Sanibel Surrender Vampire Werewolf Menage (Fanged Romance Series Book Five) (13 page)

“I know the bind you’re in, Oycher. I’ve been around long enough to know what your Masters will do to you and your family for the dishonor of disobedience. But I would trust Ail Ruyter with my life. If he says they were attacking, they were, indeed, attacking.” Gage then shoved his hands in his pockets, thinking a mile a minute. “Go another route if you have to, but dig deep for us. Dead Gryph or not, whether Molly is a Pack member or not. So far, Prince Volos has an easy acquaintance with Jayce Jordan. Is your prince really willing to lose that?”

“I would hope not,” Oycher relented. “I will obtain everything I can and have Kash deliver the information to your office by noon tomorrow. Whatever you receive will be the best that I can do.”

Bane didn’t appear satisfied. “By the way, I find Gryphs wanting to
protect
Molly eerily fascinating, particularly when coupled with the nearly drained security guard Heath Faden and I found at her workplace. As Beta, I take a savage feeding near my sister-n-law as a warning, a
threat.
So when Ail left the Edison Winter Estate with that knowledge and your kind on his tail, what was he supposed to do?”

“The guard is a sad
coincidence,
yet the very reason the Gryphs
protected Molly in the first place,” Oycher argued. “As far as I’m concerned, whoever attacked the human will die. I’ll handle the execution personally. Everyone present knows that I have no tolerance for vampires who kill their food or for those who have succumbed to bloodlust.”

Bane laughed mirthlessly. “There are no coincidences in our collective worlds.”

“I have nothing else to add until I hear back from that particular investigation.” Oycher leveled his gaze back on Ail. “As for you, already the Gryph’s widow is talking compensation. Blood for Blood.”

“Blood for Blood,” Ail repeated in disbelief.

“Unfortunately,” Oycher said, “And I’m curious as to how a werewolf youngling, who wasn’t even in mid-transformation, took out two of our most powerful royal guards – killing one, with a
compound bow
.”

“We’re done, here,” was Bane’s response. “Follow through with Gage’s request, Oycher. If Maestru or Prince Volos wants to present
formal
charges against my little brother, so be it. I’ll let Jayce know to expect them.”

“On the contrary,” Terje offered, “I don’t think you’re an idiot at all, but simply being played, and vampires are the most lethal of game players. But you don’t need me telling you what you already know.” Terje raised his hand, willing on the nearest torchlights. “You know what really happened tonight, don’t you?”

He sure did. “I know what I saw. And I didn’t even know about the other Gryph coming for her on Jayce’s property.”

“It’s been a few months. And like Gage said, we still don’t know why.” Terje sat on top of a picnic table, the wood groaning under his Viking weight. “Jayce won't let anything happen to you, Ail, especially since you didn't let anything happen to Molly.” With his hands on either side of his thighs, he extended his long legs. “We know the drill. There were three Gryphs present, and by your description, they utilized a typical formation for aerial pack hunting. Two swoop down, whether in unison or back-to-back, and distract any protector. This leaves the third free to abscond with or to kill their target."

“I feel like a fool for even warning them." Ail kicked a seashell, instead of sailing into the ocean, it disintegrated into powder.

"You really used a compound bow?”

“Same one I use to hunt wild boars, when they get unruly around here.” Ail shrugged, he never released his werewolf when he hunted, thought every creature deserved a sporting chance. "Though on the Gryphs, I used wooden arrows."

Terje’s smile stretched wide. “I take it; you used a be-spelled, wooden arrow, blessed by the Druids. I’d keep that part to myself, man. None of the younglings are to have those arrows.”

“No, they’re not,” agreed Bane, now standing next to him, his phone put away. “I’ll be collecting the rest of those arrows tomorrow.”

Ail had only one left, and it was worth a fortune. And he refused to hand it over, since the other two arrows, no matter what Oycher had said about the Gryphs’ intentions, had surely saved Molly. “I used them all,” he lied. A first for him, he had never lied to his brother before, and it felt miserably wrong. Bane stiffened, possibly sensing the untruth, although he didn’t press. “Anyway, how’s my car? I didn't get a chance to look it over before we left.” It had been a graduation present from Bane, costing more than one-hundred grand.

“It could be better, could be worse,” Bane replied, crossing those massive, inked arms in agitation. “We'll get it fixed.” His eyes narrowed. “Explain what happened after the Gryph landed on your car.”

“Yeah, he swooped down after I took out his comrade,” Ail said. “Then I nailed his throat with the end of my compound bow, although, even with the wooden arrow, I can’t understand how that was a killing blow for such a potent creature.” That thought still troubled him, and, obviously, it troubled the vampires, too.

“I keep piecing over what happened.” Bane blew out a breath. “When I urged you to leave, I spotted only one overhead and I turned fully werewolf, chasing it away. I never anticipated misting over the causeway and finding you and Molly in such a predicament. There was nothing left for Heath or me to do. Not that you needed our help.” He smiled proudly, but then his smile faltered. He turned, studying a specific, rectangular window in the main building. Even without Bane’s pointed stare, Ail knew Molly was just inside that window, could
sense
her there. “No matter what the vamps say, you protected a precious female of our race against the seemingly impossible. Congratulations.” Bane spun back to him. “For this, the Pack will celebrate. Youngling or not, Jayce will be declaring you a full Pack male at next month’s meeting.”

The enormity of those words shocked Ail. “I have two years left at the academy.”

“It’s up to you if you want to stay,” Bane replied.

“No, I don’t want to stay.” It was true, what Jayce sensed in him. When at the academy, he
did
feel like a Pack male living in a youngling world. He also didn’t feel like celebrating. He hadn’t the
time
to celebrate. Something told him that he wasn’t finished protecting Molly, didn’t
want
to be finished with her in any way. With that on the forefront of his mind, a foreboding question continued to plaque him. "Brother, what gave me such a power boost that I trumped two Gryphs without even turning werewolf?"

"For one thing, it's in your blood."

Ail shook his head impatiently. "It was a surge that I felt. It's almost inexplicable, like it came from my gut, the very center of me."

When Bane opened his mouth, Rune approached the group, his hair blown back from running. "Everyone's pissed."

"And why is that?" Bane asked.

"Heath took Molly, yet not a single werewolf who scented her orgasms could claim her as a mate."

Ail felt as though he'd been sucker punched. Or was that his werewolf doing karate chops inside his head? "What do you mean by Heath took Molly? And for that matter, what other werewolves scented her... her orgasms?"

"Now you're going into mid-trans?" Bane asked Ail suspiciously.

Rune stepped back while Terje laughed.

"She's married to a human." Ail’s claws shot out.

"She
was
married." Bane stepped closer to him. "Yesterday, she was finally granted her divorce from Wilson."

Ail’s mouth opened and closed a few times. Molly wasn’t married. His head started spinning so hard, he felt as though he was suffering from bed flops minus the bed. But still…"Divorced just yesterday? And the very next day, after she was nearly taken by vampires," he continued, his canines shooting over his bottom lip, "she's taken advantage of by a horny highlander, while the others press their noses to her window.”

Rune explained, "No one pressed any noses to her window, Ail. Whatever walls are surrounding her, we can smell a female’s climax within a mile or so radius. Furthermore, Heath wasn't conducting Rights to Mate, nor does he have the authority to in North America. He’s still of Ciaran’s Scotland Pack.”

Bane looked at him curiously. “You’re probably the only one who didn’t know, besides Molly, that Heath is her mate. The sooner he claims her, the better. On that note, she needs the added protection multiple mates can provide, so
we
need to convince her to participate in Rights to Mate. Hopefully, she’ll agree, but I’m not expecting it.”

“She does need the added protection,” Terje agreed. “Rune and I were watching over Molly just last night, at the bar. Since she had gone into a critical point of her Heat, many immortals were circling. Even for us, we had our hands full. Heath was out here, getting another Druid tattoo from Gage, when a vampire misted Molly all the way to Lighthouse Beach before any of us could stop him."

Bane stepped closer. “Yeah, Heath told me tonight, while we were waiting for the vampires to pick up the drained security guard. He suspects the vampire at the bar and at her workplace is one in the same. If that’s the case, his power trail that I picked up on was phenomenal. Like I said to Ail, there’s a sick vibe to this.”

Rune murmured, “Logic leads us to believe a Gryph is following orders from its Dynasty Vampyr, and you’re talking a phenomenal power trail…”

“Don’t say anymore,” Ail snapped, swearing a blue streak. “I want facts. Questions are piling up and we need answers. And I’m left wondering why none of you brought any of this up with Oycher,” he accused, trying to pull his werewolf back, which proved difficult. “I mean – we were just there arguing with the leeches.”

Bane placed his hands on Ail’s shoulders, willing the Beta Beast onto him. In seconds, a sense of peace washed over Ail, though he knew it wouldn’t last long enough. “You’ll learn in time that Joint Faction Meetings are like playing poker. Difference is - no one ever shows his hand.”

Ail’s muscles started loosening, his claws retracting. “I could have sworn you were almost…friends with the vampire.”

“In a way, we’ve become so. At least, the best we can under our leadership roles. The one thing I do know, Oycher wasn’t lying tonight. If he doesn’t follow through with his end, his Masters will execute him and probably his family. Still, I think he’ll find any loopholes he can on the sly, to help us out.”

“To kill him over insubordination, the vampires are sick.”

“Well, they need to change some of their ancient customs, but I don’t care enough to bring it up.” Bane bared his canines. “It’s vampire population control, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Ail still felt his werewolf stirring. “Why are they after Molly?”

“Hopefully, we’ll know by tomorrow.” Bane stared pointedly at the Viking brothers, in the Beta’s way, until they misted to the compound’s outer perimeter. “What’s really going on, Ail?”

He took a deep breath, flexing his hands. “When you found Renee, you told me you knew something was up the moment you met her, even before you scented her climax.”

“Molly?” He gaped. “You think Molly’s yours?”

Ail clarified, “Prior to tonight, I’d only met Molly fleetingly. From a distance, I thought she was hot, but knew she was married, off limits. Tonight, after spending more time with her, after protecting her, I was
drawn
to her. So drawn, in fact, I wanted to find her husband and make…never mind.” He shoved his fingers through his hair and lifted his face to the moon. “On the causeway, what if that was my surge in power? I’ve heard of this. A werewolf becomes more powerful after finding his mate. We’re celestially reborn, in a way, for finding the other half of our souls. Then we males use our newly enhanced blood to feed our females monthly under the full moon, to keep them strong and healthy. Just like us.” He took another deep breath, feeding off the moon. “Am I right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

At Bane’s tone, he whirled around and faced his brother. “This is serious! Why are you fighting so hard not to laugh?”

Bane snorted. “I just want to be there, when you explain all this to the woman you refer to as Molly Ballbuster.”

“You didn’t mind last night,” he whispered, peppering kisses across her bare shoulder.

“Don’t remind me of my wanton behavior. I’m ashamed.” Tingles went up and down her spine. She didn’t know if they were due to embarrassment or because she was turned on
again
. The sexiest laugh she’d ever heard left him.

“You aren’t ashamed of anythin’ we did last night, lass.”

“You sound a little too sure of yourself.” Flipping on her back, she reached out and pushed his long, dark hair from his face. It was loose and silky, falling around his thick shoulders. He’d taken her three more times during the night. And every time, she’d accepted him as though he was her very oxygen. “Even in the morning light, you have these blue highlights in your hair but they’re natural, right?”

“Aye, to my Clan, black-blue is natural. In this century, thankfully, it’s far easier to blend in with mortal society, when the humans paint their hair every shade of God’s rainbow and then some.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” She couldn’t help but groan the next words, “Werewolves, vampires, and flying things, what a night.” Would she ever relax again?

“As long as your apprehension isn’t about our lovemaking, I can assuage your other worries.” His smile widened in the same way as a pillaging pirate, when his big hand wandered and found the sore spot that
used
to be her vagina. “Perhaps, I should remind you of how it is between us.”