Lor turned to face me. “Yes?”
“You were the one who got her out of there, weren’t you?”
Lor sighed. “I wasn’t sure what she saw, but I know that whatever it was, she couldn’t look away from it. She looked haunted, so yeah, I rushed in and grabbed her before the M.O.D.’s could do any more damage. The witches helped in taking them down while they were focused on us.”
I took in what he said, praying that Alexa hadn’t seen who I thought she saw. “Thank you. Really.”
Lor nodded. “Alexa is family. There’s no need to thank me.” He left the room.
I turned back to Alexa and sat down in the bed beside her, then bit into my wrist before placing it against her lips. My stomach turned at the thought that just this morning it was my lips against hers, only this time they were cold, and she was weak.
I could tell that she used her abilities because of the streaks of blood coming from her eyes and nose, but she couldn’t have used that much because her ears would have been bleeding as well.
“Alexa,” I thought to her. “Alexa, you need to feed.”
It took a moment, but eventually her lips moved before her teeth dug into my wrist, chilling me to the bone. I was familiar with this symptom but would now prefer it from the neck than anywhere else on my body.
When Alexa finally stopped, her eyes were open and glowing, but she wasn’t in the room with me. This was the other part of her. The part that only ever really shown when she was hurt, angry, or in survival mode.
“Alexa...” I said warily as I slowly pulled my wrist from her lips.
Turquoise blue veins stretched up the sides of her face, and the light in her eyes flashed.
“I need more,” she said in barely a whisper.
I wasn’t sure what to think when she sat up or even when she leaned forward and gently pushed my hair from blocking my neck. “I — I’m Not sure.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
I wasn’t sure what to think, because this side of her didn’t necessarily ask for permission, but for some reason it was now. Did our kiss have something to do with it? Maybe this side of her recognized me as more than just her sired vampire now.
I swallowed. “I do, but...”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Then let me feed. I will not overdo it.” Her voice may have been soft and welcoming, but I still didn’t sense Alexa. She was buried underneath somewhere, probably barely able to control the side that had forced its way to the surface. It made me wonder why she hadn’t forced me to feed her? Maybe this side really had grown to like me.
Hesitantly, I tilted my head to the side and expected her to rush at me, but instead, she climbed up on her knees and made her way behind me before leaning into my neck and gently penetrating my flesh with her fangs.
The sensation was chilling just as it was with my wrist, but because I knew whose teeth were dug into my neck, I somewhat enjoyed the pain.
Alexa breathed calmly as she continued to feed with their hands placed gently over my shoulders, but as she grew eager to take more, her nails dug to me, followed by the sound of purring.
I realized that after hours of being worried, followed by her being brought back so broken, I found it ridiculous that I was experiencing sensations that I shouldn’t have right now. It was just that the more that I heard her purr, the more excited I became.
I also grew more light headed.
Reaching up, I placed my hand over hers to find my own blood leaking from the spot her nails pierced, then came to realize that I was losing too much when I could barely focus on anything.
“Alexa…” I thought, the sound of my voice echoing to no one.
A moment later, I began to receive flashes of Esha standing alone in the woods dressed in white, only unlike the time I saw her, she was smiling. A moment later, a truck like force rammed into me and I found myself back in the room with Alexa.
Pain clawed at my heart, causing my throat to ache as I closed my eyes. I knew that these were Alexa’s emotions, but they felt so much like my own that I couldn’t take it.
I was so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed that Alexa was no longer feeding from me. As a matter-of-fact, when I looked over my shoulder, I found her passed out and laying sideways on the bed, most likely unconscious again. My blood may have been healing her, but she was still weak from using her powers.
I was going to move her when I noticed how peaceful she looked, so instead, I undressed her down to her boy shorts and sports bra, then lay beside her. It wasn’t until I was curled into her with my head just below her chin that I had gotten comfortable, and when her arm slid over me, I could finally fall asleep.
Chapter Eleven
Most of the night was filled with nightmares. I dreamed of finding my mother dead as a child, the gruesome tortures that Alexa had experienced from Bardelos, and then the death of Esha. That was by far the most devastating nightmare.
It wasn’t until my dreams shifted and I found myself laying in the very bed that we were sleeping in, only it was daylight out and Alexa was awake beside me.
“Alexa.” My voice came out in a whisper.
Something about this dream was different. It wasn’t me experiencing her dreams or even experiencing my own dreams, but us in each other’s minds.
“Are you okay?” I asked, sliding my hand up over the side of her neck. The action felt foreign and yet, familiar. Like touching her intimately was something I did often.
The broken expression on Alexa’s face told me that she wasn’t, but I could sense the part of her that wished that she was. “I don’t know.”
I wanted to ask her about Esha, but the shattered look in her eyes told me to keep my mouth shut. That was something we could deal with when we awakened in the real world.
When Alexa’s hand slid over the side of my torso, I realized that she was touching over bare skin.
Apparently, I was naked and so was she.
When she slightly turned over, her hair fell over her shoulder and spilled onto the bed. “I’m glad that I have you.”
“Me…too?”
I was excited in ways that I wasn’t familiar with while also terrified about what would happen next. I didn’t know what to do, but I did know what I wanted to do.
Alexa slightly smiled, moving towards me. “Why are you so nervous? What do you think is about to happen?”
“I’m not sure. This is a dream, isn’t it?” I asked.
Alexa pushed herself up on her elbow and leaned over me, her blue eyes gleaming with both sadness and happiness, then she moved a few wild curls from over my cheek before leaning down and kissing me.
My heart began to race at the feel of her lips, and I slid my hand deeply into her hair before slightly grabbing it. When she pulled away, there was no smile, but only intensity.
“Did that feel real or like a dream to you?” she asked.
“Real,” I exhaled.
Alexa didn’t say anything right away. Instead, she caressed my temples with her thumb before moving more strands of my hair out of the way. She seemed to be thinking thoughts that I couldn’t hear before gazing back into my eyes. “I don’t want you to worry. I’m not sure what or who I saw out there but know that nothing will ever stop me from loving you. I only want you.”
I bit down on my lower lip. “We’ll figure this out.”
It wasn’t obvious, but I thought that I saw a hint of relief flash across Alexa’s features before her lips pressed hard against mine. “Mate me,” she said between breaths, awakening a side of me that had been waiting to come out.
I hadn’t heard her say it before, but I instantly knew what mating meant. It was an agreement between the two of us to remain together forever. It also meant that my sire bond would be broken for us to be bonded in another way, and the only way for this deal to be made was through love making. Not just sex, but something deeper, binding, and intimate.
Something I
hadn’t realized I wanted so badly until now.
A purr rumbled in my chest as I rolled Alexa onto her back and mounted her, my fangs stretching from beneath my lips. The sight of her naked and below me with her black hair splayed over the pillows turned me on more than anyone ever has. Her lips were parted, she was breathing deeply, her skin had a slight glow to it from the dim lighting in the room, and her eyes were the brightest they had every been.
Before I could even do anything, she sat up, wrapping her hand behind my back, and digging her fangs into my chest. When a moan escaped my throat, she bit harder, causing my entire body to react.
I gently pushed her away enough to lean down and kiss her against her neck, and when she shuddered, I kissed her again. It was when her hand slid between my thighs did I pierce her with my own fangs and begin to feed.
I trembled against her touch, melting into her as she used years of experience on me. I eventually wasn’t able to feed and could only manage to moan into her neck as I dug my claws into her back.
The touching, kissing, and bonding of souls felt amazing, but it was nothing compared to how she made me feel when we levitated into the air, only to flip the room upside down and continue what we started on the ceiling.
I wasn’t sure how I knew, but at some point, I felt the sire bond leave my system and fill with a new one.
A mated bond.
We were officially in this forever, sealing a deal that could never be broken.
Not that I’d ever want to.
Chapter Twelve
When I awakened, I fully expected it to be daylight and for Alexa and me to be naked beside each other, but we were just as we were when we fell asleep, only now, my back was against her and her arm was protectively wrapped around me.
She’s still weak. I thought. How much time has passed?
When I looked over at the clock hanging against the wall, I found that only three hours had passed since we’d fallen asleep. During our dream though, it felt like an entire day had gone by.
I sighed, fearing that the bond in our dream was simply only a dream, but then slowly came to realize that my sire bond was no longer weighing on me. It was barely noticeable, but when I was sired to her, I felt like an invisible weight was placed on me, and now I felt weightless.
And I still loved her.
Although it hadn’t crossed my mind in a while, it was a relief that it wasn’t the sire bond that caused me to love Alexa. It made me protective and naturally more willing to defend her, but it couldn’t make me love her. That was something that I felt all on my own.
A smile suddenly came to my lips until I remembered what happened before we bonded.
Alexa had seen Esha and was nearly killed because of it. Only thing was…that was not her. I never met the woman, but she’d never let Alexa get hurt if she could help it, and when Alexa became distracted and dropped her guard, the Esha lookalike smiled.
She fucking smiled.
Anger began to resonate in the pit of my stomach before I tried to go back to sleep. I was still weakened by Alexa’s feeding earlier and wouldn’t be at my best until tomorrow. Since it was unusual for me to sleep at night, it took a while for that to happen, but when I did, I dreamt of a woman playing the piano.
She was playing on a grand piano in front of an open window dressed in a dull pink dress with long black hair. When she looked back at me, half of her face was blocked from the bright morning light, but from what I could see, she was familiar.
The woman gave a warm smile. “Alexa, do you want to watch mommy play?”
The vision quickly ended, and I found myself somewhat heartbroken as I could still hear the sound of Alexa’s mother playing the piano while I stared at the wall. After a few seconds of the faint keys continuing to play, I began to wonder if I were hearing it through my own ears instead of a memory.
I sat up and listened intently, only to find that I was right. I was actually hearing it through my own ears. Someone in the mansion would have heard it as well too, right? They would’ve thought it was odd, only maybe they hadn’t? Maybe everyone was still resting from their battle?
Only person I could think of to have enough energy to be awake was Argus, and I didn’t think he knew this song, so who could’ve been playing?
Realization caused an instant panic to rise, and I looked back over my shoulder to find that Alexa was still deep in her sleep. If it was who I thought it was playing that sweet melody, I knew that I had to check it out. Alexa was still too weak to do anything, so even trying to awaken her would be pointless, and even if I did, she probably wouldn’t be able to comprehend what she was seeing.
Taking in a deep breath, I stood from the bed and headed out of the room, peeking at Alexa one last time before leaving the room and gently shutting the door.
As I walked through the house, I found it to be unusually quiet, but figured that was only because the wolves were in healing mode, which made them deeper sleepers. When I checked Argus’ office on the way towards the abandoned side of the house, I found that he wasn’t there, leaving me worried. I also found that Loren’s room was empty after passing by and thought that I had put two and two together but had the feeling that I was wrong.
Esha was the only other person that knew that song. Just because Loren, her doppelganger, wasn’t in her room didn’t necessarily mean that she was the one playing the piano, and when I arrived to the old abandoned room, I realized that I was right.
It wasn’t Loren sitting behind the piano, dressed in all white.
But it wasn’t Esha either.
I hissed as I stood in the doorway, my claws and teeth stretched out.
The woman behind the piano stopped playing and giggled. “Cute. Did Alexa teach you that?”
I didn’t answer but stepped further into the room.
The Esha lookalike turned around to reveal a painfully familiar smile. On her pure and innocent face, a smile so sadistic didn’t look right. “I remember that hiss. Intimidating, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. “You’re not Esha.”
Esha’s eyes flashed golden. “Aren’t I? Don’t I look like me?”
I analyzed her up and down, only finding all that reminded me of Esha, but it just wasn’t her. Whoever this was didn’t even smell vampire. I couldn’t recognize her scent at all.
Louder alarms began to blare in my mind. This person had to work for Bardelos for sure. She must’ve been an M.O.D. and I had to watch closely until I found out exactly what kind. It would be bad if she kicked into action without me knowing how to properly defend myself.
“Where is Loren and Argus?” I asked.
“You mean the Alpha and his beautiful sister?” She cocked a brow before glancing at the window.
I didn’t want to look away from her, but the moment that I heard the sound of a monstrous guttural roar from something beastly, I glanced over at it.
“Go ahead and see,” she smiled. “Have you ever seen a cursed Alpha before? They are simply intriguing.”
I frowned, noticing her choice of words before flashing over to the window.
I meant to keep up my guard, but when I spotted some kind of muscular black furred beast standing on two legs at at least seven feet with a wolf’s face and tail, my mouth dropped.
That’s why he never shifted in front of me.
I glanced over at the woman to find her still sitting at the piano with a smile planted on her face before turning back to see Argus fighting three M.O.D.’s. I was worried about him being alone when I heard the sound of glass shattering before Lor came charging out in human form, naked and all.
“Incredible, isn’t he? It’s unfortunate that form wears on his body.”
I jumped at the sound of the woman’s voice being so close to my ear, and when I snapped around, I found her standing so close that I had no room to move.
The Esha lookalike giggled. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you if I don’t have to.”
I usually had my ice reaction unde
r control, but a fear I couldn’t fully call my own crept up my spine and caused the veins in my arms and sides of my face to glow white.
“What do you want?” I asked in a trembling voice.
When she reached out to touch the veins on my face, I had the urge to flee and hide. I knew that I shouldn’t have been this afraid of someone I didn’t know, but I was. It was both illogical and terrifying.
The woman cocked her head to the side. “I want you.” Her clawed finders slid over my veins. “Ever since I heard about you, I’ve wanted to put you down on my table.”
She smiled when my eyes widened in realization, then black veins began to stretch up the sides of her face. It looked unusual and painful compared to Alexa’s, but the woman laughed as if it tickled, and as she continued to laugh her face began to shift.
Bones cracked loudly as her face began to take the form of a man, then the rest of her body followed as if delayed, tearing through the dress and doubling in size until someone terrifyingly familiar was smiling down at me.
Someone that looked just like Dr. Bardelos.
Chapter Thirteen
Dr. Bardelos had the same facial features as in Alexa’s memories, but he stood taller than what I thought with slicked back black hair, a clean-shaven face, black eyes, olive skin, and muscles I didn’t recall seeing before. He also looked to only be in his mid-thirties when I could’ve sworn that he was older.
In a panic, I reached my icy hand out to touch his bare chest, but he caught my wrist at an incredible speed before squeezing so tightly that I heard a snap.
I grunted and grimaced when he pulled my hand upwards to bring me in close, then he leaned down and took a deep whiff of my neck.
“It’s amazing what could come out of my work. You are an incredible specimen,” he said with a deep voice.
I tried to pull away using my vampire strength, but he wouldn’t budge. Not even a little. “What the hell are you?”
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