Bound by Moon & Blood (Book 1)

“You need to eat.” Yeah, she really, really needed to. Her stomach was aching so badly and she was so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open. Energy was something she just didn’t have anymore. Liv didn’t know how much time had passed, but she didn’t care, all she cared about was the cooked piece of venison and a piece of bread on the plate that Gerard held out to her. “Please, Liv.” He begged her. She pushed herself into a sitting position as Gerard placed the plate in front of her. Thankfully, her hands had, somewhere along the road, been unbound again. Her stomach rumbled painfully and she couldn’t hold back the groan of pain. “Please eat, if not for us then do it for yourself, but please eat something.” He said before he turned to walk away. “Why?” He voice was weak, but it still held the hard emotion she wanted him to hear. Gerard turned back to her. “Because you need your stren...”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” She interrupted him, meeting his gaze. “You had a way to reach Emil on your own. Why involve King? Why give him a direct line towards me? You could have checked on me yourself and you would know everything was okay, instead you sold me out to the one person you swore to keep me away from. So why the fuck did you betray me?” Gerard squeezed his eyes shut as he dropped his head in embarrassment. “A lot has happened, Livana. A lot of it had led us to the point where we were forced to tell him.” Liv scoffed and shook her head in disbelieve. “Give me a break, Gerard.” Of course he would try to hide the truth from her, like she was still a small girl who needed to be protected. “What the fuck did he do for you to be forced to tell him?” Gerard gulped as he looked from her, over his shoulder and back. She didn’t miss the look King gave him. “King didn’t do anything.” He said with a gulp. She looked back at him. “Sure he didn’t.”

“Liv, I...” A growl came from behind him that cut of his sentence. He sighed again and dropped his head. She met King’s smug gaze before she looked at Andrew who had also barred his neck and Brandon who looked intently at the fire. There was more to this whole thing, she could already tell, but that didn’t take away the fact that they betrayed her and the pain it brought. Liv sighed and looked back at Gerard. “Well, thanks for bringing me back to the worst years of my life, kindly go fuck off and stay away from me. All three of you.” She said as she looked passed Gerard to Brandon and Andrew, who didn’t show any other reaction than either gulping or clenching their jaw. A whine came from Gerard’s throat as he opened his mouth to speak again, “Livana, King...”

“You heard her, Gerard, so sit your ass back down here.” King said from the campfire. Gerard gave her an alarming look, before he turned and walked back to the campfire. Always the good obedient wolf. Liv didn’t spare any of them another look and focused on her plate. They had actually cooked the meat... She willed the feeling surrounding her chest away and started to eat.

§

“How much further until the border?” Her ears picked up the hushed voice of King. Liv kept looking at her plate as she placed another piece of bread in her mouth, not showing that she was actually zoned in of the conversation and could hear every word, while they thought she wasn’t paying attention to anyone. “It’s about two more hours before we reach Coutts.” Canada. they were already close to the border of Canada. “After that it’s about a day and a half more until we reach Beaver Creak and then we will reach Alaska.” Dwight added. Liv placed another piece of bread in her mouth and kept eating and listening. “Finnegan’s pack will be on us the moment we cross the border. Alert the warriors to surround the convoy at all times and kill any wolf which comes close.” Well, at least it’s good to know that Alpha Finnegan was still an independent Alpha, and alive, since his pack borders King’s. “We’ll see to it, even if it is not necessary.” Another wolf, she didn’t know, said. “Even though Finnegan’s pack is nowhere near ours in size and strength, he isn’t alone and so he will be treated as a threat.” A small smirk appeared on her face before she quickly recollected herself. There was only one reason why King would treat a weaker pack as a threat, they had the help of Lycaon, which basically means that a lycan was living in the pack. This couldn’t be better. A lycan so close to Alaska means that she just got a whole lot more options to make King pay for everything. “Yes, sir.” The wolf said.

“Enjoying the eavesdrop?” She looked up as she heard Caden close to her and saw him standing in front of her. “What eavesdrop?” The lie came quickly and easy. Caden gave her a crooked smile before he took the, now empty, plate from her and walked away. Her eyes went to King who was looking at her as well. She made a show to make a confused face, convincing them that she truly didn’t know they had just given her information she could use against them.

§

Just before the border of Canada

1,5 hours later.

§

Brandon helped her put her pants back on, making an effort to not stand in reach of her legs. Even though she told them to stay away from her, King, of course, did everything to make them get close to her. Like now when she needed to relieve her bladder again, he ordered her hands to be bound again and that Brandon was to help her. To be honest she rather have him help her than anyone, or one person in particular, else, but still. As he closed her button he moved to grab her arm and lead her back to the parked cars. They said nothing to each other the whole walk back, she didn’t even look at him. As she reached the trunk she placed her knee in it and wanted to climb in when a shot was fired and the wolf standing next to the car fell to the ground with a bullet lodged in his third eye. Brandon immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the open space and behind the jeep as more shots followed the first ones. And screams filled the air. A bullet grazed her cheek as Brandon jumped away just in time and pulled her with him. She clashed against his chest and they went down. She hissed as she felt the aconite enter her body through her cheek. “You’re hit!” Liv glared at him. “Yeah, by the bullet that was meant for you asshole!” Brandon got up from the ground and helped her up as well as multiple howls filled the air and wolves ran towards them out of the forest. “Shift!” King’s command rolled over her like a heavy blanket, but it didn’t affect her. Brandon immediately groaned, before the sounds of his bones and those of the others, filled the air. Brandon jumped towards a wolf who broke through the tree line, leaving her alone. Chaos unfolded around her as the attack began in full force, yet no one really paid any attention to her. Brandon jumped on the back of the wolf who launched him further away from her, giving her a clear route into the woods. She might as well try, right? Liv pushed herself off the ground and ran towards the trees. She evaded multiple wolves which snapped their teeth at her, but they didn’t chase her. King’s pack was advancing on them, they had more on their mind than chasing a girl. Liv willed her legs to go faster as she jumped over a fallen tree and sped up again. This was Finnegan’s pack, it has to be, which means that the lycan must be close as well. If she could reach him... A scream left her mouth as she was hit by something and clashed against a tree, before she fell to the ground. Liv groaned as she rolled on her belly. The first thing she saw were four black paws in front of her. She moved her legs underneath her and pushed herself up to sit on her knees. A huge black wolf stood in front of her. His fur was a little longer than usual and somehow it made her want to pet him even though the sight of him made her want to cower in a corner somewhere. This wolf was even bigger than King and he had always been the largest wolf she had ever known. She had to look up to meet his hard gaze. Slowly she got up from her knees, while holding the gaze of the wolf, who’s snout reached her chest. It was a Lycanthrope, that much was clear, but he looked different somehow. Something was different about him. She just didn’t know what as he looked like a normal Lycanthrope. As she was looking at him the sound of bones breaking filled her ears before the wolf changed into his human skin and revealed... Caden, who was again a half a head bigger than she was and very naked. “Where are you running off to, Moonblood?” He crossed his arms over his chest. She clenched her jaw as she met his gaze. “Away from you.” He huffed with amusement. “I am curious, why did you even think this escape would succeed?” Curious or not, he was a serious pain in her ass. This was her chance to find the lycan and she wasn’t going to be stopped by this fucking wolf. Caden raised an eyebrow at her. Liv shrugged as she took a step away from him. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She pushed herself off the ground and roundhouse kicked him against his head, sending him down to the ground. “Stay down, wolf.” Liv said before she jumped over him and wanted to run again. Her ankle was grabbed, right before it was pulled way under her, sending her to the ground as well. As an reflex she tried to move her arms to catch herself, but the chains around her wrists didn’t give, resulting in the fact that she faceplanted in the soil. Before she could do anything else she felt a knee on her back, which pushed her down on the ground. A whimper left her as she felt a rib break. Liv did the only thing she could think off and called on her power. “You aren’t going anywhere.” Caden moved his knee and made her roll on her back. She released her power on him and his blood hummed as she took control over it. He gasped as his body went rigid. Sweat already started to form on her brow. She was still too weak to use it, but she had to. His veins became visible to her and she forced his blood to flow the other way, knowing it was the worst pain that anyone will endure. Caden gasped again as he lost the strength in his body and almost collapsed on her. She waited for a scream that told her his agony, but instead his breathing became heavier, and his muscles relaxed before he looked at her with his, now amber colored, eyes. She met his gaze with an confused and alarming one of her own as she still held the control over his blood. “How are you...” Before she could finish her sentence she felt something warm on her lower abdomen. If he was pissing on her, she was going to kill him. But as she looked down she didn’t see his groin. All she saw was the stream of blood that came from a wound on his abdomen he had made with his own claws. “Nice try, little Moonblood, but this isn’t my first encounter with one of you.” Her eyes snapped back to his as she let go of her power. There was no greater pain than what a Moonblood can do when she has control over the blood of a wolf, but that control and pain can be weakened by spilling the blood of the one under control. When that happens, the blood has the natural reaction to race to his wound and heal him. She released a long breath as she dropped her head to the ground and briefly closed her eyes. “As I said, you aren’t going anywhere.” He got up and pulled her with him. He roughly grabbed her arm, hard enough for her to flinch and feel the pain intensify as he tightened his grip along the walk back.

“Well, well, look who’s back, again.” King said as he walked towards them. His body was covered in blood and he wore it like a fucking trophy. The strides towards her were fast. The fury on his face told her exactly how pissed he was. Everyone stopped clearing out the dead wolves as they knew the same thing as she did. She was in deep shit. As King reached her he slapped her cheek hard enough to force a scream of pain out of her mouth. He wasn’t done though. King grabbed her throat and pulled her out of Caden’s grip before she was slammed with her back against the closest jeep. Causing the pain of her broken rip to crash through her body and force a whimper out of her. “How do you fucking dare to run away again?!” He hissed. “What makes you think that you could do, huh? Run to Finnegan’s pack and ask him for help?!” He yelled the last part before he threw her to the clearing where multiple fires were blazing to burn the bodies of the dead wolves. Liv slid over the ground until she was stopped by a burning body. She screamed as the flames licked her clothes and skin, before she quickly moved away from the fire. Her breathing was rapid as she looked at her exposed skin of her right hip, where now a bright red mark sat, and by the feeling of it, she knew that the mark had also covered her lower back. “Finnegan wouldn’t have been able to keep you away from me.” She looked back at King who was walking towards her again. “No one will ever keep what’s mine away from me again. You hear me?!” He reached her and grabbed her throat again, before he pulled her up and pushed her backwards into the fire once more. A scream tore out of her throat again as the flames licked her legs and her already marked back and hip. She pulled her arms up as far as she could so her hands wouldn't burn as well. Her combat boots thankfully protected her feet. She could feel her pants and sweater catching fire and her flesh starting to burn from her bones. “No, Liv!...” King growled at Andrew and Gerard who had come forward. Liv desperately tried to get away from the flames, but King held her in place before he suddenly pulled her toward him. She clashed against his chest. Tears streamed down her cheeks. He wrapped one of his hands in her hair as he tightened his grip on her throat, cutting off her air supply. Her mouth opened as her lungs tried to get air into them. “You are mine.” King clashed his lips on hers in a painful kiss. She tried her best to get away from him, but it was absolutely no use. If she had been stronger, she may have had a shot, but thanks to her use of power on Caden, there was no way she could use it again on King. Even if she could, she knew that it would do nothing. King enjoyed the pain too much and being who he is, she would burn out faster than even come close to killing him. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled away and inhaled her scent. “Be sure to remember that, little one.” King sidestepped as he pulled her forward, sending her to the ground again. Dousing all the small flames on her pants and sweater. Her rib and legs were hurting, but it was the pain of the burn marks of her hip and back that were killing her. She couldn’t do anything but lay on the ground as the pain took over her body. “Put her in the trunk!” King screamed and everyone spurred in action. She saw two feet appear and already knew who was standing in front of her. He roughly grabbed her by her arm and pulled her off the ground. A whimper came out of her mouth as she felt the burned skin stretch. Caden pulled her to the jeep with the open trunk and, literally, threw her in. Another scream tore out of her throat as she clashed against the back of the backseats. “You may be a mercenary, trained to be the nightmare of many,” Liv looked up at Caden who was looking at her like she was going to be his next meal. “But you are nothing more than a naïve girl who thinks she is somebody when in fact you are nothing more than a tool to use.” Her lower lip trembled. Too much, she had endured too much and this was a blow she couldn’t take. Caden winked at her as he knew that as well, before he slammed the door shut.