Brayden’s answer was to slam both feet on the brake. He brought the SUV to a screeching stop of smoking rubber. They both jumped out of the car and were sprinting after the figure in the next second. They were only minutes from Kategan land and the sentries didn’t come out this far, whoever it was shouldn’t be here. God, he hoped it was Claude. He wanted a nasty fight and to bring in the bastard for the last time.

They ran hard, breaking through the trees and relying on their night vision to find the perpetrator. Damn, but he moved fast. Dmetri pushed his muscles until they burned, his lungs growing hot, his arms pumping fast. Brayden caught up to him.

“I’ll catch him from the side.” He ducked to the left and moved in a blur to corner the perp in.

Dmetri heard a soft sound, then the hard slam of bodies onto the ground. He mentally cursed himself that he hadn’t gotten there first; he wanted to be the one who finally brought down Claude. He ran by another dozen trees before he came upon them.

Brayden had the perp pinned to the ground with his knees digging into his back. Dmetri blinked, something was off. The figure was small and had long hair.

“Shit it’s not Claude.”

“I know,” Brayden said. The man’s eyes were bright, livid.

“Get the fuck off me you asshole!”

Dmetri blinked in surprise at the feminine voice and then started to laugh. The small figure below Brayden squirmed and struggled.

“Get off her. You can’t save her just to go hurting her now.” Brayden stood quickly, back straight, hands loose at his sides. Vanessa Kategan turned onto her back with a grimace, her face pinched in pain.

Dmetri knelt beside her. “You okay?”

She glared at him like he was the one who’d leaped on top of her. “No, I’m not okay. I was already sore from the...from the other day and now this asshole jumps on top of me. What the fuck?”

Shaking his head, he held his hand out to help her up. She grunted and when she stood, she swayed on her feet. A satchel sat in the dirt next to her. Dmetri picked it up and started rummaging inside.

“Hey, that’s mine!” She made a grab for it but Dmetri merely turned to the side.

“Clothes, a wallet, a phone. You planning on leaving again without telling anyone?” If her glare could hit, he was sure she’d just nailed him in the balls.

“Well, aren’t you smart.” She crossed her arms defiantly.

“And where do you think you’re going? At night, alone, with a killer who just attacked the pack, and you, mere days ago?” asked Brayden, his voice like ice.

She clamped her mouth closed and stared hard at the ground.

Dmetri sighed. “Come on, you’re coming with us.” He moved to grab her elbow but she jumped back a foot.

“No, I’m not going.” Dmetri saw the fierce conviction in her eyes and wanted to sigh.

Damn the Kategans and their stubbornness.

“You really think you could make it out of here alone still weak from the attack?” Brayden’s voice was hard, unforgiving.

Vanessa’s jaw clenched. “I’ve traveled alone before and I’m pretty sure I can do it again, vampire. It’s not like you have any say over me.” She gave him a hard look, her lykaen glowing eerily in her eyes.

“We’re taking you back, Vanessa. Either come willingly or not, it’s your choice, but that’s the only choice you get,” said Dmetri.

In a flash, she lunged for her satchel. Dmetri sidestepped and she went tumbling beside him. He moved to grab her in the next second, but she darted back into the forest at a full on sprint.

“Dammit,” he muttered. He started to go after her, but Brayden, once again, beat him to it.

The man must be livid because he reached her in a matter of seconds. He spun her around by the arm and tackled her stomach with his shoulder, lifting her up. She went, flopping against him like a ragdoll.

Her screech nearly made his ears bleed. “Let me go! You fucking asshole don’t do this!” Brayden ignored her and kept his arm clamped over her kicking legs. Dmetri smirked as she started beating her fists, hard, against his back. He led the way back to the SUV. Brayden held the girl still in the backseat of the car as Dmetri drove them home.

“What’s your problem? I’m nothing to either of you. Just stop the car and let me out. I don’t belong here.”

Dmetri heard the pain and frustration in her voice and felt bad—a little. But no way was he going to let this little Kategan roam around unprotected while Claude was out there. Vane might kill him, or Claude might kill her.

Dmetri looked in the review mirror and saw Brayden sitting with the young girl next to him, his arm banded tightly around her shoulders. She slowly looked up at Brayden with a glare as mean as the devil’s.

“I hate you.”

The only indication that Brayden took heart to her words was a slight furrowing of his brow that was gone again a moment later.

“I know,” he said.

Christine had a plan. Was it good? Probably not considering she’d thought it up after drinking a bottle of wine with Vera. Still, she lumbered up the stairs to his cabin and tried the door handle—it opened easily.

“Sweet.”

He was out somewhere, probably doing Justicar things. She closed the door behind her and stared at the couch. Memories of their first time together, after Dmetri was attacked by Claude, were still fresh as if it happened yesterday.

“Good times,” she said, petting the couch as she walked by it, “but you won’t do tonight.”

She stopped at the hallway and closed her eyes as the walls swayed side to side. Whoa, there. After a good deep breath, she continued down the hall to the small bedroom.

This was her one last chance. It was either this or nothing, and she couldn’t blow it. She pulled off her clothes with clumsy hands that didn’t want to work, and then lie down on the bed.

That mattress was stiff and not nearly as comfortable as her own, but still her eyes started to flutter shut. She forced them open until her eyes burned. But it was useless. They closed and she didn’t open them again until she heard the front door open sometime later.

She came to in an instant. Luckily, the dark room didn’t spin around her as it had before.

She actually lamented that the alcohol was nearly gone from her body, now she’d have to rely on her own courage without any excuses.

She heard the footsteps stop at the front door, and then the door closing softly. The steps came and she recognized the sound of his shiny black loafers on the wood floors. Click, click, click. He appeared in the doorway a moment later. His hair was disheveled, windblown, and looked like he’d run it through with his fingers. But his eyes held her prisoner. They landed on her, piercing with intensity, before slowly traveling down her naked body. Her body responded to his perusal. When his eyes met her stomach, it clenched in response; when they traveled over her legs, she spread them the barest of inches.

He cleared his throat. His voice hoarse he said, “This is a welcome surprise.” The corner of her mouth curved up with a hint of a smile. “Hi.” He came into the room and stared unbuttoning his shirt, baring inches of pale, hard chest and skin. He dropped the shirt to the floor and began tugging on his belt.

“If I could always come home to you like this I’d forever be a happy man.” She chuckled at the way he said it—seriously as if he meant it. And he probably did. If only she didn’t love him.

“Where were you?” she asked.

He sighed and the belt hit the ground. “Had an impromptu meeting with the new Master of Claude’s clan. We’ve made an arrangement with him.”

“Oh.”

She watched as his hands reached for the button of his trousers and opened it. Her mouth watered, tongue darted out to wet her dry lips. He started to pull the zipper down, but she held out her hand to stop him.