Blood Born (The Dark Hills Series Book 1) Read online

  I rolled out from under the SUV and rose to my feet, squaring my shoulders as I stretched in annoyance. Emphasizing my substantial size compared to both of them. The two of them roared in laughter over her statement as I stepped to them. Leaving only a foot between myself and the petite, grey-haired woman. Her purple eyes playfully taunting me. I puffed my chest out at her, straining my neck to look down upon her, insulting her minuscule size.

  “No females in the shop.” I roared at her, a cruel grin crossing my face. “I know damn well that you know that Allea.”

  She giggled, but her eyes looked a little more frightened than the rest of her face had shown. Ethan continued to hold on to her in both a comforting and protective way. If it wasn’t because Ethan was my beta and Allea was his mate, I probably would have torn her head right off of her shoulders already. Something about that woman’s attitude struck a nerve with me. She was an annoyance, a pest, and her constant challenging of my authority made me rage.

  “I’m really here to see if the two of you were coming out with the pack for drinks tonight.” She spat out, her voice laced with sass and arrogance.

  I coughed hoarsely in reaction to yet again, another wave of burning in my throat. “Yeah, that’s not happening.” I choked out before regaining my composure. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  A sly grin crossed her face and Ethan adjusted his weight, unwilling to step into the middle of the war that always ensued between Allea and me.

  “Oh come on Alpha, you might find the one who is making you so sick.” She said with a cocky wink.

  I clenched my fists, letting a hoarse growl escape my lips, one that came from deep within my core. I was sick and tired of everyone insinuating that was the problem. I had seen many of my pack get mated, and not a single one ever felt excruciating pain from it. Not to mention, one that should be the most obvious. No other wolves have entered the territory, not for almost five years.

  Other wolves avoided the dark hills like a plague, too afraid of the history and stories that came with the darkness here. My pack, what was left of it, were the only ones brave enough to cross the barrier following the lead of my mother.

  “Get bent, Allea.” I finally barked out, and she giggled.

  She lifted onto her toes and kissed Ethan on the cheek, whispering him some sickeningly sweet goodbye before turning back to me.

  “Think about it, Dominic.”

  Again with a sassy wink, she exited the garage, swinging her hips side to side with confidence. I pushed my thumb and pointer finger into my eye sockets and groaned. “You know the only reason she still breathes is because she is your mate right?” I said agitatedly.

  Ethan let out a low chuckle. “She’s a pain in my ass, but I love her.”

  I rolled my eyes so hard that they could have easily rolled right out of the sockets. I crossed my arms over my chest and chuckled. Not so much because it was funny, but that he said it was. Love or not, your mate was your mate. They limited your choices.

  “That’s because you have no choice in the matter.” I coughed again, clutching my chest. “God, I wish this would stop.” I thought, hacking and wheezing once more. “I’m out of here.” I turned away from Ethan, pulling what used to be a white tank top over my head and shoulders.

  “Seriously, you need to get out. Think about it.” Ethan’s voice roared out behind me and I exited the shop.

  My only response. A middle finger quickly thrust up into the air.

  I crossed the parking lot quickly, eager to get home. I ripped my keys from my pocket as I straddled my Harley, lifting it to stand straight underneath me.

  Rubbing my mouth down to my chin in one slow irritated movement, I brought the bike below me to life. Throttling it, letting it roar. The front tire lifted from the ground as I took off onto the road. The air was like a vice around me as I weaved through the almost empty streets. Enjoying the feeling of the speed and freedom, the only way I could get it while I was still in this form.

  The buildings thinned, blurring around me as I glided through the air towards the edge of town, following the shoreline. The crisp air that resonated off the water chilled my face. It was exhilarating and just what I needed to get my mind off all the insinuations and suffocating feeling that I have now become used to living with.

  I flew right by the large wooden sign, “Now leaving Sitka.” Approaching the wooded area where the pack house settled. My bike wobbled as the front tire crossed over from the pavement onto loose dirt, the large white mansion looming in the distance. I shifted quickly, bringing the bike to a ridiculous speed as I pulled into the drive, before whipping it around in a circle in front of the house.

  “GOD DAMNIT DOMINIC!” My mother’s sharp tone echoed in my head as I dismounted the bike and dusted the thin layer of dirt of my jeans.

  “Bite me,” I linked back to her with a low laugh. I shoved my keys back into my pocket and began hacking again. The usual routine.

  I walked into the sizeable house that was mostly empty. Which wasn’t so surprising since most of the pack was off on patrols, or drinking. I made my way down the long hallway towards the kitchen, startled by my sister’s whiney voice bouncing off the walls. I sighed.

  “Fucking women,” I muttered

  “I am a grown adult! I want to help. I can help!” She shrieked, leaving my ears ringing.

  “You are not old enough and you aren’t ready. That is final.” My mother growled at her in that motherly tone I was all too familiar with.

  I entered the kitchen, hacking my lungs out, holding my throat. My mother’s gaze caught mine, and a somber smile crossed her lips. Her expression was full of concern. I raised my hand to dismiss her worry. She nodded and looked back to my sister who was standing there, arms crossed over her chest, squeezing her thumbs tight within her fists.

  A cocky smile plastered on my mom’s face as she made a playful gesture, rubbing her chin like she was deep in thought. “Why don’t you ask Dominic what he says then,” she said booming with a challenge.

  She chuckled as Gwendolyn turned to face me.

  “Let me do patrols.” She barked out. Not so much as a question, but a demand.

  I shot her a glare. “Not a chance in hell,” I said as I exited the kitchen.

  “You chauvinist pig!” I heard her high pitch voice shout at me as I ascended the stairs, only leaving me to laugh. She wasn’t wrong. I entered my room quickly ripping the oil and grease stained shirt off me, chucking it to the floor. I breathed deep, rubbing my throat. “What if they are right?” I thought in response to the constant choking feeling. “Whatever,” I muttered as I made my way to the bathroom connected to my room, leaving my clothes in a haphazardly trail behind me.

  I turned the water on and stepped under it before it warmed. Bracing myself on the cold tile of the shower wall, I started choking, feeling like I was drowning. Opening my mouth hopelessly, I watched a flow of blood escape and mix with the water cascading down around me. Leaving a pinkish pool at my feet.

  “What the fuck?” I coughed out, watching what stole my air drip from my chin.

  I plummeted my other fist into the tile, shattering it. Pieces of mortar rained down to the floor. I tried taking deep breaths, but I could not. With every breath I took in, an excruciating stabbing feeling struck my chest. It felt like I was being repeatedly hit by a freighter truck, crushing my ribcage, busting a hole into my chest cavity. “Fuck this.” I groaned, turning off the water. Quickly I threw on some random clothes I had laid on my chair and combed my hair back with my fingers.

  “Are we going to go find her?” My wolf taunted in a far too excited way. I shook my head in frustration and trudged down the stairs.

  “Are you going out?” My mother chimed from the kitchen where she still stood arguing with Gwen.

  “Yeah,” I muttered, storming out of the house with determination.

  Hopping back on my bike I took off back into town, hoping that if everyone was right, I would find her ass so this shit c
ould stop. I couldn’t care less who the fuck she was, I wasn’t interested in that. I was, however, interested in the opportunity for this ungodly aching to stop.

  The bar was already packed when I pulled in front of it. The loud music echoing outside. With a lengthy breath, I entered the building, filled to the brim with people of all ages laughing and drinking. Couples were swaying to the music together amongst the others who gathered in groups, sharing slurred conversation. I pushed past the people with ease, towering over most of them. A benefit of standing a whopping 6′5.

  I approached the bar to find most of my pack already gathered, enjoying each other’s company. They roared in excitement as I joined them, Allea laughing with a sense of victory. I rolled my eyes and greeted all of them the best I could, but it grew increasingly difficult to concentrate.

  A familiar scent filled my lungs. I knew I had never encountered it before, but it flowed through me with familiarity. I looked around, unable to pinpoint where it was coming from. I scanned the bar slowly, catching the attention of a group of girls giggling in my direction.

  “Fucking vultures, aren’t they?” Ethan chuckled beside me, nodding his head toward the girls.

  I let out a guttural laugh, throwing my head back, then pulled a smoke from my pocket, lighting it. Figuring there was no harm in fucking with these girls for a moment, I rested the cigarette between my lips, a cocky lopsided smirk building. I combed my fingers slowly through the messy waves of my hair, my eyes never leaving their group. I shot them a wink and turned back to Ethan with a chuckle.

  “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and coughed again. Speckles of blood flying into my hand.

  “Man, I don’t think that’s healthy.”

  I shrugged and inhaled, that smell now stronger than ever. My eyes darted to the other end of the bar where it came from. A tall girl immediately caught my attention, much taller than any of the females in my pack. Her scent was faintly like a wolf, but it was dull and almost unrecognizable. I turned to face her completely, holding my hand over my mouth as I observed her.

  She was thin and had long black hair that was bone straight and shiny. A large sleeve of tattoos covering one of her frail looking arms. She didn’t look familiar though. Intoxicated, and swaying around at the bar, waiting for another drink that she most likely did not need. She must have sensed my eyes on her because her swaying stopped, and a nervous aura surrounded her. She turned to look at me, fear in her eyes. Something was off about them, something unnatural.

  I held my gaze, desperately trying to decipher what exactly was off about them. On the surface, they look no more ordinary than a pair of hazel eyes. She shifted her gaze a little, and I saw it. A faint red ring surrounding the hazel color. “It can’t be.” I thought. Confused by her scent, the red ring around her eyes, the fact I couldn’t tell if she was human or not. She trembled for a second as she sipped the drink she ordered, then she took off towards the back door.

  I turned to Ethan, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Gather the men, we are gonna follow that girl”

  “What girl?” He shrugged. I narrowed my gaze at him, clarifying that this was a command that required no question.

  “What’s going on?” Allea chimed in.

  “Gather all the females, and close off the borders, no one goes in, and no one goes out.”

  Startled, she nodded, running off to where the rest of the pack stood, drinking and chatting, Ethan hot on her heels. I took off in the direction that the girl exited. Following the confusing scent, she left behind. She had left through the back exit, making her way right into the tree line. I followed closely, the other men of the pack close behind. The farther we got into the trees, the suffocating feeling grew stronger. A growing pain crushing my lungs, every breath feeling like fire.

  The girl slowed, no doubt having trouble running because of her intoxicated state, making it easy for us to close in on her. She looked as though she was muttering, leaving me to believe she was using a link to call for help. She wasn’t alone. She turned to face us as we grouped around her; they paralyzed her in place, trembling.

  I approached her slowly, as not to scare her any further, not yet sure of what I was looking at. Her height was intriguing. She was very tall for a woman. She clutched her hands to her chest, her eyes squeezing shut, no doubt trying to will what was happening away.

  I took another step closer, and I felt an unseen grasp around my throat, leaving me to choke loudly, coughing viciously into my hands. I struggled to regain composure and the familiar scent of the girl morphed into something else. Something far more intoxicating than anything I could ever drink. Amber, a smell of amber and sulfur filled my nostrils combined with the smell of blood, coppery and overpowering. I snarled at the sensation that filled my nose, and the girl opened her eyes.

  Red. Blood red.

  “A blood born.” I choked out. Stepping to her again angrily.

  The girl muttered something, but I couldn’t hear it. All I could hear was a frantic heartbeat drumming in my ears, echoing in my skull. Louder than any other sound around me, but it wasn’t my own. It was getting louder and louder. A rage climbed up my throat, burning behind my eyes. “You! Fucking blood born!” I shouted at her. A wave of heat coursed through my veins, and I grabbed my chest.

  “A blood what?” the girl stuttered in panic. I stared at her in disbelief for a moment. Wondering what game she was trying to play, tears filled her bright eyes, and I snapped. Another wave of the scent filled my nose and the pressure in the back of my skull took over. I blacked out, losing all control of my actions.

  I reached for the throat of the girl, squeezing it slowly, watching her struggle. She gasped, her breaths starting to gurgle under the palm of my hand. A beautiful feeling. Claws grew from her fingers and she desperately started shredding the skin of my wrist, but my grip was unwavering around her throat, restricting all of her air. Her eyes bulged, and color slowly drained from her face.

  I watched her face slowly losing all life, fueling my rage.

  “A blood born” A deep melodious voice echoed behind me like a slap in the face. I released my grip on the girl, letting her body collapse onto the ground, gasping for air. I spun on my heels to face where the glorious sound came from. What I saw, though, made my stomach churn. My face twisted in disgust as my eyes locked with hers. There was absolutely no question in my mind who she was. What she was. Gritting my teeth, biting back the daze that was flooding my mind. I bore holes into her.

  My mate. My mate was a fucking blood born.

  Long, midnight black hair flowed down to her waist wildly, caressing the curves of her body on the way down. Blood-red eyes hidden under long full lashes, challenging mine. Beautiful caramel colored skin decorated with freckles and faint scars. She was mesmerizing to look at. Beauty, unlike anything I had ever seen in my life, enchanting yet frightening.

  I watched as her long fingers wrapped around her own throat, covered in blood and gashes. No doubt feeling the same choking feeling as I was.

  “What kind of sick fucking joke is this?” I thought. Why would the universe mate me to a monster? Giving me this sick bond, a desire for a killer, a fucking hunter of my kind. A wave of emotions flooded my body as I remained stuck in her gaze. Frightening me, angering me. Stuck between all rationality and desire. My mind screaming at me to kill the beast that stood before me. An uncontrollable need to tear her limb from limb, spilling her blood all over this forest, to rip the skin from her bones. Destroying the creature responsible for every ounce of torture I ever endured in my life.

  My body, however, desired something else entirely. The bloody sight of the woman who possessed the other half of my soul awakened a carnal need I had never felt before. The hellish fragrance of her that flooded my nose, making it hard not to grab her fiercely, taking her right here, marking her for what she was. MINE. Every aspect of her scarred, bloody form drove me to madness, lighting every inch of my body on fi
re with arousal.

  But neither of us moved, neither of us even breathed.

  Finally, her full lips parted, letting a long-held breath escape from between them, drawing me into the sight like a moth to a flame. Then she turned away. Taking a few steps in the other direction, then stopping.

  I took a step closer to her, feeling like I was dying of hunger, dying of thirst. Realizing that this demon was the only thing that could satisfy it. The conflicted feeling of hatred and uncontrollable need sending my mind for a loop. I reached out to grab her arm, but she turned, looking over her shoulder at me. Her hair whipping around her like an ocean of obsidian waves. Her eyes starting to glow, like the flames of the sun pulsating from them, burning into my soul, our soul.

  Mouthing the one simple word. “Mine.”

  She didn’t have to say it out loud; it needed no sound. I knew exactly what she said. I heard it in my head, flowing in the deep, hauntingly beautiful tone she spoke in before. I stopped, paralyzed in place. My heart violently beating from my chest.

  Then she ran.

  Four

  Excruciating

  Dominic ~

  The word swirled around my mind over and over. “Mine”

  A simple acknowledgment, a simple phrase. One that meant so much more than what it truly said. It was a claim, a marker, an affirmation. Bonding me to her. Mated to the living and breathing representation of all of my childhood fears. The monster that lurked under my bed, followed me in the dark. The horror stories I grew up with, the vivid memory of leaving my home behind, the loneliness of being raised without a father. All the trials and fears that raised me up to be the man I was, slowly disappeared in the form of a woman before my very eyes.

  The farther she ran from me, the easier my breathing became. My mind slowly regaining conscious thought. Leaving me with a choice. One I made without hesitation. “Kill her,” I howled into the sky, commanding every member of my pack to follow suit. Regardless of who she was to me, whatever this bond truly was, she was a threat. A threat that needed eliminated, and as the Alpha of this pack, it was my duty to make that call. One by one, my men changed into wolves amongst the trees, all snarling, ready to attack, including me. I charged forward after her, gaining on her quickly, wondering why she hadn’t changed yet.