Redson Read online

  Dread filled Red. “Your grandfather chose you and your mother over his blooded children?”

  “I’m his blood.” She frowned. “He made Eduardo by turning him into a Vampire. My grandpa ordered him not to attack the community my mother lived in but he did it anyway. Eduardo talked the other Vampires into defying Grandpa and reached out to a large city nest to help him with the attack. My grandpa was nice enough to take in strays…and that’s how they repaid him. Eduardo deserves to get his head ripped off for disobeying a direct order.”

  “Malachi took in strays?”

  “Most masters create their own nests with Vampires they personally turned. Grandpa wasn’t into doing that. He’d collect the ones other masters had abandoned or who no longer had a master, since some of those guys go nuts. He told me really old Vamps sometimes commit suicide after living longer than they ever wanted to. The world changes too much around them, they grow depressed. Game over by meeting the sun. The Vampire children they made are left behind like orphans. Not all of them are leader types. Grandpa would occasionally take them in. There’s security in numbers. Some are mistaken for rogues by the council and killed on sight otherwise. Belonging to a nest is protection. Eduardo was the only one he made. He felt bad for Eduardo.”

  “Bad?”

  “He pitied him. My grandfather had hired him about a hundred years ago to do chores during the day, and one night he woke to find Eduardo severely beaten in the yard, stabbed and dying. Some humans who lived nearby had done it. Eduardo was kind of quiet and shy. He didn’t have any friends. I guess they targeted him because of that. Grandpa turned him to give him a second chance at life, and that’s when he actually started taking in strays. To give Eduardo a kind of family and friends by making a nest. Then the bastard repaid him by getting pissed because he wasn’t Grandpa’s favorite. Jackass.”

  “How could you live with a Vampire and not understand their ways? It would be a great insult to have their master turn his back on them for anyone outside their own kind. The master of a nest chooses loyalty to those under his protection, at all costs.”

  “My mom, Kallie, was with my grandpa longer. Eduardo knew the score from night one, since the moment he was turned. We were under his protection too.” She shrugged. “Eduardo’s definitely butt hurt, but he did defy my grandpa. Don’t forget that—because we haven’t. He’s been tracking us for thirty-six years. The asshat needs to get over it already.”

  Her choice of words made Red smile, and he lowered his head, allowing his hair to fall forward and hide his face. He flipped the steaks again, not wanting to burn hers. She’d probably cry or complain.

  That killed his humor. He was cooking for a woman in his den. It was an intimate gesture in his culture, usually something men did for serious lovers or mates.

  “That smells really good.”

  He glanced up and noticed she’d moved closer. Her bright blue eyes were startling against her pale features and dark brown hair. She looked elfish and cute.

  His cock stirred inside his jeans and he growled when he glanced at the generous swells of her breasts. No way.

  “Is that insulting or something?” She arched her eyebrows. “I said it smelled good. There’s no reason to get testy.”

  He forced his gaze down to the pan. “It’s not that.”

  She backed up. “Is that better? Are you into personal space while you’re near food? You won’t snap at me or anything, will you?”

  Christ. He was responsible for her, and the idea of spending a lot of time with someone who interested his dick wasn’t good. “I’m not a dog.”

  “I didn’t say that you were.”

  “Aggressive dogs do that when you get too close to their food.” He saw the pink in her cheeks. He narrowed his eyes, and he knew that’s exactly what she’d been thinking. She could deny it all she wanted but she was a terrible liar. “You’re a woman, so you need to keep your distance from me.”

  Her lips parted into an O shape and she backed up more. She glanced at his chest, seeming to assess it. Her gaze jerked back up to his face, and she swallowed hard when her lips sealed.

  “I won’t attack you.”

  “Good thing. You’re pretty big, and I imagine really strong since you carried me for miles without breaking a sweat or panting.”

  “Is that another dog joke?” His anger stirred. “This mutt is going to protect you. Keep that in mind.”

  “Hey, I’m not insulting you. Calm down, Sparky.”

  He dropped the tongs and turned off the flame under the pan, stepping toward her. That insulting name pushed him too far, and he only paused when terror flashed in her blue gaze. She backed away, hitting the door with her ass.

  “I had a life until you arrived. Remember that, Emma. I had to drop everything to bring you here. Stop insulting me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She hugged her chest and it made him feel like a total bastard, seeing her trying to make her body appear smaller as she huddled where she stood.

  “I sometimes say shit before I think it through. It was kind of a joke.”

  “Do you see me laughing? You have no idea what kind of shit-storm I’m going to face over having you here.”

  “Will you lose your job or something? I have money.” She relaxed her arms and pointed to her backpack. “There’s over ten grand in cash inside my bag, plus some change. I can pay you to keep me here until my grandfather comes, and I have access to more money if that’s not enough.”

  He felt insulted again as he put space between them. “I have my own money. It’s not that.”

  She took a shaky breath. “What is it?”

  He hesitated. “I didn’t get permission from my clan leader to let you stay in our territory…and there’s a woman who’s going to be angry that you’re inside my den.”

  “Oh.” She lowered her hand to her side, rubbing her jeans nervously. “You have a mate?”

  “No, but there’s a woman I’ve talked to about living with me. It’s a possible commitment.”

  Confusion crossed her face. “That sounds like a girlfriend.”

  He hesitated. “You know nothing about our culture, do you?”

  “Just what my grandfather told me. You’re half Lycan and Vampire. I know you live in a group you call a clan, and that most of the residents in this town are like you. I know what you can do, such as shifting.”

  “There are four clans in this area.” He ambled back into the kitchen and removed plates from the cupboard. “Everyone in Howl is like me, except for a few mates. I haven’t found mine yet, but sometimes a couple will live together to avoid loneliness.”

  She didn’t respond, and when he glanced at her, she stared at the floor. He shrugged it off and put a steak on a plate for her.

  “Eat.”

  Chapter Three

  Emma tried to get comfortable on the couch but it wasn’t easy. The thing wasn’t that long. She might be short but her feet still dangled over the end of it if she didn’t curl into a ball. It was cold, too, the blanket insufficient. She tried not to feel as if she were trapped inside a big ol’ coffin. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d lived with a Vampire but had never felt so claustrophobic in her entire life.

  The soft snore coming from the back of the long room drove her a little nuts. Her host didn’t seem to mind the cold temperatures or sleeping buried underground. She’d kill for some fresh air at that moment and figured it would be a lot warmer at night above ground than inside his den.

  He’d left a dim nightlight on in the kitchen area to keep it from being pitch black, something she’d appreciated. It was even a little sweet. She doubted he slept with one on when he was alone and knew it had to be for her benefit.

  Dinner had been a silent one. He’d refused to chat, other than telling her his name, and then he’d gone to bed.

  What kind of name is Redson? Who’d strap their kid with that? She sighed, rolled trying to get comfortable, and shivered. The cold seemed to seep right into