Free Riley's Downfall [Brac Pack 29] by Lynn Hagen

shackles that could render a vampire unable to disappear into thin air. He knew D, the vampire who had stayed with the Lakelands for months, couldn’t disperse his molecules, but that was only because the man could never get it right.
“Where did you get those?” Riley asked as Max grabbed the shackles and clamped them around the vampire’s wrists. The vampire snarled and fought, but Eagle tightened his hold.
“It is something we fashioned for vampires eons ago. Our blood is very sweet smelling to them. It calls them from miles around. We had to find a way to protect ourselves.”
Riley remembered being told that Melonee, Maverick and Cecil’s daughter, had attracted a whole score of vampires when she was younger. Riley wondered why the entire vampire rogue population wasn’t attacking this village.
“Do they come here often?” he asked Iam.
Iam nodded. “We use different herbs to ward them off. The herbs disguise our blood scent. But a few always manage to get through.”
“What else has been going on around here?” Riley asked.“Where is your healer and how did he come up missing?”
Iam turned, heading back across the village. “Interrogate me at dawn. I’m going back to bed, shifter.”
Interrogate?
Oh, Riley was getting really tired of Iam and his smart little jibes. A thought suddenly occurred to Riley as he stood there watching Iam until the man disappeared into his hut. Maybe Ahm didn’t have to search for a new leader. Maybe, just maybe, Riley could whip Iam into shape. The man had potential. He was fiercely loyal to his tribe and looked out for their well-being. The man was a pain in the ass, but Riley could see the hard-nosed determination in the fey to keep his people safe.
“What happened to the sentinels that are supposed to guard this place?” Riley asked Eagle and Max as they tied the vampire off to a tree.
“I haven’t seen any around,” Max answered as he began to dial his cell phone.
“We need to fix that,” Riley said as he waited for Max to finish his call to Prince Christian. The rogues were Christian’s problem, and Riley knew that the prince would come get this piece of shit.
“What are you saying?” Eagle asked.
“I’m saying that we need to find brave men here that have the capability inside of them and train them to guard their village. You’re a soldier. You could teach them.”
Max glanced over at Eagle and then turned his sights on Riley. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“It’s a great idea, Max,” Eagle said. “It will allow me to give these men something I have learned over the years, and it will also give me a purpose.”
Max cupped Eagle’s jaw, his eyes shining with love as he smiled at Eagle. “If that’s what you want.”
Riley looked away. All his brothers, except Bryce, had mated. What he saw between them and their mates, and what he saw between Max and Eagle, Riley yearned for deep down inside. He had just been too blind to see it until now. He wanted that closeness. He wanted that private intimacy between mates.
Riley wanted Sterling.
“Do you have this covered?” he asked the two men.
“Yeah, go back to your mate,” Max said as he and Eagle stood by the vampire, talking privately together.
Riley turned on his heel and headed back to his hut. He would just love Sterling and let everything else fall into place. Although he was quite sure he was going to need a heavy supply of sedatives being around his mate full-time. The guy was way too energetic.
Riley entered the hut as quietly as he could and shucked his jeans. Crawling back into bed, he pulled Sterling close to his chest. He buried his nose in Sterling’s neck and took in a lungful of his mate’s scent.
“Riley?” Sterling yawned out Riley’s name. “What are you doing?”
“Loving you, Sterling.” Riley couldn’t believe he had said that out loud, and then he smiled at how liberated he felt saying it. He was positive he wouldn’t turn into a goober like his brothers