Marked (malexmale)

Chapter 1 A Fresh Start

A Fresh Start

Darkness surrounds me. The cold seeps into my bones but I welcome it. The only time I'm even close to being warm is when they touch me. Running their hands along my naked frail body only covered by filth. Outside my prison, I hear the watchers whisper.

"I heard Alpha has found his new replacement."

"About time, the slut is almost old enough to have his first shift. Last time one of his "mates" shifted, the bastard almost took out half the pack. And he was just a wolf! Goddess knows what will happen if we go against a leopard!"

"We shouldn't have to worry about that with this new one. He's a pathetic raven. I give him two months until he starts believing in that "mate" bullshit and behaves."

"When does Alpha want us to catch new slut?"

"Soon. He wants to get a few more good fucks out of the old one first."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Noel, wake up. We're here."

I open my eyes and look over at Dante. " How long was I asleep?", rubbing the remnants of sleep from my eyes.

Dante shrugged, "A couple hours. More importantly, what do you think of your new home?"

I focused my eyes to the two-story red brick house. The forest surrounding the house seem to be trying to take it over. Moss cling to brick and ivy wrapped around the fence and pillars. Dante told me that there was a greenhouse around back for my plants. " How far are we from the town and the local pack's borders?"

Dante sighs, "Rosepoint is a 15 minute drive from here. The Rosewood pack borders the property, but they won't bother you. Their Alpha has been informed that this house is owned by the Coven and he will keep his pack away. All the kids have enrolled into the local schools and they start in two days."

"Then it's perfect," I turn around in my seat to face my kids, "What do you think?"

Basil, my oldest at 17, shrugs, "Better than living in the city, I guess." But his sea green eyes shine with joy behind his jet black hair. Basil is going through his "I hate the world" phase, but I know he's happy to be out of the city so he doesn't have to share his wing space with pigeons.

"The cards say that this move will cause a change in one of us. Whether or not it is a good one or a bad one, they don't say," says my 15 year old daughter, Tempest, looking at her tarot cards displayed out on the empty seat beside her. Her wavy honey blonde hair pulled into a sloppy bun revealing brown eyes with flecks of gold in them.

"Oooooo, I hope it's me! Change means adventure, right, daddy?", my youngest at eight, Amber, bounces up and down in her seat, her curly red hair bouncing with her. Forest green eyes dancing at the prospect. Her tiny fangs sticking out when she smiles.

None of them were actually mine, each one came into my life and never left. I'm not even old enough to be their father. At the age of 22, I find myself the adopted father of three kids and I wouldn't change it for the world. It's an interesting life with everyone being a different mythical creature Basil is a were-raven, Tempest is a witch, Amber is a vampire, and myself a were-leopard.

Well, and Dante.  He's the head of the Bloodmoon Clan, a vampire clan located back in the city. He has chestnut brown hair and eyes. I don't know how old he is, best I can guess he was born some time during the 1800s. Dante isn't living with us in our new house, he is just here to help us move. Although I have a feeling that he is going to visit us as much as he can.

Back when it was just me and Basil, I got kinda desperate for money and just being 16 there wasn't a whole lot of options for me. So I turned to a thief and I was pretty good if I do say so myself. But Dante caught me red-handed when I thought it was a good idea to break into his condo. Instead of turning me in or draining me of my blood, he took both of us into his home. He said it was his responsibility to take care us because we are such rarities. Bullcrap, Dante can barely take care his goldfish let alone two kids. Truth is Dante caught Basil's scent on me when he captured me. Basil is Dante's mate. I know this not because he told me, but because I can see the bond that connects them. It's an unfortunate side effect from my childhood if you can call it that. I made Dante promise not to tell Basil about their mating since Basil isn't 18 yet. I also told Dante that I will cut his balls off if he tries anything with Basil before he's ready.

As for the reason for the move, living in the city for so long was starting to really take a toll on my leopard and Basil's raven. And our presence in the Clan had an undesirable effect on the vampires, Basil's and my blood was seen as fine wine to them. Magic and vampires don't mix and with Tempest's magic growing, the vampires got more hungry as a result. It got to the point where the hungriest vampires would try attacking us for a taste of our blood even with Dante's orders to stay away. They even attacked Amber once just because she had our scents on her. We all decided it would be better if we moved. To have a fresh start and renewed hope.