Mated & Blooded

Chapter 15

(Kalli's POV)

I can't believe my mate just alpha ordered me away from him. Did he have any idea how much he was hurting me? I am supposed to be his mate. I should be at his side during an alpha challenge. He says that he loves me and that he is doing this to protect me. I feel like he is ripping out my heart. The pack will notice my absence. It will make what little chance we had of acceptance become impossibility. Why wouldn't he just listen to me?

I cried for the first hour we were in the car. My mother tried to comfort me multiple times but my wolf and I just couldn't accept what felt like a pure betrayal from our mate. Mom must have driven a lot slower than Lucas because I started looking around and realized we had been driving for an hour and were still in pack territory.

Mom pulled over to the side of the road and abruptly got out of the car. I watched as two of Alpha Logan's lieutenants got out of a truck and walked up to her. I tried to get out of the car but my wolf refused. For some stupid reason she thought she would be disobeying Lucas's command. I sat that watching my mother converse with the enemy.

Then my mother did the unthinkable. She shifted into her wolf and took off. The two lieutenants walked up to the side of the car and roughly pulled me out by my hair. I pushed them away from me. I knew if I could put just a small distance between us I would be able to get away. I was fast. When Lucas had chased after me in BlueRidge he only caught me because I let him. If I could just get him off my arm I knew I had a chance of surviving this.

I managed to punch one of them in the face and felt their blood splatter against my face. The other one took advantage of the distraction and slammed a needle into the side of my neck. The pain enraged me. I kicked out with my foot and managed to connect with his shin. He let go of my arm. That was all I needed, I took off like a bolt of lightning.

It didn't take long before I felt myself slowing down. I don't know what the hell was in that needle but it was really messing with my head. My vision was blurry and my legs didn't seem to want to keep moving. I heard a chorus of howls and knew more wolves had joined the chase. If I had to guess there were at least a dozen on my tail. I forced myself to keep moving. If I could just get to the territory boundary they would have to give up the chase.

My instincts told me the border was less than ten miles from where I now stood. I paused long enough to catch my breath and make sure that I was headed in the right direction. My eyes were getting really heavy, and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep myself awake for much longer. I needed to make every movement count. I reached out in my mind and tried to reach my mate. I called to him, but there was no response. I wasn't surprised. For some reason I had never been able to connect with pack members telepathically. I had just hoped beyond hope that I would somehow reach him.

I heard the wolves closing in and took off again. Before much longer, I found myself stumbling and knew that the chase was nearly over. I wasn't going to make the border. The wolves were going to tear me limb from limb.

(Nikoli's POV)

I felt her soul trying to tell me goodbye. I bolted awake knowing that my beloved was in mortal danger. I could tell it was around noon and the sun was at its peak. That didn't matter; I needed to get to her immediately. I could figure out what to do about the damage from the sun later.

I kept thinking how lucky I was that I followed them and stayed the night. I hadn't planned on it, in fact I had planned on heading in the opposite direction to seek out an elder. Then, something made me stay. I didn't trust these wolves. I guess I was right.

There were just over a dozen chasing after her. I watched her slip and fall and my heart nearly burst from my chest. I grabbed the first one I could and cracked his spine in half. He fell dead at my feet before he even realized I was there.

I reached for another and bit deeply into his neck pulling his jugular out before he could even whimper. I needed to take out a few more out before they realized what I was doing. Vampires were much stronger than werewolves but the odds would be a little better at six to one than twelve to one.

I moved in behind my third wolf and launched myself onto its back. Unfortunately it was a female and she managed to get her mates attention before I could silence her. Her mate turned growled low in his throat at me then attacked. The real fight was on. I stayed on the females back and forced her to lie beneath me unable to move. Fighting in this position also forced the attacking wolves to watch exactly what they were biting at. No wolf wanted to injure the mated female below me.

I batted at them like they were toys easily throwing them more than a hundred feet away from me often having them slam into the side of a tree. I could hear their bones crushing on impact. They weren't going to be able to keep this up much longer. They too must have realized they were fighting a losing battle because they turned their attention from me back to my beloved.

She was lying limply just ahead of me. Her hair was spread around her like fan. She looked like a sleeping angel. She was so perfect in every way. Her skin was olive toned and so flawless with the exception of the light freckles on the bridge of her nose. Her breathing was shallow and she had the distinctive smell of someone who was drugged. Three wolves moved in on her at the same time.

I pressed harder on the back on the she-wolf I was kneeling on. I heard her whimper then pass out from lack of oxygen. Her mate growled again then threw back hi head and howled. I jumped off of her and he immediately went to her side and shifted back to a human. I saw him lift her body still in her wolf form and run in the opposite direction of my beloved.

With my speed I easily reached my beloved before the three wolves. I lifted her in my arms and took off. I would bring her home with me where she belonged. In my home and with me she would be safe. It was clear to me now how foolish I had been. My beloved needed me and I needed to remain with my beloved. I may not be able to complete the blooding, but I would never again leave her side. I would need to invite the elders to come to me.