Page 42 of Desired for Her Blood

“One of their cubs wandered into the cave.” Axe looks up to the ceiling. “The little snoop saw my pelts and told his father, who got the wrong idea.”

“Howdidyou get those wolf pelts?” I ask softly, genuinely curious.

“Not by killing wolf shifters, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t really thinking anything.”

“Got them the same place we got the clothes.”

“That makes sense.”

“Wolves over react.” He shakes his head. “They’re hot headed. Whole pack came in here. Attacked me while I was sleeping. And when they realized I was a vampire, they tried to tear out my throat to decapitate me.”

“That’s horrible.” I cuddle in tighter.

“The wolves wouldn’t listen to reason, so I shifted into Grizzly form to fight them fairly, on the same level, but the bastards tossed silver shards in my path.” He straightens his back and his eyes narrow slightly.

“Even handicapped by the silver…” He frowns, his eyes turning fierce, almost scaring me. “The wolves were no match for me. I could have easily added to my pelt collection. But I didn’t.”

I nod. “How long ago was that?”

His eyes close. “Shit. Not sure. Given what year you claim it is now, it’s got to be three or four decades ago. I lost track of time. The silver kept me from shifting.

“And in bear form, I crave food, real food, not just blood. Even if blood might have helped my hunger, it’s not like I could feed with the other vampires, as a bear.”

I wince.

“Actually tried once.” His head tips back. “Other vampires were so fucking scared of me. Tried to kill me.”

“How did you survive for so long without food?”

“Hibernation. Slept most of the time until you saved me.” He shakes his head. “You saved me in more ways than one. The bravery you showed in taking that silver out of my paw… You astound me.”

“Astound you?” No one’s ever spoken about me in such terms.

“You’re so brave. And hearing your story—it breaks my heart.”

“Your story breaks my heart too.”

He pulls my face closer toward his, so close I can feel the warm heat of his breath on my lips. “And I’m not saying it’s the same,” he says, “but I too understand how it feels to not know who you are, orwhatyou are, the feeling of being all alone in the world.”

“You’ve lost so much,” I say softly. Our lips are now so close together I might brush his the next time I use mine to speak.

I want him to kiss me. I want it so much I feel the need in every cell in my body. But given all he’s told me, I don’t want to be the one to initiate it. Besides, the anticipation of our lips hovering so close is delicious.

He shifts his head.

I gasp at the sudden separation of our lips.

“Zuben’s back.”

Chapter Twelve

Zuben

As I leapout of the water, Ryker crosses his arms over his chest and glares at me.

“Took you long enough.” Wearing his jeans but no shirt, the pirate seems calmer than before I left.