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

by Briana Alisandra

  “What happened?” Knight asked. He looked relieved, but at the same time like he was still ready to pounce on someone.

  “A vampire compelled the office secretary at school and had her call me to the office. He threatened your life Gemma, so I had to go with him. Luckily I managed to set him on fire and make him crash the car. That’s when Wyatt found me and killed him right before he was going to kill me.”

  “Are you hurt?” Gemma asked.

  “No, I’m okay.”

  Christian looked at his brother incredulously. He knew, but he didn’t say anything, which I was grateful for.

  A loud pounding on the door made me jump. Gemma went to open it. It was Kane. “Is Hope here?”

  “She is now.” Gemma moved aside for him to come in. When he did he came right up to me. Kane glared at him and stayed planted next to me.

  “Hope, I am so sorry. My sister snapped my neck.”

  Hayden started laughing. Everyone looked at her in question. “Oh come on. Are we going to pretend that’s not funny?”

  “I couldn’t get to you. Are you okay? Did she hurt you?”

  I was surprised to learn his sister was involved in this now. I guess capturing me was a top priority for Kane’s father. “I’m fine. Wyatt saved me.”

  Kane looked surprised by this. “This won’t happen again. I promise.”

  “Stop it. All of you need to stop promising that nothing will happen to me. A vampire wants me and he’s going to stop sending vampires to try and get me. I have to be able to protect myself. I can’t do that if people keep things from me. I need to know everything and I need to get better at being a witch. You guys can’t be with me every second of the day.”

  “I can teach you everything you need to know. Including how to kill all of you.” She pointed at Wyatt, Christian, and Kane.

  Wyatt smiled. “Good idea. In following what you want, I think there’s something you need to know.”

  “Wyatt,” Kane said in a warning tone.

  “She deserves to know.”

  I looked between the two vampires. “What else don’t I know?”

  “I think I know who your dad is.” Wyatt was way too excited about this.

  “Who?”

  Wyatt looked at Hayden. After a moment, Hayden furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. “No. You’re wrong. My father wouldn’t do that. That would mean he cheated on my mom and he wouldn’t do that.”

  “Sorry to shatter your bubble, but our parents aren’t always as perfect as they pretend to be,” Wyatt said.

  Hayden looked at me like she was trying to put together a puzzle with a million pieces. She shook her head. “There’s no way this is true and I’m going to prove it.” She stomped to the door and looked back at Tegan and Aria. “Are you coming?”

  Tegan smiled at me. “Glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks.”

  Tegan and Aria left with Hayden. Lexie stayed behind.

  “It’s been a long day,” Gemma said. “I think it would be a good idea if everyone heads out. Hope needs some rest.”

  The guys said bye to me before leaving as well. Lexie told me to text her if I needed to talk and left with the guys. That left me alone with Gemma.

  I looked at her, ready for the lecture I was expecting since I walked through the door.

  “Hope, you should have told me what was going on.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “I ended up worried anyway. I didn’t know anything about what was going on. If I had known you were in danger I could have helped you.”

  “I didn’t want to put you in danger. I can’t be responsible for something happening to you.”

  She sighed and looked at me sadly. She came closer to me and held my hands in hers. “I am a lot stronger than you think. I was trained in witchcraft and in how to kill vampires. You don’t have to worry about protecting me, Hope. I’m your guardian. It’s my job to protect you.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  I couldn’t stop the tears from coming down my cheeks. It wasn’t just from what happened tonight. It was my entire life. I was finally letting it all out.

  Gemma put her arms around me and held me as I cried on her shoulder. “It’s okay Hope. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise. I will keep you safe. No matter what it takes.”

  Chapter 48: Hope

  I saw that Knight was sitting outside on the steps in the front of his house. I put on a hoodie and went outside. I walked up to him and sat down, our knees touching in the middle of us.

  “Everything okay with your dad?”

  He smiled and looked at me. “See, that’s one of the things that I love about you.”

  “What?”

  “You were just kidnapped by a vampire and almost died, and you’re asking me if everything is okay for me?”

  “I don’t have a monopoly on problems. You matter too Knight.” He mattered so much to me. I just didn’t know where we went from here. I had so much to figure out, the first of which being that Hayden might be my half-sister.

  He held my hand in his. “I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

  I looked down at our joined hands. There was an obvious elephant between us and we both knew it. If Caleb was my father, then there was a chance that I was his mate, not Hayden. Based on the sudden connection I had with Knight, Wyatt’s theory seemed to make a lot of sense.

  “Knight, I like you a lot. But I think I need some time to figure all of this out. This is all just so confusing. I mean do I only like you because of this mating thing?”

  I didn’t want who I come from to be the deciding factor in who I ended up with. It didn’t seem right.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, Hope. I just know that what I feel for you feels real. And you can take all the time you need. I’d wait forever for you.”

  I squeezed Knight’s hand and leaned my head on his shoulder, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

  I was falling in love with Knight. I could feel that, but if I was being honest with myself, Knight wasn’t the only person I wanted to be with. And that scared the hell out of me.

  I didn’t know how to choose. And frankly, I didn’t want to.

  Chapter 49: Wyatt

  Tonight was a nightmare. Hope Sinclair was going to be the death of me, I could feel it.

  The biggest surprise of the evening was how I felt when I learned she was taken. I felt...fear. I didn’t fear losing anyone in my life aside from my siblings. But this was even worse than that.

  I was terrified that I wasn’t going to find Hope in time.

  I shook my head and filled my glass for the third time with scotch. This was bad. I didn’t feel feelings for girls. That was all Christian. I was the rational brother. The brother that didn’t believe in fairytale love stories. This was real life where vampires ate people, not fell in love with the werewolf-witch hybrid.

  Elizabeth came in and grabbed a glass for herself. She came up to me and had me pour scotch into it. She eyed me. I rolled my eyes. “What?”

  “I hear Hope is at home safe and sound.”

  “Yup.”

  I plopped down on the couch and took a sip of my drink. She leaned against the other couch and drank her scotch. “You played the hero tonight. How’s it feel?”

  “I’m no one’s hero. You know that.”

  She laughed. “Keep telling yourself that big brother. Perhaps if you say it enough, it will miraculously become more believable.”

  Elizabeth stood up straight and left the study. I slammed my hand down on the couch. I hated when she did that. She got into my head. She was good at picking and picking until you had no choice but to allow her demented little theories to perculate in your mind.

  She was wrong. I wasn’t the hero of anyone’s story. I was the villain. I’m not dependable. That’s not me. I’m the guy that you fear. Not the guy that you love.

  I tilted my head at the person that
just walked into the study. “It’s a little late for you to be out and about, old man.”

  Tristan grinned devilishly. “Yes, isn’t it past your bedtime young one?”

  I got up and went back to the bottle of scotch. “What do you want?” This time I just grabbed the bottle and took a swig from it. It was my intention to finish the bottle anyway.

  “I have a theory.”

  “People are full of those these days.”

  “I need you to be an adult for a moment.”

  I growled at him. “You know, considering I did your job tonight, the least you could do is act grateful.”

  “I am grateful. You saved Hope tonight. You did what I couldn’t. But now I’m trying to fix what my family broke.”

  “Spit it out. I don’t have all night.”

  “I think that Hope’s mother might still be alive.”

  I paused with the bottle just centimeters from my lips. “What are you telling me for? Tell her.”

  Hope was going to be thrilled that her mother was still alive. I know if I found out my mother was alive, it would change everything for me and my siblings.

  “I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

  “She’s a big girl. I’m sure she can handle it.” People were treating Hope like she was some fragile piece of glass that was going to break if you walked near her. She was strong. I saw that tonight. She held her own very well against the vampire that was trying to kill her. She was strong and fierce.

  “No. I’m not telling her until I have concrete proof.”

  “And how are you going to get that?”

  “I want to go back to my family and try to find out.”

  “Isn’t Daddy going to punish you?” I grinned.

  “I can handle my father, but I need you to look after Hope.”

  Why did everyone suddenly think I was this knight in shining armor? There was an actual kid named Knight that fit that description a lot better than me.

  “I think you have me mistaken for my brother. He’s out hunting bunnies if you want to wait.”

  “You seem to care about Hope. I need someone that can be as ruthless as me. I need you to look after her and kill anyone that tries to hurt her.”

  I tried my best to remain stoic. I rolled my eyes and plopped down on the couch. “She’s not going to like me very much. I can be a mean babysitter.”

  He smiled. “That’s alright. I don’t need her to like you. I just need her safe.”

  I raised my bottle to him. “Well then, safe travels and good riddance.”

  He didn’t need to ask me to look after Hope. I already planned on it.

  Chapter 50: Francesca

  Stupid vampires. Never send two men to do the job that one woman could do on her own.

  It was stupid of me to trust those neanderthals to help me. No matter. I’ll have to get Hope to my father on my own.

  I walked into the restaurant. It was a quiet, stuffy little place. Dreadful, really. I suspected a health inspector would have a ball in this place. The wallpaper was undeniably tacky.

  The girl sitting by herself was a girl I recognized. She was friends with Hope, I went to sit down across from her.

  She looked at me perplexed. I smiled. “Hello, Jade is it?”

  “Um, yes. Do I know you?”

  “No. But, I think that you and I are going to be the best friends.” I looked into her eyes. When I knew I had her in a trance and she was following my every word, I continued. “You are going to help me get rid of Hope Sinclair.”

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  Book 2 Coming Soon