The Power Of The Bite (2 page)

“But he’s a bloodsucker.  Why would he help you?”

Dax was hardly going to explain to Cole about the attraction he knew the sexy detective felt for him. It was that mutual attraction that had him so damn sure this plan of his would work. He was providing the opportunity for the two of them to be together in private. Dax was more than confident that the attraction he knew they felt for each other, would take care of the rest.

“He’s also a police detective.  We don’t know that he hates wolf shifters.  Not all vamps are the same, Cole, you know that.  I’m sure you have shafted more than one in your time.”  Dax was hazarding a guess, but he knew that Cole was a rampant horn-dog and wouldn’t let a little thing like interspecies issues stop him from fucking anyone he was interested in. Cole only did hookups, something that Dax could totally relate to, and had gone through eligible men in the pack quickly enough. It made sense that Cole would be getting a lot of his jollies from humans and vampires if he came across ones he was attracted to. Although he would have a duty to find a mate soon, in preparation for becoming Alpha, Dax never wanted to fuck the same wolf more than once either.

Strangely enough Dax’s diversion tactics worked with Cole.  “Shit, you want to fuck the bloodsucker,” he laughed.  “Why didn’t you just say so?  I’ll get out of your hair and make sure no one disturbs you for the next hour or so.” Cole had still been laughing when he left the office.

Deciding that Cole was simply weird, because why would Cole think that it was okay to be alone with a vampire when Dax wanted to fuck one, but it wasn’t okay to just talk to the man in a professional capacity - Dax sat and waited another few minutes before another, quieter knock sounded on his door.

“Come in,” Dax called out - his voice suddenly rough with nerves.  But then his voice became the least of his worries as the door to his office opened and the most amazing scent he had ever smelled in his entire life wafted through the door.  Zane walked into his office, but he kept the office door open.

“I’m Zane Macintosh, but you already know that,” the big blond said quietly. “You do realize that our meeting like this is a really dumb idea, don’t you?”

“I don’t care. Close and lock the door.” All of a sudden Dax just couldn’t breathe. As soon as he heard the lock engage he attacked.

A sharp knock on the door broke Dax from his reverie and forced him back into the present. That fateful night had been three months before and Dax had been living on a knife edge ever since. Sitting in his office chair, he swirled the fluid in his glass around in his hand, his head still caught up in thoughts of his mate, although he did have enough presence of mind to call out a sharp response. His door opened and Cole swanked in like he owned the place. Closing the door behind him Cole sat without being invited, which was fine, their friendship allowed Cole some liberties. But then his friend opened his mouth and Dax’s hold on his knife edge plummeted straight in to hell.

“Your Father’s looking for you, insisting on a meeting. Apparently it’s time to choose a mate, my friend. Your Father’s getting anxious.”

Chapter Two

Three days later – Portrain Pack House

“You wanted to see me Father.” Dax tried to quell his nerves. He was almost thirty years old, an adult in his own right, with a thriving successful business and a respected status in the community. But standing in his Father’s study always put Dax in mind of when he was a teenager, being hauled over the coals for some misdemeanor or other.

“Sit down, Dax.” Dax’s father, Nathaniel (never Nate) was a wider, harder version of Dax. His long black hair was still unblemished with gray and his handsome face was as stern and unyielding as ever.  Dax sat in one of the few hard chairs his father had scattered around his office, his nerves increasing with every second. Being offered a seat meant his father had something important to say and thanks to Cole, Dax wasn’t sure what the fuck he was going to do with what was coming.

“The time is fast approaching when I will have to retire from the pack for a while,” Nathaniel said, his green eyes watching his son closely. Those eyes were the mirror of Dax’s own, yet Dax hoped his never looked as harsh as Nathaniel’s did in that moment. He dropped his gaze, knowing it was expected. To hold it was to challenge his Alpha, and Dax had never wanted to do that.

“Has it been that long already?” Dax replied, raising his head and looking indirectly at the man who had been bigger than a force of nature all his life. “I would have thought you had at least another twenty years before humans started noticing anything.”

Nathaniel grunted at the implied compliment, but continued. “Your mother is insisting that we relocate instead of just heading for our country home for the next ten years. It is her that has the issue, not me.”

My step-mother
, Dax corrected in his head although he didn’t say anything. Nathaniel was over 80 years old and Dax was a last attempt at having a child and heir for the pack. Unfortunately it cost Dax his mother and Nathaniel the only woman he had apparently loved. But, being an Alpha and needing someone to look after his new child, Nathaniel had mourned for just two years and then took up with Alice. While Dax personally couldn’t stand the woman he was forced to call “Mother,” he never let Nathaniel know how he felt. That would be tantamount to suicide.

“Are you relocating the pack?” Dax said out loud, his heart pounding just that little bit harder at the thought. He couldn’t leave Zane, it just wasn’t possible and from all accounts the man hadn’t been in his job very long.  Too soon to ask his mate to transfer just so they could share their weekly hook-up.

“No,” Nathaniel said firmly, although his lips were tightly pressed together, suggesting that whatever came out of his mouth next was not his idea. “Your mother has had enough of being Alpha Mate…she finds the other women tiresome and the children difficult to deal with. She has always been a little highly strung, as you know. Her delicate disposition means she is not equipped to handle any pack conflicts, even the petty ones.”

Then I don’t know why you married her,
Dax thought. He had always had his suspicions about Alice who was as insipid and as vapid as Nathaniel suggested. But then all thoughts of his step-mother flew out of the window when he realized what his father was implying. The next words out of Nathaniel’s mouth confirmed Dax’s worst nightmare.

“I will be retiring in one month, and I expect you to be ready to take over the pack as the next Alpha.”

“But I’m not mated,” Dax said without thinking. Damn, he wished his wolf would stop howling in his head whenever he said something against his vampire. It was beyond tiresome and made him feel like shit every time it happened. His wolf didn’t understand the obligations he had to his pack.

“You have a month,” Nathaniel said. “I realize that your mate is likely to be of the male persuasion, and the pack will just have to accept that. However, there will be a mandatory pack run and meeting on the night of the full moon at the end of next month, November. You will present your new mate, claim him before the pack and I will then step down from my position.”

“Father, no, surely…” Dax’s skin tightened and he clamped his jaw shut. His claws were digging holes in the suit pants he had worn for his meeting and his wolf was howling, desperate to get free. If he could, his wolf would go find Zane and drag the man back in front of their Alpha and prove that they already had a man to call their own.

“You have had more than enough time to sow your wild oats,” Nathaniel continued seemingly unaware that he was digging a grave for his son. “You consort with all manner of individuals and I have turned a blind eye to all of it. But make no mistake, on the 25
th
of November you will take a wolf as a mate, claim him before the pack and start taking your responsibilities seriously.”

“Father,” Dax tried again. “I always dreamed of finding my true mate. If I claim someone else and become bonded to them, and then I do find the one the Fates have chosen for me, things could get really messy. You know that. It could unsettle the pack.”

“You will find a wolf and claim him.” There was no arguing when his father got his Alpha on. “Once you are ruling this pack you won’t have a chance to find anyone else, true mate or otherwise. You have a month to make arrangements for that club of yours as well, because your days of playing there are over too.” Only Nathaniel could make the word club sound like a slur on his good name.

Dax’s heart sank as his wolf howled again at the insult. The Alpha in him wanted to rise up, challenge his father as was his right, but years of conditioning, of being the child who wanted to make his father proud stopped him. Although he had to have one more try to stop the farce that was going to ruin his life.

“Father, I’ll take over the pack, if that is your wish. I will even have a manager installed at my club if you feel it will interfere with my duties leading the pack. But I cannot, in good conscience, mate with a man, or woman for that matter, that I didn’t care for. It would be unfair to both of us, and I won’t do that to any wolf. Imagine what it would do to my position as an Alpha if the person I claimed found
their
true mate after we bonded? I would be left looking weak and ineffective which could undermine the whole pack.”

Nathaniel was quiet for a moment, and Dax hoped he had taken the right approach. His father lived for the pack and would never do anything to upset the delicate balance that existed among the members.

“You do know not all wolves meet their true mates, son.” Nathaniel’s voice was quieter, which was a good sign. It meant he was seriously considering Dax’s objections.

Dax nodded. “I know that, Father. But if I claim anyone my age then there are two chances in our relationship for one of us to find the one we were meant for. Plus which, the fidelity clause in a mating only applies to true mates. Should I claim another for such a responsible position, and they prove unfaithful, then again I will be letting you and this pack down. A month is not nearly enough time to be sure that the person I chose is worthy to be Alpha Mate.”

Nathaniel was quiet for so long that Dax despaired of him ever saying anything. Unfortunately when he did open his mouth, it was not the absolute reprieve Dax was hoping for.

“You make some good points. I will give you three months,” Nathaniel said slowly. “I will inform your Mother that our trip will be postponed until February the 22
nd
– we will leave after the meeting, where you will claim someone. No Alpha has ever ruled this pack without a mate by his side and I am not going to start by allowing you to even try. Our pack deserves the solidarity that comes from a claimed Alpha pair.”

“I understand, Father,” Dax said. What else could he say? Taking his leave, explaining that he had a lot to do to sort his affairs in the three months he’d been given, Dax drove back into town, his mind in a quandary. He needed to talk to someone, but who? The only person Dax could think of was Cole, although his wolf was clamoring for Zane. Pushing his wolf to the back of his brain, Dax headed for his apartment.

/~/~/~/~/

Zane cursed under his breath as he dropped his keys on the small table by the door and moved slowly through to his kitchen. His body ached, he was starving for blood and he felt as weak as a declawed kitten. Since that fateful night three months before, when Dax had claimed him in a fit of possessive whatever, Zane had been cursed to never feed from another. The Fates might have thought they were doing the vampire species a favor, implementing a feeding restriction for fated mates, but why, oh why, did they give Zane the one man he couldn’t be with, no matter what the Fates were thinking. If Dax had been anyone else apart from the next pack Alpha, he and his mate could have run off into the night, and found some other pack to take them, or a coven. But Zane would never ask Dax to leave with him, not in his position. 

Opening the fridge door he looked at the bags of blood sitting on the shelf in disgust. One of his friends had clearly been round, thinking they were doing him a favor. Nice thought but one that wasn’t asked for and was totally useless to him. His friends thought that he wasn’t eating enough, which was true, but they had no idea why. Zane couldn’t bring himself to tell them, fearing what they would do if they found out Zane was already claimed and by a wolf shifter at that. Not just any wolf shifter, but the heir apparent for the only pack in Portrain.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Zane slammed the fridge door in disgust, pulling a bottle of whiskey from the shelf above it.  Fumbling for his phone, he took a quick look at the screen before turning his attention to finding a glass. Stuff the glass, he would drink his poison straight. Maybe then it would have some effect. Sighing heavily he answered the call.

“Did you get my gift?” Broz’s voice wafted over the airwaves, a cheerful lilt to his customary gruff voice.

“So you’re the one doing a spot of B and E, I knew one of you had to be responsible. Don’t you know I’m an officer of the law and could take you in for that?” Zane said, twisting the cap off the whiskey bottle one handed. Keeping hold of the phone in one hand and the bottle in the other, he staggered to his couch and sank down into it, grateful for the soft support. Every muscle in his body ached and had done for weeks.

“You wouldn’t do that to me, and besides, I have a key,” Broz teased. “More to the point, have you eaten yet? Cos the boys and I were thinking we’d head down to the club for a few drinks…”

Oh holy mother, no. It had only been three days since their last encounter, but Zane didn’t want to put his mate under any more duress than necessary. He had told Dax he only needed to feed once a week, which was a total lie, and he wasn’t going to break their tentative agreement. But damn, the thought of seeing him again was…

“You still there, Zane? What’s up? You sick or something?” Broz’s voice was still teasing over the phone, and Zane snorted under his breath. Yep, he was sick, but it wasn’t anything that a decent feed and a hug that lasted longer than two seconds wouldn’t cure. Fuck, he needed his wolf in his life and the constant separation was literally killing him.

“No, my friend, just tired,” he managed to say out loud. “Work’s been busy and a lot of the guys there don’t hold with someone like me. Makes for a stressful work environment, you know.”

Broz’s voice dropped to the menacing rumble he was better known for. “I still don’t understand why you aren’t working with us. We want you with us, man, you know that. Working with humans must be driving you nuts, and that’s without the gay angle.”

Zane leaned his head back on the couch. He really didn’t want to rehash what had been a long and on-going argument between him and his friends. He and Broz had met up in the military, decades before. When their lack of aging started to get suspicious, and they’d been through every core the military had, they had both got out – Zane heading into law enforcement and Broz set up his own security firm. Broz had met his mate, Van, who was another ex-military man with contacts of his own a few years later and thanks to Van, two new vampire couples had joined Broz’s company – Ewan and Foyle, Royce and Seb. Zane’s transfer to Portrain had not been intentional, but Broz’s presence had made the move more bearable. He had met and become fast friends with the others. It was the closest he’d had to being in a coven for longer than he could remember.

“We’ve been through this,” he said wearily. “I’m too tired to go through it again. You guys head out and have some fun, and I’ll catch up with you all next week.” He wasn’t sure if going back to the club for his weekly hook-up was a good idea, but he had a horrible suspicion that if he didn’t go to the club then Dax may come looking for him, which was a scary thought. Scary enough that he could easily commit to a possible future outing to appease his closest friend.

“Yeah, all right. I’ll let it go for now,” Broz said, but there was a suspicious undertone in his voice. “You get some blood into you pronto though, or you know Van will be round and he’ll fucking force feed you.”

Zane laughed because that was expected of him, and clicked off his phone. Broz was right, Van probably would try and force feed him if he thought Zane wasn’t caring for himself. But Zane had no idea how he was going to tell his friends that it wasn’t that he wasn’t caring for himself - that had never been a problem. Zane had always known how to drink blood responsibly. It was just he had a fated mate who didn’t care for him.  Alone in the darkness Zane shook his head. Yep. He didn’t know what would horrify his friends more – the fact he already had a mate and had been claimed, or that said mate was a wolf shifter who couldn’t be with him no matter what the Fates had in store.