VAMPIRE Wolf

Chapter Five

Sven

The tall, mind-numbingly handsome stranger with the black hair and golden gaze is gone as soon as he appeared, leaving a gaping void in my soul that I can’t possibly explain without the word “imprint.” It’s something I was sure would never happen to me, despite longing for it, yet here it is in all its unmistakable glory, leaving me weak-kneed and s*x-starved just a few days after I got off my plane.

His masculine, loamy scent lingers in my lungs. Vampire. How could I imprint on a vampire? Is that even possible?

My parents stare up at me with stern, concerned faces and I realize my mouth is still hanging open. I close it and shake my head to clear my lovesick mind.

“Something wrong?” asks Mom, all innocently like she has no idea what just happened. There’s fury in her eyes.

“N-no, not at all,” I reply, my words dry on my tongue. “Sorry, I just didn’t feel well all of a sudden.”

She seems to relax, but I don’t stick around to find out if the half-truth worked to satiate her sharp motherly instincts. I rush to the bathroom and close the door so they’ll think I’m getting sick, but in reality, I’m stripping down so my wolf can sail out the window and pursue the man my soul has decided to fixate itself on. I have to at least know his name. I have to know if he felt the same thing I did.

I land on the short length of roof outside the bathroom door and my paws scrabble for purchase on the shingles, tearing long white rivulets in the slate gray finish. I crouch, briefly judging the distance from the roof to the ground before I leap down. Mud splashes my chest and face when my paws hit the grass, but I barely notice. All I care about is the black Mustang peeling out of our driveway.

Wait!I cry in my mind’s voice as I chase the car down the driveway. Come back! Please!

Sven!Eric’s voice bellows. I barely have time to react before a massive blond wolf cuts me off, mud spraying around him as he slides to a stop in front of me. I crash into him, but even though the impact sends me sprawling in the grass, he doesn’t budge.

He advances on me, the fur on his strong neck and back bristling. The normally quiet man looks every bit the alpha wolf he is. What’s gotten into you? Who are you running after? he growls, stopping only when he’s standing over me, eclipsing what little of the sun is visible through the clouds.

Mind your own business,I snap, scrambling out from under him only to run into Anders, who seems to have come out of nowhere. Then again, they’re always together.

What happened there on the stairs? Anders presses, his eyes wide with confusion and concern. Do you know that guy? The vampire?

No,I mutter. I just… I’ve never seen a vampire that close before. I wanted to get a better look.

Is that why were you calling out to him like a lost pup?Eric asks, baring his fangs in a grimace of disgust.

I wasn’t,I say flatly.

You were, Anders counters.

Prove it,I challenge, raising my head and tail high in a show of dominance I’m sure the huge wolves find downright pathetic. Sure enough, they look at each other and laugh.

Get real,says Eric.

I curl my lips back and show my teeth in the most menacing snarl I can muster up. Anders steps back, but not because he seems intimidated. It’s because he thinks I’m crazy. I can see it in his eyes.

Eric is unaffected. He probably compelled you. They can do that with just a glance.

They can?I ask warily.

Of course, says Anders, his shoulders sagging with relief now that he has an explanation for my strange behavior. That’s how they keep their prey quiet when they hunt. Mind control. It’s twisted.

I cast a glance down our long driveway, toward the direction the vampire drove. Maybe he’s right and that’s all it was. But it felt so much deeper than a simple compulsion. It was like everything in my life suddenly made sense, because it all led up to me being there at the same time he was. It all led to that brief, fated meeting.

Come on, brother,says Eric, pushing into me affectionately. He’s soft and gentle again. It’s hard to imagine that just a few minutes ago he was acting like he wanted to take a bite out of my throat. Let’s go in. We’ll cover for you.

How are you going to cover for me?I mutter.

I’ll say you were getting some fresh air and fell out the window,he says with a playful swish of his tail. You always were clumsy.

With the two wolves flanking me, I feel less like I’m being led into the house and more like I’m being herded, but complaining about it isn’t going to get me anywhere. We pad into the house and Anders shakes off, spraying mud all over the walls. Mom screams at him as I dart up the stairs, unnoticed.

Crisis averted.

Then why do I feel like it’s just begun?