“Hey, man!” Benson, the vampire who fought Nova before me, beamed, waving his arms like I couldn’t fucking see him. “Isn’t the boss great? She sent us this sick ride!”
My lip curled before I could hide it, a low growl catching in my throat. A stupid sting of disappointment twisted in my gut. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I care that it wasn’t her?
Because a part of me had pictured it. Her smirk. The way her natural perfume flooded the space around me. Her thigh brushing mine as she told me what to do with that voice that could cut and caress in the same breath.
Forcing that image away, I climbed in, sliding to the far edge of the seat to put as much distance as possible between me and the idiot with me.
It only took seconds for me to realize he talked way too much for my liking, so I tried to tune him out. He kept yapping about the fight, about how he learned a lot by being “smacked around” by the boss, how it was “worth it” since he got tickets to the fight. I nodded occasionally, just to make sure he didn't try to talk to me even more.
Under the chatter, my thoughts spiraled. The wolf inside me prowled restlessly, low and hungry. It wanted to see her. Tosmellher. To remind her who he was.
I clenched my jaw, running the Miranda rights in my head just to remind me that I had a human side, one that didn't believe in mates. He growled at me in my head, and I recited the words louder.
This mental game went on and on as we went deeper and deeper into the woods until the trees broke. As though it had appeared with magic, a mega mansion was suddenly there, like it hadgrown from the woods themselves. Massive, secluded, it settled into the side of the mountain like it had always been there. It was the kind of place power liked to hide.
It should’ve set off alarms. It should’ve made my stomach twist with dread.
Instead, the first question that popped into my head was what did she look like tonight? Fucking pitiful.
We rolled up a long, guarded drive, tailing a convoy of glossy foreign cars until the red carpet unfurled at the foot of the stairs. She stood at the top like a carved promise. Golden caramel skin, hair shining like she was a star plucked from the sky, eyes the color of a slow-burn sunset. The smoky orange dress clung to her in all the right places, the fabric sliding over hips and chest, making every man jealous he wasn't that scrap of fabric.
Something inside me snapped the moment I saw her. I didn’t remember stepping from the car or climbing the steps; my world narrowed to the way light pooled in the hollows of her throat, making my bones shake. When those eyes latched onto mine, the rest of the world blurred and fell away until all that remained was the heat of her gaze.
A shadow folded into my periphery—Zeth—coiled and dangerous, his face full of sharpened patience. He didn’t blink; he watched me the way hunters watch prey: with purpose. Like he knew everything and was waiting for his moment to strike.
He was close enough to press his hand around her waist, fingers digging into her side like he owned that spot. The motion made the beast in my chest let out a low, ragged sound in my head that vibrated across my sternum. My muscles so tense they were about to snap.
Zeth whispered in her ear, pointing at someone below. Nova smiled at me, a small, casual curl of her lips, before she turned away, but Zeth’s fingers stayed as he stared me down.
The beast wanted blood. My hands itched to close around his throat. Not to kill, no, that would be tidy, almost merciful, but to make him understand with bone-aching pain that I belonged at her side.
“Hey, Nick.” She twisted out of his grip and took a few steps forward then stopped short. Her eyes scanned our surroundings as she held herself in place, then looked me up and down. “Looks like the suit was the right size.”
Why did she stop? Why did it irritate me that she looked around first? My neck grew tight as I gave her a strained smile.
“Yeah. You have good taste.”
She stared at me for a beat longer until Benson slid up beside me, a ball of excitement. “Thank you so much, Boss! I'm so excited for the fight. Thanks for beating me up!”
A slow, small grin crept up her face, more calculating than an actual smile, and she nodded. “Your seats are behind us. Make sure to train hard, and maybe next time you'll be in the front row or, hell, maybe up on that stage.”
Benson's eyes went wide, like his head was about to explode, and, for the first time since I’d seen him, he was speechless. The grin on his face said she was his goddess and he would follow whatever she told him.
Rage flared, hot and ridiculous. My gums pricked as my fangs begged to break free. To tear his head clean off for smiling, for breathing in her space, for looking in her direction. It was thenthat I realized the brutal violence that swirled inside me, aiming at Benson, was wholly different from the feelings I felt around Zeth.Why?
I’d been around her and other men before, hell, she worked mainly with other men. Yet, here, the simple tilt of Benson’s mouth, flashing his fangs at her, made me imagine his blood slicking the carpet. I didn't like him even looking at what wasmine.
It felt wrong, animalistic, and utterly inevitable.
Mate.That damn word threaded through me again with the pulsing certainty of a heartbeat. The wolf snarled his approval at the idea of claiming, of marking. The human part of me flinched at the possessiveness, at how easily those thoughts and feelings came to me.
A gush of air swirled around me as a presence zipped next to her, and, in a flash, I was looking at that turned vampire from the woods. Conrad, I thought his name was?
He bowed before her, her hand in his, as his lips caressed her right hand.
My jaw tightened so hard the tendon in my neck jumped. Images of me shoving him down the stairs while listening to him scramble almost had me laughing out loud, but then the beast inside me called out,He mate, too.
My body stilled. What the fuck does that mean?
