Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter fifteen.

Orson

The black mate mark crawling up April's hand, wrapping around her wrist, reminds me that she's mine. But the way she stands beside the vampire, unintentionally leaning toward him as she tries to dry her hair with the wet blanket, suggests otherwise.

At least she is dressed now with clothes from the wardrobe. She wears an oversized, men's t-shirt and jeans that I turned into denim shorts for her by slicing them with a sharpened claw. Finally, with her body no longer exposed, I feel like I can somewhat breathe. Her dripping hair covers the bite mark on her neck and her wrist is turned away from me so I can't see the small wounds there either.

To see her injured, covered in bruises and cuts and bite wounds, is like the worst possible agony one can experience. She is my mate and it's my job to protect her—my father drilled that into me from the time I could walk and it was truly hammered home with the death of my mother, when my father felt he truly failed his mate.

I have failed April grievously. But I will not fail her now.

"What's the plan?" She asks me, giving up on drying her hair and hanging the blanket out over the rickety railing on the porch of the cabin. We seem to have mutually agreed to not discuss what happened last night and I'm glad for it.

I look at Nikolai, who leans back against one of the wooden beams, arms crossed over his bare chest. "You're going to take April back to New York," I tell him and they both straighten with surprise. "Demand that the Council of Elders help protect her as part of our truce. Keep her there until it's safe."

"What?" April is bewildered. "How is that the plan? Wickham made it pretty clear that if we don't all return tonight, he's going to start killing our pack."

"I'll deal with it," I tell her, tipping my chin up. I don't know how I'm going to deal with it, exactly, but I will figure something out.

"You can't be serious," April scoffs. "You going all lone wolf and getting yourself—and our pack—killed is not a viable plan."

"You'll be safe." It's all that matters. Once upon a time, my pack would have come first, before anything. Now, everything has changed, my priorities have completely shifted. Keeping April safe is a need buried so deep inside of me that I can't burn it out.

"You are terrible at coming up with plans," Nikolai says dismissively and my gaze snaps to him. "That's not happening. Let's leave the thinking portion of this mission up to me from now on, yes?"

I take an aggressive step toward him. Why is he not jumping at the chance to sweep April away to New York? "I'm giving you exactly what you wanted; April to yourself, safe."

"Except, you're going to get yourself killed and then April will be human once again," he points out. "Besides," a quick glance at her, "like I said, the pack matters to her, so it matters to me."

That is such bullshit. I don't believe him for a second. But what angle is he playing here?

"New plan," April declares. "We go back to the caves—together—and we ask Wickham what the hell he wants. If it ends in a fight, then we get down to the cave where our pack is being held and we hope that they're healed enough now to fight alongside us. Maybe together we can–"

"There's too many Nightcrawlers," I interrupt her. "Even with the pack, we won't survive a fight against them all."

"Then we hope that diplomacy works with Wickham. We don't know what he wants yet," she says.

The mere thought of walking April back into those vampire-infested tunnels is almost more than I can stand.

I swing my gaze to Nikolai's. "You can't seriously be fine with her going back there."