The Way You Bite(8)

“I made a promise.”

“To whom exactly did you promise to relocate her?”

The IOU that brought him here required he keep the identity of the ancient wolf a secret. “It’s complicated.”

“No shit it’s complicated. If she’s a wolf-vamp mix, she doesn’t seem to know.” Eric massaged his forehead. “A bloody demisang. Are we even sure she’s a half blood?”

Lexan nodded.

“I highly doubt the psychotic vamp clan who raised her instilled her with love for us, given a wolf murdered her mother.”

“There is no concrete evidence to prove a wolf killed Velvet Scarpa’s mother. She’s also not a Scarpa by blood. Dominic isn’t her father.”

“So your source says.” Skepticism oozed from his words. “You could end this fight once and for all. We could bomb the Scarpas with one of the new chemical weapons we designed.”

“I haven’t decided on the ethics of using the chemicals yet.”

“You question ethics when they already do it to us? Sometimes I don’t get you.” Eric sighed. “I didn’t detect even a hint of wolf off her. She reeked of pure vamp. Are you sure your info is true? Not many demisangs survive infancy. Those that did… Well, there aren’t many, if any, who survived the past decade.”

“She’s a mix. No question.”

Eric shifted in his seat to stare at him. “Did you get a clear read on her?”

He’d tried to read her but couldn’t. The only other being he couldn’t read was her real father, Blaylock, who was an ancient werewolf.

“She’s a healer.” He recalled the soothing euphoria she infused into his mind before her exam. That small comfort had kicked his respect for her up several notches.

“Her impending DiFalco union complicates things.”

“No shit.”

Lexan rubbed a finger along his eyebrow. “She’ll be hunted and executed when Ambrose’s father finds out she’s not pureblood. If the elitist prick finds out I was involved in introducing her to her inner wolf, it might push his complacent ass off his throne and into open war. The one thing Viktor hates more than mixed-bloods is me.” Lexan preferred to avoid warfare for his people, but he thought it inevitable. The DiFalcos started an underground war several years ago. Few knew about it. How he’d establish peace…he hadn’t worked out the specifics yet. “Get me Roman’s phone number. I need to know what she meant by protocol for wolves to show up here.”

“Of course.” Eric texted for a moment.

“I don’t know how it’s possible to have remained concealed for so long, but I’m convinced she has no clue. The wolf side in her won’t remain silent forever. My source predicts it to hit her on this moon cycle.”

“That’s three days away. You didn’t say we’d be here three more days. I thought it was today and tomorrow? Do you plan to help her through the change?” Revulsion passed through Eric’s eyes. “She’ll need blood. I heard a rumor she might need wolf blood. Never seen it, though.”

“Maybe.” Lexan also hadn’t seen it. He worried his blood might kill her.

“I’m sure as hell not letting her near my veins,” Eric grumbled.

Awareness pricked his skin. A quick glance at the clinic’s rear door confirmed her exiting. Everything in him stilled.

She had spectacular bone structure. Wide set, large green eyes with a brown splash in the left, which pinned her as her father’s daughter. Her mouth, now highlighted scarlet, would make even the most pious have visions of her on her knees.

The animal within him readied. It wanted to stalk. To study her until the right moment for him to make his move presented itself.

Mating predation. Shit.

The red silky sheath wrapping her body dipped low over her breasts and accentuated the erotic way she moved. His eyes zeroed in on the slow, sensual way the fabric tightened over her hips with each stride. A vicious response gripped his body. He’d been with his share of women over the centuries. Never had a female elicited a reaction like this. He wanted to press her up against the nearest wall and lodge himself deep insider her. Then he’d mark her with his bite.

What the hell?

He took a slow deep breath to regain calm. He was centuries old. This kind of crazy didn’t happen to him. He did not mark women. Never had. Probably never would, especially not a half-vampire female.

Lexan rolled down his window. His breath caught when her scent hit him. He closed his eyes in a slow inhale. Amazing. His blood roared. With a low growl, he gripped the door handle.

A loud quadruple click indicated Eric had hit the auto-lock.

“Please tell me you don’t have it for her. I’ll grant you she’s attractive, but don’t forget she’s a leech. Or at least half leech. Plus, the girl was clearly not interested in you, and she’s engaged. You’ve got prime wolf females throwing themselves at you every day. Pick one of them. What about the wolf from a few months ago? Extraordinary bloodline. You two seemed to hit it off pretty well.”

Lexan’s gaze never deviated from his target as he replied, “She didn’t warrant a repeat.”

Eric said softly, “You didn’t touch the wolf a few months ago, did you?”

As he met Eric’s worried gaze, he didn’t want to lie. The female wolf months ago had bored him. He hadn’t even been marginally tempted by her, not like the surge beelining for his southern region right now. Instead, he’d mesmerized that girl into thinking it the best sex of her life.