“We are hoping,” Willis interjected, “that perhaps the dormants with smaller amounts of wolf blood will be susceptible to the vampiric virus.”
“Sounds like you’re doing a lot of hoping. Perhaps what you are really doing is wishful thinking.”
“Every glorious creation starts out as nothing more than a simple idea in a person’s mind.” Cain said. “Nothing worth doing just happens, Finn. Truly magnificent creations take time, trial, and error. When we determine how diluted the blood must be, then we can mix the blood and make something entirely new. Not human, not vampiric, and not wolf, but hybrid blood. Willis believes we can use this blood to give transfusions to the dormants, even those with a higher percentage ofCanis lupusblood. We might even be able to morph a full-bloodedCanis lupus.”
Finn’s eyes narrowed as his brow wrinkled and his lips pressed tightly together. Finally, he rolled his large shoulders. “Fine. Bite me.”
Cain smirked. “Two words I never thought I’d ever hear from aCanis lupus.”
“Don’t push your luck, vampire. I bite back.”
He tilted the male’s head to the side and struck quickly. His teeth had to work hard to puncture the tough skin. It naturally wanted to heal the moment the flesh was broken. Warm, life-giving blood immediately flooded his mouth. Rich in nutrients, the iron flavor coated his tongue. He only took one swallow before pulling back. He wouldn’t admit it, but that was one of the hardest things Cain had ever done. The vampire called on centuries of self-control as his hands gripped Finn’s shoulders. He vaguely noticed the wolf grunt as if in pain, but he forced himself to ignore the sound. Cain’s natural desire to hold his prey down and take what he wanted, what his body craved, screamed at him to drink deep and keep on drinking until there was nothing left to take. The power that flowed into him from the full-bloodedCanis lupuswas intoxicating, and the effect was immediate. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, savoring the taste, then ran his tongue across his teeth, making sure to get every drop. The vampire felt as if his very cells had been as dry as a desert and were now hydrated to the point they might burst out of his skin. The constant hunger that gnawed at his insides fled, and he no longer felt the ache to sink his teeth into the nearest jugular.Thiswas why his people sought out dormants. And the effects he got from the dormants was but a fraction of this experience.
Cain took several deep breaths and cleared his throat, pulling himself together, although he wanted to leap back onto the wolf and drink him dry.
“You have the taste?” Willis asked, drawing Cain back to reality.
“Yes.”
The door opened, and two humans pushed in a gurney. A woman laid on top of it. She looked like the others, as if she was simply asleep. Essentially, she was. A medically induced coma, as Willis had explained it. The female appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties. She was the best kind of dormant—one with no attachments. Cain had found this woman himself. As an orphan, as the humans called it, no one would miss her. Not to mention, she’d lived on the streets, so it hadn’t been hard to convince the girl that he could offer her a better life. He had promised her she would be working with the human government on various top-secret projects, which wasn’t entirely untrue. It was amazing to Cain how gullible and desperate humans were. The girl, who had looked half-starved, filthy, and lost, had barely asked any questions before she had shrugged, said “‘F-it, why not?” and then jumped in the car with him.
They rolled her over to the only empty space in the room, which was beside the chair where Finn sat restrained. Cain paid no attention to the wolf as he walked over to the female. As he turned her head, he heard a deep, loud growl.
“Get your damn hands off of her.” Finn snarled.
Cain turned his head to see the glowing eyes of the wolf looking back at him. Finn’s body shook, and his muscles strained against the straps holding him in place. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not going to hurt them. I’m going to bite her. Just as I did you. Not to drink. Just to taste.”
“What’s her name?” Finn’s voice was deep and guttural with his wolf.
“What difference does it make?”
“Tell me,” Finn yelled.
Cain huffed and grabbed the clipboard that hung on the side of the bed. He read over it and then answered. “Lizzy Fairchild. And I didn’t abduct her, if that helps your little wolf scruples. She came willingly.”
“Lizzy,” Finn practically whispered, though the sound was not gentle. His voice was rough and filled with longing. He sounded like that of a man who had been imprisoned for decades when someone suddenly opened the door to his cell.
Cain’s hands clenched around the clipboard as he realized what the hell was happening. He looked at the female and then back at Finn. “You’ve got to be bloody kidding me.”
“Get away from her.” Finn’s eyes never left the girl’s face.
“I’m going to bite her, then she will be taken back to her room.” Cain attempted to keep his voice matter-of-fact and non-confrontational.
“If your mouth gets anywhere near her, I will tear the lips from your face and feed them to my pack.”
“Why is he getting so angry?” The shake in Willis’s voice gave away a genuine fear of the restrained wolf.
Apparently, I need to step up my game if this damn wolf is scarier to the human than the king of the vampires.
Cain set the clipboard down and folded his arms across his chest. He faced Finn and leaned his hip against the gurney. “I should have considered this, dammit. But what are the odds?” He glared at the wolf. This mongrel could ruin the entire operation if he managed to get free from those restraints.
“What are you talking about?” the scientist asked again.
“GET. AWAY. FROM HER.” Finn growled so loudly that the glass in the windows of the room rattled.
“Dude, he can’t get out of those restraints, can he?”
“I don’t know, Willis. They’re designed for humans. They probably haven’t been tested againstCanis lupusstrength. Perhaps you should get one of your concoctions together to knock his big ass out.”
