Bound by Moon & Blood (Book 1)

Lycanthropes and Moonbloods have basically an enhanced everything. Enhanced sight, hearing, smell, speed, strength and healing. The latter never occurred without any pain. Small cuts or crapes will heal in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds if they are really superficial. Larger wounds or broken bones usually took about an hour or longer, depending on how bad they were or how many bones or wounds someone had collected. And then there were burns and severe wounds, that would be life-threatening for a human. They were by far the most painful to heal and would take about a day to heal, also depending on how severely everything was. None of them would leave a scar, unless a Lycanthrope in his wolf skin would inflict them. Wounds from their claw or teeth will always scar thanks to the fact of the venom in their saliva and bone of the claws.

Liv had three scars on her body. She remembered the pain of the wounds when King had inflicted them, but that was nothing compared to the pain of the burn she felt right now. The last time Liv had a burn was when she was five and thankfully she didn’t really remember anything of it, except the pain it would seem. Every move she made, caused her body to scream in agony. She hasn’t moved out of her own account though, the car made her with every turn or bump in the road. Her rib had already healed, so had the cut on her cheek the bullet had made. The pain she felt now was purely thanks to her burns. The fact that pieces of her clothing had also burned away and caused her to shiver with the cold didn’t help her situation either. They had been driving for a while now, yet she didn’t know how long as the pain in her body made it feel like an eternity. The only relieve she had was the fact that Caden hadn’t shown his face or anyone else for that matter. They, thankfully, left her alone in her agony. The car hit another bump. Liv clenched her lips on each other, but the slight whimper could still be heard. She closed her eyes, causing a tear to fall.

“Does it hurt badly?” Liv asked with a soft voice as she looked at the third degree burns on the woman’s only arm, inflicted there by King. The woman gave her a small smile. “The pain is only temporary, sweetheart. I’ll be fine before you know it.”

It hadn’t been temporary. Every time she would heal King burned her arm again, and again, and again. In the end her mother’s arm was completely ruined, because her body couldn't keep up with healing her arm properly. Another tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of the only person she had loved during her time in King’s pack. The only person who had given up everything so Liv would survive, including her own life. Her mother had been one of the strongest Moonbloods she had ever known and King had broken her entirely.

“Mama!” She ran forward as he hit her mother again. “Mama!” Her mother’s head shot towards her and her lip trembled. Liv was grabbed around her waist before she could reach her mother and lifted off the ground. “No, let her go!” Her mother was hit again and grabbed by two wolves. “Hold her.” The male ordered the two wolves. Liv struggled in the grip of the wolf who was holding her as she looked from her mother to the male with tears in her eyes. The male in front of her mother gave her a pleased smirk. “It seems you and your idiot mate were at least good for one thing.” King said to her mother as he walked toward her. Her eyes shot to the male that laid on the ground with his heart ripped out. Her father. “There is no need to cry little one.” Her eyes shot to King who stopped in front of her and stroked a finger, covered in her fathers blood, along her cheek. “I am King, what is your name?” Liv glared at him and held her mouth shut. King chuckled a little, he looked behind him to one of the wolves who held her mother and gave a small nod. Before she knew what happened, one of the wolves shifted and ripped her mother’s arm off her body. Her mother screamed in pure agony. “No! Mama!” She tried to get free again, but it was no use. “Know this, little one.” King grabbed her chin and made her look at him while her mother was still crying loudly. “Obey me and nothing will happen to you or your mother. Disobey and well, look at your mother, you did this to her by not answering my question.” Her lower lip trembled as more tears filled her eyes. “Have I made myself clear?” Liv could only nod.

The movement of the car caused her to slide a little. Liv clenched her entire body to keep herself from screaming in pain. Heavily breathing through her nose slowly lessened the worst pain. Her mind went back to the the first time she met King. Their enhanced bodies could heal almost everything, but it couldn't grow back limbs. Her mother had never really recovered from the loss of her arm and King burning the other so badly and so many times made her mother beg to just rip that one off as well. Her lower lip trembled, but Liv refused to let the tears fall. There was almost nothing but pain in the last memories she had of her and she refused to remember her mother like that. Or at all... Liv actually never allowed herself to think about her mother. About everything she had to endure because of King. In the end there would always be a memory to slip through the walls she put up, but most of the time she pushed every memory or thought about her mother away. She was dead. She was dead because of King and Liv had mourned enough for her. Now she just had to make King pay, after that she could think about her mother and know that she had peace. Every thought she had of her mother made her remember the weak girl she had been. If she had been stronger, trained her power harder, she could have put up more of a fight against King, making the suffering of her mother less in the process. She knew that she shouldn't think like that, but the guilt of everything her mother had to endure while she was forced to watch and stand helpless was still as fresh as it has always been.

"No please, please! I am sorry, I am so sorry, King, I will obey I promise! Please don't hurt her!" Liv begged as she fell in front of him on her knees and held his legs. Tears streamed down her cheeks from the fear that took over every inch of her body. For the fear of her mother getting hurt again. King smirked as he looked down on the girl holding his legs. He absolutely loved to see her like this, scared for whatever he was going to do. It was like a drug to him. "And what will you do for me to keep me from hurting your precious mother, Kerra?" King asked as he already knew what she was going to say. Liv took a stronger hold on his legs. "Anything, I will do anything, please just don't hurt her." She whispered, closing her eyes and hoping that he will grant her wish. He smirked as he wanted to answer that she will not be able to give him anything as long as she is a child, before the door of the Packhouse opened and her mother walked out with something white in her hands. Both Liv and King looked at the woman who had tears in her eyes. The slight smell of urine filled their noses. King's eyes grew wide, before he kicked Liv away from him with a force that caused the girl to scream and fall to the side. "Livana!" Her mother immediately ran down the steps to got to her daughter before she was roughly grabbed by her arm and held back by King. "What are you holding in your hand?" His voice was hard. The woman glared at him before she slammed the small stick against his chest. "Congratulations, King." The woman said with as much venom in her words as she could. "You are going to be a father."

Dawn, her half-sister, had been the only reason why King stopped abusing and beating her mother for a year. Yet, her mother had regressed even further than she had when she had to endure all the beatings and torture. Pregnancy was always a dangerous thing for a Moonblood. All because they are forced to shift and live in their wolf skin for the last three months of the pregnancy to carry and give birth to the pup. When a Moonblood is in their wolf skin they cannot use their power. The only benefit of being in their wolf skin is the fact that they are even faster and stronger than a normal Lycanthrope, but that's it. Her mother had hated the fact that she was pregnant with King's child. She had fallen in depression and had tried to kill herself multiple times until King had ordered Liv to finally live with her mother again, after being separated from the first day they were captured. Her mother stopped trying to kill herself over the days that Liv had been there to watch over her and comfort her, but it was a role she had never had before. She had never thought that she would take care of her mother like that at eight years old. When the last trimester of the pregnancy began and her mother was forced to live in her wolf skin, King had put an actual leash on her, making sure that she couldn't run away or do something that would endanger her or the pup. After the birth of Dawn, her mother had become a shell of the person she used to be. She paid attention to nothing and nobody anymore, not even Liv. Not until one night when her mother had snapped and tried to kill Dawn. King had caught her before she could deliver the blow, but she didn't go down without a fight. Liv only remembered hearing the glass break and a female scream before she ran out of Gerard's and Andrew's house, finding her mother barely alive on the stairs of the Packhouse. Liv had run to her as she saw King walking out of the Packhouse with a knife in his hand and a gash in his shoulder.

King was blinded by rage as he looked at the female who was glaring at him, while her broken body laid before him. "Mam!" Liv yelled as she almost reached the female. His eyes snapped to the girl and red dots started to cloud his vision. He grabbed her before she could reach her mother. The woman's eyes immediately went wide as she saw King raise the knife to Liv's neck. "You try to kill my daughter? Then I will kill yours." He said with an animalistic voice before he slashed the knife along the girl's neck. "NO!" Her mother screamed as he released Liv who grabbed her neck as she was choking on her own blood. The woman crawled to her dying daughter as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Ssssh." She shushed her daughter who held absolute fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I am so sorry." Her voice broke as she heard the choking sounds of her daughter. Her mind reeled to think of something that could help. As if in answer, her power started to hum inside of her. She knew what she had to do. "You are going to be okay, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay." Her voice was a little clearer. The woman dropped her head and placed her forehead against that of her daughter. "Live, my daughter." A warmth started to fill her head. "You are so strong, Livana. Find your power and no one will be able to stop you." Her power washed over her and Liv. "Remember who you are, who your parents are and you will never be powerless." She felt herself becomming weaker. "I love you." With her last words the power of her body disappeared and the last thing she saw was the wound on Liv's throat closing.

Her mother had transferred her power into Liv that day. She had given up her own life so Liv might live a little longer. King had been furious. He had taken her mother's body away from her before she could even comprehend what actually had happened. He had plunged his knife into her mother's belly and cut her open from her navel to her throat with a roar of rage before he threw her mother's body away and ordered his pack to tear her apart. Liv had cried and begged for her to be cremated. In the end she had been, after there was barely anything left of her mother to burn. Liv had never been so scared of King than she was that day and her hate for him had never been greater.

The car made another sharp turn. Liv was immediately pulled out of her pain inflicted thoughts of her mother and whimpered a little louder. It felt like a thousand knifes were being stabbed in her hip and back. A shiver ran over her body again and, this time, she swallowed her whimper. She did everything to keep her from drawing attention to herself. Exhaustion was apparent in her body and she wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and not be in her body right now. Liv closed her eyes and thought about anything but her mother, King or the pain. It felt like an eternity had passed before she felt the car move slower and she finally slipped into her exhaustion.