Healing the Lycan Heart

Prologue

Distant, bloodshot eyes crept their way into her soul, chilling her to the bone. The monster held his cold hand to her throat, restricting air to her starving lungs. Which was precisely the point. No air. No screaming.

A moment ago she'd been partying at the club, having the time of her life. Now, she stood in an alleyway with no sign of life anywhere around her. What had happened? How did she get here? The music from the club was still pounding through the wall behind her, so she knew she hadn't gone far, but she didn't remember coming outside. Why would she go outside alone?

"Mackenzie Bradshaw," he hissed, his breath stale in her nose sobered her instantly, "Glasgow wills this. Glasgow requires this."

Glasgow? The name was familiar but there was no face in her drunk mind that she could put with it. Of course, that was probably the fear and panic beginning to set in along with the alcohol. The fear was crawling up her spine, like the frigid cold tended to do when it touched you. But it was May, and even in Denver, Colorado, it was hot as hell. The icy touch came from those ever tightening fingers on her throat, the ones that promised death and nothing else.

He shouldn't be here. Vampires weren't allowed in Denver. This city belonged to the Lycans and they weren't going to be happy when they found out a vampire slithered its way inside. That name, Glasgow. Her attacker had to mean Daniel Glasgow, that was the only Glasgow she knew. The self proclaimed King of Vampires was a lunatic and nothing more. A fact that was obvious since he was sending members of his nest into a sanctuary city to do his dirty work.

"Fuck Glasgow," Mack spit through whatever space was left in her throat, her false bravado the only thing keeping the tears at bay. He wasn't going to strangle her, that wasn't their way. He'd bite her, maybe drain her, definitely poison her, and leave her corpse where her father and his Lycans would find her. A message, a perfect message to send to the most powerful man in Denver. The only choice she had to make now was to piss him off so much that he killed her quickly and didn't draw it out.

Her attacker hissed deep and low in his chest as his fangs slowly slid from in gums, and they began to ooze that horrid black venom she'd been told all about. "Your father will have no choice but to retaliate," the vampire's voice was hollow and airy as if he'd only eaten ash for a hundred years, "We have forced his hand."

The monster lowered his face to her throat, and the piercing pain of the fangs, just on the brink of breaking through flesh, had her wanting to double over in pain. Forget getting it over with quickly, he was going to drag it out as long as he wanted.

A blur of motion was all she saw when the vampire was ripped from her body. The Lycan, with a thin coat of gray fur, had the bastard by the throat. One, two, shakes of the Lycan's neck and the vampire's head flew away from its body. It hit the wall of the dance club, leaving a black spot in its wake, and landed with a soft squishy thud on the alleyway cement. The sound made her sick and she wanted to puke once again.

Panicked, Mack instantly searched her neck with her fingers, trying to find any source of bleeding, but all she found was the sticky black venom. If he'd broken skin, the venom could have clotted her blood and gone straight to her brain, which could have resulted in a stroke, or worse, a very painful death. She closed her eyes and took a breath. He hadn't broken skin, and she was physically okay, so everything was out of her hands for the time being. When she opened her eyes again she was met with a very naked Neeko who was shaking his now normal head, and wiping the black goo from his mouth.

"Holy shit," she sputtered.

"Thamn those bathtard's tasthe nathsy." Neeko said as he wiped his tongue with his hand. His black hair fell below his shoulders in loose thick waves that he normally pulled back out of the way. Her eyes deceitfully trailed down his torso where his muscles were still tight from their shift, "Don't look at me like that Ms. Bradshaw or I'll finally break my contract with your father and touch you in all those places I've been dreaming about since I got this job." He turned around, showing her his firm ass, and spit more black ooze onto the cement.

Mack brought her eyes back to this face when he turned back around, and caught his playful smile and black teeth. Damn Lycans. She was glad she was used to their flirtation and nakedness, because she was the type to break that contract herself, "What are you even doing here, Neeko?"

"Your father got a tip off that something was going down tonight. We know your favorite hangouts, Mackenzie." Neeko tipped his head to the building behind her, "It wasn't that hard to find you. I just happened to be right and now I'm twenty bucks richer." he said with a proud smile, like he was glad he made her so easily.

She didn't like the thought of her life being so predictable to those around her. Even less now that there was a target on her back for God knows why. The headless corpse was still lying there in a pool of black ooze and the trauma she'd just gone through replayed in her mind. Those cold dead eyes that told her he didn't care about human life anymore, that she was nothing but a means to an end. She could see his fangs slowly sliding from beneath his gums, the way they felt on her flesh, all of it was too much right now. She just wanted to go home. No, not home. Fuck no. They more than likely knew exactly where she lived, and if this really was some message to her father like she suspected, then it wasn't going to end here. It wasn't going to end until she was dead.

"Well , I'm happy for you and your twenty dollars. Can you take me to your place and not home?"

"No can do." Neeko stood in front of her strong and still completely naked. The Lycan's were one hundred percent confident in their bodies, the most favorite aspect of all the women in Denver. "I'm taking you to your father's." Neeko grabbed her arm when she attempted to back away and drug her to the sidewalk that ran to the front of the building. There was a black Suburban sitting there, it's back door open wide, and Bato standing guard.

"No," she protested, trying not to make it easy for him by kicking and hitting, "Just take me to your house Neeko. I'll be safe there. Anywhere but my father's." Mack wasn't above begging and she'd do anything not to go to that house. Sure, he'd played a hand in saving her life tonight, but it was his way of getting her back under his thumb, where he thought she needed to be.

Neeko pulled her in close, his nose nearly touching her cheek as he growled in her ear, "Do you want to draw attention to yourself? Don't forget how easily this can turn into a media issue." He pulled back, and his glowing yellow eyes said more than words could. He was pissed at her but she'd never seen him like that before. He was happy, playful, and always treated her right, "Get in the car." He demanded.

Jerking her wrist out of his grasp, Mack crossed her arms over her chest and slid into the back of the Suburban, all the way to the other side so she wouldn't be close to Neeko. Normally she liked him, but right now he was an accessory to her kidnapping and she didn't appreciate it at all.

After attempting to bribe Lawson with his favorite breakfast if he turned the vehicle around and took her to his place, Bato finally shut her down completely. There was nothing to do but watch the city blur past her until there wasn't a city anymore, and the manors spread out on massive green lawns. She hated this, hated that she was being treated like a child and felt like everything was out of her hands.

Mack had distanced herself for a reason.