Blood Prince [Wolf Creek Pack 4] (10 page)

In the meantime, he could give back a little of the pleasure Zacarius gave him. He reached down and palmed the hard length behind Zacarius’s tight leather pants and squeezed. Zacarius whimpered, his hips pumping against Devlin’s hand.

Knowing he took enough, Devlin licked the wound clean then started nibbling along the corded muscles of Zacarius’s neck. He grinned when the prince shuddered in his arms. He could hear Zacarius’s rapid breathing, feel the man’s hands clench in his hair.

“If you come for me, my prince,” Devlin murmured, “I promise to fuck you after I paddle your sweet ass for leaving.”

Zacarius shuddered again.

“And don’t think being a prince is going to save you,” Devlin continued. “I will paddle your ass for leaving. I’m going to make your ass glow. Maybe I’ll even put a plug in your tight little hole while I spank you.”

Devlin could feel the way his words affected Zacarius. The prince’s breathing increased. His body convulsed. His hands dug deep gauges into Devlin’s shoulders. Who knew his prince had such a kinky nature to him?

“Now, come for me, Zac, or I won’t fuck you when I’m done smacking your ass.”

Zacarius leaned forward and bit right through the fabric of Devlin’s shirt as he cried out, emptying himself all over Devlin’s hand and his leather pants. Devlin stroked his mate several more times as Zacarius shook in his arms.

When Zacarius finally lifted his head he looked dazed. Devlin grinned. He thought it was a good look on his mate. And Zacarius was his mate. There was no wiggle room or way to pretend otherwise. They both agreed to it.

Granted, they would need to talk later and work out the finer points of their relationship, but they were now mated. Anyone, werewolf or vampire, who sniffed them would scent the telltale signs of their mating…and a few other things.

Devlin looked right into Zacarius’s eyes and raised his hand, licking his mate’s release from his fingers. Zacarius’s eyes widened. The breath in his throat seemed to hitch just a bit as the pupils in his eyes dilated.

“You really think you’re going to spank me?” Zacarius asked.

Devlin smirked. “I know I’m going to spank you.”

“You and what army?”

“Honey, I don’t need an army,” Devlin replied. He reached down and zipped himself back up before looking at Zacarius again. “Not only are you going to willingly bend over the bed and let me do it, you’re going to be begging me for more.”

Zacarius’s head snapped back. His eyebrow arched. The look on his face that said he thought Devlin was nuts. Devlin just chuckled and wrapped and arm around Zacarius’s waist to lead him back to the middle of the clearing.

“First, we need to deal with a little problem we are having with some unwanted guests, then we can go have some fun.”

Zacarius glanced past Devlin to the five vampires facing off against several men. He shook his head. “Dev, I don’t know any of those men,” he said. “They’re not from my coven, and I’ve never seen them before.”

Devlin looked over at the men. “That’s interesting.”

“Interesting?” Zacarius exclaimed. “That’s all you have?”

“You don’t find it interesting?” Devlin asked.

“Devlin, there’s a group of vampires in Wolf Creek, most likely here to kill me, and you find it interesting?”

Devlin chuckled. “Yep.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Probably.”

Zacarius shook his head, looking extremely confused. Devlin gave his mate credit, the moment they stepped toward the group of people standing several feet away from them, his face cleared, and he seemed almost bored.

Only Devlin could feel his fright, his apprehension, which made him wonder about their connection. He knew they essentially claimed each other in their own ways. And, as a werewolf, he would be able to scent his mate’s emotions. He just didn’t know why he felt them, too. Another thing he’d have to discuss with Zacarius when they were alone.

“Just what business do you have with my mate?” Devlin asked the moment they stepped up beside Daniel and the other shifters. He could hear the audible inhale of shock from those around him.

Surprise!

“Your mate?” one of the vampires exclaimed. “You’ve mated with a shifter, Zacarius?”

“I do believe I mentioned you may only refer to me as Prince Zacarius.”

The vampire snorted. “You’ll be wishing you spoke a little nicer to me in a few minutes.”

“Do you still believe you can attack me and get away with it?” Zacarius asked. He moved his arms out wide, gesturing to those around them. “You’re in the middle of a valley of werewolves. Where do you think you’re going to go?”

“Like they’re going to try and stop us,” the vampire sneered. “They’re shifters. They don’t care about the happening between vampires. I’m sure they’ll be glad to have us all out of their little valley.”

Devlin held up his hand, one finger pointed up. “Normally that would be true, but like I said before, this time the vampire in question is my mate, and I will protect him with my life.”

Devlin heard Zacarius’s small gasp from beside him. It was the first time he verbally claimed the prince as his mate. He knew it threw Zacarius. It threw him. It also gave him a sense of satisfaction to speak the words. Zacarius belonged to him.

“He’s a vampire, a bloodsucker,” the man said. “I’d think you’d be happy to be rid of him.”

Devlin crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I’ve kind of grown attached to the little biter.”

The vampire stared at Devlin for several long moments, the silence between them thick and dangerous. Devlin muscles tensed as he readied himself to defend his mate, and he would, to his dying breath. That was how things were between mates.

“Are you sure this is the path you wish to take, shifter?”

“It’s the only path I can take,” Devlin replied without hesitation.

“Your alpha may feel differently about that when he knows it will bring the wrath of my coven down on him and his pack.”

Devlin worried about that. He never discussed with Daniel the fact that he mated with a vampire. He didn’t know what Daniel’s reaction would be but as the alpha began to speak, he realized his fears were groundless.

“Prince Zacarius has mated with one of my pack,” Daniel said. “That makes the prince our kin. We protect kin.”

Zacarius nudged him, and Devlin glanced down. “Is he serious?” Zacarius whispered.

“I’m pretty sure he is.”

“Why?”

Devlin chuckled. Zacarius sounded baffled. “Werewolves do that, Zac.”

“Look,” the vampire said, bringing back Devlin’s attention, “we just want the vamp. We’ll leave your valley nice and peaceful like. Just hand him over.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Daniel replied.

Devlin growled and grabbed Zacarius’s arm, pushing Zacarius slightly behind him. He wasn’t about to let anyone take his mate.

“You don’t want to start a war with us, fur face,” the vampire shouted, shaking a finger at Daniel. “You won’t like the outcome.”

“Are you threatening me?” Daniel asked, his voice still calm despite the claws extending from his fingers. He tapped them absently against his arms. “I don’t take very well to threats, especially in my valley.”

“Give us the vamp and there won’t be any threats,” the man replied. “We’ll leave nice and peaceful like, never bother you again.”

Devlin smothered his laugh behind his hand as Daniel seemed to consider the idea. His alpha rubbed his chin thoughtfully then shook his head.

“No, that just doesn’t work for me,” Daniel said. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you just turn around and leave my valley before I let my boys loose on you.” He pointed to the men standing around behind him.

Devlin wasn’t surprised when the vampire’s hands clenched with anger. Daniel seemed so calm about the whole situation. They could have been discussing the weather or something as mundane. It had to drive the vampire crazy.

“This isn’t going to go well for you, shifter,” the vamp warned.

“I’m prepared for that,” Daniel replied.

“You’ve been warned.”

“Duly noted.”

Devlin bit his lip. Daniel pissed the vampire off like no one’s business. Devlin could practically see the burn of rage coming out of the vampire’s ears. He wanted nothing more than to rip Daniel’s head off but he was outnumbered.

The vampire cast one more scathing glare at Zacarius before turning to leave, gesturing to the other vampires. Devlin pulled his mate closer. He saw the retribution in the man’s eyes. He knew if they got Zacarius alone, his mate would be dead.

Devlin needed to figure out two things. One, how to keep his mate alive and two, he needed to find out why someone wanted him dead. Devlin wasn’t foolish enough to believe those vampires came here just because. Someone sent them. He needed to find out who.

“Follow them and make sure they leave the valley,” Daniel said, gesturing to Ben and Reece, the two pack enforcers. Devlin grimaced when Daniel turned his gaze to him. It always made him nervous when Daniel Nash looked at him. The alpha could be very intimidating.

“Would you explain to me what in the hell is going on, and why I have vampires in my valley?” Daniel asked. “You might want to start with why you never informed that you mated a vampire.”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Zacarius said, stepping forward. “I’m sure he meant no disrespect, alpha.”

Daniel’s eyebrow arched. Inwardly, Devlin was thrilled. Zacarius defended him against his alpha. If that wasn’t a classic sign of a mating, Devlin didn’t know what was. If they hadn’t been surrounded by other werewolves at that moment, Devlin would have hugged his mate. Instead, he grabbed Zacarius’s hand and pulled him closer to his side.

“I apologize, alpha,” Devlin quickly said. “As Zacarius said, I did not mean any disrespect. We have some issues that we need to work out, and until now, we did not embrace our mating as we should have from the very beginning.”

“It was my fault,” Zacarius offered up. “I lied to Devlin and—”

Devlin shook his head. “You didn’t mean to.”

“Dev,” Zacarius whispered, looking up at him with a sense of wonder on his face. His hand pressed against Devlin’s chest. Devlin smiled, rubbing Zacarius’s hand with his own.

“My offense was much worse than yours, Zac.”

Zacarius frowned, looking confused. “Wha—”

“You told me that you could only take sustenance from me once we mated. I knew that and I still left you.” Devlin swallowed past the cold lump of fear in his throat. “You could have died.”

Devlin blinked back a few tears pooling in his eyes when Zacarius reached up and stroked his cheek. “You wouldn’t have let me die, my darling.”

Devlin felt warmed by the confidence his mate had in him. It made him feel ten feet tall and bullet proof. Being mated to a vampire, well, being mated to Zacarius was turning out to be nothing like he expected.

He no longer cared that Zacarius was a vampire. It just wasn’t an issue. He just cared about keeping him safe and out of harm’s way. He particularly looked forward to feeding his mate again, then again and again.

Nothing on earth prepared him for the intimate act of providing for his mate, certainly not the myths and rumors he heard throughout the years. It was supposed to be painful and degrading. Devlin found it everything but. He gloried in it.

“Well, now that you’ve worked out whatever problems you may have concerning your mating, do you think you might fill me in on what the hell just happened here?” Daniel asked, bringing Devlin’s attention back to his alpha and away from his mate.

“Someone is trying to kill my mate,” Devlin said simply.

“I kind of got that, Devlin,” Daniel replied. “What I want to know is why.”

“We don’t know. They tried to poison him two weeks ago when we met.” Devlin shrugged. “At the time, I thought they were trying to kill me. I was in coven territory, sleeping with the prince of the coven. It just made sense.”

“And now?”

“While I am sure whoever is doing this would love the opportunity to take out a shifter, I believe their main goal is to kill Zacarius.”

Daniel nodded. He regarded Devin and Zacarius for many tension-filled moments. Devlin was still a member of Daniel’s pack. He needed to follow the man’s orders, even when it came to his mate. He didn’t know what Daniel would say or do. He hadn’t known him that long.

“So, tell me about your mating,” Daniel finally said. “I assume you’ve been mated for a while now. Did you think it wasn’t important to inform me that one of my pack members mated a vampire?”

“I, uh…” Devlin stammered, unsure of what exactly to tell his alpha.

“Alpha Nash, please,” Zacarius said, “it wasn’t Devlin’s fault. I lied to him and we argued. He left. I’m sure he thought never to see me again. If I hadn’t become ill and my manservant brought me here, we probably never would have.”

Devlin knew that was false. As angry as he had been with Zacarius he would not have been able to go on forever without his mate. The draw was too intense, too burning. He would have eventually gone back for Zacarius.

“No, that’s not true, Zac,” Devlin said. “I would have come back eventually. I just needed to get past—”

“My lying to you?” Zacarius finished for him. Devlin knew the bit of color flushing his mate’s cheeks wasn’t because Zacarius fed recently but rather from his own embarrassment and shame over lying.

“I don’t mean to pry, but,” Daniel began then he stopped speaking, chuckling slightly. “Okay, I do mean to pry. You keep saying Zacarius lied to you. How did he lie?”

Zacarius’s face flushed again, his head dropping. “I didn’t tell Devlin we were mates when I found out. Instead, I forced him to shift and claim me.” He lifted his head to stare at the alpha. “I didn’t give him a choice.”

Devlin frowned when Daniel burst out laughing. He didn’t see anything amusing about the situation.

“You actually think there’s a choice?” Daniel asked. “We’re given one mate. Whether you told Devlin you were mates or not, he would have had no choice but to claim you. That’s just the way it is, prince.”

“I still should have told him,” Zacarius insisted.

Daniel nodded. “True, you should have. Mates should never hold anything back from each other. My years married to MaryAnn have shown me that. It will always come back to bite you in the ass, one way or another.”