The Mate Challenge (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Sassy Mates Book 4) by Milly Taiden Page B

sharing of blood and sex between my clan and one located further south,” Aria said in the quiet car. “Back in the time of my parents, they’d tried to find a place for the vampires to congregate.”
    “Do you know anything about this other clan?” Barbara asked, shifting sideways in her seat to glance at Aria in the back seat.
    “My council deals with them more than I did, but I think the idea was that one day I would unite both by marrying their clan leader. His blood-line is muddy and he’s looking to clean it up by uniting with me.”
    “I don’t understand,” Emma mumbled. “Muddy?”
    “I am a direct descendant, blood born, of Miralla Abarca. The original Queen of the night. He’s not. He was turned by someone who was turned. The strength and powers decrease when you are not directly linked to a clean blood-line.”
    “Oh.”
    They neared the club when Aria told her to turn down an alley and park.  They left the car and walked to the mouth of the alley, where they could see the back entrance to the club’s building. A group of people were entering the door so they stood back and watched.
    “Why do they use the back door and not the front?” Emma whispered. She wiggled in her stretchy pants. They were the most comfortable pair she owned and she wasn’t sure what the night would entail so decided to go for comfort.
    “Those that are regulars use the back door, but visitors from out of town or newer vampires are scanned and tagged in the front.”
    Emma threw a glance over her shoulder at Aria. “Scanned and tagged?”
    Aria grinned, showing off her fangs. “Non-vampires should not be able to get in there.”
    The sound of a van coming down the street in front of them got their attention. Wheels screeched as the vehicle came to a sudden stop. Two big, buff men jumped out of the front of the van and opened the back door. One of the guys was bald, wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans. Multiple tattoos and piercings covered his face and arms. The other guy, much shorter, with short dark hair but just as muscled, wearing all black followed.
    Emma gasped as she watched two young girls leave the van.
    “I don’t know about this,” a blonde girl, no more than fifteen said. “We should go home and not into any vampire clubs.”
    Aria hissed behind Emma.
    “Yeah,” the young brunette girl said. “We changed our minds. We want to go home.”
    The two men grabbed the girls by the arms and laughed. “You can’t change your minds now.”
    “They’re shifters,” Barbara growled softly.
    Then, to add to their surprise, the back door to the club slammed open and a short blond man walked out to meet with the shifters.
    “Are these our blood donors for tonight?” Blond guy asked the men.
    Bald headed guy snarled. “Don’t get too close to me, bloodsucker. Rocco sends these with his regards. Said he expects payment when the time comes.”
    Emma glanced over her shoulder at Aria. The vampire was silent and unmoving, but the fire in her eyes spoke volumes. Deathly volumes. She whispered really low. “Does he look familiar?”
    Aria shook her head. “Must belong to the southern clan.”
    A second guy came out of the club wearing full body leather. His hair was slicked back to show a widow’s peak on his pale face. “I’ll take one.”
    Emma couldn’t wait any longer. She motioned for everyone to move back toward her car.
    “Look,” she murmured. “We have to get those girls out of there before they make it into that place.”
    Aria nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line. “If they do, they’re as good as dead.”
    “I’m ready. I just kicked some of the enforcers’ asses at the training center yesterday,” Barbara said. “But Emma is human and can get hurt.”
    Emma took that moment to pull out her shotgun from the trunk, along with a piece of metal tube pipe she carried on her driver’s side. “I like to keep these handy. For close encounters of the supernatural