by Franca Storm
She snarled and ran at him, driving his back into the wall. Her claws ripped through his leather jacket and dug painfully into his arms. He hissed and the sound just seemed to spur her on. He could feel her fury. But there was no recognition in her eyes. They were black with death.
“Stop, childe!” Luca thundered.
She froze at Luca’s words and turned to him.
“Release him!” he commanded.
Instantly, she did as he asked and stepped away.
“Come. You are hungry,” Luca said, holding his hands out to her.
Ryan watched as she walked to him as though in some sort of trance. He summoned his fangs and ripped through his right wrist and held it out to her. Her fangs were buried there a moment later and little murmurs of pleasure escaped her lips. Luca cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair as he held her steady. Ryan saw the euphoria in his eyes as she drank from him. He was getting off on it, just as she was.
“Stop,” Luca told her.
But she just kept feeding.
Luca pushed gently on her forehead and she pulled away reluctantly, snarling. He glared hard at her and she shrank back and pulled back her fangs. She turned away, ashamed that she had displeased her Sire. “You are still learning,” he said, soothingly, reaching for her. She turned back to him and the demon was gone, buried back beneath the surface. Her deep blue eyes looked upon him. An absent expression played across her face for a while. And then recognition flashed in her eyes. “Luca?” she choked.
He smiled. “Yes, my childe.”
She collapsed against him and started to sob. Luca wrapped his arms around her. He looked up to explain to Ryan that as a new vampire her emotions would be heightened and wild for a few days, but he wasn’t there. Ryan had gone. He sighed and turned his full attention to Cora.
He led them to the bed and perched on the edge, pulling her onto his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry.
After a long while, she stopped and looked up at him. He wiped away his blood in the corner of her mouth. She leaned forward and drew his finger into her mouth, sucking off the blood. She made a satisfied moan that immediately had his cock standing to attention. He pulled his finger away and gathered her in his arms, removing her from his lap before he acted on his desire for her.
He carried her to the ensuite bathroom at the far end of the room, kicked open the door and placed her down gently. He leaned over her and turned on the shower.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, reaching for the hem of her nightgown.
She nodded and smiled sweetly at him, but she didn’t say anything.
He pulled the nightgown over her head. He swallowed hard at the sight of her standing naked before him. His gaze swept over her, taking in every inch of her body and when his eyes returned to hers she was smiling shyly back at him. He could feel her vulnerability, her confusion. He cupped her face in his hands as he read her thoughts. They were as he’d expected them to be—disjointed and erratic. A rush of conflicting emotions rushed through her head, making her numb outwardly.
“Focus on me,” he told her soothingly. “The rest will come naturally.”
“Yes…Master.”
“Don’t call me that!” he snapped.
She shrank back at his harshness and wrapped her arms around herself defensively.
“I’m sorry, princess,” he said, reaching for her. He ran his thumb along her jaw line and she trembled, her eyes heavy with desire. “It’s okay,” he whispered, pulling her to him and wrapping her in a protective embrace. Hearing her call him ‘master’ had ripped right through him. He knew it was natural for her to do so; he was her Sire after all. But he didn’t like it. He didn’t want her beholden to him in that way—only wanting him because of the bond between childe and Sire. He wanted it to be real; he wanted her to feel for him beyond the vampiric bond between them. It had caught him off guard. He regretted snapping at her. He’d seen the shock on her face; her fear that she had displeased him. Right now displeasing him in any way would shake her to her core. A childe’s need to please their Sire was the strongest in the first few days of their rebirth.
He pulled away from her and told her gently, “Step into the shower.”
He pushed the shower curtain aside and she stepped into the tub. She moved under the shower water and her wide-eyes stared at him at a loss. He understood immediately. She needed him to do this. Employing his vampire speed, he ripped off his clothes, aside from his boxers and joined her in the shower. She reached for the waistband of his black boxers and he gently batted her hand away. “No, little one. Now we shower.”
“You don’t…want me?” she said, dejectedly.
Oh, you have no idea. Fucking hell. “Now we shower,” he repeated. “That will please me. Okay?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling widely.
“Good girl,” he said, cupping her left cheek. She turned into his hand and moaned softly. He pulled away quickly and forced himself to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. He pushed down the sexual thoughts running through his head. He wanted her so badly, but he couldn’t take her while she was so vulnerable. Not like this. Not tonight.
He washed her as quickly as possible, averting his eyes from her wet naked body as much as possible. The little murmurs of pleasure that she made as he washed her hair almost pushed him over the edge. His erection was bordering on painful.
Taking her hand, he helped her out of the shower. He snatched a black cotton towel off the back of the door and patted her dry. He wrapped her in the towel and then led her back into her bedroom.
“Sit down,” he told her, pointing to the foot of the bed.
She did as he asked and he crossed to the dresser and picked up a hairbrush. He returned to the bed and knelt behind her.
As he brushed her hair, she murmured, “I don’t remember.”
“You will, little one. Soon. Do not worry about it now. Just relax.”
He finished brushing her hair and walked to her closet. He pulled out a red silk robe. He gasped as he turned around and she was standing at the foot of the bed naked, her eyes hooded with desire and the towel at her feet. He averted his eyes and handed her the robe. She pouted her lips at him and stomped her foot. “I wish to be naked.”
“No,” he told her softly.
“You don’t enjoy my body?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Little one; I enjoy it too much.”
“I don’t understand.”
He slid the robe onto her arms as he explained, “Right now I need to take care of your needs, not my own. Having you naked makes that very difficult. Do you understand?” He tied the belt around her waist and stepped back.
She nodded compliantly.
“Good, you have pleased me.”
She smiled happily.
“Michael!” Luca called out.
In a flash, Michael stood before him. He smiled kindly at Cora. “Princess.” And then he turned to Luca. “I see you’ve managed to calm her. Not bad for someone who has never Sired before.”
“I need you to stay with her for a little while. I need to feed. He gestured to his bloodied wrist that was slowly healing. “She took a lot.”
“I can do that,” Michael said. She did save my life in the White Realm during my battle with Vazra.
“She is highly sexualized right now. It might just be the Sire bond, but I haven’t put it to the test, so make sure you deny her.”
“Of course,” Michael said with a smirk.
“I’m serious,” Luca growled.
Michael held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Believe me, I will deny her. I’d rather avoid the wrath of Nathanial and Ryan if I can help it.”
Satisfied, Luca told Cora gently, “He will stay with you. I won’t be long, little one.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, running to him and throwing her arms around him.
“I need to feed. I will be back before yo
u know it.”
She shook her head against his chest. “No. Don’t go.”
He pushed her back gently, breaking her hold on him. “You will please me by doing as you’re told.”
“I--”
“Sunrise is coming and we will need to sleep. Would you rather I leave you to sleep alone?”
She shook her head vigorously. “No.”
“Then do not challenge me now.”
“Okay,” she squeaked, looking away in shame. “I am sorry.”
“It is okay. You are still learning,” Luca said, stroking her hair gently. He eyed Michael expectantly.
“She will be fine,” Michael confirmed.
Luca nodded and teleported away.
The moment he disappeared, Cora started to sob. Great, Michael thought. Just fucking great.
CHAPTER FIVE
The great white wolf bounded through the forest, howling with fury. He ripped through everything that had the misfortune of being in his path—trees, bushes, fences. It was broad daylight, but he didn’t care. He needed to run. He needed to clear his head.
But he couldn’t. Every thought was of her. Cora. My love, my wife.
He tried to recall the last time he’d held her in his arms; the last time her big blue eyes had looked upon him with the deep love that they’d shared. A love that had once seemed unbreakable. But all he could remember was holding her lifeless body in his hands on that awful day when she’d let the white fire take her. Every night he saw her that way, her empty blue eyes. And every day he felt it—the agonizing pain of their broken bond. It was slowly driving him to insanity. It was broken on her end, because she’d died, but it was still intact on his end. It was a torture unlike any he had ever endured. And with the painful loss of his son as well, it was too much to bear. He prayed for a release, but he didn’t even know what he was praying to.
He’d had everything and he hadn’t even realized it. Instead he’d let himself be pulled towards another—to Jada. He should have fought harder. He should have fought for Cora, for what they’d had. He should never have lost faith the way he had. The burden of his new role as King had clouded his judgment; had driven him away from her.
And now they were both gone—his wife and his son.
It was all his fault. If he hadn’t pushed Cora away, she would never have given herself over to the white fire that day; she would have fought. But he’d ripped away her strength, piece by piece until she’d had nothing left. He’d driven her to her death. If she hadn’t perished their son wouldn’t be lost now in the Home of the Dead. No, she had been so powerful that he just knew that she would have been able to get him back. He wouldn’t be forced into a deal now with that despicable Kristoff in a bid to get Orion back. Ryan wasn’t a fool. He knew the chances of being able to pull Orion back were slim. And Kristoff hadn’t even revealed what would be needed yet. He just hoped it wasn’t something he didn’t have the means to provide. Because he needed his son. The last few weeks apart from him had been agony.
As he leapt over a twenty-foot brick wall that separated the forest from the city, images of tonight flashed in his mind. He howled as they cut him to his core. The monster that had wanted to rip him to shreds. Cora. No, not Cora. The vampire that she had become. There had been no humanity there at all—just demon. He’d felt her fury, her bloodlust. He hadn’t recognized her at all. And then seeing her feeding from Luca? It had been too much. The murmurs of pleasure coming from her. The look of desire in his eyes. He might as well have been fucking her right in front of him. That was how intimate it had been between them. It was that damned Sire bond. It sickened him. He hadn’t been able to bear looking at them together. And so he’d left.
He’d tried so hard to accept that she was dead, to grieve the loss of her as such. But all Luca’s talk earlier of a hope; a hope that she might not be dead, that her white energy still flowed through her; it had coerced him into believing in it too. Believing that there was a chance that he could have Cora back; the Cora that he’d known.
But then he’d seen her as a vampire.
The Cora he’d known wasn’t there.
No, the woman he’d loved was gone. Dead.
***
Josh braced himself as he opened the door to Ryan’s apartment above the bar. As soon as he’d entered the bar downstairs he’d heard his irate roars, the thud of furniture being thrown around.
He walked in and scanned the mess before him. Shit.
Most of the furniture was overturned: the couch, an armchair, both breakfast bar stools. His flat-screen TV was cracked, courtesy of a fist having been smashed right through it. Papers littered the floor—maps, surveillance photos. It was all of Ryan’s research into Orion’s disappearance. For the last few weeks, his apartment had been covered by his research and notes as he’d frantically searched for his son. Now, everything had been ripped from the walls. A couple of holes had been punched into the drywall.
He followed his Alpha’s scent and found him slumped against the wall in the corner, beside the overturned mattress on the floor. A half-empty bottle of scotch was pressed to his lips. His eyes were red from crying and dried tears stained his cheeks. Fuck, he’s a mess.
“Hey,” Josh said gently as he approached him cautiously, mindful of his Alpha’s fierce temper.
Ryan just nodded briefly and then he brought a cigarette to his lips. Josh hadn’t noticed it before. He watched as Ryan dragged hard on it and then flicked the ash onto the carpet, before taking another swig of the scotch bottle clutched tightly in his other hand.
“You smoke now, Ry?”
“It’s not gonna kill me, is it? I’m not human,” he snapped.
Good point. “Shaye’s downstairs.”
Ryan looked up at the sound of her name. Josh knew that Shaye had always been able to comfort him at the worst of times. Josh and Shaye had been fooling around at her place when Josh had gotten a call that had alerted him to the fact that something had happened to Ryan. They’d come as soon as they’d heard. Upon hearing the noise coming from upstairs when they’d walked into the bar, Josh had persuaded Shaye to wait downstairs until he’d checked it out. He didn’t want her anywhere near Ryan if he was out of control and allowing his temper free rein. She was his girlfriend now; he wouldn’t put her in danger. He needed her safe—it was the over-protective wolf instinct in him.
“I don’t want to see her—or you. Go away,” he grumbled.
“I can’t do that, Ry.”
Ryan took another drag of his smoke and eyed him as he said, “I’m fine.”
“Something’s happened. Tell me what it is,” Josh urged.
Ryan laughed, a disturbing, unhinged laugh. “What’s happened, J? My wife is a fucking vampire and my son is lost in the fucking Home of the Dead.”
“You found him? And Cora’s woken up?” Josh pressed.
“Kristoff told me where he is. But just like with every damned thing, there’s a catch. And, yeah, Cora woke up last night.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? You saw her? You finally went to Luca’s place?”
“Yeah, I fucking saw her. I watched her get off while she fed from my damned brother!” he roared, struggling to his feet in his drunken state.
Josh took his words in. Shit, that’s harsh, for him to have witnessed that. “Ry, it’s just the Sire connection. It’s at its strongest for the first few days of a vampire’s life.”
“Life?” Ryan scoffed. “She’s dead, Josh! Dead! She wasn’t in there—just the fucking demon.” He stubbed his cigarette out angrily on the carpet and brought his hand to his face in distress. “I should never have let him turn her. What the fuck did I think was gonna happen? That she’d just wake up and be the woman that she was; the woman that I’d loved? I was a fool! She’s gone!” He met Josh’s gaze, tears in his eyes as he choked out, “My wife is dead.”
“I think you’re wrong about that. You need to give it time. Shaye’s been saying that she can feel Cora’s white energy still. The
other day we went to the White Realm. Marella was there helping that dragon shifter, Asha—they’re temporary rulers of the realm as you know—anyway, Marella said the same thing about Cora. She hadn’t felt anything when she’d initially…died…but now she feels it again.”
“Josh, don’t,” Ryan all but pleaded. “I can’t…hope anymore.”
“I know, Ry. I get it. For now, focus on finding your son. What do we need to do?”
Ryan didn’t respond.
“Ry,” Josh pressed.
Ryan wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand and forced himself to meet Josh’s gaze, “I…I need to talk to Nathanial. I just needed a little time to…you know…pull myself together. I can’t be like this when I enter the Dark Realm. Everyone’s looking to me as King.” He staggered past him to the kitchen and put the scotch bottle down on the counter. He turned to Josh, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Wait. How did you know to come here? You knew something was wrong. How?”
“I was at Shaye’s place when I got several calls reporting a sighting of the white wolf.”
Ryan looked away. “I see.”
“In broad daylight, Ry,” Josh said, shaking his head with disapproval. “That was when I realized that you’d temporarily lost your fucking mind. Shifting in the city? Come on, Ry!”
“I’m sorry,” Ryan murmured.
“What?” Josh asked, taken aback that Ryan was apologizing. First time for everything.
“You heard me.”
“I’d like to hear it again. It’s not often that you apologize,” Josh jested.
Ryan managed a small smile. “Yeah, well. Look, I’ll do damage control.”
“No need. I already took care of it.”
They locked eyes. “You’re the best, you know that?”