Bound by Blood (Bound #1)(3)

Wolves and their animal appeal. She hadn’t thought that appeal would work on her. She’d been wrong.

“Wolves are holding their own…” Now his arms dropped as he stepped toward her.

“So far,” she whispered. That would change soon enough. Once the demons started concentrating their full strength on them. “You know we have to find the doorway that’s letting these demons out of hell and close it. If we don’t, they’ll take over.”

And their coming out party to the humans would be a nightmare. His eyes held hers. When he took another step toward her, Morgan held her ground. She had an image to maintain. A vampire can’t tremble before a werewolf. But the slight flare of his nostrils told her that the wolf was drinking in her scent, and no doubt picking up on her fear.Great.

When his hand lifted toward her, she tensed.

“Easy, princess,” he murmured, “it’s just a touch.”

Right. And if they were going through with this bargain, he’d be doing a whole lot more touching.

What’s one life versus the fate of your people? That had been the Council’s big selling speech to her. Sacrifice yourself. Save everyone else.

Go be food for the big, bad wolf…because he can save our asses.

“My name’s Morgan,” her voice came out huskier than she’d intended, but his hand was on her cheek, smoothing over the flesh, and she wanted to shiver. Don’t. She couldn’t show that weakness. His hands were hard, but his touch felt whisper-soft. “Morgan LaBeaux.”

There was pride in the words because she was named after the first pureblood vampire ever to be born, Morganna La Fey.

The first, but not the last.

His gaze swept her face. “I can’t believe…they’d really trade…you?”

She swallowed. In the end, it wasn’t about the Council. It wasn’t their lives that would be offered. “It’s my call.” His hand slipped down her throat and his fingers pressed lightly over the pulse that raced beneath his touch.

Yes, her heart still beat. She breathed. She wasn’t dead, despite what humans thought. Purebloods were born as vampires. They simply stopped aging around their twenty-fifth year. Stopped aging and developed a lust for blood.

The others…those who’d been brought over by the bite, well, they did die, but only for a few moments. They came back, stronger than before, and their hearts beat again when they took their first breath of air as a vampire.

“So you’re willingly offering yourself to me?” The wolf asked, voice darker than before. The weight of his hand felt too heavy against her throat. Wolves were always so big, too big. In a second’s time, their claws could emerge, and they could rip apart their enemies. And when they went into a full shift…

We need their strength. “Once you help us to defeat the demons, I’ll marry you.” The wolves and vampires would be irrevocably bound.

Any supernatural that wanted a piece of them would find an alliance that was unbreakable. Unbeatable.

Jace laughed. The sound was sinister and strangely sexy. This time, Morgan couldn’t stop her shiver, and she knew he felt it.

“Doesn’t work that way.” His head leaned toward her and his lips hovered over hers.

“You want the demons taken out, then you give me what I want first.”

What he wanted…

“Marry me, bond with me, and you’ll have your own personal guard who’ll tear apart anyone who comes near you.”

She licked her lips. “It’s…ah, not just about me.” She wasn’t doing this to save her own skin. “It’s about all the vampires in my nest. They all need protection. Your pack has to give to all—”

“You are my concern.” He shrugged. “But if they matter to you, then they can have pack protection. We’ll take out the demons and leave a bloody trail to warn all others never to f*ck with us again.”

Yes, he was good at that kind of trail.

Over the years, the vampires had become, well, some said too civilized. They’d taken to drinking blood from handy little plastic bags. They married humans. They blended almost perfectly with society.

Because so many of them wanted to be human.

Morgan had wanted that, too. Then she saw how easily the humans died. Now she wanted to be strong. A fighter.

The vampires were falling too quickly to the demon horde. The wolves—they were lasting longer. Because they’re stronger now. If they were going to stop hell, then the vampires needed the wolves at their sides.

“Marry me…” Jace’s whisper.

She knew she’d do anything, but before she could speak, a hard thud shook the wall. Morgan jerked. “What is—”

He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and lifted her up so that she had to stare straight into her eyes. “Demons followed you here tonight.”

“No, that’s not possible, I was careful, I—”

“Now my pack is tearing them apart.”

If only. But, sadly, she’d discovered that it wasn’t simple to kill a demon. You had to sever its head, and cleaving through demon flesh wasn’t an easy task. While a demon’s flesh looked like a human’s, it was harder to penetrate than any armor she’d ever seen.

“Do I have your agreement? You will marry me right away?”