What Rough Beast [Blood Oath 1] (22 page)

Luc had been cursing “the damned savages” when he'd let that slip. The pack wouldn't save Garrick, because he had stood in Olivia's place and substituted for her still. The weres would've executed the female alpha, so they'd done all they could to execute Garrick in her stead.

But they'd never, ever allow Kate to be killed along with him.

Her lips curved to a sly smile.

Garrick wasn't the only vampyr who could equal Machiavelli's ruthless deceit.

She bit.

Her mouth began tingling within moments.

Then burned.

Dear God, how it burned.

The shrieking pain built like fire, blistering her lips, scorching her tongue, but she fed at the wound, pitilessly sucked the life's blood from Garrick's overburdened body.

When the scalding sensation streaked from her mouth to spread over her skin, she re-tuned her mind with Luc's, only now leaving herself wide open to him. And so introduced her guardian to the excruciating snap of taut nerve endings. She shared the torturous, crippling clench of her stomach when the poison reached her internal organs.

"Bebe, no!"

She lifted from Garrick's neck, hers corded to ride out the hellacious pain. He was dead. He had to be dead, but groaning out her anguish, Kate straightened the stiff claws her fingers had curved into, forced them to move to the punctures she'd made.

"Oh God, what've you done?"

She ignored Luc's horrified moan, his fear. Instead, she moved her fingers over Garrick's neck. She needed to check his pulse. Her other hand unfisted to settle over his chest. Though the pain was hideous, she ignored her guardian's mounting terror and bent low to Garrick's mouth, pressing her ear to his nose to feel for his breath.

She had to be sure.

Her heart slowed while she patiently waited for any sign of life from him.

Precious seconds ticked by.

Nothing.

"Hold on. I'm coming. God help me, I'm coming."

Triumph glittered along with agony in her eyes. Because while hers struggled, skipped an increasingly lethargic beat, Garrick's heart didn't beat at all.

With more effort than Kate would've believed possible, she lifted her hand from his chest, fisted it to make her veins swell to prominence, and brought her wrist to her mouth. Her teeth slashed, making a clumsy wound that gushed scarlet.

"Hurry,"
she mentally whispered to Luc, teeth clenched as she shoved the spurting wound to Garrick's pale lips.
"I don't know how much longer I can last."
Then she shut her guardian out, ruthlessly closed her mind against him.

Not knowing if she lived or died would spur Luc to greater haste.

Besides, her guardian was so distraught, she couldn't afford the distraction.

Instead, she focused her entire being on Garrick.

She rubbed her blood against his mouth, angled her wrist so her jetting blood filled it. Her body weaved shakily, but she fought the poison's ruinous effects on her heart and lungs. She concentrated, struggled to break into his thoughts, the closed-off portions of his mind. Too much blood spouted from her body, streaming wasted down his chin.

She almost wept at the feral punch of his roiling emotions when he finally let her in. His desperate need, the giddy relief. And overriding both, his awesome love for her. If she wasn't so annoyed by the certainty that he'd planned this all along, Kate might've reveled in it. But right now, she was too scared.
"Feed, Garrick. Feed, or we both die."

"I won't let you die, love. I couldn't. Any more than you could bear watching it kill me."

When she stroked his trachea to stimulate the pharyngeal reflex, he swallowed, weakly swallowed.

Relieved tears burned her eyes.
"Did you have to make this so scary?"

"If blood-mating didn't terrify us, more would die attempting it."
His hand lifted moments later, clamped her wrist to his ravenous mouth. He groaned gluttonous satisfaction.
"What took you so long?"

Kate glared venomous hatred at Peter as he sat across the living room from her. Sat? No, he sprawled, arm curled around the little redhead he'd introduced as his new mate. The were woman, already swollen with child, quivered against him, shooting terrified glances at Kate.

As though Kate had been the one to inflict the vicious beating, had spilled Garrick's blood, torn his flesh—

"Kate?” Garrick handed her the coffee service he'd retrieved from the kitchen upon the weres’ arrival and, wincing, eased himself down beside her on the loveseat. He leaned cautiously against the sofa cushions, bare chested because the slashes across his back remained too tender to be covered with a shirt, the slashes Peter had whipped into him too raw. But Garrick only nodded to the pair of weres once he'd settled in the most comfortable position possible, which wasn't very given the extent of his injuries. “Serve them."

Eyes narrowed to angry slits, she shifted forward to pour.

Garrick flinched.

She whipped her attention to him, stricken.
"We shouldn't do this. You're in no condition to—"

"Pour the fucking coffee, Kate,” Garrick said through gritted teeth.

Peter snickered.

Tight-lipped, Kate sloshed hot coffee into two delicate china cups.

"Elise takes hers light, with two sugars.” Peter's lips curled to a sly grin. “I like mine black."

Biting her tongue to restrain a scathing retort, Kate added a dollop of creamer and twin sugars to one cup before shoving them forward. Hardly gracious, but the best she could summon at the moment. Kate ignored both weres, taking special care in remaining as still as she could as she settled back on the couch. Garrick kissed the crown of her head in mute gratitude.

Peter sipped at his cup. “Thank you, Kate. Elise?"

"Thank you."

"Ah, the mouse squeaks."

Garrick growled her name in warning in her mind, but outwardly, he tucked her against his side. She tried to ease her weight from him. “I'll hurt you.” Even the lightest of touches must hurt, but he tugged her adamantly to him.

He stared with grim determination at the weres. “You're worth it."

"Show them you cherish the body that endured a beating for you."

Kate flashed her eyes up to his, hers wide and glimmering with sharp regret.
"I do! If I had known...I would have never..."
She swallowed the lump in her throat, still aching and wounded by all that he'd suffered.

But she obeyed.

Careful not to aggravate his injuries further, she snuggled against Garrick, burying her face in his chest so the weres wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
"I'm so sorry."

"So. When's Elise due?” Garrick said tipping his head toward the were female, his free hand stroking Kate's shoulder.

"Any day now,” Peter replied, his voice a lazy drawl. “Twins."

"Congratulations, Elise. Peter will be a fine protector for you and your children."

The mouse sneaked a peek from the crook of Peter's arm. “I'm very grateful to him.” Then she shoved her nose back into the shadowy bulk of Peter's body, trembling visibly.

Garrick squeezed Kate's shoulder. “We're very sorry for your loss."

Peter grunted. “Barry was a good man. A strong member of the pack. He will be missed."

Kate turned her eyes away from them all.

"Kate."

She ignored Peter.

Hated him.

"You can't go on punishing him, love."

Though she knew she hurt him, Kate curled deeper into Garrick's embrace when she heard the rustle of his clothes as Peter stood, heard the were's whispered reassurances to Elise before he circled the coffee table to crouch at her feet. “Won't you even ask what happened to Barry? This woman's mate. Father to her children."

She cringed when Peter's clumsy hands stroked her hair. “You hurt him,” she said. The pain and the guilt of it made her eyes burn.

"Yes, I did. The flogging would've killed a were and standing in her stead, should've killed Garrick. But he survived.” His hand paused in her hair. “As you wished."

Garrick stroked her arm. “Olivia defied Peter's authority. For the good of the pack, he needed to establish order. Without control, at times harsh control, a pack spirals into anarchy and chaos."

"Even after beating Garrick within an inch of his life and dousing him with our entire supply of wolfsbane, Barry challenged me for alpha. He doubted I could maintain pack discipline. He leaped on me after Luc dragged Garrick's bloody carcass away."

Kate jerked her gaze up from Garrick's side, stunned.

Peter cocked an eyebrow, slid his turtleneck down his neck to reveal violent tears.

Kate gasped.

Lines etched at the corners of his mouth as he eased the turtleneck back up to hide the devastation. “The bite of a were doesn't heal well. Or quickly."

"There are more, Kate. Luc tended to him—"

"Barry was a fierce challenger.” Peter tossed an approving nod over his shoulder to Elise, who sniffled and wept on the couch inches away. “You've every reason to be proud. He fought well."

"He was your lieutenant, your second-in-command. You trained together. Of course he fought well."

"Barry all but ripped out his throat. See how he favors his side? Lift his shirt, and you'll find the hamburger Barry chewed Peter into."

"I killed him. I didn't enjoy it. Barry was my friend, but I killed him because alphas fight to the death. I had no choice.” He jerked his head to Elise, sobbing behind him on the couch. “I took her under my protection so the rest of the pack wouldn't retaliate. I loved that crazy bastard, but now that he's dead, and with Garrick still flinching from the punishment I inflicted on him, the other men have submitted. Even weakened by Barry, they won't attack me. They don't dare."

Tears welled in her eyes. “You could've died."

"Weres are brutal by nature, love. As are we vampyr. Your human mind balks at the violence, but you cannot change it."

Peter snatched her hand, cradling it against his jaw. “Forgive me.” His tortured eyes pleaded with hers. “For what I did to your mate."

Kate tried and failed to swallow the hard knot in her throat. “You hurt him."

"Yes."

"But what I asked hurt you. Hurt the pack. I should've been the one beaten and—"

"No!” both men roared, eyes rounded in identical horror. Peter's hand squeezed hers like a vise, and Garrick's arm around her crushed her to him.

"I swore loyalty to—"

"As your mate—"

She pressed her fingers to Garrick's lips. “I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

He kissed her fingertips. “I love you, Kate."

She lifted the hand Peter petted and brushed a kiss across his fingers. “You suffered because of me.” Kate swallowed hard but met Elise's gaze. “You and your children suffered because of me. Ignorance is no excuse for what my behavior cost you. I am so sorry."

Elise's gaze flittered to the floor. “You are pack."

Peter's body slackened. “You are mistress of Pridemore, mistress of my pack.” He hesitated. “Mistress of me."

Though it must've pained him, Garrick stiffened beside her, growled.

Peter's gaze dropped, and he laid his head in Kate's lap, baring his neck to Garrick.

She didn't know much about anything, but she did know that was an incredibly stupid thing to do.

But Peter bared his neck, left himself vulnerable to Garrick. And waited.

Garrick's hand rose.

"No!"

Peter tensed.

But the blow didn't land.

Instead, Garrick smoothed his fingers over Peter's hair.

The were angled his head so that he could lick Garrick's fingers.

"Of course, you love her, Peter. As you love me."

"Yes.” He sighed with giddy relief, nuzzled Kate's thighs with his cheek and his chin. He grinned up at her. “Don't ever be angry with me again."

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"You should be ashamed of yourself.” She glared at the wrinkled map stretched between Luc's hands, the sheaf of papers scattered around him. She wanted to rip the lot into tiny pieces. She wanted to feed every sheet into the fire that crackled and snapped behind them and watch them burn. Sneering ripe disgust, she tugged at Garrick's rock-hard biceps instead.

He arched an amused eyebrow. He stood immobile under her irritated yank, his feet rooted into the deep pile of the carpet in the den where she'd found them.

Mentally laughing at her.

Which just annoyed her more.

Stupid vampires.

She leveled her frigid stare on him, too, for good measure. “Disgraceful. The both of you."

Unsettled by the deepening intimacy that had followed the completion of their blood-mating, Kate had asked Garrick to leave her an hour ago.

Once she'd moved into his rooms, they'd rarely spent a moment apart. She'd turned to him often, for blood, for release when desire stirred to fever pitch. She'd eventually gotten used to the idea that she couldn't fall asleep without him, his scent enfolding her. Sometimes, she just needed the comfort of his smile. To hear the rumbling tenor of his voice. Being away from him, out of his sight, jarred her nerves, set her senses to shrieking. Garrick seemed to understand. He seldom left her.

But her mind had remained her own.

She'd been able to shove him out of her thoughts whenever she wanted.

Not anymore.

His thoughts and emotions had become a white noise in the back of her mind, a constant she couldn't shut out no matter how hard she tried. Time apart, no matter the cost to her jangling nerves, had seemed like a sensible approach to get the man out of her head. Desperate. But rational.

Or so she'd thought.

Luc and Garrick both had been distraught at the dangers blood-mating posed to her from the beginning. So soon after her transition from human to vampyr, they'd said her body was too depleted to risk blood-mating again to reinforce the bond. She had to grow stronger to finish it. They'd sworn to wait until the two vampyr were positive her body could tolerate the burden and bear it well.

Too bad they hadn't consulted her.