Page 8 of First Bite
“Elle,” Cole started, “We learned about the coven of vampires your mother was a part of, the Grishon coven. We knew of these particular immortals.”
I saw the concerned lines forming on his forehead. “You did? Did you know about my mom back then?”
He nodded, “Somewhat. We never knew exactlywhothe Life Blood was that they had with them until now. Your mom wasn’t with them for long, and that coven was extremely secretive about the human they had. They had a warlock working with them for a time, and it made it impossible for us to get close enough to them—or her, specifically—to find out.”
“That’s not the main issue, though,” Zac added pensively.
“Really?” I asked, seeing the three of them staring down at me as if I had transformed into a unicorn in front of them. “Then what’s the issue?” I looked at Braden who seemed to be holding his expression as he looked at his cousins.
“We think that warlock was your real father,” Cole added. “We think that’s why you’ve been so well hidden from Enzo for so many years.”
“What the fuck?” I stood up. “There’s no way. My dad was not awarlock. He died in a car accident when I was three years old. He’s the reason—”
“Your mom made that up, Elle,” Cole interrupted me. “The guy you see in photos could have been around when you were young, but he’s not your biological father.”
My legs grew weak. While it was true that I didn’t know my dad—at all—that didn’t change the fact that he was my father in my own mind. He’d been a guardian angel to me since I was little and dealing with my mother’s drunken episodes. Now, much like the rest of my life recently, I was finding out that what I thought was true was all a lie. I wasn’t sure how many more revelations I could take at this point.
“Ellie baby,” Logan knelt in front of me as I slumped back into the sofa and covered my face with my hands. “Everything is going to be okay, we need you to know that things might start awakening in you since you are with us now.”
“What do you mean by that?” I softly choked out as I took my hands from my face and looked at him.
He swallowed hard as his bronze irises seemed to be begging me to read his mind.
“It’s evident that our bond is strengthened every time you get more and more intimate with us. You are a supernatural being just like we are. You are a Life Blood, and being the daughter of a warlock, well, that makes it likely that you might have a certain amount of untapped magic too,” Cole said in his usual business-like tone. “Just don’t be surprised if things start to happen to you, that’s all.”
I stood up in a fury, forcing Zac to move out of my way.
“That’s all!? You can be such an asshole, you know that?” I said, glaring at Cole’s emerald eyes. “Thanks for breaking it to me gently that I’m a witch. Yeah,by the way, Elle, the man you thought was your father really wasn’t, and now you might have magical powers. Deal with it. Sound about right, Cole? Thanks for your empathy. You’re a real sweetheart,” I said, feeling my anger bubbling up inside of me. “So what now? Since me processing this doesn’t seem to be something you give a fuck about, tell me, Cole, what are we supposed to do now?”
“Right now,” he said, staring at me like I was a child throwing a temper tantrum, “we have to hunt your dad down. The warlock may or may not be alive still. If he is, he’s probably working for Enzo, or he’s hiding from him. We need to get to the bottom of all of this so we can understand what the hell is going on with you and the four of us.”
“You hate it, don’t you? This bond between us,” I seethed, ignoring the handsome, god-like face staring darkly at me. “Answer me!” I demanded after he brought his lips into a fine line.
“I like having control. You took that from me the moment I made contact with you.”
“Glad you’re finally honest about it,” I said in a shaky voice, holding back tears.
“That’s enough, Cole. Back off,” Braden said, clapping his hand down on Cole’s shoulder hard—to which Cole didn’t even flinch.
Cole glanced over at Logan and Zac. “Get your shit and let’s go.” He looked back at me, “We’ll figure this out.”
“Go. Maybe you’ll find my dad, and he can release you from whatever hold I have over you. I didn’t ask for any of this shit either, Cole. Last I checked, I was doing a hell of a job accepting all of it. You, not so much. Rememberthatwhen you get pissed off about the situation.”
“Let’s go,” Cole said flatly, speeding out the front door.
I felt like my heart was breaking, and Cole couldn’t care less.
“Hey, Ellie babe,” Zac brought a finger to my chin as Braden vamped after Cole in a blur. “Ignore Cole’s bullshit. Witchy dad or not, you’re ours, and you complete us. I’m sorry that Cole is adding to your pain, but he will come around. He doesn’t mean it. You know I can feel people’s emotions, and trust me when I say that he feels like a piece of shit for talking to you like that.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Who knows, maybe some guilt will finally get that guy’s head where it needs to be.” He wrapped me in his arms, and I felt his lips press into the top of his head. “I wonder if this is why the bond is not sealing completely,” Zac said, pulling away from me and looking over at Logan. “With Cole blocking it, we just aren’t able to tap into what fate wants for us.”
“What exactly does fate want for us?” I asked. “Sex and blood?”
Logan grinned, “Nothing wrong with that, Ellie.”
If he weren’t so damn sexy with his pectoral muscles trying to burst from his chest, I could have slapped the grin off his perfect face. All I was thinking now was running my hands over his firm body again and watching his eyes roll back from the pleasure of being with me.
