{"id":1107,"date":"2016-04-25T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T12:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2016-04-20T13:43:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T17:43:49","slug":"werewolf-week-werewolves-vs-vampires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/2016\/04\/25\/werewolf-week-werewolves-vs-vampires\/","title":{"rendered":"Werewolf Week: Nina Croft – Werewolves vs Vampires?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ncBreakMy Dark Desires series is a combination of science fiction and paranormal romance. It takes place in the future and follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of the crew of the space ship the Blood Hunter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As you might guess from the name of the space ship, a vampire is involved and the hero of book 1, Break Out, is Ricardo Sanchez, owner and pilot of the Blood Hunter<\/em>. Rico is a very old vampire, born on Earth in the Middle Ages, and probably my favorite hero yet. I\u2019ve always loved vampires, I\u2019m a sucker for a bad boy, and for me, Vampires are the ultimate bad boys\u2014there\u2019s always a little bit of evil lurking inside them.<\/p>\n

But then in book 2, Deadly Pursuit, we have a very different hero, Jonathon Decker, who just happens to be a werewolf. I\u2019m quite fond of werewolves as well, and Jon is a particularly fine specimen.<\/p>\n

It got me thinking about the relative merits of those two paranormal favorites\u2014vampires and werewolves. At least they\u2019re my favorites.<\/p>\n

Obviously, there are loads of differences between vampires and werewolves \u2013 one\u2019s dead and the other alive, werewolves are way more hairy, and a lot more hot blooded, vamps drink blood, weres like to sink their teeth into a nice bit of\u2026.<\/p>\n

But for me, the biggest difference between vampires and werewolves is that vampires are loners, and werewolves are pack animals, and that completely changes the way they react to different situations.<\/p>\n

Rico is a loner. Or at least he is at the start of the book, but Rico is also very old, and he\u2019s learned that in order to survive you need to break the rules now and then. So he\u2019s willing to break the loner rule just a little bit if the right incentive comes along. In Break Out, that incentive comes in the form of beautiful Skylar Rossaria, who\u2019s about to make Rico an offer he can\u2019t refuse… and doesn\u2019t really want to!<\/p>\n

Werewolves on the other hand are pack animals. They might have an aggressive streak, and love to fight, but they are not fundamentally evil (unless of course they were evil before they were changed). An alpha werewolf has to be strong, and a brilliant fighter, but his biggest motivation is protecting his pack (unlike a vampire whose biggest motivation is protecting himself).<\/p>\n

Jon is an alpha werewolf who has lost his pack and with it, his faith in his ability to protect. Consequently, he\u2019s sworn he\u2019ll never be responsible for anyone again, and he\u2019s become a loner, which is totally against his nature.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s screwing him up, though he\u2019s managing to delude himself that he\u2019s not doing too badly\u2014until he meets the heroine, Alex. Alex is about to make him an offer, but unlike Rico, Jon has no problems refusing. For a little while, anyway.<\/p>\n

Of course, when they first meet, Rico and Jon have to decide who\u2019s the most alpha\u2014and here\u2019s an excerpt from Deadly Pursuit when they attempt to do just that. Who would you want to win\u2014werewolf or vampire?<\/p>\n

\"ncDeadly-Pursuit\"Deadly Pursuit \u2013 Excerpt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jon\u2019s mood lightened. Yeah, this was definitely what he needed. How long was it since he\u2019d been in an honest-to-goodness fight? Killing was his profession, but his business these days always seemed to be from a distance, and it always left a nasty taste in his mouth. Killing the vamp would feel good\u2014real good.<\/p>\n

He rolled his shoulders, easing the tension in his muscles, and heard the shirt rip down the back.<\/p>\n

The vamp\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cThat\u2019s my shirt,\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I thought it must belong to someone puny.\u201d He rolled his shoulders again and the material tore a little more. Grinning, he stripped off the rent fabric and tossed it at the vamp. \u201cHave it back. It doesn\u2019t fit anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNice. Very nice.\u201d Jon heard the muttered words of one of the women in the background but took no notice. The vamp didn\u2019t try and catch it, and the cloth fell to the floor between them.<\/p>\n

He saw the moment when the vamp\u2019s muscles tightened and readied himself. Jon\u2019s vision narrowed, the rest of the room fading to nothing, his concentration fixed on his opponent.<\/p>\n

It still came as a shock when the vamp made his move, and Jon barely had a second to brace himself before the impact. Lightning fast, he slammed into Jon hard, pushing him back step by step, until his shoulders pressed against the smooth curve of the wall.<\/p>\n

He took a deep breath and lashed out with his foot, swiping the vamp\u2019s legs from under him. His grip slipped, then tightened again, dragging Jon down as he fell.<\/p>\n

Jon landed on the bottom, his cheek pressed against the cool metal of the floor. He rolled instantly so he was on his back, just as the vampire reared up over him. Jon clenched his fist and punched him in the jaw. The blow hardly seemed to register, but it nearly broke Jon\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t do better than that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jon gritted his teeth. Grabbing onto the other man\u2019s shoulders, he smashed his forehead into the vamp\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n

Jesus. The guy was like granite. But he heard the crunch of bone and the sharp acrid scent of blood filled the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck, that hurt.\u201d The vamp shook his head and blood sprayed across the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t look so pretty now, do you?\u201d Jon mocked.<\/p>\n

The vamp\u2019s eyes narrowed as he licked a drop of blood from his lower lip. Then he raised his fist and punched Jon in the mouth. Fuck.<\/em> A warm trickle oozed down Jon\u2019s chin, and he resisted the urge to wipe it away. Instead, he bunched his knees to his chest between them and thrust out, hurling the vamp across the room so he crashed into a chair. Somebody swore loudly, but Jon ignored everything else. He rolled to his feet, charged, and slammed his head into the vamp\u2019s belly, and they crashed to the floor again. He was vaguely aware of booted feet scrambling out of the way.<\/p>\n

They were rolling, each trying to get a grip. Pretty evenly matched in strength, each tried to get in the punch that would make a difference.<\/p>\n

Twisting, Jon freed himself and scrambled to his feet. His eyes stung with sweat, and he blinked. Blood smeared his chest from his cut lip, but the vamp looked no better. His nose was clearly broken.<\/p>\n

For a moment, their gazes locked. As Jon watched, the vamp slowly raised his hand to his face and licked the blood from his knuckles. Jon\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n

Ugh!<\/p>\n

The vamp\u2019s eyes glowed crimson now. The tension in the room ratcheted.<\/p>\n

\u201cRico!\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone spoke urgently behind him, but Rico seemed not to hear. He stalked toward Jon, his lips curled back revealing razor-sharp fangs.<\/p>\n

A flash of primordial fear rolled over him, but he held his ground. Shifting wasn\u2019t an option in such a confined space, and besides, there was nowhere for his wolf to run. Instead, he concentrated on his right arm, heard the bones crack and the claws pop from his skin until it was covered in thick dark brown fur and ended in vicious claws. He flexed his fingers and smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on. Let\u2019s party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia, which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of nine-to-five work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.<\/p>\n

Nina writes all types of romance, often mixed with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.<\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.ninacroft.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/Nina_Croft<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook page: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Nina.Croft.author<\/a><\/p>\n

Goodreads author page:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/3378320.Nina_Croft<\/a><\/p>\n

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