been prolonged or indicated pain, didn’t feel it was worth pausing it to investigate. Whatever had happened seemed to have passed.
Now that Ashi was here, perhaps she should have been paying more attention, but she couldn’t imagine what would drive the vampire-phobic Were to her door. She wasn’t particularly interested in putting up with him, but she wasn’t cruel enough to turn down someone in need, either.
“If ye wish. If whatever you’re running from followed ye here, ye get tae fix it.”
Ashi felt like crying. He scurried into the apartment, found a fairly shadowy corner, and promptly hid in it.
It was ironic that in a place very far removed from his pack, in a situation that no Were could ever in any pack’s wildest dream be in, his Were instincts were kicking in.
Or it was just raw fear. Either way, it was a nice corner.
Clarisse watched him, puzzled and a little annoyed. With a last surly look in Ashi’s direction, she went back to the couch and un-paused the movie. If he felt like being social, he could join her, but she wasn’t about to go out of her way to be nice to someone who had made it very plain he didn’t care a whit about her or her kind.
* * *
Mouse straightened in alarm when she heard Christoph’s yelling.
She took off, racing up to the second floor. Wesley, who had been on front door guard duty, was soon hot on her heels, peeved at all the commotion, his otherwise calm night interrupted this time by whatever was going on upstairs.
The door to the apartment slammed open, and before the sound of it rebounding off the wall had reached their ears, Mouse did the same with the door to Christoph’s room.
As soon as she spotted John, she was moving again, her nails biting deep into his shoulders and spattering Christoph with a bit of blood as she roughly tore the vampire away from the wall.
John was too surprised and hurt to let go of Christoph immediately, so they tumbled to the floor together.
Mouse slammed her booted heel down on one of John’s wrists, a brittle snapping sound cutting the air before he screamed and released Christoph to clutch at his broken wrist. Before the pain fully sank in, she leaned down, her hand closing vise-like around John’s throat and cutting off his cries as she bared her fangs.
Wesley arrived in time to see her throw John and Christoph to the floor. His eyes widened, but he didn’t step in to either help or stop Mouse.
He knew better.
Christoph didn’t realize he was scrambling backwards until he slammed against the wall again, nearly braining himself. So far Mouse had been Chick With Big Boobs Who Is Awfully Nice. Now she was Scary as All Get Out Chick With Red Eyes and Big Fangs. Christoph was in full panic mode and, if he’d been able to, he would have been getting pretty fuzzy right about then.
He’d never been so scared in his life.
John wasn’t making much sound around his crushed windpipe. He stared wide-eyed up at Mouse, who silently mouthed at him:
He’s mine.
John nodded as best he could around her hold, trying desperately to agree. He wasn’t used to feeling this much pain. He hadn’t been hurt like this since the first World War. It was blinding.
With a whisper-faint growl, barely heard, Mouse slammed him down hard enough to crack the floorboards, releasing him. She blinked away the heat in her eyes as she twisted around to see if Christoph was okay. Her anger rapidly shifted to concern, ignoring John’s pitiful whimpers as she rushed to kneel at Christoph’s side, lightly brushing her fingertips over his jaw and his wrists to check for any signs of bruises, cuts, or bite marks.
Wesley took advantage of her momentary distraction to rush into the room, grab John under the arms, and haul him out. If John had hurt Christoph, Wesley wanted him out of the way so she couldn’t put him out of commission for a month or more.
Christoph recoiled from Mouse, gaping in terror as she reached for him. This was too much for him to handle. First, a vampire attack. Then a vampire-on-vampire attack. And now the one who won the dominance battle was in his face. It was Mouse, yes, but it was also a thing of nightmares.
Mouse withdrew after her own initial panic subsided. The blood on Christoph’s face and shirt was all John’s, and she couldn’t find any nicks or