According to vampire law, Vlad was the leader of the New York vampires, all of them. Essentially the strongest vampire led in the major cities and from what she had heard Vlad had been the strongest for...well forever. Even before the other species came out Vlad had been running the show. Imogen knew he had held that title for a long time and even though other vampires travelled a long way to challenge him none had to date come close. Watching the friendship between Ben and Vlad made Imogen feel a little better, surely neither one of them would want to damage that.
Theo sat next to Imogen waiting to see what the two leaders had to say, he was so conscious of Imogen next to him, that he felt her body stiffen as she looked towards the door, and within 20 seconds there was a knock at the door and in walked the butler. Well what he assumed was the butler it was the same guy who had let them into the house, he certainly looked older and carried the black morning suit and starched white shirt well.
"Sir I thought your guests may need some refreshments" he pushed in a tea trolley and promptly turned and left, Theo was surprised to see a smile on Vlad’s face.
"Alfred has been with me for years; he never listens, makes his own rules and ignores any instructions but he often takes care of my guests when I don’t."
"Sounds like my wife," Ben gave a hearty laugh.
"I could only wish he looked like your wife" Theo watched that wistful, puppy dog look on Ben’s face, before he scowled at Vlad.
"Don’t even think about my Lucky," as he watched the amusement in Vlad’s eyes he waited for the usual ribbing Ben took, everyone knew Ben adored Lucky.
Vlad handed beers out to Theo and Ben, Imogen watched wearily as he handed her a glass with a swirling dark purple pattern on it. The pattern stopped you from seeing what was inside of it, as the scent wafted and caused her stomach to clench she realised why, she was surprised to feel that the glass was warm. As she looked into it and saw the red, thick substance inside she should have been disgusted but she wasn’t, her stomach clenched in hunger.
Her brain however was disgusted; she wasn’t sure how she could even be contemplating this. She took another breath and thought about how to do this.
"Close your eyes and try it" Theo had leaned closer to her, taking his advice, she closed her eyes, lifted the glass. Taking a tentative sip, the warm liquid slid down her throat, she felt something inside her stomach relaxed at the taste, her body warmed, the clenching in her stomach slowed, she took a gulp then another and another.
As she put the glass down she noticed all eyes on her and knew her cheeks had suddenly reddened.
"Sorry, I guess I was thirsty."
Both Vlad and Ben looked worried, Theo patted her leg in reassurance, but it was Vlad who ended the silence.
"It seems we have an unusual situation, essentially it appears that you are no longer a human nor are you a vampire, nor are you a wolf."
"How do you know that?" Imogen was watching them intently, she trusted Ben but she wasn’t sure what to make of Vlad.
"Well when a vampire is newly made it takes at least two consecutive blood exchanges, following the exchange the person tends to sleep for at least 48 hours, when they do wake, they are weak and disorientated, but they are also ravenous for blood, it is their first consuming thought. Although your body craved the blood it wasn’t all consuming.
The reason why there are strict procedures for the change is because it can be extremely dangerous to those around the new vampire. But more importantly a newly changed vampire can barely hold themselves together, I have never seen one with any strength and I mean physical and mental strength."
Ben cleared his throat "adding to Vlad, I watched the footage of you attacking one of Vlad’s men, one of his stronger men, you were able to take him down. Not only was that unusual, but your physical features took on the partial shape of a wolf. It was amazing, I then listened while you threw Theo against a wall" she watched him grin.
"If you want to let me see you do that again just to give us a visual demonstration go ahead, I am sure Theo won’t mind, it is not often I get to see his ass kicked" Imogen laughed and he continued "granted he didn’t fight back but the impact was immense."
He didn’t look pissed, Imogen thought Ben would be pissed, but Imogen was surprised to see pride on his face, she turned to Theo who was nodding his agreement with Ben's words.
"Theo I’m sorry" and she was, she had never wanted to hurt Theo and she had.
Theo shrugged, he didn’t need her apology, and he had only ever wanted her safe. As Vlad rose to stand by the window, he looked thoughtful "how much do you know about me, Imogen?"
"Truthfully very little" was it a trick question, if she knew too much would he kill her?
"Ok here’s a little history lesson, as all vampires grow and develop, their strength grows with them. Some grow with other gifts, these gifts mark them out among their peers, and it is this that identifies the leaders among our kind. I was born with the ability to enter a person’s mind, not through telepathy like Ben, but I can shut a person's physical and mental abilities down over a distance, as well as being able to teleport. As a young vampire, I was ruthless and had no hesitation killing others of my kind using my mental ability. However, I have only ever done this for one of two reasons, to stop someone from doing something very, very foolish and to stop someone inflicting unnecessary pain on others. Those that attacked you will be identified and will pay for their crime, for it was a crime. No one in New York City can turn someone without my express permission nor can they attack the vulnerable and innocent.
However when you attacked my warrior, it took significant mind control for me to stop you, which is unheard of, if it was easy to stop me; I would have been killed hundreds of years ago. Since you came into this room I have been placing small amounts of pressure into your brain in order to see what it takes to penetrate it."
She was shocked, she hadn’t felt anything, "and what did you find out?" Even as she asked the why, Imogen was feeling scared, which in a way was stupid, she knew neither Ben nor Theo would allow her to be harmed.
Vlad smiled at her "you are still sitting there, are you not? No pain, no pressure completely functional."
Theo was furious "you son of a bitch, all this time you have been trying to mind rape her" he stood as Ben frowned at him.
"Let him finish Theo" there was definitely an edge to Ben’s voice, one that Imogen had never heard directed at Theo. As the Alpha, Ben’s rule was final, but she also knew Theo was no push over.
"Fuck you Ben, you have never let a torturer live before" although she was still sat down, she lifted her hand and slid it into his.
"Let him finish Theo, then we decide whose if anyone’s ass to kick" there was steel in her voice, he sat down but he was seriously pissed.
As she took a breath she was trying to process all of this but she was not one to back down or take the cowards way out, "so what your saying is I am some sort of aberration, who is potentially strong enough to withstand your torture, does this make me some sort of threat to you, because really I just want to live my life without fear? Although let me tell you this, if you plan to take me out I will fight you with everything I have, if you hurt mine I will hurt yours and by mine I mean anyone in the pack!"
Imogen realised she had stood and was close to shouting, in fact inside she was fucking angry
"oh and just so we are clear I will take out the assholes who did this to me, what none of you seem to grasp is that it has taken me years to start feeling normal, stop feeling scared, start looking towards a future (she faced Theo and saw the pain in his eyes, pain for him and for her) and…and some bastard took that away from me again, well no more, I will do whatever I need to do to get that back again."
Theo was stroking the top of her hand, as she sat down she felt like she might cry which was made worse when Theo squeezed her hand "you haven’t lost it, it just feels like that right now."
"Imogen" she looked at Ben, she had always liked him,
he was a good Alpha and she respected him, as far as she was concerned even though she wasn’t officially part of the pack he was her Alpha.
"I get that this must feel like shit, you are one of the bravest people I know and I know that trust doesn’t come easy to you, but I hope that you trust me. I wouldn’t be sat here if I thought for a minute that Vlad planned to hurt you, I would be over there with you and Theo and this would not be a conversation. Believe me we have spent the last 12 hours talking through this, trying to work out what has happened and what the options are."
She nodded "and what do you think?"
"I trust Vlad, I have known him a long time, he has fought beside us on several occasions as we have for the vampires, he has honour and is secure enough to not see you as a risk to him but more of an asset."
She heard Theo growl "an asset to who Ben, because know this Imogen belongs to the pack."
It was Vlad who answered, while laughing "I agree with that and believe me when I say Ben clearly made that point clear, Imogen was pack long before this, however that does not mean she cannot have links with others. Imogen I admire your fight, I was also at that house when Theo brought you out. I have no intention of making you do anything you don’t want to; your loyalty is to Silver's. But there are things I can offer that will help you develop these new skills in a way that Silver cannot. We also don’t know the extent of these skills. However I think we all agree on one thing, no-one can know how this change came about, god knows what some people will try if they know mixing species can work and ultimately breed an immensely strong being."
Imogen was feeling tired, her head was pounding "what are these choices that I am supposed to have?"
"Well I recognise that Ben is your Alpha and if you choose to return to Silver you can, there will be no problems. However you could remain here until you are more comfortable in your new skin so to speak, you will be trained by my Elite warriors, see how advance your powers are and be provided the opportunities to carry out justice in your own way. However while you are training you cannot have distractions which would take some negotiation.
Imogen knew Theo had stood up "she chooses to return to the pack, now we will leave, she has people waiting to see her."
Imogen felt her head pound again, "Theo please don’t answer for me, I understand why you want to but I can answer for myself" she faced both Ben and Vlad.
"Ben, Silver and its members have protected me and mine for a long time, I recognise you as my Alpha even though I am not pack. There are some members who have become family to me and Celia. Because of this I would like to hear your opinion."
Ben laughed "I don’t think so, you say you are not pack, but that is not true, you became pack when you remained with us and I am your Alpha, it would be easy for me to make the decision for you. However this has to be your decision, NO-ONE else’s" as she looked at the people in the room, the decision felt overwhelming, too much had happened, "do I have to decide now?"
"Not at all, this is a big decision" she felt the tension in her body subside a little at Vlads response.
"Then I would like to return to Silver’s and take some time to think this through. Um how do I sort of survive during this time, can I eat, and can I drink, can I go out in the sun?"
She watched Vlad sit down again, he looked pensive "I am not really sure, this is a unique situation. Albert will pack some blood as it seems that you will need to drink it, you need to be able to recognise the blood lust, the dizzy spells, dry mouth, stomach cramps as well as deciding you latest Beau looks good enough to eat are pretty good indications of it starting. As for food I don’t really know, all vampires have the ability to consume small quantities of food but not much, for you I think you will have to test it out. For a new vampire, any exposure to the sun is likely to result in burns but that might not impact on you, it might help to try stepping out in to the sun slowly and see. You can also contact me at any time if things change or feel confusing" he handed her a card as they readied to leave.
Chapter 8
Theo was silent the whole trip home, Ben tried to coax him into conversation; but when he responded he either grunted or offered one worded answers. Rather than go to Ben’s they went straight home, Ben was going to drive Celia back. Imogen was terrified at the thought of facing her, her baby sister, would she be horrified, angry, scared? She would soon find out but first she needed to deal with Theo.
As the car stopped and she looked at her roses, her throat felt clogged, her home, her life, her sanctuary, she loved it here. The world around her seemed different, clearer, the smells stronger, colours brighter, she could hear the wild wolves in the forest. She was a little unsteady and she knew Theo had noticed it when he grabbed her elbow and tried to help her. Imogen hated to be helped, so she was unsteady, so what, did that mean she couldn’t walk "hell no" so she shrugged him off.
When Imogen walked in the front door, it felt different, strange somehow, she felt like a stranger in her own home and that pissed her off. As Theo shut the door she rounded on him "so, tell me what’s bugging you?"
His eyes narrowed "are you telling me you don’t know, because you are far from dumb Imogen. But that’s okay let me spell it out for you. Why the hell do you need to think about it, is being with me really that bad?"
"Oh my god Theo, this is not about you, this is about me and what I need, right now, and I don’t bloody know whether I am coming or going" she was shouting at him but amazingly she felt a little better.
"Well here’s the solution Imogen, push away the people that care about you and that’s bound to help".
Imogen stalked off to the kitchen, she pushed the button on the kettle and then flicked it off again.
"I can’t even drink a cup of fucking tea, here it is Theo, I am doing what I need right now to stay sane and if that involves pushing you away then so be it" she was still shouting even though she knew he was no more than 3 feet away, she was not surprised when he shouted back, he wasn’t louder than her, he never was, but she could always tell how angry he was by his tone and right now he was seriously pissed.
"I don’t think so Imogen, I have waited for fucking years, watching, making sure you were okay, never expecting you to feel anything for me, I know I am no oil painting so I never hoped for more, but I now know that you do feel something for me, so I will be damned if I am going to let you push me away, so get used to this face baby, because I am not going anywhere."
He was so infuriating, he never did as she told him, he never acted as she expected, she grabbed the first thing off of the draining board and threw it at him, as the cup pinged off Theo’s head and fell to the floor smashing on impact, she felt some small satisfaction, so much so that she carried on shouting at him.
"you are such an ass, I had feelings for you all along but you are such an idiot you don’t notice jack shit, you think that because of those god damn scars you are some sort of scary beast, well get this you are not, you are probably the most dangerously handsome man in most of New York, you think people look at you over and over again through some bizarre fear, well it’s not fear so get over it."
She opened her mouth to carry on, but he closed the distance and swallowed her tirade with a kiss, the sensations he gave her were without doubt stronger, the feeling of his lip’s on hers, his body pushing her against the kitchen sink, his hands pinning hers to the metal, his tongue probing her mouth in a mixture of anger, fear and just hot lust was such a turn on, she felt herself grow damp, her nipples tightened. Conscious that she was still in her ripped trousers and blouse, she suddenly stopped caring as she parted her legs; he took the hint and manoeuvred his larger frame further into hers.
As their teeth clashed, she ran her hands up his back feeling the hard planes, as he deepened the kiss, her nails clung into the skin of his back, he growled and she felt braver, stronger, more confident, moving her hands round she slid her nails down his chest, purposely scraping his nipples, he pulled her against his erection rubbing against he
r clit, eliciting a moan from her.
She pulled at his t-shirt, she wanted to feel his skin against hers, she pulled at her own but the buttons were in the way, she fumbled, Theo just pulled it open, she had never realised that the sound of pinging buttons could be so arousing, her arousal only grew as he pulled at her bra. When Imogen felt it come away she pulled him closer and kissed him hard, his chest was against her breasts, her legs wrapped around him. He bent to take her nipple into his mouth and lapped at it, then swapped to the next, her hands were on his shoulders with her nails in deep, she was worried about hurting him when he growled "harder", he pushed his erection against her again, then his hand slid to the front of her trousers, his hand pressed on her, rubbing her through her clothes, she cried out and he pushed harder, she moved her hands to her trousers and undid the button and zip.
The Kiss of a Vampire, the Heart of a Wolf (The Silver Series) Page 6
