Page 121 of Taming His Vampire Mate

A flash of anger rippled through the bond an instant before the thought followed. I had just enough time to bristle with indignation—before realizing Jeremy’s anger wasn’t for me but for Reed and the wolves’ knee-jerk distrust.

Which was silly of him. The pack shouldn’t trust an unknown vampire they’d just met.

They don’t understand yet,Jeremy said silently.They were raised with the same lies I was. It’ll take time.

I nodded.

Reed seemed to catch the silent communication, because he frowned. “You look different,” he said softly, searching Jeremy’s gaze. He hesitated. “More like you used to.”

“If Aiden is Lindsey’s friend, he’s welcome with us,” Jeremy said flatly, ignoring the opening Reed had given him. He took my hand, the small act of possessiveness leaving me melty and warm in ways it had no business doing. “Vampires aren’t what we thought.”

Reed’s eyes widened. His gaze dropped to our joined hands, then back up. “What happened to you?” he breathed. Suspicion flickered in his eyes, but obvious relief was there too. “Are you back?”

That single word did a lot of work—but I knew Jeremy understood. Reed was saying he saw his old friend again: the man he’d been before Ian’s death, before heartbreak had reshaped him into someone unrecognizable.

Jeremy didn’t answer, but I knew he caught the meaning. He squeezed my hand, met Reed’s eyes, and said, “We ought to get this over with. We need to see what we’re dealing with. The king is sending backup, and we need to let him know what to expect.”

“Why?” Reed asked, genuinely puzzled.

A spark of anger was all I needed to give him my iciest smile. “Because Nathaniel Bailey doesn’t like to lose a single one of his people. Ever. And if we tell him how bad it is, he’ll send more than he might have otherwise.That’swhy.”

Reed stared. “You sound offended.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Oh, do I?”

Jeremy sighed, giving me a steady look that calmed me down immediately.Be nice to him, love. He doesn’t know any better yet. We’ll have to prove it to all of them—that vampires are actually people. My dad was a fucking asshole, and my grandfather was even worse.

I scowled, but Jeremy had defused any trace of annoyance, so it was mostly just a habit.

“Let’s go see the body,” Jeremy said aloud.

He meant the middle-aged hiker already killed by whatever had crawled out of the thin spaces between worlds. The reminder sent a thrill of unease down my spine. Dealing with murderous vampires? Nothing to it. Dealing with something like I’d seen in the dream vision with Jeremy? Horrifying.

The thought of Jeremy facing one of those creatures without me protecting him?

Over my undead body.

Reed’s expression turned grim.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He gestured toward a two-story stone building on the corner. Jeremy had called it the “everything building” on the way in. It housed the police station, fire department, town council, clinic, and post office—essentially everything that kept Crescent Springs running, all under one roof. “Lead the way.”

“I always do,” Jeremy muttered under his breath, low enough that even with Reed’s wolf hearing, I was certain that only I caught it.

* * *

“I never get used to this part,” Reed said, staring down at the gurney. The white sheet was stained red in patches.

“You boys sure you need to see this?” Dr. Harriet Langley narrowed her dark eyes, frowning. Judging by her close-cropped silver hair and the lines in her dark skin, she had to be at least in her seventies. But her presence was formidable, with a no-nonsense air that made me immediately like her. “The body’s in rough shape. You’ll have a lot of work ahead, cleaning up the forest and making it look like nothing strange happened.”

Reed scowled at the sheet, as if trying to muster up the nerve to see what was under it.

“Hattie—”

“When we are standing in this room, I am Dr. Langley to you.”

Reed’s expression turned sheepish. “Yes, ma’am. Dr. Langley, you already know why we need to see it. Stop trying to protect us.”

She sighed, shaking her head. Resigned, she said, “I suppose youdoneed to see what you’re up against, if you’re going to have any hope of stopping this before it happens again. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”