The Blood Bundle, Books 1-2: Blood Singers and Blood Song (New Adult Paranormal Vampire/Shifter Romance)

by Tamara Rose Blodgett

  Where a human face had been and eyes that were a dull brown, bloomed a snout that surged forward into a muzzle with teeth and eyes that were so pale a gold they shone like the sun.

  Those eyes were inches from his face as the teeth of that great mouth held Tony's massive neck between jaws of steel and fur.

  They pressed against the flesh of his throat, just shy of breaking the skin and Tony did a tap out. Lightly affirming his submissiveness to his Alpha by a finger on his flank.

  Lawrence released him and Tony rubbed his neck where all those teeth had just been.

  Fuck, Tony thought, I'll be checking my drawers for shit later.

  “You do not tell me what you will and will not do. I am Alpha,” Lawrence said from a human face with wolf-gold eyes, his voice retaining the rasp of his wolf. Lawrence had made his point. Though Tony wasn't sure if he'd get what he wanted.

  Lawrence's eyes were hooded, receding to the human brown when he said. “Yes. Regardless the cost, bring the Rare One. Bring me Julia Caldwell. She will be the one that tames the Feral.” He gave Tony a sharp look.

  Tony thought about it, finally shaking his head. “No. Let Caldwell have her. They will strengthen the pack and by their closeness I will benefit,” he said, closing his hand into a huge fist of triumph, he could rectify all inequalities later. He liked the sound of a wolf harem. That was more his speed. One in which Lawrence wasn't around to worry about. He kept his ruminations to himself. Keeping his own council had never hurt Tony.

  “What if our Adrianna does not wish for a mating with you?” Lawrence asked as if he didn't know that Adi loathed Tony. “Further, what if Julia Caldwell does not wish to truly be the spouse of Jason both by the human laws and those of the pack?”

  Tony smiled. “When has that ever mattered?”

  “Too true, my second, too true. Our days of democracy when the females had choice are over. There are too few for us to mate indiscriminately. Matings must be arranged with careful deliberation.”

  “You're right,” Tony agreed easily, he had always instinctively understood this.

  “I know. That is why I am Alpha,” Lawrence said, full of his own importance as he gave Tony the subtle reminder of his station within the pack.

  Tony hated that. However, until he could take him, he must submit. When he and Adi were mated, they would be a dangerous Alpha pair. Lawrence was without a mate, he would be weakened by the lack of a partner.

  Tony thought he was expert at exploitation.

  Tony had learned that there was always someone better, faster, stronger. In the case of himself, Tony had never deluded himself on the strength of his intellect. He knew that Lawrence was smarter.

  Sometimes cunning masqueraded as intelligence being creative.

  Tony thought he had that down; it was called strategy with a chaser of patience.

  He would bide his time.

  And that time was coming.

  CHAPTER 16

  Cyn

  Cynthia hoisted the small pack on her back and centered it where it fell neatly between her shoulder blades. Kevin used to call them weapons of destruction. Tears stung her eyes. It was these unguarded moments when grief found a home, slamming into her when she was least prepared, a crashing wave against the bulkhead that eroded at her spirit, her fortitude.

  Then she caught sight of Jason walking toward her and hardened right up. He put steel into her spine she didn't know she had. The traitorous prick.

  “Hey, Cyn,” he said cautiously, his sandy hair swinging out of his eyes with a flick of his head.

  Cynthia turned away and he sighed, Adrianna walking up beside the pair, the silence heavy between them, laden with discord.

  Tony entered the open area that was the entrance to their den, a simple meadow with an outcropping of stones that looked natural but were, in fact, arranged in an ancient order of salutation that would signal to other Were a warning, or in the case of the Northwestern Pack, a welcome.

  “Glad to see everyone's getting along,” Tony chuckled like the asshat he was and Cynthia turned to him, pissed. He was a colossal dick. Figures she'd have to go with these chumps. Jason the chameleon and Tony the troll.

  Perfect.

  She opened her mouth to enlighten him with a snarky retort and Emmanuel was there. Cynthia's cheeks reddened as he gave her a steady look. He was different and she didn't know how but he made her uncomfortable.

  “That is not helpful, Anthony,” Manny said, giving him the look he deserved.

  Tony smirked. Whatever irritated people and got them spun up... well, that was an easy source of amusement to him. When the pain came at his side he whirled, prepared to backhand the offender, as was the way of the Were.

  It was Adi.

  “Hey pal,” she said, a smirk breaking into a grin, her hand lowering from the covert jab she'd nailed him with.

  Tony's hands curled into his fists, instantly pissed, the testosterone surge through his body ten times that of a human male, tempered only by the sure knowledge of his future ownership of her. All of her. The thought of that eventuality made his scowl turn to a smile and he let his look speak for him, using his eyes to undress her, he began at the top of her honey colored head and lingered on all the parts he'd own.

  Adi was not easily embarrassed but after Tony gave her that smile, chock full of creep with a clear undertone of lasciviousness she backed away a little, her smile slipping as his brightened.

  That dickwad had something up his sleeve Adi saw. But what? It spooked her, whatever it was.

  “Cut the theatrics,” Manny told the group at large. “We need to be ready. The drinkers will be. The Singers as well.” His eyes met those of the patchwork quilt of compatriots. He looked at Lawrence's Beta, knowing as Alpha he would not have chosen Anthony, yet Manny was not Alpha. Then he looked at the Feral, a rare red, Jason. Finally he gazed at the skinny blonde Singer, her sad eyes held the fire of her spirit and against his very soul, he was drawn to this one. His soldier's discipline reasserted itself, remembering the directive from his Alpha, he let that command that still rung in his ears slide through his mind again as he looked at Cynthia Adams with barely contained longing.

  He locked down his expression with difficulty.

  “You must complete this mission, Emmanuel,” Lawrence's mud brown eyes held his, not a hint of his wolf in sight.

  Emmanuel sighed, he knew that. But, Singers of enough blood quantum were breedable, mateable. Any wolf with sufficient Alpha as part of their make-up wished to mate. And mate with another female wolf or just as well, a Singer. Singers produced pups that were moonless in some cases. Not bound to Her Call. Only the weak succumbed to a mixed-blood wolf. Or worse, one that was full human. Manny shuddered at the thought of choosing that desperate avenue. A human mating was a dangerous dilution of the Were. Absolute, permanent; taking the wolf out of the human and leaving nothing behind.

  Perhaps the call of all Singers was similar but he'd not felt this way with the Rare One who had been captured and caused the entire den to become salivating madmen. Insane wolves reigning supreme.

  “I wish to seek a mating with the Singer, Cynthia Adams,” Manny said, as serious a request as he'd ever made.

  Lawrence gave a small smile and said, almost to himself, “This is a day for requests, I think.”

  “What?” Emmanuel asked, puzzled.

  “Nevermind, wolf,” Lawrence said, waving a dismissive hand to his voiced implication. “You will have to fight for that right. Are you prepared?”

  Manny gave a low growl. “Who else desires her? Tony?” Emmanuel asked in disbelief but already his wolf clawed for release, the moon but a memory. However, Emmanuel was Alpha enough to be struck by the emanations of change, even though they could not occur this far from the moon's fullness. Emmanuel's war to suppress his wolf showed and Lawrence's lips opened in a responsive growl of his own which followed Manny's, the challenge obvious.

  Emmanuel struggled with his wolf, it had never been so diff
icult as it was now. Where females were involved, it was a near thing. It was as if his wolf was always right underneath the surface.

  “No. Tony is interested in someone else entirely.”

  “Who? The Rare One?” Manny snorted in disdain. As if a crude wolf like that one should lay a claw on the likes of the purest of all Singers? He thought not.

  Lawrence gave a secret smile and answered, “No, it is not her he wants.”

  Emmanuel opened his mouth, made thick with his wolf's proximity and Lawrence made a slicing gesture with his hand, effectively cutting off the question that had hovered on his lips.

  “It does not concern you. I am just thankful my right and left wolf do not desire the same female.”

  As Manny was, giving his Packmaster a nod of deference to be so named.

  “I am counting on you to remain neutral until the successful return of Julia Caldwell.” Lawrence locked gazes with Emmanuel, hammering his point home with his next statement, “You will be favored in mating with Cynthia Adams if you but keep your intentions to yourself.” His Packmaster spread his palms out at the side of his body. “I have given the same expectations of protocol to Anthony as well.”

  It was settled then, Emmanuel determined. Cynthia would be his in due time. He must complete this mission, then he was first in line to be mated with a Singer with potential. Potential for many things. His nose told him chemistry was the highest on that list.

  Now to seek her and hope that she would choose him as well.

  Cynthia watched the handsome wolf look at her with neutral speculation and found herself feeling embarrassed, an alien emotion for Cynthia. So, she reacted like she hadn't been caught noticing him looking at her.

  She shifted her attention to Adi. “Are we ready?” she asked, effectively dismissing both Jason and Emmanuel from her thoughts.

  And that jerkoff, Tony. Cynthia had already figured it was in her best interests to keep that chump in her sights.

  Adi nodded slowly, her mind still on Tony when three other Were approached. One was part of the original Rite of Luna ceremony. Hardened by soldiering for the Were, he had a long scar that bisected his face, a cruel pathway that traversed his eyebrow and came across the bridge of his nose in a jagged snarl of scarred flesh. It had always looked like a lightning bolt to Adi.

  His name was Buck but they all called him Slash. When she was a whelpling he'd held her on his lap and told her of the wars that he'd fought with the male Were and drinkers while Adi had raptly listened. Never knowing that it was he that had planted the first seed that became the warrior that grew within her.

  Now, Adi was one of few female wolves that battled. She was a rare female pureblood Were, she was also a soldier. However, her days were numbered. She must breed when she came of age. And that time was drawing near. No matter how much she avoided it, the signs were there. Too soon for the males to take notice but it would only be a matter of time. Then she'd choose a mate.

  Or they'd choose one for her.

  It always got Adi riled up to think about it. Not that it mattered. There were quality males in the pack. Unfortunately, a female couldn't help what she was and because Adrianna was Alpha, only an Alpha could be her mate. And those were fewer in number. And what about love? It was discounted in the packs dwindling numbers, arranged matings favored instead.

  As Adi thought on these disturbing realities, Tony's eyes found hers and she involuntarily scowled at his skulking ass.

  Gawd how she hated him.

  He grinned and she flipped him the bird.

  “Adrianna,” Emmanuel began then silenced her by saying his next comment in a reprimand that pierced her like a weapon, “what would Joseph wish?”

  Cynthia watched the younger girl's face crumple and she looked at Emmanuel with clear anger radiating out of every pore, the paleness of her green eyes deepening to emerald fire.

  Emmanuel's heart stuttered to see that anger directed at him. He hated leading sometimes: you simply could not please everyone. As a matter of fact, usually there were more people angered than gratified. He stared at the Singer and she returned dominant eye contact. He'd moved before he knew it, the beat of his instinctive need to dominate this female overwhelming. Manny was nearly lost to it when Adi said into Cynthia's ears.

  “Drop your eyes!”

  He was almost on the Singer when those green eyes fell and the anger and need to subdue her cooled to something resembling management.

  “Control issues-much?” Tony sneered and Adi sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Don't touch her,” Jason warned Emmanuel and they growled at each other, Emmanuel's ending in a clear snarl.

  “Don't bother, loser. I didn't ask for your help,” Cynthia told Jason, her eyes cast to her feet.

  Jason stopped like someone had slapped him and turned on his heel, walking away from the group but in the direction of their mission.

  Emmanuel took a deep, calming breath, swaying slightly as her scent undid him further. He needed distance.

  He moved away from her as Tony gave him a considering look.

  Dammit, Emmanuel lamented, that's all he needed, that sadistic wolf to suspect his feelings or intentions for Cynthia.

  Wolves were known for searching for weakness. Manny did not wish for Tony to know his.

  Tony watched the Second to the Packmaster follow after the red Feral in an unnatural and jerky gait.

  Like his body was doing something against his will.

  Tony's eyes snapped to the Singer, then shifted to the retreating back of Emmanuel.

  Interesting, he thought, Manny was hot to screw the Singer. Of all the wolves, he was the coolest cucumber of them all. But not about this.

  That could prove useful, Tony decided.

  Very.

  He followed, the three soldiers and Adi trailing behind. A disgruntled and agitated Cynthia in accompaniment.

  Slash took the last position.

  He liked to have his own back. He was also happier than hell to have Tony forward of his position, let him be point.

  He didn't trust that miserable fuck as far as he could throw him.

  *

  Region One

  “Can I trust you, Victor?”

  “In all things, you know this, Jacqueline,” Victor replied, even as a curl of disquiet unwound inside his chest. The directive of the Combatant became more insistent minute by minute. He was even now struggling with the simplest things. Ones that would have been automatic now went through an internal cross-check. It was always the same since the Queen had began her Awakening, sparking the closing of their circle.

  All thoughts led to the question: Would it bring harm to She who Reigns? It was not a conscious deliberation but one by default, instinctive.

  Jacqueline narrowed her gaze upon Victor, her eyes searching his expression, trying to gauge the truthfulness of his words. Satisfied, she straightened. Her dark complexion smoothed into the deep neutrality she wore like a mask at all times.

  “She cannot be Queen,” his leader vowed, slamming the back of a slim hand against the fragile crest of the chair that was stationed in front of an oversized mirror in a corner of the old room. Victor wondered if the quarters were chosen with Jacqueline in mind? She did love to gaze upon her likeness.

  Some of what he thought must have shown on his face and she gave him a sharp look. “What are those thoughts I see on your face?” Her eyes sharpened on him like a falcon.

  “I am not sure how I will respond to the girl. I am lost to the protection of her,” Victor said, throwing his hands to his sides. “Even now I feel a compulsion to be near her in a bid to assure her safety.”

  Jacqueline frowned. This was so much more real and difficult than she anticipated. Unconsciously, her hand found the sack buried inside the interior fold of the slacks she wore and her anxiety came down a notch. She needed time and circumstance and then all would be well.

  Jacqueline intimately understood the old ways. Where a true Queen
perished in the presence of a female of royal lineage, certain things put in motion could not be stopped. In simplest terms, the momentum of the Combatant would not halt because of the death of the true Queen. Once awakened, the Combatant would defend the new Queen, despite the method of her ordination.

  By fire, by stealth, unfair or not, Jacqueline would be Queen.

  Her own flesh and blood would be honor bound, willing or not, to defend her and a slave to her soul would bind to her and obey her in all things. It was really quite perfect. If it were not for the formidable will of the girl. Jacqueline had tasted of her mind when the girl sat unprotected by their savvy Negator. Something, or many things had shaped the girl into a great enemy. Jacqueline had presumed the young Queen to be a wallflower, pampered, with an absent intellect. Instead she sensed a beautiful lamb with the heart of a lion. Julia would not be cowed.

  However, she could be poisoned. That Jacqueline could manage. And manage it she would. She patted the slight bulge from the package hidden in a secret compartment inside her pants and smiled.

  “Do not fret, Victor.” She looked up into his eyes, struck suddenly with how beautiful of a man he was. As all the Combatants were. Even her own son, who resembled her, he was the most handsome of all. He would be hers soon enough. Fully. As soon as her wretched nemesis was disposed of they would all be hers. Even her wayward flesh and blood. Who currently looked upon her with barely contained disgust.

  It would remain her secret. And very soon she would implement her plan. For soon, Julia would be immune to poison and a host of other things. As Queen, once her Awakening was complete, she would be virtually immortal, once begun, the Awakening would not stop until it was complete.

  Jacqueline couldn't have that.

  Victor watched that neutral expression have a fleeting look of greed and his unease deepened, his face unconsciously seeking the Queen. He could feel her close by and her proximity quieted his spirit even as his loyalties were torn.