Page 12 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

No, I wouldn’t wander down that dark, windy road tonight…or any night. She was better off without me for a million different reasons. She deserved better.

Maeve took her computer to her bed and placed it on the empty side of the mattress while she lay down. She reached into the bottom drawer of her nightstand, and my pulse pounded when she returned with a bright pink vibr?—

“Mill!” shouted Fenris as he knocked twice on the door before pushing it open.

Startled, I quickly exited out of the screen and went back to the security camera footage, adjusting my cock in my gym shorts to make it less obvious that I’d been spying on arguably the most fascinating Vanderbilt sister.

He walked into the main room with Poe, Columba, and Aquila behind him.

“Fenris took us out to the woods. I’m picking up at least six or seven different scents.” Poe put his hands on his hips and pulled deep breaths, evidently trying to calm his racing heart.

Clearing my throat against how parched I’d suddenly become, I trained my features into the best poker face I could muster. “I think there were closer to ten. Come look.”

“Fuck,” Columba said. He ran his hands back through his dark hair and came to stand behind me.

At six-five, he was an inch taller than me and almost as big as Kodiak.

He had bright green eyes and dark tawny skin, making him incredibly popular with the female shifters in the pack.

I’d seen him hanging around Kodiak’s youngest daughter more than once.

Aquila was the same height as me, with dark hair and darker eyes, but still the same devastating good looks as his brother.

After I showed my packmates the footage, we watched it three more times before deciding to call Kodiak…

which honestly should have been my first order of business.

But I had to make sure Maeve was safe. I didn’t like the thought of Marx having his target set on her, and now that I knew what she was doing up there in that big mansion all by herself, a small petulant (and perhaps overprotective) part of me wanted to burn this fucking house down so I’d have no other choice but to move into the mansion with her.

Do it, my wolf whispered. Take her. Claim her.

I ignored those thoughts and sighed when Kodiak answered the phone in his gruff, tired voice.

“We’ve got a problem, Prez,” I said, explaining the situation to him. “He wants what he feels he’s owed.”

Kodiak growled. “He’ll keep testing the boundaries until he finds a way through.”

“This could be a ploy,” I said. “Do we know where Guin and Ava are?”

“Yes,” he said. “Guin’s got her own bodyguards protecting her, and Ava is in France with Lycan.”

“Do you think he’d follow her there?” Maybe we needed to call the RBMC in Paris and ask for a favor.

“He went after Guin last time, and he knows how much of a threat she is. I suspect he’s coming after Maeve because he thinks she’s more vulnerable.

” Kodiak took a deep breath, and I could picture him rubbing a hand over his bald head and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sending Moose and Larentia and?—”

“You can’t spare them,” I argued. “If you send them here, you risk leaving the homestead vulnerable.”

“Are you questioning my decisions?”

“Yes,” I said, knowing I could because I was a Bastard.

I’d been patched into the council and sworn my blood and loyalty to the colors.

We were brothers as much as packmates. Just because he was more dominant didn’t mean he was unreasonable.

“Look, let me figure it out. I’ll keep her guarded.

I’ll move into the mansion. I’ll…” The thought of staying down the hallway from her while she played with herself had me clenching my hand into a fist.

Focus. This is important. This is her safety.

“I’ll call you if something else happens.”

Kodiak grumbled low, muttering something to himself I couldn’t make out.

“Okay, fine,” he said. “But you will report to me every day, and if you get even a whiff of a vampire, I need to know first.”

“Got it,” I said. “I’ll send you the footage.”

“Good,” he said. “I’ll have Serpent and Ruby take a look.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I ran a hand through my hair and blew a breath through my lips, debating the best way to tell Maeve she needed to give me a guest room in the main house.

“Move into the mansion?” Fenris raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Getting real cozy with the Vanderbilts, are we?”

“You got a better idea?” I glanced between him and the others. “She’s alone in there. We can’t leave her like that.”

Poe winced. “Maybe I ought to, instead. I know Sol well. Maeve might feel more comfortable with me.”

Neither I nor my beast liked the idea of Poe being that close to her, especially not with what Lycan had said at the wedding. If she really went into her transition within the month, I’d want every wolf within a mile radius of her to clear out.

But one step at a time. Tonight, I had to make sure she was secure. And if (BIG if) she started to change, I’d deal with it then.

“I outrank you,” I told him. “And I know Guin.”

Poe raised an eyebrow and ran a hand over his hair, seemingly weighing what I’d said with what he knew about the Vanderbilt sisters.

When no one said anything else, I dismissed them back to the dorm and tried not to think about what Maeve was doing in that big old house by herself or how much I wanted to join her. Fenris lingered by the door, his hands on his hips, his lips pursed.

“What?” I damn near growled.

“You sure it’s a good idea?” He shrugged. “Your temper isn’t exactly long and mild these days.”

I ran my tongue over my canines and tsked through my teeth. “I don’t trust anyone else to do it.”

When I said the words, I realized that included him. I knew my best friend. If Maeve gave him an inch, he’d take a mile, even if Kodiak said to keep our hands off her. As we got closer to the moon, Fenris would turn all primal instinct.

He nodded. “What about the cattle drive?”

“You know what to do,” I said. “You can lead it.”

“And leave you here alone, knowing all those fucking bloodsuckers are sniffing around?” Fenris scoffed. “I’d rather die.”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes to it,” I said. “Just…go settle the guys, huh? I’ve got to call Guin.”

Fenris laughed and opened the door. “Good luck.”

Grumbling, I picked up my phone to call the eldest Vanderbilt. If I were going to be staying in her house with her sister, she’d want to know the reason why.

“Mill?” she asked, her voice groggy and scratchy like she’d just woken up.

“Hey,” I said. “Something’s happened.” I explained the situation to her and what I planned to do about it. “I’ll keep her safe, Guin. I promise.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “That’s not the part I’m worried about. You and Maeve stuck together in the mansion all alone for weeks at a time? You can understand why that doesn’t thrill me.”

I snorted, admitting I had missed her sarcastic commentary. “You don’t need to worry about that.” Right. I’m not watching her through her laptop like a creep or anything. Nothing to worry about. “I’m just trying to keep her safe.”

“Mill…” She sighed. “Maeve is not the same little girl you remember.”

“I’m well aware.” She’d grown into those long limbs and big ears.

“Okay, fine. Move into the house.” Guin seemed resigned to knowing there was nothing else she could do about it. “You’ll take care of her. And if anything happens to her, Mill, I’ll kill you. Again.”

“Don’t I know it.”

After she hung up, I sat back in my seat and told myself not to hack into Maeve’s laptop again. No good would come from whatever I found there. But knowing that had never stopped me from destructive behavior before, and I figured, why change now?

As I watched her get herself off, I begrudgingly stuck my hand in my pants and wondered how the hell I’d keep myself away from her if I was only two doors down the next time.