Captiva Craving - Vampire Werewolf Menage (Six Feet Under Series Book Two) (31 page)

“Was?”

“She was taken during the vampire wars.”

Great, she thought. Just great. “Go on. If you can,” she qualified.

His shoulders lifted, tensing. “Everything about her was beautiful.” He took a deep breath, turning away to stare at a mural, or he pretended to. “Much like you, males couldn’t keep their eyes off her…or their hands. I killed so many, well, never mind that.”

Bearing in mind he was Beta, she knew Bane’s hands stayed covered in blood, but Blythe refused to put it between them. She fought not to jump as Ryan went over a thin piece of skin stretched on bone. “I’ve learned beauty is a curse, a prison of sorts.”

He looked over his shoulder, curving his lip. “After I teach you to fight, no one will ever put you in a prison again. And by the Beta’s blood, you’ll kick some serious ass.”

A bubble of laughter escaped her, young and hopeful. Something she hadn’t felt in a while. She shifted uncomfortably, almost crossing her ankles to stave off Ryan’s persistent needle, but she caught herself. “You’re on.” That sounded like fun, something promising.

“So,” his voice dropped, turning raspy, “back to Aoife, vampires used her as a blooded concubine.”

Blythe cringed at the words, ones so familiar. “Or a sex slave…a blood slave?”

“Yeah. She was sold as one, again and again,” he said, stifling a growl. “When word of her beauty spread through the underskirts of the Scottish Vampire Coven, she eventually served the vampire monarchy, their Dynasty Vampyrs.”

Blythe wrapped her hand around her throat, trying to rub away the bile.

“And since we live an immortal life,” he continued. “You can imagine her long years of painful heartache and humiliation. Every time I got a bead on her, a door slammed in my face. Battle after battle, our relentless Pack never gave up for
hundreds
of years.”

“Because she could bear a Beta one day,” she voiced her thoughts aloud.

“No. She was ours, a werewolf. Unlike vampires,” he said without any respect for the two in the room, “bloodlines only matter for leadership purposes, for herding the Pack in the right way. Each soul… each Beast has a place in our society and especially our hearts. Aoife did and so do you.”

Bane’s voice mesmerized with a melodic cadence she’d never heard him use. “I believe you.” She’d only had a taste of what this woman went through for years.

“Seeing as how she was a werewolf, their inborn enemy, the monarchs who used her were the worst offenders.”

“From what I remember, most of the Dynasty Vampyrs are spoiled, living an opulent lifestyle inside a metaphorical glass city that appears perfect from the inside.” Her skin heated, that prickling sweat breaking out, making her feel weird. The exact feeling she had when her anemia was kicking her around, but Dru said her blood was still normal.

“We agree on that.” He sighed, rubbing the tattoos on one of his arms, weighing his words carefully. “When her sons finally found her in the coldest part of Russia,” he stopped, eyeing her through sooty lashes, “She had already given birth to a daughter, a halfling.”

“W-with a monarch?”

“Yes.”

That one word answer told her so many things, not the syllables and corresponding vowel, but the tone in which he said it. “They took her daughter away from her,” she whispered in horror. A mother’s worst nightmare followed a nightmarish life.

“They treated Chloe fairly, so Aoife said, housed her in another monarch’s court until she passed her youngling years and long after that she conceived a child,” he stopped again, gauging her reaction.

The hairs all over her body prickled, knowing. “Me.”

Again. “Yes.” He cleared his throat and eased a leg on her chair, wrapping those oversized arms around her trembling body. “After you were born, the vampires took you from your mom. But you were found within a year.” He fiddled with that picture again, this time, handing it over. “Jax brought this from Scotland.”

And it was like staring into a mirror. “Oh, dear heavens,” she sobbed, cupping her hand over her mouth. “My mother?”

“Werewolves brought her back to the Pack in Scotland. She had you, but wanted a true werewolf life. She asked to be presented for rights to mate. The Alpha happily obliged and she met her male – Jaxton Ross. He took you as his own, loved you unconditionally. Quickly, they conceived your brothers. And although your memory of that time is still…gone?”

“It is.” The room took on a dreamlike state.

“We…have no idea how it happened, how a vampire could break through…but.”

“Chloe, my mother, was found dead,” Blythe whispered. Salk claimed he was her father. That he’d killed her mother. Yet this wasn’t the time to share the tidbit about creating Donors from the very Lovec who hunted them. No wandering ears would learn she was addictive or how to create even more of her kind. And God only knew what was wandering outside her perimeter listening in.
Keep your mouth shut Oycher.
His answering grunt sounded of pure disgust, she’d insulted him. “I was nowhere to be found, and they never located me.”

“True,” Bane said, openly surprised at her knowledge. “Jaxton couldn’t take it…left us.”

“He went Rogue?” Ryan asked, though he kept on task.

“Paid a rogue to off him,” he answered, and then explained to Blythe. “It’s kind of hard for an immortal to kill himself. There’s slime out there that will do it for the green, you know?”

“Oh, God, he couldn’t live without her, even though he left kids?”

“Our males are the best fathers running. Still, they can go insane without their females. Back to missing pieces, we haven’t connected them between then” - he gestured with his chin at the photo- “and when your human parents adopted you…or found you…or took you.”

“They were killed in a car accident on the Sanibel Causeway.”

“I know, sweetheart,” he soothed, his arms tightening around her. “You’re a true Ruyter, though, no matter whom your father or your grandfather is, you have plenty of family, biological and Pack wise.”

“I saw them risk their lives for me, your Pack.” Her head filled with cotton, growing drowsy. The needle no longer hurt. “I feel guilty…for those who were injured.”

“What you saw out there was overwhelming. Let it go, sweetheart. Beasts love a challenging fight, it breaks ennui.” In the next beat he asked, “Do you have any memories of Anthony in your childhood?”

“Not many before my parents died…they’re scattered like…”

“Like they were with the Dynasty Vampyr?”

She snuffed ineloquently, pulling back to study him. “Yeah…they are.”

“Curious.”

“Past curious. Sixten said Anthony was involved with the shifters. Gianni said he sold me to him as a Donor.” A line of concern marred her forehead. “Who does that? Who sells someone?”

“Vile filth,” was his response. “I’m sorry to say those transactions happen mostly in the human world, and sadly enough, often with children.”

“Who do these people think they are?”

“That’s just it, Blythe, evil doesn’t
think
.” He wiped her tears with his thumb. “It
consumes
.”

“Then, if these tattoos don’t work, what choice do I have? Besides becoming wholly immortal, I need to change my blood’s calling card.”

“There is another choice. That’s the thing about a real family, Blythe. Maybe I’m sticking my nose in with the Undead thing, pushing you around a tad to try out our Druid…arts. But before you make your mind up, doing what you think you need to do. I’d like you to meet the North American Alpha. He and Sixten have hit some rough patches. Regardless, I summoned him as a personal favor.”

“And I’m sick of waiting, man.” A gorgeous blonde misted in. A highlander slash movie star slash all-star quarterback with eyes an amazing shade of blue. She’d never seen anything quite like it, like him. Where Bane was imposing, the Alpha was dangerous. Something different shifted behind this man’s eyes. And whatever it was, it was looking back at her. A man within a man…or maybe, she’d just met the werewolf of all werewolves. “Time is better spent with action, I always say.” He reached out, palm up. Without a word leaving her lips, he placed her hand in his. “Hello, Blythe Ruyter.”

“H-hello.” She flushed, embarrassed at her gaping. So many immortals had come and gone, one more frightening than the next. And yet…

“It’s good,” he said with a wolfy smile, all teeth. “I’d like to say I always have that effect on women, but I’ve been known to send some packing in a cloud of dust. I guess we’ll chalk this up to your inner Were recognizing her Alpha, sound good?”

“Uh-huh.”

He hadn’t released her hand, tilting his head curiously. “I don’t think you want to become a vampire, even though you love one.”

“You’re not trying to coerce me, are you?” He tightened on her fingers when she tried to take her hand away.

“What do you think?”

“I think I don’t want to be an, um, Undead.” No, he wasn’t coercing her, but her lips were spilling truth and she couldn’t stop them. “I can’t lie to you?”

“I’m not allowing it.” A flicker moved behind his eyes, pacing back and forth. 
A rush went through her body, a welcoming power, a calming presence. 
“I heard you were doing really well since your captivity.” His teeth clamped together a minute before he continued. “But you were in the preverbial gilded cage, weren’t you?”

She nodded, willing herself not to cry.

“Cages have a way of hanging around in your mind, creating fear where there is no longer a threat. I can easily take those horrible memories away from you, but that’s not what you need, Blythe. Not all things can be good and some harsh experiences have a way of carving us into better beings. And then we move on to help others with what we know. I can see by that look on your face, you’ll have to take my word for it, for now. “By the Alpha’s gift,” he said with a trace of a growl, “I offer you strength.”

Something in her body changed, though she had no idea what it was. However, Blythe understood one thing without Jayce confirming it: She just bonded to his Pack, and, simultaneously, a lead weight marked by Gianni left her shoulders.

“Some time ago, we thought you were a werewolf mixed blood,” Jayce said with a mega-watt smile. “As it stands, we’re talking what, Bane? A Species or even Dynasty was thrown in her mix?”

“More than likely, a Dynasty Vampyr.”

She bit her tongue. And since he asked Bane that pointed question about her bio dad and not her, it didn’t wag. But she did say, “Why work my way through a vampire monarchy for unnecessary information when they treated my grandmother like a whore and allowed the same with me? I’d rather cut down that family tree. As far as I’m concerned, they can all go fuck themselves.” Too many shooters, did she really say that to an Alpha?

Jayce sniggered, gently releasing her hand. “Yeah, you’ve got the Beta’s blood, alright.”

“Can you read my mind like Oycher?” She glanced at Oycher nervously. He’d stayed stoic after warning off Ryan, though he heard all her mental meanderings.

“I can, but I wasn’t. I scented your will to challenge - to fight. The Alpha appreciates it.” He flared a Beast and her eyes widened. In the next blink, he went back to normal, if there was such a thing around here. “Remember the times I offered my Sanibel manse to you?”

“Yes, Bane wanted me to stay with him.” She nodded, her mind still rolling around somewhere. “When I refused, he offered your home instead.”

“Well, you really should have taken one of us up on that offer.”

She would have been there instead of the Sanctuary on that harrowing night. But still… “The Lovec would have found me.”

“Those Stavz don’t work the same way on a werewolf.” When she opened her mouth, the Alpha shook his head and she closed it. “Answer this: Do you truly love Sixten Kovac?”

“Yes.”

Jayce inhaled deeply, holding his breath before releasing it on a slow exhale. “As usual, you nailed it, my Beta.”

“He nailed what?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“Just okay? Alright then, instead of stopping your heart, having a Patriarch, your Undead creator,
own
you, would you consider our rights to mate ceremony?”

“You mean; Sixten comes to your Pack with me?”

“It’s a ceremony matching werewolf males to their celestially appointed female. Even mixed bloods, some who only have a trace of Were blood, become immortals after they mate under a full moon. And get this. You’re heart still beats, and although you are immortal, you stay flesh and blood. Younglings are still an option, uh, kids.”

She only heard part of that. “Males?” Plural? Oh, that was what Bane went through with her new doctor. Dru and his werewolf co-mates lived on Captiva. “But, like I said, I love Sixten.”

“I heard you the first time.” His teeth snapped when he added, “There would be a…Sixten clause. A contract between vamps and Weres I’ve approved on occasion. Your vampire comes with the package, an undisputable condition of mating.” By the look on Jayce’s face, those terms would be difficult for any werewolf to accept. “He would be an equal partner.”

Sixten was her only partner. “It’s not in me.”

“So many mixed bloods think it’s not, and then…well.” He flashed the devil’s smile. “I won’t go into all that here, but if you want to talk to my mate about it, let me know. Tatum’s helped quite a few females adjust in our Pack, a little niche she carved for herself.” His pride in his wife showed all over his face, his smile widening. “Mind you, she’s pregnant and grouchy but I’ll ply her with food before you arrive. And you’ll have to visit her without Sixten. My Alpha will not tolerate him around my queen while she carries our youngling.”

Wow. Threats galore. “I’d love to meet her someday, but not to discuss
mating
.”

He glanced at Bane, his softness, if you could call it that, leaving. “I have to meet with Prince Volos. He’s lingering. Word is: he’s not pulling out of Florida for a while.”

“You?” Bane snorted. “Why you? I’ll take care of it. The shifters made the kills,
remember
?”

“No offense, man. But you haven’t the diplomacy to deal with a vampire that proud, and he’s livid over these kills. The guards, a hunter, and, of course, his late cousin the Marchii bit the dust in one grand swoop. He wants his answers and I’m hitting him back with a formal grievance.” Jayce didn’t appear worried. “His kind shouldn’t have taken what was ours.”