Vlad The Impaler (VAMPIRE-ELF)

45. New Places And New Friends

Cole was stunned by the elf's reaction to him. When he had first seen her, it had been like a revelation, like everything in his world was finally coming together.

One glance at her and he had forgotten that he was a bastard and that he was a dark wolf, destined to never experience the full completion and thrill of a full shift. Her green eyes had sparkled and he had finally felt like he was home. The pull had been so strong that it had awakened equally strong jealousy in him. She was his and his father wanted to trade her to Zane.

It therefore did not make sense when an invisible force shot out of her. Cole was not prepared and the psychokinetic shove tossed him across the room and through a closed door. His body was finally stopped by the walls. The whole castle shook as his body hit the wall then ricocheted off it.

The sound of his vertebral column cracking did not terrify him as much as the sight in front of him.

Her eyes were glowing like with an unholy fire and her skin was licked in tiny little flames that did not seem to be burning her. Her hair which had been black a moment before was now dripping with blood. No wind could be felt in that part of the castle yet her clothes were billowing as if they contained a storm within them.

More experimental than his brother, Cole had seen a lot of things in life; witchcraft, paganism and cultism- nothing really shocked him anymore. But never before had he come across anything like this. She was terrifying yet beautiful at the same time. There was something pure but also malevolent about the whole picture such that he forgot to drag his broken spine and hightail it out of there before he became toast in the literal sense.

Luckily for him, the other elf, Mara, came into the hallway. She signalled for him not to move.

"Stay there," she said to him, her eyes on Erinna.

"Don't think I have much choice, sweetheart," he groaned.

He still did not know how he had managed to misunderstand Erinna. As much as he liked games and a little rough play, Cole would never take a woman against her will. He would have never touched Erinna if he had thought it was not what she wanted.

She had resisted yes, but most women liked to be coy with him, knowing it made him more focused on the hunt. He had listened to her body and it had spoken quite clearly to him. With her blood drenched with pheromones and nipples sticking out like pebbles in the uncorseted dress, her body had been ripe for the picking, hell it had been begging to be taken.

There had also been the issue of the pull, he had never felt as connected to another being as he had with her. Like she was...the one.

Accorded Mates were usually given to the strongest individuals in the race. He was the first dark wolf to have arisen in thousands of years so it was not out of the realm of possibility that she was his. Why hadn't she recognized him then?

Mating for werewolves was not as many people believed. Their mates were not written in the stars or predestined. Like everyone, they chose mates based on compatibility then bonded with them before the whole tribe during a full moon with the blessing of the alpha. Their unions were more successful than other species simply because they were aided by animal senses and instincts when they made a choice.

A life mate was one thing...but an Accorded Mate was another thing. They were god given, universe approved, soul bonded and destiny chosen. The concept was phenomenal. It had happened only thrice in their race, as far as Cole knew. Perhaps that was what had made him reckless but the moment he had seen her he had lost all common sense.

She was so beautiful and so alive.

He heard the older elf talk to the one who was his, trying to calm her down. Cole was filled a wave of possessiveness that shocked him. The trigger on his emotions did something and before he could stop it, the shift began. His first full shift.