Free The Vampire Who Thirsted for a Wolf by Scarlet Hyacinth Page B

but I’m not sure I can give you up.”
    “That’s fine with me,” Derek replied. “I might be your flower, but
    I’m not that for anyone else. I can take care of myself. And you are my

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    Scarlet Hyacinth
    moon, remember?” Derek scanned his limited knowledge of Japanese
    and found the word he was looking for. “Boku no tsuki ? How can I
    possibly abandon you? ”
    Kaname’s mental chuckle showered Derek with a wave of relief
    and affection. “If someone listened in on these conversations, we’d
    never hear the end of it.” He sobered and answered, “Very well, hana .
    I can’t imagine your father will take this well, but there’s nothing for
    it.”
    With that, Kaname focused on his telephone conversation. Byron
    was explaining the situation to him, inquiring whether Kaname had
    any involvement in this or knew the identity of the guilty parties.
    Derek would have loved to support Kaname more, but he trusted that
    their bond would do that anyway, and he needed to go back to his
    conversation with Mel. God only knew he’d require her assistance.
    He turned his attention to her just as Mel’s hand hit his cheek.
    “What the hell, sis?” Derek asked her. It didn’t matter that she was a
    girl. Being a werewolf, she packed quite a punch.
    “Where in the world did you go?” she inquired. “I was talking to
    you, and you just ignored me.” She narrowed her eyes at him in a
    glance that held far too much suspicion for Derek’s comfort. “You
    didn’t mate him already, did you?”
    Derek bristled at her question. “I thought it was already clear that
    I did.”
    “Christ, Derek.” Mel suddenly looked very tired. “That’s so unlike
    you. You never rush into things. What are you going to do now?”
    Anger bubbled inside Derek. “In case you don’t realize, I’ve
    known Kaname for months. If anything, we waited far longer than we
    should have.”
    “But he is a vampire,” Mel countered. “Did you not hear a word I
    said?”
    Derek shot to his feet and glared at her. “So what if he is? You’re
    being absurd, Mel. Every species has its bad apples, as you well
    know. In case you’ve forgotten, one of our own placed us in a horrible

    The Vampire Who Thirsted for a Wolf
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    position recently, and we were forced to get Kaname’s help to fix the
    situation. Also, we were always very aware that vampire and shifters
    are not exactly in perfect harmony. Let’s not be hypocrites, all right?”
    Mel seemed taken aback by his anger. “Whoa, wait. I didn’t
    mean—”
    Derek interrupted her before she could finish the phrase. “I know
    exactly what you meant and what you planned to tell me when you
    came to see me. But no, I’m not leaving my mate. I trust him, I love
    him, and I will help him find out who is behind this attack.”
    “Thank you, hana ,” Kaname whispered in his mind. “ With you by
    my side, there’s no way I can fail.”
    Derek’s anger melted when faced with Kaname’s affection. He
    was reminded that Mel was his sister. Her concerns were natural,
    especially since she didn’t know Kaname like Derek did. Besides,
    their own elder and grandfather had proven to be quite manipulative,
    and that was an experience neither of them wanted to repeat.
    Softening his voice, he reached for Mel’s hand and squeezed it. “I
    know you’re worried, but you don’t have to be. Kaname is my mate.
    I’ll be fine.”
    For a few moments, Mel just stared at him. Then, much to his
    surprise, she pounced on him, embracing him tightly. “If you trust
    him, I’ll trust him, Derek. But I’m not leaving you. I’ll stay here, too,
    for as long as it takes. We’ll figure out what happened.” Without
    releasing him, she unexpectedly added, “There’s something else. Yuki
    is pregnant. She’s dying.”
    At first, the new information didn’t really compute. Derek was not
    as close to Yuki as the Cunninghams, but he still cared about her and
    respected her a lot. Undoubtedly, Yuki’s