Mated & Blooded, A Blood Ties Novel, Book 1 (3 page)

Just as she was about to hop off my lap, I
wrapped my arms securely around her midsection. I put on the best
fake smile I could and prayed to god she decided to give me a
chance. My wolf and I both knew we needed Kalli to be complete and
whatever it took we needed her to accept us.

“Hold on there a second Kalli, just where do
you think you are running off to? I just told you we are mates;
don’t you think we should talk about this before you decide to go
running off?”

I watched her face go through a bunch of
different emotions. Most of them confused the crap out of me. There
was shock, pain, fear, and disgust. My mate turned towards me and
started to speak.

“Look uh..” she paused and I think she
realized she didn’t know my name.

“Lucas” I supplied for her.

“Look, um Lucas, I know what I am and I know
how this is not going to work for us, so um.”

My ears started to ring. My wolf was howling
in my head. She was going to reject us. We knew it. We had to stop
the words from coming out of her mouth. Once said, they were hard
to take back. I reach out and placed my hand on her mouth forcing
her to stop speaking. She looked so upset. I could tell her eyes
were wet.

“Kalli, don’t say it. Don’t say it out loud.
Give us time. Let us get to know each other before a decision like
that is made. This involves both of us. We deserve a chance. Fate
mated us, who are we to tell the fates they are wrong?”

My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was so
soft and I knew I sounded weak begging her to give us a chance. I
didn’t care that I sounded weak. I sure as hell didn’t care that I
was the future alpha. I knew without my mate by my side I would
never be a good alpha. I needed her to be complete. Without her we
were nothing. I watched a tear slide down her face. I couldn’t stop
myself from reach out to wipe it off her face.

“Please Kalli, don’t cry. Give me a chance I
promise I can make you happy. Just give me a little time to show
you before you decide if you are going to reject me.”

Her body quivered and she started to sob. I
reached out and pulled her into my chest. I wanted to hold her
tight. I wanted to force her to stay with me if need be. I had to
have her. I pressed her into me and breathed in her scent deeply. I
ran my hand through her soft hair and down her back. I felt her
shudder. Oh god. I must repulse her. I moved to put some space
between us and looked into her eyes. I was shocked by what I saw
there.

“You don’t want to reject me?” She said in a
voice that sounded so full of pain.

Her words shocked me to my core. Kalli
thought that I was going to reject her? Never both my wolf and I
said in unison.

“Oh god no Kalli, I want to accept you as my
mate"

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. He
wants me? He actually said he wants me. I could feel my spirit
flying. It was the most amazing thing in the world. I had never
been happier in my life. I have a mate and he wants me. I can have
all the normal things a she-wolf should have in her life. Pups, a
family, love a happy home. Someone who wants to be near me and
touch me. Someone to say goodnight to and someone to wake up with
in the morning. All the things that mama told me about but I never
thought that I would really have.

I looked into his face and saw joy, happiness
and acceptance. I wanted to reach out and touch his face. I lifted
my hand to do just that when my vampire side started to nag at me.
No Kalli it whispered. You are setting yourself up for more pain.
He must not really understand. He’s new here. He must not really
understand your position in this pack.

My wolf started to whimper again. No she
said. We want our mate and they want us. Please don’t let them
change their mind. I could feel my panic start to rise again. He
will reject me once he understands. He will not accept all of me.
He will have to reject us or the pack will reject him. Wolves are
pack animals he can’t survive without the pack. I was fighting with
myself. Lucas must have noticed my panic since he reached out and
pulled me back into his arms.

“Calm yourself Kalli. What is getting you all
worked up again?” he said

I looked up at him and as a small sob escaped
me. How was I supposed to explain my position in the pack to him?
Heck, I was an anomaly and no one wanted me. He wouldn’t want my
either once he understood.

“Oh God Lucas, I am so sorry. You don’t
understand who... I mean what I am. You will have to reject me once
you understand.”

I felt my throat closing up my wolf and I are
so afraid and so sad. I pushed hard at his chest and reached for
the door. I needed to get out of here now. I needed to get away
from him before I fall even harder for him.

I can’t believe I was already falling for
him. It was amazing. Love at first site. I was going to have to
admit to my mom that she was right. She didn’t exaggerate. I always
thought that she was just talking it up to make me feel better. But
it was true! I felt totally loved and totally wanted in an instant.
How wonderful it would be if I could have that for the rest of my
life. But I was a freak and he would reject me as soon as he
understood. I pushed at his chest again and I tried to get away
from him.

“Please Lucas, let me go. Talk to some other
pack members, I know you are new here. Once you understand I know
you will want to reject me”.

Another small sob escaped my chest. I didn’t
mean to start crying but it felt like I was losing a part of
myself. I don’t really understand how he could me some much to me
so fast.

“Kalli, stop! I know who and what you are and
I don’t care. Calm down and lets go somewhere private where we can
talk.” He reached out for me again and pulled me closer to him.

“Please Kalli, let’s just talk.” He didn’t
wait for me to respond.

Holding me next to him he moved us both
towards the door. He pulled it open and brushed past an older wolf
standing just outside of it. I recognized the older wolf. He’s the
pack doctor. I have seen him from time to time. He’s not the doctor
who created me. He’s his replacement.

The pack had chased the old doctor out of
town after what he did to my mom and I. They felt like he was some
kind of Frankenstein playing with Gods creatures. This new doctor
however wasn’t much better. Mom and I knew better. He was always
trying to get us to do new tests. We stayed away from him as often
as possible. We went to him as a last resort only.

The doctor looked up and noticed Lucas and I
coming out of the office and quickly moved aside. He spotted Lucas
holding me close to him and immediately snarled in disapproval. He
opened his mouth to say something but Lucas spoke first.

“You can go back to your office Doc. My mate
is healed and I have no further need for you.”

He then turned us both away from the Doctor
and quickly took us out of the school. I was shocked that the
doctor let Lucas dismiss him in that way. The pack doctor always
acted like he was at the top of the food chain just under the
alpha. I wonder what position Lucas has in our pack. Generally as a
newcomer they tend to hold a low rank until they have proven
themselves. I hope he didn’t just make an enemy by not treating the
doctor with the respect required for his rank.

The moment we stepped outside I could feel a
warm September breeze blow through my hair, It was a warm sunny day
for September. I starting thinking about how it was called an
Indian summer. By now the temperature should have started dropping
below seventy degrees but it had stayed warm. Most days we were
still seeing highs in the nineties.

Lucas walked us over to a really nice, brand
new ford Mustang convertible. He opened the passenger side and
nudged me inside. He jumped in the driver side and pushed a button
and the top started to go down. Oh no I thought. I would be fried
in ten minutes or less if we started driving with the top down. The
sun was too bright today. I was going to have to tell him.

“Umm” I said in a quiet voice

“Lucas, I can’t stay in the car with the top
down. I’ll blister and get real sick in probably less than ten
minutes.”

I watched his body jerk in reaction. His
cheeks turned bright red and he immediately tried to stop the top
from opening all the way.

“Oh Kalli, I am so sorry. I should have known
better. It’s just well... your warm and I could hear your heart
beating. I just well oh god.”

The more he spoke the more embarrassed and
afraid I became. He said he knew. He’d feed me his blood no less
than ten minutes ago. How could he not know that I wouldn’t be able
to handle sunlight? No vampire could tolerate it for long. I could
feel my insides start to shake with the fear of his rejection. He
stopped talking as he watched my face change to panic again.

“No Kalli, that’s not what I am saying. I
meant. Oh well I’m sorry. I should have known better.”

The top slid closed making a clicking sound
alerting Lucas that it was sealed. It looked like he wanted to
reach out to me but instead signed and started the car. I sank back
in the seat and took a deep breath. He started driving and we both
remained silent. I guess he was thinking about what a freak I
am.

Maybe the whole sunlight thing started to
make him understand. He probably is trying to figure out what to do
about me. It seemed like we were in the car for a long time, but
honestly I’m not real sure. I didn’t mind the silence. I was used
to it. In fact I was more uncomfortable with talking. Aside from my
mom I rarely ever spoke to anyone.

He pulled into what looked like a deserted
house. The grass looked like it hadn’t been cut all summer and many
of the windows were missing glass and instead had wood nailed over
them. He put the car in park and turned to look at me.

“Kalli, I need you to understand something
before we go inside. This is an old house that is still in my
family. It’s safe here no one will come bothering us. No one but me
has been out here for years.” He paused looking around

“I wanted to go someone private just you and
me so we could talk without being disturbed. We are more than two
hours away from pack territory.” He paused again and reached out to
take my hands into his. I involuntarily tried to pull them back. He
sighed, let go of my hands and started to speak again.

“Kalli, give me a chance will you? Every time
I open my mouth I feel like I say the wrong thing and you try to
push me away.”

He opened the door and came around to my
side. He pulled my door open and held out his hand. I wanted so
badly to reach out and take it but I just couldn’t bring myself to
grab it. I knew once he understood more about me and the pack got
to him, he would regret every time he had ever touched me. I wanted
to minimize his future pain. Plus, every time he touched me, it
just made me want to touch him more. I pushed myself out of the car
without grabbing hold of his hand. He looked down and shoved his
hands into his pockets. He started walking towards the front
door.

“Come on Kalli, it’s not as bad on the
inside. I’ve been here a lot recently doing some work in there. I
actually thought someday my mate and I might even stay here when
pack business was slow.”

With that he turned and pulled open the front
door. I started looking around. He was right, the inside was in
better shape than outside. It looked like all new hardwood floors
had recently been installed and all of the walls were freshly
painted.

He put his hand in the small of my back and
started to guide me over to the only piece of furniture I could
see. It was an old brown leather sofa. It looked worn but very
comfortable. It was strategically placed in front of what appeared
to be a recently restored fireplace.

We sat down facing each other; Lucas reached
out and tugged a piece of my unruly hair out of my face. It felt so
strange but at the same time perfectly normal. Part of me wanted to
stay right here next to him just like this forever. Another part of
me wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Nothing good
could come from spending time with Lucas. He would reject me. It
was impossible for us to make a life together. Eventually the pack
or lack of pack would get to him and he would need to reject
me.

Suddenly I felt my cell phone start vibrating
in my pocket. I went to grab it out of my pocket knowing the only
person who could possibly be calling me would be my mom. I pulled
out my phone and flipped it open noticing that it was well after
four in the evening.

Mom and I talked for a few minutes. I had to
calm her down since I was never late getting home from school. I
started to try to explain to her where I was when Lucas pulled the
phone out of my hand. He placed his other hand on my shoulder and
leaned in very close to my face.

“Stay here. I am going outside to have a
private conversation with your mom. I will be right back. Don’t
move okay?”

I wanted to disagree but for some reason my
wolf felt like she couldn’t so I just nodded my head. Before I knew
what he was doing his lips lightly brushed against mine. The he
swiftly turned and started walking out the front door.

My wolf started to howl with pleasure. Our
mate’s lips were so soft and they felt so warm against our lips. I
had never felt something so wonderful in my life. I would never be
the same after feeling how wonderful that was. I couldn’t think of
anything but how good it felt and how long it would be before I
experience that again.

I felt my cheeks start to warm up. My wolf
and I were excited and pleased that our mate had kissed us. I
turned dreamily towards the window that wasn’t covered with wood so
I could see my mate. He was standing just past the mustang talking
into my cell phone. That’s when my brain started working again.
Somehow the kiss had stopped my brain cold.