Annie Nicholas: Hunting Colby

The human female stomped her high-heeled feet. “You don’t understand. We need him to catch that vampire.”

I glanced over my shoulder, the muscles in my back aching from the extra weight I carried, and snarled. “I need him more.”

Mutt slipped his arm around the human’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Rose. She won’t eat him.”

If our evening hadn’t been turned inside out, I might have laughed. “Your friend’s scent is still fresh. Your sense of smell should be strong enough to follow it. Go find him.”

Rose shrugged off Mutt’s hand. “What about me?”

I ground my teeth. How did the alpha role always fall on my shoulders? “Stay here until you hear from Colby, and take care of gigantor.” I eyed the unconscious human on the floor by the closet.

I strode away from the motel to my parked car and dumped my mate on the backseat, leaving Mutt alone with Rose. He’d have to find his friend on his own now.

Colby had been hanging out with humans too long and it was time he came home to be with his own kind. I leaned over him and brushed his shaggy hair from his face. The touch of skin upon skin sent tingles over my fingertips. Something I’d experienced only when we’d first met and fought.

My breath caught in my throat. I had him.

Parking in an unlit corner of my hotel’s back lot, I exited the vehicle and swept my gaze across the area. I chose this place because it lacked traffic. No hookers or drug dealers seemed to have taken residence, and the only cars were in the front of the building. Curious onlookers would probably call the police if they watched me drag an unconscious man in my room.

I opened the back door and slid Colby out. His head lolled to the side as he remained limp.

Sweat coated my palms and waves of nausea assaulted my stomach. Checking his neck with my fingertips, I found a thready pulse. His chest rose with shallow breaths. Had he hit his head too hard?

Hands under his arms, I dragged him inside and laid him on the carpeted floor. I rushed to the bathroom and wet a facecloth with cold water before kneeling by his side. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him. I had only wished for Colby to see me one more time. To be sure he truly didn’t desire me before returning to my pack with my tail between my legs.

My stomach rolled again at the sight of his limp form. I ran the cloth over his face. “Colby?” I shook his shoulder. The hit he received shouldn’t have knocked him out this deeply. “Colby?” My voice shook. What should I do? Human hospitals didn’t understand shifter physiology, and the only pack physician I knew was in Rio.

With trembling hands, I withdrew my cell phone from the side pockets of my cargo pants. Searching through my contacts, I dialed the only person I knew in this stinking city besides Mutt—the overlord of Manhattan, Cesio Nucci. The only reason Cesio associated with me was my connection to the king of all vampires.

“Yes.” He answered on the first ring, his voice carrying a mild Italian accent.

“Is there a shifter physician in this city?”

“Who is this?”

“Gwen Fatima Brizido. I belong to Master Tane.” I wanted to snap at him to hurry, but nothing would make a vampire more silent than a subordinate shouting orders.

“Oh yes, you’re the one he sent to take care of the dog.” He chuckled. “How is he doing?”

I gaped at the phone. Did he just refer to a Nos as a dog? Either this overlord was an idiot or powerful enough to not worry about retaliation. “Your young master is doing well in his studies.”

He cleared his throat. “Are you in need of assistance?”

“I need a shifter doctor. Do you know where I can locate one?”

“Why would I know this?” He didn’t bother hiding his surprise.

Cesio was an old-world vampire. Not all of them were as forward-thinking as my master. I sighed in frustration. Obviously, Cesio didn’t deal with the local pack. He’d probably watch one of us bleed to death before helping. “A fellow shifter is injured.” The racing of my heart should have been audible over the phone. I’d allowed my mate to get hurt. What kind of female was I? No wonder Colby didn’t want me.

“Is he still breathing?”

I stared at his chest and waited…and waited. It rose, and I sucked in a breath of my own. “Yes, but very shallow.”

“Do you know CPR?”

“Sort of.” I’d been in battles and had performed it a few times, never successfully.

“That’s all I can offer you.” He disconnected our call.

Tossing the phone, I watched as Colby’s chest rose and fell. I leaned over him, ready to take control when and if I needed to. I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing.

Give me a gun, sword, or any kind of weapon. I could fight with the passion of a thousand demons. I took lives but didn’t know how to save one. Sure, if a comrade went down during a fight, I knew how to dress a wound and apply pressure. This was different.

I pressed my hand to my aching stomach and leaned over his face. “Please.” The plea hurt my ears. In my life, I’d never begged for anything. With a snarl, I thumped his sternum with the flat of my hand. “Wake up, damn it.”

His eyes popped open.

I gasped and landed flat on my ass. If he had cried boo , I wouldn’t have been more surprised. Rolling onto my knees, I reached for him as he rose on his elbow.

He swatted my hand away. “You!” As if shaking off cobwebs, he shook his head and winced. “What hit me?”

Instinct warred with logic. Every fiber in my body cried to care for him, but he appeared less than thrilled to see me. I should give him space but drew closer instead. I couldn’t stop my hands from supporting him. “A two hundred and fifty-pound Nosferatu baby.”

Roaring, he leaped at my touch and pinned me to the floor. Injured or not, Colby was formidable, a perfect mate for a warrior. He scanned the room. “Where’s my team? What has he done to them?”

His strong fingers circled my wrists, and I soaked in his touch. Shifters shouldn’t be separated from their mates for so long. I hadn’t realized how much I’d ached for him these last few months. “Nothing.” The word came low and husky. I had him right where I wanted him, in my room, touching me. “We left them at your motel still intact.”

“He hit me.”

I shrugged while pinned. “You were trying to stake his friend.”

He made a noise of disgust and shoved himself off of me. “The vampire I was trying to catch escaped?”

The tingles from his touch faded. “Yes.”

“You compromised my mission, Gwen. What do I have to do to get you off my tail?” He rose to his feet, a flush of color tingeing his pale face, and crossed his arms over his solid chest.

I sniffed the air. He stank of anger. This was how I’d expected our reunion to go, but I’d hoped once we were alone that Colby’s shifter instincts would take over. In Rio he’d been accused of an assassination attempt on my master. Both of us had been too focused on events to investigate this call of nature. Then he ran…

Standing, I faced him. “I wasn’t after you. I was tracking the same vampire. So?”

“He has Red.”

My stomach took a nosedive. “Oh.” I took a moment to let that sink in further so my guilt could take firm root. I’d interrupted a rescue. Awkward didn’t describe my position well enough. I didn’t know any of Mutt’s friends, but he’d never mentioned them being criminal in nature, let alone having balls big enough to abduct Colby’s second in command. My temples pounded with a promise of becoming an epic headache. “Did you petition the city’s overlord?”

Colby’s gaze narrowed. “I can’t imagine what kind of reception I’d get if I showed up at Cesio’s front door without any proof of the abduction.”