Page 10 of Blood Sacrifice

I knew an invitation when I heard one, and Sophia had been hinting at me taking her out for a while. She was cute, but sex without meaning had no appeal, and now my mate had re-emerged from the dead, my full focus was on her.

“No, thanks, one of my guys will be around later to ensure everything is fine.” I waved as I walked away, going back outside to think through my next move. The only thought in my head had been to get here, and now I needed to actually form a plan.

I sat in the sunshine, debating what to do, and internally arguing with my wolf, who demanded we go into that hotel and find our mate. Everything inside me stilled when the figure of a woman walked down the street, her head lowered.

She had curves that hadn’t been there before, her hair bouncing with every step she took. Her movements were slow and calm, making herself a minimal risk to any predators in the area. She kept her head lowered, making herself smaller and submissive. Any wolf searching for a powerful magical being would overlook her, and even though I knew who she was, I couldn’t detect any energy signature from her that denoted what she was.

She stopped, bringing her gaze up to glance around, and my wolf growled in my head. Luna had transformed into something more than beautiful. She had blossomed into an etheric creature with delicate features and a radiance that made my breath catch.

Her gaze ran over me, returning a few seconds later, her brow furrowing for a moment before she spun and walked into the hotel. She wasn’t the only one who could mask who they were. It appeared we were both chameleons who were hiding in plain sight.

I remained where I was, dumbstruck that my mate was alive.

What the fuck was I supposed to do?

Anger pulsed through me with every single beat of my heart, and I stormed off back toward our building, trying to swallow the need to rip someone’s throat out. Luna had been outin the world all that time by herself, and that tore my insides apart to leave me raw and bleeding.

The operations room back at our building allowed me to tap into CCTV that spanned most of the town centre. I spent the next few hours studying the tour group and their interactions as they went on a walking tour.

I drank in every facial expression on Luna, and finally came to the conclusion that she was using a spell to mask her genuine reactions.

When they reached a church that tourists tended to visit, I left the building and jogged down the side streets until I reached it. Many of the group oohed and aahed as the guide gave a description of the artifacts on display. The last supper was normally depicted in Peru with a guinea pig on the table since it was a popular menu item here. It tended to make the tourists queasy.

Luna stayed at the back of the group, hiding herself in the crowd.

I stayed in the background, watching her while wrestling with my wolf who wanted to stomp over there to bite and claim her. My nose twitched when I caught her distinctive scent, and it took me back four centuries into the past when she had been wrapped around me while I carried her through the night.

Back in the daylight of the street, I maintained my distance, stopping when I saw the two wolves who were stalking the group. Normally, I avoided them, but today I was in full asshole mood.

“Afternoon, gentlemen,” I said, sidling up behind them. “You seem to be lost since this city belongs to me.” I leaned against the wall and folded my arms across my chest.

Both of them turned to stare at me, their eyes widening in recognition. Balor had recruited dire wolves after the war, andthe majority of us had left him. These two idiots were among the new recruits.

“My guess is that you’re trying to think of an excuse why you’re wandering around in my territory and following a group of innocent tourists,” I continued. “Let me reassure you that there is no justifiable excuse and Balor knows what the consequences are for this type of infraction.”

Wolf one cleared his throat, and I could tell he was debating running. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. We’re just passing through.”

I rolled my eyes, grabbing his wrist and rapidly twisting his arm until it cracked and hung at an unnatural angle. I lifted his hand up to display the tattoo denoting his master.

“I could never understand why you all need to brand yourselves with his mark,” I said. “You may as well have tattooed it on your forehead so it could represent another useless dick.”

Wolf two stepped forward in a futile attempt to help his friend. The aroma of death radiated from him, depicting him as the murderer from a few nights ago.

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” he replied, drawing a gun from beneath his coat. He had just signed his own death warrant.

“I’ve known Balor for centuries, and his attitude hasn’t improved in that time. The calibre of the men he employs has definitely gone down dramatically.” I grasped his wrist to twist it, the gun clattering to the ground.

A quick glance over my shoulder showed that we were alone, so I gave in to the violence that had been brewing inside me all day and I snapped his neck before he could open his mouth and say something that would annoy me further. He dropped to the ground with a shocked expression on his face.

“He shouldn’t have pissed me off,” I said to wolf one. “We could have all been friends.” That was a lie because these twoassholes were stalking my mate and there was no way they would reach the end of this day alive after committing that offence.

His shoulder was dislocated, and he took a step back, which was a rookie mistake that turned him into a prey animal instead of the predator he was born. He held his working arm up with his hand in front of him in flimsy defiance.

“I won’t tell anyone,” he mumbled in a low voice. “I’ll say we were attacked by humans in daylight, so couldn’t defend ourselves.” His bottom lips trembled.

“Or you could have some self-respect and act like a wolf,” I finished for him, raising one eyebrow. So instead, he acted like a rabbit and turned to try and run. He joined his friend on the ground a few seconds later.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit the speed dial for Tarrack.

---