"No!" I damn near scream shoving away from the table.
"What the fuck is going on?" Landon demands an explanation as he rushes to me trying to calm me down.
"Here," Meredith hands him the book.
I bury myself into Landon's chest trying really hard not to cry. I can't help but shake in fear of ever leaving him. In the short time I have known him I also have come to love him very much. And I am more than positive he feels the same way, seeing as how his whole body is now trembling with rage as he fights his wolf for control.
"No!" He yells, throwing the book on the table. "Find another way!"
"But Alpha-" Meredith gets cut off by Landon.
"Don't say it!"
"Landon," Jaxson steps in between us and Meredith. "You know there's no other way."
Landon drops his hold on me as he storms over to Jaxson, getting in his face. "Why don't you go find your mate and then I'll tell you that she has to sacrifice herself for the greater good?"
"That won't need to happen," a voice right behind me causes us to turn.
Crimson red eyes are the only thing I see before I'm spun back around. Something cold and sharp is pressed against my neck at the same time as an arm wraps around my waist. Landon looks like he's about to explode with rage but Jaxson grabs a hold of his arm stopping him from doing something he'd regret.
"Ah ah ah," the demon tisks in my ear. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Alpha. Or would you like me to just drain her right here?" I feel his nose graze my neck as he moves my hair over my shoulder. "Awe, how cute? You marked something that was never yours to begin with. She is MINE! They all are!"
I scream in pain as he sinks his teeth into my neck where Landon had bitten me just hours before. Fire erupts throughout my neck across my shoulder then splitting into three; down my back, arm and chest. Landon tries to reach for me as darkness encases us in a cloud of smoke that seems to be suffocating me causing me to pass out.
~⛥§⛥~
Waking up, I slowly realize that I'm not in my soft bed with my loving mate. But actually lying in the middle of a dimly lit room that has a twin sized bed in one corner and a toilet in the other. There are no windows, so can't tell if it is still day or night yet. Slowly standing, I rub my neck where I had been bitten twice just mere hours apart. It almost feels like there is a fight going on inside of me as if His mark is trying to destroy Landon's. Tingles erupt throughout my right side as I trace the slight bump on my neck, showing me that Landon's claim is still there.
"Just do everything he says," a quiet voice whispers from behind me.
Spinning around, I watch as a petite girl walks out of the shadows behind me. Her long platinum blonde hair hangs down past her shoulders, which happen to be bruised and scarred up, swaying slightly from the movement. Her icy blue eyes widen as she looks me over, making her small cute face look younger than what she really is. 'She can't be any more than 22 years old.' And I'm about to ask where we are, when a door to her right bursts open.
"I gave you an order to let me know when she wakes!" The demon storms in slapping the girl, "You stupid bitch!"
"But master-" she tries to explain through her sobs.
"She was, when I stopped her."
Both of their eyes lock on to me. Her expression is one of pure horror, meaning that I probably fucked up, while His is one of disgust and rage. In a blink of an eye, He's standing in front of me wrapping his fiery hot hand around my neck. Grabbing his wrist as he lifts me off my feet, I try to take the pressure off of my throat as I gasp for air.
'Yup, you fucked up,' Eva states seeming irritated with me.
"Did I ask you?" He slams me into the wall behind me. "Leave!" He orders the girl as my body falls to the floor.
'Well then do something,' I snap back at her.
Coughing, I try to crawl my way to the bed as the door slams shut behind her. Panic fills me as I watch his nails grow into six inch long claws. Smiling evilly, he flashes his fangs as he advances towards me. Trying to run for the door, I scream in pain as his claws dig into my arm from grabbing me. He throws me into the wall just above the bed where I land on my stomach.
'I can't,' she says. 'Something is blocking me.'
Pressure on top of me makes it extremely difficult for me to move. He holds my hands above my head with one of his while the other is pulling my shirt up revealing my bare back. He wraps the shirt around my hands, binding them. His legs pin mine to the bed making it so I can't kick him off. Pain erupts in my back as he drags one of his claws down it.
"You won't be needing this," he says as his claw cuts the strap of my bra.
'Fuck! Think of a happy place,' Eva says quickly but not quick enough.
Screaming, I thrash under his weight as he continues to carve into my back. After a while, my back becomes numb, which means that I'm not thrashing around anymore, so he finishes up quickly. Tears roll down my cheeks as I bury my face into the pillow. Satisfied with his work, he removes his claw from my back before flipping me. The pain has paralyzed me which seems to disappoint him.
"Done fighting already?" He leans his face down to mine, "That takes the fun out of it."
As his hand runs across my stomach, Eva screams at me to fight. Swinging my knee upward, I make contact with him in his jewels. Cursing, he rolls to his side allowing me to make a break for it. I don't make it very far as his hand shoots out, grabbing a fist full of my hair.
"You fucking bitch!" He yells pulling me back to the bed.
"No!" I scream as he climbs back on top of me.
He slaps me, stunning me just enough for him to restrain me again but with his belt this time. He rips off my jeans before unbuttoning his with that evil smirk of his.
"With that little stunt, now you're 'really' going to learn who's boss around here and just how much I meant it when I said you're 'mine'."
He climbs back on top of me, this time naked, ready to take me. I struggle a little against the belt trying to loosen it so that I can try to get away again. He leans over me grabbing my hands as I feel his hard shaft resting on my opening, twitching in anticipation. I try to pull myself away, but his other hand holds my waist in place. Fear wells up inside of me as realization that I'm not going to get away hits me. I scream in pain as he slams into me over and over again. I quickly realize that he gets off on me struggling against him, so I end up just laying there trying to give no reaction even though it feels like my insides are being pulverized.
'Think of a happy place,' Eva reminds me.
~⛥§⛥~
Crying, I curl myself up under the blanket after he left the room feeling satisfied with himself. Even Eva was crying because she couldn't do anything to stop him. We both feel disgusting from the outside in. And all we want is for Landon to wrap his strong arms around us to make us feel safe again. But that only seems like a distant dream as of right now.
Creaking comes from the door as it opens, I shrink into the wall praying to Landon's moon goddess, Selene, for protection. Opening my eyes, I watch as the girl from before enters the room with a large bowl of steaming hot water. She looks at me with sympathy in her icey blue eyes as she places the bowl on the floor next to the bed. While she reaches for the blanket I pull it closer to myself, looking for comfort.
"Please, I'm not here to hurt you," she whispers. "My name is Bryce and I just want to clean your wounds, so you don't get an infection."
Crawling out from under the covers, I hear her gasp as she looks over my naked body. Tears well up again, threatening to overflow as she gently pats my back with a warm, damp rag.
"I tried to warn you," Bryce whispers as goes back and forth from my back to the bowl.
"I know," I sniffle. "But I couldn't sit there and watch you get beat up over me."
"I'm used to it," she whispers. "Plus the most he would've done to me is thrown me out of the room."
"You're too submissive," I state.
"That's what made me last the longest. Most of the other girls, who fought, ended up irritating him so much that he drained them just so they would shut up. His words, not mine."
After the water had turn a dark red from my blood, she leaves to fetch clean water. I'm still sitting at the edge of the bed when she returns. As she sits down next to me she gasps in surprise.
"They're gone! Your back is healed already," she looks at me in confusion. "The only thing I've come across that can heal that fast is a werewolf."
"So," I brush off her comment, grabbing the rag from the water to wash myself.
"But you're not one,"she states simply.
I scoff, "And how would you know that?"
"Because wolves don't have any other powers besides shifting and I can feel your powers." She looks me dead in the eye showing me just how serious she is.
"What are you?" I ask as I clean my blood off my arm.
"I'm part fae or fairy if you prefer that terminology," she answers.
"And the other part?"
"Well let's just say that no one comes here willingly and it has to do with 'that part' of all of us."
"Right, I was told that demons are purist," I mumble while moving the rag against my shoulder and neck.
"That's why," she gasps, staring at my neck.
"What?"
"You're marked by a wolf," she points where Landon had bitten me when we made love. "That explains the quick healing, but it still seems a little too fast."
I finish wiping off the nastiness I had been feeling while she is lost in thought. Pulling on Landon's shirt, I watch as her eyes widen in surprise. She looks at me in horror as she pulls back from sniffing my neck. Quickly she places a hand on my stomach. Eva doesn't like that cause she takes control, shoving Bryce's hand away as she hisses at her, baring our teeth in warning.
"I'm sorry," she says holding her hands up in surrender, "I just needed to be sure."
"Of what?" I snap, back in control, "Of how to lose a hand?"
"No! I just need- It's just that- Well," she stumbles to find the right words. "When he marked you, were you…?" She blushes profusely making it obvious what she was going to ask, so she didn't have to finish the question.
My blush answers as she silently squeals, even though her excitement is only short lived as horror flashes across her face. She pales drastically making me think she's gonna be sick.
"Bryce?" I grab a hold of her hands genuinely worried, "What's wrong?"
"We have to get you out of here as soon as possible," she says in a hushed voice.
"Of course, I'm not complaining, but why are you so scared?"
"Cause once Phenex finds out he'll kill you."
Her next words causes me to understand the dyerness and urgency of the situation I have been placed in.
"And your baby."
~⛥§⛥~
(Landon's POV)
"How the fuck was he able to get through the barrier?" I yell, turning my anger towards Meredith. "Witches my ass!"
"I don't understand," Meredith says as she stares at me in horror.
Jaxson tries to keep me from ripping her head off by trying to wrap me in a bear hug. But his slim stature makes it a little difficult for him compared to me. Fang, my wolf, howls sorrowfully at the loss of our mate in the back of my mind. Angrily, I throw Jaxson across the room, sending him right into my desk. His naturally blue eyes blaze blood red as he steps out of the pile of wood that used to be my desk.
"Don't push me, Pup!" He warns, "You might be the strongest of your kind but so am I. And I have a lot more years under my belt than you."
"Alpha!" Cassandra, the Omega of the pack, busts through the door. "There's a fire at Meredith cottage. Beta Tyler told me to come tell you since he can't reach you through the pack link."
She looks startled as she sees Jaxson baring his fangs at me. She damn near jumps out of her skin as her soft pale green eyes lock with mine. Her nose scrunches in disgust as the sulfuric smell of the demon reaches her. Then something flashes across her face before her eyes widen while looking around the room.
'She smells our mate,' Fang whimpers.
"Where's Luna?"
Furious, I punch a hole in the wall before Fang takes control. Knowing it's dangerous to shift inside, he crashes through the window behind Jaxson. Shifting mid-air, all four paws hit the ground as we let out a sorrowful howl before disappearing into the forest. An echo of sorrow follows being heard throughout the valley.
~⛥§⛥~
"Alpha, please," Tyler pleads through the mind link.
"Leave me alone!" I demand as I snap my snout at one of my Betas.
"Landon!" Laney snaps at me as her white wolf steps into the clearing. "It's been three weeks you need to come back."
Just as I'm about to push myself off the ground, by the rock I had first seen Andi, a searing pain erupts in my back. Nausea spirals in my stomach as I feel my mate being tortured. Cursing at Selene, the moon goddess, for giving me my mate to only have her taken from me. Letting out a whimper as Laney nuzzles my neck, I slowly pick myself off the ground.
The two gray wolves follow behind my sister as she helps me back to the house. Once there, Tyler throws my arm around his shoulders to help me inside. They take me to my room which only reminds me more of what I'm missing as the scent of strawberry fields invade my nose. Quickly, I shower and dress before heading to my office.
"About time," Jaxson huffs from the couch as he sits up from laying down. "We might have found out where Andi is being kept." He informs me as he motions me to follow him to the desk that had been replaced. "According to the information, my second in command has found. There have been countless disappearances throughout species. Apparently, a Fae couple raising an adopted child was attacked around the same time Andi's parents were killed. Both parents were found drained of their blood and the 16 year-old daughter had vanished."
"There were four other attacks on human families before Andi's with the same MO," Destiny, Meredith's apprentice, adds walking into the room. "My guess is that the same demon has all of them, but…" she trails off.
"What?" I demand to know.
"Well," she shifts on her feet uncomfortably, "two of the four girls before Andi were found in the same condition as their parents."
Smacking my hand on the desk, "Fuck!" I look back at Jaxson, "Where is she?"
"Well, I can't tell you where exactly she is," he says while walking to the US map hanging on the wall over the table. "But according to the police report, both bodies had been found in Arkansas along the Mississippi River. And based on the amount of decomposition, it said that they had been in the river for a couple of days. So my hunch is that she is somewhere either in Illinois or Iowa."
"But the Missouri River connects to the Mississippi," I point out. "So how certain are you?"
"There was a drought in Nebraska causing Missouri's water levels to drop drastically," Destiny chimes in. "So I'd have to go with his hunch. It's the safest bet."
"Alright," I say, mind linking with Tyler and Trenton to have them come to my office.
"You wanted to see me Alpha?" Tyler says upon entering.
"It looks like we're going to try to find our Luna. So Ty, I need you to gather a team and head to Iowa. Trent, I need you to do the same but they will be heading to Illinois with me. I need you to stay here to watch over the pack while we're gone."
"But Alpha I can-" Trent starts but I cut him off.
"I know you can help, but I need my best fighter here to protect the pack." I pat his shoulder, "Plus I highly doubt my sister will be very forgiving if I take you away from her after you just returned from overseas."
"Yeah, I guess so," he mumbles before leaving with Ty.
"What do you plan on doing if we do find them?" Destiny asks curiously.
I'm about to face her when a searing pain crawls up my leg making my knee buckle. Catching myself with the table, I clench my fists in anger.
"The same thing I should've done when I had first laid eyes on him. Rip his fucking head off," I say slamming my fist on the table splitting it in two.
"Great! Now I have to order a new table," Jaxson sighs, shaking his head.
~⛥§⛥~
"Fucking Jaxson!" I yell into the night sky.
"We have spent a week searching the area and we are no closer to finding her than before," I hear Sam talking into the phone he uses to talk to Destiny. "Uh-huh… Yes… No! I'm not going to tell him that!" Groaning, he turns to me. "She says that we might be looking too close to the river. That we need to look for a farm or abandoned house."
"She's not here! I would feel her if she was!" I snap.
Flinching, he relays the message to Destiny. "Seriously? Do you want me to come home? Alive, I might add?" After he hangs up the phone, he says, "She suggests that we continue upstream."
Grunting, I stand up from the log I was sitting on. Shifting, we head upstream through the trees. After walking for about 20 minutes, Fang stops whimpering. 'There! Do you smell that?' Sniffing the air, I catch what he did. The sweet scent of strawberry fields hangs faintly in the air on the breeze coming from the east. Taking off, I head east, startling the five wolves following me.
A faint scream in the distance urges me to run faster. Burning erupts in my chest as her emotions hit me like a ton of bricks. At this point, Fang has taken over pushing his way through the trees. Flying over rocks and streams like they weren't even there. A bright light shines through the dense trees just slightly north of our trail.
'There!'
Running faster, we head towards the light as it fades. The screams sound much closer but still in the distance. The light flashes again getting brighter the closer we get. Panic swells in my chest as the light fades.
"No! Let her go!" I hear Andi's voice scream through the tree.
"Go!" Another feminine voice yells back.
"No, Maddy!" Andi screams.
"Andi stop! We have to keep going!" A second female yells.
"Let her go!" Andi screams as a blinding light appears.
Running into a meadow, I watch as the light fades into Andi's outstretched arm. She was blinding the demon who had let go of a girl only a few years older than Andi. She scurries toward Andi as the demon recovers. Extremely pissed, Fang and I attack.