She spoke calmly which surprised everyone, even her. “I’m a Vampire? Zach, am I a Vampire?”
He nodded once and she saw a tear in his eye. Her mate was crying?
“Zach … it’s okay. Well I don’t know if it is cause I feel awful, my insides are on fire and so is my skin ... the pain ... I can’t even try to describe it.”
James interrupted, “Yes, Alex – you made it through the first stage, you’re now in the second. This is the most painful, your body is fighting what’s going on. It shouldn’t last too much longer.”
She nodded but still was wondering what James was doing in their room. Wait – this wasn’t her room?
“Zach, you did what you had to, if you doing this saves you, then it’s worth it. I would do anything to stop you from dying, Zach – you know that.”
Another tear dropped from his eye. “I would kiss you just now but I know your skin can’t stand to be touched, so I’ll keep it for later.”
Alex smiled and then grimaced again – the pain was coming back.
She stiffened, threw her head back and screamed again and again. Her body was thrashing about all on it’s own, she couldn’t control it and Zach was holding her down so she didn’t hurt herself. She could hear James’s voice, “Hold on, Alex – hold on – don’t fight it, it makes it worse, try not to fight, Alex.”
His gravelly voice was making it through and she tried to do as he told her, but her body wasn’t listening to her brain and she strained and bucked, all the while screaming. Finally, finally the pain started to recede. She was panting and her throat was parched. “Water … I need water.”
It was James who answered. “Alex I’m really sorry, but you can’t have any just yet. Nothing can pass your lips until you’ve changed and had your first feed.”
What? What did he just say? Feed? Shit. Blood – he meant blood.
Then the stories came back to her, the ones about newly-turned Vampires and their blood-lust. She could hurt someone. Something Zach said came back to her … something about David and the babies. She screamed at him “Zach, the babies! What happened to our babies?!”
Zach talked soothingly, trying to calm her. “It’s okay, they are both fine, they’re at home. Tatiana, Irina and probably a host of others are looking after them. I brought you away, honey, I couldn’t have you around them just now, it’s too dangerous.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She hadn’t seen them ... she hadn’t seen her babies.
Zach pulled out his phone, flicked through it then held it out in front of her face. “Here they are, Irina sent me these earlier, I forgot, sorry.”
There on the screen were her twins, one in Irina’s arms and the other in Tatiana’s. Both were beautiful, beyond beautiful and she cried openly now. Her babes were safe.
“They look gorgeous, Zach, our babies look gorgeous,” she cried.
He smiled down at her. “Yes, honey, they are. Lexi has black hair like mine and my grey eyes, Conall has your strawberry-blonde hair and green eyes. Lexi’s hair is curly like yours too. They are both perfect. I hated taking you from them but I had to.”
She smiled. “I know Zach, I understand …” The spasms struck again and she went swirling down to pain and fire and more pain.
This stage went on far longer than it should have and well into the next evening. Zach was beginning to realise that she might not make it and James was worried too, it showed on his face.
Alex was in such pain that she screamed for hours, only stopping for short periods and then starting again. At times when she was lucid she thought it might have been better to die.
Late the next evening, the pain subsided and didn’t come back for a long time. She was just beginning to think it was over when it started again.
Zach was horrified, watching his mate in this pain. He couldn’t understand how she could stand it for this extended period – far more than he himself had done when he was turned.
James’s phone started getting texts in the afternoon but he was too busy helping Zach so he ignored it. Plenty of time for phones when Alex made it through this.
Finally, at about ten at night, Alex had the last bout and she fell into a deep sleep. Zach relaxed, slightly … they still had a long way to go.
James got up and stretched his back. He looked at Zach, who appeared exhausted. “Why don’t you lie down, get some sleep? I’ll sit in the chair and watch over her. If she wakes I’ll make sure you do too.”
Zach nodded. The last few days had seemed like a lifetime, he was drained.
Before he laid down, James added “When you wake, you need to feed. Don’t argue, Zach, I won’t listen, you’re going to need your strength to get Alex through this. All of your strength, so you’re going to have some donor blood when you wake – okay?”
Zach thought for a minute, knowing James was right. “Okay James.” He laid down and fell fast asleep.
*****
James sat in the chair near the window, watching over Alex. He pulled his phone out and scrolled through the messages. One from Vlad asking what was happening, one from Irina asking the same, then five from Lisa.
At first it was just ‘how’s it going’ then ‘I’m sorry please forgive me’ then another ‘is everything ok?’, then ‘James are you ok? I miss you’ and finally ‘James please forgive me please let me know everything’s ok and I don’t care if I shouldn’t say this but I can’t live without you please answer me’.
James thought long and hard before texting back. ‘Lisa I care about you, I would like you to be in my life but if your father won’t allow it what do we do?’
He pressed send and almost immediately she replied ‘I’ll find a way James. I will! I want your arms around me, I want to feel you inside me, all the time – forever.’
When James read this he became hard and wished he was with her, hoping that she could talk her father around. He texted her again. ‘Ok my Wolf. If things are bit better tomorrow I’ll come meet you half way on the track. Will text tom.’
Again she replied instantly: ‘Ok see you tom x’.
James sat back and tried sorting everything in his head. They had to talk, that was for sure. What was she wanting, did she want him to come here and live?
If so then things were a non-starter, he couldn’t live with a Wolf Pack. Too much community spirit type stuff, no Vampires and there didn’t seem to be a lot of technology around. Shit, he loved all his gadgets and flying the jet.
No, he couldn’t do that but would she be willing to come back to Unity with him? He would need to find out before they took anything further.
He knew if it went any further at all, he couldn’t give her up. She would be coming with him.
Chapter 11
When James left Lisa on the track, she had morosely walked home. She hadn’t cared if she met anyone but luckily she hadn’t. That was until she got home.
She walked in the door and her mother was in the kitchen and shouted through. “Lisa, that you? Where’ve you been? I’ve left something to eat for you in the oven, if you don’t want it please put it in the bin. I hate getting up and finding your non-eaten food still in the oven congealing.”
Her mother walked out, saw Lisa’s tears and rushed to her, wrapping her in her arms and asking, “Honey, what’s the….”
Then she stilled. Her mother pulled back with a frown on her face. “Lisa, you know what I can smell – and you’re crying. Who hurt you? Did one of those Vampires rape you?”
Her mother’s voice had risen and Lisa was shaking her head. Could this get any worse?
She looked at her mother sadly. “No Mom, nobody raped me, something wonderful’s happened to me but everything’s such a mess. I don’t know what to do!”
She started crying for real now. Her mother ushered her through to the lounge, sitting her down on a sofa and then sitting beside her.
“Okay Lisa, tell me everything, maybe I can help.”
Lisa shook her head. “No, Mom, you can’t, it’s a
ll a mess. Okay, right, here we go … last night I met the pilot of the plane that brought Zach and Alex. His name’s James. I was drawn to him instantly and, well, my Wolf was howling in glee. She was telling me to mark him!”
Her mother gasped. “Lisa, are you sure that’s what your Wolf was saying? Really?”
Lisa nodded before going on. “Yeah, Mom. He was behind me and I caught his scent and my Wolf went wild, and my body … well I won’t embarrass either of us by telling you what it was doing! So, he said he was coming back to help Zach and I said I would meet him at the airstrip and come back with him – show him the way, and he said yes. So we did and well Mom, my body was doing stuff I didn’t want it to do, jeez I had only just met him but I had no control. My Wolf was howling and howling ... it was a bit scary, that’s never happened before. Well one thing led to another and we stopped at the side of the road and talked and then we got to the cabin, where things went further. Mom, I couldn’t help myself, I know that sounds lame but I couldn’t. I want him, Mom – really, truly, deeply. I feel like I won’t be able to breathe if he isn’t in my life, but he’s a Vampire, Mom. What am I going to do!”
Lisa started to cry all over again. Her mother pulled her into a hug and patted her back.
“Oh dear, Lisa, you’ve got yourself into a pickle. A Vampire … your father’s not going to be happy, honey.”
Lisa nodded. “I know, Mom, I know, and when he was dropping me off I told him to drop me a ways back ’cause I was going to go Wolf through the stream – to get rid of the scents, ya know, and he asked me why and I told him Dad wouldn’t be happy and he got angry saying I shouldn’t have started stuff if I knew I couldn’t follow through. He was really upset Mom, and I just jumped out and came home.”
Her mom was rocking her back and forth, like she used to do when she was a child. “Oh baby, you’ve got it bad, haven’t you? Are you sure about this man, Lisa? I mean really, really sure?”
Lisa sighed and hiccupped. “I’m more sure of this than anything else, Mom, more sure he’s my mate than that the sun rises in the morning. More sure than the fact I’m a Wolf. More sure than anything, Mom ... he’s my true mate. What can I do?” she pleaded.
Her mom looked softly at her oldest daughter. “Well there’s always the old way, what Wolves used to do in the olden days when there was a pairing they wanted but parents didn’t.”
Lisa frowned. “What, Mom? I’ve not heard about that?”
Her mom laughed. “Of course not, no father would want his daughter to know. If the male takes the female to his Pack, or in this case home, and mates – truly mates with the blood bond and has a ceremony before his Pack, or whatever the Vampire equivalent would be – then that’s it. A mating can’t be undone, it’s final. Of course it can result in a fight if the father of the female is really against it, he can challenge the male to a fight to the death. Although that only ever happened a couple of times I know of. Or the mate can offer payment for his daughter, after the fact of course, which can be anything from hard cash to land, to farm animals, whatever the father needs or wants. It’s been many years since I’ve heard of it happening, though.”
Lisa thought on this. Would it work, would James be willing to do this? Take the chance her father may want to fight him for her or pay for her? Shit, she didn’t even know if he had any money – she certainly didn’t.
No unmated females in their Pack were allowed to work outside the Pack. Their father provided everything for them – food, clothes, cars, everything apart from money, because money gave them a freedom that most didn’t want them to have. Maybe it would all be too much hassle for him. Her Wolf was telling her he was her mate, but he couldn’t understand this – he wasn’t Wolf. She would see how things went the next time they met, she could only pray that he felt for her even a portion of what she felt for him.
Then something popped into her head. “Mom, there’s something else. He’s … well, he’s got scars, pretty bad ones and he kinda keeps to himself because of them. He’s quite shy around new folks.”
Her mother looked at her with a frown. Scars? Her gorgeous daughter had fallen for someone who was scarred?
“Don’t Vampires heal? Why has he got scars?”
“He was standing just about on top of a bomb when it went off, if he hadn’t been a Vampire he wouldn’t have survived. The strange thing about it is I don’t see the scars. I know they’re there, I can feel them, but I don’t really see them. When I look at him, my breath goes away – I only see my mate. He’s gorgeous in my eyes, Mom.”
Lisa smiled shyly at her mom, never having had this kind of conversation with her before.
Her mother pulled her once more into her arms. “If he has scars you don’t see, he is most definitely your true mate, Lisa. We’ll need to work it out, before your father returns from Arizona. Try not to worry, I’ll help you and I don’t care if your father punishes me, I’m going to help you, honey.”
Lisa felt much better, her mom was on her side, that was a major plus. She was sure they could sort it – couldn’t they?
*****
Dawn felt sorry for her daughter. What a mess! But if this Vampire was indeed Lisa’s true mate, then she would have to help. She knew the consequences and was prepared to take whatever was dished out to her – for Lisa’s sake.
Dawn shivered. Her own mate, Kade, was mostly a caring mate and father. However, if he was crossed, he could be nasty. Lisa never saw this side to him apart from a few times. Lisa was the only one of their children that rebelled and sometimes wouldn’t submit to her Alpha – her dad – and had been punished. A few bruises and locked in her room, nothing too bad, but Dawn knew if she helped Lisa … well, she would be getting more than that. She wouldn’t tell Lisa, she had enough to cope with.
Dawn had been getting more than that ever since she was mated to Kade. She was the only one who ever saw that side of him, that was why he took her to the cabin in her mating period. He would say to folks it was because of jealousy. Dawn knew the truth, it was so he could do whatever he wanted to her there – and nobody heard her screams.
Dawn smiled at her daughter. “Okay, honey, please try and not worry, go to bed and get some rest. If you do see this Vampire again, you need to be careful. Nobody in the Pack can see you and definitely don’t come home smelling of him again. We need to take this easy, if he is your mate we can’t give anything away, your father can’t know. Do you understand? This is serious, honey – your father cannot know.”
Dawn knew Lisa saw the worry on her face. “Yeah, mom, I’ll be careful, I promise.”
Chapter 12
Tatiana walked into the nursery and went to the cot. The twins were awake and holding each other’s hand. Tatiana smiled, they were gorgeous but she could feel the power in them. It was very strange and she wondered just how powerful they would be.
She noticed them looking intently into each other’s eyes and if Tatiana didn’t know better she would say they were communicating in some way. But of course that was just silly, she gave her head a quick shake. You’re imagining things you silly old Fairy, she told herself.
She spoke down to them. “Hello you two, are you hungry yet?”
Both twins’ heads swivelled and looked up at her, both had a slight smile. This was getting very odd. Newborns couldn’t do that. Conall’s hand left his sister’s and moved it towards Tatiana. Jeez, she loved these two babes but sometimes she got just a teeny bit creeped out.
Irina walked in with the bottles, her usual cheerful self. “Here’s the formula, Tatiana, which do you want to feed?”
Tatiana looked down and Conall was still holding his hand out. “I think I’ll take Conall this time.” She picked him up, his smile was broad and once more she had a little bit of apprehension.
She didn’t feel anything bad from the babies but this was just weird. Irina got Lexi and they both walked through to the living room, sitting down to feed them. Irina was chattering away and Tatiana didn’t hear a word she said
, she was still staring at Conall and his eyes hadn’t left hers.
Finally something Irina said got through to her mind and she tuned back in. “Sorry Irina, what was that?”
“Oh I was just saying that all the bodies are gone now. Most of the Wolves that died, well they were taken back to their Pack land for burial. The Vampires don’t do burials so those were burned on a large pyre. I didn’t go, Vlad said it would be upsetting but I had wanted to go to support him, ya know?”
Tatiana nodded. “Yes my dear, I know. Vlad was probably right though, you don’t need those images in your head. Thadius said the ground that the battle was on is nearly cleaned too, they burned them also. I could smell it last night, couldn’t you?”
Irina’s face scrunched up. “Yes, it was really bad, I felt sick so I got some of that stuff for colds and rubbed it under my nose. I don’t know how Vlad and the others could do it. It must’ve been awful for them.”
Tatiana thought on all the awful things that Vlad had to deal with over the past few days, she hoped it didn’t change him. War and battles and their aftermath tended to do that but Vlad had fought in battles many times, some just as awful as this. Of course that was a very, very long time ago. She thought maybe if he hadn’t had Irina and the twins to come home to, it would’ve affected him a lot more.
Her thoughts turned to Alex. She wondered how she was and if she had got through the first two stages unscathed. She knew it was a harrowing ordeal, but of course they hadn’t had a choice, it was that or she died.
James had finally texted to say she was through the first and in the middle of the second stage, so maybe she would make it. Tatiana hoped so. Irina constantly asked Vlad if he had heard anything about Alex and most of the time he would shake his head. Irina’s face would fall and she looked sad and worried. At those times, Tatiana would distract her with something to do with the twins – they always made Irina smile – and that’s what Tatiana would continue to do until they had concrete news, either way.
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