Page 14 of Forced Bonds

“Is your maker still alive?” I dared ask.

He shook his head. “I killed him myself with three others of his children. Soon after, we found Altaur and our coven. He’s my master now and will be forever.”

We were so similar, and I never would’ve guessed had I not let my guard down. I could trust him. I knew I could.

My phone buzzed with a message and I groaned. It would either be Hazi or Christopher and I didn’t want to talk to either of them. “Want me to check it?” Salizar offered and I nodded.

“Please do.”

He frowned at the phone and for a brief moment I feared it was Hazi and he was telling me something confidential. “Why is the alpha so rude towards you?” he asked, then smirked teasingly before adding, “Old lovers, perhaps?”

I scoffed, then decided to finally tell something about just how unlovable I was. “I’m his mate,” I said, feeling relieved to finally share it with another person. I laughed bitterly, “He was quite angry that I’m a human and rejected me on the spot.”

A growl from the vampire had the hairs on my neck standing and I felt a rush of fear before turning my head. His eyes were glowing; a sure sign he’d lost control. I just had no idea why.

“Mine,” he growled. He was on me in seconds, his fangs piercing through my throat. My scream never left me as he slammed his blood covered mouth down on mine in a brutal kiss that was mostly teeth and tasted of iron. My wound was bleeding but the pain soon turned into pure bliss as it spread through my entire body, lighting up every nerve ending.

My last thought, before I welcomed blissful darkness, was that I shouldn’t have trusted a vampire.

Chapter Eight

Christopher

My last text to Benjamin was left on read. On fucking read. I slammed the brakes on my bike and stormed into my office, ready to fight anyone who dared get in my way. The hunter had been hurt while on duty and that had left my wolf feeling unsettled and angry. So angry in fact that I’d killed the men we were supposed to get answers out of by torturing them. The torture had barely started before my wolf had taken over and killed them in seconds. They had all been witches and had tried to break the ward around the library. It seemed the “trap” that the hunter and vampire had walked into wasn’t a trap for them. They’d simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time, the rogues aiming for the library with the witches.

Sadly, my darkening mood was all my pack could talk about. Their usually cool and collected alpha had gone absolutely feral ever since he had to call in a vampire hunter. At least they believed it was because my pride had been wounded. Werewolves preferred to face things as a pack and they protected their own. When I had to bite the bullet and call in help it had been the worst moment of my life. Not really, though, the worst was when my father had been killed attaining our treasure. It was the one thing I swore to him I would protect with my life; the one thing the rogue vampires so desperately wanted to get their bloody hands on.

Smacking the door closed to my office, I sat and once again pulled out my phone to check. No reply. This human would be the death of me. I had plans for myself. Plans that involved another werewolf, a female werewolf. I wanted heirs; someone to take over the pack when my life ended. It would likely end as tragically as my father’s had, in battle for our pack and our safety. If only he knew how many deaths we’d had since getting our “treasure”; the thing that Mother had begged him for. He’d died obtaining it. Such a foolish death. To make matters worse, my mother was now sick after the death of her mate, leaving her fading away until she would eventually die of broken bond sickness. Not that I really cared what happened to that heartless bitch of a woman.

A tentative knock came a second after I’d locked my phone, a clear sign a poor soul had lost whatever bet they had going in the station and was now forced to check up on the alpha. I almost snorted at the thought. I wasn’t a touchy feely alpha, most were, due to their wolf’s need to feel close to their pack. I was never like that. Maybe it was because of how I was raised. Maybe it came from killing rogue vampires before I could even shift properly.

The knock came again and I relented. “Enter,” I called, trying to sound less grumpy but failed miserably.

Panu’s head poked in, likely assessing the situation before he fully committed to joining me. Whatever he saw in my expression made him swallow before appearing properly.

“Alpha.” He bowed his head in submission.

“Panu,” I replied, waiting for the question I knew was coming.

“Is everything okay, Alpha?” he asked, his eyes still downcast in submission. He seemed to understand I was a ticking bomb lately and didn’t want to push me too far.

“I am. Just a little busy lately with all the rogues, as you very well know, Panu.” I raised one brow, waiting for his gaze to meet mine, when it did, he quickly looked down again, slumping his posture.

“Anything we can do to help, Alpha?”

“You already do what I ask of you,” I reminded him. This wasn’t a let’s-help-our-alpha talk, but merely a need for gossip and I would rather die than turn into their sick entertainment.

Panu just nodded his head.

“But you can focus on training the others for what is to come. Unless you all would prefer to die facing the next horde of rogues?”

He swallowed, the fear evident in his eyes when he finally dared look at me again. “We won’t fail you,” he promised.

They also wouldn’t bother me again with their damn curiosity. “If that is all, Panu, please leave so I can write down the number of packmates we lost last night.”

That had him running. It was disheartening to see just how scattered our pack had become after Father passed away three months ago. Why care about the reason for my anger when we keep losing packmates? Why not realize that my anger could be because our town was getting attacked nightly? Maybe they knew it was worse than that. Maybe they’d seen or noticed something about Benjamin. One thing was certain. Benjamin couldn’t get away from me quick enough. I needed to focus on my pack and getting an heir. If only my stupid wolf would quit howling in dismay at rejecting the perfect human, who in his eyes, was damn delicious.

My phone rang and I knew without looking it was Juniper again. I growled low before answering. “Is she dead yet?”