Chapter 18: Alpha’s Secret: Chapter 18

Jordy

I stand naked on the carpet of the large bedroom. Augustine paces around me. I haven’t said anything since he grabbed me in front of the trailer and shoved me into the trunk of a car. I expected him to take me to the club or back into the green room, but not here.

“Welcome home,” he said as he dragged me up the walk to the house where he kept me. I bite my tongue to keep from correcting him. This was never my true home.

“Jordy,” he croons now, running a finger along the back of my neck. His nail cuts me but I don’t flinch. “You’ve been a bad slave.”

I’m not your slave. I don’t belong to you anymore.

“What a merry little chase you and your teddy bear led me on. I must say, I’m almost impressed.”

I say nothing. My fists clench against my legs. I will not bow. I will not shiver, or break. I will not give this vampire the satisfaction.

Because he was never my master. He was a poser, a user, and he took from me what wasn’t his. I never truly belonged to him.

Just a few minutes longer. Hold out until—

“Did you think you could hide forever? Did you think he’d protect you?”

“He did protect me—” I say and my head snaps to the side with Augustine’s slap, a blow I expected but never saw coming. My cheek goes numb.

“He left you,” the vampire sneers. “And now you’re back here. Alone. Unarmed. Pitiful. Nothing more pathetic than an unowned slave.”

I’m not unowned. My love may not want me, but I chose him. I wear his mark on my heart.

Oh Grizz, I wish I could see you. One last time.

My former vampire master circles me. “Kneel.”

“No. I don’t kneel for you.”

“You belong to me.”

“I don’t. Not any more.” And I smile. His hold over me is broken. I don’t submit to anyone. Submission is a choice, and I don’t choose anyone but Grizz.

“Who did she tell?”

I come face to face with my nightmare. The one eyed vampire.

For the first time in my life, I look the vampires in the eye. I’m going to die, anyway. Might as well stand up for myself.

“She won’t tell me,” Augustine grits out.

“So we make her,” the one-eyed vampire says, and for a moment things fade away.

I come to with Augustine slapping my face.

“It’s no use. She knows nothing, and we’re running out of time.”

The one-eyed vampire’s voice fills my head, a nightmare come to life. “Then we make sure she doesn’t talk again.”

And then: pain. So much pain.

Grizz

I pull up just as a black car with dark tinted windows pulls away. Tires squeal around the corner and hideous laughter rings in my ears. Before I can give chase, a flash of red catches my eye. Down the walkway, leading from the house are red footprints, soaked with the scent of blood.

Not a good sign.

I’m off the bike and in the house in seconds. The flask burns a hole in my pocket, but instead of reaching for it, I clench my fist. I’ll need every drop for the confrontation with the vampires, and something tells me that they’re already gone.

Augustine’s house is silent, but the scent of vampire is everywhere. My bear is out and wild. This place is silent as a fucking tomb, and something tells me this hunt won’t end well.

I follow the bloody footprints backwards from the front door to the hall. They end in front of a half-open door leading to a bedroom. I push open the door. It sticks on the wet carpet, pushing through a tide of red. Blood and more blood, and just in view, a spill of red hair.

Oh no.

I stop pushing the door and enter the dark bedroom.

Jordy lies on the carpet, limbs askew. A broken, bloodstained doll for me to find. The vampires had their fun and left her.

This is my fault.

I fall to my knees and grab her hand and she whimpers. Her wrist is broken. Her eyes scan my face, wide with pain and frightened. “Grizz.”

“It’s okay, Kit. I’m here.”

I don’t bother checking her wounds. She’s covered in blood. The worst tearing is over her heart, her blood leaking out with every pump. The vampires ripped her open. I want to roar and tear this place apart.

Instead I crouch beside her.

“You’re here,” she rasps, her fingers fumbling over my face.

“Of course I’m here.” Did she think I’d stay away? Leave her to die? I shake my head. “I fucked up.”

“You gotta go.” She tries to raise her head and I soothe her back.

“I’m not leaving you, Jordy.”

“You have to. The one eyed vampire was here. You can find him. You can track him. You can go. Have your revenge.” She squeezes my fingers and lets them drop. “Go.”

“Jordy.”

“Go kill him, Grizz. Then you can be free.” Her head lolls on her neck. Fuck, she’s lost too much blood. Her fox is trying, but the shifter healing isn’t happening fast enough.

“Don’t leave me, Kit.”

Her breath rattles in her lungs. “Wanted to give my life to someone,” she rasps. “I’m glad it was you.”

Fuck, no. It can’t end this way. It can’t.

I pull the flask from my pocket and fumble with the cap. Gotta be quick, there’s not much time.

“Here.” I put the flask to her lips. “You need to drink this.” Vampire blood—the most healing substance on earth.

Her lips move as if to protest. I shove the bottle into her mouth and tip it. Blood pours into her mouth. Dark, rich red.

She sputters, shaking her head.

“You will,” I order. “Drink it all.”

I wait until she drains it and race out, return with the cooler. The blood of the vampire king—the most potent there is. If anything can heal her, this can.

“Drink,” I command with all the dominance in me. I force bag after bag into her, and pour the rest over her broken body. All of the blood meant to give me revenge. Every drop.

Finally, it’s done. She lies in a red pool, her eyes closed. I wait for a long time, listening to her breath. Slow, but steady. Not much, but it’s something.

I rush to find all the blankets I can and put them around her. Fates, is her chest still moving? The wounds still look bad, but there’s no fresh blood leaking out of her. With any luck, the healing’s begun.

“Fight through it, Kit. You can do it, little fox.” I lay beside her and smooth her hair from her face. Her skin is chilled. Fuck. “You can’t leave me, Jordy. You just can’t. Not now. Not when I’m finally coming to my senses.” Fuck, my eyes hurt. I blink a few times. Must be the strain. I haven’t cried since my mother died.

But there’s wet on my face when I put an arm around Jordy and press my face into her blood soaked hair. “Live, Kit. Live for me. Because, from now on, I live for you.”

A slight noise and her mouth parts, her chest rising and falling. “That’s it. That’s right,” I murmur, pressing closer. The healing has begun. “When you wake up, I’ll be here. Because I choose you.”

A whimper wakes me. I open my eyes and the sun hits me in the face. It’s high in the sky. Shit, I fell asleep? Jordy lies still beside me. For a horrible second I think that—but no, her chest is still moving. Her face and body are matted with dried blood, but underneath her wounds have healed.

I head to the bathroom, grab a fancy towel, and spend a few minutes washing the blood off her face and chest. About halfway through, her eyes slowly open.

“Hey.” I stroke back her hair.

“Grizz? What—” her eyes flash around frantically. “What happened? Augustine—”

“He’s gone. The vampires are all gone.” For now. But I gotta move her soon, in case they come back.

“But, I thought—”

“I couldn’t leave you, Kit. I made a mistake, but I’m not going to leave you again.”

Her forehead wrinkles and I smooth the lines away. She relaxes into my touch. It’s scary, how much she trusts me.

“How you feeling?”

She tries to shrug and gives a little groan.

“Easy. You’re okay.”

“I don’t know what happened. The vampires…”

“Beat you and left you for dead.”

Her hand falls, her eyes round with pain. “I remember.”

“Kit, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right.” She starts to struggle upright, then sits up quickly, casting a wondering glance around her. “I feel…fine.” She tests the word, raising a hand in front of her face and staring at it. “Better than fine actually.”

“It’s the blood.”

She closes her mouth. Swallows. “Blood?”

“All the blood I had. A whole cooler. Frangelico gave it to me to fight vampires.”

“You gave it to me?”

“I gave it to you. I didn’t know if it would heal or kill you, but you were dying anyway. I could only hope.” I touch her face tenderly. “And it worked. It healed you. Took all the blood I had, but it was worth it. It saved you.”

“You used the blood,” she murmurs to herself. “But, what about the vampires? The one-eyed vampire? I saw him, he was there. You can still get him—”

“No, Kit. No more. We can’t stay here. I can’t go back to the king. And I can’t hunt the one-eyed vampire anymore. I can’t risk anyone finding out about you. The vampires were trying to turn you.”

“Trying to—” her brow wrinkles.

“I figured out what they were doing. All those blood exchanges. They want an army to fight Frangelico. They tried to turn you.” For a horrible moment, I wondered if the blood could have turned her into a vampire. But no. Jordy’s alive and her fox is strong. The blood did its healing work.

“Grizz.” She touches my face. “What about your revenge?”

“I don’t need it. All I need is you.”

She closes her eyes and lets her forehead meet mine. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For ruining things. For using up all the blood. Now you can’t get revenge.”

“Jordy.” I pull away and catch her chin. “You didn’t ruin anything. You saved me. I was gonna drink that blood, fight the vampires, and die. I didn’t think I had anything to live for but revenge. I was wrong.” I tuck my face close to hers and whisper against her lips. “I have you.” Fuck, I have to kiss her.

Her arm slides around my neck and I lift her, carrying her swiftly out of the room. Away from the blood and gore. Away from the scene of her death and rebirth.

I get as far as the front door before I haul her against me and claim her mouth. I kiss her in the vampire’s house, my hands running up and down her body, squeezing, claiming. She’s soft and warm and whole. I was so fucking stupid. I could’ve missed this. I could’ve lost her forever.

A dog barks outside, a random warning. I break the kiss and Jordy puts a hand to her face, rubbed red by my stubble. She laughs at the beard burn, and I have to kiss her again.

This time she breaks away, still smiling. “We need to go.”

Right. “We gotta get outta town before sundown. Out of the valley.”

Her face falls and I cup her chin. “It’s not like that. I’m coming with you this time. I promise this, Jordy. I will never leave you again.”

“Okay,” she says, looking up at me with such trust. I don’t deserve her. I’ll spend the rest of my life treasuring this woman, caring for her and protecting her and replacing every bad memory of vampires with a hundred good ones. She’s gonna know how special she is. She’s gonna know she’s loved. I’ll dedicate my life to it. To her.

“We’ll have to be on the run for a little while. Make sure the vampires think you’re dead, and I’m too devastated by your death to hunt. We’ll run for a bit, but then I’m gonna take you to my place up north.”

“Really?” she asks, her eyes shining.

“It’s not much,” I caution. “Just a cabin the woods, in the Sierra Nevadas. No one around. Just you, me, and a bunch of trees.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

I shake my head. This fox. So cute. “You excited about that? Living in the woods with a grumpy bear?”

“Yes,” she repeats, and laughs breathily as I tug her hair. “Yes. I’ll go anywhere, Grizz, as long as it’s with you.”