Pride Before the Fall (20 page)

"It's a perk of the job." He took her mouth and her body until Vivian no longer worried about what was going to happen in the future. All she could think of was the perfection of the moment.

* * * * *

Friday nights were always busy at the club. Tonight was even busier. Vivian started asking around and found out there was a convention in town: hundreds of men studying scientific crap in the national forest. They'd been promised discounted drinks at Bristow's. Not to mention the Pride's show.

There was no one from the Pack there except Jake, who was working his usual position at the doors with Conall. In the days since the bloody destruction, everything had been calm like the perpetrator was waiting for things to die down—or she was in heat and holed up somewhere. Either way, everything almost seemed normal around the alpha house.

The women put on an excellent show. Having drunk men ramped up the energy and gave a boost. By the end of the show, all three of them were exhausted.

"Take me home," Melissa moaned to Ty as she wiped her face with a towel. "I'm ready for a bath and a bed."

"As you wish, angel."

"We'll be right behind you," Vivian said. They were still sharing the suburban to get back and forth from the shows. "I've got to tell Bristow we're leaving and lock up."

Amilynn hoisted a bag over her shoulder. "You want me to hang back?"

"Nah." Vivian shrugged it off. "I've got this."

The rest of the group left and Vivian began to lock up their dressing room. Finding Bristow was easy. He was coming down the hall looking for her. "Hey. There's a John in the room," he said as he held up a wad of hundred dollar bills. "Asked for you specifically."

"Bristow, I told you we aren't doing that anymore. I'm seeing someone and Ami is tired of the pervs. Give him his money back and tell him to leave." Vivian continued to walk past him.

"Why don't you tell him? He's asked every night this week and he keeps offering more and more money. He's a looker, might change your mind. Besides, I need to get back to the bar. I don't get paid enough to deal with
your
customers anymore."

Vivian stepped up to his face. With her height she could look him in the eyes. "You've always gotten paid to deal with these pricks. Don't pout because you got greedy and got caught."

"Still. Not. Doing. It." He shoved the money at Vivian and walked off.

Completely outraged, Vivian gritted her teeth and walked into the purple velvet room, ready to tell the man to go to hell. Outside the door she smelled a human and something else. Her candles were lit, canceling out his stench. The room was still dark, but she made out the man sitting on the couch.

She sighed in aggravation. "What are you doing in here?" Vivian threw the money at him.

"Just proving a point. It took you time, but in the end, you're just a whore."

Vivian had a slit second of recognition before she heard the gun shot muffled by a silencer. Lava erupted from her abdomen and she gripped her stomach. Blood covered her hands. Seeing the red spilling from her womb, Vivian grew faint. She looked up into the familiar face. "Why?" She coughed and fell to the floor.

"Because my alpha deserves better than a cheap slut for a mate." He walked over and raised his hand to point the gun at her temple. "Upon your death, the rest of your strays will leave. Especially when we tell that Nevada alpha where they are."

Vivian could barely hold her body up. Whatever the bullet had pierced was bleeding in a waterfall. She found Kasey in her mind. He was feeling everything she felt, seeing the man pulling the trigger.

Fight, Vivian! Don't give up! I'm coming!

I can't. I'm bleeding too much. Oh God! Kasey. I love you. I love you so much.

Don't do that! Don't let him win!

Vivian knew this man wouldn't even consider the mating bond between her and Kasey to be a real thing. He thought her only an imposter so he would never think the telepathic bond of mates would be intact. "It was you, at our apartment."

"I just helped. You've pissed off a lot of people, Vivian. She felt the need to take out her anger and I let her do it. Afterward she rewarded me quite well. Helena might be older, but when a wolf is in heat, they all turn into horny teenagers again."

Helena!
Kasey screamed in her head.
Sonofabitch!

"You bastard. He trusts you."

"So imagine how easy it will be to tell him I had to kill you because you murdered a human while sexually entertaining him. It's a lie you make all too easy with your lifestyle." He knelt down and looked her in the eyes. "Good riddance, Vivian."

As Vivian closed her eyes, resigned to her fate, she could hear Kasey through their bond. He was yelling, screaming for her to hold on, that he was on his way. Even after everything she'd lived through, this was going to be the death of her.

In her mind, she screamed out for her Pride, sitting out in the parking lot. Even if he killed her, Jake would get his.

* * * * *

Conall sat out in the car waiting on Vivian. They were all so tired and she was taking far too long. "What is she doing?"

"Locking up." Amilynn rested her head on the seat. "Slow your roll, dude. She's coming. I'm sure Bristow pissed her off again."

Conall grunted and clenched his jaw. "He's been doing that a lot lately. I'd better go check up on them and make sure she isn't throttling him."

He slid out of the driver's seat and went back into the club. The front door was unmanned—never a good sign. He wondered where the other bouncer was. Stupid wolf, Conall thought as he pushed through the crowd to the back of the club. He was headed down the hall behind the stage when the stench hit him like a ton of bricks.

Blood. Vivian's blood. He would know that smell anywhere. It haunted his dreams and was forever burned into his brain. At that same instant, he heard her screams in his mind.

I've been shot! Help!

Conall knew the mental SOS was for the whole Pride. They would come. Running to the source of the blood scent, he kicked open the door to the room the girls entertained in. His heart stopped and then kicked into overdrive. He leaped on the man holding a gun to Vivian's head. Partially shifted into his lion, it was easy to take Jake down and break his neck. Jake wasn't nearly the beast Conall was; he never had the chance to defend himself.

Conall went to Vivian and picked up her body. He checked for a pulse. "Thank God! Vivian, V, can you hear me?"

Hazel eyes flittered open and locked on to his. "Help me."

"I will. Ty's coming. Hold on, Vivian. Do you hear me? Hold on! Don't die on me!"

"What the fuck?" Amilynn said when she walked in on the two of them and all the blood.

"Jake shot Vivian. Ty!"

He didn't need to say another word. Ty could make Vivian's body stop bleeding, but he had to touch her.

They turned to see Bristow standing at the door of the room looking at the carnage. The wide-eyed human gawked. "I'll call 9-1-1. How the hell did this happen?"

Conall gave orders. "Melissa, go wait for the ambulance and call Kasey. Ami, go help Ty. There are more than two people bleeding in there." He rounded on the human who reeked of fear. "Bristow, you tell me exactly what happened to get Vivian in that room."

Bristow stuttered and his eyes darted around wildly. "There was a man, with dark hair. He asked for Vivian. He wanted a dance. I sent Jake with him to the room. I found Vivian and she said she didn't want to, but I threw the money at her and walked off. That's all I know, I swear."

"Found the decoy," Amilynn called from the room. Conall went in where a human male with his throat slit slumped in the closet.

"That was him," Bristow whispered, his face turning a shade of green. "He's asked for Vivian every night this week."

"I've got her stable," Tyrone announced. "We need that ambulance." His hands were buried deep in Vivian's pelvis and covered in her blood.

Conall pushed Bristow out of the room. "Wait here." He walked back to Amilynn. "What can you scent?"

"He's got a wad of cash in his breast pocket that carries Jake's scent. He was a pawn. I also recognize Jake's scent from the apartment, don't you?"

Conall nodded and went back to Vivian. She was staring glassy eyed at the ceiling. Her mouth kept moving slightly as if she were repeating something over and over again. Conall bent down to put his ear next to her lips.

"Tell Kasey... love him... tell Kasey... I love...Kasey... love him."

Conall took her head between his hands. "Tell him yourself, damn it! Come on, Vivian, I'm your subordinate and I'm giving you a direct order. I know that pisses you off. Stay with me, V. I can't lose you like this. Stay with me!"

* * * * *

Kasey drove to the club like a bat out of hell. He'd called the Pack's surgeon, Charles, who worked at the human hospital. He had wolf and bear nurses who helped him conceal the existence of their kind. Charles was waiting on Vivian to arrive. Thanks to their bond, Kasey could tell him exactly where Vivian was shot and what she was feeling at the moment.

The paramedics were loading up Vivian when his sports car slid into the gravel of the parking lot. He jumped out of his car and raced to the ambulance. Both of the EMTs were wolves and let him pass. Ty was crouched next to her, his hands on her body.

"Ty?" Kasey demanded.

"I've stopped the flow of blood in her body."

"What! How?"

"Don't question it. If I let her go, she's going to bleed to death."

Kasey looked at Vivian. Her face was turning white; her eyes were open, but lifeless. When he reached for her hand, Ty yelled at him. "No!"

"Why not?"

"I'm using black magic. No one but felines can touch her right now or it will be undone."

"The surgeon is a wolf."

"By then you won't need me."

The paramedics asked Kasey to get in the ambulance. They explained to Ty that they needed to run an IV and do some standard things the humans would expect. "Get Amilynn. She knows the magic and she's had medical training."

Kasey ran to the blonde. "Ty needs you. I'll meet you at the hospital."

Amilynn nodded and ran to her brother. Kasey's men had arrived alongside the human police. It was moments like this when he valued the wolves and bears who served on the local PD even though it meant dealing with humans.

Then again, lying in that purple velvet room was a wolf. Never in a million years would he have thought Jake was the one behind all the hatred of the cats. His scent never betrayed him. Usually Kasey could smell a lie, but Jake was either clever or had only recently turned against the Pride.

And Helena! What a kick in the balls that was. Sampson was on his way, along with Pack security, to apprehend her. She would be questioned as soon as Kasey knew his mate's fate.

Martin walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Until that moment, Kasey hadn't realized he'd been standing dazed while chaos continued around him. "Sir. I can handle this. Please go to the hospital. Your mate needs you."

It snapped Kasey into action. He nodded and left without another word. As he slid into his car, the passenger side door opened. Melissa jumped in. "Please?" she asked, her face nearly translucent she was so pale. "I'm scared."

"Of course," Kasey said. They sped away to catch up to the ambulance.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kasey paced the hallway, unable to sit still and shaking all over. Dr. Charles Blackburn, his distant cousin, had rushed Vivian into surgery what seemed like hours ago. So he paced. He knew nothing. The nurses knew nothing. The unknown and possible crept into his mind. Most of his family and all of the Pride were there to be with him. But he couldn't sit.

He couldn't lose her. He'd just found her. She'd just realized that she loved him. Not now. God, please not now. His entire life was shifting, changing into something beautiful since he'd met Vivian. The sound of her voice when she sang entrapped him. The way she moved her body on stage and in the bedroom turned his willpower into mush. Her strength and determination inspired him. Vivian was his perfect mate. She was the missing piece to his puzzle, the key that unlocked unlimited potential in his life. He wanted to marry her, have children with her, raise those children and grow old with her, looking on the generations to follow.

"Come to me," said an angelic voice. Kasey looked at Melissa. Her arms were open, her eyes red with tears. "Come let me hold you, Kasey." Her voice was so light, like the chiming of Christmas bells. He sat beside his mate's sister as her arms enveloped him. She hugged his head to her chest. Behind him was Bianca. Her body covered his until sisters were all around. Amilynn sat at his feet, resting her head on his knees. The men created a wall of protection and strength around the group. Melissa began to hum a melody that Vivian had sung the night of the party. It soothed him like nothing else.

It felt like hours before a doctor, still in his scrubs, came out to talk to them.

"The bullet went through her pretty cleanly but it hit a lot of important things before it exited. We've repaired most of the damage, but she has lost a lot of blood and I imagine she will need more. Does anyone have AB+ they can donate? We can't exactly call a local blood bank." He turned first to the Pride, the felines being the obvious choice. All of them shook their head, even Melissa.

"I do." Tom walked over from where he'd been curled up in Ami's arms.

The doctor narrowed his eyes, thinking. "How old are you again, son?"

Bianca answered and the doctor tilted his head like he just didn't know if he could take the blood.

"Please, let me help," Tom begged. "She's my aunt."

"They have our permission, if that's what you need," Sampson told the surgeon.

"Ok, son. Go with the nurse. Do you know anyone else with AB+ who can come?" he asked Kasey.

"Me!" Ezekiel shouted, running down the hall. "I will." He jogged up to the group, breathing heavily. Kasey knew that the touch he gave to Amilynn's face was an involuntary reaction as he passed her to follow his brother down the hall.