Page 10 of Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)
"You have a mate out there, Vane, and whether you're Arcadian or Katagaria, you know the one law that governs us all. Your mate's safety comes above all else."
Colt was right and Vane knew it. The animal inside him was already straining at the human half of him. It wanted its mate. It demanded it.
Normally the human and animal parts of himself coexisted in a delicate balance. Hormones and stress could easily disturb that balance, and then he became truly dangerous. If the animal took control of him Many of his kind, both male and female, lost themselves to that animal half.
Unable to handle it, they went mad from it and became ruthless slayers who killed anything or anyone who crossed them. It was similar to a rabies infection and there was no cure for it.
That was why the Arcadians had Sentinels. Their job was to track and kill those who couldn't control their animal soul. Slayers. Of course, the Arcadians as a rule were rather liberal when applying the term "slayer" to one of his people.
Pretty much any Katagari who crossed their path was usually classified as a slayer with or without evidence.
"Go, Vane," Colt said, urging him toward the door.
The bear was right. There was no use fighting his nature. It was a battle he could never win.
He handed Colt the towel and quickly left the bar.
Out on the street, Vane made sure no one could see him and then flashed himself into wolf form. Unlike his brother, he was a solid white timber wolf. He was also bigger, weighing in at one hundred and forty pounds.
It was why his pack mates had feared him most in his animal state. As powerful as they were, he was more so. And he didn't follow rank the way the others did.
Animal he might be, but at the end of the day even though he denied it, he had enough human in him to refuse to follow anyone docilely.
He was a born alpha and everyone around him knew it.
Vane sprinted through the streets of New Orleans, careful to stay to the shadows of the darkening evening. He'd learned long ago that humans had a tendency to make him out to be a large dog if they saw him, but still the last thing he needed was a dogcatcher after him.
He had a long history of animal-control encounters. None of which had ever been good for the humans.
It didn't take him long to return to Iberville and the Acme Oyster House where he'd left Bride. Rising up on his hind legs to stand against the glass, he peered inside to see her seated with two other women.
One had dark auburn hair and a ragged scar down the side of her face. If not for the ghastly mark, she would have been exceptionally attractive. The other one was a very pretty brunette who shared similar features.
However, neither of the skinny women appealed to him.
Only Bride did. The sight of her cut through him intensely, making him ache with need. She might claim to be human, but there was more magic in her smile than his entire wolf pack possessed.
She was absolutely beguiling and those lips did the most amazing things to his body.
To his heart The three women were talking and laughing while they finished a platter of oysters. None of them seemed to notice anything different about Bride.
Maybe she wasn't his mate, after all.
But that was a futile thought. The mark only appeared after a Were-Hunter had had sex with his mate, and usually within a short time frame. Vane hadn't been with any other woman for months now.
There was no one else it could be.
Her hand markings should match his exactlythey were emblems that showed his parental lineage and could only be read by another of his kind.
But then again maybe it was different because Bride was human. What if the mating mark wasn't binding on a human female?
He went cold with that thought.
He would be screwed. Literally.
The only hope he would ever have for a family rested in his ability to claim his mate.
But she must be willing Bride and her friends got up and headed out of the restaurant. Vane crouched low as he tried to decide what to do.
"I'm telling you, Bride," the brunette said as she led the way out into the street, "our sister Tia can hex anyone. Say the word and we'll turn Taylor into a eunuch."
Bride laughed at that. "Don't tempt me."
The scarred redhead stopped as she caught sight of him in the shadows.
"Hey there, big boy," she said kindly, holding her hand out for him to sniff. "Want Tabby to scratch you behind your ears?"
"Tabitha!" the other woman snapped. "Leave the strays alone. I swear, one day you're going to get rabies."
"He doesn't have rabies," Bride said.
"See," the one called Tabitha said. "And the daughter of the vet should know."
Bride held her hand out to him.
Vane went to her immediately and sniffed her hand. Her scent went through him, piercing and hot, along with images of what she'd looked like in complete surrender to him. The sounds of her pleasure Nosing her fingers, he forced her to open them so that he could see his worst fears confirmed. She was marked.
Damn.
What was he going to do now?
"He likes you, Bride."
Tabitha had no idea just how true her words were.
"I think he likes her leftovers," Mina said with a laugh.
Bride knelt down while she stroked his ears. She cupped his head and examined him carefully. "I think he's a wolf."
"A wolf?" Tabitha asked. "Are you nuts? How did a wolf get in the city? Besides, he's way too big for a wolf."
"You are a big boy, aren't you?" Bride said as Vane nuzzled her face. She looked up at her friend. "Contrary to popular opinion, Tabby, wolves are the largest of the canines. But I think he might be some kind of mixed blood."
If she only knew She stood up and started off with her friends.
Vane followed. In wolf form, it was compulsory. His human half had very little control now. He could still understand and listen, but his animal ruled him in this state.
So long as he was in his current body, he was feral and lethal.
Bride had the strangest feeling down her spine. She paused and looked back over her shoulder to find the white wolf following behind her. She could swear his eyes were an exact match for Vane's hazel green, and the way he looked at her At them It was as if he understood exactly what they were saying and doing.
It was really weird.
Tabitha and Mina walked her back to her shop.
"You sure you don't want to spend the night over at my place?" Mina asked.
"I can easily kick my guy out."
"Or my apartment," Tabitha offered. "I have no guy to kick out, and since my twin absconded with my dog and Allison wanted to find a saner, safer bunkmate, I have all the room in the world."
"I thought Maria was living with you now?" Mina asked.
"Nah," Tabitha said. "Her stuff is there, but she's been spending all her time at her boyfriend's house. I never see her anymore."
Bride smiled at their kindness. "It's okay, guys. I have to get used to being alone again. Really. I just want to curl up with a good book and put him out of my mind."
But what disturbed her most was that all she had to do was think of Vane and all thoughts of Taylor went flying out of her head.
