Lynn Hagen Blue Moon

Blue Moon

When a string of murders hit the Vampire District, Lacee Blue

becomes the prime suspect. He is the only human proprietor in

this seedy district and is the only club owner who has had two

bodies discovered on his property. Worse, Lacee has been

infatuated with Detective Nate Sullivan for some time, and doesn’t

stand a chance with the Were if he can't prove his innocence. And

then body parts start showing up in Lacee's mail. He goes to the

only man he trusts, the same man who suspects him of the

crimes. Detective Sullivan. But more is going on in the district and

Lacee suddenly finds himself being hunted by an elder vampire

who thinks Lacee would make the perfect pet. Lacee's life is in

danger and if he doesn’t find help soon, he could be the next

victim.

Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Contemporary, Paranormal,
Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 43,501 words

BLUE MOON

Lynn Hagen

THE LYNN HAGEN

MANLOVE COLLECTION

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: The Lynn Hagen ManLove Collection

BLUE MOON
Copyright © 2014 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-398-7

First E-book Publication: October 2014

Cover design by Emma Nicole
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be
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All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance
to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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www.SirenPublishing.com

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BLUE MOON

LYNN HAGEN

Chapter One

“You’re gonna to have to call the cops,” Angelo said as he stood

beside me in the dark alley. It was a warm Saturday night, and the
heat had sweat clinging to my body. It was always sweltering in
midsummer and tonight was no exception. “He’s human. If you try
and cover this up, they will find out.”

They, meaning the KGI.
I stared down into Jared’s lifeless, milky-white eyes and

wondered who could have done something like this. What kind of
monster existed who would kill someone and just dump the body? I
had an urge to reach down and close Jared’s eyes but didn’t want to
mess with the crime scene. “I have no intention of covering this up,” I
said.

I just wasn’t looking forward to having the cops crawl through my

club. It was bad for business. I cared that it was Jared who was the
victim, but I didn’t know him that well. He had been working at Blue
Moon only about two months. But he’d been a humorous man who
loved to tease and joke.

This was a tragic loss.
“I’ll go make the call.”
I nodded as I continued to stare into Jared’s eyes. He’d been one

of my bouncers.

Lynn Hagen

This was the second body in a week that I’d discovered back here,

and this was going to cast suspicion on my club. The detectives were
still working the other cases, trying to figure out the clues.

A second body just might have the Blue Moon shut down. I was

the only human club owner in the Vampire District. While most
humans thought I was insane for owning a business in a vampire
community, the money was too good to pass up and the other club
owners didn’t look at my business as a threat.

They actually thought it was quite laughable that a human would

have the balls to open a strip joint in an area owned and operated by
vampires.

When Angelo returned, he placed his beefy hand on my shoulder

and turned me away from Jared’s lifeless body. “Stop staring at him,
Lacee.”

I turned away and strode back inside. The music was still playing,

and Brandywine was on stage, only halfway through her number. The
patrons had no clue that a dead body lay out back. They continued to
enjoy themselves, ignorant to what had happened. I wanted to keep it
that way. “We’re going to have to clear everyone out,” I said to
Angelo. “I’d rather the customers think that we shut down for other
reasons than murder.”

“Not good for business,” Angelo muttered as he walked over to

the DJ booth and had a private word with Eric.

By the time the club was cleared out, I had three patrol cars sitting

out back, lights flashing, drawing the kind of attention to Blue Moon
I’d rather do without.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the KGI had shown up.
Detective Nate Sullivan stood by the body as he talked with his

partner. The KGI normally investigated preternatural cases. Jared was
human. I could only guess that they were here because my club
resided in the Vampire District.

The KGI were a group of hard-nosed investigators comprised of

werewolves. They weren’t funded by the government like the police

Blue Moon

force and other official agencies. The human taxpayers who still
dominated most of the United States refused to waste their hard-
earned money on abominations.

Close-minded but true.
The wealthy vampires and the alphas of the various Were

population funded the KGI. Even though I was human, I still
contributed to that fund. I’d just never thought I would need their
services.

Brandywine and a few of the other dancers gathered around me in

the dim hallway that led out back, trying to get a look at the
commotion outside. Not only was I the only human proprietor down
here, but I was also the only person who employed transgender
vampire strippers. What can I say? It was a lucrative business.

Brandywine placed her hand over her mouth as tears gathered in

her heavily made-up eyes. “That’s Jared.”

“You guys go home for the night,” I said as I turned and ushered

them away from the door. I knew Brandywine would take this the
hardest. She and Jared had a thing for each other. It had been hot and
heavy between them for the last month.

When Brandywine began to break down, I wrapped my arms

around her and gave her a tight hug. She was much taller than me and
had to bend down, but she needed the comfort.

A throat cleared behind me.
I released Brandywine and waved for them to go. The girls

clambered down the hallway before I turned to see Detective Sullivan
standing at the back door. His shoulders filled the frame, and they
also filled the faded leather he was wearing. His amber eyes were
inscrutable as he tucked the small notebook into his jacket.

“Mr. Blue.” He nodded toward me. My heart began to beat harder

at his deep, masculine tone. I sighed, knowing I didn’t have a chance
in hell with this guy.

Weres didn’t mingle with anyone outside their own kind. But

what I wouldn’t give to have a roll in the sheets with him. He was

Lynn Hagen

sexy, enigmatic, and anyone’s wet dream. I’d heard through rumors
that Weres were aggressive and dominant in bed, but I was still
willing to take that chance for one night with Detective Handsome.

“Yes?” My voice was a bit breathy as I tried to slow my pulse.

But the closer he approached, the less I could think, let alone calm my
reaction to his presence.

“Can you tell me what happened?” He placed his strong hands on

his lean hips, making his jacket part to show the badge attached to his
belt and a gun holster strapped around his shoulder.

Angelo rolled his eyes before taking a stance behind me. He knew

I had the hots for this detective and couldn’t understand my
infatuation. Angelo was a vampire, my head bouncer, and took my
protection seriously. It could be the fact that I paid him well, but I’d
like to think some of his concern stemmed from the fact that we were
friends.

“It’s just like last time,” I said.
“Walk me through it anyway,” Sullivan replied in his businesslike

tone.

I had to pry my eyes away from his groin to answer his question.

That didn’t mean I couldn’t let my eyes travel up his well-toned chest
to appreciate how his T-shirt stretched across delectable abs and taut
pecs before I met his eyes. If I didn’t pull my shit together, I would be
drooling soon.

He was that damn good-looking.
“It was Jared’s job to guard the back door tonight,” I said. “He

was there at eleven when one of my servers took him a drink.”

One of Sullivan’s dark brows arched. “You let your employees

drink while on the clock?”

“It was a club soda,” I said with a touch of anger in my voice.

There were some who didn’t approve of these types of clubs. That
wasn’t my problem. My only concern was finding out who was
leaving dead bodies at my back door.

Sullivan seemed unfazed that I was offended. “Go on.”

Blue Moon

I cleared my throat and ignored the man’s indifference. “At three

o’clock Angelo went to the back to relieve Jared and found him
missing.”

“That’s a four-hour window of opportunity. How could you not

notice one of your bouncers gone for that long?”

Although I was infatuated with this man, he was starting to get on

my nerves. His underlying accusations made my blood boil. “I run a
very busy club. I don’t have time to babysit my employees. Jared was
a capable bouncer and knew how to do his job.”

Angelo touched my shoulder when my voice began to rise. The

last thing I needed was for Sullivan to haul me in for further
questioning. The KGI weren’t known for their kind dispositions or
gentle interrogation tactics. Which would make one wonder why I
was so in lust with this guy.

It was definitely the bad boy image. Okay, it could be the fact that

he carried a badge and a gun. But whatever the reason, Sullivan did it
for me. I couldn’t help who I was attracted to, but that didn’t mean I
had to put up with Sullivan’s shit. I wasn’t the criminal he was trying
to make me out to be.

Angelo’s thumb started massaging my tense shoulder. Sullivan’s

eyes zeroed in on what my bouncer was doing. Let the presumptuous
prick come to his own conclusion.

“And you didn’t notice anything suspicious before then?” Sullivan

asked. His tone had taken on a rough pitch, and I couldn’t understand
why he looked at me as if I were the one who had killed Jared.

“No.” I wasn’t a Were, so I couldn’t match his deep, masculine

growl. But my tone wasn’t half-bad for a human. I’d always had a soft
lilt to my voice, but I’d reached deep down to put some bass to it
tonight.

Sullivan’s eyes narrowed as he looked between me and Angelo. I

had an urge to take a step back at his aggressive stance. If Angelo
hadn’t been standing behind me, I would have.

Lynn Hagen

“Don’t leave town,” Sullivan said before he turned on his heel and

walked out the back door.

“What the fuck was that about?” I asked. The detective had never

acted this way before, and his aggression baffled me. The man
couldn’t think that I’d killed my own damn bouncer, could he?

Angelo made a throaty noise before he released my shoulder. “If I

didn’t know any better, I’d say that man was jealous.”

I turned, frowning. “Jealous of what?”
“Are you really that dense?” he asked. There was some emotion I

couldn’t name moving behind Angelo’s eyes.

“Apparently I am.”
Angelo moved behind the bar and leaned his beefy arms on the

counter. His eyes raked over me from head to toe. “You’re a cute little
twink with gorgeous blue eyes and sandy-blond hair.”

I blushed at Angelo’s salacious description of me. I never knew

how to take compliments, so I ignored it. “What do my looks have to
do with anything? Sullivan is a Were. They don’t date or screw
anyone outside their species. End of story.”

“But he’s also a man,” Angelo pointed out. I was confused at the

slight bitterness in his tone. “Just because his kind don’t have carnal
relationships outside their race doesn’t mean the guy finds you any
less appealing.”

Angelo was full of himself. There was no way Sullivan had been

jealous about my bouncer touching me. That was ludicrous.

Yet, a small part of me thrilled at the idea that Angelo might be

right. Too bad I would never find out.

Unless of course, another dead body showed up behind my club.

* * * *

It had been a long night, and I was exhausted by the time I made it

home. The sun was just breaking over the horizon when I pulled into
my driveway. I yawned as the sky turned a powdery pink. Last night

Blue Moon

better not be a reoccurring theme or the bodies would pile up and I’d
more than likely find myself sitting in a jail cell. Sullivan hadn’t
looked too happy about finding another dead body behind Blue Moon.
But, hell, I hadn’t put it there.

I walked inside to find Benjamin splayed on my couch, flipping

through the channels. My younger brother glanced up at me. “You
look like shit.”

I gazed at his unflattering brown uniform and shook my head.

Being a postal worker paid well, but the uniform wouldn’t win Ben
any dates. “Thanks.”

Ben set the remote aside and sat forward. “There was another

murder on the news. From your depressing expression, I’m guessing
the body was found at your club.”

“Very astute.” I tossed my keys on the stand by the window and

stretched, listening to my back pop. I needed a shower and a good
eight hours of sleep. “It was Jared.”

“Your bouncer?” Ben gave a low whistle. “That’s fucked up.

Does the KGI think you’re involved?”

“I didn’t have a pleasant run-in with them.” I tossed my thin

jacket on the back of the couch and kicked my shoes off before
dropping next to him, resting my head against the cushions.
“Detective Sullivan treated me like I was the one who killed Jared.”

“He’s an asshole.” Ben always knew how to make me feel better.

“The mangy dog is probably pissed that he can’t solve the string of
murders.”

Although I’d had the unfortunate luck to have two stiffs behind

my club, they weren’t the only dead bodies surfacing. A Werepanther
had been found dead behind Gravity, a BDSM club a few blocks over
from Blue Moon. There had also been a vampire found murdered
behind a smoking lounge over on Fourth a few weeks back.

“I have to get to work.” Ben patted my knee and then headed

toward the front door. He stopped and gazed back at me. “Just be
careful, Lacee. I don’t want your body found next.”

Lynn Hagen

Neither did I. “Angelo looks out for me.”
Ben curled his lip. “I still don’t understand how you fraternize

with vampires. It goes against nature. When people die, they should
stay dead.”

I wasn’t going to have this discussion with Ben…again. I was too

worn out and needed some sleep. I didn’t function very well, let alone
think clearly when my brain was trying to shut down from exhaustion.
“See you later.”

He frowned at my dismissive tone before walking out. I sighed,

my eyes closing slightly before my cell phone rang. I started to ignore
the annoying ring, but I was a business owner and received calls day
and night. It could be anyone from a vendor to Angelo. I slid my
finger over the smooth glass and answered, rubbing my temple as I
stood.

I still needed that shower. “Lacee Blue.”
“You’re going to burn in hell!”
I groaned and pulled the phone away from my ear to check the

number. It was private. “Fuck you.” I started to hang up on the
obvious HAPE member—Humans against Preternatural Existence—
but his next words stopped me.

“The murders will continue until those creatures are put down.”

The man’s tone was wheezy, asthmatic-like. “No good will come
from them mingling with god-fearing humans.”

“Fear this.” I hung up. I wasn’t sure how HAPE had gotten my

number. Threats had been phoned into Blue Moon on a constant basis.
HAPE called all the vampire-owned clubs, reciting scriptures and
telling the owners or employees how hot the fires of hell were. But I’d
never received one on my private phone before.

My phone rang again, and I was ready to toss it in the toilet. I

ground my teeth as I answered. “Fuck you and your narrow-minded
opinions!”

“Is that any way to speak to your mother?”

Blue Moon

I slapped my hand over my face, feeling my skin heat with

mortification. “No, ma’am. I’m sorry. I thought you were someone
else.”

She had no idea I owned Blue Moon. Although my mom was

pretty down to earth, I didn’t want her to know the type of business I
owned. I liked that she still looked at me as her sweet little boy.

She thought I owned a chain of dry cleaners.
“If you deal with friends like that, I think you need to reevaluate

your standards, pumpkin.”

“I’m late for work, Mom,” I lied. “Can I help you with

something?”

I always felt like I should stand in the corner anytime I lied to her,

but it was better than any disapproving look she might give me if she
knew the truth. I knew my pops wouldn’t care that I owned a strip
club, but he’d tell my mother.

“Have you thought of hiring your cousin yet?”
She had asked me twice already about hiring William. The web of

lies seemed to be growing, and I was beginning to feel like spider
bait. William was only seventeen and out of school for the summer.
There was no way in hell he was stepping foot in my club. “I’m
already fully staffed, Mom.”

Aside from the strippers, I had clientele who, for the right price,

could have a good time with my girls. No, I wasn’t a pimp.
Brandywine and the others kept a large percentage of their earnings.
But it was legal and profitable. Besides, with all the other clubs in the
district, I had to stay ahead of my competition. I had morals, but they
fell in the grey area when it came to keeping Blue Moon in the black.
I would never allow drugs or anything like that through my doors, but
the girls had come to me with the proposition to entertain, and I
hadn’t argued.

Again, I did have some morals, so William working there was out

of the question.

Lynn Hagen

“Just give it some thought,” she persisted. “Elaine doesn’t want

him running the streets this summer.”

That would be better than him running around a stripper club.
Aunt Elaine was just as persuasive as my mom. They were twins

and had the same passive-aggressive personalities. I had a feeling
both would bug me until I caved. Which I couldn’t. “Will do, but I
have to go.”

“Love you, baby boy.” She hung up before I could reply.
The messes I get myself into.
I tossed my phone aside before it could ring again and took a hot

shower, letting the spray of water beat at my sore muscles. When the
water began to turn cold, I got out and headed to bed, hoping tonight
was uneventful. Because if another dead body surfaced at my club,
Detective Handsome would bury me under the KGI building.

Blue Moon

Chapter Two

I didn’t wake up until well after four. It was early summer, and I

knew the sun would still be a bright ball in the sky, but my heavy
drapes did a wonderful job fooling my brain into thinking it was
night. I’d owned Blue Moon for about a year, and I was still trying to
get used to the backward hours. I had always been the type to be up
before the rooster. Life down in the district didn’t have a rooster
crowing or the sun rising.

At least not when I was down there working.
After dressing, I decided to grab some dinner at Carla’s Café. The

food was decent and cheap, and it was on the opposite side of town
from the district. Even though the district was a vampire community,
they still had eating establishments. They had to keep their human
clients well fed and happy.

Going down there before my club opened wasn’t an appealing

thought. During daylight hours, the district was a ghost town. So
Carla’s would do just fine.

I walked outside to the blinding sun before I slid my sunglasses

into place. The warmth bathed my skin as I headed to my car. I might
work around vampires, but I still enjoyed the daylight. It reminded me
that I was human and that I liked the sunny weather. Sometimes
working around nothing but vampires made me forget that I could
actually go out in the sun.

“Glad I caught you.” The postman gave me a flirtatious grin as he

handed me a small, plain-wrapped package.

Lynn Hagen

I smiled in return as I took the box. He was cute, but the bastard

wore a ring on his finger. I played nice since I didn’t want my mail to
end up in a Dumpster somewhere.

“Thanks, Craig,” I said as I tucked the box under my arm and

headed toward my car. After getting in, I glanced at the label and
didn’t see a return address. Curious, I opened the box and wished I
hadn’t. I sat there in the heat of my car, gasping as my hands shook.
Inside was a pair of blue eyes. They appeared well preserved from the
healthy pink hue. They were encased in a small container with chips
of dry ice surrounding them.

I dropped the box, my heart thundering as the bile rose to the back

of my throat. Who would send me something like that, and who had
lost their eyes for this sick joke? My hands were shaking badly as I
started the car and pulled from the drive, nearly plowing Craig over.

I didn’t bother to apologize. My mind was a scrambled mess. I

rolled my window down in desperate need of air. Was I being
targeted? While other bodies had been dumped behind various clubs, I
was the only person who had two bodies discovered behind mine.

And now I’d just been sent blue eyes.
I didn’t have any real enemies that I could think of. Aside from

HAPE, who declared themselves nonviolent, I couldn’t think of one
person who wanted me framed for murder.

Perspiration gathered along my spine and under my arms as I

drove to the only place I could think of. I parked in the visitors’
parking lot and stared at the one-story white-and-tan building. Did I
really want to go in there? I could dispose of the box and pretend I
hadn’t received it. No one would know.

But you would know.
True. And besides, the family of whoever owned those eyes

would want closure. I couldn’t rob them of that. If, god forbid,
something happened to Ben, I would want every single clue on the
table to discover his killer.

Blue Moon

I glanced at the floor on the passenger’s side but couldn’t bring

myself to pick the box up. Instead, I pulled out my phone and dialed
the number for KGI.

“Kearns Group Incorporated,” a woman with a pleasant tone said.

“How may I help you?”

“Can I speak to Detective Sullivan?” I chewed viciously at my

thumbnail as I tried hard not to look at the box.

“One moment.” The receptionist transferred me.
I felt like I was on hold for an eternity before that deep and sultry

tone spoke into my ear. “Detective Sullivan.”

My throat closed up with fear, and I nearly hung up, but I couldn’t

just throw the eyeballs away and forget they’d been mailed to me.
“It’s Lacee Blue,” I said.

“How can I help you, Mr. Blue? Don’t tell me you have another

dead body.” The man’s tone was cynical, and I wanted to punch him
through the phone.

I gritted my teeth and kept myself as calm as I could under the

circumstances—though I wanted to panic and scream that I possessed
a pair of detached eyes. “I’m in the parking lot. Can you come out
here, please?” I asked.

“I don’t have time for this,” Sullivan said. “What do you need?”
For you to stop acting like a fucking prick. “I was sent some

evidence in the mail.” I didn’t want to give full disclosure over the
phone. Sullivan would bound out of there with the whole KGI agency
in his wake. I had to handle this subtly and hope that Sullivan did the
same.

“What kind of evidence?” he asked.
“The kind that will be ruined by the heat if you don’t come out

here to meet me.” I hung up. I wasn’t about to sit there and play the
twenty questions game. If he didn’t show, then I’d tried. I’d leave the
box on the front step and haul ass.

I turned the air conditioner on, switching the setting until the cool

air blew at my feet and on the box. Hell if I wanted those eyes to melt

Lynn Hagen

in my car. I kept my window down. It was a strange thought, but I felt
that if I rolled it up, I would be trapped with those eyes with no way
out.

I never claimed to think with a clear mind while under duress.

Who would with a pair of eyeballs sitting so close?

When Sullivan walked outside and glanced around, I moaned. He

wasn’t wearing his jacket today, and his biceps were on full display. I
imagined myself gripping them as Sullivan fucked me into the
backseat—and if it was real good, into the trunk.

His brows pulled down deep when he looked my way. I couldn’t

tear my eyes from him as his muscles flexed when he walked. My
cock seemed to pulse in rhythm with every step he took.

“What evidence?” he growled when he was close enough to my

car.

I pointed at the passenger’s side. “I got those in the mail.”
Sullivan walked around to the other side and opened the door. He

stilled. “What the fuck?”

I threw my hands up. “It wasn’t me. I’m not twisted or skilled

enough to remove someone’s eyes and leave them intact like that. Not
that I would cut someone’s eyes out in the first place.”

To my amazement, Sullivan pulled a pair of thin latex gloves from

his back pocket and snapped them on. Did he always carry around a
pair of gloves? How strange.

He leaned into the car and lifted the box, jostling it slightly to get

the eyeballs to fall back inside. They had slipped out slightly when I
dropped them. Watching him wiggle them around made me nauseous.

“You don’t know who sent these?” he asked.
“No,” I answered. “I might own a strip club, but I don’t run with

that sort of crowd.”

He gave me an I doubt that expression. “Come inside.”
“For what?” I asked as panic began to set in. “I delivered those

straight to you. What do you want me to do, run forensic tests on
them as well?”

Blue Moon

“No, smart-ass.” Sullivan slammed the door. “I want to question

you further.”

Those that go in never come out. Angelo’s warning played in my

ear. It was a motto a lot of vampires swore by when it came to
entering the KGI building.

“Can’t you question me out here?” I asked.
Sullivan lifted the box. “I have to get these in a cooler before I call

the forensic lab to come and get them.”

I cursed under my breath as I released my seat belt and killed the

motor. That last thing I wanted to do was follow the detective inside.
But I had no choice. Sullivan wasn’t giving me one. Maybe I should
have phoned him from home. That way he would have had to come to
me.

I got out, feeling the sweat trickle down my body. Most was from

the heat of the day, but some was from my fear of entering the
building. As I walked up the stone sidewalk and passed a well-
manicured flowerbed, I felt like I was heading toward my doom. The
building wasn’t large, but it seemed to loom ominously as I
approached. I started to imagine a dungeon where all sorts of
prisoners were held.

Sullivan grabbed the long, metal handle of the glass door and

pulled it open. He stepped aside for me to enter. I passed over the
threshold and was greeted by the cool interior. The walls didn’t have
peeling paint, and there wasn’t a gargoyle behind the receptionist
desk. The inside was bathed in calm colors of tan and cream, and the
receptionist was an attractive brunette.

I’d never been inside, but from the stories I’d heard, I had been

expecting some sort of torture chamber.

“This way.” Sullivan led me down a hallway with creative art on

the wall and some plants in one corner. This was…normal, classy
even. But that didn’t stop me from wanting to run back to the door
and get the hell away from this place.

Lynn Hagen

Sullivan took me into a spacious office with files piled on a table

to my right. The windows were large and the blinds were at half-mast,
blocking out the radiant sun as the shadows cut a zebra pattern over
the room.

It was apparent that whoever had started the sinister rumors about

the KGI building had never stepped foot inside. Sullivan’s office was
comprised of white walls and two modern wooden desks. The other
desk must belong to his partner. The carpet was a pale peach with a
few worn areas. I took a seat in the metal folding chair where Sullivan
had pointed.

“I’ll be right back.” He took the box with him when he left. I tried

to relax, to tell myself there was nothing to worry about, but an
uneasy feeling started in the back of my mind and wouldn’t let go.
Sullivan was going to try and pin this on me. The man had been less
than friendly last night and gazed at me like a criminal.

Minutes later, Sullivan reappeared and took a seat behind his

desk. Seeing him like this, in his environment, he appeared like any
other cop, though he wasn’t. He was a preternatural detective who
went by a different set of rules. He didn’t seem like some menacing
figure out to jail me.

“You got that box today?” Sullivan asked as he looked over his

desk in search of something.

“No,” I said, my nerves stretched tight. “I got them last week and

decided today would be a good day to bring them in.”

Sullivan stopped searching and turned his amber eyes toward me.

“This isn’t a joke, Mr. Blue. Two dead bodies have been found at your
club and now those eyes. Things aren’t looking good for you.”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I picked at my thumbnail. “But when I get

nervous, I tend to become sarcastic. A bad habit of mine. I know this
isn’t a joke, and I swear to you, I have no clue how those bodies
ended up behind Blue Moon or why someone sent me a set of eyes.”

“I’ll need your fingerprints.”
“Why?”

Blue Moon

“To cancel them against any others on the package.” Sullivan

grabbed a file from under a stack and opened it, reading over the
contents. I tried to peek but was too afraid to lean any closer.

“The first body found behind your club belonged to Fredrick

Hansburg. Do you know him?” Sullivan asked.

I shook my head. “Never heard of him.”
“He was a Wererabbit,” he said.
There were Wererabbits? I knew the Were populace consisted of

many different species, but I’d never heard of any of them that fluffy
before.

Sullivan continued. “He owned a small café in the district. The

Running Bunny.”

Aw, what a cute name. I had to fight not to laugh. This was a

serious situation after all. I bit the inside of my mouth until the pain
quelled the urge. “Sorry, I’ve never been there.”

“Has Angelo ever heard of him?” Sullivan asked.
I frowned. “How should I know?”
Sullivan closed the file and set it aside before placing his arms on

his desk and entwining his fingers. His amber eyes glowed slightly.
I’d heard of Weres being able to do that, but seeing it for myself was
eerie. There were thin black rings around the amber, lending to
Sullivan’s already harsh, predatory appearance. “You and Angelo
seemed to be close.”

“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything, Mr. Blue.”
“Sounds to me like you are, Detective.” I sat up straight and jutted

my chin in defiance. “Are you asking if Angelo and I are lovers?”

Could Angelo be right? Was Sullivan jealous? This was one hell

of a way for the detective to tell me he was interested…if he truly
was. I still wasn’t convinced.

The man’s shoulders rose and fell with a shrug. “That’s none of

my business.”

Lynn Hagen

I was becoming one confused puppy, and Sullivan’s noncommittal

responses were beginning to piss me off. “Then I don’t know what
you’re insinuating. Just spit it out.”

“I just stated that the two of you seem cozy together,” he said.
He was jealous! The side of the man’s mouth ticked as his eyes

grew darker. I suppressed the smile that threatened to break free.
“We’re just good friends.”

I baited him to see where he was going with this. Would he ask

me out or—

“I still need those prints.” He reached into the drawer and pulled

out a black inkpad. After I donated my prints, I sat there and waited
for him to say anything pertaining to a date. The only thing the man
did was hand me a paper towel to wipe my hands on.

What a polite bastard.
“I’ll let you know if I need to question you further.” He dropped

his eyes and became busy, rudely dismissing me. If he wasn’t
interested, then why in the hell was he asking about my relationship
with Angelo? The man was an enigma, and I wasn’t the type to enjoy
puzzles.

“Is that it?” I asked, using the most sugary tone I could muster.

“Don’t you want anything else from me?”

“That’s it,” he said. He didn’t bother to look up.
I ground my teeth as I stood and stormed from his office. What a

frustrating asshole! He could have asked me those questions outside.
There was no reason for him to bring me into his office. Well, okay,
he needed my prints, but still.

I was heated by the time I made it to my car. I wanted to go back

inside and kick him. Instead, I pulled out my phone and called my
best friend, hoping Ellis answered. I’d planned on getting in touch
with him while I ate dinner, to bring him up to speed on what’d
happened last night, but those eyeballs had thrown my plans out of
whack.

Blue Moon

“Leave a message.” I groaned before Ellis laughed. “You’re just

too easy, tramp. What’s up, honey?”

“Can you meet me for dinner?” Although I was no longer hungry,

I wanted to give my best friend the lowdown in person.

“I’m heading to Lucio’s. Meet me there,” Ellis said.
“See you in ten.” I hung up and glanced at the KGI building again.

It no longer appeared as a mystical creature hell-bent on sucking the
very life out of me until I was an empty husk. It was just a building.

I drove to Lucio’s, one of the ritzier restaurants in town and had to

park a block over. It was dinnertime, so the place was packed. Ellis
must have made reservations.

I paused.
Did that mean he was on a date? I didn’t want to intrude, but he’d

invited me to come here. I crossed the busy street and waited until the
valet driver drove away from the curb before I stepped onto the
sidewalk and entered the posh restaurant.

I was stopped by the maître ď and then was shown to Ellis’s table.

He was sitting there glamored to the nine. Although the transgenders
who worked for me insisted on being referred to in a female sense,
Ellis let everyone know he was male and would deck anyone who
referred to him otherwise. But when in drag, his voice was light and
airy, different from his normal tone.

He sat there in a bubble gum pink sequined dress, his makeup

nothing short of perfection, as was his long, blond wig. He patted the
seat next to him when I stopped at his table. “Sit, sweets.”

“Are you on a date?” I asked before grabbing a breadstick from

the basket and taking a seat. Maybe I was hungrier than I thought.

“Don’t worry about Pedro. The man will do whatever I tell him,

even suffer through a third wheel.” Ellis lifted his fluted glass and
took a sip of his wine. “Now, tell me what’s troubling you.”

I sat there and explained what had happened last night and then

told him about my gruesome package delivery. Ellis pressed his hand

Lynn Hagen

to his chest and then patted my shoulder. “And Detective Sullivan
thinks you’re involved somehow?”

I shrugged, unsure what was going through Sullivan’s mind. He

was a closed book that refused to open its pages to me. “Hell if I
know,” I said.

“You poor thing.” Ellis hugged me. He smelled like vanilla and

cranberries. It was a nice combination. “You let me know if there’s
anything I can do for you.”

“You can tell me who’s dumping those bodies behind Blue

Moon,” I teased and then smiled. “Or you can introduce me to your
handsome date.”

Ellis turned and grinned. “Well, hello, Pedro.”
I watched as the two kissed like they had all the privacy in the

world. I chomped on another breadstick as I glanced around. The
windows in the restaurant were comprised of black smoke and UV-
resistant glass, making the restaurant darker, more intimate. There
was an underground entrance where vampires could come in and dine.
Though they didn’t eat, if they were dating a human or entertaining
some wealthy client, this was the place to be.

While a lot of people frowned upon the existence of the

preternatural, that didn’t stop some humans from capitalizing any way
they could.

I spotted someone sitting at a corner table by himself, his gaze

intent on me. Vampires couldn’t glamor anyone if they were less than
two hundred years old. The vampires at my club were all under one
hundred, harmless in a sense, except for their sharp teeth and
abnormal strength. This one not only held my gaze, but I felt him
stirring in my mind, sifting through my thoughts. It was an odd
feeling. And then the back of my skull heated, almost like a branding
was taking place.

“Lacee?” Ellis yanked on my chin, staring at me strangely. “Are

you all right?”

Blue Moon

The haze cleared, and I glanced back over at the table, but the

stranger was gone. I rubbed the back of my neck at the lingering
effects of being mentally invaded. That wasn’t allowed. Vampires
were forbidden to use any kind of mind tricks on humans. In fact, it
was punishable by death. The problem was, humans had a hard time
proving that a vampire had invaded them.

“I–I’m fine.” I blinked a few times, trying to shake off the feeling

that I’d just been marked.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Three

Later that evening, when Blue Moon was in full swing, I walked

through the lounge, moving around the tables of drunken men who
were waving their money and hooting at the dancer on stage. My
mind was deeply entrenched in the riddle concerning the package.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I nearly ran into Angelo.

He wore an irritated expression as he nodded toward the bar. Low and
behold, Sullivan was sitting there, his back turned, a ball cap pulled
low over his eyes. Did he really think he wasn’t noticeable? I’d spot
that gorgeous man anywhere.

“What does he want?” I asked in a whisper. Sullivan was Were,

his hearing superior to any human’s. No doubt he would hear me if I
spoke any louder.

Angelo smiled, flashing his pearly-white fangs. They were sharp

and gleamed under the incandescent lighting. “Why don’t you go find
out?”

Any other time I would have jumped at the chance to get close to

Sullivan. But his surly and tenebrous behavior of late left a bad taste
in my mouth. I wasn’t in the mood to be growled at. “Go find out.”

“Chicken.” Angelo’s disapproving tone ticked me off, but I let it

be. Vampires were arrogant, and at times I let that slip my mind. Even
so, he had a place to keep, and it wasn’t as my boss. The man was
indispensable but a little too familiar sometimes.

I didn’t stick around to watch the conversation. I didn’t want

Sullivan pinning me with those eerie glowing eyes. Instead, I strolled
to the back and checked on my bouncers. After what’d happened to
Jared, I’d become a little more nervous about my employees’ safety.

Blue Moon

Michael and Terrance were leaning casually against the wall,

talking in low tones. It didn’t bother me that they weren’t standing at
attention. I wasn’t a whip snapper. I knew that if anything jumped off,
they would be all over the situation in seconds.

Vampires were frighteningly fast and became stronger after their

turning. The only reason I didn’t fear them was because I paid them
too much goddamn money for them to turn on me.

“Why didn’t you ask me yourself?”
I spun to see Sullivan standing behind me, his expression full of

silent rage. His voice had been low and dark, and it made me take a
step back. Michael and Terrance straightened, looking at me for some
sort of sign that I was in trouble. I waved their concerns away, but
they kept their attention on Sullivan.

“Ask you what?” My voice was a bit strained.
“What I’m doing here.” Sullivan took a few steps closer, and all I

could stare at were those glowing amber eyes. They pulled me in,
gripped me in a fierce hold as the man’s mind-numbing scent filled
my lungs. So spicy, so manly. Crisp and intoxicating. I could barely
breathe from his closeness.

My thoughts spiraled together, and I couldn’t remember what

we’d been talking about. Those hard-cut muscles drew my attention
next, and I salivated over them. I wanted to touch, to explore every
inch of tanned skin this man possessed. With his rough-hewn features,
I was utterly lost in him.

“Lacee.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
For the first time since I’d met Detective Sullivan, a wicked grin

surfaced on the side of his mouth. It was halfcocked and gorgeous.
His gaze grew heated, and I had the distinct feeling I was being
consumed by this predator. My breathing hitched as my chest grew
tight from lack of air.

Lynn Hagen

Sullivan lifted his hand and branded my jaw with the back of his

knuckles, smoothing his fingers from one side of my face to the other.
“Are you with me?”

I could only nod. His spellbinding eyes wouldn’t release me. It

was as if I was floating in their stunning depths. My body went lax,
and I leaned into his hand, my eyes fluttering closed as I absorbed the
heat of his touch.

“Fuck,” Sullivan said in a whisper.
My head lilted to the side, seeking out a firmer petting. I was an

incredibly tactile man and loved to have my skin caressed. I turned
and flicked my tongue out, tasting the saltiness of his fingers. Sullivan
hissed, his hold tightening on my jaw.

The space around us became a cocoon, and I wanted Sullivan to

wrap his hard body around mine as I bathed in his scent. A deep
yearning stirred in me, and I had the insane desire to belong to this
Were.

“Goddamn,” Terrance said from a few feet away. “Why can’t I get

a guy to react to me like that? Fucking pornographic.”

The words had the ability to cut into my erotic fog and wake me. I

wanted to strangle the shit out of the bouncer for bursting my lust
bubble and bringing me back to the reality of my surroundings.

Sullivan’s hand dropped, and he took a few steps back, as if he’d

awakened as well. His entire demeanor changed, like he’d been
doused with a bucket of ice water. “I need to talk to you about your
earlier delivery,” he snapped and then headed back down the dim hall.

I was going to drop-kick Terrance right in the balls for this one. I

gave him a murderous glare before following Sullivan. The sound of
masculine laughter rang out behind me.

Sullivan was waiting by my office, his no-nonsense expression

firmly back in place. It was as if a steel door had slammed over any
emotions he’d bared to me just moments ago.

Blue Moon

With my mood now tanked, I threw the office door open and

strode in, spinning when I’d cleared enough distance. “What about the
eyeballs?”

After shutting the door, Sullivan stalked toward me. The need to

run had me peddling backward. My ass hit my desk, stopping me
from escaping any further. “W–what are you doing?”

Sullivan stopped short and appeared to be reeling in his iron

control, forcing it back into place. I’d never seen him like this. He
was hot and cold, sultry and unyielding. He was a dang medley of
emotions, and I wasn’t sure how to respond to his strange moods.

His fingers curled and uncurled before he spoke. “Word on the

street says there’s an elder vampire in town.”

I shook my head, confused. “What does that have to do with eyes

being sent to me?”

Sullivan clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace. It

was unnerving to see him this wound up. “You’re aware of vampire
protocol?”

I was to a great extent. Owning a business in the Vampire District,

I stayed current with all laws and practices. It was healthier for me. I
didn’t want to accidently offend one of them and end up drained
because of my blunder. I also knew Sullivan stayed current because of
his line of work. “Yes.”

“Then you know that when an elder decides to visit, he sends one

of his footmen in to scout the area.”

I nodded. Standard procedure. Wouldn’t want the elder to step

into a warzone. God forbid he had to lift a hand to fight.

The Were stopped pacing and faced me. It was like a weight

against my skin. That asinine need arose, and I found myself moving
toward Sullivan in a slow, trancelike state. “What are you trying to
tell me?”

Sullivan’s eyes softened as I approached, and once again, his

fingers caressed my jaw. His smile was warm. “So docile. I will never
understand how you own a place like this.”

Lynn Hagen

I shook my head, trying to dispel whatever hold he seemed to

have over me. “Screw you.” I jerked my head back when he tried to
pet me again. “Keep your damn paws to yourself.”

I didn’t like to be judged or frowned at for my choice of careers. I

loved what I did, and Sullivan could kiss my ass. Gorgeous or not, he
had the knack to piss me off quicker than anyone I’d ever known.

He bared his canines before he jabbed a finger toward me. “I have

only so much tolerance for disrespectful pups. If you were a part of
my pack, I’d have you flogged for your biting tongue.”

His pack?
What pack?
I became dizzy with Sullivan’s discloser. He was speaking as

if…oh, fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Nate Sullivan was a freaking alpha. How
had I missed that? My knees grew weak as my body tried to make me
kneel. I wasn’t Were and wasn’t expected to obey their laws—which
stated that, in the presence of an alpha, all pack members must kneel
and expose their necks in respect—but tell that to my body, which
was still straining to drop me.

Sullivan must have sensed my struggle because he smirked. “It’s

okay, pup. I’ll take a neck tilt. I’m not that formal.”

I flipped him off.
He grabbed my finger and yanked me closer. I stumbled forward

and caught my bearings before I slammed into him.

“Tilt your fucking head, or I swear I’ll take your rebelliousness as

an insult.”

“I’m not Were,” I reminded him, flinching at the tight hold he had

on my lone finger. It was like a steel band held it in place. I couldn’t
have pulled it free if I’d placed both feet on his body and tugged with
all my might.

His eyes grew murderous. “Do you think I give a shit what species

you are?”

Paranormal politics. I hated them. But I knew I wasn’t going to

win this one and that Sullivan would go through with his threat to

Blue Moon

have me flogged. Even if I went to the authorities with my complaint,
there would be nothing they could do unless Sullivan actually
punished me. By then, I’d be enmeshed in his territory with no way
out.

So I tilted my neck, exposing my long throat and mentally cursing

him the entire time. I lowered my eyes in a submissive gesture that
seemed to please him.

Vampires weren’t the only arrogant bastards. Weres were

notorious for their big fat egos. And an alpha? I didn’t stand a chance.
I was five feet six inches of wimpy human standing against a man
who towered over me. His strength and cunningness were his prime
assets, and all I could do was roll over and show him my belly—
figuratively of course.

Sullivan kept hold of my finger as he raised his other hand, sliding

his knuckles down the line of my throat. I quivered, wondering if that
appeased him or if he was going to humiliate me any further.

“I don’t like acting this way with you, Lacee.” His tone was

almost reverent, as was his connection to me. His fingers spread over
my neck as if he were about to choke me, but his touch was light, his
thumb tracing my skin like a lover’s caress.

I’d been punked in my own damn office.
“You’d be better suited as my pet. I’d spoil you rotten.” He

released my finger but kept his other hand firmly in place.

I stifled the colorful reply. There was no way in hell I was going

to be anyone’s pet. That was the danger of getting mixed up in the
preternatural world. The money was fantastic, but if you weren’t
careful, you could end up royally screwed. I kept to my club, not
venturing outside or exploring this world any more than I had to. I
was not about to get hoodwinked into becoming anyone’s pet or
anything else.

“I’m going to have to decline.” He had insulted me in my own

club, so I added, for spite, “Sir.”

Lynn Hagen

His amber eyes glowed slightly before his hand dropped. He

seemed thoroughly pleased with my response. Bastard. “Now, as I
was saying, an elder vampire has come to town. There’s no way the
murders and his arrival aren’t related. My only concern is that you
had two bodies dumped on you.”

Instead of just one. He didn’t have to finish because I could read

between the lines. Someone was sending me a message. That would
explain the eyes as well.

I remembered the man at Lucio’s who had stared at me, had dug

into my mind. Was he the visiting elder? Having never met one, I had
no idea if they were supposed to look that young. The guy had to be
over two hundred to be considered an elder, but he appeared in his
early thirties.

Sullivan narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
I told him what happened at the restaurant and how I’d felt

marked. His expression turned dark. “He what?”

I shook my head. “I can’t explain how I know this. It was like

something burned into the back of my skull, a branding of some sort.”

I could still feel a small throb at the back of my neck, but a little

higher. The ache was low and dull, a reminder of my encounter. Like
I needed one. Who could forget being mentally invaded for the first
time? I sure as hell couldn’t.

“Are you aware of vampire markings?” he asked.
That was the one thing I was ignorant about. No, that wasn’t right.

I was totally clueless when it came to elder vampires—except for the
law that sent their footmen in first. I’d heard that in conversation. I
was current with younger vampires and their customs, but since I’d
never run across an elder, I hadn’t brushed up on them. “No.”

The softness returned to Sullivan’s eyes, and I felt like I was

dealing with someone who had multiple personalities. “It’s nothing
good, pup,” he assured me. “You’ll need protection until he either
claims you or the mark wears off.”

Blue Moon

“Claims me?” The two words came out in a squeak. “What the

hell does that mean?”

Sullivan’s brow rose, and I had a feeling I knew exactly what that

meant. I was not going to become the elder’s fang bitch. That wasn’t
my term. It was something humans made up and used to refer to
anyone who was owned by a vampire.

Yep. That was legal as well. It was like becoming a biker’s bitch,

only this was permanent, no take backs. That was exactly why I
steered clear of the vampire BDSM clubs. Not that those clubs were
my kink anyway. But a lot of contracts were drawn up in those places
and a lot of “pets” were purchased. That was why I balked at
Sullivan’s choice of word—though I knew he didn’t mean it in the
same sense as a vampire would.

I think.
Mr. Multiple Personality had me a bit confused.
“Do you want protection?” he asked.
I stiffened at his offer as tension vibrated through me.
“I’ll pass.” Become a fang bitch or get shoved into Sullivan’s

pack and more than likely end up as his pet?

Decisions. Decisions.
Though Weres didn’t fraternize with anyone other than other

Weres, Sullivan was an alpha and could make or break any rules he
wanted to. That didn’t bode well for me. Not if he was serious about
that whole pet thing.

“You’re a damn fool,” he spat as his eyebrows creased in anger.

“You’re no match for an elder.”

“And I’m no match for a pack of Weres,” I retorted. I didn’t like

being targeted by an elder vampire, but I wasn’t going to trade one
bad situation for another. I’d take my chances on my own.

Calmness descended over Sullivan. It was unsettling to watch him

go from aggressive to indifferent. His features relaxed, and he was
back to his detective persona. “Here’s my card.” He pulled it from his
wallet and handed it to me. “Call me if you have any concerns.”

Lynn Hagen

He turned to leave until I spoke. “Sullivan?”
His eyes locked onto me, but I couldn’t read the mixture of

emotions that crossed his features. “What?”

I almost gave in and went to him. Just like I couldn’t explain how

I knew I was marked, I couldn’t explain my strange magnetism to
Sullivan. But the more I was around him, the deeper I felt it grow.
“Next time, if you want to see the docile side of me, don’t insult my
fucking club.”

He smirked and nodded, his amber eyes filled with amusement.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I watched him go before I slouched on the couch in my office.

Holy crap. An elder vampire had marked me. I’d die before I let the
son of a bitch touch me.

Unfortunately, it just might come to that.

Blue Moon

Chapter Four

The lights had been shut off, and the employees had left for the

night. The customers were long gone, and I was left to lock the place
up. Angelo had insisted on staying with me. That was until the
vampires had been called away by Marcus, their coven leader.
Nothing trumped that.

I had a feeling the meeting was about the arrival of one of their

elders. But with vampires, one never knew. They were reliable but
unpredictable creatures.

Before walking outside, I did a quick head check to make sure

there weren’t any dead surprises for me out back. Bodies or elders.
When I didn’t see anyone, I slid my key into the lock, impatient to get
to my car. Since parking was a nightmare, the business owners had all
agreed to leave the front parking for the customers—which left me to
dash through the dark and quiet alley.

My hand froze on the handle of the club door when I felt an

ominous presence behind me. It wasn’t human. Not by a long shot. So
that left either a vampire or a Were. I swallowed hard, praying that
my imagination was playing tricks on me and that I was just spooked
by the past few days’ events.

The feeling only became stronger when the air stirred around me,

making me shiver as my hand gripped the handle tighter.

“Lacee Blue.”
Whoever it was, he’d spoken my name on a soft whisper, carried

by the breeze like a small fluffy cloud. It was silky and pleasant to
listen to. A dim haze settled over my mind as I turned to look at the
stranger from Lucio’s. His hair was the color of raven wings, flowing

Lynn Hagen

gently toward the collar of his crisp dark dress shirt. It was wavy and
appeared to shine under the glow of the streetlamp. His smile was
dreamy, and his features were entirely masculine.

But it was his eyes that ensnared me. They were a deep crimson

color, reminding me of the blood moon. My lips parted as I looked up
at him, enraptured by his mere presence. He was just as handsome as
Sullivan, but in a classy, well-bred sort of way.

His highly polished shoes clicked on the ground as he moved

forward, never taking his eyes off of mine. I wanted to go to him, to
fall into his arms.

“And you may do so,” he said as if he could read my thoughts. He

lifted his right arm, extending his hand to me in invitation. “I knew
you would be the perfect one from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

A shudder racked my body. “W–when was that?”
A sensual smile played on his handsome face. “For a while,

l’amore della mia vita.”

Love of my life. I knew Italian. Somewhat. I hadn’t been that

stellar in school, but I’d retained a few things.

“Who are you?” I asked, hating that my voice cracked. Great, I’d

reverted to my prepubescent years. That was always flattering.

He laughed and the sound was as soft as butterfly wings. “I am

Benedetto Vincintori.” He bowed slightly.

Charmer.
“You’re the visiting elder vampire.” I was taking a wild stab, but

pretty sure I was right. I still wasn’t myself, still felt like I was
floating along, but my mind was clear enough for a conversation. I
had a feeling that Benedetto was responsible for that.

“The one and only.” He seemed pleased as punch that I knew

about him. He carded his hand through my hair, his fingers playing
with the strands. My scalp tingled when he lightly scraped his nails
over my skin in some sort of sensual play.

“Mmm, so responsive to my touch.” He leaned closer, brushing his

lips close to my ear. “You will be like a tamed kitten in my bed.”

Blue Moon

That did it for me. My mind snapped into focus as I yanked back.

One, I hated mind games. And two, I hadn’t invited this man to
invade me. All my warning bells were going off, and my instinct told
me to run as far and as fast as I could from this jerk. “I’m not going to
be your fang bitch,” I snapped with untapped fury.

Benedetto frowned as he pulled his head away. “I am not familiar

with that term.”

“You know,” I said as I waved my hands around animatedly.

“Your pet, your blood donor, your little bitch that you suck on at your
whim.” I slapped a hand over my neck, covering my jugular. “You are
not about to own me.”

His eyebrows rose slightly before a dark expression filled his

eyes. “I have no idea who told you those things, but they are untrue. I
do not wish to own you, only pleasure you in ways you’ve never
imagined.” A smile ticked at his lips. “But yes, feeding is planned as
well.”

“Forget it.” I tried to move past him, but Benedetto grabbed my

arm, spinning me around. Just like with Sullivan, I knew I was truly
screwed if I didn’t bend to this man’s will. But I wasn’t about to
become his banana bag.

He was handsome, but dangerous. I could feel it in my bones. I’d

be smart to avoid this guy. His charming ways were a front. Don’t ask
me how I could have known this. I just did.

His hand gripped my jaw before he placed the most delectable,

toe-curling, and mind-blowing kiss on my lips. I whimpered before I
opened to him, lost in his taste, his touch. My arms fell lax at my
sides as I became dizzy with need.

His thumb ghosted over my cheek before his lips trailed from my

jaw to my ear. “I already own you, l’amore della mia vita.”

The mark inside my skull heated, making me gasp at the

throbbing ache. My hand flew to the back of my head as tears of pain
filled my eyes. Benedetto smooth his hand down my chest and then

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around my waist to rest at my hip. “Do not fight it, Lacee Blue.
Acknowledge our connection. Embrace it.”

His words whispered over my skin, and I could tell he was pulling

me back under his spell. I didn’t want to go but was powerless to stop
it. My body fell into his as his lips continued to caress me. “Please.” I
would beg if I had to. I couldn’t allow him to enslave my mind.

“It is sexy when you beg,” he said, dashing any hope that I could

reason with him. “You will do so when we are entangled in carnal
lust. You will beg me to fuck you harder while I feast on your blood.”

My cock jerked so hard in my pants that I nearly came. My

breathing became ragged as a small part of my self-preservation tried
to wake me from my trance. This wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be turned
on by his promise. Even with this knowledge, my body bent to get
closer to Benedetto.

“That’s it, little one. Crave me.”
I pressed the palms of my hands against his rigid chest, moaning

at how good he felt as I tried to shove him away from me. I quickly
learned that wanting him near me and wanting him to get away from
me were not a unified goal. I had to choose one or the other.

I chose my freedom.
I shoved as hard as I could while at the same time ducking down

and hurrying around Benedetto. “Sorry, you’ll have to find someone
else to fill your dance card.” I dashed to my car and damn near
jumped into the driver’s seat. When I gazed back at the door,
Benedetto stood there with an amused smile. He dipped his head
before he suddenly disappeared. I gasped while I started my car. The
man hadn’t bid me a farewell. No, quite the opposite.

He’d viewed my refusal as a challenge.
I was royally screwed.

* * * *

Blue Moon

“Honey, that is a problem I would love to have,” Ellis said as he

lounged on my couch later that evening. Today he was wearing faded
jeans, his college jersey, and his bare feet rested on my coffee table.
His sandals were sitting on the floor where he’d discarded them to get
more comfortable. His face was void of makeup, and he wasn’t
wearing a wig, his blondish-brown hair short and spiky. He looked
like any average Joe. Except that he was so femininely pretty that
most women envied him.

“Two men?” He fanned his face. “Lordy.”
“An alpha and an elder vampire,” I reminded him as I tried to

figure a way out of this mess. “Huge problem.”

Ellis snickered. “Get them both naked and let them wrestle each

other for you, in a vat of chocolate pudding of course. I’ll take the
loser…or winner…or both if you don’t want them.”

I had described Benedetto to Ellis, down to the way his lips felt on

my skin. So I found the guy smoking-hot. That didn’t mean I wanted
him to own me.

“Sullivan threatened to have you flogged in one breath then

promised to pamper you in the next?” Ellis was getting way to much
enjoyment out of this. His light-green eyes looked glazed as he smiled
widely. “I don’t see the problem, Lacee.”

“You wouldn’t, man-slut.” I tossed a couch pillow at his head. He

laughed and grabbed it, settling it on his lap.

“Bang them both. Problem solved.”
I crinkled my nose. Sometimes Ellis was too much. “Uh, no. They

both want some sort of ownership over me. I’m not into being
anyone’s pet.”

“I’d purr like a naughty kitten for them both.” He winked at me.

“You should try it.”

I gaped at Ellis and then laughed as I shook my head. “I shouldn’t

be surprised that you’ve been with two men at once.”

Lynn Hagen

“And I should be shocked that you haven’t,” Ellis replied. “For

heaven’s sake, Lacee. You own a freaking strip club with bordello
rooms in the back and you’re not wild with sex?”

If anyone other than Ellis had said that to me, I would have been

seething. But I knew he meant no harm. “It’s a business venture,” I
said. “I’m not only the president, but a client?” I cringed at the hair
commercial I’d seen. “Doesn’t work that way, Ellis. For one, I’d lose
all respect from my customers and my employees if I whored myself
out. And two…” I shrugged. I wasn’t about to admit to Ellis that I’d
had sex only once in my entire life. That wasn’t any of his business.
He already teased me relentlessly about owning a strip club and not
partaking in its offerings. I would never hear the end of it if I told him
I was as close to a virgin as you could get after having had sex.

“What?” he asked as if his interest was piqued. He chewed on his

lower lip as he practically bounced with excitement. “Do tell.”

I was saved by the doorbell.
I mentally rolled my eyes when I saw Craig standing there with a

hopeful smile on his face. The man needed to get lost. “Hello, Lacee.”

“Hi, Craig.” I plucked the overstuffed envelope from his hand.

“Thanks.”

I gave him a warm and friendly smile—no flirtation whatsoever—

before I closed the door in his face. “I swear,” I said to Ellis who was
sitting on the couch, eyeing me intently. Probably trying to still figure
out what I hadn’t told him. “That mail carrier needs to find a hobby.”

“He did,” Ellis said. “Cheating on his wife.”
My hands stilled on the padded envelope as I glared at the man.

“Tell me you haven’t slept with him!”

Ellis rolled his eyes as he stretched out on the couch, stuffing the

pillow I’d thrown at him under his head. “I do have some standards,
jackass.”

I chuckled as I ripped the envelope open. A small brown box fell

to my feet. I grabbed it, tossing the envelope aside. The box was the

Blue Moon

size of something that an expensive man’s watch would come in. I
smiled, wondering who would have sent me a gift like this.

Please don’t let it have been Benedetto.
“Ooh.” Ellis sat up and placed his feet on the floor. He was

smiling from ear to ear as he asked, “Who sent you such a fancy-
smancy box?”

“Someone who doesn’t want me to be a whore,” I chided him.
Ellis waved me away. “Just open it.”
I cracked the lid open, grinning at such a generous gift until I saw

what was nestled inside. I screamed as I dropped the box and jumped
a good five feet back. Ellis rushed from the couch and grabbed me,
his fingers firm on my upper arms. “What’s wrong, Lacee?”

I shook my head back and forth so rapidly that I was becoming

queasy. Hot tears streaked down my face as my entire body began to
shake apart.

Brows drawn tight, Ellis released me before retrieving the box.

His face paled at he stared at the content. “Isn’t that Ben’s football
ring?”

And it was still attached to Ben’s finger.
I dropped to my knees as I retched. I couldn’t stop shaking or

crying. I wanted to rail at the person who was sending me these
packages. I hadn’t done anything to anyone to deserve such morbid
mail. But since I didn’t know who it was, I could only kneel there and
hope it wasn’t my brother’s finger.

“Hey.” Ellis bent beside me, soothing a hand down my back. “We

don’t know if that ring belongs to Ben. How many players were on
his team, huh?”

“Call him,” I said between sobs. I was too shaken to try and dial

Ben’s number. “Make sure he’s okay.”

I knelt there rocking, my hands wrapped tightly around my

stomach for god knew how long. My thoughts were scattered, and I
couldn’t concentrate. I was definitely being targeted. But why? I still

Lynn Hagen

couldn’t think of anyone who I’d offended that much that they would
send me body parts in the mail.

Time became obscured, but I must have been kneeling there for a

good while.

Someone knocked on the door, but I let Ellis answer it. I was too

fucked up in the head right now for conversation. Whoever it was
needed to go away. I’d had my fill of unwanted attention to last me a
lifetime.

The strong masculine scent of Sullivan invaded me, and before I

knew it, I was enveloped in his arms as he held on to me. I needed an
anchor right now, a way to traverse through the brewing storm that
was raging all around me.

He pressed his lips against my cheek as he ran his hand over my

hair. “You’re okay, pup. I have you.”

I couldn’t understand why he was being so comforting, why he

wasn’t railing that I was the culprit. I didn’t need Mr. Bi-polar, yet he
was all I wanted right now. His strength helped soothe me and made
me feel as if I didn’t have a large target on my back.

I glanced up at Ellis through my tears and asked, “Was it Ben’s?”
Ellis shook his head and shrugged. “I couldn’t get ahold of him.”
What if it was Ben’s and he was lying somewhere, bleeding to

death, or already dead? My fingers clutched Sullivan’s shirt as I tried
desperately to pull myself together. I couldn’t fall apart, not when Ben
might need me.

Sullivan rose, pulling me into his arms as he walked to the

kitchen. With one hand, he grabbed a glass and filled it with water. I
was amazed that he could hold my weight with just one arm. I wasn’t
big, but I wasn’t light either.

I drank when he handed me the glass and was grateful of his

consideration. My throat was parched. After I lowered the glass, my
embarrassment set in. I glanced up at him before I said, “Please put
me down.”

Blue Moon

His smile was wildly handsome, showing off a brilliant set of

white teeth. “I think I like coddling you.”

Who was this guy, and where was my surly detective? I had no

clue, but to be honest, I kinda liked being this close to him. I did have
a strange infatuation with him, after all. It didn’t hurt that his
muscular arms and hard chest were a huge turn-on for me. Having
them pressed against my body—wait, why was I behaving this way
when I had just received another gruesome package?

“Put me down,” I said a little more firmly. “I need to find Ben.”
Sullivan set me on my feet, and his detective face appeared.

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday morning,” I replied. “He broke into my place like all

of my friends and family. He was lounging on my couch before he
left for work.”

Sullivan glanced at Ellis, who had ambled into the kitchen. “You

break into Lacee’s home?”

Ellis rolled his eyes. “Lacee is over exaggerating. He leaves the

back door unlocked.”

Sullivan seemed to get even madder as he turned back to me and

said, “Tell me he’s lying.”

I shrugged. Busted.
The detective groaned. “You’re not very smart, Lacee. You won’t

take my offer of protection and you leave your back door unlocked.
Do you have some sort of death wish?”

“I grew up in the country,” I defended indignantly. “We never

locked our doors.”

Sullivan leaned in close, his amber eyes glowing once again.

“You’re not in fucking Kansas anymore, Dorothy.”

Ellis snickered. “He’s funny.”
I shot my friend a withering stare. “Shut up, Ellis.”
Ellis left the kitchen without another word. If Sullivan was this

pissed over me leaving my door unlocked, there was no way in hell I

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was telling him about Benedetto. The Were would probably pull a
flogger out.

“You’re going to take my protection.”
“No, I’m not.”
Sullivan bared his canines.
I bared my blunt teeth.
It wasn’t as effective, but I wasn’t going to let him railroad me

into going with him. I walked across the kitchen and opened the back
door. The tiny lace curtains swung with the movement. I pointed to
the grass out back. “Get out.”

“I still have to take the evidence with me.” Sullivan went to the

living room and grabbed the padded envelope and the fancy jewelry
box. When he returned, his face was inches from mine. “Keep
fighting me on this and you’re going to lose, and it might not be just
your freedom.”

I had an urge to stick out my tongue, juvenile but true. And then I

remembered what he’d done with my finger when I’d pointed it at
him. I wasn’t willing to have my tongue yanked out, so I kept it in my
mouth. I settled for glaring instead.

Less effective, but safe.
Sullivan appeared to be struggling, and then he glanced at me,

something resolute in his amber eyes. “I’d like to help you find your
brother.”

My head snapped back slightly. I hadn’t expected his offer. I was

speechless for a second before I found myself nodding. “Okay.”

He pointed the padded envelope at me. “I’ll meet you tonight at

Blue Moon. My partner, Syn Mason, is pretty good at tracking down
missing people. That’s if your brother is truly missing. I’m also going
to run prints on this finger. It might turn up nothing, but it’s worth a
try.”

Hope welled inside of me, and I nearly hugged Sullivan but kept

my hands to myself. With the way he’d been acting lately, I wasn’t
sure how the detective would react to me invading his personal space.

Blue Moon

He’d either welcome it or threaten to teach me a lesson. I gave

him my most angelic smile, even though I had just kicked him out.
But Sullivan stood there, his eyes boring into me before he said, “I
was serious about what I said in your office.”

Was he referring to me being his pet or offering me protection? I

assumed the worst. My fingers tightened on the door. “Sorry, I never
did learn how to roll over and give up my freedom.”

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Five

The night was hotter than usual. I had my air conditioner on full

blast, but as soon as I stepped from my car, the mugginess in the air
robbed my skin of the cool feeling, leaving it damp with perspiration.
I had parked behind Blue Moon, coming in a tad early to go over the
books. My accountant would be by on Monday, and I wanted
everything in order. There was nothing worse than having a mountain
of receipts sitting on my desk when Herbert Sloan showed up.

My accountant was a weasel-like little man who had beady eyes,

sweated too much, and seemed to lack the virtue of patience. But he
was one of the best so I always made sure I was ready for him.

Besides, I needed to do something to take my mind off of Ben

while I waited on Sullivan and Syn to show up. I hadn’t called my
folks. I didn’t want to worry them. I continued to try Ben’s cell, but so
far, he hadn’t answered. That wasn’t like him. I’d even called his job,
but he’d missed work. Again, not something Ben would do.

I fisted my keys and headed toward the back door when I felt the

air stir.

I spun to find Marcus Trevor behind me. He was the coven leader

in this territory, and I’d never had a visit from him before. This wasn’t
good.

He stepped toward me, grabbing my shirtfront before slamming

me into the building, my head and back hitting the brick wall. The air
was knocked out of me. His fangs were too close to my face,
gleaming under the streetlight.

“You’re in danger.”

Blue Moon

No shit. He locked eyes with me, and I tried to look away, but I

couldn’t. For the second time in the past several days, I felt my mind
going wooly. This was a pattern I really wanted to break. “Why?”

Marcus glanced over his shoulder, gazed intently around the alley,

and then turned his attention back on me. “The elder.”

I instantly thought of Benedetto’s piercing eyes and handsome

face. My reaction must have shown because Marcus curled his upper
lip. “I see he’s gotten to you already.”

From his disgusted sneer, I decided I would keep my mouth shut

and just listen. But Marcus had other plans. The back alley began to
shimmer and sway, and I had a gut feeling we were about to go on a
trip. I gasped, the air breezing around me so quickly that I swooned.

The mystery of how vampires disappeared was finally answered.

They didn’t. They just moved at such a speed that it only appeared
that they poofed into thin air. Before I could catch my breath, we were
standing outside Gravity.

What on earth were we doing at the hottest BDSM club in the

district? I fought to get free, twisted and turned, trying to break the
grip he had on me, but Marcus refused to let me go. He pulled me into
the club and down a set of stairs. The club was dimly lit, and I could
hear a heart-pounding beat of music above us. We passed a few
scantily dressed men in the hallway, most wearing collars and being
led by another.

Was that my fate? Was the elder about to force me into servitude?

I suddenly wished I had a weapon on me. Even though I was against
violence, I’d shoot the shit out of Marcus right now.

“I’m a business owner like you.” I tried for reasoning with him.

“Can’t we handle this like adults, talk it over while we sip some
tea…or crimson?”

“We’re about to talk things over.” We passed door after door, and

I refused to look into the ones that were open. I didn’t need a visual to
assist what I feared might be my doom.

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Marcus opened one of the doors at the far end of the hallway and

shoved me into the room. I caught myself from tumbling forward and
then glanced around.

Oh, hell no. This room looked like a torture chamber. I started for

the door, but Marcus slammed it closed before turning. “You
wouldn’t be so anxious to get out of here if you knew what the elder
had planned for you.”

That stopped me in my tracks. I had the strangest feeling that

Marcus was trying to help me. But if he was, he had a really fucked-
up way of going about things. He was a coven leader, which meant he
didn’t ask for anything. The man took what he wanted.

What did he want from me? I shook my head and splayed my

hands slightly. “What are you talking about?”

I was a little confused. This was a coven leader. Shouldn’t he be

all for whatever the elder wanted? This made me suspicious of his
motives. The man appeared unnerved, which made me nervous. I
glanced at the strange tools around the room and backed up a step.

Marcus didn’t seem to notice. “Did he mark you?”
Why did I feel like that question was a little too intimate for me to

answer? That was ridiculous. I owed Benedetto no loyalty. I didn’t
even know the guy, yet my instincts were trying to make me hold that
information close to my chest. That only made me spill the beans, to
fight the bizarre hold Benedetto had over me.

“It felt like a heated prong pushing into the back of my head.” I

rubbed the back of my neck at the remembrance.

Marcus nodded but didn’t say anything else. He stood there like a

statue, unmoving. It was as if he was watching something in his mind,
something I wasn’t privy to. I shifted from one foot to the other,
wondering if he was going to stay like that for a while and if I could
sneak out while he was in his trance.

He blinked and then turned to look at me. “You must become

Sullivan’s lupine.”

Blue Moon

It was my turn to blink. And I did, rapidly. And then I laughed.

“Yeah, right.”

I was not going to become Sullivan’s lupine. That meant I would

be his pet. Hell no. Not exactly though. A lupine was someone who
the alpha chose to be at his side, someone who would nurture his pack
and see to all their needs. I would have to see to Sullivan’s needs as
well. Normally, I would have been all for that idea, but not if I had to
play mother to his members.

I wasn’t the nurturing type. “Not happening.”
Marcus was on me in seconds, shoving me into a glossy wooden

table that had straps at the top and bottom. “Either you become
Sullivan’s lupine or face what the elder has in store for you.”

I swallowed, my throat dry. “What exactly does he have in store

for me?”

Instead of telling me, Marcus grabbed my shirtfront and sank his

fangs deep into my jugular. I screamed, trying to knock him away,
shoving at his jaw to get his deeply embedded teeth out of my neck.
And then, things began to unfold in my mind, making me privy to
Marcus’s mental movie.

And it was a horror flick.

* * * *

As I stumbled from the room, holding my hand over the bite

wound, I cursed Marcus. Not only had the coven leader showed me
some horrifying scenes, the bastard had drunk from me and then left
me to find my own way out.

I stumbled up the steps, pushing past partiers as I made my way

outside. The heat of the night, along with the loss of blood, had me
nauseous. But I knew I couldn’t pass out here. I had to make it back to
Blue Moon.

As I staggered down the street as if I were drunk, my eyes began

to water. My neck hurt like hell, and I was shivering. Coldness seeped

Lynn Hagen

into me, chilling me to the bone. Marcus had been right. If I didn’t let
Sullivan claim me, I was seven kinds of screwed.

Mr. Benedetto Vincintori didn’t want to pleasure me until I

begged for release. No, he was much more diabolical than that. He’d
come here to not only take Marcus’s coven from the vampire but to
sacrifice me as an offering to his new members. They would all
partake in my blood, draining me dry, binding them to Benedetto.

That nutsack could have told me that when he was glamoring me,

marking me. Now my only hope of survival depended on a Were KGI
detective who flipped personalities quicker than I could blink. I really
was screwed.

The sound of tires screeching filled the air, but I was too muddled

to pay attention to my surroundings. My head. It hurt so much.
Marcus had taken too much. It was a miracle that I was even standing,
let alone walking down the street.

“Lacee.” Sullivan ran onto the sidewalk, took one look at me, and

then his eyes began to radiantly glow. He looked like he was ready to
murder someone. He grabbed my hand and peeled it back from my
neck. “Who?”

I would have face-planted on the ground had Sullivan not caught

me and pulled me up into his arms. I shook apart as I tried to curl into
a tiny ball, soaking in the heat from the Were’s body. They always ran
hotter than humans. It had to be their DNA, but I was greedy for the
warmth of his skin. “S–so cold.”

Sullivan crossed the street while I was still cradled in his arms,

sliding into the backseat of his car. Syn—or at least I assumed that
this was Sullivan’s partner—drove as Sullivan held me, rubbing his
hands up and down my arms and back. “Who fed from you?”

“M–Marcus.” My teeth were chattering to the point I thought

they’d shatter. I hadn’t penciled getting nearly drained into my plans
for tonight. And here I’d thought I would be bored out of my mind
going over the books. I’d rather be sitting knee-deep in receipts than
losing my damn mind.

Blue Moon

“Get us home, Syn,” Sullivan said to his partner. “He needs a shot

of Valcom.”

I struggled to sit up, but it was a feeble attempt. Really quite

pathetic. I had the strength of a newborn babe right about now. But I
did not want to end up in Were territory, deep in Sullivan’s pack. And
I didn’t want to take a shot of that potent mix. Weres added Valcom
to their booze. It stopped their bodies from burning through the
alcohol so they could actually get drunk, but it also made the liquor
twice as potent.

I wasn’t sure what the serum would do to my human body and

didn’t want to find out.

“Lie still.” Sullivan’s hands tightened on me. “If we don’t get you

some help soon, you’ll go into shock.”

I was already there. I was more than shocked at what Marcus had

shown me. I was downright terrified. Benedetto could get to me at
any time. He could appear in my club and snatch me away before
anyone could help. And I seriously doubted any of the vampires who
worked for me would come to my aide. I couldn’t blame them. They
were more than likely terrified of their elder. The guy scared the shit
out of me, and I wasn’t even a vampire.

Sullivan examined my wound as Syn drove faster than the legal

limit. The detective was supplying plenty of heat, but I couldn’t seem
to get warm. My fingers tingled as if frostbite were setting in.

The car jerked, and then we drove down a long driveway. We

were in the middle of the woods, far from the district. The house we
pulled up to was a modern two-story home. It didn’t look like Weres
lived here. I knew from what Angelo had told me that the entire pack
didn’t live with Sullivan, just the men who worked for the KGI. His
top enforcers.

Still, I was in the one place I didn’t want to be, that I had declined

to be a part of. Would I make it out of here? I could only hope that I
would. After all, hadn’t I made it out of the KGI building?

Lynn Hagen

My eyes squinted against the light of the porch. Everything

seemed to make my head hurt. The sound of Sullivan’s and Syn’s feet
echoed loudly in my ears, slapping hard against the harsh migraine I
was already suffering through.

Everything around me was distorted, but I could tell we were

inside the house. The men were murmuring, but I couldn’t make out
what they were saying.

And then a glass was pressed to my lips. The smell had my

stomach reeling. “Drink.”

I turned my head in refusal.
“Damn it, Lacee. Drink or I’ll force it down your throat.”

Sullivan’s voice told me he wasn’t budging on this, that I was going
to drink the concoction whether I wanted to or not.

It was a shot glass, and I was thankful I didn’t have to suck down

any more than I had to. The liquid was fire, burning all the way down,
like I’d swallowed lava. I sputtered and squirmed, knocking the glass
away from my mouth as my entire body not only heated up, but felt as
if it were on fire. I screamed, tearing at my clothes.

“Get his bath water ready,” Sullivan said to Syn. “We have to

regulate his body temperature.”

I was dying. There was no other way to explain the volcanic heat

that raced through my veins. I tore at my clothes, the sweat pouring
off of me. I was jostled around as Sullivan climbed a set of stairs and
then I was being stripped down to nothing. I should have been
mortified that I was naked while two men stood in the room with me,
but all I could think about was cooling off.

Sullivan climbed over the edge of the large tub, and then we both

sank deep. He began to pour water over me, cooling my skin. I had
gone from ice-cold to the fires-of-hell hot within a short amount of
time. My body didn’t know what to do, how to react.

So it shut down.

Blue Moon

Chapter Six

Voices floated into my dreams, pulling me out of the deep

slumber. I lay there and listened.

“I don’t care,” Sullivan spat. “You could have killed him!”
I cracked my eyes open to see Sullivan’s strong back. He wasn’t

wearing a shirt, and he was talking to someone on his cell phone. I
watched as his muscles flexed. My eyes were riveted to the man.

“That might have solved your problem, but you would have

started a war,” the Were continued. “He’s mine. If you ever touch him
again, your vampires will be hailing a new fucking leader.”

I closed my eyes when Sullivan hung up. My heart beat wildly in

my chest. I hadn’t the foggiest what he meant by mine. His voice held
something I couldn’t quite define. It was close to possessive, but held
a hint of hesitation. That baffled me.

I seemed to be confused a lot lately, but at least I felt better. A lot

better. The bed dipped, and a hand brushed over my hair. “I know
you’re awake, pup.”

There was no use in feigning sleep any longer. I opened my eyes.

Sullivan was watching me with those amber eyes. If I thought I
couldn’t figure out his tone of voice, I was downright puzzled at his
closed expression.

“Do you feel better?”
I nodded as I tried to sit up. He was so close that our bodies

brushed. I quelled the shiver before it had a chance to rack my body.
His back had been strong, but his chest…I couldn’t take my eyes off
of his well-honed muscles and rigid abs. “Were you talking to
Marcus?”

Lynn Hagen

“I was. He told me about the elder’s plans and how to stop

Benedetto from coming after you.”

My eyes shot to his, and I could finally read them. Sullivan was

uncertain. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to help or not. I didn’t want to
become his lupine, and it appeared he wasn’t sure he wanted to make
me his.

“How would that stop Benedetto?” I asked, dropping my gaze as

the heat of my embarrassment washed over me. I was naked under the
sheets, and Sullivan was sitting intimately close.

“Because my pack would go to war to keep you safe. Although

Benedetto is strong, he wouldn’t risk wiping out the coven he’s trying
to take over. He’d find someone else to sacrifice.”

“How does that solve the problem?” I was staring intently at his

chest. I wanted to lick my lips at his golden skin.

“It saves you,” Sullivan said. “But he still needs to be stopped.

Marcus and I have an understanding. Benedetto wouldn’t adhere to
our unspoken truth. He would turn the district into the Old West.”

“How?”
“He’d make all who partied there his slave. And that’s just for

starters.”

My head began to hurt. I slid back down and closed my eyes. “Is

he the one who killed those people, who sent those body parts to me?”

I was still having a bit of a problem thinking clearly and what

Sullivan was telling me was too much. “Thanks for the Valcom.”

When Sullivan remained silent, I opened my eyes. He was no

longer looking at me. He was staring at the floor, avoiding my gaze. I
frowned. “What is it?” Had the serum affected me in some strange
way? It was meant for Weres, not humans. Maybe I had a second
head growing and just couldn’t see it.

I was getting a real bad feeling. “What?” I pressed.
“I had to use a combination of things to stop you from dying.”
Whoa, wait a minute. Talk about being blindsided. “I was dying? I

thought I was just going into shock.”

Blue Moon

Sullivan shook his head. “Marcus nearly drained you and left you

for dead. He thought if you were dead, then Benedetto couldn’t come
after you.”

The rat bastard. If he wanted to kill me, then why on earth had he

told me about becoming Sullivan’s lupine? Vampires really were
some twisted fucks. I pushed to my elbow. “What did you have to
do?”

“It was either let you die or…save you. I gave you the serum, and

then after you passed out, your body temperature began to fall again. I
knew I had to do something, so I…bit you.”

My hand flew to my neck, and I winced when my fingers touched

my shoulder. I was getting really sick of being everyone’s favorite
snack. But Sullivan had been telling the truth. I could feel two tiny
lumps on my shoulder.

Canine marks.
“So tell me the prize I’ve won for having my life saved by a

Were.” I pressed my hand to my forehead, bracing myself for the
news. This was unreal. But I couldn’t get angry. The man had saved
my life. I should be grateful, but I wasn’t. I was scared.

“The serum acts differently for humans than it does for my kind.”

He paused for a heartbeat before saying, “Our souls have bonded.”

“No!” I shot up, my head swimming at the fast move. But I

ignored the need to lie back down. I needed answers, and I needed
them now. I couldn’t understand why my life had gone from semi-
boring to a chaotic fucking mess. This couldn’t be happening. “I
didn’t agree to any of this.”

To his credit, Sullivan seemed remorseful. “It was the only way to

save you.”

I fell back, gazing up at the ceiling, studying the paint patterns

that reminded me of flowers in full bloom. “You still haven’t told me
what all of this means.”

Lynn Hagen

“What does it matter?” Sullivan got up and walked over to the

window, gazing out into the darkness. “You’re alive. Why can’t you
just be thankful?”

“It matters. Besides, I thought Weres didn’t fraternize outside

their own kind.”

When Sullivan looked at me, I noticed the tired lines around his

eyes. I had been so worried about how this affected me that I hadn’t
considered how this affected him. But I had to worry about me. I
didn’t want to be owned by anyone. “It’s been known to happen.
There are exceptions to rules, wouldn’t you agree?”

The man was referring to a human owning a club in the Vampire

District. Great, I was the exception to the rule in more than one thing.
Not a title I had been vying for.

The bedroom door opened, and Syn walked in, a tray of food in

his hand. He glanced from Sullivan to me and then smiled. “You’re
finally awake.”

I watched him as he set the tray aside. The guy was ruggedly

handsome, for a Were, but he was nowhere as good-looking as
Sullivan. Syn wore a thin beard shadowed across his jaw. He was
more muscular than Sullivan, though.

“I brought you something to eat.” Syn nodded toward the dresser.

“You’ll need your strength.”

I turned to Sullivan. “For what?”
The two men exchanged a look, and then Syn nodded and left.

That had been very cryptic. I was starting to resent my lack of
knowledge when it came to Weres. So much was going on, and I was
getting sick of playing twenty questions. I hated being in the dark
about my own damn future.

I lived my life by my rules, but those seemed to be taking a

backseat lately. Everyone else was trying to govern how I lived my
life. Benedetto wanted to end it. Sullivan wanted to own it.

Blue Moon

Me? I just wanted to go home and forget any of this shit had ever

happened. I was being tugged in two different directions, and sooner
or later, I’d be torn in half.

Sullivan retrieved the tray and brought it to me. I was famished. I

still wanted answers, but I wanted to eat first. Priorities. As I ate,
Sullivan began to talk.

“In giving you the serum and biting, a chain reaction was set off.”
My fork hovered midair, the pancakes in my mouth unswallowed.
“We’ve bonded, but also…” He sighed. “You’ll be turning furry

soon.”

I choked on my pancakes.

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Seven

Furry soon.
Those words kept running around in my mind. I tried to imagine

what I would look like as a full-blown Lycanthrope, but I couldn’t. I
just didn’t have that great of an imagination.

And the whole mating ritual thing? I wasn’t going to think about

that right now, or I’d lose what was left of my mind.

The room was comfortable, for a cage. The bed was king-sized,

and the mattress was downright heavenly. But I couldn’t just lie here,
not when my world was crashing and burning. Sullivan had gone
downstairs to talk with Syn. I got up and padded around the room. I
found my clothes on the trunk at the end of the bed and got dressed.

I turned, frustrated. There was an antique sitting table against the

wall, along with a dresser and an armoire. The room was white with
dark oak paneling that ran the bottom half of the walls. I decided to
poke around.

After rifling through the dresser and armoire, I had come to the

conclusion that I was in Sullivan’s bedroom. He had photos hidden in
his drawer. They were of a small boy who resembled the detective.
There were also personal items as well, and a football trophy had been
tucked at the back of the armoire with Nate Sullivan’s name engraved
on the tiny plaque.

I also discovered a bathroom that was almost bigger than my

bedroom at home. It had a large tub and a stand-up shower. The
vanity stretched down the length of one wall and had two sinks. The
floor was made of some kind of soft stone, and I could imagine
myself spending a lot of time in that room.

Blue Moon

Unfortunately, I just might if I couldn’t find a way out of here. I

glanced at the window and wondered if I could escape that way. From
the view, I wasn’t on the first floor. I peeked out and saw I was one
floor up. I could make the jump, but I might not land fully intact. Was
it worth it? I thought so.

Nobody was going to trap me. Benedetto wanted to sacrifice me

to the coven he hoped to procure. I was rather fond of my blood
flowing on the inside of my veins. But Sullivan wanted me to become
his lupine. Not exactly a life goal of mine. Now if the guy had just
wanted to date, I would have been all for it. He was six feet three
inches of hunky male. What gay man wouldn’t want to sleep with
someone that handsome?

But the guy was talking forever. That was a huge commitment on

my part, and for something like that, I’d like to get to know the guy
first, date, and have plenty of sex before I determined if he was worth
it. Bond or no bond, I was getting out of here.

I eased the window open and glanced down at the ground. There

was a flowerbed below. Maybe the tulips would soften my landing. I
tried to think of the best way to leap. Should I cannonball or land on
my feet? Should I fall with my arms spread wide? All of those ideas
sounded pretty painful. I decided to try and scale as much of the
house as I could. The porch was covered and not too far to my left. If
I could get over to that, then I’d be free to run to the main road and
flag down a car.

The problem was the window wouldn’t stay open. I had to find

something to prop it with. For a newer house, the windows sucked. I
used Sullivan’s trophy for a prop and then slung a leg out. I was not
straddling the window frame. This wasn’t as easy as I had imagined it
would be. Since I’d never used a window as a means of getting in and
out of a place, my technique needed some work.

I swung my other leg out, ready to leap over to the roof of the

porch. But my leg snagged the trophy and knocked it free. The
window came crashing down, shoving me off of the small ledge. I

Lynn Hagen

went flying, screaming as my arms flailed. I landed on my chest. The
air was knocked from my lungs so violently that I couldn’t breathe. I
lay there in so much pain that I felt like I was dying.

Note to self. Don’t use crappy windows to escape.
I was wheezing loudly as the pain expanded from my chest and

radiated throughout my entire upper half. Flowers were not the softest
things to land on. They didn’t cushion shit. The wood chips used as
added decoration seemed to be embedded in my skin. Or so it felt.

“Lacee!”
Sullivan rushed from the front door, down the porch steps, and

then squatted next to me. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Checking out your beautiful flowers,” I said, my cheek pressed

firmly in the wood chips. “They’re lovely.”

The man gazed at me, and I found myself melting. This was the

most inopportune moment to be turned on. I couldn’t help it though.
He was squatting there with his muscles bulging at his biceps, and I
wanted to lick him.

These preternatural creatures had such a strange effect on me.
“Can you get up?” He reached for my arm, and I jerked away

from him. Apparently I hadn’t hurt anything, but I didn’t want to go
back inside.

“Damn it, Lacee.” Sullivan picked me up and carried me back in.

He laid me on the couch before turning to Syn, who had been
standing just inside the door with a peculiar smirk on his face. “Let
the agency know I won’t be in tomorrow.”

“Why?” I asked, even though Sullivan had been talking to Syn.
“Because you and I have things we need to take care of.”
I inched back into the cushions. “You’re not biting me again.

You’ve already bonded me to you. What do you plan on doing next,
turning me into your chew toy?”

Sullivan glanced at the other man. “Get out of here, Syn.”
I wasn’t sure why Sullivan had just told his partner to take a hike.

What did the man plan on doing to me?

Blue Moon

A gasp escaped when Sullivan ripped my shirt from my body. The

sound of tearing fabric filled my ears as my skin stung from the
violent removal. Sullivan dropped the fabric before spanning his hand
over my chest. The contact sent an electrical storm raging through my
blood. The man’s hand was hot as it traveled over my abdomen.

“I don’t see any bruising.” Sullivan continued to explore my body,

longer than any doctor would have.

He wants forever. Don’t you dare give in to him.
I sank even deeper into the cushions as I held my hands up. “Now

wait a minute.”

My breathing became labored when Sullivan’s canines slowly

appeared, adding to his already wolf-like features. He dipped his head
and then licked at my fingers, a soft, rumbling growl vibrating his
chest.

I sat there enthralled by the sound. It was something I’d never

heard before but was ready to beg to hear again.

The man hovered over me, one hand resting on the back of the

couch, the other on the arm. I was caged in with no means of escape.
The man just hovered there, as if studying my reaction. His body was
rigid and unmoving. I curled my fingers into the cushions and waited
to see what Sullivan would do next.

Just like in the club, I felt an insane connection to this man. I

knew I should stop Sullivan before this got out of control. But hadn’t
I craved to have this man wrap his muscles around me? I liked being
cocooned in with Sullivan at the club. It had been exciting and
electrifying. And that same feeling returned.

But he wants forever.
I was quivering with anticipation as Sullivan gazed down at me

with those sultry, glowing eyes. They had been frightening the first
time I had seen them. But now I was drowning in them.

Sullivan had taught me in my office that the guy liked submission.

In sex, I had no problem handing the reins over to Sullivan. I was,

Lynn Hagen

after all, very unskilled when it came to sexual encounters. I would
gladly let this man lead the way.

Wake up and remember where this is leading.
Tilting my head to the side, I exposed my neck. Sullivan’s body

eased against mine as the man began to sniff and lick. My pulse
sounded loud in my ears, as if I’d been running a marathon. Sullivan’s
canines scraped along my flesh, and I hissed at the sensation.

When Sullivan lifted his head, I saw that the amber in the man’s

eyes had bled into one solid, brilliant color. They burned with desire
and seemed to be alive. I was pulled into them, mesmerized at just
how beautiful they truly were.

My breathing became ragged with Sullivan’s need. It was tangible

and spicy and was beginning to consume me. I should be afraid. I
should be terrified at the ache that clawed at my skin. Sullivan dipped
his head again, his lips made of silk, his tongue exploring as I felt the
man’s canines at my lower lip.

A shudder ran through Sullivan’s body as his lips traveled along

my jaw. I had the distinct impression the he was holding back. They
might have been rumors, but there was some truth that Weres were
very aggressive in bed. Since Sullivan had a dominant personality, it
only stood to reason.

Yet, this man was being gentle with me. Not that I was

complaining. I was enjoying everything that Sullivan was doing to
me.

Wait. I shouldn’t be, and as Sullivan’s lips continued to explore, I

tried to remember why I should be shoving him away.

He wants forever.
The thought finally penetrated the haze of lust I was drowning in.

I shoved and shoved until Sullivan leaned back, his gaze intent. “Why
are you pushing me away?”

“Because,” I said as I struggled to sit up. “You want to make me

your damn pet.”

Blue Moon

Sullivan chuckled, and I stopped at the sound. “What’s so funny?”

Being a pet was not a laughing matter to me.

“To be honest, pup, I was just toying with you. I don’t do the pet

thing. If Syn ever found out I’d said that, he’d bust a gut.”

That was one hell of a load off of my mind. “And the lupine

thing?”

Sullivan sat on the floor, leaning his back into the couch. “Since

I’m being honest,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with how I feel
about you since day one.”

So I wasn’t the only one who had major doubts. Good to know. It

helped me relate to the man better.

“My kind doesn’t take lovers or partners outside our race. Though

it’s been known to happen, I’ve never heard of an alpha taking a
human as his lupine. My pack will be divided on their opinion, and
more than likely, bloody fights will break out.”

I hadn’t expected that answer. I pushed myself up and then

pressed my feet against the floor. “But I thought you said they would
go to war to keep me safe?”

“The half that stood by my decision to make you my lupine,”

Sullivan answered.

“Why?” I asked. “Why would you be willing to risk so much for

someone you barely know?”

The man gave a cynical laugh. “I’ve been trying to figure that out

myself. It seems the harder I fight my attraction toward you, the
stronger it becomes.”

I knew that feeling. It had been the same for me. I didn’t want to

be stuck nurturing a pack, yet I couldn’t seem to stay away from the
guy. Sometimes I felt like a yo-yo around this man. I wasn’t happy
about anyone fighting because of whom Sullivan chose to be with.
That didn’t seem right to me. But then again, being forced into
anything I didn’t want wasn’t fair either.

Lynn Hagen

I wanted to find Benedetto and kick the man’s ass for putting me

in this situation. I hadn’t asked for it, but it seemed I had no choice.
Not if I wanted to live.

“Would it be so bad being with me?” Sullivan seemed to be

asking himself that question more than he was asking me. “I wasn’t
looking for a partner, but I don’t think we’d kill each other.”

“But I’m not the nurturing type,” I admitted out loud. “I run a strip

club, a club you don’t approve of. I like my life the way it is. Why
should I give that up because a psychotic vampire has come to town?”

“You would have the full protection of my pack.”
“The half that didn’t hate me,” I reminded him. “And would you

still let me run Blue Moon?” I felt as if I had a way out. Sullivan
hated strip clubs from the way he talked, and letting me keep my
business was a sure deal breaker.

The man sat there lost in thought before he said, “As long as my

members were your bouncers so they could watch over you.”

The conceding comment stunned me. I thought for sure he would

say no and that would be the end of conversation. Now I had to find
another deal breaker in order for him to see that this wouldn’t work.

I just couldn’t think of one.
“My pack is pretty self-sufficient,” Sullivan said. “Nurturing is the

old ways. But they would come to you for problems they couldn’t
solve on their own. I have a lot of juveniles who still need guidance
from time to time.”

This made me think of William. I wasn’t going to have any

underage members taking up posts at Blue Moon. “How young?”

“Old enough to be in a bar,” Sullivan replied. “Look, we both

seem to hesitate when it comes to being together. When this is all
over, when Benedetto is dead and we find out who is sending the
body parts, if you still want out, I’ll free you from any further
obligations.”

The man was making the deal a little too appealing. “So, if I said

this isn’t working—”

Blue Moon

“You’re a free man to go on living your life the way you did

before all of this started.”

“What about us bonging?”
“As long as I don’t bite you again, then it won’t fully form. After

a while, it will fade.” For a second, I could have sworn I heard a touch
of regret in Sullivan’s tone.

I had one more very important question. “You said I’d be turning

furry soon. What does that mean?” I had a good idea, but I wanted the
man to spell it out for me, just to be clear.

“There’s nothing I can do to stop that, Lacee. I’m sorry, but you

will become a Were on the next full moon. Right now, why don’t we
concentrate on keeping you alive, and then we’ll deal with other
things.”

I mulled the proposal over. It was a win-win situation for me.

Benedetto would be off my back and I could get out of my lupine
position when everything was over. I’d be turning furry, but I had a
lot on my plate already. Sullivan was right. One thing at a time.

Still, something in me paused. It was too good of a deal. I felt like

there should be some sort of catch. I braced myself and nodded. “How
do we do this then?

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Eight

There really wasn’t much to the plan. Sullivan would gather his

pack and announce me as his lupine. Benedetto would back off. How
Marcus defeated the elder was his business. After all, the coven leader
had left me for dead. Let the bastard deal with Benedetto.

I wasn’t sure why I thought we would make plans and then I could

go on my merry way. Stupid me for thinking things could go that
easily. Nothing had lately, and I should have known I wasn’t going to
get out of Sullivan’s with a “thanks for helping me” and a wave.

Some days I wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
The detective wasn’t going to make it that easy on me. He pushed

from the floor and turned, pinning me to the couch.

“What are you doing?” It was obvious what Sullivan was up to,

but that had been a knee-jerk question.

“I am willing to let you go if this isn’t what you truly want. But

I’m not going to lie to my pack about you truly being my lupine. We
will at least consummate things between us.”

“No biting?”
“No biting,” Sullivan’s voice became softer as he brushed his

knuckles over my cheek. I’d fallen back into the couch, lying there
like a timid little cat who was afraid of the big bad wolf. Which I was,
but I wasn’t admitting that out loud.

At his touch, I became putty in his hands. I arched my back, my

body pulsing as I moaned. I wanted my pants off, but I didn’t want to
break the connection long enough to remove them. I had never been
so aware of my own pulse, the blood flowing through my veins. It
was as if my body was no longer my own, but Sullivan’s. It danced to

Blue Moon

the man’s touch, swayed to his lips, and hungered to be caressed by
this man.

His lips traveled over my throat, inhaling me, his canines scraping

along my skin. I had just enough wits not to beg the man to bite me.
That quickly I was lost in him.

Sullivan’s eyes blazed before he reared back and flipped me to my

stomach, pinning me down to the cushions. An animalistic growl
ripped from the man’s chest. I shuddered and moaned as Sullivan’s
weight settled over me. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of the
barrier of clothes.

“You will accept me into your body.” Sullivan’s words were

growly and low.

I jerked backward, grinding my ass into Sullivan’s groin. I

understood nothing the man said and wasn’t going to bother trying to
decipher it right now. I was too far-gone and would have agreed to be
the man’s footstool just as long as Sullivan didn’t stop.

That said a lot about my control. It didn’t exist. Not when the heat

of Sullivan’s body was soaking into me, driving me insane.

“Will you agree to be my lupine?”
Oh fuck. Would the man just shut up and get on with it? I had

been lusting after Sullivan for far too long. And now that I had the
man crushing me into the couch, I didn’t want to bother with anything
coherent. “Yes!”

Sullivan clamped his teeth down on my shoulder. He didn’t break

skin, but I had gotten the point. Submit. Hadn’t I already shown
Sullivan that I was fine with the man taking control? Did I have to
spell it out for the guy?

My body jerked and quivered as Sullivan curled his fingers into

the waistband of my pants and then yanked them down my legs. I felt
the cool rush of air slide over my ass. Now we were getting down to
business. I hoped that Sullivan remembered lube or I was going to
beat the crap out of the guy. I was too wound up, primed and ready to

Lynn Hagen

go. I didn’t want to wait around as the man fumbled for some sort of
lubrication.

A lightning bolt shot through me when Sullivan’s hand slid down

the crease of my ass. I tried to spread my legs in invitation, but
Sullivan had me pinned. I struggled, but that only seemed to excite
him. He released my shoulder as his fingers formed a bruising grip on
my waist.

I bucked wildly, desperate to feel Sullivan’s fingers deep inside of

me. I cried out in frustration as I curled my fingers into fists. “Stop
teasing me!”

The man hadn’t put a shirt on. His chest crushed into my back,

and I moaned at the skin-to-skin contact. But it wasn’t enough. I
wanted more. As long as Sullivan didn’t bite me and finish the
binding, I was okay with hot, salacious sex.

Hell, I was begging for it. I’d had sex only once, and that had been

three years ago. Talk about overdue. I couldn’t even explain why I’d
held out for so long, but my dry spell was about to end.

My eyes went wide, and I looked over my shoulder when I felt the

blunt head of his cock poking me. “Lube?” To my utter shock and
amazement, I felt a small spurt of something wet.

“Already taken care of,” he assured me. The man was kneeling

behind me, his hands on my hips, his eyes riveted to where we would
soon be joined. I felt myself blush at how Sullivan was gazing at my
most intimate area.

Another spurt.
“What is that?”
Liquid heat filled Sullivan’s eyes, making them glow with arousal.

The man appeared to be fighting for control as he knelt there,
unmoving. I was trapped in his gaze, falling into the man, being
consumed by him. But it wasn’t the same kind of ensnarement I’d felt
with Benedetto. Sullivan wasn’t using any mind games. He wasn’t
forcing his way into my mind. I was welcoming him to me, in me.

Another spurt.

Blue Moon

The man didn’t answer my question, but his face was an open

book. He didn’t bother to hide the raw pleasure consuming him as he
held tightly to my waist. I had a feeling it was pre-cum but couldn’t
be sure. Whatever it was, it not only lubed me but relaxed my tender
muscles.

My eyes fluttered closed as the head of Sullivan’s cock began to

enter me. The pain was almost unbearable until I felt another spurt.
My muscles relaxed farther as Sullivan inched his way in. My skin
pulsed as I drew in a breath, letting it go on a groan. I could tell that
Sullivan’s control was slipping because the tips of his claws pressed
into my skin.

“Goddamn,” Sullivan moaned. “Lacee.” His tone was reverent. I

arched my back, offering him more of my ass. Sullivan’s hand
pressed along my spine, pushing me back down toward the couch.

“Docile,” he murmured.
I wasn’t feeling very docile. I wanted to get crazy and have the

man fuck me like I’d heard the Weres had sex. To hell with this slow
stuff. I wasn’t trying to be romantic with him. It was sex, nothing
more. If he continued to treat me like spun glass, he just might think
that I was investing myself in this. I wasn’t. Not that I was being
coldhearted, but if I let myself sink any deeper, I just might lose my
mind and beg the man to bite me.

God knew I was close enough to begging already.
I reared back, slamming my ass into his groin as I cried out his

name. I allowed myself to be wanton, to show Sullivan what I really
needed. “Fuck me!”

“Damn you, Lacee.” He tried to shove me back down, but I wasn’t

having it. I fought against his control, spreading my legs wider as I
gripped the arm of the couch for leverage.

Friends with benefits. That’s how I had to look at this. And I

wanted every single benefit Sullivan had to offer. I tossed my right
leg over the back of the couch as I met Sullivan’s thrusts, our rhythm

Lynn Hagen

synchronizing. He pounded into me so hard it felt like my brain was
being jostled.

“Is this how you want it?” His tone was husky and rough as his

groin met my ass with a hard slap. Sullivan’s nails sank deeper into
my skin, and I welcomed the pain. It kept me grounded in reality. It
didn’t allow me to forget myself and do things I would later regret.

His cock was thick, stretching me wide. I threw my head back just

as Sullivan lowered himself. His lips met my neck, licking at me
hungrily. The skin tingled along my shoulder. The now-healed wound
where Sullivan had bitten me earlier seemed to burn as the man’s lips
traced over the marks.

The tips of Sullivan’s canines pressed against the same spot. I

jerked my shoulder away just as Sullivan drove his cock deep. The
bastard had tried to renege and bite me. When my mind was clear and
my body wasn’t being used in such a delicious way, I was going to
give the man a piece of my mind.

Sullivan’s deep growl of disapproval filled the air. I didn’t give a

shit. No biting. We had both agreed on that. The man gripped the arm
of the couch, his hand resting next to mine. And then suddenly,
Sullivan yanked, and the wood of the couch snapped. His claws tore
into the cloth.

Something deep down inside of me told me that if I didn’t end this

soon things would get out of control. I didn’t need the man shifting on
me. I was a pretty open-minded guy, but having a fully-grown
Lycanthrope behind me wasn’t something I wanted. Going on rumors
again, I heard that when that happened bones broke. I didn’t need my
sex that rough.

I gripped my bobbing cock and pounded the flesh with fierceness.

I was already close, a tingle working its way up my spine. My balls
drew close to my body, and I knew it would be a matter of seconds
before my release.

I kept my fast-paced rhythm as I rocked back and forth, Sullivan’s

cock pistoning into me. His fingers gripped my hair tightly, tugging.

Blue Moon

That was the extra edge I needed. My body exploded as my seed shot
to the couch beneath me. I cried out Sullivan’s name as I writhed.

Sullivan slammed into me harder, our bodies sweaty, our breaths

coming out in ragged pants. Sullivan let go of my hair and grabbed
my hips in a death hold as he fucked me faster, deeper, and I knew he
was coming. The man howled my name as he pounded my ass.

I collapsed below him when he slowed, ready for a hot bath and a

long nap. I hadn’t exerted this much energy in a long time. Sad but
true. I shuddered when Sullivan began to kiss me along my spine
before pulling out.

I lay there feeling drowsy. Screw it. I’d take a bath later. All I

wanted to do now was get some sleep. But moments later Sullivan
lifted me from the couch and carried me upstairs. I thought he was
going to tuck me in bed, but he headed into the bathroom. The tub
was filled quickly with water, and then he stepped in, lowering both
of us.

This was all too romantic, something loving couples did. I kept

my protest to myself and allowed him to pamper me. That was okay.
Because there wouldn’t be a next time. I couldn’t let Sullivan get to
me, get under my skin.

Because that connection I had been feeling toward Sullivan had

just grown a hell of a lot deeper.

* * * *

As I was driven home in the early morning hours, I shifted in my

seat. Sullivan had given me exactly what I had asked for, and now I
sat in the car uncomfortably. I needed another hot soak in the tub to
soothe my soreness.

Although the detective had told Syn that he wasn’t going into

work today, something important had come up. But Sullivan refused
to let me leave without a chaperon. The guy next to me seemed a bit
young and not so tough, but Sullivan had assured me that Samuel was

Lynn Hagen

as deadly as any Were. I’d believe that when I saw it. He was thinner
than me with strawberry-blond hair and light-green eyes. Sam had a
pert little nose and truth be told, an amazing smile. The guy’s grin
could light up the city. He reminded me of someone’s kid brother,
though Sullivan had assured me that Sam was of legal drinking age.

“This is such a nice neighborhood,” Sam said as he drove. “I don’t

go into the city much. Sullivan doesn’t like me being here alone, and
it’s hard to find anyone who will go with me.”

Great, a chatty man. I was too tired to keep up my end of the

conversation so I just smiled and nodded at the appropriate times. My
car was still sitting behind the club, but Sullivan said I wouldn’t need
it. Sam would take me where I needed to go.

“I still can’t believe my alpha has a lupine,” Sam said, practically

bouncing in the driver’s seat. Both hands were on the wheel, ten and
two. “I thought he would never settle down.”

“Why?” So much for not talking. But I knew very little about the

detective, and curiosity was getting the better of me.

Sam shrugged as he carefully navigated around the corner. He

drove as if I was his instructor and he was trying to pass his driving
test. I’d never seen anybody obey every single driving law. The man
kept to the speed limit and counted to three at every stop sign before
pulling away.

“He doesn’t let too many people in,” Sam said. “He is what you

might refer to as a closed-off person. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a
great alpha. But a lot of us worry about him at times. I’m glad he’s
finally let somebody close to him.”

I rubbed my temples. I was tired and ready to lie down. Why had I

wanted to know more about Sullivan? I was supposed to keep our
relationship impersonal. My only goal was to survive through the
chaos and then step down as Sullivan’s lupine.

So why was I eager to learn more about the man?
“It’s no surprise he picked a human.”

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Sam’s statement seemed to reel me in. He was hooking my

curiosity. I didn’t like that. Yet… “Why is that?”

Stopping at a red light, Sam tapped his finger on the wheel. He

appeared to be deeply considering my question before he answered.
“Alpha Sullivan comes off as indifferent, but under that mask, he’s a
very complex man. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen
him interested in another Were.”

“But Syn is his partner. Aren’t they close?” Jealousy crept into my

chest, and I couldn’t understand where it was coming from. I wanted
to bear canines that I didn’t possess at the thought of Sullivan and Syn
being intimate.

“Syn is his partner and also his beta. They’re good friends, but not

even Syn has managed to break through that last barrier.” Sam smiled,
and he looked almost boyish. “But now he has you.”

A pang of guilt struck my stomach.
“Did he tell you what happened to him?”
I nodded even though I didn’t have a clue what Sam was talking

about. I should have told him no and that whatever he was about to
confess was none of my business. Sam was peeling back Sullivan’s
layers, and the insight was intriguing.

It shouldn’t be. But it was.
“So tragic.” Sam gave a soft, wistful sigh as he drove through the

green light. “Too bad the person responsible was never caught. The
man deserves to be torn apart, limb by limb.”

So vicious for such a little guy. I quashed any questions I

might’ve asked. I didn’t want to go any deeper into Sullivan’s psyche.

“I’m surprised Alpha Sullivan is even sane.”
Why wouldn’t the guy shut up?
“Tell me you’d be sane if you had to watch your entire family

being gutted while you were only seven years old. I’d be in a
straitjacket,” Sam said.

I’d heard enough. My mind pulled up the mental image of those

photos I had found in Sullivan’s drawer. Of that small boy in that one

Lynn Hagen

picture that I knew had to be Sullivan. My mind imagined that little
boy going through so much tragedy. I tried to shut the images out, but
they wouldn’t go away. A part of me resented Sam for being so
chatty.

“Regardless of my position, you shouldn’t be so forthcoming with

your alpha’s personal life.” Who else had Sam told that story to? If
Sullivan found out, he would probably tear Sam limb from limb.

Sam flushed, his cheeks turning rosy. He turned into my driveway

before he said, “You’re right. I’m sorry, lupine. I usually don’t
discuss Alpha Sullivan in such an open manner, but I’m a bit flustered
when it comes to you.”

“Call me Lacee.” I reached for the handle and got out of the car. I

needed fresh air. I needed to erase what Sam had told me about
Sullivan. Sweet Jesus. I hadn’t wanted to know that much about the
detective. I liked it better when I just thought of him as a hot guy who
I’d wanted to get laid by.

Sam had made Sullivan human, for lack of a better word. He had

made the detective a tangible being who I could now relate to—
though I hadn’t gone through anything that tragic.

The sun hadn’t come up yet, and I had to squint to find the right

key to unlock my door. I needed sleep. That would clear my mind and
help me forget about what Sam had told me.

“Nice place,” Sam said as we entered my house. I felt around for

the light switch and flicked it on. Sam closed the door behind us
before I pointed toward the couch.

“That’s yours.”
The man walked through my living room, examining everything.

“I’m good. I had a full night’s sleep.”

That was more than I’d had.
“Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, but don’t answer my

house phone. Let the answering machine do its job.”

Sam saluted me. Even though I was peeved with the man, I

smiled. He really was a likable kind of guy. He seemed eager to

Blue Moon

please and a bit naïve. Contrary to what Sullivan had told me, I still
couldn’t imagine him being able to fight off any paranormal creature
who might come after me. He was just too….adorable.

“Do you mind if I watch some television?” Sam asked as he eyed

my small flat-screen on the stand. “I’ll make sure I keep the volume
low.”

The noise from the television wouldn’t wake me. Sam could add

surround sound and I’d sleep right through it. “Help yourself.”

I left him to his own devices as I made my way to my bedroom.

After shutting my door, I stripped down and stretched. I ached in all
the right places and couldn’t help the smile when it surfaced. As I
remembered how Sullivan had rocked my world, my mood was
lighter.

I’d have to call Ellis later and give him the deets. The man was

going to flip his wig when he found out that I’d finally gotten laid by
the Were. Not that I wanted to kiss and tell, but this was Ellis, so I
could indulge the man.

Before gathering my things for my bath, I tried to call Ben again.

When he didn’t answer, I left another message for him to call me. I
was worried, but Sullivan had reassured me that Syn was on the case.

To be honest, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking. I’d

already tried to call Ben’s friends, but no one had seen him. I still
hadn’t gotten in touch with my parents. I would if I found out any bad
news, but there was no use in letting them pace with worry.

When the back of my neck began to tighten, I winced. I reached

up and rubbed my nape, wondering if another migraine was about to
start. Didn’t migraines affect the front of the head? The tightening
intensified until an uncomfortable pain level made my skull throb.

I grasp the dresser to steady myself as I clutched my nape, closing

my eyes to breathe past whatever was happening to me. The pain was
like a brain freeze after eating ice cream too fast but in one localized
area.

Lynn Hagen

And then I felt a stirring in my mind. It was like a pulse of

darkness that slid through each corner, searching, studying.

The air stirred behind me.

Blue Moon

Chapter Nine

I spun to see Benedetto standing behind me, appraising me with

eyes filled with greedy heat. The vampire flashed his fangs. The man
was smiling, apparently pleased that he’d caught me naked.

Terrified, I snatched my underwear from the floor and slipped

them on. But not before the man had gotten a good eyeful of my cock.
“What are you doing here?”

The heavy drapes were pulled tight. Although the sun hadn’t risen

yet, it was only a matter of half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes,
before dawn. That gave Benedetto plenty of time to do whatever it
was he’d come here to do. But even if dawn was close, I’d paid good
money for curtains that kept out the sun. I was screwed.

I tried to hide the fact that I was panting, my chest rising and

falling in short gasps. Benedetto was powerful, and I was only human.
I didn’t stand a chance against him. I took a step toward him without
meaning to. That murky haze began to fall over me, ensnaring me.
The painful migraine lessoned, the ache not so pronounced.

I realized it was Benedetto’s calling card, a prelude to his

appearance. I would have to remember that. An early warning sign.

Although I felt my body being played like a puppet for this elder

vampire, fear washed over me in an icy rush. Now that I knew his
plans for me, I had to break the spell. I had to get away.

“There is no need to cover yourself, l’amore della mia vita.”

Benedetto stood there in the middle of my room. He didn’t have to
move. Not when he could command me with his mind to come to
him. The man was dressed impeccably, not a hair out of place, clean-

Lynn Hagen

shaven, and so beautiful that I had to remind myself he was the
enemy. I had to force myself to remember I was Sullivan’s lupine.

“Release me,” I growled. “Let my mind go.”
But instead of letting me go, I was sucked under more deeply. My

mind was his to play with, his to enjoy. The fight was gone, and I
wanted to do whatever Benedetto commanded of me.

“Do you not want to feel the pleasures I wish to give to you?”
Another push through my mind. Another probe. Searching

for…something. I wasn’t sure what the guy was looking for, but it
was like someone going through my diary—if I had one, which I
didn’t. Honestly.

My right foot moved, taking a step. Taking me closer to the

vampire. The fight inside me returned. I pushed back, as if I was
trying to press my back into an invisible wall. I couldn’t go. I
wouldn’t allow myself to go. “No.”

Benedetto’s eyes blazed. The red bled over the white. I found

myself slowly lowering to my knees. The vampire’s voice was
nothing more than a whisper. If I hadn’t seen his lips move, I would
have thought he was speaking to me through my mind.

“I promise that you will enjoy every second of what I do to you.”

He took a step and then another. My mind screamed for him to get
out, to get away. He smiled at me as if mildly amused that I was still
struggling.

This was a game to him. A force of wills. But I knew he hadn’t

shown me the full extent of his powers. I had seen only the tip of the
iceberg—a teasing glimpse of what was to come.

I had to do something to save myself. But what I had in mind

might backfire. I was willing to take the chance. What choice did I
have? Either Benedetto was about to seduce me into my own bed, or
he was about to rip my throat out. Neither choice appealed to me.

“I’m Alpha Sullivan’s lupine.” I fell forward onto my hands,

panting heavily when the hold was snatched away. But I wasn’t
allowed much time to catch my breath. Benedetto was on me, his cool

Blue Moon

hands around my neck, our bodies almost touching as he lifted me
from the floor and let me dangle in the air.

“What. Did. You. Say?” His eyes dropped to my shoulder, as if he

could see the healed wound of Sullivan’s bite.

I kicked and struggled. I wrapped my hands around his wrists. I

felt the blood gathering in my face, my throat being slowly crushed.
He pulled me close until our lips were inches apart. But I wasn’t
being pulled under. My mind wasn’t being ensnared.

The elder wanted me to feel the full extent of my pain.
Benedetto’s beautiful façade faded, and I saw the real him. The

vampire who was over two hundred years old. The skin under his eyes
darkened, and his lips filled with a sickening red color, as if he’d just
fed and hadn’t wiped his mouth. His rage cut along my flesh like tiny
hornets stinging me repeatedly.

“You will renounce your position as his lupine.” Benedetto hissed

the words at me. His fangs were sharp and lethal. The vampire
growled, and it sounded animalistic.

“Or are your loyalties to him that great you would die to stay at

his side?”

I couldn’t answer. The air was cut off, and I could barely breathe,

let alone speak. I dug my fingernails into his flesh. Benedetto didn’t
flinch. He didn’t notice I was drawing blood. His eyes were still fixed
on me. The rage was still on his ancient face.

Where in the hell was Sam? Why hadn’t he heard any of this?

And then I realized that although it sounded like a warzone to me,
neither of us had spoken above a whisper. I would have shouted at
that moment, but my airway was currently being crushed.

Benedetto didn’t release me so much as throw me to the floor. I

lay on my back, gripping my throat, clawing to get air back into my
lungs. My throat burned as the air rushed into my mouth. I was
wheezing raggedly.

Lynn Hagen

Benedetto dropped over me, crouching. I shook from what he’d

done and the terror of what else he would do. He had been seconds
away from crushing my throat.

“I told you that you belonged to me, Lacee.” He said my name as

if it burned his tongue, his voice full of quiet rage. I sank into the
floor as far as I could go. It wasn’t far enough. “Renounce your
position.”

The vampire stared at me. If I didn’t agree, the creature would kill

me. I would die right here on my bedroom floor. I saw it in his eyes,
feel it in the air. Apparently he didn’t need me that badly for his
sacrifice. Not if he was willing to end my life in the next five minutes.

The elder’s will beat against me. My skin grew heavy as if he

were crushing me with his body, though he hadn’t come any closer.
Sweat soaked my body, and I cursed myself for shaking so badly that
I was jerking where I lay.

“Should I trade Sullivan’s protection for your death sentence?” I

asked. My voice was hoarse and my throat was burning. There was no
way I’d be able to shout for Sam. I could hardly get the words to
come out above a whisper.

The lines and creases over Benedetto’s frightening eyes smoothed.

“Protection? Where is your alpha if he offers you such safety?”

My arm jerked when he ran a cool fingertip down my skin. The

caress was soft, painless. He no longer tried to make his skin warm.
He was giving me the real person.

Almost.
The monstrous appearance he’d shown me seconds before was

gone. Benedetto’s handsomeness reappeared. But I now knew it was
an illusion. “Is he here now to stop me from claiming what belongs to
me?”

“I don’t belong to you.” It was suicidal for me to fight Benedetto.

I was asking for my own death. I had already pissed him off with the
news that I was Sullivan’s lupine. Did I want to risk any further
wrath?

Blue Moon

Benedetto snapped his fangs on empty air.
I grasped the threat. I thought I had known fear before. When I

first opened my club, the other business owners had come by to check
me out. I had been surrounded by over a dozen vampires, all eyes on
me. They had been curious about a human becoming an owner. That
night had scared the hell out of me.

But that had been child’s play compared to the terror pulsing

inside of me now. Benedetto wasn’t toying with me. He meant
business. The elder truly thought he owned me.

Shit.
If I attempted to yell for Sam, would Benedetto tear my throat

out? Would he kill Sam? I didn’t want to take the chance. Sam was a
sweet guy and I couldn’t bear to watch him get hurt.

Benedetto leaned forward, his lips ghosting over my cheek. His

breath was warm and made me shiver. But not because I was turned
on. I was afraid of what this close intimacy might lead to. I did not
want to have sex with him. “Do you really think being with me would
be a death sentence?”

“Uh, yeah.” My tone was snarky, and I hadn’t meant to be. Again,

I was sarcastic when scared. “Total blood loss kind of kills a human.”

Benedetto chuckled, and the sound was as smooth as silk. I

shuddered. I hated that I had shuddered.

“Do you think I have such little control?” His lips grazed over my

forehead. I closed my eyes at the intimacy of what he was doing. I
wanted to vomit.

“Control?” My voice was shaky. “What control do you need to

slice me open and let your coven drain me dry?”

Benedetto stilled. I could no longer feel his breath on my face. His

lungs ceased working. When I glanced at his neck, I didn’t even see a
pulse in his jugular.

“I do not understand where this is coming from. I have no coven,

and I do not wish to have one.”

What game was Benedetto playing at?

Lynn Hagen

“Tell me why you think this, l’amore della mia vita.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped.
He gripped my chin roughly and yanked my head back until I was

staring into his blood-red eyes. “Tell me.”

I thinned my lips.
Benedetto gave an exaggerated sigh, and then I felt him pushing

into my mind. I fought to keep him out. I tried to mentally shove him
out. He pushed me aside as if I were an errant child and began to
search my memories.

I knew the moment he found what he was looking for. His

handsomeness once again faded, and I was left facing the monster he
truly was.

“Marcus.”
The door flew open, and Sam stood there. Or what I assumed was

Sam. A lycanthrope was seething, his canines bared. The skin on my
body stood on end as a low, rumbling growl filled Sam’s chest.

Benedetto hissed.
Sam stalked closer.
I braced my arms over my face.
The air around me stirred, and when I glanced under my arm,

Benedetto was no longer crouching over me. The two creatures were
fighting.

I rolled to my hands and knees, watching. Should I run? Even

though Sam’s form scared me to death, I couldn’t abandon him. He
had come here to protect me, and that was exactly what he was doing.

Or attempting to do.
Benedetto seemed to be winning. Both had razor-sharp claws.

Both had lethal teeth. But that was where the similarities ended. The
elder was lightning fast. He moved around Sam, slicing the Were. The
smell of blood filled the room.

“Stop!” I shouted as I pushed to my feet. I couldn’t let Benedetto

kill Sam. I could still see Sam’s boyish grin and embarrassed flush. I
could still hear him chattering nervously in my ear. He was just a

Blue Moon

young Were doing as he was told. He shouldn’t have to pay the
ultimate price for protecting me.

“Stop!” I shouted again, but neither listened. They slammed into

my dresser. Their combined strength managed to knock the mirror
lose. It crashed to the floor. The two continued to battle. Sam grew
bloodier, but Benedetto wasn’t without wounds.

The pictures on my walls fell. They were not only trying to tear

each other apart, but they were doing a damn good job at tearing my
room to pieces.

I started forward until a strong arm curled around my waist, lifting

me off my feet. I knew who it was before I even looked. Sullivan’s
scent filled my lungs, and I wanted to whimper in relief. He placed
me behind him before he charged forward.

When Sullivan moved into my line of sight, I gasped. He was in

his Were form. He was much bigger than Sam. Twice as large. He
threw his head back and howled before gripping Benedetto’s throat.

The elder hissed and jammed his long nails into Sullivan’s

stomach.

I screamed.
Sam roared in rage.
And then Benedetto vanished.
I ran forward, grabbing Sullivan’s arm. I wanted to see the

damage. Sullivan turned to me and snarled.

“I didn’t invite him here,” I defended, “so don’t take the fucking

tone with me.”

That seemed to calm the alpha. He snorted out of his nose as he

stumbled backward.

Sam shifted back to his human form, standing naked before me.

“We have to get him some Valcom. It’s the only thing that can
counteract the poison that bloodsucker just injected into him.”

Poison? I felt my knees begin to buckle, but I forced myself to

stay upright. “I thought that was just something you guys used to get
drunk.” And something they used to keep me alive.

Lynn Hagen

“It has many uses,” Sam said as he pulled the alpha’s arm over his

shoulder and led him down the hall. “We don’t have time. An elder’s
claws are poisonous, and he shoved four of them into Alpha Sullivan.
We have to hurry, Lacee.”

“Then why aren’t you affected?” I asked, looking at the bloody

slices over Sam’s body.

“The poison can only be released if the claws are deeply

imbedded. The ducts are located at the base of the nails.”

By the time we got Sullivan into the front seat of the car and were

heading to the man’s home, his breathing had become shallow, and
his chest was barely moving.

I didn’t want forever with Sullivan. I wasn’t ready for that big of a

commitment. But as I raced through the city streets, rushing to get the
serum that would save Sullivan’s life, I realized that I didn’t want to
lose him.

I thought about what Sam had told me, about how Sullivan had

lost his family. I also thought about how Sullivan had sacrificed a lot
to save my life.

I couldn’t do any less for him. I was just afraid that after this was

all said and done, I wouldn’t be able to walk away.

But hell if I wouldn’t give it the old college try.

Blue Moon

Chapter Ten

I checked Sullivan’s pulse for the thirtieth time in four hours. The

man had been out for a good eight hours. But for the first four, he had
sweated so much that he’d soaked his bedding, tossed and turned, and
groaned in what I thought was pain.

Now he was quietly sleeping. That’s what I kept telling myself.

But I couldn’t stop myself from checking his pulse. I was afraid that if
I didn’t check it, he would die in his sleep and I would’ve failed him.

Sullivan and Sam had saved my life. I owed them a debt. I paid

my debts. Even if it was pacing Sullivan’s room and making sure his
heart was still beating. There was a large bandage tape crossed his
gut. One of the other pack members had tended to Sullivan when Sam
and I had brought him home.

The gashes had been deep and had already been turning black.

The Were who’d treated Sullivan had told us that if we’d brought him
home any later the man would’ve died.

Benedetto had just declared war on the Weres. He’d tried to kill

an alpha. I didn’t want to get messed up in the war. Vampires and
Weres going at it? Never a good thing. I just wondered what my
employees would do now that I was Sullivan’s lupine. Would they
walk out on me or straddle the fence?

I pulled out my cell phone and called Angelo. Although the sun

was still high in the sky, I knew my bouncer would answer. He might
be tucked away, but he wasn’t asleep. Angelo suffered from insomnia.
I wasn’t sure how a vampire could suffer from such a thing, and I had
never asked.

Lynn Hagen

“Things aren’t looking good,” Angelo said as soon as he

answered. “What the hell is going on?”

I settled on the trunk at the end of the bed and turned sideways so

I could keep an eye on Sullivan. Even in sleep the man seemed
imposing. As I glanced over the hard lines of his body, I felt like a
pervert for remembering how those muscles had felt wrapped around
me.

“What are the vampires saying?” I asked.
“That two Weres attacked the elder.”
My jaw dropped even though I knew Angelo couldn’t see my

expression. “Benedetto said that?”

I hadn’t taken the elder as someone who would do something like

that. Not that I knew him all that well, but he just didn’t seem the
type. That was a coward’s move, and Benedetto was twisting things
around. After I counted to ten, I said, “He’s lying. That isn’t how it
went down.”

“Look,” Angelo said, “I wasn’t there so I can’t say what really

happened. But I don’t have a choice, Lacee. I have to follow his
orders or risk him killing me. Do you see the predicament I’m in?”

“What are you saying?” I asked.
“I’ll have to take some time off until this mess is sorted out.

Everyone will.”

So I had a strip club with no strippers or bouncers. Great. “For the

record, he came to my house, to my bedroom, and tried to…” I ran
my index finger over my eyebrow. “He started this, Angelo. It was
Benedetto who crossed the line.”

“Regardless,” Angelo said, and I could hear the regret hanging

heavily in his voice. “I have to follow orders.”

When Sullivan stirred, I got to my feet. “Just keep me in the

loop.”

“I’ll try.” Angelo hung up.

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I needed to figure something out. I couldn’t have Blue Moon shut

down. I’d worked too hard to have some asshole start a war and put
me out of business.

I shoved my phone into my back pocket before walking around

the side of the bed. Sullivan’s eyes slowly opened. I smiled at him the
way a parent would after their child has been sick. It was sweet and
warm. “How do you feel?”

Don’t let your feelings become invested.
Sullivan wiped a hand over his face and then blinked, as if

clearing the sleep from his head. “Like crap.”

“That tends to happen when you’re stabbed with poisonous

claws.”

“Who were you just talking to?” Sullivan cleared his throat and

blinked a few more times. “I heard voices.”

“I just lost all my employees.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
I wasn’t sure how Sullivan would take care of my employee

problem. I wasn’t going to ask. He seemed like he was still out of it.
For all I knew, he could just be rambling. I’d take care of my own
business later. Sullivan needed to focus on recovering.

Sullivan tossed aside the sheet, baring his naked body to me. “Can

you get Syn for me?”

I averted my eyes and then walked to the door. “He’s been

handling things while you were out of it.”

Sullivan nodded. “That’s his job.”
The guy looked like he was about to fall over when he stood. I

wasn’t sure if he would welcome me helping him so I left out of the
room and hunted down Syn.

I found him in the kitchen with Sam. They were both whispering

quietly until I entered the room. Sam smiled. “If you’re down here,
then Alpha Sullivan must be awake.”

Lynn Hagen

I slid into the chair next to Sam and grabbed a cup from the mug

tree that sat in the middle of the table. I poured myself some coffee
and took a heavenly sip before I said to Syn, “Sullivan wants you.”

After Syn left the room, Sam turned to me. “How does he look?”
“Who?”
“The alpha,” Sam said. “Has his color returned?”
Sullivan had been deathly pale when we’d gotten him here. It was

as if all the color had been drained from the guy. I thought about how
golden and delicious he’d looked just moments before. “He seems to
be recovering nicely.”

Sam lowered his eyes, his fingers moving his mug back and forth,

and I could tell he had something on his mind. I didn’t push. I let him
work it out in his head. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know what was
bothering the guy.

“Can I ask you something?” he said.
“Are you going to get personal?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, this has nothing to do with you and my

alpha.”

I became uneasy but nodded.
“There’s a Weretiger at my job and he’s become a

little…overzealous.”

“How so?” I asked.
“I keep telling him that I’m not interested, but he doesn’t seem to

understand the word no. The night before last, he cornered me and…”
Sam blushed, but I could tell it wasn’t from a pleasant encounter with
the Weretiger.

“And what?”
“He groped me.” Sam’s eyes fell to his lap, and I started to

understand the whole picture.

“I’m not sure I know how to help you.” Did he expect me to go up

against a Weretiger? I’d heard about the various species of cats. They
were tactile creatures but mean son of bitches when provoked. Okay,

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so they weren’t any different than Werewolves or vampires. But
still…

“You’re my lupine,” Sam said, his voice a bit shaky. “You’re

supposed to help us with our problems.”

Us? I started to tell him that I wouldn’t be his lupine for long.

That once this was all over, I was going to resign my position. I had
no intention of sticking around. I wanted to go back to my old life
before the bodies had started showing up.

Sam smirked. I didn’t understand his mood swing until I smelled

that familiar masculine aroma and then felt a strong hand on my
shoulder. Sullivan. His fingers played over my shoulder and then
stroked my jaw. “I’m glad to see you and Sam are getting along.”

I stopped the groan seconds before it escaped. Sam was beaming

at me. The guy was genuinely pleased to see his alpha. Or was it the
fact that Sullivan was stroking me?

Sullivan bent and placed a kiss on my cheek.
Sam was practically bouncing in his seat.
The alpha’s thumb continued to trace my skin. I shivered from the

contact and found myself leaning into his touch. Once again, Sullivan
was pulling me under.

“Sam, I need you to run a few errands for me. Syn will give you

the details,” Sullivan said.

“Sure.” Sam leapt to his feet and then patted me on the hand.

“We’ll finish talking later.”

Sullivan didn’t ask what Sam and I had been talking about. I guess

when you’re an alpha the small tasks were bothersome. That was why
he had a lupine.

“I heard you stayed by my side the entire time I was out of it.”

Sullivan’s hand skimmed over my neck, in that same chokehold that
wasn’t a chokehold.

“Don’t read too much into it.” I pulled away and turned. My

breath stuttered in my chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his pants
were unbuttoned. No fair. The man looked like a delicious centerfold

Lynn Hagen

that I wanted to jack off to. Crap. I couldn’t stay around him if I
didn’t plan on having sex with him again. And I wanted to have sex
with him again. He looked too damn mouthwatering and my
resistance wasn’t going to last much longer. “I need to get home.”

“It isn’t safe,” Sullivan said, his tone growing a bit terse. “It’s

obvious that the elder wants blood. What happened in your
bedroom?”

Was that accusation in his voice? My spine stiffened. “What do

you think happened?”

I sidestepped Sullivan and placed my mug in the sink. I wasn’t

going to let him bully me around. If he thought that I was that easy to
bed, then fuck him.

“You were naked, and Benedetto was fighting Sam. What am I

supposed to think, Lacee?”

“I wasn’t naked,” I defended. “I had on underwear.”
Jealousy reared in Sullivan’s amber eyes, and for a second there, I

thought he was going to erupt into rage. Instead, he moved to the table
and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Tell me what happened.”

The detective tone was back. Good. I’d rather deal with Detective

Sullivan than Alpha Sullivan. I stood at the sink and explained to him
what had taken place from the time Benedetto had shown up until
Sullivan had entered the room.

Of course, I left out the part where the elder had ensnared my

brain and I had almost been willing to do anything for the man. Why
piss Sullivan off even more? I had enough male testosterone to last
for a while. Between Sullivan and Benedetto, I was drowning in it.

Sullivan nodded at all the right moments, as if mentally taking

down notes. “And he says he isn’t out to sacrifice you?”

I heard the skepticism in the man’s tone. I couldn’t blame

Sullivan. I was skeptical as hell too. Marcus was saying one thing.
The elder was saying something else. I wasn’t sure who to believe or
if either of them knew what telling the truth consisted of. For all I

Blue Moon

knew, they could both be bullshitting me. The probably were. “I
know. It’s hard to swallow.”

“No matter his motives, I can’t have you running around without

protection.”

I thought of Sam and shook my head. “Sam is nice and all, but—”
“I wasn’t speaking of Sam.”
This made me frown. “I don’t need anyone’s protection.” I was

being stubborn. I didn’t want anyone shadowing me. I’d had enough
of that, and Sam had been with me only a few hours in the morning. I
liked my independence and had things to take care of. I needed to
interview for strippers and bouncers. There was no way I was letting
Blue Moon get shut down.

“I’ll send a few members over to act as your muscle at Blue Moon

until I have a talk with Marcus.”

Before I could move out of reach, Sullivan grabbed me and pulled

me close. His scent invaded me, and I could only stand there and let
him pet me.

“I won’t have anything happen to you, Lacee.” I was beginning to

think that Sullivan wanted to do more than just protect me. He had
made me his lupine to keep me safe from the elder. We both agreed
that we hadn’t been looking for a relationship. So why did I get the
sinking feeling that Sullivan was beginning to catch feelings for me?

Aside from lust that is.
I saw the man’s point when he said he wasn’t going to lie to his

pack about our consummation. I didn’t see any point in continuing to
have sex. I was his official lupine. The deal had been sealed. So why
was he looking at me as if he wanted to bend me over the table?

“Could you give me a ride to my club?” My car was still parked in

the alley behind Blue Moon. Besides, I had to make him stop looking
at me as if he wanted to eat me alive.

Sullivan took a step back and canted his head to the side. He

studied me for a moment. I felt like a bug under a microscope. He
finally said, “I don’t get you, Lacee Blue. I offer you so much, yet

Lynn Hagen

you act as if it’s more of a burden than a gift. To be my lupine is an
honor most would jump at.”

“What happened to my surly detective?” I asked.
“I was fighting what I was feeling. I was also doing my job. I had

to make sure you were in the clear before I considered being with
you.” He set his mug on the table but kept his fingers curled around it.
I could tell he was fighting to keep his control. But what was he
fighting? The urge to yell at me or to take me right here in the
kitchen?

I hadn’t wanted this to become complicated. Sullivan had offered

me protection, and I had taken it. He had said I could get out of this if
I wanted to. But the lines were becoming blurred.

Someone I didn’t know entered the kitchen. Since Sullivan didn’t

react violently to the man’s presence, I assumed he was a pack
member. The stranger’s dark-brown hair fell to his shoulders in
waves. His eyes were piercing green. He looked me over in a curious
sort of way.

“What is it, Cortez?”
Cortez finally glanced away. He had a midsized package in his

hand. “This was sitting on the front porch.” His green eyes flickered
to me once more. “It’s addressed to Lacee Blue.”

Sullivan and I glanced at each other. No one knew I was here. I

had talked to Angelo earlier, but I hadn’t mentioned where I was. A
few of Sullivan’s pack members knew, but I was pretty sure they
hadn’t left anything for me.

Sullivan took the package from Cortez and set it on the table. “I

need some latex gloves.”

Cortez didn’t seem surprised that Sullivan would ask for them but

didn’t argue. He left the kitchen.

“Do you think—” I couldn’t bring myself to finish my question. If

it was another body part, I wasn’t sure what I would do. Syn was still
tracking leads on Ben. I hadn’t heard from my brother, and that
worried me. Ben had never gone this long without calling me. Before

Blue Moon

Cortez returned, Sullivan cupped my face. “Maybe you should go in
the living room.”

I could see the sincerity in his eyes. The man was trying to protect

me. I shook my head. “I need to know.” The forensics lab was taking
its sweet old time processing the other parts I had gotten in the mail. I
still didn’t know if that had been Ben’s finger. What if the twisted
fuck had sent something that clearly identified this next piece as
belonging to Ben?

I had to know.
“Dammit, Lacee.” Sullivan’s thumbs brushed over my cheeks.

The caress was as smooth as silk. “You don’t need to see this.”

I glanced at the plain-wrapped package on the table. Did I want to

know what was inside? The stubbornness in me demanded that I find
out. But I wasn’t sure if I could emotionally handle it.

Cortez came back into the room and glanced at me and Sullivan

huddled together. Had I just seen a flicker of disgust in his eyes? I
wasn’t sure.

“Lacee.” Sullivan said my name as if begging me to leave the

room. I steeled my spine and shook my head.

He sighed. Sullivan released me and took the gloves from Cortez.

He grabbed a paring knife from the kitchen drawer and carefully
worked the package open. He unwrapped it as if it were a precious
gift. The cuts were precise. Sullivan peeled the paper back to reveal a
white wooden box. There were no identifying marks. It looked like
something a woman used to hold her jewelry.

Sullivan glanced at me, and I nodded.
Cortez moved to Sullivan’s left. His eyes were fixated on the box.

We held a collective breath as Sullivan slowly lifted the lid. The
inside was lined in red velvet. There was no dry ice. Whoever had left
this package had done so recently.

I slapped a hand over my mouth. My insides reeled. The bile rose

to the back of my throat as my heart slammed behind my ribs.

Sullivan cursed under his breath.

Lynn Hagen

I didn’t know the different species of snakes. But there was one

coiled inside. It was unmoving, lying there as if asleep. I knew better.
I might not be knowledgeable when it came to snakes, but I knew
dead when I saw it.

The snake had bitten down on someone’s ear. The ear was still

lodged in the snake’s mouth. A coiled snake and an ear. That was
what lay in the box. The ear was a perfect flesh pink, which meant the
snake had bitten it after the ear had been cut off.

I stumbled back and then turned. Gripping the sides of the sink, I

vomited into the drain. I wasn’t sure what all of this meant. But
whoever was doing this needed to be stopped. My worst nightmare
would be opening a package with a severed head inside.

A head that was missing blue eyes and one ear.
My throat burned, and my stomach ached. I hadn’t even realized

that I was crying, not until Sullivan pulled me from my feet and
carried me to the living room.

But before we left the kitchen, Sullivan said to Cortez, “Get that

on ice and then get it down to the lab.”

Maybe I would take the added protection after all.

Blue Moon

Chapter Eleven

Later the next evening, I sat at the table and watched as the fifth

person auditioned. I was starting to think there was no more talent in
the world. Two of the men who’d come in were so thin that their ribs
showed. Not what I had in mind. One giggled the entire time he
performed. The last one had slipped and fallen three times. I started to
panic that the guy would need an ambulance and then sue me before
the doctors removed his body cast.

I missed my girls, but there was nothing I could do. The elder had

spoken. Bastard. I wanted to find Benedetto and ring his damn neck. I
still couldn’t figure out why the vampire was fixated on me. I wanted
to find out what quality I possessed that drew Benedetto to me and
snuff it out.

When the dancer spun around the pole and then fell on his ass, I

groaned. This was unreal. I’d seen enough. There was no way I could
sit through one more torturous audition. Maybe I could visit the slums
and bribe a few out-of-work vampires to work at my club. They had
to be better than the ones who were auditioning.

But I knew even the lowest vampire on the totem pole wouldn’t

go against Benedetto.

Getting up, I walked toward my office in utter frustration. Blue

Moon was doomed. There was no getting around that fact. After a
year of prosperous business, the doors would be closed.

Sam stopped me before I reached my office. He grabbed my

shoulders and spun me around, pushing me back toward the stage.
“Don’t go just yet.”

Lynn Hagen

“Sam,” I said in warning. I wasn’t in the mood for whatever the

guy was up to. I wanted to sulk in my office and lick my wounds.

The Were shooed the other man off the stage. “Amateur,” he

called out as the man who’d been auditioning scowled.

I shrugged as I took a seat. What could I say? Sam was right.
Sam pointed toward the DJ, and the music cued up. He just stood

there staring at me. I worried that the guy was going to start tap
dancing as some kind of twisted joke.

And then Sam began to dance. The man strutted, sashayed, and

wowed me beyond belief. He moved as if he’d been doing this for
years, with a practiced ease.

My jaw dropped.
Sam worked the pole like a lover. He moved like liquid silk. He

batted his eyes and flirted with an imaginary audience. The guy
wasn’t even my type, and I was ready to jump his bones. He bent his
body in ways that shouldn’t be possible. I sat there mesmerized.
Impressed.

I was ready to hire the guy on the spot. The music ended, and Sam

jumped off stage. He rushed toward me, his face flushed. “What did
you think?”

What did I think? Did the man have to ask?
“You’re hired,” I said.
Sam squealed as he jumped around. I laughed at his enthusiasm.

“I have a few more friends who want to try out.”

“If they dance as good as you, bring them in.” Things were

starting to look up. I might not lose my club after all.

Sam stopped jumping, and the sparkle in his eyes faded. I hadn’t

known him that long, but I could see the resolution in his eyes. “I
won’t dress up as a woman, and I’m not entertaining anyone in the
back. I dance. That’s it.”

I nodded. It was Brandywine and the other girls who’d wanted to

start up their side business. I had no problem shutting that part of my

Blue Moon

club down. Besides, I was tired of the bouncers having to toss jerks
out on their ass for becoming obnoxious.

“Deal,” I said. “Have your friends here in an hour.”
I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing. Vampires needed to feed

off of human blood to stay alive. But Weres turned furry on the full
moon. They could turn any other time at will, but the pull of the moon
forced them to shift. I would have to close the club once a month so
the Weres didn’t eat the customers. They didn’t have any control on
the full moon. Their baser instinct was the only thing guiding them.

I learned that this morning from Sam. The man loved to talk.

What bothered me most in Sam’s chatter was the part he revealed
about the weak being either dominated or destroyed. Sam was strong
in his own way. I had seen that. He’d taken on Benedetto with a
vengeance.

I closed my mind to thoughts of Sullivan killing anyone. I

wouldn’t allow my brain to wrap around such thoughts. But then
again, wasn’t I going to be a wolf soon?

That was another thing that still worried me. Sullivan had said that

I would be going all furry as well. Would it hurt? Would the alpha
deem me as weak? Would I eat raw meat? The thought disgusted me.
I knew shit about hunting prey or taking it down. I shuddered at the
idea of tearing into skin and eating flesh.

I needed to stop thinking about it before I made myself vomit.
Although Sullivan told me I could back out of being his lupine,

there was no way around me being a part of his pack now. I hadn’t
had my first shift and wouldn’t until the moon was full. That meant
some of the pack members still looked at me as if I was human.

Would they fight amongst themselves as Sullivan had predicted? I

hoped not. I was already dealing with enough stress to strangle an
elephant.

“Thanks.” Sam placed a quick kiss on my cheek. “Now I don’t

have to dodge that Weretiger’s hands anymore.”

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Lynn Hagen

How had I forgotten Sam’s predicament so quickly? “No

problem.” I hadn’t even realized I was helping him out. Go me.

One of Sullivan’s men followed me as I headed to my office.

What was his name? Zack, Shaq…Matt. That was it. Matt. “I just
need a moment alone.”

Matt shook his head. He was wide like a quarterback and about

six foot five. He was a mountain come to life. I’d hate to be on the
receiving end of one of his punches. It would be a deathblow. “Alpha
said I had to stick to you like glue.”

Sullivan was off on a case. He’d left me in Matt’s hands. “I’ll tell

him that I excused you.”

The man shook his head again, vigorously this time. “I’m not

facing him if something happens to you. He’ll tear me to pieces.”

Was the guy serious? This coming from someone who was almost

twice Sullivan’s weight. From the serious expression in Matt’s eyes,
he was dead serious. I knew Sullivan couldn’t be a wuss and lead a
pack, but the thought of how he kept the pack’s respect never entered
my mind.

It should have.
I ended up going over the books while Matt sat in a chair. The guy

looked bored out of his mind. I couldn’t help that. I’d rescheduled my
appointment with my accountant, and he would be by tomorrow.
Work was work. There was no getting around paying taxes. I was so
into numbers that when someone knocked on the door I jumped. Matt
placed his hand on the gun he wore in a shoulder holster. The man
stood and walked to the door.

I went rigid. Matt’s posture sang with tension, which made me the

same way. I didn’t expect Benedetto to knock on my office door. I
shouldn’t have been afraid. But I was. My nerves were jumpy as hell.

It was Sam.
“My friends are here.”
I stood and then cried out when my skull exploded. The mark. My

vision blurred, and I saw Matt racing across my office, gun drawn.

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101

The room wasn’t that big. Matt should have been able to save me. But
a hand wrapped around my throat before Matt or Sam could get to
me.

And then my office faded away.

* * * *

A soft howling wind roused me. The sound echoed in my head.

My first thought was of Sullivan. I saw his glowing amber eyes, his
rough-hewn features, and heard his deep voice speaking softly to me.
I felt his hand caressing my cheek, touching me in places that made
me moan.

My mind started to clear, and Sullivan’s image began to fade. I

tried to pull it back, to clutch it to me, but it slipped away like fading
smoke that the wind had blown through.

The wind.
My heart squeezed with trepidation as I slowly opened my eyes. I

wished I hadn’t. God, how I wish I hadn’t. I was in some sort of
round underground chamber with walls made of stone. There were
tunnels that lead in every direction. That explained the sound of
howling wind. I was also naked and chained to some sort of post,
spread-eagle. There was an altar with lit candles, the flame flickering
wildly. I could make out symbols as well and prayed the dark paint
wasn’t really blood.

Please don’t let this place be used for human sacrifice.
I squinted and tried to let my eyes to adjust to the darkness. There

was a lump on the altar, unmoving. A body? I wasn’t sure. If it was,
then the person’s back was to me.

Wrapping my fingers around the chain, I rattled it. There was a fat

chance in hell that the chains would be loose, but I had to try. They
held fast, and I was utterly screwed.

If I thought my pulse was already beating in my throat that was

nothing compared to its acceleration when vampires started walking

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into the chamber from the various tunnels. I spotted Angelo and
shouted for him, but he ignored me, keeping his eyes straight ahead.
The vampires looked like marching ants—like they didn’t want to be
here. Most at least. Some eyed me with anticipation, others with
curiosity.

Brandywine was in the crowd. It looked as if she was about to cry.

She didn’t look my way, but I still felt her eyes on me. I wasn’t going
to get help from any of the vampires I knew.

“He won’t come to your aid.”
I stiffened when I heard the smooth tone of Benedetto’s voice. It

was like black syrup slowly dripping down my body. It no longer
enticed me. I’d gotten over that infatuation. Or at least I hope I had. It
would be fucked up if he ensnared me in front of everyone. I wasn’t
into public sex. I wasn’t into sex at all with this guy.

Struggling against my chains, I silently called out for Sullivan.

Odd how he had become my source of comfort, my savior at a time
like this. I wasn’t sure if it was because I needed him or because I had
started falling for the guy.

There was no use denying the truth any longer. As hard as I’d

fought it and as much as I’d lied to myself, I’d fallen for the big lug. I
wanted to see his amber eyes and hear his voice. I wanted to feel him
wrapped around me.

And not just because I was hanging naked in a room filled with

vampires.

Benedetto walked around me until he was standing in front of me.

His eyes were cold and flat. None of the passion he’d shown me
before was there. It was as if he’d turned off a switch. Maybe because
I’d told him that I belonged to Sullivan. The elder hadn’t taken the
news too well.

“Why am I here?” I asked as I glanced over the crowd. There had

to be at least fifty or more vampires surrounding me. I didn’t like the
hungry look in some of their eyes.

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103

Benedetto’s polished shoes clicked over the concrete floor. He

tucked his hands behind his back and then turned toward the
vampires, ignoring me.

“I promised you a bonding feast tonight. The man behind me is

your appetizer.”

Oh hell. Marcus had been right. I was about to be sliced open and

drained. Was it because I’d pissed Benedetto off or had he planned
this all along? I was stupid enough to hold out a small hope that I
could reason with the elder. When was I going to wake up and realize
he was the evil enemy?

“Angelo, come,” Benedetto said in a voice that was barely above a

whisper, but I knew everyone could hear him just fine.

Angelo hesitated and then stepped forward, moving through the

crowd until he was facing Benedetto. He refused to look at me. I
didn’t want him to. Not this close. Not while I was naked. It was
embarrassing enough that these strangers were ogling me. I hated that
the ones I knew could see my shame.

Benedetto cut his eyes at me, and the look was pure evil. “Bite

him.”

“No!” I rattled the chains again, yanking to no avail.
Benedetto’s laugh was rich, but it didn’t affect me the way it

should have. The way the elder would have made it affect me before
he found out about Sullivan. It was a normal laugh. Nothing soul-
stirring and nothing that made want him.

“Did you not know?”
I was confused and frightened. I shook my head.
Benedetto slid his arm around Angelo’s shoulder, and my ex-

bouncer winced. Not a lot, but enough for me to see how
uncomfortable he was.

“I sent Angelo to you a year ago. He watched your every move

and reported it to me.” Benedetto seemed to take great satisfaction
from the bomb he’d just delivered into my lap.

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Lynn Hagen

If that was supposed to clear things up, it hadn’t. But the one thing

I understood was the Angelo had betrayed me. Had I really expected
his loyalty? I shouldn’t have, but I had been naïve enough to believe
we’d been friends.

Angelo glanced toward the floor.
“Why?” Anger replaced my fear in a quick, warm rush. “What the

fuck makes me so important?”

Benedetto’s smile widened. His eyes were all pupil, red and

drowning-deep. He slowly walked toward me. I cringed back. I hated
myself for doing that. His cool fingers brushed over the birthmark on
my hip. It was dark brown and shaped like a lion. My mother had told
me that was because my astrological sign was Leo.

I thought she was crazy.
“You are marked,” he said.
“Yeah, you marked me, you bastard.”
The crowed shifted slightly, the move making me look up. The

vampires seemed restless, as if they wanted to get this show on the
road. I didn’t. Stalling seemed like a good plan to me.

Benedetto’s face was impassive. “You bear the mark of a Were.”
That couldn’t be possible. I was human. I had human parents. I

was born with this mark. Even if Sullivan had turned me, the
birthmark hadn’t suddenly appeared.

“It’s just a simple birthmark,” I said.
Benedetto reached up and slapped me hard with the back of his

hand. “You bear the mark of the amante della morte.”

My head snapped back as pain exploded inside my skull. I saw

stars. There was something warm trickling down from the side of my
mouth. When I liked my lip, I tasted blood. A heavy murmur began,
as if the scent of my blood was about to start a frenzy.

Not good at all.
“Which means?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
Benedetto was in front of me before I could blink. He wrapped his

long, slender fingers around my throat. “Which means I will drain

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105

your fucking blood before Sullivan realizes what you are and uses you
against me.”

The elder continued to squeeze, and I made small, painful noises

as I fought to breathe. I became dizzy as the blood trapped in my head
began to pound loudly in my ears. The man was going to kill me.

Sullivan! I knew the man couldn’t save me, but if I could push my

thoughts into the alpha’s head, I wanted him to know that I had been
falling for him, that I didn’t want to renounce my position as his
lupine. I had been terrified of change, and that was what Sullivan had
represented.

Benedetto released me, as if he’d gained back his composure. He

snapped his fingers at Angelo. “Open his fucking jugular.”

Angelo stepped to me, and I wasn’t beyond begging at this point. I

didn’t want to die. Not here. Not like this. If my number was up, I at
least wanted to die with dignity.

“No.” My voice was shaky, a pleading whisper. “Don’t do this,

Angelo.”

Angelo’s eyes filled with remorse. “I hadn’t known you back

then, Lacee. It was just a job, my orders.”

“Did I tell you to talk to him?” Benedetto snapped.
“I’m so sorry,” Angelo said before he softly cupped the back of

my head and bit into my neck. I screamed at the top of my lungs as
my head fell back. The ceiling was made of cement, and I knew we
were under some type of building. I concentrated on that as I felt
Angelo’s lips draw on my skin.

Why wouldn’t he tear my throat and get it over with? Why was

Angelo sucking at me like a lover? That was what it felt like. His
hands slid up my side, and I shuddered. I willed my cock not to rise,
but my body had a mind of its own. Angelo’s hands were smooth as
they glided over my skin.

He pulled his fangs free and gazed into my eyes. I gasped at the

expression. “I love you,” he whispered right before Benedetto

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grabbed Angelo by his throat and tore skin from bone. He next
slammed his hand into Angelo’s chest, pulling out his heart.

“No!” I cried out. Tears were falling freely as I realized that

Angelo had fallen in love with me. How had I not seen that? How had
I missed the signs? He’d wanted a taste of me, knowing he was about
to die for disobeying Benedetto. The elder. The bastard.

I never hated anyone as much as I hated Benedetto in that

moment. I openly sobbed as I watched Angelo’s body hit the floor,
lifeless.

Through my tears, I could see my girls in the back. They were all

silently crying. The blood-red tears flowed as each of them shoved a
fist into their mouths to stifle any sound from coming out. I glanced
back at Benedetto. “I. Want. You. Dead.” I ground out between my
teeth.

“Funny,” Benedetto said as his cruel smile grew wider, “I want

the very same thing for you.”

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107

Chapter Twelve

Benedetto hadn’t torn out my jugular. I think he wanted me to die

a little slower. That had to be the reason. Instead of going for my
throat, he made random cuts all over my body. I gritted my teeth and
refused to cry out as the razor-sharp knife sliced across my chest,
thighs, upper arms, and calves. The cuts were deep enough to make
me bleed, but the blood oozed out instead of poured.

No matter. I was still getting dizzy, could still feel my life slowly

draining. I slammed my eyes closed when the first vampire
approached, his slick, wet tongue tracing over my wounds. He made a
moist, slurping sound, and I wasn’t sure if it was for my benefit or if
he were just a sloppy licker.

I think the vampire would have kept enjoying his meal if

Benedetto hadn’t been standing there. He slurped just enough to
ingest some of my blood before the next vampire moved in. I had
turned into a fucking lollipop for these assholes.

I glanced up when I heard shouting. Coming from one of the

tunnels was Marcus. He was draped in chains, making his upper body
immobile. The chains must have been cursed because there were tiny
wisps of smoke coming off of his body where the chains touched bare
skin.

“How dare you!” he shouted in Benedetto’s direction. The

vampires dragging Marcus along pushed him toward the elder. They
were careful not to touch the chains.

Marcus stumbled forward and landed on his knees at Benedetto’s

feet.

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“How befitting.” Benedetto practically purred the words. “Don’t

worry, Marcus. Once we’ve drained Lacee, you’ll be next.”

Marcus shook from side to side, but it was no use. His chains were

as binding as mine. Benedetto lifted his leg and pressed the sole of his
shoe into Marcus’s face, making the coven leader fall to his back.

The people grew silent once more.
My head started to pound, and I wondered if it was from loss of

blood or the stress of the situation. Probably both. I’d long ago
stopped struggling against the chains that bound me. Even if I
managed to get free, I wouldn’t make it out of this chamber alive.
There were too many bloodsuckers surrounding me.

A small laugh bubbled up. Bloodsuckers. How true that name

rang. They were sucking the blood right out of me, and there wasn’t a
damn thing I could do to stop them.

My head lolled to the side, and my vision started to fade. As I

prayed for my death to come quickly, I spotted two glowing pinpoints
of amber light in one of the chamber tunnels. At first I thought they
were dim torches off in the distance, bolted to a wall. But as I
squinted and focused, I saw the amber lights glow brighter, hotter.
There was rage in those twin torches.

Sullivan.
I smiled. The life was draining out of me, and I envisioned

Sullivan in my last moments. The alpha would be so pleased if he
knew. My shoulders shook as I began to cry. I had tried not to fall
apart—except when Angelo had died. I couldn’t have stopped those
tears if I had tried. And I hadn’t wanted to.

Ben was missing. My parents would have no clue what’d

happened to me. I’d never gotten the chance to tell Sullivan how I
truly felt. The regrets were adding up, and I had no way to resolve
them. My blood was being slowly sucked out of me, and I couldn’t
even tell my family one last time that I loved them.

What I wouldn’t give to hear Sullivan’s rough voice. Just one last

word, one lone baritone note.

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“Lacee!”
I blinked. Damn, that had sounded so freaking real. My hearing

had dulled, but I could hear a long and painful howl break through the
silence of the vampires feeding from me. The sound echoed off the
walls and penetrated my dark haze.

Chaos broke out. The vampires were no longer crowded around

me. I strained to see, to get a glimpse through my murky vision. All I
could manage were greyish shadows. They moved with the speed
known to the supernatural. Hisses and howls filled the room. Shouting
and cursing as well.

Benedetto was gone in a flash. He was no longer standing next to

me, encouraging the vampires to enjoy his offering. A vampire fell to
the floor on my right, and I watched as a Were tore its heart out.

Was I hallucinating? Is that how it was in the final moments of

death? If that were the case, a battle wasn’t what I wanted. I’d much
rather fantasize about being in Sullivan’s bed as the man made slow,
sweet, tender love to me. Or we could rock the walls. It didn’t matter
at this point. It was my hallucination.

Two men fighting slammed into me. I grunted as I was pushed

back, the chains biting into my flesh. But my body had gone numb,
and I could barely register the pain. I heard shots and wondered who
on earth would be firing a gun. It dawned on me that this was not a
dream. I was not imagining this battle.

It was real.
Sullivan had really come for me.
I wanted to shout in joy but couldn’t even muster a yippie. My lips

wouldn’t move, and the word became muddled in my brain. But
defeating the vampires wouldn’t help me if someone didn’t get me
down from here and close my wounds.

As if reading my thoughts, Sullivan was in front of me. He stood

there for a moment, gazing at my naked and sliced-up body. I saw raw
pain in his amber eyes before he reached up and yanked the chains

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from the posts. My body fell, and Sullivan caught me, cradling me
close as someone worked to free my ankles.

Sullivan laid me out on the cold, damp concrete. I wasn’t sure

why until his tongue began to trace every wound. It teased my flesh,
and if I hadn’t lost so much blood, I would have gotten hard.

“Stay with me, pup. I won’t lose you.”
He continued to lick, and then Sam joined in. I wanted to tell Sam

to get the hell away from me, but I couldn’t get my throat to work.
Syn lifted my leg and licked at the wounds on my calves. All three
were in their lycanthrope forms, and this was the most bizarre shit I’d
ever been through.

Yes, it was stranger than hanging from a post and feeding

vampires my blood. The fur tickled along my skin, brushing over me
like a soft blanket. If I got hard now, I’d never show my face around
these men again.

But my cock stayed soft. Thank goodness for small favors.
Sullivan lifted me into his arms as the battle wagged around me. I

couldn’t see the fight, only hear it. The alpha kept to the side of the
wall, skimming around the chaos and then took me down a long
hallway. When we surfaced, I slammed my eyes closed against the
bright sun.

It was daylight. How long had I been down there? Sam emerged

next and got behind the wheel of Sullivan’s car as Sullivan slipped
into the backseat. The car was in an alley, which was a good thing
considering all three of us were naked and I was a bloody mess.

I could only assume that Sam would take the back streets until he

cleared the district.

Sullivan caressed my cheek, and I could barely feel his touch. “I

heard you.”

My mind was too befuddled to understand what he was talking

about.

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“I heard you calling for me, crying out my name.” His amber eyes

were misty and filled with pride. “I’m sorry, Lacee, but I can’t let you
go. I can’t stand the thought of being without you.”

I closed my eyes and pressed my cold cheek into Sullivan’s hot,

bare chest. As I finally allowed myself to relax, I muttered, “Don’t
wanna go.”

* * * *

I wasn’t going to allow myself to be a victim. Not in a cry-myself-

to-sleep-every-night sort of way. But I was human, and I did need a
few days to absorb what’d happened to me. The problem was, every
time I closed my eyes, I could feel hundreds of tongue chasing over
me. They slithered up and down, circling my thighs and calves. They
slid up and over my arms until they reached my chest.

I could also still hear Angelo’s confession and see the pain and

love in his eyes before his throat had been torn out. The guilt ate away
at me. I should have been able to do something to save him.

Okay, so maybe I had cried myself to sleep the first few nights.

Sue me. Anyone who’d survived that kind of nightmare deserved to
quietly break down for a little while. I was proud of myself for not
being put in a straitjacket.

“I still don’t understand how Benedetto got away.” I wasn’t sure if

I was asking Sullivan or if I was still in shock and talking to myself.

Sullivan’s hand slid up my back as I lay curled in his lap. We

were in his bed, Sullivan’s back propped against the headboard. I
think he knew I wasn’t really looking for him to answer me, that I was
just trying to work things out in my head.

If Benedetto was still out there, then I wasn’t safe. “What did he

mean by amante della morte? What does that even mean?” My Italian
was pathetic. I was amazed that I’d retained enough to know
Benedetto was calling me the love of his life. But whatever he’d
called me in the chamber was lost on me.

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Sullivan’s arms gripped me tightly. I wasn’t sure if he was giving

me comfort or if he dreaded answering my question.

He gave a ragged sigh. “It means lover of death.”
I glanced up into his amber eyes. “That’s just sick.”
“Not as in dead bodies,” he said. He brushed his fingers over my

birthmark. It was a soft, whispering touch. “If I had known what this
symbolized when I bit you…”

“No riddles,” I said. “I need straight answers.”
I needed to know why that had been so important to Benedetto.

Sullivan hadn’t been there. He hadn’t seen the scorn and hateful look
that had filled the elder’s eyes. Benedetto had truly thought I
belonged to him. He’d felt betrayed that I had given myself to
Sullivan. He had wanted to make me pay. The man hated me now,
and I needed to know why he’d chosen me in the first place.

“Why did you open a club in the Vampire District?” Sullivan

asked.

I didn’t want him to answer my question with a question. But I

was too tired to argue. “I saw how profitable the district was. Humans
seemed to flock there.”

Business had been my major in college. I’d already had a dream

of owning my own business, and I saw an opportunity. I had studied
the clientele, the profit the clubs were making, the margins,
everything. I had even interviewed a few vampire waiters to find out
if business had been booming all the time. I hadn’t seen a downside.

I also hadn’t seen the dark side to the business. The muscling in

on territories or the threat I was in just by being down there every
single night. I was a human owner. That had made me proud. It had
also made me stupid. I was too filled with eagerness to prove myself
instead of reading between the lines.

The vampires hadn’t wanted me down there. They might not have

viewed me as a threat, but they also thought I didn’t deserve to be
there. Aside from those that had worked for me, now that I looked
back on things, I hadn’t been very well liked.

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“Anything else draw you there?”
The preternatural had an allure I couldn’t quite understand. There

had been something seductive about working among creatures that
shouldn’t have existed in the first place. “The draw of things I…” I
shook my head.

“You were fascinated with?”
I nodded.
“I had Syn research this mark,” Sullivan said as his finger

continued to glide over my birthmark. “I’d heard stories, but I wanted
to be certain.”

“Of what?”
“Of a man who can control the preternatural.”
I laughed. “Get out of town.”
Sullivan didn’t laugh with me. He didn’t crack a smile. I sobered.

“If I could control the preternatural, then why wasn’t I able to keep
Benedetto from attacking me, huh?”

“The vampires who worked for you were only too happy to do

whatever you wanted.” Sullivan’s jaw tightened. “Angelo would have
been your lover in a heartbeat. Hell, he would have been your love
slave.”

“Stop avoiding my question.”
“Marcus didn’t lose control because he wanted to kill you. The

man had wanted to taste you, and once he’d started he couldn’t stop.”

I frowned.
“The preternatural are attracted to you,” Sullivan said.
A slow feeling of dread clawed its way up my spine and had my

heart sliding into my throat. I glanced up at Sullivan, wondering if I
should even ask. But I had to know. “Is that why you wanted me? Is
that the only reason you want to keep me here with you?”

I could feel my heart breaking. I had finally taken a chance and

given in. Love had been a foreign concept to me, and I’d never
thought it would one day hold me in its terrifying grip. I hadn’t even

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known I was falling for Sullivan. It had crept up on me until I had no
choice but to face the truth.

And Sullivan might be attracted to me because of some dumb

birthmark? It was all too much for me to handle right now. Even
though the Were weren’t dead like the vampires, they were still
preternatural creatures, beings that shouldn’t technically exist. They
must fall under the same category.

That wasn’t a warming thought. But none of this had been. This

entire situation with Benedetto was insane. The fact that I could
control the preternatural beings was also lunacy.

I’d wish for my life to go back to normal, but it had never really

been normal in the first place. And would I want to give Sullivan up?
No, I wouldn’t.

“I’ll admit,” Sullivan said, “I was perplexed as hell at my

attraction toward you. Humans had never interested me before. Weres
normally don’t go outside our own species.”

I steeled my spine as I listened to what I didn’t want to hear. I felt

like throwing my hands over my ears and babbling so I couldn’t hear
him.

“But there’s one thing you don’t know.”
Did I want to?
“When I bit you, when we bonded, I became immune to that

mark. I no longer felt as if I had to fight against my attraction. What I
felt for you became a slow, simmering passion.”

Hope blossomed inside of me. “So, how you feel right now, it’s

genuine, no mind games?”

Sullivan shook his head. “Also, if you allow me to finish our

bonding, your vibe, essence, and appeal to others will dull. It will
become a soft ache instead of a screaming beacon. Your life will be
tied to mine. That will stop anyone from coming after you again. At
least, not like Marcus had.”

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I shook my head. “But I don’t want that to be the reason we

bond,” I said. Again, I thought of the lifetime commitment Sullivan
was asking for. It didn’t scare me as much as it had before.

It should. I should be running for the hills after what Sullivan had

just told me.

Sullivan tucked my chin between his thumb and index finger,

lifting my head until we were looking each other in the eye. “Tell me
you don’t feel a connection. Tell me, Lacee Blue, that you don’t
desire and want me as much as I desire and want you. I heard you
calling for me, screaming my name in your head. That’s not a
common thing. It means that we are already connected on a deeper
level.”

I rolled away from Sullivan and then kneeled in front of him.

“Can I think things over before I decide?” I had felt pressured before,
and I didn’t do well under too much stress.

“The full moon is in a week. Make your decision by then. I have

to either announce you as my lupine in front of my entire pack or
relegate you to the submissive wolves.”

“What does that mean?”
Sullivan shrugged. “It means you’ll still be a part of my pack, but

you’ll have no rank. I’ll have to choose another to be at my side.”

I gnashed my teeth at the thought of anyone else filling Sullivan’s

bed. I’d kill the unlucky bastard.

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Chapter Thirteen

Sullivan reached for me, and I didn’t fight him. My body had

healed from the cuts Benedetto had joyfully given me. It had to be
what the Weres had done because no human should have healed that
fast. Physically, I felt fine. Emotionally was a whole other story.

I was pulled into Sullivan’s arms as he caressed my back. “I can

see the jealousy in your eyes,” he said. There was a triumphant gleam
on his face. The bastard knew he had won. He knew I wouldn’t allow
anyone to take my place.

But I didn’t have to give in so easily. I squirmed and pushed at his

chest. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sullivan chuckled, and the sound glided over me like soft fur. “If

you say so.” He stared at me for a space of a heartbeat before his lips
descended over mine. My body flexed in his embrace as he pulled me
even closer, devouring my lips, making me melt as I opened to him.

I had been in lust with Detective Nate Sullivan from the moment

I’d laid eyes on him. Time and circumstance hadn’t changed that. It
might have blurred slightly when Sullivan acted like a prick, but it
had never faded.

Now that I knew his touch, had been saved by him—twice—and

had learned a lot more about the man, that lust had begun to kindle
into love. I wasn’t sure if it was a full-blown, I’d-die-for-you kind of
thing, but it was getting there. It had definitely surpassed the I’ll-kill-
anyone-who-tries-to-replace-me stage.

Maybe all the hellish insanity going on had finally made me snap.

I knew I couldn’t be thinking right. I’d never felt violent about a lover

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before. Considering Sullivan was only my second, I had weak notes
for comparison.

Sullivan moved his lips down my jaw, forcing me to tilt my head

to the side. His arms remained wrapped around me, holding me to
him. I pressed my fingers into his shoulders, squeezing, panting. My
cock was fully erect now, aching for the release only Sullivan could
give me.

“I can feel your aggression,” Sullivan said as he nipped hard at my

throat. “It’s beating against me.”

I arched my back, my chest pressing into Sullivan’s. “I don’t

know where it’s coming from.” My voice was breathy, like I’d just
run for miles. The tips of Sullivan’s canines scraped along my skin,
and a strangled moan escaped me.

“It’s your Were. The full moon isn’t too far away, and he’s

forming inside of you.”

The man was about to kill my mood. My fingers gripped his

shoulders until my knuckles turned white. The colors of the room
turned shaded then faded. It was as if someone had flipped a switch
and the colors blinked out of sight. All that remained was black-and-
white and varying depths of grey.

Sullivan leaned his head back and stared at me. Something close

to reverence shown on his face. “So beautiful. The blue is like the
color of midnight.”

My eyes had always been a light blue. I couldn’t understand how

they’d darkened so much.

“Your wolf is close to the surface,” Sullivan murmured as his lips

ghosted over my jaw. “My little pup is trying to shift early.”

He’d made it sound romantic, like me shifting in his arms flipped

the guy’s trigger. “Don’t let it happen,” I begged. The thought of
shifting for the first time scared me. But the thought of shifting for the
first time while Sullivan was seducing me was frightening.

“I’m your alpha. Your wolf won’t come out early unless I allow

it.”

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That was good to know.
“But seeing him so close…turns me on.” Sullivan leaned forward

and laid me on my back. His hand skimmed over my bare chest. His
fingers felt electric. He used his other hand to press into the bed, to
keep his full weight off of me. I gazed up at him and he looked down
at me. That connection was there, beating between us like a living
heart.

Sullivan leaned back and yanked my pants off of me. I lay there

bared to him. His amber eyes began to glow as he drank me in.

“Say this is real,” I said. “Tell me you want me because of me, not

because of some enchantment I have over you.”

Sullivan leaned down and licked a wet path over one of my

nipples. He blew gently over the peak, making it pucker. I inhaled
sharply and groaned. “It’s real,” he said.

His strong fingers wrapped around my erection and squeezed. Not

enough to hurt, but enough to make me buck and whimper. I spread
my legs wide in invitation. His thumb traced over the head of my
cock, swiping the pre-cum that was leaking.

“So ready.” He kissed me again, and I felt branded. Owned. I

grabbed for the snap of his jeans. My body ached badly for him to fill
me. My fingers worked until I had his snap and zipper undone.

He gave me a warm and teasing smile. “Now what?”
Sullivan had made me submit to him before. But now it seemed he

was allowing me free rein. As much as I wanted his hand to remain
around my erection, I needed his jeans off.

I squirmed from under him and pulled his waistband down until

they stopped at midthigh. He lay back and let me take them the rest of
the way off.

He was commando.
His cock sprang free, and my mouth watered for a taste. His shaft

was thick, long, and heavily veined. The head was a ruddy color, and
pre-cum glistened at the tip. Sullivan tucked one arm under his head
and used his other hand to glide through my hair.

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“Taste me, pup. Take me into your mouth.” His voice was raspy,

as if he was barely holding it together.

My first experience with sex? A lot of fumbling, grunting, and

very missionary. My second experience? Sullivan had rocked my
world, but I hadn’t sucked him off. I stared at his cock and wondered
if my mouth would open that wide.

There was only one way to find out.
My tongue snaked out and swiped over the clear liquid. Sullivan

gave a low hiss. Encouraged, I parted my lips and suckled the head,
greedy for the man’s taste. I was settled between his legs, on my
knees, bent over. It wasn’t very comfortable.

I slid to my stomach, propped myself on his thigh, and tried to

take as much as I could. I licked and sucked, moaning at just how
good the man tasted. Sullivan’s fingers tightened in my hair. My scalp
tingled from the forceful grip. I glanced up to see him watching me,
his eyes glowing darkly, filled with liquid heat.

His hips thrust, and I nearly choked. I pulled back in time and then

increased my suction. My body thrummed. My heart was beating
faster. My ass ached for Sullivan to fill it. I’d never felt so alive. I
wanted to be smothered by the man, to be filled by him, to hear him
whispering things into my ear.

Sullivan growled as he used my hair to pull me back. “On your

hands and knees.”

He released me, and I turned, presenting my ass to him. An evil

smirk turned up one side of his mouth before he slapped my ass. I
yelped at the sting of pain and then glared at him from over my
shoulder.

“Do that again and we’ll be fighting in here.”
His eyes widened just a bit, and his lips flexed. I realized he was

trying not to laugh. I was so glad my threat amused him. He blanketed
my back, forcing my shoulders down to the mattress. His canines
grazed over my shoulder.

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This time I didn’t beg him not to bite. I wasn’t sure why. That was

a lie. I knew why. I didn’t want anyone replacing me. I was the one
who was going to stand at Sullivan’s side. I was the one who would
remain his lupine. I wanted it more than anything. Even more than I
had wanted my own club.

The blunt tip of Sullivan’s cock pressed at my entrance. I felt the

first spurt and was ready for it this time. His pre-cum was not only
lubing me but relaxing the band of muscles. As the clear liquid
prepared me, Sullivan continued to graze his sharp canines over my
shoulder, moving them back and forth, back and forth.

Was he teasing me? Did he want me to beg? No. He was leaving

the choice up to me. If I asked, he would sink them deep into my
flesh. But only if I asked. He had said the decision was mine to make.

I gasped when the head of his cock pushed inside of me. Sullivan

wrapped one arm around my lower waist and held on. It burned, and
the pain was pleasure. I closed my eyes and pressed my cheek into the
soft sheet underneath me. The lower half of my body was one
delicious ache.

“You were made for me,” Sullivan whispered into my ear. “So

perfect.”

His cock inched deeper inside of me.
My fingers curled into fists. He was stretching me wide once

more. I panted and groaned, breathing past the burn. Sullivan’s tongue
flicked over my ear. “You can take it.”

His muscled thighs pressed into the back of mine. His weight was

a welcoming comfort. His broad chest pressed into my back.
Sullivan’s strong arm stayed hooked around my waist. He was once
again wrapped around me, and I loved it.

“Do you feel me deep inside of you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want anyone else to feel this, to feel the pleasure I can

give?”

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I bucked as my jealousy came alive like a tangible monster. He

chuckled in my ear and then kissed it. “I didn’t think so.”

“Sullivan.” I said his name with a moan, arched my back, and

swiveled my hips. “I–I need you.”

A low, vibrating growl rumbled down my back as Sullivan thrust

the rest of the way in. I cried out. Pleasure exploded all around me.
My body no longer belonged to me. My…wolf growled low. Sullivan
matched the pitch. His hips crashed into my ass, and my cock bobbed.

“Who’s in charge?”
I started to say he was. I really did. But something inside of me

snarled, and I had a feeling it was the creature growing, taking on a
personality of its own. It was fighting against Sullivan’s demand.

“I can’t stop it,” I whimpered.
My body felt like it was falling apart, literally. Sullivan was

making my blood race through me with every stroke of his body. My
wolf was fighting to get free. I felt like I was in some kind of tug of
war. Claws shot out from my fingertips. I screamed at the searing
pain. I was losing control. Fast.

“He’s willful,” Sullivan snarled. He pressed his weight into me, as

if showing me who the more dominant male was. I was pinned down,
and my wolf didn’t like it.

“Bite me,” I begged as I rocked my head back and forth. “Please,

Sullivan.”

“Is that what you truly want?” He had stopped moving, still buried

deep inside of me. I felt how tense his muscles were.

Was it? Or did I just fear losing control and prayed Sullivan’s bite

would calm the raging beast inside of me? A soft kiss was pressed
between my shoulder blades.

Everything seemed to click into place. This was where I wanted to

be. I belonged to this man. I knew it in my heart. “Yes.” The answer
left me without any hesitation.

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Sullivan began to move again, only this time in slow, leisurely

movements. His lips skimmed along my shoulder, making me
shudder. The anticipation was killing me.

“As my lupine wishes.” His canines sliced through flesh,

embedding deep. My eyes flew wide as my lips parted. A soft scream
escaped. I writhed underneath him. My body pulsed. My cock
erupted. My orgasm swept over me like an angry tidal wave. I was
sucked under, fighting against the raging waves.

Sullivan pounded into me, as if feeling my desperation. I was

barely hanging on.

My wolf howled.
I howled.
Sullivan growled around my shoulder.
My wolf finally settled, submitting to Sullivan.
I was sweating, my pulse beating so rapidly that I feared my heart

would explode. Sullivan growled, and the sound was almost demonic.
His hips jerked, and then he slammed hard into me, keeping his cock
buried deep as I felt his seed fill me.

He released my shoulder, licked the wound, and then nuzzled me.

His hips slowed and rocked gently back and forth.

“You now belong to me.” Sullivan pressed his lips into the bite

wound. “You will forever carry this mark. It will never go away.”

I didn’t want it to.
A knock sounded on the door, and I jerked. If it hadn’t been for

Sullivan’s weight, I would have jumped from the bed. But Sullivan
didn’t seem unnerved by the intrusion. His voice was normal, if not a
bit ragged. “What?”

I shoved my face into the sheets, embarrassed even though the

person on the other side couldn’t see what was going on. Sullivan’s
cock was still deep inside me, still rock-hard.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt.” It was Sam. I heard the awkwardness

in his tone. “But we found Ben.”

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Sullivan placed a hand on my side as he pulled free. I was anxious

to go out there and find out about my brother but loathed feeling the
emptiness as Sullivan left my body.

Yep, the man had me hook, line, and sinker.
He patted my hip. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”
He sounded as if he’d hated to separate us as well. But he got up

and dressed. Sam had gone to my place and retrieved some clothes. I
was filled with thankful gratitude. Nothing of Sullivan’s would have
fit.

After I dressed and slipped my sneakers on, Sullivan grabbed my

hand and led me downstairs. My foot faltered on the last step when I
spotted Ben perched on the couch.

I yanked my hand free and raced to my brother, tackling him as I

hugged him tightly. I pulled away and smiled. Ben had hugged me,
but I could feel something different about his hug.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. I glanced up at Sam and then over to

Matt. The large wolf stood behind the couch with his beefy arms
crossed over his chest. His eyes revealed nothing.

Sam stated the obvious. “He’s a bit confused.”
“Syn and I found him wandering the streets,” Matt said. “He

knows who he is, but his memory has been tampered with. He doesn’t
remember what happened to him after he left your house that
morning.”

I gazed at Ben. He smiled at me but it didn’t reach his eyes. It

apparently bothered Ben that he couldn’t remember what had
happened to him. I would bother the hell out of me if roles were
reversed. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. I checked his hands
and was relieved to see ten fingers. “What’s the last thing you
remember?”

Ben blinked, and then shook his head, as if trying to rattle the

forgotten memories to the forefront. “Telling you to watch your back
before I left for work.”

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God, he’d been taken that morning. Right after the second body

had been discovered. Before the body parts had started showing up in
my mail.

“And you can’t recall anything after that?” I squatted down in

front of him, gripping his hands in mine.

“Stop pushing him,” Matt snarled.
Sullivan stepped close to me, baring his canines at Matt. “Watch

how you speak to your lupine.”

Matt blinked and then looked between me and Sullivan. “Is it

official?”

I nodded.
Sullivan wasn’t so gracious. “Does it matter?” The threat was

laced heavily in his tone. “Respect him or deal with me.”

I ignored the two as I returned my attention to Ben.
He shook his head. “Not a thing, Lacee. It’s as if I walked out

your door and then found myself sitting here.”

“Vampire,” Sam said. “They know how to mess with memories. I

can’t think of anyone else who can.”

“Benedetto,” I said, my voice laced with anger.
“But why?” Matt asked, his tone a bit more pleasant toward me.
“Who?” Ben asked as he stared at everyone around him.
I shook my head. “My best guess is that he was going to use Ben

as leverage to win me over. After he found out that I belong to
Sullivan, he must have let Ben go.”

Sullivan grunted. “He wouldn’t be that giving.”
No, Benedetto wouldn’t. So what the hell happened?
Ben ran a hand over his chin. He still looked dazed.

“Brandywine.”

“What?” I asked. “What about her?”
Ben shook his head. “I don’t know. I think she helped me, but…I

don’t know.”

“So the elder kidnapped Ben for leverage, and then, after the fight,

Brandywine rescued him?” Sullivan asked. “Hard pill to swallow.”

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125

“But it’s our only explanation,” I said. If I could find Brandywine,

then I might be able to find more answers. I hated to see the dazed
look about Ben. I wanted him to have his memory back. But did I?
What if he’d gone through something horrific? Would Ben want to
remember? I had to find out.

“Lucas is on his way,” Sam said. “He’s going to look Ben over to

make sure he’s okay.”

I nodded. Lucas had helped Sullivan when Benedetto had shoved

his claws into the alpha’s gut. The guy was nice, a bit strange, but
nice. He looked too young to be a doctor, but what did I know about
treating a pack of Weres?

Standing, I stepped aside. “Sam, can you take him upstairs until

Lucas gets here?”

Sam nodded as he helped Ben to his feet. The two walked up the

steps before I turned to Sullivan. “We have to find her. I have to know
what happened to Ben.”

“She’s out in the car.”
I turned to Matt. “What?”
“She’s here,” he repeated. “I didn’t want to bring her in. She

waved me down after I found Ben. I don’t trust her though. I wanted
Sullivan to give the okay before she stepped foot in our home.”

I moved around the couch, heading for the front door. Sullivan

stopped me by blocking my path.

“Move,” I said.
“Matt,” Sullivan said to the Were, “bring her in here.” He turned

back to me. “I won’t have you storming off into danger.

I glared at him. “Bite me and now you think you can boss me

around?”

Sullivan’s eyes darkened, and not in a sexual way. “Your safety is

my first priority. Like it or not, I will stop you from charging into
danger without thinking things through.”

He had a point. I didn’t like it. But he was right. “Fine.” I crossed

my arms over my chest as Matt went outside to bring Brandywine in.

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Lynn Hagen

I hadn’t realized how late it was. The sun had set, and the moon cast
its glow over the trees outside.

A moment later, Matt returned, Brandywine following behind

him. As soon as she spotted me, she hurried toward me and threw her
arms around my neck. She was still taller than me so she had to bend
slightly.

“I was so worried about you, Lacee.” She wasn’t in her usual get-

up, and she was devoid of makeup. There were dark circles under her
eyes.

“You look like shit.” I hadn’t meant to say that. It had just slipped

out.

She released me and took a step back, glancing nervously at

Sullivan. “After the fight, a lot of us fled. Although the elder escaped,
we didn’t want to take any chances. Marcus has called for Elder
Vincintori’s head.”

I didn’t like Marcus but couldn’t blame the guy. Benedetto was

bad news all around. He needed to be stopped.

“When I left the chamber, I became a bit lost. I lurched through

the tunnels for a moment and came across a room with your brother
inside. He was bespelled. I tried my best to untangle the webs the
elder had created in his mind—” Brandywine wiped at her eyes. “But
I’m afraid I’m not as good as the elder. I tried, Lacee.” She began to
cry. “When I realized that I was in over my head, I carefully backed
out. I swear I didn’t screw anything up in his head. I was very
cautious.”

I hugged her again, patting her back. “Thank you for trying.”
She sniffed and wiped at her tears, pulling away. “The sun was up,

so I couldn’t bring him to you, and I didn’t want him to stay down
there. So I took him as far as I could and told him to go.” She bit her
lower lip. “I was so afraid something would happen to your brother
before the sun set and I could go after him.”

I gazed at Sullivan when she started to cry again. I wasn’t sure

what to do.

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127

“Poor Angelo,” she wailed.
My chest clenched tight at the mention of Angelo’s name. I could

still see his beseeching eyes and hear his soft voice in my ear. That
was going to haunt me for some time.

She turned to Sullivan. “Am I your prisoner now?”
Sullivan sneered at her. “I’m not taking prisoners.”
Her eyes went wide. “Then, are you going to kill me?”
“No,” I said. “Thanks for helping Ben. I owe you one.” I glanced

at Sullivan and dared him to contradict me. “You can go.”

Matt visibly stiffened but didn’t say anything. If he had, we would

have been fighting. Sullivan gave a short nod.

I walked her to the door. “Stay safe.” I hugged her again.
“You too,” she said. “The elder was ranting and raving before he

kidnapped you. The man hates you, Lacee. Please, be careful.”

I watched her leave as my shoulders sagged. I knew in my heart

that I hadn’t seen the last of Benedetto Vincintori.

128

Lynn Hagen

Chapter Fourteen

Blue Moon had become the new spot for Weres. I had them up the

wazoo. Four of Sullivan’s pack members were now my new bouncers.
Sam and his friends had become a hit. I had a packed house every
night. I had even talked Sullivan into letting Brandywine return. She
had been my star attraction before. Even though Benedetto was still
on the loose, Marcus had allowed her to return. With all these Weres
around, she was well protected. Well, as protected as anyone can be
against the loony elder.

Since Marcus had called for Benedetto’s head, it looked like the

bastard elder was no longer in charge. Thank fuck for small favors. I
still didn’t like Marcus, though.

Sullivan begrudgingly admitted that she had helped save Ben’s

life, although the alpha had soured when it came to vampires. He still
worked as a KGI officer and did his job, but his outlook had changed
tremendously.

So had mine. I wasn’t as naïve as I had been before. I now looked

for shadows in every corner, questioning everyone’s motive. I didn’t
like who I’d become, but nearly dying twice will turn even the
perkiest of people into cynics.

But Brandywine had proven herself, and even she had changed.

She wasn’t so bubbly anymore. She was jitterier now, and there was a
sadness surrounding her. Things were different now. Michael and
Terrance hadn’t shown up to get their bouncer positions back. I could
only assume they weren’t too keen on working with Weres. Who
knows.

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129

A lot of the clubs in the Vampire District were closed. For how

long, no one really knew. Everyone was on the hunt for Benedetto
and no one wanted him to show up at their place of business. I had a
feeling that once the elder was caught, things would go back to
something resembling normalcy.

Ben was still at Sullivan’s recovering. A few of the Weres were

there to watch over him. I had called my parents, trying to sound as
normal as possible. They didn’t suspect a thing. Good. My mom had
bugged me again about my cousin William, but I had skirted around
the subject and told her I had a date to get ready for. She tried to drill
me, but I begged her off and hung up. I would take Sullivan to meet
them, eventually. I wasn’t in a rush for my mom to interrogate the
alpha.

Sam was flushed as he strutted off stage. He was wearing nothing

but a G-string and didn’t seem to mind walking around nearly nude.
The bouncers kept anyone from copping a free feel. They took the
safety of the performers seriously.

I was glad.
Sam bumped shoulders with me as he chuckled. “Such an easy

crowed to please.”

I usually tossed an arm over the man’s shoulder but decided

against the idea. Sam was glistening with sweat. And I wasn’t
touching him without any clothes on. A G-string didn’t count. It was a
red piece of cloth and a web of strings. That did not qualify as
clothing.

Sam’s smile fell as he gazed past me. I turned to see what he was

looking at, but the crowd was thick. “What’s wrong?”

He ducked down behind me and whispered, “That Weretiger just

walked through the door.”

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about.

“Where?”

Sam pointed to a guy who was tall, brawny, and wore his dark

hair to his shoulders. His features were Roman, and his eyes were

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Lynn Hagen

scanning the club. He had a thug look about him. Like a henchman for
the mob. I took an instant dislike to him, not because of his features,
but because he scared Sam.

I ground my molars as I stared at him. “Stay here, Sam. I’ll handle

him.”

Sam tried to grab my arm, but I moved away too quickly. I had no

idea what I was going to do, but my anger fueled me. I cut a path
through the crowd, heading for the door.

I stopped right in front of the Weretiger. He looked down at me. I

looked up at him. Fuck, he was huge. His green eyes bore into me.
His menacing glare almost made me take a step back. That was until I
remembered Sam cowering over by the bar.

I stabbed my finger into his solid chest. It was rock-hard. I

swallowed. “Sam doesn’t want to be bothered by you. Why can’t you
take no for an answer?” My two near-death experiences had either
made me brave or stupid. I’d figure out which later. “Fuck off. You’re
not welcome here. If you come near him again, I’ll shoot you between
your menacing eyes.”

I didn’t own a gun.
I was proud of myself though. My voice hadn’t wavered. The

Weretiger’s brows dipped low as he flashed his canines. Something
inside of me snapped. My wolf pushed forward, and I bared my
canines. That shocked me. I didn’t even know I had canines. Not ones
that could grow. But I kept the surprise from showing on my face.

“What in the hell is going on?” Sullivan walked up behind me, his

voice low and tight. His eyes locked onto the Weretiger. “Mind telling
me why you’re growling at my lupine?”

A small man with green, spiky hair and tight jeans walked over to

the scene we were creating and glanced at all of us before pushing
close to the Weretiger. “What’s going on, Henry?”

Henry shook his head. “Hell if I know. This guy just walked up to

me and started threatening me.”

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131

The small man glanced over at Sullivan. “What has my bonded

lover done wrong?”

Bonded lover.
Great.
Fuckity-fuck.
Sullivan glanced at me for an answer. I shrugged. The Weretiger

and the little twink walked off. What could I do? The guy obviously
wasn’t here for Sam.

Speak of the devil. Sam moved in behind me and rested his chin

on my shoulder. “Well, that was embarrassing as hell. Maybe you
shouldn’t have ripped into him like that.”

I turned and gaped at Sam. “Ya think?”
He chuckled and pressed a chaste kiss on my cheek. I swatted him

away. Sullivan shook his head as he pulled me close. “Can’t leave
you alone for a second.”

I smiled when I spotted Ellis walking through the door. My best

friend was dressed to kill in a hot little off-the-shoulder dress and
stilettos. The fire engine red outfit gained Ellis more than one
admirer. Tonight he was wearing a strawberry blond wig that flowed
down his back, shaping the outline of his ass.

He squealed when he spotted me. “You bitch! If you ever go that

long without calling me again, I’ll scratch your damn eyes out.”

I laughed as I hugged him. “Good to see you, too, Ellis.”
“I’m Spice tonight,” he whispered. “So stop throwing my real

name out there.”

I winked at him. “Gotcha.”
Sullivan gave a low whistle when he glanced Ellis over. I elbowed

the bastard in his gut. Ellis grinned widely. “So, you do the do and
become his permanent squeeze?”

I felt my face flush with embarrassment. “Manwhore.”
“Prude,” Ellis shot back before some guy came over and pulled

Ellis away. “I love you,” he shouted to me before he was swept into
the crowd.

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Lynn Hagen

“You live a very…interesting life, Lacee Blue.” Sullivan tucked

me into his arms. “Very colorful friends.”

I turned and slid my arms around Sullivan’s shoulders. It wasn’t

easy. The man was tall as hell. He compromised by lifting me off my
feet. I wrapped my legs around his waist. I didn’t care that we were in
public. Sullivan had my heart, and that’s all that mattered to me.

“I love you,” I whispered as I nuzzled his cheek. I heard the swift

intake of Sullivan’s breath. Pulling back, I looked into his gorgeous
eyes. “Too soon?”

“Not soon enough,” he said as he starting walking toward my

office.

I chuckled. “Well, don’t leave me hanging.”
Sullivan closed the office door. “Oh, pup. You have to know how

I feel about you. A guy doesn’t run around rescuing just anyone.”

I glared at him.
He smirked. “I love you, too.”
I smiled. “Better.”
He pressed my back into the wall. I sighed as I began to nibble on

his jaw. I couldn’t seem to get enough of this man. I hoped I never
did. My lips stilled, and I winced when a slow burn began at the back
of my skull. I gasped as it intensified.

Sullivan frowned. “Lacee, what’s wrong?”
The air began to stir around us.
Before I could get my legs free, Benedetto appeared. I had

dropped my legs, but I was still pressed into the wall. Sullivan turned,
but it was too late. Everything happened in slow motion, or so it
seemed. Maybe that was my brain trying to rationalize what I was
seeing.

I felt the haze, felt it all the way to my bones. My mind fogged,

and I tried to break free of Benedetto’s hold, but it was very powerful
this time. As if I was feeling the wrath of his anger. Truly feeling it. It
wasn’t a peaceful fog as it had been the other times. This time it was
like a thousand hornets stinging me all at once.

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133

I struggled, tried to scream, but no sound came out. I dropped to

the floor, gripping my head as the pain started to rise, rise, rise. I
knew soon that it would become too much. Could I die from mind
control? Was the pain real, or did I just believe that it was?

I tried to find my mental footing, my bearings. ‘This isn’t real,” I

chanted to myself. “The pain isn’t real.”

Somewhere off in the distance I heard fighting. It was like

listening to something from down a long tunnel. The sounds were
muffled, distorted. I reached out. I’m not sure why. But I did and felt
something furry brush over my hand.

Shit. Sullivan had shifted. I reared back, slamming my head into

the wall. I was hoping that did the trick. It hadn’t. Now I was muddle-
minded and might have given myself a concussion.

Something crashed into the office door. I assumed it was

Sullivan’s pack members. My pack members. The door creaked and
groaned in protest but didn’t open. Another one of Benedetto’s tricks.
The shelf next to me teetered and then fell over. The vibration under
foot was like a stampede of elephants.

I had to clear my mind. I dug my nails into my arms, breaking

skin. I gasped at the pain. Blood trickled down my arm in tiny
rivulets. The red lines were thread-thin. I dug deeper and screamed.
Would I tear my own flesh out in order to break the spell?

Yes. I would.
I didn’t like being under anyone’s control.
Kill the beast.
The voice was soft, breezy. It felt as if a lover’s hand was

caressing me as it suggested I kill Sullivan. I stumbled to my feet and
stared at the letter opener on my desk.

Kill the beast.
My feet were not mine, at least not at the moment. I shuffled

forward like a man who’d gotten out of bed, half-asleep, to use the
bathroom. I shuffled across the carpet in a soundless whisper as I
went for the opener.

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Lynn Hagen

“Lacee!”
I could hear Sullivan’s raspy lycanthrope voice calling out to me.

I could hear it but couldn’t stop myself from going for a harmless
object I was about to turn into a weapon. The opener seemed to gleam
under the fluorescent lighting. The entire thing was made of metal. It
had been a gift from my mom, although she thought it was for my dry
cleaning business. The end of the handle had a delicate flower
embossed in the steel. The blade had always reminded me of a sword
a knight might have used. The intricate details were etched with
perfection.

I was willing to bet she’d paid no more than twenty bucks for it,

but it was the thought that counted.

Kill the beast.
I reached out, curling my fingers around the opener. The metal

was cool to the touch. I’m not sure why I thought it would be burning
hot, as if it had come alive. But it hadn’t. It was just an ordinary letter
opener.

“Lacee!” Sullivan shouted as the people on the other side of the

office door beat the wood to shit. But the door held.

The invisible hand caressed me along my spine, encouraging me

to step toward Sullivan. I met Benedetto’s eyes, and they gleamed
with triumph. I could practically see the man salivating. He was no
longer beautiful to me. He’d already destroyed that image, but his
power over me was strong.

I hated him for that.
Benedetto spun Sullivan around, using a full nelson to keep the

lycanthrope still. I wouldn’t have believed that Sullivan could be
rendered helpless. In my eyes, he was strong, indestructible. He didn’t
fight the vampire. The fully transformed lycanthrope stood there
panting, his eyes locked on me.

“Kill him,” Benedetto said out loud. “Show me where your true

loyalties lie.”

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135

He hadn’t called me the love of his life. Go figure. I guess he

wasn’t pretending any longer either. Both of our illusions had been
shattered. Only mine had been forced on me. I’m glad I no longer saw
him as a sexy, mysterious man who could do what he wanted to me.
Just the thought of him touching me made my skin crawl.

Sullivan jutted his chin out. He was going to go down as a

warrior. He wasn’t going to beg for his life. The man kept his gaze
locked on me, staring his murderer right in his eyes.

I was the murderer.
I raised the opener. The light caught the end, and gleamed like a

knife in a Norman Bates movie. I felt like I was about to kill someone
in the shower. I’d never taken a life. The thought of it made my throat
go dry and my stomach turn over.

“Kill him!” The anger lines showed around Benedetto’s eyes.
My arm swung down. But at the last second, I changed angles and

plunged the knife deep into the elder vampire’s side. I twisted it.
There were no serrated edges, but I’d seen plenty of people do it in
the movies. It couldn’t hurt to hope I was doing more damage to the
man.

“My loyalties are with my alpha,” I said, my voice growing

steady.

Benedetto howled in pain as he stumbled back. I stood there with

my mouth slightly parted, watching as tiny black spiderlike webs
began to spread under the man’s skin, outlining his veins. Silver. The
letter opener had been silver.

Maybe my mom had paid more than twenty bucks for the thing.
Thank you, Mom!
Only pure silver could poison preternatural creatures. Silver was a

given for Weres, but it wasn’t a widely known fact for vampires.
They tried to keep that weakness hidden.

Most thought only sunlight could kill them. It could, but there

were other things as well, and I was watching what silver poisoning
did to an undead body.

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Lynn Hagen

I had staked Benedetto. It might not have been in the heart, but the

silver was making its way over his side. It moved up over the collar of
his shirt, and I could see his skin hardening as the poison did its job.
Pure silver and blood didn’t mix very well. The two were natural born
enemies when it came to whatever made the vampires alive.

I wasn’t a scientist, but I did know the end results. The fog in my

mind began to clear. The office door burst open. Benedetto dropped to
the floor, and then his body suddenly turned to ash.

Gross. I was going to have to vacuum that up.
Sullivan stalked toward me, and I didn’t fear him. Not anymore.

Not since we’d sealed our bond and I could feel his emotions. I still
wasn’t very good at reading them. Most were foreign to me, and I
knew only time would help me decipher them.

But this emotion I knew. Sullivan had felt it many times when he

was around me. It was spicy and made my heart beat faster as my
cock grew hard.

Lust.
Had me killing Benedetto turned the man on? Pervert. The other

Weres glanced between the two of us and then made their departure,
closing the door firmly behind them.

Sullivan grabbed me with one arm and swiped the contents of my

desk with the other. Everything went clattering to the floor. I wiggled
in his arms and shoved at his chest. “Oh, no. We’re not doing the
furry thing. You better change back to human.”

“Does it matter?” His voice was low and seductive in my ear. It

was gravelly, too, but I liked it.

“Yeah, it does.” I glanced between his legs. “You’re a monster

down there. Change back.”

His chuckle was raspy as he changed back into his human form.

He bent me over the desk, decimating my jeans. I heard the fabric tear
and watched as the shredded pieces of denim landed on the floor.

He placed the blunt head of his cock to my ass, and the spurts of

pre-cum made me moan. But my beastly man wasn’t being patient.

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137

He thrust deep, and I shouted to the ceiling. My backside was on fire
as he gripped my hips and slammed into me. I had to hold on to the
other side of the desk for leverage.

An animalistic growl ripped from Sullivan’s chest, and to my

surprise, one ripped from mine as well. That seemed to fuel Sullivan’s
sexual hunger. I felt my gums ache as my canines grew in length. My
fingernails turned to claws as Sullivan pounded into my ass.

But this time Sullivan hadn’t ordered my wolf to stay back. I was

beginning to think he wanted to see my wolf emerge. I didn’t. The
thought still terrified me. I struggled against the change.

Sullivan nuzzled my neck. “My brave little lupine.”
I wasn’t feeling very brave right now. Not when my skin grew so

tight I thought I would burst free of my own body. Tiny hairs
sprouted on my hands. I scrambled to get my knees up on the hard
surface of my desk. Sullivan angled my ass higher and hit that sweet
spot that sent me careening forward into the abyss.

I forgot about my wolf. I forgot about Benedetto’s ashes not five

feet from me. I forgot about everything as Sullivan took me to
heaven.

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Chapter Fifteen

I yawned as I pulled into my driveway. The sun hadn’t risen yet. It

was just before dawn, and I was worn out. The events of last night—
or would that be early this morning?—had taken their toll. I was ready
for a hot shower and a good eight hours of sleep.

With Benedetto dead, Sullivan had relented and allowed me my

freedom. Damn nice of the bastard. But, in truth, I appreciated his
protectiveness. It was strange having someone fuss over me, and I
loved it. But I wouldn’t tell Sullivan that. I couldn’t give the man the
upper hand.

I pulled all the way to the back of my house. Since Sullivan had

shredded my jeans, I had to borrow something to wear. I’d die before
I let my neighbors see me in this god-awful pink skirt. Brandywine
thought I looked fabulous in it. I begged to differ.

The house was quiet when I entered. Just the way I liked it. Only

the hum of the refrigerator could be heard. I tossed a coffee pod into
my Keurig and leaned against the counter, waiting for a taste of
Morning Blend.

Glancing at the kitchen table, I frowned when I noticed a plain

brown box sitting there. I didn’t remember putting the box on my
table. The size wasn’t big, something maybe a basketball or helmet
would fit into.

After grabbing my mug of coffee, I ambled across the kitchen.

Maybe my mom had left it. She occasionally dropped by to leave gifts
for me. I yawned, took a sip of my coffee, and then set it aside to open
the box.

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139

My hands stilled. The box was addressed to me, but there was no

return address. How had the package gotten inside? Why wasn’t it
sitting on my front step?

I reached for my phone in my pants pocket but remembered I was

wearing this freaking skirt. My phone was still in my car.

Something hard pressed into the back of my head. I raised my

hands slowly. “There’s cash in my bedroom drawer but nothing else
valuable here.”

“I’m not here to rob you.” The stranger’s voice held a bit of a

wheeze to it. I scrambled to remember where I’d heard that voice
before. I searched my memory but couldn’t recall. For one, I was
scared shitless and couldn’t think. That wasn’t a finger he was poking
into the back of my head. I was willing to bet it was a gun. Two, I’d
been through so much lately that everything seemed to blend together.
One voice belonged to the other.

“Then why are you here?” I asked. I really didn’t want to know

the answer. I just wanted whomever it was to get the hell out of my
house. I was sick and tired of life-threatening situations. I didn’t see
how cops and other men and women who put their lives on the line
did this shit every day. I had been through the wringer for only a short
while and was ready for a vacation.

A hand clamped down on my shoulder. It was biting. I was jerked

back slightly before I felt the breath of the intruder skimming over my
ear. “To teach you how hot the fires of hell are, Lacee Blue.”

HAPE.
I remembered the phone call. The HAPE member had said that I

was going to hell. Not if I could help it. I was weaponless, but my
wolf had come close to the surface, watching, waiting. What he was
waiting for, I had no clue.

“Nice skirt. It would go better with heels instead of loafers.”
“Screw you,” I said. I really shouldn’t be taunting a man who held

a gun to my head, but I wasn’t in the mood to be picked on.

“Open the box.”

140

Lynn Hagen

“No.”
The gun pressed harder into my head. “Open the fucking box.”
I had a feeling that if I opened the box I would see something that

would scar me for life. It would be worse than a set of eyes. Worse
than a finger. And even worse than an ear in a snake’s mouth. All of
that combined would pale in comparison to what lay in that box.

“Open the box or I’ll splatter your brains all over the kitchen

table.” His fingernails dug into my shoulder, and I had to fight not to
cry out. I gripped the back of a chair and strangled the wood until my
knuckles turned white.

I could see brightness on my counter, telling me the sun was

rising. Would I live to see it, or would this madman snuff me out? He
wasn’t well adjusted. No one was if they thought sending body parts
to a person was okay. “I thought HAPE was nonviolent?” I asked.

“Under new management,” the intruder said. “A lot of things will

be changing around here. The Weres might have some rights, but the
undead are still deemed abominations. I plan to keep it that way.
HAPE is going to wipe every bloodsucker and furry bastard from the
face of the planet.”

The man had pretty high goals. Nothing like a hate-filled

individual with a plan to make the cockles of my heart all warm and
fuzzy. World domination was probably next on his bucket list.

I licked my lips and wondered if antagonizing the man was wise. I

did it anyway. “I’m happy for you. But what does any of that have to
do with me?”

“You’re one of them creature lovers.”
Creature lovers? Was he serious? He’d really shit kittens if he

knew I’d become one of them. I kept that information to myself. He
just might pull the trigger if he knew.

“I’m only gonna ask one more time for you to open that box, and

then the next people I’m going to be visiting are your parents,” he
warned.

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141

That made ice run down my spine. With shaky hands, I reached

for the box and slid it to the edge of the linoleum table. My kitchen
table and chairs were a vintage 1960s set I’d picked up at a garage
sale. The tabletop was white with tiny gold flecks speckled through it.
The chairs were a strange green vinyl. I thought it looked cool in my
kitchen.

But not with this ominous box perched on it. I peeled back the

paper and saw a grey box. There was a fedora stamped on the top in
faded red and the words Harland Hat Company Est. 1908. The box
was sturdy. I jerked my hands back. It was also ice-cold. Whatever
lay inside, it was being kept cool by dry ice. Just like the other
packages.

I stared at it. I didn’t want to open the box. I didn’t want the

nightmares. The back door swung open, and I heard someone race
across the kitchen floor. The pressure left my head as the intruder
gasped. Without thought, I spun around and rammed my elbow into
the intruder’s face. Blood spurted down his nose as I tackled him.

Ellis had come by. He jumped on the intruder’s back, helping me

take down…oh my god! “Craig?”

“What’s wrong, Lacee?” Ellis asked as he sat on Craig’s chest and

slammed his fist into the man’s already bloody nose. “Did you run out
of postage stamps?”

That was my best friend. Ellis had no idea why we were beating

up the postman. He just jumped right in and helped me kick ass. God
love my best friend. Ellis would probably help me bury the body if I
asked. “He’s the one who’s been sending me body parts in the mail!”

Ellis snarled and popped Craig in the nose again. The gun had slid

to the other side of the kitchen. I jumped up and grabbed my house
phone. I dialed Sullivan as I stood guard by the gun to make sure
Craig couldn’t get to it.

I didn’t want my fingerprints on it and truth be told, I was afraid

of guns.

“You’ll all burn in hell for being creature lovers!” Craig shouted.

142

Lynn Hagen

Ellis popped him again. “Shut up, nut job.”
Blood had coated a part of my kitchen floor by the time Ellis was

finished “subduing” Craig. I’d be surprised if the man would be able
to breathe out of his nose again. For a tiny guy, Ellis packed one hell
of a punch. I knew he was feisty, but damn. Ellis was a little
firecracker.

Sullivan showed up at the same time that the human cops did.

From the look on the alpha’s face, whatever was in that box was
pretty gruesome. I wouldn’t know. I never looked.

But Sullivan looked pretty damn pissed. “We discounted his

fingerprints because he was the postman.” He shook his head as if
disgusted he’d been duped.

“He’s also a HAPE member,” I said. I gave the cops my

statement, telling them about all the gruesome deliveries and what
Craig had said about HAPE, how it was under new management.

Craig had to be taken away by ambulance. With a police escort of

course. The man hadn’t stopped ranting and raving. He’d screamed
nonsense up until they closed the ambulance doors.

What a fruitcake.
Once the police cleared out, Sullivan pulled me into his arms and

hugged me so tightly I thought my eyes were going to pop.
“Goddamn it, Lacee. Can you stop getting yourself into these fixes?
My heart can only take so much.”

Ellis perched himself on one of my green vinyl chairs and smiled

at us. “I guess the Were won out. So, what happened to the elder? Is
he available?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and prayed this was really over.

That the madness was finished, at least for now. “Manwhore.”

Ellis chuckled. “Prude.”

* * * *

Blue Moon

143

“I am not getting naked in front of these people.” I crossed my

arms over my chest and stomped my foot like an errant child. I wish I
hadn’t done that. I winced as the pine needles pricked the bottom of
my bare foot.

Sullivan looked like he was at the end of his patience. “This is our

monthly gathering. Everyone strips down for the shift.”

We stood in the woods behind Sullivan’s home. The daylight was

dwindling, casting long shadows over the backyard. There had to be a
good three dozen men and women gathered around. I dropped my
eyes to the forest floor at their nudity.

Sullivan chuckled. “Are you blushing?”
I might be bonded to Sullivan, but there were some pretty hot

dudes here with ripped bodies. Of course I was blushing. I was having
some very naughty thoughts. I smiled when I thought of how Ellis
would react to all these naked men. The guy would flip his
strawberry-blond wig.

At least my life had gotten back to normal. Blue Moon was still a

raging success. Terrance and Michael had shown up, and I’d given
them their jobs back. Things were a little tense around the club, but
everyone behaved themselves. Even my girls had come back.

There were show-stopping performances, and the humans

couldn’t seem to get enough of the performers. The only thing
missing was Angelo. I tried not to dwell on his death. It was a loss
everybody felt. He would be missed.

A warm breeze blew through the woods and ruffled my hair. I’d

like to think it was Angelo saying hi.

The body parts Craig had been sending through the mail belonged

to some prostitute. Nobody knew if Craig had a connection to the guy,
and Craig wasn’t talking.

My eyes widened when Sullivan stripped. I was drooling as well.

Looking at a hot body like that, any sane man would. “What are you
doing?” I asked. “You’re not allowed to show off your goodies.”

144

Lynn Hagen

Syn walked over, and I averted my eyes. “Newbies.” He chuckled.

The man was naked, and I just couldn’t have a conversation with him
without any clothes on. I wouldn’t be able to take him seriously, and I
wouldn’t be able to stop myself from staring.

Besides, Sullivan would kill me.
The shadows grew until they disappeared. The sun had set. My

skin was growing tighter, and I knew my first shift wasn’t too far off.
I was just going to have to ruin my clothes because there was no way
in hell I was getting naked. I felt like a booby prize among all these
gorgeous gods. Hell, even the women were shapely and attractive.

Talk about a complex.
Growls and snarls erupted. People were shifting all around. I

glanced up at Sullivan. “I’m scared.” My heart was beating out of
control, and I could feel my limbs shaking.

Sullivan grabbed me. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me

until my mind spun. I tried to crawl up his body, to get closer. His
scent enveloped me, and the world seemed to melt away. The sounds
around me dimmed as Sullivan’s tongue plunged deep into my mouth.
I felt my claws growing, my canines extending. I didn’t care. All I
wanted was to be wrapped in Sullivan’s arms.

Of course I felt the change. I knew it wouldn’t be a smooth

transition. My bones popped and realigned, and I found myself
panting through the pain as Sullivan nuzzled my neck. Our lips locked
one last time before both of our muzzles emerged.

Wow. Sullivan had kissed the shift right out of me. I stared down

at my hands. Or what should’ve been my hands. My fur was platinum
blond, and my claws were long. I stood on two legs, not four. I could
think coherently and knew I would be able to talk because I’d heard
other talk in this form. Some deep instinct inside of me made me
throw my head back and howl.

The entire pack howled.
Sullivan had said there might be bloody fights or even a war

because I was his lupine. There was some aggression, some withering

Blue Moon

145

glares and low snarls toward me. But Sullivan had put the offenders in
their place. Literally. I think Cortez was still nursing a sprained wrist.
Maybe not with his healing powers, but the guy wouldn’t look at me
wrong for a very long time, if ever.

But most smiled and welcomed me to the pack. I guess now that I

was all furry I was better accepted.

Sullivan shoved his muzzle into my neck and sniffed me. I let

him. He was probably getting to know my wolf. When the pack took
off for their run, Sullivan and I joined them.

I had never run faster in my life. The speed was incredible but so

was the feeling of freedom. I was now a Were, a successful business
owner, and a lupine to an entire pack of wolves.

But most of all, I was bonded to the handsomest man on the face

of the earth. I’m biased, so what. Sue me.

THE END

WWW.LYNNHAGEN.COM

HTTP://FACEBOOK.COM/LYNNHAGEN.AUTHOR

LYNNHAGEN@YAHOO.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Hagen loves writing about the somewhat flawed, but

lovable. She also loves a hero who can see past all the rough edges to
find the shining diamond of a beautiful heart.

You can find her on any given day curled up with her laptop and a

cup of hot java, letting the next set of characters tell their story.

For all titles by Lynn Hagen, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/lynn-hagen

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

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