Fierce Awakenings

by Kristy Centeno

  “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure.” She didn’t bother looking at him. She no longer cared what became of her. Her only concern was Tristan and only him. As long as he was safely released she would be happy.

  When she made to open the door however, Ademar grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her.

  “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances,” he stated. “But I want you to know I admire your bravado. Tristan will know you did not hesitate to come here for him. And that you didn’t even pause to consider your options. I didn’t have to force you to come. You made the decision on your own.”

  Victoria spared a glance in his direction. “Thank you,” she whispered before wiggling free, opening the door, and climbing out of the car.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Tristan listened to the commotion above, wondering what the ruckus was all about. With so many people running around murmuring, talking, and even screaming, he couldn’t make out one person from another. To make matters worse, the constant loss of blood made the thirst so much worse than it normally was. Having lived for over a thousand years, his bloodlust had become almost non-existent by the twenty-first century. Yes, he craved blood from time to time but it usually took a while for him to actually crave it to the point of desperation. In fact, he could go weeks without feeding.

  Unfortunately, he was in for a very unpleasant surprise upon arrival at the Bonvalet mansion.

  They hadn’t beaten or flogged him so far, but they had implemented a different tactic in order to prevent both his escape and being endangered themselves. After being shackled with his arms and legs spread out, they had decided to cut his wrists open and allow the blood to flow naturally. Because it had been several weeks already since he last fed properly, and due to the recent loss of life-giving liquid, his mind was close to snapping.

  The cement floor was stained with the blood that had poured from his body for the past few hours and as he stared down at it, he wished he had enough strength to snap out of his restraints and lap at the accumulated liquid until he was once again satiated. Regrettably, he no longer had the strength to do anything but hang from the shackles fastened around his wrists.

  To make matters worse, every hour or so members of the Bonvalet pack would come back in and threaten to reopen the wounds if he didn’t tell them where Victoria was and every hour he refused, which resulted in another set of open gashes where the ones that had closed up minutes before had been. As he lost more blood, his healing abilities suffered and his wounds were no longer able to close up as fast.

  Hours later, he was drained of energy and blood, he was starving, and was only half sane.

  He could no longer tell whether it was day or night. If it had been days or hours since he’d been taken into the mansion’s cellar. Worse yet, he knew nothing of his beloved Victoria. He wondered if Victoria even knew why he’d been gone for so long or had she assumed he’d abandoned her.

  In spite of the fact that he could barely keep his eyes open, Tristan held on to the image of her beautiful face as his body demanded to be fed. It took a great amount of effort to even breathe, and though he only did so out of habit, it was still agonizingly painful to do so. If he didn’t replenish what he had lost soon, he would go into a fit of bloodlust so great he could very well end up draining the life of every werewolf in the premises—if that was even possible. After what Victoria had said to him once, he wasn’t sure they could die from blood loss. The thought did have its appeal though, especially after the last few hours.

  Only her lovely face kept him from going completely mad.

  As he heard the murmuring of voices coming down the hall, he tried to mentally prepare himself for what was to come. It had been at least an hour since they last walked in—at least he thought it had been an hour. With his mind no longer able to tell time he wasn’t sure anymore. But since he could hear voices approaching, he assumed the pack members were there to reopen the wounds that were just now beginning to close up. As the sound of rapidly beating hearts traveled to his ears, his eyes widened, and as the strong scent of fresh blood invaded his nostrils, his tongue instinctively licked his lips. He needed blood. Fresh blood. And he no longer cared where he got it from.

  The person that showed up wasn’t exactly the one he was expecting to see. As his pale blue eyes focused on Danero’s tall form, he shook his head to break it of the blood lusting haze it was in.

  “It’s time for you to go,” Danero announced, using a set of keys to unlock first the door of his underground cell and then another set to unlock his shackles.

  The tall, dark skinned man he now knew was named Tyrone, stepped in next to him.

  “Why am I being allowed to leave?” When Danero finally finished unlocking his shackles, Tristan fell forward, on top of Danero. He was barely able to resist biting into the man’s shoulder, but somehow managed to keep from doing so. “Why now?”

  Thankfully, the werewolf straightened him up, swinging one of his arms over his own head as Tyrone did the same. Soon the combined strength of the men kept him from toppling over. Both held on tight, which helped to keep him in a standing position.

  “I’m going to warn you,” he started. “Victoria is outside. If you don’t want to risk her life, don’t talk to her. Don’t even try to look at her as you pass by. Do you understand?”

  Tristan’s mind recoiled at the thought of his sweet Victoria standing outside, having to face her father alone. He didn’t want this for her. He hadn’t wanted for her to come back at all. And if she really was outside, then that could only mean she had somehow found out about his imprisonment and had decided to face her shrew of a father in order to save him.

  It wasn’t fair, he realized. She shouldn’t be there. Fighting his fight. Putting herself in harm’s way for him. She should be back home. Safe. Not here.

  “Why did she come back? I told her to stay away,” he croaked. Desperation hit him like a punch to the gut. “She should have listened.”

  “She came back to save you,” Danero whispered in his ear. To Tyrone he said, “Let’s take him outside before Victor begins to question why we’ve taken so long.”

  The other man merely nodded.

  “There will be a car waiting for you outside. We’ve been instructed to take you to it. Leave, and if you value your life—or Victoria’s—don’t come back. Not unless you have backup.” Danero looked at him directly, and although there was nothing in the man’s expression that gave away what he was thinking, Tristan thought the meaning of his words couldn’t’ have been clearer.

  Tristan didn’t say a word, didn’t even react as the two men practically carried him from the cellar, up to the first floor level, out the back exit, around the house, and to the front yard where he finally spotted Victoria. Though he wanted nothing more than to run to her, take her into his arms, and assure her that everything was going to be okay, he had been instructed not to look at her directly and in order not to arouse any more suspicions, he refrained from looking at her at all.

  Though his reaction wouldn’t be exactly what she was expecting of him, he only wished that she would understand his need to behave as if she was unimportant to him. So far, the Bonvalet pack only assumed he’d done her harm. They had no way of knowing she’d actually mated with him, and as long as they were kept in the dark, Victoria’s life wasn’t in any real risk. Tristan believed that even though Victor would be furious because she had defied him, eventually, he would forgive her and go about his business. At least, Tristan was counting on that. He needed a few hours to recover but there was no saying what would happen during that amount of time. Just because he couldn’t do anything now, that didn’t mean he was about to let her go so easily.

  He half walked, and was half dragged to a black Mercedes Benz waiting by the front gates. As soon as they were within arm’s reach from the back passenger side door, the driver stepped out and opened the door for him.

  Within moments, he was comfortably sitting inside, slumping against t
he seat as his strength waned. Had he not been so physically helpless, he would have taken Victoria and faded them back to their home, away from the Bonvalet and anyone else looking to harm them, but he couldn’t fight anyone off in his current condition.

  “You really screwed up this time, Garland.”

  Tristan turned at the sound of his old friend’s voice. “Ademar, what the hell are you doing here?”

  “I’m returning a favor.” Ademar grinned. “And it seems to me as if you desperately needed it. You have never been one to follow the rules, but taking a werewolf as a wife? What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I love her, Ademar,” Tristan said. “That’s all you need to know.”

  “Oh, I know that already. I’ve known you for years and I know you wouldn’t do something so reckless unless there was a good reason behind it.”

  “I’m in no fighting condition now, but as soon as I recover, I have every intention of getting her back,” Tristan whispered.

  “I know that, too. Why do you think I’m here?” Ademar’s smile grew. “You think I would fly all the way from Paris just to see you again?”

  In spite of his foul mood, Tristan smiled. “I always knew that saving your pathetic life back in Rome would come in handy.”

  Ademar’s response was a fit of laughter.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Victoria slumped down on the wooden chair next to her father’s. The man was positively furious with her but was biting down his anger until the rest of the pack exited the mess hall and they were left alone. She dreaded what would come next but she knew there was no way for her to get out of the explosion that was sure to come.

  As soon as she was brought home, she was ordered to her room. At least six guards had been assigned to watch over her around the clock and she wasn’t even allowed to speak to Danero in private. Although he had no proof of it, Victor suspected Danero had helped her in some way.

  Not long after her arrival, Victoria was informed that the council wanted to question her about why she was collaborating with vampires. As she waited to be summoned, she had showered, dressed, and ate a meal of steak and mashed potatoes with a cold glass of red wine alone in her bedroom. Her mother refused to see her, in spite of the many times she had asked to talk to her, and though this too, broke Victoria’s heart, she half expected her mother to reject her. She had never been her parents’ favorite and after what she’d done they had even more reason to abhor her.

  An hour later, Tyrone came knocking, informing her that it was time to face the council.

  After coming up with a series of lies that would provide credibility to her days away from the cabin—omitting any information relating to her relationship and mating to Tristan—Victoria was left alone with her angry father.

  As soon as the doors closed behind them, Victor turned to her and exploded.

  “What were you hoping to accomplish by leaving? You should have known there was no place on earth you could hide from me,” he ranted.

  To Victoria, it seemed that she had managed to elude him longer than she ever thought possible and had it not been for the Trackers’ keen sense of smell, Victor would have never found out about Tristan.

  “How could you disgrace me in such a way, Victoria? You ruined our family name by associating with those…” He was so angry his face turned red. “No child has ever offended a father more than you have me.”

  “It was never my—”

  “Don’t!” He waved a hand in her direction. “Don’t you even try to lie. You left this house, disobeying my orders, and did God knows what, with God knows who.”

  If he only knew the extent of what she’d done he would have hated and resented her even more, she was sure of that.

  “Father, I only wanted a chance to make my own decisions. I’m old enough to do that. If you had only listened to me…”

  He refused to listen even now. “You dishonored our family and now we have to repay that honor by spilling our blood.”

  Victoria’s eyes widened. “What?”

  The look on his face forced her blood to run cold.

  “I hope you’re not too fond of your smooth neck.”

  “What are you talking about?” Victoria tried in vain to hold back the terror threatening to consume her.

  “Armando asked us to repay this humiliation. You will have to wear the Mark of Honor from here on,” he stated.

  Victoria gasped in surprise as she jerked into a standing position. “NO! You can’t make me do such a vile thing as that! I won’t do it, you can’t make me!”

  “You did this to yourself when you decided to disobey me, child.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Victoria was outraged. “How can you ask this of me? Especially when you were the one who arranged this stupid mating in the first place?”

  “I’m not the one asking, Armando is.” He turned his back to her. “And like any obedient child you should have honored your family. Because you did not, you will be forced to pay.”

  Tears of frustration ran down her cheeks. “I don’t want to be mated to a cruel, calculating werewolf like him!” she screamed. “If he wants me to repay in such a way, imagine how my life will be with him.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” he barked, turning to glare at her directly.

  “Oh yes, I do! I have plenty of choices!”

  “Don’t be difficult.”

  All the anger and resentment Victoria had been holding within her finally spilled out as she stared at her father. “Difficult? Difficult! You think I’m being difficult?” She was so consumed by rage, her normally green eyes glowed a deep shade of indigo. “It’s you who have made my life miserable since I was old enough to walk. It was you who decided to treat me as if I am no better than the dirt beneath your shoes. You have been difficult all this time, not I. Damn you!” she spat before she could stop herself. “Damn you and your rules! Damn you and this life! I hate you both!”

  Victor stalked over toward her and slapped her so hard across the face she lost her balance and landed on her bum on the floor.

  “Don’t take that tone with me! I’m your father and you will honor and respect me!”

  Stunned for a moment, Victoria simply sat there and rubbed at her stinging cheek. After a moment however, she glanced up and said, “Respect is something you earn, Father, and you’ve earned nothing but loathing from me.” She didn’t care if he slapped her again, she said what she felt and damn the consequences. “If you force this on me, I will hate you for the rest of my life and you will be dead to me.”

  “Then I guess I’ll have to learn how to live with that hate.” With that, he strolled over to the door and yanked it open. “You’d best put on a happy face since tonight you will be mated to Armando.”

  Victoria watched in mute shock as her father stormed out of the mess hall without so much as backward glance.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Tristan paced from side to side inside the great hall of Madelia’s manor. The house had been practically empty upon arrival, but that had changed rather quickly. As he fed from a freshly supplied deer carcass, a small army of the best vampires the supernatural world had to offer invaded the mansion’s foyer.

  The huge buck had served to calm his thirst down enough so he didn’t have the need to kill, but he was far from quenched. With time speeding by, he had to wait until after he’d reclaimed Victoria to feed again.

  According to Ademar, who was a vampire gifted with the skill of seeing into the future, Victoria’s life had gotten a lot more complicated. This time, the only one thing that could save her was the truth. Although it could jeopardize their relationship later on in life, Ademar claimed the only way to actually stop Victor from forcing her to become mated to another was for Tristan to claim his mate for all to see. And with the army of vampires the elder had brought along, Victor was likely to reconsider. Or they could always force him to if he didn’t.

  Suspecting that there was no hope of getting Victoria ba
ck without the proper arsenal of fully equipped vampires, Ademar had assembled a team of fledglings, all of which had one or more unusual gifts similar to those of Tristan, Madelia, and himself. Though the Bonvalet pack still outnumbered them ten to one, the vampires possessed an array of supernatural weapons that were fully capable of defeating them.

  With the gravity of the situation, it was imperative for Tristan to recover Victoria.

  Those under Ademar’s command had agreed to accompany the two elders to the werewolf compound. Madelia and her crew however, hesitated.

  “Vampires and werewolves have not warred on each other for many years. If we intervene it will be like sending a battle cry to them,” Madelia argued. “What good can come of that?”

  “The Bonvalet issued that cry when they took Tristan prisoner,” Ademar pointed out.

  “But they had a right to suspect him. He had the girl all along,” she replied.

  “They had no proof. They only had suspicions to guide them,” Ademar defended. “If you ask me, their move was bold and dangerous. What if we had decided to attack before even considering asking questions, what then?”

  “Victoria is my wife. And make no mistake—I will fight for her, even if the end result is my destruction,” Tristan hissed, making it clear to all those present that he had every intention of fighting for her.

  “You’re that determined to get her back?” Frank scowled. “She’s a werewolf.”

  “I’m more than just determined,” Tristan assured him. “You might not understand but you don’t have to. You don’t even have to come along with us.”

  “I never said I wasn’t coming.” Frank cheerily stepped forward. “I just want to know where you stand before I stupidly decide to join you.”

  “Leave it to you to mate with a werewolf.” Madelia’s belittlement of Tristan’s choice of mate irked him. “As if it wasn’t bad enough that us vampire gals don’t have enough guys to pick from in the first place, you go and do something like this.”