I glowered at the alpha in the distance as he and a bald dude gave Dr. Vieira their rapt attention.
I gritted my teeth. “He is. I feel it in my bones.”
Tripp slapped a hand on my shoulder just as Dane sat in a chair and held out his arm. He was here to give Doc a sample of his blood for Doc’s research. We’d agreed to help the Gray Pack uncover why one of their own died from a shot of a drug used by Layla Aberdeen and her sisters that night at the club.
Tripp guided me into an empty patient room. “We invited them in. We are not getting into a fight. Not here. Not now. Are we clear?”
Growling, my fangs clicked into place as rage boiled inside me. I was a second away from ramming my fists into the glass supply cabinet. “Who’s the bald dude?”
Tripp swiped a hand over his sandy-blond hair that was tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. “Dane’s beta, Ross. Look, after Doc pulls their blood, I have a plan.”
I retracted my fangs. “Care to share?”
“Just follow my lead.” He sounded as frustrated as I probably looked.
I tucked my fury away for the time being, stretched my neck one way then the other, and trailed behind Tripp. If he had a plan, I was sure it was a good one. Unlike me, Tripp had an uncanny way of extracting the truth without beating someone over the head.
Blood flowed from Dane’s arm into a vial before Doc switched the filled one with an empty one. Ross was engrossed in something on his phone as he waited his turn near the stainless steel counter along the sidewall opposite Doc.
Dane lasered his dark eyes on me as though he was ready to leap over the black countertop and slice off my head.
That rage I held in tightly was about to burst as I approached.
Tripp pressed his hands into the edge of the counter.Easy, Sam,he said telepathically.
I sidled up to him.I’m cool,I lied.
Dane swung his gaze to Tripp. “Did you work out your issues with the hunters?”
“Let’s stay focused on why you’re here,” Tripp said.
Ross’s bald head shot up from his phone, his hazel eyes glinting beneath the stark bright lights overhead. “The Aberdeen women need to atone for what they did to one of our own.”
I tucked my fisted hands in the pockets of my cargo pants, staring him down. “Touch any of them,” I barked, “and you’ll deal with me.” If he so much as said Layla’s name, I might tear him to shreds.
Ross whistled. “Sounds to me like you have it bad for one of them.”
It was hard not to. Layla Aberdeen was beautiful, wild, tough, sassy, feisty, and bold as fuck, and she was all mine.
Sam, take it down a notch.Tripp’s caustic tone was blaring in my head.
Easier said than done. Layla was embedded in my psyche, my skin, my veins, my brain, my dreams, and every part of me. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since she left. The way she made me feel like a god among gods. Like she was my other half, which sounded fucked-up on so many levels. A relationship between a human and vampire wasn’t unheard of. After all, my mom had been human. But my mom hadn’t been a hunter and had no desire to burn my father at the stake.
Regardless, eleven days had passed since Layla had left. Eleven days of hell, not being close to her. Eleven days of sleepless nights, thinking of her and every other screwed-up thing happening in my life. I’d been tempted to get my ass on a plane and pay her a visit. Maybe that would calm me down. Hell, I knew it would. But the auburn-haired goddess wanted some space to clear her head, and I wanted to be here for Ben.
However, if she kept ghosting me and not responding to my texts, then vampire hunters be damned. I would storm their Montana ranch.
“Okay, Dane,” Dr. Vieira said. “Ross, it’s your turn.”
The two traded places.
“Sam, I would like you to meet my beta, Ross Gray,” Dane said.
Ross and I exchanged a glare.
“I see you and my brother will get along great.” Sarcasm dripped from Dane’s tone as he smirked.
I envisioned my hands around their throats and snapping necks.
