Only Vampires Cry Blood (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #3)(27)

I couldn't let him feel like that. Arys deserved to be free in love, not trapped in chains by his own fears. “Arys, don't ever think how you feel is wrong. If something affects you, spit it out. Holding it in will blow up in your face.” I looked down at our joined hands. I felt like such an ass**le for rushing to see Harley because Arys had upset me. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you in any way. I know you have an unpleasant past with Harley. My personal need for information has nothing to do with that though. But, I'm sorry.”

“No, I'm sorry. Let's just forget it. It's over.” He kissed me briefly before dropping the subject entirely.

He sat up, leaning down over me so that I looked up at him. When he kissed me, the emotion behind it said more than his words. He trusted me with all that he was. I couldn't let him down. I had to do something about Harley, come clean or forget it entirely.

“I have to get going. Sunrise isn't far off. Get some rest, beautiful.” He started to pull back, stopped and just held me instead. My guilt skyrocketed.

When at last Arys dressed and made his way from my room, I buried my face in the pillows on my bed and gave a frustrated sigh. The Harley situation had been so much simpler when Arys was threatening me. He'd really thrown me for a loop this time. I'd have assumed that he would be pissed about me spending any time with Harley, livid, even jealous. I never would have guessed that he would be hurt.

Chapter Seven

If I'd come to Kylarai seeking reassurance, I wasn't going to receive it from her. She listened quietly while I filled her in on the recent events of the past few days and then she promptly told me what a dumbass I was for going to Harley so soon after the confrontation with Arys. Thank God for best friends.

I hadn't brought Shaz along, wishing to speak with Ky one on one. I also wanted to take a little tour out back, in the forest that started a mile from her backyard. We ran there often on our own and as a pack during the full moon. I was aware that Zoey had been roaming the woods, and I wanted to see if I could pick up her scent.

The two of us alone wouldn't be as intimidating to Zoey as a small pack if we did come across her. I didn't feel it was necessary for Shaz and Julian or anyone else to accompany us at this point. Thus, Kylarai and I now trotted through the trees side by side.

I didn't have much of a plan. If we did find her, I doubted she would stick around long enough for me to attempt to communicate. This was going to be harder than it sounded. It was the thought of a strange werewolf roaming around my forest looking for her that really made my fur stand on end. The wolf inside me was defensive and territorial at the thought. I wouldn't allow it.

I watched as Kylarai loped on ahead, pausing here and there to sniff something out.

Her sleek brown fur shone beneath the starlight. My fur, the same color as my ash blonde hair, didn't reflect the fiery orbs quite the same. She made a striking wolf.

Half of the moon was lit up brilliantly, and I raised my voice to the wind in an inquisitive howl. I knew that Zoey would hear it if she was within a few miles, perhaps farther. It was deathly quiet when I fell silent. The nocturnal creatures had most likely taken cover at our approach.

I followed Kylarai, my sensitive nose working overtime. I could smell the rabbit that had run through recently and the family of deer from a day or so previous but there was no trace of Zoey Roberts.

Anxiety nagged me. I had far less control over my psychic abilities when in wolf form. I couldn't access the majority of them, and I couldn't keep Arys locked out of my mind. If he touched my mind, he thankfully couldn't access any thought other than the one I was currently having. As long as I didn't think about Harley, he wouldn't know anything. That was easier said than done, especially since it was something I feared.

The very thought of Arys opened the link between us, and I was suddenly thrust inside his mind. I skidded to a halt, my paws skittering. Arys was feeding. That's why I'd been so easily sucked into him. He had abandoned all control of himself, dropping his guard.

I could see through his eyes as he roughed up a young man before dragging him close. I hated being in Arys' mind when he killed. It was hard enough being inside my own. I didn't know why Arys chose the victims he did. He had his reasons, or at least, that's what he would tell me. I didn't question him further. Whatever his reasons were, Arys was a madman when he killed. It scared me to see what went on inside him. It was pure, blinding bloodlust and something more, not only the need to feed but also the desire for the rush of the kill. It was never about blood alone.

Arys spilled the man's blood with a brutal slash of fangs. It jarred me how it was nothing like the careful bite he gave me. This was savage. As a passenger in his mind, I was able to feel the way his body responded to the kill. He grew hard, and his erection throbbed against the confines of his tight jeans. The man's feeble cries fed the predatory nature burning inside Arys until he was spilling blood as if it were the last he would ever taste.

His mind was a blank slate, thinking of nothing. Solely running on instinct, Arys ripped into the guy with such viciousness that I felt it in the pit of my stomach. It was all werewolf. His own personal bloodlust appeased, he was embracing the part of me that he'd gained through our bond. From what I could see and feel, he loved it.

The realization was shocking. I knew he'd felt the wolf strong in him before. One horrible time, he'd slaughtered a neighborhood pet. What I didn't know was how much he enjoyed it. My stomach turned, and I felt nauseous. It shouldn't have been surprising, but this ruthless killer thing was still new to me.