Mated & Blooded, A Blood Ties Novel, Book 1

by Kalalea George

  I made my way to the underground cave and burst into the room that Logan was kept in. It was my intention to kill him while he was still strung up in chains on the vampire’s walls. I took in his rancid smell and felt bile slap at the back of my throat. I knew that in moments I would come face to face with him, so I shifted back to my human form.

  He smelled of fear and raw sewage, I involuntarily made a gagging noise. Logan heard the noise and raised his eyes to mine. I watched as his face turned to a look of what I could only call amused pleasure. Then he opened his mouth and croaked out

  “Lidia, my love I am so glad you escaped. Please come over here honey and help me”

  His words were like a slap to my face. How dare he speak to me like he loved me? I had never been anything but a tool in his life. He used me to father a child for him, to give him prestige with my old pack members so that they would accept him as their new alpha. He forced himself on me and used his alpha abilities to keep me under his thumb. He killed my true mate and forced me to live a life without love. He nearly convinced me to kill my own child. I found myself getting angrier and bolder by the second. I looked directly into his eyes and said

  “You are a disgusting being, you repulse me. Don’t you dare ever call me honey. I am nothing to you and you are nothing to me. I know the truth and you can no longer compel me to do anything"

  Then I moved forward and slapped him as hard as I could in his face. I watched his face change from a look of amusement to pure hatred and anger. Then before I could even think to move away from him, he snatched my arm out of the air and broke it at the elbow like it was a twig. I tried to struggle against him and free my arm, but he managed to pull me closer to him. Once I was close enough he pressed his right hand into my throat momentarily closing my airways. I started to see stars in front of my eyes as I prepared to pass out.

  Then, just before I was left unconscious he slammed my now brutally broken arm into my own face causing me to become more alert again. I could no nothing more to protect myself. My body was shutting itself down to protect itself from the real and imagined pain. I knew that I was going to become just more collateral damage. He would tear my body limb from limb if it would help him escape.

  Once he had me where he wanted me, Logan began to forcibly drive my hand and wrist between his and the shackles that were keeping him a prisoner to the wall. I felt flesh ripping from my hand as he continued to assert pressure on my hand and the steel. Once he managed to force my hand and wrist in enough, he used my arm like a crow bar to break the latch and open the shackles.

  I screamed over and over again in pain. I sobbed, begged and pleaded for him to stop. He continued to use my flesh and bones like they were inanimate tools. The pain was unbearable it was worse than anything I’d ever felt before. Finally I felt the steel claps that had been holding him to the wall crack and release his left wrist. I was so relieved. In a moment of stupidity I actually believed that now that he was free, he would either release or kill me. But this was Logan, and I wasn’t getting off that easily. Instead of releasing or killing me he grabbed my other arm and snapped my forearm in half.

  Then he started the process started over again. I felt him begin to shove my hand and wrist between his right wrist and the shackles. I knew what to expect and started to scream with every fiber of my being. I knew that no amount of pleading, begging or screaming was going to make him stop, but it was my only release for the pain. I felt my bones begin to shatter and thank god my world turned black.

  (Lucas’s POV)

  I was still having a hard time getting myself and my wolf under control. Kalli had been so forward in her sexual attention to me earlier this evening that both my wolf and I wanted to run upstairs and finalize mating and bonding with her. Even now, her scent of arousal floated down the stairs taunting me. I wanted her so badly, but I promised to wait for her to accept me. I grunted in frustration and started to manhandle the pillows on the couch.

  I knew I would be spending the majority of the night awake. I heard her tell her mother that she was fine sleeping without me, but I was having one hell of a time sleeping without her. At least I knew she was safe and nearby. I heard her moan in what I think was sexual frustration and had to smile to myself. I was pleased that my little shewolf was struggling as much as I was. I decided that trying to force myself to sleep was a waste of time, so I got up and headed into the kitchen with the intention of having a warm cup of milk.

  Just as I passed the front window that is still semi boarded up, I watched a blur pass by. I breathed in deeply and immediately identified the scent of my father. I don’t know how he managed to escape from the cave under Lucas’s mansion but he did. I burst through the window and immediately charged after him. My father was a strong wolf and still very powerful and fast. He was moving like lighting in his wolf form. I knew I needed to shift if I had any chance of catching up to him. I allowed my wolf to burst out of me and take control.

  I was doing my best to stay on my father’s trail. I knew I was close, but I wasn’t getting any closer. It seemed the harder I ran, the harder he ran. We were obviously equally matched in speed. I still knew I had the advantage though since I would have the stamina that came with youth. My father would tire sooner than I did and I would be ready to take advantage of that.

  We ran for hours. It suddenly occurred to me that we were approaching the Northern Star pack border. It was then that I realized my father was trying to take advantage of my new BlueRidge alpha status. I cursed myself for telling him earlier this evening. My father wanted to reach Northern Star territory so that I would be honor bound to stop chasing him. The thought of him getting away enraged me and my wolf. We found strength deep within us that we hadn’t previously known existed.

  I was closing in on him now. He was less than five hundred feet in front of me when I watched his wolf stumble over a downed tree. It was the opportunity I needed and without hesitation I pounced on him. He bucked me off and I slammed into the ground and had the wind momentarily knocked out of me. My father of course used the time to his advantage and had now taken steps relocate to higher ground. He now had a tactical advantage since he was surrounded on three sides with tall rock formations. I would have to attack him straight on an expose myself in the process. This was going to get really bloody, really fast.

  Chapter 29

  (Nikoli’s POV)

  I finished cleaning up the bedroom and decided I’d better go check on Lidia before she gets herself into trouble. It had been over an hour since I heard her clumsily try to leave the house. Chances are in her weakened condition she hadn’t made it very far. I was in a bad mood, and I really wasn’t in any rush to find her. The truth was I only bothered to look for her at all because she was once a member of BlueRidge. There is still a small part of me, albeit a very small part of me that is getting smaller by the day that still feels responsible for Anthony Howard's old pack members. That small part of me feels like his memory and friendship deserves a few minutes of my time.

  So here I was outside in the middle of the night, pissed off and tired using my nose to follow around a mentally deranged shewolf. She seemed to go around and round in circles before locking in on a destination. That’s when it hit me. She was headed directly for my underground cave. I stopped following her scent and instead immediately headed for the entrance. The moment I entered the foyer, all of my senses were overwhelmed with the scent of freshly spilled blood and lots of it.

  I sprinted into the main room of the cave and saw Lidia’s body sprawled across the concrete floor. Her arms were ripped from their sockets and looked like they had been mauled on. Her heart was torn from her chest and had been shoved into her own open mouth.

  The smell and sight of her dead body caused a gag reflex in the back of my throat. I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and covered my nose. I looked at her for a few more moments and said a silent prayer that her soul had safely crossed from this world into the next before I turned to exit t
he room. I would need to send someone in later to clean up the mess and burn her remains.

  Realizing that Logan had obviously done this sickening act of violence had me immediately worrying about my beloved. I started running towards the BlueRidge pack house with the intention of checking on my beloved and her pack members. Just as I was about to burst through the front door I picked up the scent of Logan and Lucas moving away from the pack house towards the Northwest.

  Deciding that I needed to know Kalli was okay before I continued to pursue Logan I opened the door to the pack house and hollered in for Kalli and Marie. Kalli came barreling down the steps followed by Marie both of them looked shocked to see me.

  “Nikoli, what’s wrong?” said Marie followed by Kalli saying

  “Where is Lucas?” as she looked over towards the couch. I cleared my throat and said

  “I believe Lucas is chasing after his father. I wanted to check on the two of you before I went after them.”

  I momentarily pondered if I should tell them about Lidia but decided there was no benefit to them knowing at this time. I felt a little guilty that I wasn’t being completely honest with Kalli but I needed to put some distance between us so it was better that she didn’t know the truth. I could tell Marie and Kalli wanted to ask me more questions, but I really didn’t want to discuss anything right now.

  Looking at Kalli standing there in nothing but one of Lucas’s tee-shirts was driving me nuts. I chose instead to embrace them both then make a quick exit. I reached out and grabbed Marie first. She was a little surprise but then returned my hug. She even went so far as to peck my cheek. I turned to Kalli next and was surprised when she quickly jabbed her hand into my chest and said

  “Don’t’ my wolf is going nuts”

  “I’m going after them and ending this tonight. I don’t want to have to ever worry about Logan hurting any of you again”.

  I didn’t want to say or hear anything more. My heart couldn’t take any more rejection tonight so I took off at full speed in the direction I could tell they went in. I was somewhat shocked when I heard Kalli invade my mind and say

  “Be careful Nikoli, come back safe to me”

  (Rob’s POV)

  Today was my first day as alpha of the Northern Star wolf pack. I’d gone to bed shortly after finishing the territory run with the pack. It had been invigorating and so much more than I could have wished for. I was in a deep sleep when Lance my new Beta burst into my bedroom and awoke me.

  “Rob! Wake up!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Then continued in a lower but very rushed tone when he saw my eyes part

  “Ah I mean Alpha we have a problem! We have two wolves and a vampire approaching our eastern border at full speed. At this pace they will cross into Northern Star territory in the next fifteen minutes. We have three guards on that border ready to meet them, but they will be nothing more than a small distraction for a vampire. We need you to tell us what to do”

  I processed the information quickly as I threw on some clothes. I instructed Lance to get our best sixteen wolves and meet me at the jeeps. We needed to get out there right away. We could probably get to the eastern border in about twenty minutes. That left five minutes for my wolves to hold back the vampire. Most likely they would all be dead before we arrived but we had to try.

  When I arrived at the border I was shocked to see the sight before me. It looked like everyone was dead with the exception of Joey one of my border wolves and the vampire. The more I looked the more I started to process what it was I was seeing. One of the wolves was my father and his body was scattered in pieces. Then I spotted my brother Lucas it looked like he’d put up one hell of a fight but his throat was torn out and was most likely dead.

  My other two border wolves were covered in blood and they too looked to be dead. The vampire was now sitting just outside of my border not saying a word and refusing to move. I approached the scene with caution and hollered out to Joey to move closer to us. Once he moved behind the bunch of us who now stood facing the vampire just over our border I said

  “Joey, what the hell is going on here?” He turned to look at me still shaking.

  “Oh god Alpha, it was, it was” he paused, wiped his hand over his face then started to cry. Realizing that I wasn’t getting anywhere with him I spoke to the vampire.

  “I am Alpha Robert of the Northern Star territory. What is your business here any why did you kill my wolves?”

  The vampire looked up at me with what I would call a look of disdain and said

  “My name is Nikoli Sven. I’m here because I was chasing your old alpha Logan. He dared to try and harm my beloved. I killed him and the other wolves because they were stupid enough to attack me. Your brother Lucas isn’t dead. If you throw him over to me I can help to heal him.” I mulled over his words and said

  “Do you intend to cross my border and attack the rest of us?” The vampire tilted his head to the side and snarled at me

  “All you care about is if I am going to attack the rest of you? Don’t you care that I ripped your father to shreds or that your brother is dying just inches away from you?”

  I turned back to face my new pack and decided that a bit of delicacy was needed. I wanted to say no I could care less or even better, why yes I do care and thank you for getting rid of my problems for me, but instead I found myself saying

  “I understand why you killed my father truthfully he will not be missed, but my brother is a good wolf you should not have harmed him. We will attack and kill you if you move over that border. There are more than enough of us here to take you down. Think carefully vampire. I would suggest you turn around and go back to where you came from.”

  I knew I’d said the right thing because the wolves behind me all started to bay in agreement. I even heard several of them start to shift. We were prepared to protect our border. The vampire would not survive this night if he crossed over towards us. The vampire looked pointedly at me, then behind me at my pack mates before saying.

  “I mean Lucas no harm. He is important to my beloved. Give him to me so that I can heal him.”

  This vampire was insane. There was no way a vampire was going to heal a wolf. Even if I didn’t want my brother alive to challenge me I wasn’t stupid enough to turn him over to a vampire in front of my pack mates. That would reflect negatively on me. I needed my pack to support me. I didn’t have the kind of mind powers my father had. I needed to rule the pack the old fashioned way with approval and wits. I shouted out to him

  “You are not coming near my brother. We will take him home and heal him the best we can. You must think we’re stupid. We know no vampire would ever heal a wolf. You are our natural enemy.“ Before I could even blink the vampire crossed our boundary, snatched my brother and took off.

  Chapter 30

  (Kenyan – An Elder Vampire)

  I arrived at the home of Nikoli Sven and had been greeted by nothing more than a human blood donor. I was a bit peeved that after I took the time to actually come and meet with him, that he hadn’t even had the decency to be here. He was lucky that I Kenyan the ancient had actually deemed him worthy enough of my time. I was the only elder that was going to come. Most had laughed when he phoned us and claimed that he’d found his beloved and that she’d been a wolf.

  I’ve been alive since the dawning of time. Vampires and wolves did not mix. It is an impossibility that our beloved would be a wolf. Wolf blood is poison to us; we could never be blooded with a wolf. Knowing that Nikoli was more likely insane, I had decided to grace him with my presence and end his existence rather than allow him to suffer with the crazy idea that his beloved was a wolf.

  Entering his home and finding it empty other than the blood donor infuriated me. I would need to find ways to amuse myself until he returned. Looking over at the donor again I found myself a bit hungry so I reached out and grabbed the blood donor by the throat and drank her dry. There were those of my race that treated all life as precious, they believed that any give
n human could be someones beloved. I however wasn’t burdened by any of those foolish notions. I have been alive too long and have seen too much in my years. Life is just life, humans are born and die. There is nothing spectacular about their existence.

  I looked back at the now dead female blood donor and huffed. She’d obviously been used recently since she’d hadn’t provided me with enough blood to fully satisfy my thirst. I dropped her now limp dead body onto the ceramic floor and reached out with my mind to determine if there were other donors nearby.

  I sensed several rooms below the home and was somewhat amused by what I sensed there. I determined it was a sight that I would prefer to see with my own eyes. I walked outside and allowed my instincts to guide me towards the entrance to the underground dwelling. It was far simpler than I could imagine. As usual it was not challenging. Lately, my life had become a series of boring events. I found it harder and harder to keep myself mentally challenged. I was beginning to fear that there was nothing new to learn or see.

  I rounded the corner and took in the site of the female wolf. She was in bad shape. Who ever had torn her up made it very personal shoving her own heart into her dead mouth was pretty darn personal. Perhaps Nikoli realized it was some sort of wolf trick and snapped. I sniffed the air and could tell that a vampire and multiple wolves had been recently in the room.

  I noticed something metallic underneath of the dead she-wolf and nudged her body my foot to get a better look. It appeared to be some type of shackle. I lifted it in my hand and used my mastery of psychometry to understand everything that had taken place.