Blood Moon, Original Version (Shifters #1) (3 page)

             
Beside him, another tunnel opened up, and he could hear the sound of movement. Slowly, he made his way into the tunnel concentrating on the noises coming from it. Being cautious, he moved slowly as the noise came closer.

             
He was picking up the faint sound of a heartbeat, only vampires didn’t have beating hearts.

             
“Maxine?” Had she moved from where he told her to stay? There was no answer.

             
Then he heard a scream, Maxine had moved, and now she was in danger again.

Chapter Nine

             
Someone had said her name in the tunnel. She had felt there was someone in there with her. She didn’t know if it was Nate or not, but there was no way she was sticking around to find out.

             
Running in bare feet was not easy, but running in the heels she had discarded earlier would have been harder in the catacomb tunnels. Seeing a dim light up ahead, Maxine rushed down the tunnel towards it. Hopefully she had finally found a way out; she had had enough of the underground network of tunnels under the city.

             
Relief rushed over her as she made her way into the light. She picked up her speed and rushed out of the tunnel and tried to regain some of her composure.

             
A door that stood in front of her came into view. Reaching her hand up to the knob, two cold arms came down around her pulling her back away from the door.

             
Immediately stilled with fear, Maxine looked down at the arms that held her and knew at once they didn’t belong to Nate. There was no warmth to this flesh.

             
Slowly she looked up into the face of her captor; red eyes looked back at her along with a smile that clearly showed two protruding fangs. Maxine’s heart stopped.

             
She was in the clutches of the vampires, and Nate was nowhere around.

             
A sob broke from her lips as she looked up at her captor knowing the danger she was in.

             
“Hello there my child.” He acknowledged, but there was no compassion in the vampire’s eyes. All that was present was the hunger and thirst for human blood.

             
The vampire hissed and pushed her head to the side exposing her neck. Lunging forward, it went for the pulsing vein.

             
The second scream came even louder and shriller than the first one. The sound tore through the catacombs and met Nate’s ears. He never had a second thought, he only ran in the direction of Maxine.

             
Making his way through the catacombs, Nate came face to face with the vampire. The creature was illuminated by a light, the torch lying on the ground next to Maxine’s bare feet. The vampire held her in its grip, its arms holding her squirming body.

             
Nate changed into his werewolf form and leapt towards the vampire. Trying not to hurt Maxine, he pushed her against the wall.

             
Immediately they were surrounded by several other vampires lying in wait. Maxine was trapped on the other side of the room.

             
Nate took out the first vampire with ease, and then the second. The vampire lunged at him. Its fangs made contact with Nate’s flesh. Nate’s claws extended and his razor sharp teeth were bared. Blood lust took over and all thought of reason escaped his mind.

             
The vampire gripped down on Nate’s arm, its fangs soon followed. Picking up the vampire, Nate flung the creature across the room smashing it into a nearby wall. The vampire only got back up and rushed towards Nate again.

             
He laughed at the stupidity of the vampire’s actions, but the creature only charged and bit down into Nate’s flesh once more. The vampires bite had no effect on the werewolf and succeeded in only intensifying his rage.

             
Nate had enough of the game. Taking his clawed hand he shoved it through the vampire’s heart ending its attack. As one vampire went down in a flaming pile of ash, he went on to the next one, taking them out one by one.

             
A scream echoed through the room, it had come from Maxine.

             
Several other vampires now flooded into the room from every direction from the tunnels.

Chapter Ten

             
Nate struck the first vampire dropping it to the ground while grabbing another that he swung at a group of the oncoming creatures. The vampire’s body only succeeded in knocking down maybe half of the undead.

             
Nate fought with everything that he had, his only weapons were strength, teeth and claws. He was the fastest and best fighter of the brotherhood, which was one of the reasons he had been chosen to lead the pack.

             
A frightened squeal came from Maxine; one of the vampires had managed to get to her. With terror in her eyes, she looked straight Nate pleading.

             
She had seen him change and knew what he was, but she still looked to him to help her.

             
Nate was a werewolf. It was the one sure thing that Maxine knew before she was hauled towards another side of the room against her will by the blood thirsty vampire. Screaming, she scratched and clawed the vampire with her nails trying to break free.

             
Nate was a werewolf, and she was surrounded by vampires, and was now in the clutches of another. How had she been thrown in the middle of this nightmarish mess?

             
She was suddenly thrown against the wall. Pain shot through her entire body. Shutting her eyes, she tried to bare back the pain. Nate would not be able to get to her; he was surrounded by more than a dozen vampires fighting for his own life.

             
From across the room, their eyes locked, each knowing the urgency and danger of the other. With just a look he let her know that she was not alone, not to give up.

             
But she saw the number that said what they were up against. They were outnumbered and had nowhere to go. Maxine knew she would have to fight for her life; she was not prepared to die, not like this.

             
Bracing herself against the wall, she fought to bring herself up to full height. Her bare feet were bleeding and were covered in cuts, but she blocked the pain from her mind. It would not be long until the scent of her blood attracted the vampires in her direction.

             
Maxine almost didn’t see the oncoming attack until it was too late. Ducking at the last minute, the vampire’s fist hit the stone wall behind Maxine allowing her to gain a few steps out of its reach only to back into the clutches of another vampire. The whole situation was as if she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

             
Nate had not seen as he was too busy fighting his own battle. He never even saw when the vampire started dragging Maxine out of the room.

Chapter Eleven

             
Maxine screamed and brought Nate’s attention to her. “Maxine!” Nate yelled her name as he was being charged by two vampires on each side.

             
Literally trying to rip the flesh from the vampire that was now dragging her from the room, she dug and gouged her nails deep into its skin. Nothing mattered that she did, the vampire would not release her.

             
Desperate, Maxine fought with every ounce of energy she had left in her. She was suddenly knocked from the clutches of the vampire only to be knocked hard against the floor. She rolled over to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs only to be thrown further across the room.

             
All around her, the room spun as she tried to adjust her sight. Then without warning, her body was slammed hard against the floor again. She was not able to raise her body off the ground this time. Nate was with her now shielding her body with his own.

             
Chaos still engulfed the room as danger was still very much present and their lives were still both at stake.

             
The vampires began filing out of the room emptying it in mere seconds. Maxine could find no explanation for the sudden action, but it did bring her some well needed relief.

             
Nate remained in place shielding Maxine. He was also thrown off from the sudden retreat of the vampires. He did not dare move and leave the woman unprotected.

             
As if forgetting the danger they had just faced a few short moments ago, Nate stared down at the woman he was laying on top of. Taking his hand, he caressed her face and brushed the loose strands of hair from her eyes.

             
It was just the two of them, and that’s all that mattered right now.

             
His pack would never take kindly to their leader acting in the way he was now. To them, taking up with a woman was a big taboo and just looking for trouble in their book. They would never forgive him for such actions and would never see him as the leader they expected him to be. He would be looked at as an outcast, not fit enough to lead the pack.

             
He was aware of all of this information, knew the consequences, and knew that if he allowed what happened earlier to repeat itself, there would be no turning back.

             
But damn he just didn’t care, he wanted this woman.

             
Nate brought his lips to hers and kissed her passionately.

             
Nate teased her lips with his. Maxine didn’t care if he was a werewolf at this moment, although she knew she should be screaming her head off. Nate wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. He was not as rough as he had been earlier, now he was taking his time to explore her. Fires of passion ignited in Maxine.

             
Maxine wondered if she was losing her mind, after everything they had just endured, how could they give in to making love right here on a hard cold floor?

             
But the hell with it, Maxine parted her mouth allowing Nate to slip his talented tongue into her mouth. As they allowed their hands to roam over each other’s bodies, they both became more sexually aroused.

             
The world around them disappeared, as Maxine’s only thought was now on Nate. There was only the here and now.

Chapter Twelve

              Maxine inhaled the masculine scent of Nate. All fear was gone and replaced by the urgency of a lust her body was once more ready to give into.

             
Nate caressed and held her in his strong arms tenderly. The catacombs vanished, all she knew, wanted and needed was right here with Nate.

             
Maxine felt protected and safe, and more than that, she felt wanted. She needed to feel as if someone wanted her, cared for her. She was tired of always having to be the one that everyone leaned on, having to give up everything about her while getting nothing in return. She was just tired of being used, and then discarded like a distant memory.

             
Nate kissed her passionately; she met his lips with her own passionate kiss. An urge of primal need ripped through her, into every part of her. His hand trailed over her flesh, magically setting off every nerve ending.

             
Nate nibbled at her bottom lip in a teasing fashion, urging her to open her mouth to him. Shivers ran down her spine as she arched her body to meet his. But all too sudden he stopped his foreplay.

             
Anxiety rose in her, and her heart began to beat rapidly. He was stopping, but she couldn’t figure out why. The atmosphere around them changed and her heart raced as confusion rolled over her.

             
She dug her fingers into his hair and forced him to look at her. A sense of pain overwhelmed her as she became afraid he was going to reject her. She needed him to wash away her pain and the memory of the nightmare she was stuck in and couldn’t wake up from.