As it was, I was afraid I was going to have to tie Jeremy down and put a tube down his throat just to feed him. Jeremy was refusing to feed himself and his body was suffering the consequences. I tried everything I could think of to break through to Jeremy's sick and suffering mind. Nothing I tried was working. I was at my wits end and was thinking about feeding him my own blood in an attempt to help him get well. The problem with that was if he was suffering emotionally I would be exposed to all his feelings without a buffer. I know some of my family practiced ways of hiding their emotions but I never wanted to. I always thought I would find my beloved and everything would be sunshine and roses. I was woefully unprepared for problems with my beloved. I took a deep breath and decided that perhaps
I was going to need to get someone who could help me. Someone who had the powers to do things for my beloved in ways that I couldn't. They needed to be someone who had very very strong powers of mental manipulation that could break through and undo the damage that the elder Bastet had done. I picked up my phone and punched in Ena's number. Ena was like family now and I knew she would help. I also knew she wouldn't be missed by my mother during the party the way other members of my family would be. I knew the moment I heard Ena answer that I had done the right thing.
Jeremy's POV
I watched the female vampire cautiously. She seemed to be reciting her heritage with dignity and was doing so in the formal way that Bastet and vampires greet each other. She was painstakingly telling me her origins and all her living family. If she stayed with traditions when she finished she would pause and expect me to do the same thing. I listened intently as she listed out her heritage and family.
"My name is Ena. I was born a Romanian princess before we recorded time. I was turned by the ancient vampire known as Kenyan. I have lived thousands of years and there are only two vampires that are older than me.
My father Kenyan is the oldest known living being that still walks the earth. The second oldest being on earth is my good friend Rashidi who once shared Godhood with the Bastet. My mother and beloved have both already passed away.
My beloved and I turned one child. His name is Darien and his is still considered young for a vampire. His beloved is a werewolf named Sophia. She gave birth to a child named Joel Jr. and he is a hybrid like your beloved Laura's mother. I consider him my grandchild despite our lack of a blood connection.
My father Kenyan recently found a second chance love. Her name is Leona and she is the sister to your beloved Laura. Now, I have given you my bloodline. I swear I have many extended family members but no more of my direct bloodline."
She stopped speaking and turned expectantly towards me waiting for my words. She had stuck with tradition and had been honest in her words. My honor demanded that I do the same. I took a deep breath, swallowed loudly and said
"My name is Jeremy Renza. I am a Bastet that turns into a tiger. I am the Leo of the Brazilian Pride. I was born to Banka and Roman Renza. My parents are both Bastet like myself. My father shifts into a lion and my mother shifts into a tiger like myself.
I am the only child of my parents and was considered a miracle birth since my mother was not only fertile but also survived child birth. As you know my people are losing their fertility. Most babies born in my generation are sterile.
I am fertile and I was blood bonded to a fertile female named Renalda. Renalda shifts into a beautiful leopard. Shortly after blood bonding with Renalda I impregnated her against her will and she recently gave birth to two cubs. One is female and she shifts into a leopard like her mother the other is a male Bastet and he shifts into a tiger like me.
I am ashamed to say that I don't know the names of my own children. In fact, I have recently learned that and Elder Bastet kidnapped them from their mother and I'm not even sure if my cubs are safe or are now still being held captive. I didn't say anything but last night I felt my bond with Renalda shatter. For several hours I thought I would die but for whatever reason I am still alive. Now however I don't know if Renalda and the cubs are even alive anymore."
I dropped my head into my chest and felt tears blurring my vision. Saying my origins out loud was far worse than holding it inside. I was sobbing hysterically when I suddenly felt the female vampires arms wrap around me in a protective and kind gesture. I held her cool body against mine and allowed myself to grieve. Ena was stroking her hands down the back of my head and back and I was reminded of being young and receiving physical comfort like this from my mom. For the first time in months I almost felt like I was myself.
While Ena patted my back she said softly to me. Your children and Rena are fine. Laura's brother and uncle Nik killed Grier and retrieved the children. Your daughter’s name is Mindy and your son is called Mitchell. They are both beautiful and healthy Bastet. I pulled back just slightly from Ena and smiled brightly into her face and told her I was thankful and grateful that she reminded me of who I was. I know that it cost Ena a lot of energy to dig out Elder Grier’s mind whammy. I was overcome with gratitude and I was about to place a small kiss on her cheek in thanks when I heard a menacing growl followed by a woman screeching
"Mine"
My beloved’s words slammed into me with the force of a Mac truck. Ena referenced Laura as my beloved. Laura herself said those exact words to me multiple times over the past few days. I suddenly understood what and who this woman was to me. This was no mind whammy. The growling woman in front of me was truly my soul mate and I was her beloved.
CHAPTER 5
Laura’s POV
Thinking back over today’s events I realized I had done more wrong than right. It seemed from the moment that I allowed Ena to step into the room with my mate I somehow lost my best judgment. I was ashamed to say that I behaved as badly as any alpha wolf would have. As a consolation, at least I can feel encouraged that my mate decided to willingly stay instead of insisting that he be able to leave with Ena.
I rolled over and again tried to force myself to sleep instead I found myself rehashing ever bit of the day. I can remember being somewhat annoyed when Ena chose to sit with my mate and rattle off their lineage instead of doing what she came here to do. I asked Ena to please get inside of his mind and pull out any mental commands or illusions that might still be influencing him. I was all but gnashing my teeth by the time Ena finished spewing all her blood relatives.
Then, when my mate started to speak of his lineage I can recall my irritation left and I became more inquisitive as I listened. It wasn’t until Jeremy finished that I realized Ena had been mucking around inside my mates mind while he was distracted. Ena managed to use the traditional greeting method as a way to get Jeremy to drop his defenses so she could reverse any damage the Bastet elder had done.
I heard Jeremy's admission of the bond shattering between Rena and him and wondered in amazement how he survived. Most likely that's why his soul was hovering so close to mine the night before. I was grateful that Micah was wrong about breaking the bond. Thankfully neither Jeremy or Rena died in the process. I continued to listen carefully to the conversation between Ena and Jeremy. Everything up to that point had been within reasonable expectations. But when my mate’s head dropped to his chest and tears started to pour from his eyes something inside of me went a little crazy. I can clearly recall moving towards the locked gate with the intention of going in and bringing comfort to Jeremy. I somewhat recall that I became enraged when Ena dared to wrap her arms around my mate in solace. But I went ballistic when it became clear that my mate had the intention of kissing Ena.
I must have shifted in my anger and attacked Ena. I have really very little memories of what happened next. I have very little memories of the incident but what I do have for the most part matched what Ena had told me. I groaned to myself yet again when I thought of her words. I pictured Ena's beautiful face in mind with her lips scrunched up like she had just eaten something very sour saying to me
“You should be ashamed of yourself. You let your jealousy and anger get the b
est of you. You dear child allowed your wolf to take command of your body and have a horrific and embarrassing temper tantrum. Your wolf attacked me and tried killed me. If your beloved hadn’t shifted into his big ass tiger I could possibly be dead.
Then, just because Jeremy actually tried to save my life your fricken wolf got even nastier. You turned on him like a dog chasing after a cat. It wasn’t until I managed to get on the outside that I could at least see the humor in watching the cat and dog fight. You really tore him up. The poor guy was trying so hard not to hurt your wolf, yet you just kept biting and pushing at him. You should know better than to ever let your wolf take control. Now you have caused more problems than you may be able to deal with. I have to be honest I strongly suggested to Jeremy that he consider leaving with me and giving you some time to come to grips with this relationship. I must say that if your vampire side had attacked him the way your wolf did Jeremy wouldn’t be alive.
Laura, you are a trained warrior and you know you are deadly. Because you lost control and allowed your wolf free reign she actually tried to dominate your beloveds’ tiger. Now, you have to know in your heart that Jeremy will never be able to accept that. Jeremy's a Leo for god’s sakes being dominated by a wolf is unnatural.
This is going to cost you and Jeremy a great deal of pain. You two were already going to have a hard time just getting over the fact that he’s been intimate with someone from your family. Now you’ve made it so much worse by losing your temper.
I hate to have to say this Laura, but if you want to be with Jeremy than you are going to have to be the one to eat crow. Somehow you are going to have to convince your wolf to submit and make amends to Jeremy and his tiger before you and he can take steps towards a real relationship.”
I groaned again knowing that Ena was right. Ever since Liam told me that it was possible my beloved had been under the influence of a mental illusion something inside of me had become protective and mistrustful of anyone being around him. I realized now that I was actually jealous that my beloved had been with someone other than me. My wolf and I felt angry and even envious that Jeremy was intimate with Rena. I know it was sick and totally irrational but I couldn’t stop myself from becoming enraged at the thought of Jeremy touching anyone but me. Then, when he allowed Ena to touch him I just lost it.
The worst part was my wolf tried to rationalize our jealousy and anger by saying that Jeremy isn’t our true wolf mate and that he might be our beloved, but Jeremy and his cat are to blame for our loss of control. My wolf actually feels that Jeremy and his cat can’t be trusted and that he just isn’t good enough for us. She thinks we should reject our beloved and just wait for our true wolf mate. My soul disagrees vehemently and now I feel like I am at odds with myself.
My soul and the vampire side of me understand this was a misunderstanding and that our souls complete each other. That side of me just wants to beg Jeremy for forgiveness and make my wolf side obey. My wolf side however says she won’t calm down or even try to accept Jeremy unless we dominate him and his cat and force them to be faithful and subservient to us. Just hearing my wolf in my head got me crying all over again. I just didn’t know what to do. Then I felt my heart flutter in despair as I thought about the words that Jeremy and I flung at each other just before I came upstairs to try to sleep. Both of us shifted back to our human forms and stood just a few feet apart totally naked. I was immediately transfixed by how absolutely gorgeous he was. I wanted to open my mouth and apologize for losing control and beg Jeremy to forgive me.
My wolf however was still in a snit and had no intention of begging for anything. She was growling and shouting in my head that we are superior and that Jeremy needs to apologize first. In an attempt to appease both sides of me I thought it best to not blame or take blame and instead I grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around me while I said as calmly as possible
“Oh wow, are you okay?”
My beloved looked at me like I had three heads. Then he too looked for something to cover himself with. Once he was covered he said and not to kindly I might add
“Yes, but what the hell was that? Is your wolf nuts or something? It tried to rip out my jugular? Correct me if I’m wrong but I think we are true mates and should want to make love with me not fight me.”
I shouldn’t have gotten angry and I certainly shouldn’t have listened to my wolf but instead of keeping silent or apologizing I said
“Well, if you and your cat could stop touching ever female it sees maybe me and my wolf wouldn’t have gotten so angry.”
Yup those were the words I chose. I watched Jeremy cringe back like I had physically struck him. That's when I knew it was going to take more than a simple sorry.
CHAPTER 6
Laura’s POV
I think I just about started to doze off when I heard my cell phone start buzzing. I looked over at the clock and realized it was just after three in the morning. I growled deep in my throat and slide my finger across the keypad answering the phone. I didn’t even get to say a word before my brother Liam spoke
“Laura, you need to come here now. Get your backside on a plane and bring Ena and your mate with you. I screwed up. I need you to get my ass out of a real bad situation. I think Grier is still alive and I think he has been playing mind tricks on everyone here. The worse part is I'm pretty sure it’s not just him. I think there are others involved. Laura this is way bigger than just one old guy wanting Bastet babies.
I think they are trying to replicate something in our blood. I think these people or Bastet or what ever the hell they are. I think they may have already done something to the Leo’s DNA and I am positive they have done something to mine. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not real anymore. I think I am becoming a danger to myself and everyone here. What if someone is controlling me like they controlled the Leo? You are the only one that has any chance as stopping me if I decide go on the attack. Laura, I need you. You know as a family we are stronger together than apart. Hurry sis before people start needlessly dying.”
Then in my brothers typical fashion he hung up without giving me a chance to get a single word in. My body shuddered at the words my brother left unsaid. I knew what Liam's implications were. Liam was trying to tell me that he thought bad people might use Liam as a weapon. If they did everyone would suffer. Liam was a true warrior undefeated in a fight. I threw my phone onto my mattress and reached into my dresser and started pulling on clothes. I took a deep breath and shouted as loud as I could
“Ena, Jeremy I know you both have excellent hearing. You need to listen to me. There is an emergency back in Ghana. My entire family is in jeopardy. That includes your babies Jeremy. We need to pull ourselves together and leave on a plane tonight. I need you both ready to board the plane in thirty minutes. Are you in?”
I threw my duffel bag onto my bed and was shoving clothes in when I heard both Ena and Jeremy respond almost simultaneously
“I’m in!”
Aside from the fact that Jeremy had to fly as a big pain in the ass tiger, everything else about the flight to Ghana was relatively uneventful. I had Liam on the phone the moment we landed. Liam explained that since our last call that my nephew Micah had gone missing and was presumed dead since our sister Linda saw a vampire burning in a fire. I couldn’t stop a lone tear from escaping my eye when I thought of Rena and the cubs having to live without him. Then before I could say anything Liam said.
“Sis, something is just not right about any of it though. I went to the place they claimed they saw his dead body. I just wanted to say goodbye. But, there was no evidence of a fire. In fact, there was no evidence of anyone or anything but our family having been there in months. Mom swears Rena killed a bunch of humans on that very spot because they tortured and killed Micah. The evidence just didn't support that. I am positive Linda, Ian and Rena were all manipulated. I also think Grier has Micah and is doing something to prevent him from reaching out to Rena.
It’s weird though bec
ause the longer I sit with mom or Linda or even Rena I start to get confused and I suddenly think I'm wrong. There are times during the day when I could almost swear I too saw the fire pit and dead humans lying all over the place. Hell, I even agreed just this morning to go out and bury them. It’s weird, but I keep coming in and out of the illusion. I'm not sure what the truth anymore.
When you get here, go straight to Quinza’s camp. It’s a tree camp about fifty miles due east into the Serengeti. Have your mate use his nose, he’ll find it. They’ll want to treat Jeremy like a god. All he needs to do is show them he’s a Bastet. Most important please stay the hell away from the hotel all of you. That’s where the illusion seems to be centered. I’ll come by just after nightfall and we can figure out our next steps.”
I hung up the phone and brought Jeremy and Ena up to speed. Thankfully Jeremy already shifted back to his human form. Jeremy was even already dressed in black khaki shorts and a sleeveless tee-shirt. I couldn’t stop myself from appreciating how handsome he looked. Even my wolf who was still being a giant pain in the ass purred at the sight of him. I must have been staring and gawking at Jeremy for longer than was appropriate because I suddenly felt Ena slap the back of my head. Then she looked smartly at me and said
Shredded Bonds, a Blood Ties Novel, Book 4 Page 3