Page 178 of Immortal Bastard (The Order of Vampires)

“Poor Dane.”

“I have an ominous feeling this is just the calm before the storm,” Christian murmured, pressing his lips to her shoulder. “We need to start working on your skills, pintura, so that you can protect yourself if danger befalls the farm again.”

She shifted to look over her shoulder and into his eyes. “I thought you said The Order would protect us.”

“The Order will always provide safe refuge and guard the life we hold so dear, but I’m afraid The Council is in danger. The elders have acquired some enemies.”

A chill raced over her skin. “You mean Maddox.”

Maddox was still alive, and Christian understood one of his parents would have to die before any level of peace would be found. He just hoped it wasn’t his mother.

He nodded stiffly. “My father, yes. But also, the witch, Isaiah, and perhaps even Cybil and Dane. We’re approaching a new era, where our location is known by those who wish us harm, and vengeance seemed all they seek.”

She thought of her friends out in the wild hunting monsters on their own. They were putting themselves at great risk. If anyone would get severely injured, she might be able to offer her help when they needed healing. But for that to happen, she would have to be strong.

“You’re right. We should start training right away so we’re prepared for anything.”

“We could start by playing the game you mentioned.”

“Game?” she searched her memory.

“Manhunt.” He cupped her possessively. “Though I prefer to call it Seek—Hunt—Claim.”

She slithered out of bed and grinned as she slipped her shift over her bare body. “Then you’ll have to catch me first.”

He was on his feet and at her back before she saw him move. His fist knotted in her hair, angling her head back so he could look into her eyes. “I always do.”

She turned in his grip, plastering her body to his as she licked over his jaw and nipped playfully. “That, my darling mate, is because I let you.”

Before he could respond, she was gone, racing over the valleys and into the woods, hiding where her mate would chase her, looking forward to the moment he caught her, dying to experience his claim—again, and again, and again.

Darkness surrounded them as they loped through the brush. Pine needles whisked underfoot as each sure step pushed Darius further into the night. His hind muscles warmed beneath his thick pelt as the moon illuminated his path.

His brothers flanked him, only the glow of their green eyes giving their presence away as they raced silently into the night. Always by his side. Always at his back. Together, they were one. Unique from other packs in that they shared one need above all else. Blood.

The river rushed at the banks below as they charged toward the cliffs. Another hiker down. Another source to feed them. But this one, like all the others, was not one from their dreams.

They all saw her. The shared link of a brotherhood like theirs left no space for secrets to hide. But after years of hunting with little success, they lost hope and accepted she was only meant to be a dream.

His brothers refused to discuss her, but she still haunted Darius’s dreams after all these years. And lately, a sharp ache of desperation rode him hard. A sense of urgency he couldn’t shake, as if time were running out, and she needed to be found.

It nagged like an aching tooth, demanding attention and becoming an unignorable obsession. An ache that would not ease. The lingering sensation of something left unfinished kept him up at night, while his dreams grew more disjointed.

Darkness surrounded her, as did fear. She was running from something that terrified her, something she couldn’t control, something she believed would eventually claim her unless he got to her first.

Two nights ago, he entertained the idea of breaking from the pack, a thought that earned him the thrashing of a lifetime when his brothers discovered his intentions. They were one. There was no separating. They hunted together. Always. There was no room for individual ambitions that didn’t serve the pack, and no such thing as an isolated claim.

His brothers believed what was his was ultimately theirs.

Their primal need required a pack loyalty that could not be broken. The only brothers that had separated from the clan had done so through death. If Darius wanted to find her, he would need to convince his brothers to do the same. And if he planned to save her from whatever was hunting her down, he needed to persuade them soon.

THE END