Page 60 of Blood and Magic
“And who started that, huh?” Kodiak asked calmly, his steady voice betraying his rising temper. “Perhaps you’re so upset because Mill helped you through yours, but you didn’t carry his scent out of it?”
“Thank God for that,” she continued. “I’d rather swim through hot vampire guts than be a part of your stupid little cult.” She gave me a sidelong glance. “No offense.”
How was I not supposed to be offended by that? But I didn’t answer. Getting in the middle of two dominants when they were measuring their…egos…was never a bright idea.
“That can be arranged,” Kodiak sneered.
Sensing the argument had ventured into dangerous territory, I started to push to my feet, yearning to make my way toward the door.
“Sit down,” they both roared in unison.
Fucking. Yikes.
I planted my ass back in that seat so fast, but between me and God, I didn’t know whose order I was following more. I had a healthy fear of Kodiak as my alpha, but Guin was downright terrifying.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Just like a wolf. Arrogant and prideful.”
“If Maeve wants to join the pack, she’ll be given the invitation. The same as Sol. The same as you.” Guin opened her mouth to speak, but Kodiak cut her off. “And if she chooses a Bastard as her mate…or chooses Mill as her mate, you’ll have to make your peace with that.”
“She’s not my mate,” I said, but the words tasted like venom.
Kodiak shifted his knowing gaze to me, and I resisted the urge to squirm. The alpha always knew more than he ever said. All of our connections ran through him. He was the lifeline, the literal spine, of this family. If the pack was a universe, he was the center, the proverbial black hole holding us all to him with his immense force of gravity.
“The moon is in four hours.” He kept his tone unusually calm. If anyone else were to talk to him like this, he would have already snarled in their face and demanded their obedience. “We’re making the trek to shifting territory, and our human packmates are on alert for any vampires that may try to test their luck.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She scoffed. “Humans protected you the last time the Scorpions came in for a raid.”
It was bold, perhaps a little cruel, to mention the time her father hired the Scorpions to invade our territory during a full moon and wipe half of us out while we were shifting. Even though the Bastards and the Vanderbilts had a tenuous truce now, old feuds died hard.
“We’re better prepared this time,” Kodiak said. “What happened then won’t happen again.”
“I hope you’re right.” She ran her tongue over a canine before straightening and walking toward the door. Guin swung it open with more force than was necessary, causing Maeve to shove to her feet on the other side. The younger Vanderbilt met my gaze with a hopeful one of her own before the entry closed again. I looked back at Kodiak.
“That female is testing every last bit of my patience,” he sighed. “As for you, Morwyn filled me in on the research she’s been doing.”
“I haven’t checked in with her in a few days,” I admitted. Honestly, I didn’t want to know.
“Your blood changed again after Maeve’s transition. It’s spawning and dying at rapidly increasing rates, almost like it’s searching for something.”
I swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. Morwyn still had my samples from before Orion’s wedding, and I recalled her conversation about how they were still alive, still changing, still evolving.
“Oh? What does that mean?”
“You tell me,” he said. “Notice anything different about this transition?”
Like the bite marks on her neck? Like the weeks of sharing dreams before it? Like the irresistible urge to drink her blood? Like how badly I want to yank her into my room and never let another wolf look at her?
“It was…more intense,” I said. “Guin didn’t need me the same way Maeve does.”
Kodiak narrowed his eyes. “Did you drink from her during it?”
I gulped. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“You’re not an idiot, Mill. Of course, you know what I’m thinking.”
“I’m not a vampire,” I said. “I’m not rotting from the inside out.”
“But something is different.” Kodiak raised his eyebrows, demanding an explanation.
