Witch Wolf (22 page)

I closed my eyes, as if it would help me to look inside myself and find the answer. What did I feel? What did I sense?

Pack.

Whether it was my thought or some divine whispering, I do not know. But I felt without a doubt that the murderer was someone in the pack.

I curled myself around Lenorre's cold body and prayed for guidance. I fell asleep with images of wolves alternating between sex and fighting, and the sense of foreboding deepening even further.

The bed moved violently. A loud gasping breath startled me awake. I woke disoriented, forgetting where I was and whose bed I was in. I looked at Lenorre. She was still on her back, like she hadn't moved. Her eyes flew open and met mine. The look in them made my pulse leap into my throat.

"Lenorre?" I asked softly, afraid to speak any louder.

Her movements were slow as she started leaning toward me. Her gray eyes dropped from my face and to the pulse in my neck.

"Oh, shit." I scrambled off the side of the bed, trying to keep my eyes on her. "This wasn't worth mentioning?" It was more to myself than the vampire.

I was trapped between the bed and the wall.
Smooth move
, I thought. Lenorre was slowly creeping onto her hands and knees, like a cat about to pounce. My lips drew back in a snarl, a warning.

Lenorre hissed at me and the expression turned her beautiful face into something terrifying. I snatched one of the pillows from the bed and held it like a shield. Her body met mine and I shoved that soft shield into her, trying to use my own strength to hold her at bay. When I realized that she was too strong and it wasn't working, I slipped out from behind the pillow and ran into the open area of the room. The last place you want to be in the middle of a fight of any kind is trapped.

She started crawling across the bed, painstakingly slowly, as if she was in no hurry to get to me.

The weight of Lenorre's personality wasn't there in her eyes. Instead some predatory beast looked out at me. I knew that look-it was the look of a hunter stalking its prey. Only this time, I was the prey.

Unexpectedly, she came for me. I jumped over the armchair, landing on my feet, but Lenorre was too fast, a blur of motion in my vision. The only thing I could do was try and use her own momentum against her. The sound of my elbows hitting her chest echoed through both of our bodies. I grabbed her shoulders, thrust my arms above my head, and sent her over me.

I turned in time to see her catch herself, but her shoulder caught the painting on the wall. It fell with a loud clash. The glass shattered into a multitude of sharp fragments.

I heard the bedroom door open before Rosalin said, "Kassandra!"

"A little help!" I yelled.

A blur of dark silk and I braced for the impact.

Nothing happened.

Rosalin was there, holding her wrist in front of the vampire's face. Lenorre followed with that predatory look still in her eyes. Rosalin used herself as a distraction, taunting the vampire with the promise of blood. Lenorre's lips parted.

"No!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The sound of skin tearing made me cringe in pain. Lenorre tore the artery in Rosalin's wrist in a spray of bright blood. Rosalin had jerked her wrist back, and that had earned her worse injuries.

Her eyes closed as she forced herself not to protect herself, and when she didn't fight, when she made her body go completely still, Lenorre used the grip she had on Rosalin's wrist to pull her in against her body. She brought the smaller woman's wrist up to her mouth and sealed her lips over the wound.

Rosalin whimpered and Lenorre held her trapped against her tall body. She drank, but this was not a gentle embrace. She was hunger-ridden, and any wound that spurted blood would suffice.

The vampire opened her mouth wide and drove her fangs in again, as if trying to make a bigger wound for more blood.

Rosalin's pain-filled eyes pleaded with me. I couldn't just stand there. I walked back to the bed and grabbed the pillow. It was the only object in the room that I could think of using without causing any permanent damage. I didn't want to kill Lenorre-I just wanted her to fucking snap out of it. Vampires, like werewolves, have only a few weaknesses. If it had been any other vampire I would've gone for my gun. But Lenorre wasn't just any vampire.

Cautiously, I stepped up a few feet behind Lenorre. Rosalin's eyelashes fluttered, not in pleasure, but more like she was about to pass out. She saw me and tried to shake her head, tried to put her other arm out, as if to stop me.

The vampire who had been holding her so tightly dropped her. A look of pure bliss crossed Lenorre's profile. Blood dripped in a steady flow down her chin. I reared the pillow back and threw my whole body into it, hitting the vampire with a force that made her stumble. The anger fueled me, pumping through my veins, and this time, I full out charged. The wall shook when we slammed into it. I grabbed a handful of those beautiful dark locks and turned her to face me. I shoved my forearm against her throat. The anger had awakened my beast.

"Kassandra." Lenorre tried to talk over the pressure in her throat.

I growled.

The wolf threatened to spill out of my skin as my body shook with rage. The vampire had hurt another wolf, a wolf we had grown to know, a wolf we had been with, and that was unacceptable.

"Kassandra," she said again, but this time she didn't wait for my response. She spun, and my arm was pulled up behind my back at a painful angle. My cheek met the wall. I tried to push off, to rebound off it, but Lenorre was tall enough that she used the line of her body to pin me.

"Kassandra!" Her words cracked like a whip. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Again, I tried to push off the wall, tried to throw the vampire off me. The wolf didn't like being trapped. Panic made my pulse race, made me fight against her hold. Lenorre's fangs sank into the back of my neck.

The pain arched my spine, caused my hands to spasm against the wall. She growled over the mouthful of skin at the back of my neck. It wasn't the growl of the wolf, but it was a gesture that we understood.

The sensation made my body go slack. The wolf rode me, arching my ass into the woman behind me. A whimper escaped my mouth when her jaws tightened, fangs sinking deeper into my flesh.

The blood tickled as it dripped onto the collar of my shirt.

I was suddenly left shuddering and panting. I slid down the wall when she took her mouth from me.

"Why did you stop?" I went to all fours, looking up at Lenorre, who stood a few feet away. "It felt so good." My voice sounded strange. It was too purring, too sexy. I moved and felt every muscle gliding beneath my skin. Stretching, I watched as Lenorre's gaze followed the arch of my body. "So good," I whispered.

"Kassandra," she spoke slowly, "that is your wolf talking, not you."

"When the wolf speaks, is it not with my voice?" My fingers stretched into claws, ripping loudly through the carpet. I leaned forward, out of the stretch.

"She is riding you," Lenorre said.

A throaty laugh that held the edge of a growl came from my mouth. "There's one thing I want riding me, Vampire, and I'm looking at it."

"Rosalin." Her eyes shuddered closed. "Get out."

The other wolf caught my attention, her scent filling my nostrils like fresh pine. A whimper fell from my lips. Why was she leaving? She liked playing with me too.

"Oh no, wolf." Lenorre knelt in front of me. Her arm reached out, grabbing a fistful of my hair.

"If it is I you want, that is what you are going to get."

My tongue flicked hungrily across my lips. Oh yes, that's what we wanted.

Rosalin left the room with a single worried glance over her shoulder.

I turned my attention back to Lenorre and growled when she closed the distance between us.

Using the grip on my hair, Lenorre pulled me forcefully to her mouth. I moaned as her hungry lips met mine. Magic spilled out of our skin, washing over us like we were two tiny pebbles on the beach. Blood like delicious ice cream welled between our locked mouths, and I no longer cared whose fangs drew the sweet metallic rush.

Lenorre used her mouth to lure me onto the bed. The shorts I wore tore from my body with a violent jerk. I kissed her neck. I drew that soft flesh into my mouth, drew it in until the tips of my canines drew blood. My tongue curled around the wound as I licked the blood from her skin. I caught two handfuls of her gown. The silk tore in a hiss of fabric.

Lenorre moaned, hands cradling my hips, sweeping upward to caress the skin just below my breasts.

"Please," I whispered, arching into her.

Her tongue drew a wet line across my stomach. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes."

Her hands brushed across my breasts, causing my nipples to harden, summoning a flood of desire from between my legs. Her hand caught the back of my neck, still slick with my blood.

She used that hold to guide me to my knees.

"Look at me." She caught my jaw between her thumb and index finger, forcing me to meet her gaze.

"Is this what you want?" she asked.

I inclined, trying to catch her mouth with mine. She held me back with that harsh grip. I whimpered.

"Kassandra."

"What?" I growled and then whimpered again. "I don't want to talk. I want you to fuck me."

"No." Her tone was harsh.

"You know you want to," I said in a breathy voice, inclining while she held me at bay. "I can smell your desire, Vampire. You've wanted to fuck me since you had my body pressed up against the wall."

Her grip tightened hard enough that it felt like she was threatening to crush me. She whispered against my lips. "Cage your beast, little wolf, and I will fuck you to your heart's content."

The wolf's growl trickled from my lips.

"You have better control than this," she said, voice firm.

"You shatter my control," I growled, "and my patience!"

Lenorre's hand moved to my throat. Her fingernails dug into my skin. I fell back onto the bed when she pushed me away from her.

I blinked up at the empty air.

"I will not take you like this." Lenorre's voice came from the corner of the room.

A scream tore from me, rage filled, pained, and empty. The bones in my body began sliding, trying to shift. I fought against them. No, the beast would not have me. She would not take me unless I allowed her to come out. I felt her inside me like she was slamming her furred body against my ribs, to tear her way out. A wave of heat flushed my skin as I felt dizzy and light-headed.

"Lenorre." Her name came out strained between my gritted teeth.

"Kassandra?" It was a question.

"What's. . . " My spine twisted as the wolf clawed through me. I screamed, digging my clawed hands into the mattress. The fabric tore and springs creaked.

"Kassandra, you have to fight her, or she will dominate you."

I tried to shield against her, to quiet my mind, but the wolf howled through me. I did the only thing I could think of. . . I said a prayer to the Morrigan. I didn't pray for control, I fucking begged for it.

Darkness took my vision. Light like a candle flame sprang to life behind my eyes. I'd felt my prayers answered before, but nothing like this, never like this. The fear sped my pulse.

Then suddenly, the candle was no longer a flickering light but a flame raging through me.

Wordless screams fell from my mouth. Magic poured over my skin like melted wax, suffocating, consuming, paralyzing. The wolf looked into that burning flame and cowered. I had a moment to be grateful before the fire intensified, eating me alive.

I opened my eyes to find the shadows swirling around me. The shadow swelled and stretched before swallowing me whole.

I no longer had a body. If I had once had a body, it had been torn apart, atom by atom, cell by cell, and bit by bit. The flame had lifted me up, carrying my essence through a spiral of energy.

Everything changed. I was flying through the night air, scanning the blades of grass below like they were beautiful textures on a quilt.

Distantly, I heard voices. I went to them, gliding on currents of air with outstretched arms.

"Rosalin! Do not touch her!" The voice sounded familiar, so I went to it. Something trapped me, pulled me down like a magnet. I tried to break away from it, but it was too strong.

My body pulled at me, sucked me in like some great vortex.

I gasped. I couldn't breathe. There wasn't enough air. The blood pounded in my ears.

"What the. . . ?" Rosalin spoke from the other side of the bed. I opened my eyes and her face loomed in my vision.

Strange, I thought, that I could see Lenorre on the other side of the room at the same time. I blinked hard. They were both looming in my vision, too close to the bed.

"Move back," I said, but what came out of my mouth sounded strange, wrong somehow. I went to touch my mouth with my fingertips. A black wing hovered in my vision.

I tried to sit up, but ended up teetering uncertainly. Lenorre's gray eyes swam in my vision. My heart rate increased.

"Kassandra." Her tone was soothing, tender even. "Calm down. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, closing my eyes tightly. I wouldn't panic. Nope. Not going to panic. One. . . two. . .

"What did you do to her that turned her into a bird?" Rosalin asked acerbically.

My eyes flew open. Surely, I was hearing things?

"Bird!?" I screeched. "What the hell are you talking about?" My eyes went even wider. "I am not a fucking bird! I'm a lycanthrope. How can I be a bird?"

"I think she's stuck," Rosalin said. Her hand reached out toward me. It seemed bigger than it should've been. I tried to slap it away and failed. She scooped me up in both of her hands and held me in front of her face.

"Kassandra, stop flapping around like a madwoman." She scolded me as I tried to get away from her.

"Well!" I cawed. "Put me down and I wouldn't be flapping!" The rest came out as short little raspy clicks.

Rosalin grabbed my beak between two of her fingers. "You have got to calm down or you're going to give yourself a heart attack," she said.