Watching Out For Fangs (The Cloverleah Pack Book 7) (16 page)

Chapter Twenty

Josh sniffed around the trees, knowing his mate was nearby even if he couldn’t see the vampire. From the scent, he could tell which tree Vadim had bounded up, like some freaking urban warrior, but tracking scent was a lot more difficult when the prey was airborne and Josh had already experienced his mate’s ability to jump from tree to fucking tree. Asshole. Wolves did not climb trees. He tracked backwards and forwards, heading back to the original tree every time he lost the scent, and starting again. He had opened his mind link as much as he could, but was getting nothing from his errant mate, and while that worried him a little bit, he was determined not to fuss about that either. Vadim could just be making himself harder to find or, more likely, be dwelling on some problem or other – it was very hard to tell with a vampire who wore a glacial mask as a face most of the time.

As Josh wove around the trees again, the scent of his mate getting weaker as time went on, he had a momentary thought about how much easier his life would have been if his true mate had been a wolf shifter instead. Any type of shifter in fact. Two men on the same page about most things, animal forms keen to hunt and play each other.  Josh swallowed down a pang of regret and then ruthlessly shut down that line of thinking completely. Not only was it disloyal to his mate and the Fates, but Josh knew that the only reason he was even thinking that way was because he and his wolf had fallen in love…not a nice place to be when you were in that situation all by yourself.

Suddenly discouraged, Josh flopped down on the ground, laying his head on his front paws. The wind had picked up and the only scent Josh had left of his mate was on the tree Vadim had used to leave the ground. He knew he should probably head back to the house, but it was quiet in the forest and…yeah, Josh wanted some quiet – he needed to think. Scott had been through the whole being in love with a mate that couldn’t love him back, but it had taken Damien just three weeks to decide that his initial thoughts were wrong – and that was from the oldest and most powerful Alpha in the land.

Vadim had made his vow too and with good reason.  Good reason four hundred years before maybe, but in the privacy of his own head Josh could feel a bit angry at the whole deal. Vadim had been honest with him, and that was a positive in itself.  But positivity wasn’t going to help Josh with his current situation.

It wasn’t as though Vadim was a bad mate, because he was perfect in every way. Attentive, protective and as sexy as any man Josh had ever seen. Their times in bed, in the forest - Josh grinned to himself - even in the kitchen one night when everyone else had gone to bed, were all explosive.  Both men had learned to switch and he knew he couldn’t ask for anything more.

Josh could even understand the whole not falling in love thing – he didn’t blame his mate and he had told himself time and time again he wasn’t going to be a gloomy puss about it. But Vadim’s words didn’t match his actions. Josh had lost count of the number of times, especially in the heat of a sexy moment, when he could swear he saw love in those deep black eyes. But Vadim had never said anything and until he did, Josh knew he could never burden his mate with his own feelings – even though keeping anything like that quiet went against everything that he was.

“You’re not sulking are you babe?” Vadim’s voice sounded behind him, and Josh raised his head, peering behind him. His mate stood under the tree that still held his scent – had the cunning man been sitting up there all along? Josh immediately knew that was exactly what Vadim had been doing. His mate would never have left him out in the forest alone – he was too protective for that.

In one fluid move, Josh shifted and he stalked over to his mate, his feet making no sound on the thick leaf cover. He grabbed Vadim around the neck and threw himself into a kiss which Vadim was quick to respond to. Josh didn’t go for sweet and gentle. He gnawed at Vadim’s lips, searched for the man’s tonsils with his tongue, the whole time his body pressed up against Vadim’s still dressed form, probably making a bit of a mess.

Not that Vadim seemed worried about the state of his clothes either. His hold around Josh’s back was tight. Josh was humping the man’s thigh, and that
would
make a mess if they kept this up. But it was Vadim that eased out of their lip lock, slowing things down, and gradually breaking away although the vampire still kept their body’s tight together.

“What have I done,” Vadim asked, his breath still labored. “Why are you keeping your mind blocked? I didn’t know you’d gone. I had to use our blood connection to find you. You could have been killed and I wouldn’t have known and the mere thought of that terrifies me. Tell me what I’ve done to upset you enough to keep your thoughts from me and I’ll fix it, I swear.”

Josh leaned back enough to stare at Vadim’s face. “Sweetheart, I have only ever blocked you the once. That time in your bedroom in Atlanta. Your power when you were dealing with your fucking butler was intoxicating and I only blocked my thoughts so you wouldn’t be distracted. It’s you who is blocking me, and you’ve been doing it a while. I thought…” Josh sucked in a deep breath, not sure if he could continue. But he wouldn’t lie to Vadim ever, and lying by omission was still a lie.

“I thought you were having problems with our mating, with being mated to a wolf shifter. I thought maybe you still missed Edward, and that you found me lacking in some way. Maybe you were having issues with living with the pack. I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to call you out on it. You’re a private person. I respect that.”

The pain in Vadim’s eyes couldn’t be faked. With his eyes and lips the only color in that beautifully pale face, Vadim rarely showed emotion of any kind, even in the heat of sex. But Josh could see his mate was in pain now – he could smell it and that made him worry all over again, how his honesty might have hurt his vampire. It wasn’t intentional and despite their run, Josh’s wolf was whining in his head.

“Talk to me Vadim. Tell me what I’ve said to put that look in your eyes. Tell me, so I can stop it and make things right for you again.”

Instead of answering right away, Vadim led Josh to the nearest tree, sinking to the ground, and in a surprising move, pulled Josh onto his lap. Josh wasn’t going to complain, the grass and leaves would be uncomfortable on his bare ass, and now that the afternoon was drawing to a close, the air was getting cooler. He would have shifted into his wolf form, but he sensed he and his mate needed to talk more than he needed to be warm. Besides, he always ran hotter than most.

“You swear you’re not blocking me?” Vadim said quietly after a long moment. 

Josh shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that to you, especially when we’re alone. I only did it that one time, and I’m sorry for that. I just…” Josh broke off, just a little bit embarrassed. “You’re really hot when you’re throwing your power around, and my…er…reaction, wasn’t exactly appropriate.”

There. A tiny lift of those hard lips. That was better than nothing, and Josh felt his heart lift a little. Maybe things between them weren’t so bad after all.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Vadim muttered. “It’s not possible for mates to lose a mind link if they’ve been granted one. I can sense your powerful emotions but I’m getting nothing from your mind.”

“You mean you’re not blocking
me
?” Now Josh was confused as well. He’d honestly thought that Vadim had blocked him at one point and then forgotten to release it.  He sat quietly trying to work out when the last time was he’d actually felt his mate in his mind. He couldn’t remember either one of them using it since they had come back from Atlanta.

“I didn’t think I was, but I must be. I just…” Vadim stuttered to a stop and Josh felt a real pang of fear then. If his mate decided that he didn’t want to stick around, then Josh knew he would die. What was worse, in his mind at least, was that Vadim would too.

“I never meant to bring you any pain, or cause you to doubt me,” Vadim said. “I can’t bear it that you thought I might have been comparing you to Edward, or that I had a problem with us as mates. That’s not what’s been going on at all.”

“Then what is it? How could you think I would block you when I have been nothing but open to you since we met? From the moment you came back to me, I’ve been committed to making us work.”

Sadness again. Josh had tried to work out once, how it was, with Vadim’s eyes so black, that they could convey so much emotion and he actually thought at one point during the past week that he was simply transferring what he
thought
Vadim was feeling, into a visible sign. But in this case he could smell the sadness coming from his mate, and he quickly wrapped his arms around that slender neck, offering comfort. Vadim’s arms that were loosely slung around his waist, tightened and Vadim buried his face in Josh’s neck.

“I have honestly never met anyone like you in my very long life,” Vadim said at last, his voice muffled as he stayed buried in Josh’s skin. “So giving of yourself, so caring of me and your pack. The thought that you would worry and yet not share that with me…”

“I know you don’t get on with people,” Josh jumped in quickly. “It would be hard with someone with your life experiences to share a mind link with someone so different to you. I was respecting your privacy, you’re right to your own thoughts and feelings.”

“But you shouldn’t have to,” Vadim said and this time when he raised his head, his eyes were blazing and his mouth was hard. “You’re a wolf, yes, that does make for some differences. But vampires are capable of feelings, of being in love, of sharing things with their mates, just like shifters.”

Vadim’s long fingers were suddenly gripping Josh’s face and if anything his eyes burned hotter than ever before.

“If I think about Edward at all, it has only been to curse the day I ever met him. You have shown me more love, more caring, more compassion and more understanding, in a matter of days, than he ever did in decades.”

“I never said anything about love. I know you loved Edward,” Josh mumbled, his face flushing despite the chill in the air. He had never wanted to burden his mate with feelings the vampire wouldn’t share and he would pay lip service to his mate’s feelings about his dead bond mate, even if it fucking killed him. 

“I know you love me!” Vadim’s yell sounded so loud in the quiet of the forest. “Edward never did, don’t you understand. He used me, he played me like a stupid kid, and I was so fucking blind to what I thought love was, I swallowed it all, hook line and fucking sinker. I was a fool to think that was love.”

“Whatever he did or didn’t do, you chose him as a bond mate. I never intended to dishonor that in any way,” Josh said, his stomach twisting with nerves. He couldn’t work out what Vadim was getting at, and Vadim seemed so upset. How much longer was the ghost of Edward going to come between them?

But then just as suddenly, the agitation, the frustration or whatever the hell it was Vadim was feeling, seemed to drain away. The vampire buried his face in the crook of Josh’s neck again and he was shaking. Josh wasn’t sure what was going on with his mate, but he was hard wired to help, so he stroked Vadim’s hair and let the man go through whatever crisis he was going through.

“You defend him,” Vadim said and this time there was a touch of wonder in his tone. “You defend a man I claimed was the sole reason I couldn’t love you, my true match. A man you will never meet and probably wouldn’t have liked if you had. Why?”

“You told me how important he was to you,” Josh said slowly, trying to keep up as the conversation took another tangent. “I might not like it, I didn’t like hearing about Edward, but you were being honest with me when you talked about him, sharing with me and you’ve never led me to believe that we could be any more than what we already have because of him. There wasn’t anything I could do about it, and the man is dead, so…yeah. Gotta respect a dead man, right?”

“Because you love me and put me first.”

Spoken quietly the words still rang around the forest as though yelled through a megaphone. Be true to yourself, Josh reminded himself as he opened his mouth and simply said, “Yes.”

There was a tense silence – well, tense for Josh because he was sure he was about to be dumped on his ass on the forest floor, while his speedy mate disappeared through the trees. But Vadim didn’t do that, he didn’t run, he didn’t fight or bluster, or try and explain to Josh why Josh’s feelings would never be returned. No. Vadim held Josh close seeming to just breathe in Josh’s scent – content to be close maybe? Josh didn’t know. He contented himself with stroking Vadim’s hair while he waited. There wasn’t a lot else he could do, although the chill in the air was starting to get to him, especially down his back. But he sat, he soothed, and waited, soaking up the nearness of his enigmatic mate and just enjoying the moment as best he could.

Finally, when Josh was thinking he just might have to shift, or at least burrow under Vadim’s jacket, before his ass went blue, Vadim raised his head and this time there was a small smile on those tight lips Josh loved so much.

“I love you too, and my new vow, here and now, is that I always will,” Vadim said.

Chapter Twenty One

Vadim sagged against Josh again, this time in relief. He’d done it. He’d told his mate that he loved him, and as the words left his throat, he knew he meant them with all that he was. The heavens didn’t open. He wasn’t struck by lightning. Edward didn’t appear with a sword of vengeance vowing to cut Josh down. His enemies didn’t suddenly appear in the forest complete with pitchforks and shovels looking to kill his true match.

The air was getting colder, but that was because the sun was setting.  The birds still chirped in the trees, as they settled down for the night. There was some rustles, the sound of small animals burrowing in the bushes nearby, but above all there was peace. Nothing but the steady beat of Josh’s heart, the scent of his blood and chilled, but still tantalizing skin against his body.

“I need to get you home, my precious. You’re getting cold,” Vadim said when the last point registered in his tired brain. His voice was still muffled by Josh’s neck, but he knew his wolf would hear him. He was tired, elated, overjoyed and freaking scared all in one go. Being in love, true love was…frightening but amazing, a roller coaster ride for the senses.

“You need to feed,” Josh said softly and there was a warmth in his mate’s voice that Vadim hadn’t heard before. “Can you take a few sips to tide you over and we’ll enjoy something more substantial when we get back?”

Vadim didn’t need any more encouragement than that. He was tired, his brain felt mired in fog. He’d spent the last week learning, watching, talking to Damien, functioning on every level, while hammering out the foreign feelings that bombarded his head. The war he had with his own vow, his justification in having it, his growing awareness that Josh was perfect for him in every way. Vadim knew he was his own worst enemy, but he couldn’t change a lifetime of the way he processed things. He just wished it didn’t drain him so much.

Kissing Josh’s neck lightly, Vadim slid his fangs into the waiting vein and groaned as his true match’s life force slid across his tongue. With every tiny sip he could feel his body respond – cells coming to life, power flooding through his body, the fog in his brain clearing. Josh’s blood was like a magical elixir, wiping out Vadim’s demons, infusing his body with life…and love. From when he was young, Vadim had been able to taste the different emotions a donor might have – fear made the blood sharp and pungent; arousal sweetened the blood and that was always obvious in Josh’s taste. But today the sweetness was tempered with something more, richer somehow, as though Josh had finally allowed himself to embrace the true nature of his feelings, and that honesty sung in every mouthful Vadim took - like the nectar of the Gods. The taste was orgasmic in itself but it was something Vadim was still careful not to abuse.

Taking just one last suck, Vadim swallowed and then disengaged his fangs, licking the small holes closed and ensuring that not one precious drop was lost. Raising his head, he looked up to see the flush of arousal on Josh’s face, that same lust that was evident in the drips on Vadim’s trousers – inside and out.

Starring deep into that lovely blue, Vadim said in his low voice, “You will let me carry you back. It will be faster.”

Josh smirked and then mimicked, “You can’t compel me, I’m your mate,” capturing Vadim’s tone and inflection perfectly.

Vadim snorted, then he laughed long and loud, his mate’s happy response harmonizing with him. They were still laughing as Vadim stood up, and sprinted through the trees, with Josh held snugly in his arms. Within minutes the pack house came into view, but it was the voice behind him that made Vadim jump.

“Fuck you’re fast, even with that lump in your arms.” Turning, Vadim saw Kane and Shawn standing there, naked as the day they were born, with matching grins on both of their faces.

“You were watching us?” Vadim wasn’t sure whether to be pleased, annoyed or embarrassed.

“Only kept you in sight, not within hearing range,” Shawn said brightly.

“You’re pack,” Kane explained, his arm wrapping around his own mate. “With intruders around we won’t take any chances with any of you.”

“Just say thank you,” Josh whispered against his ear. “They didn’t mean any harm.”

“Thank you,” Vadim said – yep, he was still feeling a bit embarrassed, but then he had been with the pack long enough to know just how close they all were.  Even the enforcers, paid to keep the pack safe, were treated like part of a large, and sometimes unruly family. It was a new situation for Vadim to be in, but he was getting to like it.

“Take Josh in for some clothes, a feed, whatever else you might have to do,” Kane said as they all headed to the house. “I’ve got the trespassers under lock and key and they won’t bother us tonight. But if you could be part of the interrogation in the morning, Vadim, that would be really handy. Josh would be with you of course. That compulsion thing of yours just might make the whole process go a little faster.”

“No problem, Alpha,” Vadim replied, looking at Josh who had a half smile on his face.

“In the meantime…oh shit,” Kane said as Adair came striding off the porch. The big man clearly wasn’t pleased.

“Alpha,” Adair roared. “What is the fucking point in having an enforcer team when you go gallivanting off with your mate, who is a prime target by the way, fighting prowlers, and fucking staying out on babysitting duty. What the hell do you employ me for?”

Adair was working himself into a fine rage, and while Vadim would have loved to stay and watch the fireworks, Josh whispered, “Let’s go in mate,” and that was enough to refocus Vadim’s attention. Food and a make out session in the shower was far more appealing than watching Adair and Kane rehash an old argument about who was responsible for pack safety.

/~/~/~/~/

The next morning Josh followed Vadim down into the cell area, built below the enforcer’s house that sat apart from the main pack dwelling. Jax had conjured up the house when the need for enforcers had been decided on in a pack decision. It was discrete, set among the trees, yet the structure itself was as large as the pack house and included a suite of rooms for each of the six enforcers, a large living area, kitchen and two extra bathrooms for guests. Underneath, dug into the ground to help prevent escapes, were a set of cells – some cages, some concrete block rooms with no way of escaping unless the occupants had magic. Josh had heard that Jax had set up wards for that eventuality as well. Despite the cream walls, and fresh air, that was being piped in from somewhere because there were no windows, the rooms were exactly what they were supposed to be – prisons.

Adair was waiting for them as they got to the bottom of the stairs. “Alpha,” he said respectfully, all traces of the previous day’s anger gone. Adair was good like that, never holding a grudge. “The ten you captured yesterday are still where they were put, and we added another eight to the number overnight.”

Kane grinned and slapped Adair on the shoulder, not that the big man seemed to notice. Adair was built like a brick shithouse – solid, apparently about eighty years old, with a stunning face and bright green eyes.

“You did well, my friend,” Kane said warmly. “Anyone with Alpha blood in the lot, or are these more fodder sent in to test our defenses?”

Adair looked a little uncomfortable, but he said, “Six more wolves – betas by the smell of them and two unknown, Alpha. Possibly Fae, warlock, people with magic anyway. I alerted Jax and his mates last night, to double ward the cell. The individuals are weak physically – I thought they were human originally - but it took a bit of skill to knock them out so they couldn’t use whatever tricks they have up their sleeves.”

“That could be why it took so much to compel the wolves to shift yesterday,” Josh said, remembering the events from the day before. “Is it possible someone has warded them? Or…I don’t know, but this magic stuff sucks.  What happened to the good old days when wolves fought like wolves are supposed to?”

“It would certainly make life easier if they did,” Kane agreed, his brow creased with worry. He turned to Vadim, his face a giant question mark. “Does your compulsion work on magic users?”

“If they’ve got blood it will work,” Vadim said easily. Josh had noticed that since their conversation in the forest, his mate did seem lighter, more at ease with himself, and the lovemaking, because that was definitely what it was now, was off the charts good. Even though the current situation was serious, Vadim had dressed casually in jeans and a muscle shirt, and his arm was wrapped loosely around Josh’s shoulder.

“Let’s see these semi-humans first then, shall we?” Kane asked. “If we can work out what magic is being used, and how, then we might be able to find a way to neutralize it. I haven’t got a problem fighting wolves in wolf form, but when magic is involved, it means involving the very targets these idiots are after.”

As they headed down a long corridor, to a room set down the back, Josh whispered, “Will you need to feed during this?”

The warmth of Vadim’s smile rippled from the top of Josh’s head right down to his toes. “I’ll be fine, love. Afterwards, probably. During would break my concentration. Compulsion is a dicey business, but I’ll explain more about it later.”

Josh wasn’t happy with his mate’s evasiveness. If this compulsion thing was going to hurt his mate in any way then he wanted Kane to find some other way to interview these Atlanta interlopers. Fists to the head had always worked before. But before he could say anything, Adair had opened one of the cell doors, ushering Kane, Shawn, Vadim and Josh inside.

The room was bleak, as you would expect a cell to be. No windows, the light coming in from a small slit around the edge of the wall, and a completely recessed light that was set in a ceiling too high for anyone to reach. There was a single mattress in one corner, and a closet sized recess in one wall that housed a toilet and sink and nothing else. Each room was designed to hold only one occupant and given the size of the other men in the room, Josh couldn’t see the human Vadim was supposed to interview. But nothing could hide the stiffening of Vadim’s body, or the gasp that escaped his lips.

“Everett. What the hell are you doing here, and since when did you start working with wolves and possess any kind of magic?”

Vadim knowing the name of their intruder wasn’t really a problem. The man had lived in Atlanta for longer than Josh had been alive and was bound to know hundreds of people.  But the squeal and the little shriek of “Vadim, thank goodness you found me. Save me from these monsters,” was enough to set Josh’s wolf growling, and when the little shrimp ran and jumped up at his mate before anyone could stop him, Josh let his teeth drop and his shift roll through his body. Human or not the fucking little shit had no right to touch his mate and a couple of well-placed bites was the best way he could think of to get that point across.