Daric's Mate

by J. S. Scott

  Tears streamed from her eyes, nearly blinding her as she ran to her mate, oblivious to everything except him, and her need to reach him.

  Daric stepped out of the carnage to meet her, catching her fast-moving body around the waist, bringing her to an abrupt halt.

  “You will never leave me like that again,” he stated with a feral grunt, his eyes boring into hers with a savage expression that took Hannah’s breath away.

  Before she could formulate an answer, his mouth crashed down on hers, showing no mercy as he pulled her body against his heaving chest and sweat-soaked skin, demanding her surrender. The embrace was rough, a brand of ownership, but Hannah yielded, needing the raw possession, the brutal passion. His tongue swept through her mouth with a carnality that sent a chill down her spine, flooding her panties and making her body weak with need.

  Daric yanked his mouth away and sank his fangs into the tender skin of her neck. Hannah moaned, her body flooding with erotic heat as he fed, lifting her hands to spear through his damp hair, cradling his head against her flesh. She could feel his hunger, and there was nothing she wanted more than to meet his need. “Yes,” she hissed as he drew deeply from her, sucking ravenously against her skin, taking what he wanted, what he needed. He needed blood after the battle, but Hannah knew that he also took from her to reassure himself that she belonged to him.

  Daric sealed the punctures with a coarse sweep of his tongue, his face no less intense after he finished taking her blood. Yanking her to his side, he turned to all of the Hale brothers and Adare. Without a word, he closed his eyes, and Hannah could feel the power vibrating from his body as wounds healed and the streets cleared of nasty spots of debris and blood.

  Hannah gaped, staring first at her mate and then at the five men in front of them, one dark blond, and the others all dark like Daric. In seconds, the scene went from one of post-battle carnage to the usual street in her small town of Temple, the men blending in with the darkness. Not a drop of blood or a single wound remained on any of them.

  Yes, she had known that Daric was powerful, but actually seeing that power, feeling it radiate from his huge body was still a shock. And the results were nothing less than staggering.

  Completely healed, all five men came forward, dropping to one knee in front of her.

  “Your Highness.” All five spoke in unison, their voices reverent.

  Hannah shook her head in confusion, trying to figure out why these powerful warriors were kneeling in front of her.

  “Only Liam is a healer, but they are all pledging their loyalty to you. They are showing respect to their future Princess,” Daric answered aloud, his voice graveled.

  “No. They are showing respect to their future Queen,” a loud, booming voice proclaimed from the shadows.

  Hannah’s head whipped around, watching apprehensively as a very large man walked out of the darkness and into the glow of the streetlights, her shocked mind not certain if he was friend or foe.

  “Father?” Daric’s fierce expression turned to one of bewilderment.

  Hannah recognized him from Daric’s memories. His father was dark, frightening and so very much like Daric. Stunned, she watched as he approached Daric, hearing her mate’s confused thoughts as they joined with her own inside her head.

  How? It’s not possible. He’s dead.

  Daric’s father didn’t look at day over his mid-forties, even though Hannah knew he was many thousands of years old…and supposedly…dead. But here he stood, right in front of her eyes, dressed in a scarlet robe, his hands sparkling with jewels.

  “It’s a trick. Some sort of illusion,” Daric rumbled, his face contorted with agony…, and yet, with hope.

  His father approached him with a sad smile, laying a hand on Daric’s shoulder as he stood in front of him. “Know the truth, son. Feel it inside me. I was granted this brief visit because you are ready to take your place as King. You proclaimed it and it will be so. You were left without the power or knowledge of a King, and it must be passed on. Now. ”

  Hannah stepped back as the members of The Vampire Coalition rose to their feet, their faces showing their confusion, bodies preparing to defend Daric if needed. Daric caught her hand, keeping her close to him.

  “I have no desire to be King,” Daric said flatly, his eyes locking with his father’s stubbornly, knowing that the man who stood before him was the spirit of his parent.

  “You proclaimed yourself King when you manifested the Carvillius Sword. You are King, Daric, as you were always meant to be,” his father answered.

  “I was never meant to be King. The title was yours and then meant to be Nolan’s,” Daric answered harshly.

  Daric’s father shot his son a look of remorse and closed his eyes. Hannah squeezed Daric’s hand, her heart breaking as she looked at the agonized and confused look in the eyes of her mate. Light emanated from his father’s bejeweled hand, illumination that seemed to be radiating from the older man’s palm and into Daric’s body. She felt her mate shudder, and moved closer to his body, plastering herself along his side, sending comforting thoughts into his mind. She wasn’t entirely sure exactly what was happening, but Daric had his father here, something she knew he needed if he was ever going to completely escape his past.

  The glowing light faded and the ancient king slowly removed his hand from Daric’s shoulder. “Now you have the ancient knowledge and power to be King. I have merely been waiting for you to declare yourself, as you should have done a thousand years ago.”

  “I was angry when I said that earlier. I don’t want to be ruler. I just want to watch over my people,” Daric said, agitated.

  His father stopped, his hands behind his back, and stared at Daric. “What do you think a King does? You are doing what you were always meant to do. But you’ve been doing so without the full power to lead.”

  “I was not meant to be King!” Daric exploded, his expression fierce.

  His father sighed. “Actually, you were. I did wrong by you, Daric. I never loved you any less than I did Nolan, but I knew Nolan’s time on the earth was limited and I was losing my mind, so I threw all my energy into him, knowing he was going to leave me just as your mother did. I didn’t plan what happened. I regret that I hurt my people, and that I hurt you. I hope that you can forgive me some day.”

  “I don’t understand. Nolan was your heir, the favored son,” Daric questioned without rancor.

  “Nolan was never destined to be King. He was born without the marking of a Carvillius King, a mark that always bears the Carvillius Sword. I knew he would never live to be King. When you were born with the mark, I should have treated you equally, but the realization that I wouldn’t have Nolan with me for long made me focus all of my attention on him, because I wasn’t well enough to see anything except another loss. The very fact that I knew I would lose him sent me deeper over the edge of madness. It was never that I loved you less, Daric. I should have prepared you to be King.” The older man resumed pacing with a long sigh. “I should have passed the title to you after your mother died. I wasn’t capable of being King anymore.”

  Hannah’s chest tightened as she watched the older man struggle with his guilt and remorse. She knew Daric’s mother had died soon after he was born, a victim of the fallen.

  “I thought you were grieving for Nolan so desperately that you let yourself go with him. I didn’t think I was valuable enough or worthy enough to make you want to stay.” Daric answered hoarsely.

  The ancient king stopped, shaking his head as he looked at his son. “I was mad long before Nolan died, Daric. I couldn’t live without my mate. It doesn’t excuse how I behaved or how I treated you, but I hope someday you’ll forgive me. It wasn’t lack of love for either of my sons, it was the dementia I suffered because of losing my mate.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me then?” Daric asked, his voice tormented.

  “I was weak, pathetic, my mind broken. I didn’t want Nolan to know his fate before his time. It wasn’t fair to you, but
I wasn’t thinking like a king. I was functioning on the level of a child.”

  “Nolan had a right to know, and I should have been allowed to know that my brother was going to die,” Daric answered, his voice irritated.

  “You did have the right to know and I don’t blame you for your anger,” his father responded immediately. “I just wasn’t strong enough or sane enough to deal with it properly. I’m sorry, son. I failed both you and my people.”

  “Nolan?” Daric asked, his voice choked, unable to utter anything except his brother’s name.

  His father smiled weakly. “He walks with me among the Ancients, with his true mate. Maya was not the female for him. His female awaited him beyond. He’s happy, Daric. His destiny wasn’t here on earth. He asked me to tell you that you will always have his love, even though you’re not together right now.”

  Hannah watched Daric’s face soften, his precious memories of his brother rolling through his mind and into hers. “Tell him I feel the same,” Daric answered hoarsely. “And that I miss him.”

  “Rule well and long, King Daric,” his father answered quietly, his intense eyes focusing lovingly on his son. “Lead without guilt and knowing that I was a broken, weak king who failed my people and my son. All that happened was not under your control. Nothing you could have done would have ended things differently. I walk with your mother just as Nolan walks with his true mate. You have found your true mate here on earth. All was fated before your birth.”

  Hannah shivered as the elder king’s eyes moved to her. “Thank you for loving my son. You will make an excellent Queen.”

  “I still don’t want to be King,” Daric grumbled.

  His father eyes pierced him sharply. “You are King. Your sons will be princes and all will be as it should be. Don’t be so damn stubborn.”

  My sons.

  Hannah caught the whispered thought as it went through Daric’s mind and his world finally righted itself. She felt his acceptance and his forgiveness all at once, her heart rejoicing that he was finally at peace with his past and his family. Maybe some good would come from this fallen attack after all.

  “Oh, God. The fallen . The backlash.” In all the turmoil of the evening, she had forgotten about the pain that Daric would suffer very shortly.

  Daric’s father smiled, the first genuine smile Hannah had seen from him. “There will be no backlash. Your mate wields the Carvillius Sword. It’s one of the benefits of being King. As long as the sword is used to defeat evil, there will be no backlash. It wouldn’t do to have a king out of commission.” His smile grew even broader as he added, “And he has a mating that needs to occur very soon. He’s pushed himself far enough.”

  Hannah’s tension dissipated, and she returned the ancient king’s smile with one of her own. “I’ll make certain it does, Your Majesty.”

  “I’m no longer king, but I’d be honored to call you daughter,” he answered, his ancient eyes filled with longing.

  Hannah looked at her mate, her eyes filled with tears. Daric’s father was asking for forgiveness, for absolution for his actions that had been caused by something out of his control.

  He’s here now. He loves you, Daric. I don’t think he ever meant to hurt anyone. Hannah sent the thoughts to her mate, asking him silently if he forgave his parent.

  Her mate’s fierce gaze connected with hers as he answered. I have a mate and I know now how a vampire can lose his mind quite easily because of her.

  Daric shot her an accusing look, a glance of warning that he wasn’t done with the issue of her putting herself in harm’s way.

  Hannah stepped forward, pulling her hand from Daric’s as she embraced his father. “Thank you,” she whispered quietly as she hugged the ancient ruler.

  “No. Thank you, daughter,” he answered as he hugged her tightly, his voice choked with emotion.

  A low growl vibrated through the air as Daric stepped forward and pulled her back against him. “Mine,” he grunted, his arms coming possessively around her.

  His father released her with a hearty laugh. “If he’s jealous of an ancient spirit, you’d best get the mating done.” He sobered as he added in a booming voice, “All Hail King Daric Carvillius, King of the Vampire Healers. Heed him, serve him and you shall be rewarded with your mate.”

  Hannah watched in fascinated awe as one by one, vampire healers appeared, until the streets were filled with healers kneeling before their newly-appointed King.

  “Will they find their mates now?” she asked, desperately hoping that Daric’s healers were finally going to be happy.

  “They will,” Daric’s father answered confidently. “The damage I did has finally abated. Liam and Regan started the healing and it will continue from this day on.” The ancient king’s voice started to lose its power. “Be happy, my son and daughter.”

  “Father!” Daric let go of Hannah long enough to reach for his father, taking the man into his arms for an emotional hug. “No regrets. No guilt. I understand,” Daric told his father in a husky voice.

  “I love you, son,” his father answered weakly, clinging to Daric.

  “I love you,” Daric said gruffly, his eyes moist as he clung to the dissipating image of his parent until the elderly king had completely faded away.

  Tears spilled from Hannah’s eyes as she melted into Daric’s shuddering body. Finally, her vampire healer had found peace.

  Daric turned, facing the masses with her cradled at his side, cringing as he saw all of the healers, Adare and the Hale brothers kneeling before him. “Oh, Christ! Get up. I hate that shit.” He eyed his subjects, his eyes intense. “Go back to work. Kissing up to me isn’t going to get you a mate any faster,” he told them in a booming voice that carried his comment to the mass of healers before him.

  The healers vanished with a mental command from Daric, leaving only the Hale brothers and Adare before him. The men rose, all of them smirking at Daric.

  “You aren’t going to insist that we kneel to our King now?” Liam asked curiously.

  “Hell, no. This is a new generation of royalty. No kneeling. No scraping and bowing. It irritates me,” he grumbled. “You’ve all shown your respect for my mate. Now leave us.”

  “So being King makes no difference to you?” Nathan asked in a low voice filled with mischief.

  Daric’s look was evil as he replied, “Yeah. It means I have a bigger…sword.” He manifested the Carvillius Sword and waved it in the direction of the Hale brothers menacingly. “Now leave before I show you the hard way just how powerful I am.”

  Ethan snickered. “He’s got a bad case of the mating compulsion.”

  “Can I kiss Hannah good-bye before I go?” Rory asked cheerfully.

  Hannah’s lips curled, knowing the brothers were needling Daric. As she felt his body tense, she wasn’t entirely sure that was a good idea at the moment.

  “You will go before you leave your mates widowed and alone. Take care of the clean-up with the humans in town before you go home,” Daric boomed, his command so forceful that Hannah stepped back in alarm.

  One by one, the Hale brothers and Adare took their leave with a knowing smile, each sending Hannah a playful wink before teleporting away without another word. The brothers might like to tease, but they were far from stupid.

  The night was suddenly deadly quiet. Hannah watched Daric as he dissolved the Carvillius Sword and focused his intensity on her.

  “You, my dearest mate, will answer for disobeying me about your safety!” he snarled as he stalked her.

  She stepped back, the fury in his eyes startling her. Never once, after their first meeting, had she truly feared Daric, and she wasn’t afraid of him now; however, she’d have to be daft not to be cautious about approaching him when he was in this mood. “I wanted to clear my schedule so we could spend the evening together. I planned to be home before dark. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t want you to be fucking sorry. I want you to listen to me when I tell you that I won’t tolerate you bei
ng stubborn when it comes to your safety. Dammit. I need you to be safe,” he told her harshly, latching onto her arm as he spoke.

  Hannah sighed as Daric pulled her into his body, seeing his mind exploding with thoughts of something happening to her, images of what he had seen when he had arrived at her encounter with the fallen. His brain was filled with fury, but it was a frenzied rage entirely manifested by his mating instincts and his fear of losing her.

  “I’m safe, Daric,” she whispered as he clutched her against his chest so tightly she could barely breathe.

  “Damn right you’re safe and you’re going to stay that way. We mate now,” he answered in a blistering tone.

  Hannah was nearly panting as she responded to his need to dominate, feeling the effects of the mating instincts grabbing hold of her body, wrapping her in heat. “Now,” she agreed with a moan, eager to follow wherever his testosterone overloaded body led. She had been ready to be his mate ever since he had goaded her into flying down that mountain, encouraging her to be free of her past and to look toward her future.

  The two of them vanished, Hannah groaning as Daric’s mouth covered hers roughly, an early warning that his violent mating need had taken control.

  Chapter 7

  Daric knew he was lost. Somewhere, in the small piece of his rational mind that was left inside his head, he knew that his mating instincts had taken over, wanting to dominate his mate, mark her as his in every way possible, demand her obedience. He was functioning on a visceral level, his instincts would not be denied, and he no longer gave a shit whether he was rational or not.

  Mark. Protect. Keep her safe. Make her heed my commands.

  He manifested in his bedroom, his mate in his arms, and his desires ruling his body and senses.

  Daric stripped Hannah with a mental command, leaving her standing before him nude, her body exposed to his maniacal gaze. His eyes moved over every inch of her body, claiming her with his possessive stare.

  Mine. Need to have her moaning, trembling, begging for me, pleading for my cock to be inside her. Only for me.