Chapter Eleven
Mason
I stormed back to the party, so furious with Finn I could barely see straight, and really tired of his caveman routine. I had explained to him what we were doing and how we were trying to lure the damn bloodsuckers in, but in usual Finn fashion, all he knew was that he was jealous of the other wolves watching me and Valerian. He was so not a “big picture” kind of guy. I saw Jax looking at me with an eyebrow quirked up questioningly, but I just shook my head and went back up to the gazebo to dance with Nicky and Gabe. It wasn’t that I wanted to dance—hell, I hated dancing and it was weird for the wolves to be staring at me the way they were. But it was the principle of the thing, damn it.
When I joined them again, Nicky pulled me over right away for a hug. “Are you okay?” he asked over the music and I nodded. The song ended after that and before another one started up, Gabe leaned in close.
“Did it work, do you think? Have we attracted enough attention? I’m getting kinda hungry.”
I smiled at him, realizing then that it hadn’t just been exhibitionism that had made the two of them get up there and dance the way they had. They’d been trying to help me. They were genuinely trying to attract the attention of the vampires whom they could probably smell all around us just like I could. And their mates, Marco and Zack, were just as uncomfortable as Finn was, but were just better at controlling their emotions. And they were all doing it to help me keep Valerian safe.
It was easy to mistake Nicky and Gabe for human because of the way they looked and acted, but both of them had been bitten at an early age, after surviving separate violent attacks that almost took their lives. Jax had told me all about it. Nicky had been on his way home from work when he was mugged and attacked in the street. And because he had forgotten his wallet and had no money on him, one of the men tried to carve him up with a box cutter. It had only been because of the wolves that he had lived, when the bodyguard Marco assigned to him found him dying in the street, his throat slashed. He had given him enough blood to save him and taken him straight to Marco.
Marco had discovered Nicky months before and had known he was his blood mate, but he’d been trying to give him a few years to make his mark in the art world and let him grow up a little before he mated him and changed his life forever.
Gabe had been attacked by an insane rogue who killed his mother and left Gabe for dead. Gabe recovered from the bites, but turned feral from the attack a few weeks later, and it was only by chance that he met Zack in the woods and became his mate. Both Nicky and Gabe knew what it was like to be feral and to have the beast inside them take over. They weren’t quite human anymore and never would be. And like the wolves who’d made them, they had the same incredible sense of smell.
I smiled at Gabe and squeezed his hand. “Go and eat. You did great. You too, Nicky—I think we got their attention.”
We all stepped down from the gazebo and made our way to the buffet table. All the while I was looking over my shoulder for Valerian. And for Finn, if I was honest. I regretted my harsh treatment of him earlier. I knew how he was and I should have realized he’d overreact when he saw us dancing. Especially when the shirts came off. I got so damn mad at him, but at the same time, I loved him and knew that his possessiveness came from his concern for me. I wondered where he and Valerian were and then saw them coming around the side of the lodge. Valerian had a mussed-up look with bruised lips that told me Finn had taken out his sexual frustrations on him. The smug little smile Valerian was giving Finn let me know he’d enjoyed every minute of it.
I put down my plate and walked over to meet them. I went right up to Finn and got in his face. “I need to talk to you.” He looked a little uncertain, but lifted his chin defiantly and glared at me.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“Not here. Let’s take this somewhere private.”
I walked past him without waiting to see if he’d follow or not, but soon I heard footsteps behind me, like I knew I would. I led him to a big side porch that led off Jax and Cade’s room. It was tucked away in the shadows of the house and was about as private as we were likely to get. I whirled to look at him when he stepped up beside me.
“We need to get a few things straight.”
He shoved his hands down in his pockets and looked guilty, like a kid I’d caught with his hands full of cookies. “What kinds of things?”
“This, for one.” I shoved him as hard as I could and, taken off guard, he stumbled backward. I caught him as he fell and grabbed him by the hair and dragged him to the rail, bending him over it and smacking his ass hard enough that it lifted him off his feet.
“What the fuck?”
“Shut up,” I said viciously as I smacked him again. “I understand that Valerian and I belong to you. But you need to learn that you belong to us too.
I spanked his ass again and he roared. “Stop doing that!”
“Make me,” I taunted and held him down so he couldn’t get up. “Unbuckle your belt and push those jeans down.” Sullenly, he did as I asked, glancing at me over his shoulder and I leaned over him, lying on his back as I reached around him to stroke his heavy cock. I pulled and stroked and tugged until he was panting for every breath and then I let him go and stepped away.
“Mason,” he said, his voice ragged and he twisted around to face me, his jeans still around his knees and his big dick red and rigid, the ring around the base of his cock obscenely huge.
“Now,” I said, taunting him just because I could and pointing at his dick. “What are you gonna do with that?”
He wet his lips. “What do you want me to do with it?”
“I want you to fuck me until I can’t breathe.”
“Oh God,” he groaned and came at me, pushing me down on the patio on my back.
“Mine,” he growled as his hands stripped my clothing off, and I felt his teeth clench in my shoulder. “I love you. I love you so much, and you make me so crazy.”
“I know, baby,” I said, “I know.”
“You don’t get to walk off and leave me like that,” he said, his hands parting me and getting ready to thrust in. “I can’t lose either one of you. Not ever.”
“Never going to lose me, baby, or Valerian either. I love you too much.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
He groaned again and thrust into me hard and fast. “I want to make it good for you,” he said, his voice harsh and guttural. When he was feeling really emotional like he was now, his wolf came out even stronger than usual and that was what I was hearing. I shouldn’t have pushed him away like I had and I shouldn’t have walked away from him. It just fed all those insecurities of his. I knew how needy he was, and I knew the source was being left alone in the world after his parents died, when he’d been a defenseless child. And no matter if he was alpha and as big and bad as the best of them, he needed me to reassure him that he belonged somewhere. He was mine to take care of—him and Valerian both—just like I was theirs. And as long as we were all together, he felt secure.
He had to make love to me and this was going to be rough, because all he’d used for lube was the spit he’d put on his hand as he started.
“I can’t be gentle.”
“I know,” I said again as he thrust deep inside me, grunting with the effort to fill me completely. It did burn at first, but not for too long. He was leaking a copious amount of precum and the angle he was driving into me was raking right over my prostate, making me wild. I was trembling with need myself. He was bucking into me hard, driving my body across the concrete floor with every thrust. He tensed then and came, his body shuddering and straining. I came too, spurting all over my stomach.
He looked down at me and gave me a wolfish grin and I grinned back at him. “Am I marked enough for you now? I’ve got your scent all over me.”
“I know,” he said with satisfaction. “I love it.”
He spent a few more minutes just lying on top of me, and then he got up and used his underwear to clean us both off, then threw it in the bushes. We walked back together to rejoin the party. We walked hand in hand over to the table where Nicky and Gabe were sitting with their alphas. I looked around and saw Jax and Cade by the buffet table.
“Where’s Valerian?” I asked, and Nicky glanced up at me, his face confused.
“Isn’t he with you? I saw him heading around the side of the lodge some time ago.”
“Oh hell,” Finn said, pulling away from me. He ran toward the front of the lodge faster than I’d ever seen him run before. The others got to their feet as I sprinted after him, and I was aware of Marco shouting orders to his wolves in the background, and the mates running toward the lodge for safety. Valerian was gone, and I had a terrible suspicion that Cassius might have taken him. Or that Valerian had given himself to him.
I could barely breathe as I ran toward the woods after Finn, with what seemed like half the pack behind me. Finn had entered the trees well ahead of the rest of us and was immediately swallowed up by shadows. As I got closer to the tree line, I was literally stopped in my tracks by Marco, who grabbed my arm and whirled me around.
“Wait! I smell the vampires close by—very close. Wait for…”
Whatever he was going to say next, I didn’t find out, because not more than a hundred feet away, a bloodcurdling scream sounded, and my knees almost went out from under me. Marco literally had to hold my arm to keep me on my feet. He prevented me from running into the trees, which was my first instinct, and he almost had to fight me to do it. He grabbed my face between his hands and made me listen to him.
“Wait, Mason! We can’t just run in there without a plan. We need to surround them and make sure they can’t get off the grounds. The bloodsucker took the bait and took a huge chance by coming this close. Let’s make sure it doesn’t pay off for him instead of us.” He gave a few orders to his gammas who were already shifting into their wolves all around me, yipping and barking and anxious to be off into the woods. Casey, whom I hadn’t even noticed up to now with all that had been going on, was talking into a small handheld radio to the guards they had stationed around the perimeter of the property and motioning to the wolves in the pack to spread out and surround whoever was just inside there where the scream had come from.
I just wanted to be on the move, going in after Finn and Valerian, but just as I could feel my own transformation starting at the base of my spine, I heard a familiar voice calling from behind me.
“Mason! What is it, mon coeur? What’s happened?”
I turned, almost in shock, and saw Valerian coming quickly toward me from the lodge. Running to him, I grabbed his arms and held on, my whole body shaking. “Valerian! Thank God! I thought Cassius took you. Nicky thought he saw you walking toward the lodge by yourself and then we heard this awful scream and…”
“Darling, calm yourself. I did go to the lodge for a few moments, but I saw no one. Nothing happened. I’m safe.”
“I don’t understand,” I practically whined at him. “If it wasn’t you who screamed, then who…”
It hit me then and I staggered and would have fallen if Valerian hadn’t been holding onto me. At almost the same time, Marco had the same realization and we said the name together. “Finn.”
****
Finn
One second I was unconscious and the next I was wide awake—painfully so. I was hoping I would open my eyes and find that this was only some kind of nightmare, and I was really tucked up in bed with my mates on either side of me.
No such luck.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing, and then I realized I was hanging upside down, my feet tied to a tall branch of a tree. I stretched out my hands to try and touch the ground, but it was just out of reach. Below my head, I saw a dark puddle in the dirt and realized it was blood. And it was coming from me. It was running down my arms and dripping off my fingertips, because the bastards were bleeding me like a deer or a wild hog.
A brief struggle convinced me that I couldn’t free myself and I didn’t have the strength to raise myself up enough to free my ankles from whatever bound them. I became aware of voices around me and tried to focus. A face loomed over mine for a moment, his red eyes glowing, and I knew I was looking at Cassius. He was handsome, I had to admit. His nose was the kind people called aquiline and his eyes—he had black slashes for eyebrows and thick eyelashes so dark it looked like he was wearing eyeliner. The pupils themselves glowed orange and were rimmed with black. His lips were full and passionate, and when he smiled, his incisors grazed his bottom lip. He looked like some beautiful, fallen angel and all I wanted to do was kill him so he could never touch Valerian ever again.
I swung my fist at him, or tried to and he dodged back, smiling at me.
“What is it they always say in the old movies? Resistance is futile? In this case, it’s true, I’m afraid.”
“Fight me like a man, you son of a bitch!”
“Ah, but neither of us are men, are we? I am—what is that charming word you use? A bloodsucker, that’s it. And you, of course, are a stinking mutt. A mutated cur who calls himself a werewolf. And you dared to lay your filthy hands on my Valerian.”
“Don’t even speak his name, you asshole!” I tried to swing at him again, but I was getting weaker as blood streamed down both my arms and the exertion was just making it worse. I was furious at myself for getting caught so easily. Scared out of my mind for Valerian, I had run into the woods blindly, even though I’d known better. I knew it the second I ran into the trees and smelled the bloodsuckers all around me. I stopped for a moment to try to parse out Valerian’s sweet scent, but no matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t pick it up. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of the thicket beside me, moving so fast it was only a blur. I swiped out with my claws and it gave a terrible scream and dropped at my feet. I turned to face another blur coming from the other side and then something hit me from behind and darkness exploded over me. I hadn’t known anything else until I woke up, trussed up like some kind of wild game.
Cassius laughed at me again and pressed hard into my chest. I thought for a moment I’d pass out, but I managed to grab his leg and I was clawing my way up to find his damn balls when he laughed again and stepped back out of reach. They had pushed a knife into my chest up to the hilt, and then cut sideways to sever at least one of the arteries at the top of my heart. It was the way to bleed a deer and Cassius had been pressing on my chest to make the blood run out faster. As I watched, he dipped a finger into my chest and then licked it.
“Bloodsucker!” a voice called out, and I thought it was Marco, but I couldn’t be sure. “We have you surrounded and there’s no way you’re getting out of here with your head still attached. Give up now and we might be willing to negotiate for Finn’s release.”
Cassius turned to face the direction the voice was coming from. “What you say may be true, but I have no reason to take your word for it. We’ll have the satisfaction of knowing we can take many of your lives before we’re done. We’ll start with this wolf of yours.”
“No!” There was no mistaking that voice. It was Mason and he sounded both furious and scared to death. His voice was much deeper than normal, though, and I knew he was close to shifting. “You better talk to us, you asshole, and do as we say or I’ll rip you apart one piece at a time!”
Cassius was facing away from me so I couldn’t see his face, but I didn’t think the threats were bothering him in the least. He continued to stare in the direction of the lodge, and his voice, when it came, was low and dangerous. “I prefer not to shout insults back and forth. Come closer if you wish to negotiate…and bring my Valerian with you.”
I made a sound of rage, but I was getting weaker and my heart was slowing down. I could feel its sluggish beat, and knew I didn’t have long until it stopped altogether. I may have passed out for a moment because the next thing I recalled was hearing Valerian’s gasp of pain and outrage as he came into the clearing and saw me for the first time. I fluttered my eyelashes and tried to speak to him, wanting to reassure him, but all that came out was a hoarse rasp.
Valerian had lifted my head into his arms, supporting me. His voice floated over me like in a dream, whispering endearments to me. Then he turned to rage at Valerian. “You bastard! Get him down!”
He was so angry at what they were doing to me. He was like an avenging angel himself. He let me go for a moment to leap upward and use his claws to rip through the ropes that secured me to the tree and then caught me as I fell. I drifted in and out of consciousness, aware only of being clutched tightly to Valerian’s chest. I was thinking it might not be so bad to die after all if I could do it in his arms. I only wished I could hold Mason one more time too.
“Cassius, let him go,” Valerian said in a low, dark tone. “And I’ll leave with you.”
“Do you give me your word, my sweet?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“And do we have an assurance of safe passage off this wolf land?”
Marco, who must have followed my mate into the clearing, nodded shortly. “Get off my property and don’t come back.”
Cassius smiled mockingly and turned back to Valerian. “Then take the mutt. We won’t try to stop you.” He gave a languid wave of his hand and stepped backward.
“No, damn it!” I tried to yell and grab him, but I was far too weak from the loss of blood. I saw that Marco and several of the others had followed my mate into the clearing where we were, but I looked for Mason and couldn’t find him.
Marco knelt down beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder. He must have known who I was looking for. “We had to hold him back because he’s so out of control. You can see him in a moment.”
I could hear muffled sounds of a struggle beyond the trees, and I knew they must be holding him down. If they hurt him, I’d kill them. I wanted desperately to go to him. I tried again to speak, but couldn’t get enough breath to manage it. Cassius said something in his dark, low voice to Valerian and he rose to his feet and gave me one last look.
“Valerian, baby, please don’t do this!” I said with the last of my strength, but he went to stand beside Cassius, shaking his head sadly. Marco and Casey pulled on me, I think. I was mostly unconscious by that time. I was vaguely aware of them slowly backing out of the woods, the wolves around them guarding their retreat. Something seemed off about that too—Marco retreating? I would have thought he’d fight to the death. Maybe it was because he thought Valerian wasn’t important enough to risk his pack. The thought made me furious.
They were moving me away from Valerian, and I yanked my arm away and tried to reach out for him, but he was much too far away and I grasped only air. I could still feel a burning on my ankles and I didn’t know where it was coming from.
Then we were out of the woods and I was aware of Nicky, bending over my feet, busy unwrapping the chains round my ankles while someone pushed his bloody wrist against my mouth. Someone else’s voice was whispering in my ear, urging me to drink. I finally managed to latch on and felt blood slipping down my throat. It didn’t taste nearly as sweet as Valerian’s had a few months before when he’d offered me his venom and his blood, but I suspected I was being given alpha blood from Marco and maybe the other alphas as well, and I knew it would help heal me. I was still only about half conscious when I became aware of Marco and Cade’s faces right over mine, telling me—yelling at me to shift into my wolf. I twisted my head to see Mason, but I must have been hallucinating because I saw Valerian instead and that couldn’t be. Valerian had given himself to his Sire. He had sacrificed himself for me, and I was overcome with grief and rage. The hallucination kissed my face over and over, though, and it looked so real I thought I saw blood red tears in his eyes as he begged me to transform to my wolf. I tried harder to focus and bring my wolf forward.
I could feel the wolf inside me, wanting to break free, now that the chains were finally off. The burning had stopped so I knew then the chains must have been silver, the chain then looped around a rope so the vampires could handle it safely and tie me to that tree limb. I closed my eyes and told my wolf it was safe to come out and the next thing I was fully aware of was the moonlight streaming down on me as I ran up a trail on the ridge. Gray wolves were all around me, barking and yipping in excitement. I stopped on the trail, tipped up my head and sent up a long, mournful howl to my mother moon, begging her to watch over my mate and keep him safe from harm until I could go after him.
****
Mason
It almost killed me to see Marco and Casey pull Finn out of the clearing while he reached out for me—or, I should say, when he reached for what he thought was Valerian. I had managed to trick Finn, and I was hoping I could do the same with this ancient vampire known as Cassius.
The doctor had told me I could take any form—transform into anything or anyone I chose. I’d decided to see if he was right and I could fool Cassius into thinking I was Valerian.
Once I was sure Finn was safe, I moved closer to Valerian’s sire. He was undoubtedly handsome, but with a cold, cruel face that I knew I could never have been attracted to for long. He smiled with pleasure when I came to stand closer to him, though, and put a possessive hand on the back of my neck. He seemed to have no suspicions that I wasn’t Valerian. After all, I looked just like him.
The real Valerian was being held down by several wolves at the moment at the edge of the woods. What would he do if he knew I was here like this? Val was going to be so angry when he finally got free and found out I had taken his place, but I couldn’t trust him not to try to be noble and give himself up to Cassius so Finn could go free. When Valerian realized Finn had been taken and he made a move toward the forest, I had acted quickly. I pulled him around and hit him on the chin, dazing him—I’d have a lot of ass kissing to do to make up for that later—and when he was safely secured and gagged with three wolves holding him down, I transformed into his double.
I knew I was taking a huge chance. Like Valerian had said, a vampire like Cassius didn’t live so long as this one had by being easily fooled. I was relying on the fact that no one had ever seen anything quite like me before. I was also hoping to use my own brute strength to hold him off if he did discover the ruse, until the wolves sneaked back to surround them. In the meantime, I needed to create a small diversion for Cassius and the other vampires to concentrate on.
Once they were out of sight, I turned to him. “Cassius, shouldn’t we go before they change their minds?” I took a step toward the edge of the little clearing.
A cold hand came around my throat from behind and a vicious whisper sounded in my ear. “Don’t turn your back on me. And don’t disrespect me by using my name. Have you forgotten everything I taught you? I’ll take great pleasure in teaching you again if you have—and this time I’ll make sure you never forget if I have to flay the skin from your body.”
I froze in place and the icy fingers began to stroke up and down my throat. “Apologize to your Master. Properly this time.”
“I apologize,” I said softly, deliberately not using the title he’d given himself.
A vicious blow landed on the back of my head, and the hand on my throat tightened, forcing me to my knees. “Apologize properly, I said. And this time...” he paused as he peered down into my face. “This time with my cock in your mouth.”
I knelt between his feet, my hands clasped behind me and tried my best to put on a submissive air. I started to open his trousers and he stopped me with a growl. “Use your teeth.”
“Okay,” I said softly. “Anything you say. But are you sure you want my teeth so close to your cock?”
He raised both eyebrows in shock and disbelief that I would question him and raised his hand to no doubt knock the teeth in question down my throat.
I allowed my beast to come out, leaping to my feet, startling him as my body suddenly expanded and surged, ripping right through the shirt I’d taken from Valerian to help my disguise. I had just enough time to kick off my shoes before the massive hooves tore up the ground beneath my feet. I snapped my long, razor-sharp teeth at Cassius to illustrate how ill-advised he would be to trust his “family jewels” anywhere near my mouth as he stumbled backward in astonishment. I towered a foot and a half above his head.
I heard the wolf pack surging out into the clearing and attacking the vampires. I could hear a vicious battle raging behind me, but all my focus was on this creature in front of me. He had come here to take Valerian away from me and he was going to pay the price.
His face blanched as my curved horns ripped through my forehead and blood trickled down my face.
“You’re not Valerian!” he screamed and I smiled at him. “What the fuck are you?” he roared in disbelief and I shrugged.
“You summoned the devil with your actions, Cassius,” I replied, my voice husky and rasping. “So don’t be so surprised when he shows up.”
The ancient vampire recoiled from me as the wolves began to stream back in through the trees, surrounding the vampires. His cold face, so like perfectly carved marble in its perfection, sneered at me. “You lied!” he hissed.
“I may not have been entirely truthful. But you know what they say. The devil’s in the details.”
Tired of the game, I rushed at him, and he pushed me so violently away that I landed on my ass in front of him. Before I could get back up, he suddenly sprouted huge bat-like wings from his shoulder blades. I admit I was startled. Actually, it freaked me the fuck out for a second and I gaped at him in disbelief.
On the video games I used to play, there was one that featured vampires, and wings were only seen on the oldest and most powerful vampire lords. And I’m talking vampires who were thousands of years old and not hundreds. Since Valerian had mentioned Cassius lived and died around 350 C.E., that would pretty much fit the bill. He rose straight up in the air and though I leaped to catch him, he aimed a vicious kick at my face. As I dodged his boot, he rose rapidly into the night sky. He hovered over me for a moment, looking down at me from the level of the treetops.
“Tell Valerian this isn’t over,” he growled, and shot up above the trees and disappeared from sight.
“You’re wrong,” I shouted up to him. “Valerian is mine now. Mine and Finn’s. And if you come back the two of us will rip you apart.”
Marco came running up to my side, breathless and bloody. “Are you all right?” he asked me and I shook myself and transformed back into my normal, human form. I shivered in the night air as I looked at him.
“I’m fine. But you’re hurt,” I said, touching his arm where a vampire’s claw had ripped a bloody furrow from the inside of his elbow all the way down to his wrist.
He grinned at me. “It’s just a scratch. Isn’t that what they say in all those old war movies Nicky watches?”
“Uh-huh. Some scratch. You better get that seen about soon. Or shift to heal it.”
“I will, as soon as I get the chance.”
It was pouring blood so I reached for the tatters of Valerian’s shirt I found on the ground and tied a strip around it to help stop the bleeding. I looked around the clearing where the wolves were just finishing up and vampire bodies littered the ground. Casey, Cade and the others were moving methodically among the bodies, staking them, tearing off their heads and throwing their bodies into a growing pile in the middle of the clearing.
“We might have that bonfire Nicky wanted tonight after all,” Marco said, clapping me on the back, as we left the clearing and went in search of our mates.
****
Mason
By the time I came out and got the wolves off Valerian, he was spitting mad. I’d seen him react to me in a lot of ways in the time I’d known him, but never with the fury he showed me then. I tried desperately to explain, but he shook off my hand and took off into the woods where the wolves were still throwing bodies onto a burning pyre. I started to go after him, but Jax grabbed my arm.
“Give him a minute, Mason. His pride is hurt and he’s not the kind you sideline the way you did.”
“Sideline? I was trying to protect him! He would have sacrificed himself to that monster if I hadn’t.”
“Maybe so—but that would have been his decision, and you took that from him. You’ve just spent the last few weeks angry at him for taking away your choices, you told me. Was that what this was about? A little payback?”
“What? No, what are you even talking about? I was only trying to keep him safe!”
He shrugged. “He probably told you something similar, didn’t he? When he told you what he’d done to you?”
“It’s not the same thing at all.”
Jax shrugged and patted my arm. “Whatever you say. I’m going to find Cade and see if he’s all right.” He left heading into the trees, and I wondered if I should go after him and apologize. I knew he was just trying to look after me. Maybe I should try to find Valerian and make sure he understood too, but the look he’d given me was pretty unequivocal. I thought it might be better to let him cool down first. I felt a little worn out all of a sudden, all the adrenalin draining from me at once.
“Mason!”
I turned and saw Finn running to me from the hill behind the lodge. He was naked because he’d just shifted back, and the moonlight outlined his muscular form in silver. I opened my arms to him and he picked me up when he reached me and swung me around, which I didn’t think was very dignified. I pushed at him to put me down and he did, smiling at me, and keeping an arm close around my shoulders.
“I was worried about you,” he said and I smiled.
“Me? You were the one strung up by the vampire.”
He frowned, letting me go and looking down at his bare feet “He sneaked up on me from behind. Didn’t Valerian tell you?”
“Not exactly, no.” I wanted to tell him what I’d done, but I already had one mate furious at me—I really didn’t need another one right now. But I had harped so much lately about them being honest with me, and now I was being the biggest hypocrite ever. As Jax had so kindly pointed out to me.
“I heard you yelling to come to me,” he explained. “I was afraid they’d hurt you.”
“Oh. See, about that…” I came closer to him and put my hand on his chest. He immediately covered it with his.
“What is it, baby? Are you okay? Did they hurt you when they held you down?”
“It wasn’t me they held down, Finn. It was Valerian. That was his voice you heard.”
“Huh? No, I was pretty messed up when I was hanging there like that, but I remember Valerian was there with me. He’s the one who cut me down.”
“No, that was me. I kind of…” I blew out a long breath. “I took the form of Valerian.”
He tilted his head. “Do what now?”
“I changed into his form. I transformed into his shape. And I made the wolves hold him down when he tried to stop me. Oh God, Finn, he’s so furious at me.”
“Wait a minute. You did what? You changed into him? You can do that?”
I nodded. “The doctor said I could change into any living form I wanted, so I tried it and it worked.”
“But why would you do that?”
It was my turn to stare at my feet. “I was afraid that if he went in there to face Cassius, he’d give himself up to him. He’d sacrifice himself to save you.”
“So you sacrificed yourself instead?”
“Something like that.” I moved away from Finn restlessly. “I knew I could handle myself against Cassius. You’ve seen what I can do. And I’m getting stronger all the time.”
“That nightstalker is thousands of years old, according to Valerius. You have no idea what he can do. None of us know.”
“Well, yeah. But I figured if I took him by surprise, I could catch him off guard. And it worked. He thought I was Valerian and I distracted him a little so Marco and his pack could come in to kill all the vampires he had with him. I pretended to go with him at first so they could get you out, which was the most important thing to me.”
“What happened to Cassius?”
“He…uh…he sort of sprouted wings and took off.”
Finn’s eyes got huge. “He did what?”
“He figured out I wasn’t Valerian pretty fast when I transformed into…something else.”
“That devil thing? With the horns?”
“That’s right.”
“And what did Cassius do?”
“Sprouted wings. These big black, bat wings came out of his back and he flew up into the treetops.”
Finn held up his hand. “He flew? Shit, don’t tell me anymore. I don’t even want to know.” He stared at me for a few seconds. “You were lucky to get out of there alive, Mason.”
“I guess so. Maybe. I still think I could hold my own with him.” I sneaked at look over at him. “Now that I’ve seen his wings, I could probably have some of my own.” He raised his eyebrows at me and I stepped closer to put my hand on his chest again.
“Are you mad at me?”
He looked up at me and grinned. “Nah. I ran into the trees thinking Valerian was in there without waiting for you to give me permission. I didn’t even look back. And I did it because I care about Valerian, which is why I assume you went in after me.”
“You assume correctly.”
“Well, all right then. And I’d have done the same for you.”
I moved closer to him. “Because you care about me? Is that all this is? I thought you said you loved me.”
He smirked down at me. “Fishing, huh?” He pulled me up against him so my groin was tight against his thigh. I rubbed against him like a cat and he smiled down at me and smoothed my hair off my forehead. He was naked and covered in mud and dried blood, and I still wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. Someone cleared his throat behind us and I pulled away to whirl around and look behind me. Valerian was standing there at the edge of the woods staring at us, his face unreadable.
I held out a hand to him, but he glanced once at me and then ignored me, turning all his attention on our mate. “Finn,” he said, his sexy voice low and a little raspy. I immediately felt a fresh rush of guilt, because he was hoarse from yelling when the wolves piled on top of him. The wolves I told to keep him from following me.
“Are you well?” he asked Finn.
“I’m a little tired,” Finn said, sagging a bit in my arms. “The shifting mostly healed me, but I could use some sleep.”
Valerian came closer to us, still not looking directly at me. I stepped away self-consciously, and he moved in and cupped Finn’s face. “I would have come for you, mon coeur, had I been given the chance.”
Finn’s eyebrows rose as I shifted my weight uneasily. Valerian had never called him any pet names before, to my knowledge. That had always been something he’d saved just for me, and I felt a stab of jealousy. The first and only time I’d ever been jealous of him and Finn together, and I hated it. The endearment seemed to surprise Finn, but he nodded and turned his face to kiss Valerian’s palm. “I know you would.”
Valerian laid his forehead against Finn’s for a long moment while I looked away. I’d never felt left out of their lovemaking before—until now.
Finn cleared his throat and straightened up. “You know what? I think I’ll go to bed. Get a good night’s sleep.” He glanced over at me. “Will you two come with me?”
“I think Mason and I have a few things to discuss first.”
“Okay—but then you’ll come?”
“Oui, mon ange. Only give us a few minutes.”
Finn leaned down to kiss him tenderly and again I had to turn away. I’d seen them kiss a hundred times, but this time, with Valerian so angry at me, so obviously excluding me from his moment with Finn, it really bothered me.
Finn reached for me then, pulling me in his arms and kissing me thoroughly. He moved his mouth over my ear and whispered to me. “Apologize to him. And mean it.”
I nodded and he let me go and turned to walk back toward the lodge. I watched him go, admiring the view and putting off the confrontation with Valerian as long as I could. I was terrified of what he might tell me. After a few seconds, though, I was aware of him looking at me and I turned to face him.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, because I’d pulled it off him to aid in my disguise. The moonlight played over his lean, muscular chest, creating interesting shadows. I longed to touch him, but I didn’t know if I still had the right. I looked up into his eyes and saw him staring at me so I just blurted out an apology.
“I’m sorry, okay? I-I shouldn’t have done it, but I was so scared when we heard that scream, before we knew it wasn’t you. And then you walked out of the lodge and I was so relieved. I couldn’t stand the idea I might lose you and Finn both. Please don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what, Mason?”
“And see—you called me Mason, when you usually call me all those stupid, sweet names, and…and now you used those names for Finn and not me. And I didn’t like it.”
He continued to simply look at me, and I stepped forward to touch him. I needed to touch him. “I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
“I’ve been around a very long time, Mason.”
“I know,” I said, softly, miserably.
“In all that time, I’ve never allowed anyone to get really close like I have with you and Finn. I cared for Cassius because he was my sire and he trained me to care for him. He forced certain feelings on me and after a long while, they became a part of me. They’re still a part of me, even though those feelings may not make sense to you or to anyone else. I wanted to see Cassius again. To talk to him and have some closure with him. But I didn’t get that chance because of you.”
If he’d wanted me to squirm, he’d accomplished his goal. I felt guilty and miserable, waiting for him to go on and tell me he was through with me. That he couldn’t forgive me. I felt like a condemned prisoner waiting for the axe to fall.
“I’m sorry,” I said again softly, because what else could I say? “I should have let you make your own decision.”
“Yes, you should have.”
“But I was afraid you’d leave me,” I said, almost whispering the words because they sounded so needy. So stupid.
“That must be a little like the way I felt when I lied to you about who you were and how I came to find you.”
“Yes,” I said, the word bitter in my mouth. “I’m fully aware of what a hypocrite I am. Even Jax told me.” I lifted my gaze back to his. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re going to treat me the same way I treated you and Finn? That you’re going to have to think about things and whether or not you still want to be with me?”
“No, Mason. I think there’s been enough of that. A soulmate is not someone you can walk away from so easily, even if you want to. You should have learned that by now. I’ve told you how much I love you and that hasn’t changed, because I’m angry at you. And make no mistake—I am angry. And I may not get over it right away. I may need some time, in fact.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice small.
“And you owe me a shirt.”
I looked up into his beautiful eyes and grinned. “I’ll get you another shirt. I’ll get you a whole closet full. Something maybe a little less ‘nineteenth century’. Without all the ruffles.”
He made a little huffing sound and I pressed closer to him. “Soul mates, huh? Is that really how you think of me?”
He lifted one eyebrow. “You and Finn, yes. But don’t let it go to your head. Soul mates can challenge someone in ways they didn’t think possible, and they can be more irritating than anyone else too. Even a rose has thorns, you know.”
“Yes. But these soul mates. They can also be the loves of your life, right?”
“That too,” he said softly, and then had to take a step backward as I threw myself at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I’ll make it up to you. I promise. And I’ll never do anything like that again. I swear I’ve learned my lesson.”
“I doubt that,” he said, but he smiled at me a little, and this time the smile reached his eyes. “I think we should stay here at your brother’s lodge for a while longer, if he’ll have us.”
“Of course, he will. But why do you think so?”
He shrugged. “Cassius doesn’t scare easily. I think we should stay until we’re sure Cassius has given up and gone away. I don’t want to risk you and Finn, and Cassius is not one to give up what he wants. I have a feeling this is far from over. I think that once he regroups, he’ll be back. We need the Dark Hollows pack right now.”
“Finn won’t be happy about staying.”
“But he’ll do it. Besides, I think Finn and Marco might be bonding a little.” He looked at me and we both burst out laughing at the same time.
“Or maybe not,” he said, wiping an eye. “What do you say we go and find Finn. Tell him the news and maybe convince him that he needs to be wherever we are.”
“He said he was going to sleep.”
“Sleep is highly overrated,” he said with a slow, sexy wink. He pulled me over to him and put his arm around my waist. “No one looks back on their life and remembers all the good sleep they had. Now sex, on the other hand. That’s worth waking up for. Let’s go wake up Finn and see if we can prove that theory.”
The End