Rebecca Zanetti - Twisted

A second later, her shirt flew through the forest. Claws shredded her bra.

“Hey! I love that br—”

Moist heat engulfed her nipple. Her protest deepened into a desperate moan.

Oh God.

Levering himself up, he reached for the button on her jeans. And stilled.

His head lifted.

No . No . No . “Don’t stop,” she breathed.

He frowned and lifted his nose to the air. “Damn.” Ripping off his shirt, he yanked it over her head and pulled her to stand. Then he shoved her behind him. The bare, very cut muscles in his back vibrated.

A pissed-off wolf was never a good thing. Never.

Maggie smelled the air. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Terrent growled.

Jase Kayrs strode down the trail, the forest shadows at home on his face.“You two all right?”

“Damn babysitter,” Terrent muttered. “Yes. Go away.”

Jase stopped. A slight grin lifted his lips. “Ah. Okay. See you back at the house.” Whistling a smart-ass tune, he whirled and sauntered out of sight.

Maggie stepped away from Terrent. He turned around, desire on his face, lust in his eyes.

She gulped air. The warm shirt covered her to her knees and smelled like male and power. Her body ached, but her brain had finally stuttered awake. She couldn’t do something like this without remembering who she was. How could she even think of going forward with her mind an empty darkness? “We should, ah, get back.”

His nostrils flared, while his lip quirked in satisfaction.

“Okay. Though you need to know. We had an agreement to mate. Remember it or not . . . you’re fulfilling that promise.”

Two hours after being so rudely interrupted in the forest, Terrent glared at the six-and-a-half-foot-tall vampire sprawled smugly in the guest chair in his home office. Apparently Jase Kayrs was once again feeling amusement and fun. The relief filling Terrent made him smile when he wanted to growl. He pushed away from his mahogany desk, glad the heavy wood stood between them. “You interrupted.”

Jase shrugged a muscled shoulder. “Don’t care.”

So Terrent did growl.

Jase growled right back. “I’m not sure moving Maggie to your home is such a good idea. She should stay in the guest quarters.”

“The Vaile wolves are after Maggie. I can protect her from other wolves.”

“That’s not why you want her here.” Wisdom and an odd sadness filled Jase’s copper eyes.

“No. It’s not.” Damn vampires fought love and eternity—

wolves didn’t. Even furious wolves who couldn’t change the past. “She’s mine and has been for over a decade.”

Jase cracked his knuckles. “A fact you failed to mention to my brother.”

As if on cue, the mounted screen on the wall lit up, and Dage Kayrs came into view. He shoved papers out of the way and cleared his onyx desk. “Sorry about the delay.

What’s going on?”

Terrent leaned back. “Three wolves just came for Maggie.”

“From the island?” Dage frowned.

Terrent started.

Jase chuckled.

“You knew?” Terrent muttered.

“Of course I knew.” Dage glared, and five hundred miles away, it still burned. “I’m the fucking king.”

So he wanted to play that game, did he? Terrent leaned forward. “I appreciate your sending little Maggie my way . . .

such great timing.” Yeah. He knew she was there to uncover the bastard messing with his inoculations. “I can find my own damn traitor.”

The king flashed sharp teeth in what almost passed for a smile. He’d pulled his black hair back and wore sparring clothing. The silver of his eyes shone with a dark wisdom.

“Maggie needs to be with wolves, to see if her memories can be shaken loose—especially since her people are now aware that she’s alive. A mission got her there, didn’t it?”

Jase chuckled again.

Irritation clawed down Terrent’s spine. Was the damn king trying to matchmake? “I don’t need your help with my personal life, Dage.”

“The hell you don’t. It’s been ten years.” Dage didn’t blink.

“I’ve been trying to figure out why the demons are after her . . . or at least, what the Kurjans did to her.” For a decade Terrent had hunted, he’d searched, and he’d failed.

“I know.” Dage clasped his hands together. “We’re still trying to go through all the files from the last raid against the demons, and from when we, ah . . .” His gaze flicked to Jase.

Silver morphed to blue in his eyes, and he quickly blinked, bringing back the silver. “When we found Jase in Scotland.”

When they’d rescued the nearly dead Jase, that is. Jase didn’t move, and his face lost all expression. The eyes of a killer focused out of what had just been a charming face.

Terrent cleared his throat. “Let me know if you find anything in the files.”

Dage nodded. “I will. What happened to the wolves who attacked you?”

“They’re secure, and I’ll interview them tomorrow.”

The king nodded at the euphemism. “Let me know what you find out.” He focused on his younger brother. “How long are you staying with Terrent?”

“I’m leaving shortly,” Jase said.

Dage’s jaw firmed. “If you must. Remember you promised to check in once a month.”

“I remember,” Jase said.

The king exhaled. “You have one year to do what you need to do, Jase. At the end of the year, I want you back at Realm headquarters in Oregon.”

“I’ll take as long as I want.” No emotion sat on Jase’s predatory face.

Plenty of emotion filtered across the king’s. “As I’ve said, you have one year. Come home, or we’ll come and get you.”

The screen went black.

Terrent was suddenly very grateful to have been an only child. “Family.”

Jase grinned and rubbed his short brown hair, the charm back in place. “No shit.” He stood and strode toward the door. “If you need me, you know how to reach me.”

The last thing Terrent needed around was a furious, slightly crazy, still-dealing-with-the-hell-he’d-gone-through vampire. “Be safe, Jase.”

Tension escaped the room along with Jase. Seconds later, the entire cabin relaxed. Terrent lifted his head to double-check and then flicked a button on the desk.

Dage Kayrs once again took shape. “Is he gone?”

“Yes.”

“You have plans in place?” the king asked.

“Yes. We have wolves all around the mountain. If he’s in trouble, or if he needs help, we’ll know it.” Terrent leaned back to study the king.

Lines of worry and anger cut into the sharp angles of Dage’s face. Lines he’d hidden from his brother. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Maybe you should talk to him instead of having us watch over him as he lives alone for a while.” Shit.

What did Terrent know? He’d never had family.

Dage grimaced. “He won’t talk. Not to anybody.” Dage scrubbed both hands down his face. “I should never have let him be captured.”

“Maybe that’s part of the problem,” Terrent said softly.

Dage’s dark eyebrows drew down. “Meaning?”

“All of you Kayrs brothers—you blame yourselves for your younger brother being captured. That’s a lot of responsibility and guilt to carry. For him to carry .” Terrent shifted his weight. No wonder the poor guy had wanted to get away from family and home.

Dage’s gaze turned thoughtful. “Interesting. I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“I don’t mean to interfere.” Terrent shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to get involved.

“Actually, I appreciate the insight.” The king leaned back in his chair. “Are you any closer to figuring out who’s messing with the shifter inoculations?”