Nocturne 040 – Scions 02 - Patrice Michelle - Insurrection (15 page)

“Are the other zerkers unharmed?” Garius asked in a calm tone beside Landon as the five Omega formed a half circle behind Nathan. Landon slid his questioning gaze to the pack’s very first Alpha. Garius knew what had become of the other zerkers.

Nathan glanced behind him at the other Omega, then locked gazes with Garius. “We couldn’t find the other zerkers. I don’t believe they’re unharmed.”

“Until we find the others, who might shed some light on what happened, I believe it’s not in the best interest of the pack to go after the vampires at this time.” Glancing at the men behind Nathan, Garius continued, “Do the rest of the Omega agree?”

“We agree,” Markson said, while the other four men nodded their assent.

Kaitlyn awoke with a jerk. As she stared at the white ceiling with exposed dark beams, it took her a second to remember where she was. Landon’s home. Which was where exactly?

She’d tried to get out of bed earlier when Landon had jumped over the handrail that led to the bottom floor, but dizziness had made spots form in her vision. She’d ended up falling back into bed and closing her eyes to overcome the spinning sensation in her head. She had briefly spoken to Landon, but the conversation was fuzzy. Something about his brother was all she remembered.

She let her eyes drift shut and tried to recapture her slumberous dreams. They’d been filled with Landon. She was locked in his embrace, begging him to make love to her. The euphoria faded from her mind, along with the dream. Rolling onto her side, she pressed her face into the soft, cotton pillow beside her and inhaled Landon’s musky, masculine scent.

A light came on in the room below hers, filtering upstairs. Kaitlyn looked at her watch. Five-thirty. Was that a.m. or p.m.? How long have I been out? Her body screamed in protest as she turned to stare out the big picture window into the night sky. Ugh, she didn’t want to think about the bruises her body must be sporting.

Kaitlyn gasped when everything came flooding back and she remembered her chest had been wounded by one of the vampires. Lifting the thick covers, she glanced down at her chest to see four barely perceptible pink marks where open wounds had been only hours before. “How did I heal so quickly?” she murmured, her brow furrowing in confusion.

“You’re a fast healer?” A man’s voice offered an answer.

Her attention jerked to the edge of the room. Kaitlyn grabbed the covers to her chest, her heart rate speeding up.

“Who are you?” Reaching over to the bedside lamp, she fumbled with the switch and turned it on.

The man with pitch-black hair appeared to be in his late twenties. He leaned casually against the wall at the top of the stairs. “I’m Caine, Landon’s younger brother,” he said with an open, friendly smile as he folded his muscular arms across a New York Giants football shirt. Jeans and bare feet completed his casual look.

Feeling very exposed, Kaitlyn pulled the covers tighter around her chest. “Where’s Landon?”

“He had to run an errand. He wanted me to stay and keep you safe.”

Tilting his head, Caine continued, “I heard you tangled with a couple of vampires.”

She frowned. “More like they hunted and attacked me.”

His eyebrows drew downward and he pushed off the doorjamb. “They hunted you?”

Nodding, she leaned back against the headboard. “From the time I walked into the library. One of them noticed me and waited for me to leave. They both attacked me in the alley where I’d parked my car. Then Landon came along and…I guess I passed out.” Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember. She shook her head in amazement. “I don’t know how he got me out of there without being torn to shreds himself.”

Caine’s smile turned smug. “My brother is very protective of those he cares about. I’m not at all surprised he came out unscathed.”

“Even from vampires?” she asked, but Caine’s comment warmed her all over, bringing back the memory of the amazing time she’d spent with Landon before she’d fallen asleep. It had been real, not some fanciful dream. Landon had shown her how much her body craved his…on the deepest level. Her body rang with the remembered passion. When Caine’s smile broadened as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Kaitlyn’s face burned. Running her hand through her messy hair, she said, “Um, how about I meet you downstairs once I get a shower.”

After Kaitlyn showered, she tried to find her clothes and discovered them in the washing machine. Once she switched them to the dryer, she rifled through Landon’s chest of drawers. Every pair of pants she tried on fell to her ankles, even his elastic-waisted lounge pants. Giving up, she shrugged into a white T-shirt that tugged at her heart a little when she read the bold black lettering on the front: Lone Wolf. She remembered Landon’s comment about not feeling like he really fit in. As the large shirt fell to just above her knees, she inhaled his masculine scent and was surprised by the sense of belonging that washed over her. She took in his loft cabin home with its contrasting white ceiling and dark beams and found it very welcoming. The bedroom, decorated in masculine browns and a gorgeous hand-carved wood bed frame, fit Landon’s strong personality perfectly. Stepping over to the large picture window, she drew back the heavy drapes fully and gasped when she saw the mountainous outline of trees that went on for miles. Where exactly was she?

How had Landon not broken a leg or at least sprained something? she wondered as she walked down the carpeted staircase. Passing a painting of a wolf standing in the woods, howling at a full moon, she smiled when she saw Landon’s living room was sparsely but warmly decorated. A large soft leather couch and side chair took up most of the room, while a soft area rug decorated the wood floor next to the couch, and a matching one was laid out in front of the stone fireplace across the room. Sitting on the mahogany end table beside the couch, a stone wolf faced toward the front door as if waiting to scrutinize any new guests who might enter the cabin.

She followed the strong, delicious aromas of bacon and coffee through the living room and down the hall toward the kitchen, where she stopped briefly in front of the wooden wolf statue sitting in the corner next to the kitchen doorway. As tall as her hips, the animal had been intricately carved out of a tree trunk. He sat in a regal pose on his haunches. Serious eyes stared right at her as if he were deciding whether or not to let her enter. “Nice doggie.” She smiled and patted his head before walking into the kitchen.

“You like dogs?” Caine leaned back against the counter and lifted his coffee cup to his lips.

“Yes, though I don’t own one myself. You’d think I’d have had one growing up as much as my father seemed to love wolves.” She laughed and swept her arm back toward the living area of the house. “Like Landon, he had them everywhere in our home. That coffee smells divine. Got any more?”

Caine’s gaze lingered on her T-shirt and his expression tightened before he turned to retrieve a coffee cup from the cabinet. Filling a mug with the rich brew, he said, “Have a seat.”

Kaitlyn pulled out a spindle-style chair and sat down at the small, round wooden table.

Once he’d handed her the coffee cup, Caine then set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. “You should eat to regain your strength.”

“Thanks for the food.” She smiled her appreciation. When her stomach began to rumble at the wonderful smells wafting from her plate, she picked up a piece of bacon and bit into it.

Caine took another swallow of his coffee and locked his curious hazel gaze on her. “Why do you think the vampires attacked you?”

She shrugged and sipped her coffee. “They’re vampires. Enough said.”

Though in truth, the vampires did seem to relish attacking her, as if they expected her to put up a good fight. “Speaking of which—” She glanced past the cherry cabinets to the walls in the kitchen, looking for a phone. She remembered she’d lost her cell phone in the alley. “I didn’t see a phone in the bedroom. Is there one down here? I need to call the incident in. The police should be alerted that the vampires have returned.”

“Those vampires won’t be bothering anyone else,” Landon’s voice sounded from behind her.

Kaitlyn glanced his way, her heart jerking in surprise. She didn’t hear him come in. “Law enforcement needs to be on guard, considering the Garotters are too busy stealing guns to help. That is if hunting vampires is still their main mission.”

Landon walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. Leaning against the stove, his penetrating green gaze met hers. “The vampires are gone, Kaitlyn.”

The man might look mouth-watering with his brown hair wind-tossed and an overnight beard shadowing his jaw, but she recognized the challenge in his eyes—the one that said, “It’s over. Leave it alone.”

Kaitlyn cupped her fingers around the warm ceramic mug on the table and met his gaze with a steady one. She wanted to argue with him, but since Caine was present she swept her gaze over Landon’s body and asked the question that had been on her mind since she’d woken up. “I don’t see a mark on you. How did you take out the vampires without being attacked yourself?”

“Yeah, bro. How’d you do that?” Caine echoed, turning to Landon, an expectant expression on his face.

Landon slitted his gaze on the younger were. “It’s time you went home.”

Caine’s amused expression turned somber. “I can’t.”

Locking gazes with Caine, Landon’s voice turned harsh. “Yes, you can. Now go.”

With a grin of appreciation, Caine set his cup down and walked over to Kaitlyn. Grasping her hand, he bent and brushed his lips against her knuckles. “It was nice to meet you, Kaitlyn. Don’t let my brother intimidate you…” Caine paused and cast his gaze back to him. Landon mentally growled in Caine’s mind, the wolf within him staking his claim.

Caine returned his attention to her and continued, “His bark is worse than his bite…well, mostly.”

“Caine,” Landon warned.

Kaitlyn laughed and smiled at Caine. “It was nice to meet you, too. You’re more laid-back than—” she cut her eyes to Landon briefly “—your brother.”

Jealousy fisted in Landon’s gut that Caine seemed to have won Kaitlyn over.

Caine flashed him a winning smile, then glanced at Kaitlyn’s shirt with a pointed look. “Nice T-shirt. I’ve never seen that one.”

Landon gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to pick the were up by his pants and toss him out of his cabin on his ass. Instead, he growled low in his throat. To Kaitlyn it would sound like a grunt, but he knew Caine would recognize the sound for what it was—a command to get the hell out.

“Gotta go. See ya later, bro,” Caine said before he strolled out of the kitchen.

Once the front door shut behind him, Kaitlyn turned to Landon. “Your younger brother’s sweet…though his looks are different from yours—

much darker. Do you favor your father or your mother?”

Landon grabbed a piece of bacon from the pan. Leaning back against the stove once more, he bit the crunchy meat and responded to her question automatically. “I don’t have any parents.”

Her interested expression turned regretful. “I’m sorry to hear that. You lost both your parents?” she asked as she scooped up a forkful of eggs.

The bacon lodged in his throat at her interpretation of his flippant comment. He felt so comfortable around Kaitlyn, he hadn’t thought to censor his response to her question. Considering he’d come from a petri dish, he’d told her the truth. Landon choked the piece of food down and coughed to clear his throat. “Yes, both of them are gone.”

A sad, faraway look crossed her face as she chewed on a piece of bacon.

“I lost my dad when I was six. My mom is in the hospital, dying of cancer. I guess that’ll make me an orphan, too.”

Kaitlyn’s innocent comments jammed the knife of guilt even deeper into his chest, reminding him what he’d forgotten while loving on her sweet body a couple hours ago—humans were so fragile.

“Even after they’re gone, your parents will live on in your heart.” He’d said that as if he knew what he was talking about. Jachin and Ariel would soon have a child—the first mixed-race Scions’ descendant. He wanted to understand the parent-child bond he’d witnessed only in humans. He believed it must feel very much the way he felt for every single were in his Lupreda pack—strong love and even stronger responsibility for their well-being. But committing himself to Kaitlyn pretty much assured that would never happen. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t have sex with her. He didn’t think he could hold his rougher side back while he drove inside her and felt her body convulse around his cock.

“Finish your food,” he said in a gruff tone, then picked up another piece of bacon and walked out of the kitchen.

The smell of a newly built fire drew her out of the kitchen. Dawn was breaking the sky as she walked into the living room. Landon stood next to the fireplace, leaning against the mantel. He stared into the fire as if he were thinking deeply about something. Even though they’d been intimate a couple hours before, Kaitlyn didn’t know what to say to Landon. He acted so distant now.

“I wanted to thank you for helping in the alley last night.” When he didn’t speak, she tilted her head and continued, “You never did say how you managed to get me out of there.”

Landon met her gaze. “I took them by surprise.”

She shook her head, trying to remember, but it was all so fuzzy. “You took out two vampires? You had to have taken them completely unaware to have come out of that fight unscathed.”

Landon picked up the poker and jabbed at the logs on the fire, moving them around to keep the flame going. His biceps flexed with his movements. “Sandra called and told me where you were and that you were trying to get in touch with me.” He set the poker back in the stand. “What did you want to talk to me about?”