Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Must get to the portal in Rogan’s room…
Must…
I drag my exhausted body through the ornate marble lobby, past the casino, ignoring the hazy smoke, the ringing bells of the slot machines, the aroma of human blood.
The aroma of…
“Hannah!”
I turn. It’s Dominic Park, his platinum-blond hair and silvery eyes more attractive than ever to me. What’s he doing here? Last I heard he went to fight.
He’s no Rogan, but he’s a handsome man, though it’s not his body that calls to me.
It’s his blood.
I inhale, my fangs snapping painfully out of my gums.
He’s wolf.
Not my wolf, but he’s wolf.
I draw in a deep breath, letting the aroma of his blood infuse me. It rattles through his veins, thundering toward his heart and then gliding out to his body via his arteries. The sound is music—a fucking symphony to my blood lust.
I grab his arm, my strength defying logic, and force him into an elevator. “I need to go to Rogan’s penthouse.”
Dominic inhales, looks to my abdomen. “My God. You can’t be…”
“Pregnant? I am. And I need your blood, Dominic. I need it now. Rogan’s baby needs it.”
“Are you insane?” Dominic backs away from me. “He’ll kill me.”
“Would he rather you kill his child?” I stalk toward him, scrape my fangs against the flesh of his neck, growling and inhaling his musk. “I need to feed, Dominic. Rogan’s baby needs to feed. I came here to find him, but I can’t wait a fucking minute longer.”
I sink my fangs into him.
He growls—whether it’s in pain or pleasure, I don’t know, don’t care—as I let his blood trickle over my tongue, down my throat, into my body to nourish my little one.
The flavor isn’t Rogan—not bittersweet chocolate, blackberry, and a lusty zin. It’s sweeter, lighter, but it eases my hunger nearly as well as Rogan’s blood, and at least I know my child is getting the nutrients he or she needs.
I purposefully avoided Dom’s carotid so I wouldn’t overindulge. I take only enough to ease the pain in my abdomen. Once that subsides, I know my child is sated. My next feed will be from Rogan. It has to be.
I remove my teeth from Dom’s flesh and wipe my lips on the back of my hand as I step backward.
“Christ, Hannah,” he says.
“I didn’t have a choice. Rogan will understand. Where the hell is he?”
Dom shakes his head as the elevator doors open. “I wish I knew.”
I gasp as a sharp fear pounds into me. I grab his collar, pulling him out of the elevator and against the wall. “You don’t know? Aren’t your people at war?”
He removes my hand. “Ease up. I’m still an alpha lycan and I’ll still kick your vampire ass, whether Rogan likes it or not. I already gave you my blood. He’s going to kill me anyway.”
“Don’t give me empty threats,” I taunt him. “Besides, aren’t you second in command? Shouldn’t you be…there? Taking care of things?”
He grabs my arm and leads me to Rogan’s penthouse. He slides a card through the reader and we both walk inside. He turns to me, his blue eyes turned to silver ice. “I can’t find Rogan if I’m fighting a damned war. I’ve got my best wolves leading the pack, but my job as second is to find our leader, Hannah. I’ve been looking for you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re his fucking mate. He’ll follow you anywhere.” Dominic clenches his hands into fists. “So why isn’t he here? Why aren’t you with him?”
Dominic doesn’t know of my father’s treachery, and it’s not my place to educate him. It’s my place to find Rogan so my child can feed.
“Fuck,” Dominic continues. “If he’s not with you, that can only mean… Fuck!” He throws his fist into the wall.
The drywall crumbles around the hole he left.
“What?” I ask, my voice shaky.
“Don’t you see?” Dominic punches the wall again, and this time his knuckles are bloody.
My fangs react, descending again as I draw in the aroma of his fresh blood.
“See what?”
“He’s been captured. Otherwise he’d be with you. And my God… His bond with you is so strong. He’s doing everything he can to get to you, so that means… Damn it! That means they’re doing unspeakable things to him.”
“No,” I say, willing my voice to remain calm. “It doesn’t mean that.”
“Of course it does! He’d walk through fire to get to you, Hannah. You know that.”
“Things aren’t always as they seem, Dominic. But I do need to find him. Not for me, but for my child. So you and I are going to hunt him down, and we’re going to start in his closet.”
18
Victor
Another spasm, and then another. Prickles shoot through the wolf’s paws.
It won’t be long now.
Must protect mate.
The demon king…
He’s…
He’s injured…
Perhaps dying…
Mutiny.
Bound to help the demons in their mutiny.
It’s an ancient pact, and the wolf can’t access it. The man can’t access it.