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When the sun has passed overhead, I kiss the stone slab goodbye and venture down an almost vertical pathway near the base of the hill, leading to the sandy beach below. This was my secret escape; a small curve of golden sand enclosed by caves on either side. I remove my shoes and hitch up my jeans, entering the cool water with a sigh. The rolling waves leap forward to greet me and then regretfully retreat, almost as if the crystal blue water is clinging to my ankles, desperate to stay.
Calmness washes over me, all my senses at peace with my surroundings. From the salty smell, the sound of gulls overhead, and the feel of water lapping at my feet. Serenity stretches towards the horizon in a mask of shimmering blue. Prior to last week, this was the closest taste of freedom I’d ever had.
But it can’t last. The vampire in me rears her ugly head before long, filling my mind with orders to return to the castle. A lingering darkness within my soul, forcing unwanted urges and pushing against my wolf for control. She bites back in turn, and I’m left as a vessel. I sometimes wonder how I’d be without them, and the truth is depressingly obvious. I’d be a no one, who nobody was interested in. I run my fingers through the sand, allowing the grains to slip through my hands as easily as my grip on control does.
Amongst pondering how many sand exile huts I’d have to make and destroy to finally put my past behind me, the twittering of voices sounds over the crashing waves. A small rock tumbles down the steep pathway. The laughter grows louder, and my time has run out. Using my vampire speed, I shoot into the nearest cave, crouching to hide behind a boulder deep within.
Boycotting the rest of the pathway, rapid thuds of boots hit the sand. Shadows cast across the back wall, intruders trampling through my oasis to dump cooler boxes of beer bottles inside the cave.
“Hey Gabe, get the fire going,” a familiar voice commands. I slump down behind the boulder, resting my forehead on the stone. It would only be my terrible luck to be trapped in a cave with the same crowd I grew up with. Attended the shifter’s version of school with. A building adjacent to the mess hall, where young alliances were formed. Each generation of the pack tends to band together, and had I been ‘normal,’ I’d have radiated toward Radley’s crew. For once, I have to thank the moon for not being normal and missing the hazing initiation stage. I was just tormented from afar instead.
You’re stronger now,the voice in my head pipes up at exactly the wrong time.You could take them all.Usually, I can push that beast down and see reason, but this time, my head tilts of its own accord, my psyche stretching against my will. Tingles rack my gums, fangs elongating in time with claws breaking free of my fingers. Gold taints my vision as my eyes begin to glow. She’s never done this before, and I can’t stop it. I also find I don’t want to.
Let’s show them you’re not a reject.I shudder, her voice feeling like too much of a caress.Prove you can’t be beaten.More shifters enter the cave, their laughter grating on my last nerve. My head tilts again, irritation spiking through the inner beast. She fills my mind with visions of bloodshed. Torn limbs, silenced screams. Pushing back to my feet, my jaw hangs loose with anticipation as I move to take a step out from behind the boulder. Suddenly, a body appears at my back, and a hand wraps around my mouth.
“Don’t,” a low, graveled voice murmurs in my ear, and I’m tugged out of sight. “You’re better than this.”
“Get off me, Sawyer,” I mutter low, wrenching my arms from his hold. He releases me too easily, and when I hunt for him in the darkened space behind, all I see are smoke-like wisps resembling his trench coat. No raven shifter to speak of, and my heart clenches. He’s not really here. More like an astral projection sent to save me from myself. “Where are you?” My voice wobbles, a slice of agony I don’t understand slicing through me. True, I’ve missed Sawyer’s presence, but this is more. As if my soul is reaching out for the wisps that embrace me.
“Return to the castle. The trials begin tonight.” With that, he disappears. Sucked into an invisible void which leaves me cold from the loss. He wasn’t even here, yet his withdrawal hurts as much as his rejection in the forest.
Are we going to obey the command of a spirit?My head jerks aside, the vampire inside trying to take over again. My golden eyes burn brighter, searing through my skull. Using the boulder to steady myself, I hunt for my wolf. She’s whining, confined to the corner of my being. She isn’t one to cower, causing indecision to war within. Poking my head out, I catch a glimpse of the younger pack members, now huddled around a campfire where, no doubt, a series of orgies are about to break out.
“Here’s to being free of the mutt,” Gabe announces. Beer bottles clink in celebration, smiles covering their faces. Drawing my tongue over my fangs, I chuckle to myself.
“Yeah,” I whisper to myself. “I’ll follow Sawyer’s order, but not without having some fun first.”
Flexing my fists a few times to get my blood pumping, I step out of my hiding spot, ducking under a low overhanging rock and speeding forward to race around the uninvited guests. Arousal stings my nose, jeering laughter assaulting my ears. Lashing out a hand, I grab Gabe around the neck and throw him into the opposite wall. His beer bottle shatters across the fire, engulfing the cave in a blaze of heat. As I keep running, faster than the shifters can track, I throw my fists into various faces and yank out handfuls of hair. Only when I stop, the image of rage and power, does everyone gasp, realizing who I am.
“It’s the reject!” Keeley laughs, clapping her hands like the deranged, dopey dick she is. The shifters jump upright to crowd me, filling my eye line with cocky smirks. “Tut, tut, tut,” Keeley continues, oblivious to my claws lengthening with black talons. Much like Sawyer’s. “What will Conall say when he finds out you came crawling back? Just like he said you would.”
I merely smirk. If Conall thinks I’m so predictable, I’d like to see what he makes of this. Shooting my arms out, I sink my claws into the necks of those closest and tear out their jugulars. Power thrums through my veins. I shiver from it, launching myself into the next shifter awaiting their fate. This time, I use my teeth, tearing through skin like silk, ripping flesh about, and drinking the blood that pours down my throat. It’s a massacre of screams as I relent to the monster who’s waited so long to be freed.
A male I vaguely recognize as Radley, after growing his hair long and bulking up significantly from the clingy momma’s pup I once knew, cages Keeley in his arms as if that will save her from my wrath. Tearing her free by the ankles, I whip her around the cave like a shotput, laughing mechanically when her hair catches fire and I release her. Limb’s flailing, she flies towards the beach beyond the entrance and slams into the sand. Then I tear onward towards my next object of prey.
By a stroke of luck, Brendan manages to catch me by the throat as I’m blurring around the cave to kick up a tornado of dirt. Grabbing hold of his wrist and using it to hold my weight, I kick my sneaker into Radley’s jaw. Blood spews sideways from the impact, covering Gabe’s bare chest in the sticky liquid. The copper flooding my senses have my stomach churning for a taste, but I don’t want them. I have four males in the forefront of my mind, and only one of them will suffice. Perhaps more than one until I’ve taken my fill and shown them the hybrid I really am. Still clutching Brendan’s hand at my neck, my head tilts again.
“Say hi to our ancestors for me,” I flash my fangs. My voice isn’t my own, laced with an echo of threat. Radley’s grip falters, and that’s all I need. Snapping his fingers back with a loud crack, I land in a crouch and don’t hesitate to end this. Kicking out my foot to connect with his shin, the bone splinters, bursting free on impact. As he’s tumbling downward, my keen vampire eyesight watches in slow motion for the exact moment I can crunch my elbow into his nose, sending him flying onto his back. Limp. Lifeless.
“That’s enough,” Gabe growls, holding out a hand. My instincts want to snap it, but I hesitate. As the only shifter left standing, no one can bear witness to the slight incline of his head or how he covers his crotch just as the scent of urine reaches me. Fucking priceless. Maintaining Gabe’s eye contact, I sidestep around the edge of the cave towards the entrance.
Leaving one to live and telling Conall how he pissed his pants whilst watching the rest of his friends die will be my parting gift to the shifters. There’s no returning after this, and I find I couldn’t care less. With a smirk and double middle fingers raised, I shoot away in the castle’s direction, chuckling the entire way.
Chapter13
Torsten
My fist connects with my final opponent, the sound of his cheekbones shattering ringing in my ears. A fresh spray of blood flying from his mouth splatters my face as he falls to the ground with an endless thud. The roar from the audience overpowers the final claxon, announcing the end of the fight. One hour of pure bloodshed, fury, and adrenaline. One hour of feeling something I’ve been chasing my entire existence – alive.
The bloodied, bulky weight of my victim lies still at my feet as his body struggles to heal itself. His injuries are substantial, as his limbs contort at all the wrong angles. A feat only a fellow vampire can manage because we’re not shady fucks like the shifters who need to rely on claws and teeth. My fangs are reserved for the pleasure of feeding - not to rely on to win a simple fight.
Rolling the tension from my shoulders, I inhale the heady scent of blood that coats my torso like a second skin, all of which isn’t mine. I'm not sure at what point my vest was torn off during the fight, but I certainly was wearing one when I walked into the arena. Across the dividing ropes, Jaxon, and Chase grin back at me, having also succeeded in the first trial. In the last quadrant, Carrick paces like a caged animal, glaring and snarling as he struggles to regain composure.
Four elite contenders were chosen based on their brute strength to compete against those deluding themselves into believing they had a chance with Aspen. There was never any doubt about the winners, but if my army hadn't at least made an attempt, I'd have strung them up and drained their blood myself. It's all about maintaining a façade, but Lorcan knows that his future heir needs more than mere strength. The real tests commence now that we've swiftly eliminated the weak. We will be pushed to our limits mentally, physically, and emotionally to prove that we can lead under immense pressure. We won't buckle, even as our current king tries to hide the fact that he's teetering on the edge himself.
A royal guard approaches, his dark eyes laced with boredom. Like myself, Nealon is six-foot-three, stacked with muscle, and commands attention. Given my father’s dream for me to become a guard myself, I also had my hair cropped short at the back and sides. If Jaxon hadn’t claimed me as his second-in-command, I’d most likely be standing tall in the black and gold uniform on the other side of this imminent interaction. However, if I was, I’d have taken the guard’s vow of celibacy and would be forbidden to pursue Aspen. Nealon takes one look at the pathetic excuse of a competitor on the floor, clicking his fingers for a clean-up crew to swoop in before clasping my shoulder.
“No surprise you’ve won this round. Although, something tells me the next test won’t be as straightforward for you,” he says with a smirk. “Go shower and feed. The next round starts in six hours. Report to the dungeons by sunrise.”
