Page 6 of Scorned
If he didn’t shut his mouth, he would ruin my secret.
“Her lilacs,” the ebony-skinned wolven pointed to Lyric, “her gardenias,” then to April, “and his pine trees!” then Erik before he threw his hands out in exasperation. “That’s all we ever smell anymore!”
Drag grinned, running fingers through his long, dark beard. “You’re just jealous you don’t have anyone to smell.”
“What are you talking about?” Erik asked, yanking his water bottle off the ground and twisting the cap off. “I don’t smell like pine. That’s the damn woods.”
Drag barked out with a laugh. “Definitely not the woods. Maybe morning wood.”
Kimber giggled, tying up her dark hair but still not saying anything. It surprised me when she agreed to keep the secret from her man, but I had a feeling she was also getting amusement from it.
Awaiting the perfect moment to tell Erik we knew when he was horny, I needed to change this conversation fast.
He bent over to set his water bottle back down and I whistled loudly, attempting to distract everyone from the scent topic. “Erik, your ass looks good in those jeans!”
Everyone laughed, and his head whipped toward me before scrubbing his hand across his forehead. “Someone kill me.”
Vivi jumped to her feet, shoving her arm in the air like an honor-roll student. Her dimples were prominent as a cheeky grin engulfed her face. “I volunteer!”
Erik glanced over his shoulder with slanted eyes. “Why do I believe you?”
“Because my sister will,” I chimed in with a grin.
Erik’s face paled before he turned away.
To tell the truth, Viviana didn’t despise Erik, she merely wanted to give the impression that she did. Not that she wasn’t fierce. She’d killed people with far less motivation than most of us, but I’m assuming she had her reasons . . . most of the time. Although she wanted to appear tough and mean, I knew how kind and sweet she had been before the trauma.
Unfortunately, she had a lenxus—a supernatural bond between a vampire and another person—and had spent over twenty years with him.
When Venom took Strike from her, she changed, building an emotional wall to block herself off from people, much like Sage. But instead of hiding in a cabin, not speaking to people, and stealing motorcycles like Sage, Vivi kept her emotions veiled under a standing smirk, a snappy mouth, and a need to kill.
Once, Vivi informed me she knew Strike was still alive because she felt the pull of the bond. Despite receiving that constant validation, she experienced intense anxiety due to her inability to be with her bond-mate.
And that’s why she’s the person everyone else knew.
Since she was my sister, Vivi had always been a pain in my ass, but her heart was usually in the right place for the right people. She was just another anti-hero . . . like the rest of our camp.
Except for Lyric. In my eyes, she was perfect and nothing less than an angel.
“I know you don’t like my brother,” Lyric whispered, bringing me back to reality, “but you don’t have to be mean to him.”
“Why would you think I don’t like him? I think he’s cool.”
She glared like she didn’t believe me before shaking her head. Movement caught my eye, bringing my gaze back to Erik as he sauntered to the other side of the circle so his back wasn’t to Vivi.
I chuckled, and Lyric swatted my knee. “That’s why. Stop laughing.”
My grin stayed put as I watched Peach enter the dirt circle we used for a makeshift fighting ring.
“I’m the next trainer. Who’s my student?” Being an extremely old vampire, Peach was fast. She wouldn’t tell me her age, but I had a feeling she was at least five hundred, maybe even a thousand years old.
Marcus had a severe attraction to Peach from the day they met, but she had remained closed off to his handsomeness.
Initially, I assumed playing hard to get had been a game of hers, but it eventually became clear something else was going on. I had my money on a possible past relationship trauma.
He stepped into the ring with a huge grin. “Me!”
Being a petite woman, around five foot three, when Peach stared up at the six-foot-four, mahogany-skinned human, it appeared she was admiring the moon.
