Jaden frowned as he held it out to her, not understanding.

“You hunted me down just to give this back?” she asked. “Why?” There had to be some kind of angle. But what a vampire could want from her, apart from verbal abuse, was completely beyond her. Lyra felt strangely off-balance, just as she had when Jaden had saved her from Mark. She couldn’t think of a good reason why he might have done that either, apart from some twisted enjoyment he might have received from making her angry.

Unless Jaden was just kind of… sweet. Which was a possibility she had no interest in considering. Trying to figure out vampires was an exercise in futility.

“It looked important,” Jaden replied, keeping his voice quiet, eyes darting quickly over her shoulder. Lyra noted that her father and Simon had fallen suspiciously silent, and she knew it was only a matter of time before they came out to where she and Jaden stood. That wouldn’t be good.

“Anyway, you seemed pretty protective of it when that guy—Mark, was it?—ripped it off of your neck. So I figured I would bring it back.”

It would be so easy to believe it, to take Jaden and his soothing, melodious British accent at face value. But Lyra was too used to being bitten, literally and figuratively, when she let her guard down.

“It isn’t that easy and you know it,” Lyra replied, keeping her own voice down, though she had a feeling that it was no longer making any difference. Wolves’ hearing was impeccable. She quickly took the necklace, feeling a burst of relief as her fingers closed around the metal disc. Lyra noticed that Jaden let his hand linger against hers, cool and smooth against her own vital warmth. She should have been repulsed. But like everything else about this vampire, she found it strangely compelling.

“How did you even find me?” she whispered. “What do you want, Jaden?”

To her surprise, he seemed unsure how to answer.

“I—”

He was cut off by the sound of an animal’s snarl, accompanied by her father’s voice.

“What the hell is this? Get away from my daughter, you piece of—”

Dorien’s curse was drowned out by Lyra’s startled cry as an enormous red wolf leaped from behind her and landed on top of Jaden. She was knocked to the side and quickly felt her father’s hands on her, steadying her. Just as quickly she shook him off. Lyra turned to look at him. Her stomach sank. He had murder in his eyes.

“I don’t know what that bloodsucker thinks he’s after, coming into my town, but Simon will make sure he understands what it means to come onto our territory. There,” he growled, jerking his head toward the scene. “That’s how you fight, Lyra. No mercy.”

Dorien jerked his head toward the fiasco unfolding in the front yard, urging her to look. Vampire or not, she really didn’t want to see Jaden being torn apart. It was a good thing it was dark, and that all their neighbors were part of the pack. A scene like this would have merited plenty of calls to both the police and Animal Control in a normal town.

Still, after a few seconds of listening to vicious snarling, Lyra couldn’t help herself. She looked out, expecting to see Simon with one of Jaden’s limbs in his mouth and one or two others littering the ground around them. Instead, she ended up watching, wide-eyed, as Jaden proved himself more than a match for the brute strength of a werewolf. With a series of moves that were almost balletic in their grace, he extracted himself from Simon’s claws, extended his own, and with bared fangs proceeded to open Simon up, slash-slash-slash. When Simon roared in anger, blood coursing down both sides and his nose sliced open, Lyra saw him make what would, she knew, be a fatal mistake.

He let the anger drive him.

The anger made Simon sloppy, whereas Jaden’s cold focus seemed only to intensify. Every time Simon lunged, Jaden avoided him with a simple quick feint. His shoulders were hunched, almost like a threatened cat. Without taking his eyes from his opponent, Jaden addressed Dorien.

Lyra realized she’d moved from terror to fascination. The man wasn’t even winded.

“Sir, I only came to return something to your daughter. If you have a problem with that, fine, but I don’t think it merits killing me. I came alone.”

Dorien didn’t even look at Lyra to confirm this. “I don’t give a damn what you say. Why should I trust one of your kind? You’ve banned us from your cities. Maybe you’re looking to take the countryside too, and that isn’t going to happen. We’ll send you back in pieces. That should take care of the problem for a while.”

Lyra knew she wasn’t imagining Jaden’s exasperated groan, as though he was engaging in a polite disagreement instead of a life-or-death battle. Simon threw himself at Jaden again, and Jaden spun away, opening up Simon’s left flank. The wolf reacted with a roar that was now far more pain than fury. Simon, Lyra saw even by the dim light in the front yard, was bleeding heavily now. Her kind healed quickly, but in a battle like this, not quickly enough. He would need to rest, to sleep.

If this kept up he wasn’t going to get that chance.

She stopped worrying about Jaden dying and started worrying that he was going to kill Simon.

“Dad,” Lyra said, beginning to panic as she saw Simon had no intention of stopping, “he’s telling the truth. He brought me Mom’s necklace. I… I lost it the other night, and he brought it back to me.” When her father looked back at her like she’d suddenly grown another head, she raised her voice to a shout, hoping it would get through his thick skull.

“Tell Simon to stop! Damn it, he’s going to get killed, and Jaden didn’t come here to fight! This is my fault, okay? Make him stop!”

She saw the instant of understanding, then reproach mixed with disgust. It settled like a rock in the pit of her stomach, but there was nothing for it now. Lyra wasn’t about to cause the death of her dear friend by stubbornly refusing to tell the truth.

Dorien moved like lightning, staying in human form but leaping with the sort of controlled power that a human could only dream of having. He landed squarely in between Jaden and Simon, who were circling one another again. Jaden’s eyes glittered like blue fire, and Simon staggered stubbornly along, though obviously he was very wounded.

“Enough!” Dorien bellowed, his voice so loud the very air seemed to vibrate. Lyra stepped into the night, noticing that curious faces looked out at the scene from windows of houses all around them. Inwardly, she groaned. It wouldn’t be long before the neighbors came out for a closer look, and there would be no restraining them once they caught a whiff of vampire. Lyra doubted her father would try very hard to stop them.

Dorien’s voice dropped to a harsh growl as he addressed first Simon, then Jaden.

“You, get inside. Those wounds will need tending. Lyra can take care of that… it’s the least she can do.”

Simon complied immediately, remaining in wolf form as he limped past Lyra and into the house. He didn’t spare her a glance. Ashamed, Lyra supposed. And later, he would be angry when he learned what had brought the vampire here to begin with. She started to follow, but slowly, wanting to hear what her father had to say to Jaden. Dorien saw what she was up to, however, and the glare he fixed her with would have caused ice to burst into flame.

“Go with Simon,” Dorien snapped. “If you’re really responsible for this vamp being here, I won’t harm him. He may be a bloodsucker, but he isn’t the one who told you to go running unprotected all over the country. And I’m guessing the necklace didn’t leave you willingly, did it?”

Lyra said nothing. What could she say? She had no defense. Even for Mark. Her father would no doubt lay the blame for that squarely at her feet because she had left the protection of the pack. And now this… bringing a vampire onto pack territory…

She nodded and spared a final look at Jaden, whom she was quite sure she would never see again. Her only consolation was that Dorien Black was a man of his word. If he said he wouldn’t harm Jaden, he meant it. Jaden’s eyes met hers in the half light, beautiful and strange, so different from the wolf eyes she had grown up around. Her anger at him had fled, replaced by confusion and a strange longing that seemed to come from deep within… a thing she knew she needed to deny at all costs, lest it take root and grow.

Wanting things she couldn’t have was standard operating procedure. Wanting Jaden would not only be pointless, but also an incredibly stupid waste of energy. Still, he deserved some thanks. Even if he’d brought her as much trouble as relief.

“For what it’s worth,” she said to him, “thanks for bringing it back to me.”

Jaden gave a curt nod, his expression deadly serious. “You’re welcome.”

She hesitated only a moment longer, feeling like there was more to be said, though she wasn’t quite sure what it was. But in the end, she had to turn away, go inside.

Running again. But this time, for whatever reason, she felt like she was running in the exact wrong direction.

Chapter SIX

JADEN WATCHED LYRA turn to go inside, allowing himself a second or two to admire the sensual sway of her hips. She was abrasive enough that he doubted she was fully aware of her own appeal. He supposed it was for the best that her father was now going to get around to throwing him out of town.

Or trying to kill him.

Or both.

Now that he finally had a moment to size the man up, Jaden turned a cautious eye to Dorien Black. Lyra didn’t favor him in looks particularly, Jaden thought. Dorien’s hair was reddish-brown instead of Lyra’s deep chocolate color, and his features were rough and blocky. She most definitely had his eyes, however. Hot gold, with a wild glitter and a slight upward tilt.

It was small comfort, that little reminder of the woman who’d drawn him here. But above all, Dorien Black was a werewolf, and an Alpha wolf at that. Which meant he was too damned big for his own good. Simon had been young, easy to defeat. This one, one-on-one, might pose a few problems if he decided to give chase.

The Alpha’s gruff tone was far from reassuring.