Shredded Bonds
A Blood Ties Novel
Book 4
By Kalalea George
Copyright 2013 K. George
Published at Smashwords
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
I would like to thank my husband Michael and my children Heather, Katy, Tara and Jayden for providing me with daily pleasure and encouraging me to pursue my writing.
Prologue
Jeremy's POV
I watched as several human males entered the lab. All of them had tasers in their hands and I knew they were getting ready to zap me so that I would be compliant enough for Grier to drug me again. I knew this was going to be my chance. I couldn't allow them to take me down. I shifted as the door to my cage was opened. I felt several tasers slam into my sides and send an electric jolt through me. If I had still been in my human form I would have been knocked out. But in my tiger form at six hundred plus pounds of pure flesh and muscle I was unaffected by their puny little tasers. I tore into the human’s bodies and left nothing but bloody chunks of flesh strewn about the lab.
This was my chance to end this once and for all. I moved over to the back of the lab and shifted back into my human form and prepared myself for death. I closed my eyes and tried not to see or smell the carnage that my tiger made. I opened my mouth and swallowed the burning acidic liquid down. I felt the pure fire scorching my throat and knew that I had only a few moments left. The pain was far worse than I thought it would be. I screamed out silently in pain as I prayed for death to take me. Not even caring any longer where it might take me to.
Laura's POV
I’d never been as grateful as I was the moment I heard my mother's scream. I’d been astral projecting and was trying to figure out how I could possibly get my head back on my shoulders all by myself. Worse, I knew that they managed to ambush me because I was totally preoccupied. Of all the days and in all the places my beloved's soul had finally called to me. My soul mate felt older than I thought he would be. Generally speaking a soul mate calls when they are seventeen or eighteen years old. My soul mate however felt a lot older than me and for some reason I was sure he only called out to me because his life was in mortal danger and he wanted to say goodbye.
In recent years I’d begun to believe that I would never find my beloved. It was just my luck that I waited five lifetimes for my beloved and that he finally decides to call me in the middle of major fight. Here I am defending myself against fifty or more well-armed human fighters when I suddenly feel my beloved soul calling me. The moment I felt his presence I was happy, shocked then assaulted by the humans all at the same time. I didn’t want to lose my beloved before I even got to meet him. My body was twisted around and I was trying desperately to keep the attackers at bay. I heard and felt my soul mate but from the position I was in I couldn't see him. I wanted so badly to set eyes on him just once that I turned my head ever so slightly. That’s when the human bastards hit me with the sleeping dart. Then real live voodoo witch cast a spell that completely immobilized me. Then just to top it all off, the humans chopped off my head. I think I must have passed out momentarily because when I came to my beloved was gone and so were the attackers. I can only pray that my beloved is still alive and waiting for me.
My Uncle Nik carried me to the car and sat me gently in the back seat. I could see my body mending quickly so I hopped back in and opened my eyes. I watched my moms face light up with shock then joy. I stretched out my neck and momentarily considered telling mom and Uncle Nik about my beloved. Then fear settled in that if I said anything it would be bad luck, so when I opened my mouth I said nothing about my beloved instead I joked and said the only thing I thought was safe to say.
“Mother fuckers ambushed me. Had to be fifty or more humans and they used some kind of dart gun that knocked me out There was also a voodoo priestess that threw some kind of spell at me. I guess I was damn lucky you guys found me when you did.”
I sat up in the seat and started to move my neck around at bit more and then I looked at Uncle Nik and my mom and thanked them for helping me out of a bad situation. Uncle Nik laughed and mom just seemed to be more distraught. Uncle Nik reminded me to hug her and comfort her so that we could get looking for the cubs. I wanted to help them but... I wanted to find my beloved even more. I just wanted to keep that fact to myself until I knew that he was okay so thinking quickly I said
“I'm sure by now they have already made it to the compound. We might need to ask the local wolf pack to help us out. There are far too many of them for us to go in there alone. Mom and Uncle Nik why don’t you head back to the pack and get help. I’m going to go and scope it out.”
Then without giving them a chance to answer I handed them a map of the compound, kissed my mom fast on the cheek and took off at a full run. The moment I was away from my mom and Uncle Nik I felt the presence of my soul mate again. I was so grateful I said a silent prayer of thanks as I followed the feelings of my soul mate straight to the compound. For just a tiny second I actually thought to myself that it odd that my beloved was anywhere near this mess. Then, I looked at the clock and realized everything I’d experience had taken less than fifteen minutes from start to finish.
I found myself looking around the compound in confusion. Where was my mate and how was he connected to this mess. Was he a human helping the sick scientist? I hoped not but I could understand if he did what he needed to in order to survive in this poor country. It suddenly hit me that the compound appeared to be almost empty. I wasn’t sure but there appeared to be less people than when I was here the night before. I was even more surprise when I suddenly realized I could smell my beloveds scent in the air. I was astonished and immensely pleased that he smelled of breezy fall nights and thick trees. His scent reminded me of the jungle. I listen carefully and could still hear his heart beating slowly and quietly. Each beat just a little slower than the one before it.
I hid myself behind several rocks and allowed my soul to separate from my body. As a vampire-wolf hybrid I had the benefit of the pros from both species with the cons of neither. As such I was a master of astral projecting which is the ability to remove my soul from my body and move about in completely invisible to everyone but my soul mate. I moved quickly through the gates and into the underground compound. I let my soul lead me to my beloved. I found him lying in the corner of an empty lab. He was bleeding profusely from his eyes, ears, nose and throat. I looked down and saw broken glass from test tubes and I smelled battery acid. That's when I realized who my beloved was and what he had done to himself.
I had only moments to decide my best course of action. I knew my family would never accept my beloved or forgive him for what he did to Rena. I should leave him and this place and never look back. Just a little more time and my beloved mate will be gone from this earth forever. I screamed and felt the tears fall from my eyes. I knew I could never walk away. My beloved was a monster that deserved to be punished...but hadn't he already been punished in ways that no man should have to endure? I pushed myself back into my body and I charged into the compound with one goal. I was going to save my beloved no matter what it took. Then later, much later I would decide what was right or wrong.
CHAPTER 1
Laura’s POV
I couldn’t stop myself. I knew what my m
other and uncle Nik intended to do. In some respects I even knew that it was the right thing to do, but I couldn't let them. My beloved might be a monster that needs to die but he is my beloved. I can't possibly let anyone harm him. I needed to stop them before they took my beloved’s life away. I never wanted to do anything but take care of my family and now when I needed them more than I ever have, I felt like they were turning their back on me. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I had to make sure that I could get my beloved out of here.
I was going to have to knock out my mom and Uncle Nik before they realized my intentions. I was very careful to use as little force as necessary to incapacitate them. It didn’t take much, just a small tap at the base of their necks. I looked down at their unconscious bodies and was consumed by guilt. I looked around and started to panic that an unfriendly would find them and hurt them while they were unconscious. I hated that I'd felt forced to do this. I looked at my beloved and could see his breath was still coming in labored gasps. I ran my hand across his hair stubble face. I opened and peered down my beloved’s throat to see if he had started to heal even a little. I didn’t think he looked like he was healing, but unlike my sister Leona I am not a doctor.
I cringed again thinking about what I was doing. I wasn’t just taking my beloved. I was taking the Bastet Leo that was responsible for violating Rena. I was doing something that would hurt my family. None of them would understand or support me. I was going against my entire family. By not ending his life I was effectively cutting myself off from the rest of my family. I was born one of seven children to a hybrid wolf-vampire and an alpha Lycan wolf. We had a happy childhood and were a close family. Three of my siblings were pure Lycan wolves; Nathan, Natalie and Noah. Four of us were born hybrids Me, Leona, Linda and our brother Liam. Nathan, Natalie and Noah all died so young. They had a normal wolf’s lifespan of about one hundred and fifty years then they grew old and died in less than two hundred years. When my siblings died my mom, dad and even my uncle Nik started falling apart. We were torn by grief and had become despondent and life had become a challenge. Parents shouldn’t outlive their children they said. I agreed.
I became the family matriarch. I pushed myself into situations and forced my family to heal and move past our loss. When my father died several hundred years later, I again took the lead and helped my mom; siblings and my uncle find the better things in life. I have always embraced life and made sure that everyone remembered to look on the bright side. I realized my mom and uncle Nik were starting to come around and I also knew that it was time for me to start running. Thank god I was a strong hybrid. I picked up my beloved and tossed him over my shoulder. I actually groaned at his weight. He had to be a solid two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle. I looked back at my mom and uncle Nik and felt a tear slide down my cheek at the thought of having to do this on my own.
I need and want my family to help me now, but we are on opposite sides of a very dangerous river. The Bastet Leo is my beloved; I can’t let him die without having some type of closure. Hell, if he is going to die it will be at my hands or not at all. I had to get him away and give myself some time to sort this all out in my head. I was so confused and just needed a little time. I ran at my top speed which was just over a hundred and ten miles per hour towards the private airstrip that I had parked the rented jet in. I'd flown commercial to England then rented a private jet to fly into Africa. I used the private plan so that I would go unnoticed by the locals. I'd wanted to keep a very low profile so that the kidnappers were unaware of my presence. Now the jet would help me in a different way. I could fly back to England under the radar then smuggle my beloved out from there.
I would never have thought when this all started that this is how I would be leaving Africa. Just few hours ago, my only thoughts were how I could help my nephew Micah find and rescue his kidnapped babies. Now, I find my beloved and he's wrapped up in this whole mess. The really sad part is, now I wouldn't be able to help recover the innocent little cubs. They deserved to have so many champions. I was sure however that even without my help the rest of my family would be able to recover them. To some degree it was better that I didn’t see the cubs. After all, my beloved is their birth father and his part in their conception wasn't something to be proud of.
Thinking about how my beloved was responsible for harming Rena got me all worked up again. Why would he force himself on a woman? Any woman! My beloved was hands down the best looking man I had ever laid eyes on. I would think women would trip over themselves to fall at his feet with desire for him. Why in god’s name did he do it? I could recall how beautiful he was even on the videos I saw earlier this month. When I first came to Africa I managed to get videos of both Jeremy and Grier. Of course at the time I knew Grier was the man that was keeping Jeremy hostage, I just didn’t know Jeremy was my beloved. Even then however, I could remember thinking about how Jeremy has the brightest green eyes I've ever seen. His face is and was pure perfection! He has such wonderful and attractive bone structure and chiseled chin. With his looks and absolutely perfect body no sane woman would have denied Jeremy if he just used a little charm.
I found myself slowing and needed to push the thoughts out of my mind and concentrate on getting to the airfield. Besides, I wasn’t going to find the answers now, and I needed to get out of Africa. I was going to go to my little safe haven and just keep him out of the way until I was ready. Ready for what was the question? I just didn't know what I thought I was going to do with him. My beloved Jeremy was the Leo that was blood bonded to my nephews mate Rena and that bond needed to be severed. To my knowledge Jeremy would need to die for that to happen and I wasn’t ready to let that happen. Right now I felt damned if I did and damned if I didn’t. I saw the jet and breathed a sigh of relief. Just a few more minutes and I would be headed out of Africa.
I climbed in the cockpit with my beloved still hanging over my shoulder. I strapped Jeremy’s limp body into the co-pilot seat and ran through all the checks for takeoff. I could feel Jeremy starting to regain consciousness so I reached in and used my powers to calm him enough to go back into a deep sleep. I talked to the tower and managed to get cleared for takeoff. My flight path would take me into Spain and from there I would have to take a commercial flight back to Canada. Then I could rent a small plane and fly us into my sanctuary. I would need to walk the final length of the journey. The part that sunk was I would have to do it with my unconscious and very heavy Bastet beloved dangling over my shoulder.
Just ten minutes into the flight I knew that what I didn’t know about Bastet was probably going to get him or I killed. Who would have thought that Bastet where no good at being in airplanes. Micah told me they chose to take cargo planes but he failed to tell me that it was because Bastet shift in midair. Thank god I was the only person on the private jet when Jeremy shifted from a gorgeous male into a huge tiger. Now I was trapped in a very small cockpit with a very large tiger. The only good thing was that the tiger was still in a deep healing sleep. Keeping him that way however, was taking every bit of my mental manipulation powers to keep him that way. Now that I knew Jeremy would be unable to fly commercial without shifting I was going to have to change my plans. No way could we fly commercial back to Canada. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. I wasn’t sure that I could possibly do this on my own. I was going to need help. I just wasn't sure who I could trust to be my ally.
CHAPTER 2
Jeremy's POV
To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. I obviously failed to kill myself and Grier managed to find me, relocate me and even re-caged me. This time the cage was much larger but it was still a cage. The only thing I was happy about is this new location didn’t resemble a lab at all. I smiled briefly to myself when I realized that there was a comfortable looking bed and chair also in my new cage. Then I got this horrific awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. What if Grier was up to something far worse than what he had done in the lab? Why else would he put a bed in
the cage with me? I wasn’t going to allow him to use me that way again. I wouldn't hurt Renalda that way ever again. My fear was strangling me and I frantically looked around for ways to either escape or finish what I started in the lab.
I decided my best opportunity would be breaking apart the bed and lodging one of the pieces of wood or steel through my worthless heart. I lifted myself on my back paws and slammed my large tiger body into the bed. To my surprise the bed held. I lifted myself on my rear paws again and slammed into the bed. Again it held, I threw back my head in rage and roared my frustration and anger out. I moved towards the bed again with the intention of shredding the mattress with my claws and teeth. I had taken no more than two steps when the most beautiful female I'd ever laid eyes on walked into the room. Something was very different about her, and then I realized she smelled of both wolf and vampire and most importantly she smelled like the jungle after a long cleansing rain. This woman was my true mate!
I allowed myself to take in everything about her. I studied her warm shoulder length brown hair then I admired her chocolate eyes with gold sparkles flaring within them. I was mesmerized by everything about her including her full but sensually soft lips. She was perfect. I found myself shifting into my human form without really knowing why. I guess some part of me wanted her to see me the way I was seeing her. I felt my cells vibrate as I shimmered between forms then finally settled on human. I watched her eyes widen and her pupils enlarge for just a moment. That’s when I remembered what Grier was capable of. What he could make me believe. What I could be capable of under his influence. Then, I recalled the last time I thought a woman was my true mate. I suddenly remembered the truth from the lies and how badly I’d hurt her.
Shredded Bonds, a Blood Ties Novel, Book 4 Page 1