Twelve Dates For Christmas

Chapter 2- Alex

The city was more alive this time of year than any other. Snow coated every street, clinging to windowsills and dusting rooftops. It made everything look like something right out of the Hallmark Channel. Not that I knew anything about that.

But even with the midnight silence outside, all was not calm. We busted up a nasty human trafficking ring on the southern edge of town run by the sadistic asshole vampire king, Delphius. I may be a vamp myself, but Delphius was not my king.

We had just handed him and his minions over to the leaders of S.A.T.A.N. and were deciding to get a drink at the nearest bar when I felt the pull of something. It led me further down the street, Laz and Roth seemingly just as affected. A crowd stood huddled outside, laughing and careless of the three degrees it currently was outside. Humans were fragile and could easily die of hypothermia. When alcohol was involved, however, common sense waned. But instead of giving a damn about whether or not the people became popsicles in the next thirty minutes, I threw the bar door open and stepped into the hot, muggy air within.

The scent of alcohol and body odor was almost nonexistent over one smell.

Her.

My eyes did a quick scan of the room and landed on her easily. Raven hair piled haphazardly atop her head, highlighting the dazzling indigo color of her eyes—which locked on Laz first.

I growled low, a warning to my friend that she was mine. Color rose to her already flushed cheeks, staining them a darker, tantalizing shade of pink. The scent of her blood mixed with the metallic tang of magic.

A witch.

My mate.

Her gaze slid from me to Roth and her throat bobbed. She took an unsteady step back. The three of us moved toward her in unison, then paused. My nostrils flared as I fought to reign in my temper. Was she scared of us? I couldn't let her flee.

The other two must have thought the same thing because in an instant we were standing before her with only a solid hunk of wood separating us. I'd tear it apart to get to her if I had to.

I breathed in her intoxicating scent of lilacs and vanilla. If I had only her smell to sustain me forever, it would be enough because my mouth watered. She was divine.

And she was all mine.