Page 12 of My Boyfriend Bites (A Moonstruck Mating #3)

When Dante heard the howl, a rare chill went down his spine. Fear mixed with anger, for he knew that sound meant Selene had encountered trouble. Forget finding the captain or the killer. Selene needed him.

Dante sprinted in the direction of the suites, only to halt as people ran past screaming.

“It’s rabid!”

“More like demonic,” huffed a woman beside the man who commented. “Did you see that big dog’s glowing eyes?”

Dante did an abrupt turn and strode against the crush of folks escaping what turned out to be the dining hall.

He entered to find it mostly empty and the pirates pillaging it lying dead on the floor, many with their throats crushed or torn open. One fellow had lost his face. Savage.

The culprit stood on four very large paws, her fur bristled along the spine, much bigger than he would have expected, a violent light in her eyes and savage lift to her lip.

A gorgeous predator.

And what did he do when she snarled in his direction? Said the one thing he thought might snap her out of the blood lust. Rebuked her for leaving the room.

The wolf’s head snapped, and for a second, in its eyes, he could see the woman, not the beast. It didn’t last, though, and the lycan advanced on him, growling with each step.

“Enough of that. I’m not the enemy. The pirates are.” Dante pointed to the nearest body on the floor. “Although it would have really helped if you’d killed them outside. This will be hard to clean.” Especially the memories in the minds of the few who remained watching. Luckily, they couldn’t see much in the dark.

Selene stopped within a pace, close enough she could lunge. The deep rumbling hadn’t stopped, and her fur remained spiked along her back.

“Save that energy. There’s still more pirates to hunt.”

The wolf cocked its head.

“Yes, I said hunt. Shall we go find more miscreants and teach them a lesson?”

With a wag of its tail, the wolf bounded off, but Dante pursed his lips. This mess would have to be cleaned before they hit port. As it was, the situation would be hard to explain to authorities. But that was not something he could worry about right now.

He strode after Selene, not surprised when she headed for La Maisonette. However, when she would have barreled in to tear out some throats, he snapped, “Hold on a second. We already have one crime scene to wipe. Let’s avoid a second.”

The wolf shot him a moping look but paused.

Dante glanced over at a door marked exit, the battery in it dying so the letters barely glowed.

“Give me a second to set a trap.” He opened the door to the outside, the narrow walkway beyond perfect for funneling. He used his tie to tether the door so it couldn’t shut.

With that done, he glanced at Selene. “Here’s the plan. We draw them outside. Then we kill them.”

Grrr .

“Fine, you kill them, and I’ll heave them over the side so there’s no evidence left behind. Got it?”

Yip .

“Good. Guess you expect me to play the part of rabbit?”

The wolf showed some teeth.

“Very well. Let me see if I can cajole them into taking the bait.”

Dante brushed a hand over his jacket, raked fingers through his hair, and then strode back inside, heading for the posh dining room. He stopped when one of the armed pirates at the entrance turned to snarl, “Where do you think you’re going?”

With an arrogance he’d been born with, Dante replied, “Dinner. I’m famished. Is the kitchen serving the lobster yet? Go be a good chap and find out, would you?” He made his command both pompous and breezy.

“Dinner’s been cancelled. Empty your pockets,” snapped the guy, pointing the gun at him.

“Why don’t you empty yours?” Dante countered.

“We got ourselves a funny guy, Len,” declared the man with the gun.

“Wants me to cut him?” Len asked a tad too eagerly, waggling the knife he held.

“Don’t you dare,” admonished Dante. “Do you know how hard it is to remove blood stains from silk?” His words distracted his opponents, and as a result, they didn’t watch his hands. Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered if they did, as he moved abnormally fast, plucking the knife from Len’s grip.

The man yelled, “Hey, give it back.”

“Want it? Come and get it,” Dante taunted as he fled with the weapon, heading for the open exit. He ducked under the tether on the door to stand opposite a four-legged and eagerly waiting Selene.

When Len barreled through, the wolf slammed into him, hard enough that it took only a slight shove by Dante to topple Len over the rail.

“Arrrrrgh!”

Splash .

One down.

Len’s companion emerged more cautiously, the barrel of his gun peeking first. Dante wrenched the tip. The man held firm and ended up being dragged outside with it.

Selene growled.

The pirate took one look at those massive teeth and vaulted over the railing without any aid.

Kersplash .

Dante glanced over the side to see if the pair survived, but this high up in the dark and with a bit of fog still hovering above the water, he couldn’t see anything. Didn’t matter. Those two pirates were out of commission.

He eyed Selene. “Wonder how long before?—”

The next guy came out shooting, the bullet singing past his shoulder. Dante didn’t think, he acted, dragging the guy close and sinking his teeth into the pirate’s neck for a bite.

The blood emerged rich, slightly salty, and delicious. While he indulged in the snack, Selene handled the fellow that followed, jumping against his chest and slamming him to the ground before chomping his throat.

Crunch . She didn’t suckle but rather snapped the neck of her target.

Dante pulled away from his appetizer and tipped him over the rail before grabbing the dead guy and heaving him over as well.

“How many does that make?” he asked Selene.

Ruff .

“Yeah, I wasn’t keeping count either,” he muttered with a frown. Renard claimed there were about twenty pirates that boarded. He’d spotted six bodies in the main dining room, but there could have been more. Add in four more out here. “There’s probably about ten or so left. Shall we go find them?”

Rather than utter a canine reply, Selene tracked them all down. They located a pair of pirates breaking into the ship’s safe, which held passenger valuables. They crushed the duo raiding the luxury suites one broken door at a time. Then there was the guy, not even a pirate, who thought he could get away with raping a woman in the spa. He died painfully, dick bitten off by a wolf, his screams muffled when Dante held his head under in the mud tub. That fucker also got tossed over the side—his teeny weeny with him.

When they could find no others inside the ship, they went looking for Renard, who’d handled three others. A pair that guarded the ladder onto the ship, plus one left behind on the pirate vessel.

“I think we’ve got them all,” Dante declared upon conferring with Rennie. “At least, all the ones who came aboard from the pirate vessel.”

“Sorry, but I couldn’t get any of them to cooperate. Had to kill them all,” Rennie admitted.

“Yeah, we failed as well too and given how easy they were to dispatch, I’m pretty sure the vamp is still at large. In addition, I’m afraid there’s a bit of a mess in the buffet hall.”

His assistant pursed his lips. “Why couldn’t you kill them outside?”

“Wasn’t me.”

“Don’t see why I need to clean up your girlfriend’s mess,” Rennie grumbled, slewing a dirty look in Selene’s direction.

The wolf growled.

“Whoa,” Rennie huffed. “Don’t get your tail in a knot, Princess McFurrypants. I’ll handle it. How many bodies?”

“Six,” Dante replied.

Selene barked and rubbed her paw to show eight.

Rennie sighed. “That many?”

“What’s wrong, old man? Getting weak in your old age?” Dante teased and earned himself a glare.

“More like I hate redundant work. Next time, kill them outdoors where it’s easy to clean up.” Aimed at Selene. “And just so you know, I’ll be expecting a bonus for this,” Renard declared as he stalked into the ship.

Dante peered over the rail at the tethered pirate boat.

“I’ll be back in a moment.” Dante clambered down to the other vessel, which reeked of fish. Obviously borrowed for its nefarious purpose. A glance within showed nothing useful, unless the harpoon counted.

Dante used it to poke a few holes in the hull before exiting the boat to return to the cruise ship’s deck.

There he found a naked Selene with hands planted on her hips. Lovely hourglass shape, toned all over, her breasts perfect handfuls, her waist indented and begging for his hands.

Rather than throw herself at Dante in all her nude glory, Selene’s eyes narrowed, and she spat, “You have some explaining to do.”

“Says the werewolf.” His reply as he removed his jacket to drape it over her shoulders.

“Lycan,” she snapped. “And you’re?—”

“A vampire.”