by JJ King
Blood of Eden
The Guardians
JJ King
The characters, places, and events portrayed in this book are completely fiction and are in no way meant to represent real people or places.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this eBook with another person please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright © 2016 JJ King
All rights reserved.
Kindle Edition
DEDICATION
To my husband and amazing son, I love you both with all my heart.
And to my parents, I couldn’t fathom life without you, so try to live forever, ok?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There’s no one in the world who was more of a support to me while I wrote this novel than my mother. She was there every time I called to talk out character development and she was never afraid to tell me what did and didn’t work. She is my rock and I am forever thankful.
When it came time to publish, my editor and friend Candace Osmond was indispensable and a constant source of information and encouragement. Thank you for becoming part of my life.
And to my best friends, Ricki and Carl, who inspire me to create characters with wit and charm just like the two of you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives forcing you to read my manuscripts and give me detailed feedback. You know you love it.
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
About the Author
Chapter One
Katherine leaned against the concrete wall and breathed deeply. Steam hissed from a metal grate by her feet, and the alley air dimmed with thick fog for a moment. As it cleared, she straightened, ran a delicate hand through her long red hair and rotated her neck muscles, relaxing her body as the bones cracked, releasing the tension that had been building for hours. She inhaled, closed her eyes and forced her body to unwind, releasing the pent up emotions that had slowly begun to overtake her sense of control and humanity. The night was dark, moonless and cloudless, the perfect night for a hunt.
She smiled, her teeth flashed white, as she pictured the two men she had just left waiting for her at the bar. Tall, dark and ruggedly handsome, both men were just her type of trouble, especially when they came as a twosome. She was supposed to be in the ladies washroom, touching up her face, but she’d needed the time for something much more important. She needed to regain an ounce of the control she’d desperately need to keep herself from letting go, giving herself up to the lure of the hunt, the need her kind had so long ago stopped letting control their lives. She was a huntress, a myth, one of the things that went bump in the night but wasn’t supposed to be real. She was a wolf, proud, strong, female and horny as hell.
She walked back into the club, passing a large meaty bouncer whose eyes widened as she glided in front of him. Her trim hips moving like a dancer’s underneath the crimson silk dress that skimmed, floating sensuously, over her body. She didn’t need to see his face to smell his body’s reaction to her. His scent, along with that of every other man and woman in the large club, mingled with the heady smell of alcohol, smoke, and cologne to excite her senses. Her nostrils flared as she picked up the particular scent of her chosen prey, the two bankers leaning against the bar waiting for her.
Dressed in charcoal black Armani suits, and pristine Italian shoes, they appeared to be respectable gentlemen, but she could smell the difference.
Under the sheen of polish lurked an animal in each of the men, a strictly controlled instinctual sexuality that each had been taught since puberty to manage, hide. She could feel it simmering under the surface of their skin as she walked slowly, gracefully, toward them. She knew their eyes saw only her, their bodies wanted only hers, and despite their upbringings, they wanted to share her, use her, tear her clothes off and release the unexplainable need they had for her.
She knew this, and smiled, because it was what she had come out for tonight, had searched for in two clubs before this one. Brothers, she’d wanted brothers, related by blood. Katherine had craved the connection that only blood established, and she’d wanted it badly. Sex, to her, was a game, a deliciously crazed game that made her blood run hot and her body beg for more. For her, sex was a right. After all, wolves were one of the few select mammals other than humans that mated for the sheer pleasure of it.
Wordlessly she inclined her head at the men, and they followed her. Caught in the seductive power that she exuded naturally, they thought only of the pleasure to come, the ecstasy of her body beneath their own.
♀♀♀
Katherine stretched lazily beneath the cool silk sheets and moaned her pleasure. Even though the sun still climbed the morning sky, she felt well rested and satiated. On each side of her lay a man, dark, handsome and exhausted from hours of unending passion. Sliding down the sheets in one sinuous motion, she stood up and, ignoring the almost comatose resting bodies, walked naked to the bath that connected to her hotel suite.
She quickly showered, taking a moment to just rest under the heavy jet of hot water, feeling the beads as they sluiced over her naked body. More than once she’d imagined that, if it existed, Heaven must be something akin to a hot shower on a cold morning. Stepping out of the shower she wrapped her body in a large fluffy towel the color of freshly spilled blood and stood before the large steam fogged mirror. Running her hand over the steam, she freed a space on the mirror so that she could see her reflection. Her skinned glowed, she noted with a small smile. Not a blemish could be found to mark her flesh from head to toe, not even a single scar. Wolves were infamous for receiving numerous wounds over their lifetimes through game playing and impetuous biting, but they were also gifted at healing.
Katherine gathered her discarded clothes from the hotel room floor where they had been tossed the night before and glanced at her conquests. Smiling from ear to ear she walked to the bedside table and scrawled a short message to the brothers,
Thanks for the good time, boys. You two work well as a team. - K
It only took a few minutes for her to sign out of the hotel and get to her car in the parking garage. The sun was shining brightly in a perfect clichéd cerulean sky as she drove out into the street and turned east towards the downtown shopping area.
She drove with the top down on her convertible, taking in the scent of freshly cut grass that wafted out from the city’s many parks and walking trails. The smell triggered latent memories and, for a moment, she could see and smell the vast lawns of her family home, Wild River. Her stomach clenched involuntarily at the memory.
Sometimes she really missed her family home.
If she closed her eyes and concentrated on her memories, Katherine could almost see herself as she used to be, a young girl or pup, whichever form she felt like at the moment, playing with her brothers and cousins on that lawn. The family home was understandably cu
t off from society as much as possible by distance and steel, in order to keep curious eyes away from the spectacle of children playing with wolf cubs as though it were a normal occurrence which, for them, it was.
A honking horn startled her from the flashback and brought her mind back to the present.
It was ok to miss home occasionally, but not now. Right now she was in the mood for decadence and indulgence before she forced herself to return to her responsibilities.
Over the many years she’d lived in the area, Katherine had secured herself more than one favor from the city’s top citizens. So arranging an impromptu table for three at her favorite brunch restaurant took no more than a few moments.
The real challenge would be getting her friends out of bed at this hour.
Her first call was to Victor, a wonderful friend and confidant who also happened to be a distant cousin. He was renowned for his early mornings complete with hour long running sessions so securing him as her guest for brunch wouldn’t be difficult.
“Good morning, gorgeous!” His pep this early in the morning was both refreshing and slightly annoying. Katherine knew not to expect anything of the sort from her next call to Leigh, a decidedly non-morning person. Fortunately, she was feeling pretty chipper herself this morning and couldn’t help but be charmed by her friend’s greeting.
“Morning darling! All done your workout for the day?” She readjusted her Bluetooth headset absently as she waited at a red light and caught sight of Holt Renfrew. She decided that a little morning shopping was necessary since she was wearing the same clothes from the night before, though her dress was still completely unwrinkled and fabulous.
Because she knew that Victor would launch into a detailed discussion of his workout if given the opportunity, Katherine kept talking. “I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me and Leigh for brunch, my treat. I’m in the city for the morning and I haven’t seen either of you in so long that I’m going into withdrawal.”
They made plans to meet at 11:00 am then hung up. The real challenge began now.
It wasn’t that Leigh was particularly difficult or unwilling to spend time with friends, far from it. It was just that the morning was still young and Leigh loved her Saturday morning sleep in sessions. They were actually infamous among the three friends.
The phone rang six times before it was picked up. “What?”
“Don’t kill me.”
“This better be good.”
“Lunch at West? I’m paying. Victor’s on board.”
“When?” Katherine could hear Leigh turn the bedside clock around for a look. A curse followed.
“11:00 am”
“You’re buying me dessert and a bottle of wine, you know that right?”
“Done and done. See you later.”
“I hate you.”
Katherine tucked her phone back into her purse and grinned. The conversation had gone much better than she’d thought it would.
♀♀♀
The décor of the restaurant was high class and definitely chic. Katherine gazed around taking inspiration for her home in the tiny details that made the place so decadent. She was used to lavish surroundings and rich fabric but the compilation inside the restaurant was superbly done. She would have to get the name of the designer.
Her appraisal of the room was interrupted when she heard a deep voice exclaim, “Well fuck me, this place is gorgeous!”
Katherine looked toward the door to see her friends enter, their heads swiveling just as hers had to take in the colors and textures. They had good taste those two, as proven by the fact that they were her friends.
She waved a hand toward Victor and Leigh who took another moment before joining her at the table. She’d managed to get a seat by a large window overlooking a sumptuous garden that had outdoor seating for the restaurant. The morning light shone in on her, highlighting her rich auburn hair so that it burned with copper highlights.
Taking the seat to her left, Victor breathed out and wet his lips, “Robert would adore this place. I think this is where I’ll ask him.”
“Ask him what?” Leigh asked as she embraced Katherine and gave her mental thumbs up for finding this Eden.
Victor reached into his coat pocket and hauled out a small velvet box and placed it on the table in front of them.
Katherine gasped and broke into laughter, “Are you serious? Oh yeah!” She picked the little box up and pushed the lid back to reveal a gorgeous white gold band engraved with intricate Celtic designs.
“He’ll like it right?”
Katherine grasped Victor’s hand and squeezed. Leigh took his other hand. They both said nothing but they sent their absolute joy to Victor who squeezed back to keep the tears that brimmed in his eyes from spilling out.
“Celebration mimosas!” Katherine waved her hand for their waiter and quickly ordered treats: cheeses, pastries, and caviar, to whet their real appetites. She cared little about the expense, she was basically rich after all. It wasn’t every day that one of your best friends asked his partner of three years to marry him.
♀♀♀
They ate, talked and laughed for an entire hour, steadily eating their way through the menu. If the staff thought they were extreme they didn’t show it. They were probably used to lavish dinner parties and eccentric guests.
Katherine had just finished her fourth glass of mimosa when, from the corner of her eye, she saw an approaching waiter slip. She instinctively reached out to steady him, not noticing the sharp tip of the slim sterling silver knife pointing at the soft flesh of her inner forearm as she did.
The pain was excruciating.
A sharp intake of breath and a hand slapped over her forearm was all the waiter or any human in the room heard or saw but, in the following moments, a lot more happened for Katherine and her friends.
Leigh leaped into action, casually motioning for Katherine to follow her to the ladies while Victor busied himself acting nonchalant, rearranging the strewn silverware and napkins. He spoke calmly to the flustered waiter, assuring him that Katherine’s restroom trip had nothing to do with his near spill.
In the ladies, Leigh locked the door behind them and led her friend to the sink. Katherine’s eyes were hazy with pain and her arm hung like a dead weight by her side.
It was hard to think clearly when her heartbeat was all she could hear and the pain was all she could feel. There was no way that this was all from a simple puncture wound. Forcing herself to focus, Katherine examined her arm and realized in the same moment as Leigh that the knife tip had broken off when it hit her radius and was still lodged in her forearm.
“It’s still in your arm, sweetie. I’m so sorry, but this is going to hurt.”
Leigh didn’t pause or speak as she worked. She dug out a small penknife from her purse and ran it under hot water, more out of custom than need, and placed the sharp point to Katherine’s arm.
The flesh around the tiny piece of silver was swollen and a dark black color. The blood that spilled from the incision Leigh made was dark and unnatural. Katherine gritted her teeth and followed Leigh’s instructions to let the running water clean out the blood so she could see.
It took Leigh around forty seconds to find the little piece of silver and pry it out of the bone it had embedded itself into but the ordeal felt a lot longer to Katherine. She felt weakened, unlike her normal self, and ashamed that she hadn’t taken precautions against such a stupid accident.
The instant the silver left her skin she began feeling better. The muscles in her arm were gaping wide open in a three-inch long incision but the pain of that cut was little compared to the feel of silver inside her body.
She stayed motionless for a few minutes while Leigh cleaned up the restroom sink and herself. She rested her forearm against the sink and watched the muscles reform and the skin knit back together.
From start to finish, the little accident lasted seven minutes.
She thanked the old ones that she wasn’t
a young pup anymore or this would have been way worse.
Most young wolves took around a week to heal from a wound the size of a quarter and the depth of a centimeter. With time, however, this gift ripened and any fully grown wolf could almost instantaneously heal from flesh wounds of all types unless they were caused by an object made of silver.
It was a sad fact, but true, that humans had long since figured out a very real threat to the wolf as a species. Silver, especially in bullet form, really could kill a wolf if shot directly into his or her heart or brain or if it made its way to those organs through the blood stream.
Regeneration in those organs took time and with the presence of silver impeding that regeneration, most wolves died quickly from such a shot. There were stories of wolves living from such wounds but those stories were legends, folklore, and she was unsure if they were true and where they originated.
“Was this your first, then, sweetie?” Leigh’s voice was quiet and soothing, like an adult speaking to a small child. It broke into her thoughts and brought her back to the moment.
