Elena
Stefan is out of my reach; otherwise, I would have slapped him into the next week. William growls so loud I hear his chest vibrating, and Stefan takes a step backward.
“Let me guess, that is the slave. Call off the wolves and have the male brought here!” I ordered Max and snap my fingers.
Anger flashes in his eyes before he does as I ask him. “Stop the chasing!” he yells into a microphone he has on the desk. The wolves obey, and from what I see on the laptop, the male falls to his knees as soon as the wolves stop running. They shift into their human form and drag the slave after them. I watch the laptop a moment more before my attention turns to Max.
“I want the slave’s file!” I say. I know Max does not want to give it to me, but he puts a hand in his right pocket, takes out a set of keys, unlocks the top drawer of his desk, and reluctantly gives the file to me. I open it and look at the only page that is inside. My eyes scan it fast, and I have a strange feeling, but I shrug it off.
The name of the slave is Vladimir, and according to the file, he is twenty-four and has been in the Silver Pack for half his life. He was born to rogue parents. Their names are unknown. That’s all the information on the page. No school or medical records, no date of birth, no family name. Nothing.
“Is this a joke?” I ask and throw the file on the desk.
Max does not reply.
Voices coming from the hallway reach my ears.
“I-I a-am go-going t-to k-kill h-him!” a male yells in an angry voice. A shiver runs down my spine as I hear him speaking. He might have a stutter but otherwise, his voice is masculine.
“Shut up, worm! Or I will make you!” another male says.
I turn around and look at the door right when two strong males drag inside the one I suspect is the slave—Vladimir. He had short dirty blond hair and a mouth made for kissing. He has no shirt on and his chest is full of cuts, welts and blood. The only thing he is wearing is a pair of old jeans.
From the blood and injuries covering him, I know he has been tortured for a long time, and I admire how hard he struggles to get free. I inhale deeply, wanting to catch his scent. He smells like blood and sweat and other things, but beneath all that, he smells all male—musk and rosewood.
Mia waggles her tail fast while she gets close to the surface. I know what she is about to say before the word forms in my head—mate.
I think Vladimir smells my scent because he stops struggling. Our eyes lock, and my heart skips a beat. While I forget to breathe. His chest rises and falls fast. I wonder if he is breathing so fast because he ran fast for a long time or because of me. I am so caught up in the moment and all I can do is stare into the most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen in my entire life.
Vladimir is meant to be my other half, the yang to my yin and all that bullshit, but I don’t want him. Nor do I need him. But this does not stop me from being angry like I have never been before. Scratch angry. I am nuclear! No one hurts my mate and walks away alive.
“Release him!” I order the males. “Now!” I growl when they don’t do as I say.
“V!” the female from William’s arms says. “Put me down!” she says to William.
William does as she asks, and she rushes to Vladimir. The males holding Vladimir let go of him. “Ana!” Vladimir says before hugging the female. She buries her face in his chest, and he strokes her back, and he whispers something into her ear. William growls and looks at Vladimir as if he wants to kill him. I ignore William’s antics. He probably is on edge because the female has been injured.
I have this irrational urge to separate Vladimir from Ana and rub my scent all over him so everyone knows he is mine. Instead of that I do the most rational thing a female in my position can do—I turn my back on him.
‘Our mate is hugging another female!’ Mia protests.
‘He can do what he wants because I don’t plan to accept him!’ I say to my wolf. Mia huffs in annoyance. I know Mia wants her mate and pups and a collar with diamonds around her neck, or whatever wolves give to each other when they mate, but that’s her, not me. All I want to do is to kill Mihnea. And once he is dead, there are always more vampires to hunt.
“You have a lot of questions to answer,” I say to Max. “The most important one is: who the fuck gave you the right to have a slave?” I ask with so much hate and anger because I want to separate his spine from the rest of his body for what he did to my—to Vladimir.
Max grits his teeth. “This worm does not deserve to be alive after all the pain he caused when he killed my little sister!”
Vladimir doesn’t confirm or deny Max’s words.
“If he committed the crime you said he did, he should have been taken in front of the Elders to be judged. But he was not only refused that right but also made a slave!” I growl. “Alpha Max, you will be judged for having a slave and killing two pack members!” I say.
Ana whimpers, and I turn my attention to her for a second wondering what happened.
“Elena, watch out!” Mark yells.
I look back at Max, and he sprays something in my face. I cover my face with my arm, but I inhale some air. Wolfsbane enters my system, and my lungs feel like they are on fire. I start coughing and have a hard time breathing. The room spins around so fast I feel like falling.
Before I hit the floor, someone picks me up, and my palms touch his bare chest, and sparks erupt under them. Mia purrs inside my head.
“Y-you wi-will b-be fi-fine!” Vladimir tells me as I stare into his green eyes.
Vladimir When Alpha Max told the wolves chasing me to stop and take me to the office, all I could think about was to kill him for what he did to Mr. and Mrs. Radu. I try to get free from the males dragging me to the office, but they are stronger than me. I am thinking about freeing Derayu from the prison I built around him when I entered the office, my lungs filled with the most beautiful scent I have ever smelled—lilac and hyacinth. My blood roars in my ears, and I stop fighting. Derayu howls inside my head and slams against the invisible walls surrounding him. I often wondered if the girl I loved with all my heart had been my soulmate. After that day, when I took her innocent life and became the slave of the Silver Pack, I accepted it because it was my punishment for what I did. Every time Ana would mention my soulmate, only the face of my princess—how I often called her—would come to my mind. But the Moon Goddess has another plan for me. I turn my attention to the source of that
Vladimir The male with white hair scratches the back of his head and looks around him, scanning the hallways. The Pack House is unusually quiet; there are no pups running around or teenagers shyly glancing at those they like. While I have never been a real member of the Silver Pack, I know there is a special bond between a werewolf and his pack. They can mind link, a thing I could never do since, technically, I am still a rogue. When Ana's parents died, everyone felt it. From what I understood, when a pack member returns to the Moon Goddess, a part of the pack's heart goes with him. I might not feel that pain, but knowing Mr. and Mrs. Radu died because they wanted to help me hurts so badly, and I want to claw my heart out of my chest. But Ana needs me, so for her sake, I must carry on. She rejected Mikael and has no relatives left in Romania. A cousin of Mrs. Radu lives in Paris, but Ana doesn’t want to move there. My eyes fell on my hands. Ana is smart and works hard, but since she l
ElenaThe sun is about to disappear between a line of trees, and there is so much to be done before me and my team can return home. But all I can think about is Vladimir telling Mia his wolf is feral. No wonder he is full of welts and cuts. His wolf should have been able to heal them.The tip of my fingers touches his chest. Beneath all the dry blood that covers Vladamir's body, I can tell he has many scars. Max has abused my mate for a long time and subjected him to torture, and that is unacceptable! When I get my hands on Max, I will show him what torture really means!Vladimir gazes at me with pained eyes, and I know rejecting him will hurt like a motherfucker, but as a vampire huntress having a weakness can result in many people dying.Mia huffs her disagreement. 'Vladimir is not a weakness!''Think about it! His wolf is feral and he can't rely on him! What will happen when Mihnea finds out that I have found my mate? Have you stopped to think that Mihnea can use Vladimir to get to
Elena Growing up, I was never alone. There had always been family or friends over at my house, or I was visiting them. But right now, sitting in the backyard of the Silver Pack, I feel more alone than ever. In addition, I deliberately hurt my mate and made my wolf angry with me. And Mark told me he would stop working with me if I rejected Vladimir. I don't give a shit about most things, but I care a lot about Mark. At some point during my teen years, things changed, and I became less social, and I stopped speaking to most of my friends. Except for Mark. He had always been there for me. He has always been my BFF, and I love him more than anything in this world. When my first crush broke my heart, and I called him in the middle of the night, he came running to my house with a big tub of ice cream and a collection of stupid old movies. When Mark suffered because of a female, I made him his favorite dinner and stayed with him until he was better. Mark leaving the team is not an option.
VladimirAna takes me to her room and locks the door behind her before wrapping her arms around herself. I pull her into a tight hug and stroke her hair while I whisper reassuring words to her, but I know that no matter what I say or do, it won’t bring back her parents. She knows I will always be by her side, that she will be the sister I never had.I swallow hard and let go of her.“We should hurry,” I tell her. “I don’t think Elena would like it if we made her wait for too long!”“I don’t like her! Each time she visited the pack, she acted as if she were better than anyone else!”I frown because I didn’t realize that Elena had come here before. I would not have known anyway because each time someone visited the pack, I was taken to the lower parts of the dungeons and stayed there until the guests left.“It does not matter if you like her or not; we will have to go with her,” I say before heading towards Ana’s closet. “Get inside the shower while I pack your things!”Ana’s bottom lip
HiIf anyone is waiting for updates on this book - they will happen, but I have some plans for this book, and this is the second story of the series - Rain and Ashes. I am currently working on the first story, and then I will get back to this one - in a few weeks.No, no need to read the first one to understand this one, but probably some details will make sense if read in order.The other story - I am not sure if I will publish it here, but it can be found on another app - free - I.N.K.I.T.T - A pack of Rain and Pain. This story should change the name to - A Pack of Ashes and Hope - but on this app will maintain the same name.I am sorry for the delays, but the story will be completed.Have a great time everyone
Vladimir When I think of my life, my past, and what I would change if I had the chance to do it, many things come to my mind. But I would never regret loving her. Every moment I spent with her was a gift.My mind goes back to that fatal day, and when I remember all the blood, the cup I am washing slips from my hand and falls on the floor with a loud noise, shattering. I look at it. This is how I am right now–broken.I hear him growl behind me and my heart starts pounding so fast in my chest, and I am already trembling with fear. I know what is going to happen, and I close my eyes. I deserve everything that is happening to me. For I am a criminal.The Alpha first punches me in the nose and then in the stomach, hard, making me bend from the pain. Blood is dripping from my broken nose."You worthless piece of shit! You always break something! And every time you break something, it costs me money. How are you going to pay for what you just broke?" Alpha Max spits his anger at me while he
Vladimir When I open my eyes, I find myself in the stables, laying on my back on my mattress with my thin and dirty blanket is covering my body. The scent and the neigh of the horses are familiar and comforting to me, as I have been sleeping in the stables for many years.I am not sure for how long I have been unconscious because it is dark in the stable, and I know it is during the night.My body throbs with pain, but after years of torture, the pain has become part of my life. But my life hasn't always been like this. There had been a time when I had a family, and I lived in a Rogue Community. There had been a time when I was not a slave or part of the Silver Pack. It's not a big pack; around a hundred werewolves live here. We live close to Târgoviște in Romania.As I shift on the mattress, I wonder who brought me here because the last thing I remember is being in the kitchen, Alpha Max beating me until I blacked out.I try to get to my left side, and a hiss of pain escapes my lips