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Losing the bond to Lorn had been indescribable. It was like someone had ripped my heart in two with their bare hands, stealing my breath and my entire reason for living. The emptiness was like a black hole in my chest, devouring any happy feelings I’d ever had.
I was reduced to nothing without her, my entire purpose crushed into fine dust to blow away on the wind. Without Lorn, without my mate, there was no reason to continue breathing. That was the impact that woman had on my soul.
Pushing her away had been a mistake. I knew that now.
Every argument I’d had to stay away from her seemed so trivial. Unimportant.
My experiences with my mother should never have tainted the relationship I had with Lorn. The past was the past, and I shouldn’t have put my mother’s sins onto my mate’s shoulders. She had nothing to do with the memories I had to live with, and it was wrong of me to question her before I’d even gotten to know her.
I’d never been so wrong in my entire fucking life.
I was alpha enough to admit it.
I was also alpha enough to fix it.
But first, I had to get out of this goddamn cage, rescue my mate, and get us somewhere safe.
I reached for my packmates again, then tried Jolon and Syler, but there was nothing except silence. It was like Mara had destroyed more than the mate bond, obliterating the pack connection altogether. That, or the wards securing the vampires’ territory were stronger than I’d have given them credit for. Either way, my packmates didn’t respond.
My mind hadn’t been this quiet since I became an alpha. I didn’t like the silence.
It allowed me too much time to dwell. I kept replaying the night over and over again, the scenes like a bad movie.
Seeing Lorn in the hands of Nate Rivers, his teeth on her neck, had driven me to the brink of insanity. I’d moved before I’d even registered the danger she was in, and I’d ripped his goddamn throat out, tasting his blood while he died at my hands. But the biggest betrayal, the one I was still trying to wrap my head around, was Mara’s involvement. I’d heard her confession as I’d raced to Lorn.
“Your girlfriend must really love you,” one of the vampires hissed, Lorn’s blood coating his elongated fangs. They gleamed red in the dim overhead light. The walls were unfinished drywall, the floor a smooth concrete slab. A light hung from the ceiling.
Wherever we were was under construction, and not the new kind. The stench of rotting rodents saturated the room, seeping through newly insulated walls and wafting from a dead rat on the floor, and no amount of new finishing would cover the smell of mildew and dust.
“I’m not sure what she sees in you to go through all this trouble” —he waved a thin hand at Lorn— “but I’ve never tasted anything quite as divine as this lovely creature.”
“You will remove your hands from her, or you will die,” I growled, issuing the deadly promise. My puma was right under my skin. I’d have been surprised if my eyes weren’t glowing yellow. They probably would be until I had Lorn safely out of their clutches.
The vampire tsked. “I don’t think you’re in a place to be making demands.” He leered at my cage with a gleeful sort of expression, and I growled. Again. It was pretty much all I was capable of.
I was a complication. These caged walls had been meant for Lorn.
I wanted to riot, but I prowled the edge of the bars instead.
Mara had stabbed Lorn. Wrapping my head around that tidbit was difficult. Mara had always been family. We’d grown up next door to each other. Played together as children. I’d chosen her to be my mate, for Christ’s sake. Thank fuck we’d never gotten the chance to solidify the mating. I’d never be able to look at her again after this. Her true colors had shone through, and they were murky as fuck.
“What did she hire you to do?” I needed to gather information.
“Your girlfriend?” The chatty vampire smirked, the expression skewed on his bloody lips. Lorn’s blood.
“No, the Pope,” I barked. It was something Lorn would have said. Her sarcasm was rubbing off on me. I kind of liked it. “Yes, the girlfriend,” I gritted out, trying to simplify the conversation. There was no use pointing out that Mara meant nothing to me. I needed to get Lorn out of this situation, but first, I needed to understand how bad shit was about to get, and how many of these vamp fuckers I was up against.
“What do you think she hired the Malvakians for?” he taunted.
No. My body went cold. The Malvakians were a clan of vampires living outside of Master Alistair’s rule. They were like the mafia in the mundane world, seedy and underhanded. They left a trail of bodies behind them so mutilated, it turned the strongest stomach. They were the last clan still drinking mundane blood, and though it had been ruled illegal to turn a human—most vampires born instead of turned—they bolstered their numbers by creating new vampires. Unfortunately, they were good at covering their tracks, and no one had been able to link them to their multitudinous crimes.
Folding his hands, he steepled two fingers together and pressed them to his curved lips. He used them to point at me. “I’ve lived for centuries, and do you want to know the one thing I’ve learned?” Casually striding forward, he waited for my answering grunt before continuing. “Women can never be trusted. Best you learn that now. It will save you a world of heartache. The only thing a bitch is good for is her blood and her pussy, both of which we intend to take with your dearest little mate.”
I roared, my puma bulking under my skin. My hand turned to claws, and I lunged for the bars, swiping at the vampire who used his super speed to escape my deadly slash.
“Nuh-uh,” he scolded.
I saw red, and I forced myself to breathe.
