Page 57 of Accidental Blood Lust
My heart flutters in my chest. “And he was the most beautiful anything I’d ever seen.”
“Were you in wolf form?” Loch asks.
“Yes,” Rome says.
“And glorious. He was huge and so majestic, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew he was there to help; I could see it in his eyes.”
“And then what?” Loch asks.
“I carried him to my packmates, to the den where we lived. They agreed he could stay and we would nurse him back to health. We hunted and brought him food,” Rome says.
“And the best spring water I’ve ever tasted.”
Roman smiles wistfully. “He had so much will to live. When he was better, he told us the story.”
“Vampires,” Loch says softly. “That’s who attacked you?”
I nod as the pain of that memory rips through me again. “Ever since that moment, I’ve had a deep hatred and mistrust for their kind. I’ve tried not to hold it against the entire species, but in my experience, they are indiscriminate killers with no regard for mortal lives.”
“There are exceptions,” Roman says, squeezing my hand again.
“Roman tried to find them for me.”
He grumbles, shaking his head. “They left the area, but if they cross me, I’ll know it. Jareth’s scent will linger.”
“Even after all this time?” Loch asks.
Roman nods. “I scented them all over the area, and it’s a scent I’ll never forget as long as I live,” he growls.
“Then we’ll find them and kill them,” Loch says simply, and my heart swells with love for my ridiculous, impulsive vampire.
“You can’t do that, Loch,” I murmur, stroking my fingers through his hair.
Roman shakes his head. “No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Vampires cannot kill other vampires without council approval or, in rare cases, a war.”
“There’s a vampire council? No one told me that.”
“Your maker told you nothing, so that’s not a surprise.”
Roman growls in response, agreeing with me.
“What would happen if I did?”
“You’d become a target, an outcast. Any vampire would have approval to kill you in retribution.”
“Well, that’s fucked up,” he mumbles. “So, they can hurt you and get away with it?”
“Darling, I am not a vampire. I am nothing to them. They broke no rules.”
His anger swirls thick around him, his eyes flashing red and his fangs descending. “You are everything. You are my home. I can’t just let it go.”
Roman nuzzles Loch’s neck, whispering something I can’t hear, and whatever he says, it has a deeply soothing effect on our love. Loch’s eyes soften as he reaches for my hand.
“I’m so sorry. Obviously, I had no idea, and I made a reckless decision, but it was never meant to hurt you. I wanted desperately to be close to you, closer in a way I couldn’t get without changing. When I saw you and Roman together, I could feel the connection there, and I thought it was because you’re magic and he’s a wolf. But now I think it was just love.”
