Jonathan

My laughter, over some comment from Drew, dies when Vivian comes down the hall with Bob draped over her shoulder. "Is he okay?"

Bob seems to catch himself leaning on a woman, his manliness kicks in, and he straightens, pulling away. "I'm fine, just had some trouble gaining my feet at first."

Vivian turns her gorgeous green eyes on the man and says clearly, "You're going to go up and lay down to rest on our living room couch for a bit, you will not remember being in the basement."

"No problem," Bob says and heads up the stairs.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Paul needed some alone time, and blood, after the scene in the cabin. He's so young I was impressed he didn't lick the walls when we were there." The look on my face must be pure disgust, because she shrugs and continues. "Hey, don't judge. I bet when you were a new wolf you needed help to make sure you didn't eat your neighbors."

Her observation may be true, but I don't have to admit it. She smiles one of her all-knowing smiles at me. I can't help but wonder if she's reading my mind right now and, of course, already knows just how bad I was when I first changed. Sneaky bitch.

She walks over to Drew's position near the map and glances down.

I cringe inwardly, waiting for her anger. I never know what she knows. She doesn't look my way, so it's a safe bet she wasn't in my head. This mind-to-mind shit is freaking me out a bit. I need to learn how to build some walls to protect my thoughts all the time.

Maybe the doctor's daughter, Diane, will be able to give me some advice. I heard she practices some of the local witchcraft, among other things. I can't deny the existence of magic, even if I can't see it like I can shifters and vampires. Hell, when I was in college I would have said all of it was crap.

"You're having way too much fun with the map aren't you, Drew?" Vivian asks while reaching out to pick up an eraser with the name Stan scrawled across it.

"I prefer to keep track of them using a live visual, rather than the computer screen," he says. "And I thought this was better than the little Army soldiers Asa suggested."

"Now that would have been a hoot," I say.

Vivian tilts her head my way, looking at me where I'm leaning against the wall on the far right of the L-shaped desk. She stares and really sees me for the first time since she came into the room. Before I can blink, she's in front of me, tilting my face to the side.

"What happened to you?" Her voice sounds calm. A deathly type of calm, if you ask me.

"Umm... I had an altercation with Emiko."

"Report."

I glance away, trying to break my face from her hold, but she turns me back, forcing me to stare directly into her eyes. "Tell me everything."

Her beauty excites and scares me all at the same time-it's always the same. I'm torn between wanting to lick her head to toe, beg at her feet for love, or run screaming into the woods. Not a good combination most days, but one I'm addicted to nonetheless. She just simply is.

"I broke from the pack after a few hours. I'd had enough of running with them and knew I should be heading back to talk to you about investigating Melvyn's death. I sensed I was being followed back from the west end of the property and detoured to the bowling alley to change back in case I needed to confront my tail." I take a deep breath and relax into her hold. Her grip loosens until she's gently caressing the side of my face, like a lover after a sweaty romp. "It was Emiko and she attacked me. She was determined to have some wolf blood and I couldn't get her to see reason."

Vivian releases my face, leaning in to sniff near my neck. The lack of emotion on her face only confirms what I knew in the bowling alley: if Emiko had bitten me, she'd be dead with no one ever knowing the truth behind the allegations in Argentina or who may be behind the orchestration on the Tribunal. Light hands rest on my shoulders before moving slowly to my back.

Vivian presses herself to me in a soft hug, barely skimming the front of my body while leaning in to whisper, "You are mine." The possessiveness in her tone is surprising; this is a side she doesn't normally share with me. "If she, or anyone, touches you-I will kill them. You know that, right?"

The hair on my body stands at attention, the nearness of the object of my desire is almost more than I can handle. I want so badly to wrap myself around her and rub in her scent. But I know I can't. She may be my pack, but she is not my lover. Lingering traces of Rafe cling to her skin.

A shaky breath leaves me as she steps back, taking her delectable fragrance away as well. "Yes, I know."

Her head tilts curiously to the side, "How did you elude her?"

"Asa."

Her features sharpen a bit and close down at his name. I wonder what brought the reaction on. "Go on."

"He came in when she had me pinned, and trust me, no matter what I said, she wasn't going to stop. It was like she didn't hear or care."

"She could have an old addiction she's recovering from. It happens a lot."

Which I knew well, it was one of the reasons I steered clear of the main building as much as possible.

"Does this put her back on as a suspect with Melvyn?" Drew asks.

"I don't think so, but we'll discuss it with the whole group." Another thought occurs to her and she looks me square in the face again. "Are you telling me Asa beat her in a fair fight?"

"Umm... no, not exactly."

She whirls and turns away, moving to sit in a chair in front of the monitors. Raising one elegant eyebrow, she silently urges me to keep going.

"They fought. He told me to run while he took a beating. I hid, in case things went south for him and he needed help, but she had other ideas." I break away from her gaze and look over to Drew. He's listening, but not jumping in, which is good. "She toyed with him for a while and then drank from him instead."

My look away must have been my "tell" because she doesn't let the subject drop. "You're not sharing everything."

Know-it-all vamp. Damn, is she in my head again? I sneak a look back at her, but again, her expression reveals nothing. "She forced him to have sex, but after the first minute or so I don't think it was forced anymore."

Her eyes seem to darken to the deep green of pines, "Rape is rape. Men can't help their body's natural reaction to stimulus." She crushes the chair arms in a tight grip; the plastic gives in a resounding crack before she lets go. "Where is he now?"