I slowly opened the door and peered inside to check that she was alone and walked straight in when I realised that she was. I couldn’t tell whether she was just asleep or had passed out from hunger because her complexion was becoming as white as a stereotypical vampire’s and her cheeks were looking slightly hollow. They might be feeding her human food but she needed blood as well or she was going to go into a coma. I walked over to her side of the bed and sat down right next to her, gently smoothing the hair off of her face and noticing how cold she was. I’d just moved my hand in time before it was almost bitten off by a glaring Riley until she saw it was me and started to cry uncontrollably.
I untied all her bindings and pulled her into a big fierce hug glad she was alright but needing to ask the necessary questions of a girl who had been kidnapped and no doubt surrounded by men whilst tied to a bed and pretending to be human. “Did they harm you in any way?” Riley knew what I meant because she pulled back and shook her head while wiping her eyes.
“No although Blaine wanted to a few times but promised me I’d be practically begging for it by the time he slept with me which is a laugh because I feel nothing but repulsion when he’s on top of me grinding into me, kissing me like a freight train is barreling into my mouth!” Our reactions to the similar circumstances were so different that I began worrying that I really was becoming one of those sex-crazed vampires who’ll sleep with anyone.
“Rose what’s wrong? Did they hurt you? Who has you cooped up and why is he letting you see me when he knows we’ll try something?”
Here we go. “It’s Darren and he pretty much did the same thing to me as Blaine has done to you except kiss me and-”
“And?” There was pure menace in Riley’s tone as she was no doubt plotting Darren’s murder as we spoke.
“I kind of liked it!” I blurted and felt myself blushing at Riley’s taken back expression. “I was hungry for blood because I haven’t eaten in a while and my hormones kicked in at the same time as my vampire instincts did and they were all screaming at me to take him but I don’t want to be that kind of person! He said he’d use my emotions to make me want him so much that I would sleep with him.” I put my head in my hands and started to sob just as Riley had moments before.
She pulled me into a hug and started soothing me. “It’s ok Rose, it’s not you. It’s your pregnancy and your vampire side, not the Rose I know and love, although if you do choose Darren over the other two then I will back you 100%. Although you’d be a fool to choose anyone over Mr sex-appeal James. We just need to get out of here and get you back to one of your nice vampiric husbands so they can deal with horny Rose.” I laughed and shook my head.
“I can’t sleep with either of them until I know who the father is.” Riley smiled down at my belly and then frowned.
“Judging by how quickly your baby bump is growing I would say you’re looking at a month tops for the birth. Besides it doesn’t hurt to give them both a test run just to double check you’re about to make the right decision.” I laughed but it died out when I looked at my own baby bump again. Riley was right, it was a lot bigger than it was meant to be at this stage and I feel like I can feel it kicking every so often.
“But both James and Alex have told me that it is like a human birth so you carry it nine months to term like all other human women do-”
“Except if it’s one of the prophetic children!” Riley gasped and started to explain before I even needed to ask. “It was said that four children would be born on the same date, at the same time by unique mothers who have wandered the earth for millennia and have been deemed worthy to be bestowed a child of great power. Each of the four unique children will possess one of the four element: earth, fire, wind and water and they will be taken away from their mother at birth so they can learn to rely on each other for balance. You will know if you are one by only carrying the baby to four months to symbolise the four children carrying the power of the four elements.” I looked at her, gobsmacked, and she blushed.
“I researched vampire birth and that popped up making me think of you.”
“How do you know they are going to be vampiric children exactly?” I was slightly skeptical at the moment, more because I didn’t want it to be true. I didn’t want to never see my baby again after she is born.
“It said so.” She scowled knowing my thought process almost as well as I did myself.
“But I’ve not walked the earth for millennia! I’m only eighteen!” Even as I said it I realised that it might not necessarily mean me in this form.
“You’ve been reincarnated more times than you can count and you look like you’ve almost finished your pregnancy rather than just three months into it.”
“My child can’t be that prophesy-”
“Why not Rose?” Riley snapped and my eyes turned red and my teeth elongated.
“Because then I’ll lose her before I even have her!” I hissed and just saying that was almost my undoing. “I won’t get to see my own baby grow up, won’t be able to protect her.” The tears were now streaming down my face and I didn’t want to stop them.
“They say that the mother is bound to the child by a life force so that they can know if the other is injured or sad but you can also find out if it is one of the Elite Four Vampires to be born and if so which one they are. Just search inside yourself and you’ll find out.” Was this meant to be comforting? Nevertheless I tried it.
I closed my eyes and thought of my beautiful baby, laughing, smiling, growing up with me and the father by the baby’s side when an image of a little baby girl popped into my head with my smile and blazing red hair that shone like flames dancing in the fireplace. I knew immediately that the image I was looking at was the sleeping future image of my baby. She was an Elite vampire with the most unstable of the elements.
My eyes shot open and without a doubt I knew what Riley had said was true and the prophesy was also becoming true, which meant I was going to have my baby girl taken away from me just as I got to know her. She’d never know her parents or her family. “It’s a girl and she controls fire.” Amber... whispered through my head and seemed to stick to the picture of the baby like a name tag and I knew no other normal name would fit my baby. Not now. “Her name is going to be Amber.”
Standing up from the bed I walked over to the door and peered out to see an empty corridor. “The coast is clear if you’re ready?” I asked, not wanting to discuss the topic that would ruin me and crush Amber’s father.
“Never been more ready.” I looked at the banister a few yards in front of me and decided that it was the quickest and easiest way down so I went for it. I jumped over the banister and was flying down the middle of the winding staircase with Riley just slightly to the side of me. I noticed all the different floors going down and didn’t even think about the landing aspect of the jump, I just bent my knees to take the brunt of the impact and ended up landing lighter than a cat on a carpet.
The door was only a few inches away when I heard clapping coming from the shadowed bottom staircase behind us. We took a step back towards the door just as Darren and Blaine took a step out from the shadows, with looks of anger and blazing hatred on their faces. “I needed to check out my suspicions and found them to be true.” Darren spat and took another step towards me, making Riley step forwards, slightly in front of me and hiss at him, “what? About this?” Her eyes burned red and her teeth shot out, startling Blaine slightly but Darren looked unmoved, staring into my eyes and then looking to see if he could see my teeth.
I let my eyes turn red and slowly let my fangs drop for effect. “You looking for these qualities in your fated mate Darren?” I laughed and the sound echoed through the halls like a cynical voice over, making both Riley and Blaine stop to look at me in shock. In fact I got the distinct impression that everyone in the house had heard that and stopped breathing just to listen. “So you didn’t tell your pack your fated female is a vampire? Who’s married? To two other guys? And PREGNANT!” I shouted and knew exactly what had set off my vampiric instincts this time.
“Go back upstairs.” Darren growled quietly to me and took yet another step forward which Riley mimicked until I grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the door, getting ready to run.
“No.” I smiled and knew there was no warmth in the smile at all, clearly I had found the one thing that Alex had been looking for to drive me towards violence for self-defence. I never realised that the cause would be my own child.
“GO BACK UPSTAIRS NOW! I AM YOUR ALPHA AND SHALL BE OBEYED!” Darren shouted losing what little cool he had left.
“You’re not my alpha Darren and never will be, so no.” I jumped back out of Darren’s grasp as he lunged for me and bolted for the door behind Riley who, not bothering to hide her strength anymore, just ran into the solid wooden oak door and over it as it collapsed at her feet.
“Impressive!” I shouted to her and laughed as we started speeding up to inhuman speed.
“Been practicing that little number at home.” She shouted back and we began racing through the woods like it was cross country rather than racing for our lives. Why had I never liked exercise before? Oh yeah, because I was lazy.
We ducked and swerved around trees for about ten minutes when we slowed down our speed to try and figure out where we were actually going. “I was unconscious when I was brought in!” We both said at the same time but I was just happy to be free out here so I couldn’t imagine how good it felt for Riley who’d been stuck in there for even longer than me.
“How about, seen as there are no wolves near by, we split up and signal the other one if we find a road or something?” Riley suggested but I suddenly felt very uncomfortable at the idea. I really needed to get my emotions in check before they started to give me whiplash!
“But I already let you get taken once...” I trailed off when a look of thunder passed over her face. “Ok you go right and I’ll go straight on but call me if you’re in trouble or if you find something.”
Riley nodded. “Same to you and Rose?”
“Yeah?”
“I mean anything. I won’t have them hurt you or the baby if I can help it so call before you brawl ok?”
“You’re a poet and you didn’t know it although that should be our new slogan!” I ran off before she could say anything else figuring we could finish the conversation later in my house with James, Nick, Alex and Dimka watching all the doors and windows to make sure none of them could get in.
It felt like I’d been running in circles when all I could ever find was more trees. I was about to try and search for Riley when I heard a low rumbling growl coming from behind me. ‘Told you I could find you wherever you went my fated mate.‘ Great, Darren had found me so that meant- I heard a scream in the distance and took off in a quick run, not caring that a two-hundred pound alpha wolf was following closely behind me. I just had to get to Riley.
I started pulling away from Darren when I went to vampiric running speed, putting more distance between us two but less between me and Riley. I burst into a clearing and saw a naked Blaine pinning Riley down to the floor, trying to remove her top, clearly being a vampire meant that Blaine no longer wanted to wait until she was willing. I ran at Blaine full pelt and tackled him in the side with as much force as I could manage, which had him sailing off of her and into a tree about a mile away, but my before he even landed my focus was on Riley and her bruised face that was slowly healing because of her lack of blood... “Wait here.”
I stood and started walking over to Blaine, sure that once I was finished with himI would have no humanity left, this was the act that couldn’t be changed and made a vampire a vampire. I reached him quickly and stared down at him as he struggled to rise from the impact with the tree, so to help the potential rapist, I put my foot on his back and pushed him back to the floor. “You tried to rape the wrong girl.” I hissed and flipped him over onto his back to face me.
“She’s not a girl!” He spat. “You’re both dead freaks of nature who deserve nothing more than a quick shag in the woods like the common sluts you are.” Why would you possibly want to tick of a pregnant female vampire who wanted you dead anyway?
“Shall I tell you what the funny thing is?” I looked into his eyes and smiled, finally seeing the ounce of fear that I was looking for, the fear that he’d inflicted on Riley. “I’m going to kill you tonight and we’re both going to feed off of your dead body. No sorry, I think I’ll like to see what you made Riley go through so I’ll kill you after we’ve almost drained you.” He paled considerable and I was glad right before I bit into his neck without warning and took a long deep drink, loving the taste of the warm life force flowing down my neck and into my body. I drank until I was completely supporting him in my arms so I stopped not wanting Riley to get her turn at revenge.
His eyes were slightly drooping so I shook him to wake him up and walked over to where Riley was now sitting. “I brought you a gift.” I said chucking Blaine down my her feet and I knew the instant she smelt the blood because she pounced without thinking and began drinking deeply while Blaine’s naked body shuddered at every pull of her mouth as she swallowed his very life force. His colour became ashen and the shaking began to stop along with the steady thump of his heart but it was still there quietly beating, signaling he was almost dead, but not quite there yet.
“Stop!” The shout echoed through the forest and made Riley, who was looking a lot healthier now, stop feeding to see Darren stood there staring in horror in all his naked glory.
“I warned you bad things would happen to anyone who hurt my family. I also told you I wouldn’t be afraid to kill anyone who tried. I kicked the foot of Blaine, who didn’t move, and glanced back to Darren. “He tried raping her here in this clearing and would have done so if I hadn’t stopped him. He then would have killed her, but I guess that doesn’t matter to you because he’s your pack, well she’s effectively my pack and for her I’m willing to fight the war that about to occur. I bent down and snapped Blaine’s neck before anyone could try and stop me.
I couldn’t let him hurt Riley again and he wouldn’t stop until he got her, which frightened me more than killing him did because he wouldn’t have stopped at rape... I shook off the thought, glad that one less monster would be roaming the streets but now I just had to deal with his master. “You’re both going back to the compound Rose whether you like it or not, Riley will just have to have a new guard and more blood supplies to ebb her craving.”
I was just about to say ‘you and who’s army?‘ when his army walked out from the surrounding woods and I noticed for the first time just how many there actually was of them. At least one hundred werewolves were gathered, so most of them must live in these surrounding woods rather than them all being cramped into the house. “Make this easy on yourself and Riley, Rose. Think of your baby and how she can get hurt. Poor Amber.” Riley’s head shot up in surprise but Darren just shrugged. “Werewolf hearing next door to you. You might as well have just been talking with me about it for how loud it was to me.” I ignored him and turned to Riley.
“So fight, flight or plight.” I said nodding my head over at Darren.
“Looks like plight to me because we’re surrounded and I’ve not had nearly enough blood to take them all on.” Before I could say I would be leading the fighting Riley looked pointedly at my stomach and I sighed wishing times like these happened when I wasn’t pregnant if they were going to happen at all!
A young werewolf walked up to me and she must have been about five so everyone seemed to collectively hold there breath as the little girl got within grabbing distance of me. I looked up to see Darren staring at the little girl and occasionally shooting glances my way; there was nothing he could do if I decided to attack and he knew it, what he didn’t know was that I would never hurt her. “She yours Darren?” I asked and amazingly the girl walked up right next to me and started to pull on my trouser leg to get my attention.
Bending down so that I was eye level with her, I saw Riley walk close to me so that no one would get any ideas to attack me while I was distracted. “What’s up kiddo?” I whispered to her and she started chewing on the sleeve of her top, which was when I noticed the teeny tiny fangs slightly protruding from her upper lip. I frowned and couldn’t figure out why she would have fangs at that age because she wasn’t a full vampire but born vampires stayed human until the 18-19 age range from what I gathered, so why did she have vampire fangs? “Can you help me find my mommy?” She whispered back and couldn’t believe the parents had just let her walk out to a vampire who they’d just seen kill one of their own, not that I would ever harm her but they should have a lesson in parenting!
“Well Darren?” I shouted to him because he still hadn’t answered my question on who the parents were. “How about we go and find your mommy?” I said and held my arms open so she could wrap hers around my neck so that I could pick her up and hold her on my hip.
“Her parents aren’t around anymore Rose so please don’t harm the child, she’s the closest thing I have to a child.” The rawness in those had me pausing before I let out a scathing remark about how I wasn’t monsters like them.
“You mean don’t hurt her like you were planning on hurting my baby?” He winced and conceded with a nod but I ignored it and turned to the little girl. “So what’s your name kiddo?” I brushed a bit of hair off of her face and she winced slightly as if she was worried I was going to hit which meant that others had... “Shhh no one is going to hurt you otherwise they’ll have me to deal with.” I flashed her a smile which she reciprocated and her hand reached up to stroke one of my fangs that I hadn’t realised were still out.
“You’re like me and mommy!” She squealed and smiled brightly, displaying her tiny little fangs that were no where near the length of mine but still extremely cute. It was what she said though that caught my attention, her mother was a vampire but what was her father and was that why she had fangs this early? because she was a half blood?
“So is your mommy anywhere here?” I asked and she looked around before shaking her head with her bottom lip quivering. “No matter, you can hang around with me until we find her.” I hugged her against me and glared at Darren. “Why isn’t she here?” I hissed at him and that made- I still hadn’t got her name- look up and over at Darren, she was about to find out more than she needed to.
“The old alpha didn’t want mixed breeding so he killed her just shortly after she gave birth and then killed her father when he challenged him. He spared the child because I’d claimed her under my protection.” I looked down at the little girl in my arms and knew she’d understood all of that.
“My mommy’s not coming is she?” My throat went dry and I couldn’t answer her because I imagined my baby girl saying that about me at her age when I couldn’t go to her, couldn’t comfort her, but I could comfort this child.
“No kiddo, but I’m here for you now so I’ll look after you as best as I can, hopefully as good as your mother would have.” She hugged me tighter and whispered, “I’m Annabeth.”
“Well you can call me Rose and that-” I pointed to Riley, who smiled revealing her own fangs, “is my best friend Riley, who’ll look after you when I can’t.”
Annabeth looked between me and Riley and then back to the pack who had begun snarling as soon as I picked her up. “You promise?”
“I promise.” Just then a much older werewolf stormed towards me from my left, so I turned towards him and watched his progression towards me with Riley at my side. Annabeth was shaking in my arms with fear of this man. “Did this man hurt you?” I asked and she nodded and hid her head again.
“He hit me when I asked him about mommy. He- he said she wasn’t worth my daddy’s time.” My hand shot out when he was in reaching distance and clutched his throat. “He said I should have died with my mommy.”
I faced the, now purple faced, man with a sneer. “My kind not good enough for dogs? I pulled him up to my face and Annabeth watched in fascination. “Let’s get one thing straight, at least my kind doesn’t murder a woman because she’s in love and beat her defenseless daughter, saying she should have died too.” I turned to Annabeth, who was beaming at the sight of the man now defenseless, and smiled too. “You want to hit him back?” She nodded enthusiastically and I could see her trying to muster all of her strength up, but it wouldn’t be that much so I’d help a little bit.
She slapped him across the face with less strength than a human, but before he could laughed I threw him across the clearing just as she hit him, making it look like her slap had done that. She clapped and squealed while Riley burst out laughing behind me, knowing what I’d done but, by the looks of things, no one else knew that I’d helped her out and that was better because now no one would mess with her.
My gaze caught Darren’s and his message was that obvious it was written all across his face. We weren’t flighting or fleeing so we needed to go with them, peacefully. I started walking over to him with Annabeth tucked safely in my arms and ignored the snide remarks, growling and occasional cat call and wolf whistle. “Everyone back to the compound!” Darren shouted. The pack started walking back towards the compound so when I reached Darren I carried on walking by him to follow the rest of the pack, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. “Not you.”
Looking into his eyes I knew that what he was keeping me behind for wasn’t going to be pleasant and I didn’t want Annabeth to see anything like that. “Kiddo? I’m going to have a little chat with Darren so Riley is going to look after you until I get back ok?” She was shaking her head before I’d even finished.
“Don’t go Rose!” She pleaded.
“I’m not going anywhere and I’m only going to be a minute, besides, Riley is getting jealous from all the attention I’m getting when she’s getting none. You don’t want to hurt her feelings do you?” She shook her head and held her arms out to Riley who smiled to Annabeth but looked over her head to stare worriedly at me. “See you soon.” I hope.
Riley walked off with the rest of the wolves who gave her and Annabeth a wide berth, but it wasn’t until I couldn’t hear any footsteps that Darren spoke. “You’re a vampire?” His tone was disbelieving even though he’d seen all the evidence himself, heck he’d just seen me drink and kill his best friend.
“Yeah, sorry that ruins your perfect fated mate ideals. I know how much you hate the thought of been with a vampire judging by the way your old alpha killed that woman!” I hissed and he growled.
“My father was out of line with that.” I stopped hissing and lost my breath, “Your father?” I gasped and couldn’t believe it.
“That was why I killed him and became alpha because I was done with all that, I wanted nothing to do with vampires because they repulsed me but he was inviting a war on the pack and most of them are as delusional as him and all for the war. I would have killed them too to save the good half of my pack but I can’t.”
Does this mean that he doesn’t want me around anymore? Could I take Annabeth with me? “So you’re repulsed by me and my kind?” A nod. “You won’t want to sleep with me then so I can just go.” I pointed behind me and started walking away, hopefully towards the compound to fetch Riley and Annabeth when I ended up on my back with Darren pinning me there with his whole body being pressed up against mine.
“God I want you so badly. I thought the idea of you being a vampire would repulse me so much that I would give up on you, what I didn’t expect was how turned on I would be at seeing your power, your hunger.” His words brought my vampiric side to the surface and my fangs began aching with the need to pierce his skin. He moaned right before his lips came crashing down onto mine. “Bite me Rose.” He murmured against my lips and my hunger was making my eyelids go heavy with need. He stopped the kiss and pulled back, exposing his neck right in front of my face, the smell enticing me more than I could even comprehend. I tried to move my face away but his body pinning me down made it so that I couldn’t even move. “I know you’re still hungry Rose, I can feel it.”
“No!” I tried pushing him off of me but before I could react he brought a clawed finger up to his neck and cut a thin line along it, dripping blood onto my face and making the smell overwhelming. “Bite me!” He growled and I couldn’t help myself, my face moved closer and my teeth sank into his neck, earning a growl of approval. I began to drink from him and he started moaning more often until I became full and let him go with a shove. He wasn’t ready for the abrupt move so he flew off of me and landed a few feet away, breathing heavily.
I could still taste his sweet blood in his mouth but now that the hunger had abated my own thoughts flooded back to me with the shame of it all. “I can’t believe that I bit you.” I jumped up and started pacing, tears streaming down my face.
“It’s ok.” He soothed and to my utter shock came over and pulled me into a tight hug that felt oddly comforting. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around him and cry into his shoulder. “How is this possibly ok Darren? That was as good as cheating and the same in the bedroom! I’m an awful person and an awful wife! What role model am I for my child when I’m only eighteen and have two husbands, one mercenary best friend, one best friend who’s got kidnapped and nearly raped because of me, a baby on the way and a lover on the side!” I began hyperventilating and couldn’t seem to stop myself, clearly the vampire side of me not only vamped up my emotions but also shut down the guilt side of my brain!
“First of all, you’re not an awful person because you protected a girl you had never met before just because it was right for you to do it. Secondly you’re not an awful wife because anything that has happened, to my annoyance, has happened because I played on your hormones and apparently your blood lust which I didn’t realise you had until recently so I’ll have to remedy that to make sure you are always fed. Thirdly, if your child is one hundredth of the woman you are then she will not only be stunning but also a fabulous person, but she’ll have to figure that out on her own unfortunately so how she turns out is up to her and you can’t be blamed for it. You fell for two guys at different times and are only married to them both because you didn’t realise you were married to one by vampiric law, so you married one by human laws. You’re eighteen and have only slept with two people your whole life who you were married to which is not a bad thing. You can’t help who you’re friends with and as long as they’re good to you it doesn’t matter, it also isn’t your fault every time something happens to them; you can’t be everywhere at once Rose. The baby will be loved which is the most blatant thing in the world and I’m not your lover although I would certainly like to be because I think I’m already falling in love with you.”
I took a step back and looked him in the eyes to see that he was sincere about loving me: I groaned. “I don’t need to see that you’ve got a really good, handsome loving side Darren because I preferred it when I could easily hate you!”
He grinned and I couldn’t stand it anymore, I ran towards the compound, or what I thought the direction of the compound was because I couldn’t take his charm anymore. If I couldn’t hate him then where did that leave him in my life? I was apparently his mate but I didn’t love him like I loved James... I don’t think I could love anyone like I loved him, even Alex. I faltered a step in my running and ended up face first in the mud at the realisation of who I wanted to be the father of my child. It was James. It always had been and all it took to realise that was being kidnapped and tempted by seductive pleasure by the wrong guy to make me realise it... but would James want me after he found out what I’d done? The murder, the kissing, the liking someone else rubbing up against me, drinking someone else’s blood.
I was going to lose him and I deserved to. It might not have been my thoughts making me do those things but it was still me, just an uncontrollable vampiric version of me that I couldn’t overrule no matter how much I wanted to. I got up and ran to the house, straight up the stairs and into the room where Riley was sat on the floor with Annabeth and a guard, who looked younger than me stood over them, watching them closely. “Back off!” I snarled at him and he took a few hasty steps back as I walked around and slumped to the ground next to them.
“What’s wrong Rose?” Riley said urgently just as Annabeth threw herself into my arms cheering “Rose!”
I held her tightly, using her as a lifeline to keep my sadness at bay. “Hey kiddo, told you I’d be back when I’d talked with Darren.” I looked up at Riley and she grabbed my hand squeezing it tightly. “I love James and now I’m going to lose him.”