Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
He throws his head back and laughs.
“That might be a more accurate description, but this has become a political matter. For political purposes, you strike me as a fatherless little thing. It will be good for you to have some paternal influence. And, by taking you as my child, and you being the mate of the alpha, that creates an alliance between our houses, which is a good thing to have when one wants to avoid wars that have been brewing for quite some time.”
He explains this all in very slow tones, raising his brows to make the point that I have clearly missed from the outset.
“Elena was right? The vampires are coming for the shifter packs?”
“The vampires are rising,” he says. “It is cyclical. If I want to protect the packs as I always have, I need to make alliances that place them under my protection. In the past, I have mated with a shifter female. But you, sweet little thing, are already mated, and I find you charming. So I will take you as my child.”
He’s talking as though what he is saying makes sense and is very reasonable. I know I am not really being given a choice. I could refuse and resist, but then what would happen? What would a vampire with the ability to control my mind do to me if I tried to deny him his plan?
I decide not to test it, because so far he seems interested in looking after me and little else.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want your respect, and perhaps one day, your love. Not romantic love, you understand. I have a tenderness for my children. You have several siblings. You will meet them in due course. For the moment, simply make yourself comfortable and try and be obedient. It is easier for us all if I do not have to manage your mind constantly.”
“But I need to go home. I need to get back to the pack. Alexei will be worried about me. He will be trying to get me back.”
“Don’t worry. I have sent word to your Alexei. Now, my dear daughter, indulge me. Let me look after you.”
There is a madness in this creature. He does not care what I think or what I want. He has taken me for his own ends and he expects me to take the role he has assigned to me.
“What if I won’t?”
“I have many ways of controlling you,” he smiles, a hint of sadism entering his eyes and his smile. “I have been gentle, because I have no desire to damage you, but if you wish to make this difficult, and be treated like the beast you are, then…”
“I’m not a beast!” I don’t know how I manage to be offended. Perhaps he’s relaxed his mind control. Maybe he is allowing me to have my own thoughts for his own amusement.
The way his upper lip curls when I say those words makes me think that might be true.
“Of course you are. A female shifter is both beauty and the beast. She wears the skin of a pretty lady, but underneath pure brutality courses in her veins. You bristle with potential for violence, Anya. It has been bred into you.”
My mother always made it clear that our animal side was for protection. That’s the only time I ever saw her take her wolf form. She could have been a monster if she wanted to, but she always chose being civilized.
Dom sees the worst in me. The smallest in me. The most base and basic in me.
CHAPTER 11
Alexei
I am running through the streets of Rostayvik, moonlight in my eyes and pure fury in my heart. The scent of vampire draws me through the cold blue streets, cast in cobalt by my animal vision. The vampire scent is red to my gaze; I see it stretching out ahead of me, smoky wisps leading me to my prey.
I had been warned that this day would come. I wish I had listened more closely, heeded the warnings, understood that once an alpha has a mate, he becomes a target.
We are at war.
The pack is on the hunt, day and night.
I intend to kill vampires until I find my mate.
The trail thickens ahead, swirling around a door. They had to pause there in order to enter, and in doing so they left what amounts to a big red smeared dot in the world.
I stop in the midst of their trail, and I leave my animal form. I came prepared, strapped with a very particular weapon. I catch it in my hand as it falls from where it was strapped around my neck. It is a gun, of sorts, a modified harpoon-style weapon complete with an ash stake.
The door is not locked. Vampires don’t worry about anybody getting into their homes. They are not used to being hunted… yet.