Jane shouldn’t be afraid.
His wolf was oddly silent as Aidan grabbed Jane and pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay,” Aidan told her, knowing his hold was too tight but not able to ease his grip. He wanted to hold her and never let go. “You’re safe. I’ve got you. Everything will be all right.”
She shuddered against him.
“You…you need to have a care there, wolf,” Vincent softly warned him.
Fuck that vampire. Vincent would be headless soon enough. Smoke drifted in the air around them, and Aidan still heard the crackle of flames.
Jane shuddered once more.
She’s naked. She’s probably cold. He finally eased his hold on her, yanked off his jacket, and looped it around her shoulders. “I’ll take care of you,” he promised her.
Again, his wolf was dead silent.
It was just the man talking. The man who was so desperate for her he couldn’t see straight.
Jane. Not dead. Not gone. She was still right there with him.
Her head had tilted forward and her long hair covered her face. His hand—shaking—brushed back that hair. “Jane?”
“I don’t…feel right, Aidan.” She wasn’t looking at him. Her head was still tilted forward.
You’ve been dead, sweetheart. Of course, you don’t feel right. “You need to rest. We’ll go back to our home.” Our home. “You’ll be fine. You’ll—”
Slowly, her head slid back so that Jane was looking up at him. “I feel…hungry.” And he saw the flash of her sharp teeth—right before she lunged at him and sank her fangs into his throat.
The pain was fast, white-hot, and shock held Aidan immobile.
Not Jane. Not Jane…I don’t want to hurt her…
But the wolf that had been so quiet and still inside of him wasn’t quiet any longer. He was howling, raking Aidan with his claws, and demanding to be set free.
The wolf’s thoughts were basic.
Vampire. Kill. Destroy.
An instinct as old as time. Primitive.
But the man was still in control and the man just thought…
Jane is mine.
Her tongue snaked over his skin. A tremble shook him. He shouldn’t be finding pleasure in her bite. It was so fucking wrong. Everything was wrong and—
“Aidan?” Jane said, her voice husky. “Wh-what am I doing?” And she was suddenly pushing against him. Horror flashed on her face even as drops of his blood dripped down her chin. “No! No! Stop me!” She was screaming now, terrified, anguished. “Stop me!”
That was just what the wolf wanted. To stop her. His bones snapped. He—
Vincent yanked Jane out of Aidan’s arms and shoved her behind him. “It was way too soon for this little meeting. She isn’t strong enough yet, and you—” His gaze raked over Aidan. “You are totally fucked up.”
Aidan couldn’t stop the transformation now. It was coming too fast. Fur burst from his skin, and he slammed down to the ground, landing on all fours.
“You have better things to worry about than us,” Vincent said, his voice rough and fast. “Things like say, the other alpha in town. You know, the one that has been killing humans. Why don’t you go after him? Take out all this aggression on him?”
Aidan’s rage was focused on the vampire before him. Vincent. Vincent had done this. He’d changed Jane. He’d ruined everything. A growl broke from Aidan as razor sharp teeth filled his mouth. Not a man’s mouth, a beast’s.
“Jane, we have to go,” Vincent said. “Right now.”
Aidan looked up, still seeing through the eyes of a man, for the moment. Jane was struggling in Vincent’s arms, and her wide gaze was…
On me.
She stared at him with anguish and fear and—and love. Even then, after everything, he could still see her love for him.
“Stop me,” Jane begged him softly.
“Stop saying that shit!” Vincent yelled back. Then he locked his arms around her stomach and started running with her down the tight alley. “Stop it—or he will!”
The last of the shift burned through Aidan’s blood.
“Oh, my God.” Dr. Bob’s voice. Still breathless and now absolutely terrified. “Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. Don’t…”
The doctor wasn’t the beast’s prey.
The vampires were.
Aidan howled as the shift finished, the man now gone and only the wolf in his place. He bounded down the alley, steps behind the vampires. So close.
“Aidan…” Jane’s voice.
The wolf stumbled.
My mate.
And then both vampires vanished.
Chapter Sixteen
It was hard to think straight. Jane’s body was too hot. Her skin too tight. And her mind…
Hunger. Need. Blood.
She could taste blood on her tongue. The flavor was rich and oddly sweet. And…and Jane feared it was…his.
Everything was cloudy. Her thoughts were in chaos. She’d been in an alley. She thought she had, anyway. Aidan had been there. She’d…bit him?
Had she killed him?
“Jane.” It was that voice again. The annoying one that kept bossing her around.