Hellhounds

by Esther E. Schmidt

  “Eliana.” Velma sighs. “Please tell me he didn’t put his teeth near your neck area.”

  “Ooookay, so I won’t tell you then.” I couldn’t help it. I still don’t know why I let my head fall to the side, surrendering to the feeling of righteousness being engulfed by him. In his arms, like I belonged there.

  Curses spill from my sister’s mouth, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Did you bite him too? Shit, Eliana.”

  “I’m not the sister with fangs, remember? I’m nothing special,” I mutter as I glance around the room. I see a door and gently try to open it. “Just found a bathroom.”

  “Is there a window? Can you see how far up you are? Anything?” My sister rambles on. “Eliana, be serious and answer me this…did you get any of his blood inside you?”

  “Uhmmm ieeuuuwww. No.” And that’s not going to change any time soon. Did you get his blood…shit, he took mine, right? When he…

  “Suck it up, buttercup. For real, because from what you just told me, you won’t have a choice.” Velma snickers. “He claimed you. And believe me when I say that I will get in your face, and his. Ugh, dammit, talk about insanity. I mean, how the hell could this have happened? When did you guys meet? Him claiming you means you’re his true mate, Eliana. The exchange of blood will seal the deal, you guys will be linked forever to one another. This can’t be true, tell me you’re making this up. A Hellhound, Eliana! A damn Hellhound! You shouldn’t be dragged into my world, well…not more than the toe you have dabbed in there already. Shit, how did your ass land all the way in there, huh?” She finally stops rambling.

  That toe I have dabbed into the paranormal world? That would be the bloodline I share with her, same father and all…but my mother was human. Like me. I can’t turn into something else and I don’t have any powers that I’m aware of.

  “I was done with my last shift and when I walked out and head for the train station. When I got there, there was this drunk and he tried to…well, let’s just say we had a discussion about what was never going to happen. Stupid drunk, oversexed maniac. Then he got mad and…next thing I know I had this gut feeling that there were people behind me, so I glanced back and saw these two dudes. They were wearing leather cuts like dad’s MC. So I thought, here comes the reapers to help me out, right? Except…they were different from what you’ve showed me and told me.” I sigh and walk back into the room and sit my ass down on the bed.

  Then I realize I’m in someone else’s room and there might be cooties. Yikes. Jumping off, I pat down my tight black jeans and zip up my hoodie some more. Then I notice another door on the other side of the room.

  Did I mention the room is rather boring? As in there’s only a bed, a closet, and a TV on the wall. Everything from the floor, walls, and ceiling is wood. Gently, I open the door which leads to a hallway.

  “That’s because they’re from the Hell Charter, silly!” Velma sighs. “You are so freaking screwed. Seriously, dad is going to flip if he ever finds out. Even if you guys don’t have any contact…he will still flip. But there’s nothing you, me, or him can do now. Maybe…”

  “Maybe, what?” I whisper while I slowly tiptoe through the hallway to find a way out of here.

  “Maybe the blood link from one side will wear off? Dammit, I don’t know. Our kind aren’t supposed to mix, never even heard about it happening either. But you’re not a pure-blood. I have to ask around to be sure. Just don’t swallow anything that comes from that guy, okay?” Velma orders before her voice turns into a slighter happy tone. “Gotcha, sis. The tracker on your phone still works. Hang tight, I’ll be there in ten minutes tops.”

  “Sure thing. See you soon.” I end the conversation and slide the phone back into my pocket.

  Okay, the ‘you’re not a pure-blood’ comment hurt. Although I know she didn’t mean anything by it. She never treats me differently, unlike our asshole of a father. In fact, she’s the only family I have left, and the only person on this earth who matters to me.

  I don’t have time to wallow in self-pity. I need to focus on my surroundings. Before I tucked my cell away, I saw what time it was. It’s so weird, because it’s only an hour after my shift ended. Then the incident at the station happened, so that means I was out for like what? Twenty minutes give or take?

  At the end of the hall there are murmurs coming from the open space in front of me. I need to be more than quiet. My sister has enhanced hearing and can hear anything, so these guys probably can too.

  There’s no way I’m going to slide out of here unnoticed if the only exit is through the space in front of me. There are tables to the left and right occupied by massive guys. One is shaved bald and has tattoos all over his face. Another guy has hair so long it’s hanging over onto the table in front of him. They all look so different but they all look tough, have muscles, and appear ready to kick ass at any time.

  Oh, and all of them are wearing a leather cut saying Death by Reaper MC. When I squint my eyes I can read the part underneath, what I missed the first time; Hell Charter. Holy freaking shit. Me and my stupid brain. Hellhounds. Hello. That’s why my sister was freaking out.

  Dammit. I am absolutely…

  “You’re up early.” I remember that voice from earlier. That’s Os’ voice coming from behind me.

  Screwed.

  Uh huh, royally screwed, that’s me. “Yeah, well...that’s because I was in the wrong bed, and most definitely in the wrong place. I’m going home. So if you would excuse me...”

  There’s a loud whistle from Os before his voice booms. “Prez. Your woman is on the run.”

  I mentioned that I was royally screwed, right? Yeah...good thing I can sense my sister is close. Don’t ask. It’s weird and I can’t explain it, it’s a gut feeling.

  Spinning around, I poke the mutt in the pecs. “You, are very annoying.”

  There’s an arm sneaking around my waist and I’m being pulled against a hard chest. Oh, shit...here we go again. Seriously, the second this man touches me it’s like I’m flaming up on the inside, every cell in my body melting. It’s like he’s made for me, to save me, catch me, comfort me, protect me, anything as long as it concerns me.

  Without thinking I turn in his embrace. I gaze up in his deep, dark eyes that display a longing for me. His lips close in and before I know it, my back hits the wall, my legs surround his waist, and my ankles lock to keep him close. I never want to let him go.

  He crashes his mouth against mine and growls, that’s the moment I bite his lip. Our kiss becomes a hunger while his taste intensifies by his blood on my tongue, exploding into endless lust for each other by the both of us. Somewhere in the back of my mind I hear glass shattering. Alastair breaks the connection of our bodies devouring each other.

  “Fuck. Incoming. I got this, Prez,” Os throws over his shoulder as I watch how a ball of flames swallows him midair until he touches the floor with his front paws; a Hellhound in full glory.

  Alastair tries to shove me behind him, but right before this action, I see a white glimpse, the Hellhound is heading straight for it.

  “Nooooooo,” I yell as I worm myself out of Alastair’s grip and manage to run forward and stand in between the two beasts who are now circling each other.

  One white, one black. The white one doesn’t have the red fire misting around the fur, nope, it’s blue fire. While the Hellhound looks ferocious, this white one is more like a serene version of it. It’s the same size as the black one, don’t get me wrong…but the white one has more of a ‘wow’ factor while the Hellhound has a ‘run like hell’ factor.

  “Come here, gorgeous. Get out of the damn danger zone.” Alastair’s voice is both worried and determined, ordering me with a hand gesture to come to him.

  I shake my head and point at Os. “Call him off.”

  Alastair’s eyebrows shoot toward the ceiling before he growls, “Come here.”

  Both anger and despair fill me. My hands clench into fists. “No,” I snap, and with that a shockwave blasts throu
gh the room with me in the center of it.

  Everybody lands on their asses, the two beasts scramble to their paws.

  There’s a bright blue flash before my sister’s voice booms through the room. “I talked to you less than ten minutes ago and you managed to seal the mating? And don’t deny it because I can damn well sense the power of the shockwave coming from you, and…”

  Os steps closer to my sister. “Who are you?”

  “Screw you.” My sister almost bites his head off with those two words.

  “Oh, sweetheart, lead the way and I’ll give you the screwing of a lifetime,” Os purrs.

  My sister’s eyes flare bright blue. Not good, not good at all.

  “Alastair, make Os stand down. He’s taunting my sister and she’s seconds away from detonating.” My demand seems to push Alastair into action.

  He steps up in between them and holds his palm up to Os. “Stand down,” he snaps while his gaze finds mine. “Sister?” he questions.

  I shrug. “Half-sister actually, but we don’t do things half way, so that’s just a minor technicality.”

  “Fuck. No wonder I couldn’t get a full read on you. You’re tainted,” the asshole formerly known as Alastair mutters.

  Tainted? I’m tainted? What the hell? “Oh, that’s just great. You know what? I’ll make this easy for all of us.” I grab my sister by the hand. “Thank you for saving me from that drunk at the station earlier tonight, but we’ll be going. Me and my tainted ass are going to walk out of here before you do get a good read on me and discover just how awesome I am and you completely missed out.” Okay that last part I growled, but the asshole has me all pissed.

  He’s acting nothing like he did before, back when he made me feel all special. Suddenly he makes it come across like I’m a worthless piece of tainted...

  “Don’t fucking finish that sentence, gorgeous,” Alastair growls. “You wouldn’t like the punishment I have planned for anyone who degrades another person, even when you’re the subject of your own bullying.”

  “Anyone who degrades another person.” Look who’s talking. I roll my eyes at the idiot. Wait... the subject of your own bullying? I pin him with a deadly glare and speak my thoughts in my head. “You’re able to hear my thoughts?”

  There’s a freaking smirk on his face. His mouth doesn’t move but I hear his voice clearly in my head. “Yeah, gorgeous. We’re mated, that also means we’re telepathically connected. Leaving isn’t an option. I can, and will, find you wherever you are in this world, same goes for you. All you have to do is think of me and you will automatically sense where I am.”

  “Quit babbling in your heads,” my sister snaps. “Throw it out in the open because I won’t have you influencing my sister any more than you already have.”

  “There’s nothing to fucking influence. She’s mine. I knew the instant her scent entered my nose,” Alastair growls.

  “Great,” I mutter. “Must have been the tainted part that spiked your attention.”

  He’s in my face with my next breath, his fingers around my throat and his eyes flaming. Not the kind where you see lust swirling, nope…the kind with actual flames. That’s somehow weirdly impressive if you ask me. Shit. It’s clearly his anger rising and here I am thinking it’s pretty damn sexy.

  “Didn’t we just have an understanding about bullying? Even if you’re degrading yourself? Quit being stuck on the tainted part. I only mentioned it because your scent wasn’t like any other human. It was different, it had a twist, another element, something I couldn’t get a full read on.” Alastair’s growling words rumble through his chest. “I can always filter out what stands before me, human, paranormal…except…I caught a hint and it blindsighted me, it wasn’t pure.” His chin points in the direction of my sister before it’s facing me again. “Not like a Guardian, but very different.”

  “Well then you should have said that, don’t you think? And for real…asking gets you to the direction you want to go. Making assumptions or ignoring and shoving stuff away will only taint your brain. Lesson learned, Hellhound?” Out of breath, that’s me. Not because his fingers are tightening around my throat, nope…because the flames in his eyes are intensifying.

  I lose the connection with his gaze when he inches closer and brings his mouth next to my ear. “I’ll be sure to give you a lesson in return later on, Eliana.”

  Hmmm. Why wait when we can run to your room right now? I purr inside my head, because just the thought of this man…

  Before I can finish my thoughts, I’m hauled over his shoulder while he’s walking into the direction of the hallway. “Os, keep her sister happy. I need to handle something.” For a moment I feel his body freeze before he swirls around. “Not that way, fucker,” Alastair growls before we disappear into the hallway, for what I’m guessing, is his room.

  Damn…I love this telepathically connected thing already.

  Chapter Three

  ***Alastair***

  Stepping over the threshold, I spin around and slam the door shut before I let her slide down my body and pin her against it.

  “You completely consume me, and dammit, my dick hasn’t even entered you yet,” I growl out that confession because she needs to know.

  “Well, what’s stopping you? We’re alone, behind a closed door. By all means, start consummating,” Eliana whispers, her breath hotter than anything I’ve ever felt.

  When my lips touch hers, everything around us falls away. It’s electrifying, pulses of lust building in my veins. It’s mutual, that’s obvious when she groans and grinds against me. Eliana gasps, allowing me the opportunity to slide my tongue inside her mouth. I should have known...she’s a slice of pure heaven. Even if she’s half human, half Guardian, she’s my own piece of heaven. Surrendering myself to her taste, I feel as if I need more. Just our mouths connected isn’t enough.

  My fingers trail down her body, stopping to knead her perfect breast in my hand. Even if it’s through the fabric of her hoodie, I need to worship it before I slide down to reach the place between her legs.

  I grip her pussy and growl into her mouth. “First time will be on repeat a few times before we’re able to leave this room. Marking your body by spraying my cum inside your pussy won’t soothe the urge by doing it one single time. The Hellhound inside me burns to fill you up repeatedly. I might not be able to stop fucking you until my seed has taken root. That’s how much I revel in our connection. Understood?”

  She shivers but her face shows no hint of fear, yet...her thoughts are closed to me, as private thoughts should be. But she’s my mate and I can sense that something is up. My hand leaves the spot between her legs and is now cupping her sweet face. My thumb traces her bottom lip. “What is it, gorgeous?”

  Telepathic abilities are a tricky thing. The mind knows exactly when and what to share, and what to keep to itself. At this moment, it pains me that her mind doesn’t automatically share her fear with me, although I do respect her privacy.

  “I don’t know what to...expect...or do...or…” she whispers, and it’s then I realize how blessed I am in this moment.

  My nose points to the ceiling while I close my eyes and voice to myself. “My mate is untouched.”

  My eyes find her blue depths, then I place my forehead against hers. I hope Eliana can see the admiration and raw feelings I have for her, but before I can voice them, there are loud noises coming from the center of the clubhouse. Sounds like there’s some massive destruction going on.

  “Is someone fighting out there? Oh…shit,” Eliana mutters. “I bet my sister is part of the rampage.”

  I throw out some curses before we rush out the door. Eliana bumps right into my back when I come to an abrupt stop. I feel how she wants to go around me, but I reach out to keep her protected behind my back. In front of me there’s only utter destruction. In the middle of it there are two beasts circling each other. One Hellhound, one Guardian. Our kinds don’t mix well, or so it seems, due to this scene in front of me. We never run i
nto each other because we function on opposite sides.

  A Guardian is there to protect the people. So are we, but where we take the rotten, tainted souls, a Guardian prevents the untainted souls from harming themselves. For instance, talking people off a ledge…both figuratively and literally, speaking. That’s what they do, where we might motivate a screwed up soul that’s a danger to mankind to take that ledge and slip the fuck off it. Basically, they save, we take.

  See how there’s a fine line between good and bad, right and wrong, and we all put the humans first? There is a difference though. The Guardians’ exterior is very similar to the Hellhound, except it’s the flipped visual of it. One white, one black, one blue flames, one red flames.

  “Fuck,” I growl to myself because this can never end well.

  “Shit,” Eliana mutters behind me. “Os can’t hurt Velma. Kagan will kill him if he does.”

  “Kagan?” I question.

  Eliana releases a sound of disgust. “That’s the guy our father picked for Velma. He’s a really messed-up asshole if you ask me. I’ve never met him, but some of the things Velma told me about him?” Anger swirls in her eyes. “He picks up sluts right in front of Velma and sucks their faces, and one time he even fucked one right in front of her. A damn manwhore if you ask me. She told me our father does nothing. Nothing! Because in their book, it’s allowed because they aren’t mated yet. If you ask me, that Kagan fucker keeps putting it off because he loves to fuck around and rub it in my sister’s face.”

  There’s a loud growl as I watch my VP shift, walking straight up to the white Hellhound. “Tell me where the fucker is. Right now.” Os’ voice blasts through the clubhouse.

  Velma shifts and gets into Os’ personal space. “Stay out of it, he’s none of your concern and neither am I.”

  Os visibly fumes. There’s no time for anyone to react when he buries his fist in her hair, tilts her head, and bites down where her neck meets her collarbone. Pulling his head back, he bites his own lips before he crashes his mouth down over hers.