by Sam Crescent
The Cure
Sam Crescent
What will they decide when the two choices are the coward’s way out or certain death?
When Sandra looks into the eyes of a killer, she believes her life is over. The Cure is chasing down wolves, witches, warlocks, and anyone who threatens their control of the world.
Lucas has been watching Sandra for a year. She’s his mate, even though he’s a vampire and she is a wolf. He will do whatever it takes to protect her.
With no choice but to accept Lucas as her mate, Sandra will do everything to fight The Cure that is destroying them. Can a mated vampire and wolf save the day? Or are their days of being mated numbered?
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement of the copyright of this work.
THE CURE
Wicked Series
Copyright © 2015 SAM CRESCENT
ISBN: 978-1-943576-28-9
All Romance eBooks, LLC Palm Harbor, Florida 34684 www.allromanceebooks.com
This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever with out written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First All Romance eBooks publication: October 2015
Chapter One
Sandra King ran through the forest terrified for her life. Her pack had just been ransacked by a scourge of vampires. She’d witnessed the murder of so many, along with several of her family.
I shouldn’t be alive.
She had run while listening to most of her pack being destroyed. They had been killed, but who had been responsible for giving away their location? For as long as she could remember, and even according to all the history books, wolves and vampires had been at war with each other. She didn’t even know why, only that she had to hate them. During her twenty-five years she’d never once met a vampire, or even touched one.
Tonight, that was all about to change. She kept on running, and when her lungs were about to burst, she had no choice but to lean against the nearest tree trunk trying to gather her senses.
Her heart was pounding, and she couldn’t hear anything other than the howling of the wind. This is what made vampires so deadly. They didn’t have a heartbeat, or a scent to them, and this made them impossible to track.
Some romance fiction talks of vampires and wolves having repulsive smells; it was a complete lie. Vampires didn’t have anything. They were evil to the core, disgusting in every single way. She’d just witnessed so many of them taking out her pack.
A twig snapped in the distance, and Sandra turned toward the sound. Out of her whole pack she’d always been the slowest. Where a lot of wolves had naturally slender bodies, she didn’t. She’d always been plagued to be bigger than most of her pack. Her own mother had put her on a diet to try and get her to slim down so she could attract the right kind of man.
There was no man for her, though. All of the guys had placed her in the friend column, or they had not cared for her. One day she hoped to find a man who would love her for her, and to start a family with him. She loved kids, and one day she would love to have many children call her mother, and love them.
Staring up at the sky, Sandra closed her eyes in the hope that whoever was out there didn’t find her.
When she opened her eyes again, she knew it was the biggest mistake she’d ever make. She’d let her guard down, and now she was staring into the scariest eyes she’d ever seen. His eyes were black, and reminded her a little of a shark just before it struck its prey. Her heart pounded and for several seconds neither of them did anything.
Suddenly, he closed his eyes, and when she looked at him again his black eyes had changed to brown, and he looked almost human. She opened her mouth about to scream, and he sprung into action. He pressed his hand against her mouth, wrapping an arm around her waist, and tugged her close so that her back was to him. At first, she tried to fight but he was just too strong, keeping her locked into place.
“Don’t scream, baby. You scream, they all come running, and I won’t be able to protect you.”
She was confused. He was the one who was trying to kill her.
The man, whoever he was, wrapped his entire body around her, placing his hand over her heart. What the fuck was he doing?
“Be still, be quiet, don’t make a sound,” he said, whispering the words against her ear.
Sandra couldn’t believe the response he gained from her body. Heat spilled between her thighs, and she had to fight her own need to reach out and touch him.
The vampire behind her didn’t say anything. He didn’t respond even though he must have scented her arousal to their closeness.
Couldn’t the ground just open up and swallow her?
She’d never had this reaction to any man, not even any of her fellow pack mates.
He stepped away from the tree, holding her tight against him. The scenery before her changed, and within a blink of an eye they were standing in a bedroom.
“You’re safe. I’m going to let you go, and I need to know that you’re going to be okay.”
“I’m not safe.”
The man behind her let her go. Lurching forward, she turned around to look at the man who’d taken her from the forest and, within a blink of an eye, transported her to some kind of bedroom.
“You can teleport?” She’d heard the rumors but didn’t actually believe it was true.
“Yes, and I would be careful if I was you. I’m used to teleporting. To newbies like yourself, it takes some getting used to.”
Pressing a hand to her face, a wave of sickness washed over her.
“What’s going on? What do you want with me?”
“I was trying to protect you. You were alone, and the men in your pack were too weak to protect you.”
He was insulting her pack.
“You’re the one responsible for killing my pack.”
“You need to sit down before you fall down.” He made to touch her, and she pulled away from him.
“Don’t touch me.”
He tensed. His hands fisted by his sides. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Who are you?”
“The name is Lucas Snow.”
“You’re a vampire.”
“And you’re a wolf.”
“You kill my kind.”
“I do not.”
“You’re a vampire,” she said again.
“Yes but it doesn’t mean that I want to kill you. Not all vampires are after wolves. I happen to like wolves.”
She shook her head. It was too much, and the wave of dizziness was getting to be too much. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she tried her hardest to settle the nausea.
“You’re starting to sweat, and you’re going to pass out very soon.”
Sandra stared at the man before her. She needed to get away, but there was nowhere for her to go. It was too much. After the attack, it hurt too much, and then everything started to go dark.
“Shit, you’re going out.”
Sandra had the sense that she was being held, and her wolf was trying to fight, then everything finally went black.
****
Lucas caught the little wolf in his arms, and he couldn’t do anything else other than look at her. She was so beautiful, and captivating. He’d been watching her for over a year as her pack overlooked her. From the moment he first saw her, he’d wanted to protect her, but he couldn’t. No, their kinds were not allowed to be friends with each other.
Pushing her blonde hair off her face, he wished her eyes were open so that he could look at her beautiful blue eyes
. They reminded him of the ocean, sparkling and blue. It had been too long since he’d seen the ocean in the sunlight. He’d been alive for over six hundred years, and for the last five hundred he’d been at war with the wolves. It hadn’t always been like this.
There was a time when vampires and wolves were at peace, and even mated with one another. It was through that mating bond of sharing blood with the wolves that allowed vampires to walk around in daylight. The connection to their mates kept them safe from the rays of the sun.
Picking Sandra up in his arms, he carried her to his bed and placed her down in the center. He’d first witnessed her coming out of the lake near where her pack ran. Perched on a tree, she’d not even sensed him, but it was what made vampires the stronger of the predators against the wolves. She’d been naked, alone, and he’d stayed in his spot, watching as she lay on the bank of the lake, staring up at the full moon.
Lucas couldn’t have walked away even if he had wanted to. She’d captivated him in the strangest of ways. He’d heard many years before of vampires feeling the mating urge but had yet to ever experience it. When it came to Sandra, he’d not only experienced it, the need had taken hold of him, and it had been near impossible not to take her there and then. Instead, he’d bided his time, watching from afar, and never getting too close. When he’d heard that the local vamps were going to attack her pack, he’d tried to get there early, but he’d been too late. What Sandra and a lot of other beings didn’t know was that the vampires who were attacking wolves were not killing them.
They were keeping them prisoner, trapping them in cages, and then feeding off their blood so that they could walk out in the sunlight. Lucas had been tracking them for some time; they called themselves The Cure. They were a group of vampires intent on bringing the world to heel. This wasn’t just a war against vampires and wolves; this was a war against humans as well.
Touching her head, he made sure she was okay, and not too hot. He was naturally cold, but wolves always ran hot.
Sitting beside her on the bed, he tilted his head to the side. He’d wanted this for so long, much longer than he’d even realized. Six hundred years ago when he’d seen mates between a vampire and a wolf, he’d wanted it. After the war that was declared between the two species, there had been no hope of ever finding a mate.
Inhaling her delicious scent, Lucas was overcome with the need to bite her, not to feed, just to mark her flesh with his teeth. This was about more than simply marking her, though, this was about possessing her.
“I need you,” he said, stroking her cheek, just to remind himself that she was in fact real.
Sandra didn’t respond.
He didn’t expect her to. There was no chance of her coming out of her dream world tonight. Teleporting wasn’t for the faint of heart, and it took years of experience to be able to handle it.
“I would never let them hurt you.”
Lucas hated the fact that he’d been late. The Cure had been there before he could, and he’d almost lost her. Before they came out, they must have fed on the wolves they’d kept prisoner.
He couldn’t go out in the sun, but the moment it had gotten dark enough, he’d ventured out to go and find her. Lucas had stumbled upon the carnage, and he’d done everything he could to find her.
When he’d seen her leaning against the tree trunk with her eyes closed, it had taken every single ounce of strength not to embrace her.
“I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to let you go.” He would fight to his last moment to protect her.
Leaving the bedroom, he made sure the window was secure and the curtains closed before making his way down to his kitchen. All of the windows were enforced so that the sun didn’t harm him, and he was free to walk around his home.
“How is she?” Patricia asked when he got to the kitchen. She was a witch, and his home had become a safe haven against the vampires of The Cure. He held other vampires, wolves, witches, warlocks, and even a couple of humans that had been touched by the disaster.
“She’s passed out.” He moved to the fridge, taking out a blood bag that had been given to him at the local hospital. Lucas didn’t feed from a source, as he’d made himself a promise when the war began never to take what wasn’t freely given. If he’d come across a human who wanted him, he’d take the blood in a glass.
Lucas poured the blood into a mug and placed it in the microwave. “It was a close call tonight,” he said, “there had to be over thirty vampires attacking tonight.”
“They’re growing,” Patricia said.
“They’re growing, expanding, and they’re stronger.” He grabbed his cup and took a drink, making sure no blood remained. “I had to teleport her out of there. Most of the pack was taken and killed instantly.” He’d not seen any of the pack leaving alive.
“It’s getting worse,” Sean, a warlock, said.
“It is.” Lucas took his cup, and made his way out of the kitchen. There was no point in him being there and scaring the rest of the group.
Entering the bedroom, he smelled her arousal, and when he moved closer to the bed the scent increased.
Only some vampires could invade the mind and find out what a person was thinking. With Sandra being passed out, she was vulnerable. He really shouldn’t invade her mind, and yet, he couldn’t stop himself. He needed to know what was going on in her head.
Chapter Two
Sandra looked around the lake, and a sense of calm settled over her. She’d never felt this way before. Most of the time she was worried about not fitting in or being different from her pack. Unlike a lot of the women, she wasn’t slender, nor was she outgoing. In fact, she wasn’t anything that fellow wolves particularly liked.
“Why did you come here?”
She turned toward his voice. “Lucas?”
There was no fear, and yet she was supposed to fear the man before her.
Not man, vampire.
Yet, she wasn’t afraid. Staring at the large man, she saw him as the moon cascaded enough light over him. He was wearing a plain white shirt that showed off his muscular arms. The shirt went down over his jeans, which she liked. Sandra hated it when a guy actually pushed his shirt into his pants. It didn’t look right to her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
How did she know him?
He’s taken you from the pack.
Images flashed through her mind of her first meeting with Lucas.
“This is your dream.”
“Why am I not afraid of you?”
“I saved you. You know you don’t need to fear me.”
He had saved her. She remembered it now, and he’d not fed on her.
“We teleported, and I’m afraid your body isn’t used to it.”
“I passed out?”
“Yes.”
Sitting back down on the bank, she stared at the water. Lucas appeared at her side, yet she didn’t flinch away from him. He took a seat, and out of the corner of her eye, she watched him flex those muscles.
Stop drooling.
“This is your dream, Sandra. Anything can happen.”
“Anything?”
“Anything you want.”
She tilted her head back to look at the full moon. “Why are you here?”
“I was curious about your dream. You’re aroused for me, baby.”
“Baby?” She glanced over at him unable to deny the fact she was aroused. They’d known each other minutes, or hours, and she was already turned on by him. What was wrong with her?
“This is your dream.”
“You’re invading it.”
He chuckled. “Then shut me out.”
She didn’t want to.
“And that’s why I’m staying here.”
“You can read minds, too?”
“Only here. You’re more relaxed, and your thoughts are like an open book to me,” he said, reaching over and taking her hand.
Sandra stared down at their hands, and let out a sigh. Why wasn�
��t she pushing him away? The moment he touched her, it felt right. The last thing she wanted to do was pull away.
Staring up at the moon, she shuffled a little closer to him, enjoying his presence.
“So, vampires can read minds?”
“In dreams, yes. Your guard is let down. It’s a lot easier to read human minds all the time. They’re weak all the time. Paranormal beings are a lot stronger, and they can’t be broken so easily.”
“Am I broken?”
“No. You’re passed out through teleporting, and unfortunately it has made you a little weak. Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you.”
“If we were to have sex in this dream, would it be real sex?” she asked, slapping a hand over her mouth, she turned to look at him. “I didn’t—”
“It wouldn’t be real sex. The good thing about being in a dream world, you accept what you want, and you don’t hold back. You want me, Sandra.”
Letting out another sigh, she turned back to look at the moon again. “I shouldn’t want you. I don’t even know you.”
“It doesn’t matter what you know or not. This is what you want.”
“There’s a war going on, isn’t there?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re my enemy.”
“No. I’m not your enemy. There’s a pack of vampires known as The Cure. They’re causing problems for everyone, and it’s up to us to stop them.”
Sandra nodded. “Not right now?”
“No, not now.”
Turning toward him, she reached out and traced a finger over his lips.
“Why did you save me?”
“I’ve been looking over you for a long time.”
“You have?”
“Yes, and I couldn’t let anything happen to you. I was a little late because I don’t have the power that The Cure have.”
“The power?”
“They’re capturing wolves, and using their blood allows them to walk out in the sunlight.”
Sandra gasped. “That’s not possible. That’s an urban legend to our kind.”
“Believe it or not, the truth is our kinds have mated before. We have mated successfully, and we were not always at war.”