“I don’t eat people,” Cain bit out through clenched teeth. Lizzy noticed his fangs were in full view. Based on Alice’s face, the woman wasn’t intimidated.

  Cain kneeled down again and pushed a bag of blood toward Lizzy. She sniffed it and then snarled at it. “That’s not the blood we need,” her wolf said.

  “What do you mean?” Lizzy asked it.

  “We need our mate’s blood.”

  Lizzy shifted, attempting to push herself up, so she was no longer laying on her side. She managed it, but she felt wobbly. “How do you know?”

  “The same way I know he is ours.” the wolf replied. “I just do.”

  “Maybe a bloody steak would work.” Alice looked down at Lizzy. “Wolves are carnivores. If she’s now a wolf-vampire, maybe human blood won’t meet her body’s needs.”

  Cain shook his head. “Animal blood doesn’t nourish a vampire.”

  “She’s not only a vampire,” Alice said. “She’s more. You can’t simply make decisions about her based on your experience.”

  “Okay, so, I probably should tell them your idea,” Lizzy said to her wolf, then she paused and realized something was missing. “Speaking of mate, where is Finn?” She could still feel him, but the sensation wasn’t as strong, and she couldn’t hear his voice.

  “I’ve blocked him enough that he can’t hear us,” her wolf explained.

  Lizzy frowned, or at least she thought she did. Who knew what a frown looked like on a wolf's face? “Why?”

  “Without his blood, we will die. He will not remain calm once he realizes this.”

  Okay then. Her wolf was just as blunt and straightforward as Finn’s. At least it wasn’t sugar-coating things. “I need to be back in my human form to tell these two yahoos what you’ve told me.”

  “You’re weaker in your human form,” her wolf pointed out.

  “True, but I’m less talkative in a human kind of way when I’m in your form. Sooo…”

  She felt her wolf’s agitation but noted that the beast didn’t disagree. “You must make them understand how vital it is that they take you to Finn.”

  “I can be persuasive when I need to be.”

  Her wolf growled. “Can you be violent? Are you willing to kill in order to get to our mate?”

  Okay, so maybe the beast was a little unhinged. That was probably from spending two decades locked somewhere inside of Lizzy, which would make anyone crazy. “I’ll handle it. How do I get back into my human form?”

  “Just picture yourself as human and will it.”

  Lizzy did as her wolf said. A moment later, she felt the chill of the air on her bare skin. “Of course, I’m naked.” She huffed. Then she felt a blanket being draped over her.

  Alice brushed Lizzy’s hair out of her face and pulled her into a sitting position. The woman made sure the blanket covered Lizzy’s girl parts and then cupped her face. “Are you okay?” Lizzy could tell the concern in her voice and eyes was real. The woman who did a blood transfusion on her seven days ago wasn’t the same woman who kneeled before her now. Something had happened. Alice must have seen the questions in Lizzy’s eyes because she gave a subtle shake of her head, as if telling Lizzy not to ask.

  “Why are you shaking?” Apparently, Cain had seen the interaction between the two of them.

  Lizzy quickly cut him off. “I need my mate’s blood. Without it, I’m going to die. Plain and simple.”

  Cain shook his head. “I’m your sire. My blood should nourish you.”

  Lizzy looked at Alice. “Is he hard of hearing or just stupid? I mean, I know he’s old, but do you think vampires lose their hearing?”

  Alice’s lips twitched.

  “I’m not hard of hearing,” Cain barked. He kneeled down, bit his wrist, then held it out to her.

  “NO!” Finn’s voice roared in her mind. She felt his wolf’s anger at the idea of her taking someone else’s blood into her body, especially directly from their body.

  Lizzy shook her head. “My man, he’s not going for this.” She pointed at his wrist. “Mates don’t share well.”

  The vampire rolled his eyes. “This isn’t sexual. If he wants you to live, then he will deal with you drinking from me.” Cain shoved his wrist against her mouth.

  Lizzy tried to push him away, but like her wolf said, she was weak. Blood filled her mouth, and she gagged. She continued to fight him until Alice finally placed a hand on Cain’s arm. “It’s not working, Cain.” Her voice was soft, as if she was attempting to calm a beast.

  Cain cursed and ripped his wrist away. He pushed to his feet and ran a hand roughly through his hair. “Dammit.”

  Alice stood up and stepped close to him. “You’ve got to let her be with him.”

  Cain looked at her, his dark eyes so black that there was almost no white left. Lizzy was impressed that Alice didn’t back down. But she also found it odd that Alice was so willing to be up close and personal with the vamp king.

  “They will be strong if they complete the bond.” He glanced down at Lizzy. “And I have no idea how strong she will be if taking her mate’s blood works.”

  “Maybe you should have thought of that before you went down this road,” Alice told him, not unkindly. Why in the world is the scientist chick being so nice to Captain Bitey? Lizzy’s stomach roiled again, cutting off any more thoughts about the pair.

  “I can’t imagine ever being strong again.” Lizzy moaned. “But I will definitely be dead if I don’t get Finn’s blood.”

  “She’s suffering, Cain. She’s going to die. You can keep that from happening,” Alice continued. “For once, give life instead of death.”

  Cain’s gaze softened as he stared back at Alice. His hand lifted. It shook slightly as he cupped Alice’s cheek. “What are you doing to me?”

  Lizzy’s eyes widened. “Are you seeing this?” she asked Finn while also struggling to breathe. “Cain and Alice are a ship.”

  “Breathe, Lizzy, dammit. I don’t know what a ship is and don’t give a damn. I want you with me now!”

  A massive howl rose through the building, causing Alice to jump.

  “I don’t think Finn is happy.” Lizzy’s voice sounded thin.

  Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open. “I don’t know if we can hold the wolf much longer. He’s going to break the hinges.” The man standing in the doorway looked terrified.

  Cain reached down and picked Lizzy up as if she weighed nothing. “If he attacks me or Alice, you will die. Tell him.”

  Okay, he obviously knew about the mate bond. “Finn, he’s bringing me to you. Lower your hackles. And don’t attack him.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” Finn’s wolf promised.

  “No. He said he will kill me if you attack. He’s not bluffing.”

  Finn growled, but she felt his emotions calm slightly. Lizzy’s eyes started to roll back in her head, but then she felt a firm slap against her face. “Stay awake, Lizzy.” Alice hurried along beside Cain.

  Lizzy saw overhead lights passing and realized Cain was running. Lizzy lost track of how many turns they made, but finally they stopped. She heard a massive pounding and turned her head to see a huge metal door. It was deformed. The steel was bent and misshapen, as if it had been repeatedly struck with a battering ram. The door shuddered as another hit came.

  “Calm yourself, wolf.” Cain snarled. “Back away from the door. I’m going to bring her in. Alice is coming in to monitor Lizzy’s vitals. You will not touch a hair on Alice’s head.”

  A howl was Finn’s answer.

  “I promise he has a bigger vocabulary than snarling and howling. He’s just a little frustrated at the moment,” Lizzy said and then coughed. Her heart skipped a beat, and it made her catch her breath.

  “Open the door, Cain.” Alice snapped. Her fingers were against Lizzy’s throat. “She’s having arrhythmias.”

  Cain motioned for someone, and Lizzy heard the creak of metal. Cain moved forward and bared his fangs. “Step back.”

  “Give her to me.” Finn’s voice was so close. And it wasn’t in her mind.

  Lizzy suddenly wanted Cain’s hands off of her immediately. She smelled the most delicious scent, and her mouth watered.

  “Back up to the far wall,” Cain ordered.

  “Just do it, Finn,” Alice practically yelled. “If you want her to live, do as he says now.”

  Cain stepped farther inside and then held Lizzy’s body out to Finn. Lizzy felt like she was floating. She closed her eyes, and her vision began to fade. Warmth enveloped her as strong arms came around her. She was turned, and her body pressed to a firm chest. “Finn.” She sighed. At least she would die in his arms. That was better than dying on the floor of a room that had been her jail cell.

  “You’re not going to die, my Lizzy.” His chest rumbled against her ear as he spoke. Finn lifted her up, and she felt her face pressed against warm skin. She took a breath and smelled that delicious scent again. And then she heard it. Bump-bump, bump-bump. Finn’s heartbeat. She turned her face inward and felt his pulse against her lips. “Bite me.”

  She felt like laughing, but she didn’t have the energy. “Never thought someone would tell me that and mean it literally.”

  “Quit talking, mate.” He snarled. “Feed.”

  Lizzy’s wolf stirred, pushing her. Some deeply buried instinct rose within her. Lizzy opened her mouth and latched onto his neck. She felt pointy teeth hit his flesh, but as soon as they broke the skin, the warmth of liquid ambrosia hit her tongue. Everything else was forgotten. She felt his hand on the back of her head, holding her to him. Lizzy sank her teeth in deeper and groaned as she swallowed Finn’s blood. She probably should have been disgusted because she was sucking on her man’s neck, and it wasn’t to give him a hickey. Instead of making out, she was drinking his blood to keep from dying.

  “Take what you need, mate,” he said through their bond. She noticed the bond between them was much stronger now. The connection seemed to have solidified somehow.

  Lizzy felt stronger with each swallow. Her free arm, which had hung limp, rose. She wrapped it around Finn’s neck and buried her fingers in his hair. She pressed closer, needing to touch him. Skin on skin, her wolf said in her mind. Lizzy remembered that Alice had covered her with a blanket. She went to push it away, but Finn snarled, and it was a terrifying sound, even worse than earlier. He rewrapped the blanket around her, tighter than before.

  “What are those marks?” Lizzy heard Alice ask. “She didn’t have tattoos before.”

  “Mine.” Finn growled, or rather Finn’s wolf.

  “That’s enough, wolf,” Cain said. “Don’t think that because she’s your mate, she won’t drain you dry. We don’t yet know which urges are stronger.”

  Lizzy’s eyes snapped open as Cain’s words penetrated her bloodlust-fogged brain. Could she actually kill Finn? She didn’t want to drain anyone dry, least of all the man she’d fallen in love with. She tried to pull away, but Finn continued to press against the back of her head.

  “I’m fine, my Lizzy. I’m not going to die.”

  “I’m good, too. I don’t need anymore.”

  She felt his frustration and his determination. “Just a little more.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to mark you, which requires me to drink your blood. I won’t take much, but my wolf is feeling very possessive. With a vampire standing less than five feet away, he might take a little more than necessary. But not enough to hurt you,” he added quickly. Finn must have felt the worry through the bond at those words.

  “Why would the vampire make him want to take more?”

  “Because I have a beast in me that must prove who you belong to.”

  “A pissing contest?”

  She felt his humor. “Something like that.”

  She did as he asked and took a couple more pulls from his neck while trying not to moan shamelessly. When Alice cleared her throat, Lizzy knew she hadn’t been successful.

  After Lizzy was done, Finn dropped his hand, and she was able to lean back and look up at him. He was even more handsome in person. His eyes appeared as if someone had lined them with black eyeliner. He had ridiculously long eyelashes, dark auburn, the same color as the hair on his head. He had a strong jaw with a little scruff. “Yep,” she whispered. “You’re definitely hot.”

  He smirked at her.

  “You’ve fed her, wolf.” Cain’s voice interrupted their moment. What a dick. “She’s going back to her room now.”

  Finn ignored the vampire and continued to look at her. His eyes roamed over her face as if he was trying to memorize every inch. Then he leaned down and nuzzled his face in between her shoulder and neck. “Um, Finn, we have an audience.”

  “Try to be quiet.” Then she felt a jolt of pain that quickly morphed into something wonderful. Her body shuddered as pleasure ran through her from the top of her head, all the way to her toes. What in the world was happening? How could a bite to her neck feel so damn good?

  “Not just a bite,” he said in her mind, sounding slightly drunk. “The Blood Rites. A bite from your true mate. Only my bite will make you feel like this.”

  “Blood Rites?”

  “There will be time to explain all that later.”

  “Is this how you felt when I bit you?” His answer was a rumble as he pulled her tighter against his body.

  Lizzy relaxed against him, and the hand in his hair pushed his head more firmly against her. If this is what she had to look forward to as a wolf-vamp hybrid, she supposed it might not be too bad. Although they were still Cain’s prisoners, and he was yacking on about taking her away from Finn. Fat chance, vamp.

  Suddenly Lizzy was ripped away from Finn, her body momentarily weightless as she flew through the air. She hit the ground hard. Her teeth jarred from the pain. Snarls filled the room. Alice kneeled beside her and seemed to look her over. She was also attempting to re-cover her with the damn blanket. Lizzy wanted to push the woman out of the way so she could see what was happening.

  Cain roared. “You didn’t have permission to bite her.”

  “She’s my mate.” Finn growled back. “I don’t need anyone’s permission except hers. Now get out of my way, or I’m going to rip the arms from your body and beat you with them.”

  “Wow, that’s violent,” Lizzy muttered.

  She heard more snarling and roaring, then bodies slamming into each other and into walls. Alice pushed Lizzy back against the wall. Suddenly she smelled Finn’s blood, but this time, the scent was terribly strong.

  “If you don’t stop him, Cain will kill the wolf.” A male voice said from somewhere behind Alice.

  “Claude?” Alice turned away from Lizzy, confusion in her voice.

  “Alice.” The man’s voice was more insistent now. “Cain is going to drain the wolf dry if you don’t stop him.”

  Lizzy’s wolf bellowed inside of her. One minute, she was human, and the next, she was in her wolf form. She stumbled to her feet and snarled, pulling her lips away from her teeth.

  “And now you might die, too, Alice.” Claude sounded bored. “Do I have to do everything?”

  Lizzy was about to lunge for Alice, but before she could, Claude picked Alice up and sank his fangs deep into the scientist's neck. He didn’t just bite her and let her go. He ripped his fangs free, leaving a huge gash.

  “That should do it,” Claude said, wiping his mouth.

  Alice made a sound somewhere between a cry and a whimper. She raised her hand to her neck, attempting to staunch the flow. Lizzy looked past the woman, searching for Finn. She saw Cain, his fangs buried in her mate’s neck. She jumped, but Claude caught her in the air and hissed. “Wait. Or he’ll wind up killing you both.”

  Cain’s head snapped up, and his fangs came free. He turned toward them, his gaze honing in on Alice. Then his eyes shifted to Claude, and he growled. “I’m going to kill you for touching her.”

  Claude shrugged. “If you don’t do something quickly, you will be the only one left standing in this room.” The vampire lieutenant sounded way, way too calm for such a comment.

  Cain dropped Finn like a sack of potatoes and caught Alice just as she began to fall.

  “He needs your blood or you both die,” Claude said to Lizzy before he released her.

  Lizzy didn’t have to think. She immediately transitioned from wolf to human. Finn’s neck was a mess. Not even bothering to acknowledge that she was completely naked, Lizzy sank her newly acquired fangs into her wrist. Then, as Cain had done to her, she shoved it against Finn’s mouth. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at him. Her mate wasn’t moving. Blood—way too much blood—poured from his neck.

  “Drink, dammit,” she said through the bond. Lizzy lifted her free hand and slapped him hard across the face. “We are not going to die when we only just met, wolf. Now drink!”

  Another couple of heartbeats passed. She was just about to hit Finn again when she felt his teeth against her flesh. Then came the rush of pleasure as he bit her, his teeth widening the hole she’d already made. She felt him swallow, drawing in her life force. Lizzy draped her body across his, listening for his heartbeat. She heard it grow in strength. Her tears dropped onto his chest. Lizzy could feel herself shaking and sobbing. She’d been able to push away the fear when she’d seen his body pouring blood, but now the adrenaline dump was forcing the fear back with a vengeance. She felt his arms wrap around her, and Lizzy lifted her head. Warm, glowing copper eyes stared back at her. He released her wrist and licked it several times before slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. His gaze swept down over her, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Then, moving faster than a man who’d just been dying from a gaping hole in his neck ought to be able, he picked her up and pushed her behind him.

  “Phase.” He kept pushing until her back was against the wall.

  “What?” The anger Lizzy heard in his voice confused her.

  “Lizzy, you're naked. Phase to your wolf. Now.”

  She looked around his shoulder at Cain, who was holding Alice in his arms. The man named Claude was nowhere to be seen. “Nobody cares that I’m naked.”