Page 39 of Love Bites

Her body joined her packmates’ on the ground, and I stormed back to the moving truck. Getting the lock open and yanking the door up only took a moment, but my female was sitting right inside, looking pissed.

And dizzy.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I demanded, grabbing her by the waist and hauling her into her family’s house at vampire speed. Her sisters followed us. Over my shoulder, I told them, “Pack what you need quickly. Curtis will have others on their way already.”

Thankfully, the women could move at vampire speed.

“I know how to fight,” Blair said defensively. “I thought there were too many wolves for you to deal with all of them. I?—”

I sat her down on the countertop beside the sink in her kitchen, and she clutched the edge of it like her head was spinning.

“What did they do?” I growled.

“Shoved my face into the ground. One of them snapped at the other afterward. I don’t think they were supposed to hurt me.”

I wet a clean rag and started cleaning as much blood off her face as I could. The shirt she wore—myshirt—was wet with it, and it was all over the middle of her face. The glitter seemed to be coming off with the blood, which only made me hate Curtis more.

“I can handle far more than a few wolves, little siren,” I said, my anger fading slightly. “There’s a reason I lead the vampires. I’ve spent much of my life training and fighting.”

I couldn’t blame her for not realizing the extent of my abilities. She had never lived in the Manor, and she interacted with the magical world as little as possible. There would inevitably be things she didn’t know.

“If I’d realized, I would’ve hidden with my sisters,” she said. “I was no match for the wolves anyway. It’s been too many years since I had to fight anyone, and even then, it was just practice.”

“You killed one of them. Curtis didn’t send any of his best fighters, but taking down a creature their size is still impressive.”

“He wasn’t allowed to hurt me,” she pointed out.

“Take the victory anyway.” I finished cleaning off her face, and pressed the wet rag to her still-bleeding wound. “You might need stitches.”

She made a face. “I haven’t been to see a doctor in more than a decade.”

“Time to break the streak, then.” I carried her out to the truck, setting her down in the passenger seat and buckling her in. “I’ll pack your things. If you move from this chair, I’ll have no choice but to tie you to my side.”

“You’ve threatened that before.”

“It’s almost like I’m daring you to let me do it,” I remarked, pressing her hand harder to her forehead. “Hold the pressure, like this.”

She nodded, and I fought the urge to kiss her before I sped back into her house to pack her things.

ten

BLAIR

My sistersall stopped at the moving truck to make sure I was okay, but Damian barked orders at them before we could have a real conversation. On the way out, I’d noticed that our things were strewn around the room, some of them torn, broken, and ruined. I wanted to ask them about it, but he didn’t give me time.

“They would’ve had to track your van to find this place,” he said. “You won’t be able to drive it again. It stays here. Get in the back of the moving truck. I’ll drive carefully.”

My sisters exchanged unhappy—and uncertain—expressions.

“We don’t have any other choice,” I told them quietly, still pressing the damp rag to my forehead as hard as I could. My body was trembling, and I wasn’t sure if that was from shock, fear, or blood loss.

The girls nodded, and got in the back of the truck. Damian sped back inside for pillows and blankets, and I noticed multiple tears and bite marks in his clothes. Many of them were bloody.

Worry clenched in my abdomen.

Was he okay?

I hadn’t even asked.

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