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  “Hi, Theo. What does Alyssa look like and how did she go missing?” Wes doesn’t seem like the type to let his mate out of his sight if he didn’t think it was safe.

  “Bel.” He sounds surprised to hear my voice. “I told him you wouldn’t know who she was, let alone what might have happened to her. She was at Misty’s last night. She’s about your height with long, red curly hair. Sometime during your time as being a wolf, she went to the ladies room and never came back.”

  “Sorry. The only time I saw her was when we came back from the office. She was at the bar with Wesley. I didn’t see anything on the way home.”

  “I know. I followed you remember? I didn’t see anything and told him as much. There was no need for him to bother you.” I can hear the anger in his voice.

  “It’s okay, he’s just worried. Do you think it could be the person that took the vamps and Paddy?” I smile apologetically at Emmanuel, assuming he must be pissed that I’m on the phone on our date. He doesn’t even acknowledge my smile. He’s too engrossed in my side of the conversation to notice.

  “Unfortunately, it’s looking that way. She wouldn’t just leave and not be in touch with anyone by now. Even when they argue and she storms out she always tells him where she is going.” Theo’s voice is full of concern.

  The waitress arrives with our food and drinks. Emmanuel tucks straight into his burger.

  “God. I hope you find her.” If it is the same person that took the others someone needs to do something about them. They can’t be invisible. Someone has got to have seen something. I would hate to be Theo right now. As alpha, it all lands on his shoulders.

  “We will find them all. I won’t have it any other way! In the meantime, will you make me a promise? Ring me every hour to check in. I need to know you’re safe. I couldn’t bear you being taken,” he says, with a voice full of honesty.

  “They won’t be interested in me, I’m not pack.” I stab a piece of lettuce with my fork and slide it in my mouth as I listen to his reply.

  “You are my mate and that makes you pack. If anyone is trying to get to me that makes you on the top of their list. The tie to Dominick could make them interested too. They’ve taken two of his vamps so they could be trying to get to him too. I don’t like the thought of that. Maybe I should put a guard on you.” The last sentence was said more to himself.

  I agree quickly. “I promise. I will check in every hour.”

  I don’t want a guard on me.

  “WESLEY!” he shouts away from the phone. “Bel, I’ve got to go, Wesley is picking a fight, with Chloe, of all people.”

  “Bye,” I say to the dial tone. I place my phone on the table and have a large swig of coffee.

  “I’m guessing another pack member has gone missing,” Emmanuel states.

  I chew a mouthful of chicken before answering. “Yeah, last night. I don’t know what Theo is going to do but it isn’t going to be good for whoever is taking them—not when he finds them.”

  He turns the conversation to mindless banter as I finish the rest of my meal. The waitress collects our empty plates. “Can I get you anything else?”

  I need to end this with Emmanuel—whatever this is.

  “Another coffee, please?” I reply, with a nod.

  She looks at Emanuel for his order. “Nothing for me, thanks.”

  I wait until the waitress places my coffee in front of me and leaves again before talking. “Look, Emmanuel. I don’t know how to say this, or where to start, so I am just going to be blunt and honest, okay?”

  “O-k-a-y?” He sounds wary.

  “I think it would be better if we are just friends. You know about me and Theo being true mates? Well—”

  He cuts me off before I can finish my sentence. “That’s just your wolves. They’re only a part of you. Not all of you.”

  “That’s not how mates work, Emmanuel. We are meant for each other on all levels. We are the missing piece of each other. I didn’t know any of this until yesterday. I just can’t feel anything other than friendship towards you and you deserve more than that from a relationship.”

  He stares at me dumbfounded.

  I don’t know what else to say so I offer him my hand in a handshake over the table. “So…friends?”

  He glances down at my hand. I can feel anger emanating from him but he takes it with a false smile. “Friends.”

  This is, no doubt, going to bite me on the arse later but for now, I’ll take it as a win.

  Sixteen

  ALLIES ATTACK

  ROSABEL

  As we open up at work I fill Misty in on Benji leaving, and my decision about Emmanuel. I was worried about how she’d react because he is her friend, but thankfully, she agreed that I’d done the right thing by him.

  I was just going out the back door with my arms full of rubbish bags when I get hit by a wall of anger. I can’t see over the bag so I use my other sense, smell. Taking a deep breath, I pick up three scents; Dominick’s, Paddy’s, and a female werewolf I don’t recognise.

  Letting the bags down as quietly as possible, I slowly creep out deeper into the alleyway. It takes me a moment to comprehend what exactly I’m seeing. Paddy and Alyssa have both jumped Dominick. Alyssa is on his back and Paddy is attacking him from the front.

  Dominick grunts as Alyssa claws at his neck with her nails. He flings her off and she hits a bin with a thud. He then turns his focus on Paddy, pushing him away. I can see he’s trying not to hurt them. He could easily kill them if he wasn’t holding back. He isn’t the King of the New South Wales vampires for nothing.

  Within seconds, there are no longer three people in the alley before me. There are two great big wolves and Dominick. They both pounce at him again, but he’s still not fighting back. I watch as they both start tearing chunks out of his limbs.

  I can’t just stand and watch this.

  I quickly remove my clothes, not wanting them destroyed as I shift. If I get through this fight in one piece I don’t really want to have to walk into Misty’s naked. Once my wolf comes forward, she takes me through the shift fairly quickly. I don’t have time to get hung up on the pain. I need to help Dominick.

  I run at Alyssa and sink my teeth into the fur on her back. I manage to pull her off Dominick, flinging her a good three feet away. I take a second to hope Dominick can handle Paddy on his own before readying myself in a crouch to pounce at her.

  I watch as she mirrors my crouch. Her back legs brace to pounce only she doesn’t. She freezes and just stares at me. I reach out for her emotions hoping to get some clue as to why she hasn’t followed through the attack, only to feel nothing. She isn’t feeling one single emotion. As I’m staring her down trying to decide what to do, she turns and sprints away.

  I watch her run until she is out of sight. I don’t want her changing her mind and coming back for a surprise attack while my back is turned. Happy that she isn’t returning, I turn to help Dominick against Paddy, only to find Dominick in a heap on the floor and Paddy tearing at his body as if it was a delicious deer. Surely vampires don’t taste that good. Their stink makes me gag enough I don’t want to attempt tasting them.

  I growl to get Paddy’s attention as I stalk towards him. He’ll probably think I am after his meal and defend it, taking his attention away from what’s left of Dominick and focusing solely on me. We are very territorial over our food. Only once he sees me, he chooses to leave his meal and retreat in the same direction Alyssa had.

  I trot over to Dominick and nudge his face with my muzzle.

  “I’ll be okay once I feed,” Dominick mumbles.

  I lick one of the wounds on his arm and regret it instantly, bloody animal instincts. I was correct, vampires taste as bad as they smell. I feel a grip of steel around my left flank. I turn and get a glimpse of another vampire before I am soaring through the air.

  “No!” yells Dominick.

  There is nothing I can do to stop the momentum. I hit the side of a building with a thud and a loud cr
ack sounds in my ears as I’m propelled into darkness.

  I slowly start to come around. I can hear a mumbling but can’t make out what exactly is being said. I concentrate trying to recognise the voice. Dominick.

  “She saved me you idiot! I’d be dead if not for her, and what do you do? Thank her by throwing her at a brick wall.” I feel hands roam my body, looking for injuries.

  “Sorry, boss. Look. She’s waking up,” says a voice I don’t recognise.

  “Rosabel. Can you hear me? It’s Dominick.” The hands on my body stop roaming to gently cradle my face.

  I slowly open my eyes and find Dominick centimetres away from my face. All I can see is the deep endless pools of black that are his eyes. I know you’re not meant to look a vampire in the eyes because they can take over your mind and enslave you, but I can’t seem to tear my eyes away. His eyes are just so beautiful.

  “You need to change back to your human form so we can see what injuries you have,” Dominick says with surprising concern.

  I close my eyes and try to ignore the pain in my head. I concentrate with everything I have to push my wolf back and return to my human form. Thankfully she doesn’t fight and the change is fairly painless. I open my eyes and can no longer see my furry snout.

  Dominick is standing with his trench coat spread out around me. I stay tightly curled to try and hide my nakedness. He nudges a pile of clothes towards me with the toe of his shiny dress shoes.

  “Here. I got your clothes. Get dressed. No one can see.” I look at him with a frown, “Okay. No one except me, but I’ve seen it now so there is no point in turning around.”

  I guess he has a point.

  I slowly sit up, which is not a good idea. Everything starts to spin and the nausea hits. I need to get dressed. I try to ignore the spinning and nausea, but have you ever tried to get dressed when the world is spinning? It is such a hard task to get your limbs into the right holes in your clothing when they won’t stay still. Somehow, I finally manage to get fully dressed.

  Dominick drops his arms and secures his coat once again. I see the vampire that threw me at the wall standing behind Dominick. He’s tall, lanky, and wearing a neon yellow t-shirt under a black leather waistcoat with black leather trousers that leave nothing to the imagination. I’m surprised the lack of circulation doesn’t cause permanent damage. His short bleached blonde hair and blue eyes remind me of Spike from the TV show Buffy. The more I stare at him, the more I realise he is attractive in his own way.

  “I’m sorry about that.” He shrugs, pointing to the wall that’s now decorated with a nice crack in the mortar. “I thought you were attacking, Dominick.”

  I suddenly remember the state Dominick was in before I hit the wall. I glance at him, now standing tall and looking as strong as ever. If I hadn’t just witnessed the fight and seen the state he was in, not to mention the tears in his clothing, I wouldn’t believe he’d been in a fight.

  “How do you look so good? You looked like death warmed up a minute ago.” Realising who and what I am talking to I quickly add, “Well, you know what I mean.”

  Dominick looks over to where he had been in a heap on the floor. My gaze follows his and falls upon a woman who seems to be staring at Dominick, smiling as though she is getting high just looking at him. The sight of her is quite disturbing.

  I quickly look back at Dominick. “Where did she come from?”

  “When Chomp saw the state I was in, he extracted her from the street.” I’m guessing Lanky Leathers is Chomp. Interesting name choice.

  I can’t stop myself from glancing back at the woman. “Will she be okay? She looks a little…high.” I couldn’t think of a better word, maybe star-struck would have been more fitting.

  “She’s fine. It’s the compulsion. I didn’t have time to let her go; I needed to check on you. Chomp, you may release her now.”

  Chomp follows his order immediately, kneeling down in front of the woman. I watch as he turns her face from looking at Dominick, when their eyes meet she gazes at him for no longer than thirty seconds before becoming a normal person. She takes Chomp’s hand, politely thanks him and walks away without a glance in our direction.

  Dominick’s hand appears in front of me and I reluctantly take it. I don’t think I would manage to get up otherwise.

  My head pounds. I put my free hand to my head hoping I can’t feel my brain falling out. Satisfied it all feels normal, I pull my hand away to see it covered in blood. That means I’m not going to be able to go straight back to work. At the very least, I need a shower and change of clothes first.

  The three of us walk in the back door of Misty’s. Dominick is practically holding me up, my jelly legs aren’t much use. Not only is Misty going to kill me for having to go home for a shower and change, but she’s going to dance on my grave for bringing customers through the back door.

  As we walk through the door leading into the bar, Misty catches sight of me and gasps.

  “Bloody hell! What happened to you?” she asks.

  The whole bar suddenly falls silent and I know without looking around, that every eye in the bar is on me. I must look as bad as I feel.

  Theo comes running over from the far end of the bar.

  “LET HER GO!” he yells. “What the hell did you do to her?”

  “If I let go of her, she will probably fall down and I didn’t do anything to her. You need to speak to some of your wolves. She wouldn’t be injured if they hadn’t attacked me.” I hear the smugness in his voice. No doubt his face looks just as smug.

  Theo gently pulls me away from Dominick and into his own embrace. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Theo, he’s right. I was there.” Turning in his arms, I tell him everything that happened in the alley.

  While Theo takes it all in we move to a booth, and Dominick gives us his theory. “It looks to me like your wolves have gone rogue, oh mighty alpha.”

  “Dammit Drake. Now is not the time for jokes,” Theo chastises. “Alyssa wouldn’t be able to go rogue. She’s mated to Wesley. When you’re mated you have that other wolf’s energy connected to your own. The only way a mated wolf could go rogue is if both of them go rogue.”

  As if summoned by the mention of his name, Wesley charges into the bar, aiming straight for our table.

  “ALYSSA! What’s happened to Alyssa? Her scent is all over the two of you,” he growls accusingly.

  “Wesley. You’re lucky they didn’t do anything to her. She attacked them.” Theo’s voice is full of authority, making it hard to argue with.

  “No. She wouldn’t do that,” Wes says unbelievingly, yet defeated, his Alpha wouldn’t lie to him.

  “Whether she would or she wouldn’t, she did. We need to find out why? Go see if you can track her scent out the back. That’s where it all happened. Billy, go with him,” Theo orders.

  Billy appears out of nowhere, but more-than-likely he was somewhere else in the bar, listening in to the conversation, like all the other wolves were.

  As they exit through the back of the bar, a grief-stricken Emmanuel enters through the front doors. He glances around looking for someone. His eyes land on me, widening in horror. He barges through the pack members surrounding the table all while muttering, “I’m sorry.”

  Please don’t let him be here to beg for us to try again. I really don’t need that while my head is pounding, especially not in front of the bar full of the pack.

  He crouches down beside me and reaches for my face, gently caressing my head wound.

  “I just heard. You shouldn’t be hurt.” Turning his attention to Theo, who is still holding me against his warm body. “What good are you as her mate if you can’t protect her? Let alone from your own wolves.”

  “Emmanuel!” I jump to Theo’s defence.

  “No, Bel. He’s right. You should never have come to harm and from my own pack members. Forgive me,” Theo says, placing a kiss on the uninjured side of my head.

  “There is nothing to fo
rgive,” I say, giving him a peck on the lips and not caring who sees. “Paddy and Alyssa didn’t hurt me. I can’t say the same for Dominick though.”

  “But your head, and all the blood?” Emmanuel asks, drawing my attention back to him.

  “That’s my fault,” Chomp admits, stepping up to the table beside Dominick. “She’s lucky the new law came in saying only Dominick or Theodore can kill another supernatural being because I would have killed her otherwise.”

  Theo’s hand, resting on my waist, gently squeezes. “I’m taking you home; you need to get cleaned up.”

  I look towards Misty who is still serving behind the bar. She is just hanging the phone back on the wall bracket. “I’ll be real quick, Misty.”

  “Don’t even try it. You can’t work with a concussion. You’re not coming back in tonight. Lucy is on her way.” I return the smile she is giving me and Theo gently lifts me into his arms.

  “I can walk,” I complain, not sounding too convincing. I quite like being held in my mates strong arms.

  “Don’t argue!” he demands, making his way through the bar doors and towards his gorgeous car. He opens the car door while holding me with one arm. That’s werewolf strength for you. We can bench press a car. He’s not going to have trouble holding me in one arm. He places me in the passenger seat and buckles me in. I don’t complain, knowing his wolf will need the reassurance.

  Just as he indicates to pull away from the curb, the Bad Boys theme song starts playing. He turns the indicator off and puts the car back in neutral before reaching into his jeans pocket and taking his phone out. He answers it without looking at the screen. “Hello.”

  I stare straight ahead out the windscreen, trying my hardest to give him privacy and not listen in on the conversation. With my hearing I can hear the other side of the conversation, no matter how hard I try, and he knows it. His hearing is just the same.

  “Theo. I’m scared. I think someone is outside.” The sexy female voice on the other end of the phone makes me forget all about not listening. If he wanted a private conversation, he would end the call and ring back after he has dropped me off at home.