Scarlet Heat Read online

  He nodded gravely. “I swear it.”

  “Taylor, don’t.” Victor gave me a frown. “I mean it. Don’t.”

  “I have to.” I looked back at the pack master. “All right then, I’ll be there.”

  “But not alone,” Victor growled. He gave the pack master and the silently watching weres a baleful look. “I’m coming with her.”

  “You can, if you wish,” Wainright said. “But I wouldn’t worry about your little friend overly much, Victor. If she can run out into the noonday sun with nothing worse than a tan to show for it, I’m sure she can handle anything we can dish out.” He looked at me. “That was impressive, by the way. I’d love to know how you managed it.”

  “That’s Taylor’s business, not yours,” Victor snarled before I could answer. “And you may have strong-armed her into coming to your council but I’ll be right by her side the whole time. I swear if anyone so much as touches my wife—”

  “That will be entirely up to you, Victor.” Pack Master Wainright nodded at both of us. “Good evening. I’ll see both of you at nine tonight at Skull Rock to make your apology.”

  He turned and glided out the door. The other weres melted away with him. After a minute, their smell started to dissipate too and I almost could have sworn the whole thing was a dream. Well, except for the fact that Victor was glaring at me.

  “Do you realize what you just did?” he growled.

  “What?” I shrugged my shoulders uneasily. “I agreed to apologize to get them off your back. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is that you can’t just say ‘sorry’ and all is forgiven. Touching the Alpha Bitch in anger is a mortal offense. They’re not going to let you get off with just a simple apology.”

  The cool finger of dread traced my spine but I tried not to show my fear.

  “Well, what else could I have done?” I demanded. “You heard the threats he was making against you.”

  “Against me. Right.” Victor tapped his broad, bare chest. “Which means I’m the one who should be answering them—not you. If you hadn’t piped up and sworn to go, I could have taken care of it myself.”

  “How?” I asked. “By fighting all of them? No. You’re big and strong, Victor, but there have to be a lot of wolves in that pack. You can’t fight all of them for me—and I don’t want you to.”

  “What you want doesn’t enter into it,” he snarled.

  “And why is that?” I demanded, starting to get really mad. “Because this is a were matter or because we’re bonded? Let me tell something, Victor, just because Corbin forced us to get married doesn’t mean you own me.”

  “Yes, I do,” he insisted, his eyes flashing gold. “I told you before, Taylor, you’re mine. By the Laws of Ownership you’re mine and I’m yours.”

  “I don’t belong to you,” I said, my voice trembling. “I spent the last six years of my life as a slave to Celeste. I’m not trading one master for another.”

  He raked a hand through his hair in obvious frustration.

  “I’m not claiming to be your master, Taylor—I’m your Goddamn husband. I’m supposed to protect you.”

  “I can take care of myself,” I snapped back. “And don’t forget you’re only my husband for two more months until the Laws of Ownership are satisfied. After that—” I stopped, biting my tongue but the damage had obviously been done. There was a furious, hurt look in Victor’s eyes as he glared at me.

  “After that you’re leaving, is that right?” he demanded. “And nothing else matters. I guess last night was no big fucking deal to you.”

  “It was a big deal,” I protested. “It was really nice…incredible…”

  “Incredibly stupid, you mean.” He ran a hand through his hair again. “God, I can’t believe I’m so stupid.”

  “Victor—” I started but he grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and headed for the door.

  I called his name again but he was already driving away. As he left, I saw that someone had spray painted the words FANG FUCKER in big red capital letters across the side of his truck.

  I sat down at the breakfast table and cried.

  Chapter Nineteen—Victor

  I knew I shouldn’t have flown off the handle, but it made me crazy to hear her talk like that. Saying I was only her husband for two more months until the Laws of Ownership were satisfied, implying she was going to leave as soon as she could…I couldn’t stand it. The wolf inside me woke up even though it was broad daylight and howled with anger and sorrow.

  Mine, he insisted. Mine, mine, mine. The pale girl is mine/ours. We need to claim her, mark her before it’s too late.

  Even deeper under the surface, I felt another presence stirring. The beast, which was neither man nor wolf but somehow both, was also enraged. The thought of Taylor leaving made the brand at my back burn like fire and the curse felt like a lead weight resting on my shoulders.

  It was too much. I did the only thing I could do—I left.

  I drove for miles and miles, trying to calm down. Trying to think of a plan to get through the council that night. A mortal offense is a serious thing, especially if it’s been offered to an Alpha of the pack. It didn’t matter that Taylor had barely touched LeeAnn and hadn’t even left a mark on her skin—she was still culpable just because she’d dared to lay hands on her at all.

  I was reminded all over again of why I hated being part of a pack. When I’d first been banished from my own pack, I had wanted to die. But after some time on my own, I’d started enjoying the freedom. It was nice not to have to bow and scrape to another person just because they were older or had higher status than me—not that many did. My father had been second in command, and I had Alpha status from him as well as on my own merits. Still, I found the freedom of being a lone wolf exhilarating, though the curse was a heavy price to pay for it.

  I had a feeling I was going to be paying another price tonight—the price for letting myself fall for Taylor. I knew what my old pack mates would have said about bonding myself to a vampire—they’re cold-blooded, dead, can’t love or feel emotions like we can. She’s just using you. Just looking for her next meal. You’re nothing but a blood bank to her.

  But that wasn’t Taylor, not the girl I knew. She was sweet and kind and gentle—well, until she decided to rip my heart out, that was. I kept my eyes on the road but her words kept echoing in my head. “…don’t forget you’re only my husband for two more months. After that—”

  God! I banged a fist on the steering wheel. I had to get hold of myself. Had to go somewhere and calm the fuck down or I was going to lose it tonight at the council. And I couldn’t afford to do that. Not when the curse was weighing on me and the full moon was only two nights away. I had to be ready.

  This was going to be one hell of a night.

  * * * * *

  Taylor

  “Okay, I don’t know much about weres but according to Corbin what you did was a big no-no.” Addison stepped back to take a look at me. “No, I don’t like that. Let’s try on the blue one.”

  The minute I had called her and explained what had happened, she’d come rushing over to Victor’s house with a selection of dresses and shoes. I was currently trying on the second outfit but there were five more to choose from if necessary.

  Don’t get me wrong—my best friend isn’t one of those girly-girls who insists that a make-over can make everything better—far from it. But according to Corbin, I had to make a good showing at the were council that night. In other words, I couldn’t just show up in jeans and a t-shirt—I had to look impressive.

  Aside from the wardrobe help, I was glad to see her. It had been almost a month since we’d done anything but talk on the phone and we had a lot of catching up to do.

  “What did I do that was so wrong?” I asked, blotting my eyes on the back of my hand. Victor had been gone for hours but I was still feeling weepy. I knew I had to dry it up before I faced the pack tonight but it was our first real fight and for some reason it really u