Sight of Love (A Rizer Pack Shifter Series Book 2)

by Wilson, Amelia

  A vampire, and an Oracle.

  *****

  THE END

  BOOK 3: A CHOSEN FATE

  Description

  Black and beady eyes stared right back at Madison Blake.

  It was not what she expected when she opened her eyes in the middle of the night, waking up at the telltale sensation of something hovering over her. She thought it was her imagination playing with her or the ghost that was in the movie she had last seen. But it was not.

  The mattress dipped at the pressure while the bed gave a soft squeak at a weight she knew was not Phoebe, her Russian Blue kitten.

  Madison remained unmoving, her body splayed on her bed. Her hands were rested on her sides while her legs were slightly apart, feeling heavy and numb.

  She looked right ahead, the pair of orbs dark and rounded. She laid there unblinking, drowning in the pool of blackness presented.

  The eyes went lower, and she could barely register the dark brown brow and long lashes as she tried to follow it. When it reached her neck, she gave up tailing it and looked back to her plain pale yellow ceiling.

  She felt heady. Breathing in, she took in her room, mind fleeting. It was a state of being trapped between a deep slumber and reality.

  Cold air puffed against her neck, and then down her collarbone and up again, the sensation leaving goose flesh on its wake. It stopped at the junction between her shoulder and neck, and she shivered when a chilling wetness traced a line down her throat.

  A sniff, and then a deep breath, as if savoring a scent that was so longed for.

  “You smell different,” a man’s voice hissed. It sounded guttural yet breathy, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

  “Different but delectable.”

  Another wet stripe was left against her skin, tracing the same area. Madison was still immobile and indifferent; a strange reaction for someone who woke up with a man licking down her neck repeatedly.

  The sensation rattled her, and she tried to clench her hands into fists to no avail. The attempt to curl her toes also proved futile, and she could only bask at the feeling of being tasted. There were no signs that she was tied down, yet her limbs were heavy that even sluggish movements could not be done.

  The man stopped with his ministrations, and the eyes reappeared in her vision. The black seemed to be swirling, the irises rendering her defenseless, and she gazed at it, mesmerized and captivated.

  From her periphery, she could see the man grinning maniacally, and a perfect row of teeth gleamed as the moonlight filtered through her window. Her knees jerked when she saw something amiss: a faint outline of sharp canines.

  She parted her mouth in a silent scream as the situation registered in her mind. The mouth disappeared from her sight, and she internally panicked and let out a soft whimper, which was only a soundless vibration in her throat in reality.

  Two sharp canines rested near her throat. Her lips had gone dry, and her breaths became short. A cold drop of sweat fell down her temple despite the blasting cold air from the air conditioner.

  She felt the ghost of a smile, the feeling of soft, cold flesh stretched against her skin before something pierced through her neck. Madison let out a small yelp and the man stopped, pulled himself back and studied her face, looking at her quizzically with his brooding eyes.

  Warm and sticky liquid pooled on her neck but Madison was once again captivated with the eyes staring down at her. She blinked and the male gasped loudly and scrambled off the bed in an instant.

  She could not see him, but she could feel his presence. His shadow was casted on her, and she knew he must be near her window.

  “How did you…” It was merely a whisper, but the dead silence in her room echoed the words.

  “You weren’t supposed to…” He cut off what he meant to say again. Madison struggled internally, commanding her brain to thrash wildly and kick the man who had bitten her neck. Instead, she laid on her bed peacefully, eyes wide in alarm but body still unmoving, as if she was still in a peaceful slumber.

  She could hear the faint sound of footsteps going farther and farther until it stopped.

  “We’ll meet again.” He threatened with a deep voice.

  The feeling of air was back again, and her head felt light. She blinked repeatedly and heaved deep and long breaths until the hammering of her heart calmed.

  She sat up and looked at her window, which was closed just as how she left it before going to bed. Her door was also shut. There were no signs of the man nor a hint that he had just been there.

  For a while, she was tempted to stand and inspect her room, but the trembling of her knees begged to differ.

  Lying down, it did not take long before she was back to dreamland, mind and body fatigued to even deal with what just happened.

  The next morning, Madison surveyed her room immediately, looking for those pair of orbs that haunted her dreams. Everything was in place, and there was no strange man in sight.

  It was just a dream.

  A shiver run down her body when she scratched her neck.

  She gasped.

  There were two small punctures and dried blood.

  She looked at her fingers and saw the bits of red. Madison gaped in terror.

  It wasn’t a dream at all.

  Chapter-1

  Madison evaded the throng of students coming her way and slung her bag on her shoulders, holding the handle tightly.

  Scanning the room numbers, she breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the right room. It had been a year since she had been at this side of the campus since she focused on her majors last year. The hallways looked familiar, but she still had to find her way through them.

  The room was large, fitting for at least a hundred people. At the front, there was a white board and a projector, while a small table designated for the professor was at the side.

  A few people were already seated, scattered across the rows and were engrossed with their phones. Madison took a seat by the middle, near enough to hear the professor clearly but far enough not to stand out.

  History 1 was a large class, considering it’s a mandatory course for most students to graduate. Madison, who was in her last year in university studying Marketing, was also required to take it, but she held it off as much as she could. Now it was her penultimate semester, and she knew that there was no way out.

  People streamed in as the minutes ticked by and soon enough, the TA arrived, a brunette with a stern face and bored-looking, droopy-lidded eyes. She immediately distributed the class syllabus and introduced herself as Lilia, a graduate student.

  Madison sat straight in attention though she knew that the girl would not say anything that was not already written in the paper. Judging by how monotonous she sounded, she was not the overzealous type to go about various subjects and narrate snippets about her personal life.

  The TA launched on to explain the requirements to complete the course -- four exams and four papers --, ignoring the groans that erupted, and was about to start with the class rules when the doors opened, revealing a man who immediately caught everyone’s attention, including Madison’s.

  The man walked towards the TA and gave a sheepish smile. Madison could faintly hear swooning giggles behind her. If it was any other day, she would have scoffed at the reaction but the male, who was now seated at the farthest row behind, was impossible to ignore with his looks.

  He had a tall stature, probably over six feet, and broad shoulders. His well-defined physique was showing with his fitted polo, which he complemented with jeans and black sneakers just like most of the students. He had defined jaws and a slightly pointed chin, accompanied by thin lips that had a permanent curl on its ends as if there was a slight smile. His face was captivating but what caught Madison’s attention the most were his eyes, which were dark and rounded and were accentuated with long lashes and thick brows.

  His eyes looked beautiful, yet they feel eerily familiar. He looked like a model for luxury clothing and perfum
e brands; his face worthy to be plastered across billboards and magazines.

  The TA cleared her throat loudly, aware that the attention of students was not with her anymore, and read all the rules, emphasizing that tardiness will not be tolerated while glancing fleetingly at the direction of the newcomer.

  Madison chanced a glance at him, curious about his reaction to the jibe, but was surprised when she looked back and found him looking in her direction as well. Their eyes met for a split second.

  Embarrassed for being caught, she whipped her head back and listened to the high, torturous voice of Lilia as she rattled off her peeves.

  The students listened with rapt attention and Madison tried to do the same. She wriggled on her seat every after a few minutes and fidgeted with her hands. There was a crawling feeling that someone was staring at her, which was stupid since everyone was taking notes.

  She tried to shake it off, but the weight remained, distracting her and pulling away her attention.

  Discreetly, she looked around, trying to find the source of her uneasiness but found none. When she checked her back, the newcomer was staring at her, his deep set eyes not straying away even if she had caught him.

  She gulped.

  Was he staring at me?

  She looked behind again and indeed, his eyes were dead-on staring at her and no one else. For a second, it may be dismissed as him drifting off, but his eyes didn’t look lost.

  Madison checked the one in front of her, a blonde dressed in a skirt that barely reached mid-thighs. Madison smirked.

  Of course, he was not staring at me.

  She chuckled at the stupidity of her thought.

  ***

  Madison drummed her fingers against her table and stared outside, looking at the graying clouds and wishing her umbrella was in her locker.

  She was too early for her class, an Anthropology elective which she had meant to take, and she was alone in the room.

  The winds howled, and she watched as the clouds drifted by slowly. The news talked about a fairly cloudy day for their city, but clearly, the situation outside was saying otherwise.

  The sound of footsteps snatched back her attention and, turning to its direction, she swallowed a lump in her throat when she saw its source.

  The gorgeous newcomer.

  She contemplated about smiling but held herself off and returned back to staring, though now, she could not concentrate.

  What is he majoring on even? I never saw him around campus, and I am sure I will remember his face if I had seen it even only once. Is he a transfer student? It’s impossible that he’s a freshman since this course is only for those with at least junior standing.

  She could hear him walking, and his footsteps stopped near her. Unconsciously, she held her breath.

  Madison was not looking, but she was sure that he had just slumped at the seat right behind hers, which was weird because the whole room was practically empty besides the two of them.

  It was not even a minute after and there was it again, similar to that of yesterday, the heavy feeling of being stared at.

  Minutes passed, and she almost squealed in relief when a pair of friends arrived in the room and filled in the silence. She was bordering panicking at the thought that the guy may be a potential pervert.

  Soon enough, more people came in, and the class started. Their professor, a fairly old man with a gentle, amiable smile, walked in, greeted them a good morning before starting to explain about class requirements.

  Madison forgot about the weird man and focused on the professor.

  When they were dismissed, she arranged her things and was about to go when there was a tap on her shoulder.

  “Hi.” The man said. His voice was deep and sent alarming bells to Madison. She was sure she heard that voice before, but she cannot pinpoint when and where exactly.

  Lost on what to do, she gave a tight-lipped smile, and a croaked Hi back.

  All the while, he stared at her face. She was all in for fleeing that room before they were even left behind by everyone else.

  “Can I help you with something?” She asked when he didn’t seem to want to continue the conversation and continued to watch her.

  He shook his head and smiled. Madison swooned internally at the sight but got a grip, reminding herself that he may potentially be a creep.

  “I have to go.” She turned around and strode toward the exit.

  “Hey, wait.” He scrambled to fix his things, but Madison did not stop walking. She was beginning to be really scared.

  “Sorry, I really have to go.” She said and picked up her pace, hurrying down the hall until she was in the crowded lobby.

  Resting a hand on her chest, she could feel the thumping of her heart.

  She convinced herself that it was because of the scary encounter and not because of his disarming smile.

  Chapter-2

  Madison stripped off her clothes and turned the shower on, basking on the lukewarm water cascading down her body. She reached for the scrub and rubbed it all over.

  There was a drizzle earlier, but the sun was brightly shining, and the humid was overbearing. She could still feel the stickiness on her neck because of the accumulated sweat and dirt.

  She just came back from her part-time job in an ice cream store by the park where parents usually bring their children. There was also a public school nearby so the store can get a bit crowded after classes end.

  Her eyelids were drooping, the warmth of the water aiding her sleepiness. Dragging a hand down her neck, she felt the two small bumps.

  It had been two weeks since that dream. The images of the wounds and dried blood were still fresh in her mind, but she concluded that something might have happened while she was sleeping. A large bug, perhaps, had bitten her, and her mind concocted an explanation of its own.

  It sounded absurd even to her but believing that there was someone who bit her was beyond outrageous. She was sure that if she relayed about what happened to her Aunt Courtney, she would either laugh her head off and call her crazy or straight out call for mental help.

  Sometimes, that night still crossed her mind. If not for the faint marks on her neck, then there would have been no trace of her illusions.

  A sharp pain in her neck made her knees jerk, and she decided that pressing on healing wounds repeatedly was probably a bad idea.

  ***

  The glass doors to the library were heavy, and she had to pause to push more forcibly for the doors to nudge.

  The chilling air from the air condition hit her, and she plopped down a computer and started to type down the book titles she needed to borrow.

  Most of her courses have required readings, particularly History 1, wherein Lilia enthusiastically listed off all the books they should check out. There was a reason Madison favored numbers over letters.

  Jotting down the location, she made her way through the shelves and surveyed the reference numbers, checking her notebook from time to time.

  It was lunch time and most students probably preferred whiling away in the cafeteria rather than the library. But it was Madison’s only vacant time before her next class. Afterward, she needed to go straight to her job for her shift.

  She tapped spine after spine, tilting her head to easily read the titles, smiling in glee once she found the first book in her list. The cover was a little tattered, and the edges are browning. But maybe that was a little expected from a book published in the early 1900’s.

  She went on to find the other books and dropped them on a table. It was at the corner and barely any sunlight was there to light up the area. In the morning, the library relied on natural lighting that filtered through the large glass windows, but there were no windows nearby, rendering the spot dim-lighted than the rest.

  Reading through the table of contents, she drew her brows together when it got dimmer. Looking up, her eyes widened at the sight of the newcomer guy.

  In the past days, the guy kept a good distance from her and for
that she was grateful. She was not expecting that he would try to talk to her again after how she reacted the last time.

  But there he was again. He laid his palms flat on the table and looked intently at Madison while he remained standing up. Madison’s throat dried. From up close, she could see how long his lashes were and the way they fluttered elegantly when he blinked.

  She composed herself before talking. “Do you need something?” Her tone was clipped. She didn’t mean to sound mean, but he was blocking the minimal lighting she could have. Madison thought she had every right to sound the least bit welcoming.