Mated & Blooded, A Blood Ties Novel, Book 1 (15 page)

I didn’t just come to BlueRidge because I
wanted to be home, I knew that I needed to get here before Kalli
made the mistake of her life with Nikoli. I also knew it was partly
my fault that Kalli was confused in the first place. In my fear
that she wouldn’t have a mate or worse that they might reject her I
had filled her head with love stories about a beloved.

That had been a mistake. I never thought for
a moment that she could actually have one. It was made even more
difficult because it was Nikoli. Now, I was going to have to take
an active role in getting this sorted out. It was my intention of
speaking with Nikoli about their situation. I knew he was the most
reasonable person in the world and I knew I could convince him that
he needed to allow Lucas and Kalli to bond and have a normal
relationship.

He will have to understand that Kalli is
first and for most a wolf and as a wolf she will mate for life. Her
wolf has already chosen. Like all wolves Kalli needs to take the
next step and bond with her mate. Mating and bonding with your
wolves other half is the most natural thing in the world. Being
Nikoli’s beloved is unnatural and unhealthy for Kalli and her wolf
Nikoli has to understand this.

I heard Nikoli move around to my left side
and could feel his gaze on Kalli’s naked form. I intentionally
turned myself towards him and completely blocked his view of my
daughter. Then I placed my hand on his arm and said

“Uncle Nikoli, it is so wonderful to see you
again. Please come inside and allow me to get some clothes on so
that we can catch up with each other.”

I watched him look over at a still naked
Lucas and Kalli before he lowered his eyes to me and said

“My dearest Marie it is wonderful to see you
as well. You are such a lovely sight for these old eyes. I would
love to come in and spend time catching up with you.”

I knew Logan was still somewhere close by. I
could smell his stench from the bed I was lying in. It was driving
me nuts that he was alive and so damn close by. It was his fault
that I was falling apart. He used me and forced me to do his will.
I needed kill him to make sure that he never hurt anyone again.

I tried again to shift into my wolf, but for
some reason I still couldn’t reach her. She was with me, but just
deep enough that I couldn’t get her to come out. I tossed myself
off the bed and headed into the bathroom. The tile floor was cold
against my bare feet. I splashed some cold water on my face and
looked at myself in the mirror.

I was the vision of insanity. My eyes had
dark rings around them. My cheeks were red and chapped from my
tears. My lips were bloody and raw because I had been chewing on
them. My hair was a matte of knots. I put my hands in the sink and
started to wash them. Then I noticed a cool breeze blow against the
back of my neck.

I craned my head around looking for the
source of the fresh air and notice an open sky window. I turned my
nose up and took in large amounts of fresh air. I felt my wolf stir
with each breath I took. I left the bathroom and moved to the door
that led to the hallway way. I turned the knob expecting to find it
locked.

The door clicked opened easily and didn’t
make a sound. I looked to my right and left, then inhaled to see if
I could scent the vampire. It looked and smelled like the coast was
clear so I stepped out into the hallway. I slowly made my way down
the stairs pausing often to make sure I couldn’t hear or smell
anything.

Finally I took the last step and started
moving towards where I thought the front door was. I was trying to
move as silently as I possibly could. I crept along at a
ridiculously slow pace. I could feel my wolf moving closer to the
surface and urging me to move faster.

I moved forward with a bust of speed and
accidentally bumped into a small table and watched helplessly as a
vase dropped noisily dropped to the floor and shattered in all
directions. I froze in place and held my breath as I expected the
vampire to charge into the room and force me back to my prison.

I stood there for probably dang near an hour
and waited but nothing happened. No vampire, no movement and no
sounds. Finally I gathered my hatred of Logan around me like a
safety blanked and started to move towards the front door
again.

The door was wide open. I looked and realized
it was actually just a door jamb; no real door was attached. The
second I stepped through I realized I was standing under the full
moon; I felt my wolf claw at me from the inside out. She erupted
from me in a violent burst of energy. Then she put her nose to the
ground to seek out the foul scent of Logan.

I had spent the last several hours getting to
know my mate and her family. I learned that her mother Anna and
Aunt Alice were the daughters of the last true alpha of Rockledge.
They told me the tragic story of how my father had killed their
father and taken both of them as prisoners of war. I watched as
both Anna and Alice’s faces reflected the identical emotions of
pain and horror.

I felt my mate cringe as she too listened to
her mother talk about the past. Ana alluded to the fact that my
father had raped them both, and had even gone so far as to try to
kill their mates. I also heard how Alice had been pregnant, but
lost the child during their escape.

They talked about the early years of living
without an alpha deep in the mountains and the difficulty they had
just trying to find food and shelter. How they had eventually found
a real wolf pack and assimilated into their pack to survive. How
they had stayed in wolf form day and night for months on end in
order to get by.

Then they told me something that shocked me
to my core. They talked about my father’s true mate Sally. Sally
was the daughter of the Northern Star Omega. My dad had known she
was his mate from a very young age. They had even once been very
close before my father became alpha. He had even bedded her several
times, but always managed not to mark her and bond with her.

Then, when he became alpha my father publicly
rejected Sally, but continued to see her in secrecy. Turns out he
was so power hungry that he refused to claim her as his own true
mate because he saw her father’s position as pack omega as a
weakness.

Sally eventually got with pup and thought
that when she told my father he would finally accept and bond with
her. She couldn’t have anticipated his reaction. My dad went
ballistic and threaten hers and the pups life if she told anyone
that they’d been sexually active together. Sally had been hurt
beyond words, fearing for herself and her pup she took off on her
own to live in the mountains with her unborn child.

Sally was the one who found and helped Anna
give birth to my mate Lily. Alice explained that Anna was having a
hard time giving birth in wolf form. Worse, because they had all
stayed in wolf form for so long they started to have a hard time
calling up their human side.

Anna was in bad shape and bleeding out when
Sally found them. She helped to remind them all of what they truly
were so they could shift back. Once human, she talked Anna through
the birth of Lily. She’d taken them in like family and had out a
roof over their heads.

I heard someone approach and could smell that
it was a shewolf. When she didn’t immediately show herself, I
decided she wasn't a threat and continued to listen to Anna and
Alice. They talked about Sally being a great shewolf and how she
would have made a wonderful Luna.

They talked about the years they lived with
Sally and how she had taught them to survive in the mountains as
humans. The moment Anna stopped talking the question tumbled from
my lips

“Did Sally lose her pup or do I have another
sibling somewhere out there?”

Before Alice could answer, I watched the
woman who had been keeping herself out of sight emerge from behind
the trees. I knew the moment I saw her, this is my older sister she
looked more like my father than me or any of my brothers did.

I listened as my aunts told my brother our
story. I watched Lily whom I thought of as a sister sit next to her
mate, my brother by blood. I wanted so badly to step out from
behind the brush and introduce myself, but I feared that my brother
might not want to accept me. I like my grandfather am meant to be
an omega.

I know that my father thought that was
something to be ashamed of, but my position in a pack can actually
be a very important position. I am the glue that keeps us all
together. Mother says I am as important as an alpha that without a
true omega most packs can’t survive. Then I heard him ask if my mom
had given birth to me and I just stepped out.

I stood there just feet away from my brother
staring at him not really knowing what to expect. Then he opened
his arms and beckoned me into an embrace. It was more than I could
have hoped for. I couldn’t help myself and started to cry. I think
my brother felt the wetness on his shoulder and wasn’t sure what to
do so he started to pat my back like a father would a crying child.
I hiccuped then pulled away from him. Lily reached out and gave me
a big hug. Then she said

“We just lost Sally about a month ago. Her
death was hard on all of us, but particularly on Lauren.”

My brother turned and looked at me again
before saying

“I am so sorry for your loss Lauren. If there
is anything I can do to help you, please don’t hesitate to ask”

Then I did the most natural thing for me to
do. I dropped to the ground into a kneeling position and submitted
to my brother by baring my neck to him.

“Thank you alpha. I appreciate you
kindness”

The rest of the wolves seeing me submit to
Ryan took a collective intake of breath. Anna , Alice and both my
uncles dropped beside me and did the same. I heard Anna say

“Ryan, I do believe its time you proclaim
yourself alpha of our new pack. Perhaps in honor of my family you
could call it Rockledge?”

I watched Lily kiss him lightly on the cheek
then kneel beside me. I looked out at the crowd through my lowered
eyelashes and saw the majority of them now kneeling. I watched my
brother stand up and straighten his clothes before he said

“I Ryan Madison do hear by claim myself as
Alpha of” He paused for a moment looking around then continued “of
the Rockledge wolf pack. Any who oppose me say so now and prepare
for a death challenge. Otherwise bow now and pledge allegiance to
me!”

After a few moments of silence a loud cheer
erupted from the pack. I felt more tears slide down my cheek as I
realized I was at the birth of a new pack. I watched my brother
shift and I too shifted then we did the most wonderful thing in the
world. We started to run as a pack and claim our pack
territory.

I rolled over and looked at my mom who was
lying in bed next to me. I was exhausted but still having trouble
sleeping. My mind was racing and I just couldn’t seem to turn it
off. Mom took that moment to roll over and look at me again

“Sweetie, why are you still awake? Can’t you
sleep without Lucas?” She asked

“No Mom, it’s not that. I slept without him
all last week and did fine. It’s just I am really confused about
this whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, I am very relieved that
Nikoli and Lucas have come up with some sort of treaty for now,
but” I paused looking for the right words

“but, I am kind of unhappy that they decided
without me.”

“oh baby” mom reached out and slid her hand
down my hair, then continued

“Don’t worry yourself about those sorts of
things. Our men have always taken care of us and always will.
That’s the way it works best. Lucas and Nikoli are both strong men,
and they will be sure to find a solution that we all can live with.
Now go to sleep, you will see everything is going to be fine”

I can’t really explain why my mom’s comments
just said made my blood boil by they did. Instead of comforting me,
I was now pissed off. I found myself getting angrier by the second.
I started to say to myself in a very sarcastic voice

Don’t worry Kalli. Don’t worry your big
strong man will take care of everything for you. Don’t you know we
aren’t supposed to be thinking about what we want for ourselves. I
am just a shewolf and don’t have a brain. I’m just a dumb girl who
doesn’t know anything and can’t possibly decide for myself. Don’t
worry the big strong man will take care of you. Don’t worry your
stupid little head about what you want. Don’t worry my Ass!

Well the more I am kept in the dark the more
I am worried. How do they think they can decide what is best for me
without even consulting me. This is so typical of Lucas but so
uncharacteristic of Nikoli. I would bet my mom had something to do
with that. I feel like my future is hanging on by a thread and I
need to take charge of it.

I was tired of the people telling me how and
what I could do with my life. I tasted freedom last week when I
stayed with Nikoli. I’m not sure I can go back to being the silent
obedient she-wolf I used to be and if I couldn’t what would that do
to mine and Lucas’s relationship.

I wanted to hop out of bed and ask Lucas
exactly what he had in mind. Then, I remembered how my shewolf had
been acting all night since we came back from the run. I guess she
decided it was time that Lucas and I mated and sealed our bond. She
was being a real hussy. Even after I turned back to my human form,
I could feel her urging me to touch and rub against him. If I went
downstairs and saw Lucas we were going to do a lot, but talking
wasn’t part of it. I actually growled out loud in frustration. Of
course my mom misunderstood because she said

“Kalli baby, don’t fight it. It’s so natural
to want to mate and bond with your true mate. For gods sakes stop
punishing yourself and go downstairs and be with Lucas. You’ll see
it will all be so much better once you’ve mated and bonded” Then
she rolled over and started to snore I mumbled back at her sleeping
form