Chapter 66 66
AIDAN
I was thirsty. Lois wasn’t cooperating. Ezequiel wasn’t ending his fight, and I couldn’t leave because my feet wouldn’t move—because I wanted to drink from her. But the moment I did, the wolf outside would kill me, if he didn’t tear me apart and save a piece for his brother.
My body moved toward hers, pressing Lois’s back against the cave wall. This wasn’t smart—it was pure instinct. My fangs were out, my lips burning with the need to touch her skin, to feel her warmth against my mouth as Lois’s blood flowed into me.
“Do it,” she whispered, pushing my head toward her neck.
I licked my lips and swallowed, fully aware I wouldn’t be able to resist.
When my fangs sank into her skin, I felt my strength drain. A strange weakness washed over me—made worse the moment her blood, her taste, filled my mouth.
“Aah—”
My hands slammed against the wall as Lois moaned, pushing my face harder against her. I pulled back quickly, looking into her eyes, feeling… strange. Sated, yet strange.
My fangs slid back in—and right at that moment, Ezequiel walked in.
“Lois, are you alright?” his voice asked, though his lips didn’t move. It echoed inside my head.
I froze, alarm jolting through me. She ran into his arms, and he pulled her against his naked body.
“You’re here,” Lois whispered against him. “Ezequiel.”
“You smell… you smell different,” Ezequiel said, taking Lois’s hand, then sliding his fingers to her neck—right where I had bitten her.
His face shifted toward me, but he said nothing. “There’s a vampire nearby. I sensed him earlier.”
Of course he had. That vampire was me.
“And Emmanuel?” she asked, but he didn’t answer.
Ezequiel was searching for something. Searching for me. His hand lingered at Lois’s neck, as if he could detect something there.
“Your scent…” Ezequiel murmured, nose brushing her cheek. “How is it possible it changed? It’s you, but… different.”
“It must be the cave, the blood, the clothes. I’m wearing Aidan’s shirt,” Lois said—giving the perfect excuse.
He looked at her more closely now, his fingers brushing through the still-wet blood on her skin.
“Are you hurt?”
“No… I’m fine.”
“This time it healed faster, Lois,” Ezequiel said, resting a hand on her waist. He glanced back at me. “Thank you, Aidan. I just hope they didn’t figure out it was you, because right now we’re in serious trouble. My father and his beta have captured Emmanuel, and I don’t think this fight will end well.”
I knew it wouldn’t. Emmanuel didn’t stand a chance against his father.
We were already unbelievably lucky to have gotten this far alive.
“I don’t want anything to happen to Emmanuel,” Lois said—inside my head.
I stiffened. Why were their voices inside my mind? First Ezequiel. Then her.
I was certain it was inside my skull—and the volume was unbearable.
“Nothing will happen, Lois,” Ezequiel answered, his voice loud, booming against the walls of my mind.
“Both of you shut up!” I shouted, collapsing to my knees because I couldn’t take it. It felt like someone was tearing into me from the inside. “I can’t… I can’t stand it! Just be quiet!”
I buried my face in my hands, desperate for silence—and suddenly, everything went quiet.
“Are you hurt, Aidan?” Ezequiel asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
He sounded genuinely concerned.
I heard him sniff in my direction, and the feel of his hand on my bare skin made every nerve stand on edge, putting me instantly on alert.
“He’s a vampire,” Lois said. “He’s a vampire.”
I slowly lifted my head, watching her say exactly what she shouldn’t have said.
Ezequiel stared at me in disbelief before shifting his entire stance toward the cave entrance—his arm stretching protectively in front of Lois, shielding her from me.
He didn’t even ask. He didn’t doubt her word. Even if I didn’t look anything like the monster she had just claimed I was, he believed everything she said—because she was his mate, and he wouldn’t question her.
A vampire.
“And I think he’s my mate too, Ezequiel,” Lois added, her voice filling the cave with absolute stillness.
Ezequiel’s expression hardened, his eyes going dark as he processed those words. I watched the shock, the disbelief, and finally—the acceptance flash through him.
He shoved Lois out of the cave as he lunged at me.
“Ezequiel, no!” Lois screamed, her body pushed outside.
I ripped the collar off my neck, feeling my body free itself.
In a space this small, he wouldn’t be able to shift.
This was going to be a hand-to-hand fight.