Protecting Hope: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Bloodmoon Series Book 1)

by Briana Alisandra

  I found her intriguing. She was beautiful. And the way she pushed me. It was exhilarating. No woman could resist my charm. I didn’t even have to compel some of them to want to be with me. She was a challenge, and I loved a challenge.

  She definitely wasn’t a vampire. I’d be able to tell if she was one of my own kind.

  Whatever she was, I was going to find out.

  I made it a habit of knowing who I was living in town with.

  I smiled to myself. Salem Point was one of the most boring towns I ever lived in. This changed everything. Messing with her was going to be so much fun.

  Chapter 8: Hope

  Last night was kind of scary. I should be more careful with going out so late. Maybe go jogging when it’s still daylight out. I got lucky with that guy. He could have been a psycho and snatched me up.

  Even guys as sexy as him can be psychopaths. In my experience the pretty ones are always the dangerous ones. And he was definitely pretty.

  I looked at myself in the mirror. Black skinny jeans and a gray v-neck. Perfect. I didn’t have anyone to impress, but I still wanted to look presentable for the first day of school.

  This was it. My last first day at a new school. I was kind of nervous this time around. I was going to be graduating with these people.

  I hated that I was coming in late. It was only the beginning of October so it’s not like I missed much, but it was still going to take me time to get up to speed with their curriculum. Hopefully it wasn’t too different from my last school.

  I walked out of my room and towards the stairs. The second I hit the top of the steps an amazing smell hit my nose. It was buttery and sweet. It reminded me of Mom when she used to cook waffles.

  I went downstairs and into the kitchen where I found Gemma. She was already dressed for work and standing at the stove. She smiled when she saw me. “Good morning.”

  “Morning. You look nice.” I was referring to the apron she was wearing to cover her work clothes.

  She looked down sheepishly. “Thanks. I hope you’re hungry. I made pancakes and bacon.”

  “Wow. You went all out.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to make sure you got a good breakfast in you. I hope you like pancakes. And bacon. You’re not a vegetarian are you?”

  “No way. I like my meat.”

  She laughed. “Cool.”

  “But you didn’t have to do that. I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

  “Well, now you do.” She gave me a pointed look. A look that somehow I could sense I shouldn’t mess with.

  I smiled. “Okay. I will try the pancakes.”

  I sat down at the table. Gemma joined me. She put two pancakes on my plate and two on hers. She then placed three pieces of bacon on both of our plates before handing me the syrup. “Are you excited for the first day?”

  “Sure.”

  “Nervous?”

  “A little. It’s a small town. I’m sure everyone has known each other since they were in diapers.”

  “Yeah. Salem Point is more of a town you have to be born into. No one just comes here for the heck of it.”

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “My whole life.”

  I looked up at her in question. “Really? So Mom lived here too?”

  “Yeah. We grew up here. Born and raised in Salem Point. This is actually your grandparents house. I just live here, because it’s cheap.”

  “Are they still alive?”

  “Mmhmm.” She seemed to not want to talk about her parents. “They travel a lot.”

  “Wow. I have grandparents.”

  She nodded her head. Something seemed to be up there. I wondered why she didn’t want to talk about her parents. Mom was amazing, and so far Gemma was seeming a lot like her. Their parents couldn’t have been that bad if they turned out the way they did.

  “Your mother never talked about them?”

  “No. She didn’t talk about her family at all.”

  She nodded her head again. I could see the look in her eyes though. She was hurt. I felt like shit for being the person to hurt her like that. Gemma was being really sweet to me.

  Living with her was going to be better than I thought it would be. Definitely better than being in the system.

  I wish Mom would have told me about her. It would have been nice to have a family. It wouldn’t have made losing her any easier, but it would have helped to not feel so alone.

  After we finished our breakfast, I helped Gemma clear the table and load the dishwasher. She dried her hands and turned to me. “I can drop you off at school on the way to work. Technically, it’s a five minute walk, but I’d like to drop you off on your first day to make sure you find it okay.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Let me just grab my work bag and we can head out.”

  Here goes. First day of school, again.

  Chapter 9: Hope

  The second I stepped foot outside of Gemma’s car I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. It was like this at every school I went to.

  No matter where you go, everyone always treats you the same way. Fresh meat.

  They’re all doing one thing right now. Judging me. Not necessarily in a bad way. I guess it was human nature to be curious about someone new. That didn’t make it any less annoying. At least make it look less obvious. Don’t just stare at me.

  I ignored the stares and the whispers as I walked inside of the school’s main entrance. I smiled at a few people. Most of them smiled back.

  I went straight to the main office and the secretary in the front told me I had to go to the guidance office to get my class schedule.

  I thanked the woman and walked back into the hallway. I went straight towards the guidance office.

  There was another secretary in the main office of the guidance office. “Hi, I’m Hope Sinclair. I was told to come here for my class schedule.”

  The man smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you Hope. Dr. Drake has been expecting you. He wanted to speak with you before making your schedule official.”

  “Okay.”

  “You can go right in. He knows you’re coming to see him.”

  “Thanks.”

  I did not want to talk to any shrinks this morning. I hated psychologists. They thought they knew everything about human behavior. Having a doctorate in human psychology didn’t make you an expert on human beings. Well, it kind of did I guess. But it didn’t make him an expert on me.

  I knocked on the door and looked inside. A man smiled at me and stood up while gesturing for me to come in.

  “Good morning. You must be Hope.”

  “That’s me. Which means you must be Dr. Drake.”

  “Guilty.” He shook my hand. He had a really firm handshake. “It’s nice to meet you. Please, have a seat.”

  I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. His office wasn’t very big. I guess that’s what you get in a small town high school.

  “Now, I had a chance to go over your transcripts and schedule from your last school and tried to match you up with the equivalent here. You took some pretty impressive classes.”

  “Oh, yeah, I like math.”

  He laughed. “Nice to hear someone does. I can put you in AP calculus if you’d like.”

  “Yeah, definitely.” That could count towards college credit. The sooner I could get started on that the better.

  “Awesome. Now, how do you feel about physics? I didn’t want to overload you.”

  “Physics would be good too. AP?”

  “Why don’t we do regular physics this semester. Next semester or next year you can do AP. Sound good?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Then I gave you physical education, junior English, and world history.”

  “Great.”

  I was going to be busy this semester. But I liked the challenge. I enjoyed school. I was good at it. It was the only thing I could always immerse myself in.

  “Cool. Then we are all set. I’ll just print this
out for you. Also, if there’s anything you ever need, my door is always open, Hope.”

  I wasn’t going to take him up on that offer, but it was a nice sentiment. “Thanks Dr. Drake.”

  “Of course.” He grabbed the schedule from the printer and handed it to me. “You’re all set. Good luck.”

  I was pretty sure I was going to need more than luck to get through this day.

  I left the guidance office and went in search of my locker. I had no idea where I was going. For a small town, the high school was pretty big.

  I looked down at my schedule to double check the locker number and to look over where my classes were.

  I wasn’t watching where I was going and bumped into someone. Hard. The books he was holding went crashing to the floor.

  “I am so sorry.” It was the guy from yesterday. The guy from the diner.

  “Watch where you’re going next time.”

  His words and his tone really took me back. He was being so mean. It was clearly an accident. This guy had a serious problem.

  I bent down to pick up a book that landed by my feet.

  “Hey, I said I was sorry.”

  He looked up at me. His eyes bore into me like he was trying to put me on fire with them. “And I said, to watch... where... you’re... going.”

  He snatched the book from my hands and walked off.

  I was shocked. He was being a complete dick.

  “Don’t take it personally.”

  I looked over at a guy that was smiling at me. “You saw that.”

  “Yeah. And don’t worry about it. He treats everyone like that. He’s got a God complex or something I think.”

  “He’s an ass.”

  The boy laughed. “Yeah. For sure.”

  It was then that I realized how cute he was. He had big brown eyes and brown wavy hair. And his smile was so infectious. Just looking at him made me want to smile. So I did.

  “I’m Knight by the way.”

  “Hope.”

  He put his hand out to me. I took it in mine and when I did I felt some kind of jolt. It must have been an electrical shock. He made a face. He must have felt it too.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “For?”

  I looked at him for a moment. Maybe he didn’t feel it. “Nevermind. I better get going. I still have to find my stupid locker.”

  “Maybe I can help. Which number?”

  “C46.”

  “Well, you’re in the wrong hall. Come on. You’re in the junior hall with me.”

  I followed Knight. I ignored the stares that were directed towards me. I saw the girls from yesterday when we entered the junior hall. I guess they were in my grade. Wonderful. I hoped I didn’t have any classes with them.

  “Where are you from?”

  “I moved around a lot. But mostly California.”

  “Wow, neat. That must have been cool to live in Cali. Why’d you move here?”

  I felt a pain in my chest. He didn’t know. “My aunt lives here.”

  He nodded his head. I think he picked up on the fact that I didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Here we are. C46.”

  “Thanks for helping me out. You’re a lifesaver.”

  “No sweat. Anytime. I’ve lived here my whole life so if you have any questions about anything to do in town, I’d be happy to help. I could even give you a tour. I gotta be honest though, there’s not much. Salem Point isn’t the most exciting town in America.”

  Boring sounded pretty good right now. “I’ll probably take you up on that offer.”

  He smiled. “Hope I see you later, Hope.”

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. It was a cheesy joke, but Knight was adorable and I couldn’t help laughing at him.

  “See you later Knight.”

  I tested out my locker just to make sure it worked. I didn’t have anything to put in it yet. But I did put my hoodie on the hook in there. The school was kind of hot so I didn’t think I would need it.

  The bell rang and everyone quickly evacuated the hallway. Crap.

  I still had no idea where my first period class was. History. Room B140.

  I quickly walked down the hall towards the B wing. Right as the teacher was about to close the door, I practically slammed into it. “Sorry.”

  The woman didn’t look very amused. “You must be Hope Sinclair.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re late.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t know where I was going.”

  She waved me off. “Just take a seat. You’re already holding up class.”

  Bitch.

  I bit my tongue and entered the classroom. When I looked at the row of seats, I groaned.

  Sitting in the third row towards the back was the guy from the hallway. The guy from the diner. The ass.

  Chapter 10: Christian

  Of course she would be in my class. It figured.

  I shouldn’t have even agreed to go to high school again. I don’t see why Elizabeth liked it so much. It’s mundane and the curriculum just gets simpler and simpler every year. It’s no wonder people get dumber and dumber each year.

  Quite odd considering information is literally at your fingertips. All you have to do is ask your phone and you’ve got the answer. People have gotten so lazy.

  “Class, this is our new student, Hope Sinclair.”

  Hope Sinclair. That was a pretty name. Hope.

  She was dressed in simple clothing. Something told me she wasn’t at all like any of the girls here in Salem Point. She was different. She wasn’t an obnoxious airhead that cared way too much about their looks. Of course, I didn’t know her. That was just my perception of her.

  There weren’t many free seats in the class. She would have to sit in one of the back rows.

  I groaned when she started walking down the row of seats I was sitting in. She would have to pass by me to get to her seat.

  She looked directly at me as she came closer to me. No doubt she was thinking about just moments ago when I snapped at her.

  I needed her to stay away from me. No better way to make that happen than to treat her like shit. Why on earth would anyone want anything to do with someone that treats them like a doormat? Hopefully she wasn’t one of those crazy girls that actually enjoyed being treated like that.

  As she came close to me, I looked down at my notebook, rolling my eyes at her. It was so hard to ignore her, but it was necessary.

  I heard her scoff and mutter ‘douche’ under her breath. No one else would have been able to hear it, but I did. Vampire hearing.

  I couldn’t help but smile at that.

  She was feisty. I liked that. Not enough to risk breaking my promise to Elizabeth though.

  Chapter 11: Hope

  The day was going on forever. It was finally time for lunch. I went to the cafeteria and bought a turkey wrap and some fruit.

  I looked out into the crowd of students. I had no idea where I was going to sit.

  This was always the hard part of starting at a new school. Trying to meet people. I wasn’t an introvert, but I wasn’t exactly a bubbly outgoing person that just clicked with people right away. I usually had to work at making acquaintances.

  There was a free spot at a table where another girl was sitting by herself. Only this girl seemed content to be sitting on her own. She was so immersed in her book that she didn’t even acknowledge that I sat down on the other end of the table. That or she was ignoring me.

  I opened my wrap and took a bite. I was trying to ignore the stares. I could feel them looking at me. This was so embarrassing. I hated not knowing anyone.

  Someone cleared their throat. I looked up and a girl was smiling at me. I recognized her from the diner yesterday.

  “Hi, I’m Tegan.”

  “Hi. I’m Hope.”

  “Welcome to Salem Point.”

  “Thanks.”

  She pointed behind her. “My friends and I have an extra spot at our table. Did you want to sit with us?” She looked
at the girl at the other end of the table. “Rene isn’t much of a talker.”

  I looked at the table. The bitchy girl was sitting with them. Sitting with them was probably going to be a bad idea. But it was better than eating alone and being gawked at.

  “Sure.”

  Tegan smiled. “Great.”

  I grabbed my stuff and my tray and followed the girl back to the table.

  “Everyone, this is Hope,” Tegan said. “Hope, this is Hayden.” Hayden was the girl with the attitude problem. “And this is Aria and Lexie. They’re twins.”

  Must be fraternal. They didn’t look at all alike. Aria had dirty blonde hair and Lexie had dark brown hair.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Lexie said. She smiled at me. I wasn’t sure if it was genuine, but it looked pretty genuine. She seemed warm and inviting. Her sister was a different story. She was staring at me with her icy blue eyes.

  “You too.”

  I sat down at the end of the table next to Lexie.

  Hayden didn’t say a word. She was looking down at her phone with a look of intensity in her eyes. “I swear to God, Eric is such a little bitch.”

  “What did he do now?” Aria asked.

  “He’s trying to make me agree to be his girlfriend again. I don’t need to be tied down. I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to him.”

  Aria shook her head. “He is so annoying. You should cut him off.”

  “I would, but he has such a nice car. He lets me drive it.”

  Oh my God. This girl was worse than I thought she would be.

  Lexie didn’t look very interested in the conversation. She looked down at her own phone. She seemed quiet.

  “So where are you from?” Tegan asked me.

  Hayden put her phone down and looked at me. All four girls now had their eyes on me.

  “California.”

  Hayden looked puzzled. “The fuck you move here for?”

  Rude as hell.

  “I had to. My aunt lives here.”

  “Yeah, same. I only live here because my parents live here. You’ve probably heard of them.”