I ripped my eyes away from the crest, and my gaze swept across the open quad. Students new and old filtered into the campus, some chatting with excitement, others shooting wary looks at the other species.
I’d felt the same way when I arrived a few years ago, full of rage and the need for vengeance. Then I found out the Durand didn’t actually spend time at the college and reluctantly found I enjoyed my time here.
Tate would tell me to let it go. That the death of my sire was so long ago and, from everyone else’s perspective, he’d deserved it. Regardless, the depth of my loyalty to my creator demanded blood payment in the form of a Durand, any Durand.
If only I could get my hands on one.
“Look at that.” Tate pointed toward the front of the registration office. “Fresh meat!”
Tate’s excitement shot down our bond as the roaring of a motorcycle pulled my attention to the front gate. A feminine figure wrapped in black biking gear zipped through the open metal gates of the academy drive. My eyes followed, watching as, instead of pulling into student parking, she pulled her bike up along the others parked at the curb.
“Think she’s a new wolf?” Tate asked. The curiosity from him that pulsed in my chest started to wane at the prospect of another wolf.
I didn’t answer right away. My gaze focused on her every movement.
The mysterious woman swung her leg over her bike and pulled her helmet off. Long, dark curls trailed down her back, settling just above what had to be the most biteable ass in all the centuries I’d been alive. Her black pants weren’t doing anything to hide her figure, and my hands ached to grip her hips before sinking my fangs into her pale slender neck.
A subtle breeze carried her scent straight through me. I bit back a moan. The pulse of desire that echoed from Tate told me I wasn’t the only one undone by it — steel and herbs, with something soft and sweet buried underneath.
“Definitely, not a wolf,” Tate moaned, biting his knuckle. “What do you think—?”
I followed closely behind my mate, my shadows writhing beneath the surface as three large werewolves approached my newest obsession.
“Uh-oh. That’s no good,” Tate quipped, hurrying his pace.
Unfortunately, before we could reach her, the three burly werewolves surrounded her, grinning from ear to ear, to menace her.
“You can’t park there,” one of them snapped. I thought his name was Finn, but I didn’t keep up with all the mutts. Only one wolf concerned me, and he was headed straight for the middle of their little altercation.
“Oh?” The woman lifted her nose in the air, peering up into the wolves’ narrowed gazes. “It looks like I just did.”
Two of the wolves growled while their leader leaned in for a sniff. “You’re not a wolf. Only wolves park at the front. Vamp whores park in the back of the lot.” His menacing grin turnedinto a leer, sliding up and down her form like grease. “Or you know,” he wrapped one of her dark curls around his fingers, “maybe we could come to an arrangement.”
My shadows stiffened, ready to lash out.
“Looks like we better go save the princess.” Tate clicked his tongue with a smirk, stalking in her direction.
My lips curled at the edges, ready to shed some blood. The wolf’s shout of pain turned my expression into a full-on grin.
My woman had him kneeling on the ground as she twisted his wrist at a painful angle. The other two wolves growled at her, their chests puffing up in preparation for an attack.
Mywoman?I hadn’t even met the female, and already I’d put a claim on her. That was a first. I hadn’t felt this way about anyone so strongly since the first time I met Tate.
Tate’s steps slowed as he took in the scene. “Well, maybe there’s a bit more to the princess than we thought.”
We hurried over just as the two wolves launched themselves at her. She surprised me again by twisting around to kick one of them in the chest. The wolf went flying across the quad with more force than one would expect from someone her size.
The other wolf, distracted by his friend, didn’t see her fist coming straight for his Adam’s apple. The wolf grabbed his throat gasping for air as he fell to the ground.
“Be still my heart,” Tate exclaimed, a hand to his chest.
The woman spun around her hands up in a defensive position, those pale brown eyes assessing Tate and me.
“We come in peace.” Tate held his hands up. “We were actually coming to your rescue, but it seems…” He gestured to the three wolves still picking themselves back up. “We’re not needed.”
“Yeah.” My woman lowered her hands and shifted her shoulders, adjusting the leather jacket over her shoulders. “Well, thanks. I’m good.”
“We can see that.” Tate beamed at her. His tail would have been wagging if he was in his wolf form. “So, princess, let me guess, you’re a…” He sniffed the air again, and that desire that hadn’t wavered came on in full force, almost knocking me on my ass. “A human servant?”
