JULIAN
Before Dimitri and Ambrosia had found me due to my severe lack of self-preservation, I was a tyrant who let the most primal parts of my being guide my every decision. My human emotions were kept locked away by the extreme need for blood that I desperately needed to sate on a near-constant basis. I used my tracking abilities to find myself the sweetest smelling blood because I knew it would be heaven once it slid down the back of my throat.
And that was the closest I'd ever get to heaven. Submerging myself, drowning in the blood lust would be the only satisfying feeling I'd ever feel. I was cursed to live a pointless endless life with only one joy and nothing more. Sometimes I would think back on the day I had been turned. It was a foggy memory but I remembered the pain of being nearly sucked dry. It was a late night and instead of being home, I was roaming the streets just like tonight.
Only, that night I was being hunted and tonight I was doing the hunting.
I inhaled the crisp air, lips splitting into a grin as the sweet notes of a specific someone's blood burned the back of my throat. Being in a club full of humans was my real test. I had to fight the urge to sink my fangs into the soft throats of all those unsuspecting humans. None of them would have left the place alive. I would have worked fast, killed them in one fell swoop before I drained them. It would have only taken me a few seconds, they wouldn't have seen what was coming their way. They wouldn't have had the time to yelp, let alone scream.
The scent I had been tracking for the last couple of blocks at a leisure pace led me down a dark alley with a dead end. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. I sometimes grew bored of this. There was no challenge when your prey made foolish decisions. Not that it mattered. His heart hammered violently in his chest. It was the equivalent of a punk rock band to my ears. I could hear his heated blood slouch through his veins, rushing to his arteries and vital organs. At some point, he must have broken skin because the scent of his blood was now more potent. I had to grit my teeth and clench my fists until the point of pain to stop myself from attacking.
My chuckle bounced off the walls in the dark alley, echoing menacingly. The man's audible gasp of terror almost had my heart starting up with excitement. Every step I took toward the massive blue dumpster he hid behind felt exhilarating. The way his heart skipped. The way he scurried further behind the object as if it could save him from his fate.
I buried my fists into my dress slacks pockets, coming to a standstill. When I faced the man the clear panic highlighting his dark eyes only had my smile widening. Sweat coated his skin, his clothes in a disarray compared to earlier in the night. This man was no random target. I had a very specific reason as to why I chose him.
That reason's name was Lilith.
He was huddled on the floor in a ball, clutching his knees to his chest. His Adam's apple bobbed but my gaze locked onto his vibrating pulse. I licked my lips at the mere thought. It had been a while since I drank fresh human blood. I planned on savoring it even if I didn't understand the complete reason as to why I was hunting this man.
"I give you a five-minute head start and instead of speeding away in your fancy car you chose to run?" I snorted, amused by the choice he took. Either way, he wouldn't have been able to escape me but I expected him to be smarter than that.
"What do you want from me?" His voice betrayed him at the end, a quiver escaping.
I crouched in front of him, gripping his jaw in my hand roughly with a snarl, "Tell me, do you touch every woman like they're your personal plaything for you to unwrap, or is it just the strippers at the club you were just at."
One specific stripper. Lilith.
"It's part of their job," he hissed in pain when I added more pressure.
"Dealing with assholes like you isn't part of her job description the last time I checked," a deep growl rumbled in my chest, one I had never heard myself make before.
I wasn't completely certain why I didn't like the idea of him touching her the way he did but I was going to make sure he never got the chance to touch her again.
The words she told him in her thick lust-driven tone swam in my mind, hedging me on. 'No touching what's not yours, big boy.' I scoffed. She was clearly insulting him because nothing about him said 'big'.
"I didn't hear her complaining," for a guy who was on the verge of dying he had one too many snarky comments.
My eyes zoned in on his pulse once more and I felt him shudder. It was as of his body knew what was about to happen to him but his mind hadn't caught up yet. I let myself sink into that pit of nothingness, only giving away to the feeling of hunger.
"You'll never get to hear her complain," I whispered, tilting his head to the side and sinking my teeth into his throat with a flash of speed.
He tried to scream but I crushed his windpipe instantly. Usually, I killed them first before feeding but I wanted to feel this one's life force drain from him as the morbid part of me enjoyed the imagery depicted. He tried shoving me away but it was futile, I only sunk my fangs in further, feeling the strange sense of unnerving euphoria that came with each mouthful of blood.
I groaned at the sweet taste but growled when I tasted notes of alcohol and something else. He was high on something but it wasn't enough to taint his blood completely. It was still enjoyable for the most part. When I was done, I pulled away with a content moan and rose to my feet once more.
Using the pad of my thumb, I gathered the last remnant of blood dripping from the corner of my mouth and licked it before retracting my fangs into my gums. The man's corpse laid sprawled on the ground.
"And how do you plan on getting rid of the body?" A familiar British voice called from down the alley.
I looked over my shoulder and found a silhouette of Thorne, "I thought you would have left by now. They did say you had dealings of your own to take care of."
"I don't need to leave right now," was all he said, closing the distance between us.
I had to reign in my frustration. This Hellhound wouldn't think twice before setting me ablaze, "Since you're here why don't you turn him to ash? Might as well make your presence useful."
With a flick of a finger, the body lit up in orange, red, and blue flames before turning to ash a second later. Thorne allowed the flames to die out with a frown, "Let's not make a habit of this."
"Yes," I agreed, "let's not make a habit of you following me everywhere. I don't need a babysitter."
"Relax, I'm not sticking around to babysit you. I'm sticking around because your vampire buddies came through. That Hellhound got into contact with me. I'll be meeting her soon," Thorne grinned. For a creature that carried hellfire with him, he was a little too rambunctious for my liking.
"Great. So you do what you have to do and leave me the hell alone," I muttered, walking away before anyone could spot us.
Maybe I had a spec of self-preservation still left in me.
Thorne easily kept pace with me as we rounded the corner and entered the desolate streets, "You're not supposed to stay in one place for more than one night. You've hunted, it's time for you to move on."
"I still have some things to take care of," I answered bluntly but it was a lie. The lawyer didn't require anything further from me and, in all fairness, I needed to check out everything else that was now transferred onto my name but something in me told me not to go.
Instinct told me to stay. It definitely didn't have anything to do with the stunning purple-haired girl with a spicy attitude. No. I refused to believe that I was being held back by my undue interest and fascination with the little she-wolf.
"You better get everything in order by tomorrow night in that case," Thorne said firmly, leaving no room for discussion.
"Is running away from your problems the advice you give everyone?" I quipped, sliding my tongue over my teeth.
"Not if there's another option," he answered curtly, "but, as we stand, there's no option that will lead in your victory. It all only leads to your death."
"What makes you so sure about that?" I arched an eyebrow in interest as we rounded another corner to the club. The music could be heard from all the way down the street.
"Let's just say I'm good with predicting this sort of thing. At least things that involve death," Thorne's frown deepened exponentially. "The she-wolf, did you speak to her about joining a pack, even if it is a rogue pack?" He wouldn't tell me why he was so invested in getting her to join a pack but I could guess. I was new to this world but I caught on quickly to how things worked.
"She's content with living a human life," I responded blandly as we entered the club, "at least she has the option." If I could revert to human I would in a heartbeat. The person I had become after turning scared me. I was a cold-blooded murderer and the scarier part was, I enjoyed it.
I lived for the hunt. It elated me more than anything I could think of. Nothing in my human life before this ever excited me as much as tracking and hunting someone did.
"You'll have to find a way to change her mind. It's not safe for her to be alone either way. It will be good if she has a pack."
"Need I remind you that numbers don't help. This thing took down patrol wolves from a pack, leaving not one alive. She's probably safer on her own as long as she doesn't draw attention to you herself," I noted, pushing my way through the throng of bodies. My thirst was becoming a persistent itch at the back of my throat again. If this continued I'd have to go hunting again, this time for animal blood and I despised the taste of animal blood.
"You being here is drawing attention to her," Thorne whispered under his breath knowing I would be able to hear him but the humans wouldn't. We entered the office behind the bar. One I knew was rarely ever used considering the condition of the place, "you're the Vampire king. Once word gets out that you're here then your kind will want to come to see you, test you in ways you haven't been tested yet and one she-wolf amongst a coven of vampires is bad news."
The thought of harm coming to her had my skin crawling with unease. It was a worse off feeling than the burning thirst I was shackled to, "She's going to be fine. I have a feeling this isn't the first time she's dealt with vampires and it's not going to be the last. She knew Dimitri and Ambrosia and now she knows me. So, if anything or anyone dares to harm her they will have to go through me first."
"That's a cute sentiment but need I remind you that you're a newborn. You have brute strength but do you know the first thing about defense," Thorne crossed his arms and widened his stance looking like the authoritative figure he was striving to be.
"Oh, ye of little faith," I clucked my tongue in amusement, "I spent enough time in the Green Forest pack to learn a thing or two and Dimitri was training me. Vampires are quick learners."
"Of course you are but don't let that go to your head," he chastised, "you're not invincible."
"Yeah, I'm not," the corner of my lips kicked up into a knowing smirk, "no one's invincible and that's exactly what I'm counting on."
LILITHI gritted my teeth against the pain, clenching my hands into white fists while resting them on the cold tiles that lined the wall. The sweltering heat of the shower couldn't even lull the pain inside of me. No matter how long I stood under the hot spray, it's was no use. A growl threatened to spill from my lips but I swallowed it, tampering it down.I had my good days and I had my bad days. Tonight was part of one of those bad days. Luckily, I didn't have the main performance tonight. Maybe I could get out of dancing to wait on tables. That would be more bearable. I nodded to myself, I would switch shifts with someone for the night. No one would say no because dancing always offered more money anyway. We were lucky enough to have girls willing to rotate and do whatever needed to be done.I stepped out of the shower with a wince, my arms, and legs a jittery mess. My head felt heavy from the constant
LILITH The bed was so soft I couldn't help but curl under the covers and let sleep pull me under. He did say that I could make myself at home. It didn't seem like anyone had been doing much of that around here lately. The bedroom had themes of red. Not just any red — crimson. The color reminded me of blood which had me cringing. I figured that this was another one of Dimitri's places that were left to Julian, but I didn't understand why. What was so special about Julian? I stirred from my sleep as the thought nagged me awake. Then stilled when something sweet and earthy tickled my senses. Julian did say he would be back by dawn. That must have meant he let me sleep through the night. The tang of blood assaulted my nose which had my muscles locking. "I know you're awake," he called in a monotonous voice. Why was he even in here? Couldn't he wait in the living room like
JULIAN I waited impatiently for dusk, where the shadows were long and I could conceal myself within them without the sun searing my skin. Sleep was a rarity for someone like me. We barely ever slept, once in every few days and it wasn't a blissful sleep either. This was my purgatory and I was beginning to adjust to it. Until she pulled the rug out from under my feet. What she said made sense. I couldn't deny the sensations that danced across my skin each time we touched. When I heard her scream last night it sent electricity straight to my heart, almost allowing it to beat in my chest again. Panic claimed my body in a vice grip and I couldn't get to the little she-wolf fast enough. Then the sight of her bones squirming beneath her skin caught my attention and I instantly knew what was happening. It was instinct. In the same way, I knew I needed blood for survival, I knew I had to get her out of there an
LILITHI expected to see him later that night. At least, I left Julian's apartment with the hope that he would pitch up and tell me that he wasn't about to sever the bond between us. But then nightfall hit and he never showed. The next night was the same. And the next after that. Seven days. A whole week. That was how long it took for my hope to break. He left without a single word. Maybe he thought that we could still live our lives if he didn't sever the bond. Maybe he thought all he had to do was avoid me at all costs.It hurt. I never had a problem with abandonment. Then again, you only get one mate — one chance — and if you fucked it up it meant game over. So, it hurt but like everything else that hurt me in life, I brushed it aside and wore a smile on my face. The smile was false. Every smile I wore was artificial — at least back then they were easier to fake.'Do you want me as a m
LILITHIt surprised me how much pull the mate bond had even though we hadn't sealed it. I guess all we had left was the actual mating since we couldn't mark one another. That made following the pull of the bond all that more easier. Where it led me, though, had my nostrils flaring in fury.I glared up at the apartment complex I knew housed Julian. He was in the building, I knew it. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. Julian didn't run from me like I originally suspected. No. He did something more cowardly than that.He hid from me.It left me wondering whether he wanted me as a mate. If I could get past him being a vampire, could he get past me being a werewolf? Right now it didn't seem like it and — if I were being completely honest — my self-esteem and ego may have taken a blow. Visually, I was appealing to most men. I knew this. I earned money off this. Relationships w
LILITH"Your timing is impeccable," I heard Julian sarcastically greet whoever disrupted the little moment we were about to share.But no response came to the sarcasm. My wolf stirred anxiously and I felt an overpowering presence near me. I feared that I knew the presence — not personally but I could feel the ranking of the wolf about to step foot into this apartment. The earthy, musky scent only cemented that it was a werewolf.Julian strolled in, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. He had a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. My eyes moved from him to the more domineering presence that stood behind him. The man was tall and muscular — filling out his silk black button-down. I quickly did a sweep of him, finding him in black dress slacks that hugged his thighs and loafers.His face was hard, long hair tied into a top knot and a neatly trimmed beard framing his lower face.
JULIANI took in a controlled breath, clamping my molars at the acid-like burn that scorched my throat. Even in my office, barricaded from the countless number of humans in the club, I could still smell them. The sweet, tempting aroma of their blood had me fighting off my most primal instincts. I could picture myself leisurely strolling out of this office just to analyze my surroundings and work out my best plan of attack. There would be no survivors.None but her.A separate section of my mind, a larger section than I possibly cared to admit, was cordoned off and dedicated to Lilith. From what I had been told, this wasn't odd. Sylvain had warned me that the mate bond would do anything in its power to bring us together — we were meant to complete the bond but that wasn't a step I wanted to take.I thought of the betrayal that sparked in those yellowish-hazel orbs when she met the rog
LILITHFuck this life and every life that came before and after!Victor made me shift from wolf to human and back the entire night. My entire body was sore beyond comprehension and I couldn't move a single limb anymore. He only made me stop when it took me around a minute to complete a single shift. With time, he said, I'd be able to shift within seconds but it was taking a while since I had been stifling my beast and I had been keeping her away from other werewolves.It hadn't always been that way. There were wolves that were around me at one point. But things changed and I moved on. I was quite content with the life I was building for myself until my mate literally shook it up. Now, I had a new life waiting out there for me; a life that I didn't fit into.Being the Vampire Queen came with responsibilities but I couldn't uphold those responsibilities — not with me being an ordinary