#6 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 6: New Moon) (3 page)

“Thank
you for helping me. I hope the kings haven’t given you too much flack.” Tanya
made her way to the couch and moved in next to Stephany.

“Nah,
they want you both healthy and would prefer you drank from me.”

There
was a burning question that kept swirling around in her mind. One she had to
ask but didn’t know how.

She
leaned in and sank her tiny fangs into Stephany’s neck. It was weird. She
finally understood what her…the males had been trying to tell her. Drinking was
not always sexual. Tanya enjoyed taking blood from Stephany just like she
enjoyed licking the butter icing from one of her favorite cupcakes or sucking
on a block of decadent chocolate. Although it was enjoyable, there was nothing
remotely sexual about it. Once she had drunk her fill, she released Steph’s
neck and carefully licked the two leaking holes until they sealed. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.
I’ll be back in a day or two.” Stephany rose and retrieved her purse. Either
she asked now or she would have to wait for Steph to come back.

She
needed to know.

“Who
are Brant and Zane drinking from?” She blurted, expecting Stephany to tell her
to ask them herself like she did whenever she asked a question about either of
them.

Stephany
smiled. “You still care.”

“You
know I do.” She huffed. “I left them because I care. Although I really wish my
emotions had an on/off switch, they unfortunately don’t, so I can’t switch my
feelings off. Now who are they drinking from? I need to know.”

Stephany’s
brow furrowed. “That’s the thing, they don’t seem to be drinking from anyone. I
assure you that it would be common knowledge if they were. You don’t even want
to know how many bets are flying around the castle. Who will they drink from?
Who will they rut first? Will you come back? How long before they rut with
someone else? How long before you come back?”

And
that was the second burning question that wouldn’t leave her mind. “I take it
they’re not rutting with anyone then?” She inwardly cringed.

Stephany
smiled. “I should be telling you to go and speak with them yourself, but in
this instance I think it is important for you to know that they are definitely
not rutting with anyone. They have to be drinking from someone, but I don’t
know who.”

“If
you don’t know about the drinking then you may not know about the rutting.”

Stephany
squeezed Tanya’s arm and shook her head. “You have never in your life seen a
more sorry sight. They are devastated at your leaving. They mope around,
growling and scowling at everyone that has the bad luck of crossing their
paths. It’s comical. You may start getting requests from the general population
to return to them. Life has become difficult at the castle.” She smiled down at
Tanya warmly. “I would know if they were rutting and I am certain that they are
not. They want only you, Tanya. Remember that.”

Tanya
felt her eyes prick and she blinked a few times to hold back the tears. “Why
did they have to be such jerks?”

“I
hope that in time you can forgive them.”

“It
is not about forgiving them. They hurt me by going behind my back like that. That
is something I can forgive, but I cannot watch them destroy each other and they
made it clear that their dominance would never diminish. They will never be able
to rule together. They told me that the three of us would never work.”

“I
think that they were wrong. Only time will tell.”

“I
don’t see how time will change anything. They can’t change their dominant
natures.”

Stephany
shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Tanya
had to roll her eyes. She refused to allow hope to creep into her heart. It would
only mean more heartache for her in the long run.

“Call
me if you need me.”

Tanya
nodded. “I will.”

****

Brant
tortured himself for many long hours staring up at Tanya’s window. He
eventually had to face his responsibilities though so he made his way back to
the castle.

His
first instinct was to shoulder his way through the closed door in front of him.
By entering Zane’s private suite unannounced, he would show dominance over the
other male. With or without their chosen female, they were still in a
predicament over who would take the lead when it came to ruling the newly
integrated covens. A fight to determine leadership was inevitable. He sighed
heavily. Not something he wanted to think about right now since there was the
more pressing matter of getting their female back. While working together to
gain back her trust, they seemed to have formed a truce of sorts. Whichever
male was working on winning Tanya gave over decision making to the other. They
met daily to discuss all pressing matters as well as their game plan when it
came to Tanya.

Brant
scrubbed a hand over his face and knocked twice on the heavy wooden door.

“Enter.”

He
turned the handle and strode in. A scantily clad female he would once have
thought of as attractive inclined her head, a small smile played on her lips.
The room was thick with the scent of arousal. The female sidled past him and
closed the door as she left.

Zane
pulled a shirt over his head. Brant’s blood caught fire as anger coursed
through his veins.
The bastard
.

His
mind blanked, his vision narrowed until his focus was solely on the other male.
He should have known Zane would drop to this level.

Zane’s
brow creased. “What?” he had the audacity to ask.

“Fuck
you!” Brant growled as he launched himself at the male. Zane didn’t move to
block the punch, which took him square in the jaw. He stumbled backwards barely
managing to keep his balance. Using his backward momentum to his advantage,
Zane was able to mostly dodge his left upper cut and blocked the next punch
easily.

Hot
anger boiled inside of him. The emotion blocked his ability to think
rationally. Did Tanya mean so little to this arrogant dickhead that he was
already taking other females to his bed? It was not something he had felt the
need to discuss with Zane. He obviously had wrongly assumed that the other male
would take his same stance on the matter.

No
other female would do. Not now. Not ever.

Zane’s
infidelity would devastate his female, would crush her fragile confidence. As
much as he disliked the other male and wanted her for himself, her happiness
meant everything to him. His rage stepped up another notch, his vision turning
a hazy red as he grabbed Zane on his upper arms so that he could anchor him for
a knee to the stomach. Zane grunted with the impact. Using his forehead, he
bashed Brant hard in the face. Pain blossomed but quickly subsided as his
wounds began to heal. The momentum from the knock sent him flying backwards
into the closet door. Zane grabbed a hold of his arms. The bastard was strong.
He was shouting something, but all Brant could hear was the sound of his own
heartbeat ringing in his ears. Brant managed to yank an arm free which he used
to punch the other male. Instead of striking back, Zane allowed himself to be
hit grabbing Brant’s arm as he tried to pull back for another.

“I
didn’t rut her. I didn’t touch her.” Zane’s words finally registered.

“You
lie,” he rasped.

Zane’s
hold on him loosened but he didn’t let go altogether. “You would be able to scent
our rutting.”

Brant
tried to suck in air through his nose but clotted blood slid down his throat
making him choke. Zane released him and moved back a step. “I could scent her
arousal when I entered.”

Zane
grinned making Brant want to smash his face in. “I have that affect on
females.” He shrugged. “She came to try and rut with me but I turned her away.”

“Did
you drink from her?” Another explanation for the strong scent as he entered.

The
other male grunted wiping blood from his mouth. “I think you loosened a few of
my teeth. Maybe check first before you start swinging. I didn’t take from her.
We have an agreement. Tanya is the only female I want in my bed.”

“Good.
I think you may have broken my nose.”

“It
was a reaction. You might want to straighten it out before you fully heal.”

Brant
touched a hand to his face, feeling how his nose stood at a slight angle. There
was a
crack
followed by a sharp pain and then some more blood as he
straightened his nose while moving to the mirror so that he could check his handy
work. His nose was blue and swollen. He looked terrible, but at least
everything was back to being symmetric. Thank blood for his accelerated
healing.

“You
can’t tell me that you haven’t had offers since our female left us,” Zane said.

He
shook his head. “Stephany put the word out that she’ll take out any female that
tries to rut with me, so they are staying away. She also threatened to cut my
dick off with a silver blade if I so much as look at another female.” He smiled
thinking of the fierce vampire. In a few short weeks, his most trusted assistant
and loyal friend had sided with Tanya instead of with him. “Other than to
threaten me, she hasn’t said more than two words since Tanya left.”

Zane
sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his boots. “Since our covens are now
one unit, will you ask her to let the females of my coven know that I am off
limits also? I’m not tempted by any of them, but it is becoming annoying to
tell them to leave and that I am not interested.”

Brant
chuckled. “What part of her not talking to me don’t you get? Ask your assistant
to speak to the females of your coven.”

Zane
lifted his eyebrows. “You are right, Charlotte has not tried to rut with me
since our human left. She is not dominant like Stephany though, so I do not
think the females will listen to her.” He rolled his shoulders a few times
before standing while holding a hand to his left side. “I think you may have
cracked a rib.”

“You’ll
heal.”

“Bones
can take a few hours.”

“Yeah…”
Brant cleared his throat. “Sorry about that.”

Zane
nodded. “I understand. How did it go today?”

Brant
felt his shoulders slump. “She wouldn’t accept my gift.”

“That
is bad news. I did another internet search”—Zane gestured to the laptop on a
mahogany desk in the corner—“I may have found something we can use…apparently
diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

“How
can a sparkling stone be a best friend?”  

Zane
shrugged. “Humans are weird. As you know plants, food stuffs, stones…giving these
items is considered courting in their culture.”

“It
doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Me
either, but I have to try. Did you notice if her ears were pierced? I never saw
her wear any ear adornments.”

“She
never wore anything on her ears,” Brant answered.

“I
will get her a bracelet or a necklace.” His brow was creased in thought.

“Get
her both,” Brant said.

“You
are right.” Zane stood. “The trackers checked in while you were out, there have
been no more sightings of wolves in any of our territories. I have officially
requested that the alpha swear allegiance but have heard nothing back.”

“This
could still mean war.”

“I
doubt it. We have the bigger numbers,” Zane said.

“They
are cunning and have an uncanny ability to disappear though.”

Zane
shrugged. “Let the cowards run and hide. We have yet another more pressing
matter.”

The
look on Zane’s face made Brant want to sit. “I don’t want to ask.”

“Katar
called…he wanted to visit with his new son-in-law and his beloved daughter,
wouldn’t take no for an answer. We will need to go and see him to try and
explain things or you will need to convince Xavier to mate her. Time is running
out.”

Brant
cursed. “Tanya promised the elf princess that she could date our males.”

Although
Zane’s expression softened at the mention of their female, his words came out
sounding harsh. “Not happening. That would spell war and although I wouldn’t
mind taking down Katar’s son, I don’t want to see the elven people destroyed.”

“I
will speak with Xavier.”

“Thank
you. I will let you know if Tanya accepts the gift.”

Although
his chest tightened at the thought of another rejection, he plastered on a half-smile.
“I hope it goes well.”

From
the pinched look on Zane’s face, he knew that the other male was feeling it
too. A longing, an unrelenting need that only their human could fill. They had
to get her back. They just had to.

****

Tanya
put a second batch of muffin trays into the oven. She didn’t have long before
the lunch rush. Although she currently didn’t have a wide selection to offer,
it seemed the townsfolk were still eager to see the woman that had somehow
managed to escape the vampire kings’ clutches. Both men and women alike. Some
bought her books while others just sat in the restaurant section and gawked at
her while they ate their pastry or drank their coffee. Most just looked, but
some actually straight out asked about her time with the vampires. It was
something she hoped would blow over quickly because although the money was
good, being gawked at on a daily basis was emotionally draining.