Mated to the Billionaire Werewolf: BBW Paranormal Bad Boy Billionaire Werewolf Romance (Kingwood Pack Book 3) (8 page)

A wall. White tiles. A thick spray of crimson.

What the fuck was that? She shook her head to clear the sudden vision.

“Really?” Isabella arched her eyebrow. “I highly doubt that when he thinks you’ve gone against him and let your brother out.”

She sighed sadly as she looked down at the body of the lycan. Her face was smeared in blood. The blood of a wolf from her own pack. A wolf she’d killed in cold blood. Eva shivered. Lycans were often called monsters by the human media, but Eva never believed of any of them. Until now.

“Of course, then poor Alfie here discovered you and you ripped his throat out for his troubles. I found the body…” She sobbed. “He was my first lover and now he’s dead.”

Blood dripped down the tiles, to the edge of the bathtub. An arm, pale and lifeless.

“My god,” Eva gasped. “You really are a monster. Alex will never believe a cock and bull story like that!”

“He’ll believe whatever he’s told. Who will be there to argue with me?” Isabella shrugged. “Through the ages, history has been written by the victor. And in this particular battle,
I
will be the victor.”

She looked Eva up and down. Sneered.

“How could you think this could possibly go any other way? A pathetic creature like you? No wolf. Hell, even as a human how can
you
compare to
me?”
She smoothed her hands down her neat figure, then looked at Davie. “Make sure you get her off the estate before you do it. Then dump the body where it won’t be found.”

A face above hers. Mouth wide, fangs covered in blood…

Eva gasped and drew back, trying to look over her shoulder at Davie.

“You. You killed me. That’s why Alex had to turn me—”

She’d thought it was a car accident. Her world tilted. Alex
had
lied to her, just not in the way she’d thought. He’d lied to protect her from the truth that her own brother, her baby brother, had left her for dead.

“Why? I’m your sister…”

Davie laughed and there was nothing human left in the sound. Instead, it was harsh and brittle. The amusement of a creature that didn’t value any form of life. A dead creature.

“Correction. You were the sister of the weak, inferior creature I was.
I
have no sister. Fuck it, I’m doing it now. I’m fed up with her damn whining.”

Eva sucked in a breath as he bent his head, waiting for the sharp slice of teeth as he ripped her throat out.

The pain didn’t arrive. Before Davie could get his fangs into her, there was a snarl, then something heavy hit them like a freight train. A scream ripped from her throat as they sprawled across the hard dirt of the forest floor.

She rolled head over heels, sky and ground whirling around each other. Her tumble was cut short and pain exploded on the side of her head. Blinking, she tried to clear her vision of stars and pushed herself shakily up. A rock explained her abrupt stop, blood splattered across it. She lifted a hand to her head, and her fingers came away wet with blood. Her blood then.

A snarl behind her got her attention. Davie stood in the middle of a circle of silent wolves. A big brown/gray wolf with a white stripe from the tip of his nose to his brow stepped forward.

Her hand covered her mouth, tears hot in her eyes. Alex. Her heart leaped. He’d come for her.

Davie snarled and ran backward, away from Alex toward the buildings. She knew vampires were fast, but she’d never expected them to be
that
fast. Frustration filled her as she realized he was about to escape. If he got onto the roof, he could easily attain the treetops and would be gone.

After three steps, he launched himself at the wall, but instead of jumping to the roof of the building, he sprang back from it and landed on Alex’s back. She screamed as he attacked. He was no longer recognizable as human. Instead, he was a caricature. Jaws opened wider than any living creature could manage and his fangs jutting forward like a shark, he struck on the side of Alex’s neck, trying to get purchase through the thick fur.

The big wolf howled and shifted. The sharp crack of bone echoed through the air as he spun, changing form on the fly to throw Davie over a newly formed hip. Alex slammed the vampire into the ground hard enough to make him bounce. Before he could muster a response, Alex had him pinned, a huge hand around his throat.

Davie’s eyes bulged, almost popping out of his skull. He scrabbled at Alex’s arms with sharp fingernails. No, they weren’t nails…they were the sharpened ends of his finger bones, elongated until they burst from the ends of his fingers. The insidious smells of rot and decay oozed through the air as his glamor faded. The elegant façade disappeared to reveal the rotting corpse beneath.

Gagging, she turned to the side and lost everything she’d eaten.

Snarling, Alex lifted Davie over his head and threw him against the wall. He hit with a sickening thud. She held her breath as he hit the ground. Was he dead? She shook her head at her own thought. Idiot. He was already dead. So… was he more dead, for good now?

A rattling sound filled the air, emanating from the crumpled figure of the vampire and he lifted his head. He was laughing.

“You really think you can kill me that easily?”

Davie rose to his feet unsteadily. His head was tilted at an odd angle, but his eyes were filled with malevolence as he glared at Alex. His face twisted into a snarl and he launched himself at the big wolf.

She screamed, fear and worry holding her prisoner. How could he fight something that was already dead?

Alex was back in his half form. Casually he reached out and batted the attacking vampire to the ground. It was easy to see he was done playing and the fight was to the death. Before Davie could get back up, Alex dropped onto his back. His claws glimmered in what little light there was and he raked them down Davies back, opening his spine to the bone. The stench of decay bloomed twofold on the air.

Davie screamed in agony. Lifting his head, he reached out to her.

“Eva, please…”

The hand… her hand… slid down the blood splattered tub. Davie’s face got farther away as he stood and turned. Leaving her to die…

She met his pleading gaze levelly. “Rest in peace, little brother.”

Looking up, she met Alex’s solid amber gaze and nodded. “Make it quick.”

The werewolf reached down and took hold of either side of Davie’s head in massive paws. With a sharp twist, he snapped the vampire’s neck, but that didn’t stop the screaming. The only way to keep a vampire down was decapitation.

She looked away as he continued to twist. The dry, breaking sound reminded her of a bunch of twigs being broken. Twigs worked. She didn’t want to think about what it actually was.

“Get that out of here. Bury them separately.” Alex’s deep voice was a welcome sound. “Eva, sweetheart, are you okay?”

With a cry, she bolted across the clearing and threw herself into his arms.

He folded her in his embrace, strong arms around her. Relief flooded her, the feeling so complete that she sagged against him. She never thought she’d be here again, hold him again. Reaction set in, and tremors raced all through her body. She couldn’t stop them.

“Oh god, Eva. I thought I’d lost you.”

Alex’s lips were in her hair, kissing her, his words muttered against the top of her head. His big hands drove into her hair and pulled her head back gently so he could look into her eyes. His were dark with worry. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. I love you. I can’t lose you.”

The words blindsided her. She gaped like a goldfish as he crushed her against him, the same tremors she couldn’t get rid of rolling through his bigger body.

He what… he loved her? Hope raised a tentative head, then burst through like a supernova. No. She had to have heard him wrong.

She pushed at his shoulders to make him look at her. “You… what did you say?”

He met her gaze levelly. “Eva, I love you. Always have, always will.”

Oh. My. God.

She squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tightly. Probably tight enough that he couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he pulled her against him.

“I love you too, Alex,” she whispered, kissing his neck between the words.

Thank god, it was all ove—

“Well, isn’t this sickeningly cute.” Isabella’s caustic tone broke through their happy little reconciliation.

Blinking in surprise, Eva turned in Alex’s arms. She’d expected the woman to have made her escape during Alex and Davie’s fight, not hang around after what she’d done. But no, the lycan female stood behind them, hands on her hips.

“Alex, she was working with Davie. Wanted me out of the way so she could be alpha female of the pack,” she said quickly, before Isabella could say anything else.

Alex’s face darkened with anger.

“Is this true?” he demanded of the other woman.

Isabella’s expression was hard.

“Was I working with the vampire? Yes, but only to remove a threat to the stability of the pack. As our
alpha
has always taught us, pack comes first. Always. She…” she hissed, glaring at Eva, “is weak.”

Alex’s arm tightened around Eva’s waist. So tight she nearly squeaked, but kept silent, not wanting to make a wrong move in what could turn out to be a volatile situation.

“She is… will be my mate,” he growled. “And
will
be your alpha female.”

Isabella smiled, baring her teeth. “Over my dead body. I call challenge.”

“Challenge? What is that?” From the silence that rippled around the assembled wolves, Eva knew it was a serious thing. “Can she do that? Alex?”

His jaw was set, a small muscle jumping in the corner, and his large body was suddenly tight lethal power ready to burst free. He shoved Eva behind him with an abrupt movement that made her stumble and clutch at his shoulders for balance.

“I accept the challenge on behalf of my mate.”

Isabella chuckled, shaking her head. “No can do, handsome. You’re not mated. She’s not wearing your mark.”

“That can easily be remedied,” Alex snarled, dragging Eva out in front of him so quickly her head spun. Hand on her neck, he tilted her head to the side. His hot breath fanned over her throat. She had to bite her lip, and fight the wave of heat that wanted to roll through her body. Now was
so
not the time or place.

“That’s not how it works, Alpha, and you know it.” Isabella wagged her finger and clucked her tongue chidingly.

“You have to bite her during climax.” She looked Eva up and down. “And unless she’s kinkier than I thought, I doubt she’s anywhere near.”

Anger surged, almost choking Eva where she stood. The need to launch herself across the gap between them and rip that damn finger off almost got the better of her. Perhaps the sight of the bloody stump would wipe that smug smile right off the bitch’s face.

Alex bared his teeth and moved Eva to the side to take a step forward. The movement was packed with violent intent; leashed, but only just. His shoulders widened as she watched, his height increasing until he loomed over the lycan woman.

For a split second, Eva caught the slight widening of Isabella’s eyes and the fear in the back before she locked her expression down. Her face was bland, almost seeming bored when she looked up at the part-shifted alpha.

“You
dare
to correct me? I am alpha of this pack!” Alex all but roared, the bellow making Eva wince.

“You are alpha, I agree.”

Somehow Isabella kept her composure. Whatever else she was, Eva had to admit she had balls of steel.

“And as such, you are as bound by the laws of the pack as the rest of us. I challenge Eva, a pack female, for the right to share your bed and to be your female. As. Is. My. Right.”

“She is correct, Alpha.” Frank stepped forward from the shadows. The fact that he was completely naked didn’t make Eva bat an eyelid. She had bigger concerns at the moment than Frank’s lack of clothing. “She has the right. If Eva does not meet the challenge…”

“Then what?”

There was so much of this she didn’t understand. Someone needed to get her a copy of
Pack Rules 101
. Stat.

“Then you will be exiled… Packless.”

The veiled resignation in Frank’s voice and the way he refused to look at her said they’d all made up their minds about how this would go. They expected her to refuse Isabella’s challenge and walk away.

Fuck. That.

This bitch needed to be taught a lesson.

“If I fight?”

Frank looked up, surprise and perhaps the beginnings of new found respect in his eyes. “If you win, Isabella becomes subordinate to you in the pack. As alpha female, you reserve the right to exile her or arrange transfer to another pack.”

Behind her, Isabella snorted. “Yeah, as if she’s gonna win.”

Frank shot her an annoyed look. “
If
you’ll let me finish.”

He returned his attention to Eva. “If you lose, exile is most probable. I can’t see Isabella letting you remain in the pack.”

“Too fucking right,” Isabella butted in again. “I don’t want her anywhere near my man.”

Alex snarled, the low sound a warning. “In your dreams, lady. That’s never going to happen. In fact, this fucking travesty of a challenge isn’t going to happen. As alpha, I’m exiling you right no—”

“Challenge accepted.”

Alex’s head whipped around at her soft words, total and utter surprise written across his features. “No, Eva. She’ll kill you.”

His words echoed the voice in her head.

Are you fucking stupid, suicidal, or out of your freaking mind? She’ll kill you in a heartbeat.

But another voice, one softer and closer to her soul whispered.
We got this. Let’s teach her a lesson.

“You heard her. She accepted. We fight,” Isabella crowed, her voice full of triumph.

Alex stepped in front of her. “Eva you don’t have to do this. We’ll leave the pack. I don’t care, I can’t lose you.”

She put her fingers over his lips, and smiled.

“Have a little faith, okay?”

Stepping away from Alex, she motioned to Isabella. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

The lycan woman grinned, baring her teeth. “I’m going to make you
bleed.”