Free A Taste for Blood by Erin Lark

to waste?
    I held back, knowing he’d move well before I reached him. “You son of a bitch. Do you have any idea what you almost did?”
    “You mean what you almost did?”
    “Damn you, Corvis, this isn’t one of your games. You can’t go back from something like this. And to think, I was actually afraid when you told me there was an imbalance because I turned Kassy, but what about you?”
    He’d never banish himself from the coven. He’ll likely come up with some political excuse to cover his ass, but what about ours ? Every crime falls on the coven’s leader.
    He knew our laws as well as those held by each of the three covens. Keep the covens equal. None of the covens was allowed to have a higher population than the rest. Turning new bloods when there wasn’t a place to fill was akin to a threat of war.
    I’d known turning Kassy would cause some grief, but I’d done it to keep her from Corvis. But him? He’d turned Tyler out of spite! The other covens would probably have understood my wanting to protect the woman I’d come to love, but not Corvis. I couldn’t believe this had all been some ploy to teach me a lesson or cause waves between us. Sooner or later the other coven leaders would learn about what we’d done.
    In fact, I didn’t doubt they knew about it already. But regardless of how much our increase in numbers might anger the other leaders, no matter how wrong this might have been, it all fell onto Corvis’ shoulders. He was the one who would have to face the other leaders. He was the one who would have to explain his motivation, as well as my own, to the other covens. I only hoped they saw the reasoning behind my turning Kassy.
    “Now you know how it feels to have your heart crushed by family,” Corvis said, glancing in Kassy’s direction.
    I stepped in front of her. “This has nothing to do with her.”
    “It has everything to do with her. If you would’ve just compelled her like I’d asked, none of this would’ve happened. You were supposed to turn Zee and leave your slut for the rest of us.”
    Kassy’s breath caught, and I reached back to squeeze her hand.
    Don’t stoop to his level, Alex.
    “What’re you talking about? I wasn’t the one who turned Tyler. I wasn’t the one who fucked with another’s mind.”
    “All these years you’ve been fawning after Zee. Why pick her? ” Corvis gestured to Kassy, his tone one of disgust.
    I counted on my fingers with every point I made. “Because Kassy belongs to me. She’s an individual and doesn’t belong to the coven. Turning Zee would’ve meant stealing from the coven. That’s why I turned Kassy, to keep her away from you.”
    And with that, I looked back at her, caressing her cheek, relieved when she didn’t pull away. “Please know this was never my intention. I would’ve waited until your last breath on Earth to turn you, but I had my orders. If I hadn’t done what I did—”
    Kassy pressed a finger to my lips. “It’s fine, we can talk about it later.” She glared at Corvis. “But don’t you think we have more pressing matters to tend to?”
    “At least she’s loyal,” Corvis spat.
    I shook my head. “And you think that’s because I’m her Dom? Because I turned her? Neither of those things guarantees loyalty. Kassy listens because she wants to, not because I’ve compelled her to do so. Honesty and trust… You should really try them sometime.”
    “Careful, Alex. Don’t forget it was I who created you.”
    “That card won’t work on me anymore. I’m not taking the fall for this one. You and I both know the fault of the coven always falls on its leader—you.”
    Kassy and I headed for the doors behind him.
    “And where do you think you’re going?”
    “I’m going to do what I should’ve done a long time ago.” I lowered my voice and pulled Kassy alongside me. “Ignore him.”
    “What now?” she asked, staring at Corvis. “Shouldn’t you report this?”
    “In the morning, and that’s only if