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MACK

“ D on’t be a fucking coward, just ask him,” Mack muttered to himself as he walked down the hall. “He’s just a vampire. Just like me. Just like all of us.”

Two young warriors walked past, shooting him an odd look.

Great, now he was talking to himself.

Mack glanced around at all the doors, which all looked the same in this part of the Moretti castle.

“Where the hell is his office?”

More talking to himself. Wasn’t that a bad sign? If only there was a goddamn sign, then he’d know which door—

Finally, he spotted it and sped up his strides.

He let out a silent curse as nerves hit him again, then knocked on the door and waited. Then changed the position of his feet like he was going on his first date or something.

That ship had sailed years ago.

Mack was nervous. It wasn’t like he hadn’t met the vampire before; he’d fought alongside him, for God’s sakes.

“Come in,” the deep voice called out.

Pull yourself together.

Mack was usually a confident bastard, so these nerves felt foreign and unwarranted. But he was asking one of the most powerful vampires in existence for a favor. One he felt was important, given the state of their world right now.

Mack pushed open the door and stepped inside. Ari Moretti sat behind his desk, leaning back in the leather seat with a crease on his forehead that Mack suspected had nothing to do with him.

Things were grim after humans had discovered vampires existed. It had leaked before, but a smart “fake news” campaign had worked, and the whole thing pretty much fizzled out.

Not this time.

Unfortunately, the mate of fellow warrior, Logan, had outed them all globally, providing so much evidence it was impossible to do damage control.

Logan and Brooklyn had bonded after he forgave her, and so had the king, but it meant the world was in chaos. Humans were terrified, curious, angry, and everything in between.

Fanatics had created T-shirts and merchandise—think Roswell insanity—while one guy had created a vampire dating app for the millions of women on TikTok who’d begun creating videos wanting a hot vamp with hashtags #hotvampire and #imsingle and even cheesier #biteme.

While amusing, not everyone was so nice.

There was a movement of vampire hunters—yup, another hashtag—growing with detailed videos and instructions on how to kill one.

Them.

Him.

Those he loved.

It wasn’t fucking okay.

Their strategies were wrong. Well, except the one where they hacked their heads off. That would work if they incapacitated a strong vampire long enough.

Some females were able to be overpowered by a very strong human. It wasn’t like vampires came in one model and strength.

They weren’t battery powered.

Then there was the government. Mack didn’t know all that much about what was going on, only that King Vincent had been working with world leaders—the UN—and so they had been calling for calm.

Those outside the UN were demanding answers and accused the US of knowing for a long time. The usual bullshit, in other words.

The king had demanded vampires stay silent, but some were calling for a vampire rights movement. How long Vincent was able to keep that under control, Mack wasn’t sure.

They were predators, essentially, who’d learned to live in a human society peacefully. But like any predator... threaten them and they would bite.

No one wanted any biting to start.

Well, not that kind of biting.

Religious groups had lost the fucking plot and were calling it the end of days. Something about Satan. Last he heard, the pope was leading some thirty-day prayer.

Good luck with that.

He hadn’t turned to ash yet.

The only Satan he knew was the guy who lived near downtown Seattle who everyone knew sold hashish. So yeah, he definitely wasn’t their leader.

Mack also snorted as he closed the door behind him.

“Hey.”

“Mack,” Ari said, tossing his pen on the desk. “How can I help you?”

Say it. Just spit it out.

“I want you to train me.”

The ancient original vampire didn’t react. Didn’t say anything. Just sat staring for a long moment.

Then a little bit more.

“Why? You are a skilled soldier.”

Mack nodded. “Yeah, good question.”

God, he sounded like such a newbie idiot.

Ari’s brows lifted and he shifted farther back into his seat and leaned an arm on the desk. “We’ve fought side by side. You’re also a hybrid.”

“Yup.” He nodded again.

Ari waited.

“Except I’m not a trained warrior like the others in the SLC team. I’m here by default because Callan bit me.”

All facts.

“Fair.” Ari picked up the pen and tapped the end of it on the table. “However, Marcus is our trainer, and Brayden has already said you can join in any of his sessions.”

He had.

But shit was about to get real—correction, shit was already real—and he needed to protect...

Someone.

“Yeah,” Mack said, rubbing the back of his neck and making to turn away. “You’re right.” Then he stopped and turned back to the Moretti vampire. “It’s just that...my grandfather was trained by you.”

Ari arched a brow. “Who was your grandfather?”

“Lieutenant Mazzini. He worked for the king’s army in Italy about six or seven hundred years ago. You trained him. Shit, you probably don’t remember—”

“I remember him,” Ari said with a hint of emotion. “I remember all the vampires I trained.”

Jesus, really?

Ari was over fifteen hundred years old. That’s a lot of vampires. Then again, he hadn’t stayed in the role of commander that entire time. He’d left to start The Alliance where he’d created a team of assassins who worked private security for humans.

Who had no idea they were vampires.

Many of those assassins were now in Maine, helping to fight this war. Ben—Ari’s former head assassin—was now an SLC.

“He was still working in King Francis’s army when you disappeared.” Shit. “Left.”

The details were murky, but Ari Moretti had left his family and was thought to be dead. Most didn’t know he even existed. Then he showed up and Vincent announced he was his uncle.

It was a topic they were all told to leave alone.

But one thing was known about the vampire; he’d been the commander, as Craig is now, and had trained both of the Moretti princes. Now Vincent was king.

Ari’s eyes drifted across the room as if going back in time.

“He spoke highly of you, telling my father, then me, many tales. When the king revealed you were still alive, I was sorry Grandad was no longer with us.”

Mack hadn’t known he was a Moretti, just a great warrior.

“Your grandfather was a good male.” Ari said. “Excellent with a sword. One of the strongest swings I’ve seen.”

Mack smiled proudly.

“Anyway, it was a dumb idea. You have enough on your plate. I just want to be as strong as I can if we end up in arm-to-arm combat. To protect...my family.”

And someone else who was very important.

Someone he had never been able to make his.

Someone who haunted his dreams and had for many years. Who, just looking at her photos, had his fangs slipping out and cock thickening.

“It’s not likely to happen. At least not on any grand scale.

Wars don’t look like they did fifty, five hundred, five thousand years ago.

The serum is an extreme risk to us. Just putting it in the water system—once they learn it doesn’t impact humans —would see us all rounded up and. ..well, whatever they fucking want.”

“Yeah, fuck.” Mack ran a hand over his face.

Ari watched him, his lids lowering just an inch, and those piercing ancient eyes looked through him as if able to read his mind.

Perhaps he could.

“But you knew that.”

Shit.

“What?”

“You knew that. There’s something else.”

Crap.

“I mean—”

“What’s her name?” Ari asked, standing gracefully and circling his desk. Then he propped his ass on the edge and crossed his arms.

Fuck.

“Ella.” Mack slid his hands into the pockets of his black sweatpants. “It’s not like...she’s not my mate.”

“No?”

No.

But yes. Except it wasn’t a possibility now. Not anymore. Not since Callan bit him and changed his DNA. Changed who he was. Turned him from a vampire into a hybrid with a big fucking black and gray wolf inside.

Callan, his alpha, had sought him out, along with Noah, Eva, and a dozen others he’d bitten, once he knew something was wrong.

It wasn’t premeditated. The alpha had no idea himself. He’d just escaped from the science lab at BioZen after being kidnapped and tortured for months. It was there his own DNA had been messed with...and the rest now history.

Now there were over a dozen vampires able to shift into wolves and, as far as they knew, also walk in sunshine.

Something they hadn’t yet delved into, for obvious reasons. If it turned out only a couple could, well, the rest would turn to ash.

That would suck.

When Callan had come for him, he’d had his brother, Michael, take care of the private gym he owned in Seattle and hit the road with them. He’d sensed something wasn’t right when his own bite wound wasn’t healing.

Leaving Ella had been hard.

Then again, he’d spent his whole life avoiding the mating bond that just grew louder and louder every day. Avoiding, but not completely ignoring, it. Or her.

Now it was too late.

“I’m a hybrid, Ari. I can’t tell her I’m a wolf, you know the king’s rule.”

“If she’s your mate—”

“No.” Mack held up his hand. “I won’t do that to her. She’s on her way to Maine now. I’ll make sure Ella is protected, but I won’t drag her into danger.”

As in him.

What if he bit her, and she fucking grew a tail.

There was no way Mack was going to infect her with this virus. As they sometimes referred to it.

Instead, he’d rented a house, so if things turned into a global existential crisis, he could quickly get to Ella and protect her.

Seeing her sexy little body and eyes that begged him to mate and fuck her hard up against the wall— that might be him, to be fair —on a daily basis would be too dangerous.

For them both.

“Well son, good luck, because if another warrior decides he wants to—”