The Millennium Wolves Book 3
Autor
Sapir Englard
Lecturas
đ„217M
CapĂtulos
34
The Blame Game
SIENNA
The pack house corridors were strangely empty⊠not a soul in sight.
A cold draft blew through my sheer nightgown, unleashing a wave of goosebumps up my spineâand carrying with it the sounds of passion.
As moans of ecstasy echoed down the vast halls, a sexually charged fervor coiled itself around me.
Calling to me.
Drawing me in.
But where was it coming from?
A winding staircase loomed ahead, and I climbedâround and roundâuntil finally, I reached the entrance to the pack house ballroom.
Throwing open the centuries-old oak doors, I found the room dimly illuminated by a flickering fire in a nearby hearth.
Movement from deeper inside the room drew my gaze.
A four-poster bed stood in the center of the dance floor, and three naked bodies were twisting and contorting atop its crimson-red sheets.
Despite the flames casting dark shadows across their glistening skin, I could see that there was one man and two women all tangled together.
As I cautiously approached, the man looked up from their throes of passion, and his familiar gray eyes, flickering red in the firelight, brought my heart to a thudding stop.
Konstantin.
But I couldnât move. Heâd taken control of my body.
Unable to look away, I watched as the vampyre continued thrusting into one of the women sprawled wantonly beneath him.
The sheet partially covering her began to slip away, exposing her thighs, waist, breasts⊠until finally she threw back her locks of wavy brown hair.
It was Michelle.
She glanced at meâher eyes glazed with lustâthen smirked, as if enjoying the audience.
Beside her, the other woman appeared young and painfully vulnerable as she caressed the two entwined lovers.
It was only when she looked up at me that I saw it was Emily.
My former friend, who was now dead, and my current best friend both gasped in pain and pleasure as Konstantinâs lips curled back and his fangs elongated.
I tried to scream at him to stop, but no words came out.
âSienna,â Michelle moaned, reaching out toward me. âYou let this happenâŠâ
âSheâll die, Sienna,â Emily hissed, touching herself between spread thighs as she stared at me. âAnd itâs your fault. Just like with meâŠâ
She and Michelle both began to climax, their eyes rolling eerily back into their skulls, and a black substance began oozing out of every pore in Emilyâs body, pooling on the floor beside the bed.
Then, just as Konstantin sank his teeth into Michelleâs throat, a tidal wave of the stuff washed over meâŠ
***
I sat up, gasping for breath.
Morning sunlight cast brilliant beams onto the foot of the king-sized bed. Two suitcases lay open on the floor.
Where am I?
It took a moment to collect my bearings.
Oh, yeahâŠthe hotel.
After baby Vanessa had arrived, Selene and Jeremy decided to stay with my parents a little while longer.
But the house had gotten even more⊠crowded, to say the least.
So, for everyoneâs sanity, Aiden and I had decided to crash elsewhere. And since our house was currently under renovations, a hotel suite was the easiest option.
The bathroom door opened and Aiden came out, damp and wearing a towel. He hurried to my side.
âHey, are you okay?â he asked, gently taking my hand.
âYeah. It was just another fucked-up dream.â
It had been over a month since the night of the disastrous Yule Ball, when a dangerous vampyre had almost defeated us both, but I still didnât feel like myself. And the nightmares werenât subsiding.
But as always, the sight of my mate, his warm green eyes filled with love and concern, was enough to slow my racing heartbeat.
âKonstantin?â
I nodded. âBut Iâm okay now. Really.â
My eyes dropped to his naked torso. In the morning light his skin was golden, and my legs felt weak just looking at himâŠthe sheen on his shouldersâŠthe chiseled lines of his absâŠ
My heart sped up again.
âEspecially when you come to the rescue wearing that,â I said, eyeing the towel around his waist.
âOh, this old thing?â he joked.
I nodded, then got up on my knees and ran a finger through the droplets of water on his neck and chest, making a show of licking my lips.
Aidenâs eyes darkened, hunger replacing the amusement on his face. âWell, I guess I should wear this more often.â
Like a simmering flame beneath my skin, my haze flared so hard it nearly knocked the wind out of me.
I gave a breathless laugh and ran my fingers down his abs, slipping them in between the terry cloth and his skin. âI thought the season was over, but I guess I was wrong.â
Aiden made a low noise in his throat, and his hands found their way under my nightgown and up to my breasts, cupping them and squeezing, before sliding around my waist to pull me close.
I breathed in deeply, letting his touch banish all my dark thoughts.
If only I could stay here forever, safe in my mateâs arms, the haze singing in my veins.
I pressed my mouth to his yielding lips and tugged at the towelâjust as the phone by the side of the bed began to ring.
I groaned, then glanced at the digital clock beside it.
Sheâs early.
Reluctantly, I pulled away from Aiden and answered it. âHello?â
âMrs. Mercer-Norwood? You have a party waiting for you.â
âOh yes, thank you.â
When I hung up, Aiden raised his eyebrows.
âItâs Healer Lowell,â I told him. âI guess sheâs downstairs already.â
Sharon Lowell was one of the head healers at the Lawrence Healerâs Retreat in Kansas, and though she rarely traveled for consultations, at Aidenâs request, sheâd agreed to examine Michelle.
A disturbing fragment from my dream surfacedâmy best friendâs legs wrapped around Konstantinâs hips, her cries of passion as she cameâŠ
I shivered, then tried to pass it off as being cold.
***
When we got off the elevator, a short, stout woman was waiting in the lobby. Her gray hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense bun, but her voice was warm and kind when she greeted us.
âAlpha Norwood!â She held out her hands. âAnd Mrs. Norwood!â
âMercer-Norwood,â I corrected, smiling.
I took one of her hands, Aiden took the other, and she gave each a little shake.
âMrs. Mercer-Norwood,â she repeated with a firm nod.
âThank you so much for coming,â Aiden said. âI have a car picking us up.â
***
When the car dropped us off in front of the hospital, Jocelyn was waiting for us in the foyer. But while she and Healer Lowell exchanged greetings, I excused myself and headed straight for the gift shop.
âJust this.â I smiled at the cashier, placing a bouquet of tulips on the counter.
She rang me up, and then the four of us continued to the elevator bank.
When we reached the third floor, my favorite nurse was behind the desk. âSally!â I exclaimed as she looked up at us.
âSienna. Alpha. How are you this fine Monday morning?â
âGood, good,â Aiden responded, giving her a warm smile. âHowâs she doing?â
âSheâs doing okay. Him, on the other handâŠâ
âOh no. Heâs causing trouble?â
Sally gave us a look. âNot for me, heâs not.â
She led us down the hallway and opened the door.
I shot Aiden a âhere we goâ look, and he squeezed my hand in response. And then we walked inside while Jocelyn and Healer Lowell hung back to give us a minute.
My eyes immediately went to my friend, and my heart wrenched at the sight of herâeven though she looked pretty much the same as the last time Iâd visited.
Thin and pale.
A heart monitor beeped at her side. Tubes stuck out of her arm. Her eyelids were closed, and her skin was even lighter than that time she accidentally bought foundation four shades too light.
She was wearing another god-awful hospital gown, this one in some mix of dull blue and putrid green that Iâm pretty sure Michelle would have proclaimed âdisgustingâ if she were awake to see it.
But she wasnât.
The television in the room was on, and my ears perked up when I heard my name.
âItâs been over a month since the frightening events surrounding Alpha Aiden Norwood and his mate, Sienna, at the East Coast Pack Yule Ball,â the reporter was saying.
She was petite, with curly brown hair and a camera-ready smile.
âAnd the authorities are still no closer to catching the culprit, who is rumored to be an ancient saint vampyre, a creature previously thought to be mere mythâŠâ
Ugh. The public couldnât get enough of vampyresâor vampires, for that matter. Between the attack at the Yule Ball and the Alpha of the Millenniumâs new mate, they were all anyone could talk about lately.
ââŠMeanwhile, the betaâs mate, Michelle Daniels, remains in a comaâŠâ
That hallway looks familiar⊠Was she reporting from inside the hospital?
I took note of the reporterâs name on the bottom of the screen: Monica Birch.
As I tried to figure out how sheâd gotten in, I noticed Josh slumped over in the chair next to Michelleâs bed.
He looked terrible. His skin was red and patchy, his eyes bloodshot, and the scruff on his face told me he hadnât shaved in days. In fact, I wasnât sure who looked worse, him or Michelle.
I grabbed the TV remote and put it on mute. âGood morning, Josh.â
He lifted his eyes and glared at me with open hostility.
I felt Aiden stiffen beside me, but I took his hand and squeezed it, giving a tiny shake of my head.
I couldnât blame Josh for his anger.
We all knew that what had happened to Michelle had been my fault.
AIDEN
âCan I get you a drink, Josh? Some food?â I asked as Sienna went around to the bedside table, throwing the old tulips into the trash before settling the new ones in the vase.
âIâm good,â he bit out.
âCome on, man, when was the last time you slept? Or showered?â I put a supportive hand on his shoulder, but Josh brushed it off and jumped out of his chair.
âSleep? Shower? My mate is in a fucking coma! Because of someâŠsome animal your mate brought hereââ
âWeâve been over this, Josh. She didnât bring him here.â
ââand now sheâs likeâŠlike this. And your mateâs fine!â
Jocelyn stuck her head in the door. âUhâŠis it okay for Healer Lowell and me to come in and examine Michelle now?â
Grateful for the interruption, I ushered a stiff Josh and a quiet Sienna out to the waiting area.
Josh took a seat as far away from us as possible, refusing to look at my mate. Iâd known for a while that he blamed her, but she was just as much a victim as Michelle.
Honestly, if he needed someone to blame, he should blame me. Iâd failed everyone when Iâd let that vampyre waltz into my territory. Let him get close to Sienna.
Assumed bodyguards were enough to protect her.
In the weeks since the Yule Ball, the need to find the bastard, to kill himâto tear him limb from limbâit had only grown.
But for Siennaâs sake, Iâd been able to put the pulsing rage, the desire for revenge, temporarily aside.
At least well enough to hide it from her. Sheâd been through enough. She didnât need my fury to manage on top of her own trauma. She needed me by her side, not out scouring the earth for Konstantin.
And the nightmaresâŠ
Was she even aware of how many times Iâd rolled over and spooned her, calming her whimpers, soothing her tense musclesâcomforting her so she could let go of the fear and sleep peacefully?
I didnât think so.
But each time, I made her the same silent vow.
No matter how long it took, Konstantin would pay for what heâd done.
Finally, after thirty minutes of awkward silence, the door to Michelleâs room opened.
The three of us immediately stood as the two healers filed out, their faces grave.
Jocelyn was the first to speak. âWeâve finished the examinationâŠâ She cleared her throat.
âAnd you may want to sit back down.â
