Page 3 of Moon Bound

“I’m. A. Wolf. Shifter.” I grunt out loud, forcing my feet to keep moving. Aleena is increasing her distance, her fearful whimpers becoming a chuckle of mockery.

You’d have caught her by now if you’d let me assist.The voice laughs inside my ears and trickles away. I stagger to a halt by a trunk, bracing myself as I catch my breath. After a few moments, despite the dryness in my throat, my throat loosens, and I manage a full inhale, expanding my lungs to max capacity. Then, I’m gone.

My thin sneakers hit the ground at an untraceable speed as my body shoots forward-- no more than a blur. She can’t see me, but Aleena senses the shift in the air, and I relish the moment that her heart picks up a beat, the rush of blood pumping through her veins raging. My shoe scuffs the back of her boot, her hair threading through the fingers of my outstretched hand. I almost taste the victory, the sweet flow of blood that will finally appease the dryness in my throat. This time, the growl drawn from me is a blend of both of my beasts, my claws lengthening to grab her slender neck. One quick snap to appease my wolf and aggravate the voice in my head. Just as I relish in the sensation of my claws grazing the skin of Aleena’s throat, I suddenly crash into a solid bar that appears from nowhere.

“The fuck?!” I snarl, my ass barely hitting the ground before I’m back on my feet. Metal bars cast from iron surround me in a vertical cage as blood spills from my nose, leaking into my mouth, somehow dulling the thirst within.Gross.

Still maintaining the eyes of my wolf, two unknown heat signatures step into view as I’m failing to pry the bars open by hand. I falter at their sheer size, stepping back into the center of the cage. They watch me with careful intent. And then there’s Aleena.

“What took you so long?! She nearly killed me!” Aleena shrieks. My heart drops. The two males pay her no attention, their eyes infused with wonder and curiosity like I’m a damn freak show. Whereas I am fully invested in Aleena’s intention. She tricked me. Led me directly into a trap with a species I’d only read about. Vampires. There’s no other explanation for their glinting, pointed canines and enormous size. Well over six feet, thick with muscle that has been squeezed into cotton t-shirts and baggy trousers. Certainly not wolves. Not my kind.

Are you sure about that?The voice in my head returns, and I blink rapidly, shaking the sound out of my head. But it’s too late. Doubt sets in, and the truth I’ve been so desperate to ignore becomes so glaringly obvious that I don’t know how I’ve managed to suppress it for so long.

I was never meant to belong in Shifter Camp. Never meant to run under the full moon with a pack. Never meant to feel affectionate cuddles around a blazing fire. I could handle the wolves abandoning me, but Aleena, acting on their behalf, determined that accepting that fate wasn’t enough. They’ve betrayed me, and they will live to regret that decision.

Chapter2

Jaxon

“Hmmm,” Torsten tilts his head towards the cage. It’s the most noise he’s made since we, Torsten, Chase, and I, received orders to run an errand in Shifter territory. None of us wanted to spend our well-deserved night off this way, but being the commander of the Vampire army technically means I don’t get to be ‘off-duty.’ These two assholes are my second-in-command and best friends.

“Why isn’t she healing?” Chase also approaches the cage. I hang back to glower at the wolf shifter still lingering nearby. We’d found her tearing up a tiny vegetable patch just after sunset, and I knew immediately she couldn’t have been the female we were sent to retrieve. At least, I hoped it wasn’t. Flashing my fangs, she gets the message and scrambles back to whatever shifter cesspit she’s crawled out of. That just leaves the female in the cage, which Chase promptly kicks and us.

“Chase! Fall back!” I bark. He obeys without question, moving aside for me to approach. I can’t blame him when the being before us is, indeed, refusing to heal. The scent of her blood alone is intoxicating. I inhale deeply, savoring the mix neither myself nor any other vamp has ever encountered. A heady scent that could easily unhinge us if we’re not careful. More than that, the female snarling back from behind the bars juts out her chin in a clear challenge. “Heal yourself before you drive my men crazy.”

“Men,” she scoffs under her breath. Disgust emanates from her lithe body, hidden within a baggy hoodie and torn jeans. Regardless, she roughly wipes her nose clean on her sleeve, and my eyes track the stained cuff as she folds her arms. “Well, get the fuck on with it then.” My brows raise. I scrub my stubbled jaw in an effort to hide my impressed smirk.

“What is it you’d like us toget on with?” I reply, and a standoff commences. I take that moment to catalog her every feature, starting with the pure white hair, wild from her run, reaching her lower back, and golden eyes crinkling at the sides as they dim to a dark navy hue, attempting to glare a hole through my head.

“You’re calling the shots. I’m the one in the cage. Hurry up and make your move.” A laugh is torn from my throat, mirrored by the assholes hovering behind me. She’s feisty, and she’ll need to be if she’s going to survive the next few days.

With a jerk of my head, Chase, and Torsten step forward to lift each side of the cage with ease and balance it upon their shoulders. I maintain eye contact, waiting for the moment she is knocked off balance and her bravado slips. Only then do I turn away with a satisfied smile.

“Name’s Jaxon, by the way,” I toss back before breaking into a sprint. Not half as quickly as I’d prefer to go, wanting to leave sifter territory far behind before the Alpha realized we’ve been on his land, but still fast enough that a mere human couldn’t track us – should there be any around. The vampires carefully chose their location within the mountain ranges to avoid such interactions. Tossing several looks behind, I ensure Torsten and Chase move smoothly to avoid jostling the cage too much. It happens to contain our princess, after all.

My footsteps over the boundary line when a caw sounds from overhead. I peer at a lone raven, wings spread wide against a crescent moon, circling us like prey. Dismissing it, I order my men to follow the trail along the stream when it sounds again. A cry of warning before the raven dives, an arrow of sleek black feathers I prepare to backhand at the last moment. Speeding towards me beak-first, the raven throws its wings wide, unleashing a plume of black smoke. A pair of boots slam into my chest rather than talons, throwing me backwards into the cage with momentum from an invisible gust of wind.

Momentarily speechless, I right myself as Chase roars, ‘the fuck’ as he leaps over me, without hesitation, to combat the new threat. Because where there should have been a swatted-down Raven, instead, stands a male before us, jet-black hair sweeping over his eyes. His trench coat, also black, whips around military-grade fatigues and a heavy set of boots that have snapped my collarbone. I force myself to recline until fully healed, watching as he smoothly dodges each of Chase’s wide swings. If I had to place a bet on an immortal vampire and a bloody bird before now, it would have been a no-brainer. Yet my faith begins to falter as the male extends feathers as sharp as spears from his fingers and slices Chase’s arms, neck, and face to shreds.

I watch as my friend stumbles, retreating to the cage and tapping out with Torsten, who’s unable to withhold his laughter.

“Let a true warrior handle this one, yeah?” Torsten jumps to his feet and races into combat with the raven shifter. In tune with the princess’ erratic heartbeat, I peer behind me with words of comfort that don’t leave my lips. The cage is empty, with the only sign that someone was once confined there being the bars bent out of place by finger-shaped indentations. I scramble onto my knees, calling on my vampire vision to produce heat signatures, and that’s when I see the lithe figure crawling up behind Chase. Silently stealthy, if only her ragged pants didn’t give her away. Peering over his shoulder, her fangs elongated as her eyes burst to life with a golden glow, set on the crimson rivets coating Chase’s skin.

“On your six,” I shout, rushing forward in a burst of speed. Linking my arms behind hers, I yank her back just in time. Chase spins at the sound of gnashing teeth beside his ear, pushing against her shoulders to keep her at bay.

“Watch it, Hellhound,” he ducks his head, rubbing it on his shirt in an attempt to clear the blood away. Except, he manages to smudge it further, and the princess jolts forward an inch more. Fuck, she’s strong. Stronger than anticipated and slippery enough to dislodge her arms from my grip.

“Bloodlust,” Chase grunts, pushing his head as far back as possible.

“Feed her then,” I command. This time, Chase doesn’t follow my order.

“You must be joking. She’d rip my fucking throat out. Must be the first time she’s smelt vampire blood.” Using his boots against her stomach, Chase tosses her into the air, flinging her to the side. She lands on her feet, leaps into a crouch, snarls, and advances again—fur rippling along her arms in the same snowy shade as her hair. From the minimal information I’ve been provided, I know not to let her shift. Confronting the full range of her supernatural abilities and the intense hunger swirling in her eyes makes it far more challenging to confine her back into the cage. Who said this was to be an easy mission? Oh yeah, that was me.

Shoving Chase out of the way, I dive through the grass, placing myself directly in her path. Her golden eyes fill my vision as I become her new target. With her full weight propelling her forward, the princess growls and snaps like a frenzied animal slamming her fist into my ribs with a blow I didn’t see coming. Bones splinter for the second time in the past few minutes, my reputation dwindling whilst I barely hold her back from tearing my jugular out.Fuck.

Time slows as I take a half second to quiet my thoughts and fully focus on the princess as she hovers over me, overcome, and blinded by bloodlust. Her threadbare clothes are even more tattered than before, and her eyes, glowing yellow, hold no visible shred of sanity as her now elongated canines drip with warm saliva that splatters against my face as she fights to get closer to my neck. Still, while her strength is impressive, I have to remind myself that she hasn’t had the vigorous training I have.

As I exhale, time resumes its normal pace. In one swift motion, I tuck my knees up to my chest and hook my feet behind her legs while I twist my hips and use the leverage of my arms to push against her shoulders. With a powerful heave, I dislodge her, flipping us both over and straddling her middle, I use my feet to pin her thighs in place. Chase appears in time to hold her arms outstretched and pin them above her head. Raising my wrist to my lips, my fangs lengthen.

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