Chapter 1
EARLY ACCESS TO NEW CHAPTERS ON MY WEREWOLF & VAMPIRE ROMANCE TIER.
Preface
I’d never hoped to see your beautiful face again or taste the sweetness of your lips yet here you are standing before me as though no time has passed.You have come back to me.I thought he had taken you from me for forever.I will not allow him to steal you from me again.You, my love are mine and belong to no one else.You are a gift from the God who cast me out and left me to feed with the devils of this world and prey on the innocent to survive.I will cherish, adore, love and protect you like no other woman has been before.You are the pure half of my demon flame and I will exist no longer without you. The time to take you and bind your soul with mine comes fast. Do not run from me, my beloved. Accept your fate and be with me for eternity. There is no escape.
Chapter One
Something disturbed the quiet of the room.DI Isolde sat up in bed fully awake from slumber scanning her bedroom for intruders from under the duvet and the mess of papers and photographs on top of it hampering her movement.Inadvertently, she held her breath trying to see through the dark shadows of the room.The bathroom light from the ensuite was still on, the door cracked open so that a little of the light could penetrate it.Even now she couldn’t sleep in total darkness.
But you can bloody well go to bed with murder case photos and an autopsy report on top of your bed.What is wrong with you?No wonder you having nightmares. You must have haven fallen asleep while reading them.There is no one here.The alarm is on and it isn’t going off.Go back to sleep.Why must I wake up with a jerk every night?
Giving the room once last check and listening for footsteps or a disturbance downstairs and hearing nothing, Isolde lay back down in the bed.She looked up at the ceiling wondering if she should put on the bedside light or the TV.She always found the noise of the TV comforting.Somehow it made her feel safe at night.She reached for the remote on the side of the bed and pointed it at the TV on the wall in front of her. It flickered in to life casting a blue light around the room. She made sure the sound was low and turned on her side ignoring the BBC 24 news channel.
Try as she might she still couldn’t shake the fact that something felt different in the room. She’d really thought someone was walking around the room. In the dream that had awoken her she had seen a man sitting in her chair at the bottom of the room watching her every move. The dream felt so vivid as though he was really there.
Stupid dream. You are just getting being used to be alone. The fear will go soon.Remember, divorce takes a while to get over. Having a handsome man in a suit sitting in your room watching you sleep is just wishful thinking whether he is good or bad. Idiot. Go to sleep.
After working a fourteen-hour shift at the police station working on a spate of murders where the bodies were found floating headless on the Thames, Isolde was exhausted and after ten minutes the need for sleep made her drowsy.Finally, she returned to sleep and her dreams.
She didn’t see the tall suited male figure step out from the shadows by the door and walk towards the bed carrying a sword.He bent slightly to cast his gaze over her as though he was checking she was lost in slumber and then walked to the bedroom armchair in the corner of the room to sit down again. Placing the sword at the side of the chair,he rested his arm on the arm rest and silently viewed her lying on top of the covers in her navy silk pyjamas, guarding her with his presence as he had done every night for the last week since he’d found her again.
As he anticipated he didn’t have to wait long to sense another presence moving closer to the house. Slowly he stood and made his way to the window at the opposite side of the bed, careful not to wake his charge. He looked down to see the lone figure cast in black by the shadows standing by a lamp post looking up at him. Another demon wolf. He could feel the need to take Isolde pumping in the wolf’s veins. It was the curse of the Taleian Vampire & Lycan influence in their blood. Born of demon heritage intertwined with the ancient DNA of Lycans and the Taleian’s, they were doomed to fight to the death to secure their mate.
Gray needed to make his claim upon Isolde with fervour. Two red eyes glared back at him. The Lycan was about to attack. Preparing for the fight, he felt his teeth sharpen. He opened his mouth and bared them issuing a low growl he knew his rival would hear. The wolf below was not an alpha but reading his thoughts, Gray could tell that joining Isolde, a Taleian/human Vampire hybrid would bring the beta clout in his clan. Such a woman with her powers, forced into the clan would prove useful in seeking power both in the human world and in their own secret existence.
Gray watched the hybrid suddenly throw back his head as his body transformed into the lycan shape with speed. The tall transformed figure jumped high into the air and straight through the window smashing it into shards. There was no time to protect Isolde who jumped awake. Gray was knocked to the floor by the tall deep dark grey muscled hairy male shape with the head of a wolf. He had no chance to change into his own form but as an ancient alpha, it wasn’t necessary. The October wind blew hard around the dimly lit room. He could see Isolde getting up, coming towards them to break the fight apart. She would be killed instantly.
He punched the wolf hard in the stomach, once more evading an attempt by his assailant to rip out his throat with his sharp teeth. Standing quickly, he reached out his hand and pushed Isolde back with force. She lifted into the air and fell backwards on to the bed out of harm’s way. The action cost him time. Unable to fully protect himself the Lycan sank his teeth into his shoulder taking a bite. Gray grimaced and renewed the fight with earnest. He had to get to his sword. The only way to despatch a hybrid like this was the old fashioned one. It was sitting by the chair. With another blow he sent the Lycan backwards, sprawling and whimpering against the wall knocking plaster and paint with him. It had nearly come down around him. He looked to the chair and widened his eyes with surprise. It was no longer there. As the wolf came at him again, he heard a footstep not far from him come closer. He turned quickly wondering if there was another mate and other Taleian duel to be fought when he heard,
“Is this what you are looking for?”
Isolde held the ancient sword and with a concerted effort threw it to him. Gray caught it easily. Spinning quickly with it raised in the air, he sliced it clean through the Lycan’s neck and removed his head ending their duel for Isolde.
“This can’t be real,” Isolde was breathless, staring at the headless corpse bleeding out over her wood floor. “Who the hell are you and what just happened? You better tell me now. I need to call this in to the station,” she said firmly. She moved closer, to peer down at the Lycan.
“What the hell is that?”
Gray caught her arms and moved her back.
“Stay away from it,” he told her taking hold of her arms and moving her back to the bed, making sure her bare feet moved around the shards of glass. He picked up her silk dressing gown from the bottom of the bed and placed it around her shoulders worried she would be cold from the wind howling and blowing her hair around the room. Annoyed at his fussing, she shook him off and reached for her mobile out of her bag.
“I am calling this in I . . .”
With an impatient sigh, he snatched her IPhone out of her hand and crushed it. He threw it across the floor amused by the shock on her face.
“There’s no point. They won’t believe you. And besides, the body and blood will dissolve in a few minutes and there will be no trace,” he said softly. “And what are you going to tell them? There will be no evidence.”
“I can arrest you for breaking and entering and damage to personal property,” she snapped getting up to pace the floor in front of him.
“And I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you out of here never to be seen again before you or anyone else even tried.”
He shook his head and made her sit down on the bed.
“You and I have a lot to talk about.”
He sat down next to her and explained about his heritage and her own. A short time later she was back up on her feet and pacing.
“You can’t be serious. I am not a vampire and I . . .” he could hear the terror in her voice.
“Sorry but you are. You will make the change very soon. I can sense it. That’s why I was able to find you.”
“This is insane and what…? Six mates, werewolves . . .”
“More Lycan than werewolf,” he corrected for her. That earned him a glare.
They have to come and challenge you and fight duels with you before you can claim me as your mate or something? No way. This isn’t medieval times. I am no one’s mate. This is ridiculous . . .”
“If I don’t succeed in protecting you and they brand your blood with their bite whilst mating with you against your will, you are lost to me forever. They will own you and will be able to do whatever they want with you. That is the ritual. I won’t let that happen to you.”
He studied her closely watching an ashen colour swipe her face and her body begin to tremble even more.
“That’s barbaric,” she said quietly staring up into his eyes.
“I lost you once before. You were taken from me and this time, in this lifetime, I will make sure you are safe. You belong to me and no one else,” he said darkly. “I will kill all of them and claim you.”
“This can’t be happening . . .” But a sudden hiss and smoke in the room had her standing to view the Lycan’s corpse. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth as she saw the body sink inwards and dissolve into nothing along with its blood. Very soon there was no trace left. She pointed at the floor. “This isn’t real. It’s a trick or something. What are you doing to me? This is not true.”
“But it is.I have no doubt you are my wife who died in 1888 at the hands of a murderer.You resemble her in every detail,” he told her softly lifting her hand to his face to trace his finger along the side, studying the paleness and delicacy of her skin with his alluring blue eyes as he did so. They were hypnotising.He had lowered his voice to a whisper, “And in every nuance, every movement, every beautiful feature.”
Gray turned her to him. He picked up her hand and touched his lips her soft skin.
“You belong to me,” his words were possessive, dark and dominant. His breath brushed across her skin as he spoke making unexpected pleasure tingle down her spine.Perturbed by her physical reaction and his words, she retracted her hand and gave a tut.
“And as I said. I belong to no one. I will fight these idiots off myself.”
He laughed again and shook his head.
“Still feisty and independent as always.”
“I don’t belong to any one, especially a man,” she told him with calculated firmness feeling annoyed at herself for adding, especially a man and revealing a taste of her bitterness lingering over from the divorce.
Gray smiled. “They always deny their true heritage when they find out,” he muttered under his breath. “Why do humans have to be so scared of the truth and their uniqueness?”
Isolde frowned but decided to ignore him.
“Anyway, it is impossible. And to say I am basically a re-incarnation of your wife is almost as insane as saying you are immortal.”
“Don’t you believe in re-incarnation?”
