ClaimMe by Calista Fox

She’d staked him and burned him.
    Jude and Cray both seemed to pick up on her sudden
consternation. Cray asked, “Did you avenge your lover’s death?”
    She nodded before turning away, her stomach coiling tight.
“How could I not?”
    “Then you understand what we must do,” Jude said in a quiet
voice that still managed to convey his authority. “And you know we will do
anything in our power to keep you out of harm’s way while we do it.”
    “I don’t doubt that,” she said as she turned back to the two
men. “What I’m saying is…” Her hands shook and she wrung them absently. “I
can’t just be left to wonder whether you’re okay. Montana’s so far away. I’d
rather be with you, but if that’s not possible, at least let me stay close by.
Here in Manhattan.”
    She would have insisted on this—absolutely putting her foot
down—but she’d already learned Jude’s will was stronger than hers. She had to
appeal to him in a different manner. To give him the respect he was due as the
alpha, while trying to reason with his rational side.
    Cray let out a low growl as he shoved a hand through his
messy hair. “She has a point, Jude. We’d be distracted ourselves if she were
that far away from us.”
    “Then what do you suggest?” Jude demanded as his gaze locked
with Cray’s. His frustration was as palpable as his concern for her safety.
    “If you don’t trust Drake to protect her, then we have to
take her with us.”
    “On a hunt?” Jude asked between clenched teeth.
    “It’s not like I’d slow you down.” Jane’s soft voice filled
the room and both pairs of mesmerizing eyes snapped to her. She didn’t back
down. “I can run just as fast as you, I assure you. I can go months without
sleeping and I can hunt in rural areas when I need to feed. The two of you
would be much saner knowing you were protecting me and I would be able to
breathe easier too, knowing you’re close by.”
    “And what happens when Vincent catches your scent and
decides to prey on you to continue his revenge or to devastate both of us?”
This question came from Jude, who simply would not yield.
    She lifted her chin a notch and squared her shoulders. “I’m
smart and I have good instincts. I killed a slayer, for Christ’s sake. Test me
if you must, but have some faith in me.”
    Her plea—and the fact that he’d unintentionally insulted
her—seemed to drive some of the tension from him. He reached for one of her
hands and pulled her to him.
    Staring down at her, he said in a gentler tone, “I’m not
questioning your ability to protect yourself or to help us, Jane. I simply
can’t experience again what I went through with Celine. Particularly when it
comes to you.”
    “I understand that,” she said, letting go of some of her own
frustration. “It’s the same for me when it comes to you and Cray. It was
horrific losing Sean and we weren’t bound together the way the three of us are.
But I don’t think there’s any other choice than to take me with you.”
    “She’s right.” Cray didn’t even hesitate or vacillate further
over the course of action they needed to take. “You won’t be able to focus on
what needs to be done if she’s not with us. Neither will I. You’re already
tormented by knowing that to avenge Celine’s death, and your cousin’s, you have
to destroy Vincent. If Jane’s not with us, your emotions will be doubly taxed.”
    Jane hated the pressure they put on Jude. She could feel how
heavily this decision weighed on his soul.
    She said, “I won’t do anything to intentionally put myself
in jeopardy. I’ll do whatever you ask of me. Just…take me with you.”
    He nodded. “It’s right up there with imprinting on you. I
have no choice in the matter, do I?”
    Though he was resigned to the inevitable, she could see it
still troubled him greatly. But she wouldn’t concede. She had to be with them.
    “I’ll tell Drake while you get us a cab. I have a backpack
at home. I can