“If you won’t do it—” Elsa began.
Now Cade was the one to laugh. “You can’t kill her. If you could’ve done the job, you never would have come crawling to me.”
Uh, why couldn’t the witch kill her?
“So get the f**k out of here, witch, and I damn well better not see you again.” He lifted his hand, and claws had broken through his fingertips. “If I do, you may just be the one to die.”
Allison backed up a step and a stick snapped beneath her feet. But the wolf and the witch didn’t glance her way.
“You’ll pay for this,” Elsa promised.
Cade just shrugged again, clearly not worried. What did it take to worry a werewolf? Not threats from a witch, obviously…
“She’ll turn on you. The minute the hunger strikes her, she’ll feed on you…just like the others.” A heavy pause. “But maybe you like that. Maybe you like just being f**king food for the vamps!”
Elsa yanked away from him, chest heaving. “You’ve made the wrong enemy.” Her blond hair rose in the thrashing wind. “Soon enough, you’ll both die.”
The wind whipped in an even wilder frenzy. Allison struggled to stand and—
And Cade had her. He pulled her tight against his chest as the wind seemed to scream and rake her flesh. He held her close, his warm body a solid anchor against the fury.
Then, in the next instant, there was only—
Silence.
His fingers curled around her chin and forced her head up. Allison stared into his eyes, not knowing what to say. Because the werewolf she was looking at just might be her savior…or he could be her worst nightmare.
Chapter Three
“You’re…not going to kill me?” Allison asked softly from her position in front of the fireplace.
Cade buttoned the jeans he’d donned and headed toward her. Her scent pulled him in—no one should smell like that.
Good enough to f**king eat.
Her gaze darted to his face, then dropped to his chest. Her lips parted when she saw his scars.
He’d be willing to bet she didn’t have a single scar on that soft, silken body.
She glanced away, too fast, and his jaw locked. The woman had better start getting used to the way he looked. If she wanted to keep living, he was her only shot at survival.
Why? What the hell am I doing?
Helping her hadn’t been the plan…had it?
She looked at him again, locking those f**k-me blue eyes on his.
The wolf within started to growl.
“Why are you making that sound?”
So maybe the man was growling, too. Vamps weren’t the only ones who liked to use their teeth. Right then, he was real tempted to bite.
He could start on her shoulder. That delicate spot where neck and shoulder met. He could mark her and—
“S-stop staring at me like that.” She hunched her shoulders and pulled up her blanket. “Either you’re gonna kill me or you’re not.”
Those weren’t the only choices he had. What about f**king? Where did that fall on her little to-do-list?
“I can leave, you know. Go out that door, and you won’t ever have to see me again.”
She didn’t get it. Cade lunged forward, grabbed her arms, and lifted her up against him. The blanket fell to the floor. Her lips parted as she sucked in a startled breath. “Without me,” he told her flatly, “you are dead. You’ve been marked for death by a witch.”
Her eyes caught his—trapped him. Fuck. A woman’s eyes shouldn’t make a guy feel like she was stealing his soul with just a glance.
He forced his hands to ease their too tight grip on her. “Since I didn’t kill you, you can bet that she’ll just send someone else to finish the job.”
“Why?”
“Because vamps aren’t exactly loved, sweetheart. Humans and supernaturals, hell, we all want to stake them.”
She shook her head and her hair brushed over his arms. “I-I got infected and—”
At that, he laughed and stepped back, freeing her. “Is that what you think happened?”
Allison nodded quickly. “When I was a kid…vampires killed my parents. They tried to kill me—when they bit me, th-they must have infected me—”
Had Elsa told her this BS?
“If we can just find me a cure…” Allison continued, voice desperate, “I’ll be okay. Whatever’s happening…it can stop. It stopped for years. Nothing happened to me until just a few weeks ago—”
She had no clue. “You’re not infected.” The vamps who’d attacked her had no doubt realized the truth about Allison with one bite. They would have tasted the power in her blood. “You’re a pureblood.”
Allison blinked. “I’m a what?”
“A human who is born to the call of blood. You don’t have to get a blood exchange in order to change. You’re one of the rare few who will change on your own.”
She shook her head at him again. Right. Why believe what he had to say? Figured. He exhaled on a rough sigh. “That family of yours that died, I’m betting they weren’t your real family, were they?”
“They sure as hell were!”
Ah, now she was showing some bite.
He cocked his head as he studied her. “Easy. I meant, they weren’t your blood family, right?” No way two humans could have created her. That wasn’t the way purebloods were made.
Her jaw tightened. “I don’t have any clue who my birth parents were, okay? All I know is they dumped me on the steps of a hospital and never looked back.”
“To leave a pureblood behind, they probably couldn’t look back.”
A furrow appeared between her brows. No clue. He tried to explain by saying, “Purebloods are rare. Only newly turned vamps can have kids, and they don’t just toss ‘em out.” No matter what else you could say about the vamps, they protected their own. “Your parents…”
She watched him with troubled, lost eyes, not speaking.
Cade exhaled. “I’m guessing they were being hunted, and if they never came back for you, that means…”
They died.
Her lashes lowered, and he knew she understood. Her throat worked as she swallowed, and, still not looking back at him, she said, “I-I can’t be…”
Deal with it. Life sucks, sweetheart. It’s a lesson we all learn. “You are. In just a few days, you’ll be kissing your human life good-bye.” Then what was he supposed to do? Stake her? Cut off that pretty head?