BloodRite: MATE (YOUNG ADULT VERSION)

Prologue

"Rudulfa?!" The masked man in front of her shouted. They were standing in the archway of the living room in her families home.

He was so close to her that she could smell the stale stench of cigarettes and alcohol on his hot, acrid breath.

"Wh-wh-who?" Tala stuttered in a quiet, shaky voice.

Fear was taking over her already tense body. Slowly taking control, making her unable to move, unable to think. Her heart was pounding so loud she could swear that everyone in the room could hear it. As if someone was beating drums right there in the living room.

Although it was the man closest to her that was shouting at her, it was the man in the corner she couldn't take her eyes off of.

"Rudulfa Lovota?! Are you her? Where is she? Is Alaric your alpha? Your mate?" The man demanded.

Shooting off question after question with frantic impatience, but still Tala couldn't tear her eyes away from the other intruder.

The room began to feel as though it was spinning around her. Spinning out of control, and she had no way of stopping it. What is going on? Who are these men that stormed into her home?

"Answer me!" The man growled, taking a step closer to her.

"I have no idea w-what you're t-talking about . . . t-there's no one with t-those names here. . . P-p-please, my name is Tala, the g-girl you're holding . . . her n-name is Reika. P-please . . ." Tala's voice cracked with fierce emotion, and she couldn't fight her tears back any longer.

"Damn You!" She yelled, still looking at the man in the corner.

She stared at him through the tears in her eyes as she balled her fists at her sides in anger.

"JUST LET MY SISTER GO!" She screamed at him.

The man closest to her stench was becoming more and more apparent with each breath of air she sucked in while crying. Making her almost gag at the repugnance.

"Please, let us walk away. We will never sp-peak of this." She pleaded with the men again, but both men were unfazed.

The one in the corner was currently holding her little sister at knife point. The knife had already dug in enough to her neck that it caused a little trickle of blood to flow down it.

The closer man interrupts with a slight chuckle as he leans up against the side of the archway. Playing with the knife in his hands.

"I'm sorry darlin', we'd love to let you go. Maybe even keep you around for a little fun. My men and I get so lonely, in need of comfort from young, beautiful women such as yourselves, but that's not how all of this works, unfortunately." The man kept gesturing with the knife he was holding.

"We have clear instructions you see? Find Rudulfa & Tamika Lovota by any means necessary and do it quickly. Also, make sure that anyone along our path . . ." The man uses his knife to help him gesture cutting a throat open.

"Disappears." The man's mustache twitched as an evil smirk appeared across his face.

Tala could feel as the blood drained from hers as her mind began racing. Finally working again.

'They're going to kill us! What am I going to do?' The room was spinning faster.

'I have to save Reika no matter what!' Tala's thoughts were aghast while she franticly tried to figure out how to make a distraction for her sister.

"Red, can we just finish this up and leave?" The man holding Reika asks the other man impatiently.

Until his sudden outburst, the man had been quiet, letting his vile comrade be the one to do the speaking for them.