“Oh, so it is a relatively new rash?” Sisily asked.
“Correct.”
“Have you discussed the rash with anyone?”
Alina nodded. “My mother, of course. She seemed to think it was nothing to be concerned about. She just told me to make sure to keep it covered from the elements.” Alina could tell her friend wanted to ask more about the markings and to actually see them. But if there was someone watching or listening, she didn’t dare risk raising her shirt to show off her back out in the open air.
“So you are turning twenty in two days.” Sisily smiled but it did not reach her eyes.
Alina’s stomach sank as she thought about what this birthday should mean. It was to be when Vasile could finally bond with her and complete the Blood Rites, but instead it would be another night that they spoke through their bond, and for the fourth year in a row, he would wish her happy birthday from across the chasm of his exile. She was not mad at him. She was mad at the situation and, of course, at the one who had caused all of it, Emilian. The very name made her sick and had her wolf clawing to get out. She was actually, along with her parents, surprised the wolf had lasted this long. With so many dominant males out of control, losing their tempers at a whim, and getting in fights like maniac dogs, it was a wonder none of them had challenged Emilian yet. And due to the lack of control she felt over her own wolf, she was beginning to believe that she might just be more dominant than Emilian. How riotous would that be, she thought.
It was two days after her time with Sisily at the river when the calm before the storm that seemed to be building for four years finally broke. It started out like any other day. Alina had woken up with the constant ache in her body, the growing need to see Vasile was getting worse, but she still managed to smile and talk at all the right moments. Her mind was preoccupied with the conversation she had had with Vasile the night before. She knew he had been near the territory, attempting to gain pack members to his side. He was like a ghost, and though there were rumors that he was there, no one could catch him, and no one admitted to seeing him. She found herself looking into the forest, her eyes darting around, hoping with everything inside of her to catch a glimpse of him. He had caught her thoughts several times and scolded her, though not harshly, pointing out that it would probably look very suspicious if she simply stood stock still staring off into the trees. That did not stop her from hoping.
It was hotter than usual on that particular morning and so her mother had her doing chores inside to stay out of the heat. Because she was inside and not out where males would see her, she had only wore her shift with a skirt over it so her arms and shoulders were bare, as was the back of her neck. Her hair was pulled up and fixed into a bun, allowing air to get to her back. Because she had no plans to go outside and her mother had already seen them, she hadn’t given her markings a second thought. She had been burying the thought of them deep in her mind, away from Vasile, because she knew that he would quite possibly lose control once he knew about them. It was Vasil’s biggest fear that Emilian would learn that he and Alina were true mates. Without the markings it would be almost impossible for Emlian to prove her mateship with Vasile. But now there would be no denying it.
She had wondered why Vasile had not mentioned his own markings changing, as she had thought that both the male and female markings changed at the same time. But then she thought that perhaps because he was living in the forest he did not have a looking glass to see his reflection. On the other hand, surely one of his warriors would have noticed the change and told him.
But for that morning, because it was her birthday and her mother and father were trying so very hard to make it a good day, she pushed the worries of the markings away. She attempted with all of her might to ignore the ache of being separated from her mate and simply enjoyed the fact that she had two parents who loved her, a safe home, roof over her head, and food to eat. Mistake number one, she forgot herself―forgot the danger of her situation.
She was humming, though a somewhat subdued tune, as she swept the floor with her back to the only door of the cottage. She did not notice the figure that filled the entry until the low growl reached her ears. She jerked around releasing the broom and grabbing the blouse that lay across the back of the chair. Pulling it on quickly and buttoning it up, she looked up at a very angry, snarling Serghei. His eyes glowed and she could tell by the way he held his mouth open slightly that his canines where lengthening.
“How long?” he growled.
“How long what?” she asked shrugging. If he thought for one second that she was just going to confess, even though he must have seen a tiny glimpse of the markings on her back, then he was a fool.
“Do not play games with me, female.” His words came out stilted as though they had to be pulled from him.
“I am not playing games with you, and I do not appreciate you coming into my home uninvited and unannounced.” Her anger grew with every breath and every second that he stood there staring at her as if she had wronged him. She knew that if she did not calm down Vasile would pick up on her distress so she began to close the bond not all the way but enough―mistake number two.
“Perhaps, you should not leave the door open where just anyone can walk in. You do remember that we have fugitives on the loose who wish our Alpha harm, do you not?”
His condescending tone irritated her wolf; it felt as if its fur was being rubbed the wrong direction. When he took a step further in, she had to force herself not to retreat. She would not become prey to this male.
“I want you to leave, now.” Her voice was rough with the growl of her wolf who was close to the surface, ready for a fight, craving blood, mostly Emilian’s but the blood of the one who wished her mate harm and attempted to claim her against her will would do just the same.
“I do not take orders from you.” He took another step. “Turn around, Alina.” She heard the command in it and felt the power that Emilian must be allowing Serghei to draw on. Lucky for her, neither male was more dominant than she.
“What a coincidence, Serghei,” she said in her most mocking tone. “I do not take orders from you either.”
“But you do from our Alpha, and he has demanded that any female with new markings be brought to him. Turn. Around,” he ordered again.
“NO!”
He moved faster than she expected, grabbing her wrist and turning her roughly. He shoved her forward until her chest and face were pressed against the wall of the cottage. He was strong and his rage was making him stronger. She pushed against him, thrashing her head from side to side, but still he managed to grab the back of her shift and pull. She heard the tear and felt the hot air on her skin from her neck clear to her lower back. She was not scared, she was furious. How dare he touch her? How dare he bare her flesh to his unworthy eyes?
She could feel his anger rising, the fury in him causing his grip to tighten around her wrist as his body pressed her harder into the wall. “GET OFF OF ME!” she screamed.
“You were supposed to be mine,” his whispered words against her ear chilled her even more than a roar would have.
“I could never love you. A man who would put his hands violently on a female does not deserve a treasure such as a true mate.” Mistake number three—she poked an already enraged wolf. She felt him tense even further before he struck. His teeth sunk deep into her flesh ripping a gut wrenching shriek from her. She bucked wildly, trying frantically to get him off, to get his vile mouth from her flesh. He took what was not his and it nauseated her to feel him swallowing her blood. He kept drinking and when she fought harder his teeth sank deeper. The blood seemed to flow quicker and she knew he had pierced her jugular. The huge vein connecting directly with her heart pumped her blood fast and hard into his mouth. She was growing weaker by the second. As he continued to drain her, she realized his intent was not to mark her but to kill her. If he could not have her, then no one would.
She heard another deep voice and vaguely recognized it but her mi
nd was foggy with blood loss and she could not place it. Suddenly his teeth were gone and she was collapsing to the ground. Sounds of violence filled her ears, snarls, flesh tearing, howls of pain rang into the air. And yet she could not help, she could not move, her limbs would not listen to her no matter how she yelled at them to. The last thing she remembered before the darkness swallowed her was the blood soaked ground around her, too much blood to only be hers.
“Something has happened,” Vasile bit out as he stepped away from the group of males he had been training with.
“What is it?” Ion asked.
“Alina, all I know is that she is in pain. She shut the damn bond down enough that I cannot hear her thoughts. We have to go now.”
“We were not planning to infiltrate for another two days,” Nicu pointed out.
“Plans change,” Vasile snarled as he turned in the direction of his mate’s village. He did not care if any of the warriors followed him. He did not care if anyone saw him. All he cared about was getting to his mate and finding out what or who was causing her pain and then killing it.
He ran in his human form, borrowing his wolf’s speed. Trees whipped past him and his feet moved so fast that they barely disturbed the ground beneath them. His wolf urged him to go faster. He obviously was picking up something through the bond that Vasile was not. He pushed his legs even harder, somehow knowing that if he did not get to her very, very soon he would lose her.
The village came into view and he could hear shouts and growls. He passed the meeting hall, ignoring the gasps and the stares, as he headed straight for Alina’s house. The smell hit him before he could even see the small cottage—blood, and a lot of it. As he rounded the corner he saw a large crowd gathered in the yard shielding the door from his sight. He pushed forward and snarled, “Get out of the way!”
The crowd parted instantly as his power filled the air and as one they all fell to their knees. But his attention was not on the pack, it was on the gruesome scene before him as he entered the small home where his mate had grown up. The wood floor was slick with blood, so much blood. Petre’s body laid just to the right of the door, his head twisted at on odd angle and his throat ripped out. Georgeta’s body was directly across from her mate’s. She was lying in a pool of blood that still poured from the huge hole in her abdomen where her intestines had spilled out. Then his eyes found her. In one step he was across the cottage and kneeling by her side. There was so much blood and she looked so fragile that he did not know where to touch that would not cause her to fall apart. He leaned down close to her mouth and heard a wheezing breath; it was weak but she was alive.
She was lying on her side, her eyes closed as though she was simply asleep. Her neck had a huge bite mark that was slowly beginning to heal. But that would not be enough. She needed blood and not just anyone’s. She needed the healing power that was contained within the blood of her mate if she was going to have any chance to survive. Vasile tore his wrist open with his sharp canines without even wincing at the pain. He gently rolled her onto her back, and then lifted her head while at the same time pressing the bleeding wrist to her lips. Blood poured into her mouth but she was not attempting to suck on the wound. He leaned down close to her ear and kissed her gently. “Please, Mina, drink. You cannot leave me. I cannot do this without you.” He reached through their bond, calling to her wolf to fight for her human half, to give her the strength she needed to take his blood so that her body would begin to heal and replace what she had lost. After several gut wrenching moments, he felt her lips latch on.
She pulled greedily from him and his wolf, which had now, after so many years of restlessness, begun to settle just a bit because it was being allowed to provide for its mate. The wolf was caring for its other half, which is what it was created to do. “Take what you need, beloved, it is freely given,” he told her as he gently brushed the hair from her neck. He should wait, he should make it special and treat her as the precious jewel that she was, but he was not taking any chances of her leaving this world without him. He bit into her just below her ear and only deep enough to get a swallow of blood and leave his mark. He pulled away quickly and licked the wound clean. She had not even noticed as she continued to drink from him. He felt himself growing weak but he would not deny her. He could hear voices telling him to stop her, that she was taking too much. When he was sure she just might bleed him dry, she stopped and licked his wrist just before passing out again.
He sat there holding her head in his lap, staring down at his beautiful mate. Her neck was torn savagely. Her dress had been ripped, and he could feel the skin on her back beneath the arm that held her. She smelled of blood, anger, and fear. But there was one smell that trumped them all, one that he had known from the first time he had smelled it and he would never forget it—Serghei. The cottage wreaked of him, of his rage and jealousy. He had attacked Alina. Vasile did not know if he had been trying to rape her or if he simply wanted to see the marks. The bite was done out of pure malice; no male who was simply wanting to mark his female would ever do so with such brutality. Her parents must have caught him in the act and attempted to intervene, but they would have been no match for a feral wolf, and that was exactly what Serghei had become.
“Alpha, please,” a gentle voice spoke from just beside him. She was smart not to be at his back, taking an angry wolf by surprise was not a wise maneuver. “She does not need to wake here. Please bring her to my home and allow me to help you care for her.”
Vasile turned to look at the small woman who knelt beside him, her head bowed slightly to the side baring her neck. “Your name?” he growled.
“I am Auriel. My parents died in the werewolf wars and I am an unmated female. I live in their home just two cottages over.” She motioned with her hand in the direction she was speaking of.
“Are you loyal to Emilian? Do not lie.” His eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Your parents were my Alphas, and when they perished, you became my Alpha and that has not changed.” Her shoulders squared and her back was straight as she spoke with true conviction.
Vasile picked his mate up in his arms and stood. “Then lead the way.” He made eye contact with his top three and motioned towards the inside of the house. They knew what he was asking without the use of words. They would clean up the cottage and have the bodies cleaned and prepared for burial so that Alina could say a proper goodbye.
Auriel pushed the door open to her small home and entered not waiting to see if he followed. He had to duck his head as he walked through the front door and turn just slightly to get his wide shoulders in.
“You can lay her in there,” the female said as she motioned to a small bedroom.
Vasile laid her on the small bed. He brushed her long hair from her face and ran a finger softly down her pale cheek. He mentally begged her to open her eyes, to smile at him, or to snarl, anything just to show him she would be alright. But the only movement was the shallow rise and fall of her chest.
Auriel walked in and reached for Alina’s shoe on the foot closest to her but her hand never made contact. Vasile had grabbed her wrist as soon as he saw her intent. “No one will touch her but me,” he said firmly.
“But, you are not yet completed the bonding ceremony; it would not be right,” she stumbled over her words as her body shook with fear.
“My mate was violated by a male in her pack, was that right? Was that proper?” His voice was cold and harsh.
A tear slid down the female’s cheek as she shook her head. “I am only trying to protect her.”
Vasile shook his head. “I am the one she will never need protecting from.” He released her and stepped back. “Please get me the things I will need to clean her and clothe her. I will not trust anyone to touch her, not when there are so many traitors in this pack.”
Auriel did not argue this time. She simply scurried from the room and did not return until she had everything Vasile had asked for. She shut the door behind her after having laid everything on t
he small dresser across from the bed. She had even brought him a warm basin of water.
Vasile took the blanket at the end of the bed and pulled it up to Alina’s chin. He would protect her modesty as much as possible. He removed her shoes and stockings. Then with the blanket still covering her, he reached beneath it and beneath her to undo the button on the back of her skirt. He pulled it off of her without ever removing the blanket and tossed it on the floor. He would have it burned because he would never smell another male on his mate’s clothes if he could help it. Next he began to raise her shift but then after a moment’s thought decided it would just be easier to tear it. He was careful to go slow and keep her covered. Finally, she was fully undressed and he began to wash her. He wiped her arms and legs and then gently cleaned her face and then her neck. He growled low as he wiped the blood from the now healed wound where Serghei had pierced her beautiful skin. He wanted to roll her over so he could wash her back and get that male’s smell off of her, but he decided to wait until she woke.
He tucked the blanket in around her to keep her warm and then pulled the only chair in the room up next to the bed. He sat and leaned forward until his head was by hers, and he closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent. It calmed him like nothing else could. He reached up, without opening his eyes, and took her hand in his intertwining their fingers. He knew he needed to check on his warriors and figure out if anyone had run off to tell Emilian of his arrival, but he could not bring himself to leave her side. He needed to hear her voice, needed to see her eyes open and full of life. So he sat with his head next to hers, breathing her in, allowing his wolf to take solace in the feel of her skin on his. He pushed away the rage for now and simply focused on her.
“Luna, come back to me,” he whispered into her mind through the bond that had grown stronger since he had completed the Blood Rites. “We have so much living to do, beloved, and so many things to see and experience. I have yet to even taste your lips and you are finally of an appropriate age for me to do so. You have to come back to me; I need you. You have to come back so we can build a life together, heal our pack, and see what adventures the Great Luna has in store for us. Please, Mina, hear my voice and obey me. Come. Back.” He could feel her spirit slipping away not to death but to a place where there was no pain, no fear. Her mind and body were trying to protect her by keeping her unconscious, and he could not allow that. He gathered his power, called on his pack―those loyal to him―to share their power with him, and then he pushed it into his mate. She would hear him and answer him because any other outcome was not acceptable. She would not leave him while he had to watch her body whither as her mind stayed shut away from him. She was his and just as he would give her every bit of himself, he would demand the same of her.