Her Ancient Hybrid by Marisa Chenery Page B

set off his werewolf’s senses. His wolf side recognized her as his mate along with the vampire. She was his. A mate. The first woman he’d ever wanted to claim.
    Brolach reached out for her only to have her suck in a lungful of air and then let it out in a high-pitched scream. That didn’t bother him so much as how fast her heart beat. The sharp bitter scent of her fear grew stronger. As she opened her mouth to scream again, he caught her chin in his hand and forced her to look him in the eyes.
    With his vampire ability to compel lacing his words, he said softly, “You’ll no longer fear me. You’re perfectly safe. No harm will come to you. We’ll leave this place and you’ll take me to your home to provide me with food and clothing.”
    All at once, she calmed down. Her heart beat at a normal rate, and the scent of fear blew away on the slight breeze. She nodded as her gaze remained fixed on him. “Okay,” she said, sounding in a daze.
    “What’s your name?”
    “Waverly.”
    “I’m Brolach.”
    “Brolach,” she repeated in the same dazed voice.
    “I’ll release you now. No more screaming. You’ll always feel safe with me.”
    He stopped compelling, releasing the hold he had over her mind. Waverly blinked a few times, coming back to herself. Brolach hoped never again to have to use it on his mate. If there had been any other way to have calmed her, he would have chosen it rather than take her free will away.
    Waverly took a deep breath and looked him up and down. “Come on. We’d better get out of here before someone sees you.”
    Brolach stayed at her side as she headed down the hill. As they walked, he gazed at the landscape around them. It really hadn’t changed much over the last two thousand years. He still recognized it as the land where he’d hunted buffalo and deer.
    That changed once they reached a path that led to a large graveled space. It was made by man, as had to be the metal beasts that sat inside it. Brolach quickly scanned the area, but didn’t see anyone else around.
    As Waverly continued walking toward one of the beasts, his steps slowed. “What are we doing here? We need to go to your home.”
    She stopped and looked at him. “If you want to do that, then we have to go in my car.” Waverly pointed to the black metal beast she’d headed toward. “It’s a lot faster to drive there than it is to walk.”
    He had no idea what a car was, but he had a feeling he was about to find out. Waverly led him over to the black one. She took something out of her pants pocket, pressed on it and was able to open a part of the car.
    Brolach glanced inside as Waverly stood to the side and motioned for him to come closer. There were two places for sitting. The one he stood near didn’t have a wheel in front of it. He looked at her, not sure what was expected of him.
    “Get inside,” Waverly said. “We can’t leave until you do.” She looked him up and down. “Hold on a second. Let me put something on the seat first. I don’t want mud ground into the upholstery.”
    She went to one end of the car, and another part of it lifted. Waverly took out what looked to be a folded blanket, then closed the opening before she came to his side once again. Brolach shifted out of the way as she bent, ducked her upper body inside and draped what she held over the seat.
    After she finished, she straightened. “There. Now you can get in.”
    This time she didn’t wait to see if he’d comply. Waverly took hold of his arm, positioned him and pushed on his shoulder until he lowered himself enough to climb onto the seat. Once he did, she ducked in and secured him to it with a wide black strap that came to rest across his hips and up his chest to his shoulder.
    Brolach wasn’t at all sure he liked being restrained like that. He decided to let it go for now as Waverly closed him in, then walked around the car and got inside next to him. When she also strapped herself to her seat, he realized she hadn’t