"Probably because he knew I couldn't fuck you up," the woman admitted out loud.

Eva grinned. At least she wasn't boring. "I'm Eva Mae Miller."

"Seriously? Did that name come with a pair of Daisy Dukes?"

Eva's mouth dropped before she burst out laughing. "You got a mouth on you, don'cha?"

"Yup! I'm Meryn McKenzie, pleased to meet ya." Meryn's eyes danced with mirth.

Eva groaned as she sat up. Small hands tried to push her back down. "Meryn, I'm okay, really. I just need to stand up and stretch."

Meryn's eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "Okay, but don't hurt yourself, because I'm not a healer so you'd probably die or something."

Eva swung her legs over the side of her cot and stood up. Meryn did the same and now Eva was the one staring. "Where's the rest of you?"

Meryn crossed her arms. "Somewhere between 'fuck' and 'you', I think."

Eva chuckled. "I like you."

Meryn stuck her tongue out at her. "I think I like you, too. I'm glad you didn't get eviscerated. Damn, you're tall though; you're like, what, six feet?"

"Nah, only five-eleven and three quarters."

"That last quarter makes all the difference in the world, huh?"

"You better believe it." Eva looked around. They were in a large open cavern. "Where are we anyway?" She felt like someone was watching them. She was a cat; she knew what it was like to stalk her prey. At this moment, she felt like the prey.

Meryn rubbed up and down her arms in a nervous gesture. "This is called the Grand Hall. Everyone is being brought in from over there; that's the opening called the Ledge." Meryn pointed to the cavern's entrance. Men were rushing people through the doors and into the hall. "They have all the units out there guarding the rest of your pack until the witches can lower them down and get them inside. My squire went out to help since he can evidently lift and lower whole platforms, sneaky bastard," she grumbled.

Eva looked around, and all she saw were her fellow townspeople. Scattered amongst them were unit warriors with glowing hands healing the injured. "Where are all the vampires?"

Meryn snorted. "They had to be sent back down. There was so much blood; they were getting kinda out of control. Only Magnus and a handful of the older ones were able to keep their composure. Though in their defense, there's a lot of blood. If I had that much coffee around me, I'd probably lose my shit, too."

Eva watched as a tall, gorgeous vampire with blood red eyes and lowered fangs moved closer. "Ah, Meryn? You did say all the affected vampires went below right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Eva pointed to the man bearing down on them. She was about to push Meryn behind her when the small woman put her hands on her hips and drew back her foot. When the man was standing in front of them, she let her foot fly, kicking him in the shins. Eva blinked. That was not what she would have done to a bloodthirsty vampire attacking them, but it seemed to work. The man's red eyes faded to a mystical silvery gray color and a frown appeared on his face.

"Meryn, that does hurt, you know?"

"It was supposed to. Get your fang boner under control; you're freaking out my person."

The man stared down at Meryn with unblinking eyes. "Did you just say fang boner?"

"Yeah. Really, Adriel, I thought you had more control than that, being a unit leader and all."

Adriel rubbed between his eyebrows. "Meryn, my fangs are out because she is my mate."

"Oh. Well, shit. Then chomp away, I guess." Meryn scuffed her shoe on the floor, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Eva couldn't seem to take her eyes off the warrior in front of her. She had heard of the mating heat, but never in a thousand years would she have thought that it would affect her like this. Her hands actually ached to touch him. He was several inches taller than she was, for which she was grateful. He wore his long, dark wavy hair back in a ponytail, and there was a hint of a five o'clock shadow appearing along his square jaw. He exuded strength and power and her tiger was lapping it up.

He frowned down at Meryn. "I do not chomp." He turned to Eva and straightened his tie before smoothing down his shirt. He bowed, taking her hand. He kissed it lightly then rose to his full height. "My name is Adriel Aristaios. I am the unit leader in charge of the unit warriors here in Noctem Falls, and I am your mate." He allowed her hand to fall back to her side.

Eva swallowed hard; her stomach seemed to have grown wings and was currently fluttering around her midsection. "My name is Eva Mae Miller. I'm the only tiger shifter in a town of wolves. I own a bar called the Gold Penny, and I am your mate."

Meryn elbowed Adriel. "Bet you're appreciating cowboy boots now," she teased.

Adriel looked down at Eva's boots and then back up to her face. He swallowed. "They are quite fetching."

"He totally wants to fuck you in those, just those," Meryn interpreted.

Adriel looked around the room. "Where is your mate?"

Meryn rolled her eyes. "He can't control me either."

"Are you always this cranky?" Eva asked, scoping out their surroundings.

"Sort of. I came up because everyone was jumping up and running to help when the call came in, and I would have seemed like an asshole if I stayed down in the dining room eating pudding and playing on my laptop. But then Aiden and Gavriel disappeared to help the units." She stopped and pointed to a pretty blonde woman in the middle of the room. "Beth, my adopted sister, is directing people like an air traffic controller, and then Ryuu abandons me." Eva was shocked to see the tiny woman rubbing at her eyes angrily.