Page 28 of Patrick’s Seduction (Scanguards Vampires #19)

28

I n the blink of an eye, Patrick rolled off Fallon and pulled on the duvet to shield her naked body from the eyes of his colleagues: Amaury, Zane, and Wesley. Amaury and Zane rushed toward the bed, their eyes blinking red, their fangs fully extended, intent on attacking Fallon, while Wesley made only one step into the room, raising his arms in a gesture Patrick was only too familiar with.

“Wes, you cast a spell, I’ll rip your throat out!” he growled, his vision now tinted red, indicating that his own vampire side was emerging.

Wesley, Scanguards’ resident witch, had the good judgment to lower his arms and shut his mouth.

Patrick glared at Amaury and Zane. “Another step toward her, and the same happens to you too.”

Both vampires growled and flashed their fangs, but stopped a step away from the bed.

“She’ll kill you,” Zane claimed, pointing toward Patrick’s neck wound. “She’s already bitten you.”

“We came just in time,” Amaury added.

“Leave us.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Amaury hissed.

“Fallon won’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know that!” Zane’s eyes were trained on Fallon, pure hatred spewing from them. The bald vampire was one of the most intimidating he’d ever met. He was known for violence, both for inflicting it, and for being able to endure it. Encountering him in the dark would make anybody cross the street quickly to avoid him.

“She loves me!” Patrick hadn’t wanted to say that, but it was the only thing he could think of that would make them retreat.

Zane scoffed. “She’s gonna have you for breakfast. She’s a wild animal.”

Patrick felt movement coming from behind him and glanced over his shoulder. Sharp fangs and silver eyes were the first things he noticed. Then, second by second, Fallon changed. He froze, and from the absence of sounds coming from his three colleagues, it was clear that they too were paralyzed by the sight before them. The only sounds in the room were those of bones breaking and readjusting as Fallon’s body changed in what looked like a painful way. Her face pushed outward to turn into a wolf’s snout, the mouth filled with the sharp teeth of a predator. Her spine elongated and bent, while her limbs changed, her hands transforming into paws, her legs into the hindlegs of an animal. Thick chestnut-colored fur covered her naked body. A menacing growl ripped from her throat, her eyes pinning the three intruders.

“Fuck!” Amaury cursed, while the other two let out similar curses.

“Leave,” Patrick ordered.

“Not without you,” Amaury insisted. “Your father would never forgive me.”

Despite the unsettling feeling of Fallon being close enough to touch him with her new body, he replied, “She won’t hurt me.” At least he hoped that the transformation into a wolf hadn’t changed her feelings for him. “But you’re a threat to her.”

He sensed it automatically, as if Fallon had told him so.

Zane didn’t heed the warning and pulled his gun. Fallon growled at him. Even though he knew that the gun was loaded with silver bullets—bullets that could hurt him or even kill him—, Patrick shifted his position at lightning speed, blocking Fallon with his body. He felt the wolf’s hot breath on his nape, and reached back with one hand, petting Fallon’s fur to try to calm her. It was an odd sensation, to say the least. Mere moments before he’d felt smooth skin under his fingers, and now it was fur. It felt soft too, not the coarse fur he was used to from a German shepherd or a similar breed. This wolf’s fur was just as soft as Fallon’s skin had been.

“I won’t let them hurt you, baby,” he murmured.

A soft howl was her reply, before he felt her tongue on his skin. The contact jolted him for a second, but he forced himself to relax and let go of the initial fear that had gripped him. This was still Fallon, even though she was in wolf form. He had to trust her that she wouldn’t hurt him.

“It’s alright, baby.”

Again, she licked over his skin, and he finally realized what she was doing.

“She’s licking your wound,” Amaury said with disbelief in his voice.

“To heal it?” Wesley asked, taking a step closer.

“Looks that way,” Amaury replied.

“Fuck!” Zane hissed under his breath. “Now I’ve seen it all.”

Fallon’s tongue on his neck wound felt soothing as she licked him with long, smooth strokes that felt like a sensual caress. For a moment, he closed his eyes, allowing the pleasure of her touch to travel through his body, reaching every cell.

“I’m not watching that!” Zane ground out in disgust. “Fuck it!”

Patrick ripped his eyes open, and saw Zane turn on his heel and hurry outside.

Wesley pointed to Patrick’s groin, before averting his eyes. “Might wanna cover that up.”

So what if Fallon licking his wound was getting him hard again? It was none of their fucking business. But to him, it proved that he wasn’t disgusted by what she’d become. It didn’t matter to him in what form she came.

Amaury grunted, visibly displeased and equally embarrassed. “Get dressed. We’ll wait downstairs.”

Then he too, left the room.

Wesley hung back for another few seconds. “Uhm, yeah.” He pointed to where Amaury had disappeared. “What he said.” Then he shook his head, his gaze running over Fallon in her wolf form. “Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.” He left, having the decency to pull the door shut behind him.

They were alone again.

Fallon lifted her head, and he stared into her silver eyes. They sparkled like a million stars in the night, more vibrant than her grey human eyes, yet just as familiar.

“You’re safe now, Fallon. They won’t hurt you.”

He put his arms around her gently, making sure she had every opportunity to free herself from his embrace if she needed to. But she didn’t withdraw. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder and let out a soft whimper. He sensed her frustration and her fear. He knew too little about werewolves to know if the shift had been painful, but he assumed it was. But he couldn’t communicate with her this way, and there was too much to discuss, too much to clarify. He needed her to turn back into her human form.

Stroking her back gently, he spoke in a soothing tone. “Can you try to push the wolf back?”

Another whimper echoed in the room.

“I know it hurts,” he whispered. “I know it’s hard to control. But you did it once. You did it when you drank my blood.” As if his blood had given her the strength to subdue the wolf in her so her human side could gain the upper hand.

She lifted her head and looked at him.

“You’re so beautiful.”

He knew she needed reassurance now. This entire ordeal had to be frightening for her. To suddenly discover that she’d turned into a supernatural creature with instincts she didn’t know how to control, could throw anyone for a loop. He wished that Maya were here right now. She would know the right things to say because she’d been in a similar situation: she’d been turned into a vampire against her will. Awakening in a new body was scary. And it had to be even scarier for Fallon because her entire body had truly changed. A vampire looked rather human except for the fangs, the claws, and the eyes, but Fallon’s body was that of an animal now. And she had neither the knowledge nor the guidance to control the shift.

In that instant, he understood what Cameron’s words to her had meant: she needed him because only a werewolf could teach her to control the shift, if that was even possible. His heart bled for her. Would she always be helpless against the beast that the full moon brought out in her? How would she handle this? And how could he help her when he knew next to nothing about werewolves?

In that moment, he hated Cameron more than he’d ever hated anybody in his entire life. But he had to push that feeling back now because Fallon needed him. And it wouldn’t help her if he showed his hate and anger. She needed him to be gentle and understanding, so he could prove to the wolf that he was no danger to her, and she could trust him.

A faint purring sound drifted to his ears, and he rubbed his thumb over Fallon’s snout. In a show of trust, her eyes closed for a moment.

“We’ll get through this,” he said. “I’ll stay by your side. You won’t have to do this alone.”

Whatever she needed, he would provide it.

Under his palms, he suddenly felt Fallon’s muscles flex and shift, and then he heard it: the sound of bones cracking and rearranging themselves to create a different body, a human body. He let go of her and watched in fascination how the wolf transformed, the fur receded, and the face turned into that of the beautiful woman he loved.

“Fallon,” he murmured.

She threw her arms around him, sobbing. “I’m so scared.”

“My colleagues won’t hurt you…”

“But I saw it… I felt it… They wanted to kill me…” A big sob tore from her chest, and she drew back to look into his face. “And I wanted to kill them… even though I don’t know why.”

He nodded and wiped her tears off her cheek. “It’s your instinct. All supernatural creatures have it. It’s a survival instinct.”

“But what if I hurt somebody? I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to hurt you.” Desperation shone from her eyes.

“I’ll make sure you won’t. I promise you that.”

“Patrick, I can’t control this. I don’t even know how I managed to turn back into… into me.”

She looked toward the window. The curtains were drawn.

“Even now I can feel the moon calling to me,” she said, rubbing her neck.

“We’ll find a way.” Then he glanced around the room. Shreds of their clothes lay strewn about the floor, evidence of the intensity of their lovemaking. “Let’s get dressed. We need to talk to my colleagues.”

A visible shiver went through her, and Patrick placed his hand on hers, squeezing it in reassurance. “They only wanted to protect me. Now that they know that you won’t hurt me, they won’t attack you.”

Doubt was still written on her face, but she nodded.

In silence, Patrick pulled fresh clothes from his closet, while Fallon dug into the drawer where she’d placed the few things she’d brought from her flat, and they got dressed. He was done before her, and waited near the door, when she finally pulled her sweater straight and faced him.

She hesitated. “One of the men, he’s not a vampire. I felt something different when I looked at him.”

“Wesley is a witch. A good one. He works with us. And the other two are pure-blooded vampires. Amaury is the massive guy, Zane is the bald one.”

“I don’t like Zane.”

Patrick let out a chuckle. “Few people do. He’s somewhat of an acquired taste.”

“And the other, Amaury. He looks very strong.”

“He is. But he’s really a total teddy bear when he’s not trying to defend those he loves. He’s my father’s best and oldest friend.” He took her hand. “Come. No more stalling.”

“You think I’m stalling?”

He smiled. “That’s what I would do if I were in your situation.”

He opened the door and led her to the stairs. Intertwining his fingers with hers, he cast her a reassuring glance, before they walked down the large mahogany staircase. They were halfway down already, when he heard the front door slam.

“Patrick!”