Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(67)

“I think Arys and I can locate her by her energy. He immediately knew she was a hybrid when we were upstairs.” I wiped a hand across my eyes to eliminate any last traces of tears. A glance around the room revealed a much-needed tissue box on the corner of the desk.

Raoul’s eyes narrowed, and just like that, the tension was back. “I don’t want him involved in this. He isn’t pack. Hell, he isn’t even a werewolf.”

Was this more male-hierarchy bullshit or what? “If you want me involved then you accept who I choose to bring in.”

I met his defiant gaze with my own. The decade old rift between us was back. I didn’t think we’d ever truly banish it. The past was the past, but our resentments remained fresh and bitter.

“Just because you’re bedding the vampire does not mean you can make him a part of this. This is my daughter we’re talking about.”

“Don’t start the macho man shit with me. I’m in or I’m out. If you prefer to deal with your daughter yourself, that’s fine with me.” We stared into one another until the angry heat became too much. “I could be making money, right now, for a job like this, rather than screwing around here for free.”

This time, I didn’t hang around to get sucked into another argument. I threw the office door open and strode back into the kitchen.

Raoul appeared behind me. He clutched my coffee mug in his hand as if he’d shatter it by sheer will alone.

“Sorry,” I offered lamely.

Arys stood in the front sitting room while Julian paced in the large kitchen uncomfortably. Zak still stood on the back deck and shouted into his phone. He had great timing for a lover’s quarrel. Before I reached the doorway that connected the kitchen and front room, Raoul grabbed my wrist hard enough to bruise and spun me to face him.

“Fine. Have it your way. But keep him on a leash. No funny stuff. This is my flesh and blood we’re after.”

I couldn’t help but risk a glance at Arys in the neighboring room. He might not appreciate the leash comment. I certainly did not miss how Arys’s eyes were riveted to where Raoul’s hand gripped my wrist. Not good.

“You need to remember,” I jerked my arm from his grasp. “That your daughter is losing her mind. And, one thing about crazy people, Raoul, sometimes they don’t want to come back. The brink of insanity suits them just fine. Don’t go into this expecting to save her. You’ll just be fooling yourself.”

A series of emotions crossed his face, and he successfully squashed them all. “I’m aware of the circumstances, but nobody is going to kill her. Clear?”

I wasn’t getting into this again. I mustered an exasperated sigh and shrug. I rubbed the rawness out of my wrist. He manhandled me because I was wolf and not human, which aggravated me all to hell.

“I’ll call you.” I turned to go but paused as a smile quirked my lips. “You’re not afraid, are you? To stay here alone?”

If looks could kill, I would have been dead three times over. “Ok, ok. Forget I asked.”

Arys launched into motion as I walked into the room. I gestured for him to join me as I approached the front door and let us out. I stopped at the bottom of the front steps. Nothing was amiss.

“There’s nobody here. I’ve been keeping tabs.” Arys pulled the door closed behind us with a soft click. “He made you cry. I can’t tell you what it took to keep from going in there, but I knew how pissed you’d be if I came riding to your rescue again.”

I took a few steps down the front walkway and turned back to look at him. My eyes must be red and puffy.

“How did you know?”

The vampire fixed me with a dark blue stare. The intensity that burned there sparked a fire low in my core, and my breath caught when he said, “I could feel it.”

His hand went to his still heart, but his eyes never left me. “Right here. I can’t even begin to tell you the last time that I felt anything that didn’t include blood, sex, or death.”

When he descended the last stair and stood before me, I didn’t shrink away. His soft kiss spoke to a side of me that Raoul had long ignored and Shaz just didn’t yet understand. Arys had lived brutality, as both a giver and a receiver, and so had I. I responded to him in full, and our power swirled around us in a dizzying embrace. I drank in his sweet taste and smell hungrily.

With great reluctance, I pulled away, all too aware of the spectacular view of us from Raoul’s big picture window. I really wanted to cast the world aside and enjoy the forbidden pleasures that joined me to this lovely, dark creature. The need to shift was a poignant ache in the pit of my stomach as I turned to lead the way to the Charger.

“So am I correct in assuming this hybrid is your Alpha’s offspring gone wrong?” Arys asked when we were in the quiet confines of the car.

I looked at him sharply. “You could hear us.”

“I’ve merely been putting the pieces together myself. That seemed to be the most logical assumption.”

“He’s completely adamant that nobody kill her unless it’s more than necessary. He’s carrying around a lot of guilt regarding her childhood.”

I started the car and headed for Lucy’s Lounge. I didn’t want to part ways with Arys at his house. I didn’t trust myself to say no to him tonight.

I really wanted to see Shaz. Tomorrow night was our official date, but at this rate, I could see it being postponed. I was a jumble of nerves, and I needed the quiet solace that I only found with my muzzle buried in Shaz’s thick, white fur.