Page 138 of Wolf Blood

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's kind of funny," Bloom whispered, when he was staring at a guy who had been going off about the unfairness of it all for a solid two minutes.

"I know. It's hot," I whispered back, and Rhone looked over at his shoulders at me.

"Who's hot?"

"You."

He looked satisfiedwhen he turned back to the conversation.

"Did he just proposition you through your mate bond?" she checked.

"Totally."

She studied me, trying to decide if I was being sarcastic or not.

I'd never tell.

I liked teasing him, and had no problem with PDA myself, but that was different.

There were two challengers remaining on the other side of the field. I wasn't sure whether they were waiting to see if the Wilder Pack would back out, or if they really hated vampires enough to throw their lives away just to make a point.

No one was surviving a challenge against Maverick followed by all three vicious Wilder assholes. They just weren't.

The third fight began, and went on.

And on.

And on.

When the Wilder wolf finally shifted back and snapped the other guy's neck, the sound made me still.

Completely and utterly still.

That crack echoed through my ears. Through my skull. Into my bones.

I could still hear it long after the guy's body was on the ground.

Could still feel it, in the rapid beat of my heart and the sudden rush of blood in my ears.

My fangs throbbed.

My head ached.

My heart pounded.

My eyes stung.

Rhone's fingers pressed into my hip, hard. Hard enough to distract me from the panic now coursing through my veins.

"You're safe,"he said into my mind, quietly.

He lifted my hand to the fangs dangling from the necklace around my throat. I squeezed them between my fingers tightly.

Velour was dead.

I was alive.

And Rhone was right—I was safe.