Luna's Sokjan (Book one) (11 page)

W

Gabriel slowly lifted the
lid of the box, and the strong smell of blood hit us full in the
face. I took a step back, covering my mouth with my hands. I would
have liked to say it was out of repulsion, but in reality, it was
lust.

“It’s a heart,” Gabriel
said as he peered into the box.

I closed my eyes to
control my blood lust. Gabriel plucked the letter from my
hand.

“This has nothing to do
with you. I will clean up my own messes.” I told him.

His face went blank as he
read the letter. All but his flashing amber eyes, which he leveled
me with his alpha, stare. I saw a shadow staring back at me from
behind his eyes, for just a moment. The promise it held, made me
catch my breath and it chilled me to my bones.

“Get whatever you need
McKenna. We are leaving, now!” His tone told me there would be no
fighting. If, he had to, he would carry me kicking and screaming
out of this house. “When we get home you will explain to me what
this is all about, and I’ll decide what we are going to do about
it.”

Yeah right.

I was going to tell this
control freak how I pissed off a five hundred year old vampire nine
years ago. I accidentally interfered with her blood feud against
another vampire. This might have been okay if I hadn’t accidentally
killed off her favorite meal toy. The bitter bloody game we had
played that summer, had a high-body count and lots of casualties,
both human and werebeing. Now, she was totally healed and ready to
proceed. Oh yeah, and I was going to tell him that the missing
girls. Might, already be the beginning of her game, she genuinely
likes wolf blood.

There was no way in hell I
was going to tell him all that.

My first item of business
would be to find out if she were attacking his people. Last time,
she was building a bigger slave base, and she needed the magic from
the werewolf’s blood to make it more powerful. All of this happened
right after Angus’s death. I was hell bent on getting myself killed
and had been doing a damn good job at it. Until the laughing bitch
Fate, had changed the playing field. Apparently she had other ideas
for my life, and death wasn’t one of them, the fucking
bitch.

To give myself a few
minutes to think. I closed the doors and stared out across the back
yard. I loved the way it looked. Four towering trees were planted
in the four corners, north, south, east, and west. A seven foot
tall wooden privacy fence, hid the yard from nosey neighbors. I had
planted flowers around the base of each tree. The flowers related
to the direction of the corners: blue flowers for water, the
direction of west, red flowers for fire, the direction of south,
white flowers for wind, the direction of east, green vines and ivy
for earth, the direction of north. I closed my eyes and listened to
the music of the wind chimes coming from the trees. I had created
my very own living ceremony site, and I loved it.

I didn’t hear Gabriel move
up behind me. Didn’t know he was there until he laid a heavy hand
on the back of my neck, and I jumped.

“I can’t do this Gabriel.
You have robbed me of all my senses and all my skills.” I took a
deep breath. “I am the predator that hunts other predators. I was
chosen from birth to do what I do, and right now with you around. I
can’t even find myself. I can’t live like this. I will not live
like this.” I told him fiercely and felt him tense.

He bent down pressing out
bodies closer together.

I heard him inhale my
scent and in calm quiet voice, he said, “I will never let you go.
You will just have to find a way to deal with the changes in your
life. Even if, someone could release us from our bonds, I would
never let you go, McKenna. You are mine until the end of time.” His
heavily accented breath was warm against my cheek.

His promise made my heart
skip a beat, and my stomach tightened. I would spend the rest of my
life with him and at this very moment in time. I didn’t know if I
was happy or sad about it. I just stared out the window. I was in
shock, I realized. Too many things had changed in my life too
quickly, things that I had no control over. Gabriel’s phone
rang.

“I have to take this.” He
told me.

“Hang on.” He said into
the phone. “After you talk to Angus, I think you will have a better
understanding about what has happened and why.” Gabriel turned and
left the room.

I remained standing at the
doors until I was sure that he had left the room
completely.

Turning, around I studied
the open box sitting on the desk. I knew that vampires couldn’t
enter my home without an invitation. Yes, that old legend was true.
So logically, she must have had a slave leave the box in the house.
I pulled the door open and studied the lock. Yup, someone had
broken the lock. I walked back to the desk.

Holding my breath, I
peered down at the heart sitting in the middle of the black satin.
Bracing myself, I dipped a clawed finger into the blood and then
licked it off. I could taste the human blood and the magic of
vampire. She had fed the person before killing them. Now why would
she do that?

Without another thought, I
started removing my clothes. I needed to cleanse the heart and
release its spirit, so it could find peace in the after- life.
Completely nude, I picked up the box and headed outside to the
backyard.

When I was first learning
how to use magic, my mother told me for some rituals you had to be
naked. I never understood why. I always thought it was because
witches just liked being naked and would use any excuse to be so. I
moved to the center of my little circle and placed the box down.
Stepping back, I turned to face each direction as I called the
corners. Once my circle was complete, I snapped my wrist and
gripped a black bladed dagger when it slid into my hand.

“Welcome great
grandfathers and grandmothers, to my home. It is I, McKenna,
daughter of Luna and friend to all spirits. I greet you with an
open heart, mind, and soul. Please help me cleanse this lost soul
and release its spirit. So, that it may find its way back to Luna.”
The wind had picked up and swirled around me as a spoke. “With fire
I cleanse and release its spirit.” I shot power through the blade
as I raised it up high, and then slammed it down into the center of
the heart. With a sizzle and pop, the heart burst into flames.
Stepping back, I retracted my blade as I chanted the words of the
cleansing ritual. The fire rose up and changed from a yellow flame
to a white one. Only after the fire died down did I look up to the
sky.

“I thank you
great-grandfathers and grandmothers for coming to my circle and
bearing witness to my deed. I respectfully release you to return
from where you came from.” I released the spirits back into the
world and brought down my circle.

The ceremony actually
didn’t take all that long from start to finish. I cocked my head
towards the house and listened closely. Gabriel was still moving
around the kitchen speaking on the phone. I listened as he
completed one call and then started another, blah, blah. Shifting
into my tiger form, and climbing up the nearest tree and laying
down on a limb. My mind was more settled than it had been in days.
I guess I had needed some energy cleaning also. I went over
everything that had happened and began working out how I could deal
with it.

I felt him, before I heard
his voice, “McKenna.”

I turned my head to look
at the man standing just outside the office doors. My heart skipped
a beat at the sight of mister tall, dark, and handsome.

“Come to me.” I felt the
command in his voice.

I watched him for a moment
before jumping out of the tree. In my tiger form, I am twice the
size of a normal tiger. Stalking towards him, I could feel the
tension in Gabriel’s body.

See the predator, you have
gotten for a mate, baby.

I showed him my teeth in a
predatory smile.

At first a predator
stalked him and then a lover did as I shifted in mid-step. I lifted
my hand to his face when I reached him, and seductively I brushed
my body against his. We just stared into each other’s eyes. I
searched his eyes for the shadow I had seen earlier, and I wondered
for the ninth hundredth time if I had actually seen it. Stretching
up his body, I placed a soft kiss on his firm mouth. With a
low-rumbling growl, he wrapped me tightly to him. We shared a
demanding passionate kiss.

“Upstairs,” I
breathed.

If, his people were coming
as I thought they were. I didn’t want them to see us. It took no
time at all for us to run through the house and up the stairs. Like
children hiding from our parents.

An hour later, I lay
against his shoulder playing with the hairs on his chest,
thoroughly satisfied from our recent lovemaking. As the sweat
cooled on our skin, I breathed in our mixed scents and knew I could
never leave him. My time in the tree had helped me accept the bonds
between us. Now, I just wanted to know why Angus had wanted us
together so badly. I sincerely hoped that this old Angus wasn’t my
long dead Angus.

“We need to…” Gabriel
began to speak.

I placed my fingers
against his mouth, stopping anything else that he might say.
Sliding on top of him, I penned him beneath me.

“We need to enjoy this
moment, Gabriel. You’re not the Alpha wolf, and I am not the
Sōkjan. I don’t have a vampire who wants to play killing games with
me, and you don’t have something hunting your clan. Right now we
are nothing more than new mates learning what makes each other
happy.” I kissed him.

I rubbed my body slowly up
and down his, until his hands gripped my hips pulling me harder
against him.

“By all means, mate, just
tell me what you want me to do and I will do it.” He rubbed himself
against me. “I want nothing more than to please you in every way I
can.”

I laughed in delight and
teasingly kissed him. He flipped me over on my back, and his big
hands lifted my hips as he slipped inside me.

“Didn’t your parents teach
you not to play with fire?” He asked, nipping my lips with his
teeth.

“I am sure they tried, but
I like dancing with the flames.” I told him, locking my long legs
around his waist. “Perhaps we should see how high the flames can
go.”

Reaching up, I buried my
hands in his hair and lost myself in his demanding love
making.

We took a long hot shower
with lots of touching and kissing. I dressed in a loose flowing
purple and blue skirt with a matching top. The skirt was cut down
both sides from mid-thigh to ankle. I could kick out if I needed or
wanted to. The shirt stopped at my waist and left my arms bare
showing off my tattoos. Normally, I didn’t care but, for some
reason, Gabriel didn’t like my tattoo.

“What the hell is that
thing on your skin?” Gabriel growled at me. “Is it
alive?”

“What is your problem with
my tat? I love it.” I smiled at him, “And no it’s not alive. It’s
just a tattoo Gabriel.”

“Pack a bag, McKenna. We
won’t be coming back here until I know it’s safe.” His order rolled
over me like a wave.

“Really, Gabriel?” I
sighed and looked at him, “Fine just for a few days.” I quickly
threw a bag together.

‘Until its safe?’
Honestly, did he understand what I did for a living?

When I was finished
packing, he picked up the bag and opened the door for me. I
accidentally brushed up against him as a walked passed him out of
the room. He gave me a short growl, and I laughed looking over my
shoulder at him. Maybe, it would be fun having a mate.

Chapter 8

I don’t like having people
in my house, but after living around my neighbors for the past two
years. Some of my territorial instincts had been broken. My
neighbors liked to get together and grill out on weekends or have
block parties. While the men manned the grills, the women sat in
the kitchen, talked, and watched the kids play. I sat in the
kitchen and played with the kids while halfheartedly listening to
the women discussed the hardships of their lives.

I have always been amused
by children, and my neighbors assured me I would make an excellent
mother someday. Yeah right, in between killing bad guys I would
find the time to have a bunch of kids. I don’t think so.

So, when I found a strange
man standing in my kitchen. I didn’t freak out and kill him. I like
to pride myself on my self-control.

“Alpha,” The dark man said
with a nod to Gabriel. “My Alpha’s mate,” he nodded to
me.

I rolled my eyes,
whatever. Couldn’t they just use my name?

Leaving, the two men in
the kitchen, I went to the office. I packed my laptop, and several
flash drives into a carrying case. I looked over at my books. The
wooden bookcases were built into the wall from floor to ceiling and
were filled with books on anything supernatural. Some of the books
were extremely old and hand written. These books contained our laws
and information about ancient lesser-known creatures of the
supernatural world. While the newer books contained information
about creatures that had been discovered within the last hundred
years or so, all the books contained something useful.