A/N: Warning: mild mature content.
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I sat on the edge of Eric's bed, listening to his heart beat. I would never admit it to his face but the sound calmed me down. It made me feel mortal sometimes.
Feel. I let that prick of a rogue touch me just to get answers. Yes, I was reckless and stupid for not obeying my brother but I did get some answers. "I found out his name," I said after too many long moments of silence. "Not that it matters too much now."
Eric slouched in the leather chair behind his desk. "Did you find out anything else?"
"Yeah. He said that his employer was anonymous and that you and I are targets."
Eric released a heavy sigh. "What was his name?"
"Braedon."
He paused. "Anything else?"
I swallowed. "He was after a mortal."
Eric sat up straight. "A mortal? Why would he be hired to target a mere mortal?"
I shrugged. "But I know who it is."
Eric only nodded.
"Uncle Marx put me in charge of babysitting the guy. But now that the rogue is dead do you think he still needs to be watched?"
Eric sighed. "For now."
I groaned and toppled backwards onto Eric's bed.
He git up feim his chair then walked over to his windows, closing the curtains. "Go put some clothes on."
I looked down at my body, only then remembering what I was wearing. I got up and walked to the door.
Eric said, "Wait." I stopped but didn't want to face him. "Did he do anything to you?"
I knew what he meant. Turning to face him, I looked him in the eyes. "No. But I think he would have had you not come when you did."
Eric only nodded.
The following silence was my cue for dismissal. I silently closed his door and walked across the hall to my chambers.
I closed my door and locked it, wanting total privacy for the next few hours. Now that classes for the semester were done I had some free time.
I sucked in a breath. Then chuckled. Privacy indeed. "I should have known you were actually going to be waiting in my chambers, Damian."
I turned to see him sitting on the edge of my bed, his thick arms folded over his broad chest. "Of course I'm going to check on you after what that prick did."
I leaned against my door. "Wow. The news traveled a little slow today."
He chuckled. "You know that Eric's thoughts can be loud enough for me to hear. Even when he doesn't mean to shout it out I can still hear him."
The head members of the clan all had special powers. Damian was able to read minds. I was able to persuade. Eric was able to manipulate. Marx had strength. Such strength that he was able to resist other vampire's powers at times.
I cocked my head and folded my arms under my breasts. "And yet you didn't think to assist my brother when he even so much as yelled my name."
Damian's gaze flickered south for a moment but he regained himself. "You know the cells are riddled in magic. It prevents me from hearing anything on the other side. Even mind reading. But Eric's thoughts were loud and clear the moment you two walked out of the dungeons."
I smirked and pushed off the door. I took my boots off and tossed them to the side. Then I slowly made my way over to Damian, bending over and sliding my hands on his thighs. "Too bad you couldn't hear anything. I think you would have been jealous had you been able to read the rogue's thoughts."
Damian was my current lover and I liked to tease him. We had been making love for a few decades now.
He chuckled at the comment and pulled me onto his lap, his hands folding to rest on my rear. "You sure do have a way of getting what you want with your persuasiveness. That, I will give you credit for."
I grinned and bit my lip. "Right now, the only thing I want is you."
He growled then kissed me fiercely on the lips. His hands lingered on my rear as I threw my arms around his neck, running a hand through his hair. Then my hands slid down his chest and pushed up his shirt. He helped me take it off.
Cupping my rear he stood up, turned around, and threw me onto my bed. Within the blink of an eye his trousers were off (except for his tight boxers) and he was crawling towards me.
I angled my legs for him. On his way up he kissed my navel, then my stomach. His mouth found the crease of my breasts, then my neck. His right hand slid under my skirt and cupped my rear. He pushed himself against me. I gasped.
Then his left hand found the front zipper of my leather top and he pulled down. I sat up (his right hand leaving my rear), whipped off the shirt, tossed it to the ground, and lay back down. My black lace bra had him eyeing my chest.
His gaze lingered there as his left hand ran from my collarbone to between my breasts. "You're so beautiful."
I growled and pulled his face to mine. Our lips interlocked and I curved my legs to feel his hard calves with my feet.
His mouth left my lips and went to my neck. He cupped my rear again and pushed. My back arched, my hands clenching my bedspread.
Damian suddenly stopped kissing my neck and looked up. "Damn it."
"What?"
"Duty calls. Your uncle wants us to start doing a patrol at dawn. Starting today. Right now to be more specific."
I pouted.
Damian laughed. "Don't worry, I'll be back later to finish my job with you."
"I sure as hell hope you will."
He gave me one last kiss on the mouth, got dressed in a nanosecond, and was out the door.
I sighed and splayed my arms on either side of me. Besides my uncle and brother, Damian was one of the most important people in my life.
Which is why I hadn't told Eric everything I found out. Braedon's targets were Eric, Ronan, and I. But he threatened one more person if I revealed his secret. Even though he was dead I feared he and his coworker had planned out every detail.
He indeed hadn't been working alone. One other rogue had been hired to target us. He didn't say who. But he threatened to kill Damian if I didn't listen to him. If he somehow knew what Damian meant to me then that could mean his coworker was someone close to us. Though I couldn't think of anyone we had recently kicked out the clan I could think of one person who would keep himself in the shadows. The king of rogue vampires. Carlyle.
But usually Carlyle was the one who gave orders, not took them. Unless.....unless someone else had threatened him and promised my uncle's position in exchange for our heads.
Braedon hadn't mentioned my uncle's name, however. Even though Marx was head of the clan. Or perhaps the employer wanted leverage. Leverage so that Marx would willingly give up his place as clan leader.
It all seemed too much for my mind without further proof. Jumping out of bed I went into my walk in closet and threw on a pair of tight black jeans and a red low neck tee. I then fished out thick-heeled red leather boots.
Maybe I couldn't give away that Braedon had been working with someone. But I could voice my theory about the employer wanting us as leverage.
Just as I reached for my door knob a breeze came through my open window. Although it was winter I liked the cool air. I paused, catching a scent I knew all too well. Werewolf. I ran to my window, leapt out, and landed perfectly onto the ground outside. Dawn was approaching.
Sure enough, the alpha werewolf was standing at the edge of the tree line in the back yard. His hands were in his pockets, his feet planted firmly on the ground. His chin and cheeks had hair and his ears were pointed. And I could see those big canines hanging out of his mouth. He cocked his head backwards then turned and walked away. A silent invitation to follow.
When I reached the tree line he had shifted back to being......well, mostly human looking.
"Ethan," I said by way of greeting. "This is unexpected."
"I didn't arrange a meeting with your uncle due to recent events," he replied.
Ethan was attractive in his own way. Short brown hair, green eyes, tall, muscled, tan.
I placed my thumbs in the pockets of my jeans. "So you've heard about the rogue vampire." It was more of a statement than a question.
"The pack has been tracking him. We followed his scent mostly on the outskirts of the city. And then my second told me his scent led here."
"We managed to catch him and bring him in for questioning. Unfortunately, he decided that death was better than bargaining with us."
Ethan cocked his head. "Curious." He paused. "I just wanted to make sure your clan hadn't been attacked. Your uncle is safe?"
I knit my eyebrows. "Why do you automatically assume my uncle was the one in danger?"
A casual shrug. "He's your clan leader. Any employer might put his name at the top of a target list."
"Why do you assume the rogue had been employed?"
A chuckle. "I've been hunting rogues longer than you have. I know when one has been hired. Their behavior says it all."
I cocked my head. "I'm sure it does."
"My business here is done. I'm glad no one was hurt." A slight bow. He turned and started to walk away but stopped. "And do keep your wits about, Aria. Not all employers target the clan leader. Sometimes they want leverage."
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A/N: Kristine here! Introducing the alpha werewolf! Who's excited? And what about Damian and Aria? Did anyone suspect they actually had a thing going?
And as I stated before, I usually don't put in any intimate stuff besides kissing. This is the very first time I've done something like this. Partly as an experiment to see what you, the readers, think.
I'm sure some of you are not into that. And for those who are, don't get too excited because I'm not sure how much I'll be putting in here.
And as a courtesy, I will put a warning at the beginning of the chapters that have some mature content.