Mated & Blooded, A Blood Ties Novel, Book 1 (8 page)

“Sorry babe, I’m not sure which room is
yours” I said softly.

She blinked a few times I guess trying to
process that she was in my arms before she said.

“I missed you. Top of the steps to the
left”

Then closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.
I pushed open the only door to the left of the steps and noticed it
was a really small room, with a really small bed. Kalli and I were
not going to fit together on that bed.

I thought about sleeping with her on the
floor, but knew that she would be uncomfortable. I didn’t want her
to be uncomfortable. She had already had enough pain in her past. I
wanted to minimize her pain and discomfort moving forward. Then I
thought maybe I would let her sleep on the bed, and I would sleep
on the couch.

I wasn’t crazy about that idea since it would
mean we were in two different rooms. I needed to be close in order
to protect her. I even thought about sleeping on the floor while
she was in the bed. The truth was though, the thought of not
sleeping with her in my arms left me feeling angry. I needed my
mate and she needed me. So, I moved back into the hall and nudged
open the only other door I saw.

Her mother was spread out across a very
comfortable looking king bed. I knew the bed was plenty large
enough for Kalli and me. I laid Kalli down beside her mother and
woke Marie up.

“Marie. You need to go sleep in Kalli’s room.
In fact, from now on that will be your room. Kalli and I will stay
in here. Tomorrow do what is necessary to make the change
permanent.”

I used my alpha voice so that she didn’t have
a chance to disagree. My mates comfort was what was important. The
smaller room would be fine for her mother. She nodded and
immediately left the room. I pulled off my clothes with the
exception of my boxers than turned to my mate to do the same thing.
I left her in her shirt and undies then placed her under the covers
and climbed in. She moved towards me and wrapped her arms snuggle
around me.

The instant I felt her arms go around me my
wolf started to calm down. I could feel the agitation leaving us.
Tomorrow was going to be a long day. I wasn’t worried for myself
though, I knew I would win. I had Kalli to fight for and my father
had nothing but his pride. Kalli’s love would see me through this.
With my mate at my side nothing could stop me. I couldn’t wait to
get the challenge over with so that my mate and I could bond. By
this time tomorrow she would wear my mark and we would be fully
bonded.

It had been days since I saw my beloved with
my eyes. It took all of my strength not to burst into that
dilapidated place she was staying in and blood with her. I knew it
would kill me, but I was beginning to wonder if that wasn’t the
perfect way to go. It would make me less of a coward and at least I
would have felt her flesh and kissed her lips before dying. I
deserved that much didn’t I? But that would hurt her, so instead I
kept my distance and hid my emotions from her.

At first, feeling her emotions was a bit of a
shock to me. I knew that once we were a blooded couple that we
would always know exactly how each other felt. I hadn’t expected to
feel her emotions without blooding though. It’s just that my
beloved has such a strong soul. It had endured so much pain in its
short lifetime that it had grown stronger than the average soul.
That however left me in a strange place. I was able to feel
everything my beloved felt. I knew when she was happy, scared,
agitated and angry.

Most days my beloved was happy and content.
That made me happy, since I knew she had such a hard life before
coming to BlueRidge. I was glad to know that the wolf could keep
her happy and that her life would be okay without me. He wasn’t the
worse thing in the world; he also wasn’t best thing either. He was
a little too pushy and controlling. He didn’t recognize that my
beloveds soul needed to be more carefree. Instead he worried too
much for her safety and kept her tied up in knots. Well, at least
he didn’t hurt her like the wolves from her past and for that alone
he had my vote.

Today my beloved wasn’t happy or content. She
was actually agitated and nervous. Not the kind of agitation she
felt when the wolf was being too dominant with her, this was
different, it was laced with fear. That was something I didn’t like
at all. I never wanted my beloved to suffer the kind of fear that
used to rule her life.

Suddenly I realized she was physically
getting father away from me. Her soul was screaming at me to find
her and claim her. She needed me. I knew that she had to be
suffering physically just as I was. It can be pure agony to be
separated from your beloved. I tried to force the pain out of my
mind. I knew it was better for her to experience it now than after
I was gone for good. It was the gentler easier way to break our
bond. I knew that with a little more time the separation would be
easier for her. Eventually her soul would stop calling for me on
this plateau and wait until we both moved into the ever after.

Then I remembered her old pain. The pain she
had all over her soul before she even met me. She had been used and
abused. She spent her life in a forced solitude. While we vampires
were by nature solitary creatures, she was a wolf and being alone
had caused her severe pain. Without thought, I found myself
following her as she moved closer to the Northern Star
territory.

Northern Star, those were the wolves who had
hurt my beloved in the first place. I couldn’t understand why would
she be returning to them? She should not be going anywhere near
those nasty wolves. I felt the physical pain get more pronounced in
my beloved. I hated that she ached, maybe now was not the time for
a separation after all. I just needed to get a little closer so
that her pain would stop.

Vampires are said to have the ability to run
well over one hundred miles per hour without breaking a sweat.
Before today I would have said that was stretching the truth, now
however I realized with the proper motivation one hundred miles per
hour was in fact achievable. Actually, I know that I was moving
faster than that. I managed to catch up to my beloved and her wolf
traveling companion in less than thirty minutes.

I could feel my beloved was very nearby. Her
emotions were coming to me with crisp clarity. I had intended to
snatch her from the wolf and find out exactly why she was returning
to Northern Star when I was suddenly overwhelmed by her feelings of
hunger. The feeling was so similar to blood lust that I was
completely mesmerized.

I could recall being a young vampire and
being taken over by blood lust. Why would my beloved be
experiencing blood lust? Maybe this was a side effect of our souls
briefly touching. After all to my knowledge; no vampire had ever
had a wolf as a beloved.

I knew that I would be upon her in moments
and slowed down so that I could see with my eyes what was going on.
She was in the passenger side of the mustang that had been at
BlueRidge. The male wolf was kneeling just outside of her car door.
His wrist was extended and he was pressing it towards her mouth.
Then, I watched in amazement as my beloved did the most unexpected
thing I could imagine. She bit into the male wolf's wrist and began
drinking his blood.

The instant the blood hit her mouth I knew I
needed to hide. I was experiencing the same erotic feeding
sensations as her. It was intensive and explosive all at the same
time. I quickly hid myself behind a large tractor trailer. I knew
if anyone saw me in this condition they would immediately panic and
start a hunt. My fangs were extended, my face was drawn gaunt and
my eyes were sure to be blood red. I needed to stay out of sight. I
didn’t have time for humans to chase me around trying to kill me
right now. I had a beloved that was experiencing something
extremely unexpected.

I stayed well hidden and tried to calm
myself. Sharing a feeding with my beloved was wreaking havoc on my
system. Slowly, the feeling started to pass and I knew that she had
completed the feeding. I however was still a mess. How was this
possible? What have I done to my beloved? I was going to have to
find out what this meant. I was not going to leave this earth not
knowing if my beloved would need me. I was going to have to seek
out my elders to see if they could help me make sense of what was
going on.

The tricky part, keeping an eye on her while
getting the information from them. I didn’t like it, but for now I
would have to leave her in the wolf’s care. Maybe not for much
longer though.

I woke up feeling exhausted. I wished I
didn’t since I really needed my energy to fight my father tonight.
I looked over and Kalli who was still sound asleep. I started to
rub her back a little, and then decided that I would have her mom
cook some breakfast in bed for her.

I reached out in my mind and told her to fix
Kalli’s favorite breakfast and bring it in as soon as it was
finished. My hands were roaming all over her by the time her mother
brought in the breakfast tray. It was stacked high with banana
pancakes.

I was a little surprised that banana pancakes
were her favorite since bananas tended to give most wolves’
indigestion and a rash. I sniffed them and decided that I wasn’t
going to be able to share breakfast with my mate. I was a little
disappointed but it was more important that Kalli ate then if I
ate.

I woke her with gentle butterfly kisses. She
smiled brightly and kissed me more passionately than I’d expected.
It felt wonderful, but I needed to keep our hormones in control. I
couldn’t risk mating with Kalli before I won the challenge
tonight.

“Hey babe, I had your mom make your favorite
breakfast. Let me feed you please”

I gave her what I hoped was my best pouting
look. I knew she would let me though. Kalli tended to be a very
submissive wolf always doing what she thought would please me. It
was just another way I knew we were perfect for each other.

She smiled again and of course obeyed me by
opening her mouth nice and wide. I know that Kalli sometimes
preferred to skip meals after she drank blood, but I thought it was
healthier for her to eat normally everyday regardless if she drank
blood or not. Besides, I loved feeding my mate.

I cut off a nice chunk dipped it in syrup and
placed it in her mouth. She was so dam adorable. She ate every bite
of the pancakes without one complaint. When I finished feeding her
I noticed that she had syrup on her lips and chin. I decided now
would be the perfect time to show her how talented my tongue could
be and completely remove all traces of the syrup.

We’d spend longer in the bedroom fooling
around than I’d meant to so I had to really hustle with my shower.
Once I was finished and dressed it was time to put the plan in
motion. I walked over to my beautiful mate and place a passionate
kiss on her lips. She kissed me back with just as much passion.
Then with my full alpha voice I said

“Baby, listen carefully to me. I am sorry,
but you are going to have to go back to BlueRidge today. Your mama
is going to take you there right now. You are to stay there until I
come for you. I will come for you Kalli whether I win or lose. I
promise, but just in case, if I somehow don’t manage to survive the
fight tomorrow, I release you from this command. You will be free
to go anywhere in the world that you want. However, under no
circumstances will you ever return to Northern Star territory
without me. Do you understand?”

I watched her body jerk around a bit as my
alpha command forced her wolf to submit. Finally she nodded.

“I hate this Lucas. Please don’t do this to
me. Please don’t do this to us”

She said through tears. It hurt me to know
that I was the cause of her pain, but this was necessary to keep
her safe and secure our future together in the pack.

“I’m sorry Kalli, I do this because I love
you. Grab your things and go now, so that I know you will be
safe”

I watched her move to the little room and
start putting clothes into a duffel bag. She cried the whole time,
and continued to beg me to release her from the command. Not going
to happen though. This was the best thing I could do for Kalli.
It’s not like I didn’t want her to be at my side during the Alpha
challenge but it was too big of a risk for her. Her safety had to
be my number one priority.

I let her cry it out then pulled her into my
arms. I held her and murmured words of love and comfort. I finally
walked her out to my mustang and put her in the passenger seat. I
threw her duffel bag into the trunk and went back to give her a
final kiss. I closed the car door, and warned her mother again
through our mental connection.

Go now and guard her with your life. You
don’t want to know what I am capable of doing if something happens
to her. I haven’t been overly confident in your ability to care for
her. Seems like you are kind of lazy, but remember you have been
warned.

That boy is a typical alpha prick she
thought, pushing everyone around in the name of his mate’s
happiness. Truth is he does what makes him happy. My daughter would
hate his guts if she knew he was forcing me to do things. I don’t
need to be threatened or alpha ordered to care for my own
child.

He’s just like his father, abuses his power,
both of them forcing me to do their will. He is going to regret
that someday. It’s because of his selfishness that my baby might
get hurt. Why did he have to push the issue? If he truly loved her,
he wouldn’t do this. He would have taken the time to talk it
through with her and they would have made a joint decision on what
was best for both of them as a couple. Not demand and dominate.