Free Bound In Death (A Vampire and Werewolf Romance) by Cynthia Eden Page A

Alerac. Sinking her teeth into him. Tasting him.
    Heath told me never to take directly from a living human. He said I’d lose control. That I’d kill.
    But Alerac wasn’t human. 
    The motorcycle slowed.  Finally. Yes!  Before it had even come to a full stop, she jumped from the bike and tried to put some much needed distance between her and her companion. 
    “Jane!” 
    She stood on the side of a highway. Underneath the twisting branches of a heavy oak tree. Her right hand was over her mouth. She’d slapped it over her fangs, horrified, because they were fully extended.
    He shoved down the kickstand and stalked toward her. “We can’t stop.  They’re tracking us.”
    Yes, true. But she couldn’t get on that bike with him. There was no way Jane could be that close to him without biting. “I need—”
    A shot rang out.  Even as it thundered, Jane saw Alerac lunge toward her. His body hit hers—but he hit her an instant too late. Pain spread through her upper chest. 
    She and Alerac slammed into the ground.
    Her shirt was wet. She
hurt.
    Alerac’s hands were on her.  “Not your heart,” he growled. Begged? “Not your heart…”
    No, no, her heart was still racing frantically. The shooter had missed her heart, thanks to Alerac and his fast reflexes.
    The bullet hadn’t driven into her heart, but it had still penetrated deeply in her chest.  And she was bleeding. So much blood pumped from her.
    “Find them!” Alerac shouted as his head jerked up. “Kill them! Every last one.”

Chapter Four
    Her blood was on his hands.  Again. 
    Her breath rasped out, and her eyes—so afraid—stared up at him.
    Alerac had taken her into the woods. Gotten her protection while his men hunted.
    “The bullet is still in you.”  It had to come out. She would keep bleeding—she wouldn’t be able to heal—until he got it out of her.
    “Then…get me to a doctor. A doctor can get it out!” Her words rushed out in a whisper.
    Jaw clenching, he shook his head.
    He could see every inch of her so perfectly in that darkness. His eyes were a gift and a curse. He could see the terror streaking across her face and the blood that soaked her shirt.
    There was so much that she just didn’t seem to understand about her kind. Softly, Alerac told her, “Vampires can die from blood loss.” 
    He wouldn’t let her die before him.
    She shook her head. Her back was against an old oak tree. “Get me to a doctor, Alerac.” Her voice hardened. “He’ll stop the blood.”
    Yes, but that would give them another problem. “Human doctors can’t find out what you are.”
    “H-Heath…he knows. He kept my secret…” Pain threaded through her voice.
    Heath.
Alerac planned to deal with that human. “He didn’t keep any secret for you. He sold you out.”  His claws pushed from his fingertips, and, carefully, he sliced open the top of her shirt. “And other humans would do the same. They aren’t going to protect a vamp.”
    Her hands came up and pushed against him. “Stop!”
    He couldn’t. “It has to come out.” 
    Her eyes widened. There was so much fear in her gaze. “N-not here. You can’t!”
    Howls echoed around them as his pack tracked their prey. There were no more gunshots.  Just those howls.  The fools who’d tried to hurt Jane would be running. 
    Or they’d be dying.
    “I’ll get the bullet out, and then your body will heal.” He tried to keep his voice calm. Hard, when he wanted to bellow his fury.
    “Heal?” Jane whispered. “I need to be sewn up! Once I’m sewn up, I’ll heal!”
    That wasn’t the way it worked for her. Alerac suspected that Heath had deliberately kept Jane in the dark about the extent of her vampire powers.
    “Don’t scream,” he told her.  The way she was bleeding…it was too much. He couldn’t afford to waste any additional time.
    He took a deep breath, inhaled the scent of her blood, and then his fingers slipped inside of her wound.
    She gasped as her body