Page 19 of Twist of Fated Mates
I can’t be trusted.
“Hecancontrol it!” Charlie steps forward. “He doesn’t need you for that.”
“Oh really?” Everette’s gaze moves slowly over our number, then settles on Oaks. “Shall we test that theory? Let’s.” A flick of his wrist sends his cronies diving into action.
I freeze. The world spins around me. Marina leaps to defend her pack. Slater and Hardy growl and gnash their teeth. Vampires move so fast I can’t track them, but the coppery smell of spilled blood permeates the air.
A high-pitched yowl. Charlie’s hands digging into my arms, thrusting me out of harm’s way. Mud splashing around our ankles as we’re lost in the fray.
No, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen! “Take me! I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt them!”
Charlie’s grip on me tightens. The battle fades to my periphery. The savory metallic aroma slams my senses.
Blood.
I’m so thirsty.
My fangs throb.
My vision blurs, yet I make out Everette restraining a struggling Oaks, one arm around his middle, the other pinning his head sideways, exposing his throat, already smeared red from a gash behind his ear.
“Do it, youngling. Drain him as you’re meant to.”
“Let him go!” That’s Charlie’s voice, loud next to my ear, and it’s the only thing I can concentrate on to drown out the thirst. “Nigel doesn’t need you, and he doesn’t need Oaks.”
My mouth waters. Everything in me wants to fight my way out of Charlie’s hold and do as the elder commands. I see red. I crave it.
Around me, chaos. My mind, chaos. My body, chaos.
But my mate?
Steady. And murmuring in my ear, “Fight it, Nigel. You control the thirst. It doesn’t control you. When this is over, drink from me. But fight now.”
Cackling laughter pings through the fog of my senses. That vampire assumed he’d get the best of me.
I can’t let that happen.
I swallow the wicked yearning, lean back against Charlie, and gather my wits. “You won’t get away with breaking the pact. Your people signed it, same as ours. Release Oaks and get off our pack’s land.”
“Drink!” Everette jerks Oaks, spilling more blood. No matter how much he struggles, Oaks can’t break free from the vampire’s iron strength.
“I won’t.” I clamp my jaws shut and refuse to give in.
A feral roar erupts from my periphery. A wolf bursts out of nowhere and tackles Everette to the ground.
Oaks rolls away from him, clutching his neck.
Everette lets out a piercing wail, yet more blood thickens the air. The wolf pinning him shifts, and Marina crouches naked over him, claws still buried in the gaping chest wound she’s slashed open.
I stare in awe.
“Get out, or I’ll rip your dead heart right through these broken ribs.” She punches him in the face with her free hand. Bones snap with a sickening pop.
The vampire moans and curls in on himself, defeated.
Marina stands, glowers at the other vampires—some of whom still hold our pack members back—and growls. Somehow it’s even more intimidating through a human mouth than a wolf’s. “Let my people go.”
They obey. Whether it’s because their leader has fallen or because Marina is scarier than a rabid badger when she’s angry, I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’m just glad to see the back ofthem as they leave, tugging a whimpering Everette along with them.
