Bloodfire (Blood Destiny) (12 page)

Anton was a black bear, which meant he
packed a hell of a wallop in his shifter form.
 
This was going to hurt.
 
And once the Brethren left, I’d make him
pay.
 
I straightened my
shoulders.
 
“Let’s do this.”

He transformed within a heartbeat and
raised
up on his hind quarters with a triumphant roar.
 
I took a step back and tried to look
scared.
 
Be meek
,
be weak
.

He moved down to all fours and pounded
towards me.
 
I stood my ground and
waited.
 
He got closer and reached
out with one heavy claw.
 
I felt my
body spinning through the air and twisted so that the fall wouldn’t hurt me too
much.
 
I would have stayed there and
hoped that it was enough but he came at me again, teeth sinking into my side,
their points piercing through into the soft flesh.
 
The pain was excruciating.
 
He shook me a few times then flung me
against the wall, which I hit with a thud.
 
I lurched to my feet.

From across the room I heard Tom’s voice
snarl something at Anton.
 
Bloodfire
pulsed in my skull, vainly attempting to rise, whilst I could vaguely sense
Julia trying to use her Voice on Anton.
 
With her status not yet confirmed as alpha, however, there was nothing
she could do to compel him.
 
For
some reason, compulsion powers didn’t exist until after the confirmation
ceremony.

He came again.
 
I dully wondered again how I was going
to explain not shifting and regenerating when he hit me full on, knocking out
my breath.
 
He raised a paw and
extended his claws and scraped them down my cheek before bringing the same
claws to his mouth and sucking off the blood.
 
My blood.
 
I felt the fire coursing through my
entire system.
 
Anton’s face looked
oddly surprised for a second then he did the same with the other cheek before
lifting up his entire paw and preparing to strike.
 
Through the haze of pain, I registered
the power that he was preparing to put behind this blow and it occurred to me
that this was his plan.
 
He’d kill
me with sanction and solve forever the problem of the little human.
 
It hadn’t dawned on him that after I
died the Brethren would investigate why I’d not shifted and they’d work out I
was human.
 
Then they’d kill
everyone.

The rage built up inside me and the flames
took over.
 
He was playing with the
pack’s lives.
 
I sprang to my feet
in one movement, ignoring the sudden streak of dizziness.
 
He was not going to do this.
 
Anger took over me and flooded my system
but I knew with cold clarity what to do.
 
The fire won.
 
I sprinted
back to the wall, aiming just to the left of his crouched body and ran three
steps up before using it as a springboard to spin off.
 
I was too fast and Anton had no time to
turn.
 
I put my hands round his
thick neck and twisted, snapping it in one movement.
 
My bloodfire roared in approval and he
collapsed to the ground.
 

He was a shifter.
 
He’d recover.
 
I wiped a smear away from my cheek and
turned and walked painfully out of the room.

Chapter Seven

I limped towards the stairs.
 
My side, where Anton had bitten me, was seeping
with blood and I was pretty sure that I had a couple of cracked ribs.
 
I was hardly aiding my own cause at this
particular point in time.
 
I dreaded
to think about the state of my face after his claws had drawn blood from my
cheeks.

Tom came running up to me.
 
Clearly he’d decided that he was talking
to me now.
 
“Shit, Mack, I can’t
believe that just happened.”
 
He
took my arm.
 
“Let me help you.”

“Fuck off, Tom.”

He reared back, hurt, and I sighed at him
exasperation.
 
“I’m meant to be a
shifter, remember?
 
I have
supernatural strength and healing powers.
 
I don’t need help in getting to my own room.”

“Oh, right.
 
Yeah.”
 
I could see his brain working through
the implications of my non-shifter abilities.
 
“What are you going to say to them when
you don’t heal?”

“I haven’t worked that out yet.”

Mackenzie,
they’re heading your way.

No prizes for guessing who ‘they’
were.
 
I cursed and tried to
straighten.
 
Pretty lights danced in
front of my eyes for a second and I was filled with nausea.
 
Now would not, however, be a good time
to faint.
 
Staines and the alpha
came striding out of the gymnasium with the blonde and Lucy tagging
behind.
 
I wondered idly if that was
because they were female and knew their place.
 
The bloodfire returned momentarily at
the thought, allowing me to regain some of my equilibrium.

“Ms Mackenzie,” said Staines.
 
“That was an…interesting fight.”

“I’m thrilled that you found it so
entertaining,” I responded drily.

The Lord Alpha stepped forward, golden
green eyes intent.
  
“I’m
curious as to why you put up such a poor showing in your first bout, given that
you were able to dispatch the bear so summarily.”
 
His voice was smooth and deep, faintly
accented with an indefinable Celtic burr.
 

I felt rather weak at the knees but I was
sure that it was just from the pain and slight concussion.
 
I swallowed.
 
“Errr…”

He came even closer so that I was forced
to crane my neck to meet his gaze.
 
“Could it be,” he purred, “that you are trying to avoid being invited to
London?”

“Yes!
 
That’s it.
 
Definitely,” I
said, jumping on the excuse.

“And why is that exactly?” His voice was
laced with steel.

I took a step back, hating myself for it
but worried that the lotion might not be enough to mask my scent at these close
quarters.
 
I looked at Tom for
inspiration.
 
He jauntily hooked an
arm through mine and beamed effusively at the alpha.
 
“She just can’t bear to be without me,”
he said, and stroked my hair lovingly.
 
I tried not to jerk away and stuck a smile on my face.

The Alpha’s eyes went cold.
 
“I see.
 
Well, you’d better shift so you can
start healing properly.”

I cast around for an excuse.
 
“I’m…
ummm…..I’m
…..
in
mourning.
 
I have taken a vow not to shift until our alpha’s murderer is brought to
justice.”
 
I silently apologised to
John for the lie but kind of also applauded myself for my genius.

“Indeed.” A muscle pulsed in his cheek.
 
“What happens when it’s the full moon
then?
 
If his killer has not been
found by that point, I mean.”

“I possess unbelievable self-control,” I
lied and tried to smile at him disarmingly, although my head took that moment
to suddenly start pounding with pain again so it came out more like a maniacal
grimace.

He looked down at me unfathomably.
 
I wondered if swooning onto his broad
chest would be considered poor self-control.
 
Probably should try and avoid it, I
thought.

“Well, I’d better get this gorgeous girl
back to her, I mean, our room, so that we can get her fixed up for this afternoon,”
said Tom, rather breezily, although I could hear the note of underlying tension
in his voice, before he carefully swung me round to head back for the stairs.

“Take care now,” the Alpha murmured at our
backs.

I knew that he was still watching with the
others so I tried very hard to pull myself up the stairs without crying
out.
 
Tom did a good job of
pretending to be a gentleman rather than just providing the support I needed so
that I wouldn’t fall and somehow we made it up to the landing and round the
corner.

“Was that the best idea?” I wheezed.

“What?” he said innocently.

“Saying that we’re mated.
 
And that we’re sharing a room.”

“I didn’t actually say that,” he pointed
out.
 
“He merely inferred it.”

“You said that we shared a room.”

“Oh, that.
 
Well, maybe it’s best I did.
 
You shouldn’t be left alone in your
condition.
 
Besides what was that
about not shifting because you’re in mourning?”

“It was the best I could come up with at
the time.
 
I thought it was rather
good.”
 
I clutched at his arm as we
rounded another corner.
 
“You do
realise that you’ve lied to the alpha of all alphas and you’re screwed if he
takes you to London?
 
He’ll use the
Voice and you’ll be compelled to tell him whatever he wants.
 
He’ll work out in about five seconds
flat that you were lying just now.”

“That’s not going to happen now Anton’s
beaten me, though is it?” Tom answered quietly.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“No, you’re not.
 
But it’s okay.”
 
He pushed open a door to one of the
unused couples’ rooms.
 
“Let’s use
this one.”
 
I sagged against him in
relief and stumbled inside.
 
He
closed the door behind him and sat me down on the bed.

“I’ll need to get some first aid
materials.
 
And some clean
clothes.”
 
He looked at me.
 
“Can you wait here on your own?”

I nodded back at him and lay down, closing
my eyes.

Two minutes later, the door opened again.
 
Go away.

A brisk voice filled the space.
“Mackenzie?
 
Are you okay?”

I lifted myself up with a struggle and saw
Julia.
 
“Hey,” I said weakly, before
sinking back down.
 
“I’m fine.”

“That was stupid,” she muttered.

“I had no choice!” I protested.

“I was thinking of Anton, but you could
have handled it better too.”

“How?”
 
I asked, rising up again.
 
“How could I have survived what he was
doing?
 
If I’d died and they’d found
out I was
human…,”
 
I didn’t need to finish my sentence.

“After that display, I think the human
part remains to be seen,” she said softly.
 
“All you’ve done is proven to them that you’re the strongest, fastest
member of the pack.
 
They’ll invite
you to London.”

I grunted.
 
“Well, I don’t have to go.
 
Apparently I’m in love with Tom and we
can’t bear to be separated.”

Julia laughed, surprising me.
 
“I don’t think he’s your type, dear.”

“What am I going to do, Julia?”
 
I felt flooded with despair.
 
“I can’t heal, I can’t shift,
I smell funny…they’re
going to work it out sooner or later.”

“They won’t.
 
This mourning idea of yours might work.”

“Oh, you heard about that then.”

“Yes.
 
And anyway, there’s only a day and a half to go and then they’ll be
gone.”
 
She turned to leave.

“Julia?
 
Have they found out anything at all
about John?”

A flicker of grief crossed her face.
 
“No.
 
It’s as you said.
 
There’s no trace of anything.
 
They have arranged for a mage to visit
the scene and scan it though.”

Alarmed, I sat up higher still, ignoring
the shooting pain in my side.
 
“A
mage?
 
But they’ll know straightaway
that I’m not a shifter!”

“And won’t care.
 
Mages are paid to do a job and that’s
what they do, no more and no less.
 
As long as you don’t get in his or her way, they won’t say anything.”

“How terribly mercenary,” I murmured.