Lure of the Blood by Doris O'Connor

Ion’s voice, interspersed with the accented icy tones of
Lucas and the growling of the pack.  She couldn’t make out what they were
saying over the noise of the agitated pack, but the hostile tone came through
loud and clear. What the hell was Lucas doing back here? How dare he, and what
on earth did he hope to achieve? Three thousand years old he may be, but the
whole pack was out here. He was never going to get out alive, even if he did
manage to defeat Ion. The mere thought of Ion getting hurt had her break into a
run. She had seen Lucas in action, damn it. Whatever spell he had put her under
to forget the night of the attack, had worn off and she remembered everything
in sickening detail. Lucas moved at lightning speed and she had no doubt he had
fed well, before he attempted to get here.
    Bile rose in her throat and her hand went to
the marks on her neck of her own accord as fury replaced her fear. If he
thought he could just waltz in here, putting Ion’s pack in danger… They had
families, damn it, and she was not going to stand by and let anyone else get hurt
because of her and her misguided and foolish attraction to the vampire. None of
it had been real anyway. If he could make her forget witnessing something so
brutal, what’s to say he’d not also put her attraction to him into her mind?
    Rounding the corner, her heart slammed into her
ribs. The wolves had formed a semicircle around Ion and Lucas. The two men
swirled around each other slowly, heads down, eyes locked, the air thick with
tension.  She knew Ion well enough by now to realise the tight control he had
on himself, the only visible sign of his wolf, the claws slowly extending from
his hands as she watched. Lucas’ hands formed into claws at the same time, the
smile on his face making her blood freeze. Slightly taller than Ion, he was not
as muscular as the shifter, but he moved with the same graceful balance, his
attention never once wavering, even as his accented voice addressed her.
    “Come to join the party, chere? Or could you
just not resist me?”
    Ion’s eyes briefly connected with hers at the
drawled words, a move which cost him dearly, as Lucas lunged, slicing through
Ion’s t-shirt as though it was butter, exposing muscles and tendons. Marnie
shrieked at the bright red stain of blood that spread all down Ion’s front, her
instinctive move forward blocked by a wolf, which shifted into Jenkins, who
pulled her back and out of the way.
    “No, Miss Marnie, this isn’t your fight.”
    The hell it wasn’t, but no matter how much she
struggled, Jenkins’ grip on her did not waver and several other wolves
surrounded them, their teeth bared, snarling at the unfolding scene. Why the
hell did they not interfere? Ion was injured, damn it––he was no match for
Lucas in this state. But even as she thought that, Ion pulled himself upwards.
Marnie held her breath as the air shimmered around him. With a ferocious growl,
a huge greyish-brown wolf leaped at Lucas. The vampire managed to dodge him,
the sneer on his face sickening as he whirled around, ready to face Ion’s wolf
again. Again the wolf leaped, his teeth snapping air, as he missed Lucas’ arm
by a hair width. The sickening dance continued, both dodging and weaving, until
Ion managed to sink his teeth into the vampire’s leg and they proceeded to roll
around the floor. It was hard to tell who was who, and Jenkins moved Marnie out
of the way several times, whilst the two opponents continued their violent
struggles, the air full of growls and sickening snarls. Ion’s wounds were
bleeding heavily and Lucas too seemed to be weakening, when suddenly Ion had
him pinned by the throat, one huge paw slicing open the vampire’s side. The
sound of claws slicing through flesh and the stench of blood made Marnie gag.
She had to stop this insanity now. Jenkins, caught up in the excitement of
Ion’s impending victory, had loosened his hold on her. With a quick stamp on
his instep and sharp elbow