Page 93 of Blood Owed (Blood Mafia 1)
“Sit down, Blaze, before I let her run you through.”
Mateo’s confidence in me wins him a few points. The supe strength is still singing in my blood, and I have a temporary edge that I’d love to use to attack Blaze with.
Blaze doesn’t back down, so Mateo drops my hand and clutches his throat, crushing the alpha’s neck with brute strength. He locks eyes with the wolf and snares him in his thrall.
“Reel it in before I’m forced to kill you.”
The wolf whimpers under the command of a stronger being and shifts back to full human. The glow in his eyes fades. Mateo lifts him off the ground. . . and considering how much larger Blaze is, I’m impressed.
“Demetria is off limits, do you understand?” Mateo asks him in a deadly quiet voice. He’ll kill the wolf if he has to, not giving a damn that he’d bear the wrath of the wolf elders and the packs.
Blazes lips have started to turn blue. “Yes,” he says in a throaty rasp.
“Good.” Mateo tosses him at his seat.
One of his minions shoots forward to support the alpha. Under normal circumstances, Blaze would have landed with ease. Mateo fully rolled him then choked him out, so Blaze isn’t exactly in tiptop shape.
“Leave us.”
Blaze snarls and stands, straightening his shirt. “You’re dead, Mateo.”
Mateo’s laugh is sardonic and insulting. “I’d love to see you try, pup.”
With one last hate-filled look cast at me, Blaze and his men storm from the room, the door crashes against the wall, making it quake from the impact.
“How’s the fettuccine here?”
Colt, Grayson, and Mateo stare at me like I’ve lost my marbles. Bold of them to assume I had them all in a jar before. I’m not letting death threats and snarling wolves prevent me from eating here.
I’m ordering breadsticks too. They can all kiss my ass.
Grayson
If I was unsure about my attraction to Demi before, that fact is set in stone now. She had zero qualms about jamming a knife into Blaze’s face. Her eyes were lit with pure rage and determination.
Her temporary supe strength—thanks to Mateo’s blood—might have been enough for her to get a few jabs in, but with a supe as old as Blaze, there’s no way she would have won a fight. Mateo says when she turns twenty-five she’ll be strong enough to take a vampire. We won’t know her full strength until she comes into her power.
Her birthday is in two weeks. I’m not sure she remembers it, nor does she know the significance of her quarter-century birthday.
She sips her wine and bats her eyelashes when she catches me staring at her. We’ve all taken our seats again and ordered food.
“I think I remember you promising to show me how to use a knife properly. . . I’d say tonight’s events highlight my need for proper defense training against you animals.”
Colt huffs. “We’re not animals.”
She quirks her brow. “Keep telling yourself that, hunny.” Her deep brown gaze finds mine again. “When do we start?”
I glance at Mateo, hoping to get some sort of indication on how to proceed. Demi’s kisses fucked with his plans to keep her all to himself, so we’re in uncharted territory right now.
Ever perceptive, Demi casts a scowl at my boss and brother of the night. “You can’t order them to ignore me.”
A sinister smile cuts across his face. “Oh?”
“If you keep them from me, I won’t uphold our bargain. You won’t get your third bite.”
Mateo swirls his blood cocktail and takes a swig. “What, pray tell, makes you think you’d be able to stop me from taking it?”
Colt and I exchange a worried look. Mateo’s emotions have been volatile when it comes to our little Hunter. I can’t tell if he’s angry or amused by her demands. The Mateo I know would rip her throat out.
