Forever Bound Series 1-4 Part 12

He caught her hand. Pressed it harder against his chest. "Leaving you there wasn't exactly an option for me."

Jace saw the delicate movement of her throat as she swallowed.

"What was it like?" Louis called out. "What did you see, cher?"

She glanced back at him. "It was d.a.m.n hot."

Some of the wolves laughed.

"As for what I saw..." Morgan shook her head. "Some things are better not said."

When she turned back to him, memories were in her eyes. While her body might have healed, Jace knew she'd carry the scars inside. Some memories couldn't be forgotten.

"Is the gateway closed for good?" Because he didn't want any more demons coming after her.

"Yes." He still held her hand. She didn't pull away. She inched closer as she said, "It closed when the demons killed Devon. He was the sacrifice I gave to them. He opened the pit, so it only seemed fitting that he close it."

Jace waited. He knew there was more.

"I made a deal while I burned." Her lashes lowered as she stared at their hands. His dark, hers so light. After a moment, she glanced back up at him. "I told those demon a.s.sholes that if they accepted Devon and shut the door, I wouldn't send my wolf down to tear h.e.l.l apart."

And he would have. If they'd kept her...

"When you yanked me out of their hands, they realized I was serious. You were ready for h.e.l.l. But h.e.l.l wasn't ready for you." Her hand fisted beneath his. "Besides, I don't think the guy in charge down there really liked for his demons to escape."

No, Jace bet he hadn't been eager to lose those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. "So it's over," he said.

"No." Now her body brushed against his. "The demons are gone, but things are far from over." Her head tilted back. Her lips were inches from his. "In fact, I think you promised me that things would just be getting started..."

They would be.

"You locked me in a cage," she told him, a faint frown pulling between her eyes.

He brought his hands up to curl around her shoulders. "But I also pulled you out of h.e.l.l. Makes us even, doesn't it?"

Her soft laughter put an ache in his chest.

"I don't know," she told him, "I think that might put you ahead."

His lips took hers because his control broke. The kiss was too rough, too wild, but that was his way.

And she kissed him back just as wildly and with just as much desperate need.

He lifted his mouth from hers long enough to growl, "There's no score between mates. You don't owe me anything." He wanted her out of the bar and naked beneath him.

"I owe you forever," she told him as she rose onto her toes and kissed him again. "And that's what I'm giving you."

Forever with his vampiress...it was the only thing he wanted.

"You're mine, wolf," she told him. "And I'm not letting you go."

Enough. He grabbed her and hoisted her high into his arms. The pack shouted and laughed as he pa.s.sed them, but he didn't slow down. He wanted her alone.

Wanted in her.

Jace took her upstairs. Since his house had burned, he'd taken over Howling Moon. The apartment above the bar had a bed, and that was all he needed.

He kicked the door shut behind them and lowered her in front of him.

Morgan smiled at him. "When are you going to say that you love me?"

He blinked. "But...you already know." She had to know.

"A woman still likes to hear the words."

He yanked off his shirt and kicked off his boots. Then he reached for her. If she needed the words, he'd d.a.m.n well give them to her. He'd give her anything. "I love you."

Her fangs glinted. "And I love you, wolf."

Enemies no more. Lovers.

Mates.

Forever.

They'd told the devil to screw off, and now they had eternity waiting.

Sometimes, it was good to be an alpha wolf...

Very f.u.c.king good.

Bound in Darkness.

Prologue.

"I know what you are."

Cade Thain carefully put his whiskey gla.s.s down and glanced up at the woman before him. "And what's that?" His hands flattened on the old, wooden table.

She sat down and leaned toward him. Her hair was blonde, her skin a sun-kissed gold. And her eyes-they were the coldest blue he'd ever seen in his life. "You're a werewolf."

He laughed, the sound deep and loud.

Her jaw tightened. "And you're an a.s.sa.s.sin."

Cade kept the smile on his face. "Lady, you're crazy."

"No, I'm not." A thread of anger-no, that thread was far closer to fury-rumbled beneath her words. "I'm here to hire you."

Cade glanced to the left. To the right. In this pit of h.e.l.l that pa.s.sed for a bar in some hole-in-the-wall Oregon town, no one was paying any attention to anyone. Or anything. "You've got the wrong man," he said slowly.

Her gaze searched his face. "Not too many men have scars like yours." And that icy stare had locked on the scar that slipped from his right eyebrow all the way down to his jaw. Another scar sliced around his neck. There were more, so many more, hidden beneath his clothes. "Cut you with silver, didn't they?" she asked softly. "When you were so young that you could barely heal."

f.u.c.k, yeah, they had. His back was covered with long, twisting scars. Wounds administered by sick p.r.i.c.ks that Cade had personally sent to burn. Cade had been fourteen when he made those kills.

His first, not his last.

"Werewolf..." She breathed the t.i.tle. "I've got a vamp for you to slay."

Now the lady had his full attention. He dropped the act and focused totally on her.

Vampires had been the ones to torture him. To destroy his family. His pack. They'd introduced him to h.e.l.l.

Made him into the monster that he was today.

She leaned closer. Her scent-already too strong for someone with his enhanced senses-surrounded him. A bitter scent, heavy with incense. A witch. The scent of their spells always clung to them.

His would-be-client told him, "The vamp's name is Allison Gray, and she'll be such easy prey, especially for someone like you."

Her fingers slid over to touch his hands. His claws weren't out-not yet. Not yet. "Why do you want the vamp dead?" Dade demanded to know h.e.l.l, vamps were already dead. They only kept living by draining their prey. Feeding on them.

Like they fed on me.

Parasites.

"She's a pureblood."

s.h.i.t. Now the witch was talking some serious power. Most vampires were made the old-fashioned way-they were humans who were bit, drained, and brought back as vampires. But a pureblood? Purebloods were extra strong because they were born as vampires.

Lucky for the rest of the world, most purebloods were rare. Otherwise, h.e.l.l would be calling on earth every d.a.m.n night.

But killing a pureblood? "That'll cost you extra," he warned.

Her smile didn't make her eyes appear any warmer. Beautiful, but the witch was stone cold. "I'll pay you one hundred thousand dollars."

Paranormal hits were never cheap-or easy. "Make it two."

Her eyes narrowed.

He offered her his own, cold smile. "And I'll want the cash up front, before I take my prey."

The witch hesitated.

"You can always go find someone else." Total bulls.h.i.t. There weren't any other werewolves in this part of the U.S. And when it came to vamp killin', no one got the job done better than a wolf.

The witch would know that.

She nodded. "Done." Then she eased back, licking her lips. "But you have to do it fast, before the next full moon."

Five days away. Werewolves always knew exactly when the next full moon would rise. They were at their strongest when the full moon hung in the sky.

Her fingers drummed on the table. "And you have to make it hurt."

Killing a vamp? Torturing her? Cade shrugged. For two hundred grand... "Done."

His conscience had died long ago. He'd left it, broken and b.l.o.o.d.y, in that pit where the vamps had tortured him.

Besides, it wasn't like he was slaughtering the innocent. The world would be a far better place with one less bloodsucker on the streets.

He reached for his whiskey. Barely felt the burn as the liquid slid down his throat.

One more down...thousands to go.

Chapter One.

She was being hunted.

Allison Gray had felt the unseen eyes on her for days. Ever since she'd left Alliance, Nebraska, and begun this crazy journey.

Ever since she'd started to change.

Her hands fisted as she slid through the crowd inside Blood Bath. Blood Bath? Jeez, just what kind of name was that for a bar? Nestled near the Cascade Mountains, the bar was like the rest of the small town-pretty d.a.m.n scary.

Allison found what she hoped was a private corner. One hidden by shadows. She'd never expected this town-not here. The tiny spot of Lost, Oregon, was filled with folks who looked like they could-and would-kill at the drop of a hat. She'd been told that she had to journey to this town. That she'd find the answers to all her questions here.

Her breath eased slowly from her lungs as her gaze swept around the bar. As always these days, she was aware of the strange ache in her gut. Hunger, one that just couldn't be satisfied with food. No matter how much she ate, she stayed hungry.

And her senses-they were in freaking overdrive. So many scents burned her nose. Alcohol. Cigarettes. Cheap perfume. s.e.x. Blood.

Her nostrils flared.

Blood shouldn't smell good. But, lately...the scent had started to- "Well, h.e.l.lo, pretty lady..."

She didn't start in surprise. She'd known the big biker was heading her way. The guy with tribal tattoos that covered his arms and shaved head. A dozen piercings penetrated his face. And...the guy had blood under his fingernails.