Compromised Vampire Slayer Ch. 04 (Patreon)

August 11, 2020

<< Chapter 3 | Chapter 1  

> CHAPTER 4 <

I focused all my efforts on the steak I was gnawing into, trying to ignore Tristan sitting across from me. It felt like there had been a tension between us ever since we left Raelynn’s room. I had never been so nervous in my entire life as when I was changing in the bathroom just a bit ago, knowing he was just a few feet away in the bedroom waiting patiently for me.

Now, it was even worse that we were eating in silence. I was afraid to meet his alluring emerald gaze, afraid to see him watching me. But the silence was becoming unbearable.

I cleared my throat, glancing out the massive window on the far end of the room. It was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, and the nearly full moon was shining brightly – my best guess was it had been full the night I transformed. Staring at it helped ease my nerves some. “So, are the girls in the guest area the only ones who don’t know what really goes on here?” I wondered absentmindedly.

I saw him shake his head in the corner of my eye. “No, we have a lot of humans who work here. If everyone were a monster, then it would be difficult to maintain an adequate food supply.”

I grimaced. “Umm, so about that.” I finally glanced at him. “How many…humans, does this place go through in a week?”

“Usually only about two a month,” he admitted.

I finally met his gaze in shock. “A month?” I repeated. “H-How?”

He had a small smile on his lips then. “The flesh-eaters, err, zombies I guess – they can feed off animal flesh.”

“Then who eats the people?” I whispered.

“Rowan and my daughter drink their blood, and the zombies get an extra treat afterward.” He looked away. “Rowan owns a blood donation bank, which we use as a front to secure them blood bags. But it’s not the same as the blood coming straight out of a living person. If they go much longer than a month without feeding on a living person, then they start slowly wasting away as if they were starving.”

“Oh.” I paused to think about that. “How much blood do they need daily then? I mean, couldn’t they just keep the person alive and feed off them? Or does just a bite turn them like yours did to me? I’m not really sure about how that whole process works.”

Tristan looked at me curiously. “That’s sort of what they do, actually. Rowan usually takes two days to drain his victims dry, and my daughter often takes three or four.” He evaluated my reserved expression before continuing. “A human has to drink vampire blood to become a vampire. It’s a very intentional process. If they are bitten and survive, they become a zombie after about a week. Otherwise, if they die before that process finishes, then they die.”

My eyes widened in shock. “Oh! I didn’t realize the zombies were created by vampires. But then, if it’s so much easier to create werewolves and zombies, why have I never seen evidence of their existence until now?”

“Not easier,” he corrected me. “Just less intentional.” I gave him a confused look, prompting him to elaborate. “There are primarily two reasons why we are less noticeable. The first is because we can blend into society fairly well. No human would easily be able to detect that I am secretly a monster. It’s the same for zombies, as I’m sure you realized upon finding out Mr. Lancaster was one.” He paused when I nodded. “And second, biting may seem like it’s easier, but really it’s not. Usually, if we are attacking a person, it’s to eat them, which means they never survive long enough.”

“What happens if a zombie bites someone and they survive?”

He laughed humorlessly. “No idea. I’ve never heard of a zombie biting someone and leaving anything left afterward.”

I stared down at the meat in my hands, surprised this conversation wasn’t making me lose my appetite. I supposed I was adjusting well to being a monster myself.

When I didn’t say anything else, he spoke up again. “So are you ready to find out what a Luna is?” he wondered expectantly. It was the first time he had brought the subject up since we left Raelynn’s room.

I took a huge bite to fill my mouth, and shook my head without looking at him. My face felt extremely hot all of a sudden.

“I’m not going to force you,” he said quietly.

I scoffed, talking with my mouth full. “Didn’t sound like I had a choice to begin with,” I retorted.

He was quiet for a moment, prompting me to finally look up at him as I swallowed. His mouth was flat as he stared at me. I couldn’t help but hold his gaze, making me glad when he finally broke the silence. “Rowan knows he can trust me because of my daughter. But really, there’s nothing he has to prevent you from betraying him. No person to threaten.”

“And becoming a Luna solves that problem?” I asked in disbelief.

“It solves a problem,” he hedged. “It won’t stop you from betraying him, but it will let me know if you intend to.”

My head dropped. “And then you’d have to kill me, right?”

“Do you intend to?” he asked seriously.

I looked up at him quickly. “No! I really don’t! I know I just met you and Raelynn, but I couldn’t bear the idea of…” I dropped my head again, not wanting to look at him, not wanting to think about it. At least he knew I wasn’t lying. I had already proven myself by saving her.

His tone was more gentle now. Too gentle. “Then you have nothing to worry about.”

I suspected he was going to end up telling me what a Luna was if I didn’t keep delaying. “Why did you think he would be against it?” I blurted out, before he could continue speaking. I glanced up at him. “If it solves that problem, then why tell your daughter it might be a bad idea?”

He leaned forward slightly and rested his chin on his hands, with his elbows on the table. “You’re very attractive, Autumn. He was suspicious of why I decided to let you live. I was afraid making you my Luna would reinforce that belief.”

Oh shit! I grabbed my napkin and buried my face in it. I finally did lose my appetite.

He continued, my reaction filling his voice with humor. “Ready for me to tell you?”

“I think I already have an idea,” I admitted, my voice muffled. Or did I? Was I blowing this way out of proportion? What if he said something completely different than what I suspected? That might be even more embarrassing. I finally peeked at him when he was silent.

His expression was reserved again.

Time to be brave.

I carefully wiped my mouth and my hands, before folding the napkin and placing it neatly on the table. I really had lost my appetite. There was no way in hell I was going to eat anything else now. Once I was finished, I hesitantly met his gaze and sat up straight. “What is it?” I finally asked.

He held my gaze for a solid minute, evaluating my sudden change of demeanor, before responding. “A Luna,” he began hesitantly. “Is an alpha werewolf’s mate.”

I tried to distance myself from the situation by treating it like a job offer – like I was signing up for an assassination mission. I just needed to focus on the details and keep the extra thoughts and emotions out of it.

“How serious is that arrangement?” I wondered, still holding his gaze.

“What do you mean?” he hedged.

“Like, have you had any other Lunas? Can you have more than one at a time? If you found someone else you liked better, then would you just toss me aside?” I bit my lip when I accidentally made it personal by saying ‘me.’ I cleared my throat, correcting myself. “Would you toss a Luna aside if you found another one you liked better?”

A small smile touched his lips at my attempt to make it impersonal again. “No, I’ve never had a Luna,” he admitted.

I gawked at him. “Not even your wife?” I asked breathlessly, speaking as if I was worried someone would overhear.

He shook his head. “She was human, as was Raelynn of course.”

“Oh.” I sat back in my seat, considering that. “Then how do you know it will really solve the problem?”

He spoke exceptionally slow as he began explaining. “I have a few friends – werewolf friends – who are…together like that. It’s…” He bit his lip, distracting me briefly. “Well, it’s very serious.”

“How serious?” I pressed in a whisper. “Like…like marriage?”

He shook his head slowly. “More serious. A lot more serious.”

I balled my hands into fists on my thighs as my body began to tremble again. More serious than marriage? How could anything be more serious? I decided to just ask.

“How?” I finally managed.

“Well…you can always walk away from a marriage. People do it all the time.” He paused when I gulped audibly. “You can’t exactly just walk away from being my Luna. It’s sort of…permanent.”

I gulped again. “Sounds…very serious,” I agreed.

He was silent, patiently watching me come to grips with this revelation.

“How difficult is the process?” I finally asked, remembering the excruciating pain I had to endure during my first transformation.

“It’s a little involved,” he hedged. “But not difficult exactly.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “Maybe I should ask, how easy is the process? Can it happen accidentally?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s very intentional. I have to initiate it, and you have to accept.” He paused. “It does involve you biting me and drinking some of my blood. And I have to do the same to you. But it shouldn’t really be painful.”

“Oh.” I felt my nerves relax a little. That didn’t seem so bad.

He continued. “But that’s just a small part.”

My body tensed again. “Oh,” I repeated, my tone more stressed. “Umm, maybe we could continue this conversation later,” I suggested. “I need time to process everything you’ve told me before you give me any more details.”

“Sure,” he offered. “It’s probably best if I explain the rest when we’re in a more private location anyway.”

I immediately ducked my head, my face burning up.

“Do you want to finish eating?” he asked hesitantly.

“Nope!” I squeaked.

“Then we should probably get to work,” he said seriously.

I looked up at him then. “W-What do we have to do?” I wondered. Did it involve killing anyone? I really wasn’t in the mood now.

“Nothing too elaborate. Because of my sensitive nose, one of my more mundane job responsibilities involves doing a sweep of the entire mansion every night.” He smirked. “It’s why I came across you in the first place.”

I nodded silently, remembering our first encounter exceptionally well. The memory of straddling his forearm and being held against his chest was having a different effect on me now than it did then. I tried to focus on what he was saying as he continued, attempting to not become too distracted by the way his lips moved when he talked.

“But actually, since we had an intruder who was partially successful, I need to figure out exactly how he got in here to prevent it from happening again.”

“Oh.” I look down at my plate. “Maybe I should finish eating after all then. I don’t want to slow you down from a lack of energy.”

He smiled warmly at me. “Please do. We have a long night ahead of us.” He paused. “You should also probably make an appearance to all the maids in the morning. None of them have seen you since two days ago. I don’t want them to get suspicious and think you died.”

I nodded in agreement, beginning to eat again. “I actually tried to fish out some rumors when I first got here. Surprisingly, they seem to be pretty clueless. I suppose the nice salary is enough to encourage them to only sing praises about their employer.”

Tristan smirked at that. “Yes, money does go a long way with most people.”

“So does threatening their lives,” I added, referring to myself. “I honestly would have kept my mouth shut and stayed here forever in exchange for you sparing my life.”

“Really?” he said skeptically.

I nodded. “I’m not one to take mercy lightly. I wouldn’t betray someone who decided to spare my life.”

“But then you wouldn’t be working with me,” he noted. 

“True,” I admitted, keeping my expression impassive.

“Would you have preferred that?” he asked quietly.

I met his gaze, saw the slight vulnerability in his emerald eyes, and immediately looked away. “This is fine,” I reassured him just as quietly.

He sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat. “Rowan wouldn’t have allowed it anyway.” He lowered his voice. “If he had his way, you’d probably be wishing you were dead right now.”

I shuttered at the thought. “Thank you,” I whispered. He nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t respond, so I decided to change the subject. “There is one thing I don’t quite understand,” I admitted. “How did me killing Nate solve the betrayal problem? And what would have happened if I couldn’t do it?” I then quickly clarified. “I would have done it,” I said firmly. “But what if I hadn’t?”

He leaned forward again. “Well, if you did, then that would have at least told Rowan you were willing to follow basically any order he could give. It actually helped a lot that you strangled that girl while you were still human.” He paused when I grimaced at the memory.

It was nice knowing that Tristan understood how bipolar my emotions were as a wolf, largely because he was a werewolf himself. One minute I wanted to eat the girl, and the next minute I was feeling guilty about killing her. At least I didn’t feel guilty about killing Gavin. If anything, I felt proud of myself. Raelynn was still alive because of me.

Tristan continued. “But if you hadn’t been able to do it, then that would have been okay too.”

“What?” I asked in disbelief. He suddenly had my full attention.

He nodded slowly. “If you had revealed you cared too much about him, then he would have become for you what my daughter is for me – a method to control you.”

I felt a little dizzy as I considered that. “Well, I guess I’m glad Gavin beat me to the punch then. I’d feel really horrible right now if I was finding this out after I had done it myself.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same,” he clarified. “Your friend would have stayed chained to a wall for the rest of his life.”

Of course. Maybe death was easier for him then after all. Granted, who was I to make that decision? I had run away from death just as desperately as the next person.

I sighed and pushed away from the table, deciding that I was truly done eating now.

Tristan stood up. “Ready?”

I nodded and got to my feet too.

As my mind started considering what we were going to do next, it suddenly occurred to me that I was going to be spending the rest of the night and day with him. And the day after that. And the day after that.

We would even be sleeping in the same room together…probably in the same bed.

I met his emerald gaze again as that realization settled into me. I knew there were going to be horrible parts to this job – parts I might truly hate. But somehow, none of that mattered right now as a smile slowly played on my lips and a deep contentment settled in my heart.

I was going to be with him continuously day and night for the undisclosed future. And that fact made me happy. Very happy.

*****

Shit. I was hoping to have a little bit of time to contemplate this whole ‘being the alpha’s mate’ issue, but obviously the universe didn’t care what I wanted. Or at least, the Society didn’t. After a long night, I discovered in the morning that they had already filled my vacant position in the last few days, which wouldn’t have been a problem except I knew who the girl was.

The first thing I did was give Serenity our discrete hand signal to indicate I was okay. She seemed relieved, but of course didn’t say anything. She knew I’d find her later to talk when I had a chance. I then quickly excused myself, suggesting I had a ton of work to do, but promised to come socialize with the maids tomorrow. I gave Serenity a meaningful look as I did so, knowing she would understand.

After snitching to Tristan that we had a problem, he brought me back up to our bedroom and sat me down to have a serious talk about this Luna business. Much to my chagrin.

I wanted so desperately to hide as he gave me the rundown of how it was supposed to go. At least I was curled up in a chair, my arms wrapped tightly against my knees, rather than sitting on the bed. That would have made listening to this a thousand times more embarrassing.

“Sounds like pretty standard honeymoon stuff,” I admitted quietly.

He laughed nervously at that. “Sort of. A little kinky if you frame it like that.”

How else was I supposed to frame it? It was a werewolf consummation ritual that involved sex. Sure there was biting and blood drinking involved, but that was only a small part of it like he said. The majority of it was just rough passionate sex as we both attempted to dominate the other. Not to mention that after we were done he would be able to sense all my intentions, feelings, and possibly even catch glimpses of my actual thoughts.

At least we would only be slightly transformed for the blood-drinking part. I didn’t like the idea of him fucking me from behind while he was in his werewolf form. Him doing it in his human form was going to be too much as it was. I shivered at the thought, my memories reminding me of what it felt like to have his chest pressed against my back. Feeling the warmth of his body seep into my muscles.

Dammit! This was not good. I wasn’t ready for this. I was too nervous.

“You…don’t have to,” he reminded me slowly. “But not doing so will make dealing with this new hunter a bit of a problem. Rowan won’t trust you to interact with her alone, which might mean he decides to do to her what he would have done to you.”

“But that will just make the Society attack sooner,” I pressed.

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, which is why the best option is for you to reassure her that you have the situation handled. If you can get her to quit and leave, then we can avoid torturing her.”

I shook my head in disbelief. Rowan was right to be hesitant to trust me though. I now knew this place well enough to lead the Society to victory if I wanted to. “I guess we really can’t just leave her alone, can we? She either needs to leave on her own, or be killed.”

“Tortured,” he corrected me. “Rowan doesn’t usually kill female hunters for a long time, even if they break easily.”

I shuttered. “Well, that sure ruined the mood,” I commented.

He looked at me in surprise. “You were in the mood?” he asked skeptically.

“Umm, well…” I tried to take a deep breath. It was like I was choking on air. “No not really,” I managed. “I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

He laughed. “Yesterday you almost jumped me and today you’re passing out?” He shook his head in disbelief.

I groaned at the memory. Where was that courage when I needed it? Granted, it wasn’t really courage. It was my body reacting to his touch. “Maybe…if we just take it really slow?” I suggested tentatively. “Like, just hold me for a while or something to see if my nerves calm down.”

“Sure.” He smiled warmly. “Nothing I have to do today is very pressing. We have eight hours to take things as slow as you want.”

I gulped at the idea. Eight hours? Just the idea of him holding me for eight hours was enough to make my heart jump into my throat. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. My breathing started to pick up as he slowly rose to his feet and began approaching me. I felt like I really was going to pass out.

“Calm down, Autumn. I’m just going to pick you up. Nothing more.”

I nodded weakly, flinching when he touched me. He placed his palm on the top of my head for a few long seconds. I shivered at the touch, though it was anything but cold. His warmth crawled right down my neck and into my shoulders. After a moment, he bent down and scooped me out of the chair. I clasped my hands together over my chest like I was praying.

Maybe I was praying? Who knows? My body was really trembling now. I was shaking so much it was mortifying.

I was relieved when he sat back down in my place, rather than taking me to the bed. He slouched in the seat slightly and curled me up on his lap. I found my head laying against the front of his shoulder. It actually made for a pretty comfortable pillow, being fairly soft when he wasn’t tensing it.

“There, that’s not so bad is it?” He sounded amused.

I didn’t answer, trying to focus on my breathing.

“Why are you so nervous?” he finally asked. “You sure didn’t seem nervous yesterday.”

“I’ve never done this before,” I admitted quietly.

He looked down at me in shock. “Which part?” he said in disbelief.

“All of it.” I brought my hand up to my face to cover my eyes. “I told you I didn’t date.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t…” He paused as he considered that. “Wait, you’re a virgin?” he exclaimed incredulously.

I growled at him, surprised it actually sounded like a real growl. “Yes, dummy! Why is that so hard to believe?”

He seemed even more amused by my attempt to threaten him. “Because you’re twenty-seven! Not to mention you’re super hot, but even if you weren’t gorgeous, you’re twenty-seven!”

I felt my face blush intensely. “You really think I’m hot?” I whispered.

“Of course,” he scoffed. “Why is that so hard for you to believe?”

Why was it hard? Oh, right. I remembered why.

“Because you seemed so disgusted when you saw me naked and covered in blood yesterday.”

He sighed heavily, my body rising with his chest. “I wasn’t disgusted at you,” he whispered. “I was disgusted at myself. It was hard for me to see you like that, knowing what you went through.” He paused. “I was there for most of it.”

I looked up at him in shock. “You were?”

“Not inside the room with you,” he clarified. “But I stayed just outside the door for as long as possible without raising suspicion.” He sighed again. “It was hard listening to you scream. It made me hate myself for biting you.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said quietly. “I really am.”

He tightened his embrace on me slightly.

“I guess I’m just afraid,” I admitted.

“Afraid of what? Your first time hurting? It doesn’t hurt for a werewolf, even if it is your first time.”

I blushed again, covering my eyes a second time. “No, I’m worried about Rowan still changing his mind.”

“That’s very unlikely at this point.”

“Still possible,” I pressed.

He was silent then. I glanced through my fingers to see him staring at the wall, his expression reserved.

Unexpectedly his radio on the nightstand crackled to life softly. I was surprised by how rarely anyone spoke on it, but it seemed like everyone knew their jobs well enough to not need to communicate except in emergencies. “Umm, sir. We have a situation out front.”

Tristan sighed heavily and set me on my feet as he stood. I grabbed a hold of the back of the chair to keep my balance, my legs a little wobbly from trembling so much.

“This is Tristan. What is it?”

“Sir, the police are here.”

His eyes widened in shock. “They are? What do they want?”

“They haven’t said exactly. But they want to speak to you. Seems kind of important.”

I smirked at Tristan when he nodded, as if the person on the radio could see him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice I was silently making fun of him. Once he told the guy he was on his way, he looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry. We’ll have to continue this later.”

“It’s fine,” I sighed. I honestly wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. “I assume I’m coming.”

He nodded. “Of course. You’re my shadow now.”

I laughed. “I’m a little small to be your shadow,” I teased.

“You are fairly small,” he agreed.

“Hey!” I retorted. “I’m only like four inches shorter than you!” It might have been closer to five inches, but who was really counting anyway?

Unexpectedly he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up into the air effortlessly. I was sure I weighed more than a grown man now, possibly much more since everything I ate seemed to stay inside me, but he still didn’t struggle in the slightest. “Not what I was referring to,” he said, setting me back down. He then squeezed my waist gently for emphasis.

My face was hot again. “R-Right,” I choked out. “Let’s go then. Don’t want to keep the nice police officers waiting.”

Tristan laughed and followed me out the door. “If it’s who I think it is, then we should be fine. The guy’s pretty chill. It also helps that he’s a werewolf.”

I gasped. “Won’t he be able to smell me then?”

“Relax, Autumn. Yes, he’ll know of course, but he’s not going to do anything about it.” His expression darkened. “He might try to flirt with you though. Don’t feel bad about shutting him down.”

I laughed. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. I learned a long time ago to be hard on men – most of them can’t take a hint. Cop or not, I don’t play nice.”

“Good,” he said cheerfully, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me in tight. “Because you’re mine now whether you become my Luna or not.”

I gulped, trying to keep from trembling again. On the way downstairs, I did my best to collect myself, knowing I had to focus on the task at hand. Last thing I needed was to be acting like I was hiding something when the police were around.

No, I was just at my job, going about my regular duties. And, as we descended the stairs, I worked hard on putting myself in that mindset.

Just before we stepped out of the ornately furnished main lobby entrance, onto the stone steps that led up to the door, I knew immediately which of the cops was the werewolf. I wasn’t sure if it was wolf instinct, or if it was just because he was drop dead gorgeous, and I couldn’t imagine a normal person being so hot.

Like, damn, were all werewolves this handsome? Not that I was interested…but damn, the guy could be a model. Blonde hair and blue eyes, he was definitely a heartthrob. Why was he wasting his time as a police officer? Granted, I could say the same about Tristan too. But at least I knew his reasoning.

However, despite my initial reaction, I groaned internally when I caught the guy’s attention immediately as we came out the front doors. I was already preparing to shut down any comments about my appearance. However, then I noticed that the other three police officers with him were looking at me too. And one of them was a woman.

I had definitely turned a few girl’s heads in the past, but it was unusual to have everyone’s attention. The young woman pulled something out of her pocket and looked down at it before looking at me again. From this distance, it looked like a photograph.

Tristan spoke as we headed down the steps to meet them by their two cruisers. “Hey, Jayce. How’s it going? Everything alright?”

The guy finally looked at Tristan. “Hey buddy. Well, no. Not exactly. We’re here to pick up her, actually.” He pointed at me. “We need to bring her in for questioning.”

I stopped dead in my tracks to stare at him. “Pick me up?” I repeated in disbelief. “Why?”

The others looked at me suspiciously, but Jayce only eyed me curiously. I was surprised he kept his eyes on my face. Granted, that was technically my greatest asset, but still. Most guys roamed all over my athletic body like they hadn’t eaten in a month, and I was a savory steak they couldn’t wait to bite into. “It’s about a missing person’s case. Nathaniel Calhoun. Someone tipped us off that you were close to him.”

I relaxed a little. I had killed a man for trying to assault me about six months ago. For some reason I was afraid they’d finally caught up to me – found something to incriminate me, despite how careful I had been to not leave evidence behind. “Oh. No, not really. I haven’t seen the guy in months.”

“Exactly,” Jayce pressed. “Apparently, you’re one of the last people who saw him before he disappeared.”

I tried not to react. “That’s not my point though. I barely know the guy. I only saw him occasionally because I used to hang out with his group of friends every once in a while.”

The blonde cop pulled out a notepad. “Can you give me some names?” he asked seriously.

I stared at him in disbelief, and glanced at Tristan, who immediately jumped in to help me out. “Hey Jayce, if you’re going to question her here, then why not come inside,” he suggested.

The guy looked at Tristan curiously, and I realized something must have been said that had meaning between them. Jayce looked at me again, taking a step in my direction. “Actually, I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself.” He took one more step up the stairs and froze in his tracks, looking up at me with renewed interest.

I could see it in his eyes now. The light wind had prevented him from noticing sooner, but he had finally caught a whiff of my scent.

He quickly cleared his throat and continued toward me, as if nothing unusually had happened. I kept my expression neutral when he held out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Jayce Sinclair. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but at least he was sincerely being respectful so far. “Autumn Rose,” I replied, shaking his hand firmly. Much firmer than should be possible for a normal person, man or woman.

He smirked at my grip and lack of greeting. He then took a step down to look at Tristan again. “I can question her here, but they would still like for me to bring her in to question her at the station.”

“I mean, can’t I refuse?” I interjected.

Jayce looked up at me, being a couple steps down now. “You aren’t worried about your friend?” I didn’t miss the slight twinkle in his eye, like he was amused by the situation now that he knew I was a werewolf too.

I finally did roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. “Like I said, I barely know the guy. I don’t have time to worry about every random person I occasionally meet.”

The woman at the bottom of the steps chimed in then. “Yeah, but our informant said you two were dating.”

I scoffed. “Dating? Definitely not. Maybe he wanted to, but I don’t date guys.”

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked me over differently. When Jayce chuckled, I realized what it sounded like. But I wasn’t going to correct them. They could think what they wanted, especially if it would get them off my ass.

“So that’s a no, then?” he wondered with another low chuckle.

“Correct,” I agreed. “I don’t want to get involved in his problems, whether he’s missing or not. I’m sure he’ll turn up on his own anyway. Just because I happened to see him a week before he went missing doesn’t mean I can help.”

One of the other police officers spoke up, taking a very intentional step toward us. He was definitely the oldest of the four, with his black hair showing signs of graying. “A week?” he repeated in a much deeper voice than I was expecting. “No one said anything about when he disappeared.”

Shit! I messed up!

I tried to recover, seeing the caution in Jayce’s blue eyes now. “Oh, I thought that’s what you said. That he disappeared about a week after I saw him last.”

Jayce’s eyes narrowed. “I may have mentioned that,” he offered, though we both knew he hadn’t.

“Umm, no you didn’t,” the woman retorted. “She knows something.”

I groaned like I was annoyed. “When did he go missing anyway?” I asked seriously.

“It was reported March 17,” Jayce announced immediately.

“Well, there you go. I’m pretty sure the last time I saw him was around February 28. That’s over two weeks difference.”

“That’s also his birthday,” the woman added.

I attempted to look sincerely surprised. “Oh. I didn’t realize that.” Like hell if that was true. I actually bought him a gift, which was what prompted him to work up the courage to ask me on a date.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” she muttered.

“Look, I have no idea where the guy is. And honestly, I don’t really care. I barely know him, and the fact that I saw him on his birthday is a total coincidence. I had no idea until just now. We aren’t even close enough for him to have mentioned it to me.”

The older officer began taking charge now. I wasn’t sure if there was some kind of seniority among them, but he seemed like he was pulling that card on Jayce now. “We’re taking her in,” he said firmly. “That comment is enough for us to detain her for twenty-four hours.”

“Seriously?” I exclaimed. “You’re joking, right? I’m not just hanging out here. I’m working right now.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he retorted. The man then began climbing up the stairs to get me himself.

I immediately felt defensive, my wolf instincts kicking in. Jayce surprised me when he whispered under his breath so low that I was sure only I could hear it.

“Don’t resist.”

I forced myself to relax and glanced at Tristan. Surprisingly, he was well composed despite this turn of events. His expression was completely impassive as he met my gaze. I wanted to look at him apologetically, but I didn’t want anyone to misinterpret it.

“Fine,” I groaned, taking a step toward Jayce. “Please escort me to the car.” I then lowered my voice so that only he could hear. “Before I kill someone,” I added under my breath.

He gave me a wide grin, keeping himself between me and the middle-aged asshole as he hurried me down the stairs with his fingers lightly around my arm. The older cop looked annoyed but didn’t complain. After Jayce got me in the back of the police cruiser, he told me he would be right back. In the meantime, the old shithead climbed into the passenger’s seat, but didn’t speak to me.

I watched Jayce run up to talk to Tristan in private, probably to find out if anything was going on he needed to know about. I was suddenly worried what Rowan was going to think about this. Would he be pissed when he found out? Would he think I had used the opportunity to betray him?

Technically, this could be a huge opportunity if that was my goal. But it really wasn’t. Especially not now that I was a monster too. Would becoming Tristan’s Luna solve this new problem? Would I be able to convince Rowan I hadn’t given anything away?

One thing was for sure, when I saw Tristan again I needed to keep my feelings reserved. Because for all I knew, the next time we met he may have already been given the order to kill me. No reason to make it harder on him by greeting him excitedly.

I just hoped he’d let me say goodbye to Raelynn beforehand. I knew it was going to break her heart either way, but she at least deserved a proper goodbye. I knew I wasn’t really her mother, but the fact that she wanted me to be made me feel like she’d be losing her mommy all over again.

I sighed heavily. Poor thing.

Chapter 5 >>