Rowan looked around nervously as he followed the line of other travelers from the plane to boarding call. He had no idea what or who he was actually looking for, he knew that if his mother and father had still been alive that they would be very upset to know that their son had escaped from his foster parents in order to go to Miami. He had every intention of actually going to one of the museums in the country, but first he wanted to find his brother, Ross. It always came down to Ross. Ever since Rowan had found out that he had an older brother...that his mother had been mated before and had given birth to another child, he’d been practically obsessed with the idea of finding his older brother and living with him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his foster parents, they were cool people, for humans, but Rowan was half wolf shifter, half elf, and he’d grown up surrounded by his elven family. His father’s family was wood elves and had always been around, no matter where he went or what he did. He would never be able to get to know his brother if they were around. They tended to look down on wolf shifters, which meant that they looked down on Rowan and his mother.
Rowan grabbed the strap of his backpack and pulled the bag up on his shoulder more securely as he walked with his head down, trying not to draw any attention to himself. While he knew that there wouldn’t be a missing person’s bulletin out for him just yet, when night fell and his foster parents realized that he wasn’t in New York City, staying at the hotel in Manhattan, they would be frantic and the least amount of people who saw him, the better.
He lifted his nose as the distant smell of jasmine, rainwater and musk drifted up to his nose. It was the most heavenly scent that he’d ever smelled in his life. Closing his eyes, Rowan’s nostrils flared as he pulled in more of the delicious fragrance. His mother had told him that his nose would lead him to his mate and his father had told him that he would hear the song of his mate’s heart. Listening closely, Rowan could hear the faint thrumming of guitar strings and the subtle beat of a drum drawing closer to him.
Oh gods, his mate was here. He’d only turned eighteen the day before and now he was meeting his mate?
Clearing his throat, Rowan stood to his full 5’2” height and smoothed down his long black hair that hung to the middle of his back. His cousins had teased him about his delicate features and his long hair, telling him that he looked more female than male, but Rowan had paid them no mind, he knew that he was beautiful; his parents had always told him so and more than that, he could smell the arousal wafting off of his mate even from this distance.
Looking around, Rowan found his gaze trapped and held by the mouthwatering sight of the most muscled man he’d ever seen in his life. The man’s muscles had to have their own zip code. His black hair shone brightly in the fluorescent lighting of the airport and his grey eyes gleamed with an intensity that made Rowan feel possessed, desired and a need so powerful that Rowan shivered. Offering his mate a tremulous smile as the man began heading his way, Rowan slowly walked towards his large mate. He’d only taken a few steps with the burning stench of evil wafted up towards his nose, seconds before he felt his body jerking backward slightly as someone grabbed onto the back of his bag.
Growling, Rowan started to turn his head only to hear a hissing noise followed by words that froze him in his tracks.
“Don’t move pretty boy. You’re going to help me get out of here without your big, scary ass boyfriend trying to kill me first,” the menacing stranger growled at him and Rowan’s stomach rolled.
Vampire. Rogue vampire. Shit.