“I was thinking we could convert the Cary Town Luxury Apartments. My dad owned the penthouse. It’s deserted now, but the penthouse is still set up to be vampire-friendly, and it would give us a separate space from the rest of the pack. Plus before it was apartments, it was an old hotel, so it has some similarities to what the pack is used to.”
“Yeah, okay. I can deal with that. How far is it from your dad’s compound?”
“About four miles, I think.”
It was better than being right on top of her family. He didn’t want to be negative about it, but Noah was sure the vampire king wouldn’t approve of this match.
Noah returned to the cramped closet, careful not to let sunlight spill in. It was easier in his wolf form but she needed to feed. Her heart rate picked up at his proximity.
There wasn’t another vampire alive that Noah would allow to feed on him. His dad would throw a fit. Noah should probably worry about the vampire king and how he’d take it, but he was more worried about his dad.
It had been a big enough issue when his mom had been brought into the pack as Cole’s mate. Sure, she’d started out human, but they’d smelled vampire blood on her. It was in her veins even though she hadn’t been a vampire. All they could figure was that her mother had been some vampire’s thrall and he’d perhaps fed her his blood to heal her while she’d been pregnant with Jane. Somehow that blood had made its way into the developing fetus.
The pack had accepted her, and even more so once she’d become a demon and was physically stronger, but the fact remained that wolves weren’t fans of vampires, and Jane hadn’t needed to drink Cole’s blood.
The new pack was cool about it, but they’d just met them and hadn’t been in a position to judge mate choices.
A thrill went down Noah’s spine as Sydney licked the side of his neck. From another wolf it would perhaps be a sign of affection. From a human it would be a prelude to sex. From a vampire, it was like licking a piece of chocolate before you bit into it.
“Why do you think your blood makes me so strong?” Sydney asked. There was a tremor in her voice as she held back the urge to bite. She was getting so strong she was nearly his match, something he never would have thought possible when they were in the facility together and she’d been so vulnerable.
“Noah?”
“Beats me. I’m just glad it does.” All those years she’d been weak and sickly, and his blood had held the cure to make her whole. If Cole wanted to make a thing of that… well Noah hadn’t seen his old man in two decades. He’d gotten used to feeling orphaned. There wasn’t much left to lose if his family rejected him.
Noah hissed as Sydney bit him and began to feed. His erection pressed against his pants, but they didn’t have time for that. And he knew she didn’t want to do it in this closet she hated. Her bite had started to create a physical response that was perhaps more disturbing than letting a vampire use him as dinner.
She ran her tongue over his throat to take the last drops of blood that trailed down. “D-did I take too much?”
“No. I’m fine,” he said.
“Well, you’re quiet. And you aren’t…”
“It’s a dirty closet, and I need to hunt. Then we need to get on the road.” He shifted to face her. Even in the dark he saw her features clearly, the insecurity and fear. He planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’m just thinking. Everything is okay.”
“Does this bother you? That I have to feed from you like this?”
“No. It doesn’t bother me.” He wasn’t about to mention that it might bother his dad or the pack back home. Or how they were going to deal with the fall out from the joke fate had decided to play by putting them together. “I need to hunt.”
Noah didn’t want to leave her. He wanted to reassure her that they’d be fine, but he wasn’t feeling it because the closer they got to getting back on the road to go home, the more his anxiety mounted. He couldn’t tell Sydney because he didn’t want her to worry, and he couldn’t share with the pack because they needed to see him as their strong unstoppable leader. They might forgive the outburst about his imprisonment, but they wouldn’t be able to deal with the instability of him showing erratic weakness every other day.
He hunted alone again and kept away from the others. He told himself it was to think, but he was brooding. He felt himself mentally going back to the cell, that space where he was alone and it was just him and his thoughts and his dreams.
Milo approached and tried to run with him, but Noah growled and snapped until he ran off. He’d be lucky if the pack was even still at the farmhouse when he returned with his behavior.
But when he got back, they were ready to go with their bikes lined up. The sun had set half an hour before, and Sydney was with them. She was the social lubricant that made this work. They felt comfortable and chatty with her. As the alpha’s mate there was less pressure on her. She needed to be strong—and she was—but she didn’t have to be as strong as Noah did. Or as distant.
He regretted telling them the truth about his history. Maybe he’d imagined it, but he felt sure they judged him, thought him inferior, questioned following him altogether. Maybe they followed for Sydney, and Noah was just the sideshow.
When she saw him, she excused herself and strode over. She looked like Shira. Maybe it was that she wore Shira’s clothes, but she moved like her—with confidence and power. And right now Noah felt again like the visiting wolf with no home and no roots—like it was her pack, not his. Maybe it should be.
The urge came over him to shift again. He wanted to challenge her for the pack. Noah shook the thoughts from his head. He must be mad. Challenge her for the pack? What the hell? They were BOTH the alphas. Of course it was her pack. Of course she moved like an alpha. She was an alpha. If he couldn’t keep up with that, it was his own failing. He couldn’t take it out on her. He wasn’t going to hurt his mate.
When she reached him, he shrugged out of her embrace and avoided her kiss. Her features betrayed hurt at his rebuff.
“Noah? Is everything okay? Are we okay?”
Why couldn’t he reassure her? He’d run off earlier leaving her wondering what the hell was wrong with him, and now he was pulling away. But the thoughts he’d just had. In his head he’d shifted and ripped her apart to lead a pack of wolves he didn’t even know that well. She was his fucking mate. Every part of his DNA had known she was his from the time they were babies. Even if he hadn’t known what that feeling meant, even if he’d just known he was meant to protect her and be her friend. And now? What was happening to him?
What if he hurt her? What if he lost control and did something crazy because he couldn’t shut this shit off?
“Noah?”
He growled. “It’s fine, Sydney. Let’s go. You know the way back home. We’ll follow you.” He smelled her tears but couldn’t bring himself to comfort her.
“Did… did I do something to upset you?”
“Let’s just get settled. We have bigger things to worry about right now. If the magic users go to Cary Town our families could be in danger. They may be planning something or on their way now. We don’t have time.”