Hunter Reborn (12 page)

They both froze almost simultaneously. His wolf clawed at his insides, the foreign scent drifting on the air making his hackles rise. Without having to say a word, both brothers stripped off their clothes and shoes in seconds and shifted to their wolf form.

A vampire was close by. Maybe more than one. There were too many heartbeats at the ranch to decipher who was who, but the new scent subtly teasing his nose was definitely foreign.

East?
Liam asked through their familial telepathic link. Not all related shifters could communicate telepathically but he and Liam came from a strong line and could in both human and wolf form. They usually
chose to talk aloud in human form, but when they were wolves, this was the only option.

Connor paused, inhaling again what he'd scented only hours before at that club. Definitely vampires. Their crisp scent was unmistakable, like freshly washed clothes in summertime. It wasn't bad, just different from his and other species.
Yes,
he said to his brother, running to the other end of the parking structure.

There was no way in hell he should be scenting vamps on his land. And not this close to the ranch. The drive to where everyone lived was at least a couple of miles from the highway and the rest of the surrounding land was hundreds of acres of untamed hills. Which meant these fuckers were close.
Ana, get Vivian and Lucas inside. We have a breach. Vampires. Contact everyone and be careful. Love you.

She cursed, then said,
On it. You be careful too. I love you.

His packmates would all know what to do and so did Ana. His mate was smart and tough and he didn't worry about second-guessing her decisions in a crisis. She would be securing the main house and calling everyone, ordering them what to do. Though he could never truly lock down the worry he felt for his bondmate, he compartmentalized it and focused on the task at hand.

December's on her way to the main house. She's calling Kat,
Liam told him, the worry in his brother's voice potent. December had the healing capabilities of a shifter because of the baby she carried, but she couldn't
shift like them yet and she was weaker in her pregnant state.

We've got a lot of protection here.
Connor knew his words didn't matter when Liam was worried about his mate, but they would have to do.

As he and Liam neared the end of the parking structure that was the same size as the barn they had for their horses, they both slowed at the open exit.

They're fucking close.
Connor forced his growl down. Right now was about stealth. In front of him he could see one of the fences penning in their cows. It extended around all the way to the line of thick woods. Beyond that he couldn't see shit. Didn't matter what kind of extrasensory abilities he had. He couldn't see through trees. But something told him the vamps he scented were closer. There was no wind right now. . . . He looked up into the rafters.

Without needing to communicate, next to him Liam did the same. Connor tensed, slowly creeping back inside, keeping his gaze upward. Scanning the dark shadows, he saw three areas that didn't quite blend in with the darkness. But the figures came damn close. Which told him these weren't young vamps with no experience. Hell, the fact that they'd breached his land and they were here in the daylight told him all he needed to know about the strength of the vamps. Daywalkers were fairly rare, created only if their makers were.

I see three,
Liam said.

Same here.

Connor howled now, letting loose the anger he'd been restraining. No need to remain quiet now, not when he'd spotted the intruders. Next to him Liam howled and in the distance the innumerable howls of his packmates rose up like the most beautiful symphony.

Almost instantly, three males dropped from the rafters, moving with rocket-like speed, their boots thudding against the hard earth. Dust whooshed out beneath them, making soft puffs in the air.

The three males looked similar. Dark hair, glowing amber eyes, all leather clothing. Like a fucking vampire cliché. One stepped forward, a short sword in his hand. The speaker of the group focused on Connor from thirty feet away, his expression full of rage. “We just want the female.”

Fuck. Connor couldn't talk to the male like this and while he wanted nothing more than to simply kill these intruders, he knew he shouldn't. Not when his pack's well-being was at stake and he had to look at the big picture. Sometimes being Alpha sucked.
I'm changing,
he told Liam. Translation: cover me if these bastards try to attack while I'm mid-shift.

The heady rush of the change was almost instantaneous as he shifted back to his human form. “Give me one reason why I shouldn't slaughter all of you where you stand,” he demanded, his voice more animal than man. Right now he was barely hanging on to his humanity.

These bastards were on his land. Where his beloved mate lived. Where his adopted cub lived. Where everyone who depended on him lived. Hell. No.

The leader spoke again, his voice low and angry. “I told you, we just want the female.”

“You're going to need to be a little more specific than that.” For all Connor knew this was about Larissa and not Natalia. Not that it mattered. Even if Aiden's mate was here and he had the ability to give her to these vamps, he
wouldn't
.

“That bitch who killed our maker.”

“Again, be specific.” Connor bit back a smile as all three snarled in rage.

“I know she's here. She killed Emil. We want her. It's our right to exact vengeance.”

Ah, so this was about Natalia. Some of Connor's tension lessened. He'd expected some of the dead vamp's offspring—and that's how some viewed themselves in relation to their maker—to want retaliation, but he'd thought he could nix the problem by meeting with the Brethren.

Connor let the leash on his wolf slip intentionally, let his animal's need to strike bleed into his eyes. “She
is
here. She is my responsibility and more than that, she's my packmate. You trespassed on my land minutes before I'm about to meet with Juhani and Narek.” Two of the Brethren members, including the dead vamp's brother, Juhani. Connor's wolf bared his teeth in glee when they all shifted their feet nervously. But he didn't pause. “You either have balls of fucking titanium or you're the dumbest vampires to walk the face of the earth.”

“I'm gonna go with dumb motherfuckers,” Jayce said. Connor could scent and feel his presence behind him, but didn't turn.

He also scented Erin with the male, and could only imagine the display the two of them made behind him and Liam. At the other entrance, a dozen of his packmates all in wolf form appeared. Growling low, they began to advance until Connor held up his hand. The vamps were completely caged in. To attempt to run or attack now would be stupid. “You have two options. Fight me now and die. Painfully. Or come with us to meet Juhani and Narek in chains.” Because there was no way in hell Connor was letting these males leave. There were no second chances for this kind of trespass.

The lead vamp glanced over his shoulder and the two others did the same. When he turned back to Connor his expression was still defiant, but he nodded. “Fine. We go with you to meet Juhani. I can't imagine he lets the bitch survive for killing his brother.” He sounded so damn smug Connor covered the distance between them in less than a second and slammed his fist into the male's nose.

A satisfying crunch rent the air as the vamp flew backward and landed with a grunt of pain. If he'd been human, the male would be dead from the impact of the blow. He wiped at his face, cursing as he shoved to his feet, but he didn't make a move to attack. Maybe he was smarter than Connor had originally thought.

To give them credit for not being completely stupid, the other two vamps also stood there and raised their hands in surrender.

Without him having to say a word, Jayce and Erin strode past him and took all three vamps to the ground, one after the other, cuffing them with silver restraints
that had likely been blessed by the fae with some sort of binding spell. Connor's own mate had a sword blessed by the fae that ashed feral shifters and he knew that Jayce had two swords that could ash vamps or anyone with vamp blood in their system. Clearly, Natalia had used one of the enforcer's damn swords the night before. So he wasn't surprised that these two had something they used to restrain supernatural beings.

Go see your mate, then we're leaving,
Connor projected to Liam as he made his way to his discarded clothes. He was going to see Ana too. The need to assure himself that she and Vivian were all right superseded everything else, including pack responsibility. And once he saw that they were okay, he was going to meet with the Brethren and deal with these trespassers before things escalated.

A
re you planning on talking to me again anytime this century?
Aiden asked, his frustration at Larissa's silence building inside him each second that ticked by. It had been a little under two hours that she'd been giving him the cold shoulder and he was sick of it.

Larissa didn't look at him, just kept her jaw clenched tightly as they strode down the sidewalk toward the hotel where she'd been staying with Magda.
Now is not the time for a discussion of your idiocy.

He growled at her frosty tone and spared a glance behind him. Brianna and Angelo were about twenty yards back, keeping a decent distance between them in case there were any more surprise vamp attacks. They were going to be the lookouts while he and Larissa infiltrated the hotel, then they planned to bring Angelo in to check the scent too. Now more than ever they needed backup.

Connor had contacted both him and Angelo about a vamp breach at the ranch. Aiden was just thankful that
no blood had been shed and that the breach had nothing to do with Larissa. His very frustrating mate.
My idiocy? What the hell are you talking about?
he demanded as they reached the first set of the spinning glass doors of the hotel's multiple front entrances.

She looked at him and raised one dark, perfectly arched eyebrow. “Perhaps you'd like to show me how to use this fancy contraption?” she purred, her voice dripping with ice as she motioned to the entry.

These types of entrances had been around when she was alive. She was obviously trying to piss him off. “I was just trying to help earlier.” He couldn't understand why she was so mad. It was like he'd accidentally flipped some imaginary switch and he couldn't turn it off. Ever since they'd left the diner she'd refused to speak to him, only answering questions he asked aloud, and he was positive she did that only because the others had been in the SUV with them. But if he'd dared talk to her telepathically she'd completely ignored him. And forget about touching her. He'd tried to put his arm around her shoulders once but she'd shrugged his hand away.

“If I need your help, I'll ask for it. But don't hold your breath,” she snapped out before turning on her heel and stalking through the door. She moved quickly, not giving him a chance to join her in her section of the spinning door.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, he followed. His inner wolf clawed at him, demanding he make things right between him and Larissa but he didn't know how. They'd never argued when they'd been together. Not
truly and not once after they'd bonded. And he didn't know why they were now.

The hotel lobby was all plush marble floors and gold and white furniture that practically gleamed under the vintage-style chandeliers. He found it interesting that the witch had brought Larissa to such a nice establishment. Maybe it had all been part of her plan to keep Larissa happy before she put whatever her plan had been into motion. Larissa had been accustomed to only the best and this place was definitely that.

By the time he reached the front desk Larissa was already talking to one of the females there. Another human man was helping a man and woman who stood a few feet down and wasn't paying attention to them.

The human shook her head in answer to something Larissa had asked. “As far as the computer is showing, no one has been in either room even to clean. The instructions were very clear and we pride ourselves on catering to our guests' every need.”

“Thank you so much for your help,” Larissa said softly. “Have there been any calls to either room?”

Aiden leaned against the counter, blocking Larissa from the couple and employee at the other end of the long, white marble-topped reception desk. Even though they weren't paying attention, he didn't want anyone to inadvertently notice the soft glow coming from her eyes as Larissa slightly mesmerized the human woman. The gift that some vampires and some fae—like Brianna—had to persuade humans to be truthful was damn handy. Something Aiden wouldn't mind having.

The woman clacked away on her keyboard and eyed her computer screen. “Two were made to your friend's room. No messages were left.”

“Thank you. I'd like to ask you for one more favor and it needs to stay between the two of us.” Larissa's voice dropped, taking on a stronger tone. “You're going to give me a master key and not tell anyone about it and make sure no one sees what you're doing. I'll return it when I leave.” Her demand was low enough that only Aiden and the human could hear.

“Okay, no problem.” The woman's eyes slightly glazed over as she reached into a drawer and picked out a white card with a black magnetic stripe down the back and the gold emblem of the hotel stamped on the front. “This will get you anywhere you need to go.” The woman slid it across the marble to Larissa in one smooth move.

“Thank you again. You've been most helpful,” Larissa said as she palmed it. “I'm going to be leaving now and you're going to forget this entire conversation and that you even saw me here. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I'm going to forget I saw you here and what we talked about.”

Larissa nodded once and stepped away, her low-heeled boots making a soft sound against the floor as she and Aiden headed toward the elevators. She still didn't glance at him when she pressed the button to go up. When she continued to ignore him as they stepped inside, he reached his limit on patience. He didn't care if he should give her space. That wasn't happening.

Not after being separated from her for so many years. She could be pissed at him all she wanted, but she wasn't going to ignore him.

Moving lightning fast, he pinned her against one of the shiny, mirrored walls of the interior. She gasped in surprise, her palms landing on his chest as he rolled his hips against her in a purely sexual move. Let her ignore
that
. Even pissed, she got him hot for her. Hell, when did he not want her.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, her voice an angry whisper even though they were alone.

“What does it feel like? I don't care if you're angry at me; just don't shut me out.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “You treated me like a child in front of others. And not just anyone, but your packmate and another royal who's centuries
younger
than me.” Her voice vibrated with her rage, her indigo eyes glowing that bright electric blue as she glared at him. “The fact that you treated me like an unequal makes me want to claw you up, not fucking talk about it.” The elevator dinged at their floor and taking him by surprise, she shoved at his chest with incredible force. Moving with that beautiful, vampiric speed, she was out in the hall a moment later, her expression haughty as she glared at him.

Turning from him, she practically stomped away, her sweet ass swaying in a rhythmic motion that almost made him forget his damn name. As she strode down the hall, something slammed into him through their link before she put a lock on it again. It felt a lot like embarrassment.

That was when her words and actions registered. She was embarrassed, not angry. Okay, she was still freaking pissed at him. Of that, he had no doubt. But she was also embarrassed. He couldn't understand why. He'd just wanted to help in case she was nervous about feeding in a strange place, in a completely new world. And yeah, he'd been terrified to let her out of his sight for even a moment. He hadn't thought about things from her point of view. She was one of the oldest vamps of her race, definitely from one of the most powerful lines, and he hadn't treated her with the respect she demanded and deserved. But he wasn't ready to apologize for caring about her.

Still trying to come to terms with the Larissa he'd known and the Larissa currently walking away from him, he hurried after her with a burst of speed. Snatching the master key card from her back pocket, he danced back when she growled and tried to grab it from him.

“What game are you playing? We don't have time for this,” she hissed.

Ignoring her, he knocked on the closest door. He couldn't scent anyone inside, but that didn't mean anything. After a few moments, he opened the door and said, “Housekeeping,” just in case it was occupied. Luckily it wasn't.

Ignoring Larissa's muttered protests, he continued inside, pulling his cell phone out as he glanced around the pristine room that smelled of subtle cleaning supplies. Nothing harsh though. A place like this would use natural stuff. He fired off a text to Angelo telling
him they'd had a slight delay but would be searching Larissa's room soon. Once his packmate responded that everything was clear downstairs, he shoved his phone in his pocket and turned to face his very sexy mate. It was time to talk.

*   *   *

At the sound of her phone buzzing across her nightstand, Magda rolled off the naked, sweaty body of the human male she'd been fucking. She didn't recognize the phone number on the caller ID but it was a local one. “Hello?” She stretched out against the soft sheets, letting the cool air rush over her bare body.

Next to her the male stretched out and flipped the television on, but at least he had the good sense to mute it. So many of these humans were idiots.

“Ms. Smith?” a man whispered, as if afraid to be overheard.

She instantly sat up. She'd given the obviously fake name to a few people at the hotel she'd checked Larissa into days ago. “Yes?”

“That woman you wanted me to keep tabs on showed up. And she's not alone.”

Her heart sped up. “You're sure it's her?”

“Yes. I even took a picture with my cell phone. Long, black hair, really beautiful, kinda intense blue eyes.”

Yes, that was Larissa Danesti. “Who was she with?”

“A man with blond hair. He's pretty tall and muscular, a little scary looking. I think . . . he might be one of those shifters.” He whispered the last part. “It's hard to tell on sight, but he's huge.”

Magda had no doubt who it was. “Did you get a picture of him?”

“No, just her. The man was watching everyone and I didn't want him to get suspicious if he saw me.”

“When did they arrive and where did they go?” Magda wondered if they'd gone up to Larissa's room. Or Magda's supposed room. She'd just checked into the neighboring room so Larissa wouldn't know she had her own place in Winston-Salem.

“They got here just a few minutes ago, but I'm not sure where they went. I asked Jenna—that's the other concierge working with me today—and she acted as if I was stupid. She said she hadn't talked to anyone in the last couple minutes. It was like she couldn't remember helping them. I think they probably paid her off or something.”

Of course this fool would think that. Magda could have easily spelled this guy, forcing him to contact her if he spotted Larissa, but she'd gone with the easier option. Cold, hard cash. The human probably took bribes all the time, and considering what she'd paid him, she knew he'd call her immediately. “Are they still there?”

“I saw them head toward the elevators, but I'm not sure where they went. Maybe to her room. I don't have access to the security room and besides, there aren't any video cameras on the individual floors.” He was back to whispering.

Of course there wouldn't be any cameras. It was one of the reasons Magda had picked the high-priced hotel.
Guests there valued their privacy, so while the security was good, they didn't record all of their guests' comings and goings. “You've been very helpful. Like I promised, I'll owe you a tip when I see you again. For now, just keep an eye out. If she leaves, call me.”

“I will.”

Once they disconnected, Magda found her human lover watching her with curiosity. He was twenty-two, in fantastic shape, and could fuck for hours. Unlike her master, this human let her dominate him and she could come as much as she wanted. Which was a lot, with his stamina. Good sex fed her natural powers, something her bastard of a master knew, so she fucked these humans as much as possible to remain strong.

Excitement hummed through her at the thought of capturing Larissa. The female would have regained more of her strength by now, which was good and bad. Taking her captive would be harder, but definitely not impossible. “I have a task for you and Donovan. Go get him.” At her demand, lust flared in his eyes as he raked a gaze over her naked body and she knew what he thought she meant. He quickly slid off the bed and left her bedroom in search of his friend, no doubt telling Donovan to get naked too.

But a threesome wasn't going to happen now. Not until the two humans completed their mission. Luckily she wouldn't have to waste the energy on spelling them. She fed their addiction to vamp blood and they were having what they considered fun playing with supernaturals. Idiots. Amazing fucks, but idiots nonetheless. She wasn't going to contact her master about
the Larissa sighting just yet. Magda would send these two males to trail Larissa, and once they'd located her, Magda would then move in and spell the female. But if Aiden Nicholl was with Larissa—and she had no doubt the shifter was—she had a feeling they might have backup from his pack. Just in case they did, she wasn't going to take the chance of losing Larissa again and incurring her master's wrath. Her humans were disposable, and if they failed, the master would never need to know.

Besides, she had tracking ink on her two males also. If something happened to them, she could just track their bodies, dead or alive.