Page 13

He might not have bonded with her, but they were close. As close as he allowed. Treating her like the annoying little sister he’d never had, Ella followed him around like a puppy. Then, as her curves began to appear she would blush, flutter her lashes, and toss her gorgeous locks around hoping to get his attention.

Mack had noticed.

He noticed everything about her.

After watching a movie together, or walking her home from a neighborhood party, Mack would wait at the end of the drive while she climbed the stairs to her bedroom and changed before closing her blinds.

He wasn’t sure if Ella knew he watched.

Every night she would remove her dress or sweater, flick her long hair over neck so the dark silhouette of her body made him swallow loudly and his cock thicken inside his jeans.

If it wasn’t for her dad, so many times Mack would have ripped off her front door, sped up the stairs, and kicked her bedroom door down.

Oh, and then. Then he would have taken her pert breasts in his hands and licked those hard nipples. Lifted her onto her computer desk and said,spread your thighs, Ella.

She would have obeyed as he’d dropped to his knees and run his tongue over her wet panties, teasing her until she was shuddering and begging him.

Only then would he tug the lace aside and slide a finger into her aching core, then another, then another.

When she was stretched enough to fit him inside her, he’d press her back on the desk, leaning over her, and press his swollen cock in.

Taste your juices on my tongue while I finally fill this pretty pussy.

Mack deserved a damn Nobel Prize for his willpower.

Then, just before Mack and the others had reached the king, Callan had shifted.

Into a wolf.

It was obvious the rest of them would, and they had.

They had become hybrids—no longer just vampires. Inside them lived a wolf, a powerful wolf that, when unleashed, was huge.

Mack learned to control it while living in Greenwood, with the support of Callan and the other wolves. Now he and Callan were in Maine. The king recalled them to boost the number of senior warriors in the war.

But their existence was top secret.

Only the very senior level warriors, the SLCs, and the king’s newly formed science team, had the knowledge. Sage, who led the team, was helping them to understand what they had become.

Her priority, though, was creating an antidote for the serum.

So even if Mack had wanted to, he couldn’t tell Ella. He wasn’t even sure he could control his wolf around her. Hence renting the house and sending her the code.

The need to protect her had been the reason he’d wanted her on the East Coast. Having her show up at the castle was not the plan.

As his mate, the king would give him permission, butfuckthat! There was no way he was bonding with Ella and potentially infecting her.

What if she also shifted and became a hybrid?

She’d hate him.

Many vampires knew the stories about humans mating vampires and having their humanity taken from them. Not often voluntarily. Becoming a wolf? That was a whole new level. He knew firsthand.

Mack had adapted more easily than many of the wolves, and he couldn’t say why. He loved his wolf. There was a silent conversation that almost constantly took place. He loved the feeling of its power. The grace with which it walked with him.

He almost said beside him.

But they were one.