Page 23 of Blood and Magic
We were dreaming about each other?
That is not good.
Nope, not at all.
Taking a deep breath, I told myself to stay calm and stop spying on her like a fucked-up stalker. But when she walked back into the room and grabbed the laptop, I couldn’t help but stare into her mesmerizing eyes.
What was she dreaming about? Did she imagine me the way I’d imagined her?
Fuck, what if we’re sharing dreams?
Yes, my wolf grumbled, rolling his shoulders and wagging his tail. He wanted her for reasons I wouldn’t…couldn’t examine, and if we were sharing dreams, that could only mean one thing.
No, I wouldn’t wander down that dark, windy road tonight…or any night. She was better off without me for a million different reasons. She deserved better.
Maeve took her computer to her bed and placed it on the empty side of the mattress while she lay down. She reached into the bottom drawer of her nightstand, and my pulse pounded when she returned with a bright pink vibr?—
“Mill!” shouted Fenris as he knocked twice on the door before pushing it open.
Startled, I quickly exited out of the screen and went back to the security camera footage, adjusting my cock in my gym shorts to make it less obvious that I’d been spying on arguably the most fascinating Vanderbilt sister.
He walked into the main room with Poe, Columba, and Aquila behind him.
“Fenris took us out to the woods. I’m picking up at least six or seven different scents.” Poe put his hands on his hips and pulled deep breaths, evidently trying to calm his racing heart.
Clearing my throat against how parched I’d suddenly become, I trained my features into the best poker face I could muster. “I think there were closer to ten. Come look.”
“Fuck,” Columba said. He ran his hands back through his dark hair and came to stand behind me.
At six-five, he was an inch taller than me and almost as big as Kodiak. He had bright green eyes and dark tawny skin, making him incredibly popular with the female shifters in the pack. I’d seen him hanging around Kodiak’s youngest daughter more than once. Aquila was the same height as me, with dark hair and darker eyes, but still the same devastating good looks as his brother.
After I showed my packmates the footage, we watched it three more times before deciding to call Kodiak…which honestly should have been my first order of business. But I had to make sure Maeve was safe. I didn’t like the thought of Marx having his target set on her, and now that I knew what she was doing up there in that big mansion all by herself, a small petulant (and perhaps overprotective) part of me wanted to burn this fucking house down so I’d have no other choice but to move into the mansion with her.
Do it, my wolf whispered. Take her. Claim her.
I ignored those thoughts and sighed when Kodiak answered the phone in his gruff, tired voice.
“We’ve got a problem, Prez,” I said, explaining the situation to him. “He wants what he feels he’s owed.”
Kodiak growled. “He’ll keep testing the boundaries until he finds a way through.”
“This could be a ploy,” I said. “Do we know where Guin and Ava are?”
“Yes,” he said. “Guin’s got her own bodyguards protecting her, and Ava is in France with Lycan.”
“Do you think he’d follow her there?” Maybe we needed to call the RBMC in Paris and ask for a favor.
“He went after Guin last time, and he knows how much of a threat she is. I suspect he’s coming after Maeve because he thinks she’s more vulnerable.” Kodiak took a deep breath, and I could picture him rubbing a hand over his bald head and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sending Moose and Larentia and?—”
“You can’t spare them,” I argued. “If you send them here, you risk leaving the homestead vulnerable.”
“Are you questioning my decisions?”
“Yes,” I said, knowing I could because I was a Bastard. I’d been patched into the council and sworn my blood and loyalty to the colors. We were brothers as much as packmates. Just because he was more dominant didn’t mean he was unreasonable. “Look, let me figure it out. I’ll keep her guarded. I’ll move into the mansion. I’ll…” The thought of staying down the hallway from her while she played with herself had me clenching my hand into a fist.
Focus. This is important. This is her safety.
“I’ll call you if something else happens.”
