Such a thick coating of sweat had formed on his forehead that beads of it trickled into his eyes as Joseph nervously paced the exterior of the cave where Ingrid’s coven met.Meeting with the coven leader was no small feat.  It was no secret that he held minimal tolerance for werewolves and even less for vampires.  It was also a well-known fact that he had a temperament that was considered by most to be precarious. One wrong thing said or done could set him off into a magical torrent of which Joseph was sure he wouldn’t fare well. He’d practically begged Ingrid for tutelage on how to speak to Benjamin, but she’d simply gently kissed him and insisted that being himself would be more than sufficient.He groaned at the thought.  He was far from the diplomat of the pack.  That title went to Marcus, his friend Sam, or even Freya.  He was nothing more than a ‘fetch it’ man for the pack leader.  At least that&rs

“Do you realize what you have done?” Freya screeched.  She needed to raise her petite form up onto her toes in order to properly shove her face a mere inch away from Jasper’s, but it didn’t deter her from doing just that. “Vampires and lycans have altered in makeup since we were sent here, but not to such an extent as to allow those blood suckers the ability to make babies.  It’s bad enough that they create more of their own by infecting the human with venom.  I cannot imagine a vampire born of the womb.  Oh! Yes, I can!  That is what we lycans were forced to contend with prior to being sent to this hellish dimension.  There is a reason Goethe took the ability to procreate from those demon bastards when he sent them here.  It is bad enough that they discovered a means of surviving and multiplying through the transference of venom without them being able to naturally procreate.  You have opened Pandora’

“His name is Samuel.  He was the first to be made by Rowan and is his right hand man,” Jasper said as Marcus studied the vampire who, after endless days of hunting and waiting for the right opportunity to arise, they’d managed to capture and secure behind bars.Samuel angrily sneered, “How long do you think you can hold me before Rowan catches wind. You know that, when he does, heads will roll.”Marcus scoffed through a smug grin, “I’ll take my chances.”Turning to address Jasper, Samuel’s face grew serious as he said in a soft tone, “Rowan saved your life, yet you align yourself with these dogs.”“These dogs helped me to learn control of my wolf side.  I no longer turn whenever I’m angry,” Jasper replied in a voice just above a whisper.  He sensed that Marcus’ acute hearing would still make him privy to their verbal exchange, but he hoped the

The three-hundred acres felt more like three-hundred miles as Lila made her way across the fields to an old cinderblock building at the far end of Freya’s horse farm.  She was an adept rider, but, because of the value of the child in her womb, both Freya and Jasper refused to risk allowing her to get on the back of a horse.  She abhorred long hikes, but if she wanted to get a look at the vampires who Freya’s people had managed to capture without the tediousness of someone constantly monitoring her, she had no choice than to make the trek.She used the time making her way over what she considered rough terrain contemplating the development of Jasper’s relationship with Freya.  Where, in the beginning, it appeared as if they’d be lucky to get through a day without taking each other’s head off, of late, they seemed almost bonded.  Lila assumed that it had a lot to do with the closeness that was required in order for him to study

Jasper paced the interior of his makeshift lab while Freya stared out of the window with an undecipherable expression.  He couldn’t tell if she was monitoring his movements out of the corner of her eye or was lost in thought.Stopping not far from her, he finally spoke, “There’s something that has been troubling me for some time now.  If Marcus was able to hear Lila’s baby’s heartbeat right away, why couldn’t that scum vampire when he went to her each night?”“Who said he didn’t?” Freya asked with a wistful tone as she continued looking out the window. “He probably thought it was your baby and paid it no mind.”“He’d do that to a pregnant woman?” he yelped with dismay.She leaned her forehead against the windowpane and with a tone that relayed her frustration, growled, “When are you going to get it into your thick skull that vampires look upon humans