Bound in Sin (Bound #3)(14)

Her first, her only.

“She’s hurting,” Drake said and pain, yeah, that was just what he’d seen in Paige’s eyes. She’d always shown so much with her green gaze. He’d once been able to look right into her eyes and see her soul.

Heath actually shook him. “She’s in pain? Fine. Then let her go off and lick her damn wounds.” Heath’s words held a sharp bite. “But don’t put yourself at risk for her. She’s a vampire.”

The necklace he’d given to her so long ago, the one he’d stupidly taken from her neck just the previous night, was a heavy weight in Drake’s pocket. Give it back to her. “She’s mine.” There wasn’t anything else to say.

She was his. And she hurt.

Protect her. An instinct from the wolf and the man.

He looked beyond the wall. So much darkness and icy cold waited for him. But that frigid darkness had been his whole life, ever since Paige had left him.

He wanted more now. He wanted warmth. Light. Paige had always been that to him.

“I’m bringing her back.” Drake shoved the other wolf aside.

Heath grabbed his arm. “You can’t bring a vampire into the pack.” Low words. Gritted. Burning with intensity. “You know you can’t do that.”

Very, very slowly, Drake turned his head and stared down at his first in command. He’d been friends with Heath since they were both just boys, but that friendship wouldn’t stop him from kicking the shit out of the guy. “I’m the f*cking alpha.” He let the power ring in his voice. He’d fought for the title. Earned it. And since he was alpha, the one they all submitted to… “I can do anything I want.”

“Jeremiah–”

Had that bastard really gone after Paige? Set this whole nightmare in motion? His jaw ached as Drake growled, “He’s dead.” A very lucky thing for the old wolf right then. Because if he’d still been living, Drake would have ripped him apart. “It’s my pack now.” If Heath wanted to challenge him…

Come the hell on.

He was more than in the mood for some ass-kicking.

After he brought Paige back. He had his priorities, and she came first. “Spread the word,” Drake ordered. “Any who want to challenge me…tell them to get the f*ck in line.” When he came back, he’d take them all on.

Because no one was going to keep him from Paige. Not now.

Not ever.

He turned away from Heath and ran into the night. Vampires were fast, but wolves were faster. Especially when they hunted.

He shed the form of man with a crack and snap of his bones. The pain of the shift burned over him, familiar, white-hot, and soon he was running on all fours, with paws instead of hands, and he tossed back his head and howled for the one thing he wanted most in the world.

His mate.

He had her scent, and he wouldn’t lose it. He flew over the terrain, ignoring the frigid cold temperature–an artic chill that he knew would be cutting into Paige. The cold wouldn’t kill a vamp, but it would make her body tremble and shake. She’d suffer out there.

She’d already been in pain when she left him.

And the only damn thing he wanted to do was take that pain away.

He bounded through the forest and sent snow flying in his wake. The world was a blur of white, but he could just see the imprints of her footsteps.

He knew where she was going.

Inside the body of the beast, the man cursed.

The wolf ran faster, faster…

She’d never seen him in this form. Before, he’d been ashamed for her to see him transform. He knew what he was…

“Guess I am a monster…” Her words were burned into his mind.

But he’d been the monster. Always. The beast who’d taken what he should never have touched.

He leapt into the air, easily jumping over a fallen tree. Her scent was stronger now. Strawberries. Sex. Woman. He’d never been able to forget that lush scent.

The small lake was frozen, its surface dark and glistening. Even though it was day, the sky overhead was as dark as the lake. No sunlight.

Not now.

Just cold. Just darkness.

Paige spun at his approach and put her back to the lake. Her eyes widened when she saw him. Swallowing, she backed up a step.

He froze.

Then he changed, for her.

The transformation was brutal to watch. He knew it had to be. His bones shifted and broke, reshaped into a man’s body instead of the form that belonged to the beast. The fur seemed to melt from his body. Soon paws and claws became hands and fingers–fingers that had dug deeply into the snow.

“Drake?”

Her hushed voice pushed through the last of the shift, and, naked, he glanced up at her.

Paige rushed toward him. “You shouldn’t be here!”

“Neither…should you.” He rose before her. Wind whipped against his body, but werewolves always stayed warm no matter what the outside temperature was. The beast burned within.

Paige shivered.

He took a step toward her, but she stiffened, and her gaze darted around the small clearing. “It’s dangerous. I didn’t think–we need to go back.”

Drake lifted his hand and offered it to her. “Then come with me.” He knew why she’d run from the compound. Desperation and pain had driven her to flee blindly.