I had run out of time the wolves had found me. I reached out to Ena in my mind. “Ena, there is no time for me to explain. I have made a terrible mistake and I can't allow my beloved to die for it. Take note of the image I will be sending you in a moment. I've hidden him there in a trace. Get to him in the next ten hours if possible.” Then I flashed Ena our exact location and pulled myself to my feet.
I felt the first bite to my side and dropped to the ground. They were on me like wild wolves on a doe. I could feel them pulling chunks of flesh from me. There were more than thirty wolves tearing and feasting on my body. I had never thought that anything could be so painful. Who would have thought that my ending would come this way? I was being eaten alive. I felt one of the wolves tear into my abdomen and begin eating my intestines and other innards. I felt my chest being torn open and knew they were finally going after my heart. Thank god, I thought soon I would be gone. I put the image of my tiny little beloved in my mind and held on to it until I felt myself slip away.
(Leona's POV)
I picked up an arm and realized there was a tiny sliver of the vampire heart still undamaged. I carefully lifted it in my hand and examined it to make sure it was a viable piece of heart. I gasped out loud when I realized the vampire didn't have to remain dead. We could allow her to regenerate.
I called out to Kenyan and quietly told him what I'd found. Truth be told I know they were both grieving but the vampire did kidnap a baby and seemed to be pretty insane. I grew up in fear of the wolf slayer. No pack of werewolves was safe from her. Perhaps it was better that she remain dead.
(Joel's POV)
I grew up knowing the truth about my beloved. She had been an elder that had gone insane when she found out she was soul mated to a wolf. She kidnapped me as an infant and managed to get herself killed trying to run from my parents and the wolves that she made enemies.
I wasn't unhappy knowing that I had lost my chance for a true mate but I had to tell myself that I would find love without the fates. Katie and I had gotten to know each other over time and had grown to love each other more than any love the fates could force on me. I was going through med school and had already made my intentions clear to Katie and my family. After graduation I was coming home to marry Katie in the traditional human fashion then we would create our own blood blond and our own fate.
That plan and my love for Katie changed the moment I laid eyes on my true beloved. Ramona wanted to try and deny our souls and had allowed me to think she perished all those years ago. She’s been alone and paying penance for her past sins... She’s hell bent on staying out of my life or trying to make me reject her. l don't care if they called her the wolf slayer, I don't care if she was supposed to be dead. The only thing I cared about was making her eternally mine.
(Katie's POV)
How could he tell me that he wasn’t in love with me anymore? I spent twenty years of my life loving him. He is my happy ever after. Joel’s soul may be confused but I intend to turn up the heat until Joel remembers why we love each other.
My wolf and I know that we are true mates. If Joel would just blood bond with me he too would stop being confused. It’s just that he has both a wolf mate and a beloved. Joel is just like Kalli since they are both first born hybrids. The big difference is Kalli did well with both of her mates.
Joel however must be confused since he met his vampire beloved first. I am sure that the fates made a mistake when they soul mated him to Ramona. She was dead and should have stayed that way. If the only thing standing between me and Joel is a decrypt and mentally challenged vampire than I would just have to use some old fashioned tricks to change his mind. I will never give up and hand my true mate to the wolf slayer.
CHAPTER 1
(Ramona’s POV)
My soul ached on a daily basis. I had always been somewhat crazy but I knew that I was becoming completely insane. The pain alone was driving me out of my mind. My soul incessantly cried for its beloved. It knew he was out there and just wanted to touch his soul.
I tried to get rid of the feelings, I tried everything I could think of then I sought those who might know more than me. Nothing satisfied my soul. It wanted its mate and nothing else would do. I roamed through cities and feel nothing for the inhabitants or anything that I see.
My love of life is long gone. I have lived to many years of solitude I allowed my hatred of the wolves to fuel my life and turn me into a monster. I kidnapped my own beloved and risked his life to satisfy my own whimsical feelings. I am not worthy of his love and will never allow my soul to feel his.
I will walk through life for as many years as I have to paying penance for my sins against my beloved. I will make sure that our paths never cross and that he never suffers a single moment because of me. I make sure to keep very close tabs on him so that we are never accidently in the same place. So for that reason alone I couldn’t imagine why my soul was suddenly humming with excitement.
It was like it knew something that I hadn’t yet figured out for myself. I looked around and didn't see any faces that stood out in the crowd. I inhaled deeply and was assaulted with the wonderful fragrance of honeysuckles that I knew belonged to my beloved. I pivoted my head around the restaurant and made eye contact. He was more handsome in person then photos.
His dark brown slightly wavy hair worn like he’d just gotten out of bed. He was dressed in hospital scrubs and still looked like a million dollars. Every woman in the restaurant stopped and gawked at his good looks. He had a very attractive she wolf attached to his side and I briefly found myself wondering if she was his mate.
Part of me wanted to stand up and rip her throat out while screaming at the other women to stop looking at him. Joel belongs to me, always has and always will. Then the rational side of my brain kicked in and I knew I had to get out of there before he realized who he was looking at. I was no longer safe to be around and I knew that my presence alone put my beloved in danger.
I knocked over the table with my hasty exit and several patrons in the restaurant tried to stop and ask me what was wrong. I bolted out of the restaurant and launched into my full speed to get away. I topped out around one hundred and twenty five miles and hours. I looked like a blur to the human eye as I passed by. I charged straight into the desert with the intention putting as much distance between my beloved and I.
I ran until I was deep into the Nevada desert. I dropped onto the cold sand and allowed my emotions free reign. I moved through them like a human moves through grief. First I was in denial; I couldn’t understand how my beloved and I were in the same state nonetheless the same restaurant.
Then I moved on to anger. I was angry at Leona and Kenyan for saving my life. I was angry that I had been such a bad person before Joel’s birth and that I would never be able to be with my beloved. I was angry that I was clinically insane and that my very own mind had turned against me. I was no longer able to rationalize right from wrong. The only time I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that I was doing the right thing was when I stayed away from Joel. I knew I was giving him a chance at real happiness.
That thought moved me on to grief, sadness and depression. This is the phase I have been stuck in for years. Leona assures me if I move past this to acceptance that even my mind will begin to heal. But how can I accept that I lived for thousands of years for the chance to be with my beloved. Only to find him and lose him over the course of a few days.
It was my own fault and my own obsessive behavior that caused me to lose him. I had never allowed myself to heal mentally from the abuse I had lived through at the hands of werewolves. I had gotten to the anger stage and had stayed there for more than a thousand years. I had taken my hurt and anger out on every wolf that crossed my path.
I had never given any of them a chance. I had attacked first and never actually got around to the questions part. I had always assumed they were all guilty. Many of them might have been but I am also sure many had been innocent.
If I had ever actually allow
ed myself to move through all the steps maybe I wouldn't have been such a bad person. Maybe just maybe I wouldn’t have killed so many innocent wolves. Then, maybe just the tiniest littlest may I would have been able to have Joel’s heart and soul and have finally known what true love felt like.
(Joel’s POV)
The last minute trip to Vegas had been Katie’s idea. I finished my final hours of residency at the hospital last night and we hopped in the car and drove straight to Vegas with the intention of getting married in a chapel and consummating our vowels in the Borgata hotel and casino.
Katie and I had decided to elope since of late my mom and grams have been trying to put a wedge between Katie and me. I really don’t know why since Katie has been part of our family since I was a baby. My grams took Katie under her wing and had helped to shape her into the wonderful woman that I fell in love with.
Then, out of the blue they start saying things like maybe you two are moving too fast. What if Katie has a true wolf mate? She’s not yours or you would know it by now. We all thought when you got older your wolf would recognize hers. Don’t bind her to you and cause yourself and her pain when her true mate comes along.
Katie and I couldn’t disagree more. Both of us feel we know how to make better choices than the fates. I was starving and we decided to stop for a quick bite before checking in. I will still in my scrubs and it wasn't really appropriate for a sit down meal but my soul was pulling me towards this tiny little Italian restaurant that was known more for the wine they served then the food.
Katie had looked at me quizzically and had even raised her eyebrows when I insisted that we eat there. The moment I cross the threshold I felt my soul burst to life. It was like suddenly having a film removed from my eyes and the world lit up with color. I looked around room in wonder at how absolutely beautiful the world suddenly looked.
Then I smelled lilacs and vanilla. I automatically shifted my head and my eyes in the direction of the scent. I saw the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. My eyes locked onto her magnificent obsidian eyes. She had creamy tanned looking skin and dark brown hair which was pulled loosely on top of her head. If I was guessing I would think she was of eastern European descent.
I saw her eye shift and knew that she was getting ready to take. I watched as the table she’d been sitting at flew abruptly into the air and she moved towards the exit. I too started to follow her movements with the intention of stopping her from leaving. I needed to know who she was. I needed to understand why my soul thought she was our beloved.
She got to the exit first and took off at full speed. I blinked and lost sight her. I started to run but found something was holding me back. I looked and realized Katie was holding me with one hand while holding onto a steel light post at the same time. I tried to shrug her off so that I could catch my beloved. I turned and actually growled at her.
The shock of my pulling a pure dominance move on her was enough for her to release me. I took off at full speed following the scent of my beloved. I could hear Katie’s voice echoing in my ears
“Joel, come back. Don’t chase her. She can’t bring you anything but sorrow. Stay with me, we can be happy together. Joel please”
Her words touched me and it hurt that I knew I had to go. I had to track down my beloved. If I had been lucky enough to have a second beloved I would not spit in the eye of the fates. Somehow just being near her changed my life in ways that I never thought possible. I knew to keep what I had today and to feel more of the same I would chase her to the ends of the earth if necessary.
Shredded Bonds, a Blood Ties Novel, Book 4 Page 18