Forever Bound Series 1-4(67)

She didn’t see anyone on the monitors, not yet.

“Motion sensor,” he said, not looking away from that screen. “Could be anything…”

But the clench in her gut told her that not just anything had triggered that alarm.

Then she saw the movement of a shadow. No, not a shadow.

A wolf. A white wolf, running toward the cabin. Paige tensed. “Are we…are we supposed to be having company?” She didn’t see anyone else, just that wolf.

“Michael.”

While she watched, the wolf began to shift. As the white fur vanished, it almost looked like snow was dripping away to reveal the man’s flesh. Then he stood, staring up at the camera. Up at them. In that moment, with him back in human form, she recognized the werewolf.

Paige’s hand went to her throat. The faint scratches were long gone by now, but she never forgot anyone who gave her pain, no matter how slight the wound was.

Not until she’d given payback for her injuries.

The old Paige, the girl she’d been, had never thought of vengeance and punishment.

The vampire knew there had to be a rough justice in the paranormal world. Only the strong survived.

She’d survive. So would Drake. She’d make sure of it.

“Why is he here?” Drake demanded. “He should be at the lake, hunting the vampires. He should–”

“He’s not alone.” Because she’d seen the other shadows. The ones that were closing in on the shifter.

Michael had to hear the vampires. Had to smell them.

But he just kept walking toward the cabin like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Does he know how to get past your security?” Her heart was racing in her chest.

Michael headed for the cabin. Another camera zoomed in on his face as he approached the front door. For just an instant, Paige caught sight of the smile that curved Michael’s lips.

Hell.

“He brought them here,” she whispered as the cold certainty settled in her gut. Michael was going to lead the vampires inside. Right to her and Drake. They would be sitting ducks for the vamps.

Their safe house had just become their prison.

Two of them. Two against–how many vamps?

The shadows pushed toward the cabin. One. Two. Three. Four…

Five?

“He’s not getting in,” Drake said as he punched a series of codes into the computer. “He doesn’t have the right access code. I changed it a few days ago, and, after he hurt you, I didn’t give it to him.”

Her breath rushed out.

“Never really trusted him,” Drake muttered as he reached for the radio. He connected almost instantly with the compound. “Wolf gone rogue at safe house one,” he said, biting off the words. “Send back up…”

Michael wasn’t smiling anymore. He was kicking at the door. Punching. Guess he’d realized he didn’t the right code to get inside.

“That’s steel, bastard,” Drake said, voice hardening, “Reinforced f*cking steel, and no, I didn’t tell your ass about that little feature, either.”

Because Drake had known that Michael might turn on him?

Another voice crackled over the radio. “Coming now, alpha. Two teams. Are there–”

The vampires closed in on Michael. They grabbed him and hauled him away from the cabin. Michael didn’t fight them. The wolf went with them willingly.

But she could see he wasn’t smiling anymore.

Her chest began to burn. She knew what would happen next. Michael might have thought he was working with the vampires. He might have thought that…

“Michael brought the vampires,” Drake said flatly into the radio, “and, they’re–”

Killing him.

Or, they would be, soon enough. Right then, they were holding him down. Slicing into him with their razor-sharp fangs.

Drinking from him.

And making sure that the security cameras saw everything.

“Get the f*ck here,” Drake snarled and tossed the radio aside. Then he whirled and headed for the stairs.

Paige grabbed him. “You can’t go out there.” A glance at the monitors showed her that Michael was fighting back now. Screaming.

The vampires were still drinking.

Only it wasn’t just four vampires any longer.

Six.

Her breath caught when she saw Gabe. He wasn’t drinking from the werewolf. Gabe just stood there, staring up at the cabin.

Waiting.

He’d waited on this one attack for years.

Secrets. She hadn’t told Drake everything yet. There hadn’t been enough time. There still wasn’t.

“I’m alpha,” he growled as his gaze burned into her. “Michael is one of mine, traitor or not.”

Um, there was a not portion? That guy was a straight-up traitor. No doubt.

“I won’t let them drain him,” Drake’s voice rumbled over the beeping alarm. “Not while I just watch.”

No, Drake wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t just stand back while another wolf suffered. That wasn’t who her shifter was.

She knew that…and that was just one of the reasons she’d known that she had to get close to him again.

He’d taken her blood, but the boost from that blood didn’t happen instantaneously. She’d learned from the vampires in Florida–the vamps that weren’t twisted freaks–that when a vampire offered her blood to a werewolf, well, the result could be pretty damn amazing.