Chapter Six
Valerian
I was in the woods when I smelled the wolf’s blood. It made me restless. And thirsty.
It had been Cade—I recognized that right away, and I wondered what had happened to him. With that much blood, something catastrophic, no doubt. I’d have thought by now I had a better handle on denying myself werewolf or human blood, and I usually did. Maybe it was the unexpectedness of it on the night breeze. I wasn’t sure.
I had hunted for a while earlier and found a bear making a racket in the bushes as he was eating berries. He came at me right away, but it wasn’t much of a contest. His blood wasn’t enough, of course. But then, no animal blood ever would be. It would hold me for a while and that was the important thing. I couldn’t lose control around Mason’s family, and if took feeding more often than usual, then that’s what I had to do.
Afterward, I found a stream to wash off my hands and it was then I became aware of Mason and Finn coming toward me. I had long been accustomed to Finn’s unique, earthy scent and I had rapidly become addicted to Mason’s. I sat down on a big rock by the side of the stream and waited for them to find me.
It didn’t take long. Mason came around a bend in the trail first and spotted me. He smiled and said something over his shoulder to Finn, who surged past him to get to me first. I opened my mouth to say hello as he reached me, but he threw his arms around me before I could get a word out. “Kiss me,” he said, and I turned my mouth blindly toward him, like a plant searching for the sun. How could this wolf have such an effect on me every time? He licked the corners of my lips and thrust his tongue inside my mouth to taste me. Then after a few moments when he had me to the point of no longer being able to think straight, he pulled away and looked at me.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, of course,” I said, feeling a little dazed, but anxious that he didn’t know it. He was entirely too conceited as it was. I struggled to get my feet back on the ground, pushing at his chest. “Let me go.”
He frowned at me, but released me. I barely had time to straighten my clothing when I was practically tackled by Mason. I laughed softly as he buried his face in the hollow between my shoulder and my neck and wrapped his arms around my neck.
“What’s all this?” I pushed him gently away and leaned back to look at him. “What’s the matter, darling?”
“I was just worried. I had a feeling you might be in danger.”
“Me?” I was a little surprised, because I was usually the worst thing in these woods by far. “Why would you think that? Is it because of Cade?”
“How did you know?” Finn asked. “You left before it happened.”
“I smelled his blood, of course. It’s quite distinctive. Not as unique as yours,” I smiled at him and trailed a finger down his jaw. “But still strong. Is he all right?”
“He will be,” Mason said. “Finn gave him some blood to help him heal enough that he could transform to his wolf.”
“You did?” I smiled again and patted Finn’s cheek. “How altruistic of you. Did it work then?”
“Yes,” he said gruffly, his cheeks staining a pretty pink. It was the main reason I bothered to tease him. I loved to see the blood rush to his face. He was so beautiful and he didn’t even know it at times like these. Mason left me to go and hug him.
“Finn was wonderful, Valerian. You’d have been proud of him.”
I had to grin at how uncomfortable he was. He saw it and immediately got even more defensive. “No need to make a big deal out of it. Damn.”
Mason and I glanced at each other and Mason came back over to me to perch on my lap. I was surprised—he hadn’t done this since he was with me at the coven—but it was most welcome, so I held still and tried not to do anything to make him get up.
Finn glared at us and cleared his throat. “Look, now that I’ve got the two of you here alone…without all these other people around…I think it’s time to tell you how I feel. How I’ve been feeling for a while now, if the truth be told.”
“By all means,” I said, waving a hand at him. “Let’s hear it.”
“I don’t exactly know how to start.”
“Mason,” I said, squeezing his waist. “Let Finn sit here on my lap. Maybe it will help.”
Mason giggled and Finn gave us both a furious look. “Shut up, damn it. I’m trying to be serious here.”
“I think I know what it is, and it’s all right. You want Mason all to yourself, and judging from the reaction of Mason’s family toward me, so do they. Perhaps it would be better for all involved if I just left.”
Mason made a sound of distress and Finn growled at me. “Shut up. Just for once in your freakishly long life, shut the hell up. Why are you always trying to leave us? You’re not going anywhere and neither is Mason. Or me. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. We’re together and it’s time we started acting like it.” He turned to Mason, who had begun to squirm a little and tried to get up. Finn pushed him back down.
“No, you don’t. No running away from this. Either you want us both or you don’t. You can’t keep stringing us along like this while you try to decide.”
“I’m not doing that!”
“Yes, you are. You’re always doing stuff like this—sitting on Val’s lap or taking off your clothes in front of us or rubbing yourself up against me and then just walking away. Is it just to make us suffer? You say you don’t trust us anymore. Then why are we even still together?”
Mason stormed to his feet. “You know why I can’t be with you sexually right now. I told you it would take me some time!”
“I know we both fucked up in the past. You said you forgave us, but you’re still torturing us. Looks more like hate than love to me. Is that it, Mason? Do you hate us? Do you hate Val and me for what we did to you? I wouldn’t blame you—really, I wouldn’t. But just tell us so we can go on with our lives. I don’t know how I’d stand it if you told me to leave you, but if it will make you happy, then I will. You already heard Val say he would go too. Is that what you want?”
I thought I’d seen Mason angry before, but nothing like this. He was livid—he balled up his fists and jumped up to get right in Finn’s face. “Oh, is it about what I want for a change? You didn’t seem to care before when you kidnapped me and forced yourself on me. And now you have your feelings all hurt because I need a little more time. Well, fuck you! If you’re not willing to wait—if I’m not worth it, then leave if you want to! Go on, get out of here! I don’t want you here anymore!”
A shocked silence followed in which nobody said anything. The only sound was that of Mason’s harsh breathing. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his face was flushed a deep red. His eyes were full of angry tears.
I was pretty sure Mason immediately regretted his words, but didn’t know how to take them back.
Finn stumbled back several steps away from him, as if he was being physically attacked, and his face looked stricken. All the blood seemed to drain right out of it and he glanced once over at me, but I was shocked too. I stared back at him and held out my hand. “Finn…” I said, but he shook his head.
“No…no, it’s okay. I wanted him to be honest,” he mumbled softly, his voice full of heartbreak. “I asked for the truth and he gave it to me. I can’t always expect to get the answer I want to hear, right?” He turned away. “I-I’m sorry, Mason.”
He’d taken about three steps down the path when suddenly Mason launched himself at him and Finn turned around just in time to catch him in his arms.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry—please don’t go. I didn’t mean it. I love you!”
Mason had his face pressed against Finn’s chest, with his arms around his waist. I stood up to leave and give them some privacy, but Mason held out one of his arms for me and unhesitatingly, I stepped over into them. “I love you too,” he whispered to me. “Both of you. I’m sorry I’ve taken so long to tell you. But I was hurt and I wanted you both to be hurt too.” He grabbed me around the waist and then Finn pulled me over to wrap one of his strong arms around my shoulders. He leaned down to kiss first the top of Mason’s head and then my mouth with his usual roughness. It was the kind of sappy thing I absolutely hated. Yet I couldn’t have pulled away if I’d tried.
After a long while, Mason leaned back to look up at Finn and then glance over at me. “I’m sorry. And Finn’s right.” He wiped away a tear and grinned at the same time. “Never thought I’d say that.”
Finn huffed a little and I laughed at him. He retaliated by biting my earlobe. Hard.
“We should really consummate this thing. Make it official.” He gave Mason a lingering kiss. “Take your clothes off, baby.”
Mason glanced over at me self-consciously. Like I hadn’t seen his body hundreds of times. It had been a while though since he was doing it to get ready to make love to me, and I admit I was nervous myself. Not because of his body, but because I didn’t want to do anything to ruin any of this. They had both become too important to me. I knew when I first saw Mason how much I wanted him, but Finn still came as a surprise every time I looked at him.
Mason and I both began to strip. I watched him, trying not to make it obvious. He was handsomely made, and he had rounded ass cheeks that made me rock hard before I even got my hands on them. His skin was fair, and he had long, firm legs I could remember being wrapped around my back a time or two. I wanted him so much it made me tremble.
I started taking off my clothes too and noticed that quite a few of their glances were focused on me. I pulled my gaze away from Mason and just kept my eyes on Finn, whose body was larger and more muscled than either Mason’s or mine. His cock was erect and enormous, springing from the dark curls between his legs. I wondered where he planned to put that for a second or two, though I already knew. Inside me. And then Mason. And then me again. The man was insatiable, but I wasn’t sure if I was bragging or complaining.
Finn felt my eyes on him and smiled, holding out his hand to me. He had stepped over into the icy water of the stream and beckoned to me to join him. He and Mason had already knelt down in it, splashing each other a little playfully. “Come on,” Finn said, motioning to me again. “I’ve been dreaming about taking the two of you in a stream ever since the campsite. You both used to torture me when you bathed.”
“It wasn’t on purpose,” I said, folding my arms. “And that water’s too cold.”
“Aw, come on. I’ll keep you warm.” He sat down right in the middle of the fast-moving stream and held out his arms. And even that didn’t make him go soft. He was like some kind of sex demon.
I rolled my eyes, ignoring him and stepped in, not at all enjoying the feeling of the cold water swirling around my legs. I shivered like a cat and tried to climb back out again, but the big oaf grabbed me around the hips and jerked me down onto his lap. The frigid water took my breath away.
Mason, who was kneeling beside him grinned at me. “I never saw a blue vampire before.”
Teeth chattering, I twisted and pushed at Finn’s chest to get away. “V-very f-f-funny! Now l-let me up!”
Finn stood up, taking me with him and tossed me over to the mossy bank on the other side. I landed on my ass with a thump and gave him a dirty look which he ignored. Before I could scramble back to my feet, he had picked Mason up and plopped him into my lap.
Mason’s mouth was a round O of surprise as he looked up at my eyes, his naked ass hot against my poor frigid cock. I watched as Mason began to blush and grow as hard as a marble statue. He felt my own growing passion beneath him and squirmed, only serving to make things worse for me. I wanted my cock deep in that sweet, round ass of his. Finn was on the bank too, rummaging through his clothes and stepped over to us with a small jar of lube he’d taken from one of his pockets. “I came prepared,” he said to me, grinning. “Pick him up and turn him around.”
I got a sudden idea, looked at Mason and winked. He laughed and we both turned to tackle Finn. Mason got him around the legs and I pulled at his arms to spill him face first down onto the bank beside us. Before he could recover, I hauled him over to sit him on my lap with his back to me. It was his turn to sit on my cock. He growled and started to get up, but before he could get away, Mason retrieved the lube and handed it to me. I got a generous scoop on my finger, while Mason pulled Finn toward him. I found Finn’s tight hole and held him up while I greased him thoroughly. Finn squealed and blushed furiously as he tried to get his arms free to swing at both of us, but Mason dodged backward.
“You’re welcome!” he said, laughing.
I lowered Finn back down quickly onto my ready cock. He gasped aloud, and he turned to stare into my eyes over his shoulder. I used compulsion on him to convince him he couldn’t get away as I put my hands on his waist and bounced him up and down. Each bounce drove my cock deeper into his ass. For once in his life, the man was speechless. I thrust deeply into him, not giving him a chance to do much but shout out his pleasure. Mason stepped over in front of him again, grabbed his chin to hold him in place and then shoved his cock inside his mouth, making him take it in as far as he could. He raised his eyebrows in shock and made a lot of noise in his throat, but we had him right where we wanted him. Mason fucked him in the mouth, while my hand found his cock and I matched the rhythm of my bounces in his ass with a hand job. I had to admit that I was aroused by Finn’s predicament. I pinched his nipple with my free hand and he moaned long and loud and made no effort to get away.
As fast and furious as this was, I felt my climax coming fast. Mason must have reached his limit of excitement too, because he gave a final thrust as he came too hard and fast for Finn to swallow it all. Finn choked and gagged and took all that he could. The rest spilled out of his mouth and ran down his chin. Mason pulled out and held his cock to Finn’s gasping mouth. “Lick it,” he said, and though Finn gave him a dirty look, he stuck out his tongue and dutifully licked up every drop of Mason’s cum.
“Good boy,” Mason said, patting his head, and laughing as Finn jerked away.
I was too close to hold off, so I began to thrust deeper inside him and continued to stroke him hard. He cried out suddenly and Mason bent over to kiss his mouth and swallow his screams while I filled his ass with my cum.
When I finished, he sagged and I looked down at him and smiled. “Still with us, tough guy?” I glanced at Mason and saw that incredibly, he was still hard. Or maybe hard again. He’d been watching me with Finn. I got up, holding Finn under his arms and lay him down on the bank. “Take him,” I said to Mason and he looked at me and grinned. He fell on him, turning him to his back. But we had underestimated the wolf. Finn suddenly tossed Mason onto his back with incredible ease and for once in his life, Mason couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“Get him ready,” Finn shouted at me, and I quickly reached for the lube so Finn wouldn’t hurt him. But Finn shook his head at me.
“No,” he said. “Use your tongue.”
Before I could protest, he grabbed me around the back of my neck and pushed my face right down so I was up close and personal with Mason’s pink hole. “Go on,” Finn said. “Get it nice and wet for me.”
He made room for me in front of him and I bent over to attend to Mason, when Finn grabbed me from behind and shoved his cock up my ass. He thrust himself in and sank deep, and the only lube I got was his pre-cum. I guess it was a good thing we’d been having a lot of sex lately, because the burn wasn’t too bad, but I arched up and away from Mason’s entrance. Finn shoved my head back down.
“Not so fast, pretty boy. You got work to do.” So I got to work. Mason writhed and moaned and begged above me and tried to push my head away, but his cock was hard and leaking. Soon I was using both my tongue and my fingers on him while Finn fucked my ass. When he finally came, Finn came too and I was close behind. Finn sagged down on my back. He pinched me and whispered in my ear.
“You think compelling me is fun? Try it again and I’ll tie you to the bed and fuck you for three days straight.”
“Don’t make a promise you don’t intend to keep,” I said.
“Oh, I mean to keep it all right.” He chuckled and bent over to bite my ear lobe again. We had to have a long talk about that shit soon or I wouldn’t have any ear lobes left. He got up, picked me up around the waist and sat me down in the middle of that icy stream again. I jumped up with a howl and made a few promises to him then.
Ignoring me, he turned to look for Mason, who was trying to get up to run, but he caught him around the ankle, bit him on the ass and pulled him over in the stream too. He scrambled back to his feet and stomped out, cussing Finn and calling his legitimacy into serious question. Finn got out and grabbed him as he cussed and kissed him until he quieted down. He pulled me into his arms when I got out of the water too and though I fought him a little, I, too, got thoroughly mauled.
“Now that,” Finn said, when he could talk again, “was what I call a consummation.” He fell back on the ground. “Best sex I’ve had in years.”
Mason smiled, shaking his head. He scooted next to him, pulling me along with him. He lay down on one side of Finn and I lay on the other. I never needed sleep, actually, but if I lay still long enough, I would sometimes go into a kind of stasis, where I could turn off my mind for a while. I never knew when I reached that state, and it didn’t always happen, but I came back to myself in a tangled heap, with my face snuggled down into Finn’s shoulder and my hand stretched across his chest clutching Mason’s hand. It was the happiest I remembered feeling in a long, long time. Too bad it couldn’t have lasted.
****
Mason
When we came out of the woods a couple of hours later, it was almost midnight. I could tell that Finn was reacting strongly to the new moon and when he headed straight toward his campsite, I pulled on his arm. He turned to face me.
“It’s a full moon, Mace. I need to run with Roark and his brothers.”
“The Dark Hollows pack is out there too. And Marco specifically told me not to be out tonight.”
“Well, first of all, Marco is not your alpha. I am. So you can disregard his ‘orders’. And second of all, you’re not going to be in the woods. I’m sending you to the lodge.”
I sighed really hard. “I’m not a damn werewolf, so I don’t have an alpha. You don’t ‘send’ me anywhere.”
He ignored me and pulled me in for a kiss. “Baby, please. Is that better? I’ll be back soon—I just want to find out what happened to Cade and maybe let Roark and the boys let off a little steam.” I nodded after a moment and he turned me toward the lodge and gave my ass a little swat. He could be so infuriating. I saw him try for Valerian too, but he gave him a blistering glare and moved out of his way so fast Finn was left swinging at empty air. Finn laughed—he was always in a good mood after getting laid—and then he turned and took off toward the camp.
Valerian and I walked slowly back to the lodge, not saying much. I think we were both overwhelmed a little at the huge step the three of us had just taken together, to make our connection a three-way. I didn’t know if it would keep working or not. I only knew that I loved both of my mates and I wasn’t giving either of them up without a hell of a fight.
When we got closer to the lodge, I could see a small “delegation” waiting on us and I began to get uneasy. Marco was there, along with the gorgeous Nicky, who was standing apart from the rest of them, leaning against one of the porch supports. His mouth was turned down in a frown and his eyes were flashing. I didn’t think he approved of whatever was going on here. He was the only mate there too, and I wondered why Marco hadn’t made him stay home, but then I remembered that Marco never had much control over Nicky.
I glanced at the others gathered on the porch. Rayce, Casey, Rory, who was Casey’s mate, and Connor, plus a couple of others from Marco’s pack I’d seen around, but didn’t know too well.
“What is it?” I asked, stepping up to the bottom of the steps. “Is it Cade? Is he all right?”
Marco completely ignored me and focused his gaze on Valerian, who was standing at my side. “Where have you been, Bloodsucker?”
Valerian’s gaze swept over him and the others contemptuously. I started thinking, oh no, don’t get an attitude with them. Please, Valerian.
I put my hand on his arm, but he shook it off impatiently. “You think I attacked the wolf?” he said, his voice low and lazy and menacing. Damn, damn, damn. Don’t do this, Valerian.
Marco bristled, as did every other wolf on the porch. Rayce took a snarling step toward us, but Connor took his arm and shook his head.
Marco growled. “Well? Did you?”
“If I had—then I can assure you Cade wouldn’t still be alive. I’d have drained him there in the woods. I caught the scent of his blood on the air—it did smell delicious.” His gaze slowly and deliberately panned over to Nicky and I braced myself. He smiled at him lasciviously. “Bonsoir, mon cherie. Quoi de neuf?” His voice was fairly dripping with lechery. “Cade’s blood didn’t smell half as delicious as yours would, I think.” He dropped one eyelid in a slow, sexy wink, and Nicky gasped and straightened up, looking a little alarmed. Marco made one harsh sound of pure, unadulterated rage deep in his throat.
And that’s when the shit hit the fan.
I woke up slowly, feeling like someone had either kicked or pummeled every inch of my body. I became aware that I was lying on the floor with my head on Valerian’s lap. Daylight was streaming in the window. We were in some kind of jail cell and I thought I knew where. Marco kept a few cells in the basement of his huge lodge. They used to be used for Hunters they caught on their land in the old days, but now he kept them specifically for troublemakers—like me and Valerian.
I glanced up at my vampire again. Though I felt like I’d been beaten soundly, the only sign he’d been in a fight was a torn shirt and some mussed up hair. As I stirred, he opened his eyes and looked down at me.
“Hey,” he said in his sinfully sexy, throaty voice. “Are you all right, darling?”
“Me?” I pushed myself to sit up and winced when I tried to move my arm. Somebody had apparently made a serious attempt to break it off. I rubbed my shoulder gingerly. “I’m okay, but what about you? I thought they were going to kill you…I mean…”
“I know what you mean, mon coeur, and they did try, I think. Fortunately, Jax and Cade showed up in time to save the day. Cade told the big wolf that I wasn’t the one who tried to kill him. Marco took us into…what did he call it…oh yes, ‘protective custody.’ To guard us against Cade’s idiots who refused to stop fighting.”
“Protective custody? What the hell?"
“He said it was until Cade’s wolves calmed down some and came to their senses.”
“Well, that could take a while. And why am I included? I’m not a vampire, obviously.”
“They couldn’t get you to calm down and shift back to your human form. You changed into the demon form again and kept attacking the wolves. They asked me to leave you with them. They said if I left with them, you might calm down.”
“But?”
“But I couldn’t leave you.”
I just looked at him. Sometimes, especially when he said things like that, I felt like my heart had been broken into three big chunks on that dark trail in the moonlight, and Valerian had picked up one of them and put it in his pocket. So had the big, handsome lug of a wolf that bit me first, leaving only a part of it beating for me. It was why I couldn’t let either one of them ever leave me.
I leaned over and brushed my lips against Valerian’s. “Did that hurt?”
“Yes.”
I moved to the corner of his mouth. “How about now?”
“Still hurts.” He pointed to the other corner. “Try over here.”
Smiling, I licked and then kissed it tenderly.
“No. Still hurts.” He took me in his arms and bent me back over his arm, murmuring to me in that low growly voice that made me sigh. “Good thing I’m into pain.”
We had been kissing and fooling around for some time when we heard a door open softly down the corridor. Nicky slipped in, shutting the door behind him quietly. He was carrying a loaded tray heaped with rolls and buns and best of all, steaming cups of coffee. He came up to our cell and put the tray on the floor, then dug in his pocket for the key. He smiled at us and opened the door without hesitation. I stood up to help him bring in the tray.
“Oh man, Nicky, thank you. I was starving to death.”
He laughed. “Good thing I got here in time, then.” I brought the tray over to where Valerian still sat, propped up against the wall and put it in the floor. Nicky plopped down onto the cot in the room and stared at Valerian with open curiosity. Valerian returned his regard with a shake of his head.
“Not that we don’t appreciate your concern, mon petit. But if your husband finds you here, it will renew the hostilities.”
Nicky shrugged. “He’s busy arguing with Jax and Finn. That’s his name, right? The big, good looking wolf who’s always bragging about his dick?”
I laughed out loud and Valerian smiled ruefully. “That does describe him perfectly.”
Nicky grinned back at us. “Marco dislikes him the most, I think. Although after what you said about me…”
“My apologies, Nicky.” When he said his name in that slight French accent of his, it sounded like Neeky, all slow and sensual. Nicky was staring at him like he was the last juicy pork chop on the plate, and I fully supported that. I mean, how could I blame him?
“I was only taunting your wolf, but I didn’t mean to offend you. I would never harm you.” He winked at him again. “No matter how delicious you would undoubtedly taste.”
Nicky glanced over at me. “Damn Mason. How is it you didn’t let him drain you dry when he bit you? And how do you ever get anything done around him? I’d never leave the bedroom.”
I snorted my coffee through my nose and the next few seconds were taken up with a flurry of napkins. Nicky’s visit was already making me feel better, and it felt good to laugh again.
“Don’t let Marco hear you say that,” I choked out.
Nicky waved his hand negligently. “Oh, Marco knows how I feel. But believe me, he’s very secure. He should be, by now, anyway. Listen, Jax and I have been discussing your welcome home party.”
Valerian looked totally blank and I laughed out loud again. “Is he still talking about that? How have you had time?”
He winked at me. “Mason, honey, I always have time for parties. I was thinking of something outdoors, maybe—we could get one of those big tents. You know the ones. Maybe cook out. Anyway, leave it to me and Jax. We’ll plan something nice, and…”
We all suddenly realized the loud voices that we’d been hearing for a little while were getting closer. Two men were yelling at each other somewhere close by and now they were coming down the steps. I smelled something musky and sweet and I knew one of the men was Finn. Suddenly, the door flew open at the end of the narrow corridor, and he came storming in with Marco and my brother Jax right behind him.
“Uh oh,” Nicky said and stood up quickly.
Marco charged up to the bars. “Nicky, goddammit! I told you not to come down here!”
“Well, somebody had to feed them. They haven’t had a bite all morning!”
Valerian smiled at his words and winked at him, staring pointedly at Nicky’s throat. “Yes, I was just about to remedy that situation when you arrived.”
Marco snarled at him. “Fuck you! Get out of there, Nicky! Dammit, do you ever listen to a word I say?”
“Get my mates out of there too! Right goddamn now!” Finn roared, pointing at Valerian and me.
“Give me a minute,” Marco snapped back at him. “And watch your damn tone. I make the rules around here. This is still my house.”
“And those are my mates.”
Marco, who was coming inside to grab Nicky’s arm, mumbled something under his breath that sounded like, “And you’re welcome to them,” but I couldn’t be sure.
He pulled Nicky outside and stepped back as Finn brushed past him and Jax both to rush in and kneel down beside us. He tried to pick both of us up at the same time, which didn’t work at all and was just embarrassing, really. Valerian was much too tall and I was heavier than I looked. Valerian pushed him away, cursing under his breath and got to his feet without help, while I let Finn manhandle me up to mine. It made him feel better, and he seriously needed to calm down. I patted his cheek. “We’re both okay. It was all a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding, my ass. They automatically assumed the worst. It’s prejudice. Damn racial profiling.”
“We’re all white, Finn.”
“You know what I mean. It's just because he's a vampire. It’s not right, I tell you! Valerian was with us the whole time.”
Valerian sighed and rolled his eyes. “No, I wasn’t, and they know it. Stop trying to help me, Finn—you’re only making things worse. Cade must have come home and told them I didn’t have anything to do with the attack.”
“Just exactly where were you anyway?” Marco asked. Nicky was standing beside him, watching the exchange avidly.
“I was out hunting.” He turned to look at Marco. “Not for wolves or humans.”
Marco just stared back at him and Valerian’s lips twitched. “Of course, if your delectable Nicky ever happens to walk by while I’m hunting in the woods, I’m afraid all bets are off. I do enjoy an occasional blond.” He winked again at Nicky, who laughed out loud and got a stern glance from Marco.
“Stop it Valerian,” I said, turning to Marco. “He’s just trying to bait you. He would never hurt Nicky.”
Marco’s eyes flashed. “He’ll never get the chance.”
Jax spoke up from beside Marco. “It was all a mistake, Mason. Tempers were running high because of what happened to Cade. I told Marco how Finn saved him. And Cade told him Valerian wasn’t one of the ones who attacked him.”
“There was more than one attacker?” Valerian asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Yes. A group of them ambushed Cade when he got temporarily separated from the others in the moonlight. The one who was leading the attack was incredibly strong,” he told us. “He asked about you, Valerian."
Because I was holding onto Valerian, I felt him flinch and begin trembling. None of the others seemed to notice. I tightened my grip on him—we could talk about it later but for now I needed to get him out of this cell.
“Is Cade all right?”
“He will be. He lost a lot of blood, but shifting into his wolf mostly healed him. He’s resting now.”
I gave Valerian a gentle push toward Finn, hoping he’d cooperate, and for once, he did. Finn put a possessive arm around his waist, which he promptly shrugged off.
“We’re leaving now,” I said. “Or is there something else? Because if not, we’re getting out of here and going home to Virginia.”
Jax gasped and looked distraught. Nicky too. I didn’t want to hurt my brother and my friends, but there had been nothing but trouble since we’d arrived. Now some vampire had arrived, asking for Valerian by name, and I needed to get both my mates out of there.
Marco shook his head. “Not so fast, Mason. I’d like to discuss the doctor’s findings from the blood tests with you. I think it will be well worth your time.”
I sighed heavily. “Okay, lead the way. Finn, if you and Valerian want to just go on ahead to the camp…”
“Not a chance,” Finn said and folded his arms over his chest. “We’ll wait for you.”
I gave him a look, which he ignored and turned back to Marco. “Okay. Let’s go see what the doctor has to say.”