“You will learn true submission.” Sy ignores the Vampire, preferring to rant at me instead. “I will have from you the respect I deserve as your mate.”
Lord, I feel like spitting in his eye. “I’ll run from you.”
“I’ll find you.”
“Then I’ll run harder and faster the next time.”
“Believe me; I’ll persuade you to stay put.”
The way his hands clench and knock his thigh tells me what persuasion he has in mind. My verbal needling must have worked Sy into a deeper rage than I realised if he’s so desperate to keep his brutish nature under wraps.
“I’ll crawl half dead if I have to. I’ll never stop trying to find him. Every day all you’ll hear is me calling his name.”
The Beta lifts his chin and shrugs. “That’s what gags are for.”
“You’re so full of shit. You expect to tie me down, gag me, beat me, and that the Pack will do nothing? You act like you’re the embodiment of the male wolf, but you’re not. You’re the disease that plagues my kind.” I shake my head pityingly. “Pathetic, a Beta that can’t control his female without his fists. A prisoner isn’t a submissive mate, dog. It’s a wolf waiting for the opportunity to rip your throat out.”
I snap my jaws at him.
“Your wolf is so submissive I can barely feel her energy. You expect to fight me?” He sneers. “You used to be magnificent.”
Yeah, my pride is wounded, but I’ll make no excuses.
“You know why. My wolf’s energy is faint because my mate’s strong. Her power diminishes when he’s close. She expects him to protect us. Your power’s nothing in comparison. That’s why I was a word away from forcing you to release me.”
Sy grabs my breast and squeezes roughly. “I’m going to enjoy fucking the smirk from your pretty lips.”
Aaron smacks the Beta’s hand away. “She’s not yours yet.”
“You challenge me?”
“Enough.” Lee sidles closer, a promise of violence in her glowing eyes. The tips of her fangs show, and her pupils are vertical slits. “I’ve had enough.”
The wolves lower their heads and growl threateningly.
Worried, Ben holds out an arm.
“No.” She grips his forearm and moves it aside. “I did what you asked. I let her prove she’s strong enough. It’s not fair for them to hold her like this.”
“The entire bloodline will go to war if you interfere,” Ben warns.
“She’s taken his blood. I feel her. She’s part of us now and I can’t stand this. It’s like failing Bethany all over again.” She stabs a finger at Daniel. “We can’t stand by if he does nothing.”
Losing patience, Ben tugs her back. Firm, but always gentle. “It’s not our fight.”
“Then I make it ours.”
The chilling command in Lee’s voice lifts the hair on the nape of my neck. The weaker Enforcers whimper. Aaron and Sy snarl, stronger in their power.
“He doesn’t love her back,” Ben says. “Daniel cares for none but himself.”
“Do you see?” Sy is triumphant. “You fight for nothing. That Vampire fucked you, and would have sucked you dry.”
“That is untrue.” Daniel’s deep voice is sombre. He glares at me like I’m some troublesome thing. “What we shared was beautiful. Do not question the gift I gave you.”
Sy’s eyes roam over my empty hands. “Gift?”
There’s a rebellious twinkle in Daniel’s eye. Clearly, he has no intention of leaving without offending somebody.
“Yes. The greatest gift I could give.”
Disbelieving, I bark a laugh. He’s calling his affection for me a gift? “You’re being totally serious.”
“Harmony.” He looks at me from beneath his lashes. “Sweetling. I have so little soul to give. It’s a withered thing that barely warrants a mention.” He jerks a shoulder. “Nevertheless everything I have is yours, including said soul.” He runs his hands through his hair and looks baffled; dubious I’ll accept something he considers worthless? “If you still want it.
“Wow,” Aaron says. ”I’m feeling the love.”
Daniel frowns. “As for what the rest of them think about us–”
“Fuck them,” I whisper.
He chuckles.
I’m mesmerised by his smile. I stare back sappily, a daft grin splitting my face in two.
Sy rolls his eyes skyward. “Give me a break.”
“You care for her?” Ben asks Daniel.
“It was an accident. If she were just my Bride, and I hated her, I would have followed through.” Daniel sighs. “I do not wish to give her up.”
Lee’s body wriggles with excitement. She holds out her hand, face shining with happiness. “Harmony, come home with your family.”
Though I’m mad at him for waiting this long to admit he feels something for me, Daniel is the focus of my thoughts. Will he be welcome at Castle too? Daddy may decide to not honour the truce. Will Daniel’s kind turn on him for ruining the fragile peace?
Biting my lip, I ask, “And my mate?”
Lee laughs. The joyous trilling belies the tense atmosphere. “Dan’s welcome. He always was. Besides, I doubt he’ll have time to make trouble keeping up with you.”
That is it? I can return to Castle with Daniel in peace?
From the stunned look on Daniel’s face it is. He whistles, cheekily summoning me when I make no move to go to him.
Ignoring my mate’s sarcastic wit, I sag in relief.
The Enforcers react to my invitation to join the Vampires. They take large steps back, ears twitching, bushy tails flicking in agitation.
Aaron releases me.
I’m not one of them anymore.
Exhaling in a shuddering breath, I stumble forward, so ready for this waking nightmare to be over.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Cruel fingers dig into my upper arm, yanking me a full foot back. Bulging veins in Sy’s neck throb, and his complexion darkens with a rush of blood.
I can sense the ferocity of his wolf brushing against his skin, clamouring to be free. It sets my teeth on edge and riles my wolf.
I scratch his hand, scrambling to get him off. “It’s over, let me go.”
“Cross that line and you’re banished.” Spittle lands on my chin. White froth gathers at the corner of Sy’s mouth. “Do you hear me, bitch? Cross that line and you’re dead to us.”
Aaron wedges his bulk between us and shoves Sy back. “Back off. Know when you’ve been beaten.” He pushes me towards the Vampires.
Sy faces his Enforcer with hatred in his eyes. Feral. The animal inside is too close to surfacing to make sane decisions. “Move.”
Aaron’s energy quickens in preparation of a fight.
I’m taking my fine ass out of here. Aaron can handle himself, and as he’s decided to protect me, I’ll thankfully let him.
I continue my weak-kneed amble back over the line, chagrined at how weak mating Daniel has made me. It’s a common condition for the female in mated pairs of my kind. The stronger the mate the more submissive the female becomes. My case is worse because Daniel is more powerful than any single Lycan. My she-wolf is flat on her backside she’s so docile in his presence. I’ll have to be more cautious and learn how to throw down as a Human. I’ve been dependant on my natural ability to control the people around me. Relying on my wolf’s power to kick ass rather than on my own smarts.
What a humbling experience this is turning out to be.
Challenging his Beta’s dominance, Aaron holds his ground. He spares me a glance to check I’m safe. Satisfied, up go his hands in acquiescence. “It’s over, man. You’ve got to let her go.”
“I’m not leaving without her. Move.”
If Sy genuinely loved me his persistence might be touching. Being that he hates what I’ve done, wants to eviscerate my chosen mate, and hurt my new family, his obsession with me is plain annoying.
“It’s done.” Lee’s voice booms across the divide. Dropping Ben�
�s hand she paces as far as she can go without breaking the truce and crossing too far over the boundary into Pack land. “Release my sister and go in peace.” Her stance and tone lower, broadcasting her readiness to fight. “Go or you will suffer me, Lycan.” Her exquisite voice takes on a menacing cadence that reveals the demonic force inside her.
Refusing to back down, Sy snarls. His back hunches and the skin ripples.
Aristocratic face distorting with rage, Daniel moves to stand beside Lee and Ben. Inch long fangs run out. His power swells in a single overwhelming punch. It sweeps over the field, a commanding shockwave that races down my spine.
The wolves behind me fan out in a defensive line. Their claws scratch up mud through the grass as they lower their bodies in readiness. Muzzles pull back to bare rows of sharp teeth. Barking loudly, their snapping jaws warn the Vampires not to come any closer.
Daniel hisses back, a sound of monster frenzy that sends vibrations through flesh to bone.
‘I’m so hot for you right now,’ I think at Daniel.
I edge my way closer to Vampire territory, merely a running leap from the safety of my mate’s arms.
Sudden movement in the midst of the predators surrounding me is a no, no.
Daniel’s eyelids slide low. The corner of his mouth twitches, and his attention shifts to me. He holds out his hand. ‘Focus, sweetling. I can’t if you think such things.’
I place my hand in his and grin madly.
“Beta!”
Daniel shoves my middle with such force my feet leave the ground. I’m airborne. Flying back into the hunting grounds.
The air is crushed from my lungs on impact, and I roll onto my side.
Landing where I’d stood not a second before, arm finishing a lethal swing in an attempt to claw me, Sy throws his head back and howls. His fingernails elongate to talons that can tear flesh from bone.
Arm slashing with supernatural speed, Sy slices flesh from Daniel’s face and rips into his stomach. Gory tissue splatters the grass. Blood erupts from the deep lacerations in a fountain of liquid turned black by the moonless night.
Lee’s shriek ends as a deranged screech of fury. She lunges for the Lycan, but Ben is faster. He wraps his arm around her middle to haul her back. Her nails graze the Beta’s face leaving thin red scratches.
The coppery tang of my mate’s blood fills the air.
It clogs my nostrils.
Chokes me.
A scream builds in the pit of my stomach and explodes from my mouth. My bellow of anguish is raw and primal.
Energy surges through my limbs.
My mate.
Rolling onto my feet, I sprint, summoning my beast. Heat shoots down my spine and blooms across my nose and forehead. Bloodlust. The thirst for blood is so intense I falter, tripping over my own feet.
Aaron grabs my hair as I speed past and yanks.
The energy from the earth – the catalyst in all shifter transformations – stalls. The currents of old magic gone, my lengthening face regresses to Human proportions, and my paws elongate to clawless fingers. Twisting, I lash out. My fist lands square on Aaron’s jaw. He avoids another blow by snatching my wrist. I swing with the other arm. He catches my balled up fist in the dead centre of his palm.
Flinging my hand away he grips my shoulders and shakes me. “There’s nothing we can do. He’s dead, Harmony.”
I’m spun in his grasp. My bucking body held prisoner in the cage of his arms.
Lee struggles with Ben to get free, and from the agonized look on his face, she’s trying to use her power to order him to let her go.
Tears pool in my eyes at the enormity of what’s happening. I can’t understand why he’s standing there doing nothing.
Daniel smiles, a frightening curve of the lips. He wraps his fingers around the wrist of the hand digging into his stomach and pulls it out. The talons clawing his flesh slip free with a sickening squelch.
They drip blood.
Sy swipes at his neck, but his hand is caught mid-swing in my mate’s steel-like grip.
The wrist is twisted backward.
Snap.
The Beta howls and jerks wildly. Straining to angle away from the advancing predator, his eyes swivel in panic.
Daniel wrenches Sy’s head to the side. His brow undulates, slants, and becomes sleekly feline. His eyes glow, and his fangs drip with venom and saliva. Strike deadly, he bites the Lycan’s throat. Blood spurts, gushes, and Daniel makes grizzly sucking noises. Ghostly wisps of soul seep from Sy’s body and are absorbed into my mate. Each tendril that sinks into his skin revitalizes him.
Sy’s good hand pushes Daniel clumsily. He manages nothing but an ineffectual shoving.
His eyes lock on mine. He reaches for me, the muscles in his arms shaking from the effort. His lips move silently, begging for help.
“Daniel.” Tears stream down my cheeks. “Stop–”
“Quiet.” Aaron hugs me to him. “I told you he was dead. This kill is your mate’s right and we will not retaliate. He left the safety of Pack territory.”
The brutal feeding continues, and in the end, Aaron looks away.
Lee and Ben are ferocious in their study of the carnage. They sidle closer, attracted by the metallic tang of blood. Nostrils flaring, their fangs lengthen to deadlier spikes in preparation of food.
Daniel drops his enemy and straightens. Saturated in blood his chest heaves as he calmly pulls the monster back. His bony crown smoothes and he rakes his fingers through his hair to drag back the blonde locks falling into his eyes.
I force my gaze to pass over the contorted body crumpled at my lover’s feet.
Sy is alive.
Barely.
Shouldn’t I feel something – something other than a sense of relief and righteousness? I’ve never questioned my nature, but I feel the need to now. I’ve been questioning a lot of things sings Daniel crept into my life and heart. His presence is like aerial roots punching through my very soul, living threads connecting me to the tree of his Vampire family.
Daniel bows.
Accepting his offering, Lee and Ben descended upon Sy’s twitching body. Lee straddles his lap and sinks her teeth into the unbroken side of his throat. Ben latches onto the dying Beta’s wrist.
The gashes on Daniel’s face knit together leaving alabaster skin. Crimson blood dribbles down his chin. His tongue seeks these streams of red only to catch a drop at the outmost corner of his mouth. He grimaces when he smacks his lips together.
“Is there anyone–” The barely repressed violence in his breathy drawl is disturbing. Chuckling as he clears his throat, he begins again. “Does anyone dispute my right to that female?” He stabs a finger at me.
I swallow thickly.
Had I not seen Daniel suck blood I’d swear he was a Lycan Alpha for how he’s acting.
I’m not the only one to notice the similarity in behaviour. The Enforcers lower their heads in submission.
Aaron keeps his chin up, but it’s not without difficulty.
Daniel has taken down the second strongest werewolf in the South Western Pack without so much as throwing a punch.
His elegant hands smooth down his front. He snorts when he assesses the damage to his attire. His shirt is torn to ribbons where Sy impaled him. The skin on his stomach has healed beneath the dark fabric.
Lycans know Vampires are stronger. Our power comes from our numbers, and the ability to attack as a team. Pack. It was more than a word. It’s the only way we stand a chance against one from the Great Bloodline.
Witnessing the strength the Vampires command yet rarely use is intimidating.
I’ve always wondered if they’re as powerful as the stories say. Why would they avoid war as much as they do if they were so powerful? After spending time with Lee and Ben I now understand. They want to be left alone to love each other. Not spend their lives fighting and killing creatures they could as easily live alongside.
I’ll never question their power again.
Lee breaks away from Sy, gasping, purring low in her throat. Eyes glazed, she drops his bloodless body.
Chest heaving, Ben follows her.
Aaron takes a deep breath and steps forward. By doing so he jumps into his new role as Beta. He stops at the boundary line and jerks his chin at Sy’s body. “We’ll need that to burn.”
Daniel draws back his foot.
Flinching, I stop him with a hand on his chest. “We respect the dead.”
“He would have done worse to me.”
I remain firm. “We’re better than that.” I frown. “I’d known him all my life. Please? For me?”
Jaw clenched, Daniel crouches. I’m not sure if he’s annoyed because he has to touch the dead Lycan, or because he submitted to my wish.
He grabs a leg and tosses the corpse at the stunned Enforcers. They catch it awkwardly, and hold it gingerly between them.
Not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s better than a kick in the head.
Satisfied, I meet Aaron’s curious gaze. He helped in his way. He told Sy to let me go, knowing his Alpha expected me to return home. When it came down to it, he’d stood by me because he knew it was the right thing to do.
I would forever be grateful. “If you ever need anything….”
“You’re my friend.” He wrinkles his nose. “Who you love doesn’t change that.” Though his solemn expression doesn’t shift, he winks.
There’s nothing more than that to say. The Vampires and I turn away.
“Harmony,” Aaron says softly to my back. “You are banished. There’s nothing I can do to change that. By not returning you’re disobeying the Alpha and breaking Pack law.”
It hurts to walk away from the place of my birth, knowing I can never return. I don’t look back. My sights are fixed on my future.
Change is healthy.
Aaron hears me when I say, “Bye then.”
His amused chortle is the last sound he makes. My nose twitches, the musky scent of my old Pack fading.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Spiky grass prickles my knees and lower thighs. We crush small flowers underfoot, and they release sweet fragrance into the air. I peer into the star speckled sky seeking mother moon, but she hides behind soot-coloured clouds.
Bite My Love Dark Creature Page 14