Silent Cravings Read Online Free Page A

that encounter must have meant.
    “You are unbelievable! That was the same vampire from the store, wasn’t it?”
    He paused when she grabbed at the lapel of his brown canvas trench coat, snarling and ripping it out of her fingers. At the sound of tearing fabric, he closed his eyes and counted to ten silently before answering her.
    “Yes, it was the same one. Keep moving.”
    “You are just… God!” she spat, throwing her hands up in the air and marching after him as he sped up into an easy jog. Soon she was forced to run to keep up with his ground-eating strides. Hefting her backpack, she continued cursing him softly under her breath, realizing at this pace she’d have to start shouting at him for him to hear, and thus draw attention to herself. He’d done it to shut her up. Again.
    When forced to wait for traffic lights, she took every opportunity to call him every nasty name she could think of, unable to believe he would break the Goliath Code by showing such cowardice. Nobody would have thought less of him for losing a fight to a vampire if he’d been honest about what happened. Those monsters were nasty ; even the young ones were capable of doing unbelievable amounts of damage in a fight. To pretend like he’d come away the victor was beyond detestable.
    Some curious guy smoking outside the store on the corner stared when she uttered something particularly creative about Christoph’s hide, fleas, and camel corpses.
    “Will you shut up already?” Christoph hissed.
    “Fear is no fault, but cowardice is,” she growled. He couldn’t meet her challenging stare when she recited that line of the Code. He knew he was going to have to pay for this eventually—he’d just hoped it wouldn’t come so soon.
    “Look, the park’s right over there,” he said, pointing. “We’ll discuss it after the meeting.”
    “Oh, you bet we will,” she promised.
    Unnerved, he led the way into the park, lifting his head to take in the place’s scent. Aside from the overpowering smell of saltwater, the heady rush of thousands of humans’ scents swirled together, mixed with car exhaust, dead fish, tree sap, decaying leaves, and a whole host of city-related smells. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the fresher ones, seeking the sweet musk of Were.
    The wind was blowing the wrong way, but the trace of two Weres who had passed where he was standing gave him a point of scent-reference to follow. He glanced around, searching.
    There. Against the rail overlooking the water and, distantly, Ellis Island. Four distinctive figures waited, three in the light cast by a streetlamp and one in shadow. The four figures turned to look as he and Analie made their way across the grass, one raising a hand in a friendly wave. Rohrik Donovan.
    When they got closer, Rohrik stepped forward to take Christoph’s hand in a firm shake, inclining his head in greeting. He was nearly as muscular as Christoph, just as tall, and carried himself with the cool assurance of a born leader. Older than the other pack leaders, his black hair was sprinkled with streaks of white. There was no doubting the strength behind his grip or the power of presence he commanded.
    “Christoph of Clan Goliath, thank you for coming. May I introduce Chaz Hallbrook, leader of the Sunstriker pack, and Nathan Hutchinson of the Ravenwood pack. They’ll be participating in the decision-making process regarding this proposal to foster some of your cubs.” The other two men offered their hands, shaking Christoph’s own before turning to face the girl.
    “And you must be Analie.”
    She nodded mutely, having completely forgotten the whole speech of greeting she’d rehearsed. Rohrik’s smile about melted her down to her toes, even if he did look old enough to be her grandfather. He radiated the pure surety and ease of one who was born to be alpha rather than the contained violence of someone who fought their way to the top.
    When he put out his hand, hers trembled as she shook the