THE MATE CHALLENGE

SASSY MATES SERIES BOOK 4

NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

MILLY TAIDEN

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be

construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Published By

Latin Goddess Press

New York, NY 10456

http://millytaiden.com

The Mate Challenge

Copyright © 2015 by Milly Taiden

Cover by Willsin Rowe

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written

permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Property of Milly Taiden January 2015

ACCLAIM FOR MILLY TAIDEN

FOR Unexpectedly Mated

“If you are like me and love Milly's hot and sexy starts, this one will not disappoint ;) Then we fast forwards to a few months later,
reminding us of what has happened to Jordan and Karla in the first two books before continuing on! Book 3 focuses on Jake and Nic,
you can expect hot & sexy scenes, comic relief, frustration at the evil scum, and lack of communication - what more could you ask for!”

—Theresa Esterline, I Heart Books

“Would I recommend this book: Yes! If you want to read about a strong Alpha female and a sexy hot Alpha male this book is definitely
for you! This book is filled with romance, lust, hot sex and conflict between the Alpha male and a sassy female.Would I recommend this
author: Yes! I have read all of Ms. Taiden’s books and cannot wait until her next book hits the book shelves. She writes phenomenal
paranormal romance!!”

—

Fran Owen, Twin Sister’s Rockin’ Reviews

“Milly Taiden’s Sassy Mates series is full of filthy mouthed alpha males and feisty, smart mouthed females – the perfect type of duo to
take readers on one hell of a hot and wild adventure. Each book in the series is the perfect mix of sexual tension, steamy scenes, drama,
and action. Aric and Jordan and Nate and Karla’s stories are great reads, but Jake and Nicole’s story is by far my favorite of the
three..”

—The Fairest of All Book Reviews

“Unexpectedly Mated by Milly Taiden became my favorite in the series in an INSTANT. I wasn't so sure how much I'd love it since I
loved the others A LOT, but...boy, oh-hella boy! Let's talk setting: Vegas. *holds for dramatic pause* Vegas, ya'll. V-E-G-A-S. It's sin
wrapped in a sparkly, Elvis blanket! And Jake and Nic? They're now my favorite couple! I mean...I can't even put into words how HOT
-- how SWOON-WORTHY -- their scenes together are. I had one of "those" moments. You know, the one where you're reading
something so dirty you do an awkward twitch, cross your legs, and you're constantly looking over your shoulder so no one knows! And
you can't keep a straight face for nothing. Oh! Then when you read a line so hot you literally have to reread it twice, maybe even three
times. And it's just as hot as the first time you read it!”

—N.K. Richards, My Home Away From Home

—For My Readers

Thank you for sticking by me. For loving my books. For liking my humor. For liking my big girls!

For Sheri and Teracia! This one is for you. You’ve loved Mason and Emma from the very first and I am so happy you loved their story!

To my wonderfully supportive Street Team (Sexy Biter Book Pimps)... You rock!

To all who love Big Beautiful Women...Curvy girls love you right back!

ONE

Emma removed the Bluetooth from her ear and turned it off. The camera was on its tripod

recording so she sat down on her picnic blanket and waited, watching the ritual. The two shifters at

the clearing were touching each other as if discovering their bodies for the first time. It was really

interesting and strangely erotic to watch.

The heat from the night started getting to her. Oh boy. She glanced around the ground for the

small cooler she’d brought with her water bottles. Ellie had mentioned it would take a while and

Emma didn’t want to miss any of it. Even though she was recording it, it was much more fun to watch

it as it was happening.

A mating ritual. The words made her think of Mason Wolfe. Her wolf. Mason had been pretty

open with his desire for her. At first, it caught her off guard. Men were usually wary of her bossiness.

She tended to piss a lot of people off writing lists and giving them demands and jobs. Not to mention

her organizational skills rivaled that of the worst case of OCD. It was who she was.

When dating, a man didn’t want to hear that. Like her last boyfriend, Steve. It had been a few

years since Steve, but she hadn’t forgotten how angry he used to get when they had sex and she told

him what got her off. Steve liked to do what he wanted. Eventually, that led to her breaking things off

because what was the point of sex if he couldn’t make her come? Not to mention how she kept

thinking of Mason while with Steve. That had been pretty bad too.

A rustle in the wind sounded. She took a drink from her bottle and sighed. She hadn’t been out

in the woods in a while. It was one of the things she used to love to do with her father. Go for walks

and hikes.

She smiled thinking of what her father’s reaction would be if he would have met Mason.

“Probably tell him he felt sorry for him,” she mumbled.

Mason wasn’t like his brothers, though. The first time she’d met him, she’d been visiting

Ellie’s house to work on a project together and bam! Mason opened the front door, took one look at

her and hauled her inside.

What came next was something she’d never forget. She’d gotten a single look at Mason with

his spiky short hair and crazy number of arm tattoos, nipple piercings and forgot how to talk. Then

there was the immediate first kiss. Any other guy to try that and she’d have decked him, but Mason

caught her off guard. He told her she was his and proceeded to kiss her like she was the love of his

life.

Stupid shifter and his sexy tongue. He’d destroyed her thinking ability way back when. Still,

Emma wasn’t going to let some shifter tell her what to do. She didn’t care how sexy he was. She

ignored his advances and proceeded to tell him she had a boyfriend, which she did at the time. Did he

care? Not at all. He went on to tell her he’d wait because he knew in time she’d be his. Cocky

asshole.

Though Mason was an amazing man, he was a protector, which was sweet, but that led to him

trying to tell her what to do. Her father had done that for too many years of her life and she was not

going there again. Not with mutt.

Another howl sounded. She glanced around. This time it came from somewhere nearby.

Hopefully her plan to make sure Jordan, Karla and Nicole got marked that night worked. Ellie and

Barbara had been a little unsure at first, saying how they should give the girls time to come to terms

with being in love with shifters. Hah! Like that was ever going to happen. Emma had to explain to

them they needed to have those guys show their dominant sides and take their women already.

She hoped all her hard work had paid off and everyone was busy getting their groove on.

She’d talked more than her usual amount on that walkie trying to keep the women distracted. She’d

also laid on the guilt trip when Karla and Nicole mentioned leaving. The last thing Emma wanted was

for her plan to go down the drain.

Leaves rustled behind her. She got up and glanced around, poking and prodding at branches to

make sure there was no one nearby.

Twin golden spots shone through the trees. She reeled back for a second before frowning and

moving forward.

“Who’s that?”

A blink and the spots were gone. There was a loud howl at the ceremony site. She turned to

see what was going on and caught a glimpse of the man picking up the woman in his arms, throwing

her over his shoulder and rushing off.

A hand slapped over her mouth and a steely arm went around her chest, holding her in place.

She squealed, ready to kick and get out of the hold when the person holding her spoke.

“Hello, beautiful.”

The harsh pounding of her heart almost didn’t let her hear the words, but she recognized the

body at her back. Mason. He removed the hand from her mouth and slid it down to encircle her chest,

holding her in place with both arms.

“Are you out of your mind? You’re not supposed to be here!” She chastised. “Did you make

sure the others knew where the girls were?”

Mason chuckled that low rumbly sound that made her knees weak. “So you expected me to sit

around and twiddle my thumbs while you were sitting here all alone?” He slipped around to face her

and met her gaze. “Not in this lifetime, brat.”

She licked her lips and hoped he couldn’t hear the crazy thumping of her pulse against her

chest. Damn, it was getting so hot out there.

“Then...what did you have in mind?”

Mason Wolfe stared deep into the eyes of his mate and had to hold back the urge to take her

then and there. Emma. His beautiful, fiery woman was a pain in the ass but he wouldn’t trade her for

the world.

From the second he’d laid eyes on her he’d known Emma was his. The only one for him.

Unlike his brothers, he’d marked Emma as his already. The problem he was having was that Emma

didn’t like accepting his words as fact. She said she would not accept his mate bite if he did not stop

trying to control her. Not that he was trying to control Emma. God knew that was impossible. All he

wanted was to keep her safe from the dangers in Blue Creek. Too much was going on and Emma

somehow always found her way into the middle of danger. He wouldn’t— couldn’t lose her to

anyone.

She swiped her wet, pink tongue over her bottom lip and focused on his lips. Hell how he

wanted to kiss her. Soon. But right now, he wanted to have his own brand of fun with her. After all,

she’d made sure to get her friends marked by his brothers for the night. So what did she expect would

happen with her?

He grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back, loving the feel of her curves pressing

on him. His Emma wasn’t small. She had curves. She was soft with a real body. A body he adored

touching and looking at. He lowered his head and groaned as the scent of her arousal curled around

them.

She didn’t hesitate. That was one of the things he loved about Emma. No matter what came out

of her mouth, her body always let him know she wanted him.

Their lips met and passion broke through the cage he’d locked it in. Her lips were feather soft

and she tasted so good. Like coming home. The animal under his skin pushed him to get aggressive.

To get her naked and inside her. But he reined in his beast and focused on Emma. On the soft little

moans she did when he swept his tongue into her mouth and glided it over hers. He focused on how

she boldly stroked hers over his and lured him to play. His Emma wasn’t shy.

He held her wrists behind her back with one hand and yanked out the cuffs in his back pocket

with the other. She was going to be angry, but he knew that was the only way to get her out of the

mating site without argument. As much as he did love debating with her, he had something a lot more

fun planned for her for the night.

The cuffs clicked into place. It took her a moment before she pulled back from their kiss, eyes

dazed and confused, to say something.

“What did you do?” She asked, her voice a husky whisper that shot lust right down to his

cock.

He slid a hand down the side of her face, caressing her cheek and staring at her hazel eyes.

Emma was gorgeous. Even with her lips pinched into a straight line and her brows creeping down in

a fierce frown. “I’m taking you somewhere.”

Her eyes widened. “I can’t leave! You know that, mutt. Now take these cuffs off me and let me

get back to work.”

He grinned and glanced at the mating site where people were talking. The couple everyone

had gone to see had gone off to have private time. Something he wanted badly with Emma. If he let

her stay she’d just give him more excuses and he was tired of it. He wanted her now.

“No.”

She gasped. “What do you mean, no?”

He lowered his head again and brushed his lips over hers. Fuck, she tasted so good he almost

forgot his plans for the night. But that was not happening this time. Emma has a tendency of making

him forget everything. He inhaled her scent and let the animal inside enjoy her nearness. They’d been

apart for too many days. She always let him into her home. She’d given him keys and welcomed him

into her bed. The problems started when he spoke of mating. Then she’d argue that he had yet to learn

she was an independent woman and had a brain on her shoulders. “I mean, I’m taking you with me.”

“Mason!” She shrieked as he picked her up off the ground and laid her over his shoulder.

“You’re gonna get a hernia, you idiot!”

He laughed. She was so damn cute all angry and growly. It was one of the things he loved

about Emma. She was never docile. Never easy. Never boring. Life with her had yet to become a

routine.

“Baby, your body is light as a feather. Besides, I’d take a hernia any day if I get to touch all

your curves. You on top of me feels like heaven.”

The scent of her arousal grew strong. “You love getting me in the mood at the worst possible

times.”

“Don’t worry, beautiful. I know just the spot,” he said and carried her off the mating site.

She wiggled on his shoulder but he knew how to keep her in line. He held her legs with one

arm and tapped her large cheeks with his other hand. The sound of the smack stopped her for a

second.

“You,” she said breathlessly, “you, hit me!”

He loved the way she almost moaned the words out. “Don’t tempt me to do it again, brat.”

She mumbled something that sounded like ‘please do’ against his back. He reached his truck

in record time and set her down on the passenger side.

Her wide eyes captivated him. “Where are you taking me?”

He shut the door and leaned in to kiss her again, just because he could. “You’ll see.”

She stayed quiet for the short drive. Something he wasn’t used to with Emma. He knew she

had a hard time not being in control and not dictating what needed to be done. But he was happy she

hadn’t argued when he took her out of her comfort zone and lead her away from the mating site.

He reached his house and once again picked her up in his arms only this time he didn’t lay her

on his shoulder. Instead, he carried her inside and straight to his room.

Her gasp as they entered the bedroom wasn’t lost on him. “Mason...”

Placing her gently on the bed, he stepped back to soak in her reaction. Her eyes were wide

with surprise and a smile unlike any he’d seen on her face split her lips.

A quick glance around the room and everything was exactly as he’d set it up. The skylights

allowed them a view of the night sky. He’d also gone as far as getting her tulips, her favorite flowers.

Hell, even candles adorned almost every surface of his bedroom. Good thing he didn’t have tons of

clutter or he’d have worried over starting a fire.

“Do you like it?” A dash of insecurity rushed through him. Emma wasn’t your typical female.

She loved being the one doing the nice things for others but this time he wanted to be the one doing

things for her.

Her gaze continued to roam around the room before finally meeting his. “Wow. You’ve been

busy,” she grinned. “Are you trying to impress me?”

He laughed and started removing his shirt, knowing her attention would be stuck on his body.

This wasn’t their first time together. Emma was his. She just refused to admit it.

“Oh, I’ll impress you soon enough, baby. Just let me get comfortable.”

She licked her lips and wiggled on the bed with a frown. “What about me? I need out of these

cuffs.”

He jerked the T-shirt over his head, tossing it on a nearby chair. “Tell you what we’ll do. I’ll

let you out of the cuffs and we can have some of your favorite wine.”

She lifted an arched brow and glanced around the room until she caught sight of the wine

bottle and glasses. “Wow, you really did go all out didn’t you?”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing at her surprised expression and moved closer to the bed.

“Do you want out of the cuffs or not?”

She scrunched her nose in thought. “That sort of kills the mood, doesn’t it?”

His Emma was one of a kind. He never knew what she’d say. “Not really. You’ll see.”

He uncuffed her and helped her sit on the bed. She watched him warily. Good. She should

worry. He wasn’t done with their game. Emma liked being in control too much. It was time for her to

lose it.

TWO

Emma wasn’t sure what Mason’s game was. They had a pretty solid arrangement. Nobody

questioned the other and each did what they wanted. Sex between them was amazing and she wasn’t

trying to give that up. Except it didn’t seem to be enough for him. Mason wanted it all. A relationship.

She clenched her teeth before taking a sip of her wine. It had been too good to be true.

He moved around the bedroom with careful precision. God, the man had a body on him she

never tired of watching. He was big and strong with all those tattoos and the nipple piercings were

hotter than anything she’d ever seen. Mason was the ultimate bad boy to her dirty girl fantasies.

She still shuddered after their months of dating. Heck, memories of their first time together

still made her knees weak. He ran long fingers through his hair and she gulped, watching his muscles

shift. Breathe, girl!

“Mason,” she said a lot huskier than she expected her voice to be. “I...”

She what? She’d been ignoring him lately. Her dislike for the pressure of a relationship was

getting on her nerves. She wasn’t ready for talks of mating and so she was being a bitch and ignoring

his animal side. The side that needed to mate and claim his woman. She wasn’t known for being soft-

spoken or nice. Emma had grown up with a father who’d been strict military and he’d taught her never

to give in to anyone’s demands. But was that realistic? Mason had been so thoughtful with her. He

hadn’t really pushed and instead gave her the space she needed when it came to them.

She inhaled and let her shoulders drop. Maybe she should break things off with him. No! Her

mind immediately screamed the word, stopping any thoughts of cutting ties with the wolf.

With a soft sigh, she stood and took another sip of wine before placing her glass down on a

dresser. The lights of the candles gave his naturally pale skin a golden glow. Unlike Emma’s dark

chocolate skin, Mason’s skin was pale as cream and baby smooth. She loved touching him. Being that

close to him only brought out the urge to glide her fingers down his back, feeling his muscles shift

under her palms.

She licked the wine off her lips and lifted a hand to touch his back. Lord, he was so damn hot.

How could she consider staying away from him for even a second? Mason was the only man she

wanted. And while she argued with her inability to commit daily, she didn’t want what they had to

end. Ever.

She opened her mouth to speak but he turned around on her so fast she only got a glimpse of

the bright gold rim around his usually gorgeous brown eyes.

“Stop it,” he ordered roughly.

He pulled her into his arms and brought his lips down over hers. The instant heat explosion

sent warmth careening through her limbs. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and rubbed over hers

with an aggression she wasn’t used to in Mason. Mason was strong. Bold. Sexy. The flirt she’d come

to love in the years she’d been Ellie’s friend. This was new in him. There was power and command

in his touch. His kiss was like a brand from her lips scorching down her veins. There was a flurry of

movement. She was on her back on his bed. His lips were still on hers, owning her. She groaned,

widening her legs and curling them over his powerful thighs. His erection pressed at the center of her

heat.

Her body craved his touch. He lifted her hands above her head and rocked his hips into hers.

She gasped into the ravenous kiss. Her panties were soaked with her need. He did that to her every

time. No matter how often they had sex, he’d always made her wet with a kiss of a slow touch.

White-hot need took hold of her. Another twirl with his tongue over hers and then he bit on her

lip. She moaned, sucking his tongue and urging him to continue his sweet torture. Something wound

around her wrists. Her eyes jerked open and she stared into bright golden eyes. He pulled away from

her lips, all the while licking his own as if he’d just tasted something delicious.

A panty-dropping smile curled his sinful lips. “Don’t move.”

She frowned and glanced up. He’d slipped her hands into ties that looped around her wrists

and bound her to the bed posts. She met his smiling gaze and frowned. “What are you doing?”

He lifted a hand and she watched as his normally long fingers turned into sharp claws. He

brought the claws down on her tank top, curling them on the thin material and tugging.

Rrrrip

He sliced through the top, cutting through the center of her bra as well. Her nipples puckered

tight at the caress of warm air that hit them as the bra fell to the sides.

A soft moan left her lips. “Mason...”

“Shhh. If you only knew how fucking perfect you look right now.”

The rough sound of his voice sent lust from her nipples down to her clit. He sucked one of her

nipples into his mouth, laving the little tip with his tongue. Her body heated and tension immediately

coiled in her core. She groaned. Christ he was good at that. The way he flicked his tongue back and

forth made her pussy slick with need.

He cupped her breasts with his hands, tweaking and fondling her. “I love to hear you moaning

when I touch you.”

A gasp rushed up her throat. Lord have mercy. His touch sent tiny explosions down to her

pussy. Her insides throbbed with the need to be filled.

“Mason, please. I need you inside me,” she begged, tugging at the ties.

He kissed his way down her belly. At one point she worried over how he saw her. Was she

too fat with her belly rolls and too wide hips? But the way he groaned, kissing and nibbling down her

body told her all she needed to know. He liked it. If his growling wasn’t enough, he was a vocal

lover.

“Spread your legs for me, beautiful,” he murmured. “Let me take a peek at your wet pussy and

that sexy ass.”

Yeah. Vocal. She opened her large thighs wide, loving the heated look he gave her pussy.

She’d lost shyness the first time he’d licked her pussy and said he was addicted to her taste.

He pressed an open mouth kiss on her waxed mound and nibbled on her flesh. She wiggled on

the bed. Her need for him shot up to the stratosphere. He draped her thighs over his shoulders and

lowered his head between her legs. Not being able to hold him only increased her arousal. He licked

her all over, dipping his tongue into her ass and biting on her cheek.

“Fuck, baby. You taste so good. I can lick your sweetness all night.” He growled, the

vibration shooting sparks of pleasure through her blood.

She lifted her ass a little, looking for him to shove his sinful tongue into her channel. Christ,

she loved it when he did that. It felt fucking amazing to have him fucking her with his tongue.

As if he’d read her mind, he thrust his tongue into her, licking and suckling at her folds.

A short, husky scream rolled off her lips. “Oh, God...”

There wasn’t need to wait long. Mason pressed his nose on her clit at the same time he fucked

her with his tongue. He drove in and out of her with quick drives and shook his head to add tension to

his nose rubbing her clit.

She gripped the ties holding her hands hostage and gasped. Her legs shook as the beginning of

her orgasm shot through her. Her belly quivered, her pussy grasped at his tongue. Oxygen pounded

hard in her chest. She gasped on a moan, feeling her body unravel so fast she saw stars.

The tension inside her broke. A wave of pleasure sent moisture down her channel. She hadn’t

realized she’d shut her eyes, but when she opened them, he was gripping his cock between her legs.

She loved looking at him naked. He was so fucking hot. Oh, mother of vibrators was he sexy.

“Mason, let me touch you.”

His lips twisted in a delightful grin. “Not until I’ve had my fill.”

“Then fuck me already,” she ordered. “I’m dying here.”

He chuckled and fingered her pussy, pushing a digit deep into her. She flexed her vaginal

muscles around his finger, gripping him tight.

“Fuck! You’re soaked. And ready.”

Hell yes. She was beyond ready. “I need you.”

She bit her lip as the head of his cock pressed into her. “Ah. Emma. Sliding into you always

feels like home.”

Hell, he said the most romantic things. With a slow thrust, he pushed further in, until he was

buried in her, balls deep. He lifted her legs to face straight up on his chest with her feet by either side

of his face. He pulled back and thrusted. The position made her feel like he was so deep inside her it

almost hurt.

He drove in harder. She gasped at the feeling of fullness and then the growing pleasure from

every drive. Her legs started to feel shaky. He moved her legs to his sides and dropped over her,

pushing deeper into her pussy.

“Your pussy’s so hot.” He growled. He panted another groan and continued pushing in and out

of her. Deeper. Harder. “Squeeze my cock with your pussy, Emma.”

She tried to catch her breath but couldn’t her body wound quickly in the search of another

orgasm. “Don’t stop.”

“I can’t stop. Not until you’re coming on my dick. Sucking me off with your pussy.” He

nibbled one of her nipples into his mouth and bit down. Her pussy fluttered around his driving shaft.

“Fucking perfect. I never get enough of you,” he grunted. “I want to fuck you all night and fill you with

cum.”

Emma gasped. Her body ready to dive off another cliff. Mason plunged hard into her, biting

her neck as he did. The bite and hard thrust sent her soaring. She screamed, calling out his name as

she came.

His body bucked. His cock throbbed inside her as he filled her with his cum. He didn’t stop

there. He pulled out and milked his cock over her belly, shooting streams of semen over her skin.

“God, Mason,” she croaked, dry-mouthed. “I’m all dirty.”

He met her gaze, the gold in his eyes bright with his wolf power. “I know.” He caressed his

cum on her belly. “I like you like this. Covered in my scent from the inside.”

With one hand he played with her clit and used the other to spread his cum over her belly and

up to her tits. “Mason...”

Crap. He continued fondling her pussy and her desire grew anew.

“I want my scent all over you,” he growled, smoothing his hand over her belly. “I want to

smell myself on you and nothing else.” He licked his lips. “Your pussy filled with my cum. Your skin

coated with my seed. Your belly growing my offspring.” He lowered to kiss her, nibbling on her lips

with a renewed roughness she hadn’t expected. “I want you every fucking way possible.” He pressed

her clit and she groaned. “I want your pussy. Your ass. That sexy fucking mouth. I want it all.”

He’d take it too, because she’d let him. Mason could have her and she’d never argue. He was

the only man she’d allow to do whatever he wanted with her body. The deepness of her emotions for

Mason scared her. But the sex between them was explosive.

“Fuck me again, Mason.”

His eyes glowed brighter. “I planned to.”

THREE

Emma waited until Kelsie, one of her students’ older siblings, distracted the guy at the

entrance. While Kelsie did that, Kelsie’s friend Jana would slip by the guard and enter the club

unnoticed. Then Jana would open one of the back doors and let Emma in. The shit she had to do to get

into The Horny Wolfe was unreal. All because Mason didn’t want her in there. He didn’t understand

that there was something weird going on in Blue Creek. She was lucky it was teen and college student

night at Mason’s club and she could use the girls to get her inside. Otherwise, she’d have to have

gone to Nic or Ellie for some help.

Emma’s student told Emma that her seventeen year old sister had been acting strange the past

few weeks before she finally disappeared. If Emma wanted info, she had to talk to the bartender.

Jordan had told her once that the bartender was a different kind of supernatural. Emma had never

forgotten and knew now was her chance to see if she could get the bartender’s help. Whatever the

bartender’s power was, she might be able to tell Emma where Maria had disappeared to.

She tried not to think of Mason, or their recent trip to Vegas. He’d shown up and gotten her off

the table she’d been dancing on only to take her back to her room and break the bed while they had

sex. Figured she’d be the one to get the worst of the bunch. There wasn’t time right now for her to

think of Mason. Or how hot he was with his new spiky cut. Nope. No time for her to wonder if he’d

come by later and rock her world.

It felt like forever before the grimy back door swung open and Jana’s long blonde hair peeked

out from inside. The lights flashed inside the club and the noises of music pulsing and people dancing

told her it was a packed night.

“Come on, before someone catches us,” Emma rushed inside and turned to Kelsie and Jana.

“I’m going to go speak to the bartender. You two stay here and make sure you use the headset to let

me know if you see Mason.”

Kelsie grinned, her features bright with enthusiasm in the dark club. “He’s the hot one you’re

going out with, isn’t he, Ms. Emma?”

She sniffed and raised a brow. “Going out is such a strong word.”

“He’s her friend with benefits,” Jana added with a giggle. “I’d take him over any of the boys

in my school,” she sighed.

For two fifteen year old, these girls knew a good catch when they saw him. Mason Wolfe was

the epitome of tall, sexy and wild. Though he dressed in black jeans and Tees, he looked very much

an Alpha. She knew that honor belonged to Aric, but Mason wasn’t anywhere behind in the looks,

attitude, and willingness to show his dominance. At least to her. Jerk.

If he weren’t such a bully and stopped trying to tell her what to do, she might consider his

offer to be his mate. But he’d gone ahead and marked her before any of the others had her friends. She

knew they’d used the scenting ceremony as a way to round up their women and put their claim on

them. Had Mason done that? No. He’d shown up to her house one day, walked in, threw her against

the door and proceeded to fuck her senseless. But that wasn’t all. He’d also marked her that night.

She’d denied his claim on her ever since. What fun was it to agree to his constant mine claim if he

wasn’t willing to see her as an independent woman?

She rolled her eyes and left the giggling teenagers behind, bypassing swaying bodies, gyrating

to the beat of the music. She squinted against the flashing lights and did a quick scan of the club. No

sign of Mason. Thank goodness. She’d known he’d gone to deal with some rogues that were causing

trouble at Aric’s place. With him and Jordan gone for a few days, it fell on the other Wolfe men to

take care of the issues going on with the pack.

Emma squeezed her way between couples. Geez. She knew she was a big girl, but damn she

had never felt it like she did at that moment. There was so little room to move around. She almost had

the urge to drop to the floor and crawl between people’s feet. She snorted. She might move faster

then, though.

By the time she reached the bar, she was sweaty, sticky and she sworn that at least two people

had groped her ass, one being a really hot college girl.

“You know, you shouldn’t be here,” said the female bartender.

She’d seen the bartender a few times whenever she’d snuck into the Horny Wolfe. Short with

spiky colorful hair and eyes that glowed a bright green, the bartender shook her head as she refilled

beer mugs.

“I’m looking for one of my students.”

She glanced up from the beer tap and blinked her big eyes at Emma. Jesus. She’d never met

anyone, aside from her father, who made her feel like they could see through her lies.

“No you’re not.”

Great. Apparently she did see through her lies. “Okay, she’s not necessarily my student, but

she’s related to one of my students.”

The bartender filled a few more beer mugs and a waitress shoved Emma to the side trying to

reach the tray of drinks. Emma hissed and shoved the other woman right back, daring her with a glare

to try it again.

She turned back to the bartender and caught her smiling. “You are definitely a troublemaker,

aren’t you?”

“No. I’m just trying to find a missing teenager since nobody seems to think it strange that she’s

missing. Anyway, what’s your name?”

She’d visited the club more times than she could count, and not once had she gotten the other

woman’s name.

“Lael.”

What a pretty name. “Nice to meet you Lael,” she swayed from the pushing bodies. “I’m

Emma. Look, I know it sounds weird, but I need to find out where this girl could have gone.”

Lael mixed a drink and put it in front of Emma. “Drink. It will look strange if you just stand

there and don’t have anything in your hands.”

Emma glanced around. Sure enough, a few of the security guards eyed the bar area, frowning

at her. Dammit. She hoped her wig was a good enough disguise. Not like she could do anything about

her body. She’d toned down her sexy outfits in order to appear more conspicuous. Maybe tight jeans,

boots and a torn up T-shirt that read lick me across her chest were not as toned down as she’d have

liked, but she was still hot, darn it.

She picked up the drink with a sweaty hand and gulped the combination of vodka and fruit

juices down. The coolness from the drink tamped down some of her nerves and the incessant heat

from the lights.

“Jesus. I guess I needed that,” she grumbled and placed the half empty glass down. She wiped

a napkin over her brow and above her lip. It was getting claustrophobic in there. “So what do you

know, Lael?”

Lael’s eyes brightened to an emerald green before slowly dimming again. “That girl is a lost

cause.”

Emma’s heart skipped a beat. She leaned forward and grabbed Lael’s hand, keeping her from

refilling another beer mug. “Tell me what to do. Where is she?”

Lael shook her head, jerking out of Emma’s hold. “I don’t know where she is. But she’s been

to Embraced. Once you go there, there is no turning back.”

Embraced. She’d heard of the place. It was a weird rave-style club that nobody supposedly

knew where it was located. Apparently you needed some kind of special invitation. So how in the

world did Maria get in there? Nobody knew anything about the club other than kids were fans of

trying to get in there. They thought vampires liked to be there but she wasn’t sure. One of the stories

floating around was that vampires went there looking for donors. Was it a vampire club or a fake rave

club with people who wanted to be vamps? She didn’t know which. Of all the stupid, idiotic things,

she’d never heard one more ridiculous than that one. Vampires asking for blood donations. Right.

“So who do I ask about it? You have to give me something here, Lael.” She begged. “Kids are

disappearing. I need to know. I have to stop it.”

Lael frowned, her gaze moving over Emma’s shoulder quickly before returning to her face.

“Find Aria Valderi. If you can get to her, you might be able to get more information than what I can

give you.”

Who the hell was Aria Valderi? “Do you know if the vamps are here because of the problems

with the Rahound pack?”

Caleb and the other Wolfes were now all actively looking for ways to get rid of Caleb’s

uncle, Rocco. He was currently the acting Alpha of the Rahound pack but Caleb was the rightful

Alpha and was working from outside to get his pack back.

Lael nodded. “Yes. I don’t have any more information for you. He’s brought in the rogues and

vamps. It’s going to be a blood bath unless you can do something.”

Her do something? She had no idea what the hell was going on half the time since Caleb

didn’t like her getting involved in what was going on. Too frickin’ bad for him. Now she was going to

go in head deep.

“You need to go, now.” Lael said, motioning with her head to the side.

Emma glanced over her shoulder and caught two of the security guards pointing at her. Uh-oh.

“Alright. Thanks so much for your help.”

Lael smiled. “Good luck, you’ll need it.”

She squeezed her way between people, pushing and shoving harder than before in order to get

to the back door without the security guards reaching her. Once she reached the girls, they dashed

down the back alley to her car. She had the engine going before they even got inside. Everyone piled

into the car in a rush. She put the car in drive and floored it. A glance at her rearview showed the two

guards running to the middle of the street. Too late. She was already speeding away and there was

nothing they could do to her.

FOUR

The following morning, Emma sat down on her sofa with her laptop on and tried to find Aria

Valderi. She was not just having shitty luck when it came to that, she was also pissed off because

she’d gotten a rash from the stupid wig.

Her doorbell rang and she sighed. “It’s open!”

Nic shoved her head inside, looking all over. “Is it safe?”

Emma nodded. “He’s not here. I don’t know why that would make any difference.”

Nic laughed, carrying a giant bakery box in her hands. On top of the bakery box, she had a cup

holder with two tog cups on it. She paused to wipe her feet on the carpet by the entrance. Emma was a

stickler for everyone wiping their feet. Or removing their shoes. Sure enough, Nic then went ahead

and slipped out of her flats and walked barefoot on Emma’s pristine beige carpet.

She sat down on the sofa across from Emma and opened up a box which contained croissants

and breakfast pastries, on the coffee table. “You and Mason make anyone feel like a voyeur when

you’re around each other. All that sexual tension. We swear you’re going to tear at each other’s

clothes in a public place one of these days.”

Emma bit back a grin and leaned forward to grab a cheese Danish from the box. Those damn

things were her favorites. She hoped Nic knew there was no chance in hell she’d get to eat one if

there were more in the box. A single bite and she was moaning over the sweet treat. “Thank you so

much for bringing these.”

Nic laughed, pulling out the soft insides of a croissant and taking bites. “No problem. So what

are you up to? The last few days you’ve been way too quiet and none of the others have heard from

you.” She raised her brows in question. “At first we thought you were spending time with Mason, but

then we realized there had to be something else going on. So what gives?”

She leaned back, put her Danish on a napkin and sucked her fingers from the sticky sugar

covering the pastry. “Nothing’s going on.”

Nic gasped. “Emma Linda Ferro! You’re lying to me.”

Crap. She kept forgetting that her friends were shifters now. Well, most of them. They

wouldn’t know if Karla would take to the change until after she had her babies. For the past few

months, things had been in an uproar at Blue Creek. First, Jordan mated Aric. That had been brewing

for years. Then, Karla and Nate mated and Karla was having his babies. Three of them.

Good Lord, Emma would lose her mind if she were expecting that many kids. She loved kids,

but one at a time so she can devote her time to them fully. Any more than that and she’d feel like she

was only giving half herself. At least that’s how she felt in her classroom. Though she did have it

down packed. Who else had a group of eight year olds call her “Drill Sergeant”?

After that, the team went to Vegas to have some girl time and give Jordan a proper

bachelorette party for her upcoming wedding. What followed was a comedy of errors. Nic ended up

marrying Jake in a drunken stupor. The proposal got tons of hits on the internet.

Then, Nic went on and killed the Vegas Alpha which would eventually bring some kind of

problems but nobody knew for sure. Jordan saw her mother in the hotel and somehow got some

closure. Eventually she finally married Aric and now they were all back. Except for the newlyweds.

The original ones, anyway. Nic and Jake said they’d wait to go on a honeymoon once things settled

down with the Rahound pack.

“I am,” she admitted and clicked the keys furiously. Something had to come up on Aria

Valderi. “I have a student whose sister is missing.”

Nic frowned and picked up a cup, offered it to Emma and then grabbed the other and took a

drink. “Is it Maria Smith?”

Emma gave a sharp nod and took a sip of her chai. She loved Vanilla Chai. It was one of her

weaknesses. “Her other sister, Kelsie came to me for help.”

“Isn’t Maria like seventeen?”

“Yes, so?”

Nic shrugged. “What if she’s with some friends? Or what if she’s visiting someone? Her not

answering her cell doesn’t mean there’s necessarily foul play, you know.”

Emma knew that. She also knew that was probably the reason nobody in the entire town did

anything to go look for the girl. “Something’s happened to her and I need to know what.”

“Emma...”

“What?” She met Nic’s worried gaze with her stubborn one.

“Don’t go looking for trouble. You know that Mason will be the one to have to haul you out of

it if you do.”

“I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to go poking at tigers and then running. I’m just trying to figure

out if there is anything that I can find out which could give the family information of where she might

be at.”

Nic shook her head. Concern flashed in her eyes. “How are you doing that?”

Emma debated telling Nic what she knew, but this was one of her best friends and she didn’t

like keeping things from them. “I’m looking for an Aria Valderi.”

Nic frowned. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

Emma straightened in her seat, her attention focused on Nic. “You’ve heard her name before?

Who is she? What does she do?”

Nic waved a hand in front of Emma. “Shush! I’m trying to think.”

Emma watched as Nic’s eyes started to glow a faint gold. “Her name came up at home. Jake

said something about the Mansion on top of Cherry Hill being taken over by some Spanish heiress.”

Emma blinked. “Is that her?”

Nic shrugged and picked up her cup to take a drink. “I guess so.”

“Dios mio!” Emma growled. “I’ve been looking for this woman all over and she’s like right

up the street.”

Nic grinned. “Keep your panties on. It might not even be the right person. You can look it up

in the local newspaper, though. That should mention that it was bought and by whom. I mean,

something that important wouldn’t go unnoticed.”

She was right. Emma opened up a new window and searched for the Cherry Hill Mansion.

The place was massive and had remained empty for almost ten years because the owners and their

entire family had died in a freak accident during a family vacation.”

The search paid off. There was an article by the local press about Cherry Hill having a new

owner. She scanned the words, searching for a name but all she came up with were initials. AV. That

was the one reference made to the mysterious owner.

“AV has moved in to Cherry Hill with a host of friends and family to help use up the almost

fifty rooms inside the giant mansion.” She read from the article.

“So this Aria chick got a few of her closest friends and moved in to that massive mansion. I

bet she has some serious money.”

Emma snorted. “Shit, she better. Can you imagine the utility bills on that place? I don’t think

my savings would cover it.”

Nic giggled and took another bite of her croissant. “What else does it say?”

Emma continued reading to herself then out loud. “AV has been living on her private island in

the Caribbean until now. This is the first time she makes any public moves.”

“That doesn’t even sound right. Who the hell lives that closed up?”

Emma swallowed down the last bite of her Danish. “Someone hiding something.” She

mumbled.

And she was going to go pay Ms. Valderi a visit.

“What?” Nic asked, narrowing her eyes. “I know you. I can see the wheels turning inside that

twisted head of yours.”

Emma choked on her drink and sputtered her Chai to the side, trying not to get any on her

laptop. “You,” she coughed, “are crazy.”

Nic lifted a brow. “Right. Run that by me again but with the truth this time.”

Ah, shit. How did everyone know her so well? Probably because her ideas got her or the

others in trouble at some point or another. Although, they should all be thanking her for their men.

She’d strategically worked with Ellie to ensure the guys knew where each of the girls were located.

Except for Mason, but he would have found her anywhere. The stupid shifter was like a bloodhound.

She could leave a pair of panties in the middle of the city and he’d probably find them blindfolded.

He was that good.

“I’m just going to go see what this Aria chick knows about Maria,” she said. It was crazy that

the kid had disappeared without a trace and nobody was out looking for her. Everyone was so

obsessed with the Rahound issues that it seemed they’d forgotten there was more rogues and vampires

than normal in their town.

“Emma, please don’t do anything that can get you in trouble,” Nic pleaded.

“I’m not. Since when does talking signify trouble? I’ll go be nice and welcome her to the

neighborhood.”

Nic blinked, the surprise in her face obvious by the way she widened her eyes. “Maybe I

should come with you.”

She shook her head. “No way. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Nic bit her lip and clearly debated arguing her point. “Fine, but at least give it a few days and

I’ll ask around about Maria. Maybe someone does know where she is and you’re just not talking to

the right people.”

“Stop worrying so much,” she said and picked up another pastry. “You really need to be

positive.”

Nic’s shoulders dropped. “I’m positive. Positive your ass is gonna end up arrested or kicked

out of somewhere. Again.”

Emma grinned and lifted her cup in salute. “It’s not fun any other way.”

So maybe she had a bit of a reckless streak in her, but that was part of her charm. At least she

liked to think so.

* * *

That evening, she waited until she was sure Mason was at his club before she drove to Cherry

Hill mansion. She parked down the hill in an area her car wouldn’t be found but easy for her to hike

up and go through the back if she chose to. She debated on how to approach Aria. The woman had

taken great pains to keep her solitude. There were three gates up the driveway and a giant guard post

near the entrance to the mansion. She decided to call Mason and test his knowledge before making a

decision.

“Hey, sexy brat,” he said as a greeting when he answered his phone.

And this was the man her heart did flips for? It was insane. She needed therapy. “Hello, mutt.

Got a minute?”

She’d been calling him that for years. Not that he really liked the named, but she didn’t care.

This man was hers. She just needed to accept his proposal for mating, but she wasn’t quite ready.

Mason needed to learn she was independent and couldn’t be bossed around. If anyone would do the

bossing around it was her.

He sighed loudly. “I’ve got time. What’s up? You’re not getting arrested, are you?”

She grinned. Not yet she wasn’t. “Why do you always think the worst?”

“Because this is you I’m talking to. You’ve almost been arrested twice in the past few

weeks,” he said, reminding her of their Vegas trip.

“Hey! Those were misunderstandings.”

“Do I need to come tie you to the bed again?”

She smirked, knowing he wanted her to say yes to his offer. She’d never met a man that loved

her being bad so much. “What will we do there?”

“Do you want me to tell you now or would you rather I just come show you?” His voice was

low and rough. Not what she needed to hear at that moment. Not to mention the memories of the last

time or two he’d tied her had all rushed forward to the front of her mind. Each time she’d ended up

having amazing orgasms of the multiple kind.

“Mason, stop it. Not everything is about sex.” Mostly. Okay, she lied. When it came to him

she thought about sex a lot.

“Right, Emma. So what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” The music got louder in the back

ground. “Or are you calling to finally tell me you’re ready to be mine?”

Asshole. Every conversation they had he had to bring up their ‘impending’ mating. “Are you

ready to stop thinking I’m a little kid that needs a keeper?”

He growled. “I guess you didn’t call for that.”

“Nope. I just had a quick question. What do you know about Aria Valderi?”

“Emma, whatever you’re thinking don’t do it.”

Too late. “Geez, I’m only asking what you know.”

Daylight slowly faded and she was losing precious moments of talking to Aria to find out

what she knew about Maria.

“I don’t know anything about her, yet. But I know she’s got an entourage the size of Alaska and

they don’t like anyone asking questions. If you want information on her, I’ll ask around for you.”

She grinned, her heart growing just a little bigger for him. It was times like those that she

loved the annoying wolf. “Thank you.”

“I have to go,” he said, a loud commotions sounding near him. “I’ll come see you later with

whatever I can gather.”

“Later, mutt.”

“Later, sexy brat.”

She sighed, the grin on her face not going anywhere. Mason knew just what to say to bring out

the soft side in her. But she still needed answers and only God knew where Maria could be. Lael said

Aria would know and she’d do anything to help that poor family find their missing daughter.

The walk up the hill to the back of the mansion wasn’t bad. She’d done it a bunch of times as a

kid when she’d played with her brother in the area. They’d been independent children from a young

age. When you came from a military family, you learned to go off and make your own fun because it

was hard having friends. Constant moving ensured that Emma and her brother spent all their time

together.

She glanced down at her hiking boots and scrunched her nose in distaste. The ground was

muddy due to the rain from the prior evening. She hated getting her shoes dirty, but there was no going

around it. She picked up a stick and climbed up the back of the hill, looking for the lower wall she

used to climb as a kid.

Back then, the owners were never home so she and Joey used to go over the fence all the time.

Their house wasn’t far from the hill so it gave them something to do since they weren’t going to stay

long enough to make friends. They hadn’t either. Once Emma left home for college, it was then she

decided to go back to Blue Creek. She’d loved the peace and quiet of the town and chose to make it

her new home.

She made it to the top of the hill without having to stop more than a few times. She’d slowed

down on her hikes and was now paying the price. Most people thought that because she was a big

girl, she did nothing but sit on her ass all day and teach. The truth was, she loved walking the

outdoors, swimming and even did her Just Dance on her Wii when nobody was around. She didn’t

need to spend hours in a gym to get a workout and a lot of people didn’t understand that. Except her

friends. They all knew what it was like to be a plus sized woman since they were big girls too.

The old gate was hidden behind a bunch of bushes that faced the back part of the mansion. She

knew that she was trespassing as she climbed over the gate only to fall and land on her ass with a

thump.

There were no lights at that side of the mansion and she noticed a group of people had left

minutes before, the noise lowering as they moved away.

Where should she go? She knew the master suite was located on the left side of the mansion in

a section that was about the size of her house. With Aria being the main person in the mansion, she

figured those would be her rooms.

She’d downloaded a floor plan of the mansion before she left her house and studied it a while.

Glancing around in the growing darkness, she made sure she didn’t see any moving bodies before

rushing to the side of the house. She was almost positive Aria would be on that side. Sweat gathered

in her palms. She wiped them on the back of her pants and hurried to the sliding glass door that was

slightly ajar, which belonged to the master suite.

She could only hope the woman wouldn’t freak over her showing up unannounced, but she’d

seen the guard and she knew that it was going to be hard for her to get anyone to let her in, much less

to speak to Aria unless she went in inconspicuously.

She stepped into the room without making any noise. Then, a flash of movement and she was

dragged through the air, until her back hit a wall. Air rushed out of her lungs as she tried to catch her

breath. She blinked and found herself staring into deep violet eyes.

FIVE

“Wow,” she gaped at the woman openly. “You have beautiful eyes.”

It was then she noticed she was being held up by the front of her shirt, feet dangling midair.

“Who are you?” Her captor asked, baring her teeth and showing off an impressive set of

fangs. Now things made sense. Aria Valderi was a recluse because she was a vampire. The entire

mansion had to be filled with them. Shit. She had not expected that. This might be her guard, but she

had to try to speak to Aria. If the guard didn’t kill her first.

She hoped this woman would allow her to see Aria without sucking her dry. Fucking hell. She

really should have given more thought to seeing Mason and letting him rock her world before the

possibility of being killed by vamps.

Emma had been struck wordless one other time in her life and that was when she met Mason.

This woman holding her up like she weighed next to nothing made her forget her own name.

Dark mocha skin, much like Emma’s own glittered in the soft light of the ceiling lamp. She

didn't appear to be undead. The usual paleness that came with vampires wasn’t present. There was

life in her eyes. She was clearly young. Mid-twenties at the most. With flawless features and full red

lips. And that hair! Long raven curls bounced around her breasts. She was not what Emma expected to

see as a vampire. Where was the willowy figure and pasty skin?

This vampire had curves. A lot of them. Like Emma and her friends, she was plus sized.

“I,—” she cleared her throat. “Wow you're really pretty.”

Violet eyes blinked back at Emma, confusion and interest clear in them. “I asked who you

are.”

Right. “I'm Emma Ferro. I'm here to see Aria Valderi.”

The other woman put her down slowly. She released Emma’s shirt and took slow steps back.

That’s when Emma got a good look at her outfit. She wore skintight black pants and a superb low cut

neckline red top. “What are you doing here?”

“Cool shoes,” Emma said, staring at the spike heeled peep toes. “Are those Louboutin?”

The other woman’s brows rose. A flash of curiosity brightened her violet eyes. “Yes, how did

you know?”

Emma grinned, wiping her hands on the side of her pants, and finally moving her thoughts

away from having to cut the pretty woman’s head off. “My mother had a shoe fetish. It was the only

thing that calmed her down whenever she was angry with my dad. He realized early on that his way to

making anything up to her was with expensive shoes.”

“Sounds like a smart man. You still haven’t answered my question. What are you doing here?”

The woman asked again.

Emma was glad the other woman hadn’t made a move to kill her or show off her rather

impressive fangs again. Not that Emma would have gone down without a fight. She didn’t carry a

katana strapped to her back for nothing along with two knives she called her Rambo knives.

“I really need to speak to Aria Valderi.”

It sucked that she hadn’t been able to find a single photo of the woman. That would have made

it easier for her to know who she was looking for.

“Why?”

Emma frowned. The soft Latin accent on the woman speaking to her made her wonder if this

wasn’t Aria herself. “I’m looking for a missing girl. Someone said she might be able to help me.”

“I don’t know that Aria could help you with any missing person. She doesn’t interact with the

humans in the area.”

“Please. I really just want to ask a few questions. It could mean life or death for a kid.”

The woman blinked, surprise evident in her amethyst depths before biting her full red lips.

“I’m Aria.”

“Aren’t you a vampire?”

She smiled. “Don’t sound so surprised. We do exist.”

Emma shook her head. “But you don’t look like a vampire is portrayed. You’re not pale or

pasty and your skin glows with health. You’re not stick thin.” She cocked her head, taking in Aria

from head to toe and back. “You don’t look undead or dead to me.”

Aria laughed, a soft and husky sound that made Emma grin. “That is because I am not dead.”

“Now it’s my turn to be confused. Aren’t all vampires dead or undead or whatever it’s

called?”

Aria motioned her to a different room next to the bedroom. It was a private parlor decorated

in deep burgundy and gold. Emma had to squint a little at the soft lighting. She shouldn’t be getting

comfortable in a vampire’s lair, but if Aria was going to kill her, she’d have done it already. Or at the

very least tried.

“Not really. Not all. I’m not dead,” Aria said, turning to face Emma and sitting down on a

plush antique chair. She frowned, glancing around and sighed. “I don’t have anything to offer you

other than blood and I highly doubt you want to drink that.”

Emma gulped. “No thanks, I’ll pass. What do you mean you’re not dead? Aren’t all vampires

dead?”

Aria pushed a curl behind her ear and leaned on the chair’s arm rest. “No. Some of us, a rare

few, can be born.”

Emma gasped, her shock holding her immobile. “Born? You can be born a vampire?”

What the hell? How had she not known that before? She bet none of her friends knew that. It

was amazing what one learned when you took the chance to go find out information.

“Yes. There is a line, descendant from the original queen of the night. Miralla Abarca. My

mother was a pure blood born, direct descendant of Miralla’s blood-line. She married a human and

had me before she turned.”

Emma forgot all about the fact she was in a house filled with people that could suck her dry.

Instead, she was captivated by the history Aria was giving her. “So you were born a vampire or a

human?”

Aria smiled, her fangs no longer long and threatening. “I was born a human child but once I

reached my twenty fifth birthday I changed. I stopped aging. I stopped eating human food. I needed

blood to stay alive.”

“Does your heart beat?” Emma asked in a whisper.

She nodded. “As I said. I’m not dead. I’m just different.”

“Wait. You said your mother had you before she turned. Does that mean you can’t have

children?”

Aria lifted a brow. “My, you are a curious little thing, aren’t you?”

Little? “Well you can’t stop now. I have to know. I don’t ever have conversations with

vampires. Much less one that’s alive.”

“I am still of human child-bearing years, so yes. Once I pass my fortieth birthday I will be

unable to have children.”

“Wow.” Emma glanced around the room. “Why didn’t you kill me when I first walked in?

You could have tried.”

Aria ran her long red nails over the arm rest. “I could have killed you, but we don’t kill

humans here.” She scrunched her nose. “Even those that have been sleeping with dogs.”

“What?” She screeched.

Aria flicked a long curl behind her ear. “You. Why would you sleep with a dog?”

Because she liked growly sex? She wasn’t even going to ask how she knew that. Instead, she

moved the topic back to what she wanted to know. “This is the first time I heard of vampires not

killing humans. If you don’t drink from humans, what blood do you use?”

Aria sighed, rubbing her temple as if she had a headache. “It’s a common misconception that

vampires kill humans. Though some do, a lot of us don’t. My clan doesn’t drink human blood. We

drink from animals and lab created synthetic blood. They made a vow to follow my family’s rules

against human blood.”

Shit got more and more interesting. She’d never heard of vampires not drinking human blood.

For years, she thought her knowledge of paranormals had been high. Always researching and learning

new things, she hadn’t been surprised when she’d met Ellie and the Wolfes. Paranormals were

common in Blue Creek. But vampires were another story. Every story she heard about them was

gruesome. There didn’t seem to be a redeeming quality to them. Sitting there with Aria and seeing

how composed and friendly she was made Emma question everything she thought as fact.

“It doesn’t make sense. Why do people think you’re all blood-thirsty killers then?”

Aria shrugged and stood, walking to the open window facing the garden. “There are many that

are blood-thirsty killers. We are not them. Tell me about the girl that went missing.”

Jesus. The conversation had derailed and she’d almost forgotten all about the real reason she

was there. “A teenage girl. She’s seventeen and sister to one of my students. Her friends don’t know

where she is, but someone said I should speak to you about the club Embraced.”

Aria’s gaze snapped to Emma. “Embraced?”

She nodded. “I was told you would know about it and could possibly help me.”

“Embraced was created a long time ago. My mother and father united with a second clan

further south. Apparently there was nowhere for our kind to go since they were unwanted at regular

human and other paranormal places. It’s a vampire club.”

“Do you allow humans in there?”

“No. It is a place to exchange blood among my kind. Blood and sex. No humans are ever

allowed.”

Blood and sex. Now that sounded more like the vampires she’d heard of. Maybe Maria had

somehow gotten involved with one of the vampires in the club? What if not everyone was following

the no human drinking rule? Anything was possible when dealing with basic needs. Vampires wanted

blood. When the thirst hit, she was sure they wouldn’t think too much about rules regarding humans.

Aria jumped to her feet and turned to face a door. “You need to go. Come on,” she rushed

over to Emma’s side and curled a hand around Emma’s wrist. “The others are coming and I don’t

want them to find you here.”

Emma didn’t get a chance to say much. Aria dragged her through the other room and out the

same door she’d come in. She didn’t stop or let her go. Instead, she continued down to the same old

gate Emma had used to come into the house.

“How did you know?” Emma asked, almost out of breath from how fast they’d moved.

“I grew up in this house. I knew this was the only way you could have gotten in,” she said,

opening the gate and continuing down the hill until they were well away from the house.

“You know,” Emma gasped, trying to catch her breath, “for a woman wearing sky high heels,

you can run your ass off.”

Aria laughed and stopped when they got close to Emma’s car. “Thanks, but that’s one thing I

can say is all thanks to being a vampire. We move faster than most other paranormals.”

Clearly. Emma had almost fallen a few times and felt Aria lift her to her feet to help her keep

on going.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me,” Emma said. Though she had little to go

on, she knew that Embraced was going to be her next stop.

“Stay away from the club, Emma.” Aria said softly. She finally let go of Emma’s arm and

stepped back. “Humans don’t go to Embraced. You won’t find anything good there. The trade of

blood and sex between my kind is dirty and dangerous. Someone like you can be hurt in there.

Easily.”

That’s why she had to go. It was very possible Maria found her way into Embraced and gotten

into trouble. Unless Emma went to find out, nobody would know for sure.

“I will see if any of my people have heard of your missing girl,” she promised.

Emma gave Aria her number. “Thank you.”

A loud growl sounded in the distance. Aria narrowed her gaze and hissed into the trees. She

jumped back. In the blink of an eye she was a good ten feet away from Emma, fangs bared. “Your pet

has come to get you.”

SIX

Emma glanced around to the trees where Aria was pointing. Sure enough, within the shadows

the light from two gold eyes shone through. Then, the wolf jumped by Emma’s side, growling and

snarling. He moved in front of her and rumbled a bark.

The wolf took a quick jump toward the vampire, snarling loudly. Aria veered off to the left,

shoving at the wolf with amazing speed.

“Tell your pet to stop,” Aria hissed. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

Mason flew at her while she glanced at Emma. He caught her at the side, biting on her leg.

“Dammit!” She growled and jumped away. “Stop it, Wolfe. I haven’t touched your female.”

“Mason!” Emma called out.

The wolf stopped, turning his golden gaze toward Emma. He rushed by her side, growling at

the vampire.

“Stupid mutt made a hole in my pants,” Aria grumbled.

Emma watched the blood seeping from the wound stop and the bites heal themselves. It was

unreal.

“Are you okay?” She asked, worried for the other woman. Dead or not, Mason had bitten her

hard.

“Yes, just a pesky bite. I’ll go now. I’m not in the mood to get the rest of my outfit dirty,” Aria

muttered, glaring at the wolf. “Remember what I said, Emma.”

She was gone so quickly it took Emma a second to realize she was no longer there. The giant

wolf in front of her turned to face Emma and shifted into a very angry Mason Wolfe.

He prowled to her, eating the space between them with his steps. His eyes flashed gold and

the vein on the side of his jaw held her in a trance. She wondered if it would pop the angrier he got.

“Mason, what are you doing here?”

“Keys,” he growled.

She didn’t want to argue with Mason. Not when she’d had such an informative visit with the

local vampire. She yanked her car keys out of her pocket and handed them to him. “Happy?”

He pressed his lips into a thin angry line, opened the passenger side for her and motioned her

with his head. “Get in the car, Emma.”

Uh-oh. He never called her Emma. It was always brat, sexy, gorgeous or some endearment,

but never her name. She wondered what the hell pissed him off.

She slipped into the car quietly. Her mind wrapped around the information she got from Aria.

Mason might stop being so angry if she shared what she’d learned with him. She turned to face him

but the words died in her throat. His face was an angry mask. His skin pulled tight against his face

and showed the animal still sitting below the surface.

The car’s engine roared as he took off and for a few minutes he sped as if they were running

from something. Then, he took a turn she wasn’t familiar with and onto a dirt road.

“Mason?”

He said nothing. He stopped the car and jumped out, walking to the edge of a small stream that

turned into a natural pool. She’d been there once before with her class on a picnic, but never at night.

She wondered if maybe she should leave him alone, but her gut instinct was to go to him. To

figure out what was wrong. No matter what differences they had of opinion, she loved him and never

wanted to see him upset. It worried her to see him so angry and quiet.

She marched up beside him just as he moved next to a giant tree. She wanted to tap him on the

shoulder but didn’t. Instead, she walked in front of him, meeting his gaze. “What’s wrong? Why are

you so...angry?”

He curled his hands into fists and held himself stiff. She wanted to shake him and make him

talk to her. It was starting to freak her out to see him so quiet.

“Mason?”

He finally faced her and she was left speechless once again. He stood tense, his eyes glowing

a bright gold.

“You are not to go back to that place. I don’t want to hear of you near vampires again. Are we

clear?”

“Excuse me?” She choked the words out from the anger at him telling her what to do. This

was the precise reason she refused to go into a deeper relationship with him. Giving her orders

wasn’t going to cut it.

He grasped her arms in a steely hold. “I will not allow you to put yourself in danger any

longer.”

She had a clear view of the vein throbbing on the side of his cheek along with the flat, thin

line he’d pursed his lips into. Oh, damn. He was really pissed. Too bad. He wasn’t going to start

ordering her around now. No fucking way.

“You can’t tell me what to do!” She argued, yanking her arms out of his hold and turning back

to her car. “I’m a grown woman.”

“You’re a spoiled brat!”

She sucked a breath in and clenched her teeth. “I’m going to ignore that and head home.”

With another hard grip, he whirled her back to face him. “Don’t run. Why do you keep doing

it? Why search out trouble when you don’t have the type of physiology needed to heal like we do?”

She frowned. “What does that have to do with anything? I don’t think about my being human to

do what needs to be done.”

His eyes glowed bright under his harsh scowl. “You should. Maybe then you’d realize you

can’t be fighting every battle. You can get hurt.”

“So, what? You want me to live my life in fear? That’s not me, Mason. I know that and you

know that. Stop treating me with kid gloves. I don’t need special powers to do what I think is right. I

wasn’t raised to be a coward.”

One thing her father had taught her and her brother was to stand up for themselves. To never

allow anything they consider a wrong to continue. To do something if they can to help others. And

more than anything, to not let anyone or anything scare them from doing what is right.

“It’s not about living in fear,” he growled, his skin tight over his angry features. “It’s about not

stepping over the line. You can be killed. A lot easier than a shifter or even a vampire,” he argued.

She looked away from him, hating that he made sense in his own way. She wasn’t deliberately

trying to get herself killed, but if nobody wanted to look for Maria, then she would.

“There are to be no more of these escapades, Emma.”

The anger that had slowly ebbed made a furious comeback. She fisted her hands and glared at

him. “Or what?”

He lifted a hand, cupping her neck and twining his fingers into her hair to hold her captive.

“Or I will have to teach you what happens when you don’t listen to me.”

Fucking hell, why did her body heat when he said those words? Her nipples swelled,

tightening and aching to be touched. Her panties dampened and she squeezed her legs to try and stop

him from knowing how much she’d been turned on by his words. No luck.

He inhaled deep. A soft growl left his lips as his head descended toward hers. “You might

have been raised by a military father,” he said, his lips hovering over hers. His bright gaze held her in

a trance. “But I am the one who knows every single inch of your body. I know ways to torture you that

will drive you crazy.”

She licked her lips. “You plan on hurting me?”

His frown turned deadly. “I don’t need to hurt you to punish you.” He brushed his lips over

hers in a feather-light caress. “In fact, the best types of torture involve pleasure.”

A hot shudder raced down her spine, shooting embers of lust straight to her pussy. She needed

to control her body. This wasn’t the time to get all sexual because he talked of torturing her with

pleasure. Goddamn that sounded like something she wanted to try.

“Mason—”

“Promise me you will stop the suicidal visits to the vamps.”

She couldn’t promise him that. It went against everything she believed in. If the vamps had

Maria then she’d do whatever was necessary to find the girl. “Help me find Maria.”

“I’m trying. There’s been no trace of her.” She tried to look away, but his grip on her hair kept

her still. “I’m doing the best I can. We do have a war raging with the Rahound pack. It’s only a matter

of time before lives from our pack are taken.”

She nodded. “I understand. You do what you need to do.” She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t

take her next words negatively. “I’ll do what I have to do as well.”

“Emma...” He growled her name as if ready to snap.

“I don’t look to put myself in danger, Mason. But you have to understand that I won’t let a

young girl go missing and leave it at that.” She tried pulling out of his hold again, to no avail.

“I have people looking into it.”

Not good enough. Emma wouldn’t feel right about letting others handle it and sitting back.

What if Maria was in trouble? What if she needed help? Emma knew all too well what it was like to

be a teenager rebelling against the world. Her heart ached just remembering her family. She’d

rebelled alright. To the point she’d lost them.

“I appreciate all you are doing and have others doing to help find Maria, I really do. But I

can’t act like nothing is wrong. I can’t go back and teach her sister and say someone else will let me

know what happened to her. I could not live with myself going to bed at night knowing that child is

out there and not at home with her parents, where she should be.”

He snarled and released her arms. “I’ll find her.”

“You’re so hard-headed,” she sighed. “You really don’t want me to look for her?”

She gritted her teeth and marched for the car. He stopped her just as she reached the driver

side door, flipping her around and pressing her against the side of the car. His naked, hard body

plastered to her.

Their gazes met and the torture she saw in his eyes took her breath away. “You don’t

understand how precious your life is to me.”

She gulped. Knots formed in her chest. Her heart beat tripled and she tried to calm the rapid

rush of air in and out of her lungs. The words sunk through her pores to heat her from the inside. “I—”

He shook his head. “Don’t say anything. You’ve fought me every step of the way on us. I know

there’s things about you I don’t know and until you feel comfortable sharing, I won’t push, but your

safety is not something I am going to relent on.” He caressed his hand over her jaw. “I couldn’t

survive without you.”

“But nothing—”

“You don’t know the future,” he chastised. “Listen to me carefully. Your life means more to

me than my own. I would give mine up in a second for you.” He frowned, the glow in his eyes

dimming with a flash of pain. “Life wouldn’t be worth living without you in it.”

She tried to find something to say, but couldn’t. What was there to say when a man said

something that special to her? Mason had always been intense. He’d always tried to boss her around

and for the most part she ignored his overbearing ass. But she hadn’t truly realized that he honestly

worried her life could be in danger.

She lifted on her tip toes and kissed him. There was nothing she wanted more than to show

him how much she loved what he’d just said. A rollercoaster of emotions bloomed in her chest. Need

skyrocketed inside her body, urging her to find release.

She raked her nails down his chest, smoothly down to his cock. She curled her hand around

his shaft and jerked him in her grasp. He inhaled sharply, the vein on his cheek quivering.

“I want to fuck you, Emma.”

“You’re such a romantic, Mason.” She slid down until her face was level with his dick. She

glanced up and licked her lips. “I want you in my mouth.”

“Sounds like a fantastic idea.” He thrust his hips toward her mouth. “Open wide and take me.”

She did just that. Darting her tongue over his hot length, she encased his head with her lips and

sucked.

He groaned and gripped clumps of her hair. “Your mouth is hot and wet. I fucking love it.”

She licked around his dick, using her saliva to lubricate him. Then she sucked around him,

down to his balls. She licked and sucked them into her mouth and back up to the crown of his cock.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Take my dick to the back of your throat.” His words were soft growls.

Emma opened her mouth wide, sucking him as far down her throat as possible. She stopped

when her gag reflex kicked into place. She jerked and sucked him. Loud slurping noises sounded as

she did.

“Shit, Emma. That sounds so fucking hot.”

She licked and sucked, jerking him at the same time. He held her hair, pushing his hips further

into her mouth. He snarled, his hips driving harder into her mouth.

“That’s my girl. Your mouth is fucking perfect. So fucking perfect.”

Moisture trickled down her legs from how wet she was. She loved giving Mason pleasure.

Loved hearing him moaning for her to continue. His grip on her hair turned tighter. He pulled her up

and off his cock.

“Your mouth is sexy as hell, but I want your pussy.” He growled, tugging on her clothes. “I

want my dick branding you from the inside. I want my come trickling down your legs. You’re mine.”

“Oh, God,” she groaned.

He turned her to lean on the trunk of her car and slipped a hand between her ass cheeks. “I

can’t wait to fuck you in the ass, baby. You’ve got the tightest little hole.”

Emma moaned. He urged her to push her ass out and use the trunk of the car for stability. He

kissed his way down her back and tapped her ass.

Slap.

“You have such a sexy fucking ass.”

She moaned and glanced over her shoulder. “You mean big. I have a big ass.”

She knew that though. Her entire body was big all over. She didn’t mind. Fuck that. She’d

learned to embrace it and loved her body. Still, it was awesome to hear Mason tell her how much he

liked her body. How much he was turned on by her curves. It was like living her own porn movie. A

hot man wanting to fuck her all the time and telling her how hot she was. It didn’t get better than that.

“Big is sexy,” he growled.

“I’m big all over,” she grinned.

“Everything about you is gorgeous. From your pretty tits down to your hot pussy.”

She bit her lip and pushed her ass out some more. He spread her cheeks open and fingered her

hole. “I’ll get in here, but not now. Tonight I want to fuck your pussy and come hard in you.”

He pushed his cock into her from behind, holding her by the hips as he drove forward. She

gasped, unable to do more than close her eyes and moan. He propelled back and immediately plunged

even deeper into her.

“Fuck!” He growled.

Emma clawed at the metal under her hands. She had nothing to hold on to, but was lucky he

had a tight grip on her hips as he drove forward repeatedly.

“More,” she demanded breathlessly. “Keep going.”

Mason twined his hand into her hair and tugged, pulling her head back to make her meet his

gaze.

“You’re mine, Emma.”

She mewled. Her body burned with how hot she was inside. He released her hip and slammed

a hand on her cheek.

Slap

The stinging caught her by surprise. He’d hit her harder than before. Another plunge and he

continued fucking her mercilessly from behind.

“Oh, God!” She screeched as her body tightened.

Another stinging tap on her cheek and she groaned.

Slap

“Your pussy squeezes my dick when I slap your ass. It feels fucking amazing.” He snarled.

“Let’s get you over the edge, baby. I love feeling the gush of wetness from your pussy when I go so

deep inside you. It feels like I’m in heaven and then you come.”

She leaned most of her body on the car, hoping she didn’t slide down the side. “Mason, I...I’m

so close.”

“Let’s finish it.” He whispered from behind, scraping his canines over her shoulder. Not

enough to break skin, just enough to drive her crazy. He drove faster. Harder. Rougher. “Take my

cock. Fuck, your pussy’s rippling around my dick.”

Emma gasped. Her body froze and a sudden unraveling assaulted her. Waves of pleasure

stroked through her body, liquefying her bones and muscles. She tried to catch her breath as he

continued to fuck her with more speed. He yanked on her hair as his thrusts slowed down and his

body tensed behind her.

“I fucking love how you suck my dick with your wet pussy.” He growled and then howled.

“So wet. So hot,” he choked. “Want my cum deep inside you. My mate.”

Emma lay sprawled over the trunk of the car, hoping he’d help her into the car because her

legs stopped functioning a while back. Mason pulled out of her and lifted her into his arms to put her

in the passenger seat. She yanked the blanket she carried in the backseat and covered herself with it.

“Let’s go home,” he said, slipping into the driver’s side. He glanced at her with a serious

gaze. “Don’t think that I’ve forgotten what we discussed.”

“Mason...” Geez he was going to talk about that now?

“Your life is important, Emma. There’s not buts here.”

She licked her dry lips and sighed. “Fine. Can we go home? I need a nap.”

“We’ll get you a bath and bed.” He said, starting the car.

“Can I get another spanking?” She grinned.

He laughed, pulled onto the same dirt road they’d been on before. “You enjoyed it too much.

You’re not supposed to.”

She cleared her throat. “Okay. Next time I’ll try to remember not to enjoy it so much.”

He glanced at her from the driver’s side with a grin that made her girl bits sigh. “You’ll

always enjoy it. Your pleasure is my ultimate goal in everything.”

“I can live with that.”

SEVEN

Aria glanced at the group assembled in her study. She’d called on her advisors to find out if

anyone knew what was going on at Embraced. If a human girl was taken or worse, used as a blood

slave, she needed to know.

“I won’t tolerate lies,” she said with steel in her voice.

She paced the large study, her red heels clicking on the marble floor. The mansion had been in

her family for generations. As the daughter of a blood born and a blood born herself, she led her clan

with strict rules.

“Aria, maybe you’re going a bit overboard,” her secretary said softly. Chantal didn’t normally

argue with Aria’s commands, so this was new.

Aria swirled to face the other woman. Chantal didn’t cower like most would. She knew Aria

didn’t want to hurt them. There was a first time for everything.

“I don’t think that human’s disappearing and being linked to Embraced is going overboard,”

she snapped. “This is how wars begin. Rumors.”

“Mistress, if I may,” Claude, her cousin tried to intervene, “I understand where you are

coming from, but we’ve stayed out of the shifter war.”

True. But she had a feeling something was going on that she didn’t know about. That child had

to be linked to either the southern clan or her own. If someone was using human blood slaves, her

clan could be at war themselves soon. Not only with the shifters, but with the humans as well.

“Humans do not go into Embraced,” she restated, marching to the large window by her desk

where the moon shone through brightly. At least she still had that, the brightness of the moon. She’d

stopped walking in the daylight just a few short years back, but she still missed the sun.

“I have not heard of any reports of a human going into Embraced,” Anton, her oldest advisor

said. Anton had been with the clan since her great grandparents’ time. He’d been the one to tell her

parents’ of her grandparents’ death. Older than most of the others, he didn’t turn until he was almost

sixty, almost four hundred years back. But he wasn’t a blood born like Aria, so he wasn’t as strong.

Aria, whose family blood line directly connected her back to Miralla Abarca passed their

power and strength to each blood born. Though he was older than Aria, he had a tendency of treating

her as if she were still a little girl learning how to lead. “You shouldn’t worry over humans, Aria.

That’s what we are here for. To take care of those matters.”

Aria stopped herself from the instant urge to turn and lift Anton by the throat. She counted to

ten and back. Lately, she felt as though everyone thought she was nothing more than a child. She

glanced back at the group with pursed lips. “I will not ignore what is under our noses, Anton.”

“Yes, child—”

“Don’t—,” she gritted her teeth, “call me child again.” Her Spanish accent came through more

pronounced when she was angry. At that moment, she was livid. “Matters of the clan are my

responsibility. It is not your job to decide what I should or should not worry about.”

Anton lowered his head in acknowledgement. “I understand.”

Aria gave a sharp nod. “I want to know if there have been humans at Embraced.”

“Aria, that goes against the rules. Who would be stupid enough to allow a human in there?”

Chantal exclaimed, she stared at her folded hands on her lap. Chantal had been assigned to Aria since

her birth. Though Chantal was at least one hundred years older than Aria, she treated her like a sister.

As an only child, Aria had appreciated having someone who she could be close to, but that didn’t

mean she would allow Chantal or anyone else to undermine her authority.

Before she got a chance to reply to Chantal’s words, Claude cleared his throat. “Perhaps we

don’t know enough.”

Anton turned his head to glare at Claude. “Foolish boy, of course we know. I know. No one is

allowing humans in the club. They know the rules.”

Aria glanced back out her window. The hairs on her arms raised and for a second she swore

someone out there was watching her. Impossible. Everyone was gone for the night and the only

people in the mansion were there with her. The guards were out front, so the idea was ludicrous.

Still, a sliver of discomfort kept her staring into the woods.

“Do you have anything in mind about this human problem?” Anton asked. His tone was high

with a sort of whininess she hated. He only used it when he thought she was being stupid or dramatic.

“Yeah,” she snapped. “Try finding out if anyone knows where the human girl is!”

Chantal rolled her eyes. “How did you even find out about the kid? If we didn’t know, how do

you?”

Aria moved fast, picking Chantal up by the throat and shoving her up a wall filled with books.

A collection of priceless first volumes fell to the ground as Chantal’s back slammed on the row of

books.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Aria muttered, her fangs descending. Unlike most

humans believed, fangs didn’t just peek when a vampire was going to bite. They descended whenever

a spike in emotions happened. Whether thirst, anger, or even sexual excitement.

“I’m sorry,” Chantal squeaked through the vice of Aria’s hand on her throat.

She let Chantal fall to the floor with a thump and turned to the others in the group. “I want

information on the girl. Who took her and why. I don’t want our clan pulled into a shifter war. If they

want to kill themselves, I’m fine with that. The minute it is said vampires are responsible for any

human deaths, we’ll have our own war on our hands.”

The two men nodded quietly. She didn’t miss the flash of anger in Anton’s gaze, nor the frown

on Claude’s. Good. Maybe now they’d start to realize she wasn’t a child any longer. She was their

leader and if they wanted to stay in her family, they’d need to start paying attention to her orders.

A shifter war was fine with her. Her clan getting pulled into it? That was the last thing they

needed. She’d find that child. Even if she had to do it on her own.

* * *

Emma sipped on her coffee while staring off into space. She needed to do something. Maria’s

mother had called her again, desperate to know if Emma had discovered anything about her

daughter’s whereabouts. It had sickened her to hear the poor woman crying over her missing child.

Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her that her daughter might be dead due to vampires.

“That bad, huh?” Ellie’s voice asked from the entrance to her room.

She hadn’t even heard Ellie enter her classroom. Glancing around the empty room, she

focused her gaze on her friend. Ellie’s hair was already growing from the short spiky cut she’d

recently gotten. If only Emma’s hair grew that quickly. She worried over cutting her long locks

because it took forever for it to grow. The memory of her mother filled her brain. She used to tell her

‘you get what you get and you don’t get upset.’ That was her answer to all of Emma and her brother’s

complaints when they’d been kids.

The sound of the chair scraping close to her desk pulled her out of her memories. She watched

Ellie sit with a deep frown. “Come on, Em, tell me what’s wrong?”

Ellie leaned forward, staring deep into Emma’s eyes.

“Nothing.”

“Emma...”

Damn. That’s right. Ellie could tell when she was lying. “Fine. Sorry. I’m still trying to figure

out how to find out if Maria got into Embraced.”

Ellie placed a warm hand over Emma’s fisted one on the table and patted her softly. “The best

thing to do is let Mason find out what he can for you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t just sit here doing nothing. It’s going to drive me insane. Not to

mention I keep hearing poor Maria’s mother’s voice in my head asking me to help her find her

daughter.”

“Geez!” Ellie leaned back and brushed a blonde lock of hair behind her ear. “Well what do

you have in mind?”

She needed to get into Embraced. But how? “Well...”

“Oh, no. I know that look,” Ellie exclaimed, rubbing a hand on her temple. “You’re going to

get us arrested again.”

“Why are we getting arrested?” Nicole asked, joining them with a box labeled from their

favorite pastry shop.

“What’s that?” Ellie asked, reaching out for the box.

“Cream puffs, mini éclairs, short breads, cookies, cannoli, etc. I had a hard time picking just

one.”

“They all sound so good,” Ellie groaned. She tore at the tape holding the lid on the box

closed. “But why are we indulging in this awesomeness?”

Nic grinned. “It’s Thursday. We grade papers and eat pastry on Thursdays.”

Emma laughed at Ellie’s dumbfounded expression. “Ellie, you forgot it’s Thursday?”

Ellie sighed, the previous lighthearted mood slipped from her features to show lines of

concern. “I’ll be honest. I have a hard time keeping anything straight other than what is going on with

our pack.”

“Is something new going on?” Emma asked, instantly interested.

Ellie shrugged. “I think so, but I’m not sure. It’s getting close to fall and kids tend to run wild,

going off to parties and spending time away from their families. Some of them forget to tell their

parents they’re doing stuff with their friends.”

An internal alarm went off inside Emma. She’d been aware that shifter teens, much like their

human counterparts, loved to socialize and spend time outdoors.

“What does that have to do with the problems with Rahound?”

Ellie winced. “With the number of rogues in the area, a lot of parents are worried over their

daughters out there, so we put out more enforcers to watch things. But we’re still getting the random

missing person report.”

Emma had known that the shifters kept a close eye on their offspring. Wolf mothers were

extremely overprotective and would kill anyone who dared harm one of their cubs.

“Are any of them official or is this just some parent that freaked because their kid didn’t get

home by curfew?” Nicole asked, diving into the box and pulling out a cream puff.

“So far, nothing really worrisome.”

Emma eyed her friend carefully. Ellie didn’t mention anything unless something else brought it

on. “But?”

Ellie grinned and picked up an éclair. “But I am worried that if one of our girls disappears,

things will take a turn for the worse.”

“Has anyone bothered to try and speak to the rogues or whoever their leader is?” Nic asked.

“That’s an idea,” Emma agreed. “We have no idea if they would be forthcoming with

information or possibly say something that could tip us off on what they have planned.”

Ellie licked some of the cream from her fingers, picked up a napkin and dabbed her lips.

“That’s not usually how it works with rogues. Most of the time there is no single leader, but if there

happens to be one, then he isn’t usually interested in pack politics.”

“Can the rogue leader be female?” Emma asked, curiosity piqued.

“I guess. I don’t see why not. We don’t really hear of a rogue leader, period. Most of the time

they’re a bunch of criminal shifters that don’t want to follow pack laws or human laws. They defy

everything and refuse to listen to anyone but themselves,” Ellie’s lips tipped downward.

Someone should try to speak to the rogues. Or at least listen to what the heck they were up to.

They had to be going somewhere that the Wolfes weren’t owners of. Shifters liked to go into bars and

hook up with others of their kind. They were sexual creatures. If a bunch of male rogues were in the

area, they had to be looking for females somewhere. But where?

EIGHT

Trevan Stone didn’t appreciate games. He was upfront in everything he did from hooking up

with random women, to getting rid of anyone in his way. It seemed that he’d hit a speed bump in Blue

Creek by the name of Rocco Rahound. The shifter Alpha, or supposed Alpha had sent someone to try

and recruit him and his friends for a dirty job the old man didn’t want to take care of himself. He

snorted. What a pathetic excuse for a leader.

Trevan and his friends weren’t exactly rogues, but they didn’t belong to any large packs. He

and his two friends had lost their pack when they’re warred with some vampires. His brother, the

former Alpha of his pack had been killed along with the rest of his family and most of their pack.

He sat down at a hole in the wall bar mostly filled with humans and glanced at the people

around him.

“Are we actually considering doing what that piece of shit old man paid us for?” Roen

Girard, his best friend asked.

No fucking way. They weren’t hired killers. They killed, but only when they felt the need.

Usually they found themselves defending the side of the innocents, not praying on them.

Roen picked up his beer mug and drank the contents in a single swig. “Fucking bastard. I

wanted to bash his head in when he said he wanted us to take some kids to those blood suckers.”

“We already got paid, so it’s not like we have to do anything,” Alain Thorpe, Trevan’s other

best friend since childhood stated.

“We can’t just leave and act like we don’t know what the fuck they’re doing!” Roen growled.

“We might not have a pack, but we’re not heartless murderers.”

He was right. Trevan and his friends had grown up surrounded by family for most of their

lives. Though their pack had been small and secluded to the deep Stone Mountains, he’d always

known to defend the innocents.

Trevan agreed with Roen. But he didn’t understand why Rahound wanted them to bring girls

and hand them over to a group of vampires. As far as he knew, vampires and wolves didn’t mix. Why

would they be having any kind of business now?

“Something’s going on in this town,” he said, eyeing the group of humans drinking and

laughing around them. So innocent. So helpless. Like sheep to the slaughter. They had no idea they

were surrounded by beasts.

“So, what do we do?” Alain asked, his voice low and guarded. He kept his gaze on the front

entrance while Trevan did the same with the back door. They knew shit could happen at any time and

the last thing they would allow is to be caught unawares by anyone. Especially vampires.

“Find out more. Let’s not break off contact just yet,” he motioned for the men to stand. It was

time to get out of there. “Let’s see where all this is going. Someone has to know something about the

Rahound Alpha and why he wants us to do that.”

Whatever the hell they’d walked into in Blue Creek, they weren’t just going to sit by and do

Rocco’s dirty work. But the old man had hired a lot of rogues, which meant pretty soon a large group

of teenage girls was going to go missing and unless they figured out why, nobody would know.

When he’d grown up in the Stone Mountains, Trevan had learned to lead from his brother.

He’d been the youngest and always attached to his brother’s side. One of the things he’d been taught

was that vampires weren’t all bad. He’d believed that. Until the day they’d savagely killed men,

women and children in the pack without a second’s hesitation. Now, he could sit down and watch

them burn without batting an eye.

He’d heard that the Wolfe pack led Blue Creek. But with Rahound so close, he wondered if

the set up with the vampires had something to do with Wolfes. He needed to talk to one of their

people. Or someone close to the pack and find out what the hell was going on in that town.

“Do you know anything about the Wolfes?” Trevan asked the others.

“Bunch of guys mated to a bunch of humans is all I know,” Roen replied, dropping some bills

on the bar counter to cover their tab.

“The future Alpha recently got married is gone for a few weeks with his new bride. The

others are around. They all own some kind of business with the name Wolfe on it, so if we wanted to

search them out it shouldn’t be hard to do,” Alain added.

Did he want to look for the Wolfes or get information on them? Best to play it safe and see

what they found out before approaching anyone.

“Let’s see who we can find that knows them better,” Trevan slid off the stool and stood.

Women smiled at him. Some licked their lips in open invitation. If he weren’t so curious as to Rocco

and his plans with the vampires, he would stay for a while and talk to one of the humans. He liked

women with curves and soft smiles.

“You think Rocco has something planned with the bloodsuckers against the Wolfes?” Alain

asked as they walked out the door.

The cooler evening air didn’t bother them. They were used to much colder temperatures and

would probably spend the night in the woods. His wolf wanted to roam.

“Whatever Rocco is planning, I have a feeling that by having the vampires on his side he’s

going to try to gain the upper hand and not care over the number of casualties, mainly teenagers. He’ll

use them all to get his way.”

If Trevan had anything to say about it, there was no way in hell he’d let vampires destroy

another town.

* * *

Emma knew she was pushing her luck by going back to Mason’s club. Ever since she’d gone

to the vampires he’d been stuck to her side. He’d finally gone to do his own thing almost four days

later. Only because he’d pulled the promise from her that she would keep her distance now that things

with the Rahound and the rogues had turned more dangerous. He worried over her safety. It was

sweet, but Emma had things to do.

She shifted from foot to foot on her black combat boots. She waited to see if the bartender

would come outside the back door. Unlike the last time she’d broken all the rules and gone into

Mason’s club, this time she took a different approach. By not going inside the club she wasn’t really

going against what Mason asked, but she was still getting possible important information that could

help her find Maria.

The sound of a wailing siren made her jump back, slapping her back to the gate by the door.

Seriously? She was acting like a damned kid getting all worried over being caught. This was what

Mason did to her. He’d pushed her to have to do stuff without his knowledge.

Sheesh, how long did it take for Nicole to send the bartender outside. She’d agreed to help

Emma out in the hopes it would keep her out of trouble. Which it would since Mason couldn’t argue

that she was in his club again.

The back door creaked open and Emma pressed further back into the darkness. She daren’t

think about what the squishy stuff she was stepping on was.

Music blared from the inside of the club and the sounds of laughter, along with voices drifted

out the back door. A moment later, the short curvy bartender walked out. She wore black jeans and a

bunch of tattoos covering both arms and bright pink in her hair.

Lael met her gaze and frowned. “I didn’t think you had it in you to actually do as Mason said.”

Her lips lifted into a slow grin. “What did he promise you to keep you out?”

“Nothing. I felt guilty,” she sighed in disgust. The things she did for that mutt and did he even

appreciate it? Nope.

Lael laughed and strolled closer to Emma. “I sent your friend out through the front so she

wouldn’t call attention.”

Emma nodded, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry to bother you again. I just have

some questions.”

Lael’s smile fell from her lips slowly. Icy fingers of concern stopped Emma’s blood in her

veins. Lael’s face pursed as if in pain. “Things are moving a lot faster than I thought.”

Emma struggled to make sense of Lael’s words. “What do you mean? What’s moving faster?”

Dear God, what if Maria was beyond being rescued. She swallowed back the vile that rode

the back of her throat. The last thing she needed was to get sick over her fear for the kid.

“Rahound. He’s got a plan.” Lael shut her eyes and leaned back on the gate.

“What plan? What are you talking about?”

For cripes’ sakes! The woman needed to give her full sentences or she’d shake her soon.

“Embraced. It’s all connected. The rogues. The vamps. The kids.” Lael swayed on her feet

and Emma had to grab her before she hit the pavement.

Nicole rushed around the side of the alley and ran toward them.

“What the hell, Emma? What did you do to her?” She asked, her voice rising in panic. “I

thought you only wanted to talk.”

Emma rolled her eyes and tapped Lael on the cheek. She’d gone pale and cold. Emma didn’t

know what kind of paranormal Lael was, but she was sure she was either a witch or an empath. Or

she had some off the wall stuff going on. “Lael?”

Nothing. The other woman didn’t respond. Nicole kneeled by Emma and motioned for her to

pass Lael over.

“Isn’t she too heavy for you to carry alone?”

Nic blew a raspberry. “Em, I’m a shifter now. I could probably carry you if the need arose.

Let me carry her back to my car.”

Emma watched as Nic carefully lifted Lael into her arms without breaking a sweat or grunting

over the other woman’s weight. She was impressed. If she gave in and allowed Mason to mate her

and her body took to the change, she could have the same powers as Nic, Jordan and Ellie. It was still

in the air if Karla had the ability to shift. With her getting pregnant right after Nate had bitten her, it

wasn’t something anyone knew. Barbara had mentioned that Karla was likely to have the shifter genes

in her body through her offspring. Only a strong female could carry a shifter child. The strength of

their kicks could break bones and if Karla’s body couldn’t handle it, it would kill her. But even

closing in on her delivery of the babies, Karla was holding strong.

Nicole carried Lael to Nic’s car and they laid her on the back seat.

“She’s breathing steadily,” Nic said, placing a hand on Lael’s pulse. “Her heartbeat’s steady

and I don’t sense any kind of discomfort in her.”

Every time Nic, Jordan or Ellie did something cool like tell her others were lying or sense

how someone was feeling, she hoped that when she mated with Mason she got their skills. It would

suck if she was the first one out of them to not shift or bond with the shifter genes.

“I don’t understand why she fainted.”

Nic bit her lip, pulled her cell from her pocket and sent a text. “She must have some draining

abilities. It’s the only thing I can think of that would cause her to pass out. She had to have been

mentally going somewhere to get you whatever information she did.”

Emma growled. “She said so little. Only a few words about how things were linked and how

time was running out.”

A black SUV pulled up beside Nic’s car and Shaari along with another enforcer jumped out.

“Are you okay?” Shaari asked, glancing at them. “I got your text,” she said nodding at Nic.

“Thanks a lot, Shaari. She and Emma were talking and all of a sudden she was out like she’d

been K.O.’d.”

Shaari’s brows flew up under her bangs. “Did you knock her out, Emma?”

Emma’s lip twisted wryly. “With what? My annoying sarcasm?”

Shaari grinned. “Yeah, I don’t think you could. It takes a lot to take out Lael, she’s strong. One

of the strongest daughters of the Sisters. No way you could say or do anything that would take her

out.” The smile faded. “I think she must have connected with something that took her too deep into the

future.”

Wait. What? “She sees the future?”

Emma glanced down at the short bartender with dragon earrings and a pair of lips on her T-

shirt and had to stop herself from yelling for her to wake up.

“Oh, yeah. And not the fun stuff. As a powerful witch, she’s got some serious sight. She’s

really good at seeing war, pain, suffering, and stuff like that.”

“So she doesn’t see happy things?” Nic asked, her voice filled with that tremble of nerves

Emma had come to know was concern.

Shaari shrugged and moved so her partner could pick up Lael and place her in their SUV.

“She can, but I think she worries more over the things that will cause pain than those that bring

happiness.”

Made sense. Why stress what’s going to end up being a happy ending. She needed to try to

change the negative.

Once they’d taken Lael into the SUV, Shaari and the other enforcer got back into their SUV

and left.

Nic turned to Emma with a sigh. “What now?”

“Want to swing by Embraced?”

Nic’s eyes widened. “You really want to go over there?”

“We aren’t going inside, just looking from the outside to see what we find.”

Nic growled and turned the car on. The engine roared to life and she sped off. “You know,

you need to stop that death wish you have. I swear to god I am going to get Barbara to come and talk

to you about it.”

Emma grinned. “I don’t have a death wish.”

Nic glanced at her from the driver’s side with a raised brow. “Yes, you do. Everything with

you is putting yourself in danger. Like you want to get yourself killed or something.”

Emma’s smile fell from her face. She’d never really stopped to think about things that way.

After her family died, she tried to focus on helping others and doing what she could for her friends.

There wasn’t much else for her to do.

Nic sighed. “I’m sorry, Emma. I don’t mean it like that.”

But she did. And she was right. “I guess I didn’t realize I put myself in danger that often.”

Nic pursed her lips and made an apologetic face. “Don’t you ever stop and just miss your

family?”

God, no! She tried not to. “I’m not good with mourning.”

The car made a sudden stop and Nic turned to Emma. “You’re not still blaming yourself for

their deaths, are you?”

Emma glanced away, training her gaze on the dark road ahead of them. “Things could have

been so different.”

Nic sucked a breath in. “Yeah! You would be dead too!”

Maybe then she wouldn’t be living with the guilt of knowing her family had died on what was

supposed to be a family vacation. A vacation she’d initiated and then pulled out of because she’d

gotten angry with her mother.

She wouldn’t debate that with Nic, though. Nicole didn’t understand how hard it was to go

home and not be able to call her brother on the phone. To not hear her mother’s laughter. Her father’s

advice on how to handle the tough things in life. She was alone in the world and if she stopped to

think about it, the pain would eat her from the inside. Instead, she did things. Put herself out there for

others. To help. She organized and remembered how her father taught her to make lists and keep

everything the way it was supposed to be. Her friends thought she was OCD, but she wasn’t. She did

things the way her dad taught her as a way to keep his memory alive in her day to day life.

“Let’s just go and see if we see anything suspicious,” Emma muttered. She didn’t want to open

the doors to her pain at that moment. When she was home, alone, and drunk she would. Right now,

there was no time for that.

Nic whispered something that sounded very much like ‘hard head’ under her breath and put

the car in drive. Emma had researched the location for Embraced. Unlike the Wolfe clubs, it was

located in a desolate part of town. An area known for empty warehouses and large distances between

houses.

NINE

The club, if it could be called that, was in what looked like an abandoned building. There was

no signs out front and the only way they knew they’d gotten the right spot was because fangs dripping

with blood were spray painted on the metal entrance.

“Looks cozy,” Nic drawled.

“Yeah, top of the line,” Emma wiggled in her seat. “I wonder what it looks like inside.”

“Uh, no. You don’t. Because that would mean you are thinking of getting in there and we do

not, I repeat, do not go into vampire territory.” Nic slapped Emma on the arm to get her to stop staring

at the entrance and pay attention. “Especially you. Or have you forgotten that you are human?”

“Of course, I didn’t forget,” she whispered when she saw a couple heading for the door.

She watched them look around before the woman tapped her nail on the door. She mouthed

something that Emma couldn’t make out and the door flung open.

“Crap,” she mumbled, “Get down!”

She tugged on Nic’s side and both dove their heads under the dashboard.

“Why are we hiding?” Nic whispered.

“Shhh!” She didn’t want them to chance getting caught. Not by vampires.

The bouncer had come out with a flashlight on, lighting the entrance to all the cars in the area.

The door slammed closed and Emma peeked up slowly to see if there was anyone outside the club.

“Okay, you can come up.”

Nic frowned and glanced outside the car to see if there were any others headed for the club.

“Why were we hiding?”

“That bouncer had a flashlight. When my brother and I used to sneak into illegal clubs, we’d

see them do the same thing. Someone would all of a sudden open the door and flash the cars to make

sure nobody was out there watching or sitting in their cars.”

Nic curled her lip in distaste. “Didn’t they hear of cameras?”

Emma giggled. “I’m sure they weren’t worrying about security systems when the party would

be in a different location the following week. It seems Embraced does it more to catch random passer

byers. I wonder if they have trouble with people trying to get in.”

“Why anyone would want to go into a hole filled with undead is beyond me.”

Emma shrugged. “Someone recently told me that she couldn’t understand why I wanted to

sleep with a dog.”

Nic blinked. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. What could I say? He hasn’t given me rabies, fleas or ticks, so things are looking

up.”

Nic laughed. “You are nuts.”

They sat in the car for a while but nobody else came near the building. “I guess we can go

home. It’s late and I bet Jake is wondering where you are.”

Nic gave her a sad smile. “He’s off helping Caleb round up Jaxon’s men and teaching them the

area. They’re going to help clean out some of the rogues Rocco hired.”

“How’s that going, by the way. Mason won’t tell me what’s going on with Caleb. And Ellie is

so tight lipped I’m having a hard time getting her to give me any info on it.”

Nic bit her lip and shifted in her seat. “Don’t get mad.”

Uh-oh. Sounded like she was about to get really angry. “What did Mason do?”

Nic winced and turned the car on. She waited until they were far enough away from the club’s

entrance to speak. “He sort of told us to not tell you anything about the pack problems.”

Hurt and anger expanded in her chest. “What? Why would he do that?”

Nic had sped down the main highway before short-stopping on the side of a road near Emma’s

house. She turned off the engine and turned to face Emma, her face pinched in distress. “Please don’t

be angry with him. He’s just worried about you. He loves you and he wants to keep you safe.”

“Do I look like a little kid? No. So he needs to stop trying to decide what I can and can’t do.

Telling you all not to tell me what’s going on is going too damn far!”

Nic’s shoulders slumped. “I told him it was a bad idea. He thinks if you know too much you’ll

decide to go off and do something dangerous.”

“I’m not a brainless moron.” But clearly Mason thought she was. The anger and pain from

finding out how little he trusted her exploded in her veins.

“I know you’re not. And he knows that too. I guess he is just worried...” Nic’s words slowed

until she dragged the last one out.

She knew Mason loved and worried about her. She loved him too. However, his whole trying

to control what others told her was going too far.

Nic left her at her house and Emma couldn’t find it in her to invite her in for more

conversation. She wanted to be alone.

Mason entered his mother’s house with quiet steps. He knew something was up when Ellie

said their mother wanted to see him. If he knew what was good for him he should show up asap.

Barbara Wolfe did not give her children orders and get ignored.

“In the kitchen,” he heard her say.

Fuck. She didn’t bother calling him ‘son’ or some endearment. He was fucked. Whatever he’d

done he was about to get told off about it. He sighed and dragged his boots into the kitchen.

“Stop dragging your feet, Mason. You don’t polish my floors.”

“Um, yes I do.”

“Oh, well stop unless you want to have double the work,” his mother said and flipped a T-

Bone on an indoor grill.

“Mom,”

“Sit down.” She ordered softly. “I made you something to eat.”

Oh, well okay then. Whatever he’d done couldn’t have been too bad if she was feeding him.

His spirits rose and he sat at the kitchen table to wait for her to finish his steak. It smelled delicious.

Good thing she’d cooked because he was starving.

“Smells good,” he smiled, hoping whatever she wanted to tell him would soften her up with

his compliment.

“I know.”

Guess not.

“Mom, Ellie said you wanted to talk?” He decided to set the table. His mother loved when

they did stuff like that. Besides, couldn’t hurt.

She raised a brow as he grabbed napkins and utensils to set his place on the table. “I do need

to speak with you. Why don’t you sit and I’ll bring your food over.”

Great. He loved his mother. She was such a sweet and understanding woman. Always going

above and beyond for her kids.

He watched her place the steak next to a baked potato sprinkled with cheddar. She’d made his

favorite meal. Then she grabbed a second plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He hated

that stuff. She smiled at him and placed the plate with the sandwich in front of him and the one with

the steak in front of her as she sat down.

“Mom?”

She raised innocent brows. “Oh, did you think this was for you? No, honey. You see, you are

acting like a kid, so I have to feed you kid food. When you start acting like an adult again, you will be

treated like one.”

He blew out a breath and sat back. “Alright. What did I do?”

“Mason Wolfe! Have you lost your mind? Telling everyone to keep things from Emma.”

Oh. That. “It’s for her own good. She’s going to get herself killed.”

His mother glanced at the ceiling as if praying for patience. “No. You’re going to get yourself

killed, because when she finds out she’s going to hurt you. Do you honestly think that will endear you

to her?”

“I wasn’t really worried about that. I’m more concerned with keeping her alive.”

“Oh, son,” she whispered. “Emma is not going to like that at all.”

He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. “Well what else am I supposed to do? She won’t

listen to me.”

His mother shook her head. “Talk to her. Listen to her. Communicate. Relationships can’t

work if you don’t communicate with each other. It’s not all sex, you know.”

He knew that. Boy did he. A man could wish, though. “I know a relationship isn’t all sex. I

talk to her.”

His mother cut into the juicy steak and lifted a piece of meat to her lips. “Oh? What do you

talk about?”

“Stuff.”

She rolled her eyes and put the fork down without eating the delicious smelling meat. “Stuff is

not talking. I bet you don’t even know about her family.”

He forgot all about the steak, though his stomach was growling for it, and met his mother’s

gaze. There was frustration and concern in her eyes.

“What about her family? She never goes into depth about her family but she’s mentioned them

once or twice.”

“Arrrrggh! You’ve made me lose my appetite,” she complained.

“I can finish that for you. If you want.” He offered.

She sighed and passed him her plate. “Mason, Emma has no family.”

He’d just bitten into the piece of meat on the fork and felt the food turn to sawdust in his

mouth. He swallowed quickly and took a drink of water. “What do you mean she has no family? I’ve

heard her talk about things her father taught her. Stuff her mother likes. She even mentioned a

brother.”

His mom’s lips tipped downward. “They’re dead.”

“How?”

“I can’t tell you that. That’s something she has to share with you. Do you honestly think hiding

things from her will get her to mate with you?” She blinked her blue eyes at him and pursed her lips.

“If your father had ever done something like that to me, he’d still be hearing about it now.”

Ouch. “Fine. I know it wasn’t my brightest idea, but I’ll try talking to her instead.”

She leaned forward and patted his hand on the table. “A little trust goes a long way. Emma’s a

grown woman, son. She’s been alone since before you met her, so you can’t come now and try to tell

her what to do. It’s not going to work.”

Dammit! His mother was right. He needed to get Emma to see that putting her life on the line

wasn’t the way to do things instead of keeping things from her. “I don’t want her hurt. Ever.”

His mother nodded. “I can understand that. It’s the animal and man in you wanting to protect

your mate. But you also have to understand that she’s an individual. Capable of her own decisions

and ideas. Talk to her.”

He eyed the food, no longer hungry or interested in eating. “Do you think she’s mad?”

His mother smiled. “Oh, honey. I can guarantee you she’s going to rip you a new asshole. You

can’t expect anything good to come out of keeping things from a woman. Ever.”

Crap. “I guess I’ll go see her and tell her what I did.”

His mother pulled the plate back from him and cut a new piece of meat. “Yeah. You should go

now, before she gets too worked up about it.”

He watched her eat the meat. “I thought you weren’t hungry?”

She cut another piece of steak. “I’m okay now. Your life is the one on the line, not mine. Good

luck, son.”

Way to rub it in. He hoped Emma didn’t have any sharp objects nearby when he got to her

house. It was probably too much to hope for her to have made dinner.

TEN

Emma finally entered her bedroom after the longest bath of her life. She struggled with the

pain of knowing Mason had no faith in her. Not only did he not trust her to be an adult and take care of

herself, but he also didn’t trust her to do what she could for others.

She sat on the edge of her bed and stared at the photo of her family on her nightstand. Nic’s

words returned to her mind. It had to be her disappointment from the night, but a wave of pain crashed

through her at the memories of her family.

Her vision swam and hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She was alone. That hurt. The one

person who she thought she was connected to enough to build a new relationship with didn’t trust her.

A broken sob tore from her throat and she doubled over from the piercing pain in her heart.

She missed her family.

She missed her mother and all the creative things she tried to teach her about maintaining a

well-decorated home. Cooking. How to be a good hostess. More than all that, she missed her

mother’s smiles. The hugs she’d given her when Emma was sad or upset.

Another loud sob filled the quiet room as she cried. Images of her father flickered through her

mind. In his uniform. Explaining to Emma and her brother the importance of being self-reliable.

Knowing when to back off and always keeping family first. She missed the fact that even though she’d

been a grown woman when he’d passed, he’d saved every Father’s Day card she’d made him since

she’d been a little girl.

God, the moment her brother came to mind she gasped for breath at the stabbing pain in her

chest. It felt like daggers digging into her sides. There was no holding it back. He’d been her best

friend. Her constant companion. She’d lost them. Been left behind with nothing. No one.

Through the tears and her loud cries, she felt a pair of arms envelope her in a warm embrace.

There was no stopping the flow of pain leaving her. Sorrow had built inside her to the point the

pressure had broken down the place in her heart she’d pushed it all into. Now, she couldn’t hide

away any longer. She had to face her demons once again.

“Sweetheart, please. Tell me what’s wrong. I’m sorry,” Mason murmured into her hair,

rocking her as she continued to sob into his arms. “If my keeping things from you made you this upset,

I can’t tell you how sorry I am. It won’t happen again.”

She couldn’t seem to control the tears any longer. They just kept coming. The raw anguish

bled through each of her cries. It was like losing them all over again.

“I...hurt,” she choked out. The agony of the memories still managed to destroy a new piece of

her heart.

“I know, Emma. God, I know. Your distress is driving my wolf insane. I want to help you but

I don’t know what to do. Tell me how to fix this.”

She shook her head in his chest, tears clogging the back of her throat. He couldn’t fix this.

She’d been living with this pain for ten long years. Mason held her in his arms while she cried. It

wasn’t pretty. There was nothing nice about the grief rolling through her, tearing her down from the

insides. But he sat there, holding her, trying to soothe her with soft words and rubbing a hand up and

down her back.

It felt like forever before the cries died down to quiet sobs and then to hiccups. Once she’d

stopped altogether, he pulled back and marched to her bathroom, got a wet wash cloth and a dry

towel. He wiped her face with the wash cloth and then dried it with the towel.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice raw from crying.

He frowned, stood and walked out of the room again. Moments later, he returned with a glass

of water. “Do you want tea, coffee or something else?”

She shook her head, biting back the urge to cry anew. “I’m okay.”

He motioned to her bed. “Lay down. Get comfortable.”

Good idea. All that crying had given her a headache. She did as he suggested and got under

her covers. He went around the bed and yanked the other side of the covers up and slipped in next to

her. To her surprise, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to lay on his arm.

“Want to tell me what brought that on? I can sense you’re still holding back a great deal of

pain, Emma. I don’t like it.” He turned to her, cupping her cheek with his hand and lifted her face up

to meet his gaze. “I want you to talk to me. Not just about your job. I want you to feel comfortable

enough to tell me anything.”

She sniffled and blinked. “I’m sure at this point someone has to have told you my family is

dead.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t want anyone to tell me anything that should be coming from you.” He

pushed her hair away from her face and caressed his hand down her arm. “I’m sorry about your

family.”

She swallowed hard, pushing back the knot still sitting at the back of her throat, urging her to

cry all over again. “I was in college when it happened.”

“Emma,” he breathed softly. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

She shook her head. “I should talk about it. When they first passed, the therapists used to tell

me to talk and not bottle it all in, but that was hard because the only people I could talk to were the

ones that were dead.”

Mason struggled to keep calm. The pain Emma was feeling came through clear enough that he

felt as if his own heart was being torn apart. “What happened to them?”

She met his gaze. The red rim around her eyes and her nose only made him want to hold her

harder. “Plane crash.”

His hold on her tightened. “That’s terrible.”

Her lip trembled and he felt as though he were being punched in the gut. “We were going on

vacation,” she said, clearing her throat. “My mom and I had planned this getaway for a year. We all

had busy lives, but one of our rules was to make time for family.”

He nodded, wiping the tears falling from the corner of her eyes. He could tell she was so

involved in the story she didn’t even realize she was still crying. “Family is important.”

She nodded. “We all thought so. My dad had gotten a friend to fly us all to an island in the

Caribbean where we were going to spend a few weeks just relaxing and bonding.”

“Sounds like it was going to be great,” he said.

“It was,” she said, her voice cracking. “But then my mom wanted to invite some son of their

friends, hoping we’d hit it off and I got angry.”

He understood. “You didn’t want someone else in your family time.”

“Right,” she said, staring at him with her tear-filled eyes. “So we argued and I told her I

wasn’t going.” She inhaled sharply. “Our last conversation was me telling her that she ruined my

vacation.” A new sob came from her. “Their plane went down during a storm. There were no

survivors.”

Christ. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

“I had a bunch of messages from my mom telling to meet them at the airport that the guy wasn’t

going to go, but I’d refused to answer her calls all day. I missed her messages and the flight. I didn’t

find out about it until I tried calling my brother and then my dad. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone.” She

turned her face into his chest and he held her there, close to him. “The police finally called to tell me

later that night.”

“I...” He didn’t know what to say. There was nothing he could say to curb her pain. She had

every right to cry and grieve for her lost loved ones.

“The worst part is that I’m all alone.”

“You’re not alone, sweetheart. I’m here.” He realized then why his mother had said what

she’d said. What he’d done was to push Emma away instead of pulling her to him.

“You don’t understand what it’s been like,” she cried. “I pick up the phone and I can’t call

them. There’s nobody there. Not my brother. My best friend. Not my mom. Not my dad.” Her words

tore through his gut and stabbed at his heart. “I didn’t even get to tell them how much I love them,” she

sniffled. “And my mother died thinking I was angry with her. Now I will never get the chance to

apologize and tell her I was being stupid.”

“Emma—”

“I should have been on that plane too!”

No! The beast inside him refused to listen to her words. The man in him knew that was

survivor’s guilt talking, but he didn’t like it. He cupped her face and forced her to look at him. “No

you were not. If you had been meant to be there, you would be. You’re not. You’re meant to be mine,

Emma.”

“I miss them.”

Those three words tortured him more than anything she could have said. There was no way he

could fix that. “I know, baby.”

“I miss them so much. Every single day. I have nobody.”

He swallowed back the anguish from seeing her in pain and shook his head, bringing his lips

down over hers. “No. You have me, Emma. Accept me already. Be my mate and I’ll always stand by

your side. No questions asked. You’re never alone.”

She lifted her tear-stained face to his and licked her lips. “Kiss me.”

At that moment, he’d do anything to make her happy. Anything to take some of the pain inside

and stop her from hurting. She was his heart. Seeing her like this broke him.

He met her lips in a soft brush. Sweetness. That’s what she tasted like. Even with the sorrow

pouring out of her, kissing her was like a cool breeze on a hot day. Perfect.

“Say you’ll be mine, Emma.”

Emma stared deep into Mason’s eyes and knew it was time to let go of her bullshit. Mason

had shown her how much he cared for her since before he’d marked her. Her heart crashed against

her ribs, pounding hard. She had a difficult time making the decision on being his mate in the past, due

to her fear of losing him. Losing people you loved made you afraid to love. What if you lost again?

Mason had proven time and again that he was there for her. Not just physically, either. He’d

been there to hold her hair when she’d had too much to drink in Vegas. He’d given her his undivided

attention in her search for Jordan’s perfect dress. Hell, he’d even helped.

“I’m already yours.”

She’d been surprised the words came out of her mouth so smoothly. There had been no fear or

momentary shock. Instead, she finally felt free. Telling Mason she was his was the truth. She’d been

his the moment he’d given her that unwanted but amazing kiss on their first meeting. No man had lived

up to him ever since. None ever would.

“Emma...”

His eyes clouded with indecision. She knew he worried about her choices when it came to

him. This time, she didn’t question her feelings. This time, she knew this was right.

“Bite me.”

She watched the gold brighten in his eyes. His lips came crashing down on hers. Desire

flowed from his body to hers. He tugged on her robe, pulling on the strings and opening to leave her

bare to his touch.

“I will never get tired of seeing you naked.” He pushed her back on the bed.

Her breath caught in her throat. One second she was watching him strip off his clothes and the

next he was flipping her over to lay on her belly. She wiggled, lifting her ass up high and he groaned.

“Perfect.”

She might just come right on the spot if he continued raking his claws down her back. “Mason.

God, that feels unbelievable.”

He chuckled, caressing her abundant ass cheeks and pulling them apart. Desire punched at her

gut when he licked a trail from her ass down to her pussy. Her legs wobbled. Her body demanded to

be touched. Taken. Swarms of fire shot up through her veins, heating her blood.

He sucked on her folds, dipping his tongue in and out of her channel. She lifted on to her

elbows, tossing her head to the side to glance over her shoulder. Mason lifted his head from her ass,

licking his lips. Need curled tight in a coiling ball in her belly.

He met her gaze and her breath rushed out of her lips. His features were tight with desire. “I

want inside you.”

“Take me. Fuck me. Make me yours.”

He pushed his hips on her ass, pressing the head of his cock into her pussy. “Ah, baby.

Always so tight. So fucking slick.”

His cock felt bigger this time. As though more of the wolf were in control. He pushed into her

slowly, stretching her muscles with his gradual glide. Once he was fully inside her, she couldn’t stop

the moan from escaping her. She gripped the sheets in her fists, clinging to them as he pulled back and

plunged in.

“Oh, God!”

“Fuck!” He growled.

Another pull and he was lifting her ass with every drive into her. His movements quickened.

The speed from his thrusts increased to a skin-slapping song that drove her need wild. He propelled

deep and retreated. Filling her only to leave her aching for more with each pull back.

Her nipples rubbed on the soft bed sheets, adding a new dimension of torture to her aching

need to come.

He dropped on all four, caging her with his body. The heat of his slick muscles cocooned her

in sensual warmth.

“Your pussy’s so wet,” he grumbled by her ear. “So tight and hot.” His breath caressed the

back of her shoulder, making goose bumps break over her skin. She shuddered and he groaned. “This

is where I always want to be. Inside you.”

Oh, good God! Her muscles burned with the need to let go. She gasped at the growing

tightness inside her. Soon. She was so damn close. She scrunched her eyes closed. It felt like a raging

inferno was growing in her pussy.

“That’s, oh, that’s good,” she moaned, loving how hot he felt going in and out of her.

“That’s better than good, sweetheart.” He slid a hand around her hip and between her legs,

spreading her pussy lips open and flicking a finger on her clit. “Let’s make it amazing.”

He tapped her clit, almost tugging the tiny bundle of aching nerves. She gasped, her back

curving as the tension unraveled inside her to the speed of a derailed train. She choked on a scream,

gasping at the force of her climax. Her pussy squeezed his driving cock in a tight grip.

“Ah, baby. That’s what I like,” He groaned. “Your pussy sucking me deep.”

He growled by her ear and struck, biting deep into the fleshy back of her shoulder. Another

wave of pleasure assailed her to the point it left her shaking.

His bite on her hurt, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he bit again and slowed his thrusts. Then he

tensed completely, filling her womb with his seed. He continued coming longer than ever before. Her

body softened, dropping down to the bed once he was done.

He moved them on their sides, still embedded in her pussy and not appearing to want to get

out. She sighed, leaning into his embrace and closed her eyes. Her shoulder burned and hurt like a

bitch. Mason placed kisses on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry I had to hurt you,” he said softly.

She yawned, closing her eyes and wincing. “It definitely hurts, but I’ll be okay.”

He kissed the back of her neck and pulled her closer, cupping her breasts with his hand.

“You’re mine, brat. I’m not going anywhere. I’m always here for you.”

She smiled at the way he said the words. A promise to her. She’d known Mason wasn’t going

to leave her side, ever. Even if she hadn’t mated him. This just gave them a deeper bond. At least he

wasn’t talking marriage. That was a whole different can of worms.

ELEVEN

Emma woke up with a smile. Mason had once again managed to outdo himself. Her memories

of the previous night came back with aches and pain of too much loving. She could hear him in her

kitchen. Excitement rushed through her and she stood to go to the bathroom.

She glanced at herself in the mirror looking for something, anything different. Nothing. She

frowned at her reflection. How long would it take for her to know if she was going to change or not?

He’d bitten her twice and from what she knew that was once more than most people did to mate.

Nothing felt different. She didn’t look like her friends with that golden rim around her eyes.

What if it didn’t take? What if she was going to be the only one who stayed human? Fucking hell!

She sighed and took a shower, worrying about whether she’d turn or not was not productive.

Besides, she and Mason had to talk. Having been so emotionally distraught the previous night had

stopped her from telling him about what he did.

Once she’d dressed, she headed for the kitchen and found him making toast and coffee.

“You messed up my surprise,” he said, pulling her to him for a kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, taking his warmth and loving how

protected she felt. “What surprise?”

“I was bringing you breakfast in bed.”

She raised her brows and stared at the half-burned toast. “I could have sworn your mother

praised all her boys for knowing how to cook. I don’t think you paid any attention when she gave

classes.”

He grinned and her heart melted. Stupid hormones again. Ah, fuck it. He was a sexy god and

she loved staring at his face.

“I did pay attention but I haven’t had much time on my hands to really practice. So I sort of

forgot most of it.”

She squinted, giving him a suspicious look. “Is that why you always want us to go out. Or for

me to cook?”

He nodded, his shoulders slumping. “Yeah. I didn’t want you to know I’m the only one that

can’t cook out of the four of us.”

“Great. How do I end up with the mutt that isn’t domesticated?”

He grabbed her ass and squeezed. “Careful, or I might have to show you my animal side

again.”

Ah hell. Why did she have to go to work? It was so overrated. “I would love nothing more

than to start doggy training you,” she laughed at his frown, “but I have to go to work.”

She kissed him again and stood there for a second just enjoying him holding her.

He kissed the top of her head and mumbled. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

She pulled away and picked up her bag. When he offered her a piece of the burnt toast she

shook her head and scrunched her nose. “No, thanks. I’ll get something on the way to work.”

At the door, she turn to glance at his hot body one last time. “Don’t pee on my carpet, mutt.”

“Don’t play with fire, Emma. Unless you don’t want to make it to work.”

“And don’t bite any of my good shoes!” She added to mess with him a little more.

“Emma!”

“Later, mutt. Be a good boy.” The last thing she heard was his growl as she walked out the

door, giggling.

* * *

Emma was half-way through her work day when she got a text message from Aria.

I must see you. It is important.

It had been almost a week since she’d spoken to Aria. Emma knew that whatever it was

would be helpful toward her search for Maria. The rest of the day dragged and she wished she could

skip out early in order to go meet the vampire. Much good that would do. Aria couldn’t be out in the

day time anyway. So even if she could have gotten out of school, Emma would still have had to wait

to see her.

By the time evening rolled around, she was chomping at the bit, counting the minutes. Aria had

asked Emma to meet her at the same spot she’d parked by the mansion. She’d readied to leave her

house when Barbara showed up.

“Barbara, hi,” she said, wondering what Mason’s mother was doing there.

Barbara smiled and pointed to her car. “Ready to go?”

Emma frowned, trying to figure out what Barbara was talking about. “Where are we going?”

“Wow. I wouldn’t expect you to forget. You’re usually the one on top of everything. We’re

supposed to go to dinner tonight.”

That’s right! Barbara had called her a few weeks back and made the date so they could spend

some time together. She felt Emma needed to get out and relax because all the previous wedding

planning had stressed her out.

“Um,” now what? Barbara was a wonderful person and Emma knew she could trust her to

know what she was doing. “I was just going out, but why don’t you come with me?”

Interest sparked in Barbara’s blue eyes. “Sure. Where are we going?”

They got in Emma’s car and she started driving before she finally told her. “Don’t freak out.”

“Uh-oh. Usually when people say that it’s because they know you’ll freak out.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “That’s what I’m afraid of. We’re going to see a new friend of mine.”

She glanced away from the road to catch Barbara’s brows lifting in surprise. “Oh?”

“As you know, I’m trying to find out what happened to one of my students. I requested

someone’s help and she might have some information for me.”

They reached the area where Emma had last seen Aria. She shut off the engine and sighed.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me about your friend, Emma?”

She bit her lip. “Like what?”

Darkness fell around them. But once her eyes adjusted, she was able to make out the area.

“Oh, I don’t know. Like the fact she’s got killer curves and can suck you dry in a manner of

minutes?”

Emma jerked her gaze up from her cell phone to look out of her windshield. Aria stood in

front of her car.

Barbara opened the passenger side, hopping out quickly. Emma followed suit, hoping the two

women wouldn’t find it hard to get along. She knew that vampires and shifters didn’t mix, but when it

came to it, there were lives at stake and she hoped they could put their species differences to the side.

“I see you brought another pet,” Aria sighed. She folded her arms over the top of her black T-

shirt. Tonight, she’d worn hip-hugging jeans that Emma had to admit looked amazing on her and a set

of spike heeled boots. The vampire knew how to dress. “What is it with humans and dogs?”

“I’d watch that pretty mouth of yours, little girl. This dog bites,” Barbara growled.

Oh, shit. “Aria, please. This is Barbara Wolfe, mate to the Alpha of the Wolfe Pack and a

wonderful friend of mine. She’s just as worried about finding Maria as I am,” Emma said, hoping her

words would cut the tension between the two.

Aria nodded. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wolfe. I have had a very trying day and it’s showing in my lack

of manners.”

“That part, I can understand. Try having five kids to drive you insane and then you can talk

about having a trying day,” Barbara muttered.

“Barbara, I’m sorry for this change of plans, but you know I’m trying to figure out what could

have happened to Maria.” She turned to Aria. “Tell me you found out something?”

“Yeah. Quite a few things. One of them being I am almost sure someone in my clan is keeping

things from me. I can’t say that your girl went to Embraced, but that’s a high possibility right now.”

“Any way we can find out?” Barbara asked.

Emma tapped the side of her car with her nails. “I went by the club with Nic the other day.

You hardly see anyone going there.”

“That’s because a lot of the dealings happen via the back entrance,” Aria stated. “Feel like

taking a ride?”

“No need to tell me twice, let’s go,” Barbara exclaimed, jumping back into Emma’s car.

“So who runs this place,” Emma asked Aria as she drove.

“Technically, it’s supposed to be a free sharing of blood and sex between my clan and one

located further south,” Aria said in the quiet car. “Back in the time of my parents, they’d tried to find

a place for the vampires to congregate.”

“Do you know anything about this other clan?” Barbara asked, shifting sideways in her seat to

glance at Aria in the back seat.

“My council deals with them more than I did, but I think the idea was that one day I would

unite both by marrying their clan leader. His blood-line is muddy and he’s looking to clean it up by

uniting with me.”

“I don’t understand,” Emma mumbled. “Muddy?”

“I am a direct descendant, blood born, of Miralla Abarca. The original Queen of the night.

He’s not. He was turned by someone who was turned. The strength and powers decrease when you

are not directly linked to a clean blood-line.”

“Oh.”

They neared the club when Aria told her to turn down an alley and park. They left the car and

walked to the mouth of the alley, where they could see the back entrance to the club’s building. A

group of people were entering the door so they stood back and watched.

“Why do they use the back door and not the front?” Emma whispered. She wiggled in her

stretchy pants. They were the most comfortable pair she owned and she wasn’t sure what the night

would entail so decided to go for comfort.

“Those that are regulars use the back door, but visitors from out of town or newer vampires

are scanned and tagged in the front.”

Emma threw a glance over her shoulder at Aria. “Scanned and tagged?”

Aria grinned, showing off her fangs. “Non-vampires should not be able to get in there.”

The sound of a van coming down the street in front of them got their attention. Wheels

screeched as the vehicle came to a sudden stop. Two big, buff men jumped out of the front of the van

and opened the back door. One of the guys was bald, wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans.

Multiple tattoos and piercings covered his face and arms. The other guy, much shorter, with short

dark hair but just as muscled, wearing all black followed.

Emma gasped as she watched two young girls leave the van.

“I don’t know about this,” a blonde girl, no more than fifteen said. “We should go home and

not into any vampire clubs.”

Aria hissed behind Emma.

“Yeah,” the young brunette girl said. “We changed our minds. We want to go home.”

The two men grabbed the girls by the arms and laughed. “You can’t change your minds now.”

“They’re shifters,” Barbara growled softly.

Then, to add to their surprise, the back door to the club slammed open and a short blond man

walked out to meet with the shifters.

“Are these our blood donors for tonight?” Blond guy asked the men.

Bald headed guy snarled. “Don’t get too close to me, bloodsucker. Rocco sends these with his

regards. Said he expects payment when the time comes.”

Emma glanced over her shoulder at Aria. The vampire was silent and unmoving, but the fire in

her eyes spoke volumes. Deathly volumes. She whispered really low. “Does he look familiar?”

Aria shook her head. “Must belong to the southern clan.”

A second guy came out of the club wearing full body leather. His hair was slicked back to

show a widow’s peak on his pale face. “I’ll take one.”

Emma couldn’t wait any longer. She motioned for everyone to move back toward her car.

“Look,” she murmured. “We have to get those girls out of there before they make it into that

place.”

Aria nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line. “If they do, they’re as good as dead.”

“I’m ready. I just kicked some of the enforcers’ asses at the training center yesterday,”

Barbara said. “But Emma is human and can get hurt.”

Emma took that moment to pull out her shotgun from the trunk, along with a piece of metal tube

pipe she carried on her driver’s side. “I like to keep these handy. For close encounters of the

supernatural kind.”

“Okay,” Aria said, her fangs peeking, “leave the vampires to me.”

Emma blinked and Aria was gone. She rushed to the alley entrance where Barbara zoomed

past her toward the two shifters holding the girls hostage.

Aria jumped through the air, landing on her heels in front of the two vampires. She hissed,

baring her fangs and backhanded the leather-clad guy to the building across from the club. His back

hit the concrete wall and he slid down with a groan.

The blond vampire’s eyes went wide at the sight of her. He worked his mouth, but nothing

came out. He jumped back, his body flying through the air. He pulled out a gun from the waistband of

his pants.

“You idiots!” Aria hissed. “Haven’t you ever been told not to argue with a mistress?”

Barbara knocked the two shifters from behind.

Emma took that moment to motion the two girls toward her. They ran for Emma at the same

time the shifters jumped to their feet. She shoved the girls behind her, all the while holding the shot

gun ready in front of her. She didn’t want to leave in case they needed her help, but it seemed Aria

and Barbara had kicked things off with a bang.

Barbara growled, her body shifting and twisting into her white wolf. She jumped, knocking

one of the men down again. Barbara bit at the guy’s thigh, but he slammed an elbow into her side. She

whimpered and let go of him. The second guy returned, trying to kick Barbara.

Emma pointed the shot gun at one of the shifters and fired. The deafening sound of the shot

didn’t pause the fighting. The blast propelled her back, but she was ready for it. The shifter went

down for a second, giving Barbara the chance to get back on her feet and even out the fighting.

The two male vampires flashed their fangs at Aria and flew at her at the same time. She

jumped, landing ten feet behind them. One of the guys got to her. He tried to grab her hair, but she

moved faster, slipping past his grasp. She kicked, hitting the bald headed vampire approaching her

from the right side. He skidded down the alley to hit a dirty dumpster. Aria flew at the blond vampire.

She picked him up and landed on a ledge, holding him by the neck.

Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone, pressing a button to reach Ellie.

She passed the phone to one of the girls at her back.

“Ask for Ellie. Tell her we’re at Embraced and Emma and Barbara need help!”

Three figures showed up from the other side of the alley. It was three shifters and for a

second, Emma couldn’t tell whose side they were on. Then, two of the guys jumped into the fight and

helped Barbara.

The third new guy ran toward Aria and the vamps. He stopped, watching her fling the blond

vampire across the alley, where he slammed into the back entrance of the club. At some point when

the fighting started, the gate had come down, sealing the back entrance.

The second vampire shot upward, shoving Aria off the ledge she’d jumped on. The shifter

growled and jumped, catching Aria before she hit the ground.

The two vampires used that moment to run off. Emma glanced at the shifters Barbara had been

fighting. One of the bad guys had gotten away. Barbara had the other guy dismembered.

Emma rushed out to Aria. The shifter holding her didn’t appear to care that she was a

vampire.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked, reaching their side.

Aria pulled out of the man’s grasp and nodded.

“Your friend’s been hurt,” one of the other guys said, calling their attention to Barbara. Her

wolf’s usually white coat was matted in blood. She fell to her side, panting.

Emma ran for Barbara, her heart thumping in her throat. Fear for her friends choked the air in

her lungs. She kneeled down, searching through the fur for injuries.

“Looks like she’s been stabbed a few times,” one of the guys said.

Aria picked up Barbara’s wolf and turned to Emma. “Do you want to take her somewhere or

do you want to wait?”

She readied to say take her to the hospital when the sound of cars approaching stopped her.

She turned to ask the shifters some questions but they’d gone. “Frickin’ hell!”

“I can find them for you if you want,” Aria offered.

“I think you should put her down.” Emma glanced at the vehicles closing the distance. “I don’t

want them thinking you did that.”

“I should go. We’ve had enough fighting for one night.” Aria placed Barbara back on the

ground with utmost care. She straightened and frowned at Emma, her gaze filled with fury. “Keep

your phone close. I’ll find out what’s up with shifters getting blood to vampires and get back to you.”

Emma nodded, leaning down to pet wounded Barbara. She called the teens over to her side

where she could keep better watch as the other shifters arrived to help out.

An ambulance wailed as it neared Emma. Two big, beefy enforcers jumped out of the

ambulance, picked up Barbara’s body and rushed her into the medical vehicle.

Ellie and Mason appeared out of another car, running toward Emma. Shaari and her partner

took the teens away from the area.

TWELVE

Mason’s heart raced when he saw Emma covered in blood. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, her face pinched in pain. “Is Barbara going to be okay?”

Ellie glanced over her shoulder. The enforcer nodded. Ellie turned back to Emma with a sigh.

“Yes. She’ll be fine.”

“What happened here?” Mason asked, needing to figure out how Emma and his mother got

caught up in a fight.

“Can we get out of here?” She mumbled, moving closer to his side. “I’ll answer all your

questions but I don’t want to stay anywhere near this place.”

Mason pulled her into his arms. She pointed to her car in the alley.

“I’ll follow you guys,” Ellie said. “I need to know what happened.”

The ride to Emma’s house was quiet. She’d withdrawn into herself. Mason noticed it from the

moment he’d arrived at the area. When Ellie told him Emma was in trouble his heart felt like it was

being torn from his chest.

“Emma?”

She’d been staring down at her bloodied hands the entire drive. She lifted her gaze from her

lap and met his. There was fear and pain in her eyes. He sensed and scented her worry.

“I shouldn’t have asked your mom to come with me,” she mumbled.

He could hear the struggle in her voice to keep from crying. “Don’t do that to yourself. My

mother will be fine. She’s an Alpha female that has seen bigger injuries than those little cuts.”

She swallowed hard. “But she wouldn’t have gotten hurt today if I hadn’t been so hard-headed

and taken her with me.”

“Emma. My mother would be offended if she knew you were upset over a few cuts. She can

handle a lot more than that. She’s tough,” he said, trying to pacify her. He enfolded her hand with his,

lifting it to his lips for a kiss.

Once they were at Emma’s house, Ellie and Nicole joined them shortly after.

Emma glanced up to meet Nic’s worried gaze. “I heard. Are you okay?”

She nodded, still leaning into Mason’s side. “I’m fine.”

“I could use a drink. Anyone else?” Ellie asked, heading for Emma’s kitchen.

Mason nodded at Ellie. Emma needed to drink something. She was cold in his arms, her body

shook every few moments.

“What happened?” Nic asked, sitting across from Emma and Mason.

Ellie reappeared with a glass of wine in one hand and a whisky tumbler in another. She

passed the whisky to Mason. Mason put the drink in Emma’s hand. “Here. Have a sip of this. It will

help calm your nerves.”

“I’m not nervous,” she denied with a soft tremble in her voice.

“Em, mom is fine. I promise you she’s going to be doing great tomorrow. She just needs to

sleep it off,” Ellie smiled from the sofa next to them.

“There was so much blood on her.”

Mason’s heart ached. Emma’s distress had the animal in his pushing at the skin, wanting to

appease his mate.

“How did you end up at Embraced?” Nic asked the question in all their minds.

Emma glanced at Mason before replying. “I got a text from Aria. She said she thought there

had to be something going on in the club.”

“Did she know what or did you all just decide to show up and see what you found out?” Ellie

asked, leaning forward.

“We decided to go check out the back entrance and see if we saw anything suspicious. Some

shifters were dropping off two teenagers for them to bleed.”

“Jesus!” Nic exclaimed. “Those two little girls?”

“Yes,” Emma turned to face Mason. “Rocco hired those rogues to bring the girls to the

vampires.”

“But why?” Ellie asked. “What could he possibly want with vampires?”

Mason didn’t know. He had a feeling they’d need to find some of the rogues and see about

getting them to talk.

“Then these three guys showed up to help,” Emma added. “I think they were rogues too, but

they helped us, not them.”

Interesting. He’d have to talk to his brothers and find out who those guys were. Maybe they

could shed some light on the vampires and Rocco.

“I’m not surprised by any of this,” Nic said. “Vampires drink blood. Of course they’d want to

get some humans brought to them.”

Emma shook her head. “Actually, according to Aria, her clan is human-blood free. They only

drink synthetic or animal. It was another reason she was pissed at seeing those girls brought to the

club.”

“Looks like she’s got some strays,” Ellie mused.

He needed to find out what the hell was going on between the vampires and Rahound and fast.

Before any other humans ended up missing or dead.

* * *

Aria slammed a book across her study, anger simmering in her veins. She’d been deceived.

Someone in her clan had to know about those kids.

A knock sounded at her door and Chantal, Anton and Claude entered the room in a hurry.

“Is everything okay?” Chantal asked, rushing forward.

Aria raised her head to glare at the three, knowing her eyes were blood red from her recent

feeding coupled with anger. Chantal stopped abruptly, keeping a safe distance. Smart move.

“There have been humans at Embraced!”

“Are we back to this?” Anton asked, his voice whiny with frustration. “I already told you—”

She hissed, her fangs descended and a blast of fury sparked in her chest. Then she jumped,

letting her anger flow and shoved him across the room to slam against her bookcase. “I don’t give a

fuck what you told me. I saw it myself!”

Chantal gasped. “What? When?”

Aria flung around to face Chantal. “Does it matter when?”

Chantal’s gaze dropped to floor. “N-no, mistress.”

She glared around the room. “I want to know who’s been bringing humans into Embraced.”

“B-but—” Anton started, getting back to his feet.

Aria stopped mid-stride. “But nothing, Anton. This is priority.”

Anton fixed his suit into place, saying nothing over being flung across the room. “Mistress,

we’ve been talking to the south about a possible union and questioning them could be seen as

undesirable.”

“I don’t give two fucks what they think!” She slammed a hand on her centuries’ old desk. “I

want to know who’s been breaking the rules and I want to know now. Find out now or I’ll have

Julian, Penelope and Zane dig deeper when they return in a few weeks.”

The three of them nodded in quick jerks before leaving the room. She knew they liked to act

like they could fix everything but Julian, Penelope and Zane were her most trusted elders. If she had

to wait for them she’d lose weeks of time she could be using to solve the problem of who was feeding

on humans.

She let herself fall on her chair. The anger inside her hadn’t ebbed. She wanted answers. She

wanted names. And then, she wanted to go take some heads off.

A firm knock sounded at her door.

“Come in.”

It was Marxius, her chief security and personal guard.

“Mistress, I just wanted to let you know we caught sight of a wolf tonight, but we didn’t go

after him. We were sure he was passing by,” he said shoving handguns into his holsters. “He was

pretty far off the property.”

She nodded. Her mind was still focused on the fact that someone if not a few someone’s in her

clan knew about the human blood-drinking. Worse than that, they might be actively participating,

breaking all the rules they’d established centuries back.

“Marxius, let me ask you something. Has there ever been any talk of our people drinking

human blood after we became animal drinkers?”

Marxius frowned, pressing his lips into a thin line. “If there is, I haven’t heard of it. They

know I’d inform you of anything like that. However, there are those that might feel the urge to satisfy a

human blood craving.”

“Like?”

Marxius shrugged. “Anyone who’s had it before. Human blood can be addictive. Especially

during the throes of a sexual encounter.”

Yes, but these were children. What sick bastard would want to drink from a teenager and get

turned on?

“Thank you, Marxius.”

He turned to leave but stopped at the door. “The only way to know who is doing it is to go

check on it yourself. You’d be surprised what you find out when you go undercover.”

Aria swiveled her chair around to face the giant glass window the moon shone through. Her

mind drifted back to the shifter that caught her. There had been no need for him to catch her. She

would have landed on her feet, but the act had remained in her head. His eyes, that bright electric blue

that she’d only seen in the waters of the Caribbean had held her captive for a few seconds. Until she

realized he was a shifter.

Something about him made her feel strangely uncomfortable. She didn’t like that. Shifters

weren’t her foe, but that one was dangerous. She sensed it the moment he put his hands on her.

She’d call her new human friend soon and see if she wanted to try a second stakeout.

Hopefully they could finally figure out who was getting humans into Embraced and why.

* * *

Mason sat down in a booth at Aric’s empty bar and groaned. He’d been up all night with

Caleb and Jake, searching out the rogues that were taking over Caleb’s land thanks to Rocco, Caleb’s

uncle.

“I need a massage,” he grumbled, leaning back on the cushion.

Jake dropped his head on his arms and mumbled. “I do too.”

“Thanks for your help,” Caleb said.

“Who’s making the coffee?” Mason asked. “Because I can’t move.”

He’d been going non-stop from the club to hunt to Emma and then doing it all over again. It

was starting to take a toll on him.

“I’ve got the coffee,” Nate offered.

They had hardly seen Nate the past few weeks with Karla getting closer to giving birth. He

was spending all his time with her.

“Thanks, bro.” Jake groaned, his head still laying on his crossed arms.

“How’s your mother?” Caleb asked.

Caleb’s features had changes in the past six months. He’d gone from a younger wolf looking

for his own way, to knowing what he wanted and going after it. Mason saw the leader in him every

night. Caleb sustained wounds but continued to fight. The number of rogues on his property had taken

them by surprise. Luckily, Jaxon, a friend of the Wolfe’s had sent some of his people to help in the

fight.

“She’s good. Not even a scratch on her,” Nate answered, bringing the pot of coffee on a tray

with mugs, cream and sugar to the booth.

Caleb nodded, rubbing a hand over his short hair, exhaustion visible in his eyes. “I’m sorry

about Emma. I bet that must have been scary for her.”

Mason sighed. “Yeah. She got really worked up.”

“Can you blame her?” Caleb filled a mug with straight black coffee and added sugar. “You

said she lost her family. She’s pretty close to your family, so seeing your mother bleeding, even if in

her wolf form, would have terrified her to think she was going to lose her too.”

Ah, hell. He hadn’t thought of that. Emma had been all over his mother after her injury, making

sure she was taken care of even though she’d been back on her feet the next day. He picked up his

cup, added coffee, cream and sugar. “I’m such an idiot.”

Jake snorted. “We already knew that.”

“Shut up, furball,” Mason replied.

“Hey, that’s Aric’s name,” Jake threw back with a laugh.

“Speaking of women,” Nate said, taking a seat. “Have you talked to Ellie?”

Both Mason and Jake turned to face Caleb. Their friend had aged a lifetime in his battle

against Rocco. It was obvious in the lines in his face and the rigid way he carried himself.

“Not recently,” he admitted. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then glanced at them. “I

can’t yet. I can’t make her promises when I don’t know if there will be a pack left after this. I won’t

bring her into the destruction Rocco has created of Rahound.”

They nodded in understanding. Ellie was too important to Caleb for him to bring her into

danger. Just like their mates were to them.

Caleb pursed his lips, his eyes glowing with the power of his animal. “It’s not open for

debate. Ellie stays with you all. She stays safe. And until I can guarantee she will not run into any

danger with Rahound, I won’t discuss her going anywhere near the pack. Or me.”

There was a moment of silent acknowledgement over what he was willing to lose in order to

ensure her safety.

“So what did you learn about the vampires getting teen humans from rogues?” Jake asked,

downing a second cup of coffee.

Mason winced in his seat. Damn, he hurt. All he could think of was going home to his Emma.

Making sure she was okay and nothing happened to her while he’d been gone.

“Emma said one of the guys said the girls came from Rocco.” Mason sighed. “Seems he’s got

something up his sleeve with his rogues and feeding the vampires.”

“And the vampire female?” Nate asked folding his arms over his chest and leaning back.

“Apparently, she likes Emma and wants to help her find Emma’s missing student.” Mason

replied. “I don’t know what to think on that end. But Emma says Aria’s clan made a vow centuries

ago to not drink human blood.”

Jake snorted. “Yeah, right. Like that’s possible. Who the hell believes that?”

Caleb stretched his arms above his head, yawning in exhaustion. “I’d heard of that. It’s why I

hadn’t given them a second thought. I knew vampires in the area had given up the human blood so we

didn’t have to worry about them so much.”

“Looks like not all of them are in agreement on that decision,” Mason muttered. “Someone is

taking these girls. Aria is trying to figure out who on her end made the deal and we should probably

try to find out from some rogues what it is Rocco is trying to do with the vampires.”

Jake rubbed his eyes and hung his head. “So business as usual, huh?”

“Yeah. More crazy shit to deal with,” Nate replied.

They had been fighting Rocco and his influx of rogues for months now. To know that he was

trying to get vampires involved somehow made things even worse.

“FYI, Caleb,” Jake grumbled. “If you don’t kill Rocco, one of us will. This lack of sleep is

making me cranky.”

Caleb smiled coldly. “He’s already dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

THIRTEEN

Emma stared gloomily down at her hands. No matter how hard she’d tried, she wasn’t

shifting. It had been almost three days and nothing. Everyone said she didn’t smell any different. Nic

and Ellie had given her sad looks and told her they couldn’t scent a wolf in her. Then Emma had gone

and added ‘other than Mason Wolfe’ to lighten up the mood.

Oh, well. It was bound to happen to someone. All the others had no difficulty turning, other

than Nic in Vegas. She’d gone through a hell of a time with her body trying to decide if it was going to

accept the change or not.

Her cell phone beeped. The hard wood of her desk chair was all but forgotten when she saw

who was messaging. Aria.

I’m playing detective. Want to join me?

Hell yeah! She replied quickly and waited for further instructions. With Jordan on her

honeymoon, Ellie and Nic tried to spend time with Emma, but they had their own lives too. Though

recuperated, Barbara was busy with her husband’s upcoming travel. That meant Emma was able to go

off and help Aria try to figure out the vampire and shifter link.

Aria asked her to meet her at the same location as before. She said she had someone in mind

she wanted to follow and things might get ugly. Emma thought long and hard about what she’d said.

She wasn’t a shifter. She wasn’t a vampire. She was a human. Able to get hurt or killed. At that

moment, she made a decision she hadn’t expected to.

She dialed a number and waited.

“Hey, brat.”

A smile split her lips at the greeting. Even having mated her, he continued to call her by the

endearment he’d dubbed her when they’d first met.

“You really busy?”

“For you? Never.” He said, his words a low growl. “Want me to come over and we can—”

“What are you going to do?” She asked, her body growing warm at his tone of voice.

“Baby, I’m going to make you scream for me,” he promised. She knew it wasn’t an empty

promise either. He’d get her to scream alright.

“You sound kind of full of yourself there, Romeo.”

“Confident. Not full of myself. You know you love my tongue gliding up and down your pussy,

licking your sweetness.”

She gulped. Wow. He’d pulled out the big guns. “I’m not the only one that likes licking,

though.” She taunted. “I’ve watched your face when I flick my tongue around your cock,” she moaned.

“Those quick little circles get you growling for me.”

He breathed heavily over the line. “Yes, I won’t deny it. I fucking love watching you suck my

cock. My dick between your lips is the second thing I love to see.”

She licked her dry lips and squirmed in her seat. “What’s the first?”

“My dick going in and out of your pussy. Going deep, feeling you clench me tight and then

coming out soaked. That’s fucking beautiful.”

Oh, good God. “I won’t argue with you there. Watching you fuck me has to be one of the best

things I’ve seen. Your cock filling my pussy,” she groaned. “It doesn’t get much better than that.”

“It does,” he growled over the line. “Me coming in your pussy. My seed breathing life into

your womb. That is even better, beautiful. Our children.”

She gulped. He was moving a little fast there.

“Slow it down, Romeo. Before you have me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, I was

wondering if you wanted to go on a little expedition with me and Aria.”

“What is this about?” He asked. Gone was the playful, naughty tone to be replaced with his

growly bossy one.

“She thinks she’s got a lead on the shifter and vampire connection.”

Normally, Emma wouldn’t have thought twice to leave with Aria and not say anything, but

Mason had been trying really hard to keep her abreast of pack business so she didn’t feel ignored or

rejected. It was her turn to return the favor.

“I’ll come pick you up,” he said. “Don’t leave without me.”

She rolled her eyes at the way he said the words slowly. “I’m the one that called you,

remember?”

“Okay, just don’t leave. I’ll be there soon.”

* * *

Trevan glanced at the stack of cash on the table. He wasn’t desperate for money, but he’d take

it if it was being given. Besides, this was a good opportunity to find out what the hell was going on

between the Rahound pack and the vampires.

His memory returned to the vampire he’d caught falling from the ledge. She’d been full of

curves. Beautiful. With a scent unlike any other he’d ever smelled. She was also his. There wasn’t

time now to think about her, or her delectable ass. He remembered the surprised look on her face

when he’d caught her, along with the slow sweep of her tongue over her lips. The small bite of her

bottom lip, showing of her tiny peeking fangs. Hell. What the fuck was wrong with him? Wanting a

vampire. They were the worst of the worst. They’d killed his family.

“You’ll do the job?” The older shifter asked, representing Rahound during their meeting. It

seemed the old guy wasn’t interested in talking to the hired help.

“He already said we would,” Roen growled, slamming his fists over the wooden table.

The small cabin was devoid of any of the usual homey comforts. Trevan figured they only

used it to do business with outsiders from the lack of furnishings and poor state of the place.

The shifter, who asked only to be referred to as Zel, glared at them. The large diagonal scar

covering the left side of his face, appeared larger when he snarled. “I expect some girls delivered to

that address tonight. We’ll hear about it if you don’t do the job.”

Alain marched up, taking his place on Trevan’s left side. “We’ll do it.”

Zel nodded and motioned for one of his guards to open the cabin door.

Nice way of telling them to get out. They left without saying anything else, ready to get the job

done. Trevan didn’t know where they were getting the girls, which worried him. If they were going to

put an end to the human teens being given to vampires, they needed to know where it was originating.

Trevan sat in the passenger seat of his four door pick-up truck, giving Alain the driver’s seat.

Roen took the back seat, behind Alain. Trevan turned sideways to speak once they were far enough

away from the cabin they wouldn’t be heard.

“How are they getting these girls?” He asked.

“I’ve been racking my brain with the same question.” Roen replied. “They’ve gotta be using

young wolves to lure the girls in.”

“Yeah. I don’t see teenagers going off with strange adults,” Alain added.

“I don’t either. That means that these young wolves have to be saying something that’s

prompting the girls to want to go with them to check out this club.”

Roen gripped the back of Alain’s driver’s seat. “If something sounds cool or fun, some girls

will want to check it out. I mean, they’re living in a town filled with paranormals and I’m sure they’re

curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Trevan muttered, his voice a thunderous snarl.

“True, but they’re not thinking about that. They’re only thinking of how interesting or fun it

will be to try and meet a real vampire,” Alain sighed.

“So now what?” Roen asked. “We taking these girls to the vamps?”

They had to. Or they wouldn’t know who it was that had the deal with Rahound. Plus, it

wasn’t like they’d actually give the girls up. They’d have to pick the girls up first.

“Let’s get through with the pick-up. See how things work out and who they have delivering

them to us,” Trevan answered.

The road turned rockier. Obviously, the place they had to go to retrieve the girls wasn’t easily

accessible.

“I keep wondering why they are passing these girls from hand to hand.” Alain mused. “Why

don’t they send whoever got the girls to deliver them to the blood suckers?”

Good question.

“I think they might not want anyone to know too much,” Roen supplied with a frown. “In case

someone gets caught?”

“It’s possible. I don’t know. This whole thing stinks.” Alain gripped the wheel tighter.

“From what I noticed,” Trevan eyed his friend, “they change the meeting locations constantly.

They also don’t want a single group doing everything. It seems that’s their way to ensure that even if

someone gets caught and talks, they won’t be found. By the time the next delivery or pick up takes

place, there’s a new meeting location and route.”

Which made things harder for them. If they didn’t kill the vampire hiring out the wolves to

give them humans to bleed, then they wouldn’t know where the next set of girls caught would be

brought. They could use a different group of men to deliver the girls. And Trevan and his friends

wouldn’t be able to help.

“We’re here.”

Another fucking cabin. Apparently shit happened out in the woods in Blue Creek. This place

looked ready to fall to the ground. When they got out of the pick-up, he noticed a black van park

around the side of the cabin.

Two young human kids, no more than eighteen or nineteen came out of the cabin, followed by

two shifters. The shifters were also younger, possibly in their teens.

“You here to get the girls?” One of the shifters asked, eyeing them suspiciously. “Zel called

and said he’d sent you this way.”

Roen nodded. “Yeah. We’re here for the girls. Where are they?”

The kid threw him a set of keys. “They’re in the back of the van.”

The other shifter gave them a toothy smile. “Don’t worry. We got them tied up so they won’t

be getting away.”

“Are they always tied up?” Alain asked casually, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Trevan wanted to bash all their heads in. Fucking idiots. Taking little girls to be bled by

vampires.

The shifters glanced at each other before the kid who threw the keys replied. “Nah. But these

two gave us some trouble after we got here. Trying to escape and shit.”

“They usually want to go meet the vampires,” said one of the humans.

Trevan nodded. “We’ll take them over to the meeting place.”

FOURTEEN

Emma turned to Mason with a frown. “You have to try to behave yourself around Aria.”

He glanced at her from the driver’s side. “Define behave.”

“Mason!” she slapped him on the shoulder, which only made her hand sting but he didn’t even

blink. “She’s helping me. Helping us try to figure out this mess.”

He raised a brow. “She’s a blood sucker.”

“I’ll have you know her clan is human-blood free,” she said smartly.

“Are these the same people dealing with Rahound to get human blood?”

“Well, okay. She’s human-blood free. She’s trying to figure out who is making deals for

humans on her side.” She sighed. “Give a girl some credit. At least she’s trying.”

“You’re right. She is and I am grateful for her help. Which means I won’t kill her.”

“Gee, thanks,” she muttered. “You’re too kind.”

They got to the meeting place and Aria waited on a black bike. She wore head to toe leather

and made Emma decide then and there that she needed a leather outfit in her life. Spiked boots and

all.

“Good, you brought your pet,” Aria said for a greeting.

Mason growled beside her.

“Relax,” Emma whispered. “She’s just kidding.”

Aria grinned, showing the tips of her fangs. “She’s right. I am only kidding.”

“Thanks for the heads up, Aria.”

She nodded. “Follow me at a good distance.”

Aria took off on the bike and Mason floored it behind her. They drove through a different area

of town close to the warehouses by Embraced. Aria stopped suddenly. She made signals for them to

stop as well.

Emma and Mason jumped out of the car. Though she couldn’t fight with her hands like the

shifters, she could shoot better than anyone else she knew. She could also kick some serious ass with

her katana. With a knife strapped to her back and two handguns at her hips, she could offer some help.

They caught up with Aria in the back of what looked like an abandoned warehouse.

“Why are we here?” Emma whispered as they walked.

“One of my people.” Aria slowed her steps. “I chose to follow today because something told

me to. Council outings are usually recorded in case I need them.”

“And why is this suspicious?” Emma asked again.

Aria turned to meet her gaze, her eyes filled with fury. “This outing wasn’t recorded. In fact,

there was no mention of leaving the mansion.”

“Do people normally tell you where they’re going?” Mason whispered.

Aria shook her head. “No. This is a council member. They have different rules than the rest of

the clan.”

Shit. That meant this person could be the one making deals for teens. Aria jumped, landing on

a ledge by a high window.

Emma envied her speed. And Spiderman ability. They waited for her to jump back down a

few seconds later.

“Let’s go around through the side. I saw a van pulling in and we’ll want to see what’s going

on from a better spot.” She motioned to the left side of the warehouse.

The chill from the evening didn’t bother Emma as much as the worry that this would be a dead

end.

Piles of crates and boxes hid their entrance from view.

A black van stopped in the center of the warehouse. Three guys jumped out. Emma gasped.

Dammit, she knew those guys. They’d helped them at Embraced.

There was another man with two others facing away from Emma.

“You have the package?” One guy asked.

“Yes,” said the shifter that caught Aria when she fell from the building at Embraced. “Who

are you?”

“None of your business, dog,” yelled the guy in the center, walking up to the van.

“I think it’s my business. I got your package. How am I supposed to verify you’re the right

person to give it to if you don’t give me your name?” The shifter said with a humorless smile.

Aria jumped over the crates to land behind the vampires. “His name is Anton.”

Emma gasped, rushing behind Mason to offer Aria some backup. Shit. Aria had gotten ahead

of them and from the sound of her voice she was pissed.

The guy she referred to as Anton flung around to face her. “Aria—”

“What’s the package they have for you, Anton?” Aria asked, curling her hands at her sides into

fists.

“I can explain—” Anton started.

“It’s blood.” Said the same shifter with the bright blue eyes as he stared at Aria. “Human

blood to be exact. In the form of teenagers.”

Anton flung himself at Aria, grabbing her by the shoulders and slamming her against a wall of

boxes. The sound of the falling boxes exploded along with the instant fighting.

Emma pulled her guns out and shot at the two vampires moving towards Aria and Anton. Not

tonight. Those two were going to fight with no interference.

Mason lunged toward the others that had come in the van.

“Stop! We mean the kids no harm,” the shifter said.

“You were ready to hand them over to vampires!” Mason yelled, his features taking on the

shift. He was close, so close to shifting she didn’t want to blink and miss it.

“We had to come,” another guy said. “To figure out who made the deal for the kids with

Rahound.”

Mason stopped, growling at the men. Emma saw the wolf trying to come out, but he reined it

in. She knew he could tell if the guys were lying. His inaction meant they had to be telling the truth.

“Watch it!” A third guy yelled and Emma lifted her guns, shooting at the same moment the guy

shifted, attacking one of the vampires coming at Mason.

Mason and the blue-eyed shifter went after one of the vampires while the other two guys took

on the second. Emma searched the room, searching for Aria and lost her breath watching Aria kick

and punch the older vampire.

“I trusted you!” Aria screamed. They were on the metal beams hanging from the ceiling,

fighting. She elbowed the guy in the gut.

“You stupid, little girl. Did you honestly think people stopped drinking human blood?” The

guy wiped at the blood dripping from the cut Aria did to his face. He lifted his hand to his mouth and

licked it.

“These are kids!” She flung herself at him, bringing them back down to the ground with a

massive crash. The cement floor broke from the force of their fall. Another loud thump sounded from

where Mason and the wolves fought the other two vampires.

Emma turned back to the shifters and took aim, shooting at the vampires and hoping to help

Mason and the others. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Aria slicing the older vampire’s face

with her nails.

Anton punched Aria in the face, shoving her off him. Emma aimed at him and took a few shots

but he moved too fast for her to hit. Fuck! The bastard was damn fast and she worried about Aria. He

hissed, as if noticing Emma for the first time. Oh, shit. His diversion was short lived. Aria flung

herself at his back. She clutched at his throat, nails digging until blood oozed from the cuts. He shook

her off, swinging his arm and tossing her across the room to land at Emma’s feet.

Aria jumped back on her feet, hair disheveled and wearing multiple cuts and tears to her

clothes. She reached behind Emma and pulled, taking the katana Emma strapped to her back.

“I’m going to borrow this for a second.” She jumped away before Emma could say anything.

Aria flung around to face Anton. She lifted the blade and swung, slicing through Anton’s suit.

The material from his clothes gaped to show a long, thin red line of blood from the cut.

“I’m not the only one breaking your rules,” Anton laughed.

Aria swung again. The blade hissed as it sliced through the air and Anton’s sleeve. Emma was

caught off guard when she saw Mason and one of the other shifters dashing toward Anton.

They leapt through the air, taking Anton down. Mason bit down on one leg. The shifter who

was a gray wolf with the bright blue eyes crunched down on Anton’s arm. He struggled to shake them

off, but they had their jaws locked on him.

“You can kill me, Aria,” he hissed looking up at Aria from the ground. “That won’t stop the

fact others in your family are breaking your rules.” He shook his head. “What are you going to do, kill

us all?”

She lifted the katana and nodded. “Yes.”

The blade came down swiftly. Emma didn’t even hear it cut. All she saw was Anton’s head

roll away from his body.

She turned around and shot at the vampire fighting a losing battle with the other two wolves.

Aria joined them, slicing through the vampire in seconds. The pieces of the guy Mason and the blue-

eyed shifter had torn apart lay around them.

Mason and the others shifted back to their human bodies, covered in blood. Aria pointed the

katana at the shifters.

“Who are you?” Aria asked.

“I’m Trevan,” the blue-eyed guy said. “This is Roen and Alain.”

“Why were you bringing the teens to the vampires?” Mason asked, tugging Emma to his side.

Emma tried to avert her gaze. It was weird as hell talking to naked men she didn’t know. Not

that anyone else seemed to mind or care.

“We were passing through when we were approached about a job,” Trevan said. His friends

nodded at his sides. “Apparently Rahound needed people to bring people to the vampires to feed.”

“And what is he getting in return for these blood gifts?” Emma asked.

Trevan shook his head. “I don’t know. We never got that part of the information. We were

only paid to bring the girls. But we knew we couldn’t allow them to be bled for some war between

packs.”

Aria frowned. “What do you mean war between packs?”

“The war between Rahound and the Wolfes,” Trevan said. “We heard that’s what he is

preparing for.”

Mason glanced at Emma. “He must be thinking that because we’re backing Caleb we’re going

to call on him as well.”

Emma nodded, her gut clenching. The fight for Caleb’s land was only growing by the day.

“What now?” Emma asked Trevan. “How do they contact you if they want you to do another

job?”

Trevan sighed. “We show up at this little hole in the wall bar mostly visited by humans. They

send someone there and then we’re told what they want. This was our first official job.” He glanced

around. “There’s nobody around to say we didn’t do what we were asked to do.”

“I need to know who else in my clan is seeking blood slaves,” Aria hissed, her fangs fully

extended and her eyes flashing with anger.

Trevan’s eyes brightened with his wolf. “We’ll go back. Make ourselves available in case

they have a second delivery.”

Mason nodded. He gave them his information so they could contact him with what they found

out. Aria did the same.

Emma glanced at the too quiet van. “Are the girls really in there?”

Trevan shook his head. “We didn’t want to run the risk of something happening and them

ending up in the vampire’s hands so we left them in the cabin we’ve been staying at.

Mason pulled out his cell phone and dialed for back up. “I’ll send my enforcer to get them.”

Trevan gave Mason details and Aria pulled Emma to the side.

“I have to go,” she said, anger pulling her features tight. “I need to go back before any of the

others return to the mansion.”

Aria glanced back at the men, staring at Trevan for a second before glancing back at Emma.

“I’ll be in contact if I find out anything different. You do the same?”

Emma nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need help getting back to your bike?”

The anger in Aria’s face fell and a smile broke across her lips, showing her fangs. The smile

made her eyes sparkle beautiful violet. “You mean that, don’t you?” She laughed. “You are a

sweetheart, Emma. I’m fine. I’ll be in touch.”

Emma watched her jump over a wall of crates and disappear. She turned back to the naked

group of shifters and frowned. One bad guy down and a billion more to go. Too bad she still had no

news on Maria, but she felt oddly comforted that soon she’d find the girl. She refused to believe

Maria had been bled out or killed.

FIFTEEN

Emma stood under the spray for a while, letting the hot water hit her, draining the tension out

of her stiff muscles. She didn’t know how Mason had been able to shower and head into the kitchen

when all she’d done was shoot and stress and her body ached like she’d done a killer cardio class.

After toweling off and heading for her bedroom, she smiled when the first thing she saw was

Mason holding a glass of wine out to her.

“Here, I bet this will make you relax a little faster.” He tugged on her robe, pulling her into

his arms. “You doing okay?”

She sipped her wine, curling a hand around his neck and sighed. “Yeah.”

He guided her backwards, to the leather seat next to the bed. He sat down and drew her into

his arms to sit on his lap. “I can hear your brain working.”

She grinned and glanced at his too handsome face. Mason wasn’t typical pretty boy,

handsome. He was too harsh, too rugged for that. With his dark eyes and short spiky hair, he was cute.

But adding his firm, chiseled jaw and strong dominating looks, he was fucking gorgeous. Not to

mention the nipple piercings and the tattoos. They all added to give him a dangerous, bad-boy image

that drove most women wild. Including Emma.

She wanted so badly for her relationship with him to work. He’d not done anything recently to

try and control her actions, which she had expected. She hadn’t seen any of his usual overbearing jerk

personality traits recently and that gave her hope. Maybe now that he saw she wasn’t an irresponsible

woman with a death wish, he’d stop trying to control her comings and goings.

“Do you trust me?” She asked suddenly, surprising even herself with the question.

He cupped her chin and turned her face to meet his gaze. “Do I need to answer that?”

“I want to know if you have realized I’m not putting myself in unnecessary danger and trust me

to do what I have to do without you having to babysit me.”

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. “I trust you. I’ve never not

trusted you.”

She shifted on his lap, trying not to think about the hard-on pressing on her ass. “But?”

“There are no buts. I trust you. I worry about you. I will do whatever I need to in order to

protect you and keep you safe. No buts.”

Dammit. It had been too good to be true. “Mason, you still think I’m reckless and put myself in

danger for no reason, don’t you?”

“No. I think that because you are surrounded by shifters, you forget you’re human and don’t

have the same healing strength we have.” He raised his brows. “Those cuts my mother suffered could

have killed a human, but she was up on her feet like nothing a few hours later.”

Emma bit her lip. She understood what he meant. Seeing Barbara laying in a pool of blood

had scared her. Not for herself, but for the people she loved. She didn’t want to see anyone else in the

same position, so it made sense Mason didn’t want to see Emma that way either.

“You have to understand,” she said softly, “I was raised to be independent. To do whatever I

felt needed doing for myself and others.” She caressed a hand over his scruffy day’s old beard. “Fear

shouldn’t hold a person back from doing the right thing. That’s what my dad taught me.”

He grabbed the hand she’d placed on his face, brought it to his lips and kissed it. “I

understand that, love. You have to understand that because I care about you, I won’t let any harm

come to you. Ever. That means I protect you. Understand?”

A small smile flirted over her lips. “I understand. We are just not going to see eye to eye on

this.”

“No. I think we have it figured out. You do what you have to do and I’ll have your back.” He

said, taking the wine glass out of her hand. “And right now, I want to have your back literally.”

She laughed at his words. “You’re such a romantic.”

He lifted her in his arms and deposited her on the center of the bed. “You want romance? I can

do romance.” He shrugged out of his clothes and hopped on the bed, pulling on the tie holding her

robe closed until it came undone. “I want to lick your pussy and watch you come all over my mouth.”

He pushed her back on the bed, peeling the robe from her body. “Then I want to fuck your pussy and

your ass. Until I fill both holes with my cum.”

She gulped. “I like this romantic side of you.”

He grinned. “Just wait. I’ve got a lot more in store.”

She scooted up the bed, giving him space to join her. He hopped off the bed and opened her

toy drawer on her bedside table. He pulled out one of her vibes and a bottle of lube.

“You got something in mind, Mr. Wolfe?”

He winked and dropped the toy and lube beside her on the bed. “I have more than something

in mind. I’m going to eat your pussy, make you come and then I’m taking your ass for a ride.”

Shudders raced down her back with how rough and growly he said that. Like he’d been

counting the hours until he could do that to her. Hell, okay. Maybe she’d been counting until she could

have his face between her legs again. Not that she would admit to that.

He crawled back on the bed, pushing her legs wide and inhaling deep. “Fuck, Emma. You

smell delicious. Like the ripest berries in summer.”

She gulped, watching him and moved her hands to rake her nails into his short, spiky hair.

“That sounds good. But how do I taste?” She grinned, hoping he’d hurry up and put his mouth

on her.

It worked. Thank goodness! He pushed the back of her legs up to the point her knees were up

by her chest and her ass and pussy were on display wide open.

She gasped. He ran his nose on her inner thigh, licking her softly with his cool tongue. “Right

here, you taste like summer. Fresh. Clean. Delicious.”

“Good to know. What about lower?”

He winked and kissed her pussy lips, swiping his tongue over her swollen center and dipping

it straight into her channel. “Here, you taste like heaven. Sweet like caramel with a flavor that’s

uniquely you.”

Her. He liked how she tasted. That brought a smile to her face and an extra dose of frantic

need into her blood.

He licked her again. This time he followed the lick with a groan and continued dips of his

tongue into her pussy, drawing out her essence with his touch. “Scrumptious.”

She moaned, tugging on his hair for him to push his mouth on her clit. She held her breath as

he grazed the tiny bundle with his teeth. Her muscles locked and a wave of heat pounded in her belly.

He slid a finger into her pussy, then a second. He fucked her with his finger and sucked her

clit into his mouth. With his other hand, he tweaked at one of her nipples. The combination of

sensations proved too much to bear.

She clawed at his hair, her hips rocking on his mouth, looking for traction. Finally, all broke.

Her hips flew off the bed. She dove from the cliff of need into a sea of bliss.

“Oh!” She tried to hang on, but her body shook. Pleasure flooded her system. Endorphins

swamped her muscles with joy. There was no fighting it. Only letting it happen and riding the wave.

Mason turned her on her tummy while she was still coming down from her orgasmic high.

She started out on all four and lowered her front to lay on the bed, leaving her on her knees in

a submissive position.

“You don’t know how much I like seeing you this way,” he breathed.

She licked her lips and glanced over her shoulder. “With my ass up in the air?”

“Oh, yeah. Offering it to me.”

He was sick. And worse than that, so was she because she loved the things he said. Obviously

they were meant to be with their perverted minds.

A cool trail of lube landed on her ass and traveled down, between her cheeks to her hole.

“Let me get the toy,” she said, holding her hand out under her body.

He placed the vibe into her hand. It had a curved body and flat head, ideal for clitoral

stimulation.

Mason inserted a finger into her ass, pushing in and out. She tensed at first, not liking the

invasion back there. Unlike some people, Emma wasn’t in love with the idea of anal sex when they

started, but once she got into it, she enjoyed it. It was the getting her there that was the hardest.

“Relax, baby. I promise to make this good for you.”

She knew he would. He always did. Her pleasure was his top priority and she loved that

about him. That didn’t take away from the fact she tensed up at the first sign of pain from something in

her ass.

A second finger went in and he scissored them, stretching her and adding more lube into the

mix. Once she was greased up, he placed the head of his cock at the entrance of her asshole. Mason

always lubed himself up well to lower the discomfort level for her.

She pressed a button on the toy and rubbed it up and down her pussy. The soft buzzing helped

shoot up her pleasure and take her mind away from his driving into her ass.

“Push out, sweetheart,” he grunted. “Make it easier for me to slide into you.”

He gripped her ass cheeks open, sliding his cock slowly into her ass with tiny see-saw

motions. She pressed another button on the toy and the buzzing increasing. The vibration of the toy on

her pussy sent her closer to the edge.

Before she knew it, he was inside her. He pulled back and thrust deep and fast.

“Ah, hell! Your ass is tight!”

She gasped. Darkness burned at the edges of her vision. Her muscles tensed, readying for her

impending climax.

She pressed her face into the sheets. Her hand holding the toy shook. She didn’t hold back any

longer. She placed the toy directly on her clit, allowing the vibration to take her to heaven. Her ass

squeezed at Mason’s cock.

He growled, pumping faster into her. Pleasure engulfed her in sheer bliss, blanketing away

any thought other than how good she felt. Her pussy grasped at nothing, looking for penetration. The

tension ebbed away, leaving her filled with delight. Mini explosions rocked her core. God, that felt

amazing.

He grunted, slowing his thrusts. His cock felt like a steel beam sliding into her. He bit his

fingers into her hips and held her wiggling hips steady. Then he roared a howl. His hips jerked into

her, his dick still pounding her from behind. He squeezed at her ass, pushing deep into her and filling

her with his cum.

She couldn’t move. There was no way she’d move from there at all. Mason didn’t bother her.

He slipped out of her ass and went to the bathroom. She heard the tub filling and knew he’d readied a

bath for her. Sure enough, he returned moments later and picked her up in his arms.

“I can’t walk,” she mumbled, curling her arms around his neck and placing kisses on his

throat.

“That’s why I’m carrying you. I told you I could be romantic.”

She snorted. “You just came in my ass.”

“I never said I was a clean romantic.”

* * *

Aria glanced around the bedroom, looking for something to wear. Emma had been kind enough

to invite her over to meet some friends. Aria didn’t normally go out, but the human had been

persistent. Besides, Aria liked her. She reminded her of her mother with the way she cared and tried

to solve all the world’s problems. A soft knocking sounded at her door.

“Come in,” she called out, throwing a pair of black jeans on her bed.

“Mistress,” Chantal said from the door, “I was told you were going out tonight. But I thought

you’d want to meet. I wanted to know if anyone found out about the human at Embraced.”

Aria struggled to rein in her temper. She hadn’t told anyone about Anton, so it was hard for

her to discuss anything without giving away her fury. “I’ve decided we can wait until Julian and the

others return before I continue my investigation.”

Chantal frowned, folding her hands in front of her. “I—,” she cleared her throat. “Do you think

we are not doing a good enough job without their guidance?”

Aria stared at her assistant for a moment. “Where’s Claude?”

Chantal’s eyes went wide. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“This is the problem I am having. Nobody is doing anything that I requested. So I will give

Julian, Penelope and Zane time to return from Spain before I get them on the case,” she said and

turned to her closet to rummage through a row of tops.

“I admit, I haven’t heard anything from anyone here,” Chantal mused. “Are you sure it wasn’t

a mistake?”

Aria gripped the soft material of a red top and yanked, tearing it from the hanger. She whirled

to face Chantal with a glare. “I don’t make mistakes.”

“Well maybe Anton will find out more than I could,” Chantal shrugged. “He left yesterday to

do some research.”

Yeah, she bet he did. She glanced away from Chantal and took a deep breath. “Hopefully

something comes from that.”

Luckily for her, Aria owned the warehouse where Anton had set up his transaction. Aria had

called Emma and they’d been able to arrange clean up so that no one in Aria’s clan knew what had

happened there. In case someone else wanted to use the same place for a second meeting.

“If I see Claude, I will ensure he comes by to see you,” Chantal smiled. “I’ll keep my ears

open for anything anyone says.”

“Thanks.”

Anyone in the clan could be dealing with Rahound for blood. Much to Aria’s disgust and

irritation, she’d been played. They’d been drinking human blood and she’d been none the wiser. That

was going to end the moment she found out who else was dealing with the shifter for humans.

She’d just finished getting dressed when Claude showed up at her door. He didn’t look at her

in the eyes, which raised an alarm in her.

“Claude? Is everything okay?”

He nodded. “Yes. I came to see you to let you know I am still...I’m trying to find out who is

requesting the human blood.”

He shifted from foot to foot and kept throwing glances over his shoulder.

“Do you have anything you want to share with me?”

He jerked his gaze back to her face. “No. I’m just...I’m just gonna go. I’ll be back later.”

She blinked and he’d gone. Unease settled in her gut. Claude had been a blood relative and

one of her best friends. She didn’t know how to process his unusual behavior. She summoned

Marxius to her room, hoping he’d be able to shed some light on the situation.

“Mistress, you called?” Asked her six foot wall of muscle personal guard.

“Yes. Claude. Put someone on him.”

Marxius’s outward appearance didn’t change. “For how long?”

“Until I figure out what he’s hiding from me,” she said, lifting a glass of blood to her lips. She

needed to feed before she left or she’d end up with cramps like she’d had the previous night. She’d

gone too long without feeding and paid the price with pain.

Marxius nodded. “I’ll have a team follow him. I heard he was getting ready to go, so I’ll get

on that now.”

“Marxius,” she called out, stopping him as he reached the door. “If you find out anything at all

that I should know, contact me immediately.”

“Like what? Humans?”

She pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes. I don’t know what has him so agitated, but if he’s one

of the people I need to stop to save some lives, so be it.”

SIXTEEN

Mason turned to face Jake and Caleb. “They should be here soon.”

“And you’re sure about these guys?” Jake asked, his expression impassive.

He’d been worried at first, but seeing them fighting on his side against the vampires and

getting the teens safely had solidified his trust.

“Yes. I looked into them. Trevan Stone’s pack lived a quiet life until they were torn apart by a

group of vampires. His brother was the Alpha. He and the family died, leaving a handful of his pack

struggling for a leader,” Mason filled up a mug with beer and sat down. They’d taken Aric’s bar as a

place to meet. Aric had closed it up while he and Jordan were away.

“Why didn’t he assume the leadership?” Caleb asked, his hand shooting out to grab the mug

sliding on the counter toward him. Jake followed up the beer with a bowl of pretzels.

“Apparently he didn’t want to be the leader. The pack was so torn up that those left felt the

area was bad luck and took off,” Mason replied.

“So he was just passing through?” Jake moved to their side of the counter with his own beer.

“Yeah. They happened to go to that human bar to ask about a place to stay when they were

approached by one of Rahound’s men.” Mason took a gulp of his own beer.

“Did you put someone to check out that bar?” Jake asked Caleb.

Caleb nodded. “I sent some of Jaxon’s men out there. They’re not known by Rocco’s men so I

am hoping they can find out more about what it is they’re planning with the vampires.”

The bar door opened and Trevan and his friends entered the bar. Mason watched the shifters

for a moment. He didn’t get a bad vibe about them. They appeared to be loners, not looking for a pack

but to keep moving.

“Trevan, come meet the true Rahound leader.” Mason pointed at Caleb. “This is Caleb

Rahound. Alpha to the Rahound pack. Rocco is trying to steal his pack from him.” Then he cocked his

head to the side at Jake. “And that’s my brother Jake Wolfe.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said, shaking their hands. “This is Roen Girard and Alain Thorpe.”

“Can I offer you some beer?” Jake asked. “I’d offer women, but my wife would probably

sense I even mentioned the word and come down here and kick my ass.”

Mason grinned. “You can’t offer women. You don’t have any to give.”

Jake laughed. “Hey, I will have you know, I own the hottest place they can go to meet women.

It’s not called the Naked Wolfe for nothing.”

Trevan and his friends laughed. “We heard about your spot. Good place to pick up some

screaming females was what we were told.”

Jake handed them some beer. “See? Word gets around.”

“Anything you can tell us about Rocco and his plans?” Caleb went straight to the important

questions.

Trevan pulled a seat from a nearby table and turned it to face the group, taking a seat. Alan

and Roen did the same with other chairs at the same table.

“We got a call today,” he said.

Caleb’s features drew tight with tension. “What did they want?”

“They have another job for us,” Trevan replied. “More kids. So that guy wasn’t the only

vampire they’re sending blood to.”

Fuck! Mason slammed his beer mug on the counter, spilling liquid on his hand. “It’s like a

fucking plague. How many of these leeches do we have to get rid of to stop this?”

Alain shook his head. “We’re not sure, but we got the sense that this person was important.”

Caleb frowned. His eyes flashed with the power of his anger and his animal. “Why?”

“They said not to be late that our contact doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” Roen added.

“When is this going down?” Jake asked. “Do you need backup?”

Trevan shrugged. “Tomorrow. But we wouldn’t be able to tell you details until we’re on the

road. They’re secretive about giving up anything until the last second.”

Caleb nodded. “That’s fine. We can intercept you and get the girls. Then we can follow you to

your drop off location.”

The others nodded in agreement. Mason hated the idea of bringing Emma into trouble, but he

knew she’d probably hang him by the balls if he attempted to do anything without her. Not to mention

she was damn good with her guns.

* * *

Emma smiled and turned to the others. “Don’t scare her.”

Ellie and Nic glanced at each other and Nic snorted. “Do we look like monsters or

something?”

Emma hopped to her feet to open the door for Aria. “Just be nice.”

“You’re going to have to open the door in order for us to be nice,” Barbara prompted. “I’m

sure she’d like to come inside.”

Nic giggled. “Let the woman in, Emma. We promise not to stake her.”

Uh-oh. Vampire jokes. Poor Aria was in for it.

Aria stood at the other side of her door with a smile. “You do know that you have a paper thin

door and everything could be heard out here, right?”

Emma sighed. “Yeah, but I still try to control these heathens.”

Ellie lifted a glass of wine. “Welcome, vampy princess. Come drink some wine and trash talk

men.”

Aria’s smile grew wide, showing the tips of her pointy fangs. “Thanks, but I’ll pass on the

wine.”

“I’d offer to shove a straw into one of my veins but I hear you don’t drink human,” Nic

winked.

“Nic!” Emma chastised. “Give her a second before you’re offering to pop her human blood

cherry.”

Nic giggled. “Just sayin’, Aria. I’m delicious.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Ignore them. They’ve had a lot of wine.”

Aria sat down on one of the leather sofas. “I thought shifters didn’t get drunk?”

Barbara lifted her own wine to her lips. “We don’t. Seems these two,” she said, referring to

Ellie and Nic, “get silly.”

“It’s the feel good endorphins,” Ellie threw in. “Wine makes us feel happy.”

“You and every other woman out there,” Emma laughed.

“How’s searching for your strays going?” Barbara asked, sipping on her wine.

The smile on Aria’s face dimmed. “It’s not yet. But it should be soon.”

Multiple rings and buzzes went off at that moment. Emma and Aria pulled their phones out and

glanced at their screens.

“Your pet sent me a message,” Aria said.

“Did she just call Mason your pet?” Ellie laughed. “I’ve gotta remember that one the next time

he gets on my nerves.”

“I got the message too,” Emma frowned.

She glanced up and caught Barbara’s gaze. “What’s going on? Any news on the vamps and

teens?”

“Seems the rogue shifters were hired for a new job,” Aria read from her text. “Maybe now I

can figure out who else in my clan is breaking their diet.”

“Damn,” Nic winced. “I’d hate to have you in charge of my food.”

Aria showed off her fangs. “My people know what happens when they break our rules. There

are no second chances.”

“I think we should just raid that club already.” Ellie sat up on the carpet, crossing her legs and

hiding her bare feet.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Aria said. “Let me think on that.”

A raid. Wow. That could get really dangerous with the number of vampires in Embraced. Not

to mention what if there were humans inside? Would they be hurt? There was a lot to consider before

taking those kind of steps.

“It would help us know for sure if there are actual humans inside,” Barbara said, tossing a

blonde strand of hair behind her ear.

“I could always go back by myself, but I think they’d hide anything they didn’t want seen

before I make it through the door.” Aria mused.

“Hey, it’s just an idea,” Ellie sighed. “It could get us closer to knowing what the hell is going

on in that place.”

Emma stared at Ellie for a while. Not only was she drinking the wine like it was going out of

style, but she appeared tired and frustrated. She must miss Caleb. Heck, Emma missed Mason and he

was only gone for a few hours. It must be hell to not see someone you loved for weeks on end. She

didn’t ask Ellie when she’d last seen Caleb for fear she might make her friend cry.

When Emma was still unsure of her feelings for Mason, she’d tried to stay away from him, but

now she realized that she couldn’t. Locking her feelings for him away would do nothing but hurt her.

She loved the annoying growly mutt and she was willing to spend her life with him.

Her gut clenched thinking of Mason. Every night she stressed about his being out there,

fighting the rogues. Who cared how strong a shifter he was? He was still a man that could get hurt.

She hated to think about Mason or any of the others hurt or worse. So she struggled with her fear and

watched him go off to fight the rogue battle, all the while wanting to chain him to the bed and telling

him he wasn’t going anywhere.

* * *

Mason glanced at Emma on the passenger side. They were getting ready to join the others at

the location where the drop off of the girls was going to take place.

It was decided that Aria, Ellie and Nic would help out in case back up was needed. Jake also

followed along. Caleb couldn’t attend, but wanted to know as soon as possible if they had the address

of the young shifters getting the teens so he could take care of them himself. Mason knew those guys

would be up shit’s creek the minute Caleb got a hold of them.

“So what do you think about getting married?” Mason asked casually.

“Wh-what?” Emma blinked, her jaw hanging open.

He grinned, loving the stunned deer-caught-in-the-headlights look on her. Emma was never

speechless. “Us. Get married.”

She cleared her throat, clenching her hands on her lap. “Um...why?”

“It’s what people do. You know? Love, marriage, kids?” From the corner of his eye he saw

her frowning in thought.

Emma had opened up so much since telling him about her family. But he still saw the

insecurity whenever he walked out the door. He knew she was worried. He sensed her fear and was

shocked she never said anything to him about it. His fighting alongside Caleb and the others was

stressing her. Her fear had actually helped calm his own. If she was that worried about his life, he

knew she had to understand his fear for hers. Her fear was unfounded. He was strong. Could handle

anything that came at him. She was a human. And though he’d hoped she’d take to the change, she

hadn’t yet.

She’d scented slightly different that morning, but not enough for him to say she would change.

The past few hours the scent had grown slightly. He could only hope it meant she’d soon have the

strength to be able to continue doing what she loved to do without him worrying about her getting hurt.

“You want to get married?” She asked. There was a slight tremble to her tone.

“It doesn’t have to be now,” he said, hoping he hadn’t scared her. “But yes, I do.”

She turned to glance out of the window, not saying anything else. He waited, worried he’d

somehow messed up the path their relationship was on, but she said nothing.

When they got near enough to the rundown shack they were supposed to meet the others, he

turned to her. “Emma.”

She glanced at him, her eyes filled with insecurity. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Okay. But we will talk about it.”

She nodded, rushing out of the car to join with the others arriving. She strapped on her guns

and knife at her back. Trevan and his friends were parked by the shack. They divided into groups.

Closed in on the shack in a circle. He, Emma and Aria headed up through the trees, the van easily

visible in the distance.

A group of six people left the shack. A woman and five men.

“You have the slaves?” The woman asked.

Mason glanced at Aria who gasped. Her features turned dark with fury. Aria zoomed into the

scene, jumping over the shifters and landing in front of the woman, her heels thumping on the wood of

the shack’s steps.

“Chantal,” she hissed, lifting the woman up by the throat and flinging her back to hit the door

of the shack, breaking it with a crack.

All hell broke loose at that point. Everyone ran for the shack. The vamps flung themselves at

Trevan and his friends. Ellie and Nic shifted, hurdling themselves into the fray.

Emma pulled her guns out and started shooting. Mason helped the wolves. He didn’t shift, not

yet. The vampires tried to move fast around them, but Ellie and Nic bit down on legs and arms,

holding them in place.

Then Aria flew out of the shack, holding the other woman by the neck and slamming her back

against a giant tree. Chantal shoved at Aria, hissing and baring her fangs.

“You did this to me,” Chantal screeched. “No human blood,” she spat. “It goes against our

nature.”

Aria swung, punching Chantal across the face. Blood oozed out of Chantal’s nose. Her eyes

widened. Chantal flung herself at Aria, crashing against the side of the shack, bringing down a weak

wall.

“I didn’t make the rules! You agreed to them centuries ago.” Aria screamed and swung again.

“What vampire doesn’t want blood?” Chantal lifted her hand and wiped her nose then lifted

her fingers to her lips and licked. “Who doesn’t crave the taste?”

“I don’t!” Aria kicked Chantal in the stomach, the move sending Chantal into the fighting zone.

“You will one day, princess.” Chantal laughed diabolically. “One day you won’t be able to

stop the thirst.”

Mason had his arms wrapped around one of the vampires, holding the bloodsucker down

when Emma started shooting at Chantal. He wanted to tell her to stop. To not call attention to herself,

but the vampire wiggled and elbowed him in the gut. Mason’s grasp loosened. Ellie and Nic tore one

of the guys’ arms’ off and moved on to another.

Trevan fought one of the vampires while his friends had two others in their grasps. Mason

flipped the vamp, slamming him down on the ground and flinging him over his head to do it again.

The ground shook as Aria tossed Chantal across the shack again. Another wall came down,

leaving the thing precariously standing on a few beams.

“I’m older than you, Aria,” Chantal hissed, tearing a tree and flinging it at Aria.

“You’re a turned, Chantal. You’ll never have my strength.” Aria jumped straight for Chantal,

but the other woman moved lightning fast.

Mason slammed the vampire on the ground again, and tossed him at Nic and Ellie who had

disposed of yet another between the two.

Mason searched out Emma and watched in horror as Chantal continued moving too fast for

Emma to shoot. To his horror, Chantal stopped behind Emma, curled a hand around her throat and

another on her chest.

“You can’t protect everyone, Aria,” Chantal grinned, showing her extended fangs. “Not this

time. I made a deal with Rahound. We get blood and he gets our help to fight the shifters he wants out

of the way.”

“My clan is not yours to run, Chantal!”

Mason ran, but he wasn’t fast enough. Chantal jumped with a struggling Emma, her nails

turning into long claws dug into Emma’s chest. Chantal did a quick long tear and the sound of Emma’s

scream froze his heart in his chest.

SEVENTEEN

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I got blood. You can’t beat me.” Chantal dropped Emma seconds

before Aria reached them. Aria grabbed Chantal by the neck and squeezed.

Mason’s breaths pounded hard in his ears. When he reached Emma, she was drenched in

blood. Long deep slashes gushed blood from her chest. He checked her pulse. It was weak but still

there. He tore off his shirt to cover her wounds. Then he glanced up where Aria had been fighting

Chantal. Chantal’s head flew off her body as Aria tore it off in anger.

The other vampires were also tore to pieces by Trevan and his friends and Nic and Ellie.

Aria rushed to his side, dropping down to the ground beside him.

“Bite her. Get her to change!” She ordered.

“It’s not that simple,” He argued.

Aria’s eyes were blood red. “Either you bite her, or I will. And if I do, she’ll be one of

mine.”

Mason’s heart ached, watching his shirt soak in Emma’s blood. “I thought you didn’t bite

humans.”

“I’m not going to let her die!” Aria yelled.

A loud, pain-filled scream tore from Emma. She twisted in his arms, her arms flinging and

breaking.

“Mason, is she—?” Ellie asked, shifted back into human. She and Nic both wore T-shirts too

large for either.

“Come on, brat!” He encouraged her. “Shift, baby.”

Emma screamed again. The sound sent chills down his spine. Being hurt and shifting for the

first time had to be one of the most painful experiences. Emma’s eyes fluttered open. There it was.

The ring of gold he had hoped to see in her days ago.

“Mason?” She frowned and screamed in pain. “God, it hurts!”

Limbs twisted and broke. Fur sprouted down her body. Then it stopped. Mason cupped her

face, caressing her cheeks. “Emma, listen to me. You have to let the wolf take over for a little bit.”

Emma shook her head. “Make it stop!”

Her limbs flailed. She gasped. Her eyes opened and the gold turned brighter. “That’s it, baby.

Let the wolf have control.”

Her limbs twisted again. Bones cracked and reorganized. He’d been so used to shifting that

he’d never stopped to pay attention to how painful it sounded. The anguish on Emma’s face pushed

his own animal to the surface. He had a hell of a time biting back the beast and keeping control of his

wolf.

He continued encouraging Emma to allow her animal free when all of a sudden the shift took

control of her and she went from his sexy, curvy mate to a beautiful golden and brown wolf laying on

her side. Her wounds were still bleeding, but not as much as they had been while she was human.

“Stay this way, Emma. The longer you stay in the wolf, the faster you’ll heal,” he explained.

The cleanup crew arrived a short time later. He waited until an ambulance arrived to get

Emma home. The chest wounds had been bad, so it would take a while for her to heal.

Aria tapped his shoulder as he readied to leave with Emma.

“Thank you for your help,” she said.

He nodded. “Caleb took care of the guys they’d hired for the girls. I don’t know if the southern

vamps were in on it, but we’ll keep track of them.”

She pursed her lips. “I’ll go deal with them soon. It’s time they realized there will be no union

between me and their leader. I also need to know if any of their people had the same deal with

Rahound. I’m calling a raid on Embraced. I’ll clean up the clan of rule breakers.”

Mason nodded and glanced around, caught Trevan watching them and turned back to Aria. “If

you need anything, just call us. We are happy to offer back up.”

She smirked. “Thanks but my guards can handle it. Now I can’t call you her pet anymore.

She’s one of yours.”

He grinned, eyeing the ambulance. “I know. Don’t tell her that though. She’ll say I’m still a

mutt.”

Aria laughed and marched off. Ellie and Nic marched to his side. “You ready to go?”

He was beyond ready to go. All he wanted was to take Emma home and wait for her to heal so

he could make sure she was fine again. Then he wanted to kiss her from head to toe and hold her for

days. Listen to her heart beat. Listen to her breathe. Just know that she was okay.

* * *

“I’m sorry about Maria.”

Emma glanced up from the socks she was folding to smile sadly. Aria had done a raid in

Embraced. They’d found Maria being used as a blood slave. She hadn’t been turned, but the

experience had been traumatizing for her. Her mother and family had moved away and taken her to get

help in another state.

“I’m sorry too,” she mumbled.

“You did your best, Emma.” He said, picking up one of her curls and pushing it over her

shoulder.

“I know. I still feel shitty over what happened to her though,” she admitted.

“I know, babe. But at least we found her. And she wasn’t one of them.”

True. That was a positive. She didn’t know how much it worse it would have been for Maria

to also be turned into one of the vampires. Emma smiled, watching Mason fold socks to her

specifications. “You got it down pat, mutt!”

He lifted a brow and threw a pair of socks at her. “Most people fold socks one into the other.

But you had to be one of those fanatics that actually folds socks.”

“If you shove them one into the other, then one will get wider than the other and it’s going to

look weird when you wear them.”

Mason growled. “Who has separate drawers for colored and white socks?”

She laughed. “Me. I like being organized.”

“It’s called insane, brat.”

She choked on a giggle, watching him place her socks neatly in the drawers. “You like how

organized I am with my toys.”

He stopped and glanced at the bedside drawer. “That one is actually a good idea. It’s easier

for me to find stuff when I’m in a rush.”

She lifted a finger and motioned him toward her. “Come here.”

“Am I going to be compensated for the pain of having to fold socks?”

She pouted. “Maybe.”

He lay over her on the bed, ignoring the pile of socks he’d messed up. “This sounds

promising. When you put your lips like that all I want to do is watch you suck me off.”

She took a deep breath and stared him deep in the eyes. “I’ll do it.”

“Awesome, let me take these pants off,” he said pulling away.

“Not that!” She chortled, slapping him on the shoulder. “I’ll marry you.”

“Baby, I already knew you’d marry me,” he said, lowering to kiss her.

“Full of yourself much?”

He shook his head. “No. But you love me. So you’ll marry me. Just like I love you.”

She blinked, her heart soaring in her chest. “You love me?”

He frowned. “You act like I’ve never said it before.”

“That’s because you haven’t!” She curled her arms around his neck. “Say it again. More

romantic this time.”

He cupped her face with his hand. “I love you, Emma. I love you from the tip of your gorgeous

hair down to your cute little toes. I love your snark, your bossiness, and your need to debate. I love

your loyalty and how hard you care for people.” He nuzzled his lips over hers. “I love your body. I

love every single dip and curve. I love how hot and wet you get for me and how fucking good you

smell when I turn you on.”

She sighed. “Yeah. I really like how romantic you can be.”

“If you like that, you’ll love what comes next.”

Emma’s heart sang. She’d fought accepting Mason as her mate for so long and now all she

wanted was to be with him forever. The wolf inside her told her there was no more second thoughts.

It was him and her all the way. Emma couldn’t agree more. Mason belonged to her. Forever.

EPILOGUE

Emma lifted the glass of wine to her lips. It was her favorite. Mason had made sure to buy it

for her for the girls’ man bashing night at their place. He truly was a great mate. And as soon as things

calmed down, she’d tell the others they went to the justice of peace and got married. For now, she’d it

keep their secret.

“I’m tired of this,” Ellie exclaimed. She ran her fingers through her new cut. Ellie’s hair grew

so fast that she could give it a buzz cut and have a bob in a month. She’d gone with the spiky cut

again. This time adding hot pink chunks.

“What are you going to do?” Nic asked. She’d been quiet so far. Much like Emma, she’d been

listening to Ellie’s arguing over Caleb pushing her away.

Ellie met Nic’s gaze and then Emma’s. “I’m going to do what I should have done from the

beginning.”

Uh-oh.

Barbara grinned. Her blue eyes flashed with wolf power. “What’s that, baby?”

“I’m going to help him fight. I’m going to stand by his side and help him get his land back.”

“Sounds like the smartest thing you’ve said all night,” Barbara mused. “You’ve got my

blessing.”

Ellie blinked. “I do?”

“Honey, no matter how strong he is, you can’t let him do this alone. You both know you’re a

team.”

“But mom, I didn’t think you’d want me to put myself in danger.”

Barbara sipped her wine and put it down after a moment. “He’s your mate. Do what your

heart and your wolf feel is the right thing to do.”

Emma and Nic gasped.

“He’s your what?” Emma asked.

Ellie glanced down at her glass. “I didn’t tell anyone. It’s not like he bit me.”

Barbara lifted a brow. “No. You only went and married him thinking we wouldn’t find out.”

Holy shit! Emma blinked at Ellie. “You married Caleb?”

Ellie grinned sheepishly and lifted her wine glass. “Surprise?”

THE END

A

LSO

F

ROM

M

ILLY

T

AIDEN

C

HECK

O

UT

T

WICE

THE

G

ROWL

A

ND

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ALL

FOR

T

WO

H

OT

S

HIFTERS

P

ARANORMAL

D

ATING

A

GENCY

B

OOK

1

O

NLY

99

CENTS

OR

READ

FOR

FREE

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K

INDLE

U

NLIMITED

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Talia Barca needs a date. Badly. She uses the services of the Paranormal Dating Agency hoping for a decent guy to take to a family
wedding. A wedding her ex-husband has wormed his way into as a guest.

Connor and Theron want Tally to complete their Alpha triad. She's sexy, curvy and funny. But she's human. And they're not sure she'll
go for a relationship with two men at the same time.

As if deciding to give two men a shot wasn’t difficult enough, Tally will also need to deal with a threat from the pack. She'll either prove
she's strong enough to be an Alpha mate or find herself at the mercy of a vicious opponent.

C

HECK

O

UT

G

EEK

B

EARING

G

IFTS

A

ND

F

ALL

FOR

A

G

EEKY

B

EAR

P

ARANORMAL

D

ATING

A

GENCY

B

OOK

2

READ

THIS

AND

OTHER

TITLES

FOR

FREE

WITH

K

INDLE

U

NLIMITED

O

UT

N

OW

Nita Islas wants to find love. She’s tired of the superficial relationships and is ready to give true romance a try. She uses the Paranormal
Dating Agency and hopes they can help her where all others have failed. What she didn’t expect was to find her date flat on his back in
nothing more than a towel.

Ky Stone has been in love with curvy and funny Nita since they were in High School. When she moved away, she took his heart with
her. Then one day Ky wakes up to find her leaning over him. He’s sure he’s died and gone to heaven. He has no idea what she’s doing
there, but he’s sure as hell not letting her leave.

Fate, meddling family and the PDA have brought them together again. The chemistry between them is explosive. But there’s problems
with Ky’s neighboring clan and he’s keeping secrets from Nita. He needs to find a way to open up to her or lies and unexpected danger
could tear them apart...forever.

C

HECK

O

UT

H

ER

P

URRFECT

M

ATCH

A

ND

F

ALL

FOR

A

P

URRING

T

IGER

P

ARANORMAL

D

ATING

A

GENCY

B

OOK

3

READ

THIS

AND

OTHER

TITLES

FOR

FREE

WITH

K

INDLE

U

NLIMITED

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OW

Alyssa Moran is tired of being the old cat lady with no man. She has very specific needs and goes to visit Mrs. Wilder at the Paranormal
Dating Agency. Shockingly enough, she is promised a man who likes cats, wants kids, likes curves and will be wild in bed.

Grayson Green needs a mate. Fast. But he refuses to be pushed into anything. That is, until a curvy funny woman shows up in his
territory saying she’s there for him. Who is he to argue when someone as delectable as Alyssa decides she wants to give herself to him?

Of course, not all is at it seems and some people want Alyssa gone and Gray dead. If Gray mates, the future of his pride will be sealed
and no one can argue his place as leader. Unless it can be stopped before they ever get a chance to make some cubs. He will have to
work hard at convincing a human she’s the only one for him or lose his pride and his mate.

C

HECK

O

UT

C

URVES

‘

E

M

R

IGHT

A

ND

F

ALL

T

WO

T

IMES

T

HE

G

ROWLY

W

OLVES

P

ARANORMAL

D

ATING

A

GENCY

B

OOK

4

READ

THIS

AND

OTHER

TITLES

FOR

FREE

WITH

K

INDLE

U

NLIMITED

O

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OW

Daniella Flores is looking for a good man. A man who will accept her as she is and go crazy for her curves. So far she’s had no luck in
the romance department and is worried she might never find the right one. When Mrs. Wilder of the PDA offers to help, Dani is all for
trying anything. Mrs. Wilder promises to find her love, romance and hot sex. What woman in her right mind would say no to that?

Kane and Blake have been searching for a mate to complete their Alpha triad. There’s just one problem: they’ve yet to find a woman
they both want. Not to worry, Kane’s mother comes to the rescue and brings in the PDA. Unfortunately for them, Mrs. Wilder has
something up her sleeve and it’s not a bra. When they meet their mysterious date, they know she’s the woman they need.

A masquerade ball brings Dani and the shifters together. The two men who are really good friends with Dani’s overprotective older
brother. She’ll get one chance to finally live the fantasy night she’s always wanted with the wild wolves. Besides, it’s not like they could
really want her for a mate. It will take some maneuvering for Kane and Blake to keep Dani, not lose their friend and their pack, and
prove her curves are the only ones they want.

A

LSO

NEW

FROM

M

ILLY...

C

HECK

O

UT

ALPHA OWNED

A S

EXY

N

EW

S

HORT

O

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99

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INDLE

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NLIMITED

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Ciara Ortiz wants Ryker Snow. Too bad she's known all her life he needs a shifter for a mate. She's only human. After years of staying

away from the tempting shifter, she will finally see him for her brother's wedding. Can she handle it?

Ryker Snow will finally have Cici in his grasp. She's done a good job of ignoring him and this is his one chance at getting the woman he

wants.

When a drunken night leads Cici to an amazing but strangely-realistic dream of Ryker, she wakes up a different woman. She'll either

take a chance on the Alpha or walk away for a final time.

T

HE

S

ASSY

M

ATES

S

ERIES

A

ND

F

ALL

FOR

G

IRLS

WITH

C

URVES

AND

G

UYS

WITH

F

UR

H

UMOR.

H

EAT.

R

OMANCE

G

ET

YOURS!

S

CENT

OF

A

M

ATE

-

B

OOK

1

A M

ATE’S

B

ITE

–

B

OOK

2

U

NEXPECTEDLY

M

ATED

–

B

OOK

3

A S

ASSY

W

EDDING

–

S

HORT

3.7

T

HE

M

ATE

C

HALLENGE

–

B

OOK

4

S

ASSY

IN

D

IAPERS

–

S

HORT

4.3

–

C

OMING

S

OON!

A

BOUT

THE

A

UTHOR

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Milly Taiden (AKA April Angel) loves to

write sexy stories. How sexy? So sexy they will surely make your ereader sizzle. Usually paranormal
or contemporary, her stories are a great quick way to satisfy your craving for fun heroines with curves
and sexy alphas with fur.

Milly lives in New York City with her hubby, their boy child and their little dog “Needy Speedy”.

She’s aware she’s bossy, is addicted to shoe shopping, chocolate (but who isn’t, right?) and Dunkin’
Donuts coffee.

She loves to meet new readers!

SIGN UP FOR MILLY’S NEWSLETTER FOR LATEST NEWS!

http://eepurl.com/pt9q1

Find out more about Milly Taiden here:

Email: [e-mail]

Website:

http://www.millytaiden.com

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/millytaidenpage

Twitter:

https://www.twitter.com/millytaiden

If you liked this story, you might also enjoy by Milly Taiden:

Sassy Mates Series

Scent of a Mate Sassy Mates Book One

A Mate’s Bite Sassy Mates Book Two

Unexpectedly Mated Sassy Mates Book Three

A Sassy Wedding Short 3.7

The Mate Challenge Sassy Mates Book Four

Sassy in Diapers Short 4.3 (coming soon)

Federal Paranormal Unit

Wolf Protector Federal Paranormal Unit Book One

Dangerous Protector Federal Paranormal Unit Book Two

Black Meadow Pack

Sharp Change Black Meadows Pack Book One

Caged Heat Black Meadows Pack Book Two

Paranormal Dating Agency

Twice the Growl Book One

Geek Bearing Gifts Book Two

The Purrfect Match Book Three

Curves ‘Em Right Book Four

Tall, Dark and Panther Book Five (coming soon)

Other Works

Wolf Fever Alpha Project Book One

Fate’s Wish

Wynter’s Captive

Sinfully Naughty Vol. 1

Club Duo Boxed Set

Don’t Drink and Hex

Hex Gone Wild

Hex and Kisses

Hex You Up (coming soon)

Hex with an Ex (coming soon)

Alpha Owned

Bitten by Night

Seduced by Days

Mated by Night

Taken by Night (coming soon)

Match Made in Hell (coming soon)

If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review, even if it's only a line or two; it

would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!