the driver.”
Arvyn chuckled, although he was still thinking about his accident. “There was a lady, a lady from a nearby shop. She saw what happened and gave me a seat and a glass of water. There was blood pouring down my leg, and she was fussing about it. I told the good Samaritan I would go to the free clinic, so she’d leave me alone. My leg was healing already, so I knew I had to get away before that was noticed. But now I think about it…”
“Yes?” Cass prompted.
“The car. I thought I caught a flash of red eyes coming from the back seat…” Arvyn thought back. “It was just a glimpse, barely anything at all, and then, when I was hobbling down the street, still pretending to be hurt, I thought I saw that same car coming back again. I didn’t want any trouble, so I disappeared into the nearest shop.” He shook his head. “Honestly, at the time, I just figured I’d lost more blood than I originally thought and went looking for somewhere to get something to eat. Fuck, that was a week or so ago now. Could he have been locked up all that time? The coven master, I mean?”
“I could be, and I was, but I’m out now.”
Arvyn turned as a new voice joined the conversation, his eyes widening, his jaw dropping. For some reason, in that moment, he had a flash run through his head of one of those cartoon characters whose eyes were bugging out of their head, and their tongue was hitting the ground – that’s what he felt like doing.
The vampire was an imposing figure despite the mess of his clothes and deep red welts around his wrists. The squared jaw, the high brow and aristocratic nose, combined with long shaggy blond hair, gave Arvyn the impression of how a Viking from the history books might look, although this Viking was wearing a rumpled button up shirt that probably used to be white, and a pair of suit pants. Broad shoulders and thick neck – there’s so much to nibble on.
And then the vampire’s scent hit Arvyn like a punch in the nose. His wolf, already alert from fighting, pushed forward, and Arvyn’s cock went from whoa to go in ten seconds flat. MATE! Arvyn’s feet were moving before his brain registered, and his weren’t the only ones. The vampire was super quick, their chests slamming into each other as they met halfway. Arvyn’s ribs protested and he lost the ability to breathe for a moment, but strong arms wrapped around Arvyn’s back, holding him firmly, not that he had any intention of going anywhere. He was too busy sniffing along the vampire’s neck, tilting his own slightly to give the coven master room to do the same.
With his head swimming from the heady scent, and most of his blood headed south in his body, Arvyn almost missed what the vampire was mumbling into his neck, but when the words registered, they hit harder than the vampire’s scent and Arvyn’s legs wobbled.
“I didn’t mean to say this now. Gods, please don’t think I don’t want you when I do with every cell of my body, every inch of my soul. But you have to know. You have to know because this impacts you too. I think we’re meant to be part of a menage.”
/~/~/~/~/
Kirill could feel the shock running through the wolf’s muscled body and his hold tightened around the man’s back as the wolf swayed in his arms. There was a part of him that wondered if he should’ve said anything at all, but the truth was, Kirill was still processing the information himself.
In all the time he’d spent locked up, if he wasn’t thinking up ways to decimate Yakov, he was dreaming about his beloved. Holding the man close, Kirill knew his brief glimpse and imagination hadn’t done the wolf justice. There was a powerful creature lurking under a tight and well-defined body – a body Kirill couldn’t wait to explore further, but…
Leaning back slightly, after making sure his wolf could stand on his own, Kirill cradled his beloved’s scruff, looking into eyes as dark as his own. “I’d freed myself from the chains. I was… I was trying to remember how to get out of the cell door… I designed the damn thing, and you’d think I’d remember but…”
“Hey.” The wolf’s voice was deep and melodious. “Take a breath. This has been a night for shocks for