I nodded. I wanted to tell him no; the possibility too frightening to admit. But living in denial solved nothing.

The air surrounding Aric heated, but not in a good way. Fury cloaked us like an invisible sheet. “So you’re telling me there are humans infecting the vampires—but we can’t tell which ones, since they likely aren’t developing symptoms?”

Danny glanced at me nervously. “Ah. Yeah. That’s what it seems like.”

I released his hands. “But until we know for sure, it’s not safe for the vampires to feed.”

“Shit.” Aric rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “But if they don’t eat, they’ll develop the other kind of bloodlust.” He whipped out his phone and hit a number on his speed dial. “I have to call my Elder— Martin, it’s Aric. We have a situation.”

I called Misha while Aric growled into the phone. Misha had just finished his conference call with Uri. And while he didn’t say how the conversation went, his icy tone told me it hadn’t been a pleasant chat. But when I shared Danny’s findings, he flipped out.

“Humans! Humans are infecting my keep!”

I glanced at Danny. He gripped the counter with white knuckles. Misha scared him stupid. And he wasn’t even in the damn room. “That’s what we’re thinking, but we don’t know which ones or how many. Misha…is there anyone you trust whom you and your family can feed from? A priest perhaps, or a friendly neighbor…possibly a nice librarian?”

“I’ll fly in my mistresses from Chicago, Montreal, London, and Paris.”

I gawked at my iPhone. “Okay, I guess that can work. What happens when you run out?”

He paused. “I have enough mistresses to last us…awhile.”

“Oh. Okay. Don’t eat until they get there.” I hung up when I saw Aric disconnect.

Aric placed his hands on my shoulders. “I’m needed back at The Den. I’m sorry, but I have to go now. Dan, could you drive Celia home?”

“Yeah, yeah. We can leave right now.” Danny grabbed the vial of Misha’s blood and dumped it in the sink, instantly destroying any evidence that might linger. He then grabbed his keys and we followed him out.

Aric opened the passenger door to Danny’s Prius for me. “I’m sorry about this. I’ll call you soon. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Danny pretended to fumble with an old road map while Aric brushed his lips against my forehead. “Good night, sweetness.”

“Good night, wolf.”

I was watching Aric speed away when Danny touched my shoulder. “Celia, we have to figure out who’s behind this. If the bloodlust is a virus, that means it can mutate. If that happens, even the weres won’t be enough to save us.”

I froze upon seeing the blond she-wolf on my porch as Danny drove off. She ambled down the steps, her pompousness lost despite the perfect hair and the black designer suit she wore.

She crossed her arms. “Are you and Aric together?”

I fell into a crouch, ready to pounce if she attacked. I didn’t know what Aric and I were. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. “You need to take that up with him.”

She played with the edges of her angled bob. “I prefer to take it up with you. Especially since he refuses to see me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not my problem. Get off my property and stop trying to drag me into your drama.”

“I’m pregnant. It’s his.”

Her words hit me like darts shot out of a cannon. My heart screamed. “You’re lying.”

She tightened her hold around herself protectively. “Am I?” I watched her as she circled me. “Our pack hates you, Celia. They don’t want you tainting Aric’s sacred bloodline.” She scoffed, meeting my gaze full force as tears trickled down her cheeks. “But I don’t care about that. What I do care about is the child we conceived together.” She clasped her hands over her mouth and jerked away. “I beg you. Please don’t come between us and our baby.”

CHAPTER 26

Dawn remained an hour away. I lay in my bed, reviewing the texts Aric had left on my phone over the past week.

Sorry. I’ve been busy. I’ll call you soon.

Still hunting. Will call soon. Miss you.

Yeah. Right.

When he finally did call he left several messages.

“Hi, Celia. I’m sorry it’s taken so long. My responsibilities as a pureblood are more extensive than the average were’s. Call me. I’d like to see you.”

Extensive responsibilities? Wait till the baby comes.

“Celia. It’s Aric. Call me. I want to talk.”

His final message was the kicker. “I haven’t heard from you. If you’re mad, call me and we’ll talk things through.”

I rolled over, exhausted from lack of sleep, but unable to relax knowing wolves lay in my sisters’ beds. Not that I believed they’d hurt them, but more out of longing to have my own wolf in my arms. Despite my feeling a hotter-than-hell connection to Aric, my wish to get to know him had been pulverized to dust. The she-wolf’s pregnancy disclosure rocked my world and ruined my chances with Aric. My temper ran deep and fierce, yet my morals stayed tried and true. I didn’t interfere with relationships, and I sure as hell wouldn’t come between a male and his child.

I flipped onto my side, hugging my pillow tight to suppress the guilt gnawing at my chest. I had punched the she-wolf in the stomach at the fight at Misha’s. Were or not, I could have killed her baby. The moment she’d left, I erased Aric’s number from my phone and made my sisters promise to stop mentioning him. They didn’t understand until I shared the couple’s happy news. And, God, they fell so silent, I knew I wouldn’t have to insist any further.

Around six, I gave up on snoozing and dressed in my running clothes, hoping a few miles after breakfast would ease my frustrations. I headed into the kitchen and turned on the lights over the stovetop. Soft illumination from the drop-down ceiling lamps shone against the polished black-and-tan granite counter and our dark-stained cabinets. The previous owners had wrecked the place. In a way, it was good thing. We were able to buy it for a steal—well, for Tahoe prices, anyway. But it took a lot of TLC to bring the thirty-eight-hundred-square-foot house back to its original splendor.

I’d just placed the waffle iron on our center island and reached for a spoon when the softest of steps trotted down the front stairwell. I stuck my head around the corner. Koda was leaving in a rush, his behemoth shit-kickers in his hand. He reached for the doorknob, not realizing I stood mere feet away.

I growled. “Are you sneaking out on my sister?”

Koda froze. “Ah, no. I just have somewhere to be.”

I crossed my arms, still holding the damn spoon in my hand. “At six o’clock in the morning? On a Saturday. You a**hole.”

Koda’s dark brows knitted tight. “Don’t yell. I don’t want to upset her.”

I marched across our dark wood floors and poked him in the shoulder with my spoon. “I think she would be more upset knowing you used her!”

The pungent scent of Koda’s fury practically burned off my nose hairs. “I haven’t used her!”

I waved my arm out dramatically. “Then what do you call this?”

Koda bowed his head. “I only have one-night stands with females.”

I nodded. “I see.”

Then I broke his nose.

Koda staggered back covering his nose, the whites of his eyes blazing with shock and anger. “Wha da heln?” he said as his bones slowly crunched back into place. “Dat’s not wha I mean.”

“Really. ’Cause that’s what you just said.”

Koda squeezed his eyes shut and let out a breath. His sinuses must have been on fire. Poor man-whore bastard.

“It’s not by choice, Celia. Women want very little to do with me after we…are intimate.” His head dropped again. “I’m told I’m too…intense.”

I swallowed back bile. “Did you hurt her?”

Koda’s head snapped up. The scary beast I’d first met rushed back with a vengeance. My beast fought against my hold, sensing my fear and desperate to protect me. Still, I refused to show it and hissed low and deep.

Koda straightened, his voice a soft rumble in the dimly lit foyer. “I would never hurt her!” He trembled. “And God help anything that does.”

If the world were ending, and the only thing that could save it was my ability to sniff out lies, we were all screwed and might as well dig our graves. But despite my lack of sniffing talent, I believed him. Something was up. Koda obviously adored Shayna. Hell, he practically wagged his tail every time Shayna skipped into a room. And God knew he’d stepped up to protect her.

“If you leave like this, I promise you will hurt her.” I picked up my spoon off the floor, hoping to stall his departure if nothing else. “Come on. I’ll make you some breakfast.”

I returned to the kitchen. Koda paused momentarily before following, dropping his canoe-size shoes on the floor near the door. I handed him a wet towel to wipe the blood off his face before grabbing eggs and sausage out of the refrigerator. But it wasn’t until I poured the batter into the waffle maker that either of us spoke.

“I’ve had a lot of sex, Celia.”

I cringed and set a plate in front of him. “I know. I’m just down the hall.”

Koda chuckled. “I mean in general. But…that’s about all I’ve had.”

I filled his plate with eggs, sausage, and a waffle, but waited before handing him the syrup and sitting across from him. Everything told me it was wrong to discuss Shayna’s private life in her absence, but part of me felt Koda should know more about my little sister. “Shayna dates fairly frequently.”

Koda stopped eating.

“A lot of men find her attractive.”

Koda bent the fork with his teeth.

I held up my hand. “But she doesn’t usually engage in deep levels of physical intimacy—like she did with you.” I sighed. “If you care about her—”