VampireMine by Aline Hunter Page A

splayed
open at her sides. She hadn’t bothered removing his blood from the corners of
her mouth, the liquid making her lips appear cherry-red. In the blink of an eye
she formed a fist and planted it directly in the middle of Aldon’s face. The
blow carried more power than Trey would have thought Sadie capable of.
    Aldon staggered back several feet, lifting a hand to his
bloodied lip, narrowing his eyes.
    Sadie stretched her arm behind her, reaching toward her
fallen comrade. A silent communication took place between the women, a mental
message from one vampire to the other. One moment Leigh was terrified and on
her ass and the next she was on her knees, reaching for Sadie’s wrist. Leigh
bared her fangs and lowered her mouth toward Sadie’s pale skin.
    “Not so fast,” Aldon barked, moving so quickly Trey didn’t
have a chance to let go of the railing or get out of the asshole’s range. The
vampire’s hand wound around Trey’s throat, Aldon’s grip so tight it felt as
though it crushed his windpipe.
    Fuck me.
    “Don’t.” Sadie didn’t sound as confident, her voice
cracking. “Leave him out of this.”
    “All it’ll take is a flex of my fingers.” Aldon’s hold on
Trey’s neck intensified, depriving him of oxygen. “I’ll snap his neck like a
twig.”
    He totally could too. His fingers were locked tight.
    Trey gagged, needing to draw a breath.
    “His pack will avenge him.” Sadie’s words were laced with
venom. “I’ll make sure Diskant Black knows what went down here. They’ll come
for you. They’ll hunt you down.”
    “Consider it a risk I’m willing to take.”
    Trey choked, cursing his failure as an Alpha and male. He’d
never felt so weak or useless in his life. Here was, just shy of losing
consciousness, when his mate needed him most. Sheer willpower had him directing
his gaze toward Sadie, needing to convey his failure, sorrow and shame to her.
    Leave it him to fuck things up in the most monumental way
possible.
    It wasn’t bad enough he’d made her suffer for months. Oh no.
    Now, when there was nothing left and he was going to die, he
was leading her into her grave as well. He’d seen how bad she was—realized that
Leigh had told him the truth about Sadie’s condition the moment he laid eyes on
his female’s thin and fragile form—and knowing he was about to force her to
endure the same torment…
    Fuck, it tore him up inside.
    Never.
    His wolf rose, taking over, and he let it. His body started
shifting. He didn’t fight it, deciding it was all he had left. The beast
readily answered his call, eager for blood, hungry for the kill. This is what
he should have done from the start.
    Enter. Destroy.
    Claim.
    Fur sprouted from his skin as his bones contorted. The
animal wanted to tear out Aldon’s throat and howl in victory as the life faded
from the vampire’s eyes. It would destroy the male who dared threaten its mate,
sending a warning far and wide of what would happen if anyone fucked with what
belonged to the wolf and the wolf alone.
    “Make your choice,” Aldon warned, maintaining his grip
despite Trey’s shift from man to beast. “Three…two…”
    A hand snaked around the back of Aldon’s neck, Nathan’s
fingers taut as he snarled, “Remember me, motherfucker?”
    Trey dropped when Aldon released him, falling rapidly toward
the ground. He finished his shift midair, trying to land on his feet. Power
coursed through him, brought on by the change. The effects of his recent blood
loss evaporated. He hit cushiony carpet with a dull thud, covered in shredded
pieces of clothing. Shaking the garments from his body, he stood on shaky legs.
His sides heaved as he fought to breathe, rotating toward the stairs as he
gained his balance.
    He heard the fighting upstairs.
    His Beta would give it all he had but Nathan could only hold
Aldon off for so long.
    While his second-in-command was strong, the vampire was
built like a fucking Viking, not to mention Aldon had some serious