Filed to story: Cara Nelson The Guardian: Werewolf Book PDF Free
I look at Angel. It’s her story to tell. “I was held prisoner by vampires.” She says. quietly.
Cara’s enthusiasm immediately ends. “What?” She looks between us. “What do you mean ‘held prisoner’.” She uses her fingers to make air quotes as she says held prisoner.
“A vampire prince kept me prisoner as his personal blood bag for seven years.”
Cara gasps, her hand going to her mouth. “But you’re a werewolf. Vampires hate the taste of werewolves.”
Angel shrugs. “The one who caught me, his name was Sebastian, called met something like ‘custos regni’ when he tasted my blood.”
I watch as Cara goes pale. “Cara, what is it?”
She turns to look at me. “Do you know Eatin?” She asks.
I shake my head. “No.”
“Custos Regni, it means ‘Guardian of the Realm’. It means,” her hands going instinctively to her stomach, protecting her unborn baby, “that they know of ust and we, as Guardians, must taste good to them.”
“Not just good, I think maybe he became addicted to my blood.” Angel says. “He wouldn’t let anyone else feed on me. No one was allowed to touch me except once when another vampire royal visited. And no one was allowed to taint me. His word. But I’m thankful for it, because it meant none of them ever raped me like they did to everyone else in that hellish place.”
I can’t help the snarl that rips from my mouth. He’s lucky he didn’t rape my mate, but he’ll still pay for what he did to her.
“I need to go.” Cara says looking like she’s going to vomit up her dinner. “I need to try to get ahold of Ailduin before you come by tomorrow.” She turns to me. And if those bloodsuckers think they can come and take Angel, they’ll have one hell of a fight on their hands. We will stand beside you. We would have anyway, but there’s no way Rik and Anders will put either Dad or I at risk. I just hope Rik doesn’t try to put me on some kind of lockdown because of it.” She shakes her head as she stands.
She leans over, hugging Angel again. “It was so good to finally meet you. I’m so happy that we found you. You will be safe here. I promise.” She turns and looks at me as if confirming what she said. I nod.
“I’ll walk you out.”
We walk to her car in silence. When we get there, she turns. “She doesn’t know you’re her mate yet.” It’s a statement, not a question.
“It doesn’t seem so, I’m hoping Alessia will recognize Cyran when she’s stronger.”
She grasps my wrist. “I knew Rik was my mate before Artemis confirmed it. Be there for her, be someone that makes her feel safe and even if it takes Alessia time, Angel will feel it.”
I lean down and kiss her on top of her head. “I’m working on it.”
She slides into the driver’s seat. “Anything I need to know about Eli before I leave?”
“He says he’s sorry and willing to pay penance for what he did to you, but he’s still denying that he killed my mother.”
She frowns, looking at me. “Why is he denying it?”
I shrug. “I have no idea, but I won’t stop until he gives me what I want.”
She smiles up at me. “I’m glad you found your mate. She’ll keep you grounded.”
I close her door and watch her drive off before heading back to my mate.
When I get back upstairs, she’s fallen asleep. I decide to use this time to get some work done. I head to my office on the first floor. I find Dustin behind my desk when I walk in.
“So, Cara? How was that?” He jumps right in as he moves out of my chair.
“Surprisingly good.” I reply, taking a seat.
“Really? No hard feelings, no lingering love interest.”
I look at him. He hasn’t met his mate yet, so he doesn’t know what it’s like. “No. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s as if she’s not good enough anymore. Like she could never be to me what Angel is. The mate bond is a strange thing. I never realized how strong the pull to your mate would be. It’s exciting and scary all at once.” I stop and look at him. “Does that make any sense?”
“I
“Not even a little, but I trust your judgement. Maybe some day I’ll get lucky enough to stumble across my mate and I’ll understand.”
?
“I hope you do. She’s worth waiting for, I’ll tell you that.”
We get to work, going through things that have been sitting, waiting for me. Dustin is an efficient Beta who can stand in as Alpha when I’m away, but he’s made sure to leave information on decisions he made while I was out of pocket. It feels good to get caught up and to know that the pack is still running smoothly. I also fill him in on the updates to the company and new employees I hired while I was in town.
We’re about to stop and have a drink when I hear it. Angel’s blood curdling scream. I’m through the door and up the three flights of stairs in a second, flying into her room. When she looks at me, I see the haunted look in her eyes. I take a step toward her, and she moves to get away from me. Dammit.
‘Shift. She isn’t afraid of me.’ Cyran says. I don’t think twice. I shift, ripping my clothes to shreds in the process, and Cyran jumps on the bed. She immediately grabs hold of him in her death grip and he lays down on her like we did last night. Dustin mind links me. “Do you need anything Alpha?”
“No, she had another nightmare. Just keep everyone off my floor.”
“You know you’re going to have to tell them something soon. The rumor mill is going wild.”
I know it is. I’ve had a female tucked up on my floor for nearly two weeks for the first time in my life and no one has seen her. And now, Cara has been here and that will only enflame the rumor mill further.
Angel is shaking so hard I’m surprised I can’t hear her bones rattling together. Even with all his fur and muscle, I can feel her bones jutting into Cyran’s body as he lays on her. He begins purring like he did last night. The sound reverberating through his body into hers, relaxing her. It takes time again, but slowly the shaking subsides and her death grip on his face and neck releases. Her breathing evens out and I hear her say “I’m sorry” like she did last night.
She has nothing to be sorry for. I can only imagine the terror she witnessed for all those years. I’m angry that I didn’t look for her. I know it’s not a rational thought. I never would have searched a vampire coven for my mate. But I still feel like I let her down. I’m her mate, the one that is supposed to protect her, keep her safe and I didn’t do that.
While we lay there, listening to our mate’s heart rate slow, feeling her body relax,
I think back to what Cara said. The vampires knew about the Guardians. They also seemed to know that they liked the taste of their blood. Hopefully, somewhere in King Ailduin’s chronicles, there is something that will give us more information. about that. The last thing I want is every vampire in the country after my mate.
Cyran begins licking her face again. ‘I don’t like when mate cries.’
“It’s okay Cyran. I’m okay.” She tells him, beginning to stroke his fur. I admit, I like the feeling of her fingers running through his fur as much as he does. I really hope that one day she runs her hands over my body like this.
Cyran gently woofs at her. It worked last night to get her talking. I’m hoping it works again. I want to know what’s going on in that head of hers.
“It was another nightmare.” She stops and Cyran nuzzles her with his nose. She laughs softly but continues. “There was another girl there, in the coven with me. The vampire I mentioned earlier, Sebastian, who brought me to the prince, he was rewarded with his choice of ‘fresh food’, that’s what they called the humans that were brought in each day. She was the only other person that they didn’t kill. Sebastian didn’t share her, but he did rape her every day. At some point we made eye contact and we had these words that we would mouth to each other every night. It was way of letting the other person know that they weren’t alone