Instead, he concentrated on what he envisioned would be waiting for him when he reached the end of his journey—a little stone cottage at the bottom of a gently rolling hill. And all he had to do was get there, somehow, and he’d find the blood his body craved, the life affirming fluid to restore the vampire existence he never wanted—until Valerian snatched it away.
“So close, yet so far away,” Lucius whispered to himself, digging deep for energy to continue on. Keeping his eyes on the place where his journey would end, he groaned with each step taken, hoping whatever was waiting for him there would either end the pain or take his life; at this point, he no longer cared which.
A hundred feet to go. Lucius began counting down as he struggled to put one foot after the other; it was the only thing that kept him going as he got closer to his goal. Feeling moisture on his cheeks, he realized they were tears brought on by the torture of each step. Swiping at them with his hand, his eyes widened when he saw blood on his fingertips. Dammit! He wasn’t going to make it. His feet faltered and he began to fall. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was a bright blue door.
~/~/~/~/~
“Those belong to wolf mate,” Alex said, pointing to where Sawyer’s clothes were sitting on the front porch.
“Yeah, he shifted.” Looking around, Glenn searched for the place his mate entered the woods, eventually spying the spot the forest floor was disturbed. Pulling his shirt off, he added it to the pile. Reaching down to unzip his jeans, he realized Alex was stripping, too. “Buttercup, you don’t have to…I got this.”
Pausing before pushing down his jeans, Alex gaped at his mate in disbelief before huffing in frustration. “I think Mac should check you over before we do anything else.”
Knitting his brows together in confusion, Glenn asked, “Whatever for? I’m fine.”
“I don’t think so. It’s obvious something’s wrong with your memory. Did someone ever hit you on the head and knock you out? Like maybe one of the men you were chasing?”
“What the hell are you talking about…chasing who?”
“When you were secret agenting, of course. I mean there has to be a reason why you forgot what you said less than ten minutes ago,” Alex said, standing with his hands on his hips, tapping his foot.
Gazing at his mate, Glenn fought a smile threatening to break free, but ultimately lost the battle. Palming his bulge, he said, “You’re adorable, do you know that?”
Rolling his eyes, Alex replied, “I do, but you still have to answer my question. Did. You. Ever. Get. Hit. On. The. Head?”
Chuckling, Glenn replied, “No buttercup, no one ever got close enough to me to do that when I was in the field.”
“Good, then I know you didn’t mean it when you told me I didn’t have to go with you to find our wolf mate,” Alex said, as he continued to undress. When he finished, he said, “I’m shifting into my fox even though my dragon is pushing me to pick him. I think it’s time our animals get acquainted.” Without waiting for a response, Alex called forth his fire fox.
Glenn’s tiger roared within him when he saw his fox mate appear. Knowing it was only a matter of seconds before his animal would force him to shift, Glenn quickly removed his jeans, throwing them on the clothes pile. Then, closing his eyes, he felt his body morph into a sleek, sinewy tiger.
Gazing up at the snowy white cat, the fire fox issued several short barks to gain his attention. Alex, who’d never seen Glenn’s tiger before, was overwhelmed by his beauty, especially his sleek, gorgeous coat.
Zeroing in on the fire fox, Glenn’s tiger padded down the steps until he was snout to snout with his mate. Extending his long pink tongue, the tiger licked his mate, tasting and marking him at the same time.
Closing his eyes, Alex’s fire fox wallowed in his tiger mate’s affection. Turning his head one way, then the other, he greedily encouraged the warm, calming strokes of the tiger’s tongue. The feeling was indescribable and something he vowed never to go without again.
Once his scent was on every inch of his mate, the tiger growled before nudging the fire fox over to the path Sawyer had taken. Glenn was still unhappy with Alex’s insistence on accompanying him though his mate did have a point; Sawyer belonged to both of them and Glenn had to prove to his mates that he’d meant what he said about including them. Stepping aside so Alex could precede him into the forest, he heard his tiger protest the move, but quickly shut him down. Being mated meant compromising and if he was going to make an effort to do it, his tiger damn well could, too.
The forest quickly swallowed Alex’s fox up, bringing back his fear of the unknown. Having never shifted outside while growing up, it was something he usually avoided, even after his father died. Without the lessons parents normally gave to their fox cubs about scenting and avoiding danger, Alex felt vulnerable the few times he tried it. But this was a new feeling, altogether. With his tiger mate behind him, a sense of confidence filled him, making Alex’s fox eager to explore the depths of the woods.
Trotting quickly along the leaf-strewn, mossy path, Alex’s fox lifted his nose in the air, seeking Sawyer’s scent. Finally catching it, he gave a short bark, signaling that they were headed in the right direction.
Answering with a low growl, Glenn’s tiger followed his little mate, keeping an eye out for signs of danger from animals who might object to them encroaching on their territory. It wasn’t like him to forge ahead on a mission without first checking out all possible obstacles, but his behavior had caused Sawyer pain, and healing that pain took priority over everything else. So here he was, padding behind Alex’s fox, trying to safeguard one mate from the dangers in the forest while seeking the other so he could apologize. If his friends ever found out how careless he’d been in planning this search, they’d never let him forget it. Sighing, his tiger went back to searching the forest surrounding them, listening for every sound.
~/~/~/~/~
Squatting down, Galenstared at the pale, blood-streaked face. Even though the man’s eyes were closed, he held his sword at the ready, just in case.
“Is he dead, Gally?” asked Eamon, his voice quivering at the possibility.
“I don’t know,” Galen muttered before deciding to poke the body with the point of his sword. Jabbing several times, he frowned when the flesh didn’t yield. Trying again in a different place, he poked the man’s leg, getting the same results. The man’s body was like stone. Rising, Galen backed away from the man.
“He’s dead, right?” Eamon cried.
“Don’t know…go get Carsso,” Galen ordered.
“Nooo…he’s gonna blame me,” Eamon whispered, a big tear rolling down his cheek.
