Slate's Mistake (17 page)

“
Thi
—” Carl started to yell,
but his own alpha backhanded him.

“
Enough
!” he
roared. “After you comply with whatever restitution she asks, if there is
anything left, you will deal with me!”

Slate silently sighed in relief.

The alpha continued, “And you had better start to
pucker because we haven’t even addressed Elise. You let me down! I stood up for
you. I trusted you to be an honorable lion, and you made me look like a weak
fool!”

Tyler turned his attention back to Beverly. “Do you
already know what you want for restitution, or would you like some time? I can
arrange for forty-eight hours leeway.”

Slate didn’t want to be accused of coercing his
mother, so he stayed still while she answered.

“I’ve thought about it already. I know what I want.”
With everyone’s eyes on her, she raised her chin, but Slate still saw the
tremble in her swollen, cracked lips. “I want a divorce, and I want to be the
one to choose what he gets in the divorce. I also want him to never come near
me, my daughters, and my son, again.”

“Is that everything?” the pride alpha asked. With a
curt nod from Beverly, he grunted. “Slate, you seek restitution as well, from
both Carl and my pride. Do you know what it is you want?”

“Yes, but I would like to approach you about it later,
if that is all right with you.” Slate gave slightly more respect to the alpha
lion, lowering his eyes. The alpha looked apprehensive but with the show of
respect, seemed to accept his answer. Grabbing Carl by the scruff of his
collar, the alpha dragged the belligerent shifter out of the house.

Tyler addressed Slate’s mother. “Beverly, that was a
considerable amount of courage you showed there, and I admire that. Now why
don’t you let Nurse Katie here take care of you while the rest of us take care
of other matters? Don’t you worry
any.
Finding your
daughter and seeing her safe will be our first priority.”

Chapter Eleven

Dex’s mind couldn’t focus on anything but finding the
woman whose wildflowers and evergreens scent had so much control over him.
Vampires were different from shifters in some ways, yet similar in others.
Their senses were enhanced to almost the same degree, but they had a better
taste and sight, which brought their scent down just marginally. So though they
had the same five senses enhanced, vampires weren’t wired to know for certain
of their destined beloved until they tasted their blood. They were vampires,
after all. From the moment Dex caught a hint of her scent as they approached
the house, he’d fought a losing battle for control over his bloodlust.

“Slow down, buddy. Try to keep your head clear.”
Pierce trotted along beside him.

“I can’t explain it, Pierce. Her blood is calling to
me stronger than any other has. I have to know if she is my beloved.”

“But look at what she has just been through. You can’t
just go up to her and bite her. If she is your beloved, your bite would start
the bonding process, and if you bite her without her consent, you’ll traumatize
her even more than she is already. You’re going to want to do this right.”

Slowing down just a margin, Dex tried to calm himself.
“I haven’t been this out of control since my awakening.”

“If she is your beloved, you’ll be able to have a
telepathic link to her. That would go good right about now.”

Dex grunted his agreement as her scent continued to
pull him down the street, past the houses and shining streetlamps. Dogs barked
every now and then from a yard or from the front window of a house. Near the
end of the neighborhood across a field of tall yellow grass waving in the
evening breeze, was a forested area. He carefully looked the field over. She
was a lioness who was possibly hurt, so he wondered if she might have shifted.
Her kind could easily hide in a field like this, and the woman’s scent was
strongest here so she might still be here. Motioning for his friend to stay
put, Dex stepped into the field and began crossing it. He worried about
poisonous snakes and scorpions hidden in the tall grass and worked to avoid
them. His new concern was the shifter he pursued.
What if she is too upset or hurt to sense the danger?
He worked to
focus his senses and find who he hoped was his beloved. Vampires coveted their
fated one as shifters did.

A low growl cut through the darkness, the sound playing
off the tips of the waving grasses. It was too quiet for a regular human to
hear, and only his heightened senses were able to pick it up. Not wanting for
her to attack him, should she be unable to scent him, he took a chance she
could hear him.

“Elise? My name is Dex.” He kept his voice low. “Your
brother Slate came to rescue you and your mom, and my coven offered
assistance.” He stayed quiet for a few moments, letting what he said sink in,
if she heard it at all.
Please let her
hear me,
he silently wished. “Slate’s mate is a nurse. She’s taking care of
your mother, and your father won’t ever lay a hand on you again.” He nearly
growled that last part, so he took a second to close his eyes and rein in his
temper. “Please give me a chance to earn your trust, Elise. I won’t hurt you,
and I won’t ever allow your father to hurt you again.”

The sounds of ligaments and muscles popping and
reshaping alerted him she was shifting. He turned around to try to see her, and
after several seconds, a small petite woman with long blonde hair that gently
moved around her in the breeze, appeared not far from him. A cascade of emotion
filled him at seeing her naked form kissed silver blue by the moonlight. Her
blood drew him to her like nothing else. Even though his friend was fifty or
more feet back, Dex’s anger grew thinking that he may be able to see her.
Jealousy beat through his veins, and once again Dex had to get control over his
emotions. “Elise honey, do you have anything to wear?”

Her elegant head moved left and right. Quickly
unbuttoning his shirt, he motioned for her to come to him. He watched her
graceful movements as she made her way closer. It had to be her lioness who
blessed her with such sleek, elegant movements. He was in awe of her, and his
sensitive fangs ached to sink into her supple, smooth skin and taste her.

But first, snapping himself yet again back into the
now, he gently wrapped his shirt around her. It eased the territorial beast
within him to see her in his shirt, surrounded by his scent. Her heated flesh
warmed his fingers through the fabric as she stood there and stared up at him.

He couldn’t see any noticeable signs of injuries, but
she could have received less severe ones than her mother and had time to heal
them before they got there. Running a finger down the soft skin of her cheek,
he offered her a smile. “Elise, can you smell me?”

She had yet to verbalize anything, but at least she
responded to his question with a nod. Carefully wrapping one arm around her, he
pulled her tight against him. He could feel her body’s heat against his flesh
through his shirt. His free hand continued to caress her beautiful oval shaped
face. “I think you are my beloved. Do I smell like I’m your mate?”

Again she only nodded, but that eased a giant worry he
had coiled up inside of him. He was thankful that she recognized him as her
mate. “Vampires don’t know with full certainty until they have tasted their
beloved’s blood, but if you allow me to taste you, it will start the bonding
process. Vampires’ bonding process is slightly different from a shifter’s. I
want to taste you so very much, but I won’t if you want me to wait. Will you
let me bite you?”

She hesitated for only a brief moment, but to his
heavily beating heart, it felt so much longer. His chest ached with the
pounding his heart was making, and his stomach slightly tensed up. He would
wait for her, no matter what it took of him, but the anticipation of the pain
it would cause him wasn’t something he was eager to experience. His breath left
him in a heavy whoosh when she nodded her head, and she even tilted her head
for easier access. Dex’s dick gave a painful leap against the closure of his
pants, and his once twisted stomach did a happy flip with celebration.

He positioned his arms and hands to better catch her
from her upcoming euphoric blissed-out experience. “I don’t know if you know,
but a vampire’s bite, when done without malice, can cause the recipient to
orgasm. If you’re my beloved, you undoubtedly will.” His mouth watered
with
anticipation of the flavors he would experience as he leaned forward and licked
the spot he would sink his fangs into. His dick pressed hard against the front
of his pants, and he felt pre-cum escape the tip at the very idea of this
delicate and beautiful creature coming apart in his arms. Her body shivered
beneath his fingers.
Dex
reached between them and
released his straining cock.
If she was his beloved, he
would also climax with just the flavor of her blood.

Unable to hold back any longer, he let his fangs prick
her skin and sank into her thrumming vein. Her blood began to flow over his
tongue with a flavor that sent him nearly to his knees with
the
intensity of the climax. He hummed and groaned around the hold his sensitive fangs
had on her as she shouted out her own release.
Sharp pain stabbed at his neck when her canines sank
into him, claiming him.
Dex
rutted against her soft belly, shooting his load
onto her creamy flesh,
and drawing out his release. His balls emptied with
such force, he felt their pull clear up into his belly, causing him to sink to
his knees, bringing his beloved with him. She sank down onto his lap. He felt
the connection start to take place as her fluids continued down his throat.

 
With the pings of pleasure
still zinging through his system, he carefully pulled out his fangs
and
ran his tongue over the puncture marks, sealing them. His urge to continue to
drink from her and finish the bond was strong and relentless, but he could
sense through her blood that she had taken injures, possibly internal, and her
body hadn’t fully regained its strength. With his breathing slowing down, he
looked down into her face, and felt pride spike through him at the blissed-out
look that radiated from her.

“My beloved mate,” he whispered, leaning his forehead
against hers.

The rustle of someone approaching had him on alert. In
quick fluid movements, he lifted off of his lap and stood, turning to who
approached while keeping her behind him. His eyes easily saw through the
darkness his friend Pierce coming toward them. Pierre kept his
eyes downcast and
voice low so only they could hear.

“
Congratulations,
buddy. I
really hate to break this moment up, but there’s some young humans coming this
way and I got a text from Fabian.”

After quickly tucking himself in,
he wiped his cum off her toned stomach, and helped her button up his shirt.
Picking his shoeless mate up into his arms, Dex easily
carried her light form as they started to make their way out of the field.

Pierce continued. “The alpha removed the guy from the
home and is granting the family restitution. Fabian says once we find her to
come back so they can make further arrangements.”

His mate tensed in his arms, and already feeling the
bond they had started, he could feel her sickly emotions. “What is it, beloved?
I won’t let anyone hurt you. Tell me what it is you fear and I will shield you
from it.”

“The alpha won’t grant restitution or do anything to
my dad.”

“Let’s head back to the group, and you can elaborate
on that. I have a feeling we are all going to need to hear what you have to
say.” He reassured his beloved with a squeeze and kissed her on her temple as
they made their way back to the house. No matter what she had to say, with his
beloved in his arms, he felt like he could take on the entire world at that
point.

Chapter Twelve

Slate sat on the couch while his mate was on the phone
with Seamus guiding her in a more thorough examination of his mother in her
bedroom. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his head resting in
his hands, overwhelmed with all the information he was dealing with. His mother
had severe injuries, which might possibly need Seamus’s full attentions. His
sister was found, but no news on how she was doing, or when she would be
back
home. He wasn’t having such a hard time believing what
his father had done. Though he never would have believed he would do this to
his mother or sister, he’d felt this side of his father once and had already
come to terms with that. His father was never a loving man, but he had never been
physically abusive
when he was growing up. It had been tough for Slate to
wrap his head around his father’s abuse when he was kicked out, but he had no
indication to believe he would ever do this to the women in the family.
 

The front door opened, causing Slate to look up.
Pierce was holding the door open for Dex, who was carrying in Slate’s youngest
sister. He ignored the pain in his body as it protested his rising and rapid
movement as he made his way to his sister. Dex carefully let her down, and
Slate wrapped his arms around the sister he hadn’t seen since she was a young
cub.