Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“Just curious.” I shrugged, a grin on my face as I listened in on Miss Shelby’s mumbling. “Honest.”
“Sure.” Breyona nodded, looking unconvinced but dropping the subject anyway.
Miss Shelby dropped a heavy book on the table in front of me, opening it a quarter of the way.
“So there isn’t a whole lot in here, but there’s still much we don’t know.” Miss Shelby shrugged. “So many texts were lost in the burning three hundred years ago. It’s amazing we’ve managed to recover this much.”
The Burning was something all werewolf children learned about early on. Three hundred years ago, four Vampires had gotten together and formed a coven. This was unheard of in Vampire history, as they rarely ever traveled or spent their lives together. Werewolves were thriving at the time, as we have for thousands of years. There was strength in numbers, and werewolves always stuck together. The reason on why Vampires remained to themselves was unclear, some said it was due to disagreements or feeding problems. Either way, whenever Vampires gathered many lost their lives. These four vampires Vampires came across a pack of werewolves. The story changed depending on who told it, but something happened between the vampires and werewolves. Some kind of argument or disagreement struck, starting a fight.
Whenever Grandma told me the story, she would tell how one of the Vampires was mated to one of the wolves. They wanted to be together, to live in peace but the Alpha of the pack intended to marry the woman. The Alpha’s mate had died many years ago, and he chose to take this young werewolf as his bride not for love, but because she looked like his d**d mate. This infuriated the Vampires, stirring them into action. The Vampires were chased away by the werewolves, but returned just a short month later.
The Alpha of the pack lied and told the young woman her mate had left her, declaring her a disgusting werewolf before fleeing. The young woman took her life, her heart broken and yearning for her mate.
When the four Vampires returned, they discovered the d***h of the young woman. The Vampire mated to her was delirious with heartbreak and agony. He attacked the werewolf pack, swearing d***h on their kind. Many lives were lost that day, including the four vampires. Buildings were burned down, one of those buildings was where the pack kept archives of information and history. Lives, love, and knowledge was lost that day.
Dad’s version was much simpler. Four vampires wandered into pack territory, igniting a feud with the pack. The Vampires fed on the packs territory knowingly, and retaliated when they attacked. I always preferred my Grandma’s version. Something about doomed lovers was so much more interesting than just a simple feeding issue.
I let my eyes trail over the words in the book. They were hand written, and fading in certain places. The pages were stained and cracked, but it was clear Breyona’s Mom and Dad treated their books with much love. The pages had a heavy gloss over them, protecting them from further damage. The words were darkened in some areas, and made much clearer through the mending of Breyona’s parents.
“Just leave it there when you’re finished.” Miss Shelby smiled, “Oh and be very careful. That book’s older than you are.”
“I will.” I chuckled, remembering how Miss Shelby used to tell me that all the time as a child.
Breyona was never interested in books like her Mom and Dad. I, on the other hand had always loved to read. Her Mom and Dad would spend days shoving books in my face and even talk to me about them once I had finished.
Breyona’s Mom was right, there wasn’t much information on Vampires. Just a small passage in the middle of the page, written in another language. It was obvious Breyona’s Mom and Dad had translated the text, writing it on a spare sheet of paper and attaching it to the book. The passage enlightened me, and sent something cold rushing through my veins.
Vampires 1902
Sunlight sears the skin of these cold-blooded creatures, forced to take night as their own. First recorded Vampire was 1500 BC located in Crete. All that is known about the earliest Vampire is his name, Kouritis. Vampires are not immortalbut do live for hundreds of years. It is known Vampire’s have a caste that is similar to their Lycan adversaries. Lowest is human turned vampires. Next is
Vampire’s by birth, with human tainted blood. Vampire’s are able to procreate with eachother, and human’s. Even higher lies pure blooded Vampires, considered untouchable in status. The last, and highest is the blood line of Kouritis. It is believed Kouritis blood-line may possess the ability to control shadowsunproven, but suspected. It is rumored pure blooded Vampires possess the ability to befuddle the mindThis ability does not work on pure-blooded Werewolves.
My mind ran back and forth between what I read.
Vampires can befuddle the mind. What did that mean? Confuse people or make them do things?
My mind went back to the night at the club, how light and airy I had felt. The more I tried to remember what it felt like, the more confused I had become. I couldn’t place my finger on how exactly I felt that night. I did have quite a bit to drink, which could easily be the culprit for the strange sensations. That night was definitely one to remember. The only event that remained clear in my mind was my little meeting with Alpha Nolan against the club’s brick wall.
I sat back from the book with a frown on my face. Miss Shelby came back into the room and gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Such a shame, isn’t it?” Miss Shelby shook her head. “Such little information on an entire race.”
“I wonder what happened to Kouritis.” I frowned, “Are their any records of his bloodline?”
The sentence about ‘controlling shadows’ had me interested. Jessie and Maya both noticed how much darker it had become in the forest, as if the shadows had gotten bigger. Such a strange remark, but it now made some shred of sense. The Kouritis bloodline was suspected to be able to control the shadows. But why would Kouritis’s relatives be anywhere near our pack? Vampire’s didn’t meddle in human affairs, and we didn’t meddle in their feeding habits. It was a silent coexistence.
“There was at one point.” Miss Shelby sighed, “What I would’ve done to get my hands on those texts.”
“Mom.” Breyona gagged, making Mason and I snicker.
“So no one knows what happened to his bloodline?” I frowned, “How could an entire bloodline fade into history?”
“Well, this is just a rumor but I heard his last remaining blood-tie died during the burning.” Miss Shelby nodded serenely, “That he was one of the four to fight against the packs.”
“Everyone says all four of the vampires died during the burning.” I frowned, “Guess it isn’t too hard to believe Kouritis blood-line ended during the Burning.”
“Such a shame.” Miss Shelby sighed, “Liam and I are always scouring for more texts. We’ll let you know if we find one.”
“Thanks, Miss Shelby.” I smiled back at her, grateful for her and Liam’s help.
If the Kouritis blood-line ended three hundred years ago, that ruled out the cause of the darkening forest. It must’ve just been nature doing it’s thing.
Mason, Breyona and I hung out until well into the night. Miss Shelby offered me other texts, but none were about Vampires. Some talked of Werewolves, going into detail about half-bloods and their capabilities. Half Human Half werewolf, they were common but most of them lived normal lives. Many didn’t develop their own wolf, inhibiting them from ever shifting. They simply had heightened strength and sometimes heightened senses. Those who developed wolves, were brought into the pack-life.
Half-blood’s could still had mates, and could bear children all the same. Hundreds of years ago, werewolves hated half-bloods. Time’s have changed since then, and they are no longer hated. We accept half-bloods the way we would any other werewolf.
Once nine o’clock hit, Breyona began getting ready for Haze. While I wore a simple pair of jeans and a dark blouse, Breyona went all out. She wore a knee length dress that made her look both alluring and regal, along with some light make-up to highlight her big eyes and high cheekbones. She insisted on looking her best, in case she meet her mate tonight. Her short hair had a slight curl to it and fanned across her head. Mason was dressed comfortably as well, wearing jeans and a simple jacket.
“I can’t believe were doing this.” Breyona huffed, “Maybe we should just stay home.”
“Are you chickening out?” I raised my eyebrow at her, “The fearless Breyona is afraid of finding her mate?”
Breyona paused, her eyebrow raised as she glared at me. Slowly, a smile broke out over her face.
“Y’know, I told you before if you keep making these comments I’m gonna start thinking you’re my mate.” Breyona snickered.
“Please.” I scoffed, “You wish your mate was amazing as me.”
Mason sat in silence watching our mini-argument unfold. We were left with hysterical giggles by the time we had finished, making me realize how much I had truly missed Breyona. Spending time with
Chelsea was never like this. We’d shop, or go out to eat, making fun of a few people in the process.
We never joked, never comforted or supported eachother. It was a superficial friendship from the beginning. Breyona and I matched naturally. If there were matesbut for friends, Breyona would be my mate. My friend-mate.
“Friend-mate.” Breyona nodded, “I like that.”
“I think I also earn the title of friend-mate.” Mason huffed, giving us each a puppy dog look.
The two of us continued giggling and brought Mason into our hug.
“Well, seeing as I invented friend-mates, I declare you can have multiple.” I nodded, giving Mason a grin.
“I second that motion.” Breyona grinned, grabbing her car keys.
“Don’t be out too late!” Breyona’s Mom called from the kitchen. “And good luck finding your mate, honey!”
“You told her?” I raised my eyebrow at Breyona and she gave me an embarrassed smile.
“It’s not like I had a choice.” Breyona rolled her eyes, “She won’t dare let me leave the house at night anymore. Once I told her about smelling my mate, she insisted I go. Besides, she know’s I’ll be safe with you and Mason here.”