“It’s not that I’m ashamed. It’s just taboo in our world. Our pack was what you call a rogue pack.”
She grinned. “Rogue. That sounds sexy.”
He chuckled, and she liked the sound. “It wasn’t. Mostly we just tried to avoid registered packs that were known by powerful alphas like the Romania pack alpha.”
“Why?”
“We didn’t want any part of their pack politics or to be drug into any battles we didn’t feel were ours to fight.”
Lizzy frowned. “What kind of battles?”
“You think humans were the only species to have had a civil war?”
“Since I thought they were the only species that existed until recently, yes. I did think they were the only species to have a civil war. I was pretty sure dogs and cats hadn’t waged any civil wars, at least none were mentioned in the history books I read.” Lizzy yawned and felt the lethargy she’d woken with weighing her down again. She tried to blink, but once again her eyes wouldn’t open.
“Lizzy,” Finn’s voice was urgent again.
“What?”
“I called your name three times, and you didn’t respond.”
“I’m tired. Like really tired.” She felt him trying to push energy through their bond, but it was like squeezing an empty juice box. There was just nothing. “Finn, are you okay?” Her heart sped up. She could barely feel him.
“I’m fine, love,” he said gently. “Just a little tired, too. But you sleep. I’ll keep watch. Just try to keep your mind open.”
Lizzy wanted to respond, but all she could think about was how he’d called her “love.” No one had ever used an endearment with her, especially not one that sounded so genuine. She felt the meaning of the word in his voice. And he had yet to even meet her.
“You’re my true mate, my Lizzy. I was created to love you.”
Lizzy’s lips turned up, or at least she thought they did, just before darkness took her under.
Cain entered the deepest part of the bunker of Area 51 and stopped when he saw his wayward soldier. “Claude, so glad you could join us.”
“My lord.” Claude bowed. “I’ve been back for four days.”
“Four days? Have you been down here hiding out?”
Claude sneered. “I have been doing exactly what my king asked me to do. I hunted dormants and then returned to train the newly turned vampires. Is there something more you wanted me to do? Do I need to check in with you for every little move I make?”
Cain narrowed his eyes at the other vamp, younger than the king, but not by much. “When was the last time you fed? You seem a little temperamental.”
Claude threw his head back and laughed. As the sound died away, his head snapped down, and his wild eyes looked at Cain. “Temperamental? That’s rich coming from you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Claude pointed at the king. “I’ve known you a very long time. If either of us is capricious, it would be you … your majesty.”
Cain rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking of Lizzy. It had been four days since he’d given her the blood transfusion, and now she only awoke occasionally to eat a little food. He hoped this meant her body was accepting the vampire virus, though her ability to keep food down suggested the virus had not completely suppressed her inner wolf. “I don’t have time for your nonsense. Just make sure none of the new vampires harm the human workers. We can’t afford them all running off in fear.”
“Naturally.” Claude bowed his head slightly.
“Also, there is a female scientist working for us,” Cain said through clenched teeth. He didn’t like the idea of making Claude aware of the healer, but if her healer blood was the thing that kept drawing him back to her—not to mention pouring his damn secrets out to her like a leaking faucet—he wanted to warn the other vampire off. Alice was his. The delicate peace they’d been building over the past few days meant more to him than almost anything, except his current project. Yet he worried that if his feelings continued to grow for Alice, even that might change. “She’s important. You may need to engage her if you come in contact with her. She’s a tenaciously curious human. At the moment, she’s pouring over the supernatural texts that I have provided her. Some I’ve provided to keep her distracted, but some because she needs to know the history of our world. We need her to be on our side.”
“How is that going to make her sympathize with the vampires?” Claude scoffed. “We aren’t exactly cuddly kittens, which she will see when she reads our history.”
“The books are not her only source of information,” he said pointedly.
A smug grin crossed Claude’s face. “I see. You’ve taken a pet.”
