Nikan shook his head. “No cops right now. If we involve them, they’ll involve my Council and the vampire Brethren. Shifters used you to make Antoine do some illegal stuff. It won’t matter to the vamps that he did it to save you. You’re just a human and to them—”

She nodded, cutting him off. “I get it. And I don’t mind lying to save Antoine.” Her voice softened as she said the vampire’s name.

Esperanze strode back through the door, Nikan’s clothes and cell phone in hand. After wiping as much of the blood off himself as he could, he put his clothes back on and dialed Thabit.

From the intel his packmates had gathered, he knew the Moretti brothers didn’t have any partners. Whether it was right or wrong, Nikan sure as hell didn’t want to involve the authorities. They’d have to make up something for why Chandra had been gone for these last few weeks, but lying was better than pitting shifters and vamps against one another. The last thing either species needed was unnecessary tension. They had enough problems keeping peace with the humans. And once bureaucrats got involved, all semblance of peace between them would disintegrate.

Thabit picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“The woman is safe and Marco is no longer a problem.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep, but it’s a little messy.”

“Where are you?”

“A house, populated residential area.” Nikan seriously doubted anyone was listening to their conversation but he kept the details as vague as possible.

“Do you need a cleanup crew?”

Nikan was surprised the lupine shifter could arrange that, but said, “Yes. Immediately.”

“I’ll take care of his brother. Text me the address and get out of that house. Take the human with you, but don’t go back to your hotel room. Not yet. Once I’m done with the shifter, I’ll meet you and pick her up.”

“Then what?”

“Then you and that pretty woman of yours are going to get the hell out of town. You don’t need to be involved in this anymore.”

Hell yes.

Anything to get Esperanze out of there. Nikan didn’t like the idea of leaving anything unfinished, but he also didn’t want Esperanze in DC any longer either. After disconnecting he looked at Chandra. “Do you have any personal belongings downstairs?” Thabit might be sending a cleanup crew but he figured they could take what they could now.

She shook her head.

“Good. We’re getting you the hell out of here.”

Swallowing hard, the woman took a few tentative steps toward them. It was almost like whatever wall she’d had around herself cracked. Tears streamed down her face and she started to shake. “Thank you so much for saving me. I thought . . . I’m pretty sure they meant to kill me tonight.” As she wrapped her arms around herself, Esperanze hurried to her side and slid her arm around Chandra’s shoulder.

“Come on. You’re never going to have to see this place or either of those bastards again,” Esperanze said.

Palming the car keys, Nikan went outside and did a quick visual sweep before texting Thabit the address. From what he could see and hear, no one was aware of the violence that had just taken place.

He really hoped it stayed that way.

Chapter 8

Esperanze slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep that had taken her by surprise. She looked at the clock on the dashboard of their new rental and realized they were already five hours into their almost eight-hour trip back to North Carolina. She glanced over at Nikan as he drove, sad that soon they’d be at the ranch and back to reality.

Not that her everyday life was a bad thing. She loved her pack and life on the ranch, especially since Nikan and the other warriors were now living among them.

But he hadn’t said a word about their earlier conversation. Granted they hadn’t had much time since meeting up with Thabit and Antoine then packing up all their stuff and getting out of town. After Nikan had spoken to Connor, they’d all made a unified decision not to involve their Council or any vampire leaders. Antoine had been more than willing to do that and Thabit had gone along with it, because if lupine shifters and vampires had gotten into a war over what had happened, feline shifters would eventually have been dragged into it as well.

So Thabit had disposed of the bodies and called in a cleanup crew to “sanitize” the house they’d found Chandra in. Esperanze didn’t even want to know the details of that. And Chandra was going to tell the cops she had been held by unknown assailants in a basement for the past few weeks but managed to escape when they left the door unlocked. Once the sun had set, the plan was for her to stumble into a police station, unsure where she’d been held, just that she’d run the moment she’d escaped.

Not exactly brilliant, and they might not believe her, but Chandra still had drugs in her system when they found her so it would hopefully tie in to her story about not remembering exactly where she was being held, who had her or even why they wanted her. Esperanze was just glad she wasn’t the one having to lie to the police. Either way, it was obvious Chandra was a victim and Esperanze couldn’t see the cops harassing her when she had nothing to gain from lying. Especially since she was such a respected member of the academic community.

Shifting in her seat, Esperanze glanced out the window, forcing her gaze away from Nikan’s defined profile. He hadn’t wanted to fly home and she hadn’t argued. It just meant more time spent with him. Unfortunately the longer they drove, the closer they were to the ranch and nothing had been resolved between them. Something twisted around her chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs and making it hard to breathe. She couldn’t let him go.

Maybe he’d changed his mind about mating. No, she couldn’t believe that. Not after what they’d been through together. As she took in the trees and road flying by, she realized they weren’t on the highway anymore but a two lane winding road. There weren’t many lights except the stars and half moon. “Where are we?” Her voice sounded raspy as she spoke for the first time in hours.

“You’ll see soon.” Nikan’s deep voice washed over her, soothing her.

“Are we making a stop before we head home?” Please say yes. Anything to stretch out their time together. It was almost one in the morning so he was probably tired anyway. Maybe he wanted to stop and get some sleep.

He shot her a quick look full of promise. “Do you want to stop?”

Unable to find her voice, she simply nodded.

Nikan didn’t say anything, just turned his attention back to the road, but his earthy scent intensified with each second that passed. Yeah, he definitely still wanted her. His fingers grasped the wheel so tight his knuckles had turned white. A few minutes later he pulled off the two-lane road onto a paved driveway that stretched on for over a mile at least. He was silent so she didn’t ask questions, though she couldn’t quell her building curiosity.

Eventually they pulled up to a two-story log cabin. There were no lights but it was obvious the place was well maintained. The shrubs out front were covered with sheets to guard against the frost and the stone walkway leading up to the front steps had been cleared of the light layer of snow that dusted the rest of the yard and surrounding woods.

“What is this place?” she asked.

As he put the car in park, he turned to look at her. Even though she could see well in the darkness, shadows played off the angles of his face, making it difficult to read his expression. “A piece of property Connor owns—well, the pack owns now. It’s available for anyone to use. We’re about two hours north of Fontana.”

“How long are we staying here?”

“As long as it takes.”

She thought she knew what he meant but didn’t want to get too excited. “What takes?”

Reaching out, he ran his knuckles across her cheek before cupping her jaw. “To convince you to mate with me.”

It felt as if her heart skipped a beat though she knew that was impossible. Her throat seized for a moment as she digested what he was telling her. “You really want to mate? You weren’t just being all alpha with Thabit?” He growled and she raised her eyebrows. “What’s that for?”

His expression was dark, almost feral. “I don’t like you saying his name.”

She grinned despite his serious expression. “Oh really?”

“The only name I want on your lips is mine. Over and over as you come.”

Feeling her face flush, she swallowed hard. She loved it when he talked like that. It made her nipples tingle and warmth flood the juncture between her thighs. “First you’ve got to make me come.”

A shudder rolled through him as his hand slightly tightened against her face. He surprised her when he let it drop. He reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a single key on a silver key ring in the shape of a wolf howling at the moon. “Go inside.” His words were practically an order.

“What?”

“Now, before I take you right here in the front seat of this car. I’ll bring in our bags.”

She inwardly smiled at the knowledge he was losing control. That’s what she wanted from this man. The man she definitely wanted as her mate. She opened the door and nearly shivered as the cold rolled inside. “Well you better hurry or I might make you wait longer to mark me.”

His dark eyes widened and his head slightly tilted to the side. “You mean . . .”

She slid out of the car and raced for the front door. Behind her she could hear his boots pounding against the walkway. Looked like he’d decided not to get their bags after all. She’d never thought she’d want a man to chase her, but right now the feeling of being hunted by a man as powerful as Nikan sent a thrill up her spine.

Esperanze had barely slid the key in the door when he reached her. His massive hands clasped her shoulders. Spinning her around, he pulled her tight against his body, his hands sliding down to cup her butt as he pressed her pelvis to his. He was rock hard and even though she was a little nervous, she couldn’t wait to feel him inside her.