Dahlia

Justin C.P. Kelly

Published by K. George at Smashwords

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and didn’t purchases it, or it wasn’t purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

I wrote this book and currently have this self-published under the title Forever Mine and the Pen name Kalalea George. This book is primarily intact with minor differences in character names and a slightly different plot. I've re-written this and taken out some of the more graphic terminology to keep it PG13.

Overview

How does someone, even an Aswang survive a fatal car accident? What if they were saved by an Upyr that believes he is their true mate?

Dahlia Bowers is an Aswang. An Aswang is basically what most people would call a werewolf. As an Aswang, Dahlia grew up knowing she had a true mate. They were next door neighbors and best friends since they a young age. Their relationship was beautiful and special. In a time when many Aswangs were not able to find their true mate James and Dahlia were never without theirs. Then a drunk driver took James’ life and Dahlia’s reason for living away along with her capacity to love.

The Upyr found Dahlia in the twisted metal heap that used to be their car, just moments before her soul left her body. He fed his blood to Dahlia and brought her back to his home against her will. Dahlia should have died that day for more reason than one. But for some reason she was getting healthier by the day.

Why is she alive? How could she live without her true mate James? How was she going to raise their child without her ability to love? Why did the Upyr save her? Why does he call Dahlia his true mate? Most importantly…why does Dahlia want to believe him?

2: Damien’s Needs

 

Damien must have fallen asleep on the couch next to his true mate's bed yet again. Nothing new since he had been sleeping there for almost three months. He didn’t care. He would go to sleep there for three years, if that is how long it took for his true mate, Dahlia, to heal. He was so grateful he had her at all. Damien knew he almost missed his chance, because of his fear and foolish pride.

Damien knew Dahlia was his true mate long before he ever tried to claim her. Despite knowing, he never tried to lay claim to her. All soul mates call to their Upyr when they come of age. This usually happens in between their seventeenth and eighteenth birthday. Dahlia’s soul called to Damien’s soul when she came of age and Damien went to her and immediately recognized that she was an Aswang. That’s when he chickened out. He knew just like every other Upyr that an Aswang and Upyr cannot be true mates. Something was wrong with his soul to make him believe Dahlia could be his.

Heck her blood was poison to him and without sharing blood they could never really be true mates. So instead of claiming her, Damien stood back and watched as his sweet Dahlia selected a joined with an Aswang mate. Although it hurt him to see them together, it was better than the alternative. Moreover, he believed Dahlia would have rejected him too. So, in Damien’s mind that made his decision even more valid.

Still life ached. Damien stayed as emotionless as he could, but thoughts of Dahlia overshadowed his mind and his heart. Damien told himself it was easier to stay logical and not let emotions interfere with his decision. All that changed the night Dahlia and her Aswang mate crashed their car. Damien was in California at the time. He’d had put the maximum physical distance between himself and Dahlia as he could. He was always very careful not to get too close. He didn't want to become distracted by Dahlia’s soul looking for him.

Then Damien heard Dahlia’s soul say goodbye. Something inside of him cracked. He was going to lose his true mate because he was a coward. His mother, father and brother would be so ashamed of him. Damien started running toward her. He was well over a thousand miles away and even at his top speed he was never going to arrive on time. Damien didn’t want to be on time. He accepted that Dahlia would be dead before he could get there. He ran to be active, to punish himself. Damien wanted to suffer for being so stupid and staying away from her.

Damien ran in order to get to the place where his true mate’s soul left her body, and then he planned on sitting and grieving for his loss. Damien ran and ran for nearly two days without stopping. He ran all night and all day. He ran long after he was too physically exhausted to run anymore. He stopped for nothing, not even to feed. Damien was aware that he could easily fall into bloodlust. None of that mattered.

Damien came to the ruins about thirty hours after the crash. The car wasn’t more than a mess of molten metal. It was obvious that both occupants had to be dead. Damien was surprised that the wreckage was still burning and that human beings had not found the car. He moved as close as he could without going in the fire. That’s when Dahlia’s soul suddenly joined his again. Damien was surprised to feel Dahlia’s core mixing with his. The dance had begun. Knowing that she was still Damien was filled with conviction. He reached into the car and pulled out what was left of her body.

It was a miracle she was alive. Damien re-examined the wreckage and was surprised that she had somehow managed to stay alive nearly two days. To say she was burned on eighty of her body was an understatement. She suffered third-degree burns on one hundred percent of her body. Before Damien could change his mind he did the most unimaginable selfish thing he could have done. He sliced his wrist open and allowed his blood to penetrate his true mate’s mouth.

Damien knew his blood would force Dahlia’s body to stay alive. He knew it was going to be a daily battle for many months possibly years to stay alive. Not knowing where to go, Damien lifted Dahlia gently in his arms began to run towards his parents’ house in Ohio. It was the closest place he could think of and he knew I could get there before the sun came up yet again.

Damien cried the whole trip. Every time he looked at his true mate’s melted flesh, he felt more sinful and cried harder. Damien imagined the conversation he would have with his mother, when she realized what he'd done. Damien knew she would not be very proud of his actions. That it was his fault that Dahlia was in the state she was.

If Damien had sealed the blood bond with Dahlia as he should have when he first recognized that she was his true mate, she would have been strong enough to get herself and her chosen Aswang mate out of the car before it exploded. If Damien had stayed on the East coast or closer to Texas instead of hiding in Santa Barbara, he would have been here long before she suffered those horrible burns. God, even tonight Damien was still a coward. If he had been man enough when he found her tonight he should have let her rest in peace and not have forced his blood on her.

But Damien was weak and he was proving he could even weaker. The moment Dahlia touched his soul, Damien knew he would do anything to keep her. Hell would freeze over before he would let her go. With his decision came a corresponding amount of shame and guilt because Damien just forced his true mate to suffer more physical pain than anyone should have to feel. The worst part was that Damien was motivated by nothing but his own desire to have the opportunity to love.

At least Damien suffered alongside her every moment of every day. Now that Dahlia drank his blood Dahlia and Damien were half blood-bonded. That meant Damien felt every emotion that she did. He even mourned the loss of her Aswang partner. Damien mourned and cried alongside her when she dreamed of James at night. Damien wished he took the time to know him since he’s come to realized Dahlia loved her Aswang mate dearly.

Based on the feelings Dahlia had for him, Damien knew he had been a great companion. The Aswang had been a true partner for Dahlia and she had given him her whole heart. The two of them loved each other with their hearts and souls.  Dahlia was pregnant with James’ baby that even know was growing and changing from the effects of Damien’s blood. Damien hoped him and Dahlia could raise the baby together in James’ memory. Damien could not wait for the day the little boy made his way in the world.

Damien had the feeling that the baby was going to be a wonderful person. It has a beautiful soul and will bring great happiness in the world. Damien will do his best to make sure the child never suffered the loss of his father. Damien knew it was a boy because he was able to touch his soul, even though there was still months to develop before birth.

Damien invited a couple from the nearby Bedrock Aswang pack to come and help take care of the baby after he is born. They could help care for him until Dahlia is able to take care for him on her own. The couple was happy to come and stay with Damien. They assured Damien they were more than willing to play guardian to him. Recently, they lost their own baby, and due to complications will not be able to have more. The opportunity to help with Dahlia’s baby was something they really appreciated. They have already moved into the house and are looking forward to the arrival of the baby.

Damien left Dahlia once a day to eat, check on her comfort and to spend some time with his mom. Damien’s mom was having a very difficult time since she lost Damien’s father a few years ago. Unlike female Aswangs, female Upyrs continue to live without their true mates. It's painful, but it can, be done. His Mom is a Sentinel Upyr and his father was her human true mate. She had a long and loving life with him for over two hundred years.

Finally, his father died of old age. His mom is still suffering and gets very depressed. But mom lives on. Mom is a Sentinel Upyr because she has been alive so long. Heck she’s so old she will not even admit how many years she walked the earth, but doesn’t look a day over thirty. Sentinel Upyrs are the oldest and wisest of the entire Upyr race. His Mom says she will remain in this world until she has had the opportunity to meet her grandchildren. Damien wished his Mom thought of Dahlia’s baby as her grandchild. But he knew better. His mom doesn’t believe Dahlia is his true mate and she doesn’t think Dahlia will let Damien or his mom near her baby.

She’s probably right. Dahlia will resent him for keeping her alive and there is no chance of a relationship between the two of them. Damien know this but he doesn’t care. Damien will do anything to have Dahlia in his life, anything at all, even if it is never more than a patient-physician relationship. Damien knows that Dahlia may never heal enough for her to be able to survive without help. He'll be caring for her until the day she dies of old age, and with the help of the gods and a lot of Upyr blood Damien hopes it will be a very, very long time from now.

3: Dahlia’s Keeper

 

Flashes of bright light were burning Dahlia’s eyes. She could feel her head aching and her lips felt like they were on fire. Dahlia tried desperately to remember where she was and why her body hurt so bad, she ached from head to toe. Then it all came back to her. James and Dahlia went to celebrate their third anniversary and the conception of their first child. They spent the afternoon at the beach and had dinner at a five-star seafood restaurant. Everything had been so perfect.

They were returning to pack territory when a car swerved in front of them and forced them to drive off the side of the road. Their car went tumbling and flipped several times. Dahlia saw James’ head smack into the dashboard and then the light in his eyes went out.

Dahlia knew the moment that James left her. She felt it in every part of her mind, heart and soul. She felt her soul shattering into pieces while her Aswang howled in anguish. With her last bit of energy, Dahlia cried her pain silently into the night. Time seemed to freeze, while she sat immobilized and trapped in the now twisted car. She wasn't sure if it had been hours or even days. Her chest was crushed, and it was impossible for her to free herself from the ruins.

Dahlia heard that the gas tank exploded and she knew that the car was on fire. She closed her eyes waiting for her last breath. She felt her Aswang leave her about the time her internal organs began to liquefy. It was a strange feeling to know that her organs inside were so hot that they were actually dissolving. Dahlia knew if I was a normal human I would have already died.

Dahlia knew her time was up when her clothes caught fire. She felt the flames licking their way up her body until the flames completely consumed her and she was glad to be dying since piercing pain that was consuming her physically and emotionally would finally stop.

Just as Dahlia took her last breath the most beautiful angel that God could have created descended from heaven and yanked her from the car just as her soul left her body. Then the angel leaned over Dahlia and whispered gently to her. Dahlia wanted to ask where he was taking hers, but no words came from her mouth.

Dahlia felt something warm splash her face and tongue. She had to assume it ambrosia drink God sent to relieve her pain. The moment the liquid slipped to the back of her throat her pain instantly disappeared. Dahlia closed her eyes and thought it was time to join her companion in paradise.

When Dahlia woke up she knew right away that she wasn’t in heaven and that it was no angel who took her out of the car. Actually it was a semi-insane Upyr and his blood was ambrosia. His name is Damian and he thinks Dahlia is his true mate. He claims that, as her soul was ready to leave this earth, it called across the continent and dragged him to Dahlia.

Now Dahlia calls him her keeper as she is totally unable to take care of herself. Dahlia suffered burns to ninety percent of her body. The injuries were fatal even for an Aswang. Damien keeps her and her unborn child alive by giving Dahlia a bit of his blood every day. It will be months, even years of healing, even with his blood before Dahlia can even make a muscle spasm.

Hell the truth is that Dahlia will always need someone to take care of her. Dahlia doesn’t want Damien to take care of her. She would rather go to the next life with her James. Against her will, Damien refuses to let her die. He has made it his mission to nurse Dahlia back to health. As her keeper, he spoon feeds Dahlia her food and cleans her wounds and removes dead skin so that new skin can grow. Damien even has to change her bed pans. They have a daily routine that he follows religiously.

Dahlia wakes up with the sounds of classical music. Once Damian knows that Dahlia is awake, he lowers the volume and begins a spoon feed her breakfast. He is always very careful to make sure he never touches any of the burns on her face.

Then Damien changes her bandages and applies burn solves her body front and rear. This is always the most painful moment of the day. Often Dahlia cries and screams in pain. Damien really doesn’t like when Dahlia is in pain. He often stops during treatment to place a few drops of his ambrosia like Upyr blood in her mouth.

Damien blood is better than best pain killer made. It is so strong it puts Dahlia immediately a mist. Once he has finished taking care of her wounds, he reads for several hours. Damien likes to read old romances like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Gone with the Wind.

On the real bad days, Damien gives Dahlia a second sip of his blood for the pain. Dahlia, usually, relieves herself during reading time. She did today. Dahlia feels so ashamed that she cannot control her bowel movements. Part of her always expected him to be angry when Dahlia goes without the bedpan, but so far Damien never said a short word to Dahlia. He just gently lifts Dahlia into his arms and carries her to his bed while he changes her linens.

Then Damien feeds Dahlia a nourishing lunch as if nothing had happened. After lunch, he, usually, leaves for about an hour while Dahlia takes a nap. Today, he stayed in the room while she slept. Maybe Damien could feel her mind today. After nap time, Damien exercises her muscles by moving her body manually. It hurts but not as much as when he makes the burns clean.

After a workout, he goes back to reading. Then they have dinner. Dinner is always served on the side of Damien’s blood. Not droplets like Dahlia gets for pain, larger doses that put Dahlia to sleep until the next day so it can start again.

Damien is at her side all day and all night and has been for months. Damien even still sleeps in the chair next to her bed. There have been times when Dahlia awoke from nightmares to find him. To her knowledge he has not left me more than an hour a day since the day he pulled Dahlia from the wreckage. If her time accounting is accurate, then it's been almost three months since Dahlia survived without her true love and Aswang mate James. This would also mean that Dahlia still has three more months before she gives birth to the baby.

Dahlia stopped trying to keep her eyes wide open and instead tightly closed her eyes. She doesn’t know why she bothered to open them in the first place because they were useless. Dahlia was unable to see anything since Damien pulled her from her car. Damien says that they were damaged by fire, but are starting to heal and maybe in the next few weeks they will grow just as Dahlia starts to recover part of her face.

Dahlia heard Damien moving around the room and knew it was almost time for dinner. Dahlia was more than a little mentally tired today so she was looking forward to having dinner tonight and her serving of his blood. In recent days, something inside of Dahlia was changing, Dahlia could feel it but she didn’t know why.

Dahlia is very confused on where and why she is alive. Sometimes she actually forgets that James is gone and she thinks it is him in the room with her. She feels so comfortable and at peace. Then she remembers what really happened and her heart aches. She has tried to cling to the idea that she still had a piece of James growing inside her and that their son needed Dahlia to stand and fight for life.

She knows that Damien thinks she is his true mate and that is why he is putting himself through all this. But Dahlia knows that is not possible since Upyrs and Aswangs do not mix. Despite that Damien is the sweetest person in the world to her; there are times when Dahlia wondered if even James could have survived this with her.

If Dahlia had been human, she would probably have been able to love Damien. Heck, even if she had been a companionless Aswang she sure she would have given it a real go. But the truth is that Dahlia believes she can never love again. Not an Upyr and probably not her child, but definitely not Damien. Her ability to love died with her true mate James just as she should have.

4: Mom knows best

Mom knows best

Ina, Damien’s mom found herself involuntarily moaning as she watched her son go back to his room without feeding again. Ina was worried that he was becoming weaker by the day; he continued to keep vigil day and night without proper maintenance for himself. A daily healthy feeding was necessary for a young Upyr. Skipping meals can lead to weakness and eventually bloodlust.

Every night he bleeds for Dahlia yet he still doesn’t feed properly to restore his own strength. Ina wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. With that in mind Ina decided to bring home human donors tonight to help encourage him to feed more regularly. Years ago, her human true mate begged Ina to not to keep human donors inside of the house. So at his request even though it is more difficult, Ina and the kids learned to feed on the run. They used to call it fast food. Perhaps this method is not as healthy for her son in his current situation. Ina thought Damien needed to know that food was readily available and nearby. If necessary, she might just have to take charge and force him to feed.

Ina sighed again and looked across the room at the two Vargulfs Damian invited to live in her house. The two of them reminded her of mice, not wolves. They are so fast to run out of the room in which Ina entered. She cleared her throat and turned her full attention to the two of them

"So,” Ina said her voice clearly had a slight annoyance.

"How do you find lodging in my home? You know this is my home?" She asked, emphasizing the word ‘my’.

It was difficult for Ina to open her home and allow Vargulfs in. Technically Upyrs and Vargulfs do not have very good relations with each other. The Royal Vargulf family was trying to change that but the effects have been minimal. Ina has personally avoided Vargulfs most of her life. She felt it was not pleasant having them living under her roof, especially since in her opinion they do not give Ina the right amount of respect. Ina watched the female Vargulf visibly pale while her partner found his spine and managed to look Ina straight in the eye.

"Thanks for asking. The rooms of the house are suitable to our needs. Glad we can be here to help the unborn Vargulf baby. It would be a shame if we became uncomfortable and needed to go home to our pack. Don’t ya think?"

Ina was sitting at the table with her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. She knew the Vargulf was saying that he would no longer help the baby if Ina didn’t treat him and his mate better. Not that his little hint bothered her. Ina knew they wanted to be with this baby way more than either one of them wanted to acknowledge.

Upyrs have excellent hearing. Ina knew what the Vargulfs did and said under her roof. Ina was well aware that his female Vargulf cries at night over the loss of her baby. Ina heard him last night promise to do anything and everything necessary to secure their position in this home. He must be a fool to try to flex his muscles. Ina uncrossed her legs, leaned on the table and pressed her face just inches from his face and whispered

“Take care dog. Use care, before speaking in that tone to me. I am your superior! I am a Sentinel Upyr and have walked this earth much longer than you can imagine, and I will be here long after they have returned to dust. I think I can find a way to take care of the mutt when it’s born with our without you!"

The Vargulfs dropped their eyes to the floor in a show of submission. That satisfied Ina enough for the moment, so she got up and left the room and her house in search of a suitable blood donor for her son. It took Ina almost three hours to find a woman she thought could better Damien’s needs. Ina had been forced to go to several places where young people tend to gather in order to find the right one. The one she finally picked was a beautiful brunette five foot three with curves in all the right places. Ina knew she had seen similar women with her son. Ina was almost sure that his last human companion was almost identical in size and shape. Hopefully, Damien would be attracted enough to satisfy all his needs.

It was Ina’s fervent wish that his obsession with the Vargulf would end. The Vargulf was not his true mate and she needed to go back to where ever she came from so that Damien could return to the life he has had before this all happened. Maybe the voluptuous women Ina secured for him would put him back on the right track. Then her house will be hers again, no Vargulfs. Ina came home with the blood donor in tow and secured her in the last used guest room. She looked at her watch and realized it was only three o'clock. It would be several hours before Ina could get Damien out of her room.

Ina went to the kitchen to wait. She briefly thought of going to the girl’s room and having the conversation with Damien in front of her. Then Ina thought it might be better not to have him be defensive before she could convince him of the value of the new blood donor. Though it was hard to wait in the kitchen since, Ina still had not even met the female Vargulf. Damien kept her safely away from her even though he brought her home to Ina’s house. He claims that she is too sick to meet Ina yet. Ina thinks that is poppycock but has so far left it alone.

Now, she has to step in and save him from his own behavior. It has become detrimental to his health. Ina was willing to do what it took to make him understand the importance of eating well and taking care of his needs. Ina is a Sentinel Upyr for a reason; she is older than most Upyrs. She can remember a time when society didn’t keep time by using AD or even BC as a time marker.

All Upyrs have certain skills, like mind control, spirit walking, memory bending and even mirage casting. Older Upyrs have the ability to send sonic waves through their mind, mind speak to anyone they desire, while even others have the ability to read the past of any object they see. Ina as a Sentinel has all of those Upyr skills and some that most are Upyrs are not even aware that they may possess. Ina waited eons to find her true mate, then lost him in a tenth of that time. However, Ina lives and will continue to live long into the future. Both of her sons are immortal like her, and Damien needed remember that. His feelings for this Vargulf are adversely affecting his welfare. Ina will make sure he returns to caring for his needs properly even if she has to force him.

Ina heard the bedroom door open and she moved quickly to greet her son. When she got there the door was open but Damien wasn’t in sight. Without Damien blocking her path curiosity got the best of Ina. She found herself entering the room and looking at the bed. What she saw in the bed shocked her to the core. Ina was not been prepared for the sight before her eyes. She’d seen gore and terror in her life and yet, she could feel bile touching the back of her throat. Ina closed her eyes to listen for a heartbeat because she could not believe that anyone could actually be alive beneath the charred flesh.

Suddenly, Ina found herself instantly filled with shame. She was completely embarrassed for not considering the pain the Vargulf was enduring. If Damien was really her true mate then Dahlia’s pain would also be Damien pain, since he shared his blood with her. God she hoped it really was his imagination. If not he condemned them both to live with an incredible amount of physical pain. On top of the physical pain, Ina knew they would also both suffer from emotional and psychological pain as well.

Ina had to know the truth. If this burned Vargulf was Damien’s true mate there's no way he could make decisions for himself or his true mate. Ina would have to make it for him and be a better person. Ina quietly left the room in search of her son. Ina found Damien in his room changing the bedding. He looked so gaunt and pale. Ina cleared her throat to get his attention. He turned to look at his mom and said.

"Mom, I'm tired, please do not give me a lecture tonight," he said in a soft voice.

Ina felt more guilt consume her as a tear rolled down her cheeks. Ina put her palm lightly on his cheek.

"I love you my son. You know that right?" Ina asked softly

"Of course, mother," he said in a flat voice.

Damien words were the last bit of courage Ina needed to do the job. Her son looked her in the eyes and Ina mentally took control of him.

5: Ina to the rescue

 

The moment Ina got into Damien’s head she knew his relationship with the Vargulf was real. The Vargulf is Damien’s true mate. She didn’t have time to allow that to sink in when their mutual physical and emotional pain smashed into her consciousness like a tanker truck momentarily stunning her stupid. It took a while, but luckily Ina felt her brain kick back on and she knew exactly what needed to be done. Ina had been acting like a selfish woman and it was time to do the right thing. Starting today, Ina would make sure that Damien and his true mate had everything they need to survive.

Ina placed her son in a stasis, and then took his body to his true mate. She tried to be as gentle as she could while moving Dahlia. Ina wanted to put Damien next to her on the bed but with all the damage and burns Dahlia still flinched in pain. Ina heard a small moan escape Dahlia’s lips and quickly took control of Dahlia’s mind too. Her pain was so much more tangible, than the pain that came from Damien. It was so bad that Ina had to kneel on the floor beside the bed waiting for the pain to pass.

Once Ina had enough control again she managed to put Dahlia into a deep coma. She knew to heal Dahlia they were going to have to regenerate her skin and that would be a very painful and intrusive process. Ina would not want her to pop out of the coma and feel the pain. She felt true sorrow at Dahlia’s pain. Ina knew the healing process would take a long time and would be difficult for both of them.

Ina opened her wrist and allowed her blood to flood Dahlia’s mouth. Then she massaged Dahlia’s throat to help her swallow.  Ina wondered if it would be a good idea to get an IV system. Dahlia needed cooked food and feeding her by spoon as Damien had been doing wasn’t going to be an option if she remained in a coma. Ina also considered an IV to feed her blood. It would not provide nutrients since blood died once it left vein, but it will provide for her pain and would speed the healing process. Trying to provide large amounts of blood totally by mouth was slow and didn’t expedite the healing process fast enough. Dahlia needed Upyr blood like Ina’s; the older the Upyr the stronger the blood.

Ina left the room in search of the blood donor she secured for Damien earlier today. The donor would still serve a purpose just not the same one as Ina had in mind during the early hours of the day. Ina quickly walked her into the room with Damien and Dahlia and placed her wrist in Damien’s mouth. Damien’s fangs immediately punctured the donors flesh and voraciously fed.

Once Damien finished feeding, the donor was weak so Ina carried her back to the guest room while shouting at the top of her lungs for the Vargulf guests to join her. She knew they heard her when the female Vargulf squealed like a mouse. Ina listened carefully while they slowly made their way. Finally, after what seemed like a long time, even for the slow moving Vargulfs they entered the guest bedroom. Ina was a bit annoyed at the time it took them to obey so she pinched the bridge of her nose and said in a nasty voice that had a real sting to it

"You two need to look after her. Feed her and care for her well. I used mind control so she will not try to escape. In fact she is more than happy to be here. I will need her to be healthy so she can provide for Damien in the coming months. I will be bringing home two more female donors. Arrange the room so the three of them can stay comfortably in the room. They should have all modern amenities they need to be happy. Use my credit card and spare no expense."

Ina tossed a black Amex towards them and turned to leave the room when she realized she needed these people to want to help. She could use mind control or she could act more civil and try to fix another fence by giving the Vargulfs a little respect. Ina turned to the Vargulfs again and tried to keep her face pleasant looking and add some sweetness to her voice

"Let's start again. I'm Ina. I know I have not been very nice to the two of you. I'm sorry. I've had a hard time since I lost my true mate. I think Scott took my manners with him when he passed. Please, I ask you to forgive me for behaving like bitter lonely old woman."

The female Vargulf gave Ina a small smile. The male didn’t smile, but he did try to relax a little as he squared his shoulders and said

"No need to apologize Mistress, I'm Jon and this is my wife Liz."

"Please call me Ina, from this day forward in this home you are my equal."

At Ina’s words, the Vargulfs’ eye got as big as soup bowls. Then he nodded to Ina. Not knowing what else to say Ina smiled again and headed toward the living room. It was Ina’s intention to heal her son and his true mate as soon as possible. Ina also wanted to make sure that once Dahlia was healed she and Damien would be able to share blood. Ina knew however in order for that to happen they would need more Upyrs that just herself and Damien.

Damien's true mate needed a lot of Upyr blood the type that was full of powerful healing nutrients. Finally, Ina was delighted to be old-fashioned and a Sentinel. She collected many Upyr allies over the years and most of them owed her favors and Ina was ready to collect. Within a few hours, Ina had gotten more than she could have expected.

By the time, Ina hung up the phone she gained the necessary medical equipment and blood supply. Ina was very pleased that she was able to negotiate the oath of five Sentinel Upyrs to donate a minimum of two pints of blood each day. With twelve pints of fresh blood from the strongest Upyrs waking the earth Damien’s true mate would be healed in no time.

Now, all that was left for Ina to do was to secure rooms at the bed and breakfast for five Sentinel Upyrs who would arrive tomorrow and stay for the coming months. Ina felt a little twinge of pity for the humans, then shrugged her shoulders and headed there to do whatever it takes.

6: OMG that’s me!

Dahlia knew she was dreaming, but she didn’t care. It was the most incredible thing Dahlia had ever felt. It was as if her soul had broken free of her burning flesh and Dahlia was now untied from her body and the pain that has been a part of her consciousness for the past several months.

Dahlia wandered into the room, then turned back to the bed and saw the finest man she’d ever seen. He had almost white hair and a strong chiseled chin. Dahlia looked over his body and saw that it was lean compared to Vargulfs, but still clearly a very powerful body that could compete with any Vargulf.

Before Dahlia could stop herself she moved forward and allowed her lips to lightly brush his. The soft touch caused butterflies to erupt in Dahlia’s stomach. Dahlia laughed softly in pleasure. Then she turned her head a little and saw what looked like a rotting corpse lying beside the man. Dahlia was completely horrified. Suddenly she realized that the blob of meat was her body. Dahlia was confused and began to panic.

“Oh, my god! That’s ME! I should be dead. But why am I stuck here? Why am I not with my partner? Jesus H Christ my skin is blistered as hell. Oh crap I am really a burnt crisp.”

The more Dahlia blathered the more disturbed and unstable she was becoming. Dahlia started screaming at the top of her lungs. She was begging and praying for it to all go away. She kept opening and closing her eyes praying that the next time she opened them she would be in heaven with James. As Dahlia stood there screaming at her decrepit body a pleasant and beautiful woman entered the room with a look of confusion on her face and looked at Dahlia. Then she turned to Dahlia and said in a calm almost musical voice

"Small one, you need to return to your body and rest. It is wonderful that you've learned to spirit walk but now is not the time. Heal first."

Dahlia was immediately back in her body and in a deep sleep where even dreams could not reach her.

7: Trouble with a dog

 

Ina sat patiently waiting for the arrival of the other Sentinel Upyrs. She knew they would be there soon enough and the energy in the air would change. Ina just didn’t know which one would arrive first. Ina also knew that the next several months would be difficult given the strong personalities of the Sentinels. It was very rare that you would find more than one or two of the together at a time. Gathering six including Ina was unheard of.  Ina heard footsteps coming up the driveway and knew immediately that Zinnia was near. Swiftly, Ina walked to the dark mahogany door and opened it. Ina stared into Zinnia’s coal black eyes and smiled politely.

“Welcome Zinnia, please come in.” Zinnia stepped inside and looked around.

“Ina” She spoke with a thick Scottish accent.

“How have you been?” Zinnia gave Ina a pointed look and Ina shrugged,

“I see you’ve stumbled into some trouble with a dog?” she spit.

Ina nodded feeling somewhat off balance from the antagonistic energy that crept up her spine. Ina knew this was a bad idea. Ina studied Zinnia long and hard. Zinnia looked better than the last time Ina had spent time with her. Zinnia was dressed in a smart black off the shoulder dress, with chic red patent leather stilettos that matched the color of her hair which was tied neatly in a no-nonsense chignon on the nape of her neck. She displayed a cool, calm look on her face, but her energy told Ina she was anything but calm.

“I understand if you don’t particularly wish to repay the favor you owe me, but this is important to me Zinnia” Ina stated through clenched teeth.

“Yes Ina. I wish to help you, but these circumstances are a little,” she cleared her throat, “Uncomfortable to me.”

Back in 430 B.C., Ina met Zinnia while travelling in Britain. Bored and annoyed, Ina went out for a quick snack and stumbled upon Zinnia fighting several Vargulfs. She was distressed and covered in blood, thirsty, weak, and more importantly losing. Ina stepped in and saved her life.

Unfortunately Zinnia was abandoned shortly after being turned by her Upyr parents and hadn’t a clue on how to survive as an Upyr. Being abandoned by ones Upyr parents has always been very rare and almost unheard of. However during the dark ages, if a child demonstrated strange or unnatural powers it was somewhat more common for the parents to fear them and therefore leave them behind. Zinnia was that type of child. Zinnia emits a form of hostile energy that targets other Upyr and makes it somewhat painful to be in a room with her.

Despite her surly energy, Ina still helped her. In some ways, Ina was like today’s teen moms. Ina took Zinnia under her wing against her father’s Keanu’s wishes and dedicated the next several years to training and helping her. She and Ina continue to have a strange but loving relationship. While it’s not quite mother and daughter it is much more than siblings.

That said, Zinnia has never gotten over being abandoned by her creators, nor has she ever truly made peace with the Vargulfs. In fact, it is safe to say that she has a strong hatred for them, so Ina could understand how this could be ‘uncomfortable’ to her.

“Yes Zinnia, I understand your circumstances.” Ina cleared her throat and continued, “Please, sit down, are you thirsty? You’ve come a long way.”

Ina tried her best to be accommodating since she knew this wasn’t going to sit well with Zinnia. Zinnia was going to need to be pressed into honoring her oath to Ina. Ina felt empathy for her, but she needed Zinnia to uphold her end of the bargain. Ina had many tricks up her sleeve if needed she would pull out every one of them. Ina would do anything for her son and his true mate. Zinnia needed to understand that. Should she ever find her true mate, Ina would support her and her true mate with the same level of enthusiasm. Ina opened her mouth with the intent of saying something to that effect when a knock on the door distracted her.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Ina said to Zinnia while turning herself towards the door. Ina took in a deep breath and knew it was Adonai and her true mate that stood on the other side of the door. Ina pulled on the handle, flung the door open and welcomed them in.

“Hello, Adonai how have you been?” Ina asked politely. Adonai smiled in return,

“Hello Ina. Life has been treating me great, how about you?”

She asked courteously while motioning towards her true mate

“This is my true mate Jared.”

The three of them chatted briefly before Ina showed them into the dining room.

“Have a seat. I'll bring some wine for our pallets. Once the others get here, I’ll explain everything about Dahlia and Damien.”

As Ina walked to the kitchen she thought about how she met Adonai. Ina was staying in Europe in 500 A.D., when many Upyrs from India were immigrating. Adonai and her family were among the early setters. The local’s however managed to find and attacked Adonai’s family. Ina stumbled upon Adonai’s body lying in the leaves in the woods; she was sunburned and sickly, her clothing hanging awkwardly from her bony frame.

“Help.” She rasped to me, her voice thick with thirst.

The rest of her family had been staked in the heart and carried into the sunlight and left for dead. Of her entire family, Adonai was the only that hadn’t yet died. It was clear she’d been suffering in the same spot for days with just the tiniest bit of tree coverage and couldn’t continue to survive if she spent even one more hour in the sun.

She’d been very lucky that Ina found her when she did. Ina lifted her in her arms and carried her indoors. Ina then ran to fetch a blood donor for her. Something about Adonai endeared Ina so she stayed and cared for Adonai for several weeks while she healed from the tragedy.

Ina looked over at her again and smiled. She was so lucky to have found her true mate and that he too was an Upyr. It was such a gift that the two of them could have all of eternity together. Thinking about that caused a pang of pain to slam into Ina’s chest. Ina missed her true mate Scott more than words could say.

Ina continued to converse with Adonai and her true mate even trying to loop Zinnia in from time to time when Ina felt another shift in the air. Ina didn’t have to look out the window to know that Alep had arrived. Alep was almost as old as her father and nearly as powerful. As always Alep’s aura arrived long before he did.

He had been so powerful even when Ina met him in early 400 A.D., in Egypt. At that time, he was travelling with a pact of five or so very sick Upyrs. During the night, the pact would massacre human beings. They would torture them, lock them up and bleed them dry. Disturbed by what the other members of the pact were doing to the humans, Alep wanted out of the pact and Ina was glad to help him get out of it. Alep didn’t wait for me to invite him in, the door burst open and he glided through.

“Ina,” he spoke with care,

“How are you?” he grasped her arm and pulled me in for a hug.

“It’s so lovely to see you again.” Ina smiled at him,

“Alep. It’s amazing to see you again. All is well I assume?” Ina asked him.

Ina took in his features, wrinkles were beginning to appear around his eyes and his face was beginning to sag, but other than that he looked the same; dark skin complexion, caramel brown eyes, and a shaved head. His broad muscles and shoulders rippled with every movement of his body and he still had a big broad smile on his face.

Ina looked at the two human female blood donors he walked in with. The one on his left side had straight long blonde haired, blue eyes and a gorgeous figure. The one on his right side was a brunette with a tiny heart-shaped face a chocolate brown eyes. Her physique was stunning for a human.

“No true mate yet?” Ina questioned. Alep shrugged and changed the topic.

“How’s your father?” he asked Ina. Ina knew she shouldn't have, but she winked at him and said

“You’ll see him soon enough.” He wrinkled his nose and said,

“Well, I guess it can’t all be pleasurable. Whom else have you gathered to your home?”

Ina held onto her arm and walked him into the living room where she introduced him to Zinnia, Adonai and Jared. Ina could tell that they were all becoming increasingly uncomfortable being in such close proximity with each other and Zinnia's unsociable energy wasn’t helping. Their patience was already getting thin and there was much to do before they could get the space they desired.

Ina let out a deep breath and gave a silent prayer to a god just as her last guests arrived. Ina watched as Adonai, Jared, Zinnia and Alep’s faces registered the knowledge that another Sentinel Upyr arrived. Ina sent a mental message to her father to join them in the living room then knowing he would expect to feed immediately. Ina then moved towards the guest room to bring in a donor.

Ina’s father is the oldest known Upyr alive, he too is a Sentinel. His power is greater than likely all of the rest of them combined. Now, under most circumstances his power and age would probably give her father a higher level of esteem and respect, however with the rag-tag group of Upyrs sitting in the living room it just meant dad was home. So when they all collectively gasped Ina couldn’t stop herself from jerkily turning back towards the living room.

Her father and youngest son Jonah were standing there next to Noah Sculptors himself. Noah was the one Upyr in all known Upyr history, to have ever developed immunity to Vargulf blood. He alone had gone through the conversion process and was actually able to drink the blood of a Vargulf.

8: The Great Mr. Sculptors

The day was getting stranger and stranger by the moment. Here Jared was just nineteen years old blood-bonded to the most beautiful and amazing Sentinel Upyr alive and they were sitting in a room with five of the oldest known Upyrs alive.

Jared could feel this sort of threatening energy running up and down his spine. He wanted to wince in pain, but didn’t want to draw any attention towards himself. Jared felt so out of place but didn’t want to say or do anything that would embarrass his true mate Adonai.

Every young Upyr learns about the Sentinel Upyrs in school. As of today there are officially sixteen Sentinels alive. Jared is currently blood-bonded to Adonai one of the famous sixteen. Adonai was born in ancient India. She and her siblings are the basis of modern day Dracula stories. She was once depicted by a human as the bride of Dracula. If only humans had known the truth. It was in fact his beautiful Adonai that was the master Upyr. The others were her younger siblings.

When Adonai told Jared that they would be visiting the house of another Sentinel Jared was ecstatic. Jared however couldn’t have been more pleased when they arrived and Ina opened the door and greeted him and his true mate Adonai. Of all the elders, Jared found Ina’s story to be the most fascinating. Jared couldn’t help but think about the stories humans tell about her in comparison to the truth as he’d learned it in school. Ina was born in the dark ages, before history was being recorded in the written word. Only her father Keanu and the Egyptian god Alep are older than she is.

Tales of Ina are twisted with tales of Arthur and the round table. She was worshipped as a god in her youth by the humans and sometimes called the Lady of the lake. Human folklore got more wrong about Ina than right.

Jared was also excited to meet Zinnia. Her story wasn’t quite as colorful as his true mates or Ina’s but special just the same. She is called the Vargulf Hunter. It is said that Zinnia dedicated her life to protecting humans and Upyrs alike against Vargulfs. She has been known to put entire packs down for small slights against human society or young Upyrs. Vargulfs speak of Zinnia in hushed tones somewhat like humans talk about the bogey man.

Jared was shocked when Alep came through the door. Alep was the second oldest Upyr alive. He was anti-worshipped in ancient Egyptian times. The enemy of Ra. The evil god of total darkness. Egyptian Pharaohs sacrificed many maidens to Alep and his Upyr children for many many eons in the hopes of surviving. It wasn’t until Egypt fell to the Romans that Alep and his children left Egypt. Alep was the only known Upyr that somehow managed to turn human Egyptian children into Upyrs without a blood bonded mate. This however left them abnormal and semi retarded and incapable of growing up and caring for themselves. It is told that when Alep met Ina he allowed her to slaughter his sick children so that he could move on without them.

Then Jared squealed like the child when the front door opens again and the Sentinel Keanu had arrived. His true mate Adonai had to enter his mind and contently wrap herself in Jared’s aura so that he could remain calm. Then Jared felt a ripple of fear move through his true mate’s soul that forced him to turn to look at what had caused her shock. Nothing could have prepared Jared or anyone else in the room to see the legendary Noah Sculptors standing there.

9: So many visitors

This book and all my books are self published and for sale on all the regular booksites. Just search on my name: Justin CP Kelly

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So many visitors

Keanu looked around the room at the ragtag group of elders his daughter had cajoled into coming together. Keanu was proud of his child. She’d always been so much more intelligent and capable than the majority of Upyrs. Her mother and Keanu had selected well. She’d been a Celtic princess before they converted her, and she continued to carry herself like royalty.

Keanu recognized each and every Upyr sitting in the room and knew exactly what it had taken for Ina to ask each of them to come here. All but one of them now sitting in the room had spent several years with his family at different times of their life. Keanu could thank his daughter for that. She had a way of collecting strays and bringing them home for his wife and him to care for.

Keanu wasn’t a bit surprised when she called him last night and told me of her problem with her son Damien. Ina knew that Keanu had been there with Noah when he’d dealt with his Vargulf problem. She knew that Keanu had firsthand knowledge of not only how to heal a Vargulf, but what had to be done next.

Healing the Vargulf was the easiest part of what needed to be done. What happened after they were both healthy was the really hard part. In fact, watching what Noah had gone through had changed the man that Keanu was. There was a time when Keanu felt little to nothing of humanity and Vargulfs in general. The years Keanu had spent with Noah had changed him.

Most Vargulfs and humans don’t really understand much about Upyrs. They have a very limited understanding of how Upyrs find and blood with their true mates and they understand less about what can kill them. Upyrs are immortal unlike humans and Vargulfs. There are only four ways to truly kill an Upyr.

The first and most commonly known method is to completely sever an Upyrs head from its shoulders. This is a task easier said than done since there is no creature still alive that is stronger than an Upyr. The second and most misunderstood method to kill them by removing their heart from their chest and completely destroying it.

Most of the time, humans and Vargulfs alike stab at an Upyrs hearts and leave them for dead. They misunderstand and think they have killed the Upyr. Occasionally they will know they should remove the heart, then foolishly don’t know to destroy it. Either way, even a small undamaged piece left behind can be regenerated and an Upyr can completely recover. Upyrs can even shove back in the damaged removed heart and it can regenerate.

The third and again misunderstood method of killing an Upyr is to leave them in sunlight. While an Upyr can tolerate a little sunlight, prolonged exposure causes severe burns, and eventually death. By prolonged it mean days of exposure not hours.

The final way, and most deadly way to kill an Upyr is the consumption of Vargulf blood. This is a secret that Upyrs never share outside of their own race. If Vargulfs or humans knew how deadly Vargulf blood was to Upyrs, they would use it to their advantage. This was an Upyrs best kept secret.

So having a Vargulf as a true mate is a major obstacle for an Upyr. You see Upyrs wait their entire existence for their true mates to call out to them. It almost always happens sometime between their seventeenth and eighteenth birthday. All Upyrs dream of finding out their true mate is an Upyr too so that they can spend eternity together.

This however is very rare, more often when they find their true mate they are human and are no longer capable of being turned. In order to turn a human they must be older than five but younger than thirteen. Once a human becomes too old, they can no longer live through the transition process.

That said, most blood bonded couples consisted of an Upyr and human. Upyrs simply share their immortal blood with their true mate and their life blood expands their human life three to five times a normal human. Like Keanu and his wife, most Upyrs spend roughly three hundred plus years loving their blood bonded human.

Blood bonding is the essence of the Upyr race. When they mix their blood together with their true mate their souls dance with each other and we become one. Without blood bonding, Upyrs continue to decay, their hearts don’t beat, and their souls would never dance together.

Having a true mate that wasn’t blood bonded was unheard of. An Upyr living with a mate that you have not blood bonded with would be very painful. Their souls would call out day and night for each other but wouldn’t be able to answer each other. Eventually one or both of them would be driven insane.

That is exactly what would happen to Damien and his Vargulf mate Dahlia. That is the exact reason why Keanu rushed to his daughter and grandsons side. That is also why Keanu sought out Noah last night and begged him to join him. Noah alone knew what it would take for Damien to survive. Keanu looked around the room and decided to have a little fun. Keanu cleared his throat threw his arms into the air and said with the flare of a circus master

“Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you Noah Sculptors” Keanu swirled around and pointed both of his outstretched arms towards Noah then continued

“The great Mr. Sculptors has agreed to humble us with his appearance and to pull our arses out of the pan our dear sweet Ina has placed us in”

10: Strange times…

Keanu had been waiting for this day for what seemed like an eternity. Keanu was tired and old more importantly life had become more of a burden than a pleasure. His true mate had been gone from him for more than two thousand years, his daughter was grown and even his grandson was moving on in age.

Keanu spent years travelling the earth doing everything and anything that he’d wanted. After losing his true mate Keanu had somehow lost his touch with humanity. Keanu had become worse than evil. Keanu had become complacent. There was a period of his life where Keanu had no regard for anyone but himself and what amused Keanu.

If Keanu wanted something Keanu took it. If what Keanu wanted was alive, Keanu used his gifts to make sure they wanted what Keanu wanted. It mattered not if they were married, young, old, single or mated. Keanu asked then took and they agreed. During his time with Noah and the Vargulf packs they had taught Keanu to appreciate and to relearn his humanity. Living with a pack full of Vargulfs constantly touching, feeling, whining, sharing and caring for each other just had that kind of effect. The Vargulfs had endeared themselves to Keanu. He found them to be a far superior race than his own. Keanu came to love the packs and he likes to think though they wouldn’t have admitted it, they came to love him as well.

When Keanu heard that Damien's true mate was a Vargulf Keanu immediately started to think his theories had been correct. Keanu had always theorized that he could alter a true mate if an Upyr introduced their blood into a gene pool far enough in advance. For that very reason through-out history he’d given many humans his blood and traced their family until one of them because a true mate to an Upyr in Keanu’s blood line.

His theories were proven true time after time. However he still hasn’t been able to make more than one true mate for anybody. That is until now.  Keanu knew that Dahlia wasn’t Damien’s first or only mate. He’d had a human girl that died as an infant. Keanu had tried to save her for Damien but despite his best effort the child passed away and left Damien without a true mate.

Now, Keanu had an idea on how this happened. While Keanu was living the Vargulf packs he wanted to try a variety of medical test.  He managed to feed multiple male Vargulfs from several packs including Bedrock, Parker and Western-Sky significant amounts of his blood. Most of the males had taken his blood freely under the guise of healing them, a few weaker Vargulfs agreed to consume some to see if they gained strength from it. Keanu hadn’t noted any additional strength or skills from the consumption. Nor did it appear to give them faster healing for future injuries. Keanu had however, noticed all the Vargulfs that had consumed his blood had lived to a very ripe old age, well outside of the norm for Vargulfs.

Keanu had left eventually with the hope that possibly one of the Vargulfs children or grandchildren down the line would be true mated to himself or one of his bloodline. Keanu stayed in the America’s all of this time in the hope that a soul would call out to me. Keanu had however honestly started to give up hope of this as the years progressed endlessly without a single Vargulf being born true mated to him.

Keanu listened as Ina laid out the living arrangements and timetable for the various elders and decided it was the perfect time for him to make an exit. Keanu slipped from the living room and headed towards the room his grandson and his true mate were being kept. Keanu walked in and was totally unprepared for how badly the female Vargulf had been burned. She was nothing but a charred mound on flesh. Keanu found himself in shock that she could even be alive in this condition. Keanu knew Upyrs who have begged for their existence to be extinguished in far better condition than she was in.

Keanu was thinking of the physical pain Dahlia's body must have endured when he felt a lone tear slip down his cheek. Keanu allowed himself a moment of sympathy before he took in a deep breath through his nose and sorted through the burnt flesh smell to find the underlying Vargulf smell. Dahlia smelled strongly of the Bedrock pack, Keanu would bet dollars to donuts one of her great great grandparents consumed his blood. Keanu would have to question her when she awoke on her lineage to determine which one and how much. Keanu kept fastidious records during that time period.

After leaving Noah and the Eastern United States packs, Keanu approached several other Vargulf packs about testing but was stopped again by his own Upyr brethren. The Upyr elders had concerns that Keanu would create monstrosities similar to what had been created in the dark ages when we tried to turn adult humans. So Keanu had been forced to think of his theories in his head only. Keanu just awaited the opportunity to test them.

Keanu again took in a deep breath and was surprise to smell the yet unborn male Vargulf baby deep within his grandson’s true mate. Keanu felt something inside of him become overly excited as he realized he would be able to see the results of at least two of his theories in one felled swoop. Keanu suddenly had a strong desire to make sure Ina was the first to feed the female Vargulf. If anyone deserved a second true mate it was his beautiful daughter.

Keanu had no idea if that was how it worked, but if there was even a slight possibility that the unborn male baby could be a new true mate for his Ina, Keanu was going to give it a try. If this worked, then Keanu would know that someday he too could possibly have another true mate and that thought was enough to have him bubbling inside with excitement.

11: You can’t choose

Zinnia listened carefully to everything that Ina, Noah and Keanu said. I couldn’t disagree with them more. I may have promised Ina that when the time came anything she requested of her Zinnia would give but this went too far. They knew how Zinnia felt about dogs. The earth would be better off without them. They should not exist and Zinnia was more than happy to help rid the earth of them. Ina, Noah and Keanu were a disappointment to our race. They clearly felt that a Vargulf was a worthy true mate.

Zinnia couldn’t disagree more. If Zinnia found herself true mated with a Vargulf she believed she would kill it and seek a witch to purify the half of her soul that had been sullied by a Vargulf. Zinnia wasn’t going to be able to keep her part of the bargain. In fact, she had a strong desire to sneak into the bedroom and snuff the female Vargulf's life out before this went much farther. It would be a kindness to Damien and Ina.

Zinnia watched as Keanu slipped out of the room and she wondered where he was headed. Zinnia turned slightly and spirit walked herself behind him. With any luck no one was paying Zinnia enough heed to notice that she slipped out of the room. Zinnia followed him into a bedroom and noticed that Damien was lying on a bed facing what she had to guess was his Vargulf true mate. Zinnia took in a deep breath anticipating that she would smell burned flesh, but was surprised when instead Zinnia was assailed by the scent of honeysuckles.

Zinnia felt her soul begin to tingle in excitement. Her true mate was near. Zinnia looked around the room again trying to understand where the scent and stimulation was coming from. Zinnia looked over at Keanu and knew that it was coming from the opposite direction. Zinnia was attracted to the bed where Damien and his Vargulf were lying. Zinnia reached out and tried to touch Damien knowing that if he was her mate the connection would be solid. Though, Zinnia hadn’t thought it was possible that he was her mate since they’d met many times over the years and had never formed a connection.

As Zinnia expected she passed through his flesh. Zinnia’s hand kept moving towards his true mate. If Zinnia had been solid she would have reached in and crushed Dahlia’s barely beating heart in her hand. Then, Zinnia was suddenly unable to breathe. Zinnia felt her own heart start to beat; Zinnia knew blood was pumping through her, and that she’s just found her true mate. It was his tiny little heart beating deep within the Vargulf.

12: Is anyone in?

Just an FYI... If you are enjoying this story, please let me  know. Comment etc. Also, this story and all my stories are self published you can find them on all the book sites for sale just search on my name Justin CP Kelly.

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Is anyone in?

Ina spent the next several hours explaining the situation to her guests and her son. Ina was glad to have her papa and Lucius' help with answering some of the more difficult scientific questions. The truth was, they all knew to some extent exactly what needed to be done. Most of them even the young ones like Jared and Jonah already knew the tale of Noah and what he’d undergone to obtain immunity.

To heal Dahlia faster they would need to bathe her in our blood. It wasn’t just about her consuming the Upyr blood though her mouth, it needed to be soaked into her skin. They also knew that Damien was going to need to become immune to his true mates blood and that was going to be incredibly painful and take damn near if not more time than healing his true mate.

Ina allowed Noah to walk everyone through the process of becoming immune. Ina felt her insides clench in pain as he talked of the process. At one point, Ina heard sobbing and realized that Ina and the others in the room had all started to weep. They wept for his pain and suffering, they wept for Damien and the knowledge of what was to come. No one should ever be asked to sacrifice and bear so much anguish and torture for the sake of love, but as fellow Upyrs they all understood that all of them would have done the same if it meant a chance at being with their true mate.

Ina would gladly walk through the fires of hell and back again for a chance to be with her true mate again. Ina would give anything to have spent an eternity with him. Ina heard Noah say his goodbyes and watched as he left the room on his own. Ina had wanted to be a good host and walk him out, but Ina found she had still needed more time to pull herself together.

His words had impacted every Upyr present on such a visceral level. Now that Ina truly understood the path that was ahead of them, Ina needed to ask if they would uphold their oath. Ina wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up, smoothed her skirt, cleared her throat and said

“Before today, I hadn’t truly understood what would be needed or expected of us. Now that Noah had laid the truth in our lap, I will forgive any of you who choose not to uphold your end of the oath.”

Ina looked around the room to see if anyone was showing signs of wanting to leave. She knew Jonah would stay but his young blood would be more of a disadvantage to and advantage. It was best he headed back to college in Europe. Then she realized Zinnia and her papa had already gone. Ina reached out with her senses and knew that Zinnia was already miles away from here. Ina knew she would be the first to take an out if it was presented. The shame of it was she didn’t even let Ina give her the out before she took off. Oh well, Ina knew Zinnia had issues, Ina had just hoped Zinnia felt enough for Ina to push through it.

Ina wasn’t worried about her papa, Ina knew that he’d managed to go through the process with Noah and Noah wasn’t family. Damien was Ina’s son and through blood his grandson. The truth was blood was thicker than water they would go through it together. Ina watched as Alep put his head down and Ina knew that he too like Zinnia would be leaving. Ina didn’t make him say the words; instead Ina walked over and embraced him.

“I understand no need to say a single word. Bless you friend and I pray someday you find your true mate so that you may experience true love”

Alep nodded at Ina, placed his arms around the waists of the two human females that had accompanied him to her house and made a swift exit. It was just herself, Adonai and her true mate Jared left in the living room. Adonai took hold of Jared’s hand looked over to Ina and said

“I will stay. I could not have lived without her true mate and wouldn’t expect Damien to. Jared however will not be coming back to your home. I can block my pain and emotions with just a tiny bit of distance between us. He will wait for me at the bed and breakfast from now on.”

Ina could tell that Jared wanted to say something perhaps he’d even thought to beg Adonai to change her mind, but she took that moment to press her lips into his. Ina felt obligated to say something so she said in a quiet voice

“Adonai, perhaps you should also pass. This is going to be very difficult and you’re just newly blood bonded. Maybe it would be better if it’s just her papa and I.”

“I can help too mama.” Said Johan

Adonai pulled away from her true mate and looked Ina in the eye and said with a voice full of confidence worthy of her Sentinel status

“I will be fine, I can return home to my true mate afterwards and he can help to take the pain from my heart. You and your papa have no one to help you through this. I owe this to you and I will honour my oath. Johan you should go back to school. Your blood is young and you will distract your mama.”

Johan cringed and looked into Ina eyes. She smiled knowingly and he nodded his head. They hugged and Ina again found tears in her eyes.

“I love you mama. I’ll stay the weekend so I can give Damien some mental support then I’ll catch a flight on Monday morning.”

“I love you too Johan. Head upstairs your room is already. It’s fast food tonight. Give me a few minutes to finalize the rest of the details.”

Johan nodded his head in agreement and turned to head up to the second floor. Ina was glad she raised two great kids and had made some good friends through the years. She was blessed to her son Johan understood enough not to push the issue and would have three Sentinel Upyrs helping. That would cut the time and the pain down significantly. Knowing that what they were doing and asking was far more than anything Adonai owed Ina. Ina found herself choked up with appreciation. Ina wanted to say something profound but drew a blank so all she managed to say was

“Thank you Adonai, you have always been a good friend.”

Ina walked Adonai and her true mate to the door and went in search of her papa. Ina found him in the bedroom with Damien and his true mate Dahlia. Keanu immediately wrapped his arms around Ina and they just stood hugging for quite a while. Finally Keanu put a little space between them and said

“We should wake Damien this evening. We need to know if he really wants to do this. It almost killed Noah a hundred times before it stuck. It is going to be hard on all of us, but it will be more than hell on Damien. Noah was able to push himself through the pain because he believed she would choose him once they blood bonded.”

Keanu moved to sit down on the end of the bed next to Damien and lovingly placed a kiss on his forehead before continuing.

“You know Noah and I found out the hard ways that even once he gains immunity and is capable of blood bonding with her she must willingly accept him. She must choose to blood with him or their souls will not mix. Knowing what I know of most she-Vargulfs she may not be able to move past the loss of her Vargulf mate and will never be willing to try to love again.”

13: Blood baths; literally, not figuratively

Blood baths; literally, not figuratively 

It took three days to pull everything together and say goodbye to everyone that wasn’t helping with the immunity and healing process. Today was the first day of the blood baths; literally, not figuratively. Adonai, Ina and Keanu drained as much as they could from themselves then poured it into the bathtub. Damien carried Dahlia in from the bedroom and placed her in the tub.

They would need to wake Dahlia momentarily to feed her some Keanu’s blood then they could let her go back to sleep for the rest of the bath. They would probably leave her soaking in Upyr blood for four or five hours by then most of the nutrients would have been absorbed through what flesh she had.

Ina watched as Damien flinched in pain, it was clear that the soaking wasn't pleasant for Dahlia since Damien was now breaking into a blood sweat from the pain. It killed Ina to watch her son in so much pain Ina couldn't help but say

"Damien, do you want me to pull some of the pain away from you? I hate to see you suffer so."

He of course declined, using the excuse that he never wanted to be alone again. If Dahlia was suffering then he would prefer to suffer to. Ina wanted to argue with him, but Ina knew if it had been her true mate no one would have stopped her from sharing every moment and emotion with them. Ina would have suffered and been glad to have had the opportunity.

Once Dahlia was settled in the tub Keanu and Ina sat down on the cold ceramic tile floor and prepared to have a difficult conversation with Damien. He needed to understand what it was going to take to become immune and he needed to know the pain it was going to cause Dahlia

Keanu decided to take the lead since he'd been through this process before and launched into explaining the immunity processes. He talked about how Damien would need to drink some of Dahlia’s blood. Keanu explained how it would burn its way to Damien's heart then how Adonai, Ina and Keanu would all drain Damien of his blood then feed Damien their blood so Damien could regenerate. Keanu made sure to be very dramatic in the telling and ensure that Damien understood the severity of the pain that he would be in.

Damien remained almost passive while listening to Keanu describes the process and the pain. Damien looked resolved to do whatever was necessary regardless of how much it hurt. Ina couldn't help but feel proud that she’d raised him to be such a good man. Someone so willing to suffer for his true mate, Ina found herself smiling tentatively at him. Then Keanu‘s tone changed to one of pity and he moved closer to Damien and grabbed his hand tightly and said

"Damien, you needed to understand the entire process and side effects from start to finish everything that will need to be done for you to become immune. You also need to understand you will not be the only person who suffers. Your mother, Adonai and I will all have unbelievable pain every time we treat you for Vargulf poison."

Ina watched as her sons face flinched momentarily in sadness. Then Damien looked up at Ina and said

"mama, is he saying you guys won't help me gain immunity so that I can blood bond with my true mate?"

Ina was quick to shake her head no. Ina would have said something more but Keanu started speaking again

"Damien this has nothing to do with our pain. We will gladly suffer alongside of you. You are blood and as an Upyr blood is everything. It is Dahlia’s pain I am worried about, we all know it’s one thing signing on for torture when it's your misery. Hell, even your mother and myself understand that. We are immortal and we will eventually move on from the pain.

What you need to understand is that Dahlia will share in this pain. Each time you drink her blood to gain immunity you two will get closer and closer to a full blood bond. She will feel the burning Damien she will share every single moment of torture and agony exactly the same way as you. If you choose to go through with the immunity process dams Dahlia to even more anguish than she is already in."

Keanu paused long enough to allow Damien to process his words. Damien stood and walked over to the tub and looked in at Dahlia. Ina watched as he slid his hand into the tub and gently touched Dahlia’s fingers. Then he turned back towards Keanu and Ina and said

"I would hate to do it, but I could go away while I go through the process. This way she can't be exposed to my pain. I will hate being away from her but if it saves her from the agony"

Tears were silently rolling down his cheeks, Ina watched as his chest rose and fell from silent sobs. Ina could tell the idea of being away from his true mate was causing his heart to ache. Ina would have hated being away from her true mate for a single moment but Ina thought that Damien's idea sounded like a good one and was about to say so when Keanu again started talking.

"Damien if only it could be that easy. Let me ask you a question. When an Upyr half-bloods an infant in the United State, then decides they need to go to Europe on some business what happens?"

Damien scrunched his eyebrows and said in an annoyed voice

"It causes severe mental anguish to the Upyr." He tusked at Ina then continued

"I can't believe you would worry about that. I am a strong Upyr from a strong bloodline; I can handle being away from my true mate."

Keanu coughed shook his head in a negative fashion and said

"How strong is Dahlia? She is the one that will be feeling the strain. She will have a partial blood bond and will call over and over again for your soul with no response. How do you think she will handle that?"

It dawned on Ina at the same moment that it hit Damien. Without a full blood bond Dahlia would become despondent, depressed and eventually would be driven completely insane and wouldn't even know what it was she was missing. Damien didn't have a choice he couldn't possibly leave. He would need to complete the immunity process and drag Dahlia through it with him. Ina watched as his shoulder sagged and he began weeping in hopelessness. Then he said

"I guess I will never be able to blood her since I will never allow her to suffer that kind of pain"

14: Mine or not?

It's been just over two days since Zinnia left the unborn Vargulf baby who was to be her true mate. Zinnia was sick to her stomach and horrified that she could be true mated to a dog. Part of Zinnia wanted so badly to return to Ina's and kill the little bugger. Another part of Zinnia wanted to rush back and half-blood the baby so that she could ensure that it was safe and happy.

Zinnia was so mixed up and confused. Usually when Zinnia was emotionally distraught she would go to Ina and she would help Zinnia work through her issues. This was something Zinnia couldn’t bring herself to discuss with Ina. Zinnia was going to have to figure it out on her own. Life had continued to throw Zinnia curve balls. Zinnia had been a happy human with a wonderful human family when a group of Vargulfs had attacked and killed everyone. Zinnia was almost dead when her Upyr parents found her and chose to convert Zinnia as their own.

Then only a few days after Zinnia was reborn as an Upyr they rejected her and said that Zinnia had this cold energy about her that must have come from the Vargulfs' blood that had mingled with Zinnia’s human blood prior to being turned. They said Zinnia was an abomination and that she needed to die. So they took Zinnia to the Vargulf pack territory and left Zinnia on her own to survive.

As they had expected, it didn't take long for the Vargulfs to find and attack Zinnia. If they had just attacked and killed Zinnia, she might have never have grown her hatred for them. What they did was far worse. They played with Zinnia like a cat plays with a mouse. They chased Zinnia off and on for weeks. Each time they found Zinnia they would torture, and injure her then leave Zinnia to heal.

On and on this went without end an in sight. Zinnia was only twelve years old in human years and didn't understand why they did this to her day after day week after week. These were grown Vargulfs, they knew Zinnia was helpless and just a young child and didn't care.

Zinnia was so grateful when Ina found and rescued her. Zinnia was embarrassed by what had happened and full of guilt and shame for what they had done to her. In that day and age women who were abused were considered dirty and were blamed for it. Often they would stone them or drown them in order to cleanse their dirty disgusting souls. Ina worked with Zinnia for years to help her understand that it wasn't Zinnia’s fault. It was the Vargulfs that were wrong. Zinnia was a victim. They were the ones who were guilty and should suffer for what they did to Zinnia.

Zinnia and Ina even figured out why they did it. It turns out the energy Zinnia emits from her pores is like an aphrodisiac to the Vargulfs. When it is mixed with fear and pain it changes to an extremely unique scent that excites and pleases the Vargulfs similar to what catnip does to cats. Zinnia was a sick treat they loved to torture. They would have continued indefinitely without a thought to Zinnia’s age or her suffering.

What they did to Zinnia was unacceptable on every level. They made Zinnia hate the Vargulfs, and Zinnia wanted to make every single one of them suffer for what they did to her. They were selfish and had no regard for life. Zinnia made it her life’s mission to kill off the nasty vile Vargulfs. They raped and tortured a child. Zinnia was that child and she wanted justice. Zinnia believed they deserved to be punished all of them.

But if that was true how that little tiny heartbeat could be Zinnia’s true mate. He didn't hurt Zinnia; he was her true mate and could never hurt Zinnia. How could Zinnia hurt him? He's not even born yet he is more innocent than Zinnia was when the Vargulfs hurt her. Oh GOD every time Zinnia tried to figure this out in her mind Zinnia got more upset and more confused.

Zinnia pushed herself through the motions of life every day with two basic thoughts. Rule number one: Kill the Vargulfs as many as she can to make them suffer for hurting her. Rule number two: Find her true mate and spend as much time as possible with him so that he can erase the pain, shame and guilt the Vargulfs caused her.

Now Zinnia’s true mate is a Vargulf how can he heal Zinnia and how can Zinnia love him? Oh god the worst part is Zinnia was already falling in love with him. The moment Zinnia felt his tiny little heart beat she knew it was trouble. How can Zinnia not love him? He was born to be Zinnia’s true mate and Zinnia was born to be his.

Zinnia could feel herself getting crazy just thinking about him being in that house full of Upyrs without her. What if they decide to let him die to save Damien's true mate? What if the pain and agony from the immunity process kills him. What if he gets injured during the healing process? He is so tiny and weak anything could happen to him. Who will protect him? Zinnia was his true mate; no one can ever love or protect him more than Zinnia. Then, before Zinnia realized it she had made a decision. Suddenly Zinnia was moving at full speed back towards Ina's home.

15: Just a plain old Vargulf

Keanu spent three hours talking to the most stubborn person he thought he had ever met. Well, maybe not the most stubborn but real close. Damien was definitely Ina’s child he was refusing to listen to a single thing Keanu said. If Damien kept this up much longer Keanu was going to do something he promised himself I wouldn’t do anymore. Keanu was going to enter Damien’ mind and force him to change it.

“For the love of God Damien, you have got to listen to me. This isn’t just a matter of you saying that you won’t finalize blood bonding her. She already has your blood, you have to eventually finish the blood bonding or you will go insane. It’s you or her kid and right now, you’re the only conscious one.” Keanu shouted at him

Ina took that moment to sashay into the bedroom and give both of Keanu and Damien a pointed look. Then true to her nature she cut both of them to the bone with just a few words

“Men, I should think both of you know better than this. papa” she said looking over at Keanu

“Don’t you dare even for a moment consider forcing Damien to do something against his will! He is our blood and deserves more respect than that from you. Damien!” she said turning towards Damien who was enjoying her scolding Keanu

“You need to calm yourself down and let us all come to a reasonable decision together. You after all are the one who pulled this poor girl from deaths grip and forced her to remain in our world.”

She saw the look of pain cross Damien's face and lowered her voice and tone before continuing.

“Dahlia needs us to do this for her, and you need to gain immunity so that you will be there for her once she is healed. “

Ina reached out and pulled Damien into a tender embrace before continuing.

“I think I have an idea on how to relieve you of some of this stress.”

Keanu saw Damien stiffen in his mother’s arms and wondered what trick she might have up her sleeves.

“Dahlia is just a typical Vargulf from the Bedrock Vargulf pack. papa has spent time there off and on for the past three hundred years I am sure he could convince a blood relative of hers to donate some blood for the immunity process.”

Keanu could have slapped himself in the head. Of course Ina was right and to think it took her to say it out loud for it to make sense. Keanu still had friends in Bedrock. Hell Keanu still had very good friends in Bedrock. The current Luna was a crossbreed that Keanu knew very very well. In fact better than Keanu should know her. Keanu was sure she would be willing to help. All he needed to do was place a single phone call.

“Ina, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this myself. How could it have slipped past me? That is the most reasonable idea yet. No need to use the girl’s blood and cause her pain. A blood relative will provide immunity with no side effects to his poor true mate Dahlia. I will call the Bedrock pack Luna and ask that she send a direct relative of Dahlia’s I’m sure this is going to be okay.”

Keanu moved quickly out of the bedroom and ran out of the house with the intention of retrieving his phone from the bed and breakfast. Keanu hadn’t made it across the lawn before his nostrils flared and he knew trouble was brewing. She burst out of the woods and slammed into Keanu before he could brace himself for the impact. Keanu felt at least one rib crack as he was knocked to the ground. Keanu turned quickly and just barely managed to avoid her fist from connecting with his chin.

Keanu tried to grab her arm and hold her back but she managed to get to her feet and kick him in the side causing Keanu to grunt in pain. Okay Keanu had it no more mister nice guy. Keanu watched as she prepared to kick him in the side again but this time Keanu grabbed her foot and pulled her to the ground.

She made a very unworldly growl as her bottom slammed hard into the compacted dirt beneath them. Keanu couldn’t help a chuckle from escaping his lips. His chuckle seemed to anger her all over again. She looked Keanu in the eye and spat out

“Don’t you dare chuckle at me? Where you ever planning on telling me that you were going to stay here indefinitely? Tell me Keanu have you found another to replace me with?”

Keanu could tell that she waiting expectantly for his answer, but had still managed to keep her face clear of any emotional indicators. Keanu couldn’t help himself for wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in closer to him. Keanu loved the way she smelled. Lorretta may not have been his true mate but Keanu loved her just the same. Keanu felt a lump form in his throat and had to swallow it back down before he said

“My dear sweet Lorretta, I had intended to call. I swear. I had your parents here just the other day and was just trying to honour your request”

Keanu hated that she forced him to hide our relationship from her mama and Noah, but Keanu wanted to be with her more than he wanted to tell them so he kept silent. Keanu felt Lorretta go soft and pliant in his arms upon hearing his words and knew his answer was enough to placate her for now.

“Come on love, let me take you to the bed and breakfast and we can talk before I introduce you to my daughter Ina and my grandson Damien”

Keanu rolled over to his side and got to my feet and held out his hand for Lorretta to take into hers. Neither one of them said a word on the way to the bed and breakfast. The silence gave Keanu time to consider the situation that Lorretta and he found themselves in. Keanu knew Lorretta since the day she was born. Only moments after she came into the world she managed to steal his heart. Then she found her true mate and Keanu took a step back for a few years.

She called Keanu the day Tim died. Keanu came to her side and hasn't left yet. Their relationship changed and they became even closer friends after the death of her true mate. Tim was true mate and Lorretta had loved him with her whole heart.

They’d had precious few years together before he’d accidentally died in a boating accident. At the time Lorretta had six young-ins under the age of five and Keanu volunteered to stay with her and help. It didn’t happen right away, but it did happen. Over time, Lorretta and Keanu started to find each other physically attractive. It seemed they just connected on every level. They understood each other without the support of an Upyr blood bond. Their souls may not have danced together, but Keanu and Lorretta's bodies sure did.

Now, if we they human or even two other Upyrs their relationship probably wouldn’t be a problem, but Lorretta and Keanu were forbidden lovers. Keanu was actually a Sentinel and Lorretta is really a royal Vargulf and the oldest daughter of the King and Queen of Vargulfs.

16: A thief in the night

Zinnia watched Keanu and his companion walk off the grounds and blew a sigh of relief. With Keanu out of the way, Zinnia would only risk fighting with Ina and her son Damien if it came down to that. Zinnia liked his chances better against just the two them.

Ina had never really trained as a warrior. She knew the basics of hand to hand combat but really depended on her strength as an Upyr and her mind control. Thankfully Zinnia had trained extensively in hand to hand combat and had grown more than lethal. Zinnia was also not susceptible to Ina’s mind control so she felt confident even with her son Damien as her ally that Zinnia could win in a fight.

Zinnia pushed her way into Ina’s home and went immediately to her true mate’s side. His mother Dahlia was lying in a bath full of Upyr blood and was still completely unconscious. Zinnia pushed her hand into the tub and reach out to touch Dahlia’s stomach. Zinnia could feel his heartbeat just under her flesh and knew that it still beat strong and healthy. Zinnia let go of the breath that hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Zinnia felt her nails grow and she started to slowly press them into Dahlia’s burned flesh.

The stomach walls tore easily under her fingernails. Zinnia pushed her hand in more completely and wrapped her fingers around his small torso and pulled him free of her body. Zinnia sliced through the umbilical cord and licked the blood from his face and pushed his mouth open with her finger.

He let out a small cry and Zinnia knew he was going to be fine. Zinnia bit into her wrist with her fangs until she started to bleed. Then Zinnia raised her wrist over his tiny little mouth and allowed her blood to drip down his throat. Zinnia felt his half of our bond snap into place. Zinnia wrapped him in a towel, held him close to her chest and bolted out of the house. Zinnia would raise her true mate on her terms. She would hire humans to care for him as mother and papa. Zinnia would visit him only in his dreams. Zinnia would make sure that he was never exposed to the outside world. He would love Zinnia because she was his true mate and would never know that she’d once been the Vargulf Hunter.

17: Too gorgeous for words

Something was wrong, one moment Dahlia was floating along with more comfort and warmer than she’d felt in forever and the next minute Dahlia felt like her child torn away from her. Dahlia pushed herself up and out of the hazy mind blur and forced herself to wake up and open her eyes.

She managed to crack them open and felt a warm liquid slip inside and create a new euphoric warmth. Dahlia suddenly wanted to relax and forget what disturbed her rest in the first place. Then she remembered something was wrong with her baby. Dahlia pushed open her eyes again but was unable to see anything. Dahlia had to assume her eyes still hadn't healed.

Dahlia made a small coughing noise since she knew that her Guardian had to be close by and would know that she was awake. After a few moments of silence she realized that it must be nap time. Dahlia started to try to recall in her mind where they were in the routine.

The harder she tried to focus, the more clouded it became. Dahlia just couldn't seem to remember what they'd done so far today. Dahlia found herself growing tired and allowed her eyes to close again. Dahlia attempted to again make a sound with her throat to get her keepers attention when she realized there was some type of mask over her nose and mouth.

Dahlia stuck her tongue out and felt what she had to assume was hard plastic. She visualized some type of breathing apparatus. That's when it struck her; perhaps she was having a hard time remembering this morning because she'd gone into labour Maybe she been drugged so that he could perform a C-section. Dahlia tried to figure out if she was in any new pain, but she actually thought she felt better than she had in a very long time. Dahlia tried to move her hand and felt it tingle in warmth with each twitch she was able to make. The warmth convinced her that she had to have been drugged.

Dahlia felt a sadness seep into her as she realized that she had probably lost the baby. The last connection she had between her true mate James and herself. Without the tiny little heartbeat emanating from her womb Dahlia just couldn't think of a single reason to keep fighting.

Dahlia lay their willing herself to die. Hour after hour she concentrated and tried to make her heart stop, but it just continued to beat despite her best efforts. Then just like the dream Dahlia had the other day, she felt herself lifting out of her own body.

She saw an amazingly beautiful woman holding and infant in her hands with admiration and awe clearly written on her face. Then Dahlia watched as she ripped open her own flesh and began pouring her blood into the infant’s mouth.

No, not any infant, her baby; Dahlia and James' baby. That was Dahlia’s son she was holding in her arms and feeding her blood too. Then Dahlia watched as she wrapped him in a towel and disappeared. Dahlia was momentarily shocked, then she realized it was her fault she had her child. Dahlia needed to quit belly aching about wanting to die and needed to fight to heal. He was all that was left of James and Dahlia was going to make sure that she was able to care for him.

Just like the last time, again Dahlia felt herself lifting out of her body. She looked down and realized that her body was emerged in a blood bath literally, not physically. Dahlia felt herself flinch in horror.

‘Ugh that is nasty’ was all that she could think.

Dahlia walked out of the bathroom and started to move room to room looking for the woman and her baby. Finally she walked into a room and saw two angels sitting with each other in a warm comfortable setting. It was something straight out of a book. Dahlia could only imagine how god must think it awful that something as hideous as her would be in the same room as all of their perfection.

Like the other woman this one too was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful, but the man was beyond words. He was simply too gorgeous to describe. He made a noise and Dahlia decided to walk closer to him. Dahlia placed herself directly in front of him then gave him a really good look over. Then without her consent Dahlia actually blurted out the words

"Wow you are very very handsome. Maybe, you are even more handsome than my James."

Dahlia suddenly felt very ashamed of saying something like that. James meant the world to her and no one could be as handsome as him but then again he is an angel. Dahlia couldn't help wondering what an angel would feel like and she allowed her hand to touch the side of his cheek. It was like a thousand tiny fireflies all lit up inside of Dahlia at the exact same moment. Dahlia was unprepared for the feeling and quickly pulled her hand back.

"Oh my, I hadn't expected that at all." Dahlia said, then reached out and touched the angel again.

Dahlia allowed the feelings of pleasure to wash over her for just a moment before she was assaulted by guilt and realized that while she needed to heal and care for her son, Dahlia didn't need to have or experience pleasure while doing it. So she moved away from the angel with the intention of leaving the room.

Damien watched as his true mate Dahlia spirit walked into the room. Damien was surprised that without any guidance Dahlia had still somehow managed to learn how to spirit walk and was now floating into the room. Damien paused in his conversation with his mother and turned towards his true mate.

It was so wonderful to see her up and about even if it was really on her soul projecting her physical appearance. Damien was momentarily awestruck at her sheer beauty. Damien had grown so used to seeing her in her current physical condition he had forgotten how she appeared before the accident.

Damien watched as she seemed to just roam about the room without any particular rhyme or reason. Ina his mother started talking again and Damien reached out in his mind and told her Dahlia was in the room. Damien watched his mama raise her eyebrow but remain silent. Then Damien felt his mother back in his mind.

"Damien, she awoke on the first night and spirit walked in the room. She was so vibrant that even I could see her that day. She's strong for a Vargulf. I am surprised she learned the skill so quickly and while she is so damaged. You know most human true mates take years and years to learn to spirit walk."

Damien was surprised that this wasn't the first time Dahlia had spirit walked out of her damaged body and couldn't help a small sound from escaping his lips. The noise had his little true mate turning towards him with clear determination in her eye. She moved until she was directly in front of Damien then eyed him from top to bottom. Then to his surprise his true mate started to speak.

Then she reached out and touched the side of Damien’s cheek. Damien wasn't prepared and couldn't stop himself from flinching. Her touch was more than Damien could have imagined. It was sexual, sensual, erotic and perfection all at the same time. Damien felt little tiny electrical shocks bursting like bubbles all over his body. He found himself shuddering in pleasure from her simple touch. She too must have felt something strong since she pulled her hand quickly away. Within seconds however she was reaching out to touch him again.

This time Damien was prepared and remained very still and allowed her to explore his face with her fingertips. Damien knew that touching him was also having an effect on her since he heard her moan softly in the back of her throat. Then as suddenly as she had moved forward and touched Damien she moved away. Damien watched as she started to move out of the room. Just as she got to the door she said

"You know you would be a better angel if you could talk to me. I need help and have no one to ask" Damien stood quickly and called after her

"Dahlia, I can help you. Please tell me what you need and let me prove I will do anything for you" She turned back to me and said

"Save my baby from the beautiful woman just stole him from me.”

18: Love without dancing

Lorretta used every skill she had ever learned to pull the female Vargulf through. Lorretta had painstakingly stitched everything back into place. She would survive but she was no longer whole. Lorretta couldn't help a small tear from escaping me when Lorretta thought how Dahlia would no longer be able to carry another baby.

Keanu came in a placed his hand on Lorretta’s shoulder. Lorretta slowly relaxed and allowed her head to fall back against his chest. Lorretta enjoyed the sensation of being so close to him. Lorretta was going to have to go face his daughter and grandson. Lorretta sighed and started to pull away. Keanu pulled her back into him and placed a feather light but very passionate kiss on her lips.

“You know Lorretta; I love you as much as my heart will allow me. I know you are not my true mate but I can't imagine going through life without you anymore.” he said with such sincerity in his voice.

Lorretta knew he was telling the truth, she felt exactly the same way about him. Their relationship was a freak of nature, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, Lorretta and Keanu had a strange connection even when Lorretta was just a little girl. It seemed normal conventional rules didn't apply to Lorretta and Keanu. Lorretta reached out and touched his cheek tenderly and said

“I love you too Keanu. I'm sorry I tried to hide our love from my family. When this is over we will go home and tell everyone. I too can't imagine going through the rest of my life without you”

He pressed his lips into Lorretta’s and began gently nibbling and exploring. Lorretta allowed her hands to slowly caress his shoulders while moving down his arms to finally rest of his waist. Their kisses were growing more passionate and Lorretta could feel my heart slamming against her rib cage.

Lorretta knew they needed to stop before they got caught in a very compromising position either by his daughter or grandson so Lorretta slowly pulled away from him. With the kiss broken, both Keanu and Lorretta looked a little wild. Lorretta’s hair was a mess since Keanu tugged and pulls at it whenever they kissed too passionately. His lips looked swollen and moist from their kisses and Lorretta knew his Ina daughter would know exactly what they'd just done. A small blush hit her cheeks as she thought about being caught like a kid. Lorretta cleared her throat, straightened her clothes and hair and said

“Let's go tell your family that we made excellent progress. At this rate his true mate will be up and about in just a few weeks”

Keanu pulled her into him again placed another kiss on her lips and gazed into her eyes before saying

“You are an amazing woman Lorretta. Thank god you decided to study so many forms of medicine and magic. You have managed to do more for that poor girl in a day than has been done for her in months.”

Lorretta blushed again and was elated that Keanu was proud and pleased with her work. Lorretta had spent many years learning every form of medicine that she could. She wanted to be prepared to save her true mate from any illness that might have tried to take him away from her. Lorretta studied with every known race and not only learned but mastered methods from across the world and across all species.

Lorretta planned on finding a way to keep her true mate from dying of old age. God must have known that Lorretta was prepared to change the nature of life to keep her true mate. That's why he was snatched Tim’s life on a bright sunny day in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with Lorretta hundreds of miles away.

Lorretta began to feel sad and agitated as she thought of the loss of her true mate. It wasn't fair; Lorretta had him for such a short time. She had tried so hard to prepare for every single situation that they could have been in. But in the end there was no back-up plan for what happened. Lorretta wasn’t there, and none of his remains were recovered. Lorretta lost her true mate and didn't even have a fighting chance to save him. Despite the fact that Keanu and Lorretta’s soul don't talk or dance, he must have known where Lorretta went off too because he was suddenly rubbing her back and cooing words of love and encouragement.

“Come on darling, push past it. I know you soul hurts but you will be with him again. He wouldn't want to you to suffer for this long. Let him go and let your guilt go. You did everything you could to protect him.”

Lorretta’s lips trembled momentarily and she realized that several tears slipped down her cheeks. Lorretta watched as Keanu reached out and wiped them away with his thumb. Lorretta gave herself a mental shake and knew she was going to be alright. Lorretta looked back at Keanu grabbed his hand and walked towards the door.

“I know honey, we have both been very damaged by the loss of our true mates but we will both be okay. But right now, I think it will make me feel better to let Damien know that he won't ever have to go without his true mate”

19: A Plan

Ina could hear the conversation her papa and Lorretta were having on the other side of the door. Her hearing was significantly better than the average Upyr and Ina generally heard with clarity anything Ina wanted to with just a bit of concentration for almost a mile away.

She was elated that Lorretta was able to save my Dahlia. Ina was also very interested in how her papa and the young Lorretta had managed to get involved romantically with each other. To her knowledge, Ina had never heard of a blood bonded Upyr that had ever dated once their true mate had passed.

Ina could sort of understand her papa, after all her mama his true mate has been dead thousands of years it would only make sense that eventually he would get better. They say time heals all wounds. Ina personally was counting on that since she lost her true mate. But the young female Vargulf, her true mate has only been dead just a few years. Ina pushed the thought aside and instead focused on the two of them as they opened the door.

Ina listened as Lorretta as she told the good news to Damien then she watched as her sons face became excited and almost blissful. The good doctor had managed to heal the Vargulf beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. All of Dahlia's internal injuries were healed, and she now has a layer of dermal skin. The doctor was even able to get her eyes reattached and working. Dahlia would be awake in just a few days and could start physical rehabilitation.

Ina nodded, smiled and said all the right things but she found herself unable to really join in the celebration. She was too worried about Zinnia and the baby. Zinnia was family and it didn’t take a genius to figure why she took the baby. Ina was just worried how she was going to handle him now that she had him.

Ina sent out teams to all the places she knew that Zinnia liked to go. Ina had been keeping tabs on Zinnia for years. Zinnia might not have liked it, but Ina worried about her. Zinnia’s managed to make a lot of enemies that would be very happy to exploit any weakness Zinnia has. The baby is going to give her enemies a lot to focus on. Ina needed to get to Zinnia before they did.

Ina kissed her son on the forehead, hugged her papa and shook Lorretta's hand again before making her way out of our makeshift hospital room then moved through the house and into her bedroom. She sat down on the bed and called Zinnia's cell again. Of course she didn't answer but Ina left a message anyway.

“Zinnia, you need to call me. This is getting serious. It's okay that you took the baby. We all understand the desire to protect and keep your true mate. He is your true mate isn't he Zinnia? Even Damien is willing to forgive you but you need to come back now.”

Ina took a deep breath then rushed to continue before her voicemail hung up on me

“Please Zinnia; you need us. You are Upyr and his is Vargulf. You need us even to try to gain immunity. You can’t do this on your own, don't risk your true mate's life for you pride.”

She slid her finger over the end icon and tossed the phone onto the bed. Ina needed to come up with a backup plan. If Ina couldn't get Zinnia to come back on her own Ina was going to need to figure out how to catch her.

Her fingernail tapped lightly against her upper lip as she thought of the different possibilities. Then it hit her. Ina would give Zinnia exactly twenty four hours to come back on her own then Ina would bait the honey trap with something Zinnia couldn't refuse. Ina smiled to herself and changed into shorts and tank top so she could prepare real food in the kitchen for their Vargulf guests.

Ina looked forward to cooking again. Ina hadn't prepared a meal since her true mate had passed away. The thought of him momentarily took her breath away. Ina missed him more than she could possibly express. She was glad that her life had changed so much in the past month. Ina was turning into a bitter angry woman and Ina wasn't meant to live like that. Ina’s true mate would have been ashamed of her behaviour He had been so full of life and would have loved the opportunity to help their son and his true mate.

Ina smiled as she thought of all the things her true mate would have done and said about their current situation. It was almost as if Ina could feel his presence in the room with her. Ina smiled brighter and started to whistle to herself as she finished pulling on her clean clothes. Ina brushed her hair and teeth and decided that she would go all out with the meal. Ina would cook a full five course meal that could feed a small Vargulf pack.

Ina listed off in her head what she would need for dinner, and knew she would need to visit the market. She needed enough fresh food for five Vargulfs, There was John and Liz the Vargulf couple Damien had invited into their home. Lorretta and Dahlia’s sister and her mate that thankfully Ina’s papa was able to get to join them.

Ina slipped on black pumps and grabbed the car keys. She plopped down in the front seat and turned the key. She was happy that their lives were changing again. Somehow, all these people, even the Vargulfs felt right. Ina felt happier than I'd felt in a very long time.

20: A terrible mistake

Zinnia was running out of places to hide. Zinnia could honestly say it was becoming apparently clear that she had many more enemies than allies. Zinnia had spent thousands of years making sure almost every race on earth feared or hated her. The Vargulfs had really gotten the better of her. Zinnia could still hear them off in a distance yelping and howling. The friggen things were never going to stop chasing her. Zinnia was in trouble, worse Zinnia had put her tiny little defenceless true mate in mortal danger. Zinnia looked down and pressed another kiss against his forehead.

“I am so sorry little one. You are true mated to a crazy woman. I don't know what the heck is wrong with me. Every time I think of our future together I do something entirely insane and you suffer the consequences. God was too cruel to match us together. I am so sorry my true mate.”

Zinnia listened as her true mate made little suckling noises on his hand. Zinnia pulled him in close to her chest and looked down at her leg. Zinnia had huge deep puncture wounds in both of her thighs. Her right ankle was broken and the bone was actually sticking out. Zinnia tried to put so weight on it and knew that it was too damaged to hold her weight. Zinnia heard a howl in a distance and knew the Vargulfs had picked up her scent.

Zinnia was running out of time and needed to figure out what she was going to do. Zinnia winced in pain and slowly lowered herself to the ground. Zinnia took in a deep breath and tried to consider her options. Option one: Continue to run and hope that she found a place where she went unnoticed and could safely provide for her true mate. Zinnia pondered that thought for a while and realized it was nothing more than wishful thinking. There was no quiet place for Zinnia now that she turned her family against her.

Option two: Continue to run and hope that she was able to provide adequately for her tiny true mate all the while managing not to get herself or her true mate killed. Zinnia ran through the various scenarios in her mind and came to the realization that option two was also a pipe dream. They would catch up to Zinnia eventually she couldn't continue to risk his life for her foolishness.

Option three: Try to get her true mate back to Ina for safekeeping and hope that Zinnia wasn’t killed on sight. This seemed to be her best option if not her only option. Zinnia was out of her mind to have taken him away from safety in the first place. Zinnia knew that since the moment she realized he was her true mate she hadn't been thinking straight. In fact, Zinnia was all but insane in her behaviours over the past few weeks.

Everything single decision she made worse than the one before it. It started with Zinnia pulling him from his mother’s womb. What the hell had Zinnia been thinking? For gods sake he was premature and not ready to be born. Zinnia risked his life with her thoughtless behaviour it was time Zinnia started thinking better.

So, option three it was. Zinnia continued to hold her true mate close to her chest with one hand, while she rolled to her knees and tried to stand up. The damaged leg couldn’t support Zinnia and she dropped back to the ground. The sudden movement caused her tiny true mate to cry again.

The sounds drew the attention of the Vargulfs and Zinnia heard them howl in excitement that they were closing in. Zinnia wasn't going to be able to run and she couldn't hide from their noses. Zinnia was going to have to draw them away from her true mate. Zinnia knew god was giving her one last chance to do the right thing for her true mate.

Zinnia pulled him away from her chest and slashed open her wrist. Zinnia allowed several drops of her blood to slip down his throat. Then Zinnia entered his mind and placed him in a deep deep sleep. Zinnia wrapped the blanket tightly around him and hid him in the base of the tree. Zinnia reached out to Ina in her mind.

“Ina, there is no time for me to explain. I have made a terrible mistake and I can't allow my true mate to die for it. Take note of the image I will be sending you in a moment. I've hidden him there in a trace. Get to him in the next ten hours if possible.” Then Zinnia flashed Ina their exact location and pulled herself to her feet.

Zinnia forced herself to run as fast as she could away from her true mate. Zinnia felt part of her foot flop painstakingly slow behind each pump of her legs. She heard the tree rustle to her left and knew the moment the Vargulfs were upon her.

Zinnia felt the first bite to her side and dropped to the ground. They were on her like wild Vargulfs on a doe. Zinnia could feel them pulling chunks of flesh from her. There were more than thirty Vargulfs tearing and feasting on her body. Zinnia had never thought that anything could be so painful. Who would have thought that her ending would come this way? Zinnia was being eaten alive.

Zinnia felt one of the Vargulfs tear into her abdomen and begin eating her intestines and other innards. Zinnia felt her chest being torn open and knew they were finally going after her heart. Thank god, she thought soon she would be gone. Zinnia put the image of her tiny little true mate in her mind and held on to it until she felt herself slip away.

AUTHORS NOTE: PS, this book and several others in the series are already finished and available for sale at all the online bookstores for a minimal fee. No pressure. I am going to post this whole story here but if you want to finish it fast, or see the other books just search on my whole name. Justin CP Kelly. Thanks

21: Run or die

Ina felt a cold energy slam into her and knew that Zinnia was using one of her very special skills. Zinnia had been blessed with the ability to mind link with anyone from any distance. Ina was somewhat relieved to finally hear from her. It had been too long and we had been unsuccessful in locating her. Damien was beside himself, and they were running out of excuses and lies to tell Dahlia

“Ina, there is no time for me to explain. I have made a terrible mistake and I can't allow my true mate to die for it. Take note of the image I will be sending you in a moment. I've hidden him there in a trace. Get to him in the next ten hours if possible.” Then she flashed Ina her exact location and showed Ina an image of the infant tucked into the bottom of a tree.

“Zinnia stay with me. What the hell is going on? Where are you?” Ina shot question after question at her with no answer. She had failed to break the connection so Ina was still seeing everything through Zinnia’s eyes. Ina watched the surrounding forest pass by them in a blur.

Then Ina suddenly saw nothing but dirt. Zinnia must have rolled over because Ina suddenly saw a lot of Vargulfs. Ina realized that she was being attacked and there were way too many for her to fight. She needed to get up and run. They were going to kill her. For god’s sake they were pulling the flesh off her body. Ina screamed into her mind

“Zinnia, please get up. You need to get up and get away from them. They are killing you. Please Zinnia for your true mate!”

Then she was gone. Ina felt myself well up with tears as she started to sob. Oh my god, she couldn't have survived that. Zinnia was a lot of things and had handled things wrong when it came to her infant true mate but she didn't deserve to die this way. Ina was shaking and had a hard time pulling herself together. Ina hollered out for Damien

“Damien Hurry I know where the baby is”

Damien rushed into the room and Ina told him where the baby was and of Zinnia's end. Ina asked him to go to the bed and breakfast and let Keanu know. Ina changed into yoga pants and a tee shirt and immediately started running towards the vicinity that Zinnia flashed her. Ina momentarily found herself thinking it was strange that she had stayed so close to her home. Even now she was only a couple hundred miles west from Ina’s home. Ina could be there in just a few hours. Ina was moving fast when she felt the presence of three additional Upyrs closing in on her. Then she heard her papa say

“We couldn't allow you to take on thirty or more Vargulfs on your own. Besides, she is like a child to me. I didn't always like what Zinnia did but I loved her just as much as you.”

Ina felt her heart swell with love as she looked back at her papa, Adonai and Jared her true mate. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her chest ached with the sadness of losing Zinnia. Ina pushed her legs harder and increased her speed. Ina heard the rest of them kick it up a notch as well. They were getting close.

“Jared and papa, get the baby first. If he's injured take him to Lorretta, she’s the only one who would know how to help him. Adonai let’s go kick some Vargulf butt. Try not to kill them but I want whatever left of Zinnia so that I can bury her properly.”

The last words came out on a deep sob. Ina hated this, she felt like she had just lost her child. She couldn't believe that she was gone. They came up on the Vargulfs and Ina was horrified by the sight in front of her. They had torn most of her flesh off, her limbs were all unattached and they gnawing on her bones.

The whole frigging pack was there more than sixty Vargulfs. They must have called them down and were eating her like a fresh kill. Ina couldn't help herself from screaming and attacking. Before Ina could stop herself she had already torn one of the Vargulfs head clear off its body. Ina heard Adonai shouting and turned to look back at Zinnia's body, there was nothing left intact. Ina dropped to the ground beside her and hysterically cried. Adonai, Keanu and Jared were throwing Vargulfs like pillows and Ina heard her shout to the Vargulfs

“Run Vargulfs or we will kill all of you. Don't even try it we are elders and there are five of us. It will be easy for us to kill every stinking one of you”

Ina watched as her papa’s eyes grew two sizes as his face contorted in pain and rage. Lorretta managed to arrive at that exact moment. She shifted out of her Vargulf form and took in her surroundings.  

“NO! NO! You've not only killed her you desecrated her body! Run or I swear to god I will kill every single one of you”

Ina felt her papa’s power of mind control move across her and she knew he forced them to run. Part of her wanted to jump up and run away too but she fought the urge. Keanu dropped down beside Ina and made a whooshing noise. Ina knew he felt as broken as she did. Keanu placed his arm around Ina’s shoulders both of them started to cry.

22: Save her?

Lorretta's heart ached for Keanu and Ina. It was clear they loved the vampire who had been killed. She took off her jacket and started to gently, put the parts of Zinnia's body that were scattered around on the ground on top of it. Lorretta moved every piece that she could find trying to give Keanu and Ina the space and time they needed to mourn. Lorretta handed Adonai the child and asked her to take him back to his mother and Damien.

"Let them know that we will be there shortly"

Adonai walked over and hugged Ina then took the baby from her and left. Lorretta watched Adonai and her true mate Jared, until she no longer see them. Then she raised one of Catriona’s arms and realized there was a small piece of the Upyr heart still intact. Lorretta gently lifted it in her hand and examined it to make sure it was a viable piece of the heart. She gasped out loud when she realized the Upyr didn’t have to stay dead. With enough time, they could allow it to regenerate her heart and body.

Lorretta called Keanu and told him quietly what found. Honestly, Lorretta know they were both grieving, but the Upyr did kidnap a baby and seemed pretty crazy. Lorretta grew up in fear of the Vargulf Hunter. Her papa the King would be very angry if he knew Lorretta helped save the Hunter. No pack of Vargulfs was safe from her, maybe it was better that she stay dead.

23: Go away blood sucker

Dahlia eyed the Upyr carefully as he entered the room. She knew what he was now, and Dahlia couldn’t believe that she had actually thought him to be an angel. He was anything but heavenly. He was a beast in men's clothing.

“What do you want now?”

Dahlia screeched at him. She didn't want to move any more today. She was tired of the exercise and treatment. Dahlia hurt from top to bottom and just wanted to frigging rest. His eyes widened at her tone but he continued to keep that pleasant smile on his smug little face. God he pisses her off. He likes to act like he is so calm and easygoing. He lets her scream, push, and hit and generally verbally abuses him and his face just keeps the same stupid look of happiness on it.

Dahlia watched him turn around and talk to someone in the doorway. They kept their voices very low. With her Vargulf now gone, her hearing wasn't much better than the average human but Dahlia was pretty sure she heard them say something about her baby. That got her blood pumping.

“What did he say? Did he say that James is on his way here? I want to see my baby! I've done everything you asked. Where is he?”

Dahlia bellowed at him. The Upyr moved more into the room and looked at her

“Dahlia calm down. I told you we would bring you the baby. He's been away but he's on his way here now. I promise Dahlia will bring him to see you the moment he arrives”

Dahlia wanted to believe the blood sucker but she had her doubts.

"If you're lying to me, I swear to god I'll rip your heart from your chest and laugh while I eat it blood sucker"

Dahlia said the word blood sucker like it was a dirty word. His face always showed pain when Dahlia called him that. She knew it bothered him so Dahlia did it often. She liked knowing that Upyr had feelings.

"Dahlia, I told you I'd never lie to you. Can you please make the effort to call me by my given name instead of blood sucker all the time? Damien, my name is Damien. Try it out easy enough to say"

Dahlia gave him a look of disdain and said

"When I have James snuggled safely in my arms maybe I will call you something other than blood sucker. Personally, I think it's good to call you that. I could call you something else maybe like leach? What do you think?” Dahlia loved to taunt him with her words.

Dahlia could see her last comment hit home because for the briefest moment Damien's eyes flashed with emotion. Then they returned to their constant state of calm indifference. God but that look of calm indifference really pissed her off. Dahlia opened her mouth to say more, but he had already turned on his heel and walked out of her room.

Dahlia didn't know why she enjoyed torturing the Upyr. Damien was probably a nice guy but his indifference frigging drove her nuts. He was like one of those perfect statues an artist sculpted and left in the park. Beautiful in its form but not able to move or experience life. That's what the Upyr reminded her of.

Always facts and punctual with his treatments and practices. He hardly ever said anything to her, unrelated to her health or recovery. It bothered her to no end and Dahlia wished she knew why. Part of her wondered if it had something to do with how he found her. Dahlia remembers something like that from when he first brought her here but she can't quite put her finger she around it.

Damien is so careful not to answer all her questions. Dahlia knows there are others in the house, but they have never come into her room. The only one she's ever seen other than blood sucker is a doctor. She checks on Dahlia several times a week. Dahlia has admiration and respect for Dr. Lorretta. She is attractive, has a great bedside manner and makes Dahlia feel safe and comfortable. Dahlia has asked Dr. Lorretta all the same questions she's asked the Upyr and Lorretta always looks at Dahlia with her eyes full of pity and says

“You need to speak with Damien dear. He has all the answers and it really is his responsibility to tell you when you are ready.”

Dahlia hates when Lorretta says that but at least she knows the Doctor is telling her the truth. Dahlia heard the blood sucker in the hallway and the door pushed open. Dahlia saw something moving in front of him and she just knew it was her baby.

“Oh please bring him to me. I want to see my baby.”

The bloodsucker moved to her side and placed her son into her arms. She looked down at his sweet little face and smiled. She touched his cheek with her finger and wished his eyes would open. Dahlia cooed and awed at her baby.

“You are such a handsome baby. You look just like your daddy so handsome and fair. You are going to break all the female Vargulfs hearts when you grow up! I named you James just like your daddy. I wish he could be here with us.”

Dahlia felt tears slip from her eyes as she thought of her mate. One splashed down and landed on baby James's forehead. Dahlia bent down to kiss him and wipe away the tear. That's when she noticed his ears; they were long and pointy like an Upyrs. Dahlia found herself wondering why they would resemble an Upyr. Then her heart skipped a beat and the memories slammed back into her.

Suddenly Dahlia remembered more than she wanted to. She remembered her Vargulf dying; she remembered when the blood sucker pulled her from the car. Dahlia remembered him telling her that she was his true mate. She remembered what it felt like when Damien fed her his blood. Damien must have known what would happen to her and her child when he did that.

Damien did it anyway. He forced Dahlia to stay alive and somehow managed to turn her baby into some kind of an Upyr Vargulf crossbreed. Dahlia's little baby James would be forced to drink blood for the rest of his life. It all started to make sense, Damien wasn't indifferent he was scared to death that Dahlia would remember what he's done to her and hate him for it. Well he's right; Dahlia is alive because he forced her to drink his blood. Dahlia shouldn't be alive and neither should her freak of nature child. She looked away from her baby long enough to make sure the Upyr was looking at her.

“Get the hell out of my room you frigging blood sucker. I remember now. I know what you did and why I am here.” then she yelled as loud as she could

“Get the hell out of here! I am not your true mate and you should have let me die with my mate! I hate you and I hate what you have done to me and my baby!”

Dahlia saw his face flash what she thought might have been pain then he said quietly

“Dahlia I will go for now, but you are my true mate and I couldn't allow you to die. I am sorry that you're angry, but I would do it all again.” Damien moved towards the door then turned back and continued

“I've had a Vargulf couple Liz and John come to stay with us. They can help attend to yours and the baby’s needs for the next few days. That should help you to continue to focus on your health while you get used to the idea of your new life and your babies uniqueness. Dahlia is truly sorry for your loss and your pain. I am however not sorry that we were able to help you survive.”

24: I miss him like crazy

Three months later…

Dahlia heard the phone ring and looked down at the phone number. It was her sister Ethel again. Dahlia sighed and realized she honestly shouldn’t be annoyed with her. She was a good person and she loved her. Dahlia could even understand why she was worried about her. If their roles had been reversed she would never have gotten her to leave. Dahlia could still remember the look of pain Ethel had on her face when Dahlia asked her to leave.

She eventually agreed to go, but only because her partner Charles helped Dahlia out and convinced Ethel there was nothing she could do to help her until Dahlia was ready to get help. Besides her and Charles had a baby and it was hard to leave the baby behind at home. The main reason Dahlia asked Ethel to go home was that Ethel was driving her nuts and somehow she still is. Ethel called her no less than three times a day! All the calls were exactly the same. The phone rings, Dahlia answer and says

"Hello Ethel" then she asks Dahlia

"How are you Dahlia? Are you in the mood to talk yet?" Dahlia answer her quickly saying

"Ethel, I feel the same way I did when you called me earlier today and no I still do not feel like talking.” Then she says

"Well, I love you and I'm here for you whenever you're ready. I will check in on you later, okay?"

Today, Dahlia knew the call was going to be different. She had been crying off and all morning, and she knew she wanted, no she needed to talk. Dahlia answered the phone on the second ring.

"Hello Ethel," Dahlia said. Dahlia knew what Ethel was going to say and Dahlia spoke again before she could ask annoying questions

"I do not know how I'm feeling and yes, I think I'm ready to talk," Dahlia heard her sister gasp, Then Ethel said with her perky little voice

"Talk to me sis -ta, I was concerned that you were never going to be ready to tell me what the heck was going on”

Technically Dahlia had the best three months since the car accident. Nightmares about the accident finally stopped, and Dahlia knew she was finally past the worst of the grieving for James. Dahlia was able to eat and sleep normally. Most of her skin was healing nicely, and Dr. Lorretta thought Dahlia would be able to start spending some time out of bed soon.

Baby James was very healthy and was getting bigger every day. Liz and John were great companions and were really great with James. Dahlia was even mentally and emotionally recovering. Dahlia was able to think of James and not immediately burst into tears. Her life has been simple and easy for the past few weeks, Dahlia should be happy but she was becoming increasingly unsettled and unhappy and Dahlia really could not understand why. Dahlia took a deep breath and said,

"Actually, Ethel, I was hoping you could help me figure it out"

Her sister and Dahlia talked for hours. They had not spoken much since they were in high school and both of them were worried about bonding with their partners. Back then they could talk about anything and everything. Dahlia and Ethel had been very close when they were younger then, tragically after they both found their mates they kind of grew apart.

Dahlia told her that she was getting physically better, and that Liz and John were helping a lot. Dahlia told Ethel how they were both her teammates and helped her with James. They talked about Ina and Dr. Lorretta. They even talked about the old Upyr Keanu. Dahlia told her how she found out about Keanu and Dr. Lorretta being lovers and how Dahlia was shocked. They talked about the baby and how much the Upyrs loved to come and visit James every single day. Since James is in her room, that meant that Dahlia too had started spending a lot of time with the Upyrs.

Ina and Dahlia had gotten pretty close, and Ina often talked about her true mate and even Damien’s younger years. Then, one night Ina told her the truth about what really happened when James went missing. How his true mate Zinnia was insane. Dahlia heard how she’d been attacked and killed by Vargulfs. It was sad and Dahlia wanted to hate it, but somehow she could sort of understand how she went crazy. Dahlia was just glad they were able to get James back safe and sound. Dahlia told Ethel she really liked who lived here. It was weird but even though they are Upyrs Dahlia felt like they were all family. Then Ethel asked about how things were between Damien and Dahlia. Dahlia felt her chest constrict and she started crying, Dahlia told her sister in between sobs

"Well, we're not. I mean, oh heck." Dahlia paused for a second then said

"I have not seen him since the night he brought James to me. I'm not even that he is on the farm anymore. Ethel I was horrible. I said mean hateful things. The worst part is nobody, not even his mother will say anything about him. I hate to admit it sis but it is driving me crazy!"

Dahlia hated that she was crying over the damn blood sucker. Dahlia didn't know what he did to make her think she cared for him. It had to be something with his blood. Dahlia didn’t care for him. Dahlia had a true mate and Damien wasn’t it. But here Dahlia was crying because she had not seen or heard from him in months. Dahlia had forgotten for a moment that Ethel was on the phone and she allowed herself to cry on the phone. Dahlia heard Ethel shouting through the phone to get her attention

"Dahlia, baby you're breaking my heart. Why are you crying? Do you want Charles and I come to be there with you?"

Dahlia must have given her approval because the next thing I heard her say.

"Let me hang up and call Charles. We'll have to make some arrangements, but you can expect us tomorrow afternoon. Do you think it is safe to bring CJ with us? Never mind I'm sure it is. Please, let the Upyrs know so they expect us. I love you sister, hang in there and it's going to be fine. "

Dahlia wiped her face and whispered into the phone,

"I love you too Ethel. I will see you tomorrow."

Dahlia hung up the phone and began to think about some of the things she didn’t tell her sister. Dahlia was again flooded with shame and guilt. Dahlia didn’t know which was worse. The fact that Dahlia knew she had treated Damien badly and she had even been happy when he first left or that Dahlia felt guilty about the hot dreams she was having about him and Dahlia blamed him for them.

Heck maybe it was his fault that Dahlia was having dreams. If his blood could turn her child into a crossbreed maybe it also had something to do with her dreams. The truth was her nightmares of the car accident and the death of James had long since been replaced with dreams of Damien. Dreams of passionate kisses and touches. Dreams where Dahlia and Damien were a couple and Dahlia felt whole and intact. Dreams where they made love and Dahlia found love. Dreams where Dahlia thought Damien was her true mate and he was all Dahlia needed to be happy. Dahlia would wake up and feel dirty and unfaithful. Even in a dream Dahlia felt she should have missed her one and only true love James.

Dahlia had gotten herself emotionally exhausted thinking of Damien and talking to her sister. Dahlia rolled over and closed his eyes with the intention of taking a nap. Dahlia fell asleep wishing she knew where Damien had gone and if he had any plans to return.

25: No immunity :(

"Damien, I cannot watch you do this again. Something must be wrong, you've already done this process twice the times it took Noah to develop immunity. We need to stop and think about doing something else. "

Ina was worried and Damien could understand it, but he shook he head no. Damien would have said something, but he had some yelled and screamed in pain so much the first month that he have not been able to speak in the last six weeks.

Damien knew that his mama was right, but he had to continue. His life was worthless if he wasn’t able to share blood with Dahlia. He believed more than half of the issues Dahlia has with him are because she cannot find his feelings. If they could connect their souls with each other, Dahlia would begin to develop real feelings for him. Damien grabbed the vial of her sister Ethel’s blood and took another gulp.

Damien watched as his mama Ina sobbed, then she looked to heaven and Damien knew she was either asking for it to work this time or for Damien to die. The last three times his heart stopped and Lorretta had to go in and manually massage it to restart. Damien was thankful that they had such a talented physician helping them.

The Vargulf blood was like lava moving down his throat and into his bloodstream. He threw his head back and let out a silent shriek of pain as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor. Venom was moving fast and hitting Damien harder than the first time. Damien felt it enter his heart and his eyes and ears started to leak blood. He coughed and was surprised to see so much blood coming up. His ears were ringing and the pressure in his head made his brain feel like it was swimming. Lorretta took in his condition and shouted to everyone

"He's bleeding out. He’s not going to survive! We need all hands on deck. We have to get the Vargulf blood out of his system and replaced with clean Upyr blood. There is no time to waste! Everyone find a good vein and go quickly. If you do not push past your own pain I guarantee he will not be with us in a few hours."

Damien tried to keep his eyes open but the pain was too great. He started thinking about how he had punished himself these last three months. How Damien had purposely stayed away from his true mate and allowed his soul to suffer without her. Now he hated that he would probably never see her again. Damien knew he had been selfish to pull her out of the car wreck but he felt as if he’s paid over and over for his mistakes.

Dahlia hates him; His family has suffered for him and despite everything they have done, Damien still didn’t build an immunity Vargulf blood. His gone through the procedure thirty eight times so far. Damien was told it took Noah only eighteen times to get immunity and it had been spread out over several months.

Damien felt someone lift him off the bed and saw that they had started to draw his blood with their fangs and spit it out into buckets or bowls. His veins to burn like acid cleaner was under his skin. If Damien lived through this process tonight his arm would take few weeks to regenerate from this attempt.

Damien felt his heart flutter when another excruciating pain shot through his chest from the left side of his body to his brain. A heart attack he thought to himself, then realized his heart was finally giving out. With that last thought Damien knew he had less than a few minutes before his soul would wink out of existence. He didn’t hesitate, he lifted his soul out of his body and flashed to his true mate's side, to say goodbye.

26: The road to hell

Keanu didn’t know why the process wasn’t working for Damien. Everything was exactly the same except as it had been when Noah underwent the process. But it simply wasn’t working. It was as if Damien’s soul wasn’t cooperating, maybe it didn’t understand what it was fighting for.

It just seems like it is too big of a burden to bear. He fights alone and his soul is tired of fighting. They were pulling out venomous blood as quickly as possible, but Keanu could smell death on him. Keanu knew that no matter how hard they tried Damien's soul had decided to go and nothing they did would keep him attached to the ground.

Keanu came up for air and spit out a mouthful of blood. He looked around at the rest of them trying desperately to save Damien's life. He knew he had to do more. Deep inside, he knew Dahlia was the only one who could keep Damien alive. Despite knowing that it was morally wrong, Keanu made a decision and he would suffer the consequences when it went wrong.

He ran out of the house and flew like lightning to Ina’s farm. Keanu burst into the bedroom and lifted Dahlia in his arms. She was trying to tell him something but Keanu wasn’t in the mood to hear it. He told Dahlia that Damien was dying and she is the only one who can save him.

"I will not give you a choice in this matter. You will bring him back to us."

Then Keanu pushed into her mind and made sure that when Damien next saw her she would be kind and loving towards him. She may not like it, but she would do just what Keanu wanted her to do. Keanu knew what he was doing was wrong on so many levels. He knew he had promised years ago to never again use his power to force others to do things against their will. This time, Keanu knew it was for all the right reasons, but everyone knows that saying

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions”

Keanu got back to Damien and the others and gently placed Dahlia on her feet, then gently nudged her and said

"Go to him and give him a reason to live Dahlia"

She walked over to Damien and knelt down beside him and put her hands on him. Keanu saw her scarred damaged knees against the concrete and moved quickly to put a soft pillow under her. He also noticed that the others had all realized she was now holding the wrist Keanu should have been draining. It was clear every one of them in the room except Jared understood exactly what Keanu did to Dahlia and they too were relieved. Dahlia was starting to talk to Damien and Keanu too knew he did the right thing.

"Damien, stay with me. Do not leave me. My soul is incomplete without you. Damien fight to be with me.”

#######

AUTHOR"S NOTE

PS:  This book and all my books are available for sale at all the ebook sites. Go check them out if you have time. Just seach on my name Justin CP Kelly.

If you want to read one of my books but don't have the funds... Email me... Tell me what you can pay and I will work it.

PSS: All my books are in Canadian English so they are not spelled wrong.... :)

True Mate Series
Dahlia Book 1
Zinnia Book 2
Lily Book 3
Lilac Book 4
Lavender Book 5
Laurel Book 6
Azalea Book 7

Camellia Book 8 Coming soon...