Unedited.
Embry POV.
Let me go this very instance," she continues to growl, drawing me back in as she attempts to break free from him. Our mate is currently dragging us through the estate and my wolf is not happy about it. She's furious, way past the point of livid and honestly so am I.
We hate the fact that he is manhandling us and hate it even more that he is doing it in front of the entire household and when I say the entire household. I mean that the entire household.
Every servant, soldier, and slave appears to be present, including Gutter and Abigail. They are watching us with wide eye stares, as he drags us throughout the hallway.
It's embarrassing.
"Yes, this is embarrassing," my wolf growls inside my head. "See this is exactly what I mean when I say that he has no respect for us,"
"You're right, he doesn't," I agree, because he doesn't. When my wolf and Cyrus were having their little dispute I couldn't believe my ears. Everything that my wolf said about Cyrus in the past is true. He has no respect for us, not a single ounce. He wants to control us, and he believes that he owns us. Cyrus acts more like my father than my mate, and I'm for one am tired of it.
Honestly, I'm tired of it all. The struggle for dominance between Cyrus and my wolf is starting to be quite irksome. Both of them are driving me insane, but Cyrus is the one who started it. He constantly continues to try to control our bond, instead of respecting it. That's the real problem.
"I need your help," unexpected growl my wolf.
"Who me," I just have to question.
"Yes! You," she answers me in a duh voice. "I need you to distract him, so I can get away,"
"Distract him how," I question her. "This is your time to shine." She's the wolf, I'm the human. My strength comes from her, without her I'm weak.
"You are wrong," she tells me. "We are one without you, I don't exist,"
"I mean your right but,"
"There are no buts," she cuts me off. "How do you expect him to respect us and stop treating us like we're some sort of weaklings if you don't believe in our strength yourself?" She makes a valid point, but I still hesitate to flat out agree. I take a moment to myself think about it and I mean really think about it before I finally make up my mind.
"You're right," I agree finally agree. "I'm in, just tell me what to do,"
"I need you to take over and pretend to be hurt," she instructs right away."I'll do the rest,"
"Pretend to be hurt," I question. I don't get it.
"Just do it," My attention snaps back to Cyrus when a terrifying growl escapes from out his lips. My heart drops. For a second there, I thought that he was inside my head again, but my mind quickly dismisses that thought as my eyes land on our audience.
They are all standing around with petrified looks plastered on their faces dam near shaking in their boots. His growl was a warning to them.
"Now, Embry," spits my wolf. "Take over and pretend like he's hurting us,"
Oh, right! The plan, I think to myself before I come up with the fakest cry that I can manage. "Ouch, you're hurting me!" I falsely cry out, causing my wolf to sneakily snicker inside my head. Within a second, Cyrus releases his hold on me and immediately gives my wrist his undivided attention. A look of panic flashes across his face as his soulfully deep golden eyes begins to search for an imaginary bruise.
"Awwww, he cares," I woo to my wolf and to myself.
"Sure he does," she growls before once again taking control over my body.
"My apologies Embry but, " Cyrus attempts to say. However, before he can complete his sentence my wolf slams our foot hard and fast down onto his big toe. Then, she doesn't waste any time taking off running.
Ouch! I know that hurt. The heels to these boots that Cyrus sent me are big, bulky, and chunky. Almost instantly, I feel bad.
"Don't be," growls my wolf. "That little sting that he felt isn't even close to the pain that he caused us," she expresses her point of view, and once again I must admit that she has a point.
"Embry," Cyrus releases a deadly growl that is so loud..... I swear that it makes the entire estate shake but my crazy ass wolf doesn't care. Uh, uh! Not at all, she actually thinks it funny. Seriously, she's laughing inside my head, and she even has the nerve to smile. She is coo-coo!
"You're crazy," I tell her how I feel as she runs throughout the estate. She makes a left, jumps over the top of two approaching humans, and doesn't pause at all when we come in contact with the first flight of stairs of the grand staircase.
Nope! My crazy-ass wolf slides down the rail with no fear. I swear she is brave. Still crazy, but brave! She doesn't even know where she's going or even care about getting caught. Nope! She doesn't care at all. My wolf loves the thrill that comes with being chased. Do you see what I mean? She's crazy.
"You're right," she agrees. "We are crazy," We? Nope!
"Not I, you," I tell her. She's the crazy one. I'm actually quite sane, believe it or not. She is the one in control. I don't have anything to do with this.
"Liar," she calls me out. "Do I need to remind you that you're the one who distracted him?"
I open my mind up to respond but then close it because once again she is right. "Whelp, you got me there," I start to say, only to be cut off by a very scary life-threatening growl.
"Stop her, "angrily growls my mate from the top of the grand staircase... Uh, oh! Okay, his growl actually did shake the house up this time. Here comes trouble, I think to myself as every single vampire soldier's eyes glow red and then begins to chase after us.
Once again my crazy ass wolf burst out laughing as the first vampire soldier dives to catch us, "You snooze you lose, sucker." She playfully screams while jumping over the top of his head. Obviously caught off guard the soldier loses his focus and runs straight into the group of soldiers following behind us, causing a Big Boom!
"Boom! Down they go like a stack of dominoes," laughs out my wolf, while all the king soldiers collide and slip down the hallway in unison. Ha! Ha! Ha! I can't help but laugh at that. She's hilarious. The humans that we pass scream to the top of their lungs and dives out of our way. This entire scene is epic.
For about five more minutes, my wolf continues to dodge upcoming vampires and avoid tramping over humans all in one. This estate really is much bigger than it looks, but that doesn't stop my wolf from pumping our legs as fast as we can go. These red-eye monsters have nothing on us.
Now, here goes Gutter Butter! "What is he going to do," question my wolf.
"Absolutely nothing," I giggle as he attempts to grab onto the collar of Cyrus' shirt, but my wolf is two steps ahead of him. She quickly moves left and then right, like how the male wolves do back at home when they are playing a friendly competition of wolf's ball. Then, she swiftly jumps in the air, forcefully pushes the top of his head, and lands down in front of him.
"It's called vamp slam dunk," she teases as Gutter Butter loses his footing and falls flat on his face." Were up one," my wolf calls out, "No! Were up some," I correct, while almost mentally dying from laughter. Awe, man! We haven't had this much fun since we were just a pup.
Out of nowhere, two servants appear. They are both carrying plates that are stacked with pancakes, lots and lots of pancakes that are drenched in thick maple syrup. Hmm, they look delicious and smell so good! I almost think about telling her to stop. Goddess, I'm so greedy! Food is a distraction. At least, it is a distraction to my human side but thankfully my wolf is able to avoid the booby trap. Instead, she slides through the gap in between the two, causing the both of them to slip and the plate filled with mouthwatering pancakes comes crashing down.
"There goes a perfect breakfast, it's such a waste," I say to my wolf.
"So," she says, continuing on with her run. "It's nighttime anyway, who eats pancakes at night?"
"I don't know but maybe we should find the kitchen and hide there," I suggest, but this time she doesn't respond. My wolf just keeps on running. She runs down the second flight of stairs with a wide smile plastered across our face as she catches a glimpse of the front door.
"Yes, we are almost free. Do you see this, Embry? Once we are out of that front door, it's game over. Now, who can't escape him she says, feeling rather accomplished...until the front door goes flying open and two very terrifying looking vampires come storming through the door.
I really don't have time to truly take in their features because their bloody appearance stills the show. That's right, they are both drenched in blood from head to toe. One of them is carrying a gun and the other one is carrying a tiny and fragile looking human inside his arms.
Oh, my Goddess! The human is also drenched in blood. Matter of fact, she appears to be bloodier than both of them. The poor thing is covered in so much blood that I cannot identify any of her physical traits except her distinguishing golden blonde hair. That still somehow manages to shine brighter than the early morning's desserts sun, even in its dire state.
As soon as the smell of her blood hits my nostrils I force my wolf to come to a complete halt, the stench of death that surrounds the three of them is so strong that it distracts me. Most importantly, it distracts my wolf to the point that she trips over our own two feet. Then, she goes flying down the expensive royal blue and gold thick layered rug with a loud thud.
"Ouch!" growls out my wolf as she gives the rug a frustrated fist pound before pulling us from up off the floor.
Not even a full second goes by before one of the vampires, carrying the gun appears right in front of me. The first thing I notice is that he is an extremely handsome vampire with pale blonde hair and chilling crystal blue eyes. Before my wolf can react he lifts us up high in the air by our neck and the hatred inside of his l blue eyes causes me to shiver. He is that threatening.
"Who the fuck let the dog off its leash," he growls while squeezing down onto my neck so hard. That it feels like he is crushing my windpipes.
"Get you're fucking hands off her," is the last thing I hear before the vampire snaps my neck with a flick of his wrist.
Cyrus POV.
"Give me one reason why, I shouldn't end you right here," I growl with bloodshot red eyes into the soldier by the name of Vlad's face, while holding him up in the air by his neck. Vlad is Nicklaus Commander and this little fucker snapped my beloved neck. I can't believe it. He snapped my beloved neck. He literally, snapped it with a flick of his wrist.
My monster is at the surface however I'm trying my very hardest to hold him back. He wants his blood. The fool signed his own death sentence the very moment he laid his hands on my precious beloved. Stupid little bitch.
"Cyrus," roars Xander, from behind me. It's just my luck that they walked into the door at the exact same moment that my lovely little beloved decided to put on a show. "Let him go. You can't possibly expect to know that the dog is your belo...."
"I suggest you watch your mouth before I end you instead," I cut him off in mid-sentence while snapping my head in his direction. I don't care if we are bonded by brotherhood if he parts his lip to disrespect my beloved one more time. He will not live to see another day.
Xander's normally stormy gray eyes flash a violent shade of red. He is not the type to take threats lightly, which is to be expected. He is known to be the coldhearted King for a reason and I don't give a shit. I meant what, I said. No one and I means no one will live to see the next day if they disrespect what belongs to me.
That's exactly why commander Vlad needs to die. I don't give a flying fuck if he doesn't know who she is to me. He touched my beloved. His life is mine to take and if Xander thinks otherwise. He can die too! Fuck it.
"Is that a threat," hisses Xander, through clenched teeth. I can feel the power of his monster attempting to break free.
"Oh, well! I said what I said and I meant it.
"Yes," I simply provoke after dropping commander Vlad to his feet and then sizing Xander up I'll deal with him later. Right now, I have bigger fish to fry.
The both of us take a single step forward, sizing each other up. Our monsters are ready to come out and play. Suddenly, a whimper falls from out of Claire's lips, gaining both of our attention. I take her in for the first time. Claire is drenched in blood from head to toe and her skin is so pale it appears to be transparent.
If I didn't know any better I would think that she is dead, but luckily for us and the rest of the world, she's not. Now that Nicklaus has claimed her. He will most certainly murder every single soul that walks this earth if anything happens to her and honestly I wouldn't blame him. That's just the way we are.
Once we claim our beloveds they become our entire universe, if something happens to them.
The entire universe will have to pay for our loss no matter how selfish that sounds it is what it is. Just look at the humans for an example, their entire species has been enslaved for over a century now and it's all because of Xander's late beloved, Bella. She really was a sweet girl!
Sike! That woman was the devil's daughter and I'm not exaggerating.
She was raised by the devil herself. I warned Xander about her, but of course, he didn't listen and his non-beating heart paid for it. She betrayed him in the worse way over a century ago and even to this day her species are still paying for it. He's always been a little overdramatic, not that I'm complaining.
I actually like things the way that they are.
"Nicklaus," suddenly whines out Claire. It's obvious that my brother's beloved is currently experiencing a shit load of pain. This is the only reason why I decided to stand down. She needs us.
"I don't have time for this, Claire needs me," Xander voices my thoughts out loud before storming off. Shortly after, Commander Vlad goes following behind him.
My eyes immediately fall down onto my beloved, carefully scanning over her neck. I swear on my life if I locate a single scratch on my beloved body Commander Vlad is dead. Not even the blood God himself will be able to save him. Luckily for him, there is no damage done.
To be quite honest, he actually did me a favor, though I'll never admit that to anyone. Embry is knocked out cold, sleeping peacefully like a baby.
"Take her to my private chamber and make sure that she is properly taken care of," I demand as Gutter makes his way down the stairway. He nods his head before scooping my beautiful beloved up from off the floor and then placing her in the security of his arms.
My monster immediately begins to claw his way to the surface and I find myself once again trying my very hardest to control him.
He feels like we're the ones, who should be taking care of our beloved, and he's right but I'll never admit that to anyone else either. Honestly, I can't even believe that I even agree with him. I'm going soft. Embry is my beloved but I'm a King. My people shall always come first and right now they need me.
Xander needs me. As the King, it's my duty to come to my brother's aid whenever one of them is in distress during their visit to my Kingdom.
Embry is fine. She's been painfully put to sleep but there is no damage done. Now, Claire is an entirely different story. I need to go assist Xander with nursing her back to good health.
I don't need any distractions. I need Embry to stay asleep as long as possible or better yet I need Embry wolf to stay asleep if only I could get inside of her head. I could make sure that the both of them stay asleep...
Matter of fact, due to the way that Embry has been put down her wolf should also be asleep, which means that her wolf mental barrier is also down so I shouldn't have any problems getting inside of her head.
(Bingo)
"Wait," I call out stopping Gutter right before he hits the staircase as I make my way over towards them.
Once there I place my hands over the top of my beloved head and as expected I have full access to her mind. Yes, it appears that Vlad has very much so do me a favor.
"Relax your mind, little wolf," I compel. "Continue to sleep in peace into I tell you to awaken, remain calm," I sway before placing a kiss down onto her forehead and then walking away.
Cyrus POV.
"She doesn't look any different. Are you sure," I question Xander, voicing my concerns out loud?
Xander has just finished giving me the rundown about everything that has transpired in the Northern Pack territory. Apparently, Nicklaus lost control while claiming Claire, almost killing her. Shit like that tends to happen when a vampire as strong as Nicklaus experiences Blood Lust.
It's very rare but is not unheard of.
Blood Lust occurs when a vampire has a taste of their true beloved blood for the first time. Once, that happens we can become extremely possessive, jealous, and mentally deranged over our beloved. One might even say that blood lusted vampire goes insane. The blood lusted vampire will have no chill if we feel like someone is trying to take away our beloved or poses a threat towards them.
Our monster will eliminate the threat without blinking an eyelid, which we will
already do anyway even if we're not experiencing the lust but most of us can control our monster. The Blood Lusted vampire cannot. They are by far more deadly.
The older the vampire the more severity of the lust, which is horrible in Nicklaus's case. Not only, is he an older vampire? He is also one of the most powerful that has ever walked this earth.
So, it makes perfect sense that he almost drained his beloved while staking his claim. It also makes perfect sense that Claire was able to survive his claim and place a claim of her own onto his monster's soul. In order to be matched with Nicklaus, she has to be mentally just as strong as him, human or not. At this point, Claire just might be the most powerful woman in the entire world.
"I'm positive," replies Xander. "He has claimed her, but she hasn't fully accepted immortality. Her body is currently going through transition only Claire can decide the outcome," he explains. Oh, that's another thing. When one of us stake a claim on a human, it starts what we vampires like to call the transition.
The transition is the process when vampirism spreads throughout a human's system to turn them into one of us. However, if the human rejects the claim they die. It's just that simple.
That is exactly why I'm so concerned about Claire.
She hates us. I mean really, really hates us, and she's bold enough to tell it to any vampire's face, Kings included. Seriously, any vampire that comes in contact with Claire can clearly see that this girl has a death wish. It's like her life mission is to get underneath our skin, and she has no fear. Claire is trouble.
This foolishly brave human girl has completely shaken up our world and I have a feeling that this is only the beginning. She's going to change everything if she survives this, especially now that she can somehow wield Aurora's pendant, who happens to be the strongest witch of all time.
Fuck! We're screwed.
Speaking of which, "Why does the pendant work for her? It's strange! She can wield its power," I question.
"It is strange," Xander adds in. "Marcellus deals with a lot of witches. He's almost here, maybe he understands its power."
"How about you just contact Aurora, Xander," I question him. "She's the one who granted the pendant to your beloved in the first place." That's another thing, do you remember when I said that Xander's beloved was the devil's daughter. I meant it. She was Aurora's adopted daughter, and trust me when I say that her mother is the devil.
She is one extremely powerful crazy bitch. No one and I means no one fucks with Aurora.
"Aurora will kill me on sight, fool. How about you ask her," he responds. Do you see what I mean? Aurora is the devil and everyone knows it.
"Why is Claire's heartbeat so low," question Commander Vlad. Oh, yeah he is in here too, still breathing.... for now.
"She's technically still human so her body doesn't heal quickly. She needs his blood to fully regenerate," explains Xander.
"Luckily for us, we are in his safe house," he continues to explain before he pours some of Nicklaus's blood down Claire's throat. Once he finishes all three of us place our full attention on Claire, silently waiting to see what will happen next.
Not even a full minute goes by before Claire's electrifying green eyes pop open. So it has begun, Claire has completed the first part of the claim. She will eventually become one of us, which will officially make her the first documented turned vampire in over a century. Fuck! We're officially fucked! The council will not be happy about this.
When they find out shit will most definitely hit the fan but right now none of that matters. Claire's overall health is our first priority and by the look of things, she appears to be fine. Actually, she's looking better than fine.
Now, that I'm thinking about it and watching her closely. She is actually acting pretty strange. The way that her nostrils are flaring widely as if she has never been able to utilize her sense of smell and then out of nowhere she has been hit with a shit load of sudden fumes.
The way her eyes are roaming wildly like she is trying to adjust to a more vivid scenery. Sort of like she has been blind her entire life and then suddenly is able to see. Plus, her body movement is slow and calculated as if she's ready to pounce. Something is off and based upon the other's reaction they can see it too. It's weird.
She's acting like she's...
No...
That's impossible! Well, it's not impossible but is very rare. Extremely, rare and bad! Really, bad. Once, a human is claimed they will eventually share their beloved heightened senses and physical abilities. They begin to slowly accept immortality. Now, usually, it will take a long while for the transition to be completed unless they were claimed and turned right away. However, there have been cases when some claimed vampires complete the transition before they awake, which basically makes them a newborn.
It's a lot of things that can come into play with that which is really beside the point. The only thing that matters is that Claire is acting like one of those cases.
Newborn vampires are known for being loose cannons. They are unpredictable and dangerous... Extremely dangerous and it is completed understandable, especially when they first awaken due to their emotion suddenly being in overdrive and their senses suddenly being heightened. Shit like that can fuck with anyone's head.
Some newborns don't know how to deal with it... They can go ape-shit! From what I have seen, Claire is already an over-dramatic human. So, if she's going through what I believe that she's going through I believe it's safe to say that she will go ape-shit! I don't need her going ape-shit while my beloved is inside this estate.
The scent of a werewolf alone naturally makes a vampire feel threatened, so I can't even begin to imagine what type of reaction it will bring out of a newborn. Oh, fuck! Embry is inside a room that is not that far from here if Claire smells her out... I
"Claire," Xander's voice breaks my train of thoughts. "How do you feel?"
She gives him a wary look and then takes a deep sniff of the air." Pancakes," she suddenly spits out.
Wait! What pancakes? Out of all the scents that I know for a fact that she can identify from a mile away... The first scent that she locks on to is pancakes. Seriously, pancakes? Now, that right there just screams obsession.
"Pancakes," I speak out my disbelief while turning to face Xander, like seriously, PANCAKES?
"Pancakes," Xander responds slowly. Yup! He's just as confused as I am.
Claire looks at both of us as if something is wrong with us. There is nothing wrong with us. It's her. This girl has been to hell and back, been claimed by one of the most powerful vampires in this era, and then suddenly awakened with enhanced senses and the first thing that comes to her mind is pancakes. What the hell?
"Yes! I smell pancakes and I'm hungry," she explains before standing up and walking out of the room.
For a second, Xander, Commander Vlad, and I just stand here feeling rather stupid if I must say. Well, I feel stupid. I can't speak for them. I mean here I was assuming and expecting the worse all for nothing. Pancake! Really, pancakes? I just can't get over that. Actually, I can now that I'm thinking about it. I prefer Claire's new heightened sense of smell leading the way to pancakes instead of my beloved.
About a second later, Xander goes following behind her and I go following behind him.
The very moment that I step out of the room my eyes lock onto Claire. She is standing directly in front of the room that leads to my beloved. I can literally see the dilemma circulating inside her electrifying green eyes.
"She should go in," she thinks, "or should she bypass. I can see the thoughts roaming throughout her head by her actions and then suddenly she places her left hand down onto the doorknob.
"Claire, what are you doing?" questions Xander, as everything slows in motion. She stares at him for just a second and then places her eyes on me. Almost, instantly my monster takes front and center. I don't care if she is Nicklaus's beloved she will not harm what belongs to me.
Not even a second passes before I take off running and as soon as I come in contact with her she slides out her left foot to clip me up only to enter the room with my beloved and then slam the door.
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Awake Update. I'm so sorry for the late update. Please don't forget to hit that golden star ⭐️ comment and follow. If you want to read ahead to the next chapter is available on Inkitt.
Quick Q: Who is ready for Embry to meet Claire? 🙋🏽♀️