Read King of the Asheville Coven: Harper's Mountains Vampire Romance for Free Online Page B

wanted and paid him a lot of money. She wanted someone else to hurt. Someone strong who would heal and who could withstand more pain. She wanted something to feed on that wouldn’t die easily. She wanted something to scar on the outside and the inside.”
    “Oh, my gosh,” Sadey murmured, feeling nauseous.
    “Eventually, the bear tired of being her plaything and rebelled. And on the night Arabella planned to torture him back into submission, his crew began arriving.”
    “Who was his crew?”
    “The Bloodrunners.”
    She bolted upright on the swing. “Holy. Shit.”
    “You know of them?”
    “Yeah, everyone does. Female fire-breathing dragon shifter as alpha, two grizzlies, and two birds of prey with some of the most dominant lineages in the world running through their veins.”
    “That would be them. Only Arabella couldn’t let go of torturing the bear, so she went after the dragon-blooded alpha as revenge and dragged our entire coven along with her for that shit-tastic idea.”
    “What happened?”
    “Uuuh.” Aric rocked his head backward and rolled his eyes closed. “Arabella, my queen, my maker, was killed. And as her Second, I took the coven and was supposed to avenge her death. I had to appease my coven and keep us from war with the Bloodrunners because it would’ve escalated. It wouldn’t just be the Asheville Coven against the Bloodrunners. The crew threatened to bring in every crew of shifters from every country. Vampires number at two-hundred in the world. We would’ve put up one hell of a fight, but we don’t have the numbers for a war like that. I had to walk a really fine line and make some really hard decisions to save my people.”
    “So that’s why your coven isn’t on board with…us.”
    Aric brushed his fingertips against her arm. She had gooseflesh from a combination of the cold and his horrifying story about the Bloodrunners. In a blur, he pulled the blanket off the back of the swing and settled it over her legs.
    “They aren’t big shifter fans right now, no,” he murmured. “Hell, they aren’t a big fan of me, and I’m their king. The things I had to do… It’s too soon for them to completely trust me again, and now I’ve bonded to someone they see as a threat.”
    “Well, they won’t have to worry about me,” she murmured, her voice shaking with emotion. God, just the thought of leaving him now made her chest feel like it was caving in. “I came to your house tonight to say goodbye. And to give you this.” She handed him the card.
    Aric searched her eyes for the span of a few breaths before he gently took the crimson red envelope from her hand. He took his time ripping into the flap, then pulled the handmade card out slowly. On the front, she’d drawn a cartoon smiling vampire with a fireman’s hat and a hose in his hand. Aric huffed an amused sound, then opened it up. “You don’t suck,” he read out loud. “Thanks for saving me.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he swallowed hard before he closed up the card and put it back inside the envelope. “Why are you leaving?”
    Sadey sighed and relaxed against his side, drew her knees up under the blanket. “It’s a long story.”
    Aric stared out over the yard at the dark horizon. “I have about four hours until dawn. I have time for a long story.”
    But sharing her secrets was a terrifying thought. It was something she hadn’t shared with anyone. Too much shame, too much fear. Too much vulnerability that would allow the man who was stealing her heart to really see her. She wanted to keep his good opinion of her. “I just can’t stay longer than I already have.”
    “Because of Brock?”
    “How do you know that name?”
    “You reached.”
    Shit. A growl vibrated up her throat before she could stop it, but hang it all, she didn’t want to do this. She’d wanted to start over and move on, not dredge up a past she hated. But Aric was bonded to her now, and even if they were about to be separated,