“Thank you, Charisma.” I hope she’s telling the truth. If she is, I need to make sure she understands how grateful I am for her sacrifice. Going against your own is punishable by a brutal death.
She smiles brightly at me before she says, “You are meant to unite all of our people, and right the wrongs of both of our kinds with your mate, Connelly.”
“I don’t have a mate,” I solemnly cry alongside my wolf.
“He’s coming. Be patient. Until then, I’ll do everything I can to help you,” she advises me.
“H-how do you know? He’s coming that is. How could you know that?” I would love nothing more than for my white knight to show up and rescue me.
“It’s been prophesied. I’ve seen it for myself. His mother shared it with me the day your mate was born.” She has a lost look as she remembers that day. I want to jump inside of her head and see what she does. Figuring it’s okay since I’m here against my will, I jump into her memories.
It’s the day my mate was born; his mother foresaw the future. A vision takes hold of a man, with me by his side, a strong clan of friends, and peace with our existence. We are strong, a united front of many breeds of shifters, humans, and vampires alike. Is this even possible? Shifters stick to their own kind, as well as humans, and vampires. Thinking back on the memories I jumped in, I recognize my mate is… more. His eyes bear the redness of a vampire after a feeding, the strong bodily features of a shifter… a wolf, and his human side is loving, feeling happy for acceptance from all. A first I feel. My mate has had a hard life.
Mate. My wolf cries inside of me for her soulmate. Find me mate, my mind begs.
Maverick
Knowing my body will need fuel for this mission, I find a woman exiting the back of a bar for a smoke. I’d prefer the blood to be pure, but beggars can’t afford to be choosy. I walk up to her and look dead into her eyes, I enchant her to want to feed me, to fuck me, to give me all my body desires. Feeding is an intimate act, my body instantaneously reacts, and I must bury myself deep inside of my prey as I feed. Otherwise, my mind goes insane and becomes blood lusted. I can never allow myself to go down that path, and since I know I’ll never have a mate of my own, since neither side of me is accepted by their people, I don’t allow myself to feel guilty for taking my pleasures from strange females.
As she hikes up her skirt, then tilts her head to the right, my fangs prepare themselves to break through her skin. As I take my first gulp of her, blood coats my tongue, and my dick grows stiff. I reach down and undo my belt buckle. When I’ve unsnapped and unzipped my jeans, I’m poised to enter her when someone begins speaking in my head.
“You must hurry, my boy. I’m not sure how much more your mate can take before she gives into the darkness.”
“Charisma?” The same woman who’s infiltrated my head since I was a small child, is residing in my mind.
“Yes, Maverick. It is I, Charisma. Our people have taken your mate, they wish to drain her. You must hurry.” Her words come out rushed and full of fear.
“Mate? I have a mate?” I pull back, causing my conquest to whimper. My teeth leave her skin, and I swipe the tiny incisions with my tongue, sealing her wounds.
“You do, I have sent word to your leader, Colton. Did you not receive the message yet? Do I have to do everything myself to see this prophecy come to light?” she asks me. I can feel the annoyance she bears with each word said.
“He gave me the message, I was preparing my body for the fight ahead of me,” I inform her.
“Yes, nourishment is good. I will help you in any way I can. Telepathically speak to me when you arrive.”
“That’s not one of my gifts,” my wolf growls at her.
“Heel your dog, Maverick. We have an open link; we have since your mother shared your future with me the day you were born. The link has never severed, it’s the reason I can communicate with you. Now, stop with all of that huffing and puffing you’re doing, and come rescue your mate,” she admonishes me as a mother would.
“You never told me you knew my mother.” I’m irate with her for withholding this from me my entire life.
“You, your mother, and father will unite again, once it’s safe,” she tells me.
“Safe from what?” I inquire.
“When you, with help from your rogue enforcers, complete the prophecy.”
“Well, that’s fucking helpful,” I angrily respond.
“This is not the time for this conversation, Maverick. I must leave you now and go tend to your mate’s wounds and share my blood with her.”
“Wounds? What fucking wounds?” She has broken the link, she can’t hear me, nor will she answer my question.
Mate’s hurt, my wolf cries inside of my head.
Don’t worry, wolf. We’ll decimate anyone who harmed one solitary hair on her head. He sits up taller, shoulders back, teeth bared, ready to avenge our mate. This time when my vamp rears his bloodlust, I don’t admonish him. For the first time… ever, all of my sides are on the same page.
We will save, conquer, and rescue our mate. I release the woman in the alley from her mental bindings and send her on her way. This memory is erased and she’ll never be able to remember our encounter. I head home, head full of fury, my two other sides content with each other for the time being. Both with the same mission as my human side. Seek, find, claim. A mate, I never thought the universe would have made someone just for me. I’ve been considered an abomination by both breeds, someone who’s been hidden most of my life, to prevent others from wanting to behead me.
I have been prepared to live my life in solitude. Now that I know I won’t have to, my mind has become more at ease than it’s ever been. My legs pick up speed as the wind slaps me in the face. In the blink of an eye, I’m at my cottage buried deeply in the mountains. I reside where no man travels; not even hunters will come in this deep. My only companions are those who live in the wild. Squirrels, deer, rabbits, and other wild animals. Before I learned to curb my appetites, control my feedings, I lived off the blood of the animals. Since then, they’ve become my friends. I feed them scraps from town, pet them, treat them like my family. They’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to one.
As I enter my domain, I immediately begin to gather my clothing, and supplies. The only person I consider a friend, Paxton, enters my head. I may need him on this particular mission, only I worry that his mate, Landry, and that pigheaded witch, Esmerelda, will accompany him. Not that I don’t enjoy the company of Landry, she’s a spitfire, but she and Pax have been desperately trying for cubs. I don’t want this mission to jeopardize that in any way. Deciding I can’t let that be my burden to bear, I pick up my phone and give him a call.
“Mav?” he answers on the third ring.
“I need your help,” I advise him without saying any pleasantries first.
“What do you need?” he asks, and I can hear that he’s gone from friend and foe, to business.
“My mate is in trouble,” I declare.
“Mate. Trouble. I didn’t know you had a mate?” he inquires.
“I didn’t either. Not until an hour ago at least,” I huff.
“Explain,” he demands. I can hear the rustle through the phone and give him the short version of what’s taken place during the last two hours of my life. “Are you shitting me?”
“No, my wolf hasn’t come out,” I dryly state, always confused by his quips. I’m not socially aware of some sayings and am sometimes dumbfounded by words.
“It’s an expression, Mav.”
“Why don’t you just say what you mean?” The way he verbalizes things has my head spinning. Didn’t he just ask if I’ve shitted? I usually only do that in wolf form; therefore, my answer was a correct one.
“So, this Charisma lady says you have a mate. And we what, just believe what she says? You’ve said it yourself; you’ve only talked to her in your head; how is she to be believed?” he asks me.
“She’s never, not once, lied to me, Pax. She h
as been there through every transition in my life. I have to go with my instincts on this one, and they’re screaming at me that she’s being truthful. If the fates have given me a mate, I have to find her. I never believed there would be someone out there made just for me. I need that, her. Help me, Pax,” I implore.
“Of course, I’ll help you, Mav. Even if this was a set up from the word go, I’d still be by your side. You helped me save my mate, for that I owe you a debt for life.”
“You owe me nothing, Pax. I’d never count helping my friend as a score needing to be settled. I’m asking you, as the only person I trust, to help me. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less.” I don’t like that he thinks that I only helped him for future markers. I did it because he asked, he needed me, no one has ever needed me for anything in my life. I was honored and touched that he did so.
“You’re my friend too, Mav. I know we don’t keep a tally of who does what for the other one. That’s not what this is about. Where do I meet you?”
We begin making plans and coming up with a destination point. As we do so, I hear Esmerelda in the background. She already knew what was fixing to happen, and is prepared to whip out her bag of tricks. Witches are devious creatures. She astounds me; I haven’t quite figured out if she has an agenda, or if she’s truly different than those I’ve encountered in the past. I know she loves Landry, but she has no allegiance to me. I’m confused and enthralled with her gesture. I just hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass.
Connelly
“Stop sucking on me, you vermin!” I scream at the latest walking dead creature whose lollipop I’ve become. Drawing on the only strength I have left; I close my eyes, then through my telepathy, I use my psychokinesis to send him flying through the air. It’s nearly the same thing as telekinesis, only a bit more powerful. I can’t reach my mate to beg for a quick rescue; we don’t have a bonded link yet, so I do what I can despite being chained. I’m not sure how much more my body can take before it gives out on me, and I end up with my ancestors in the afterlife.
I long for the days to come that I can frolic in the woods, and howl at the moon. Losing myself in the longings of the future, my recent tormentor leaves, mumbling under his breath. Not catching what he says, I let him leave without another word uttered from me. He deserves nothing but my loathing and revenge. I will desecrate every single one of them that has consumed my blood.
I am not a voluntary blood donor, never have been and never will be. The crimson red that runs through my veins is a healing agent to humans, shifters, and bloodsuckers alike. I come from a very ancient and powerful line of wolf shifters. My family tree consists of the first... originals, making me vulnerable to attacks. I’ve been hunted before for that reason alone. It’s not just vampires who lust over my blood, other wolves have sought me out to intake and embrace my life essence. My own pack has tried to take what wasn’t offered to them before, inciting their immediate deaths.
It’s always made me sad that I could be turned on the way I have by those who’ve basically helped raise me. I’ve always walked through the path of life with my head looking over my shoulder at all times, staying aware of my surroundings. Never knowing for sure who I could wholeheartedly trust, and who I couldn’t. My parents were the only ones I could find solace with. I could be myself, be carefree and enjoy life. Being on guard every day of your life becomes exhausting.
I used to wish that I’d been born anyone else than me. Pathetic when you think about it, but my current position explains why I feel the way I do. I’m desperate to get out of here. Tugging on my bindings, I become frustrated and let out a scream of irritation when I realize they aren’t going to be budging an inch. I’m fucking stuck here until my mate comes and rescues me. I hate being a damsel in distress that needs rescuing. I’ve never been that woman; always have been able to get myself out of situations. My father taught me to be a strong, independent she-wolf, so that I’d never be indebted to another for anything.
Maverick
I’m sitting astride my motorcycle, in the designated spot Paxton and I agreed to meet at when I hear his bike rumbling down the road. My eyes are better adjusted at nighttime thanks to my vampiric side than a human can see in the daylight. I chuckle when I see Esmerelda’s ‘witch mobile’ which is nothing more than a VW van that’s unusually colorful, following Paxton and his mate, Landry. I don’t understand why she needs such a vibrant van that sticks out like a sore thumb. When I asked her this once, she simply told me that I was stuck in a world of black and gray, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean. I see colors just fine. Better sight than she will ever be capable of outside of her crystals and magic ball. She’s the only witch I’ve ever been able to somewhat tolerate being around. She’s funny and loves all shifters; which is different than other witches’ beliefs.
History has a few facts wrong pertaining to the innocence of witches, yes, witches were burned at the stakes in Salem, but they are far more devious when they torture shifters. The ones who burned, I don’t feel sorry for, they were the worst of them all. If the humans hadn’t taken them out during the witch trials, the Magestry would’ve.
Paxton comes up next to me; his bike is idling, normal people wouldn’t be able to hear over the purr of the bike, but we’re not mere humans. We have uncanny hearing capabilities. “How far is the coven from here?” Paxton inquires.
“About ten miles, we will have to do most of the journey on foot. They have sensitive hearing, which means we may not be able to sneak up on them. We need to be prepared for anything.” If we break so much as a tree branch under our feet we take the chance of them overhearing it.
“I can help with the sounds,” Esmerelda states, as she joins us. We both shut off our engines so she can clearly hear what is being said.
“How?” I inquire of her.
“Magic, my boy,” she replies as she reaches out and pats my cheek. I’m not used to displays of affection and jump back away from her touch. “You must learn to accept touch, Mav. Your mate will want to lay her hands upon you without receiving that sort of reaction.”
“She can touch me however she likes. Others however, if they wish to keep their limbs intact, should be cautious of doing so without my explicit permission granted.” She warily eyes me for a moment, before shaking her head in disappointment. “How the legends have it that you’ll be uniting us all mystifies me.”
“His mate is most likely the one who breaks his will. She’ll teach him to love and accept touch from others,” Paxton chimes in.
“Love is in the air,” Landry wistfully sighs.
“Love? What’s love got to do with mating?” I ask her.
“Seriously?” Landry’s eyes bug out of her head as she shares a look with Esmerelda. “Please, tell me he’s joking? Anyone?” Her head swivels looking for either one of them to answer her.
“I don’t joke,” I hastily proclaim. I’ve never seen the point in it. Mean what you say and say what you mean. Otherwise, your words are lost on me. “I’ve never understood why people need to do so and don’t care to either.”
“Your poor mate,” Landry whispers.
“You two mark my words,” Paxton says pointing his finger at Esmerelda then to Landry, “mating changes everything.”
“Not for me,” I express, suddenly feeling like the walls are closing in on me. This must be what humans feel like when they speak of having what they refer to as ‘panic attacks’. This crushing feeling on my chest cavity feels like the definition they use. But shifters and vampires are superior, we don’t have emotions on this level.
“That pain in your chest, it’s fear,” Esmerelda supplies. “It will ease once you rescue your mate.”
“I fear nothing,” comes out from deep within my chest… it sounds like a wild animal’s growl. Which is fitting seeing as that’s who I am; a wild wolf resides in me. Speaking of which, the wolf inside of me is growling and snarling at me to get my ass moving. He needs his mate. My vampiric side, he too wis
hes to have his mate next to him, but he’s not nearly as persistent as his counterpart. “We must go, my other two sides are growing restless. Do what you must, Esmerelda. I want my mate by my side, sooner rather than later.”
“I can’t do it until I converse with Mother Nature in the woods we’ll be traipsing through. We need their permission and support to enter their kingdom.”
“You mean you're going to talk to trees?” Landry questions.
“Not just the trees, child. The grass, the bushes, the birds, and animals which reside in the woods,” Esmerelda supplies. “But we must be going, nighttime is closing in on us. They are at their strongest during the dark.”
“The trees or the vampires?” Paxton inquires, confusion written on his face.
“Both.” Esmerelda walks away after stating this.
“You heard the witch,” I say to Pax, firing my bike back up.
Connelly
Nighttime should be befalling us shortly, which means the coven will be awakening and I will become one of their snacks soon. Every night I fight them to the best of my capabilities, but I’m feeling weak and know there’s no way I can use my gifts against them. The vampires only supply me with enough food and water to keep my blood flowing and regenerating. Nowhere near enough for me to regain my strength. They keep me teetering on that fine line between living and dying.
I’m emotionally and mentally exhausted. But knowing that I have a mate out there somewhere is the only thing that’s keeping me going at this point. He sure is taking his sweet ass time making it to me. This cavern they have me in is pitch dark, but I can feel the stirrings of the coven as they begin to awaken for the night. I wish I held the power to make my blood taste like pure shit to vampires, it would be great if my blood poisoned them. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the nut sack to them all? I’m growing sick and tired of being someone’s meal. But, what worries me more than being their personal chew toy, is the fact that my wolf has been eerily quiet since I was taken.
Maverick: Rogue Enforcers Novel Page 2
