Bound by Moon & Blood (Book 1)

Slowly, Liv turned around and faced the monster. She hadn’t expected him to be here, but it didn’t matter. If no one had called her bluff yet, not even King, then she was going to uphold it.

“You heard what I said, didn’t you?” King took a step closer to her as he placed his arms on his back and gave her a calculating look. As if he was trying to figure out if she truly was that heartless. After a long silence that had her head starting to become woozy due to the blood that streamed down the side of her body, King huffed and a crooked smirk appeared on his face. “I’m impressed.” That was something she hadn’t expected him to say. He stepped around her. Liv turned with him and saw him nudge Edward with his foot. “I clearly did underestimate you.” He said as he turned back towards her. “But not to fret, it won’t happen again.” He said with a wink, before he turned to Daniel and James who had also suddenly shown up. “Get Luke and Edward and bring them to the infirmary.” The two Alphas nodded. James going into the house to grab Luke and Daniel picking up Edward from the ground. More gasps sounded, before a scream came from Luke. The crooked grin on King’s face became a full one before he met her eyes again. “Well done, little one. I can honestly say I am proud of you, but don’t think this will stop anything.” He said before he winked at her and walked away. Dwight shot her one more glare before they all walked away, except Caden and Ben. Liv dropped the hold on her power and released a long breath.

Caden’s eyes flashed amber and the pack started to scatter. He had used the link to send them away.

“Is anything still in one piece in there?” He asked as he placed his hands in his pockets.

“Would you even care if it wasn’t?” She shot back as the adrenaline in her body started to fade and the pain of the fight started to make itself known. “It’s Rev’s house, so he would care.” She gave him a surprised expression, but didn’t ask the questions that popped in her head as she moved and a sharp pain sliced through her body from her right hip and side. She hissed as she looked down and saw a piece of wood sticking out of her side. When did that happen?

She slowly peeled her shirt up. Blood coated her entire abdomen, making the “K” scar barely visible. Not that she really cared about that now. She revealed the piece of wood that was lodged in her side and went down diagonally to her hip.

“Shit.” She breathed before her balance decided to turn around and she swayed to the left.

“Woah.” Ben said as he immediately was at her side and held her upright. “I’ll take her to Doc.”

“No need, Doc is already here.” A male said as he walked towards them. Caden gave him a surprised look. “What? That girl imbedded a large piece of wood in one wolf’s throat and in the other’s abdomen and you expect her to only have the wound on her shoulder and the broken nose? I knew there was more so I waited.” Doc said, before he turned towards her. Doc was an older wolf. His face was more worn out and grey hairs were already starting to peek through his brown hair. In human years he would have been around the age of forty, but in Lycanthrope years he had to be at least four or five centuries old to even get one grey hair. A little mind blown she looked at the Doc in wonder. He chuckled as he saw her face. “I know, I’m old.” She mentally shook herself out of her stupor. “Sorry, I’m staring.” Doc chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m used to it. Why don’t we go inside so I can work?” Before she could even answer, Doc walked past her towards Rev’s house. Ben helped her to walk back in as well, Caden and Rev following them. Ben whistled as he saw the broken cabinet, she had been thrown against, pieces of wood littering the ground and the blood that coated the floor. “Nicely done.” He spoke.

“Easy for you to say, this isn’t you house and you don’t have a wife that will throw an enormous fit once she sees what has become of this place.” Rev said a little irritated as Ben helped her to sit on the dining table where Doc had gestured to put her.

“Well, I am sorry for the inconvenience, next time some of you assholes come to take my blood I’ll make sure to be a bit tidier.” She spat at him as she gave him a hard look. Rev released a low growl as he held her gaze.

“Lie down please.” Doc said silently behind her. Liv moved to lie on the table, her head resting on a pillow from the couch.

“Nessa will understand, Rev. She was there as well, wasn’t she?” Ben spoke before the situation could escalate. Rev huffed before he turned and walked out of the house again.

Doc ignored them and gently lifted the hem of her shirt as he inspected her wound. “I’m going to have to cut your shirt to have room to clean out your wounds. They won’t be closing until I remove all the splinters of wood. And any more movement of you means more splinters coming loose.”

“Fine.” She breathed, not really caring about it as the pain and exhaustion had already started to cloud her mind. Doc gave her a small nod before he searched for something in his bag and took out a syringe. Liv immediately jolted up at the sight. The movement was sloppy and it send her tumbling down the table. Before she could completely hit the ground, two hands caught her and lifted her up. “We’re not going to do anything to you, Moonblood.” Caden’s low voice was close to her ear as she still looked at Doc’s stricken face and the syringe in his hand. He held up his hands, including the syringe before he laid it down on the table.

“Sure, you won’t. That why you did nothing but stand outside and wait until they were done draining me.” She spat as she struggled in Caden grasp. Not that it did any good, he was too strong and she was too weak. “Yeah, that’s what happened.” Caden said with a sarcastic tone. She looked over her shoulder at him as Doc spoke up, “It’s nothing more than water mixed with aloe and salt. The needle won’t go into your body it’s just so I can clean your wounds properly.” Doc gently explained.

“It’s still going in my body since you want to use it on my wounds.” She countered. Pain overtook her body again and she couldn’t do anything but slumping against Caden as he still held her up from underneath her armpits. The sight of the needle had made her body immediately go back into fight mode and the repercussions were already starting to be felt.

“I don’t need it.” She said while her mind was still sharp and not taken over by her pain and exhaustion. Doc gave her a small smile as he placed scissors next to the syringe. “You do. That wood is old so it could already be festering in your wounds. The water only helps your body to clean it up and speeding up the process.” She grinded her molars as she looked at the syringe. “I’m a doctor, miss. I won’t ever hurt anyone on purpose. All I want to do is help you.” Her eyes snapped back to Doc. There was sincerity in his eyes, but she would a fool if she was going to believe him on his words and the look he gave her. Yet, her body was getting weaker and she knew she needed his help.

“Prove it.” Doc gave her a small nod before he picked up the syringe and moved to inject himself. “Not on yourself. Use it on Ben.”

“Excuse me?” She looked at Ben who gave her a surprised expression. “If you also believe it’s harmless, you won’t have a problem with it, right?” Something in the direction of pride filled his eyes. “As you wish, píka.” Ben walked forward and held out his arm to Doc. The latter injected the needle in Ben’s arm and the liquid filled his veins. Ben didn’t so much as grimace the whole time. Doc took out the now empty syringe. She waited for something to happen, but nothing did. She slumped even more against Caden, not entirely willingly. His scent started to surround her and it was somehow soothing.

“See?” Ben said as he turned towards her. “You don’t know what happened outside, píka. Don’t throw us into the same group as those lapdogs.” Her mind didn’t really comprehend what he was saying. The haze of her blood loss and pain was taking over. All she could do was nod. Caden moved his arms around her and helped her walk back to the table. With the Alpha’s help she laid back down on the table.

“Alpha, Bo and Dustin are in trouble.” Rev said with a stern voice as he walked back into the house. The look between them told her it was something serious.

“Go be Alpha. I’ll stay here and watch her.”

“I’m not a dog.” She mumbled, which caused Doc to chuckle as he grabbed the scissors and moved to cut open her shirt.

Caden grinned at her before he gave Ben a small nod and walked away.

She looked at the ceiling as the door closed and she was alone with Doc and Ben. Doc didn’t say anything as he started to cut her shirt. Cool air ran over her exposed skin as he cleared her chest and moved on to her sleeves. Ben grabbed a chair and sat down, before he leaned with his arms on the table and rested his chin on his hand. She could feel his eyes on her exposed skin as Doc removed the shreds of her shirt and started to clean her body with a wet cloth he had gotten from the kitchen. His eyes travelled from the wound on her shoulder, to the blood on her skin and lower to her abdomen where...

Ben immediately sat upright as he saw the “K” scar.

Liv closed her eyes and released a long sigh. “Give me the cloth.” Ben’s voice was hard and unyielding. Liv opened her eyes and saw Doc giving Ben a confused gaze, but handed over the cloth anyway. Ben got up from the chair and cleaned the blood from her lower abdomen. The exact place of her scar. His eyes slowly changed color until they were amber. Doc moved to look closer at the scar and she soon saw shock and unbelieve appear. Liv closed her eyes again and counted the moments until the questions started.

“When did he give that to you?” Ben’s dark voice filled her ears. She opened her eyes again and met his gaze. “Does it matter?” He leaned with his fists on the table and flexed his arms. “Yes. It. Does. Because the only way to get a scar like this, is for that motherfucker to carve it into your skin with his fucking claw!” He practically yelled.

“Alpha Ben...” Doc warned softly, but Ben didn’t listen to him. He only kept his on Liv. “Then you already know the worst part and don’t need to know the rest. Let it go.” Her voice struggled to keep steady. Not only because of the pain and the fact that she was getting weaker, but also because she really didn’t want to be talking about this right now. She was in pain; she didn’t need the anger that came with the memory of her scar.

“You...”

“I need to treat her wounds, Alpha. This conversation has to wait until I am done and she is rested.” Doc interjected before Ben could finish what he wanted to say. His amber gaze turned to Doc. “Please take a seat.” Doc said politely. Liv looked in wonder at the Doc who didn’t cower from the Alpha stare of Ben. Even more wonder filled her when the Alpha actually sat down.

“How did you do that?” She asked as she looked at Doc, who chuckled and took out a new syringe. “Years of experience with Alphas, taught me a few things.”

“Can you teach me?” Doc chuckled. Ben’s eyes became normal again and he gave her a look. “Maybe over time I can, but I imagine that a Moonblood such as yourself would not need words to make an Alpha obey them.” He looked at the wound in her side and he took out a small scalpel. She sucked in a breath as he placed the small knife on her skin. “This is going to hurt a little.” He said before he gently started to cut open her skin. Liv pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut at the pain. She had always hated it when something was lodged in her and Emil had to cut her open to take it out. All because the pain was one, she could live without. Anesthetics don’t work on wolves thanks to their healing system, so the pain was something she always had to endure. This pain was nothing new, but she hated it all the same. She actually thought she was going to black out before Doc’s voice pulled her back to the front. “There.” She released a long breath as opened her eyes, making tears roll out of them, and looked at the piece of wood Doc hat taken out of her side. The thing wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to make her wonder how she could not have felt it until her adrenaline faded. Doc laid it on the table, before he wiped his hands clean and picked up a tweezer to take out the splinters. He took a seat and started to work on her wound. “You didn’t respond.” He said as he picked up the syringe and sprayed some of the water on her wound. “Holy son of a motherfucking...” Her cuss words were cut off as she bit her own fist and forced herself to breathe through the sting. Both Ben and Doc chuckled at her reaction. “Sure, laugh, it’s not like I finally felt what pouring salt on a wound feels like.” Liv commented with a strained voice. As she dropped her hand. “Most have the same reaction you do, so don’t feel bad. You still haven’t responded though.” She knew he was talking about the comment he made on her being a Moonblood and not needing him to teach her how to make an Alpha obey with words. She hissed as Doc pulled out a larger piece out of her wound. “If I was that strong, I would not be here in the first place or would have to fight like I do here.”

“Moonbloods are taught from a young age how to use their powers right?” Ben asked.

“They are.” She said not really want to elaborate more, but the two males wouldn’t have that. “So why weren’t you?” Ben asked. She sighed as she laid her good hand behind her head, making the strap of her bra dig into her skin a little. “You know why.” She said before she hissed again and looked at her wound. It was almost clean of splinters. Once it was, her healing would kick in and no one would know that she had been badly injured.

“I don’t believe King wouldn’t have had a Moonblood to teach you. He wants them to be strong.” Doc said, not looking up from his work.

Okay, so she was going to tell them everything then. “He had my mother continue to teach me, but he himself would mostly observe what I was supposed to learn and then twist it to, in his words, make me even stronger and learn faster.” That made Doc look up. “That’s not possible. The learning curve of Moonbloods is connected to their age. Speeding it up isn’t possible.”

“Hence the fact why I was forced to push my power too far, burn out more times than not and never learned more than the few things I can do.” Liv said. “After I ran away, I had no Moonblood around to teach me. I never got to learn more and I am stuck with only the abilities I actually had mastered.”

It remained quiet as Doc kept on working. It was a loaded silence as they processed what she had shared, but she didn’t mind the it. Even if it caused her to focus on the pain.

Liv cherished the abilities that she has mastered, not only because they are all she has, but also because it was what her mother had taught her. Even if King tried to chance it, it was still a part of her mother. Even if it meant that she also remembered how King had hurt the ones around her and allowed hurt to her as he was teaching her. Her life had been hard, torturous and painful, but she still pulled her strength from the brief moments of peace, joy and love she had endured. Like her mother teaching her and her father chasing her around the pack, her pack. The sadness of reality was always right behind her memories and that sadness gripped her more than she cared to admit, but she still held onto that spark inside of her that her parents had kindled and refused to let it die. She knew that she would if she did.