T. A. Grey Read online

  She sniffed the air around him and then stood up straight, all traces of sleep gone in an instant. “Vampire.” There was no question in her tone.

  Again, he nodded and struggled to remember why he came here. On closer inspection, he realized she wasn’t as stunning as he thought. She was pretty, no doubt about that, but it was a subtle beauty. The longer he looked at her, the more he realized just how pretty she was; she had a look that settled deep inside him. Her nose was pert, chin small and delicate, lips wide and slender. He’d love to see her in paint. The thought shocked him hard enough to make him remember why he was here.

  “Vane sent me. His mate’s in labor.”

  Her mouth dropped and eyes went wild. “Why the hell didn’t you say so?” She ran into the house and a moment later returned wearing a pair of jeans and a baggy shirt. She didn’t have shoes on. She pushed him to get past and closed the door behind her.

  She looked at him when he only stood there. “Well come on!” She raced off towards the alpha’s house. Dmetri followed her. It wasn’t necessary at this point and he really did not intend to be in the same room, or even the same house, while Sarina gave birth, but he found himself following along anyway. She ran with quick steps, her ponytailed hair slapping her back as she moved.

  They reached Vane’s house and she barged in without knocking. Curious, he followed after her even though he just told himself he wouldn’t.

  A male shout and the woman’s hard voice brought him up the stairs quickly. He entered the bedroom and saw several other females there. Vera, he recognized. The other he scented as a vampire and had red hair; the woman beside her had long chestnut hair. They surrounded Sarina taking turns letting her squeeze the hell out of their hands.

  Vane stood erect at the wall, his face a hard mask as he watched his mate.

  “When did her water break?” asked the healer. She climbed onto the bed and opened Sarina’s legs to get a look. Dmetri immediately turned around and left the room. He stayed on the other side of the wall so he could listen. He almost laughed, he hadn’t been this curious in a long time.

  “About fifteen minutes ago.”

  The healer’s voice was calm as she took charge of the situation. She ordered the girls to get supplies, towels, and water.

  * * *

  Chaos reigned. Screams and shouts exploded at frantic intervals.

  There was a complication with the birth.

  Panic threatened to make Christine’s hands shake, but she controlled it—barely. Sarina was losing blood at an incredible rate. If she couldn’t stop it, she’d die.

  Vane drew in hard breaths, his face on the edge of violence. “What’s happening?”

  “The baby’s coming but she’s losing a lot of blood.” Somehow her voice didn’t shake when she said it.

  “Stop it,” he ordered.

  Christine ignored him. “All right Sarina, I want you to push really hard on this one.” Sarina screamed until her face turned red as she pushed. An awful amount of blood came but Christine knew the baby had dropped down and was close. Just a little more.

  “Why is she bleeding so much?” Vane shouted.

  Christine kept her voice calm. “I think the placenta tore or it’s a clot. I can’t be sure.” Panting, Sarina braced herself then screamed again as she pushed. But Sarina was weakening from the blood loss and the push wasn’t very strong. Christine prayed the baby would come through but it didn’t. She wiped the sweat from her brow and grabbed another towel to soak up the blood.

  Vane came towards her, a mad look in his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re doing!” Christine took a deep breath. “Alpha Vane, I think you need to leave the room.” He clamped his mouth shut and came at her. She was so unprepared for it that she did nothing to protect herself as he shoved her away from the bed. She stumbled back but didn’t fall.

  “Fuck this; we’re calling the human medics.”

  “You can’t do that. Our anatomy is different internally. Their doctors would notice it.

  You know that, Vane. Just stop and think.”

  It was the wrong thing to say apparently because he roared and took an aggressive step towards her. Her heart kicked up with fear, but then the Russian vampire was in front of her.

  “I mean no disrespect,” the vampire said and swung his fist so fast into Vane’s jaw that she barely saw the action. Vane’s head cracked hard to the side.

  He slowly, so slowly turned back to glare at Dmetri with violence in his eyes. The alpha was about to pounce, it was in his tense stance, in the vibrancy of his muscles being barely controlled.

  Then Sarina panted at him. “Get out, Vane.”

  He turned to give her an astonished look. “I will not leave you.” Between erratic breaths she said, “Leave. Fight outside.” Vane shook visibly, and the vampire sighed as if bored. Then he struck Vane across the other cheek with a quick jab. With a roar, Vane exploded at him, tackling him to the floor. The floor shook and books from a shelf clattered to the floor.

  “Outside!” Sarina panted.

  Then men stumbled out of the room in a flurry of blows and deflections.

  Christine ran back to Sarina’s side and joy filled her. “I see the head! Push good and hard, Sarina!”

  Over the next several minutes, Sarina’s tired body pushed and pushed until finally the baby’s entire head poked out. Then in a quick rush, the baby came out. Christine caught the little babe in a clean cloth and cut the umbilical cord. With the waiting water in a bowl, she cleaned the baby and checked its eyes, mouth, nose, toes.

  The baby’s small wrinkled face brought a big smile to hers. A burst of emotion filled her chest making it tight and hard to breath. Before her eyes could water, she went to Sarina who was so exhausted she was melting into the bed.

  “Your baby, my Queen.”

  Sarina’s lips trembled as she lifted her heavy arms to take the precious baby. Tears fell from her eyes as she laughed joyously. She coddled the baby in her arms and gazed down into its little face.

  “My baby,” she said softly.

  Vera, Alison, and Cassie all came forward to sit on the bed and sigh. After a moment, Sarina looked up confused.

  “Vane?”

  Christine moved to the door. “I’ll get him.”

  Downstairs was eerily quiet. Christine made her way through the rooms feeling like she was trespassing going through her alpha’s house alone. In the kitchen, she heard noises out back and peered through the backdoor window. She spotted Vane and the Russian vampire sitting on the back steps talking.

  It was rude of her to listen, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. It wouldn’t hurt to listen for just a minute.

  “Thanks for getting me out of there. I wasn’t doing anyone any good.”

  “No problem, drook. ”

  Vane choked; it might have been a laugh if the alpha wasn’t so stressed. He buried his head in his hands. “You have no idea what it feels like.” Dmetri gave him a long, assessing look. “I suppose I don’t.” Christine almost snorted. He sounded like he hated to admit he didn’t know about something. This one must have a hell of an ego on him, not that she really minded that, but...he was so pale.

  “I hope you do one day, Dmetri. You should experience it at least once in your life.” Silvery blonde hair whipped over his shoulder as he tossed back his head and laughed.

  The sound was rich and thickly accented. His jaw was hard, nose straight, lips almost thin which spoke of his Slavic heritage. He was large too, though not as big as lykaen men were. He was taller than Vane by an inch or two and was lean like a swimmer, yet he didn’t give the appearance of being skinny.

  He had an aura about him that spoke of strength and confidence. It was even in the way he sat, leaning back with his hands supporting him on either side, his long legs kicked out in front of him. Hell, he even wore a suit. The last time she’d seen a suit was at Darien Kategan’s wedding. And even then he’d worn no shoes with it.

  “Been alive a long time,
drook. Never needed a mate, don’t see the point in it.” Vane gave him a sarcastic grin. “Sometimes love just hits you. You never see it coming, never expect it. I hope it hits you—hard.”

  Dmetri stood and rocked on his feet, then his gaze veered towards the window and landed directly on her. Pretending she hadn’t been standing there hoping to hear something juicy, she opened the door.

  “Vane, your mate and new baby are ready to see you.”

  He jumped up and ran past her. Right before he left the kitchen he turned back to her excitement, panic on his face. “Boy or girl?”

  She smiled a little and shrugged. “You’ll have to see for yourself.” He gave a happy shout and ran upstairs. Christine started after him, to make sure everything was okay and to see if Sarina needed some blood to replace all she’d lost or maybe a couple of stitches if her perineum had torn. Her mind lost in thought, she didn’t hear the vampire approach.

  “You like to eavesdrop.”

  She embraced the blush that came over her and smiled at him. “Any good person does on occasion.”

  “How’d you like to have dinner with me?”

  Christine didn’t know who was more surprised by his question. She studied his face for a moment and decided him, definitely him. She laughed softly and turned away.

  “I don’t think so,” she tossed over her shoulder.

  She thought she heard him mutter “we’ll see about that” but she couldn’t be sure because her heart was pounding in her ears.

  Just then a jovial shout sounded from upstairs. Vane shouted loud enough for the entire pack to hear. “It’s a boy!”

  Chapter 4

  Dmetri finished buttoning his white Charvet dress shirt and picked up his black belt. The belt was his favorite. It had a silver buckle that shined in the light and smelled richly of fine leather. Vane’s words floated through his mind as he finished looping his belt. What did he need a mate for when a nice buckle made him just as happy?

  He was glad to have the night over. He swore he could still hear Sarina’s cries echoing in his ears long after he let himself into the guest cabin he was staying in. It still gave him shivers just thinking about it.

  He left the cabin to go check out the perimeter of the pack. He needed to get an idea of the Kategan’s security and defenses. It was late evening as he made his way down the street.

  Pack members stopped in mid-sentence or in some cases, mid-step, as they saw him. He grinned and waved as a mother shoved her daughter behind her. Feeling like a wolf, he grinned wider and flashed his fangs. The mother’s eyes went wide and she hastily pulled her daughter back into the house.

  Ah, it was good to be a vampire.

  The sun lowered into the sky, casting the land in an orange and pink glow. He hated it.

  He loved the night, relished it in fact. A sweet vein and a warm body was enough to make him ruin a good suit to fuck the right woman under the stars.

  He made his way off the road and into the large expanse of field that led to the edge of the property. His eyes searched the area, memorizing the roads and exits, any possible area the pack might be weak. The Kategans’ defenses were strong. It wouldn’t be easy for Claude to get in. But if the mad vampire wanted in, he’d find a damned way.

  He came upon a large garden lined with rows of growing vegetables and herbs. The smell of fresh soil teased his nose. He sneezed and continued through a path of lettuce and carrots.

  Movement caught his eye. A woman kneeled at a plant and was picking leaves off it. He recognized her immediately.

  Coming up behind her, he stopped and admired her body. He loved his women chic and classy. Women that wore gowns and expensive lingerie that teased his eyes. This little thing wore cut-off shorts that were frayed at the ends and a baggy white tank top that somehow looked sexy. Simply baffling.

  She wasn’t as slender as he usually preferred either, but curvaceous with round hips and thighs. His cock hardened and he had to agree with it, she was a fine specimen.

  Suddenly she stiffened as if finally registering his presence. Slowly she came to a stand and turned around. Her hair was pulled back in a messy tie that looked like she’d fixed it up quickly, and her shirt was covered in loose soil. A smudge marred her cheek like she’d wiped her face with a dirty hand.

  “I didn’t hear you coming.” It sounded a lot like an accusation.

  “Of course not. I’m too quiet for you to hear.”

  She gave him a dirty look that said he’d just insulted her; he shrugged. “Looking...lovely today,” he said drawing his words out as he looked her up and down once more.

  Sun-kissed skin, that’s what she had and a lot of it too. He found he liked it.

  She arched a brow and perused him as well. Though she didn’t look nearly as impressed.

  Dmetri found himself looking down at his expensive suit with a frown. He looked great, and he knew it.

  Without a word, she finished her survey, picked up her bundle of herbs and marched away. Dmetri’s eyes followed like a damn magnet. Her ass swayed side to side in the sexiest rhythm he ever saw. Damn. Maybe Vane had a point. He hadn’t had a steady woman since Vera....

  He was following after her before he could think twice. She shot him a quick glance over her shoulder.

  “What do you want, vampire?”

  His eyes widened. She sounded bored. He was the most un-boring person she’d ever met.

  She just didn’t realize it yet. He found himself stiffening and didn’t like it.

  “Christine is it?”

  She stopped and turned around, a little smile on her face. “Yes, and you are?”

  “Dmetri Demidov.”

  He snatched her herb-free hand and brought her fingers to his lips. With a little smile, he thumbed off some soil then pressed a kiss to her knuckles. She smiled and took a saucy step towards him. That was the only way he could describe it. She didn’t just walk one foot in front of the other. She swayed, hip cocking to the side, and he loved it.

  “A Russian vampire on Kategan land,” she said pulling her hand away. God, she was so warm. Even a foot away from him, he could feel her heat. “What’s brought you here?”

  “Not used to having vampires roaming your little community?” She laughed, the gold flecks in her eyes catching the dimming sunlight and shining even brighter. Dmetri’d never noticed or cared much for eyes before, but hers captivated him.

  “Not unless they had a death wish. Though, with Vera mating that half human, vampire fella, I suppose it isn’t that strange.” She paused and her face lit up. “Hot damn, you’re him! The one Vera talked about who changed Jackson.”

  For some reason he felt the sudden need to look away with embarrassment. The unusual feeling had him rocking back on his feet, but he refused to look away, that was cowardice.

  “I did,” he said finally.

  She clapped her hands together, laughing. The sound was rich and throaty, something he hadn’t realized he liked until this moment.

  “So what are you here for?”

  “Justicar business.” He left it at that. She gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him either.

  She glanced back towards the road and nodded towards it. “Walk with me.” She took off and didn’t wait to see if he’d follow.

  He glared at her for a second. After he got her in his bed, they’d have to make some changes. He didn’t take orders. Yet, he followed next to her through the garden.

  “So you used to date Vera?”

  The question was like being hit with lightning; he stumbled into a brush of tall tomato plants, snagging his foot around the roots. He tripped, his face meeting dirt. Grinding his jaw, he picked himself up and turned to see tears streaming down her face. She sucked in great gulps of air and then finally it came—laughter. She bent over her knees as peals of laughter rang. Dmetri grimaced at her as he brushed soil from his suit and face. Maybe she wouldn’t do after all.

  After what felt like forever, she slowed her laughs a
nd brushed the tears out of her eyes.

  “God that was great.”

  “Indeed.”

  She caught his lethal expression and broke into another fit of laughter. “You always take yourself so seriously?”

  Why wouldn’t he? He was an Elder, the top form of council with the Justicars. “Of course.”

  She humphed and rolled her eyes before strolling away. Still he followed her, this time wary of where he stepped. He was starting to feel like a fool; he’d rather be eaten alive by rats than be a fool.

  “So I take that as a yes.”

  “What?” he asked, irritation growing.

  “You used to date Vera. I thought you vampires always kept with your own kind.”

  “Not necessarily.” A tic started to form over his right eye. God, being around this woman for a few minutes was starting to make him feel anxious. He never felt that way, even in the spur of the moment when he transformed Jackson Marsh into a vampire. Christine bothered him...and he almost enjoyed it. He must because why else was he following her? Where was his charm?

  His suave conversations that sent women aflutter under his gaze? Lost back on the ground where he fell, he was sure.

  “Well, Dmetri Demidov, it was okay to meet you.” She stopped and turned to him, a smile on her face.

  “Okay to meet me?”

  Her lips twitched. “Yeah, it was okay.”

  He glared at her. Okay? He was awesome to meet, great, fantastic, utterly incredible.

  “Are you trying to insult me?”

  She stepped forward making him tense as she reached for him. From the corner of his eye, he watched her flick some dirt off his jacket, then she gave him a wide smile that lit up her whole face.

  “Not at all.” She turned and sashayed away.

  Before she got a few steps, he called after her. “I’m taking you to dinner.” Her shoulders shook with laughter. “I don’t think so, vampire.” He frowned feeling as if he were losing a battle that he hadn’t realized was a battle until now. He gave orders and people obeyed. What woman wouldn’t want to be treated to a rich night out with him? Something was seriously wrong with the women on Kategan land.