We spent the next morning with Aunt Lily and the family before Warren flew us back to Los Gatos.
He still refused to let me drive his car and laughingly kissed me when I pouted, so he was driving when we neared the town.
We'd been cruising peacefully down the highway and I was just thinking we were making good time when Warren suddenly pulled over, his body vibrating with tension.
"What? What is it?" I asked anxiously, studying is face.
The eyes that flickered to me were amber with his alpha power, then he glanced around us urgently.
I scanned our surroundings too, my heart racing as I used my extra senses.
Warren was out of the car in the time it took me to blink, and I undid my seatbelt.
"A moment, love," he said, rushing round to my side. He caught my door and pushed it closed again, leaning into me.
I stared up at him confusion but didn't fight him on the door. "What?"
He gave me a tiny smile even while he was clearly on high alert. "I truly adore this car," he said playfully and I heard the lock system arming. In the second it took me to realise what he'd just done, he was backing away from me.
"Warren!" I yelled, pushing at the door.
He only flashed another smile and raced off. I was left fuming as I tried to shove the door open. He loved this car... In other words I wasn't allowed to break it to pieces.
I huffed in annoyance and briefly considered destroying it anyway. There was danger, that much I knew, but he was keeping me out of the fight. Still, my own admiration for the car won out and I sat back, my mind racing.
I slid into the driver's seat as a thought occured to me. He could always get it fixed if I simply hotwired it...
I froze just before I ripped the panel off and analyzed my plan.
If I drove a car I couldn't break out of into danger then I'd be a sitting duck. And there were high chances that it would get destroyed anyway. Not to mention that I didn't know if the car would make it where I was headed, or if it was too deep in the woods.
I slid back into the passenger seat and rummaged for something slim and sharp that I could use to lift the locks, muttering angrily as I was losing precious time. I finally happened on hair pins – Ashley's, I figured – and quickly set to the painstaking but quick process.
When I heard the click, I tossed the pins away and quickly stepped out of the car. As I strode forward, I let the air wrap around me until I pinpointed Warren's scent and started running.
I was headed deep into the forest so I used all my speed in an attempt to catch up. Soon, I heard the sounds of fighting up ahead of me and shifted my direction slightly, still zipping through the forest.
I could scent the whole pack, including Dane, and what seemed like eight vampires. I frowned – what was such a large coven doing here?
I happened on him almost instantly and came to an abrupt stop, my eyes widening. I had been completely unprepared to run into a vampire before I met up with the others. It was chaos around me but I could see this vampire clearly.
I froze.
He turned to me and suddenly all I could hear was my rapid breathing. The world seemed to slow down as he assessed me, then he bared his fangs and attacked. And I couldn't move, didn't even flinch.
There was a flash of movement and Warren was in front of me. He shoved me to my knees with one hand, making me a smaller target, while he raised his other arm to fend off the attack. The vampire's claws swiped over the jacket he'd balled over his arm as everything returned into sharp focus for me.
"How nice of you to join us, love," Warren said wryly, still on one knee as he tried to shove the vampire away.
Adrenaline kicked in and I jumped into a crouch, snarling while I remained behind Warren. He was my alpha right now and I'd follow all his cues.
He finally saw an opening and struck out, shoving his claws into the vampire's stomach while pushing him away. The vampire roared in pain and jumped back, one hand covering his wound.
Searching the battlefield, I glanced around until I saw a vampire I figured I could fight. I took off in his direction – only for Warren to catch my wrist and yank me back to him.
Axle was suddenly right next to us and at Warren's nod, he grinned and threw me over his shoulder.
"Wait, what?" I protested as my world went up side down.
"You're sitting this one out, little lady," he said easily and began running away from the fight.
"What? No! Warren!"
But Warren had already turned back to the battle and he ignored all my yelling.
Struggling against Axle's hold was useless; he held me securely and didn't stop running even when we were clear of the battle.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded.
"Far away," he said simply.
When he finally slowed down, we were at the manor house. Instead of putting me down – I'd been yelling at him to do just that for minutes now – he carried me up the stairs and into the only functional room.
When he plopped me on the couch, I instantly popped off. He caught me with an arm around my middle and dropped me back in the seat. Blowing my hair out of my eyes, I crossed my arms and glared up at him. "What the hell?"
He shrugged. "Alpha's orders. You can run, of course, but I'll bring you back every time."
"And if I fight?"
Actual delight came into his eyes and he grinned. "Don't tempt me. The whole point of this is for the alpha to find you completely unharmed. I'm not good at holding back."
"Why are you here, then? Not back there?"
He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms, satisfied that I was cooperating for the moment. "Like I said, alpha's orders."
I mumbled angrily to myself, my fury only mounting with each passing second. Axle remained watching me, still alert although he was silent. It occured to me that he was annoyed to be away from the fighting too, so his little smirk when I glanced at him was surprising.
"What?" I bit out.
The smirk grew into a grin. "You know, you two are perfect for each other."
I couldn't help the blush – or being a little mollified. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think he sees yet how he needs someone like you. Someone who can match him, instead of someone who blindly follows orders."
We both felt them appear in the building and I popped to my feet again, staring anxiously at the door. If even one of them was hurt...
"Easy, little lady," Axle soothed. "Everything is fine."
When the door swung open, Warren's eyes zeroed on me, assessing me to make sure I was fine. While Dane crossed the room to hug me, Warren raised an amused brow at my clear anger.
"Hey, sis," Dane said, pulling me into a quick hug. "Have fun at Lily's?"
I nodded quickly and looked him over. "Yeah. You? Are you okay?"
"Anyone ever told you you worry too much?" he grinned, mussing my hair.
"Cut it out!" I muttered, pushing his hand away and turning to Ashley and Roger.
They were both fine – Ashley was glowing from exertion while Roger's eyes still glittered with eerie intent. He was always more like Axle than usual after a fight...
Then I turned to the alpha. "You. What the hell?"
Warren crossed his arms. "I believe that's my line. Did I not order you to stay in the car?"
I huffed and bit out, "Your precious car is fine, I just picked the locks. And that's not even the point right now! But seriously, locking me in a car?!"
He smirked now. "I had to improvise. I had no time to assess the magnitude of the threat but thankfully it was negligible."
"Still not the point, Strandton!" My voice was rising in response to his maddening calm.
"You may move on to the exam," he commanded. "It appears I shall be occupied for a while."
"What?"
When everyone else headed towards the door, I realized that he'd been talking to the pack. Still, I followed them until Warren caught my arm.
"Not you," he said tightly. "It appears you have words with me. And believe me, the feeling is entirely mutual."
I stepped back, away from him, and he crossed his arms again.
"Later, kid," Dane said with a wave.
Ashley gave me a little wave too. "Bye, Belle."
Roger simply nodded at me, keeping step with Ashley.
When we were finally alone, I turned back to Warren. He simply raised a brow.
"You locked me in your car!"
"A headstart was necessary to protect you."
"Why even leave me behind? Why keep me out of it?"
"You appointed me as your alpha," he reminded.
"And your first decision was to give me a babysitter? I've been training to fight. This is what I'm supposed to be training for, so why are you so against it? What are you so afraid of?"
He stepped to me slowly, keeping my gaze level with his. "You froze, Annabelle."
"Yeah, for like a second!"
"That second nearly cost your head. Literally."
"I got into it," I argued, but I was starting to see his point. "I could have turned it around but you didn't give me a chance."
Something in my words angered him – his eyes narrowed and he stepped even closer. "Do you understand what a battle entails, Annabelle? It involves understanding the lay of the land – which is why the perimeter runs are a key factor in your basic training – knowing and synchronizing your attack patterns with those of your team; aiding others without bringing unnecessary risk to yourself and a myriad other factors. It's not merely fighting!" He'd been counting off on his fingers as he bore down on me, forcing me to step back.
I dropped my eyes, absorbing his word but much more, the intensity with which he said them. "Still, I could have done something," I argued quietly, turning away from him. "If you'd just –"
Warren gripped my hair and spun me round, glaring into my eyes as he roared right in my face. His overwhelming alpha power triggered my own instinctive resistance and I got just as livid as he was.
I fought back my claws as my eyes burned with rage. I placed both palms on his chest and shoved as hard as I could. He flew backwards into a table and landed on his feet, gripping the side of the desk for balance.
I wasted no time in diving after him, tackling him to the ground with a snarl. I sat astride him as he growled, his stormy eyes raging into mine while he held my own glare. He kept his arms at his sides to keep from hurting me. I gripped the back of his head, lifted –
– and pressed my mouth to his as hard as I could. Warren opened up to me instantly with another growl and I kissed him deeply, still completely pissed off. He pushed roughly, forcing me back onto the ground as he turned with me so he ended up on top. He wasted no time in leaning into me and kissing me back just as roughly and passionately as I had kissed him.
"You are a completely infuriating, frustrating and intensely annoying female!" he bit out between punishing kisses.
"And you are an arrogant, selfish, crazy jerk!" I threw back breathlessly, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
He pulled back, his eyes blazing equal amounts of rage and desire, and yanked the shirt off. He groaned when my fingers landed on his bare shoulders and leaned down to kiss me again. "You fail to follow the simplest of orders and you rush headlong into danger like an utter fool!"
I squeaked in protest – my mouth was a little occupied – and shoved him off me, turning with him so I was astride him again. His hands instantly slipped under the hem of my top and we both moaned at the contact. "You never listen and you refuse to teach me all these things that I need to be useful to you! You have to stop trying to keep me away from the fight!" I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him savagely.
He sat up, pushing my top up to reveal my belly as he pressed hot, open mouth kisses to my collarbone, making me moan loudly. He growled harshly and leaned up to for another hot, bruising kiss. "When have I ever not listened to you?" he demanded.
"I told you I'm ready to fight. Roger and Axle keep telling you to give me a shot. Even Ashley told you that it's best to let me come along for at least one battle, but no! You don't listen, you overpossessive alpha!"
"I'm protecting you!" He yelled, his hands slipping around to grip my back. "Why do you not see that!"
"I'm not just human anymore!" I yelled back. "I want to fight too! I want to protect you too! And damn it, if you keep charging into danger I'll race right in after you! I'm staying by your side whether you like it or not so get used to it!"
He pulled back and stared at me incredulously. I felt the fight go out of him as he wrapped his arms around me lovingly and placed his head on my chest. I frowned, wondering what just happened, then felt his shoulders shake.
I was completely disarmed by the time I heard his relaxed, carefree laughter. Just to be sure, we had been having a big fight in the middle of a blistering make out session, right? Had it been in my head?
"Uh, Warren?" I asked tentatively. I tried to push him back so I could see his eyes but he resisted me.
"You sounded like an alpha mate just now," he said softly, and the feel of his lips moving against my chest had me arching and biting back a moan. He looked up, his eyes hazing over with desire as his hold on me tightened again. "Bold, fearless, unflinching in the face of potential danger to me." His words were low and husky now and I leaned down to kiss him again.
"Uh, guys?" Ashley said hesitantly. "Are you going to start that again?"
I yelped and jumped off her brother – he growled in annoyance – and turned to the girl in the doorway.
"Uh, hi Ash," I mumbled,tucking my hair back. Even though my face was burning at being caught, I still smiled at her. "Um, what are you doing here?"
"Well, you guys started fighting so we came to defuse the situation but then it got...weird," she explained.
"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, looking to Warren for help.
He levered himself up from the floor, looking completely unconcerned as he pulled his shirt on. "Does no one follow my orders any longer?" he muttered.
Ashley hid her smile behind a her hand and said, "Well, Roger suggested that I hang out with Belle since I didn't have much to do with the battle anyway."
"This is all your doing," Warren accused me and I rolled my eyes. He turned to his sister. "I suppose I shall go for my own exam, since I actually believe in my wisdom."
"Oh, relax," she waved him off, takin my hand as we followed him down the stairs. "Axle is currently checking Dane out." At Warren's burst of laughter, she defended, "He'll be fine."
"Yes, but which of them do you mean?"
She stuck her tongue out at him and turned excitedly to me. "So, tell me everything! How are Neil and Jenny? And did Warren really win a bet?"
"A race, actually," I smiled, gazing at his back as I remembered how hot he looked on that bike.
***
It was three days before Warren allowed me on a perimeter run. By now I'd found out that the vampires they fought were trying to cross Warren's lands but one of them had tried to attack someone.
Warren was on edge and convinced that the Romeras were involved, so I had to work hard to get him to let me go on a run – with one condition, of course. He came with Roger and I.
Everyone had been training me with more focus since that attack, and I realized that they were all afraid I'd follow them into another one. And that just put me on edge because it meant they were expecting another attack.
So as we ran that morning, I was extra careful to register everything I could. What had Warren said about knowing the lay of the land?
"What's up, Belle?" Roger called from up ahead. When I looked up he was grinning at me, his pace easy and relaxed. "Afraid of getting lost?"
"No, I'm just trying to figure some stuff out."
"Like what?"
"Well, where are all these vampires coming from?" I suddenly stopped as something else occured to me. Warren and Roger instantly stopped and walked back to me. "And speaking of vampires, where the hell is Victor? And his family? Where were they when all this went down?"
Roger shot Warren a look and shrugged at me. "Don't know. They've been out of town for a while. They don't exactly punch in and out."
"You are too lax on a run," Warren said irritably.
I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Yes, alpha."
He raised an amused brow and nodded for me to lead the way this time. I quickly calculated all the land we still had to cover as I took off, knowing they were right on my heels.
I tilted my head when the view in front of me wavered out of focus. What was that...?
Then the dizziness hit and I knew what was happening. Fear gripped me and I stopped, stumbling back and reaching out blindly as I whimpered, "Warren."
His hand closed over mine just as I fell into the vision.