Wingless And Damned (The Damned Series) (7 page)

“What in all of Nalla Vareim has happened to you? You look different, very predatory. I feel like I should run or pull out my warding crystal! You are absolutely splendid Lea!”

As much as I adore having her near me, I seem to have forgotten I am a predator now. I don’t know how I am to explain this transformation to my dearest sister! Gathering the courage, I can only to say, “Much to explain my dearest sister, right now we must prepare for battle!”

She nods. “I have to report back to them on the severity of this situation your tribe has found itself in.”

I squeeze her arm in response as I turn to Alexander with a large smile. “Let’s get this crazy ass show on the road!”

With a gentle
chuckle, he steps forward to grasp Zari’s hand in a proper introduction. Giggling with the awareness, I have completely lost my mind and proper manners in not introducing them. Sweet words cross my weary mind.

“Relax love.”

I can’t help but feel immensely better knowing I'm not alone with my dark thoughts anymore.

Noticing Zari seems to be lost in the inner dialogue going on between Alexander and I, I smile at her and say, “We will get reacquainted as Alexander addresses his general. I must warn you, other than myself, my dearest sister, the tribe people have never been around any Fae, especially one as beautiful as you are.”

I walk Alexander to the chamber doors only to find his mouth hot and ready waiting for me. The quick embrace leaves me with only one thought,
Make love to me.
I get a quick response.

”Soon my love,”
Alexander answers me as he walks out the door.

What has come over me, especially with Zari in the room?
The slam of the door makes me snap back to my reality. Zari has now unknowingly wrapped herself in the evil befalling us all. What the hell will my aunts think of this situation I'm in?

Zari closes the short distance between us and entwines herself around me. I feel and smell the warm embrace of Nalla Vareim calling to me as I am sucked into an amazing feeling of comfort and other worldly love radiating out of her every pore.

My newly found bloodlust seems to be welling up in me as we embrace. I feel like ripping my dearest sister’s throat out. Backing away, I reach out to Alexander over our connection,
“I'm in a world of trouble. I want to fucking
eat her!
Hurry back to me as quickly as you can.”

Zari notices my apprehension as I tighten my shoulders when I feel her soft red hair brush my skin. Acting like it’s nothing, I direct her to our sitting room to have a cup of coffee and summarize the dreadful circumstances for her.

I pour her coffee and try to fill my own cup as slowly as possible, not really wanting to tell her everything about the thick, the bad, and the fucking bloody. Where to start?

“As you know my aunts aren’t my aunts; the reality of it is much darker than any of us could ever dream of. I really don’t think my aunts know the enormity of it!
Apparently, I was born of the Neuri tribe over two centuries ago. I was the first born of a retched curse we now face. When this curse was twisted by Ciarra, the medicine woman of the tribe, it was only for protection. The original Strigoi took Ciarra as well as my mother Kimi to make sure she twisted the curse the way they wanted her to. Apparently as part of the deal, Ciarra made sure Kimi would be released safely when she finished twisting it. Ciarra wasn’t so lucky. As one of the originals carried Kimi off to safety, Ciarra was ravaged by the other and was then turned into one of the Strigoi. Kimi later gave birth to me, but her fragile body wasn’t able to recover from the damage childbirth had caused her. Ciarra saved me when my mother died, then saved my aunts who were being held as slaves by the original Strigoi’s. When Ciarra released my aunts they brought me to Nalla Vareim to live out these last two centuries under the safety of our people.”

Zari put her hands up for me to stop as if this is a fairytale she has heard many times over. My new temper flairs but I realize she isn’t being condescending, she really is just trying to understand this damned curse I am talking about. So
, I get my anger under control.

“Can you please get to the part about why you smell like a damned predator?” she says impatiently.

I laugh as I notice her eyes widen when she starts talking about me as if I am a monster. I put my hands up in surrender and say with a smirk plain as day plastered on my newly reddened lips. “Okay, I'm getting to that part. You see Ciarra twisted the curse in a new way, a bad way, but in order to keep some balance against the originals she had to add a loophole for her tribesmen. It dictated one mated pair would be born who are destined for one another, should they find each other will transform into half werewolf, half Strigoi, Hybrid I guess you will call it. It is the only way we would be strong enough to kill an original Strigoi.”

“Whoa what the hell do you mean by we!? You and Alexander are that pair?”

I shake my head not knowing if this will send her running home never to be seen again but as I'm watching she blinks a few times then just smiles at me only to return my curious looks with,

“I knew that you smelled different, my nose couldn’t and wouldn’t lie to me!” She giggles
. I on the other hand am completely flabbergasted by this whole situation.

How could she know this about me and not tell me! Her giggles are short lived as I
become angrier, trying to keep my temper in check and slowly, but damned surely, I am failing. I stand up and pace in front of her as she sits on the love seat, attempting to reign in my quickly escalating temper. I exhale finally when I realize I was holding my breath.

Zari stands and snaps me out the trance I found myself in once she is standing face to face with her brilliant wings. Smells of home wipe all anger from my newly tarnished soul. She puts both her arms on my shoulders and around my neck. This small act of kindness and sisterly love helps me understand she wasn’t trying to hurt me.

Just as I am about to embrace her in this warmth of our familiar love, a knock sounds on the chamber door. I quickly turn away. “Come in.”

Chapter
Nine

When the doors open, Gaius steps into the room in all his masculine glory and quickly notices we have company. As I move closer to the long dark haired ruggedly handsome man standing in front of us, Zari inches closer and closer to us. When I turned to her with a smirk, I feel her wing brush excitedly against my arm. Giggling, I try to introduce them properly before Zari melts into a puddle at his handsome feet. “Zari this is Alexander’s brother and general of his army. Gaius, this is Zari, my sister from Nalla Vareim.”

I step back and watch as they attempt all the proper niceties and Zari seems to be lulled into silence by this strong hunk of a man standing before her. When introductions have been properly returned, I see Gaius’ gaze turn to me but then return to the breathtakingly beautiful Zari repeatedly
. Finally, I capture his gaze with a knowing smirk.

Stammering Gaius reacts. “We have to go, the battle is near, we have our army at the ready; we are just waiting on you two.”

Just as I'm pulling my boots on, Alexander rushes into the room. Zari apparently sees her chance to be alone with Gaius and quickly takes Alexander’s presence as an excuse to leave.

“Are you ready, my love? This is going to be a very long and bloody battle.”

I notice the sincerity in his eyes when looking at me. “I will be fine my love, we handled the demon and original Strigoi alone did we not? I can’t see any reason I won’t be ready having you, Zari, Gaius and the rest of the tribe at my side!”

Just as we finish our reassurances, I hear a commotion in the hall, apparently Alexander’s youngest brother, who I am just now learning of, is bitching about not being able to join in the fight. Trying my damnedest to look around Alexander, I am met by another strong, black haired younger version of Alexander. The only big difference I can see is he doesn’t have Alexander’s outstanding physical stature. He has long black hair and blue eyes without being eerily beautiful.
Obviously, like his older brothers, he is a force to be reckoned with.

Alexander just keeps adamantly saying “No!” Feeling him reel in his temper, he speaks
softer. “You have not come of age yet. We cannot chance you getting killed!”

I wince knowing exactly what the younger brother is feeling and try to insert myself into the conversation with a lighter note.

“Wow! Are there any other brothers I need to know about?” Giggling and happy with myself, I give Alexander “the” look and he just chuckles at me. Alexander makes with the proper manners and responds to my taunting him,

“This is our youngest brother Luke. He has not come of age yet and therefore he won’t be joining us during the battle.”

I look at Luke and give him a sincerely apologetic look. “I'm sure we can find something for him to do for us.”

“Yes, I'm sure we can find something for him to make him feel useful.”

I jump into his arms happy we have made Luke’s day a little brighter.

“However we have to get a move on, the Army is ready and waiting on us.”

Chapter Ten

We step outside into the dark, crisp spring air; the air is thicker than I remember. When we get to the formation, I see why everything is feeling so … strange to me. I step back in shock. Alexander is at my back calmly using our link.

“We had to prepare for the looming battle my love; they are in their true form. Don’t be scared. You are one of us now.”
As soon as he drops our link, he transforms into a magnificent black haired, looming beast. I look into his eyes and then I swear I see him smile with his huge, ferociously sharp fangs. I laugh out loud at the sight of him trying to smile to keep me calm, while he is standing there, eight feet tall.

As I finish laughing at my tribal leader and
mate, I forget we are in the presence of his entire army. His hairy werewolf army. Oh but they are a sight. If someone is stupid enough to fight us, they’ll face eighty nine mature werewolves with massive claws sticking out of enormous paws. I don’t think even one of them stands less seven feet tall at the ready. I notice they take on their true hair color when they transform. Alexander has black hair with ice blue eyes as in his human form thus his werewolf has the same? Alexander takes his place in front of the tribe but instead of words, I hear him in my weary mind speaking to his tribal men.

“We face a worthy opponent today. My Lea and I faced a demon and an original yesterday evening. We are standing before you asking for you to possibly lay your life down for the greater good of the tribe. The curse cannot and will not ever be broken if we cannot go out there and stop these cruel bloodthirsty creatures out there screaming for our people’s blood.
We must send them to the netherworld, never to be seen or torture another of ours again!”

I can’t help but have a massive amount of pride well up inside of me. This wonderfully powerful man is
mine!

The army listening trance-like to Alexander’s speech are now hooting and hollering at the thought of the upcoming blood shed soon to be in
our grasp.

Gaius takes his place on Alexander’s right and I sense them communicating but have no
bearing on how Alexander has shut me out. I am just getting a fuzzy thought field instead of actual thoughts. For some damn reason this angers me. I don’t seem to understand how to shield my own thoughts from him yet. I know when this battle is over; the first thing on my list will be to figure this out. I feel a flutter come up behind me as I see Zari take her spot at my right.

She faces me as she smiles as she says, “Time to suit up my dearest sister.”

As if on command, I transform to my new frightening self.

I feel my fangs growing as I smile back at Zari and can see her fight the urge to take a step back. When I get a grasp on how I'm changing, I can see why she seems anxious. My normal hands have disappeared, and in their place are massive claws again.

My mind keeps playing tricks on me as I have flashbacks of the cave of when I used my claws and newly sharpened teeth to rip a demon’s hand off. For some reason these memories ignite a yearning deep in my core. Alexander and I still haven’t spoken about how and why I am having a battle with my bloodlust. I know I sure as hell will be bringing this up once this whole debacle is over. Also on the conversation topic list will be him not introducing me to his brothers as well as not teaching me to shield As soon as the anger seeped into my psyche I noticed Alexander’s was back in my mind.

“Apparently you were more worried about getting a piece of ass than introducing me to your brothers or teaching me necessities! This can and will be dealt with later!”

Zari, noticing my temperament change, places a hand on my right shoulder. As soon as I feel her warmth, I swear there is a trickling of power radiating from me.
What the fuck is that?
Zari backed up as if I burned her, rubbing her hand where it had recently been in contact with my skin. I can’t help but turn away from Alexander to look at my dear sister only to come up astonished. Feeling so much aggression building inside me, Alexander rushes to my side. The closer he gets the better I start to feel.