Blood Crave 2 by Jennifer Knight Page A

fake, that this was all some evil joke—some horrid nightmare.
    But it wasn’t. It was so very real.
    “I’m so sorry, Derek. I know how scared you must be.” I reached out to grab his hand, and all three werewolves started forward, warning looks on their faces. I stopped and returned my hand to my lap. Yeah, touching was probably not smart.
    Derek began to nod his head like he was forcing the information inside his brain. “I guess I should have figured it out, huh?” he muttered. “It’s pretty obvious once you hear it out loud. Turning into a wolf, the sun.” He faced me. “The way you smell.”
    I gulped and stood up slowly. He had a funny look in his eye all of a sudden. I crossed the room and melted into Lucas’s side.
    “So what does this mean?” Derek asked. “I’m a hybrid ... thing. What does that mean?”
    “Means you got a lot of work ahead of you,” Lucas said. “We gotta figure out exactly what you are, what you’re capable of. If you turn out to be a dangerous psycho-mutant, then we gotta figure out some way to keep you away from the pack.”
    “The pack?” Derek asked.
    “Our pack,” Lucas said, gesturing to Katie and Julian. “Our family. The pack master is convinced that you’re a monstrosity—that you’re gonna be the end of everything. The only thing that’ll save you is if you can control yourself. And fast.”
    “I feel controlled,” Derek said. “I feel fine. Great even. Still kinda hungry, but that’s easily fixed.”
    Lucas’s hand tightened around my waist, heat flowing. “You don’t feel sick at all? Sick to your stomach?”
    Derek shook his head. “No. Why?”
    Lucas and Julian exchanged glances.
    “But Faith smells like food to you?” Lucas asked.
    Derek blinked and this strange, pained expression fluttered over his features. “I want her blood,” he said, as if just realizing it. “That’s why she smells so freaking amazing. That’s so gross .”
    Katie giggled.
    I cut her a look. Derek wanting to eat me was so not funny.
    She sobered up, but remained smiling. “He seems fine, you guys,” she said. “It looks like he can eat regular food, and he hasn’t tried to kill Faith. I think we can relax.”
    “Hush,” Julian said. “We’ve got to be sure. We’ve got to test him. What if he has venom?”
    Katie’s eyebrows rose, and she watched Derek with renewed caution.
    “Venom?” Derek asked.
    “Vampires have venom on their teeth,” I said. “You might have it too.” I looked up at Lucas. “How do we tell?”
    Lucas heaved a sigh and went to Derek. He held his arm out in front of Derek’s face.
    “Bite me,” he said.
    Katie snorted in the corner, and Julian elbowed her in the ribs.
    Derek withdrew, looking utterly repulsed.
    “Look,” Lucas said. “I’m not keen on you gnawing on my arm either, but if you have venom, I’ll feel it.”
    “Can’t you just smell it?” I asked. I didn’t like this idea. What if Derek’s maybe-venom hurt Lucas? Or what if this sparked some sort of fight? This was a bad idea.
    “I don’t smell any venom,” Lucas said, “but it might be something different than I’m used to. We have to be sure.”
    “What if he infects you?” Julian asked. “You might not be immune.”
    Lucas waved us off. “Just do it,” he said, putting his arm closer to Derek’s mouth. “And don’t get too excited. My blood’s not gonna taste good—I think.”
    Derek made another grossed-out face and then looked pleadingly in my direction.
    I threw my hands up. This seemed like the best, quickest way to find out, and I didn’t really have a choice.
    Derek took hold of Lucas’s forearm and brought it to his lips. He grimaced up at Lucas again, but Lucas just motioned lazily for him to get on with it. Then he bit into Lucas’s flesh. Lucas’s face tightened, blood gushed from Derek’s mouth, and then Lucas yanked his arm away. Derek wiped his mouth on his sleeve, making a face like he’d just tasted