Page 6 of Crossed Fates

“Eat wood,” I said, whipping out a stake and kneeling to drive it through his chest.

A growl sounded from behind me, causing all the hairs along my arms to dance. I left my stake in the hybrid’s chest and spun to face a fuming redhead. She’d not only lost her cuffs but had also opened her cage.

“Impressive,” I admitted, re-holstering my gun.

“Imbecile,” she tossed back, causing both my eyebrows to shoot upward.

“Excuse me?”

“I was in the middle of interrogating that guy!” She pointed at the very dead hybrid—seemed my stake did the trick,thank fuck—and then shoved that finger in my chest. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

I glanced at her blunt nail, then back up at her, amused. “What kind of wolf are you?”

She startled at my change in topic. “Excuse me?”

“What kind—”

“Yeah, I fucking heard you,” she snapped, dropping her hand and starting to pace.

I folded my arms, my leather jacket creaking a bit with the sound. “Seriously, where are you from?” Because she wasn’t a Bitten wolf, which meant she might not even feel the whole fated-mates call between us. Totemics, Fenrirs, and Lycans all had their own mating rituals, most of which weren’t controlled by soul bonds.

But I didn’t catch any sort of familiar vibe from her, marking her as decidedly other to my wolf’s senses.

She said nothing, walking over to pick up a tablet from a table, then started going through papers and scattering things all over the floor.

“First crime scene?” I wondered out loud. Because she was doing a shit job of keeping her prints off of everything. Not that it mattered. I’d call up a crew from headquarters and have them clean it all up in thirty minutes.

“Nothing,” she said to herself. “Shit.”

“What are you looking for?” I asked, walking toward her.

She spun on her heel and threw up a palm. “Don’t. You’ve already screwed this up enough.”

“Right.” My fated mate was insane. Fantastic. I pulled out my phone to pull up the contactCleanup Bitches of Eliminate Vampiric Influences Everywhere, abbreviated asE.V.I.E. Cleanup Bitchesin my address book, and shot them a text with my location.

My boss, Jude, would be pleased that the hybrid mess had finally come to an end. The bastard had been terrorizing New York City, earning himself the nickname of Bloodsucker Serial Killer. Never a good thing in a world where humans didn’t know vamps or shifters existed. The reporters were far too close to the truth on this one.

The curvy redhead wandered over to the hybrid to search him, her delectable ass a beacon in the air as she bent.

My wolf growled in approval, the sound touching my chest, but I swallowed it before she could hear it.

Although, the look she flashed me over her shoulder suggested she’dsensedit. She also muttered something under her breath that sounded like “Horny wolves,” amusing me further.

“Do you have a name?” I asked her.

“I do.” She pulled a mobile from the hybrid’s pocket and used his thumb to unlock it, then started looking through it.

“And what’s your name?” I pressed when she didn’t elaborate.

“None of your business,” she replied sweetly.

I grunted. “Fate strongly disagrees with that.” Unless I could just make up whatever name I wanted for my supposed mate. But then I’d like a chance to craft her, too. I’d absolutely give her this woman’s body, face, and hair. I’d nix the attitude, though. Make her a little more submissive and needy. Definitely wet. Hard nipples. Mmm, she’d crawl for me and beg to suck my cock, too.

The redhead rolled her eyes as if she could hear my thoughts and grunted. “I think you’ve done enough to ruin my evening. Feel free to see yourself out.”

I chuckled. “Not happening, sweetheart. The cleanup crew will be here in thirty to pick these guys up.” I knew that because a buzz had just landed on my wrist with an ETA. The lab was eager to play with the hybrid and determine his origin.

“To go to E.V.I.E.?” she asked.