Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
“I’m pleased to see your magic is working. Have you felt it stir yet? It should be more… potent than the random thoughts and feelings you pick up.” Her lips lifted into a smile, and somehow I knew she wouldn’t answer my question until I answered hers.
“I’ve felt it stir, but I don’t think I’ve actually used it yet.” I replied.
She nodded, but the pleased look on her face was fleeting.
“Natural magic has to do with the body and it’s life force. That’s why I’m skilled at healing and uncovering things hidden or repressed. Humans, vampires, and werewolves aren’t the only beings with a life force. Other animals have them, even plants. The earth is just one big life force, which means I should feel something…but both times I’ve come up empty handed.”
I looked over at the b****y patch of grass, noting how dark it looked compared to what was untouched.
It was like a part of the earth had died.
“You felt no life force…even in the ground?” I asked, hoping I was simply misunderstanding. The moment the thought popped into existence; a feeling of dread filled my insides.
“Absolutely nothing.”
Cordelia’s gasp was a whip that cracked through the silence, splitting it in two and replacing it with a tension that made me feel oddly claustrophobic surrounded by all these trees. The forest was my second home, and not once had I felt the desire to run from it-as far and fast as I could.
Breyona clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the yelp she almost let out, and even Zeke had a hand placed against his heart.
Cordelia’s eyes were wide and her face unbelievably pale. The hand she cradled to her chest was coated in dark, glossy blood. Her voice trembled when she said, “…I need something to wipe this off…
quickly, please…”
Perhaps it was the urgency in her voice, but I was seconds away from pulling my own shirt off when
Nolan beat me to it. She nodded a hasty thank you and vigorously rubbed the old blood from her hand.
“Whoever did this, they were in a hurry. It’s messier than the first time, and more magic was left behind.
I couldn’t a read on it’s pattern, but there was something else I picked up…” Cordelia closed her eyes and took a calming breath. When they opened, acceptance burned in their depths. I had no clue what it could’ve meant, and quickly forgot seeing it when she swallowed and said, “…these aren’t just murders, they’re sacrifices.”
“Sacrifices…” I said for the third time, narrowing my eyes as I followed the curvy backroad in the new car Nolan reluctantly loaned me.
“The red-haired witch, doesn’t she know how to do blood-magic?” Mason asked, refusing to let me stew in silence. “She really can’t think of a reason for these… sacrifices?”
“She doesn’t know much blood-magic. It runs in her family, but they don’t practice it themselves.” I explained. “I just wanted Holly to know where she comes from. As much as she can, anyway.”
I hated having control over Holly’s life. Making decisions for her, forcing her to see a therapist, it made me feel like she was a prisoner and not part of the pack. I didn’t want to make her feel how our father did, like pretty bird shoved into a cage, left to rot as it sang itself to d***h.
Only one other person truly knew how I felt, and it was Tristan. The sour vampire seemed like the only person able to get through to Holly. It made me feel marginally better that Tristan and I agreed on one thing vehemently. The soft-spoken, raven-haired girl I now called my sister could never, ever meet the woman that birthed her-the world’s most powerful blood-witch and the one coming for my head.
My thoughts drifted to Lars and those scuffed boots of his. At one point I’d been positive he had something to do with all of this, but now I wasn’t sure. The more I let my mind wander, the easier it was to convince myself that it wasn’t his specific pair of boots I had seen.
A jolt shot down my spine, electrifying my nerves as it forced my attention back onto the road.
I’d been following a sharp curve when a figure darted out of a cut in the forest. My heart seized in my chest as I yanked the wheel to the side and sent us careening out of the way. Instinctively, I slammed my foot into the brake which sent Mason and I flying forwards.
Panic lodged itself in my throat, growing larger until only a sliver of oxygen could pass through. Lars’s hand froze mid-wave from where he stood on the shoulder.
Even though my heart still raced from shock, he hadn’t caused the emotion currently choking me. For a split-second, day was replaced by night. There was no Mason by my side, no help or rescue on the way, yet I wasn’t alone. Only those scuffed boots kept me company, but they were also the countdown to my d***h.
“Are you alright, Daisy?” Mason asked, his voice low. The sound of his concern sucked me right out of my thoughts.
“I am really beginning to hate driving.” I replied through clenched teeth, tightening my grip on the steering wheel to keep my hands from trembling.
It took every ounce of patience within me not to jump out of the car and strangle Lars. What mostly stopped me was the lingering thought that he could somehow be involved.
“D**n, Luna. You tryin’ to k**l me?” Lars asked, his arm resting on the roof of the car.
There wasn’t a hint of amusement on my face.
“What are you doing here, Lars?” I deadpanned.
“Bike broke down, can you believe it?” He shook his head, and I was surprised to see he looked a bit pained. A second later the emotion vanished, replaced by his usual charming grin. “I got a buddy just inside town whose got a shop, he can put my bike in his truck. I’ll be forever indebted to you if you give me a ride.”
“That’s supposed to make me want to help you?”
When his lower lip jutted out in a less than effective pout, I started to roll the window up.
“Alright, I’ll behave!” He held his hands up in surrender. “I promise, just give me a lift.”
“Get in the d**n car, Lars.”
The first five minutes were quiet, but there was a tension building that I swore I wasn’t imaging. Lars seemed completely at ease; his arms draped across the backseat like we were his personal chauffeurs. The voice of curiosity in my head, which sounded suspiciously like Maya, poked and prodded me with all the questions that needed answering. The feeling became so overwhelming that there was no stopping myself from asking the first and least suspicious thing on my mind.
“What brought you all the way out here?” There was just the right amount of disinterest in my voice to make it seem like I was being polite or trying to break up the silence.
“That buddy I mentioned has some property. He lets me park my camper there.” He replied, watching the passing evergreens through the window.
“You’re that torn up over your bike?”
It was a bold assumption; one I knew was spot on when he scoffed and took it as a personal offense.
“If you knew how much time and money I put into her, you’d understand. Some of those parts took months to come in, and I’m still paying them off. She’s in perfect shape…makes no sense why the engine seized.” He grumbled, but I was only half listening because Nolan’s deep voice began to rumble in my head.
‘Zeke and I just went through the tapes, and there’s something you need to see. If you’ve got a minute,
I need you to scan through what I watched. There was a witness, someone walking down the block, but that’s not all-its easier if you see for yourself. The picture wasn’t the greatest, but it’s not anyone I recognized. Before we release the image to the public, I want another set of eyes I trust.’
‘Sure, give me a minute.’ I told Nolan, and quickly followed the directions Lars provided until I turned down a narrow dirt road that ended at a refurbished barn.
I could see why his friend lets him keep his camper here the guy had just about every other mode of transportation sitting around the barn. There was nearly a dozen rusted cars, a few street bikes, and even a four-wheeler or two. I even spotted a tractor trailer that had seen better days. What I didn’t see was the camper Lars mentioned.
“I thought you said you parked your camper here?”
“I typically do. Last couple of nights I’ve been camping in the woods.” He nodded at the barn. “You can drop me off here. He’s bound to be lurking around somewhere.”
Lars got out of the car and peered through Mason’s open window. I couldn’t tell if the smile that tugged on his lips was sinister or if he was just trying to flirt again. Either way it did nothing to quell the bad feeling brewing in my stomach.
“Thanks for the ride, Luna.” He winked.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?