Back in that torn-apart building, where the pack had left him to die an agonizing death, Julian lay, waiting for death to claim him. The pain and agony exploded from every part of his broken body. He could hardly breathe without that very action stroking the flames of pain that consumed him like gasoline. Devoured by the screams of his suffering Julian lay bleeding and shattered on the floor of his own home. The torment engulfing his very being was so overwhelming that it left no room for the man to feel anger, rage, or even fear for what he was sure was his own death. Julian could barely feel the trickles of blood pouring from every open crevice in his body like rivers of crimson. His heart stuttered as it struggled to beat against fractured ribs. His intruders who had imposed upon him in his own home had broken him just as they had the front door. Julian was sure they were inhuman and felt that their very existence went against all that he knew to be true. Their unnatural abilit
He writhed in agony as lava consumed him through his veins, the pain originating from the bite mark on his pale wrist. His gums ached and his throat burned as if scorched by the desert sand. God, he was so thirsty. It was a thirst unlike any other he had ever experienced in his short conniving life, and it tore through his pain. Suddenly overcome with the immediate urge to purge his stomach of its contents, Julian found himself leaning over the bed, knuckles white with the strength he was slowly regaining. Although the impulse was present the man only managed to heave dry air as if his insides had been as completely empty as the desert that raged on in his throat. The pain of each bone snapping back into place was staggering, to say the least, as if there was molten lava in his veins instead of the blood that had once coursed through their confines. He watched in a sick fascination as the broken skin knitted itself back together and its sickly raisin color faded to the deathly whit
After being meticulously cleaned from head to toe Alexa was moved from the shower where her mother dried her with a quick spell, and she was given new clothes. She took the time to stare at her reflection, even though there were no longer any visible blemishes on her ivory skin she could still see the wounds that were no longer there. She moved as if she were a member of the undead, at a slow pace, her sneaker-clad feet shuffled on the wooden floors as if they were made of lead. Although she moved through the hallways her mind was not present with her body and so she remained silent as they made their way through the unknown mansion that she had awoken in. She walked with a stoic expression and a dead, blank look in her once vibrant blue eyes. Her skin was pale, but it was covered by the new clothes she now wore. She was adjourned with a simple dark green, long-sleeved sweater and faded blue jeans, and her hair remained free from binds as it curled in flaming ringlets around her fa
"“What does that mean?” “Werewolves are powerful beings, but the strongest of them all are the Primordial werewolves. It was long since believed that the Primordial bloodline was destroyed many centuries ago. Without the rightful heir to the Primordial throne, a Lycan claimed it for his own. But unlike the other werewolves, Lycans are vicious creatures who consort with Vampires. Obsessed with power the Lycans stole the throne and placed their leader upon it. He is known as the Old King for he has rained for over 5 centuries.” “How is that possible?” “Werewolves and witches don’t age the way humans do, many of us can live for many more centuries than just five,” “Silas, the Old King, systematically hunted down anyone claiming to be of the Primordial bloodline and destroyed them. We knew it was only a matter of time before he came for you.” “I panicked after what Madeline had seen and tried to grab you from your crib. I must have startled you because you cried. But it wasn’t just a
Anger licked at her insides like the flames flickering in the hearth by her side. It smoldered within her burning away both the emptiness that had settled in her heart and the lead coal that occupied her stomach. And for the first time that night, or was it day? She couldn’t be sure. But for the first time, she felt something other than the brokenness that had consumed her, and so she clung to it with both hands. Alexa glowered at the door, the retreating black-haired werewolf had disappeared out of. She’d seen the flickers of anger in his own gaze and felt put off by it. What right did he have to be angry at her? Sure she had stormed out of the room, but she had stopped just outside of it. And it wasn’t if she’d be the one to take away his choices. She wasn’t the one who had the audacity to waltz into a room and demand that he be with her simply because she said so. He couldn’t really expect her to be okay with this, could he? Why was it so wrong to want some semblance of control
Deep cobalt irises shimmered with unshed tears as they peered back into the room from which they had just escaped. Those words settled like lead rocks into her stomach and weighed heavily on her heart. Alexa stared back at the man who expected so much from her and said nothing in return. He watched on with dark eyes, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Like father, like son, as alike as they were in looks, they were in their expectations of her, both expecting more than she could give. What could she say to that anyway? He was so sure she’d be ready to take her father’s place, but she was far from it. She’d never known his world, never know his customs, and was now being thrust into a position of power for which she was never prepared. And to top it all off she had his son badgering her from her other side to accept his demand for her to be his mate. The assault on both fronts drained her of her energy more than anything else she had faced that day. She had learned that it had b
The hours passed by quickly after that for the teenage girl and soon the sun gave way to its lunar counterpart. The moon rose in all her shimmering glory bringing peace to the world around her. Alexa had spent the past hours just staring out of the window as the last rays of daytime transformed into the first glittering rays of the night. She’d not said a word to the other occupant in the room as she mourned the last of her freedom. Aiden sat behind her watching her his stomach twisted in knots and her words rang in his ears. Could she really view his home, which had now become her home, as a prison in which she was caged? Jayden had not stayed for too long after that, her own guilt clear as day on her face. She soon left the two feuding mates alone in the room, but before she did she sent another pointed look at the man. Aiden had tried to sort through his mate’s emotions and found that his stomach continued its somersaults when he felt how unhappy she was, Jayden had been right,
She had to get out! She had to escape! Picturing her freedom was the only thought in her head as she ran. She was running from an enemy she could not see or hear. And even though her senses were both blind and deaf to her attacker her fear still pounded in her chest as real as if she were staring down the monster from which she ran. She could not hear him, nor see him for she was drowned in a sinister darkness that almost consumed her but still, she ran. She could feel his wicked intent as if it were a specter caressing her skin making it crawl and sending her stomach into knots. The darkness that surrounded her seemed to extend to the very corners of her subconsciousness and it consumed her. She couldn’t catch her breath as her heart clambered inside her ribcage. She could almost hear his voice taunting her, laughing at her pain though no sound ever reached her ears. She could almost imagine his cold eyes glaring at her in smugness as she lay broken on the bedroom floor where he ha
** Warning: Graphic mentions of violence and torture, mentions of rape, and graphic sexual content **Far away from the damaged Burrough across many, many acres of land, over hills and mountains, across rivers and streams, nestled in an open valley welcomed by a glistening silver lake and flanked by white-toothed mountains stood a tall ivory castle, lit up by the silver beams of the moon.The surrounding land was peaceful and the night quiet for all weary travelers wandering through the nearby forests, but it was anything but peaceful within the ivory walls, for what was once a beautiful shrine to the moon goddess was now possessed by a much darker, more sinister entity.For on a marble throne adorned with the skulls of his enemies sat the hulking figure of something more beast than man. His heavily scarred features could strike fear in all who gazed upon him as he relaxed back in his stolen seat, the once polished marble now permanently stained crimson from all the bloodshed during h
“NO!” Jean cried out, the sound grating against the sides of her throat as Aiden’s glistening, sharp fangs sunk into the tender flesh of her daughter’s neck. With a burst of power, she ripped the werewolf from her child and unceremoniously tossed him across the room, a common theme today it seemed, not particularly concerned about the grandfather clock he shattered along the way. “What have you done?!” she cried, pulling Alexa into her arms as the once thrashing girl stilled, almost as if she had died. “We just said that it could kill her! How could you be so stupid?!” Jayden angrily yelled. “I couldn’t just sit here and watch her die, I had to do something!” he sat up, wiping the blood from his lips as his fangs receded and his eyes changed back to green. “You don’t get to decide that mutt!” Isaac rebuffed, now coming face to face with the shifter, chest puffed out in anger and a defiant look raging in his glimmering green eyes. “She’s my mate,” “That means nothing if she’s dea
Alexa thrashed on the forest floor in an uncontrollable manner, her body spasming horrifically in the now-destroyed sanctuary. She was clawing at her own skin as she attempted to dig out the fire spreading through her veins, nails digging into the bite on her neck. Alexa screamed as if she were being tortured from the inside out as the vampire venom disseminated through every fiber of her being. Oh God, it hurt, it hurt so bad! She was burning up from the inside. Make it stop! She pleaded silently as nothing but screams ripped through her throat. Aiden rushed to her side, almost keeling over himself as her pain burst through their soul bond uninhibited feeling like a raging ocean was trying to overwhelm him and pull him under with its intensity. Desperation bloomed in his chest as he reached out to the seizing girl and pulled her into his arms. Alexa screamed and cried out at the feel of his hands on her skin, she tried to jerk out of his arms, but he only held on tighter. “Alexa,
Spinning around Alexa came face to face with the object of her nightmares. The sight of his blood-red eyes leering at her in a bestial manner as if he were the hunter and she his prey, which she considered to be exactly the situation she was in. The cold grin that stretched across his deathly pale face sent shivers down her spine and she felt her skin break out into goosebumps. With her heart hammering in her chest, she stared back into the gleaming crimson orbs and told herself that she was not the same girl he had broken nine months ago. “Julian,” His grin spread impossibly wider, and he let out a pleased hum, stalking toward her until he stood directly before her. “Good girl, you still remember me,” he reached out with his icy fingers, reaching out he pulled at a strand of her luscious red curls, bringing it up to his nose where he took a long deep breath and almost purred as he scented her. “Your hair is longer, what a pity,” he let the silky locks slip from his fingers as he
“What?” “Dream walking. It’s when you fall into a hypnotized-like trance,” “What could cause such a thing?” “Honestly I don’t know, I’ve never seen anyone do it before,” “But you’re over a hundred years old!” “That doesn’t mean I know everything you disrespectful child!” Jean snapped at her son, angered by his need to remind her of her many years on this earth. “There must be something we can do, anything you might know Aunt Jean,” Jayden replied warily, staring at the redhead’s back in concern. “There’s a myth that dream walking is the result of a deity calling you to them, if that’s the case then it’s no wonder I’ve never seen it before,” Jean massaged her temple, willing the migraine creeping its way into her brain to disappear. “Why?” “Our Gods rarely ever interact with us directly, to summon one of us means that something of great importance is needed, and the fact that they waited for the solar eclipse to do it is even more peculiar,” “So what? Let’s snap her out of it,
With his wolf-enhanced reflexes, Aiden quickly stabilized Alexa as the earth violently shifted beneath their feet. Glass décor shattered in a thunderous roar as it fell from the countertops in their room. A mutual look of concern passed between them, for they both knew that the unforeseen force behind the tremors was anything but natural. Not when it was accompanied by the shrill panic-stricken screams of their pack mates. ‘Their?’ the thought startled Alexa unsure as to when she had started thinking of this wolf pack as hers. With a shake of her head, she quickly banished the thought as quickly as it had struck her. Now was obviously not the time to dwell on such frivolous concerns. Instead, she focused on the strong hands that were securely wrapped around her upper arms. These large appendages were the only thing keeping her upright as the unnatural quake died down, but the sounds from outside did not follow suit. Without so much as a sound between them, they both dashed out the
Ten months he had waited, ten grueling months he had trained and plotted his revenge. Ten long agonizingly boring months he had nurtured the ego of a foul-smelling dog and her pitiful desire to rule over her pack of wild mutts. For nearly a year he had been plagued by an unquenchable thirst and the need to claim his revenge. It was almost as if he were hyper-focused on those two fixed points in his life. And although he learned to control his new state of being surprisingly quickly that hyper-focus could lead to his own downfall. Not that the man himself noticed too fixated on enacting his revenge too much to think about anything else, much less what he would do once he had it. Shaun, who had trained the new vampire on the wishes of his mistress could see the crazed gleam in the man’s undead gaze and wondered not for the first time what his mistress had seen in the newborn. His mistress, Amara, had never been the kind to explain the reasons behind her actions and Shaun had learned
“You don’t know,” Alexa’s eyes welled up with tears threatening to fall, her bare feet burning unprotected from the blistering cold. Aiden looked at her with an unreadable expression, one that not even she, who had learned to see the emotion behind his eyes could decipher. “I don’t know where I’m going, I wake up in a different place each time,” “Each time? How long has this been happening?” The flash of anger through their bond was enough to ground Alexa’s shaky thoughts, and she clung onto it as if it were a buoy floating in the middle of a raging sea and she was caught up in the tumultuous waves. Alexa was at a loss for words as they stared at one another. His anger was clear in his eyes. How could she tell him that she was scared, drawn in by an unknown force that called out to her even in her waking hours? “How long, Alexa?” he asked again, with more force behind his words. “A few months,” She let out a tired sigh. “A few months?!” the shock and the anger swirled within, f
Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Spring bloomed, chasing away the winter chill, Summer burned hot that year until finally autumn leaves began to fall and the wind turned cold once more. It was funny how quickly Alexa became accustomed to living among the pack. No longer did she feel out of place as if she stuck out like a sore thumb. Eventually, many of the pack members warmed up to her presence and began accepting her not only as Aiden’s mate but as their future Alpha too. Her only problem being her unwanted run-ins with Vanessa, who was dead set on causing her as much grief as possible. Still opposed to both ideas she had learned to keep her thoughts to herself as many of the wolves couldn’t understand her opposition having been raised in pack life where all this was just another ordinary day to them. Even the few humans who had not been raised within the pack and who had had time to acclimate didn’t understand her firm stand against being labeled Aiden’s mate