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taken his blood. He'd ripped the heart from his chest.
"Get rid of them," he snarled.
When Abbi shook her head, he grasped one fang in
his fingers and tried to break it off. Aidan grabbed his arm
to stop him but he swatted it away. "Keep your hands off
me."
Aidan stared at him, clearly horrified. Abbi
remained calm. "That won't solve anything."
"What will?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."
Fist pounding on the bed, he glared at Abbi. "You're
full of shit. You have no idea what's going on."
"Please," she begged. "Let me take more blood."
"Fuck! You just took my blood."
"Hunter, you and Aidan just fed from each other. I
need to see how that affected your blood. Please? Maybe
I'll find something that will explain all this."
What other choice did he have? She was the only
one who might be able to help him. He held out his arm.
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
Abbi took his blood, then Aidan's. "This won't take
long. I'm just going to look at your blood cells under the
microscope."
He refused to look at Aidan and they sat in
awkward silence. His people didn't let fear affect their
judgment, but he sure as hell felt afraid now. Why had he
ever agreed to this? Instead of helping his people, he'd put
them all in danger.
The vamps had found a way to change Lycan cell
structure. Not only did they want to turn the humans, they
wanted to transform his people as well. And he played right
into their hands. He'd been so fucking stupid.
"Hunter, please." Aidan touched his leg.
He drew back, snarling. "Don't touch me."
"I never meant for this to happen."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear anything you have to
say." Listening to the bloodsucker is what got him into this
mess in the first place. Rafe was right. He'd let vampire
seduction infect him. He should have fought the attraction.
Even now, his body tightened and his cock stirred because
Aidan sat so close. He had to force himself to get up and
move away. The vampire's smell, the beat of his heart,
everything tempted him beyond reason. Despite the
depravity of their coupling, he still wanted him. Somehow,
he had to fix this.
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
* * * *
A tense thirty minutes passed while Abbi checked
the blood samples under the microscope. Hunter tried to
read her face when she walked back in the bedroom but her
expression revealed nothing.
"Well?" he asked impatiently.
"It's just as I thought. The blood I took from Aidan
this past week showed a decrease in red blood cells and the
remaining cells were smaller than normal."
"And my blood caused that?"
"The lack of your blood. Components in your blood
caused changes in Aidan's body and mutations in his bone
marrow. Cell production increased. But without your blood
to nourish him, cell production decreased to a dangerous
level. Human blood doesn't sustain him anymore."
"This is bullshit. You've been using me. All this
time you've been making something that will change my
people, make us more like you."
"You're wrong, Hunter. Look at me." Aidan said
hoarsely. "Can't you see what's happening to me?"
Hunter sat and scrutinized Aidan carefully. Except
for his genital region, his skin had always been smooth and
hairless. Now, sparse black hair dusted the area around his
nipples and across his collarbones. Aidan shuddered when
he ran a palm along his leg to feel the new growth.
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
Why hadn't he seen it before? He'd been so fucking
worried about Aidan and so damn hot to touch him, he
hadn't even noticed. "Any other changes?"
"I crave meat. I have a stronger sense of smell and
my hearing is keener."
"There may be more as time goes on. I just don't
know yet," Abbi said.
He felt a short-lived sense of relief. At least Aidan
hadn't deceived him. "There must be some way to change
us back. I don't understand any of this. It was only
supposed to be about infertility. How did this happen?"
"A stroke of luck," Abbi said.
"Don't be ridiculous." Nothing positive could come
from this horror.
"I'm perfectly serious. I believe you and my brother
have somehow reignited a bond between our species that
was lost through the years."
Hunter frowned, trying to make sense of her words.
"What kind of bond?"
"Symbiosis."
"Explain."
"To put it simply, it's a close and often long term
relationship between different biological species. In this
case it's obligate, meaning that both symbionts depend on
each other for survival."
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
This is a bad dream. I'm going to wake up any
minute now and I'll be back in Arcadia. "Now I understand
why our leaders condemn science. It's garbage. I don't need
anyone else to survive and especially not a vampire."
"It's a shock, I know. Aidan had the same reaction
when I first brought it up. He was afraid you'd hate him and
he refused to contact you."
He looked at Aidan but the vampire refused to meet
his eyes. "Is this true?"
"I'd rather die than see that look of disgust in your
eyes, knowing I put it there."
Hunter grabbed his hand. "Don't talk like that. Of
course I'm shocked but we'll work this out."
"Think about it, Hunter." Abbi's voice took on a
note of excitement. "Ultimately, this will help all of us. It's
taken many, many years but the separation of our species
has been slowly killing us. Thanks to you and Aidan, we
can make things right again."
Both men looked at her as if she were crazy.
"There's no way in hell my people will go for this."
"They will when we get more proof."
"And what am I supposed to do until then? Walk
among my pack with fucking vampire fangs?"
"You don't have much choice, Hunter." Abbi put a
hand over his. "This is meant to be. You can't go back. The
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Hunter and the Hawk Gale Stanley
fangs are not decorative. They have a purpose. You'll need
them to feed."
"Oh, no. It's impossible. I'm getting married in a
few months, maybe sooner."
Aidan let out a long, audible breath. "Married?"
"It's all been arranged by our Alpha." He couldn't
look at Aidan's stricken face and he turned to Abbi. "It's for
the good of the pack. He believes I'm a proven breeder.
You've got to get me back to normal."
"This is your normal, now," Abbi said. "You don't
want to breed with a Lycan woman, Hunter. Not until we
know what characteristics your progeny will inherit."
Hellfire! He hadn't even thought about that. He
couldn't take the risk of fathering a vampire.
"& you'll die without it. You both will."
He ran a hand through his hair. "What?"
"Blood. You need blood to survive now."
"If I need blood, I'll feed off of animals." He looked
to Aidan for confirmation. "You said it's been done before."
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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