Chapter Thirty-Three

 

Hot light shone in Mona’s face. The headache pounding through her head forced her to keep her eyes shut. Reaching up, she rubbed her aching forehead. She pushed the soft down blanket from her shoulders. Why was she covered in so much warmth? There was a difference in the bed she was lying in. Not soft and plush like her own but firm. This wasn’t her bed in the cabin.

Mona’s eyes flew open. She lifted her forearms over her eyes to cover the sunlight shining in through the windows. Waking up in a place with no recollection of how she got to be there was not a good feeling. Even though the room was dark and dreary, the natural light shining through the curtains allowed her to scope out the room.

Hunter sat in a chair facing her. His head was cocked back and he appeared to be deep in sleep, snoring lightly.

How in the heck…?

Why was she here? She had visited Hunter’s nightclub in downtown New Orleans in an attempt to get Pops’ box back, and then…

The box!

Her gaze shot around the room. Her pants and shirt were neatly folded on the ottoman at the foot of the bed. Her bag, which she knew she had left with her motorcycle, was next to them. The box she was looking for was on the nightstand. Hunter, with his eyes closed in a peaceful sleep, didn’t look as deadly as he did when he was alert.

Had they…? No, impossible.

He must have felt her glaring at him because he opened one eye, focused, directed his full gaze on her, and straightened his posture in the chair. “You’re up.”

“Where am I?”

When he didn’t answer she threw the heavy covers off her legs and attempted to get up. The moment she swung her feet over the side of the bed her head spun and she leaned back against the pillows.

“What did you give me? Did you drug me?”

“You fainted, collapsed, and hit your head on the arm of a chair. That, and the fact that you may have had a little too much Ultimate is the reason why you probably feel like shit.”

“I do not remember falling.” She rubbed her forehead and leaned back into the pillows.

“That’s because you fainted.” He got up and walked toward the bed. “That is why you fell and don’t remember any of it.”

Feeling naked and vulnerable, she grabbed the covers and drew them up to her chest. “Did we…? What did we do?”

He grinned. “If you want to know if we had sex, the answer is no. I know you want to finish what we started in the lake, but I don’t take advantage of women like that. Most female werewolves do not require much foreplay, but with you being a virgin and all, believe me, you’ll need to be conscious and alert for the way in which I would like to take you.”

Her face grew so hot that she thought steam was coming from her ears. “You jerk!”

“Yes, I know.” He picked up an empty glass and began to fill it with ice from a glass bucket on the nightstand. There was a pitcher of water next to it. He handed the ice-cold water to her. “Drink.”

She scrunched up her nose and then turned away to look out the windows. “How long have I been here?”

“It’s almost noon.”

He set the glass of water down and sat in the empty space next to her on the bed.

“If I don’t return home by tonight, people will come looking for me,” she said, licking her parched, dried lips.

“They’re already looking for you.”

She turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“One of my guards spotted a Nightkeeper around the club.”

She didn’t have one doubt in her mind that Xander was capable of disregarding her wishes and following her. On the other hand, any of the others were capable of defying orders and trailing her as well.

“At any rate, I do need to return. You claim that you know who I am, then you know that I have business to take care of.”

“We have some unfinished business here, too. I promised to tell you what I know. I wasn’t lying last night about Simon being—”

“I know,” she interrupted him. “I remember what you told me.”

What she’d didn’t recall was how she came to be in Hunter’s bed. Now something that made no sense at all before finally made all the sense in the world. How did this man come about the clues to lead to this conclusion? She had gone through the contents of the box, thoroughly and nothing in it would have allowed her to conclude the same. Or maybe she wasn’t looking hard enough. She picked up the ice-cold water and lifted it to her lips.

Hunter folded his arms over his chest. “You’re near your first transformation. I could feel it under your skin when I was carrying you upstairs last night. The fact that you don’t know what you are scares you, and that is why you won’t accept your change.”

Mona set the glass down on the nightstand. “I feel it, too. Under my skin.”

“It is the way of the wolf to show their offspring how to endure the first change. Should the parents be absent, an older sibling usually takes the responsibility. From what I know of you, you know nothing about your pending change.”

“Quite frankly…I know jack shit about anything right now.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” He came closer and sat on the foot of the bed next to her. “Among all wolves, Daykeeper or not, it is a great honor to help one through their first change. However, this requires a great deal of trust to be given to that person.”

“Are you suggesting that you would help me?”

“Only if you trust me…”

“Why should I?”

“I admit that stealing your belongings should deter your trust in me, but at the time, I wanted to protect our mission and I needed to ensure that the map was in the hands of the right person. Now that I’ve returned the box to you, does that not help a little?”

She laughed softly. “What was your reason for wanting me to come alone and not with others to get my box back?”

He leveled eyes with her. “I think you know.”

“I barely know you.” True, she didn’t know him at all. Just that he was Xander’s twin brother, Hunter Lord, and the Daykeeper’s Alpha. And that she woke up in his bed…and that he was extremely handsome. Like his brother he exuded major sex appeal. It ashamed her that even after she realized that he was not Xander in the lake, she still felt drawn to him.

“You don’t feel this attraction.”

“What happened at the lake was a mistake. I thought you were Xander. I never would have—.”

“So, you admit you’re attracted to my brother?”

What she needed to admit was her confusion. She wrung the covers in her fist. “Does it really matter?”

“Yes, yes it does. Female wolves can only claim one mate. Wolves and vampires cannot mate.”

“What makes you think that I’m looking for a mate?”

He chuckled. “There must be a blood bond with a male to fulfill the prophecy.”

“A blood bond?”

“Only a werewolf would have this information. As I keep telling my brother, this war doesn’t concern him and his kind.”

“So he doesn’t know about the blood bond required and neither do I? What is it?”

“In order for the sacrifice to work, you must share a blood bond with a male. Blood bonding with a male on Earth means that your ties here cannot be broken. It means that you sacrifice your powers for the benefit of humanity, but not yourself…making it difficult for any Underworld ruler to claim you or your soul.”

“I don’t want to sacrifice myself…you are right in that. Are you telling me that I must bond with a male?”

“Not just any male. A vampire will not do. There have been no accounts of a blood bond between a werewolf and vampire to be successful.”

“So, you are suggesting…”

“Not merely suggesting, but advising.”

“How is this blood bond done?”

“Through the bite.”

“Xander doesn’t know this, does he?”

“Your other werewolf friends do…the pack members from Texas who assisted Vivant.” Hunter got up and sauntered over to the huge windows as the dark curtains parted themselves. “The bond lasts for eternity…but who wouldn’t want to be bonded to you?”

“How did you know he was my father?”

“I had a hunch already. I put the few missing puzzle pieces together and all of a sudden it wasn’t a mystery anymore. That and the fact that I have the gift of retro cognition. I also use psychometry to learn of events that happened in the past.”

“Oh.” Yes, of course, she wasn’t the only one with special gifts.

“Now I know why Vivant kept to himself and why you led such a sheltered life. Your life would have been pure hell, had anyone known who you were. There has always been a hit on you.” He turned to look at her. “I apologize for breaking it down to you like this, but this is the honest truth. There are many that would see humanity destroyed and you are the link that could make or break the prophecy.”

“So, I’m a dead woman walking.”

“Not quite, not anymore. You know how to use your powers now and have most likely become difficult to kill. If your enemies come to destroy you now, they will more than likely need to come with an army.”

“What can you tell me about Pops and these powers I’ve inherited?”

“More than you probably already know,” he grinned. “But, first…I’m hungry, aren’t you?”

****

Michael opened the door to his old vintage Chevy pickup and got inside. He leaned over to retrieve his keys from the glove compartment and inserted it in the ignition. Before he cranked up, he turned to Xander who stood on the sidewalk outside his house next to the truck, wearing a black trench coat that covered every part of his body save for his face.

“So, I’ll see you in Texas?” Michael asked.

He couldn’t believe the turn of events that had led him to meet Xander Delgado. The same events had led him to discover that others like him knew about his race. Now it was up to him to embark on a journey to find the missing pieces to his puzzling life.

“I suppose,” Xander answered.

Xander was not a man of many words, he already figured out. No, not man—vampire. He had been dabbling with an undead man for weeks and had no earthly idea until a couple hours ago. The same was true for Xander. He had not voluntarily given away his true nature either. So, he felt just as guilty as Xander should have felt.

“If I take the Daykeeper bite, will we then be enemies…you and I?”

Xander bit on his lower lip. “I suppose.”

Michael was a purebred werewolf, never bitten, but born. A Protector. And a woman they called Mona was now their leader. She had yet to reign because she had not known about her birthright or her werewolf nature, like him, until recently.

Xander started to walk away, so he leaned outside of the window and blurted out his next question. “Will I be able to meet her?”

“I suppose so.” The instant the answer was whispered, the vampire disappeared into thin air.

Michael sighed and started up the engine. At least, he knew where his path would lead him. First, he needed to take care of some personal business at home, before he started on his journey. Linda Sousa, his doting adoptive mother, would not be too happy about him skipping town without informing her.