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

  “He’s suffering from the loss of his mate, let him do what he needs to.” Her mate replied to her.

  I rolled my eyes and took a step up when I heard the annoying voice of Allea scoff at the comment, “So what? His mate is a blood born. Who fucking cares? That’s his mate. She isn’t dead. He hasn’t lost shit except for his grasp on reality. We know nothing about the blood born really, are we seriously going to let him lose his damn mind over his mate being one, over some tales passed down by wolves who are dead now?”

  I heard Ethan try to shush her. I don’t know why though. That woman had far too much fire for her own good. There was no way his hushing would make any difference. I turned on my heels and took a seat on the bottom step, curious to truly know what they thought. I screwed the top of the bottle off and took a swig of the bitter liquid.

  “Don’t forget Allea, that mate of his brutally slaughtered Ray out there.” Dylan barked at her defensively.

  “Yeah? After Dominic attacked her! You had her cornered! One against seven, Dylan!” Allea spat out at him.

  “Allea, please.” Ciri softly murmured to her, trying to soothe Allea’s irritation with her tone.

  I took another swig of the vodka, welcoming the fuzzy feeling that filled my mind again.

  “Look, Allea, you know that I agree with you. I can’t say if I found myself wounded and outnumbered that I wouldn’t do the same. But this is Dominic’s choice and battle. It doesn’t matter how much we argue about it.” Ciri’s words of wisdom echoed through the space, silencing the chorus of arguments that filled the room.

  I sighed. I always appreciated her straightforwardness. Her wisdom, and the calm aura that surrounded her. She was much like the mother of the pack, even more than my mother. With a nurturing heart and an uncanny ability to stop people and force them to think. The kitchen fell silent as I took another drink, mulling over what I heard them say.

  “She’s a beast. It’s that simple. She would never fit amongst us. She could never be our Luna.” Damon’s voice called out into the silence. His words causing me to swallow hard.

  The thought never crossed my mind. Their Luna. Damnit, why was it that never crossed my mind? My mate, by right, would be their Luna. Their Luna was a beast.

  “Isn’t that just fucking incredible?” I groaned, crushing the palm of my hand into my forehead.

  I chugged another sizeable amount of vodka and pulled my phone from my pocket. Squinting, trying to focus my eyes to check the time, I let out a gasp. “Fuck,” I grumbled. It was already three-thirty. I capped off the bottle and set it on the stair as I stood.

  Inhaling deeply, I walked right past the kitchen where my pack moments before, were fighting over my own problems and headed out the front door. Their eyes following me as I left.

  I teetered a little as I climbed onto my bike. I had no business driving, but at this moment all I cared about was a temporary moment away from all the thoughts and feeling associated with this “Mate” of mine. The rain had stopped by the time I made it into town, leaving puddles and sparkling grass behind. The smell of fresh rain filling my senses. A smell that I had always loved, but this time, I wasn’t quite in the right mind to enjoy it.

  I pulled my bike into the alleyway behind the bar and entered it through the back door, stumbling a little. The bar was far fuller than it was this morning when I was here. Men and woman started getting off work and piled in to ease the stress of the day. All eyes were on me as I approached the bar. Looks of concern and pity followed me like the plague.

  A short brunette walked up to me from behind the bar with a sassy grin. “What can I get you, Dom?”

  She giggled as I rolled my eyes. “You can get me the little blonde thing that was here this morning.”

  The woman rolled her eyes in disgust and shook her head. She pivoted, pushing her way through the doors behind her with a huff. I drummed my fingers on the wood of the bar impatiently, fighting off the urge to bite off the head of the old woman who sat next to me at the bar. Shooting me a look of great irritation.

  I clenched my jaw, anger irrationally building behind my eyes. “Do you have a fucking problem?” I barked at her, throwing my head in her direction. Locking my eyes with hers menacingly.

  She shook her head slowly. “Maybe you should learn some respect for women.” She spat, taking a drink of the frothy cocktail she was holding.

  I let out a blood-curdling, evil laugh, mocking her words. “Don’t be a jealous grandma. I’m sure you had your fill when you were younger.”

  The woman gasped in dismay, covering her mouth like she was about to be sick. I scoffed at her and looked back to the door. Waiting. Almost on cue, Melissa exited the door nervously. Smoothing her blouse over her less than impressive chest. I eyed her like an animal stalking its prey. If you think about it, wasn’t that truly what I was going on?

  I chuckled to myself at the thought.

  She turned beet red again and smiled at me shyly. I’m sure some men might have found that cute, but honestly, it was irritating me. I motioned her to follow me by crooking my finger at her. Shooting her a playful smile, fighting back the bile building in my throat as she nervously nodded. I exited out the back to where my bike was and leaned against it, her following behind.

  “Well, I’m here.” She whispered.

  “Yeah. You sure are.” I said, pushing myself off my bike, taking a gigantic step towards her. She looked at her feet again, probably arguing with them mentally to stay still. Again, I took another step closer to her, closing the gap with ease. She stood eye level to my chest, leaning her head back to look me in the eyes.

  “I don’t want to be rude, but I heard you have mated already.” She chirped out awkwardly.

  I narrowed my eyes at her, furrowing my brow. Then I laughed, throwing my head back. I pulled the collar of my shirt away from my neck. “Do you see a mark there, little one?” I asked her coyly.

  She shook her head silently, agreeing that there was none. I laughed again and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her hard up against me. She squirmed nervously against my chest. I leaned down to kiss her neck, placing a line of kissed up to her ear.

  “Don’t you worry yourself with that, she’s my mate, not my wife.” I murmured into her ear, sliding my hands down to cup her ass. She jumped a little, and I chuckled into the soft flesh of her neck. Instantly she relaxed a little.

  Easy, far too easy. I thought to myself as I nipped at her flesh lightly and she craned her neck back. I lifted her up in one swift motion, clutching at her inner thighs, urging them to open so she could wrap her legs around me. Once at my level, I claimed her mouth with ease, and she delicately kissed back, almost as though she wasn’t capable of matching the ferocity that I was trying to kiss her. Growling in frustration, I back her hard against the outer wall of the bar, slamming her back into the bricks. She gasped in pain and whined a little, but I couldn’t be bothered. I was too busy trying to drown out the building fire that was overcoming me, a fire she had not created.

  I drug my teeth along her neck before kissing my way down to her chest. Realizing, I had no idea where the hell this girl’s hands were. The more I tried to build up something in her, bring some passion out of her, even just a little to help me satisfy this urge, the more I realized, it would be a fruitless endeavor with her.

  Using my weight to pin her to the wall, I reached out to find her arms dangling at her sides; I sighed and grabbed them, lacing them around my neck, hoping to help her out a bit, but they fell limp there at the base of my neck. Growing ever more irritated, I decided that I needed to try to push her, maybe I was just going too easy on her.

  Crashing my lips into hers again, I snaked my hand down to the waistband of her jeans, forcing my hand inside of them. She gasped, obviously more startled then excited. I pulled my face away to look at her, trying to judge her reaction. Nervous. Her reaction was nervous. Surprise surprise.

  I wiggled my hand down deeper into her jeans, gently touching her, hoping
to find a different reaction, but was met with her still chewing her lip expectantly. I sucked in a disappointed breath and was met with a rush. My mind spun a little, and I felt dizzy. “What the fuck?” I muttered. Dropping the girl onto her feet.

  “Is everything alright?” She squealed, trying to collect herself, looking almost disappointed. I braced myself on the wall, looking down at her highly confused. Was she really upset that I stopped? I wondered, looking at her. I rolled my eyes, choking back the sick feeling that was overcoming me. Only this time I knew, I just knew. This feeling was matched with the closeness of HER.

  I looked back down into the emerald eyes of the girl who stood below me. “God help the man they mate you to, he is out for one boring existence. Just go home.” I scoffed at her.

  I watched as she bit back tears of embarrassment before she ran out of the alley. I started coughing violently, another wave of tightening hitting my chest.

  “I hope I wasn’t interrupting.” The warm, deep voice called out from down the alley.

  Quickly I shot my gaze in the direction and watched the tall, sinful woman make her way closer to me. Without fear, without hesitation. “You,” I growled to her, forcing myself to stand straight, suddenly realizing how incredibly intoxicated I was.

  The woman giggled, finally close enough to me for me to see the soft dusting of freckles that stretched across her nose. “You know, I came here to kill you.” She giggled again, her red eyes dancing over me. “But much like that attempt at getting your dick wet that you just experienced, it would be boring.” She took another step closer, and I stood my ground, fighting the urge to lunge at her. “I was hoping for a fight,” She said, lifting her hand to my face, dragging her nail along my jaw.

  Electricity flowed through her finger onto my skin, lighting every nerve in my body on fire. I grabbed her wrist harshly, tightening my grasp around it. My hand heating as though it was in flames, and she giggled, parting her lips with a sigh. Confused, I looked at her face, twisting with some sort of pleasure. She felt it too. I drug her closer to me, and she came willingly. I locked my eyes with hers as she let a cruel smile wrap around her full lips. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them.

  “Aggressive aren’t we?” She cooed, Looking back up to her eyes I felt it again, that stuck, immobile feeling. She let out a soft chuckle. “I told you. You would live to regret it. Maybe next time you will be sober enough to give me a genuine challenge.” She rose onto her toes and brushed her lips against mine easily. “We will meet again.” She muttered against my lips. I growled at her, letting the guttural noise rip from my chest, feeling my control returning. She backed away a little and smiled.

  * * *

  Aine~

  I took a step back slowly. Forcing a smile as I struggled to regain my composure. The more I tried to taunt him, the harder it became for me to remain focused. I knew I had to put some distance between us, instantly regretting my approach to this.

  Clearly, my actions weren’t thought through all that well, but I also wasn’t expecting to come across him how I did. I wasn’t expecting to find him drunk off his ass trying to fuck some girl in the alleyway. I wasn’t sure if it was from jealousy or my manipulative nature that drove me to interrupt, but the thought of ruining it for him made me excited. So naturally, I slowly eased myself closer, despite the pain in my chest, knowing it would affect him the same way. And I was right.

  Now I stood face to face with him, waiting. Waiting to see what he would do. I was curious. Would he try to kill me again?

  His enormous hand stayed wrapped around my wrist, holding it so tight I was sure one wrong move would snap it. His piercing eyes looking straight into my own. I tried my best to hold him immobile, using all the focus I had to trap him, but I could tell he was overcoming it quickly. If he only realized that he could, I knew that he would in a minute. I reached my hand up to my lips, still tingling from the brief contact they had with his.

  We stood there for what seemed like an eternity, just lost in an unspoken battle. Both of us too prideful to move. Not towards each other, and not away. I let my eyes flutter shut for a moment, drawing in a breath, trying to formulate a plan of action. Some sort of escape from the position that I had put myself in. Keeping my eyes closed, I felt his grasp on my wrist loosen just a little and I could feel him moving.

  I opened my eyes to find he had taken a step closer to me, lowering his face to my own. He smiled, but it wasn’t genuine, it was challenging, cocky.

  “You think you’re cute, don’t you little one?

  As he spoke I felt his warm breath on my face, and for the first time, I truly heard his voice. Heard it clearly. It was rough and commanding. Its deep tone rolling from his lips like honey. I inhaled sharply, refusing to back down. To show any sliver of doubt or fear.

  His face quickly hardened after a moment without an answer from me. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me, slamming me against the brick structure. My back smashing against the unyielding surface with a crack, my just freshly healed wound aching again. I snarled at him, narrowing my gaze into one most murderous. Hoping I could frighten him a little, but to no avail. He only laughed.

  Smiling again, he released my shoulders. Immediately moving his hands to my wrists, pulling them above my head, pinning them against the wall. Holding them both with one of his hands, he used the other to lift my chin, pulling my face to his.

  “Don’t you?” He asked again bitterly. The smell of alcohol on his breath filling my nose. I snorted in annoyance and shook my head out of his grasp.

  “You really think you will overpower me?” I asked with a laugh, eyeing his face challengingly.

  I had no clue if I could overpower him in human form, but I knew all too well he knew what I could do. He had seen it firsthand, and I hoped that alone could be used to my advantage. He tightened his grip on my wrists in response, almost like he was trying to prove that he could, or that he already did. I felt my heart pound like it would beat right out of my chest at any moment. Running out of ideas, running out of ways to taunt him. I closed my eyes, willing myself not to panic. I felt his hand cup the side of my neck, and my nightly dreams of him choking me to death surfaced my mind. I swallowed hard, waiting for the pressure. Waiting for the light-headed feeling that accompanied the loss of air. The slowing heartbeat. Much like my dreams, I stayed still, almost welcoming it, but it never came.

  I cracked my eyes slowly to look at him, almost like opening them normally would give away my position. Like keeping them closed was hiding me. Once they were open, they met me with a startling scene. The man was looking at me. Softly. The intensity of his gaze had shifted in such a way that I wasn’t familiar with. It was calmer.

  “You’re afraid.” He muttered, much like a question, even though it wasn’t.

  He continued to look at me with questioning eyes. Studying my face. The calmness in his own expression was far more alarming than the violent one he had before. That changed quickly though as the softness disappeared as a roaring laugh escaped from his throat.

  “The beast is afraid!”

  Then came the pressure on my throat I was waiting for moments before. His hand shifted around my windpipe, slowly starting to crush it, lifting me off of my feet. He leaned in next to my face, now pressing his body to mine, electricity flowing between us.

  “As it should be.” He muttered next to my ear.

  My mind panicked, the calm waiting now long gone. With a forceful tug, I ripped my arms from his grasp, my feet falling to the ground again. I struggled to brace myself, using all the strength I could siphon to grab his wrist. My hands trembled as I forced his grasp from my throat, his pressure fighting back all the while. He pressed his body harder against mine, leaving most my movements limited. Continuing to fight his strength, I brought his hand up to my mouth, letting my fangs come out before biting down onto the soft flesh between this thumb and pointer finger.

  A warm gush of blood filled my mouth, sending my senses into a frenzy. I e
njoyed the taste of it far too much. I was lost in it. Before I knew It I lapped at the blood greedily, but he ripped his hand away, striking me with it. My face ping-ponged off of the brick, blood dripping from my lower lip. His blood.

  I straightened my face to look at him, letting a wicked smile come out. With a swift movement, I threw my head forward, letting my forehead connect with his nose sharply. A cracking noise echoed around us and he groaned in pain. He stumbled backward, blood now oozing down his face. He clenched his fists, looking at me with such malice. If looks could kill, I would have collapsed right where I was in an instant.

  He swallowed hard, and I watched as it traveled down his throat, licking my lips. Taking in the taste of his blood again. He bared his teeth, nose flaring, then charged. Throwing himself towards me. Moving quicker than I had ever done in my human form, I slid to the side, letting him strike his fist into the wall instead of me. The brick crumbed and pieces fell to the ground. He turned around, only to find me in front of him.

  His eyes looked terrified for a moment, taken aback. I placed one hand on the wall next to his face, right where he had busted it, and the other on the wall beside his waist. Caging him between me and the wall with my arms. I knew that my actions wouldn’t prevent him from doing anything, but it did a marvellous job at startling him, reversing the roles. Mimicking a motion from his own playbook I threw my arm out towards him, twisting my long fingers around his neck, letting my perfectly manicured nails dig into his flesh, the red color of the polish blending into the blood that seeped from his skin perfectly. He threw his head back, at first seemingly in pain.

  “You remember what happened last time I had my claws on someone’s throat,” I growled to him, but no response. I felt him swallow as I tightened my grip, trying to force a response to spill from him.

  Finally, I recognized it; he wasn’t in pain. He was fucking enjoying it! I let a terrifying noise rip from my throat and dug my nails deeper into his neck. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me into his chest, feeling like I hit a concrete wall. He pulled my hand from his neck and pushed it behind me, using it to hold me against him. My arm twisted in such a way I swore it would break.