Anew: Kindred Series

by DJ Phoenix

  She tried to step away, but he held her thighs firmly as he stood. “Did I hurt you?”

  She shook her head as she felt her eyes sting with unshed tears. She hated that she always cried when she was angry. It made her feel weak. “Um, no. I’m just … I don’t know!” Her voice rose as she spoke, and she felt even more out of sorts. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I don’t usually act this way.”

  He looked at her with genuine concern evident in his handsome face. “Please forgive me if I have hurt you in any way. It has never been my intention.” His strong hands cupped either side of her face. “What’s bothering you? I promise I’ll do my best to make it right.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek and her face heated as she resigned herself to answering him honestly. She had no other choice. She felt her brain muddled with his presence all around her, and there was no other explanation she could come up with. She rushed through her answer. “It’s just that you seem to know exactly what you are doing.” She averted her eyes as he stared at her quizzically. “I felt jealous,” she whispered.

  His features softened and he ran his thumb across her cheek bone. “Cynthia …” He swallowed hard as he looked at the ceiling, and she watched as his throat convulsed before he found her eyes again. “I’m not a virgin by any means. I’ve never had a serious relationship, but I haven’t been celibate, either.” He cupped her face tenderly. “Please know that you mean so much more than any other woman that’s ever crossed my path. I want you—only you. I want us to share our life with each other. I want to grow old with you by my side.”

  Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she took in his heartfelt and honest declaration. Her mind worked a million miles an hour processing what he was saying. He hadn’t said that four letter word yet, and she didn’t expect to hear it, either. It had only been a week since they’d met after all, but in so many other words he had confirmed how deeply he felt for her.

  “If I could go back and do it all over again, I would wait till this very moment when I’d have you in your naked beauty standing before me. I would do anything to erase that part of my past.”

  A sob escaped her lips as the remainder of her walls crumbled. She had been so hurt before. She had given all she thought she had to a man that had taken it and mopped the floor with it; a man who had humiliated and shamed her, a man that had beat her not just physically but emotionally. She had promised herself never to let anyone in again, never to be vulnerable before anyone again. Except now all her determination was lost to this man that had won her heart in just a week, and had just basically told her he loved her.

  “Come here.” He wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her flush against him. She could feel his delicious hardness against her softness. A yearning to seal what they felt for each other burned through her, overtaking the sobs that had, just seconds before, erupted from her lips. She didn’t know how this had happened, but something deep inside her, something primal, wanted it—no, needed it.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips to his. They moved their lips in sync, their tongues tangled in an erotic dance. Before she knew what she was doing, her legs wrapped around his slim waist and his large hands kneaded her rear as they supported her weight. She could feel his manhood rubbing against her, and she moaned into his mouth, thrusting her hips, looking for more friction. He backed her up onto the tiled wall and, in one hard thrust, buried his shaft to the hilt inside her hot core.

  She felt him shudder as they held onto each other.

  Their eyes locked, and then they were moving, their hips thrusting to the same delicious rhythm. She was lost to the feelings running through her: the delicious friction of his shaft thrusting deep inside her, the feel of his hard chest rubbing her tender nipples, and his breath caressing her too-sensitive skin as he feathered kisses anywhere and everywhere.

  Lost in their moment, she heard a voice inside her head. “Claim our mate. He is ours.”

  She tried to ignore it as her pleasure built. She must be delirious with all the feelings coursing through her body.

  “Claim our mate!” This time the words were demanding, triggering something foreign within her, and she felt the urge to bite him, to sink her teeth into his flesh and drink.

  She tried to reason, to control her wild thoughts, but the need building inside her overpowered all coherent thoughts. She zeroed in on the tender spot where his neck met his collar bone. Her mouth watered at the sight, and before she could stop herself she heard a tearing sound as her canines lengthened and she sank them into his flesh.

  She heard a growl that she couldn’t decide if it had come from her or him, and then a rush of sweet liquid burst into her mouth. She felt pinpricks on her own tender neck, and a burst of pleasure flooded every inch of her body.

  Their thrusting became erratic. Her pleasure built more intensely than it ever had, and then they were both flying over the edge, coming undone together.

  Lost in their lovemaking, she suddenly realized she was still latched onto his neck when he tenderly caressed her cheek, nudging her. She released him and heat flooded her face. She was so embarrassed. What had she done? She had literally bit him and drawn blood. She tried to hide her face, but a slight ache on her own neck kept her from turning her head. Despite her embarrassment, her hand went to her neck, a gasp escaping her lips as she touched the tender spot. “What …?”

  Her eyes must have shown her panic because he answered her unasked question. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want it to be like this. I wanted you to know exactly what it entailed and what it meant, but you … well, you bit me and I couldn’t hold back. We are bonded.”

  “Bonded? What are you talking about?” She pushed on his chest, attempting to untangle herself from his waist and stand on her own two feet.

  “I thought it was just me getting lost in all these feelings. But … but it told me to claim you. I tried to reason … I told myself it was just the rush of emotions. Then I was sinking my teeth into your skin.”

  He had gently placed her feet on the floor and she backed away.

  “My teeth!” She brought her fingertips to her gums and explored her teeth. “They grew! Oh my god, I felt my teeth grow! My teeth grew!” She took a calming breath. “But they feel normal now. I’m so sorry. I’ve never done anything like that before. Oh my god! That’s the second time I’ve said that to you. You must think I’m some flake.”

  A sob escaped her lips and he wrapped her in his arms.

  “What’s happening to me?” She took a step back and reached her trembling hand to her chest. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.” Her hands covered her face, hiding her shame, and he held her again. “You must think I’m some freak.”

  He pulled her hands away from her face. “Cynthia … Cynthia, look at me. You are not a freak. This was amazing, and I am the one who is sorry. What happened was supposed to be something special, and instead our wolves rushed us right into it.” He searched her eyes and continued. “Cynthia, what we just did can’t be reversed. You are mine and I am yours until our time is done on this earth. Our kind bond for life, usually after a ceremony, but either way this ties our lives together for eternity. I am not sorry for that.”

  On slightly shaky legs she stared into his eyes, digesting what he had just said. ‘Our kind bonds for life.’ A part of her brain wanted her to be afraid, but a bigger part knew she could trust him. “What do you mean our wolves? And what do you mean by bonded?”

  He cupped her face. “I will answer all your questions, but first let’s get you rinsed and into something warm. I don’t think you will need this anymore, either.” He pulled on the tape holding the plastic bag protecting her wound. She tried to pull her arm away and object, but he had already undone it. “Trust me.” He looked into her eyes and right into her soul. “You had a good drink of my blood. What remained of your injury has already healed.”

  She stared at her arm wide eyed as he pulled the bandage off. “What the …? That, that’
s impossible.” Her other hand went to her mouth. “I don’t understand.”

  She shook her head but relaxed as he kissed her forehead and finished helping her rinse. She moved further under the spray of water, giving him room to lather his body and hair. Then she helped him rinse off the suds, running her hands sensually over his body.

  He shivered, and the devil inside her did a happy dance, but this time she controlled herself and removed her hands to shut the water off. He pulled her close from behind and she could feel his manhood pressing against her as he growled into her ear. “You know …” His breath caressed her ear. “It’s not a good idea to tease the big bad wolf.” He reached for a towel and wrapped it around her.

  She threw on a pair of dark-blue skinny jeans and a fitted emerald-green V-neck cashmere sweater. When she emerged from the walk-in closet with her black boots in hand, he was sat on the edge of the bed.

  His scorching quicksilver eyes glowed as he admired her form. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and a fitted Gray Henley, his feet clad in his usual black steel toe boots.

  Chapter 15

  Cynthia

  Luke stood and took her hand, leading her to the window bench. He sat facing her and took the boots from her hand. Slowly he slid each boot onto her feet, gently zipping their long inner zipper. When he was done, he checked his watch and took a long breath. “We are supposed to be at Lucy’s in an hour. If you have any doubts after I’m done, I’ll call and excuse us from dinner. This is important and I don’t want to put it off.”

  Nodding her head, because she couldn’t form any words just yet, she grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She didn’t know why, but deep inside she just knew he needed reassurance. She smiled at him and he visibly relaxed.

  “Alright then … There is no easy way around any of this, so I’m just going to go right out and say it.” He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly before he continued. “I guess, first of all, you should know that we are not human. We are shifters, also known as werewolves.” He held his hand up to stop the words forming on the tip of her tongue. She bit her lip and held back the million questions bombarding her thoughts. “Cynthia, both my parents were shifters. I was born and raised here, in the Clear Creek Pack. This is our territory. My father was the Alpha for centuries, when he was murdered I stepped up to take my rightful place as Alpha.”

  He looked at her and she nodded, encouraging him to keep going despite the heavy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

  She wasn’t sure she believed him yet, but the look in his eyes told her he believed what he was saying to be true. Then there was the fact that her canines had elongated and she had bit into his flesh like a wild animal, and that just frightened the shit out of her.

  How could shifters exist? She had read about them in her paranormal romance novels, but she always figured the vivid descriptions were just a product of someone’s wild imagination.

  He continued without noticing the questions in her eyes. “Our kind is born and destined for only one other. We can, of course, enjoy our sexuality, but the one person that has been designed just for us holds the other part of our soul. Only she will make us whole and help tame our wolf. Our kind lives exceptionally long lives, and sometimes it takes us a good part of that time to find our true mate. You following so far?”

  Stunned and frightened, she barely managed a nod.

  “Good …” He took another long breath and released it slowly. “Now to help you understand, I will explain a little of how our world works. You see, our kind cannot reproduce until we have gone through a bonding ceremony with our true mate. During the bonding ceremony, the gods bestow their blessing upon the union, but only when the pair are true mates. In order for someone to be a true mate to a shifter, they have to have shifter blood in their bloodline. A true mate can also be someone that belongs to one of the other supernatural races, but it’s very rare. Humans, on the other hand, lack the magic needed to be true mates to a shifter, but they can mate with other supernatural races; that creates half humans that have a very slim possibility of being a predestined mate to a shifter.

  “Cynthia, from what you’ve told me, I’m positive shifter blood runs through your veins. And I can take a good guess and say that it can be traced to your father. That means that your mother had to have belonged to another supernatural race, otherwise they couldn’t have bonded and had children. Also, if your mom would have been a shifter, she wouldn’t have died of sickness. We will have to look into it to be sure, but I will do my best to help you figure this out.

  “Oh … and that voice you heard in your head was your wolf. She has been with you all your life but she has been dormant. Full-blooded shifters learn to live with their wolf when it manifests during adolescence. In your case, because you are only part wolf, it remained dormant until she met her mate … my wolf. Do you follow?”

  More than anything Cynthia was frightened. The heavy feeling that had descended over her when Luke had begun his explanation was now more like a boulder stuck in the pit of her stomach, and it weighed painfully heavy. A part of her wanted to bolt and never look back at the madness she had just experienced and what she had heard, but deep down she knew she couldn’t leave. She didn’t want to leave. This place, being with Luke, possibly growing old together, it all felt right.

  “Let’s say I believe you. I mean, I just bit you and you didn’t run away thinking I was some freak. I felt my teeth grow in my mouth …” She raised her hand to her lips just then, noticing her hands shaking. “That is enough proof that what you said is very possibly true.” She weighed her next words carefully, wanting to ask the most important of the million and one question going through her head. All the while trying hard not to lose it and keep the tears threatening to spill at bay. It took her a moment to decide on asking the most frightening question of all. “When you say werewolf, do you mean four-legged, fury tailed, or do you mean Hollywood werewolf movie type? And does that include vicious, out for blood during the full moon type, or do you know exactly what you’re doing at all times?”

  Luke snorted at her moon assumption, but refrained from laughing when she glared at him. “Okay.” Palms up, he explained, “Please don’t be upset, it’s just that Hollywood has it all wrong. They have twisted what we really are and have made us seem like monsters.” He was thoughtful for a few heartbeats before he continued. “Actually, that movie about the vampire and the girl … what was it called?”

  She answered instinctively. She had read the books and had been a fan of the movies when they’d been released. “Twilight?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. They came very close to describing what we really are. Our wolf form resembles that of our animal counterpart, the only difference is that we are larger and our human reasoning is always present. We don’t go through a change like in horror movies, instead we use magic to pull our energy inward and shift into our wolf. We have the ability to shift our whole body, or we can shift just our eyes, our teeth, or our claws. We also have exceptional speed, superb strength, and very good eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell. We usually prefer to shift without clothes on, otherwise it tears, and it would be costly to keep a wardrobe. As far as the moon goes, it has a certain pull on our wolf, but we can shift whenever we want. The out for blood part depends; we have complete control of our thoughts and senses when we are in wolf form, but if one of ours or anyone we love is in trouble, we will do whatever it takes to protect them.”

  She sat there, opened mouth and staring at him. Was he for real? Then again, she couldn’t deny that she had felt her canine teeth elongate, and she had bit into the crook of his neck, and drank his blood.

  Her mouth moved but no sound came out.

  She tried again, and her voice sounded foreign. “This … it’s hard to believe. I mean, all my life, all I’ve known is this human world, and all of a sudden it turns out it’s been a farce. There are other beings out there and most of us are clueless about it.” At this point her voice c
racked and a sob escaped her lips. This was way too much to handle. She needed to think. Then there was her parents that had known, yet had not shared anything about it. They had kept her in the dark about who she really was.

  She felt his arms wrap around her as her tears fell in a steady stream. She needed to control herself so they could continue. She still had many questions. Just then a thought occurred to her. “Oh my god! Cassie! Oh my god! I have to get a hold of her. I have to tell her!”

  She tried to stand but he held her close. “Hold on, Cynthia. I’m assuming Cassie is your sister? You can call her once you understand more about our kind. I promise that when that happens, I will be right there with you to help you explain.”

  Knowing he was right and that she needed further understanding of what she had just learned, she stilled. She nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m good.” She straightened, wiping her tears, and pulled away from him enough she could see his face. “It’s very hard to take all this in and not feel like my parents betrayed me. If what you say is true, then they knew and never said a word to either my sister or me. They left us in the dark knowing that possibly one day we would turn all wolf and bite into someone’s neck. You could’ve been scared shitless at my attack and left running for the hills.”

  He smiled that devastatingly sexy smile. “But I didn’t. I bit you right back, bonding you to me. I don’t know why your parents never said anything to you or your sister. I don’t understand it, either. What I do know is that they had to have had a very good reason for leaving you two in the dark. You said your father was always healthy and that is why I believe he was the one to pass the shifter gene to you. If that is the case, then he had the advantages that come with being a wolf. He was immune to illness, and so are you and your sister. You also have the ability to heal faster than a normal human. Depending on how far back the shifter blood goes in his family line, that makes his death very strange.”