Wild Mate: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (11 page)

Glenn nodded solemnly. “Yes.”

“
How?” Jett
demanded impatiently. “Faye and Evan said those two vamps are
fairly young. In fact, from what they gather, they are newly turned.
Levi can confirm that. Levi was one of the first at the scene, and
he caught their scent. Newly turned vamps always leave traces of
themselves when they mist.”

“
That's right,”
Glenn answered levelly. “But I can mist anywhere, and you
won't be able to trace me.”

“
Yeah, but that's
because you're a Master vampire!” Jett huffed. “What's
your point?”

“
That—is my point
exactly.”

“
So you're saying a
Master vampire came and misted his two proteges away?”

Glenn sat back and gave a
brief nod.

“
A friend of yours?”
Jett raised a brow at Glenn.

“
No. I know all the
Master vampires in the city. This one is no friend of mine. Neither
is he known to me. I suspect he may be a new Master.”

Lucas rubbed his chin. “A
vampire becomes a Master vampire by killing his Master. So this vamp
has just killed the vampire who turned him, and became the new Master
of that vampire coven. Do you know which vampire coven had a change
of Master recently?”

Glenn shook his head. “News
spreads fast within the vampire community. News of a new coven
Master is juicy gossip, but no such tidbit has been circulating among
the vamps.”

“
But if the old Master
didn't have a coven...” Jett began.

Glenn smiled, acknowledging
his point. “That is a possibility. The old Master might have
only turned one vampire, or he might have turned many but ultimately
only kept one alive. And if that one surviving vampire killed the
Master, that vampire would inherit all his Master's powers and
abilities and become a Master vampire himself.”

“
That's why those two
rogues vamps are newly turned!” Jett slammed his palms on the
table. “This new Master is building up his own coven, creating
his own vampire underlings! And...he might be the same Master
vampire who...” Jett turned to Levi, his expression grim.

Levi was sitting bolt upright,
unable to blink or breathe. He stared round the long table, looking
every Council member in the eye.

“
Rebecca was misted away
by a Master vampire,” he said at last, forcing the words
through his constricted throat. “Jett is right. I believe
it's the same Master vampire who turned those two rogue vampires.
And I have a very strong feeling that Phin Lester, Rebecca's
ex-husband, is involved with these rogue vamps. He was misted into
Rebecca's bedroom by a vampire. I...failed to protect Rebecca.”

He pushed back from the table.
“I have to find her. I have to get her back. Before...”
Before it's too late
.

Jett put a hand on his
shoulder to stop him. “You can't do this alone, Levi. This
involves rogue vamps. It involves the PAC. We are going to find
Rebecca, together. Can you...scent her, at all? I know bears can
scent their mates, even from miles away.”

Levi shook his head. “No.
I can't scent her at all.”

Blake Madden frowned at his
cousin across the table. “Every bear can scent its mate.
Unless...”

Levi jerked visibly and the
two werebears shouted out in unison, “She's underground!”

Rebecca blinked awake when the
door slammed open. She turned to see Oliver raise his head from her
shoulder and gape at the open door. Oliver turned to her, and
Rebecca smiled back at him. They were seeing each other for the
first time.

From the light streaming
through the door, she saw that Oliver Woods was a slim, young man,
probably in his early twenties, with gentle brown eyes and sandy
hair. His face was pale and worried, and he seemed to shrink back
when the figure stalked into the room.

It was a female vampire, and
from Oliver's reaction, Rebecca knew that she was one of the two new
vamps who were cutting their brand new fangs on Oliver's neck and
wrists. Protectively, Rebecca tried to move in front of Oliver to
shield him.

But the female vamp wasn't
looking at Oliver. She was staring right at Rebecca with her blood
red eyes.

“
You, get up.”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes in
defiance.

“
I said, get up,
Rebecca.” Her voice was calm, but cold.

Rebecca shook her head.

The vamp bared her fangs and
hissed. “I could drink you dry, right now.”

“
And I could kick your
skinny ass, right now,” Rebecca retorted.

The vamp moved so fast she was
just a blur. Rebecca felt sharp nails digging into her neck. “Move
it, slut!”

“
Slut?” Rebecca
choked. “You...calling me....?”

“
Yes. Slut. Aren't you
the little stripper?”

Rebecca winced. That was the
one thing she hadn't told Oliver. But she couldn't worry about that
now.

“
Now, are you going to
walk out, or do I have to drag you out?”

Rebecca got shakily to her
feet.

“
Aw,” the vamp
said in mock disappointment. “I was so looking forward to
dragging you out by your hair.”

Rebecca walked out the door
without a backward glance at Oliver. She knew the vamp was taking
her to Phin. The vamps hadn't touched her, hadn't taken a single
drop of her blood. They hadn't taken her here as food. She had been
misted here as a reward for Phin.

She heard the door slam behind
her. The female vamp led her through another door and down a dim
corridor. As they walked, Rebecca turned her head to the side and
asked quietly, “What is Phin doing with you guys? He's just a
useless human. A scumbag.”

The vamp raked one hand
through her spiky hair and let out a bitter laugh. “Tell me
about it. But—the Master seems to think he has a useful
talent.”

“
Talent? You are
kidding, right?”

The vampire's grip seemed to
loosen around her arm. “He claims that he can see through a
bear Enforcer's eyes, and the Master believes him.”

A thought struck her, and it
made her sick to the stomach.

When she gazed into Levi's
eyes, had she been staring straight at...Phin? And he had seen her,
seen her body! She had bared her body, her breasts for Levi. What
happened between Levi and her had been beautiful and real. But
knowing that Phin had been leering at her through Levi's eyes made
everything ugly and wrong.

That sick, sick bastard!

“
Yes. Remote viewing.
Some witches can do that,” the vamp went on in a bored tone.

“
Phin is not a witch,”
Rebecca said numbly.

The vamp gave a short laugh.
“He may not be a pretty face, but he sure knows how to suck up
to the Master.”

Rebecca stopped suddenly.
“Are you...taking me to the Master?”

The vamp didn't reply.

“
P-please...don't...”

“
Just keep moving.”
The female vampire shoved Rebecca forward. “Just do as you're
told,” she added in a gentler tone.

“
He's going to kill me,”
Rebecca whispered as she stumbled along the narrow corridor.

“
Not the Master,”
the vamp replied dispassionately. “The Master doesn't need
your blood. He has his own source.”

The vamp's words began to sink
in.

“
Not the Master,”
Rebecca repeated.

They stopped in front of a
steel door. Rebecca whirled round to face the female vampire.

“
The Master will let
Phin kill me, as a reward for his remote viewing services. Am I
right?”

The vamp's red eyes darted to
the side. “I've nothing against you,” she muttered.

“
Please don't hurt
Oliver. That's his name. That young man in the room. He's innocent
and kind, and I'm sure you've got nothing against him either. If you
need blood, go to the blood bars. Don't torture and kill innocent
humans. That's not the way to be a vamp. I know, why should you
listen to the mad ramblings of a dying woman?” Rebecca smiled
sadly. “It's because I know I'm standing at death's door,
literally, that I am not afraid to tell the truth. You are going to
live a long, long time as a vampire. Make your life worthwhile. I
am going to die tonight, but I'll die happy if I know that Oliver
will make it out alive, and that you will be a fine, good vampire.
Everyone makes mistakes. You have...time, and you still have the
chance to make things right. I don't. My mistake was Phin Lester,
and it cost me my life. Don't be like me,” she whispered and
turned to face the door.

The vamp turned the lock and
just before she pushed the door open, Rebecca heard her say very
quietly, “My name's Amelia.”

“
Goodbye, Amelia,”
Rebecca whispered.

“
Goodbye, Rebecca.”
A pause. “Die happy.”

Rebecca started. She threw a
sidelong glance at Amelia and saw her nod ever so slightly.

A slow smile spread across
Rebecca's face. She held her head high, and stepped into the room.

Phin was standing in the
middle of the room, his back to the door. The flickering light bulb
threw flashes of light intermittently across his shirtless body,
making the scars on his back and arms gleam eerily in the dim light.

The door closed soundlessly
behind her, and Rebecca inched towards a wall, trying to put as much
distance between Phin and herself as possible. There was someone
else in the room, someone standing in the far corner, watching them.

“
Hey you,” she
called out. “Why don't you show yourself? You're the Master
vamp, aren't you? So why are you hiding in a corner?”

There was a low chuckle.
“Mouthy one you have there, Phin.”

“
Shut the hell up, slut!
Don't talk to the Master,” Phin spat.

“
Or what? What you
gonna do, Phin? What can you do to me that you haven't already
done?” she smirked. “Beat me? Check. Burn me? Check.
Bash my head in? Check.” She ticked off the items on her
fingers. “Kill me? Check. You did put me in a coma. I was
like brain dead, so now, I'm just the walking dead. Oh wait, the
walking dead is over there. In the corner.”

Phin seemed to suck in a
breath at her show of blatant disrespect towards the Master. “How
dare you!” He lurched towards her and pressed his knife
against her cheek. “How care you talk to the Master like
that!”

“
Like what?” she
gritted out.

“
Like you're so fucking
smart or something!”

She laughed. “I am
fucking smart, compared to you. Anybody is fucking smart, compared
to a dirt bag like you!”

He roared and slashed down her
face. Rebecca let out a small cry and her hand flew to her cheek.
She could feel blood oozing from the gash in her cheek, but she
refused to make another sound of pain.

“
Mmmm, blood.”
She stretched her bloodied palm out towards the shadowy figure in the
corner. “You sure you don't want a drink? You're letting him
waste good blood here.”

That seemed to stop Phin in
his tracks. She saw his slitty eyes dart towards the Master, as if
asking for permission to continue.

She was right. He was a
grovelling, cowardly little shit.

But the coward had the backing
of a Master vampire. There was just no way she could escape.

Rebecca had no doubt that she
would die in this room. She would die in a few days, in a few hours,
or in a couple of minutes, depending on how the Master allowed Phin
to go about it. She didn't want to die scared. She had been scared
all her life. She would die...happy.

She was going to have her fun
with Phin.

He couldn't get to her
anymore. But she could certainly get to him.

“
Come on,” she
goaded him. “Let's finish this. Kill me—before I kill
you, you piece of shit. Oh yes, I can and I will kill you.”

At this, Phin gave her an ugly
smile. “No you can't, Rebecca. You can't kill me. I'm not
your regular human.”

Rebecca gave a derisive snort.
“Yeah right.”

“
Look at me!” he
screamed at her. “Look at all these scars. That demon lord
did this to me. And he made me drink his blood. I drank the blood
of the demon Lord of Beasts and Bloodshed. Know what that did to
me?”

“
It made you stupid, I
mean, stupider,” she deadpanned.

“
You really don't know
who you're dealing with, do you, slut?”

She shrugged and rolled her
eyes.

“
I can now see, through
the eyes of a beast,” he hissed, almost theatrically. “I
can see through your bear's eyes. I saw what he did to you, how you
got all naked and wet for him. I saw everything that happened at the
PAC meeting. Everything.” He stretched out the last word and
licked his lips.