Light streaming in through the slit in the blackout curtains shines in my eyes, waking me up from my deep sleep. I'm not sure how long I have been sleeping. 'Or how I got here!' Looking around the big bedroom that doesn't belong to either Sophie or I, which makes me take in the manly vibes the room is giving off. The walls are painted a dark bluish gray with dark gray baseboards and frames. I'm laying in a massive bed that rests in an equally massive four poster bed frame. The silk sheets feel so nice against my bare legs as I sit up. My breath quickens as I recall what had happened to me.
Quickly uncovering my legs from the blanket, my hands rips off the bloody bandage that covers the back of my right calf. A long pink scar runs down from the base of my knee to right above my Achilles tendon. 'It won't be long until it completely vanishes,' I think to myself.
"What the fuck are you doing?" A male voice booms from the doorway to the left of me.
Panic sets in as I glance over to the door where a tall, well built man is standing. He steps forward, allowing the light to spread across his handsome face. A deep frown was spread across his forehead making his face look a little more like an upset kid than a looming threat. But still scared, I jump out of the bed as he reached for me. Landing about three feet away, I hold up my hands as a warning. His frown shifts into an emotionless expression as he stalks around the foot of the bed. His once worried hazel green eyes now have a fire in them as if he's trying to intimidate me.
"Please," I'm finally able to find my voice though it's still a little shaky, "I don't want to hurt you."
He freezes for a second as he registers what I had said. His muscles tense as if someone has whipped him from behind. His eyes now burn bright gold flames of rage as his anger starts to take control of him. I'm not sure if it was what I had said that caused the anger, but now I'm choking on my fear as I start to visibly shake in terror.
"Stop!" A familiar voice cries out from the hallway. Natali rushes to me putting herself in between the angry man and me. "Can't you see you're scaring her?" She doesn't wait for a reply as she motions towards me, "Just look at her, Landon. Please, just let me talk to her? I will get this figured out."
He looks like he's about to refuse when he suddenly turns around, storming out of the room as he slams the door behind him. Before I can process anything, Natali wraps me in a warm hug while pulling me back to the bed so we can sit and talk.
"So…" she says after we sit in silence for a while, "What exactly happened out there in the woods?"
Looking into her eyes, I realize that I can't keep hiding the truth anymore. "I was attacked."
"Yeah, I got that much," she says pointing at the fading pink line on my calf. "But who was attacking you? Right after we found you the guy just vanished."
"I don't know…" Just then her words click. "Wait a minute? I was surrounded by wolves when he vanished."
A guilty look crosses her face as if she was caught in a major lie while she begins to chew on her bottom lip. My eyes widen as the realization slaps me across the face. 'She was one of the wolves! Now I think my mind has officially been blown.' Panic seizes in my chest as fear settles in the pit of my stomach. As if sensing my rising fear, Natali grabs my hand and strokes the back of my hand with her well manicured thumb.
"I am not going to hurt you," she smiles at me brightly. "I could never hurt one of my best friends."
My heartbeat slows as my eyes widen slightly at her statement. I had never stayed around anywhere long enough to really get friends. 'Let alone a best friend.' Looking into her eyes, I know she's telling the truth. So I tell her everything that has happened to me. She listens quietly to my story of how I found my parents dead and He had been waiting for me. Then I told her how He is still hunting me and that I have to constantly be moving around to avoid Him. Her brow furrows in confusion as I tell her about this most recent encounter with him.
"How did he know you were coming here?" She asks quietly.
"I don't know. I don't even know who he is?" I say standing up from the bed. "Or 'what' he is."
"He's a demon," the statement startles both me and Natali as we quickly look to the door.
Landon is leaning against the doorway as our eyes lock. His tall body straightens as he looks me over. An unrecognizable expression flashes across his face as he comes closer. Slightly scared, I take a step back as he stops at the foot of the bed.
"A what?" My voice is barely a whisper due to the shock.
"A demon," he repeats before explaining. "They're powerful creatures, mostly concerned with killing. Though I haven't heard of a demon attack since the 1800's after the Gates of Hell were closed."
"Then why now?" Natali asks from her spot on the bed. "And if there's one demon out then there has to be more, right?"
We both look at Landon in anticipation, as if he is going to reject the idea.
"I don't know," he finally said after careful consideration. "I'm gonna have to make a few calls. But first I need to know what you are."
"Me?" I ask flabbergasted, "What do you mean? I'm human."
"No, you're not," Natali retorts. "If you were human then how did your cut heal in two days?"
"Wait! It's been two days since the attack?" I ask falling back on the bed. "I must have been more hurt than I originally thought.
"Yes, it has and if you were human then you would still be in bed with stitches in your leg," Landon says stepping in front of me. "So I'm only going to ask you one more time. What are you?"
"I don't know," I say looking into his hypnotic hazel eyes. "I grew up thinking all this was fantasy. I never knew that there was another world living amongst us. And about the healing thing that only started happening after the first attack."
As I say the last part, Landon leaves the room slamming the door again. I'm not sure how long I was staring at the door after he left. Though Natali grabbing my hand, brings my attention back to her. She smiles at me sweetly before standing up.
"You must be hungry," she says as she walks to a different door. "Get washed up," she opens the door to reveal a bathroom, "and I'll have someone lay out some clothes for you."
With that, she leaves me so I can get cleaned up. As I walk into the bathroom, I am hit by an overpowering smell of the deep woods with a hint of vanilla. 'The smell is intoxicating.' As I turn on the shower, I notice that all I am wearing is a very large manly t-shirt which I quickly strip out of. Stepping into the hot stream, I wonder just 'who' had put me in that shirt. Then the thought of Landon's big hands sliding down my body as he pulls on the shirt flashes through my mind. His thumbs brushing against my breast, sending shivers down my spine.
Tingling from head to toe, I quickly turn down the water trying to calm myself with the cold water. Clear headed, I focus on getting clean after turning the water back up. After I step out of the shower, I quickly dry myself off with a towel that was hanging on a rack next to the shower door. As I'm stepping into the room with nothing on by a towel, I notice a small figure standing in a dark corner. The little figure pops out of the shadow, revealing a cute little boy with dimples and big green eyes.
"Well hello there," I say sitting at the foot of the bed. "And what's your name?"
"I'm Asher," he answers, stretching out his arm for me to shake his little hand.
"I'm Andramida but you can call me Andi," I say shaking his little hand. "How old are you?"
"I'm six!" He says excitedly.
"Well, Asher, I have to get dressed, so I'll be right back."
Grabbing the clothes off of the foot of the bed, I head back into the bathroom. Quickly changing into a pair of blue jean shorts and a black shirt that has the logo of my favorite band, I met up with Asher just outside the door. Taking my hand, leads me down out of the bedroom and down two flights of stairs. As we reach the bottom, I notice Marc, Jacob, and Sophie sitting in the living room.
"Hey there Shortie!" Jacob was the first to see me.
Sophie basically hops off the couch as she asks, "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," I reassure her as Asher pulls on my hand trying to usher me down the hall.
Following him, I hear a faint gasp as the group notices that I don't have a single mark on the back of my leg. Asher leads me into a large kitchen, where Natali and a woman, I had never seen before, were making food. Asher pushes me to a bar stool and tells me to sit as he climbs onto the one next to me.
"Mommy!" Asher howlers from the seat. "I brought her down like you asked!"
"That's good honey," the woman next to Natali says. She turns around to place a plate of food in front of us."I hope you like biscuits and gravy," she smiles at me. "I'm Delaney, but everyone calls me Laney."
"Andi," I smile back before taking my first bite. "Oh my goodness!"
"What? It's bad isn't it? See, I told you we should've sent someone into town for gravy instead of trying to make it from scratch!" Laney starts to panic.
"No, it's really good," I say a little louder to talk over her small rant so that she can hear my praise. "Honestly!"
A huge smile breaks across her delicate face causing her green eyes to dance with excitement as she takes in my compliment. Everyone files in to get some of the food which doesn't last long since we are in a pack house. Sophie and Natali take me out to the back yard after we finish eating. They try to explain a few things to me. Like how most of the werewolf movies are fake. But silver does hurt them, it just won't kill them.
"So if someone shoots you with a silver bullet?"
"Well, it just depends," Sophie says.
"In the heart?"
"Well now that's just a dumb question," Natali answers. "Anything will die if you shoot it in the heart."
"Of course," I say, "sorry. It's just so hard to wrap my head around everything. Especially since finding out I've been chased by a demon for the last six years of my life. Not to mention that, now, I have to figure out what I am on top of everything else."
'I really feel like screaming.'
"Everything will be fine." Natali rubs my shoulders trying to calm me down.
"Yeah! We will never let anything happen to you," Sophie joins in grabbing my hand.
Laughter draws my attention to the two little kids playing with a small rubber ball. I notice that Asher is playing with a little girl a couple years younger than him. Her little blonde curls bounce at her shoulders as she chases after the ball, giggling.
"Luna's!" A tall man in his boxers runs out of the forest straight for us.
"Matthew, what's the matter?" Natali addresses him.
"We have a problem," he says looking at his naked feet. "Some of the other packs heard about the attack and they're demanding answers."
"Well, that could be a problem," Sophie pipes up.
"That's not all," he says so quietly I could barely hear him.
"Spit it out!" Landon's voice orders from behind us.
Startled, I spin around in my seat to see him leaning against the rail of the porch. The expression on his face shows pure boredom as he takes in all of our shocked stares.
"Well… um…" Matthew struggles delivering the bad news, "the vampires heard too…"
"So?" Landon brushes it off and is about to turn away.
"And their king is on the way for an audience…" Matthew's statement stops Landon, "...with you, Alpha."
I hear the rail crack under the pressure of Landon's grip. Something tells me he doesn't like the vampire king. Watching Landon as he walks inside the thought from the bathroom flashes through my mind. 'Stop! No naughty thoughts!' Turning back around, I chaise myself. Natali is talking to Matthew about what to do, so I turn to Sophie.
"What is a Luna?" I ask.
She looks at me wide eyed then remembers that I'm new to all of this. "Well, a Luna is an alpha female."
"And you two are one?"
"Well I was born into it cause my father is an alpha, but Natali mated into it."
"Mated?"
"Natali's mate is an alpha as well."
"And what's a mate?" I ask still confused.
"A mate is a wolf's other half," she tries to explain, "basically a soulmate. But I'm not the one to ask about stuff like that."
"Yeah, with her track record you'd be better off asking Landon," Jacob says walking up to us.
"Well at least my record is nonexistent unlike yours, which is a mile long," Sophie snaps back.
"You two need to learn to get along," Natali states as Matthew runs back into the forest.
"Like that's going to happen," Marc laughs as he pulls Nat into a hug from behind.
As they continue to pick one another, I slip away. Walking back inside, I decide to see if at least my purse is here. Going up the two flights of stairs, I head to the room I had slept in. Looking around, I finally find it sitting on a rocking chair in the corner farthest from the door. I quickly run over to it, looking for one thing. 'Well I guess two.'
Grabbing my pack and lighter, I turn around to head back outside though I don't get very far. As soon as I spin around, Landon walks out of the bathroom with nothing on but a towel. His tan body glistens from water droplets as they run down his bare, muscled chest. Jealousy instantly flares throughout my entire being as I remember Jacob's comment about Landon's mate.
My breath catches in my throat as he pulls a towel off his head, letting his ear length brown hair free to fall into his face. His piercing hazel eyes lock onto mine causing my face to heat up as I blush. Averting my gaze, I try to sneak past him to make it out the door. Though I didn't expect him to grab my arm, stopping me in my tracks beside him. Tingles of electricity jolts up my arm and throughout my body from his hand on my wrist. I look up at him confused just about to ask him what, when he bends down capturing my lips in my first real kiss since high school.
Sparks fly as his arms wrap around me, holding me to his naked chest. A little shocked, I gasp parting my lips just slightly. But that is all the invitation he needs as his tongue darts into my mouth. Our tongues dance around in a provocative way, that causes butterflies to well up in my stomach. 'This kiss is going to be the end of me.' I snap myself out of whatever trance he has over me. Pushing against his broad shoulders, I break free of his grasp. Not thinking, I run out the door and through the house. Going out the back, I find myself standing on the back porch all alone. Everyone had left, so I make a break for the trees. Not caring that this might be a bad idea, I just need a break to wrap my head around everything. Everything is flooding my head and I can't even get a solid thought to form.
'What is happening to me? I never act like this!'
Once deep inside the forest, I slow down to a walk to try to catch my breath. Remembering the pack in my hand, I light a cigarette as I walk. My mind races a million miles a second as it tries to wrap around what just happened. 'Why did he kiss me? I mean he has a mate! Am I a homewrecker?' I am so preoccupied with my thoughts that I barely notice that I have walked right into the meadow. The one where the wolves had found me.
Small purple flowers cover the entire meadow, well except for where the rock sits. I walk over to it to put out my cigarette and notice a blood splatter. 'I must've hit my head on the rock before the ground.' Snapping of a twig draws my attention towards the tree line. A tall slender man walks into the meadow holding a red and blue wild flower.
"Oh! I'm sorry," he says, noticing me by the rock.
"It's okay," I smile at him, "I was just making sure not to burn down the forest." Showing him the cigarette butt before dropping it on the ground.
"I guess that's a good thing," he says, sauntering up to me. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you new to the area?"
"Something like that," I answer. "I'm Andi, it's nice to meet you."
"Jaxson with an x," he introduces himself as he kisses the back of my hand.
While pulling away he smiles at me revealing his slightly elongated canines. Gasping, I pull my hand out of his grasp while stepping back. His eyes are a dark blue color which reminds me of the night sky. 'No red, okay.'
"Sorry," I blush while pushing my hair behind my ear.
"I must be your first vampire," he chuckles in amusement.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Well you smell of wolf, but 'your' scent says otherwise."
"So what do you think I am?" I ask genuinely curious.
"Well," he says, stepping closer to me. Before I can blink, he has his nose pressed into my neck inhaling deeply. "I'd have to count out human and witch. Your blood smells too sweet for them or a wolf."
As he pulls me closer to him, I feel his teeth graze my skin. Feeling the slight pressure from his canines, I freeze as a roar echoes through the meadow. He jumps back, letting me go as he stares over my shoulder. I turn around just in time to see the beautiful black wolf from the attack shift into a very pissed off Landon. Who just so happens to also be very naked. 'Oh my!' His golden eyes are locked onto Jaxson, glistening with a murderous intent.
"Oh shit!" Nat says from behind Landon as she looks at Jaxson. "Someone stop him!"
Landon has already made his way next to me which means no one is going to make it in time. So without thinking, I step in front of him holding up my hands praying that he doesn't just plow through me. As the electric jolts shoot up my arms to my core, I look up in shock as he stops. As he stares at me, I watch his eyes switch back and forth from gold the hazel.
"Don't," is all I can say.
He looks past me to Jaxson and his eyes flash gold again. "Mine!"
With that he picks me up bridal style, carrying me through the forest back to the house. People from his pack had gathered in the backyard after hearing his roar. Curiosity held their attention long enough to find out the cause. They gasp quietly as Landon walks out of the trees with me in his arms. While Natali, Marc, Sophie, Jacob, Jaxson, and a few other guys I don't know follow behind us.
As we enter the house, Landon heads straight to his room. 'I'm not sure where the other guys went, but I do know they don't want to follow now.' Landon kicks the door open and shut before sitting me on the bed. He paces back and forth in front of the bed for a while. So I just stare at my hand; that way I'm not tempted to think naughty thoughts.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Landon finally explodes. "Do you have a death wish? Why would you tempt a vampire of all things? If you wanted that kind of attention you should've just stayed here."
"I-I'm sorry," I whisper trying not to cry, "but I was told you had a mate."
I thought he hadn't heard me, so I am surprised when he pulls my face up to look at him.
"I didn't want to freak you out so I had them refrain from talking about it," he explains. "But I had no intention of making you think I was taken."
Before I can even think of a reply, his velvety lips capture mine in a second fiery kiss. He moves over me as he lays me back on the bed. Sliding his hands under my back, he moves me to the middle of the bed. Laying my head on a pillow, he never breaks the kiss as our tongues dance. His hands move to my slide down to my hips where his thumbs rub little circles into the bone. Sparks flare through my body causing my head to spin.
"Wait," I say pushing slightly against his chest, "so you don't have a mate?"
His hazel gaze captivates me as he clarifies, "You are my mate."
Shock and happiness are the only things I feel before my body erupts with the jolts of electricity as his lips capture mine again. He rolls to his side as he lays next to me. Breaking the kiss, he pulls me into his chest holding me in a tight hug.
"I know this is a lot to take in," he says against my hair, "so there's no pressure. But just know that I will do everything in my power to make you happy and keep you safe."
'He will be your warrior.'
That sentence pops into my head out of nowhere but it is calmingly familiar. He crawls out of bed and heads for the closet to get dressed. While he is dressing, I grab my phone out of my purse. Turning it on, it chimes loudly as all the messages from the last few days came through. One of the girls had gotten a hold of my boss and let him know about what happened. I notice texts from him blowing up my Facebook Messenger. Quickly, I type out an apology and my resignation due to the healing process. I hate lying but how am I going to explain the truth? 'I can't.'
"Who are you talking to?" Landon asks, stepping out of the closet.
Looking up, "I just sent my boss my resignation."
He is dressed in a pair of jeans that hugs his butt nicely. And a black t-shirt that clings to his chest, outlining his perfectly chiseled abs. I feel myself getting aroused with every step he takes towards me, stalking me like the beast he is. Lifting me off my feet, he plants a firm kiss as I wrap my legs around his hips. Growling softly, he deepens the kiss as he walks me over to the closet.
"Change," he orders, setting me back on my feet. "If you know what's good for you," he adds looking me over as he spins me around.
Smacking my ass, he pushes me into the large walk-in closet. Giggling, I walk over to the side that held my clothes. 'Apparently they had brought my stuff from the guest house.' Quickly, I pull on my favorite pair of faded skinny jeans with a few holes throughout the thighs. Along with a red over-the-shoulder shirt that has a black rose design with little black and red gems throughout the petals. Grabbing my knee high boots to put on, I enter the room to find Landon waiting patiently for me by the door.
He leads me down to the second floor, heading straight for a set of big oak doors. Upon entering I watch as Marc and Jaxson lean over a desk basically yelling at each other. While Sophie and Nat sit quietly on a couch to the right of the doors. Jacob is fighting against Marc as he is trying to stop him from leaping over the desk to tear apart the vampire.
"It's the only reasonable explanation!" Jaxson yells.
"You are not allowed near her!" Marc yells back. "Especially after what happened in the clearing. Landon won't allow your horrendous idea."
"Give me a cup and I won't have to 'touch' her," Jaxson fires back.
"Enough!" Landon's voice echoes throughout the office. He turns to me, "You should go sit with your friends while I talk business."
With that he walks over to the desk, sitting in a chair in front of the window behind it. Sitting on the couch with the girls, I silently listen in as Marc and Jaxson start explaining themselves. Though was long lived, since Landon cut them off saying no one will draw a single drop of my blood without a fight. Slight pressure on my leg, draws my attention as I notice Sophie poking my thigh.
"So?" She whispers as she nudges me in the shoulder.
"What?" I play dumb.
"Don't give us that shit girlie," Nat sees right through my act. "We know you know what the statement in the clearing meant."
Blushing slightly, my hand subconsciously rises to my lips as I remember the hot kiss that we had shared in the room, which causes the girls erupt in silent squeals. Glancing up, I check to see if anyone noticed only to be met with the hypnotic hazel gaze that I might be falling for.
Suddenly, I get a sickening feeling in my stomach. Matthew busts through the door, bleeding profusely from a gash in his side. The sickening sweet scent of blood follows him into the room. He falls to his knees in exhaustion though has enough energy to deliver bad news.
"The pack's under attack by rouges!"