Page 6 of My Boyfriend Bites (A Moonstruck Mating #3)

Waiting for the sun to set had Dante pacing and getting angrier by the moment. Renard had returned from the excursion on shore, only to impart horrific news. Selene had been taken captive during a robbery.

Luckily the passengers weren’t detained for long by authorities, meaning Renard could quickly relay the news to Dante, who saw red, “What do you mean they took her?”

“Pretty sure she was targeted by the tour guide from the ruins. I recognized the tattoo on his arm when he was gathering everyone’s valuables.”

“And you let them take her?” Dante spat.

“Didn’t have much choice. Couldn’t bring a weapon with me to shore, and there were too many witnesses.”

Valid points, but they didn’t appease Dante.

The longer Selene spent with those thieves, the more likely she would come to harm. A rescue was needed, as he didn’t have much faith the local police would move quickly enough, if at all. Many gangs tended to bribe authorities to turn a blind eye.

So who would save her?

A willing Dante wanted to; however, the lingering sunshine prevented him, and that inability to act burned hotter than its rays.

Despite missing a passenger, the cruise line prepared to cast off. Unacceptable. He’d glanced at Renard and barked, “Don’t let this ship leave.”

“On it, sir.”

Dante had no idea what his assistant did to delay the departure, but soon an announcement came over the speakers.

“Evening, passengers. This is your captain. Unfortunately, due to mechanical issues, we won’t be setting sail until the morning. As compensation, passengers will receive a credit to use in the casino.”

With the delay achieved, Dante just had to wait. Wait until the sun set, and then, despite passengers being remanded to the ship, he left it, simply telling the cruise agent manning the gangway to shore, “You didn’t see me.” The woman looked right through Dante, the power of suggestion too strong for her to disobey.

Once ashore, it proved simple to arrange transport, as Dante handed over a wad of cash to someone with a Jeep, the vehicle dinged but dependable. He retraced the route the bus took, not surprised to find the scene of the attack not being investigated. An inside job, then. A good thing he’d come looking.

From the site of the attack, tracking proved tricky, as the assailants had taken off through the jungle on motorized vehicles. Two by his count. With night fallen, the lights on the Jeep barely illuminated the trail left behind, but that didn’t slow him down. Dante couldn’t waste a single moment, not with Selene in danger.

When he saw the parked all-terrain vehicle, he ditched the Jeep and set off on foot, his nose twitching at the scent of blood.

A lot of blood.

As he entered the thieves’ camp, he took a moment to admire the carnage.

The robbers lay dead where they’d been killed, most with their throats torn open, although one fellow had his guts spilled on the grounds. They’d been attacked by something possessing a strong jaw and sharp teeth—he didn’t doubt it was a wolf. That same wolf had also taken out a chupacabra. Impressive. Selene had protected herself. An odd spurt of pride filled him.

But where had she gone?

He scouted around the camp, seeking a scent trail, not easy when the aroma of blood and foliage overpowered. It took him noticing a trail by an ATV, the fumes of its exhaust the most recent, for him to realize she’d not departed on foot.

He fetched the Jeep and followed, coming across the vehicle she’d taken abandoned, most likely because it ran out of gas. With her on foot, and her trail less obvious, he chose to ditch the Jeep and made his way through the jungle, his pace rapid as he worried. She might have taken out a gang, and a less-than-human leader, but she remained a woman, a wolf alone in a strange place with more than just predators to contend with. Poisonous spiders and snakes, as well as vegetation that might appear edible, could take down even the most stalwart.

When he stumbled across Selene, he almost shouted in surprise because she didn’t resemble a damsel in distress but rather a siren, for she bathed in a rocky pool fed by a small waterfall.

Her clothes lay neatly piled beside her satchel on a flat rock. He sat by her items and silently watched as she dipped under the water, emerging a moment later, the water sluicing from her skin. She wrung her hair and grimaced at the water before dunking again, rinsing the blood caking it.

When she stood and began to wade to shore, wearing a swimsuit that enhanced her form, he let his presence be known.

“You know, if you wanted to swim, the ship has pools.”

To his surprise, she didn’t startle but rather eyed him warily. “Dante? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on the ship?”

“I could say the same of you,” his light riposte.

“I ran into a bit of a problem.”

“So I heard. Kidnapped by thieves. You’re uninjured?”

“Yes.”

“How did you escape?” he asked, wondering how she’d spin the deaths.

Her lips twisted as she came to shore. “Would you believe some wild animals saved me? Guess they didn’t like the smell of those thugs since they attacked.”

“What kind of animals?”

“I don’t know.” Her wide-eyed lie. “But they were vicious. I escaped in the chaos, but then I got lost.” Her nose wrinkled as she stood by the rock with her clothes. She ignored them for the towel she’d brought from the ship. She began to dry off. “I thought I was heading back for the road but ran out of gas.” She cocked her head. “You still haven’t said why you’re out here. Are you part of a search party?”

“I came looking for you since no one else seemed inclined.”

The statement brought a scowl. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. One of the gang members was our tour guide. Most likely it’s some kind of scam they run with the locals.” She grabbed her shirt and grimaced as she put it on over her wet suit.

“You might be pleased to know the ship won’t be setting sail until morning.”

“They waited for me?” she asked.

“No. Some kind of maintenance issue caused the delay.”

“Oh really?” She eyed him as she grabbed her pants. “I don’t suppose you had something to do with that.”

His lips twitched. “Who, me?”

She snorted as she finished dressing. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Someone had to act.” Although he would admit he’d expected her to be more grateful.

“And you thought it a good idea to come searching the jungle at night, alone?”

“Renard would have joined me, but one person is easier to sneak off a ship.”

“I’m impressed you managed to find me.”

Not really, but then again, she had no clue what he could do. “Finding things is a skill of mine.”

“And can this skill get us out of this jungle back to the ship?”

“Easily.”

She slid on her shoes and sighed. “Guess we’re in for a long walk.”

“Guess again. The Jeep I rented is maybe thirty minutes on foot. I ditched it by the ATV to better track you.”

“Then lead the way. I, for one, can’t wait to get into a hot shower and eat something.”

“One moment.” He stood before her, and she craned to meet his gaze, the half-moon providing just enough illumination to see.

“What is it?” she murmured.

He dipped his head to press a light kiss to her lips and murmur, “I am very glad you’re safe.”

Her breath sucked in, and her pulse quickened. She stepped away from him. “I’m glad too.”

She all but confirmed his assumption. Arousal triggered her wolf. Interesting. It explained some of her actions. He’d dwell on it more later. He gestured. “The Jeep is in this direction.”

He led the way, not that she needed his help retracing their steps. Did she realize how much of her secret she gave away? From her calm demeanor in the face of what would have had most blubbering or in shock, the way she unerringly walked, not once stopping to see if she went the right way, how her head angled left and right, her nostrils flaring as she scented.

She was utterly magnificent, and for the first time in his life, Dante would admit to being smitten.

Alas, the lovely Selene didn’t yet appear to feel the same way. While most women would have thrown themselves at him for coming to the rescue, Selene met him with questions. But she didn’t ask the most important one in his mind. Why had she not pressed his real reason for seeking her out? How the thought of her in danger had him willing to risk everything.

The Jeep remained where he’d left it, and soon, they were bumping on their way. Only then did she say, “Thank you for coming to find me.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m still not sure how you managed it. I couldn’t find my way back,” she muttered with a grimace.

“Like I said, I’m good at locating things.”

“Is that part of your job?” she queried.

“In a sense.” How to explain that he dealt with the oddities in the world. Mysterious disappearances. Missing treasures. Vampires, or other beings, gone rogue. Being born into wealth had led to him being bored as a young man, hence his mother’s suggestion he find a hobby. However, the regular things people did—sports, video games, partying—held no interest for him. It took a news piece on a village in South America dealing with a rash of deaths for him to embark on his first quest. A mission of curiosity. Turned out a cougar had been the culprit. But this was no regular large cat. The cougar had been possessed by the spirit of a man who’d been sentenced to death for his crimes. The villagers had staked him out in the jungle, and the cougar had been the one to end him. And then the possessed cat went stalking for revenge.

Dante still had the rug he’d made from its fur.

That incident led to Dante looking for more violent and unexplainable events. Renard jokingly called him a monster hunter. Apt in a sense, as Dante did dispatch those that couldn’t keep their proclivities from the public eye. He saw himself as a preternatural vigilante. Hence why he’d embarked on the cruise.

It had come to his attention that several cruises had run into issues in the past few months, not just the recent one that gained traction on social media. Digging showed there’d been a concerted effort to cover up the incidents to protect the sales and reputations of the cruise lines involved. On the surface, it seemed a simple case of pirating, but a deeper look showed more at play than theft. Missing people presumed dead, but not one witness as to their demise, which seemed odd. Usually, the hostage-takers executed their captives publicly to keep the rest in line.

Intrigued, Dante began researching and found one commonality among all the cruises that had been boarded at sea. Make that a few people. A line cook who used different names for each job, but since his appearance didn’t change, it had triggered the program Dante had run checking into passengers and crew manifests. The cook was currently on the same cruise as Dante and Selene. He, along with two deck hands, had all been on those ill-fated voyages.

“I raise bunnies,” Selene announced in reply to his oblique mention of his job.

He glanced at her. “Bunnies?”

“Yes. You know long ears, fluffy tails? I sell them to people looking for a pet, as well as restaurants who serve them as part of their menu.”

“I don’t think I ever met anyone who did that,” he stated, holding in his amusement.

“Go ahead and laugh. Most people do. And while we’re at it, I’m going to go even more farm girl on you and mention my mom makes honey and pies on our farm. My brother works as a mechanic but also creates artisan goat cheese. Only my sister, Athena, has what people deem a normal job, as a technician for a lab.”

“You have to admit raising rabbits is different from most careers. Do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah. It’s not going to make me rich by any means, but it is mostly satisfying.”

“I hear a but.”

She sighed. “The problem with it is I’m kind of tied to the farm. Can’t really travel the world or explore. Live animals need a person to care for them.”

“Yet you’re on a week-long cruise.”

“Only because my family is taking care of them during my trip.”

“Sounds as if you might be due for a change in jobs.”

“Doing what, though?” Her nose wrinkled. “Anything I do for a paycheck is going to require me showing up. And besides, I don’t know if I have the right temperament to gallivant.”

“How so?”

“I try to avoid things that are overstimulating, and before you ask why, I have a medical condition. I’m supposed to avoid situations that cause intense stress or emotions.”

While she danced around the true reason, Dante understood. She lacked control over her wolf, which explained the incident the previous night when she shifted in her sleep.

“Surely you could condition yourself to handle it.”

She glanced at him. “I’ve been trying, and thank you for not suggesting I drug myself stupid. I hate how those pills make me feel.”

“Drugs would only mask the problem. Better to try and solve it.”

“If only it were that simple,” her quiet reply.

As the road turned from jungle to town, she sat up in her seat. “What am I going to say if I’m asked what happened?”

“Exactly what you told me. Wild animals attacked the robbers, and you escaped.”

“And if they don’t believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t they? The bodies were obviously mauled. It’s not as if you could do that.” He said it and held in a grin because she sure had mauled the hell out of those thugs.

“You make it sound simple.”

“Because it will be. I promise.”

When they arrived at the gangway, the cruise agent from before frowned as they neared. “Excuse me, but you can’t board.”

“We’re passengers on this ship,” Dante stated. “As a matter of fact, this is the young woman who was missing from that excursion this afternoon. She’s had quite the ordeal and would like to adjourn to her cabin.”

The woman pursed her lips. “I’ll need to contact the captain and see if she’s allowed back or if she needs to go into town for questioning.”

“Already spoke to the cops,” Dante lied, and Selene didn’t contradict. She remained silent by his side, clenching her fists, trying not to get upset.

“I’ll still need to inform the captain,” the agent insisted.

Dante leaned closer so Selene couldn’t see his eyes turning dark as he murmured, “You will tell the captain the missing passenger is safely aboard and all is well. The police have been handled. The ship is free to depart.” Then, because Selene watched, he handed the woman a fifty. Let her think the employee accepted his statements because of money and not because he’d given her a mental push.

“Get to your cabins. We’ll be leaving in the morning.” The woman stepped aside, and they boarded the ship.

A lip-chewing Selene murmured, “That was almost too easy. I expected a little more drama, given events.”

“The cruise industry does its best to avoid anything that might hurt its bottom line. Passengers getting robbed and kidnapped on excursions isn’t something they want bandied around. It is in everyone’s best interest to keep quiet.”

“As Grams would say back home, damned capitalists.”

“Your grandmother sounds smart.”

“Oh, she’s not mine but Derek’s, Athena’s husband. Grams and Gramps are apocalypse nuts. They’ve got a bomb shelter under their house and enough guns to start their own mini war.”

“Interesting people,” he murmured as they entered the elevator.

“Very. I like them quite a bit. They’re profane but honest.”

“Unlike my mother, who is a polished liar.”

She gave him a startled look.

He laughed. “Not with me. Mother is an old-school aristocrat who could charm the pants off any world leader if she tried. Luckily for us, she doesn’t use her charm for power.”

“And your father?”

“Dead,” his flat reply. No point in explaining his father hadn’t taken the news of his son’s vampirism too well, or his wife’s for that matter. He’d tried to stake Dante in the crib. Mother stopped him by snapping his neck and then tossed him down the stairs. The coroner ruled it an accidental death.

“My dad died when I was a kid. Hunting accident,” she softly admitted.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. He was a good guy.” She glanced at him. “Kind of thought he was a rare breed but I might have been wrong.”

He almost preened. Funny how even an inadvertent compliment could boost a man’s esteem.

Dante saw Selene to her cabin door, where she paused and tilted her head to look him in the eye. “Thank you, Dante. While I would have eventually found my way, I do appreciate that you cared enough to come looking for me.”

“Someone had to be your hero.”

Her lips curved. “A hero that deserves a thank you. Dinner tomorrow?”

“It would be my honor.” He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed the back of it, noting her shiver. “Until tomorrow evening.”

To his surprise, she lifted on tiptoe and brushed a kiss on his lips, murmuring, “I promise to not bail this time.”

With that, she slipped into her room, and he stood a moment staring at the door before turning to enter his own. Renard sat with a laptop, the screen showing the security feeds for the ship.

“Any problems?” Rennie asked without looking up.

“The assailants are dead.”

“Lost your temper, did you?”

“Not me. Selene handled them herself.”

That startled Renard. “How? There were five of them.”

“Six actually. One full chupacabra and two partials. She took them all out.” He couldn’t help a note of pride.

Renard whistled. “I’m impressed. I know she’s a lycan, but I wouldn’t have thought she had it in her to kill.”

“She’s a predator.” Just like Dante. He cleared his throat. “The police might pose an issue if they realize Selene is on board before we sail.”

“The police are going to be a tad too busy to worry about a tourist that escaped a kidnapping.” Renard glanced at him. “Someone bombed the electrical station in town.”

“Are you sure? The lights still seemed to be working when we came through.”

Renard tapped a few keys before closing the lid to his laptop. In the distance, a muffled explosion had his assistant offering a tight smile. “Not anymore.”

“Excellent work, Rennie.”

“Figured we might need a distraction.”

“Good thinking. With that settled, time for the next item of concern. Find out if the traitors on board have a firm date for the attack because, if it’s tomorrow, they’ll need to reschedule.”

“Oh, got something more important to do?” mocked Renard.

“Yes, a date with the woman I’m going to marry.”