Mating Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel (7 page)

“It’s time for your second lesson. Never underestimate your opponent.”

“What are you going to do?” She eyed him suspiciously. He was being far too relaxed.

“Start a fight,” he said.

Before she could respond, he was striding toward the pool tables with that arrogant swagger she recognized all too well.

Shit.
If he was starting a fight, she had no doubt he’d be the victor. She’d seen him in action a couple of times and the man had a liquid grace and raw strength that scared the holy hell out of her.

Chapter 4

J
ayce was almost positive Kat had come here looking for trouble. Or APL members, to be more specific.

After that hot kiss they’d shared earlier he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind—though when was she ever far from his thoughts? He was always wondering what she was doing, where she was and whether she was okay or not. Hell, even when that explosion had tossed him through the air barely hours ago, she’d still been in the recesses of his brain. The feel of her underneath him in that barn, arching up against him, all sexy and pliant, made him ache. He hadn’t wanted to stop at kissing. No, he’d been so caught up in the feel of her long, lithe body that he’d broken his own damn rules. They’d been training. He should have had more control.

He’d followed her to apologize but she’d gone to December’s house, so he’d waited for her. When he’d seen her leaving, he’d sensed guilt from her. It hadn’t been overt—for someone so newly turned she was surprisingly adept at controlling her emotions—but it had struck him as odd. He’d wondered if she felt guilty for kissing him, but quickly dismissed the idea, as it didn’t make sense.

Now that he’d followed her here, he wondered if that guilt had anything to do with her appearance at this bar. He’d just barely made it back to Fontana in time to track her. He’d left the laptop with one of Connor’s packmates who’d followed Kat back to December’s. While he wanted to know what was on it, he wanted to talk to Kat a lot more.

Without outright accusing her, he wouldn’t know if she’d taken the list of APL members from Liam’s house. Connor had printed out a handful of copies and one had definitely gone to his brother. Unless Kat had been doing some undercover work of her own recently, Jayce couldn’t figure how she’d
known
APL members hung out here. And he didn’t believe in coincidences.

Jayce had known about this hangout thanks to intel that one of the Council leaders had given him a few weeks ago. The kind of APL members that frequented the bar weren’t the kind of guys Kat needed to tangle with. Shifter or not, she was about to learn that things aren’t always what they seem. Unless his intel was wrong—and he hoped the hell it was—these guys were likely hopped up on vampire blood, which would give them enhanced strength. It wasn’t permanent for humans, but as long as they were drinking it, they could take on vamps and shifters and be on fairly even footing.

Now he was about to find out if the rumors that a certain violent sect of the APL was indeed drinking vamp blood were true. He’d already confirmed that there was at least one dealer in the vicinity selling the shit, so it was likely. And Ned sold to anyone. Not to mention that he’d clearly been taking his own product. Which made sense. He couldn’t sell stuff that made his clients super strong without being able to protect his product and himself.

Jayce didn’t usually go around starting fights, but right now he had no choice. Kat needed to see what she would have been up against if she’d come in here with guns blazing. The thought of her going off by herself and something else happening to her made him shudder. Nothing would happen to her again. Not as long as he was around to protect her.

Jayce scanned the bar for other possible threats and found none. At least these guys would have a slim chance against him if they were taking vamp blood. Not that he cared one way or another. This was about teaching Kat. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her ducking out the front door.

Perfect.

He quickly reached the pool table where two men, probably in their forties, were playing. Two others, in their mid-twenties, lounged against the wall, both smoking cigarettes.

The two younger guys looked at him curiously, but the two playing pool didn’t glance his way.

Time to change that.

Jayce grabbed one of the almost full beers on the edge of the pool table and took a big swig. Then he slammed it down on the table, sloshing the amber liquid everywhere.

One of the men glared at him. “Motherfuc—”

Jayce bared his canines, letting them elongate, then drew them back in. There was a moment of shocked silence; then someone sucked in a quick breath.

Four sets of eyes narrowed at him with pure hatred.

Grinning just to piss them off, Jayce picked up the beer again and took another swig. “I’ll be out back if you pussies want to join me.” Without waiting for a response, he headed for the exit.

Once outside he spotted Kat leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest, looking sexy as sin. No time to admire her sleek figure, though. “Get behind the Dumpster.
Now.
” As he said it, he glanced around. Directly behind the bar was a thick cluster of woods. No cars or people back here thankfully. And more important, no video surveillance.

For a moment he thought Kat might argue, but she muttered something under her breath about him being bossy and then ducked behind the giant green box. Just in time too.

The metal door opened, slamming against the outside wall with a sickening bang. Out burst the four men, cocky and ready for a fight. One already had a gun with a silencer drawn and another held a knife.

Jayce’s inner wolf smiled. This was going to be fun. Stripping off his leather jacket, he blindly tossed it toward the building. Before it had hit the concrete wall, Jayce had drawn the two blades he always kept strapped to his chest. The razor-sharp titanium-like weapons gleamed wickedly under the moonlight.

As the enforcer, he preferred fighting with blades and in human form. He didn’t trust himself enough to let his beast out. Not for these guys. The situation would have to be a hell of a lot more dangerous for him to do that. He wasn’t fully in control of his wolf form, and when he let it out, things tended to get bad and bloody. Of course, they were probably going to get bloody in a few seconds anyway.

One of the younger guys, who had a spiked Mohawk, spoke up. “Where’s that slut you walked in with? When we’re done with you we’ll show her a good time.” Lust and something evil oozed out of him.

Jayce didn’t think. The blade was out of his hand and embedded in the guy’s chest before he could stop himself. The thought of any of these men touching Kat made him want to spill their blood and savage their bodies. He almost never lost self-control. Not over a simple comment. But where Kat was concerned . . . sense didn’t enter the equation.

Time seemed to freeze as the man’s eyes widened and his mouth opened. But nothing came out. A trickle of blood dripped from the wound and onto his T-shirt. Before anyone could react, the man’s body began to disintegrate rapidly, turning to dust and leaving only his clothes behind.

That was when Jayce knew that these men—or at least that one—were taking vamp blood. Likely a lot of it, considering what had just happened. Drinking vampire blood wouldn’t turn humans into vamps—it just gave them a lot of strength. Unfortunately for these humans, his two blades, passed to him by his father, had been blessed by the fae about a thousand years ago with a very specific purpose. While against humans they were as deadly as any regular blade, against vampires they were positively lethal. Since the guy was ingesting the supernatural elixir, the magical blades had done what they were made to do: literally suck the life out of those with vamp blood in their system.

In the expanding silence, Jayce wanted to curse himself for his reaction. He hadn’t wanted to kill any of them. He’d just wanted to rough them up and show Kat she couldn’t afford to underestimate her opponents. If she’d gone up against these guys by herself, she wouldn’t have been able to hold her own. Not until she had more training.

No time to dwell on what had happened. The man with the thick graying beard reacted first. He lifted his pistol and fired at Jayce.

The puffs of air emitted when the bullets passed through the suppressor echoed in Jayce’s ears as he used his supernatural speed to dodge out of the way. He rolled to the dirt and gravel surface with lightning speed, striking out with his foot at the closest male.

As Jayce’s foot connected with the guy’s ankle, the male tumbled back, slamming against the hard earth with a grunt.

Jayce jumped up, extended his arm, and slammed his blade into the guy’s chest. The man didn’t even get out a cry of surprise before his body also began to deteriorate at sickening speed.

Pain shredded through Jayce’s shoulder before he could turn toward the other two men. He’d been shot before, so he knew the sensation, but at least it wasn’t a silver bullet. If it had been, the pain would have been more acute.

As adrenaline pumped through him, he dove for his first fallen blade. Picking it up, he threw it again. The sound of flesh tearing and a man’s cry greeted his ears, but he ignored it as he hurled himself at the man with the gun.

With his other blade Jayce sliced the man’s gun-toting arm, knocking the weapon from the guy’s hand and onto the ground. The wound sizzled from the impact of the blade. Groaning, the man lashed out with a balled fist that connected with Jayce’s jaw.

The strength behind the punch made it clear that this guy had a hell of a lot more than human strength flowing through him. Jayce exaggerated the effect of the blow, letting his head jerk back as he stumbled.

The man pounced, coming at him with fists flying. Taking the hits, Jayce twisted under him and shoved up hard with his blade, piercing the guy’s heart and penetrating straight through him. Blood began to pour out, but just as quickly it stopped as the man crumbled into nothingness.

The leftover dusty remains spread over Jayce and the ground. There were two heartbeats nearby and one was Kat’s. He knew she was safe and that was all that mattered. While he wanted to worry what the effect of her seeing this kind of violence might be, he couldn’t allow himself to do that. She needed to be aware of her weaknesses so she could hone her skills and become stronger. The other heartbeat belonged to the fourth man, who was trying to run away. Jayce’s eyes narrowed on the back of the man limping toward the corner of the building and carrying Jayce’s blade.

“Stop and I’ll let you live,” he called out.

The older man turned and stumbled forward, clutching the weapon tightly. “Screw you.” Blood dripped down his arm, staining the gravel beneath his feet.

Covering the distance in seconds, Jayce stood in front of him. He tapped his blade in his free hand. “Where are you getting the vamp blood? Is Ned Hartwig selling to you?”

The man snorted as if the thought was ridiculous. “We don’t go through a middleman.” His face paled as soon as he’d spoken.

Yeah, he definitely hadn’t meant to let that slip. Jayce’s eyes narrowed. “Who is your provider?”

Despite the influence of the vamp blood, the man had still been struck with a fae-blessed weapon. His wound sizzled, light trails of smoke rolling off him as if he’d been burned with acid. He would eventually heal, unless Jayce delivered a fatal blow.

“Why should I tell you?” the man rasped out, a level of fear similar to what Jayce had sensed from Ned rolling off the guy.

“I won’t kill you if you do.”

The man glanced past Jayce, no doubt to look at Kat, whom he heard walking up behind him. Jayce gritted his teeth. She wasn’t supposed to come out yet.

“Doesn’t mean you won’t let that bitch kill me,” he said as his gaze trailed behind Jayce. “Besides, he’ll do worse to me than kill me.” Before Jayce could stop the guy, he lifted the blade and shoved it through his own heart.

Just like the others, he fragmented into dust instantly. Jayce cursed under his breath.
Damn it.
Who the hell was this guy that he instilled more fear than Jayce did? Even though the Council had learned of the use of vamp blood by humans, they still didn’t know who was supplying it. They knew only that popular dealers now had it available. Capturing a vampire wasn’t easy. And keeping one captive definitely wasn’t. It was entirely possible that a vampire was actually supplying humans with the stuff of his own free will, but Jayce didn’t favor that theory. After the way Ned and now this loser had reacted, Jayce figured that whoever was behind this was powerful and scary as fuck. Yeah, there had to be one central provider. The way the APL member had said “he” was too specific. Hell, maybe a shifter was selling it—though that didn’t sit right with him either.

“Holy
shit
. I didn’t know your blades did
that
to people.” Kat glanced around at the piles of clothes before her gaze snapped back to his. “Where can I get one?”

Surprised by her lack of revulsion, he shook his head and motioned to the clothes. “You
can’t
, but I’ll explain what just happened later. Pick up those clothes and make sure their wallets don’t fall out. We can’t leave any trace of them behind.” Unfortunately the bartender had seen the men head outside after Jayce and he didn’t exactly have an unforgettable face. But he knew a vamp who owed him a few favors and he figured it wouldn’t be hard to talk his contact into coming down here and scrubbing the bartender’s memories.

If humans had known that some vamps had
that
ability, things would have been a lot different when supernatural beings had come out to the world twenty years ago. As it was, each species that came out had kept more than a few secrets from humans. They’d wanted to integrate and have semi-normal existences so they wouldn’t have to keep relocating every few decades. That didn’t mean they had lost their sense of survival. If anything, it was even sharper now.

Instead of doing as he’d instructed, Kat stared at his shoulder, where blood was dripping down his arm onto his shirt. “Were you shot?” The question came out as a harsh whisper.

The bullet had gone straight through him and the wound was already healing. Ignoring pain like that was easy. It wasn’t as if the guy had been packing silver bullets. Jayce had dealt with a hell of a lot worse in the last five hundred years. “This is just a scratch, I promise.” But he couldn’t risk any humans seeing the blood since he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

After sliding his blades back into their leather sheaths, he grabbed his jacket from the ground, put it on, and zipped it up. Then he palmed the fallen gun and tucked it into the back of his pants. Definitely couldn’t afford to leave that behind.