Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 129268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“It’s not what you think. She’s not in pain. She’s not human, so she won’t be feeling the same as you. She may not even feel anything at all.”
“How could she not feel anything? How could she not feel that?”
He chuckles and my instinct is to strike him for it. A member of our pack is broken down and alone. “She needs us.” He must hear the insistency of my comment because his grip tightens and his voice lowers to a serious timbre.
“They’re working through other things right now. It’s best to leave them be.”
My head shakes of its own accord. “She needs someone.” My whispered plea begs him to understand. Regardless of whether or not she felt the pain of Vince’s mark, she’s obviously hurting from something. “I want to go to her.” I’ve already started to stand as I make the statement, but Devin’s powerful arms constrict around my body.
“It’s best not to interfere.” His words are hard and his tone is absolute.
How can he be so cold? A moment passes and she sobs again, crying out for Vince.
“I can’t sit here and do nothing. She needs someone.” His eyes soften at my words and his grip loosens. He doesn’t say anything, merely gazing into my hazel eyes before nodding his head and releasing me.
As I step out of his hold and walk toward her, I’m suddenly very aware of the fact that I’m naked. Cold and naked, to be exact. With my arms crossed in front of me, I gather my courage and set the thought aside. They’re shifters, they don’t care.
Well, she’s a vampire, but I doubt she’ll mind.
Another soft cry for Vince is barely heard in the distance and any thought of modesty vanishes.
She needs me. I feel a pull to her. A pull to my pack as I get closer to her. It’s a strange sensation that I haven’t felt before, almost like a pressure in my chest is pushing me forward, urging me to comfort her. My hand rubs at the hard knot growing in my chest as the pain becomes impossible to ignore.
I approach slowly until I’m able to see her more clearly. Streams of blood leak down her face. Tears? She blinks and the whites of her eyes return to normal before clouding with the dark red liquid yet again.
The terrifying sight is both shocking and frightening, and I gasp while taking a hesitant step back. At my reaction, Veronica’s head pulls up in a nearly violent fashion. My heart pounds and I can’t control the natural instinct. When her eyes catch sight of me, she immediately rises, and in a blink, she’s gone. Nothing but a blurred vision.
She vanishes so quickly, I don’t believe it at first. I question my own senses. Did she run? Holy shit. How is that possible? I’d heard that vampires were fast, but to see it is something else entirely. Something eerie and startling.
I swallow a scream as Devin’s hand comes down on my shoulder. My beating heart slows once I realize it’s him.
“She ran.” I don’t know what else to say.
“I saw. I thought she would. Like I said, it’s best not to interfere. It’s complicated, Grace.”
My head shakes at his words. “No. She’s not okay. She needs someone. I need to help her. I felt a pull to her.”
His tone changes at my admission. “You felt a pull?” He turns me in his arms to look at me. “You felt a pull?” he repeats. I nod at his question. That’s exactly what I felt. I rub my chest remembering the slight pain and growing knot. That’s all but gone now. “I felt a physical need to go to her.”
Devin lips turn up slightly into an asymmetric grin of pride.
“You were meant to be an Alpha, sweetheart. Fate has given me a strong mate.”
“An Alpha?”
He nods his head. “An Alpha feels the needs of his pack. And sometimes those who aren’t even his responsibility. You,” he says as his hand cups my chin and lifts my lips to him for a sweet, soft kiss, “you are an Alpha.” I smile against his lips, his words warming me with satisfaction.
Pulling back slightly, I manage to remember Veronica through the needy haze of my heat returning. “Where do you think she went?”
“I’m not sure. Vince is going to her now, though.” My confusion at his knowledge dissipates as I remember their ability to communicate even at long distances.
“But how will he find her?”
“He’ll always be able to find her. She’ll never be able to run from him. Not now that he’s claimed her.”
I look back at the direction she ran. “But what if she doesn’t want him to find her?”
He shrugs. “I suppose she’d have to keep running. Vampires are much faster than werewolves. She could outrun him forever, but she won’t.” I look back into his silver gaze questioningly. He gives me a small smile and a peck. “She may want to run now, but she needs him. And she knows it just as much as he does.”