Alpha Mine (The Alpha Council Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF

neck with one hand and holding her robe closed with the other, she ran out the door, her robe streaming behind her.

Chapter 4
    Stephan crossed to the door with two angry strides and slammed it shut behind the fleeing female before returning to sit on the bed. He covered his face with his hands, disappointed in himself. What was it about this woman? Being near her drove all rational thoughts from his head, leaving only her.
    He could still hear her blood calling its siren song to him. His hunger beat at him, his fangs, fully lengthened, pressed against his tongue. Taking blood from a donor could be an intimate act, capable of bringing pleasure to both the donor and drinker. For many vampires, often intercourse and drinking from the vein were done in unison. He’d wanted to take her as he sank his fangs into her creamy neck, absorb her very essence into himself, surrounding himself with her heat inside and out.
    Luckily for both of them, he’d quickly come to his senses and left his bed before he could act on his instincts. Then he had growled, actually growled at her like an animal. Now she was probably terrified of him, and really he supposed she should be. Her lush body, the rush of her blood under her skin, her delicate features and wonderful scent all called to him, and he was only so strong.
    There was only one thing to do with temptation like that—avoid it.
    That was close, he thought as he headed to the bath for a cold shower. Too close . I almost broke my promise to Marcus.
    And his honor would never allow that.
    ****
    Stephan and Marcus sat across from each other at the marble table in the kitchen, drinking their first meal of the night. Human food, while tasting wonderful as it slid over their tongues, did not sustain them physically. They needed to have blood to survive.
    They preferred to begin their evenings consuming the blood their bodies demanded for sustenance. Once their bodies were sated, they could then satisfy their hunger with more palatable items. Marcus was particularly fond of sweets, while Stephan preferred fine foods such as lobster and caviar. Unfortunately, one of the physical changes that occurred when they became vampires was their stomachs shrunk, so while they enjoyed human food, they could only eat very little in one sitting.
    “Where is Katrina?” Stephan asked, downing the last of his drink.
    “I don’t know.” Marcus shrugged his thick shoulders. “I guess she went out.”
    Stephan took in his friend with a long pensive stare. As the Alpha leader, he was secretive by nature and had worked very hard over the years to protect his breed from being discovered by humans. It made him uncomfortable that a human he didn’t know well knew not only that Marcus was a vampire, but also knew he was one as well.
    He was all too aware of what could happen if vampires were known to exist, and it wasn’t pretty. Many years ago just after what became known as the Spanish Inquisition, a human had learned of the existence of Vampires. That human spoke to other mortals about the breed. Fear and superstition spread through the village like a plague. The humans had formed a hunting society bent on destroying the vampires.
    Stephan and his kind were hunted while they slept during the day and the population of vampires in Germany was almost completely wiped out. He and only a few others escaped the slaughter. Having lived through one genocide, Stephan vowed that year to do anything to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. And he intended to keep that oath.
    “If you don’t know where she is, how do you know she isn’t betraying us, Marcus?”
    An incredulous look crossed Marcus’ face. “Because she would never betray me, ” he announced with absolute certainty, downing the last of his crimson drink before placing the empty glass on the table a little harder than necessary.
    “It doesn’t take much for a human to betray a trust, especially one so callow. They don’t have the same code of