LOGINShare
Chapter 5
Last Updated:
2023-01-12 15:26:39"That's impossible."
I reached forward and took the sheet of paper from Cain's hands and examined it. There was very little light in the train due to the drawn shades, but I squinted enough that I could read the contents of the
paper.I looked through the dates of his hospital visits and I shook my head in disbelief.
Cain was right. My grandfather hadn't been seen at any hospital for the past seven years. He didn't have so much as a prescription filled. This didn't add up seeing as I'd been led to believe he'd had a serious, life-threatening heart condition for a number of years.
"I don't understand," I said, my eyebrows furrowing. I laid the paper down on my lap and looked up at Cain as he stared at me intently.
"Are there any other medical records there?" I asked him,nreferring to the folder in his hands. Maybe he had them out of order and read the wrong thing.
Cain shook his head. "There isn't a medical examiner's report here or a certificate of
death," he said."He wouldn't have been looked at by a medical examiner."I argued. "He had a heart attack."
"No, he was supposed to have an autopsy," Cain said, sitting back in his seat. "As soon as we were notified of his death, Inpulled a few strings and requested one be done." I looked at him in shock.
"So he is dead," I said. "And how did you know he died? Who are you people?"
"He's not dead," Cain stated firmly, ignoring my last question. "I never received word that the body arrived at the medical examiner's office. That's why I sent Jai to the funeral."
The train began to move and I felt my heart begin to race.
"Who are you?" I asked again.
I gulped when none of them answered me and immediately began to calculate my chances of surviving a jump from a moving train.
"Can I talk to you both?" Daniel asked, looking at Cain and Jai. They both looked at each other before standing up and following him to the door.
It opened and the three of them disappeared into a hallway.
Narrative P.O.V.
"I'm lost," Daniel said as the door closed behind the three of them.
They stood in an empty car, staring at one another.
"Why is she here?" He asked
Cain crossed his arms and sighed. "She's my mate."
Daniel snickered. "No, really, man. I'm being serious," he said.
When no one else cracked a smile, Daniel's smile fell
"Oh my God... How did that even happen?"
Jai looked warily at Cain. It was the question both he and Cain had been asking themselves since they'd met her.
"I don't know," Cain said.
"But you're not supposed to have a mate. There's no way this should have hap---"
Cain's glare cut Daniel off. They stood for a long moment in awkward silence before Jai spoke.
"You're a Vampire and a Lycanthrope. How long do you think you're going to be able to keep that to yourself?" Jai asked Cain.
Even Cain himself wasn't sure of the answer to that.
"Seriously," Daniel added, "you're taking her to a place full of people like us. She's going to be the only human there. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something was out of the ordinary.""And that's assuming she hasn't already figured it out after dimwit over here decided to point out she was a human to her face," Jai chimed in, crossing his arms and shooting a glare at Daniel.
Daniel raised his hands defensively. "I apologize for not having a filter," he said.
"You better get one," Cain said pointedly. "I can't have her figuring any of this out any time soon."
The last thing I want is to scare her away, he thought.
Daniel and Jai nodded before they turned to leave.Cain opened the door to the next room and stopped."You think she figured it out?" Daniel asked sarcastically, noticing, as Cain had, the empty space where Ella had been sitting.
"Shit," Jai said under his breath.
The three of them stepped into the room, looking around with sharp eyes.
"Split up," Cain said. "She's still on the train."
He didn't need to look out the window to know that the train was moving quickly at this point. There was no way Ella was stupid enough to jump.
Jai and Daniel turned around and went down the hallway while Cain walked further down the room to the next car.
Cain came to the door at the other end of the car and, before he could touch the door handle, the door swung open.
Related chapters
CARNAL Chapter 6
Ella's P.O.V.I jumped as I came face to face with Cain."What are you doing?" He asked, pulling me out of the hallway and into the car. I felt my heart stop when his hand touched my upper arm. He closed the door behind me and I looked around him to seenthat Jai and Daniel were nowhere to be found."I was looking for a bathroom," I lied.The stoic look on his face made me believe he wasn't convinced. He knew I had been looking for a way off the train. The glances that I had seen between the three strange men were unsettling, like I was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.The enigma behind who they were, why they cared about my grandfather, and why I was allowed to tag along was dizzying.I had a crazy theory that they worked for the German government. How else could someone order an autopsy?But I was still conflicted.If they worked for the German government, why did they need me to get his medical records and financial statements? Why was I invited? And why the hell was it worth no
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 7
Ella's P.O.V."Here's where you'll be staying."Jai opened the bedroom door and pulled my suitcase inside the room for me. I followed him inside and cringed The room was huge, just like the rest of the place. The ceiling was at least fifty feet tall. The dark paneling on the walls made the olive-colored curtains stand out, which hung beside a ginormous bay window that was in the center of the far wall.One of the biggest beds I'd ever laid eyes on sat against the wall to my left. It had a four post bed frame that was a dark oak just like the paneling on the walls and the flooring.The black duvet matched the pillows on the bed and the two black couches that were on the other side of the room.The Victorian-style couches sat across from each other in front of a fireplace that was big enough for three grown men to stand beside each other inside it."Over there is your bathroom," Jai said, pointing to a door that was on the same wall as the fireplace.We heard someone walk into the room
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 8
"Didn't you say you found the last man that this happened to?" I asked. "Did you talk to him about what happened?""We did talk to him," Cain said. "He didn't remember a thing. He said he fell asleep in his bed and woke up in the woods four days later.""Have you kept track of him? Maybe he remembers something now. "I said."He died yesterday," Cain informed me.My eyes widened. "How?""He had an aggressive form of leukemia. He was diagnosed two days before he was kidnapped and died shortly after he was found."I thought for a moment. "Leukemia is a blood-based cancer," I pointed out. "They were all given blood transfusions and all suffered from either a heartcondition or anemia. Do you think this could all be connected? Maybe the clinic they were seen at for the transfusions is where they are being targeted."Cain nodded thoughtfully. "It's a good start," Cain said. "I think we should keep looking and see if we find anything else." So keep looking we did.Hours went by and both Jai
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 9
Narrative P.O.V.Cain sat at his desk, looking at nothing. The tower was dark. Moonlight invaded his senses almost as much as the sunlight did but the thick stone walls kept the majority of the noise out inaddition to the light so he could actually think.The only thing he didn't like about where he sat was the fact that he would've rather been somewhere else. He was restless that night knowing that Ella slept only a few floors beneath his feet.Cain still couldn't believe she existed.She certainly wasn't supposed to... that's what everyone had told him his entire life.Looking at her, he thought he was dreaming. But standing next to her, he was reminded she was real. Whenever he touched her, she was a reminder of the fact that he wasn't so different from everyone else and that he wasn't so unlovable.Selfishly, he liked being around Ella for that reason.Cain knew monsters didn't deserve mates. Maybe, just maybe, if he had one it meant that he wasn't themonster he'd been raised t
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 10
Ella's P.O.V."Thank you." I took the steaming mug from Daniel before he sat down at the table in front of me."What are you doing up so early?" He asked."I'm a morning person."He scowled."No thanks."I faked a smile as I took a sip of my coffee. I couldn't tell him I hadn't slept. My bed would have fit four ofme comfortably. It was so large that it swallowed me up. It was cold and empty.Because I couldn't sleep, I had been up most of the night catching up on the schoolwork I had missed. I was also contemplating over the hundreds of sheets of paper I had combed through in Cain's office. I was beginning to lose confidence in the fact that we would find my grandfather."Why are you up so early?" I asked him, trying to distract myself from the pit my thoughts were dragging me into."I have to be for work," he explained, yawning."It's only seven o'clock." I said. "It's not so bad.""I hate it," he groaned."You don't like your job?"Daniel scoffed."I like this job only marginally
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 11
Narrative P.O.V."She's his mate." Priya's eyes widened."You can't say anything,'' Jai said firmly. "Not to anyone, not even her. Myself, Daniel and Cain are the only ones who know.""How can she not know she is his mate?" Priya asked incredulously. Jai pursed his lips."She's a human."Priya sucked in a deep breath and shook her head."How are you planning on dealing with that?""I don't need you to tell me this is a complicated situation," he said. "I just need you to go in there, do whatever she asks you to do, and not say a word about who you are, who we are, or what we do.""Great," Priya said sarcastically. "So that narrows down my topic of conversation to the weather.""Don't get sassy with me," Jai said.Priya rolled her eyes. "Where is she now?" She asked."She's in Cain's office."Ella's P.O.V.I heard the door open at the bottom of the stairs.I looked up from the file folder in my hands to see a girl walk up the stairs into Cain's office.She was of Indian descent with
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 12
"Well, that's just fantastic."Jai's words dripped with sarcasm as I delivered the news. Cain's reaction to the news was to remain completely stone-faced."Does this not creep you out?" I asked him.He said nothing, just stared at me in thought.How could someone still be practicing medicine thirty years postmortem?"How do you know this?" Daniel asked me."I called around and found out all of the missing men had been seen by the same doctor then I called the hospital and the nurse informed me that he had been dead for thirty years."Cain crossed his arms. "Did the nurse happen to mention how he died?" He asked.I shook my head. I probably should have asked her, but I was too shocked by the news to think of anything in that moment."I need to see that certification of death and the M.E's report if there is one," Cain said to Priya.She shook her head "He died thirty years ago," she argued. "Those records won't be online. I'm sure they're in a hospital somewhere, but I can't get you vi
Last Updated : 2023-01-12CARNAL Chapter 13
Ella's P.O.V.Daniel and Jai joined Priya and I as we put a plan in place as to how we were going to go about finding this man who was supposedly dead.We sat around the large desk for a few hours deciding where to start and what we were going to look for. The two of them were somewhat annoyed for the remainder of the day and Priya seemed uneasy. I, however, was enthralled.Of course the idea of a man faking his own death or someone stealing a dead man's identity didn't settle well with me, but I knew we were getting closer and closer to the truth. Maybe we would find my grandfather after all. That night, we all ate a quick dinner in Cain's office as we continued to flip through files looking for other leads.Cain was nowhere to be found which I surprised myself by being disappointed about. It was late when I finally returned to my room that night. So late,in fact, that I was actually sleepy and nodded off in the bed, despite how enormous it was.I wasn't sure what time it was when
Last Updated : 2023-01-12
Latest chapter
CARNAL FINALE
Four Months Later..."Mom, I'm home!"Pulling my purse from my shoulder, I slung it into the barstool. I tossed my keys into the bag and walked over to the refrigerator."How did the interview go?" I heard her ask, her voice echoing out from the laundry room."I think it went well, but we'll see."I pulled out the lemonade and poured a glass before sitting down on the countertop. My first real-world job interview since graduating from collegenearly a week ago hadn't gone nearly as bad as I expected it to. They didn't seem distracted by the fact that I'd been fired from my counseling internship when I never showed up after taking a week off for my grandfather's funeral.They were also interested in hiring me despite the fact that I had only been allowed to graduate after drawing up a contract with my university promising that I would make up the classes that I had withdrawn from while in Germany.While I had retaken most of them during the spring semester, I still had two left to comp
CARNAL Chapter 56
Ella's P.O.V.I fought sleep the entire ride home.While I wouldn't say I had been sleep deprived for the previous few days, I felt as though I hadn't been able to rest. Cain radiated a sense of support and protection and I realized just how exhausted I was when I felt myself finally relax in his presence.He drove home with one hand on my thigh. The intimate touch made my heart race, but I tried to put on a cool, relaxed exterior by leaning my head against the window.Still wrapped up in the flannel blanket he had given me, I was finally content.The only thing keeping me awake was the hunger rattling my stomach.Maybe that's why I felt so weak...At one point, Cain looked over after hearing my stomach growl, as it had been for the past few hours."When was the last time you ate something?"I failed to answer immediately, trying to count the hours it had been since I ate the sugary scone on the train.He took this silence as an answer and began to slow down so he could take an exit o
CARNAL Chapter 55
Ella's P.O.V.When Zak said we would leave at first light, he meant it. He woke me sometime in the very early morning and gave me little time to change into the clothes he brought me.A distasteful pair of black pants and a baggy black sweatshirt were all I had to layer under my new heavy winter coat. The combat boots paired with the wool camping socks he brought would keep me warm, and that was all I cared about.I was glad I had found my jacket when I did the night before because I was certain that I would never see it again. I could only hope that no one noticed the phone missing from its pockets.I put my cellphone in between the cups of my bra, tucked securely under the band. I figured this was the best place to hide it where I would still be able sit down and stand up without hinderance, something I couldn't do if it was in my waistband. I had considered putting it in one of my boots, but those weren't guaranteed to stay on my feet.The early morning sky was transitioning from i
CARNAL Chapter 54
Narrative P.O.V.Moonlight poured into the room through the large windows that lined each wall.Cain stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows that were cast on the ceiling of the trees outside his window as they danced in the midnight breeze.He could hear each footstep as the two guards patrolled the floor level beneath him. The sound of their footfalls echoed across the empty room.Even louder, though, was the sound of her voice in his head."Are you sure about this?"He had been so sure.So sure that sending her away was the best idea. So sure that she would leave trouble with him. So sure that she would be safe.The only thing he was sure of now was that he had made a grave, terrible decision in letting her get on that plane.He had followed them to the airport.He watched her as she went through the security lines.He even watched her get on the plane.Sanity, reason and logic fought a diligent battle against his heart and desires as he watched her disappear from sight.Run af
CARNAL Chapter 53
Narrative P.O.V.An elbow to the ribcage startled Daniel and he sat up straight in the car seat."No time to doze off," Priya said.He rubbed his eyes and groaned."Easy for you to say. You had the whole flight over here to sleep. I had to stay up and get a false warrant made so we could get surveillance footage from the airport."The phone in his backpack started to ring and he bent down to pick it up."Hello?""How are things?"He cleared his throat hearing Cain's voice."Things are good," he said."We found the cab that she took and we're in it now, heading to the house."Any leads at the airport?""No," Daniel breathed out."The only times we saw her in the surveillance videos were when she was arriving in D.C. There's no evidence that she left.""There are a million ways out of that city," Cain said."It just means that she didn't leave from that airport."Thanks, chief. That's comforting, Daniel thought."How are things there?" He asked.Cain was silent for a few moments."I hav
CARNAL Chapter 52
Ella's P.O.V.A pounding headache was the first thing I could remember.I could feel my heartbeat pulsating behind my eyes and I felt as though someone had taken my temples in their palms and squashed them together.I groaned as I reached up to put my hand on my head. Wallowing in pain, I felt my body tense as I realized I was on a bed.I sat up slowly.My eyes wouldn't focus properly because of the headache but I could see a blurry outline of where I was.The room was small, but it had ceilings so tall I felt as though I was looking into outer space.The bed I was in had a thick, velvety black canopy over it that matched the duvet I was laying on.The curtains over the large windows were drawn and blocked out all incoming sunlight.A few candles were on the nightstand that offered an eerie glow over the room, accompanied by a fire that was smoldering in the fireplace.The flames were dying and offered the small room very little warmth.I was freezing.Looking down, I saw that I was s
CARNAL Chapter 51
Narrative P.O.V.News of the Chinese Beta's death arrived at the cabin with Jai.Although he anticipated Cain would be angry with him for withholding such pertinent information, Jai refrained from telling him until he got back from the airport.He knew Cain would use the exigency of the circumstances to delay sending Ella away. Jai knew this because it was exactly what Cain had done after the death of the Indian Beta.As much as Jai believed Cain was doing the wrong thing by sending Ella away, he wasn't going to manipulate their decisions with strategically revealed information just so the two of them could continue to pretend they didn't know right from wrong.Besides, the investigations of the deaths of two high-ranking officials weren't exactly conducive to the type of environment that mended and fostered healthy relationships.He wasn't going to play puppeteer, Cain would realize his mistake sooner or later.They left Kashmir in a rush, as Jai had expected them to.The plane ride
CARNAL Chapter 50
Unknown P.O.V."You lied to us."Otto Müller was on his knees, literally, begging for forgiveness."I don't know. I swear," he cried."You do know!" The man bellowed, eyes burning.Otto Müller said nothing, his hands trembling in the shackles that held them behind his back."You only had two jobs," he continued."You were supposed to kill the damn Beta and then kill him."Otto's eyes shot up to glare at Zak, who was standing in the corner of the room."You sent him to kill Cain as well and he couldn't do it either," he said to the man."Why is he not in chains too?"Zak crossed his arms."Zak was only supposed to gather information," the man snarled."His attempt at the life of the Alpha Sovereign was unplanned and opportunistic. Besides, he was able to track their location, which proved much more helpful in the long run than anything you've contributed thus far and he's delivered the girlafter you were unable to."Otto Müller exhaled a shaky breath."I couldn't kill my own granddaug
CARNAL Chapter 49
I landed in D.C. sometime in the early morning.I was as jetlagged as I could be, especially given that Kashmir was around five and a half hours ahead of the east coast.Hailing a taxi, I gave the driver the address and he was off. Ignoring the monuments that whirled past the cab window, I looked down at the number on the sheet of crinkled paper for the thousandth time.I had long since memorized it.The driver knocked me out of my daze, informing me that we had arrived.I looked out the window to see the familiar ranch-style home and leaned forward to pay him for the drive.The cab was gone as soon as I stepped out with my luggage, leaving me standing on the sidewalk of a dark street.I walked up to the porch, my suitcase trialing behind me. I lifted up the vinyl cap on top of the porch railing where Zak left his spare key, exactly the same spot it had been hidden in our childhood home.I unlocked the front door and walked inside the dark house.A light came on in the kitchen as I sh
