Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  “Alanna, he’s not safe to be around.”

  Ray’s voice startled me. “What? He just needs some time to get used to everything.”

  “Alanna, he just tried to kill me! And so did your crazy bitch of a mother,” Jax said, in total disbelief. “Ray’s right. He’s not safe to be around. He’s not the same person he was in that Arena.”

  I glared at Jax. “The fact that we’re still bonded proves you wrong. If he wasn’t still him, that bond would have been gone.” I looked at Ray. “Do you still feel that bond with her?”

  He frowned. “The bond I feel with Carmen isn’t the same as the one you have with Quinten. You two re-bonded after he became a vampire, Carmen and I haven’t, nor will we ever.”

  “You sure about that?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. I can’t forgive Carmen for what she’s done. No amount of time or distance will fix that. She destroyed any chance we had of being happy the moment she decided to run.”

  “Dad, I know you’re worried about Quinten, but I know that he’s still there. He defended me against a vampire; he almost died for me, again.”

  Ray sighed. “Alright, I’ll give him a chance. But if that temper surfaces one more time, he’s gone, do you understand?”

  I didn’t. “Then I’ll be gone with him.”

  Jax snorted. “You would run away from your own family to be with a killer?”

  “No, I’d start my own life, with my soul mate.”

  Jax shook his head. “Well, let’s hope that doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass later.”

  After she calmed him down, Carmen tried to convince Ray that Quinten was just a little hungry, and that if he hunted he would be in a better mood. So she left, taking him with her. The second they were both gone, Jax stormed off, slamming my bedroom door behind him.

  I wanted to go talk to him, but I wasn’t sure what to say.

  I followed him into the bedroom, and took a seat on my bed. “Jax–”

  “He’s dangerous, Alanna.”

  “I know that. But so are you.”

  He opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off.

  “Jax, I’ve seen you go postal on someone before. There’s an animal inside of you, same as with Quinten. You’ve had longer to tame yours. He’s not a lost cause. He just needs some time to get used to what he is. He’s going to need help. You’ll see.”

  “You’d better be right.”

  I hugged him, ignoring his protests. “I love you, Jax.”

  He sighed. “I love you, too.”

  Chapter Three

  I was lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, when Quinten came back. He took a seat on the edge of my bed, and hesitantly tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear. When I didn’t move, he pulled away a little, and he sighed.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I looked at him. His eyes were darker than normal and there was a faint flush in his cheeks. I could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

  “Who did you feed on?”

  He flinched. “It was a young woman. But nothing happened.”

  “Did you kill her?”

  “No.” I sat up. “But I wanted to.”

  “Quinten–”

  “I’m a monster. Ray’s right to not want me here. I’m putting you all at risk just by being in the same room as you. Plus, I can’t even begin to imagine the pain Ray must be in since finding out Carmen was alive all this time. Now he has to look at her all the time.”

  I leaned over and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You’re not a monster. You’ve just got to learn to control yourself a little better. And you have to realize that Carmen’s not the wonderful perfect person you for some reason think she is.”

  He nodded. “I know, but I can’t help it. The bond between a vampire and their maker is powerful. I owe her so much, Alanna. If it weren’t for her, I’d be dead right now, and you’d be alone.”

  “I know. It’s just so hard to see her alive after all of these years. And now you have this bond with her that I don’t.” I sniffed. “Quinten, don’t take this the wrong way, but you smell like death.”

  He frowned, and sniffed himself. “I don’t smell anything.”

  “Well I can, and it’s disgusting.”

  “I’ll shower later, I guess. If you really think I have to.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Please do.”

  He sighed. “You wouldn’t believe how many things a vampire fledgling has to learn.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have to learn to flit, how to get my fangs to extend on my own, how to control my strength, how to stop feeding before I kill someone. And a whole bunch of other stuff. Plus, not everything you thought about vampires is true. Some of the stuff Carmen told me was a big surprise.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, vampires don’t actually burn in the sunlight, as long as we’ve recently fed. Fledglings like me have to feed often, about every twenty-four hours, or we’ll snap and go insane. And, as long as we’ve had regular amounts of blood, our bodies work the same way as a humans,” he said, smiling suggestively.

  I giggled. “Are you serious?”

  He nodded. “As long as I’ve fed, I’m perfectly capable of pretending to be human. I have to eat normal food, I have to use the bathroom, and I’m perfectly capable of having sex,” he said, inching closer.

  “Well, we should definitely test that sometime.”

  His cheeks were bright red, and I had a feeling that it had nothing to do with the fact that he’d just fed.

  Just fed.

  He’d bitten some strange person, and I had only his word that nothing else had happened. Feeding could be a very sexual thing, and most of the times it was accompanied with sexual acts. Would I stumble upon him some day, locked in a passionate embrace with one of his victims?

  He frowned. “Alanna, I would never do anything to hurt you like that. Carmen told me that in a while, when I finally get some control over myself, I can choose to just feed from one willing partner, if you would agree to that.”

  Could I do that? Just let Quinten feed on me whenever he wanted? There were women like that, which allowed themselves to be bitten because they enjoyed the orgasmic feeling that came with it. They were called blood whores, and they were frowned upon. Sometimes they were considered even worse than the actual vampire doing the feeding.

  Blood whores became addicted to the bite, and they acted like junkies, willing to do anything for their next fix.

  Sharing blood with a vampire was dangerous.

  I sighed. “I don’t know, Quinten. My experience so far with vampires has been pretty horrible. For now, we just need to get used to everything.”

  He nodded. “I understand. But I want you to know that you don’t have to worry. It was just feeding. Carmen showed me how to knock someone out so they don’t feel a thing. Then I used my saliva to seal the wound, and when she woke up, she had no memory of what had happened.”

  “Alright, I understand.”

  “We just need some time. Everything will work out. I promise.”

  I really wanted that to be true. But somehow, I didn’t see it happening anytime soon.

  *****

  Ray, Jax, and I were seated in the living room, ready to talk about everything that had happened or hadn’t yet but would. Carmen was lounging gracefully against the counter, looking dangerous and deadly. Vampirism had increased her beauty tenfold, and I hated her for that.

  Quinten was seated on a kitchen stool next to her, which annoyed me for some reason. He and I had just found each other again. I was his soul mate; shouldn’t he have been by my side, not hers?

  Ray filled her in on our position as briefly as possible. I got the distinct feeling that he didn’t want her here, and I didn’t blame him. This was his family’s problem, and she was no longer a part of that family as far as anyone in this room was concerned.

  “So, do we think that Roger will still try and make us all suffer?�
� Jax asked. “Or is he done with us now that he thinks Alanna’s life has been irreparably destroyed?”

  “I’m not sure,” Ray said. “We don’t even know for sure that it was Roger that called the Seekers. Elias had a reason to hate me, and could have just been using her to hurt me. But, for now, we should assume that he’s not. It’s better to have a plan and not need it, than need it and not have it.”

  “Now would be a good time to move,” I suggested. “If we get out of the area before Roger discovers Quinten’s alive, it could save us all a lot of trouble down the road.”

  Ray nodded. “Moving is a good idea, now that Ilene has made her choices, and I don’t have to worry about abandoning Carmen, seeing as she’s already done that. We should pack up and go.”

  I looked over at Carmen, who didn’t look all that upset by what Ray was saying. Not for the first time since discovering she was Quinten’s maker, I wondered just how happy she was to be in our lives again. Despite what she’d told me when I found Quinten, I didn’t get the feeling that she wanted anything to do with us.

  How does a woman just pack up and leave her family to think she was dead? How heartless did you have to be to choose vampirism over everything you’ve ever known?

  “Why not fight?” Carmen suggested. “You guys would be more than a match for Roger Mason,” she said, sniffing in disdain. “He’s only a werewolf.”

  I glared at her, standing across the room like she had the right to be anywhere near my family. “We’re just werewolves, you know. And Roger Mason isn’t someone to take lightly. He’s a monster, through and through, just like the other daughter you abandoned.”

  Her mouth tilted down in the barest of frowns, and she looked away. “Ilene isn’t necessarily a monster, you know. She’s made some strange choices, but if she’s happy, there’s no reason you couldn’t still support her.”

  I’m sure my mouth was hanging open. Jax’s certainly was.

  “Are you fucking stupid? She’s fourteen and mated with a forty year old man! She helped set Alanna and Quinten up to be kidnapped and killed for some bloodsucker’s entertainment.”

  Carmen’s eyes flashed an ugly red. “Don’t you dare criticize my baby!” She snarled.

  Even if this fight had been a little more vague, I would have known instinctively that she wasn’t talking about me. Ray may have loved me more, but Ilene had always been her favorite. She made it well known too. Sometimes I got the feeling that I was just in the way.

  Ever since she’d come back, I’d begun to remember horrible things about her. I was right to tell Ilene that Carmen wasn’t the perfect person she thought she was. She’d been a reluctant mother, always hoping for more out of her life. And she’d found it in the form of her vampire lover.

  But, maybe I was being unfair. Carmen had missed out on a lot over the years. Ray and I weren’t the same people we were when she left. It was a little understandable that she was being overly defensive. It didn’t help that it was so obvious we all disliked her being there.

  I hoped that her attitude towards everything might improve in a couple of days.

  Jax and Carmen were still glaring at one another, and I sighed. “You guys, fighting is not going to solve anything.”

  “Alanna’s right,” Quinten said, coming to sit beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I curled into his side thankfully. “We have to work together to keep Roger from coming after us all. I agree that we should all move. It’ll be what’s safest for Alanna.”

  Ray nodded. As much as he disliked having Quinten here, it was obvious that they agreed that I needed to be kept safe.

  “Alright, then. It’s settled. I’ll put the house up for sale, and we’ll find a new place to live. Anybody up for California?”

  “Oh, yeah! Beach babes everywhere,” Jax said, laughing. “Oh, wait.”

  I giggled. “I think you mean surfer dudes?” He chuckled and threw himself at me. We fell to the floor, and I pinned him down. “You can’t beat me,” I said with a laugh.

  He worked to prove me wrong but, after a few minutes, Ray broke us up, afraid that we’d destroy part of the house. “Alright you two, that’s enough. Go pack your things and we’ll get out of here as soon as possible.”

  Jax tried to beat me to my room, and I rammed my hip into his, sending him into the doorframe. He laughed, and caught me around the waist, twirling me around until I landed on my bed in a breathless heap.

  Everything had been so serious lately; I’d forgotten how much fun Jax was to be around.

  I grabbed my duffel bag from the closet and began throwing my favorite clothes into the bottom. There’d be time to get new books and things when we reached California. Right now, what was important was a speedy getaway. The longer we stayed, the more we risked Quinten being discovered.

  Would Jax continue to defy Roger for Quinten’s sake?

  Quinten had attacked him, and even though Jax had been kind of provoking him, the attack wasn’t really justified. How did Jax feel about Quinten coming with us?

  Jax didn’t have much with him, except for a bag of clothing, and he was ready to go in no time. While he waited for me to finish packing, I noticed he kept casting longing glances out the nearby window, and I realized something.

  “Jax, you aren’t leaving anyone behind, are you? I mean, you don’t have a boyfriend, right?”

  He shook his head. “No, I’m not leaving anyone behind. You and Ray are the only family I have, and there’s nobody significant.”

  “Have you ever felt anything for anyone?”

  He raised an eyebrow, and I felt stupid.

  “I mean, have you ever had stirrings?”

  Stirrings, Ray told me, were feelings a werewolf sometimes got when their soul mate was near. I’d been around Quinten all my life, and I hadn’t needed them. But, you couldn’t just go around kissing random people, hoping that one of them would be your soul mate.

  So, the stirrings would tell you if you were close to that person.

  “Yeah, I have.”

  “Really? When?”

  “The night of Roger’s party. I felt them all night. It’s what Ray and I discussed the entire time we weren’t watching you. He thinks my soul mate was at that party, and I missed him.”

  “But, all of the werewolves at Roger’s party were old. Weren’t they? And most of them were already mated.”

  He nodded. “That’s what I thought, too. But then I wondered if it wasn’t maybe one of Roger’s servants. He’s got a dozen people on his payroll, most of which are men. Any one of them could have been him.”

  “Jax, why didn’t you say anything to me? We can’t just leave!”

  He whipped his head around to face me, an incredulous look on his face. “Alanna, we can’t just stay until I find him. What if Roger finds out about Quinten, huh? Where does that leave us?”

  “Jax, this is your eternal happiness we’re talking about. We can’t just ignore this. You’re such a good man, and you deserve to be happy. Do you have any idea how awful I would feel if you left now because of me, and found out your soul mate was gone when you came back? You might never find him again.”

  He sighed. “Alanna, there will be plenty of men in California that I can flirt with.”

  “That’s not the point. This is your perfect other half. Your soul mate.”

  “I know, but he’ll most likely be here when I return. I’m sure of it.”

  He turned away from me, and refused to say anything else on the matter, but I refused to give up. I didn’t like that everybody was so ok with uprooting their lives just for me. Jax’s soul mate was out there, waiting for him, and Jax knew it. How long could someone wait for true love?

  *****

  We were packed and ready to go in under an hour, but Ray had a few affairs to settle before we could leave. I took a seat next to Jax on the couch, but if I had to sit still for much longer, I was going to explode. He was practically bouncing up and down on the couch beside me.

&n
bsp; He looked over at me. “Do you wanna go for one last quick run? To the old oak tree and back? It’ll take less than an hour.”

  “Are you sure that’s safe?” I asked. “What if Roger’s still watching the house?”

  “Then he’ll have already seen Quinten coming and going. Besides, if he hasn’t, running might help our cover.”

  “Huh?”

  “Werewolves have been known to run after the deaths of their mates. And I mean, run. For days, nonstop. Until they collapse from exhaustion. So, what do you say?”

  “Alright. Let’s go.”

  I went back to my room and stripped. I opened the window, shifted, and then jumped out. I landed on the porch and bounded down the steps, joining Jax’s golden form in the front yard. He barked once, and I followed closely behind him, letting him lead the way to our spot.

  We ran through the trees, enjoying the beautiful day and the scenery. It was early May, and the day was warm, and the breeze was nonexistent. It was too hot to run for long, and when we finally reached our oak tree, I was glad to be able to stop.

  Jax flopped down to the ground, and began panting heavily. I walked over, and sat down beside him. “It’s so beautiful out here.”

  He nodded, but remained silent.

  I looked over my shoulder at the pond to our left. It was small and such a clear blue that you could see straight to the bottom. I knew that it would be warm and perfect for swimming, but I didn’t have a bathing suit with me. I wished I’d brought one.

  But, there would be plenty of time for swimming once we reached our new home in California.

  Jax rolled over, wiggling back and forth in the dirt, trying to scratch his back. I couldn’t help myself; I started to laugh. It sounded like a mix between a cough and a bark, but I didn’t care.

  “For someone who just lost their soul mate, you look absolutely overjoyed.”

  Jax was on his feet in an instant, and he was standing protectively in front of me. “Roger, you’re a little far from home, aren’t you?”

  Roger, in the form of a large, dull brown wolf, pulled back his lips in a loud snarl. “Alanna, I’m shocked. I would have thought the loss of your mate would have left you nearly catatonic.”