Page 18 of Make Me Bleed (Sanctuary #2)
CHAPTER 17
ROGUE
J ulian didn’t just release my arm. Hank’s earlier roar had drawn the attention of most of my fellow neighbors. Doors had opened, the other villagers rushing outside, and they all watched in a mix of horror and confusion as Julian let go of my arm, then gave me such a rough shove with the flat of his palm that I was flying backward through the air before slamming down on the dirt. Hard . My back connects with the earth, all of the air knocked out of me until the only thing I can do is gasp in a bid to replace it.
Hank was already running toward me, arms pumping, bicep muscles bulging against his t-shirt sleeves the moment Julian struck me. Recovering quickly—both because I’m a vamp and because I have to—my head snaps toward my beloved. Surprisingly, Hank is still in his skin, though I can just about make out the outline of his bear hovering over him as if his beast is desperate to be released.
His fangs have grown longer. Thicker. His fingers, too; they’re now huge black claws. He swipes at the air, cheeks hollowed in fury as he veers his path just enough to reach me instead of Julian.
Next thing I know, he’s crouching at my side, swooping me up gently in his brawny arms. My heart swells as he shudders, regaining control so that his murderous expression becomes one of pure concern.
“Lise,” he rumbles, nuzzling my temple, my cheek, the top of my flattened hair, “tell me you’re okay.”
I lift my hand. There’s dirt smeared along the edge of it from the ground. I don’t care. I cup Hank’s stubbled cheek. “You’re here.”
His chest puffs up. I feel his heat pressing against my side. “You think I let my mate leave my den without followin’ her to keep her safe? I know you told me to stay behind so I don’t fuck things up with the mayor, but when I saw you runnin’ and this asshole chasin’ ya…” He growls under his breath. “He touched you. The other bloodsucker touched my mate.”
“Who says she’s yours, beast?”
In the safety of Hank’s arms, I forgot for the moment the threat that Julian possessed. I guess I believed he would take the opportunity to flee while I had all of Hank’s attention. That’s what a rational male would do.
Only he’s a rogue, and his dark eyes have bled to red as he refused to move from the spot where we were standing when he pushed me.
With his strength, I must’ve flown a good twelve or so feet. The force of the hit left a crater in the shape of my ass and my cranium. I wince when I see it. Though the pain from the impact is a memory now, that’s visible evidence of how hard Julian hit me.
And as Hank gives me one last squeeze before easing me gently to the heels that I miraculously didn’t lose, I can tell that he’s realizing the same thing.
“Stay behind me, Lise,” he murmurs before shifting his bulk so that he’s standing between Julian and me.
I reach out, my claws snagging the back of Hank’s t-shirt. “Honey?—”
His back bulges, a hint of his bear peeking out even further as a hump forms at the base of his neck. “He hit my mate,” is all he says.
It’s all he has to say.
I retract my claws before I tear the fabric, watching in a mixture of lust and fear as he stalks away from me.
Suddenly, as if the volume around me had been set to mute, noise breaks through my haze. I hear a whoop , and a loud gasp, plus the mutterings of the gathered crowd. A frantic glance around me reveals that my neighbors didn’t just peek their heads out of their front doors to see what was going on. No. They’ve edged closer, curiously watching the unknown bear shifter and the haughty vampire facing off.
“Please,” squeaks Mayor Lou. A spring breeze ruffles his black-and-white hair, and when it reaches me, the rank stench of his skunk’s spray mingled with the lemon air freshener is almost enough to knock me out of my slight stupor. “Gentlemen, there are rules in regards to fighting in Dyea.”
“Yeah,” hollers another shifter. I don’t know his name, but his dark brown hair is styled in spikes. Porcupine, perhaps? Or hedgehog? He’s not a predator, I can tell that much, and he’s no vampire though there’s no denying his bloodlust as he shouts, “Last one standing wins!”
Mayor Lou shakes his head. “Terry, that’s not helping! No. If there’s a challenge, take it out of the town square. We have sensitive souls in Dyea?—”
As if on cue, a female sways, stiffens, then drops. Jenny the opossum shifter made it through Hank’s roar, but I guess the brewing scene became too much for her because she’s ‘dead’ again.
“See!” Mayor Lou says triumphantly. “I told you! Now, Ann, why don’t you watch over Jenny until she comes to again? Conall? Please, break this up and move these gentlemen along.”
Conall grunts. “Sorry, mayor. Little bit preoccupied at the moment.”
I find the wolf shifter, knowing instinctively that my best friend will be near him. I didn’t even notice that Conall and Bridget had been part of the crowd until Mayor Lou called for his head of security, but there he is. His arms wrapped around Bridget, you’d almost think the pose is one of a loving male embracing his female. Looking closer, though, I see that he has her tucked under his chin, his arms pinning Bridget’s in place at her sides.
Smoke is billowing around her clenched fists, a fiery expression on Bridget’s pretty face as she all but burns to interfere.
Of course. Whether she saw the strike or not, Hank’s undeniable challenge of Julian is because the vampire hit me. My protective best friend would never stand there and let anyone get away with that, but with the crowd gathered, I’m grateful that Conall is holding her back. I trust her with her fire magic, but I absolutely don’t trust Julian not to target Bridget to get back at Conall and me.
Besides, whatever happens next, this is a challenge. Mayor Lou might not understand, but he’s a prey shifter. Bridge is still so new to our world. But Conall… he’s a predator, like Hank. Like Julian. He knows better than to jump in, though that doesn’t mean he won’t do everything in his power to keep his mate safe.
Just like mine is doing for me.
Hank flexes his fingers, showing off his bear claws. His voice is raspy and low, his bear speaking through him as he says again, “You hit my mate .”
“And, like I said, she’s not necessarily yours, you claws-for-brains cretin. Maybe she’s mine .”
That’s impossible. In so many ways, it’s impossible. I would never choose Julian. Even if there was a choice… ew. No. Besides, I recognized Hank as mine from the moment I took my first pull of blood from his vein and tasted spiced honey. He’s mine which means that I can’t be Julian’s.
I don’t want to distract Hank. I have all the faith in the world that he can handle Julian, but I can’t let Julian’s flippant claim go.
Surging forward, fisting my hands at my side, I remind Julian: “You don’t want me as your beloved! You just want what having a van Duren as a mate can do for you!”
Hank’s head jerks just enough that I can see his bear in his eyes now as he looks at me.
I take a step back, putting some more distance between me and the males squaring-off.
Hank nods, then turns back to glower down at Julian.
Julian sighs, as though bored. When he speaks again, he doesn’t raise his voice. Insanity sparking in his red eyes, his voice carries as he says, “Isn’t that enough? Partnerships have been forged on less.”
He did it. He truly did it. He attempted to claim me as his mate in front of the bear who already has. So… I’m beginning to second-guess my ‘he’s not insane’ assessment. He must be if he believes that Hank wouldn’t take that as a further challenge.
Then the twisted rogue lifts his head up, gloating at the much larger shifter. “Did you think she’d really choose you? That she wasn’t just using you for blood and sex?”
“She’s my mate,” Hank rumbles back, big body tense with… what? The desire to tear Julian limb from limb? Or the effort to restrain himself so that I don’t see him do it? “My blood is hers. My body is hers. If all Lise wants from me is to drink and mate, I’ll be as happy as a grizzly during salmon spawning season. Because I have the honor to be hers, and that’s all I want to be.”
I… crap. That is the loveliest thing anyone has ever said about me. It’s even more meaningful because this is Hank . Ever since I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve see how different he is from a vampire like Julian. He doesn’t need to manipulate me with promises he doesn’t mean. He doesn’t dress his feelings up in pretty words, either; words that are simply meaningless. He just says what he thinks, plain and solid. Like the rocks outside his den.
Like it’s his undeniable truth.
Choice? No… Fate made it for me, and I couldn’t have been blessed with a better beloved.
Right now, I want nothing more than to grab Hank by the hand and pull him away from all of this before it turns deadly. Though I have faith that it’s not really a contest, I don’t want him to finish the challenge. Not because it’ll hurt me, but my big teddy bear thinks I’m more delicate and in need of protection than I am. He doesn’t want me to be afraid of him.
As if I ever could.
Still, I understand Hank’s instincts will push him to avenge me. He has no idea what passed between Julian and me in my house, but watching the other vampire threaten me in the town square is enough to give him the mate’s right to avenge an insult to his female. But I also know that, if I ask him to walk away, he will. For me, he’ll do anything.
That’s how supe males who actually have feelings for—and a whisper of a bond with—their fated mates work .
I open my mouth to call out to my beloved, but before I can say anything, Julian’s handsome face forms another sneer, like it’s his turn to be disgusted by Hank’s heartfelt confession.
“Please. All this talk of who Elise belongs to… the truth is that she is currently unmated. That means she’s still free to choose the male best suited for her.” Julian taps his chest. “Would she rather a vampire… one of her own kind who can help her form a Cadre… turn her into a queen among her people… or”—and Julian’s cruel laugh rings out over the square—“a bear who lives and sleeps and shits in the woods? What can you offer Elise?”
Him. He’s all I want. I’ve never cared who my mate would be: vamp, shifter, or human. I just want what’s mine—and Hank is mine.
He has to know that, right? We only just met… but it’s fate. I’m his and he’s mine, and now that we’ve both accepted it, he must ? —
Hank jerks as though Julian landed a blow more powerful than he might’ve with his fists.
“You’re right, asshole,” Hank snaps back through his fangs, his partial shift becoming more noticeably as he looms over Julian. “I am a bear. Before my mate found me, I was happy to spend my days in my den or out on the rocks in the woods. But she did find me, and I might not be worthy of her, but that don’t change a thing. Elise is mine. You asked me what I can offer her? Love. I can give her my love. And I know you can’t say the same ‘cause she’s fated to be mine and that means no one can ever love her more than me. Remember, I’m two males in one. You want to claim her? You’ve got to go through me and my bear. You ready for that, hotshot?”
Julian laughs. “You animals are all the same. You think you can issue your silly little challenges and that all other supes will abide by your rules.” He throws out his hand. “Like these idiots. You even have the wolf hanging back. But that’s the difference between a higher being like a vampire and one of you monsters.
“The Cadre has rules. But there is no Cadre here. Not yet. And that means there is no one here that’s strong enough to stop me.”
Julian is fast. I knew that, but I don’t think I understood just how quick a rogue can move—or just how vicious they could be—because he’s on me before I can protect myself, pulling me against him with his supernatural strength and speed. My back slams into his chest, giving me a fleeting moment to feel his erection digging into my ass before he fists my hair, yanking my head to the side, and biting deep into my neck.
I’ve never been bitten before. I’ve come close, but I’ve always resisted because of the blood exchange. So long as no one has my blood, I didn’t have to worry about accidentally creating a bond with a male who isn’t my beloved.
I haven’t fed from Julian. Unless he force-feeds me his blood, then holds me down and forces me to mate him, he can’t turn me into his beloved. But that doesn’t make the moment he swallows the first mouthful of my blood any less terrifying as Hank falls forward onto all fours, a massive grizzly standing among the tattered remains of the clothes that exploded off his back with his sudden shift.
As he roars, black dots appear in the corners of my eyes. My legs buckle. I try to push away from Julian, but he’s too strong.
His bite is too strong.
I’m a vampire. I know what he’s doing. This isn’t a claiming bite. He’s not a vampire so overcome with desire for his beloved that he can’t control himself. I don’t even understand why he’s targeting me, though I sense instinctively that this bite… it’s a punishment. He’s not trying to mark me. He’s trying to dominate me.
And it’s working.
In the clarity that comes with despair, I remember overhearing a conversation from two soldiers in my former Fang City that another sign that a vampire in the throes of bloodlust was really a rogue was a newfound ability to lie easily.
There is no doubt in my mind that Julian has gone rogue. Because of that, I don’t think I can believe anything he’s said to me since I found him lying in wait inside of my house. About Peter, about the Cadre, about his motives for harassing me these last few weeks…
The black spots are darkening. Crap. I… I’m panicking. Frozen in fear, unable to do anything but think in a desperate attempt to ignore the reality of what’s happening to me, I know I need to fight back, but I can’t.
The most I can do is give in to my own instincts.
Letting my eyelids flutter closed, pretending like it’s my mate feeding on me, I reach out my hand to the bear and whisper Hank’s name.
The ground shakes. Over the thrum of my weakening pulse sounding in my ears, a powerful chuffing sound echoes, drowning out the shouts and screams coming from the assembled crowd.
Julian’s teeth are ripped from my throat. Skin tears, blood spraying as my legs drop out from under me. For the second time today, I land in a heap on the dirt, gasping as my eyes spring open, my hand flying up to cover the gaping wound in my neck.
This close, I don’t know how I ever mistook his bear for an actual grizzly. The magic of the shift makes him appear even larger, and as Hank has Julian dangling from his massive grip as he rears up on his back legs, I’m awe-struck at how small the slender rogue seems.
The afternoon goes quiet, or maybe that’s just me preparing for the sound I know I’m about to hear.
My big old teddy bear doesn’t disappoint.
The air shifts. A sickening crack echoes as Hank squeezes his paw, claws digging past the skin and sinew, muscle and bone that made up Julian’s neck. In seconds, he’s torn Julian’s head clean off the stump of his neck with his berserker bear shifter strength.
Did I think the crowd was silent before? It’s dead silent now, with all of the gathered shifters—and a few stray vampires—looking both uneasy and equally as in awe of the raw power that Hank just showed off.
Flinging his paw, Julian’s head with his last smug expression frozen on his features goes flying before landing with a splat on the earth. At the same time, his body drops, discarded by the bear as Hank swivels his head, rounded ears twitching as he looks at me.
I meet the bear’s honey-colored shifter’s eyes. It hurts to swallow as the skin in my neck starts to knit together, but I manage to knock down the lump lodged there before I nod.
I’m okay, Hank. Thanks to him, it’s not a lie. I really am okay.
The bear falls back on his rear legs again before he turns. Another snap and there he is: my gorgeous mate, naked and powerful as his bare chest heaves, hands flexing as wild eyes search the quieted crowd while I can’t help but appreciate the sculpted ass directly in front of me.
Hank beats his chest, still part bear as he growls out, “Elise. Is. Mine.”
Does he think anyone else is going to argue? After showing off just how dominant his bear is, there’s no way. His claim to me is undeniable, but if there’s one thing that Hank will have to learn, it’s that he’s my one and only beloved mate… but Bridget is the closest thing to a sister I’ve ever had.
And my witchy sister?
With Julian no longer a threat—and Hank the clear victor of the challenge—Conall has released Bridget.
How do I know when I’m still ogling my mate’s behind?
Because, just to Hank’s left, Julian’s headless body starts to twitch an instant before it catches fire.
Scooting far from the flames, I can see around Hank’s bulk to where Bridget has moved a couple of feet away from Conall, her hands clasped together, pointer fingers joined as she turns her fire magic on Julian’s decapitated head next.
It explodes with a pop , leaving nothing but speckled ash behind when the fire dies.
Bridget smirks, tossing a wink over at me. “And that ’s what you get for fucking with my best friend, dickhead.”