The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  "The fact that you turned that boy into a vampire with your blood, rather than your venom, means that he is now a member of the royal line. Not by birth, but by creation."

  Cliff looked at me with deep vulnerability. I opened my mouth to speak, but his mother spoke up before I could say anything.

  "If you allow this happen," she said, glaring at my parents, "you will find yourselves in the middle of the biggest war that this world has ever seen."

  BETRAYAL

  ONE

  I took a deep breath as we prepared to meet the media frenzy awaiting us. It was out of habit, not need, since I was now a fully transformed vampire.

  Tanner and I looked at each other; it was obvious that we both felt the same way. Our reunion with our families was to take place on national television and we were anxious to get this over with and get back home to our families. I could see more cameras than I cared to count.

  We had been missing for nearly a week and the story of our abduction had been covered all over the news. The fact that we were both coming home alive had the whole country thrilled. The joke was on them since we had both actually died and become vampires while gone. Not that we were going to tell anyone about that.

  Tanner grabbed my hand and we began walking from the building out into the frosty outdoors. We were greeted with thousands of flashing lights. We walked to a small platform where our families and others were waiting for us. Our families rushed toward us and the two of us were separated as our families wrapped us in hugs.

  Everything was a blur as my parents and sister welcomed me back from the nightmare of my disappearance. It had been worse on them, because they hadn't known where I was—or if I was even alive. I hugged them back tightly. I had never been so glad to see them in all of my life.

  I became vaguely aware of someone talking over a loudspeaker. I looked up to see the mayor behind a podium, addressing the crowd. She was saying something about the miracle of our safe return. She waved us over but we didn't budge because we didn't want to be interrupted from our reunion. Finally, we made our way to the mayor and my dad spoke to the crowd about his great relief to have Tanner and I back safely, then he thanked everyone for their tremendous support. Tanner's mom also went up and shared similar sentiments.

  The people in the crowd began demanding to hear from Tanner and me. My dad told them that he didn't want to put any undue stress on us, but I told him that it was fine. My parents didn't know it, but I was going to be a queen and I needed to be able to address people even during trying circumstances. I thought this was a good opportunity to practice.

  I looked at the crowd and took in another deep breath. "I'm aware of the national attention that Tanner and I received during our abduction, and I want to express our appreciation. We're deeply grateful for everyone who stepped up to help support our families during this most difficult time. We know that you all have hundreds of unanswered questions, but now isn't the time. What I will tell you that we were indeed abducted from the park. We were mistreated, but we were spared and managed to get away from our captors. We've come through this experience much stronger than you can imagine. Right now, we're extremely eager to get home, get cleaned up, and spend some much needed time with our families. We'll be happy to share more about our abduction at a later time. Thank you again."

  I ignored the many questions that were shouted throughout the crowd as I walked away from the podium. The mayor began speaking again. Our two families walked off the stage, more than ready to get away from the media circus and to the quiet of our respective homes. We had done our duty to thank the people and let them see us alive and well.

  When we arrived home, my family let me settle back in. I was surprised that they let me out of their sight. Once I was showered, I came out of my room and that's when they pounced on me.

  "What happened to you?" my dad asked.

  "Where were you all this time?" my mom exclaimed.

  "What did they do to you?" Natalie asked.

  I stared at them. These were similar to the questions that I'd already answered for the police earlier. What more could I tell them? Mentioning anything about vampires was not going to work. I couldn't tell them that I'd won an epic battle that had been brewing since I was a toddler. Their minds had been controlled to believe they'd raised me since birth.

  My mind raced to think of something to tell them….

  ***

  Only a day earlier, Cliff and I had defeated the leader of the Moretti's. They were a powerful group of rogue vampires who had tried to kill me when I was toddler and then again when I was abducted. They wanted to overtake the castle and I was the next in line for the throne. Along with the help of many vampires that I hadn't seen since I was a toddler, the entire Moretti group had been eliminated.

  Actually one still remained: Samantha, my cousin who felt that she belonged on the throne instead of me. We would have killed her too, but we didn't have a stake made from the Populus Tremola tree. That was the only kind of stake that could kill a vampire who was born of the line of the Fyrsturae, the original group of vampires. She was in the castle dungeon waiting for my vampire parents to decide what to do with her.

  After the battle against the Moretti's was won, my vampire parents arrived on the scene. They took me to a private room and we threw ourselves into each other's arms, crying over lost time and shedding tears of happiness for finally being reunited.

  Once we had calmed down, we sat to discuss some issues. My mother said, "Daughter, it would be in the best interest of everyone if you follow the prophecies and stay engaged to Cliff."

  My father nodded in agreement and said, "My line is a rebellious bunch and I'm honestly surprised that we've lasted this long. You may like that Tanner boy, but we need you to do this for us. Let him go."

  "It's amazing that your father made it to be king after all of his antics," my mother agreed. "Somehow he did, and here we are. Will you do that for us? Will you stay engaged to Cliff and forget about Tanner? You have a lot of responsibilities as our princess and as the Sonnast."

  "We know you've spent most of your life with the humans," my father said, "not even aware that our kind exists. It's a major adjustment for you. That's why you're going to stay there and continue to train and learn about castle life. We don't have a lot of time to spend here with you. We want to stay longer but the situation in Europe makes that impossible. We've been working on a serious matter for many years. We have to get back there as soon as possible because we're getting very close to our goal. Once we've reached it, or are close to it, we're going to return for you."

  I smiled. "How long will that be?"

  "Most likely over the summer, but it'll be sooner if possible."

  "The summer?" I complained. "That's so far away. Can't you take me with you now?"

  My father shook his head solemnly. "It's important that you stay here to learn about castle life and train."

  "Before we have to leave, tell us about Tanner," my mother said.

  Why did they want to talk about him? I didn't know how they would react.

  As if reading my mind, my father said, "Nothing is a surprise to us. We've known the prophecy of your second love since before you were taken from us all those years ago. We need to know what we're dealing with here."

  "I didn't mean to fall in love with him!" I blurted out. "I'm sure you know about the ring Samantha gave him, which made me fall in love with him when I drank his blood. Then, when Cliff disappeared, everyone at school turned on me. Tanner was the only person who was a friend to me. He was kind to me when all of my peers were cruel. He stood up for me and didn't ask for anything in return. That was when I started to fall for him on my own."

  My father nodded his head. He said, "He sounds like someone we can respect."

  I looked at him in surprise.

  "Even if he's wonderful," my mother interjected, "you need to remain engaged to Clifford. He is a born descendant of the Fyrsturae. Aside from that, we really don't need to deal wi
th the Montgomery's declaring war."

  "Do you really think they will?" I asked in a small voice.

  "They most certainly will," my father replied. "That's something I need to discuss with them. They may be second in command, but they cannot talk to us like that."

  "They were just trying to protect their son," I said.

  "You don't need to defend them," my mother said. "We have been close to them for years. Francine wants nothing more than to get her line on the throne. She won't let anything get in the way of that. I wouldn't be surprised if she was already planning some kind of war. Child, you have much to learn about being a ruling vampire."

  "Of course I do! I haven't grown up around vampires at all. Not too long ago, I thought vampires were a myth." I said and cringed, hoping that I wouldn't get in trouble for talking to them in that tone.

  My father smirked. "You take after me, child. Don't worry; we won't be quick to discipline you. We blame ourselves for your kidnapping and we will probably be accused of going too easy on you. We understand that you were raised by humans."

  "At least I wasn't raised by wolves," I said with a laugh.

  They both gave me a questioning look.

  "The humans have a saying that if someone is uncivilized they were raised by wolves," I said.

  They both gave me blank stares.

  "Werewolves are a vampire's enemy, so I thought it was funny," I said, feeling stupid.

  To my surprise, they both laughed. Then they asked about my life as a human. I told them about all of my academic achievements and how I had always wanted to be a judge and other professions that were similar to the duties I would have as a queen one day. Even though I had forgotten my roots while living as a human, I hadn't really forgotten.

  "I want to know about you guys too," I said. "Why do you have to rush off to Europe? You're the king and queen; you should be able to tell them that they need to wait."

  "Unfortunately, the situation cannot wait," my mother said. "We did put our foot down to leave and come here because we knew your big battle with the Moretti's was going to happen."

  "There are some serious issues going on around the world in vampiredom," my father said. "We'll explain it all to you when you join us. For now, we need to get back there and deal with what's going on."

  "We would really like to be at home in the castle this summer with you there to join us," my mother said. "Whatever it takes, we will make that happen. You can get back to school and back to your life for now. Then you can pretend to be an exchange student over the summer."

  I sighed. "If you can do it in the summer, then why not now? I've already left my life and it will probably be hard to get away for the summer. I can't imagine that my parents—I mean my other parents—I mean the humans that raised me, I mean that raised me after I was kidnapped…." I looked at my lap.

  My mother gently grabbed my chin and gave me a sympathetic look, and then she placed a hand on mine. "Don't feel bad about calling them your parents. You have two sets of parents and they've done the majority of raising you. We know that. We could have swooped in and taken you as soon as we found out that you were alive. But to keep you safe, we didn't."

  "We knew the best thing for you was to stay there, with the Moretti's thinking you were dead," my father said. "We wanted to kill them off and then bring you home, but that did not happen. You defeated the Moretti's, which proves what a great vampire you already are. You've missed a lot of training, but you already have most of what you need within yourself."

  "We'll have Clara stay around and train you while she acts as a foreign exchange student with your other family," my mother said. "She has been trained as a royal even though her father was removed from the line. She also understands the complexities of humans, so she is your ideal coach."

  "What about Cliff?" I asked. "Will he return to me? Or Brooke?"

  "Yes, we will keep them all close to you," my father said. "We want you surrounded by as many trustworthy vampires as possible. You can learn about our culture from them and they can all help you. Although we get the impression that Brooke is more comfortable being your seamstress than your trainer, so try not to rely on her too much. That's why you felt that she was moody. If you need anything, she will be a lot happier serving."

  I nodded.

  "Cliff will be called back to the castle from time to time, since he's actively training to be the king."

  "He won't be called away for too long though, will he?" I asked.

  "Nothing like that disappearance of his, if that's what you mean," my father said. "I'm sure that now he sees the error he made by his rash actions. I can talk to him if you like."

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  There was a knock on the door, and a vampire that I did not know entered. He looked at my parents. "Your majesties, the time has come for your return to the situation in Europe." He closed the door.

  "So soon?" I asked.

  "We'll see you in the summer," my father said. "Compared to our last separation, this one will seem to be as brief as a single breath."

  "How will I convince my other parents to let me go? After my abduction, they aren't going to let me out of their sight."

  "They are good parents then," my mother said. "I'm sure that you can convince them to let you go."

  "You mean…you want me to control their minds?"

  "Of course."

  "I…okay. I'll do that if I have to."

  "You'll do fine, and we'll have a wonderful summer together."

  We exchanged hugs that were too brief, just like our short reunion.

  After they had rushed away, I remained in the room and wished for more time. I sat with my eyes closed; trying to seal the memories of the time we'd just had into my mind. I didn't want to forget a single detail. I needed to hold onto every image, voice, word and scent so that I could return to those memories whenever I would miss them. Ever since I had discovered that I had birth parents, I'd been incredibly anxious to meet them. The summer wasn't going to come fast enough.

  When I opened my eyes, I jumped as I saw someone standing beside me. I'd been so focused on my thoughts that I hadn't been aware of anyone entering the room. Considering how strong all of my senses were, that was surprising. I was obviously very focused on what I was doing.

  "How are you?" Cliff asked. He sat down next to me.

  "I'm not really sure," I admitted. "Everything has been unreal. It's hard to take it all in."

  "I can't imagine how you're feeling," he said, wrapping an arm around me. "Everything has happened so fast with you, I'm still in shock that you went all the way through your transformation so quickly. I was overwhelmed with mine; and I knew what to expect."

  "I must need to go through all of this to prepare me for my future. Life is my teacher."

  He smiled. "You're very wise, my princess. I'm beginning to think that there's more to you being the Sonnast than anyone realizes."

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "It's normal for royalty to experience things to the extreme, but everything you've gone through has been even more extreme than a typical royal. Take when you first saw blood, your reaction was unlike anything that anyone had ever seen before. After you died, you took less than fifteen minutes to transform! That should have taken six hours—at least! I can't shake this feeling that you're going to shake everything up."

  "Time will tell." I tried to act like it was no big deal, but I was becoming curious about how I was different from other royals. That combined with my parents not wanting me to go to Europe with them pointed to something, and I wanted to know what nobody was telling me about myself.

  He put his hand on my arm. "Is it okay with you if we talk about what happened earlier?"

  "Which part?" I asked.

  "The part about our parents and the revelation of how your…friend…was transformed."

  Not this again. I looked into his chocolate eyes. "I didn't do that on purpose, Cliff. He was about to die when I found him so I gav
e him CPR as I'd been trained to as a human. I bit my tongue during the process and my royal blood circulated through his body. I had no idea that I was going to turn him into a vampire."

  "It's okay, Alexis. I'm not concerned about how it happened. I'm concerned about what our parents talked about."

  "It didn't sound like much of a discussion to me. It sounded like your parents were threatening mine."

  He took a deep breath and held it. He exhaled slowly and said, "I agree that they responded rashly and inappropriately. That wasn't my doing. What I want to know is if your feelings for him pose a threat to our relationship…and our future together."

  I placed my hand on his knee. "Cliff, we're destined to be together. We've loved each other since we were children. I remember that and I love you so much. We need to spend time together now, building our relationship. Ever since we reunited, we haven't been able to spend enough time together to do that." I paused and took a deep breath.

  He looked at me, waiting to hear what I had to say next.

  "I also need to know that I can talk to you honestly without the fear that you'll disappear again. Or order me out of your sight." A lump began forming in my throat.

  There was a tear glimmering in one of his eyes. "You can see that we both take after our parents. My rashness and your independence," he said and took in another deep breath. "I was wrong to abandon you like I did, especially after your parents abandoned you."

  "My parents? What do you mean?"

  "I mean your vampire parents. I've always felt that they abandoned you by not bringing you back to the castle after they discovered you were alive. I haven't made it a secret that I disagree with their decision. I hope you can forgive me for abandoning you. You have my word that I'll never do that again. I've never stopped loving you and I don't want to do anything that would compromise our relationship. I've waited all this time for you."

  "I'm sorry that I fell for…another. I really didn't mean to. Samantha laid the perfect trap. Between that, and not being able to get much information out of anyone, I didn't have a clue as to what I was walking into."