Bold Mercy by Laken Cane

Chapter Eleven

The city was in shock, but soon, there would be only chaos. Terror and disbelief were on every face I saw, and already people gathered in small groups on the streets to listen while grim speakers shouted about the end of the world, government interference, and conspiracy theories.

I wanted to shift, but I needed to stay in contact with the detective. He’d keep me informed as I tracked the killer vampires. But Avis was fast—vampire fast—and she had yet to leave the city. That terrified me, because there were only two reasons why she’d stay.

One, to kill more humans, and two, because she wasn’t afraid of being caught.

And as I followed her scent through well-lit streets crowded with cars as people attempted to flee, Rick called again. “People are dying in the streets,” he told me. “The vampires have started picking people off as they gather in groups and pile into their cars.”

“While the humans are disorganized and confused,” I told him, “the vampires will strike the hardest. They need a voice, Detective. Talk to them. Tell them that most of what they’ve heard about vampires is true. Tell them to go inside and lock their doors—vampires cannot get into their houses without an invitation.” Then I hesitated, because Avis was not exactly a vampire, and she could go wherever she pleased. Still, it might cut down on some of the deaths.

“Vampire headed this way,” Wyatt said.

And not just any vampire. I ended the call with the detective and looked up to see Bastien, the county master, walking toward me. He didn’t look like a vampire. He’d cut his long, shiny hair and donned an expensive suit, attempting to blend in with the humans. But his eyes were terrible, and I knew that he would blame himself for Avis Vine’s murder spree. As county master, that was on his shoulders.

Farrow, the girl who’d approached me when I’d first visited Frederick Axton, was at his side, and though they didn’t make themselves obvious, I saw other vampires near him, also attempting to blend in. Their lives were about to change forever, and I couldn’t imagine what they were thinking.

“Do you have her scent?” Bastien asked me.

“I do.”

“My people are all over the city. We’ll find her.” He stared at me with a stillness only vampires were capable of. “If you find her before I do—”

“I know what to do,” I interrupted, patting the stakes I’d hidden beneath my long jacket. “She won’t be the first vampire I’ve staked.”

He flinched, just a little. He got control of his emotions quickly, but I saw what he tried to hide. His eyes were brimming with desolation. “I would like to get her alive,” he said. “I would use her as an example to others who might betray their own. I can punish her in ways you cannot imagine, Kait. Bring her to me.”

He wasn’t wrong. Even though there would have been nothing as satisfying to me as staking Avis and taking her head, he could keep her alive for years with his creative torture. And he could use her to keep others in line. “I’ll think about it,” was all I’d promise.

He gave me a quick nod. “Thank you.” Then he and his people hurried on, as determined as I was to stop the carnage and capture Avis Vine.

I wondered if her insanity would affect other vampires in other cities, other countries. Avis was far from the only crazy in the world, and other vampires might only have been waiting for someone to lead them into the fray—and out of the shadows.

By dawn, she still had not been found, many humans were dead—most of them killed by other humans, terrified humans with guns—and Bastien told me that some of his vampires had joined Avis, rising up with their dark desires and, perhaps, a belief that once they were out they would become…equals, somehow. Mainstream.

Accepted.

Only that would never happen, because they had too much power, there were too few of them, and the majority of humans would only ever fear and hate them. Wolves would be next, of course. I was doubtful we could stay hidden now. That any of the nonhumans could.

Maybe my nerves screwed with my hunting, but for whatever reason, I lost Avis’s scent around four in the morning. I was exhausted, as were the wolves with me, because we’d barely taken a moment to rest. We hadn’t eaten, and now we were running on pure hatred and desperation alone.

We weren’t the only ones. Groups of humans and the occasional loner carried shotguns and blades through the city streets, searching for vampires. Maybe they thought there was safety in numbers or that if they spotted a vampire they’d simply shoot him or her and someone would burn or bury the monster, and all would be well.

It wouldn’t take them long to realize the futility and danger of their plan.

“Lucy and Ash are at Shadowfield,” Jared said. “Come home with me to sleep. We will begin the search again as soon as it’s dark.”

I surprised him by agreeing. The last thing I wanted was to be alone. I called Zach and asked him to return to Shadowfield as well, and then called my mother.

“I’m already at Shadowfield, Kaity. You’re coming?”

“Yeah. Go back to sleep, Mom.” In one’s pack was safety, comfort, and strength, and I was in no condition to deny myself.

I forgot all about the serial killer. What was one crazy fucking human in the midst of such a massive nightmare?

When we got to Shadowfield and I stumbled walking toward Jared’s house, he gave a soft growl and took my arm to steady me. “You’ll get cleaned up,” he told me. “Food will be waiting. After you eat, Nell will show you to a bed.”

His fingers were warm on my arm, even through the thin fabric of my jacket. Warm, and possessive. And yet…

“Jared.”

He didn’t stop walking but his body immediately tensed. “Yes?”

I knew he wanted me. Wolves had strong senses—his desire was not going to be a secret. At least not his physical desire. Mentally, though, I only knew that he didn’t want to want me. And I would have given much to know why. Maybe it was because of his arranged match with Jeanette Lister, but I didn’t think so. He’d said it was because of me. That I was not ready.

What the hell did that even mean? And who put that shit into his head? I wanted to ask him, but honestly, I was so sick of throwing myself at a man who recoiled like I was some sort of innocent…human that I kept my mouth shut and my hands to myself, and I went to take a much-needed shower.

Jared’s family home wasn’t over the top. It was too clean, if you asked me, and everything was just too…white, and it definitely didn’t scream “The alpha lives here!” which is exactly how a wolf wanted to live. Simply and under the radar, just like the vampires.

“Shit,” I whispered, and dropped my fork back into my plate. Nell had prepared rare steaks with potatoes and an apple pie for dessert. The food was good and I was starving, but after only half the huge steak, my worried brain got in the way of my appetite.

Jared ate with me, but the only one who talked was Nell. She talked a lot as she bustled back and forth, but I didn’t mind. It helped fill the uncomfortable silence. She went silent when I stopped eating. “Is something wrong with the meat?” she asked, frowning. “Would you prefer something else?”

I rubbed my eyes. “It’s delicious, Nell. My worry is getting in the way of my appetite, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, dear,” she said. “Try not to worry so much. Jared will worry enough for all of us, and he will always protect this pack. Certainly he’ll protect you. Honestly, he shouldn’t be allowing you to—”

“Nell,” Jared interrupted.

He didn’t say anything else but she immediately wiped her hands and left the dining room after a quick, somewhat apologetic glance at him.

Jared left his chair and walked around the table toward me, and my body stiffened immediately. Just a little, but enough to make me realize I didn’t trust the alpha the way a wolf should trust her alpha. I didn’t submit to him, I didn’t obey him, and I didn’t believe his word was law, the way a normal wolf would. And just like that, I realized by saying I wasn’t ready, he simply meant I wasn’t ready to let him be the boss of me. Apparently, he believed that in order to have sex, we needed to know our places—and accept them.

My wolf loved the hell out of that. But me? No. Not so much.

“Stop thinking,” he said, sitting down beside me, “and eat your dinner. You can’t hunt if you don’t eat.”

“I can’t be a submissive wolf, Jared.”

He studied me, then cut off a piece of meat, speared it with the fork, and handed it to me. “You don’t need to be submissive,” he said. “Not the way you think. But you have to trust me. You have to believe I won’t hurt you, that I will take care of you, that no matter what, I will always do what is best for my pack. And you.”

I wasn’t like other wolves, simply because I’d been “warped” by being forced out of my pack at such a young age. Then my wolf had been hobbled, so really, I was closer to human than shifter. Even growing up, my parents had kept me more isolated than a normal pup would have been. My father had seen to my training, my mother to my education. I’d had few friends. Then I’d been sent away.

I understood that a wolf would look to her alpha for protection. I understood that the weight of the pack rested on his shoulders and that regular wolves accepted and were grateful for that. His word was law.

But I didn’t know why it was so important to him that I be that person.

I was completely torn, of course, because a big part of me—the wolf part—wanted everything to be the way it was supposed to be. Wanted to lie down and give him my belly and relax, secure in the knowledge that as alpha, he was responsible for us all. He would take care of everything, including me.

The woman part though, she wanted to shove him up against the wall and have her way with him, then go out hunting and protecting and defending and taking care of her own damn self.

I sighed, then lifted the fork to my lips. As he watched, I ate the damn steak, and then I ate another one—not because he’d said I should, but because I knew that if I wanted to catch Avis and protect not only my people but the humans, I had to make sure I was physically strong enough to do so.

But afterward, as I got up to head to bed, I blurted it out, because…oh, who the fuck knew why. I just did. “Why the hell,” I asked, standing so close to him that I could have taken a deep breath and brushed my body against his, “can we not just have casual sex without all the complications?” I reacted almost violently to the thought and to the nearness of him. My body woke up. My skin erupted in gooseflesh, chills raced down my spine, my mouth dried up, my hands shook. Worse, my heart pounded so hard I was sure he’d hear it, and a wave of extreme heat gathered between my legs and wiped all sane thought from my mind.

There was only lust. Deep, unexpected, and extreme. There was something huge and special connecting us. I couldn’t believe I’d feel this way otherwise. Fate? I wouldn’t rule it out. I was that shaken.

But anger lit his stare, and my immediate instinct was to step back and get away from that anger. “There is no casual sex, Kait,” he bit out. “Not with us.”

I had to restrain myself from touching him. “What do you want from me, Jared?”

“I want nothing you cannot freely give,” he growled, at last, and then he turned and strode away from me. I had to admit—if he felt the way about me that I felt about him—physically—then he was stronger than me.

I wished I could talk to Lennon, who might, if pushed, shed some light on Jared’s thinking. I honestly didn’t know what he wanted. Not a casual one-night stand, obviously, but did that mean he wanted something serious? With me?

I snorted. Right.

Whatever he wanted, it wasn’t me for a mate. He would just come to claim me, if he wanted me. And if I’d resisted, he’d have done what any hotblooded alpha would have done. He’d have pursued the fuck out of me. Female alphas did the same. If they wanted a wolf, they knew it, and they went after him. And if the alpha didn’t get his or her mate? I didn’t know. I’d never heard of such a thing happening. Alphas always got what they wanted.

Nell hurried back into the room. “Come with me, Kait. I have your bedroom ready for you. I put your cell phone and your weapons on the dresser.”

“Don’t you ever sleep, Nell?” I asked her, eyeing her dress and her perfectly applied makeup.

“Oh, I sleep when I need to.” She grinned and linked her arm through mine. “You look like you’re ready to fall over, though, so let’s get you tucked in.” She sobered as we walked down a long hallway to the back stairs. “You and the alpha…you will get her, won’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said, grimly. “We will.”

The bedroom she showed me to was at the top of the stairs on the right, and just before she led me in, she paused to point at another door at the end of the hallway. “Jared’s bedroom.” Her voice was soft and when she looked at me, there was something in her eyes. Craftiness? Amusement? I didn’t know.

I said nothing, but once again, my body roared to life when I thought of Jared in his bed, lying sprawled and defenseless and naked beneath crisp white sheets.

Damn.

“If you need anything, there’s a call light right here,” she said, pointing out a discreet white button, “and this is an emergency button. Push it, and you will have half the warriors in the pack in your bedroom before you can take a breath.” Again, she grinned, and now her eyes held only mischievousness. “Not a bad thing, if you ask me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m too tired for emergency buttons.”

“Get some sleep, honey. I’ll wake you in a few hours, if you’d like.”

“Five hours. Thanks, Nell.” I fell into bed. The bed was nice. The room was nice. Not too big, not too small, with a bathroom and a walk-in closet. But I missed my bed, and I missed my dog. If it wouldn’t have disturbed him and Lucy, I’d have sent for him.

I was asleep before the thought was completely formed, and I dreamed the entire time. I dreamed of the alpha and his gleaming skin, his muscles, and his fierceness. I dreamed that he came for me, and kissed me, and it was so real that when something woke me and I opened my eyes to find him there above me, I thought for a minute that it hadn’t been a dream at all.

He stared down at me, as silent as I was, then, “It’s dark in a couple of hours.” His voice was quiet and smooth, and his words didn’t really penetrate my groggy mind. Just the sound of his voice, the glittering of his eyes, the sensual curve of his lips.

“The more I’m around you,” I said, but then I stopped, because I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. I wasn’t that groggy.

But he knew.

Then I glanced at the bedside clock. “Three o’clock,” I practically yelled, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “I told Nell to wake me in five hours. I have to…” I climbed out of bed and stood there, trying to get everything straight in my head. “The world is imploding and I’m lying here sleeping. What’s the news?”

I didn’t even have clean clothes. I started to panic when I realized my blade wasn’t with me, but then remembered I’d handed it to Rick for safekeeping. I could only imagine what the detective was dealing with since the city had fallen into chaos, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t sleeping through it.

Jared gripped my upper arms. “Lucy brought some clothes for you. Your bag is in the bathroom. I had Eli go get your car, it’s parked out front. Moreno called me when he couldn’t reach you, and I told him you were safe. Things have changed in the city, but it will be no different whether you sleep for five hours or for eight. Take a shower. Breakfast and coffee will be waiting when you’re finished. Okay?”

Slightly calmed, I nodded. He was right, and my head was fuzzy. I needed to let myself fully awaken, drink some coffee, and clear my mind. “Everyone is okay?” I asked, and he knew who I was talking about. My mother, Lucy, Zach, Rick, Joe, Max…everyone.

“Everyone is fine.” He continued holding my arms, squeezing just slightly. “I’m worried about you, Kait. You have to take care of yourself.”

“I do?” I lifted my eyebrows. “I thought that’s what you were for.”

He smiled. “Deal.”

Uncomfortable, I pulled out of his grip. “I have to get ready.”

“Yes,” he said. “You do.” And he meant something totally different than I did.

I left him standing there while I went to get a quick shower, and when I came out, he was gone. There was a tray on the table, though, holding coffee and enough breakfast to feed half a dozen wolves. I ate it all, grimly refueling, gearing up for the coming night.

A night of hunting, hoping, and death.

Preferably not mine.