Bound by Blood Read Free Page A

her…” He yanked out his claws as Mike stumbled back.
    Wolves are brutal. Another Council warning.
    “If you can’t accept her,” Jace continued, “then get out of my pack.”
    Pain broke rough lines on Mike’s face. “A vampire? You’re tying to a bloodsucker—”
    Now she wanted to claw him. The wolves kept acting like Jace was the one trading down. Dude. Vampire princess.
    She toed the dead demon’s body. The blood had reached her boots, and it wouldn’t be coming out of the leather. “They’ll destroy you.”
    Now it was her voice that captured everyone’s attention.
    Mike puffed out his bloody chest. “We did a good job of destroying them.”
    Yes, they had. And she was impressed, but she wasn’t planning to show it. “You took out two…” Her gaze swept the room. “With twenty to two odds, I should hope you’d win the match.”
    Jace lifted a brow and watched her.
    She braced her legs and tried to look all kick-ass. “What are your plans when there are two thousand of them…and still just twenty of you?”
    “Did that bitch just say two thousand?”
    “Two damn thousand?”
    Shock coated the faces of the shifters. Even Mike looked nervous. Jace didn’t. He just kept watching her, and he kept his claws out.
    “You’re being hunted,” she told them. “How many wolves have the demons taken out in the last few weeks?”
    They didn’t answer, but she saw the swift glances that passed between the pack members.
    “They’re also attacking us,” she said. “For once, the vampires and the werewolves share an enemy.” Now they were all focusing on her with narrowed eyes and tense faces. “If we don’t take these bastards out, believe me, they will destroy us. They’ve got the numbers on their side. They have the power…”
    “So what?” Mike demanded. “An alliance?” He fired a fierce stare at Jace. “Is this just some truce ‘til we kick the ass of all—”
    “It’s a mating,” Jace said, voice flat. “It’s forever.”
    Until death. “A doorway opened between hell and earth, and the demons are slipping right through that door,” Morgan said. More of the hell spawn came through each day.
    “So close the damn door!” Mike snapped.
    Jace’s fingers stretched as if he were itching to plunge his claws back into the wolf. Maybe he was.
    “We will,” Jace said simply. “The wolves and the vampires will send them back and close the door.”
    They hadto work together. In order for that doorway to shut, they’d both need to bleed. Only she’d be the one giving up the most blood.
    And Jace would be the one to face hell.
    Murmurs swept through the bar. The wolves finally seemed to realize just how serious this night was. A vampire wasn’t their prey. Instead, a vampire was becoming their alpha’s mate.
    Jace came to her side again. When his hands—still tipped with those deadly claws—rose to her throat, Morgan didn’t flinch. He swept back her hair and his knuckles brushed over her skin.
    The wolves closed in now, watching, and some—some were already shifting. Mike swore and turned away. He stomped for the door.
    “Don’t be afraid,” Jace’s voice, right at her ear. She felt the whisper of his breath on her flesh.
    “I’m not.” Her own voice was just as soft as his.
    His claws skated down her neck. “ Liar.”
    Wolf senses. Could he really smell her fear?
    “Have you ever been bitten?” he asked.
    So many eyes were on her. She’d known the bite would have to be in public. It was one of the pack rules. Claimings had to be public. Witnesses had to see the bite. Witnesses—just like in human marriage ceremonies.
    Because that’s what a marking was…marriage. When a male wolf bit his female in front of the pack, he claimed her.
    I can do this.
    It would just help if her knees weren’t shaking.
    She gave him the truth, “No.” No one had ever bitten her.
    “Good.” Too much satisfaction purred in the one word.
    “Don’t forget,” her voice was way too