B Positive by Jewel Killian

Twelve

Both of themjust stood there, staring at me as I stumbled backward out of Jaxson’s arms. And I stared right back at them, pain slashed across my face and empty hollowness pressing against my heart.

How could he have kept that from me?

Since when were wolf shifters a thing?

And how could he have kept that from me!? Not that I had much room to talk. I hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about my blood-drinking status.

But it was literally against the law.

I stared at Jaxson. “How could you not tell me?” My words came out choked, hollow.

“Babe, I swear I thought you knew. You’re a vampire, for Christ’s sake. I figured you knew the second you got the first whiff.”

I shook my head, backing away as Jaxson stepped closer. He was trying to comfort me, but my world was turning itself inside out. “You knew what I was this whole time?”

“Well, yeah, Eden. You smell like all vamps do.”

I’d always thought Jax smelled nice and woodsy. Nicer than a normal human. But I didn’t know that meant he was a fucking wolf.

Jaxson put his hands up. “I’m sorry, Eden. I thought we had an understanding. I thought we were both playing ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

I flopped onto the edge of the bed, head spinning, pulse hammering in my neck like a tiny kick drum. “I didn’t know it was a thing at all,” I whispered.

Jaxson glanced down at me. “I’m so sorry. I knew you were a newer vamp, but I figured your maker had taught you about supernaturals.”

My temper flared, burning through the whirling disorientation of having everything I thought I knew about the world and my place in it stripped away. I shot up, meeting those now clearly wolfish amber eyes. “I’m so fucking sick of hearing that. You wanna know why my maker didn’t teach me anything? Huh?” My gaze bounced from Jax to BDD. Both backed away a few steps, startled by my sudden mood swing “She died. That’s why.” I stormed across the studio to grab some pants and yanked them over my shorts, then found some socks and my favorite pair of shit-kicking boots. I didn’t bother with a bra and spun around to meet their gazes once again, temper still hot. “Right after she turned me, Odette Laurent, one of the first vampires in the new world, died because of some stupid shit between King Titus and Julian. She died before she got to teach me anything and I had to figure everything out on my own. By myself. So, no. I didn’t know wolf shifters were a thing, or that vampires even have mates, but I guess that explains why my fucking pants want to explode every time I’m around Julian. But I’d appreciate it if everyone would stop bringing it up!”

I pushed past both men, neither of whom deserved my outburst. I turned to glare at them once I reached the broken front door. “I’m not mad at you two, I’m just mad, okay? And fix my door!” I yelled before blurring out into the pre-dawn stillness.

I expected they would follow. I was sure they’d find me at the next intersection and corral me back to wherever it was they thought I belonged. But with every street I crossed, every building I cleared without seeing them, that fear grew less and less.

Which pissed me off as much as it was a relief.

I mean, what the fuck was I supposed to do now?

The king’s mate?

What did that even mean?

I shook off the shudder of revulsion the word evoked. It sounded gross and possessive and broodmarish. Like nightmarish, only with breeding.

No, thank you.

I had signed up for exactly zero of this. Stupid turf wars and politics, diamonds that I couldn’t sell, and best friends that were actually wolves. This was not the plan!

But then, my plan had changed the moment King Titus took Odette’s life.

I’d come out of my transition an orphan. No one to ground me, no one to show me anything.

I’d been damn lucky to find a nest to take me in at all. But by then I was too far gone, and as much as they’d tried to curb my binge-drinking habits, I couldn’t. Despite giving me double the normal ration of blood, I still went to the streets and drank until I was blood-drunk.

My nest had kicked me out, hoping that time alone would either straighten me out, or…

That I’d get caught and the king would have to kill me for being a danger to our kind.

Luckily, I figured out how to handle my bloodlust before I’d caused enough damage to get myself staked, but the whole goddamn reason I’d chosen Odette was because she seemed so perfect. I wanted to learn from her because to me, she was the best example of vampirism.

But fucking Titus had taken her from me.

I paused at an intersection, glancing at the street sign. South Main? How had I ended up there?

I’d blurred all the way from my place uptown to the center of midtown on autopilot.

And I was about forty yards away from those big iron gates.

“That’s twice now.” The rumbly voice behind me was as irksome as it was erotic. I turned slowly, meeting Julian’s hazel eyes, willing myself not to peruse the rest of his face or body.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped.

A smile slowly spread across his face and some of the tension in my back and shoulders fell away. “It’s the second time you’ve had a problem and run straight to me.”

My jaw clamped shut, and I stepped fully into his space. “First of all, I had to convince myself to come here the first time, which I did only because there was a message specifically for you. And second, I didn’t even realize I was coming here, jackass.”

A low rumble rattled in his throat. A warning. Well, if he didn’t like being called a jackass, he shouldn’t act like one.

Julian still managed to smile when he said, “But you’re here nonetheless.”

I stepped back, hating that he was right and hating that I gave in and raked my gaze over his body. Same charcoal suit as earlier.

Earlier…

I scrutinized his clothes for the tells.

A stray hair, a spot of blood. Wrinkling in weird spots.

I knew every tell and how to hide them.

“Did you hurt anyone?” I asked.

He gave me a puzzled look before that same slow smile wrapped itself around me once again, relieving the coil of tension between my shoulders. “I go to the forest on the outskirts of town when I’m feeling…how did you put it?”

“Saber tooth-y.”

“Yes, that’s it. I don’t hunt people, Eden. This afternoon I brought two bucks and a doe to the local pack. All drained of blood, of course.”

Of course.

“And by pack, you mean…”

“The wolf pack that lives in the forest surrounding our cove. They’re one of our last defenses against Titus. I had to bring them something when I told them Titus had broken protocol and moved the deadline.”

I let out a long breath and just as I did the sun peeked over the horizon, limning Julian in light just like that first time in his study.

The vampire king who made me mad with desire and scared my baby vamp muscles stiff still somehow looked like an angel.

He probably planned it. Came up behind me because he knew the sun was coming up.

Julian held back a smile. “Come inside, Eden. We have some things to talk about.”