Filed To Story: Claimed by the Alpha I Hate Book Read Free
He was lying on his back, his head twisted at an awkward angle so that his eyes were looking in the direction of the front door, the same one Tristan and I had just come through.
There were two blades protruding from his body, both coated in blood so dark it looked fake. One was a thin pocketknife, lodged just below his eye still within his orbital socket, while the second was where I assumed his heart rested.
“Where is your friend?” Tristan hissed under his breath and turned to look me in the face. His eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them, flecked with worry so strong panic seized in my chest.
I stammered. “She’s here, she can see us. She’s saying…”
Cassidy’s whimper filled my head. ‘Daisy? Daisy…you need to get out of the camper…now.’
“She said we need to get out of the camper”‘ I repeated, my voice grave and eyes sliding from Tristan’s face to that of Lars. Bile churned in my stomach as I added, “…now.”
“Why?” Tristan demanded, pivoting to survey the entirety of the camper. Apart from the rotted body lying on the couch, much more decomposed than he should’ve been, we were utterly alone. “Ask her!”
He demanded.
‘Why do we need to get out of the camper, Cass? What happened here?’
‘I k****d him, but-but he was already d**d.’ I swore I heard her sob.
‘Why do we need to get out of here?’ I repeated myself, this time hardening my tone until it bordered on a command.
‘…because he moved, Daisy.’
A sickening crack filled the small camper, followed by a crunch that made both Tristan and I lock eyes.
Despite the fact that the mark on my neck and the connection between a Vampire and it’s Queen weren’t quite like a mind-link or mate bond, a sort of understanding passed between the two of us.
Before I could turn that flash of understanding into words, our eyes slid to Lars’s corpse, which was now sitting upright on the sofa.
‘Cassidy, I’m going to need you to come out from where you’re hiding.’ I instructed her, swallowing a scream when Lars turned his head to stare into my face, the bones in his neck cracking and crunching from the movement while the knife below his eye remained rooted in place. ‘…when you see Tristan and I run, you ( have) to follow. Do you understand me?’
‘Yes, I understand.’ Her reply was instant.
Slowly, like prey cornered by a hungry predator, I wrapped my hand around Tristan’s wrist and took a small step backwards, towards the open door.
“We can’t k**l something that’s already d**d.” I told him, the haunting tone in my voice evident no matter how quietly I spoke.
He didn’t dare break his stare from Lars to look back at me, but I could see the slight nod of his head and knew he was on board with whatever last ditch plan I concocted.
Together we took a step backwards, and then another. On the third Lars’s corpse stood, it’s spine ramrod straight despite the bulge of crushed bone and tendons in his neck.
His eyes never once left my face.
Each step we took led us closer to the front door, but quickly Lars began matching our steps, taking one each time we did until Tristan, and I stood on solid ground, and Lars within the doorway of his camper.
A split second with our feet on fresh soil and I heard a scrambling sound from beneath the camper, followed by a flash of knotted golden hair when Cassidy rolled from beneath the thing and army crawled to our sides.
She was shaking like a leaf and coated in that dark, foul-smelling blood, but still managed to look murderous in her form fitting dress and b**e feet.
“I don’t know what kind of magic this is, but it’s evil-it’s pure evil.” She stammered, lips trembling even though her stance was one we’d learned in training.
There was only one form of magic that came to mind, one that could’ve easily been capable of causing this.
“If this is blood magic…that means the witch orchestrating all of this is nearby.” I swallowed heavily, refusing to shrink under Lars’s empty stare.
Tristan tensed beside me, undoubtedly thinking the same thing I was.
Holly’s mother was within our pack’s borders, she had to be.
There was a small flicker of movement to my left, one fast enough to catch my eye. Two specks of purple appeared from deep within the trees, glowing softly within the darkness. I could hear the distant rumble of a car’s engine along with the roar of a tricked-out exhaust and knew that what I was seeing were the headlights of someone’s modified car.
It was the way they moved in tandem with one another, gliding through the trees all the way from the main road we’d turned off of, that looked eerily similar to a set of eyes.
“Tristan…” I hissed, jabbing my elbow into his ribcage hard enough to garner his attention. His eyes flickered in the direction of the lights and understanding filled their depths. “…what do those look like to you?”
“Purple eyes.” He confirmed, and not a moment later the brush surrounding us began to tremble.
As the sickly-sweet scent of Vampire’s filled the clearing, Lars lunged from where he stood in the doorway.
“Run.” I issued the one worded command and turned on my heel in time to see not one, not two, but six figures break through the tree line.
Razor thin branches slapped at our faces, stinging our ankles and any visible piece of skin. The darkness was all consuming, the shadows thick as they surrounded us like the heavy fabric of a cloak.
If only they protected us the way a cloak would, if only they offered their assistance as they had numerous times in the past.
Something changed since I got my magic, and that something was big enough to alter the way the shadows acted around me.
In the past, they’d jump at the opportunity to be of service, to exact a price they saw most fitting. Their whispers would plague my mind, their slippery voices a haunting song of desperation, excitement, and longing.
I could hear their whispers, only this time they didn’t seem to be speaking to me, but to each other.
Flinging them around the forest so quickly I couldn’t make out what the h**l they were saying.
“Wait a d**n second.” I panted, gritting my teeth together as Cassidy stepped on something sharp and snarled angrily. The scent of fresh blood was instant and made what I was about to say even more important. “Those were Vampires.”
Cassidy sucked in a sharp breath, swatting away the stray branches as they wacked her in the face.
“As far as I’m concerned, just as scary as witches.” The whites of her eyes were visible as she glanced at Tristan, who ran in between us. “…no offense.”
“None taken.” He huffed. “You said the guy you stabbed was already d**d?”
I’d given him a rundown of what Cassidy had told me, even though I didn’t exactly understand what happened myself. Lars was d**d, yet undead? I knew without asking that magic was responsible, but it was a kind of magic I hadn’t learned about yet-and one I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“Sure was.” She replied, her voice thick and tinged with both nausea and fear. “He decomposed after I k****d him, but I swear I could smell him the second I walked through the door. I…I thought he left some meat out or something and it spoiled.”
Tristan nodded grimly, which looked odd considering we were still running like lunatics through the forest in the d**d of night. “That’s definitely the work of magic, which means the Vampire’s are working with witches. Or at least, some of them are.”
“Daisy, maybe you should mind-link the warriors.” Cassidy huffed, increasing her pace even though she was barefoot and sporting a mini dress.
“Cordelia put a spell on the territory. It’s supposed to alert Nolan and I if there’s a breach, but I don’t think it worked.” I replied, a bit reluctant to admit this second part. “I don’t want these Vampire’s k****d…which is exactly what the patrol teams will do.”
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?