Blooded Mate

Chapter 4 - Mating Call

Further down in the southwestern states, Jan Skyver felt a gut-wrenching jolt. He doubled over, gasping for breath.

This action broke the compulsion he had placed on the pretty brunette standing in front of him. She blinked rapidly, coming to her senses. A look of confusion marred her lovely features. Then her eyes widened in shock when they fell on him. He had put on his best Scandinavian gentleman act all evening, hoping to charm her into being a pleasant dinner. At the moment, he was heaving his internals onto the floor in a very ungentlemanly manner.

Some of the dark fluid splattered on her designer pumps, and she stepped back, wrinkling her nose.

Jan leaned on the wall behind the bar for support until he got his wheezing under control.

"Are you alright? Should I call 911?" she asked, standing a safe distance from the mess on the floor.

"No," wheeze, "no, j-just help me to my car, please." He motioned her nearer.

"Ok," she edged closer, awkwardly threading his arm around her shoulders. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, Jan threw himself onto the scantily-clad lady and sank his fangs into her neck.

The woman, caught off-guard, wasted precious seconds before mounting a doomed defense. She scratched his face and arms, trying to get him off but could not match his strength and ferocity. Jan was in desperate need of nourishment after his sudden stomach upheaval.

He drank deeply, enjoying the salty metallic taste on his tongue. He fed until he felt her heartbeat start to slow, and then with great reluctance, retracted his fangs. His body screamed for more of the fresh warm blood, but he resisted. He was a blooded vampire, not a Dhampir who could not control his urges.

At least this feed had taken the edge off his hunger pangs, but he would need to drink again. And soon.

He licked the woman's neck, his saliva closing the two pinprick points on her skin, and then stared into her unfocused eyes. He pushed compulsion into his voice, muddling her recollection of the night's events. "You were in the bar with your friends, started feeling dizzy, and came out for some fresh air. Now, you need to get them and go home."

The woman nodded numbly and wobbled back to the bar. Jan watched her go, wiping the edges of his mouth. After confirming she was safe inside the building, he spun around and blended into the shadow of the trees behind the bar.

Once he was away from the bar's immediate environs, he stopped and went over what had happened. Tonight was not the only time he had felt that inexplicable clench in his gut, but this was the first time that it was strong enough to cause him to throw up.

Witches? He thought, not sure of that conclusion. Their spells usually left a trace: a lingering buzz in his head.

Not this one. This felt cleaner. No buzzing. No trace.

Jan thought back to when the attacks had started. He had been with his blood brother, Ivan, on a witch hunt. It had begun as a mild uneasiness, putting him on edge for the rest of the evening until it passed. Then, sensing no further incidents, they had chalked it up to the rush of the hunt. Then it happened the following month. And the month after that. Jan bore this affliction each time until it disappeared, for it was nothing more than a nuisance.

Tonight he sensed more than a simple apprehension. His gut roiled after that jolt. Panic and a sense of urgency had set in. Those were two emotions he had rarely felt in decades. They were so unfamiliar that they stood out like fireworks in his self-imposed prosaic lifestyle.

He closed his eyes and opened his senses to the earth, trying to detect the source of his anxiety.

Nothing.

He expanded his perception to the edges of the sleepy town that marked his territory, looking for anything unusual.

Still nothing.

He bent one knee and stuck his hand into the ground, right up to his elbows. Slowly he sank his consciousness into the soil, connecting him to Gaia, the Earth deity. Gaia's energy flows linked everything from the earth. Through that, he could scan further and pick up the faintest of echoes.

In the energy channels, he felt a yank on his floating consciousness. Something was calling out to him. He rotated his palm in the direction of the tug and pulled his awareness out of Gaia. Opening his eyes, he followed the path his palm indicated. It pointed north-east.

He saw nothing but trees in the immediate vicinity, yet he was confident whatever called to him lay in that direction. Gaia had never failed him.

The centuries-old vampire was not new to the antics of the pesky witches and the rabid dogs they thought themselves allied with. And after three bloody wars against witches and wolves, he was a veteran in this cat and mouse game.

He cursed fluently and obscenely in Danish, quite in contrast with the cultured image his blazer, button-down shirt, and pants presented. He promised bloodshed if a coven of misguided witches had chosen this time to interrupt his meal.

The wind blew a loose strand of hair across his face. Jan untied the leather thong holding his blonde tresses in place. Then gathering the shoulder-length hair at his nape, he retied the strap around it.

Every move he made was unhurried and precise. His face was a calm and expressionless mask hiding the raging turmoil within him. His thoughts fed on the distress that pulled him, thoughts that refused to be quiet.

If the witches summoned him to a dance with death, who was he to disappoint them?

Jan's blood-red irises flashed once, the only indication of his rage, then settled to their usual icy metal hue.

He broke into a run, flitting between the shadows that covered the sleeping town. None felt his presence nor marked his absence.

Jan had grounds to cover before the sun woke its blazing eye in the morning. He did not wish to meet that fiery old fellow today.

A/N

Hi lovelies, thanks for reading.If you loved it don't forget to vote, comment and add to your library.

This chapter was so exciting to write. There was so much that I found fascinating about Jan that I wrote pages and pages. I wanted to the world to know everything about him and fall in love with him like I did. Then editing was so painful because I had to trim out a lot, so that the story can flow nicely. Oh my poor heart!

I would love to here your feedback on the story in general and this chapter in particular.

What did you like?

And what didn't you like?

What did you think about the characters?

Next chapter is already being edited. I will post it in a couple of days.

Ciao!