Bound In Sin (A Vampire/Werewolf Romance) (8 page)

Gabe wasn’t going to sit back and let any animal take
control. Not anymore.  Those days were over. There’d be no
more truces. No more deals.

Only death.

But he smiled because he knew how to play the game.
He’d made the damn game. “You want me to kill Drake Wyler.”

A quick nod. “That’s what you’re planning anyway,
right?  Kill him…and we–we can have the same arrangement that
you had with Jeremiah.” The wolf glanced over his shoulder. What?
Was he afraid the rest of his pack would find out that he was a
traitor?

You should be afraid.
 

“The same arrangement I had with Jeremiah.”  How
the hell did the wolf know about that deal?  Gabe cocked his
head to the side and studied the wolf with faint interest. “So you
want to kill the humans, too?  Want to slice them up and hear
them scream until their voices break?”

Ah, now that was surprise on the shifter’s face. Gabe
almost
smiled.

“He–he did–” A quick swallow and the shifter shook
his head. “No, no, I just want control of the pack. The shifters
will leave your men alone, I’ll make them stay away.  You can
hunt, you can kill…and I won’t do a damn thing to stop you.”

The whelp was annoying. “Cause you’ll control the
wolves…”

“Damn right.” The shifter threw back his shoulders
and stalked forward. Did he realize how close he was to death? The
arrogant ones never seemed to understand, not until it was too
late. “I’ll keep ‘em away. I’ll be alpha–I’ll be able to do
anything and everything that I want.” 

Provided Drake was dead.

“Do we have a deal?” The werewolf demanded.

Gabe stared back at him. “What’s your
name?” 

“Michael. Michael Flint.” 

The name meant nothing and that very fact said he was
staring at a werewolf no one gave a shit about. “Michael, you’re
turning on your alpha so quickly.”

“Because
I’m
stronger. I’m smarter, I
can–”

Gabe barely stifled a yawn.  He’d heard this
spiel a dozen times. “Take me to him.” Then he’d kill Drake,
eliminate this werewolf dumbass, and he’d take all the territory in
Alaska.

Wolves were always weakest without a leader. 
Without Drake–they’d be easy pickings for his vamps.

Michael smiled.  No, some arrogant fools never
saw death coming.

Not until the moment death reached up and yanked
their beating hearts right out of their chests.

He’d taken her blood.  Euphoria filled Paige’s
body. She’d been so afraid she wouldn’t be able to get Drake to
take her blood. 

But he had. Her wolf hadn’t even hesitated.

He’ll be safe now.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding tight.
They’d just climaxed again, and the pleasure still hummed through
her body.

Then an alarm began to beep, a shrill, deep cry that
came from the far right of the room. Paige tensed in Drake’s arms
because she knew what that sound meant.

They’re coming.

Gabe and his vampires had managed to track them
through the snow.

You didn’t find us soon enough, asshole.

Drake pulled away from her and stalked, naked, to the
line of monitors. She followed him, but paused long enough to yank
 on her clothes as fast as she could. 

She didn’t see anyone on the monitors, not yet.

“Motion sensor,” he said, not looking away from that
screen. “Could be anything…”

But the clench in her gut told her that not just
anything
 had triggered that alarm.

Then she saw the movement of a shadow.  No, not
a shadow.

A wolf.  A white wolf, running toward the
cabin.  Paige tensed. “Are we…are we supposed to be having
company?” She didn’t see anyone else, just that wolf.

“
Michael.”

While she watched, the wolf began to shift. As the
white fur vanished, it almost looked like snow was dripping away to
reveal the man’s flesh.  Then he stood, staring up at the
camera. Up at them. In that moment, with him back in human form,
she recognized the werewolf.

Paige’s hand went to her throat. The faint scratches
were long gone by now, but she never forgot anyone who gave her
pain, no matter how slight the wound was.

Not until she’d given payback for her injuries.

The old Paige, the girl she’d been, had never thought
of vengeance and punishment.

The vampire knew there had to be a rough justice in
the paranormal world. Only the strong survived.

She’d survive. So would Drake. She’d make sure of
it.

“Why is he here?”  Drake demanded.  “He
should be at the lake, hunting the vampires. He should–”

“He’s not alone.” Because she’d seen the other
shadows. The ones that were closing in on the shifter. 

Michael had to hear the vampires. Had to smell
them.

But he just kept walking toward the cabin like he
didn’t have a care in the world.  “Does he know how to get
past your security?”  Her heart was racing in her chest.

Michael headed for the cabin. Another camera zoomed
in on his face as he approached the front door. For just an
instant, Paige caught sight of the smile that curved Michael’s
lips.

Hell.

“He brought them here,” she whispered as the cold
certainty settled in her gut. Michael was going to lead the
vampires inside.  Right to her and Drake. They would be
sitting ducks for the vamps.

Their safe house had just become their prison.

Two of them.  Two against–how many vamps?

The shadows pushed toward the cabin. One. Two. Three.
Four…

Five?

“He’s not getting in,” Drake said as he punched a
series of codes into the computer. “He doesn’t have the right
access code. I changed a few days, and, after he hurt you, I didn’t
give it to him.”

Her breath rushed out. 

“Never really trusted him,” Drake muttered as he
reached for the radio. He connected almost instantly with the
compound. “Wolf gone rogue at safe house one,” he said, biting off
the words. “Send back up…”

Michael wasn’t smiling anymore. He was kicking at the
door. Punching.  Guess he’d realized he didn’t the right code
to get inside.

“That’s steel, bastard,” Drake said, voice hardening,
“Reinforced fucking steel, and no, I didn’t tell your ass about
that little feature, either.”

Because Drake had known that Michael might turn on
him? 

Another voice crackled over the radio. “Coming now,
alpha.  Two teams. Are there–”

The vampires closed in on Michael. They grabbed him
and hauled him away from the cabin.  Michael didn’t fight
them. The wolf went with them willingly.

But she could see he wasn’t smiling anymore.

Her chest began to burn. She knew what would happen
next. Michael might have thought he was working with the vampires.
He might have
thought
that…

“Michael brought the vampires,” Drake said flatly
into the radio, “and, they’re–”

Killing him.

Or, they would be, soon enough. Right then, they were
holding him down.  Slicing into him with their razor-sharp
fangs.

Drinking from him.

And making sure that the security cameras saw
everything.

“Get the fuck here,” Drake snarled and tossed the
radio aside. Then he whirled and headed for the stairs.

Paige grabbed him. “You
can’t
go out
there.”  A glance at the monitors showed her that Michael was
fighting back now. Screaming.

The vampires were still drinking. 

Only it wasn’t just four vampires any longer.

Six.

Her breath caught when she saw Gabe. He wasn’t
drinking from the werewolf. Gabe just stood there, staring up at
the cabin.

Waiting.

He’d waited on this one attack for years.

Secrets.
She hadn’t told Drake everything
yet. There hadn’t been enough time. There still wasn’t.

“I’m alpha,” he growled as his gaze burned into her.
“Michael is one of mine, traitor or not.”

Um, there was a not portion? That guy was a
straight-up traitor. No doubt.

“I won’t let them drain him,” Drake’s voice rumbled
over the beeping alarm. “Not while I just watch.”

No, Drake wouldn’t do that.  He wouldn’t just
stand back while another wolf suffered. That wasn’t who her shifter
was.

She knew that…and that was just one of the reasons
she’d known that she had to get close to him again.

He’d taken her blood, but the boost from that blood
didn’t happen instantaneously. She’d learned from the vampires in
Florida–the vamps that weren’t twisted freaks–that when a vampire
offered her blood to a werewolf, well, the result could be pretty
damn amazing.

The wolf could become stronger.

She wanted Drake as strong as he could possibly
be.

But the boost took a little time. The vampire blood
had to work its way through his body.

I’ll give him the time he needs.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered because he’d hate what she
was about to do. 

But, sometimes, a vamp just had to do what she had to
do.

Since he wasn’t expecting the attack, Paige had the
advantage. She grabbed Drake and shoved him back against the wall.
The wall had to be reinforced with steel. The whole place was
reinforced.

This would hurt.
But she had to hurt him in
order to save him.

“Paige, what the hell–”

She kissed him. A deep, hard kiss that held all the
passion and longing she felt for him.  Did he know that she
still loved him? That she always had?  There’d never been
another in her heart. There wasn’t room for anyone else. Even with
all the miles and years between them, Drake had been the only one
she wanted. 

He shuddered against her. “
Paige.”
Lust.
Need. Fury. All were in his voice. And he was about to try and
break away from her. She knew it.

Couldn’t allow it.

I’m sorry.
The words were only in her mind
this time.  She brought his lips back to hers. Kissed him
again.  She knew just what she had to do. Give him an injury
that would disable him–for a bit–but allow him to come back even
stronger once her blood started pumping fully in his veins.

A tear leaked down her cheek. His arms were around
her. He was holding her tight.  Some attacks, you never
expected.

Paige tore her lips from his. In the same instant,
she reached up, grabbed his head, and slammed it back against the
reinforced wall.  The thud of impact had nausea rolling in her
gut.

Her shifter went down with a groan.

She stared at him, aware that her heart just
hurt.
“I’m sorry,” she said again. She had to move fast.
She knew shifters–no, she knew
him–
and he’d be recovered
in three, four minutes tops. 

He’d come after her.

He’d go after Michael.

But Drake wouldn’t die.
Because she wouldn’t
allow it.

She spun away. Punched in the codes she’d memorized.
She’d watched him so carefully, just in case…

The steel slid back. The trapdoor opened. She rushed
through the opening but took precious seconds to secure the door
behind her.

Her gaze flew around the cabin. She rushed to the
left, to the right, and did her best to cover that trapdoor and
protect her wolf.

Then she bent down, and her hand slid inside of her
boot. Oh, that sweet weapon. Without a stake, she’d feel naked. She
never left home–or her wolf’s compound–without it.  Held
inside by special straps, the weapon was waiting for her.

Time to die.

She ran out of that cabin and raced right toward her
worst nightmare.

The vamps were feeding. Michael was screaming. And
Gabe–Gabe opened his arms to her as if he were greeting a lost
lover.

“I’ve missed you,” he said, voice smooth as silk.

Paige’s heart raced as she ran into his open
arms. 

***

Fury filled him as Drake’s eyes flew open.
What.
The. Hell.

He leapt to his feet. His gaze went to the monitors,
and he saw Paige,
his Paige,
running into the open arms of
a vampire.

The fuck no.

He leapt up the stairs and punched in the code to
open the door. The steel slid back, and he shoved against the
wood.

Only…the wood didn’t move.

He shoved again. Harder.  The wood lifted, then
fell back down with a snap. His eyes narrowed. Paige had put
something on top of the trapdoor. She’d locked him in.

His beast didn’t like to be caged.

With a roar, Drake slammed his shoulders into that
wood. He pushed. He heaved.

The wood broke apart.  He leapt up, still
shoving–
the bed, she’d put the bed on top of the
trapdoor
–then raced for the front door. 

He could hear the snarls and shouts and they seemed
to burn his ears.  The image of Paige running into that
vampire’s arms was branded into his mind.  Why?
Why?

He rushed outside. Saw the blood on the ground. 
Michael. Still alive. Barely moving.

Paige–she was…

“Hello, alpha.”  The taunting voice came from
his left. 

Drake’s claws were out and so ready to claw that SOB
apart.

“Did you lose something?” The vampire asked as Drake
turned to face him.

The vampire was tall. Blond. Bleeding. And he held
Paige in his arms. The embrace wasn’t one of a lover, though. 
One of the vampire’s arms locked around her throat, while the
vamp’s other hand held a wooden stake right over Paige’s
heart. 

“Because it looks like I found something.” The vamp
smiled, flashing fangs.

Drake saw the other vampires stalking toward him. Was
he supposed to be intimidated? Scared?

He was just pissed. “Let her go.”

The vampire–he had to be the one Paige had told him
about, the one she’d called Gabe-shook his head and laughed. “If
that’s what you want…she’s already served her purpose.”