Page 4 of Bitten by Bloodmoon (Mateless Shifters #2)

Lumi

N yx stares at me curiously as if he’s part of the conversation with Ambrose, but he can’t be. Can he?

Or maybe he’s just confused as to what I’m doing here. Can vampires read minds? Is it part of their mind control powers?

I should ask Ambrose. But the millions of questions I have for Ambrose are going to have to wait.

“You’re all vampires,” I say, shuddering at the very thought of living in a house filled with predators.

The room erupts in laughter at the first words I’ve spoken.

A woman sitting to Nyx’s right whips her long brown curls cascading over her shoulder, her eyes cutting into me with piercing intensity.

“You really are clueless. How? How could you not know?” She’s breathtakingly beautiful with sharp, feminine features that give way to bands of muscles at her biceps.

Beneath her gentleness lies a sharp edge with a dangerous charm. She’s the kind of woman who can lure men in and kill them in equal strides. A perfect balance of power and beauty. “You’re either a naive, foolish girl or playing dumb to hide the truth from us.”

“Enough, Sylara,” Nyx says.

“We’re doomed if she’s the one who’s destined to save us all,” Sylara continues.

All of their dark black eyes lock in on me as if they can discover my truth just by looking at me.

“Lumi? You okay? Your fear?” Ambrose says in my head.

I’m done being afraid.

Done being naive and foolish.

“You should have told me the truth. You should have told me everything,” I let the pain lace my voice.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do I need to know about Nyx? About his pack? His vampires?”

“Don’t trust a word he says.”

“You’re vampires. Don’t lie to me and call me naive in the same breath.”

Sylara’s jet black eyes drill into me with a glare that could kill. “We’re not vampires. And I don’t lie. I know who stands before me, and I don’t mince my words.”

“Then what are you?”

Sylara looks to Nyx, waiting to see if he wants to answer.

“I’m the only one who is half-vampire, half-wolf shifter. Just like Ambrose is the only half-witch, half-wolf shifter,” he tells me.

I stare around the room at Sylara and then at the three men who have yet to speak. I hope to the gods that by just looking at them, I’ll be able to tell if Nyx is telling the truth or not.

“I don’t believe you. I don’t trust a word you say. How do I know that you aren’t lying to me so that I won’t suspect when your friends here have vampire abilities as well as wolf shifter ones?”

“You believed him ,” his voice lashes in my head in a cold and unyielding frost, in sharp contrast to Ambrose’s, which feels like an earthy, warm embrace.

I glare at Nyx. “Stop talking in my head.”

Sylara raises an eyebrow at him, shocked that he can talk in my head. The other men exchange glances.

“You shouldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone.

You shouldn’t trust any facts that you haven’t verified with your own eyes.

The world has been hidden from you your entire life.

Now you’ve had a few glimpses of it, but it’s not enough.

You have to find the truth. Don’t trust me.

Don’t trust Ambrose. Don’t trust anyone,” Nyx sneers.

“Does it matter if we have vampire abilities or wolf shifter abilities? I could kill you easily either way,” Sylara says.

My blood boils at her words, but her sculpted form tells me she could kick my ass without any otherworldly powers.

Not to mention it’s five against one. I turn inward, once again begging my wolf to make an appearance.

Not that she would save me when it’s five against one, but I just need to know she’s still there.

Sylara shakes her head at me in disgust.

“Why can’t I shift?” I send to Ambrose, my words desperate.

“What do you mean you can’t shift?”

“I can’t shift.”

There’s a pause. “Fuck.”

“So what now? You kill me to ensure a new mate is found for Ambrose or Nyx?” I ask the group.

“If only,” Sylara says.

“I really don’t like you,” I tell her.

An irritating smile spreads across her face, and she folds those honed, muscular arms across her chest. “The feeling is mutual.”

“As I said before, we aren’t going to kill you. I need the information you have,” Nyx says.

“You’re just going to hold me prisoner,” I snap at him.

Sylara glares at me. “You really don’t know Nyx at all, do you?”

“Sylara,” Nyx warns, and she closes her mouth with a huff.

“Where are my manners?” Nyx changes his tone and claps his hands together. “I should introduce you to the Bloodmoon pack. This is Sylara, my beta.”

Sylara barely acknowledges me.

“That’s Riven, Brax, and Talonis,” Nyx points to each man as he speaks their name, and they all silently stare at me. Each has a shade of dark brown or black hair, with equally inky eyes. The entire pack must share similar traits.

Riven stands, each fluid motion of his muscles exuding power and strength as he walks toward me with clear intention.

The air intensifies between us in sharp crispness.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen until he holds out his hand to me.

I gape at it like it’s about to transform into claws at any second.

“I know you grew up isolated in a small pack, but you do know what a handshake is, right?” Riven asks with a knowing smile.

I frown. “I don’t shake hands with vampires.”

“Good thing I’m not a vampire.”

“Or of people holding me hostage and trying to kill me.”

Riven shoots Nyx a knowing glance before turning back to me.

“Maybe there’s hope for you after all,” he says before returning to his seat.

I look across at the other two guys. Both are studying me with a curious fascination on their faces.

Brax is the largest of the three men. Stockily built with a physical weight large enough that I doubt he’d need to shift to take on another wolf shifter.

He looks like he’s built for the battlefield.

Talonis’s muscles are small in comparison, but no less intimidating.

“Where am I?” I ask, hoping someone will answer me.

“With the Bloodmoon pack,” Sylara answers with exasperation in her voice as if she’s already annoyed with me.

I look from her to Nyx, who is awfully quiet as he watches me, seeming to weigh each of my movements and thoughts.

“And where is that exactly?” I demand.

“Does it matter? You can’t escape back to your mate, as you call him, no matter where you are,” she responds.

“If it doesn’t matter, then just tell me. Are we still in the state of Washington? Oregon? Canada?”

“Your mate will come for you no matter where you are. Though why you’d want him to after he lied to you and obviously failed to prepare you for breaking the curse is beyond me,” Sylara says before standing up abruptly.

Her head snaps to Nyx. “I’m done with this.

Let me know when you make a decision regarding our earlier conversation. ”

Nyx nods as Sylara leaves.

“Don’t mind Sylara too much. She’s like that with everyone,” Brax says, running his hand over his buzzed head.

“So why is she the beta then?” I ask.

“She’s the strongest besides Nyx,” Brax says.

“The most cunning,” Talonis says.

“And Nyx, as well as the rest of us, is a bit afraid of her,” Riven chuckles, the braid in his thick curls swinging as he moves his head.

All eyes turn to Nyx. “She’s the obvious number two. My reasons for choosing her as such are abundant. But that’s not what we are here to discuss.”

“I’m not telling you anything. You’ll have to torture it out of me or use the mind control you vampires love so much.”

The guys exchange glances. “Maybe we should leave the two of you alone for a bit,” Riven says. The other two nod, and suddenly it’s just me and Nyx in the living room.

“He lied to you,” Nyx says gently.

“It doesn’t change anything.” It changes everything. I know that, but I don’t know what to do about it.

“He lied to you. He didn’t tell you he is part witch. He didn’t tell you I’m part vampire. He didn’t tell you the truth about our history. He didn’t tell you everything he knows about the prophecy. He didn’t tell you why you can’t shift now.”

“Stop.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were part witch?” I shoot through my bridge to Ambrose.

Maybe if he explains himself, it will make it all better. There has to be a good reason, something that can make Nyx’s words sting less.

“I’m sorry,” the words float back to me, but they aren’t enough.

“Why?”

“I want to explain…in person.”

“You don’t have to like me. We can still be enemies, but when it comes to breaking the curse, you should realize that we are on the same side. We both want the same thing. So whatever it takes to get us to work together to put the pieces of the prophecy together is what we should be focusing on.”

“Then you’d better find me fast.”

“I will. I’m already looking.”

“Tell me what you can.”

“I should talk to you as little as possible until the curse is broken.”

“Why?”

“So that I don’t let my feelings end up being the death of you.”

Oh, right—the whole if you fall in love with me, you kill me part of his curse.

“That would take trust, and I don’t trust you. You’re holding me hostage,” I return my attention to Nyx, watching as he spreads his legs casually on the couch despite the formidable weapon he is.

“Am I? I didn’t realize that was what I’m doing. I thought I was saving your life and trying to help you break the curse.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then what would it take for you to believe me?”

“I don’t know.”

Nyx’s lips dip as he watches me, but he does not move an inch toward me. He seems to know I need the distance between us to continue the conversation.

“I’m scared,” I send to Ambrose as I watch the predator in front of me, waiting to see if he’ll kill me at any moment.

“We all are,” Nyx responds.

Fuck, did I send my thought to Nyx instead of Ambrose? Does he know I’ve been talking to Ambrose this whole time? Has he listened to our entire conversation?

“But you should trust me when I say all I want, all any of us want, is to break the curse. I know Ambrose suffers from a curse that just affects the witches, although I don’t know his individual curse.

However, I suffer from one that specifically affects vampires.

And my curse is far worse than anything Ambrose has ever suffered.

That’s why you should trust me when I say I’ll do anything to break the curse. ”