Sanibel Sizzle - Vampire Werewolf Menage (23 page)

“The Habalines,” he answered grimly, “wiped out everything we had.  They killed my family and Helene, but spared all other female pack members - took them away.  By my behavior, I suppose they knew Helene to be mine and didn’t want to deal with a deranged Alpha youngling longing to free his mate. So they made sure I watched her die.”

The lock on the stable door fastened behind Ciaran as he continued, “Their decision not to kill me was
premeditated, a calculated move
on their part.  Habalines felt my rare powers even in my youth.  The only reason I lived was for them to keep me a slave forever.  They have their ways
to force compliance,” he stated the obvious
, crossing heavy arms over his chest. “By God, do they have their
ways.
   And they needed someone with my skills desperately.  After only three days, I escaped them and ran just after they tortured and beat me to blood and bones again.  Saving myself, I left all the females behind.” He stared at the ground, kicking a horseshoe from his path.  “You ca
n imagine that decision haunted
me more than anything the Habalines could’ve done over the years.  In truth, I was a coward.” 

“Of all the ways I picture you, Ciaran, a coward isn’t one of them.
You survived an act of pure horror.
  And a youngling, no matter how
dominantly powerful
, can’t take on a pack
of
Habalines
.
”

“Before finding you, I would’ve chosen death a thousand times over.  If it weren’t for the females needing my help, I would’ve taken my last breath.  By instinct, I saw what I was fighting for - the very future of our race.   In the past, its existence sat on a pup’s shoulders.
” Hope glinted in his eyes. “
Now, it sits on a warrior’s shoulders.”

“Are you certain they’re
still alive?”

“My intel s
ays most females are living
and used to breed even now.
And I will
also
protect their offspring and rehabilitate them.
They’ve taken
vampire females and vampire brides who were human born.  Mixed blood Weres or full blood, it matters not to their biology.  Their species flows through generation to generation.
  It’s a dominant gene.
”

“The shifters are disgusting creatures
.  And you,” she said fur
iously, “you would’ve saved those poor females
and still took me dow
n.  Do you see how hypocritical that is
?”

“Let me have it.” He faced her.  “I deserve your wrath.”

Rebecca realized h
er anger
was
dull, and she
experienced more of a
deep sadness.  “
I miss my brother.
” She refused to yell anymore as he stared at her with those eyes of molten steel.
“
In my adolescence, he
let me attend a human school after I begged him.  I had good friends but not many.  As I’ve come to find out
with age
, one or two true friends are better than a few or more mediocre ones.” 

She stepped further back into the shadows
and sat on the floor
.  He could still see her with his immortal
vision, but somehow she felt better under the cover of darkness
. “
I wasn’t on the
honor roll. 
I wasn’t the cool gir
l or
the petite cheerleader
who
was perfect and dainty. I wasn
’t the one the quarterback took to the prom or even dated
.” She wrap
ped her hands around her knees
. “Not only did I have the
height and
larger bone structure that’s true to my inherent
species; I had extra pounds, still carried
the baby fat around.
”

She closed her eyes wanting to be anywhere else but there.
“
And the most unsettling feeling I had was standing in front o
f
the bullies and
mocking classmates for debate or
public speaking presentations.
At the time, I lacked the
confidence
to face them
and failed miserably
.  But what was worse than failing, was the waiting.  The instructor would run out of
the allotted class time when
the top students
before me would draw out their spe
eches, lingering for their impeccable
grades
.  So the teacher would keep putting me off until
the next day and then the next.
He didn’t want to deal with me
or
help me.
I would sta
y up night after night with dread
just needing to get it over with.  Kind of
like what you did to me, Ciaran, though
incomparable on
a
frightening scale
.
  Taunting me daily with my death and making me wait when it didn’t come…another day and another day
…then another week and another week.
”
 

Turning away, Ciaran stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders.  Obviously fighting his tension alongside an emerging werewolf, his canines lengthened.  “
It’s amazing you kept your youngling temper in check and didn’t beat the humans. 
And here I stand wanting to hurt everyone that’s hurt you from the beginning of your life until this very moment.” He pushed his claws through his black mane and pulled. “
You’re my worst offense.
I am sorry.
I will apologize ev
ery day I breathe.” Light shimmered through the stables with the beast’s glow
. “Are you ever going to forgive me, lass?” His voice accented with the werewolf’s undertones.  “For my vow, for what I’ve done to you.”

“You wouldn’t have apologized if I weren’t your mate, right?” She had to know.  “If this didn’t exist between us, you would have kept me
as your whore and cut me off from
Blade.”

“That’s something we’ll never know, Rebecca.  Would I have freed you if you were not mine?  Would
I have executed you if you were not
m
ine? Would I have wanted you as my mistress if you were not mine?  Hypothetical questions, they are.” He was nearing mid-transformation.

“You
will
try to kill Renee, right?”  Scary shit,
the Alpha breaking free,
but she’d seen her brother in full transformation all her life.  Although she wasn’t immune
to the fright factor
by any means, she
would
face Ciaran and clear some of the air.  At least, before she made a run for it
.

“Who is she to you?” 

“It shouldn’t matter because she shouldn’t die, but I’ll tell you anyway.” Rebecca took a calming breath. “My best friend,
she’s
one of the two that stood by me.
I love her deeply.  We grew up together.  When the Habalines took
my
mother,” she spoke freely of something she never had
before, “Papa tried to save Mama
.  In the end, they both died during the confrontation. I had Renee to depend on, along with Bren, Jayce and the pack.  Renee didn’t know our ways, didn’t
know the realm of immortals or the real story behind my parent’s deaths.” She swallowed thickly. “But she didn’t have to.  She was my rock.  My will to go on wouldn’t have happened without her.  She could make me forget everything, still does.   Eccentric, compassionate and fun, she was a gift to our world the day she was born.”

“So I would have killed the reason you made it through the worst of times,” he said slowly.

“Yes.  Without Renee, Jayce and my brother, I would have given up long ago.  I bled, was broken
over my parents’ deaths
.”

Ciaran replied gently, “Young females need a mother, and you hadn’t one.”

“Exactly,” she toughened her tone.  Rebecca wasn’t going to pity Ciaran, and she didn’t want his sympathy in return.

“You’re incredibly
strong.”

“So is Renee, and if you take her away, I’ll suffer.  I treasure her friendship.  I miss her daily.  Please, I don’t want to miss her more than I do now.  I don’t want to mourn her death.  You above all people have to understand where I’m coming from and what I don’t want to see when I close my eyes.”

“Mike Carter was that to me, lass.” Ciaran said hoarsely, “And he was my blood, my kin.”

“I’m sorry for the pain his death caused you.” Even Rebecca heard the sincerity in her voice.

“And if I spare Renee, could you turn this page?”

“A bargain?
  Life for….”  She couldn’t finish, didn’t know how.

“
No, there’s no bargain.  We will be bound by souls.
Your pain will be my pain. 
I won’t harm those
that
you
hold
dear to
your heart.
  The clan and the pack will be in
agreement with the Alpha male’s mate
.
There is no other choice.  And one day, hopefully, Renee Shirley will visit as an honored guest of this monarchy.” His eyes burned through the darkness with sincerity. “Now the timid young girl that bullies mocked at school is an extraordinarily beautiful queen.
”

T
he rain dripped over his lips.  She watched as he tasted her with each swipe of his tongue. “
Come to me, my queen,” he purred.  “
I simply want your forgiveness.  Even if it’s not granted, I
can’t stay away.  If I were a human, I still probably couldn’t do it
.” He shook his
head and
rain drops splattered
his bare chest.

“Where does that leave me?”

“With me.”

“And Blade?”

“
I
cannot
harm
him, just as
I cannot harm you. And I at no time
damaged
him to begin with
.
As co-mates, I would die for him
the
same
way
as you.  My
werewolf is in agreement.” He frowned when she scooted back, putting distance between them
. “It’s a good thing I didn’t kill Blade first, before I found out you were ours.”

“You say that so easily.”

“I won’t lie to you
any longer.  Truth flows like honey
; it’s the lies that catch in the throat.” Ciaran was close now. With every flash of lightning, he gained a few feet, clo
sing in on her like the sly hunter
he was born to be. “I expect the same courtesy from this moment forward.”

“I don’t want any more moments with you, Ciaran.” 
The heat wouldn’t let her go.
Maybe one
moment…
since I’m really horny.
She felt the
warm
sweat trickle down her back, even though she was soaked through by the storm.

“You do.”

Ciaran was suddenly sitting behind her.  She would’ve bolted if he hadn’t squeezed his thighs around her body. 
You’re too fast.
 
“No, you’re wrong.” She pushed at his hands. 
Don’t do this
to me, don’t make me want you.

“I want to touch you.” He
stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, inhaling the scent of her. “That’s all.”

“No, you want all that I have.”

“Bit by bit, I’ll claim you.  That’s true.” Her nipples were hard, poking through her wet top. “You know my touch, my mouth.” With his canines, he sliced through the fabric at her nape.  Tongue stroking the raindrops
mingling with her perspiration.
He whispered in her ear
, “Didn’t
if feel like a fantasy when I spread you out on my banquet table
tasting you?”