“Yet you’re here.”
“Only because the Werewolf Society, and the Guard, is headquartered in Vegas. That makes me nervous.”
“It should,” he said. “And Joseph has a wife. I don’t.”
“Are you offering me your personal protection?”
His lips twitched. “I’m offering you an audition for my personal protection.” The bastard kissed her, covering her mouth with his, sliding his tongue possessively against hers. It was all she could do not to bite him. His hand boldly covered her breast. Power rushed over Cassie and it wasn’t that of the wolf. It was Troy. He was watching, and he wasn’t happy. Cassie had to do something to get control before he snapped. Their team was outside the building, unable to do anything to affect Troy’s actions.
Jack tore his mouth from hers and stroked her cheek. “Come with me, little pet,” he growled, and there was something menacing in his tone she didn’t like, not to mention the ‘pet’ remark. That’s what the Rebels called humans, which was only slightly better than the ‘snack’ bloodthirsty rogue vamps named them.
“I’m not a pet,” she said, trying to push away from him.
He grabbed her hand and yanked her off the stool, and it was all she could do to keep her skirt from going to her waist. He all but dragged her towards the back of the bar, which was at least part of the plan. There were private rooms that were rented by the bar owner, and that was where pretty much anything kinky and illegal took place. Troy would be waiting and she would do anything, including enduring whatever pain was necessary, to ensure Jack unknowingly helped them to bring down his operation, and Sarah. Only he didn’t go to the private rooms. He detoured to the right, down a hallway that led to an exit. Damn, damn, damn. This was trouble. Every instinct she owned told her to be ready for a fight. She had no idea how many more pack members might be outside. Cassie reminded herself that even if Troy was still inside, her team was outside, and Troy’s two brothers Evan and Aiden combined with her brother Nico, were one hell of a lethal team.
Jack shoved the back door open to the alley and pulled her with him, anger and lust rolling off of him. Anger. She had a bad feeling he knew who she was but she clung to the certainty that he wouldn’t shift, which would make him harder to beat, stronger and more agile. None of the wolves, not even the Rebels, wanted the exposure to humans.
The instant they cleared the exit, he slammed her against the wall, which put her blades against concrete, out of her reach. A dim bulb above spotlighted them while his hand ripped the front of her dress. A second later, that same hand was on her throat and her feet were dangling off the ground. Apparently, his idea of foreplay was choking her.
“I know who you are, bitch,” he said, confirming her guess. “You think Sarah wouldn’t warn me about you?”
Cassie grabbed his hands, trying to loosen his grip, and she would have rammed her knee in his crotch but he grunted and his eyes rolled back in his head. He dropped her and slumped forward, blood gushing from his mouth, his hand going to the wall.
Another grunt followed and then he was flung on the ground with Troy shoving his knife back under his jacket. “I knew I should have yanked that son-of-a-bitch out of the bar and killed him the minute he touched you.”
“We needed him alive,” Cass rasped through a raw throat. “We needed him—”
“Dead. We needed him dead.” He surprised her by pulling her into his arms, pressing his head to hers and running his hand down her hair. It was the first time he’d ever touched her like this. “I should never have agreed to this, Cass. You aren’t bait.”
“I’m fine. I’m a member of the Royal -”
“I know what you are,” he said shortly, pulling back to stare at her. “And I don’t care. He could have killed you before I got to you.”
But he did care. “A wolf,” she whispered. “That’s what I am. A wolf.” They stared at each other, the implications of her words in the air. She was a wolf, and he would never get over that, never really trust her.
“Cass,” he started, before he stiffened, his gaze lifting to the door.
“What is it?” she asked, knowing his many vampire gifts well enough to know that he sensed things before they happened. Knowing that’s how he’d managed to get to her in time.
“Trouble,” he announced, shoving away from her and reaching for his weapons. A second later, the back door burst open, and everything slid into fast motion.
Troy shoved a knife into her hand and with her dress gaping open, she did what she was born to do, what the Royal Guard lived for. And Troy did what a Vampire Warden did, which was the same. They fought.
CHAPTER TWO
In two minutes flat, Cassie and Troy stood side by side, three dead wolves at their feet, four if you counted good old Jack the Ripper who was still by the door.
“We need to warn the others,” Cassie said, holding the blade in her hand, sure more wolves were coming. “They shouldn’t have come for him. Not when they thought he was using me as a chew toy. He said Sarah warned him about me. He must have told them who I was. He must have -”
“She’s here,” Troy whispered softly, too softly.
Cassie’s gaze followed his to the two wolves rounding the corner of the ally, and sure enough, there she was. Sarah. The blond bombshell of a bitch who’d sworn her love for Troy, with one purpose. To infiltrate the Vampire council.
“She’s mine,” he said tightly.
“No,” Cassie objected urgently. “We agreed. I’ll do it.” Sarah had messed with his head enough. He didn’t need to kill the woman he’d once thought he loved.
“I changed my mind,” he said, and started walking towards Sarah and the wolf beside her.
“Behind you!” her brother Nico shouted.
Cassie whirled to find a good six wolves coming at them, with Nico running right into the mix, alone. A split second of torment ate at Cassie. Troy was dealing with Sarah but he was only outnumbered 2 to 1. Nico was outnumbered 6 to 1. Cassie kicked off her heels, and turned towards her brother. She reached behind her and ripped the silver stars free. Who needed clothes and shoes to fight? Not her, apparently.
Another whirlwind of action unwound until Cassie finally was able to turn back to Troy. He was gone and so was Sarah. Fear clenched at her heart and she took off running.
She rounded the corner to another small alley, and froze. One wolf lay dead, and the other, Sarah, was straddling Troy, a blade held above his heart. He shackled her hand and slowly turned it to her chest. Cassie watched as he shoved it into her heart.
Her nostrils flared with warning, a moment before a snarl filled the air. A fully shifted wolf lunged into view and before Cassie could react, the wolf had yanked Sarah off of Troy and jumped on him.
Cassie flung the one blade she had left but it hit the wolf’s shoulder in a non-lethal wound. She didn’t hesitate to act, didn’t care the wolf was male—bigger and stronger. She started running, shifting as she did. Cassie lunged at the wolf, sinking her teeth into its shoulder. He rolled with her, and she ended up on the bottom, ready to fight for her life. Abruptly though, the wolf did the unexpected. He fled. A male wolf in battle never fled. Cassie shifted back to human form instantly, naked now, half crawling, half stumbling towards Troy.