Page 87 of Bruised MC Bear

15

Vincent

Iwas usingthe phone in my room when Sonya had slipped her hotel card under my door, and after ending my call, I decided to look for her to wish her a safe trip. That was when I realized what was happening in the underground parking garage.

Rage overcame me.

These novices dared to attack a patron—and Sonya, of all people—at a hotel that I owned? It was always the incompetent ones who gambled their lives this way. The skilled hunters I had come to know over the years were smart enough to draw their prey out to neutral territory. These pitiful men were now on my turf. They would not live to learn from their mistake. Before the hunters knew I was in the vicinity, I moved in stealth to take down the man at the door. He had used a knife tainted with poison to cut Sonya, so I reciprocated by snapping his neck just as swiftly. The other two heard their friend crumple to the ground. Instead of making their exit, they came to look.

Brave, yet utterly useless fools.

Amateur hour wrapped up in under a minute when I smashed the last two men’s heads together. They weren’t dead. The blood in their veins still flowed, but I was in a generous mood. Striding into the elevator bay, I lifted Sonya into my arms and hit the elevator call button again. She released a dull groan before her head sagged backward. She had lost consciousness. Probably from the pain. That symptom alone, plus the smell of the blade in the dead man’s hand, told me it had to be aconite poisoning.

Strange.

I was sure I had smelled it, but now, with her in my arms, the only scent my nose picked up was the blood from her wound. I stopped suddenly when I boarded the elevator, snapping out of my bloodlust to focus and sniff the air. Yes, the aconite was flowing through her system now. I noticed her hands were still transformed into wolf paws as I entered my suite. They would stay that way until the full moon passed in about an hour. Halfway to my bedroom, Sonya stiffened up in my arms. I quickly got her to my bed.

She let out a piercing scream and brought a hand close to her cut. “It burns!” she cried out, arching on the bed. “Help me … please…”

“You’re safe now. It’s me … Vincent. You were attacked. It will take a few hours for the pain to subside.”

Stunned and confused, she tried to sit up, but collapsed back into bed, rolling around and writhing in pain. “God! I can’t wait that long … it feels like my veins have acid running through them … ohhh Godddd, it’s unbearable…”

I soaked a towel with cold water in the bathroom and took it back to her, placing it on her forehead. “Take slow breaths and try to relax. There are only two ways to get this poison out of your system, and trust me, you’ll prefer the pain over the alternative.”

“I know what you’re talking about, and for me, it’s the only way. You have to drain me of at least half of my blood.” Sonya grabbed my wrist with both hands. “Do it. Please!”

“I can’t. If you know the cure, then you also know the consequences. You’ll be bound to me.”

“Do it.” She pulled the towel off her forehead. “Please! Heal me. I accept the consequences.”

“No, Sonya. Don’t you understand? It’s a curse worse than enduring the few hours of pain you’re in.”

“You don’t understand. The aconite will kill me. I’m from Death Adder’s wolf pack.”

I lurched back from the bed at this news. Death Adder was one of the wolf shifter leaders in Red Ridge. Every member of his pack had an unexplained genetic defect. For them, aconite was lethal, and somehow, would stop their ability to heal themselves when they shifted to wolf form. Rubbing my now frantic hands over my temples, I estimated the amount of time since she was cut. It had to be more than ten minutes. Sonya had less than ten minutes left before the poison would kill her.

Sonya was going to die. Only draining her of most of her blood could save her. Feeding on her would remove enough of the aconite for her to shift and heal herself. Only falling under a curse would save her.

“There has to be another way,” I told her, pacing. “I’ll phone someone who can help.”

“No. There’s no other way. We have no time.” Dripping with cold sweat, she pulled her hair to one side and exposed her neck to me. “Please. Feed. I will be bound to you for life … if the myth is true.”

“It is true. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes. I’ll be cursed for life, but it’s the only way.”

What else could I say? “I’ll do it.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her weak frame into my lap. Tilting her head to one side, I took a moment. Her life would never be the same, and neither would mine, but this was what she wanted.

I did it.

I opened my jaws wide and sank my fangs into her neck, puncturing her flesh to draw blood from her pulsating carotid artery. The initial rush of her life force tasted exactly as I expected. Warm, rich, semi-sweet, addictive. Yes, it was tainted by aconite, but the toxin was not at all dangerous to vampires.

As I drank more from her, her body relaxed, and the tension on her face subsided. Her shifter blood strengthened me more than human blood ever could, instantly improving my mental acuity and taking all five senses to new heights. No wonder it was forbidden. With a hand on her weak pulse, I took my last drink, and then I withdrew from her neck.

“Sonya, you need to stay awake.” She groaned, but barely moved. “Sonya.”