The Chosen: A Tale of the Blood Breed

by A Tale of the Blood Breed (lit)

  “Search for him.” Aleksei didn’t let go of her as he continued to speak to the men. “What about Stefan? Is he being held?”

  They stared at each other before one of them stepped forward, head bent low but voice strong. “He escaped as well, my lord. We were not able to move until just moments ago. We rushed down here as soon as we were able to. Some unforeseen force held us, my lord.”

  Aleksei let out a string of curses that made Lana blush.

  “No, it’s not your fault. He used black magic.”

  “I don’t feel so well, Aleksei.” She didn’t mean to jump right in, but staying in this creepy cave wasn’t helping matters.

  “Let’s go home.” He gently picked her up and made his way out of the cavern, his men tight on his heels.

  * * * *

  Lana heard voices but nothing really registered. She couldn’t lift her eyes, but in all honesty she didn’t have the strength. She couldn’t remember anything after being carried out of the cave by Aleksei. She strained to understand the voices, but they were muffled. It was almost like she was under water and trying to hear what the people above her where saying. Her mouth felt so dry she would have killed for a glass of water. The voices faded out, and she let herself succumb to sleep. She heard a moan, or maybe it came from her. She could hear voices again, but this time she actually could understand what they were saying.

  “The doctor came by today and said the blood loss wasn’t too significant. He said she would be weak for a while but that we shouldn’t worry.”

  The gruff voice she knew right away was Aleksei, and all she wanted to do was roll toward the sound that seemed to bring her the most comfort.

  “Are you going to change her?” The feminine voice came from Aniya. They sounded close—as if they stood right by her.

  “No, Dr. Chenobova said because she is with child turning her would not be a wise decision. He said that she could possibly die along with the baby.”

  * * * *

  “Uhhh.” Lana’s voice came through like a beacon of light in Aleksei’s darkness. He had been sitting in a chair next to her bed for days now and was worried about how she was doing. She hadn’t so much as moved an inch since he brought her back to his house.

  The Breed doctor assured him her body just needed to recuperate from the blood loss, but the fear griped him like an iron fist. Dr. Chenobova hooked her up to an IV and assured him they would provide her with the required fluids and nutrients her body would need to heal. He placed his hand over her much smaller one and rubbed it in slow circles.

  “Where am I?” She coughed and then groaned as if in pain. “Water, please.”

  She moaned when he gave her a glass of water and the liquid poured into her mouth. She opened her eyes, the blue orbs shinning up at him brightly. He ran his hand over her hair and kissed her forehead. “You’re back at my home in the mountains. Do you remember what happened?”

  She nodded and ran a shaky hand over her face. “Are they dead?”

  He knew who she spoke of and wanted to tell her that yes, Dorian and Stefan were dead, but that would have been a lie.

  “Sleep, my sweet. There is plenty of time to talk about things. You are safe here and no one will harm you.” He kissed her head again and crawled into bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and let her small body form around his as they both drifted off to sleep.

  * * * *

  Kayla sat all alone at her kitchen table, running her finger along the rim of her mug as she stared out her bay window. She looked down at her cell phone, the conversation she just had with Lana moments ago bizarre and frightening.

  The fact that Lana almost died was too much to bear and actually caused her chest to hurt. She was thankful Lana was recovering, even if the circumstance that caused her injury sent chills down Kayla’s back. It was still so hard to believe what Lana had told her. Vampires? How could she grasp her mind around such a foreign concept?

  She shook her head, remembering when Lana told her about her bizarre relationship with her “vampire” lover. Out of the two of them, Lana was the more levelheaded one, the one who was more skeptical about the things that couldn’t be rationally explained. The way she looked, though, that intense conviction that covered her face made Kayla believe everything she said.

  She looked back out the window, loneliness filling her completely as she watched the sun skin below the horizon. Kaleb was gone for an unknown amount of time, and Lana was recuperating with the man of her dreams. Everyone else seemed to be happy with their lives, happy with how things worked out for them.

  Getting up, she walked over to the sink and put her empty coffee cup in, holding the edge of the counter and breathing in deeply. Her thoughts continuously on the one man that she loved…Adrik.

  If things just could have been different then maybe she wouldn’t be so miserable. Even if that were the case, would she have been happy just being his friend? Seeing the person she loved on a regular basis that didn’t feel the same but brotherly love for her? She was a desperate and pathetic person because she would take whatever she could from him.

  It had been bearable when he was gone and she hadn’t seen him for so long, but now that he was back, her feelings bombarded her. She hated how things ended and wanted nothing more than to take it all back, go back to the way things were when he used to look at her so caringly.

  She turned and leaned against the counter, her gaze going to her cell phone that sat on the kitchen table. All she would have to do is pick it up and dial the number. She didn’t know his number, but she knew the club’s, and he did have a room there, so the staff would know how to reach him. Contemplating her idea, she took a deep breath, walked over to the table, picked up her phone dialed the club.

  “The Night Phlox, how may I be of assistance?”

  Kayla swallowed and almost hit the ‘end’ button but took a deep breath and spoke. “Yes, may I be connected to Adrik Draykavich?”

  “Please hold.”

  The line switched to some elevator music, and Kayla could feel her heart beating wildly.

  “Hello?”

  Kayla swallowed and Adrik’s baritone voice came through the line. “Adrik? Hi, it’s Kayla.” The line went silent, and she pulled the phone back, thinking the line had gone dead. “Hello, you there?”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just surprised to hear your voice.”

  She smiled and sat down, glad that pleasure laced his voice. “It’s good to hear your voice, too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Three months later

  Lana sat in a plush chair in the sitting room of her and Aleksei’s home. She got out of the chair and walked to the floor-to-ceiling mirror and stared at herself. She placed both hands on her stomach, the slight bump looking bigger on her small frame. Everything that happened seemed unbelievable even though she was living it firsthand.

  Now that she had her nursing degree, she planned on taking care of children. Aleksei told her the Blood Breeds had a health clinic, a building that was built far beneath Stone Brooke. When she finally graduated college, she had no real specific plans for how she wanted to use her skills. Yes, she wanted to take care of people, but whether that was at a hospital or another facility was still undecided for her. Now that she was pregnant and was fully involved in this strange and exciting new world, her decision was cemented on taking care children—Blood Breed children to be more specific.

  After the baby was born, she had every intention of working at the Breed clinic, but she knew her conventional training wouldn’t cover everything for the new species she wanted to help. It was still exciting, and she couldn’t wait for the next chapter in her life to begin. She rubbed her belly again as her thoughts drifted toward darker things. She was still worried over the fact that they hadn’t found Dorian and Stefan, but she trusted Aleksei and knew he would protect her.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  Aleksei’s loving voice came through the doorway, and Lana smiled at
his reflection. He walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He kissed the side of her neck and rested his hands on her belly.

  “So how is Kasia holding up?” Lana turned in his arms and looked up at him.

  He bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. “Very well. She is enjoying staying with a young Breed couple in town. She seems to enjoy working at the club and keeping busy. She’s like you, though. I can hear her thoughts, and she fears they will come for her.”

  “Poor thing. I can’t imagine what she went through, but I’m glad things are working out for her. I haven’t talked to her very much since everything happened and have been worried about her.” She laid her head against his chest and let his strong heartbeat go through her body. “What about Osip?”

  “He left right after your rescue.”

  “Well, maybe after the baby is born we can invite everyone over?”

  Aleksei growled, and she couldn’t help but smile. She knew he was still angry at what Osip had done, but she knew Aleksei would be easy to sway. Osip hadn’t physically hurt her, and that was the only reason she forgave him. She ran her hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. She pulled his head down and brought his firm lips to hers. He growled deep in his chest and slid his hands through her hair. She loved it when he made that sound. She pulled back and smiled, kissing his lips once more before stepping back. She gasped when he pulled her close to him.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Their lips met in a soft caress and soon they were both panting. Their tongues twined around each other, his hands sliding down to grip her ass and lift her on her toes. His long, thick erection pressed into her and a moan escaped her throat.

  “Let’s go to our room.”

  He whispered into her ear and caused shivers to dance across her skin. “You read my mind.” He took her hand and brought it down to the erection that strained against his pants.

  She rubbed her hand up and down his cock, the flared head evident through the fabric of his pants. He scooped her up into his arms, making her feel so very feminine even though her belly was swollen and she felt anything but. This was her new life, and she couldn’t have asked for anything else. She was in love with a vampire and carried his child—a being who would have the power to control everything supernatural. How did someone get used to all of that? She felt like she was in a perpetual dream, but then again, if this was all just a dream, she never wanted to wake up.

  THE END

  http://www.JenikaSnow.com

  GLOSSARY

  Royal Blood Breed Line: An immortal vampire of the Royal Family, known to the Blood Breed as the Royal Blood Line. Even though the males of the Breed are territorial, the males of the Royal Blood line are even more so.

  Blood Breed: An immortal vampire. Sunlight and decapitation are the only way to kill them. They must drink blood regularly to survive. The males of the species are very territorial and possessive in nature. Each Blood Breed possesses a gift that is unique to them. A Blood Breed is always searching for their Chosen, the one being that will bring them eternal happiness, the one being that will complete their soul.

  The Allure: All Blood Breeds excrete a scent that is irresistible to humans. It is a way to insure that their food source and sexual source are not hard to acquire.

  The Prophesied Female: A being written about in the Ancient Scrolls. A female who has been prophesied to carry the offspring of a Blood Breed member. Once the offspring of the prophesied female has matured it will have the power to control all members of the Otherworld.

  The Changing: The act when a member of the Blood Breed converts a human into a vampire. It involves the exchange of blood, and is typically done during a time of intimacy. This process is considered sacred. A human is typically changed because a member of the Blood Breed has bonded with them, but is not always the case. Once changed, they will possess the same physical strengths as the Blood Breed, as well as the same weaknesses.

  Chosen: An individual who is fated to mate a member of the Blood Breed. A Chosen is recognized only after a member of the Blood Breed has tasted their blood. Once a Chosen has mated, the bond is eternal and is only broken when death occurs. Mated pairs only feed off of each other.

  The Bloodless: Vampires gone rogue. They are considered outcasts by the “Blood Breed”. They have gone mad from bloodlust, and are ruthless and kill without remorse. They typically stick together in close knit “hordes” in areas where they have set as “their territory.” They will, on occasion, wage war against other Bloodless “hordes” in order to take over a specified “territory.” They are also known as “rogues”, and will fight for the leader position within their own and other “hordes.”

  Halfling: The result when a vampire and a human have offspring. The child is born human with no characteristics of their vampire half. They can go out into sunlight but can’t tolerate heat whatsoever. After puberty the Halfling will start to acquire symptoms that their “change” is near. They start to crave raw meats, start to become exhausted during the day and full of energy at night, and can no longer stand the sunlight. A Halfling does not need the exchange of blood to make the transformation. The transformation can take anywhere from weeks to months or in some cases years. The transformation happens when the offspring is at their strongest, healthiest age.

  The Shadow Realm: What beings from the Otherworld consider their “heaven” or “hell.” It’s a place where the dead go to live their afterlife.

  Otherworld: Any being that is not a mortal human is part of the otherworld.

  The Lykens: The Lykens are immortal beings and known in the human world as werewolves. They do not, however, change into a wolf form. A human cannot be bitten and turned into a Lyken; you have to be born one. The only time they “change” is during battle, and when they are claiming their mate. The change can be suppressed, but only by the strongest of the clan. Only the male Lykens can change their form.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jenika lives in the too hot northeast with her husband and their young daughter. Thankfully, he shares her unusual sense of humor, and naughty nature. Along with taking care of their daughter, they have to keep an eye on, Milo, their spunky cat. When not writing, Jenika works a fulltime at a hospital and attends school for nursing. Writing is Jenika's number one passion, but since life gets in the way, she isn't able to write fulltime (at least not yet.)

  Jenika started writing at a very young age. Her first story consisted of a young girl who traveled to an exotic island and found a magical doll. That story as long since disappeared, but her passion for writing has stayed strong.

  Also by Jenika Snow

  Deliciously Wicked

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  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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