Page 77 of Burn for Her
As they hopped onto Emerick’s ATV, Dorian’s heart sluggishly pounded in his chest. It tripped up and struggled to find its rhythm again. Dorian’s vision blackened. He slumped over the handlebars.
“Dorian?” Lena’s hand pressed against his spine. “Are you okay?”
He inhaled forest air while his heart managed to get back with the regularly scheduled program. “I’m fine.” He hoped. Dorian caught Emerick watching from the edge of the woods and saw him mouth the word Fuck. Then Emerick shifted into his wolf form, shredding his clothes in the process, and howled to let the others know company was coming.
“Oh my God,” Lena gasped. “Did he just—”
“Yeah.” Dorian managed to smile. “Welcome to pack land.”
Dorian’s body was hot to the touch, even with the wind blasting them as they headed up the dirt road on the ATV. Lena’s mind raced. A vampire raised by werewolves? But didn’t Lucian tell her something about werewolves and vampires hating each other?
Someone didn’t have their stories right.
That dissection could be left for another day. Right now, Lena’s adrenaline was spiking again with the rush of everything around her. Pack land. Werewolves. Vampires. Ceremony. What’s the ceremony? Oh no, she hoped it wasn’t some kind of human sacrifice.
Wait. They usually had to be virgins, right? Phew! She was safe then.
Up ahead, a huge log cabin with smoke piping through the chimney lay nestled in the thick woods. The wrap around porch, firewood stacked off to the side, chimes hanging in the trees, and a hammock that had seen better days, made the place look enchanting.
The front door swung open and a giant stepped out wiping his hands with a towel. “Dorian.” His smile was toothy like a predator’s.
Dorian climbed off the ATV with Lena and made his way over to the big man. “Been a while. Sorry.”
“Never be sorry, son. You’re busy protecting your own. No apologies for that.” The gigantic man turned his attention to Lena. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
He didn’t look happy to see her. He looked scared shitless.
“I’m Alistair.” He shoved his humongous hand out.
“Lena.”
“Lena, what a beautiful name for such a miraculous creature.” He brought her hand up and kissed her knuckles. “You look like you’ve been to war, child. What’s going on?”
“Dorian!” Shouted a female from inside the house. The door swung open again and a young gorgeous black-haired beauty came dashing out. She halted the second she saw Lena.
It made the hair on Lena’s arms stand on end. “Hi,” she said with a wave. “I’m Lena.” She really needed to come up with a better way to introduce herself. Especially after Emerick’s big intro.
“Emily,” Alistair barked, “Get your mother out here. Now.”
Emily didn’t budge. She was staring at Dorian, her face six shades of red.
“Now, Emily!”
“We’ll go inside,” Dorian said. “No need to drag Marie out of her natural habitat.”
Alistair huffed a small laugh and put his arm around Dorian’s shoulder. “I’m glad you came.” He kissed Dorian’s curly head. “Jesus Christ, we’re gonna need booze for all this.”
Lena’s fingers linked with Dorian’s and the contact made her feel warm and confident. She didn’t like Emily’s reaction to seeing her and Dorian. She didn’t look jealous… she looked betrayed. Why?
Emerick popped out from a shed and was fully dressed in different clothes. He jogged up behind them, and his weight rocked the porch as he bounded up the steps. “This is gonna be fun.”
“Shut up,” Alistair growled.
The second Lena entered the house, her chest made a strange vibration. Like a weird flutter in her lungs with each breath she took.
“The sensation will pass,” Dorian squeezed her hand. “Just give it a minute.”
How’d he know what she was feeling? Was that a vampire thing or did he feel it too?