Free Bound In Sin (A Vampire/Werewolf Romance) by Cynthia Eden Page A

open
arms. 
    ***
    Fury filled him as Drake’s eyes flew open.
What.
The. Hell.
    He leapt to his feet. His gaze went to the monitors,
and he saw Paige,
his Paige,
running into the open arms of
a vampire.
    The fuck no.
    He leapt up the stairs and punched in the code to
open the door. The steel slid back, and he shoved against the
wood.
    Only…the wood didn’t move.
    He shoved again. Harder.  The wood lifted, then
fell back down with a snap. His eyes narrowed. Paige had put
something on top of the trapdoor. She’d locked him in.
    His beast didn’t like to be caged.
    With a roar, Drake slammed his shoulders into that
wood. He pushed. He heaved.
    The wood broke apart.  He leapt up, still
shoving–
the bed, she’d put the bed on top of the
trapdoor
–then raced for the front door. 
    He could hear the snarls and shouts and they seemed
to burn his ears.  The image of Paige running into that
vampire’s arms was branded into his mind.  Why?
Why?
    He rushed outside. Saw the blood on the ground. 
Michael. Still alive. Barely moving.
    Paige–she was…
    “Hello, alpha.”  The taunting voice came from
his left. 
    Drake’s claws were out and so ready to claw that SOB
apart.
    “Did you lose something?” The vampire asked as Drake
turned to face him.
    The vampire was tall. Blond. Bleeding. And he held
Paige in his arms. The embrace wasn’t one of a lover, though. 
One of the vampire’s arms locked around her throat, while the
vamp’s other hand held a wooden stake right over Paige’s
heart. 
    “Because it looks like I found something.” The vamp
smiled, flashing fangs.
    Drake saw the other vampires stalking toward him. Was
he supposed to be intimidated? Scared?
    He was just pissed. “Let her go.”
    The vampire–he had to be the one Paige had told him
about, the one she’d called Gabe-shook his head and laughed. “If
that’s what you want…she’s already served her purpose.”
    Drake was looking at Paige then. He saw her eyes
flare wide in horror, then Gabe spun her around so that she faced
the vampire.
    “You’re free now,” the vampire told her, voice soft,
almost tender, “because that’s what your wolf wants.” 
    Paige struggled against him, clawing, punching–
    Drake realized, too late, just what the asshole was
doing.
    You’re free now.
    He was killing her.
    Drake roared and lunged forward, forgetting the other
vampires, desperate to reach Paige, to help her and–
    Gunfire.
    Bullets. Thudding into his flesh. Burning. 
Tearing apart muscle and bone.
    His blood spilled onto the ground. His legs stopped
working. He wanted to reach Paige, but he couldn’t.
    He was falling.
    The snow turned red beneath him.
    His claws lifted as he tried to dig out the bullets.
So many. In his chest. His back.
    He managed to tilt back his head. He could see Paige.
She was still fighting with Gabe. The stake was covered in
blood.
    But she was still alive.
    She glanced back at Drake and screamed his name.
    He’d promised to protect her. She’d asked him for
just one thing.
    I want you to rip his head off, and I want you to
make damn sure that he never rises again.
    Now that vampire was laughing. She was bleeding.
    And I’m dying.
    No, no, he wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t go out like
this.
    Drake called on the beast within.
Wake up.
Drake pushed to his feet. Stumbled. Yanked out the silver in his
shoulder and barely felt the burn. 
    Wake up.
    The beast hated silver.
    But the wolf loved the woman who was screaming for
him.
    A vampire came at him, still with a gun in his hand.
Fool.
You came too close.
Drake grabbed the gun. Shot the
vampire in the chest. Swiped out with his claws.
    This time, it was the vampire that fell.
    Drake dug another bullet from his flesh.  The
smoke from his blistering fingertips rose in the air.
    Another vampire came at him.
    A swipe of his claws and the vampire’s blood
flowed. 
    “
Stop him!”
Gabe’s scream of fury.
    Then all the vampires swarmed him. Even though Drake
still