Blood Lust (15 page)

He shook his head. “I’m not here to kill anyone. I’m here to
find someone.”

“Find someone? Who? Who could you possibly want to find
here?” I was so angry that I didn’t want to listen, but I was also deeply hurt.
He’d saved my life- twice. I’d let him into my home…into my heart.

Overcome, I sat down on my bed. My eyes were stinging. “Tell
me the truth, Jericho. Tell me who you are.”

The silence that followed seemed endless, punctuated only by
my gulping as I fought to keep from crying.

Finally he knelt before me. I wanted so badly for him to
touch me- hold me- but he didn’t make a move towards me, instead bracing his
hands on the bed, on either side of me.

“It’s true,” he said, looking up into my eyes. “I was Argos.
I
am
Argos.”

There it was- that same stab of betrayal, the awful
emptiness inside me. “Did you kill all those people?”

“Yes.”

I bit my lower lip, hard enough to draw blood, fighting back
tears. “Why? You said that drinking a human to the point of death
was…unnecessary.” I couldn’t remember his exact words, but those were close
enough.

“I was different then,” Jericho said, and he closed his eyes
briefly, as if remembering. “I’d always been that way. I’d always killed when I
wanted to. Drank when I wanted to, even if I didn’t need to. Until I met a girl
that changed everything.”

For one heartbreaking moment I thought he was talking about
me, saying that I’d made him want to change, but then he added, “Her name was
No Rain, and I met her in 1903.”

The last thing I wanted to hear was about his past exploits
with women, and he must have seen that in my eyes, but he continued, “She was
Lakota, and the wolves had taken her in and taught her witchcraft. I intended
to kill her. I killed her pack. I…” He hesitated, and shook his head. “But I
couldn’t. She’d placed a protection spell on herself. I couldn’t inflict pain
on her without feeling it myself twice over.”

Smart girl,
I
thought, wishing desperately that I could do the same, so he’d understand the
agony churning within me.

“Something changed when I realized how much pain I’d
caused,” he said, and his eyes were begging me to believe him. “I couldn’t kill
after that. Not after I knew.”

My chin was trembling, but I raised it determinedly. “Who
are you looking for now?”

He started to respond, but then stopped, looking unsure of
himself. “I left No Rain here, with the wolves. I never saw her again, and it’s
been devouring me alive for the past century. I need to know what happened to
the woman who saved me. I…” He shook his head. “I feel like I can’t put these
demons to rest until I know.”

“You know that Max has sworn a blood oath to kill you.” The
word spilled from me, completely beyond my control. “Why would you risk your
life to find out what happened to a woman who’s been dead for a hundred years?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t forget her.” He stood up, running
his hands through his hair in frustration. “But then I saw you. I feel
something…with you. I feel the same connection I felt with her. Like you’re a
part of me already. Like you’re inside me, your heart beating in sync with
mine, your lungs drawing breath every time I do. It’s almost like…you’re my…”

“Soulmate,” I whispered.

He turned to face me, and his expression was so bleak that I
wanted to cry. “Yes.”

“But I’m a wolf now,” I said, desperately wishing that I’d
called for help instead of walking into the barn that night.

He didn’t move. “Yes.”

I started crying in earnest then, because I didn’t know what
to do, but I knew this was all wrong. Destiny had somehow veered off in the
wrong direction, because I simply could not accept that my soulmate was also my
mortal enemy- my
immortal
enemy.

Jericho took a step towards me. “Eve-“

“Go,” I choked out through my tears. “Just go. Leave me,
please. I just…want to be alone.”

I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand and sniffled.
The past few days had been a whirlwind for me, and I’d never felt so
emotionally unhinged in my life. My dad…Max…Jericho…the fact that I was now a werewolf
and would spend the rest of my life with the affliction…it all seemed so
overwhelming.

When I looked up, Jericho was gone, and the slight breeze
outside was blowing the curtains beside the open French doors.

I walked to the doors, intent on closing them, but paused
when I saw something moving at the edge of the woods. Someone stepped out of
the darkness.

Max.

As he looked up at me, I heard a snarl, carried on the wind,
followed by the high-pitched yelp of a wolf in pain.

Never breaking eye contact, Max backed into the trees again,
and I knew then that the pack was going after Jericho.

“No!” I screamed, and tore out of my bedroom. “Max, don’t!”
I left the front door standing wide open as I ran for the forest.

Chapter Nine

I ran for what seemed like hours, trying to follow the
growling and snarling. It was difficult to pinpoint where the sounds were
coming from, because the noises seemed to reverberate off the trees around me,
a violent echo that tormented me as I searched in vain.

My lungs were ready to burst when I finally stumbled into
the middle of the battle.

It was like an awful, bloody dance, with the wolves lunging
and Jericho dodging their attacks gracefully. Amy lay naked in human form at
the edge of the clearing, a long, dark slash of blood across her ribs. I ran to
her and fell to my knees beside her, swallowing hard at the size of her wound.
It had gone deep, and was still seeping blood. I tore my tank top over my head,
mentally thanking my good fortune that I was wearing a bra, and folded the
shirt up length-wise before pressing it against her wound. I applied as much
pressure as I dared, and she winced at the contact.

“They’re going to kill each other,” she whispered, and I
caught the flash of her green eyes in the moonlight. I knew she was right. This
had to stop.

I pressed her hands over the folded shirt. “Hold this,” I
said, and touched her shoulder reassuringly. She offered me a faint smile. She
needed medical help immediately, or she wasn’t going to make it.

I stood and faced the chaos, seeing flashes of black as
Jericho moved fluidly through the wolf pack, slashing with his teeth and hands.
He wasn’t completely unscathed himself, with the shoulder of his shirt torn
away to reveal raw, bloody flesh, and blood smeared across one side of his
face.

“Stop!” I shouted, taking a step forward and wishing
desperately that I could change into wolf form so that I could jump into the
fray and try to stop it.

Jericho turned towards me, but a wolf leaped at him, trying
to catch him unawares. He caught the wolf in mid-leap and whirled, flinging it
hard against a tree. The trunk shuddered and cracked under the impact, and the
wolf crumpled to the ground. It never even made a sound.

“Stop!” I screamed again. From the corner of my eye, I saw a
second wolf leap. It had a brown muzzle and dark markings, and its dark,
glowing eyes were visible, even in the pale moonlight.

Max.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I had flung myself in
front of Jericho, holding out my hands to shield myself from the attack.

Max saw me and pulled up short, landing awkwardly just
inches in front of me. He backed away, growling, and stared at me.

“Stop,” I repeated. I was pressed up against Jericho’s
chest, and I could feel him shaking with rage behind me. I reached my hands
back, settling them against his sides and drawing him closer to me. “Stop,” I
said again, intending it just as much for Jericho as for the wolves.

Max shifted back into human form, and stood. His dark eyes
bored into me accusingly.

“You’ve- you’ve got to stop this,” I stammered, trying not
to let his lack of clothing affect me. “Jericho’s different now. Would you kill
a penitent man, Max? One who’s been living a peaceful life for over a century?”

“I swore a blood oath to end the life of the monster who
murdered so many,” Max growled. He paced to the right, his hard muscles
rippling beneath his skin as he moved.

I was silent for a handful of heartbeats. I knew what I had
to do, but if I did it, I would have pushed myself past the point of no return.
There would be no going back.

“I…free you from your obligation,” I said. “You may consider
your oath fulfilled.”

Max paused, staring over his shoulder at me. “Only an alpha
is permitted to void a blood oath.”

I swallowed hard and tried to muster my courage. “Are you
challenging my rank?”

His eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer. “The words of
a solitary alpha don’t mean much in my pack.”

“It’s
my
pack,” I
snapped. “My word is law.”

Realization dawned in his eyes, and I could see a myriad of
emotions flash across his face in that moment. Finally, his expression went
blank, almost like he’d slipped on a mask without me seeing it.

He moved closer, stopping just inches away from me. I could
feel the heat radiating off his body in angry waves. “Are you claiming
leadership, then?”

I lifted my chin. “Yes.”

“Then, alpha, who do you select as your beta?” Max
questioned, speaking through clenched teeth.

“I…” I felt Jericho tense up behind me. I had no idea if he
knew the hierarchy within the pack, or if he was aware of the alpha-beta
requirement, but either way, he clearly didn’t like what he was seeing.

Max knew what he was doing, of course. There were no other
betas in this area, only omegas, and I obviously didn’t know any other
werewolves outside of Rapid City.

If I didn’t select a beta, my claim as pack leader was
futile.

“I choose you,” I said, and my voice was clear and
unwavering.

Jericho snarled behind me, and Max’s head snapped up. I
immediately turned, putting my hands on Jericho’s shoulders. “Don’t,” I warned
him. “Don’t you
dare.”

“You’re letting this wolf claim you,” he snapped, and his
silver eyes were so fierce that I almost took a step back reflexively.

“No,” I retorted, determined to stand my ground. “I’m
claiming him. Him- and the entire pack. I am the pack leader now.”

My reflection wavered in his eyes, and his expression
softened just the slightest bit. “Eve,” he said in a low voice. “You don’t have
to do this.”

My heart was in my throat as I looked up at him. I knew we’d
soul bonded, but he very likely had no idea that there even was such a thing.
Max might have suspected something, but he wouldn’t defy tradition by
challenging the pack leader over such a sensitive subject.

I was alpha now, and I had the pack to think of. Telling an
angry vampire that we were soul bonded immediately after claiming another man
as my beta did not seem like a wise choice.

“I can help you find out what happened to No Rain,” I told
him quietly. “I can still help you.”

Jericho’s eyes met mine, and I saw raw anguish in their
depths. Maybe he knew what a beta was, after all. “I’m not here for No Rain
anymore,” he whispered, and my heart shattered at his words.

I looked away, trying to find the words to respond, and
remembered, quite abruptly, that Amy was dying.

The wolf Jericho had thrown against the tree was still lying
where he had landed, motionless. I spun on my heel, horrified that I’d
forgotten. “Max- get Amy and the rest of the wounded back to your place,” I
ordered. “They need medical attention immediately.”

The wolf at the base of the tree had shifted back into human
form, and I noted with some relief that he was moving. I ran to Amy and knelt
beside her. She’d lost consciousness, but when I pressed my fingers to her
neck, I could feel her pulse. Her hands were still locked over my shirt against
her wound.

Max appeared beside me and crouched, lifting Amy in his
arms. “We’ll get them back to the house,” he said. “Will you come with us?”

“Just let me-“ I broke off as I turned around.

Jericho was gone.

Max followed my gaze, and I could tell from the glitter in
his eyes that he knew what I was thinking, but he said nothing.

“I’ll come with you,” I said.

I followed Max, casting fervent glances across the clearing
at where I’d last seen Jericho, and praying that this was not the last time I’d
ever see the vampire who’d irrevocably captured my heart.

Want to find out what
happens next with Eve and Jericho?

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Blood Lust
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Love,

Charity