Made of Scars

by Eden Wildblood

  He thought back to Wynter’s actions over the evening since he’d released her from the solitude of her room. She’d hated being alone so had gone looking for company, just as he’d expected, but he wasn’t happy that it’d been in the form of the Neanderthal down in the basement. At least all they’d done was talk, and she hadn’t looked impressed when she’d left either. No kiss goodbye. No long, lingering glances. She hadn’t even tried to sneak off with him to that back room. Why?

  There was one logical reason. He was quickly reminded of the other male she’d spent a considerable amount of time with lately and wondered if being with Jakob had gotten to her. Could it be that she’d been satisfied aplenty by their exploits? Been given such a seeing to that no human would ever compare?

  It was bad enough Jakob had fucked her, but he detested the sheer idea that she was also potentially so taken with the memory of being with him. That even now, she still thought of him and how she’d run off with the vampire in the night, and that they’d grown close enough for her to let him touch her and give her pleasure.

  It was purely because of him knowing his own actions had caused the deed to happen that Marcus could forgive her for letting the Russian have his way with her. That didn’t mean he had to like it, or that he’d forgiven Jakob though. He wanted nothing more than to find the bastard and make him pay for being bold enough to touch his favourite slave. And he would. The assassin was skilled and had taken off after his sire had been bested, but he couldn't hide forever.

  And really, he deserved to die simply for denying Marcus of his right to his Blood Slave’s vein. But that wasn’t why he was so angry. It wasn’t because of his audacity at taking her away, but because he had done more than that.

  How dare he have Wynter’s body in all the ways Marcus would not? To touch and kiss what wasn’t his and then make love to that amazing woman? To make her body sing and have her remember him so fondly in the days that followed.

  The bastard.

  Then again, he couldn't have gone too far. That was the one saving grace. Jakob wasn’t capable of making love because if they had, their souls would have merged and he would’ve never let Wynter go. No vampire worth a shit would let his bonded soul mate out of their sight. It was too dangerous for one, because as the rumours said, it was also detrimental to each of them to be parted. They would each fester and wilt without the other half of their whole. One would eventually die of a broken heart, resulting in both of them ceasing to exist any longer. It was far too risky.

  And anyway, Marcus was sure he would know if she had merged with another. Wynter would be different. She’d be eager to run back to her lover, when instead here she was. She had clambered into his arms and not run away when she’d had the chance. She was lonely and scared and in need of his comfort, not skipping around like a lovesick teenager.

  After Marcus wrapped up his call with Dieter and had said goodbye, Wynter let out a soft moan that let him know she’d dozed off in his arms. Her hand was still holding tightly to his shirt and Marcus smiled down as he watched her.

  And then he frowned. What was it he was just thinking about lovesick teenagers? He knew he was hardly one to judge because he was doing the exact same thing, but was just glad they were alone and Wynter was fast asleep. No one would have to see this. See him.

  Damn her. And damn the way she made him feel.

  Marcus knew he loved her. Loved the way she felt in his arms and how she made him want to show her his love. There was no denying it, but he still wanted to wait. To bide his time until he could be sure about turning her.

  The Priestess had delivered a prophecy that had proven to be wrong. The full moon had come and then went again without consequence. Wynter was still his and he hadn’t had to merge with her to ensure it.

  All was well, and Marcus was sure things would remain so until he was ready to change them.

  Four

  Wynter woke from her nap with a contented smile. Yes, she missed Jakob with every inch of herself, but at the same time she knew she was slowly starting to understand everything Marcus did for her. And actually, when he was being nice it was impossible not to like him, hard as she might try.

  She took in the sounds of her surroundings for a few seconds before eventually opening her eyes. Surprisingly, she was still in Marcus’s lap. He hadn’t locked her away or placed her on the nearby sofa. He had kept her close and Wynter was glad he cared for her in his own way.

  Things truly had changed these last few weeks and she began to contemplate just what he had become to her. She’d never had someone keep her close and safe like he did, but also knew she didn’t love him in spite of his caring turnaround.

  Perhaps the old vampire was becoming like a father figure instead? Wynter had never had a male role model in her life so had no one to compare him to. Her dad had disappeared out of the picture when she was just a kid and the boyfriends her mum had gone through were few and far between. Never enough to mean a stepfather was around permanently.

  Wynter knew it was the most likely reason why she was always drawn to the wrong types of guy. And why they’d never loved her back or shown her the life she’d been missing. And probably why she herself hadn’t known how to love in return.

  But not now. Not since Jak had come into her life.

  Wynter got it at long last. She finally understood about opening her heart and accepting love rather than mistaking lust for something real. And the differences between them. They were vast and many, she simply hadn’t seen it before.

  She looked up at Marcus, who was busy on his computer, and saw a man she could always appreciate and revere if he continued to care for her like he did, but also knew she could never love him. Never want him, not like that.

  There was someone else in her life she felt the same way about too. Warren.

  Wynter knew she had to tell him so. Things needed ending and she figured there was no time like the present.

  “Thank you for letting me sit with you a while, Marcus,” she whispered as she climbed up off his lap and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She then checked the clock. It was just after one-am. More than enough time to visit Warren, say what she needed to, and get back to begin feeding. “I’ve got a couple of errands to run and then I’ll be back, okay.”

  He barely even acknowledged her and Wynter guessed he was just playing it cool, but his iciness still irked her.

  She felt like saying something, but decided against it. He’d only lash out and perhaps punish her, and she wanted to get this conversation with Warren over with first.

  She turned on her heel and left without another word, and was down in the IT department within five minutes. There, she headed straight for Warren’s office, where she found him making himself something to eat.

  “Hey, I’m glad you came back down. Want one?” he asked, showing her his toasted muffin, and Wynter nodded her head yes. She then took a seat and watched him work.

  There was no denying he was a gorgeous man. Someone any woman would die to get close to, but she knew this needed to be done. He had to know they were over.

  “So yeah, I figured I could do a better job of explaining where I’ve been,” Wynter eventually said and he gave her an awkward shrug but nodded in agreement. “There’s more to my absence than meets the eye and there’s also something you need to know.”

  Warren sat down and pushed the plate with her muffin on towards her, and Wynter thanked him before taking a bite.

  “And I have to say sorry. You're right, I just left you alone rather than check up on you like I ought to have. It was selfish of me,” Warren answered and while Wynter appreciated it, she didn’t feel like letting him off so easily.

  “Yeah it was,” she agreed, “you didn’t even ask how I’d got injured or where I’d been. You just made assumptions, and that hurt.”

  “Then tell me,” he demanded, but she didn’t want to. Doing so would mean she’d have to explain about Camilla and the hordes, and Jakob. Nope.

 
Wynter shook her head no and shrugged.

  “I’d rather not. And I’ve actually been thinking we should take a step back. Focus on being friends and nothing more,” she told him, and caught the surprised look cross his face. Warren clearly hadn’t expected that, but he didn’t try to change her mind and Wynter was glad.

  “Oh,” he replied, his dark brows knitted together, “yeah, I guess friends will be better. Easier too.”

  “Yeah,” she replied, and then rolled her good shoulder in a bid to scratch at an itch there. Warren noticed and jumped to his feet.

  “You need some magic cream?” he asked, evidently appreciating the change of subject, and Wynter nodded. Her cuts were indeed a bit itchy and she was glad of the chance to ease them a bit, and so accepted the small tub from him with a smile.

  She tried, and failed, to get where she needed to and while it felt a bit strange letting him run his fingers over her skin, Wynter then let Warren help her. It was when he was rubbing the cream on her neck, their faces just inches apart, that she knew he’d been lying about wanting to be friends. Warren’s cheeks were flushed and she could tell he wanted to kiss her, perhaps in a bid to make her change her mind, but Wynter moved away.

  She’d meant it when she said they were over.

  She was about to leave when Warren climbed down onto his knees and lifted the cream with a smile. “Come on. Let me get the rest of them and then you can go back upstairs.”

  Wynter hesitated, but then figured this was what a friend would do. Offer to help when she couldn't help herself, and so she accepted.

  Warren was still kneeling between her thighs when the door opened and in strode Marcus.

  She knew he was probably angry at finding them this way and yet she didn’t jump or tell Warren to stop. She knew they’d done nothing wrong and so grinned at him in greeting.

  “Good morning, Marcus,” she breathed, startling Warren. He clambered away as fast as his knees could scuttle and held up the cream, as if to prove to their boss he wasn’t touching Wynter for any reason other than to help her out.

  Marcus took them both in for a moment and she had hoped he’d see sense, but realised they were in trouble when a dark look crept over his face. He stalked back to the door and held it open.

  “I want you both in my office, now.”

  “Mr Cole, we weren’t doing anything untoward I can assure you,” Warren tried, but he was answered with a look that Wynter knew well. Marcus’s death stare. He caved of course, and walked out with his head down.

  Wynter was raging. Where was his fight? His drive? If she hadn’t already ended things she would do now. The strong man she’d thought she knew was well and truly a myth. Warren was flesh and blood, like any man, and he had crumbled in the face of such a formidable foe.

  She couldn't really blame him either. Marcus was a monster after all. It didn’t matter what she’d been thinking just minutes earlier after waking from her nap. He would never change, and didn’t appear to even want to.

  She didn’t move a muscle. If Warren couldn't be strong then she would be. She would stand up to Marcus for the both of their sakes.

  He let go of the door and stormed over to her, and Wynter put her left hand up to him in spite of her fear. She wanted to halt Marcus in his tracks, but instead he took her hand in his and used it to whip her to the side so he could scoop her into his arms.

  She was up out of her chair and in his hold before she could even blink. This time though, there was nothing comforting about it. The vampire was a walking ball of rage and venom, Wynter could feel it emanating off him in waves, and she shuddered.

  “You don’t have to do this, Marcus,” she whispered as he carried her from the room and stormed out of the IT department without a word to any of the others.

  Warren was right behind them and continued to stay silent, and Wynter knew Marcus had to be using his strange mind control power on him. He undoubtedly had no choice other than to follow them but didn’t seem to be attempting to defy him either, the coward. “I came down here to break things off with Warren. We talked and agreed to just be friends,” she tried, but he continued to ignore her.

  Wynter then attempted to struggle free of Marcus’s grasp and he retaliated in the worst way she could imagine. Not only was his dark stare boring into her soul, but he also seemed to decide to go one step further. Before she could try and get out of his hold, he pushed his hand beneath her sling and wrapped it directly around her still healing collarbone. “No, please, no,” she begged, realising what he was intending to do.

  With a sly smile, he gave the smallest of squeezes, but it was more than enough to send a wave of pain radiating throughout her entire body.

  Wynter’s mouth filled with saliva and she went icy cold as the pain took hold and rendered her helpless in a second. Marcus then released his grip but left his hand where it was, like he was ready to do it a second time should she try and worm her way out of his hold again.

  Wynter got the despicable message, loud and clear. She fought back her tears, and opened her mouth in an attempt to beg him not to do it again. To spare her the agony of him feeling the need to show her more of his cruelty, but she was still fighting her nausea and fear and couldn't utter a word.

  “That’s it, my sweet. I was hoping you’d eventually learn when to shut the fuck up,” he growled in response to her reaction. “It appears pain really is the key, and of course I’m not against delivering it should you speak out of turn again.”

  The three of them were out of the lift and in Marcus’s office before Wynter could even get her bearings again, but she still tried when he leaned down to deposit her on one of his guest chairs. She used her good hand to grip his shirt and attempted to pull him to her. She even tilted her head in a bid to distract him with a kiss, but he was having none of it.

  Marcus was gone without a sound or him even having wrenched himself away. It was more like he’d disappeared, but Wynter knew it was purely thanks to him having moved so fast she could barely feel it. Just another of his vampire skills that made this and every other fight with him unfair. He always had the upper hand. The advantage. And this time was no different.

  Wynter dived off the chair and hit the floor on her knees. She tried to climb back up onto her feet, but was then suddenly held back down on them by someone from behind.

  She was facing Warren, who’d clearly noticed the new arrival, and she saw his eyes widen when he realised who had just appeared out of thin air and was now holding Wynter back. She didn’t need to look back at who it was. The red-cloaked hands holding her still were answer enough, plus her senses were invaded by the soft, musky scent she had now gotten used to when the almighty Priestess was close. Wynter cried out and tried to plead with the witch to release her, but she didn’t budge.

  “You're playing a very dangerous game, my love,” she whispered in her ear in that same deep, multi-tonal voice Wynter now knew so well.

  She refused to stop fighting her hold though. Part of her even hoped she might be able to get through to her. That they were still close, like they were before. But, just like her, the Priestess had changed. Nothing about her seemed warm and her actions didn’t give Wynter the impression she still cared for her at all. She hadn’t even seen her properly in days, not unless she counted the odd voyeurism during Marcus’s feed, and now that they were together, the strange woman wasn’t acting in her usually affectionate way in the slightest. She seemed cold and bitter about something. As though she too was angry with her and wanted Wynter to suffer.

  “Please. He’s going to punish Warren for something he didn’t do,” she tried, “he and I are over. I don’t want him.”

  “And who do you want? Your master? Or someone else?” she countered, silencing her, and Wynter realised she had to be careful. She knew she had to make the Priestess believe her intentions were always purely towards Marcus’s wellbeing. To hide her love for Jakob, otherwise she’d surely be locked away again and never see the light of day so lon
g as her soul mate lived.

  “Marcus,” she lied, but gave it all she had in a bid to convince her of her ruse. “In spite of everything he’s done I do want to stay with him. I want him to take care of me, and vice versa.”

  “You lie,” the Priestess hissed, and she turned Wynter’s head back so she was peering into her darkened hood. “You think I cannot see the changes within you? I no longer have the power to foretell your future, which means another’s magic is at play…”

  Wynter’s stomach dropped. Shit. Yes of course the Priestess would be able to see through her lies and call her out on them. Who did she think she was kidding?

  And yet, Marcus hadn’t seen those changes in her himself. The Priestess would surely have revealed her findings to him and if she truly knew everything, then there was no way he would have let her out of the bedroom and back to work. Wynter decided his witch had to be bluffing. Trying to figure her out in ways her magical abilities weren’t able to. If she knew about her having merged with Jak then she wouldn’t be threatening her. She would have acted already, rather than wait for confirmation.

  “I have changed. You're right,” she croaked, but then forced her voice out clearer and more resolutely. “I’m trying to be stronger. Looking out for number-one and not taking any shit from anybody. I want to be loved, my lady. Not just cared for or desired. I want someone in my life that truly loves me and would do anything to keep me. That’s how I’ve changed, because I will no longer just sit back and let the people who have used and manipulated me for weeks carry on doing so. I will fight, even if I have to endure losing time and time again.”

  Now, that sure shut her up…

  Five

  Marcus did a double take at hearing Wynter speak out so strongly against not only him, but also the Priestess. And even Warren. So, this was the real reason behind her having gone down to finish things with him. She wanted her freedom from every person she could feasibly take it from and so had indeed gone straight from his arms to Warren’s office, but not for the reasons he had first suspected.