Mated & Blooded, A Blood Ties Novel, Book 1
Page 3
“No Kalli, that’s not what I am saying. I meant. Oh well I’m sorry. I should have known better.”
The top slid closed making a clicking sound alerting Lucas that it was sealed. It looked like he wanted to reach out to me but instead signed and started the car. I sank back in the seat and took a deep breath. He started driving and we both remained silent. I guess he was thinking about what a freak I am.
Maybe the whole sunlight thing started to make him understand. He probably is trying to figure out what to do about me. It seemed like we were in the car for a long time, but honestly I’m not real sure. I didn’t mind the silence. I was used to it. In fact I was more uncomfortable with talking. Aside from my mom I rarely ever spoke to anyone.
He pulled into what looked like a deserted house. The grass looked like it hadn’t been cut all summer and many of the windows were missing glass and instead had wood nailed over them. He put the car in park and turned to look at me.
“Kalli, I need you to understand something before we go inside. This is an old house that is still in my family. It’s safe here no one will come bothering us. No one but me has been out here for years.” He paused looking around
“I wanted to go someone private just you and me so we could talk without being disturbed. We are more than two hours away from pack territory.” He paused again and reached out to take my hands into his. I involuntarily tried to pull them back. He sighed, let go of my hands and started to speak again.
“Kalli, give me a chance will you? Every time I open my mouth I feel like I say the wrong thing and you try to push me away.”
He opened the door and came around to my side. He pulled my door open and held out his hand. I wanted so badly to reach out and take it but I just couldn’t bring myself to grab it. I knew once he understood more about me and the pack got to him, he would regret every time he had ever touched me. I wanted to minimize his future pain. Plus, every time he touched me, it just made me want to touch him more. I pushed myself out of the car without grabbing hold of his hand. He looked down and shoved his hands into his pockets. He started walking towards the front door.
“Come on Kalli, it’s not as bad on the inside. I’ve been here a lot recently doing some work in there. I actually thought someday my mate and I might even stay here when pack business was slow.”
With that he turned and pulled open the front door. I started looking around. He was right, the inside was in better shape than outside. It looked like all new hardwood floors had recently been installed and all of the walls were freshly painted.
He put his hand in the small of my back and started to guide me over to the only piece of furniture I could see. It was an old brown leather sofa. It looked worn but very comfortable. It was strategically placed in front of what appeared to be a recently restored fireplace.
We sat down facing each other; Lucas reached out and tugged a piece of my unruly hair out of my face. It felt so strange but at the same time perfectly normal. Part of me wanted to stay right here next to him just like this forever. Another part of me wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Nothing good could come from spending time with Lucas. He would reject me. It was impossible for us to make a life together. Eventually the pack or lack of pack would get to him and he would need to reject me.
Suddenly I felt my cell phone start vibrating in my pocket. I went to grab it out of my pocket knowing the only person who could possibly be calling me would be my mom. I pulled out my phone and flipped it open noticing that it was well after four in the evening.
Mom and I talked for a few minutes. I had to calm her down since I was never late getting home from school. I started to try to explain to her where I was when Lucas pulled the phone out of my hand. He placed his other hand on my shoulder and leaned in very close to my face.
“Stay here. I am going outside to have a private conversation with your mom. I will be right back. Don’t move okay?”
I wanted to disagree but for some reason my wolf felt like she couldn’t so I just nodded my head. Before I knew what he was doing his lips lightly brushed against mine. The he swiftly turned and started walking out the front door.
My wolf started to howl with pleasure. Our mate’s lips were so soft and they felt so warm against our lips. I had never felt something so wonderful in my life. I would never be the same after feeling how wonderful that was. I couldn’t think of anything but how good it felt and how long it would be before I experience that again.
I felt my cheeks start to warm up. My wolf and I were excited and pleased that our mate had kissed us. I turned dreamily towards the window that wasn’t covered with wood so I could see my mate. He was standing just past the mustang talking into my cell phone. That’s when my brain started working again. Somehow the kiss had stopped my brain cold.
Oh my god he is talking to my mother on my cell phone. What could he be telling her? She is probably so excited that I found a mate. It is going to break her heart just like mine when he rejects us. She is probably already dreaming of a family. She misses the contact of the rest of the pack so much. She thinks I don’t hear her crying at night. I also see the way she always manages to bump into almost everyone when we are in public places. Her wolf needs contact and it gets it even if others don’t want to have contact with her.
I tried to stand up and go outside but found my body would not obey me. My wolf whimpered and said she was sorry but that we had to stay right where we are. I tried to negotiate with her but she would have none of it. I just couldn’t get my body to move. I screeched in frustration. It must have been louder than I thought it was because Lucas came barreling through the front door looking around for something to be wrong.
Chapter 6
(Lucas POV)
I knew the second my mate’s phone started to vibrate in her pocket that I was going to have speak with her mother. Everyone seemed to think I didn’t know exactly who and what Kalli is but I did. She was the outcast. The pack member that wasn’t really pack. The forbidden and undeserving. She was worse than the Omega, but none of that mattered to me. Kalli was my mate and that meant she was no longer any of those things. I am the future Alpha that pack will accept Kalli as Luna.
I watched my mates face as she tried to calm her mother down and decided it was best that I explain to her where she was and what she was doing. I could tell that her mother was confused and that the conversation was upsetting Kalli. I didn’t like that my mate was getting upset. I was my duty to protect her and keep her happy, so I reached out and grabbed the phone from her hand.
“Stay here. I am going outside to have a private conversation with your mom. I will be right back. Don’t move okay?”
I didn’t want Kalli to disagree, so I pushed a little of my alpha into my voice. Her eyes clouded for a second like she was going to try and disagree then she just nodded her head. She looked so damn cute and vulnerable and I found myself wanting so badly to comfort her. Before I could stop myself I leaned into her and lightly brushed her lips against mine.
The kiss ignited in my belly like an atomic blast. It wasn’t enough! My wolf and I wanted to devour her lips. I wanted to reach out pull her into me and immediately bond with her. Thank god I heard her mother’s voice yelling into the phone that was still on and in my left hand.
“Hello, can you hear me? Kalli? ”
Hearing her voice was enough to snap me out of my desire induced haze. Now is not the time to throw my mate down and ravish her. My wolf couldn’t disagree with me more. He would have been very happy if we shoved Kalli onto the coach and marked her as ours. My human side knew better. Given her background and what she’s been through in her lifetime I will need to take things slowly. My mate had been treated badly by the pack most of her life.
When she realizes that I am the future alpha she will want to run. I can’t have that. I need time to show Kalli that I will always be her mate. I will never reject her and that I have no life without her. So, before my wolf took over and ravished our mate, I
turned away from her and swiftly walked out of the front door.
My conversation with Kalli’s mom had been hard. She went back and forth with her emotions. She didn’t seem to be satisfied with any answer I gave her. First she was happy that Kalli had found her mate. Then she was upset that she knew I was the future alpha. Then she got even more upset that I had taken her so far off of pack territory. She thought I took Kalli out her to get rid of her so that I couldn’t be disgraced by the pack for having a freak as a mate.
I got angry with Kalli’s mom for thinking like that. I explained to her that it was my intention of accepting and bonding with Kalli. She got happy again, then started to cry that I would lose my pack and come to hate Kalli for it. Lord the woman was all over the place. I could barely keep up with where her mind and emotions went.
We talked for more than fifteen minutes. I think by the end of the call she started to have faith that I would be a good mate for Kalli and that things would work out for us. I let her know that Kalli and I would not be returning to pack territory until we were bonded. She cried again, and then started to panic about how Kalli would feed. I let her know that from now on I would take care of all of Kalli’s need. She finally said she understood and that she would wait for us and begged me to have Kalli call her at least once a day so that she knew Kalli was okay.
I hung up the phone and combed my fingers through my hair. Kalli’s mom was right. I hadn’t thought everything through. It was going to be a challenge. My father would never accept Kalli. He was the reason she was treated the way she was. She frightens him and he didn’t get frightened easily. He also never wanted his pack to know that anything scared him.
He is the reason the pack treats her so bad. He let them know that he saw her as less than pack and that any member treating her like pack would be thrown out. She was an abomination, a burden that our pack had to endure since it was our doctor that created her. She was an embarrassment and made our pack weak. We would be better if she chose to leave and or ended up with an early death.
The pack understood and has always done their best to make sure Kalli knew she was unwanted and undeserving of our kindness. In fact, my whole reason for attending public school this year had been to get rid of Kalli. My father had decided that she had stayed in our territory long enough. It was time for Kalli to leave or die. I found myself thinking back to the conversation I had with my father just this morning.
“Lucas, that freak has got to go. She needs to leave or be dead before you take over as Alpha. I won't burden you with her life as I have been burdened. “ He paused and shook his hand in the air for emphasis
“I could have been on the council if not for that freak living in our territory. We are the largest pack in North America and we are the laughing stock of all packs.” His hand smashed down onto the desk top.
“Our males are unmated since no other pack will allow their females to visit our territory. They are desperate to find their mates. Just this past week fifteen of our best wolves have left the pack in search of their females; I just know they aren’t going to return if she is still here. Lucas, you need to get rid of her. Its time”
I’m not sure how long I had been standing there thinking about my dad when I heard a loud cry come from Kalli. I burst into the house to find out what was wrong. I felt my shackles rise, my wolf was on alert. I looked left and right and didn’t notice anything out of place. Kalli was still sitting on the couch right where I’d left her.
“Kalli are you alright? I heard you scream. What’s wrong?” I asked in a rush.
She looked up at me with tears clearly visible in her eyes. I rushed to her side and wiped them from her cheeks. She looked up at me with her lips trembling.
“I can’t move. I don’t know why but I can’t move at all and it has been hours since you went outside to talk to my mom.”
She was right. How did I miss it? The sun was already beginning to set. My god I left my mate trapped on the couch with an alpha command not to move. I was turning out to be a bad mate. I should never have used my alpha to force Kalli to stay there. What if I had gotten hurt? She would have been trapped on that couch indefinitely.
“I am so sorry Kalli. That was my fault. You are free to move about the house and do whatever you would like. How about you and I go into the kitchen and make ourselves something to eat?” Kalli looked up at me with a look of understanding.
“You have alpha blood?” Then her eyes got wider and her face changed to terror.
“You are Lucas Madison. The next alpha of our pack!”
Kalli stood and before I could even grab her she ran like the devil himself was chasing after her out of the front door. I chased after her and realized that she is fast. Faster than I am in my human form. I am going to need to shift into my wolf if I am going to catch her. I felt my clothes ripping as I leaped forward and shifted in mid air.
Chapter 7
(Lucas’s POV)
It had been hard to catch Kalli even for my wolf. She was fast. Vampire fast! She struggled when I first reached her and she really didn’t want to come back with me but I eventually convinced her. We’d spent the next couple hours in silence going through the movements of making and eating something. I was really glad that I had stocked the fridge just the day before. It had been my intention on spending the weekend at the house working on the second floor. So far, the only room upstairs that was semi-finished was the master bedroom since I had to have somewhere to sleep when I stayed here.
Thinking about the master bedroom made my cheeks heat and I found myself looking over at Kalli who was drying the last of our dinner plates. She was so damn beautiful. Everything about her was sexy as hell even those pointy little vampire ears she had. Our sleeping arrangements were sure to cause her to have another fit.
Kalli just couldn’t seem to wrap herself around the fact that nothing and no one could make me not want her. She was convinced that I was going to reject her. She couldn’t be more wrong. She was my other half. Without her in my life I am and would be nothing. Life would not be worth living without my mate.
Even as a young pup, I dreamed of my mate. I knew she would be special and different than other shewolves. I knew she would be made just for me. My life was going to be defined not by how strong of an alpha I was, but by how great I was as a mate and father. I wanted nothing more than to spend my days and nights with my mate and pups.
That was something my father and I could never agree on. My father had never found his true mate. At thirty, he feared he would never find his true mate and started to bed all the unmated shewolves in our pack and the surrounding packs. He’d managed to get several of them with pups. I was the first male born, so he wed my mother and laid claim to me as his heir. My mother was much younger than him, and when her true mate found her, my father had him killed to prevent her from running away with him. My mother hasn’t spoken to my father since. My childhood was full of hatred and anger.
I would not have that for my pups. My mom would lie in bed with me when I was small and tell me stories of how a mated pair was meant to be. How, I would know and feel about my mate. Most importantly she told me of the pain I would live with, day and night for the rest of my life, if I didn’t have my mate. I didn’t want to live like that. I wanted the peace and serenity my mother promised my mate would bring me.
Kalli, brushed into me as she was putting the last plate away in the cabinet. It looked like she wanted to move away from me, so I reached out and grabbed her hand. She paused for a half second then relaxed and gripped my hand back. Progress I thought. She was at least accepting my touch. Now, to get her beyond that and accepting me. I cleared my throat and spoke as I led her back into the living room.
“Relax Kalli, let’s go sit in the living room and just get to know each other a little better. No pressure Kalli, just you, me and a little normal conversation. What do you say?”
She nodded at me, and sat on the couch. I saw her shiver and realized it was a little chilly.
I looked around and saw fresh wood still in the corner, so I decided I would start a fire in the fireplace. That would keep my mate warm, and besides I heard women think that fires can be romantic.
I knelt down in front of the fire place and started putting some kindle in the bottom. I could feel Kalli watching me from behind as I stacked wood in the fireplace. Her eyes seemed to be raking over my entire body. I heard her breath hitch and I smelled her sudden desire. My wolf and my body reacted immediately. I liked that my mate found me attractive. My wolf loved it. I knew now however wasn’t the time to take advantage of my mate’s attraction to us so I continued to build the fire and ignore the smell of her desire.
I got the fire started and put a larger log on top of the now burning kindle before standing up. I adjusted myself in my pants while my back was still turned to her and gave myself a pep talk on taking it slow. I stood there with my back to her for a good two to three minutes. When I finally turned, my mate was staring at me like she wanted to eat me alive. Her erotic scent of her desire slammed into me and it pushed me beyond caring about taking it slow. I was instantly at her side, my lips seeking hers.
She felt so damn good in my arms. I pulled her as close as humanly possible to me. Our bodies were touching from top to toe. My lips were devouring hers. I could feel her body heating with each stroke of my tongue against her lips. I increased the pressure of my tongue and forced her to open her mouth against mine. Once I gained access to her mouth, our tongues started a slow dance around each other.