Riley quickly picked her up and rubbed his hand over her head. “Ssshh, Bacon,” he whispered. When he heard someone come up behind him, he turned and held Bacon out, knowing it was one of his family. He had called for help, and they would come. That was what family did for each other.
“Take Bacon and keep her safe,” he murmured in a low voice. Olsen nodded and grabbed the little pig.
Riley turned back toward the barn. He pushed the door open just a crack and peered through the slim opening. At first, all he could see was the dimly lit inside of the barn, but as his eyes adjusted, Riley spotted Sterling crouched up against one side of the barn, a dark figure standing over him.
His heart thundered in his chest, almost drowning out the sound of the barn door crashing open as he slammed his hands into it and barged into the barn. Riley had only one thought in mind—save Sterling.
Riley started across the barn, hell-bent on killing the man who was gripping his mate, holding him against the wall.
Riley was sick and tired of danger all around his mate. He knew realistically that they lived in a dark world. A world filled with paranormal creatures that could turn rogue at the drop of a hat. Creatures so vile that most humans would go insane when coming across them. But he was fed up with his mate being so close to them, even being attacked by them.
Riley was going to keep Sterling safe if he had to wipe out every single rogue on the planet.
“No, wait!” Sterling called out.
Riley wasn’t sure if Sterling was talking to him or begging the man who held him captive. He wasn’t taking any chances. Riley may have ducked and dodged Sterling when his mate first arrived at the Lakelands’, but in the past few days the little human had taught him more about living life and loving than Riley had learned in a lifetime. He finally felt free, finally felt invigorated, and wanted his mate to know just how much he loved him.
He was not going to wait.
Riley roared as he grabbed the vampire by the back of the collar and tossed him across the barn. When the man landed by Warrior’s stall, Riley rounded and headed toward the guy. His steps slowed when the vampire didn’t get up, but cowered in a ball on the hay-laced floor.
Just what in the hell was going on?
“Riley, stop,” Sterling said as he ran over to the fallen man and placed himself between the guy and Riley.
“Sterling, move.”
“No.”
“Sterling,” Riley warned.
“No, Riley. He came here looking for help. He had a creepy way of asking for it, but he told me he was starving.”
The hairs on the back of Riley’s neck not only stood up, but slid down his back. He knew how vampires fed. “Did he bite you?” Riley felt the rage filling him mounting. No one was using his mate as a blood donor, voluntarily or not. He was going to kill the bloodsucker if he fed from Sterling.
“No, he didn’t bite me.” Sterling stood, but didn’t move away. “He came to warn us that there is a planned attack against the wood elves. He came to warn us so we could stop it.”
“When?” Pa asked as he stepped forward and guided Sterling over to Riley, helping the vampire to his feet. “How do you know this?”
The man dusted himself off, glancing around at everyone with fear in his black eyes. His hands were wringing together, and he was shifting from foot to foot. He looked as nervous as a newborn calf caught in a lion’s den.
“I have a friend at the village. But we aren’t supposed to be friends because wood elves and vampires are enemies. Well, rogue vampires at least. But the elves hate any kind of vampire, and Terrik was afraid if anyone found out that we were friends, his tribe would disown him.”
Riley had seen the heated glares aimed at him when he was in the village of elves, and he was a bear shifter. He could just imagine what the elves would do to a vampire, friendly or not.
“So how do you know that there is a planned attack?” Pa asked.
Riley watched as the man played with the ends of his very long black hair, chewing at his bottom lip until Riley thought the man was going to chew it right off. He shrugged and then glanced up at Riley’s pa. “I’m from the Northern coven. It was a stupid bet, a bet that nearly cost me my life.”
“What bet?” Kenway asked, stepping forward and to the front of the crowd gathered around the vampire. Riley watched the buffalo shifter, seeing how Kenway’s eyes softened as he looked at the man.
“My friends bet me that I wouldn’t go down into the sewers where the rogues live. They bet me I couldn’t stay down there for an entire hour. I went”—the man swallowed hard—“and I heard them talking about an abundant feast they were going to have when they attacked the wood elves.” The man suddenly grabbed the front of Pa’s shirt, pulling at it. “You have to help them. Terrik is my friend. I met him in the city when the guy came into The Manacle. He’s a sweet guy and doesn’t deserve to die.”