supes are brawling in his city.
Jace might have had the advantage if he shifted. Most vamps don’t know a wolf’s weakness the same way that they know a two-legged creature’s. Jace could have ended the fight that way.
Unfortunately, he stayed in his human shape and that cause him. Though he gets in a few good strikes, he’s dispatched within seconds. The vamp sunk his fangs in him, not even bothering to take a sip from his throat before he’s ripping a chunk of it out of Jace.
Jace lands in a heap on the asphalt. I’m at his side immediately. It’s not a fatal wound, though it isn’t pretty. In the darkness, the hole on the side of his neck looks black, and I can smell the blood pouring out.
