Page 2 of Bitten by Bloodmoon (Mateless Shifters #2)

Lumi

H e bit me. Nyx’s teeth sank into the exact same spot on my neck where Ambrose had started to mark me, and in one quick bite, he completely erased what Ambrose had started, making the mark his own. And then, with a gentle pull of his lips, he drank my blood.

A creeping coolness spreads into my body as the last of my warmth drains away. With a jolt, I’m pulled from my dream—no, my nightmare. This can’t be real. This can’t really be happening. Rowena can’t be dead. We couldn’t have failed. And I— am I dead?

I blink, and bright lights illuminate the room.

I’m not dead. And I’m not in a dungeon either.

I’m lying in the largest bed I’ve ever seen.

It’s pillowy soft, with crisp sheets indicating a high thread count.

Floor-to-ceiling windows expand the entire wall opposite me, and my breath falters at the sight of the cliff and valley below.

It looks as if I were to take one step toward the windows, the house would tilt and we’d all plummet to our deaths below.

It would be worth it, though, because I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in all my life.

“How are you feeling?” Nyx asks.

I snap my head toward the sound on my left and find Nyx leaning against the closed door, watching me intently. He’s adorned head to toe in black that squeezes over his honed body. A whisp of his hair falls over his blackened eyes that stare at me like he wants to eat me.

“You don’t care how I feel.”

He blinks. “You’re right, I don’t.”

I sit up and the covers slip down my body—down my very naked body.

I clench the cover and yank it up, tucking it tightly under my armpits.

“I’m naked,” I growl at him.

He raises an eyebrow in the annoying way he does. “And?”

“And, I should have clothes on.”

“You wanted me to dress you?”

“No,” I snap.

“That’s what I thought. Clothes will be provided when we are done with this conversation.”

I narrow my eyes at him, a silent promise of violence. “Now.”

His lips tilt up. “You need to work on your alpha commands. It really could use some work. But then, me being who I am, I doubt you would ever be strong enough to command me to do anything.”

“I hate you.”

“I know. Most people do.”

“Maybe you should change that.”

“Maybe, but I won’t.”

“Where are we?”

“My house.”

I swallow and quickly glance around the room. It’s large, bright, and beautiful. Not at all what I would expect for a room in a vampire’s house. His room must be dark and windowless in comparison. But I’m not sure why I’m in this room if the sunlight prevents him from getting closer to me.

“That’s why you’re standing in the shadows, you can’t step into the light. Why put me in the brightest room in your house then?”

His attention drifts to the window, distant and unreachable, as he stares out, deliberately silent when it comes to answering my question.

“How? How are you a vampire?”

“How is Ambrose a witch?”

My mouth falls, remembering Nyx’s earlier confession. He’s part vampire; Ambrose is part witch. How could any of it be possible? How could I have not realized what Ambrose is?

“How?” I ask again.

He shrugs.

Blood boils in my veins. “Are you going to answer any of my questions?”

“Are you going to answer any of mine?”

“No.”

His shoulders lift again as if to say, Same .

I exhale in a sharp rush. Leaning back against the thick, black headboard, I feel something scratch against my neck. There’s a small bandage there, covering my wound. I brush my hand over the bandage for just a second before I feel Nyx watching me and stop.

“You drank my blood. You could force me to talk to you. Alpha commands aren’t always strong enough to get people to talk, but vampire mind control…you could force me to talk to you—spill every secret I have.”

“I could, but what fun would that be?”

I frown as I look at him. “You’re toying with me. I don’t like it.”

“Sorry, love, but you’ll have to get used to it.”

“I’m not your love. I’m Ambrose’s mate.”

“Are you?”

“Yes,” I hiss.

His lips curl into a mischievous grin. “If you say so,” he whispers into my mind.

“Fuck!”

“Do you always curse so much?”

“Get out of my head!”

The silence returns, and he’s standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms casually crossed in front of his chest. Gods, I forgot how good-looking the man is. But everything about him is a warning.

There’s danger in his stance; it coils in the way he moves his muscles and in the silent precision of his movements.

Darkness fills his eyes and clings to every part of his body in a lethal beauty.

There’s a raw magnetism to his deliberate grin that draws me in.

The kind of beauty that’s irresistible and perilous.

He’s a god in devil’s clothing. It doesn’t matter how devastatingly beautiful he is; he’s not my mate.

“How?”

He cocks an eyebrow. “How?”

“How did you speak to me in my head? Is that a trick all vampires can do?”

“No, vampires can’t speak to others in their head.

At most, I can get a single word, phrase, or quick feeling out, but it’s nothing like this.

I’m not in their heads, able to see and feel everything they’re feeling.

Or talk to them as freely as I can with you.

It’s a strange sensation being in your head, speaking to you, and hearing you in return. ”

“Then how?”

“How do you and Ambrose speak to each other in your heads?”

“We’re mates.”

His eyes loom large as if he’s waiting for me to answer my own silly question.

“We are not mates,” I protest.

“Logic would say otherwise.”

I shake my head. “This must be Isolde fucking with me, messing with my head. She hates me. This can’t be real. I can’t have two mates.”

“Isolde isn’t capable of magic like this. But I agree, it’s strange of you to have two mates.”

I stare at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Plenty, same as you.”

I roll my eyes. “Start talking.”

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm?”

“Hmmm.”

“Gods, just use your mind control and force me to talk. This conversation is insufferable.”

He smirks. “I’m quite enjoying it.”

I huff and start to move out of the bed, before I’m reminded of my nakedness and sink back under the covers. He left me naked just to force me to stay in this bed without even having to use mind control.

“Or has the mind control worn off already? Need to drink more of my blood to control me?” I tease.

He just stares at me, and it’s clear I’m not going to get any answers out of him. But I have to try, I have to get him talking. I have to find out everything I can about him and about where I am—it’s the only way I’ll be able to escape.

But there is one question that bubbles above all others in my mind as my heart aches at the very thought.

“Did you kill Ambrose like you did Rowena?” I ask in a monotone voice devoid of any emotion. I will not let Nyx see my pain.

Nyx pauses for a second, and I think the bastard isn’t going to answer me, just like he hasn’t answered any of my other questions.

“When I took you, Ambrose was still very much alive. There is no reason to doubt that he still lives, as there was no one left powerful enough to kill him after we left.”

My heart beats again, as if it still has a reason. But Rowena…she’s gone. I know it without asking. I saw her body with my own eyes. And I’ll never forgive Nyx for that. I’ll get my revenge—he dies.

“Where is Kael? What of our deal?”

“I honored our deal. And as you were prepared to die in the marking ceremony to break the curse, Kael is free to go where he wants.”

“I wasn’t going to die. You were the reason the curse wasn’t broken. Where is Kael?”

“Last I saw him, he was with the Moonlight pack.”

Thank gods, he’s safe.

“So what now? You’re going to keep me in some dungeon somewhere until the next ceremony? I’ll never let you mark me. I’ll never agree that you are my mate.”

“A dungeon, huh? That’s your kink?”

I glare at him. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Probably.”

This man is insufferable. But there’s a twinkle in his eyes that tells me he’s amused by the idea of me trying.

“What I want is for us to figure out how to break the curse,” he says.

“I’m not your mate. I’m not completing the marking ceremony with you.”

“I’m not asking you to…yet, at least. I’m asking for us to share knowledge. We both know pieces of the prophecy that no one else knows. Maybe I can talk to you in your head because you need to know the final pieces of the prophecy to break the curse.”

What he says makes sense.

“Or, maybe, it’s because I’m really your mate and not Ambrose.”

I growl at him.

He barks out a laugh.

“Then tell me what you know,” I demand.

He shakes his head. “That’s not how this is going to work. We share information. We seek out the rest of the prophecy together. Then we decide what needs to happen at the next marking ceremony.”

“I’m not sharing anything with you. And there is no we . You killed Rowena! I don’t want anything to do with you unless it’s putting a stake through your heart.”

He tilts his head as he watches me. I know he’s a wolf shifter—I’ve seen him shift with my own eyes and ridden on his back. But right now, all I see is the vampire, my enemy.

“Rowena’s death was unfortunate.”

“Stop! You don’t get to act like you cared about her, you cold-hearted killer. You’re an abomination, a predator. You go against your own kind to help the vampires.”

“I’m sorry about your friend’s death. And I am, as you say, a killer. You shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t like me. You shouldn’t fall in love with me. You shouldn’t mate me. But I’m your only chance at breaking the curse now.”

“I will never work with you. And you’d better lock me in a dungeon because I’m not staying here. I’m going back to my pack—to Ambrose.”

He shakes his head. “You’re not going to kill me until the curse is broken, and I’m not locking you in a dungeon. I do not need to. I tasted a drop of your blood. You want to know how long the mind control lasts after I taste your blood?”

I freeze, terrified I already know the answer.

“Forever,” he chuckles.