The BlackBurne Legacy (The Bloodlines Legacy Series Book 1) (18 page)

“That’s not fair.”

Luka pulls me closer, his arms tightening like iron bands. “You like me.”

“Yes, I do, but I don’t know about this mate business.”

“You and I share a different kind of mate bond.” Micah brings my attention back to him. “We are what my pack calls soul mates—we share the same soul. That’s why we are so attuned to each other. In some ways it’s even more powerful than a heart mate bond.”

“But doesn’t soul mate mean the person you love with all your heart?” I ask, confused. Everything I’ve ever read about soul mates clearly states it ended up being the greatest love story of all time.

“It’s a broad misconception,” he tells me, sounding very grown up. “Sometimes they
can
be one in the same, but that’s only ever happened once that I know of. We believe that when a soul is created, it’s torn into two halves in the spirit world before being sent out into this plane. Those two halves will wander the earth, always looking for, but usually never finding, their other half.”

Micah takes my hands. “I know you’re afraid, but you don’t have to be. We share the same soul, Alexandria. You are a part of me, and I am a part of you. What you feel, I feel. When I hurt, you’ll hurt. The bond we have goes so deep that nothing and no one will ever be able separate us, not even death. Once a soul is rejoined, it shall never be separated again.”

“Not even in death?”

“It is told that if one of us dies, so shall the other, to spend eternity together. It’s just a legend, though,” he hastily adds. “As I said, there hasn’t been a soul pairing in a long time in any culture I know of, except for one.”

“So you and I are kinda stuck together for eternity?” My mind is reeling. So much has been thrown at me.

“When I first met you, I freaked out big time. I saw you standing there all alone, vulnerable. You looked scared, like the world was going to snap you up and eat you alive. I don’t know, I had this sudden urge to just…touch you. I didn’t understand it, so I invited you to breakfast. When I looked into your eyes, something…happened. I still can’t explain it. I smelled the woods and the pack, but you weren’t pack. Then when you started to flip out because you could smell the woods and I realized I could
hear
you, I almost got up right then and there and ran, but I couldn’t leave you. I thought I was seriously going nuts.” He laughs. “I told Gramps about it as soon as I got home. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen the old man so excited. He explained it to me. The last person in our pack that it happened to was him. He helped me to understand it. I didn’t say anything before because, well, I was afraid it might freak you out worse than it did me. I didn’t want to lose you. You and I have been connected for a long time, Blue. You dreamed of wolves, and I had a make-believe friend named Ally when I was kid. She was you. I just didn’t realize I’d been trying to find you even then.”

I smile. I can’t believe he was worried about my freaking out. Being freaked out is normal for me. How can I not stay in a total state of freak-out when it feels like thousands of tiny bugs are crawling over every inch of my skin? Sabien promised it would ease up as my power settles itself.
Yeah, r-i-i-ight
.

Micah’s worry crashes into me. He’s scared he frightened me with all this talk of soul mates and stuff. He has no idea of how completely wrong he is. I’ve been all alone growing up. Jason, Emma, and Dad were great, but there was always something missing. I felt it more deeply when my mother left. It was a hole that ate at me all the time. Now Micah is telling me I will never be truly alone again. He will always be with me—mind, body, and soul. He will help to fill the hole.

The downside? I’m betting I can’t hide anything from the little eavesdropper.

“Nope, you can’t.” Laughter spills out of him at my aggravated expression, but he turns serious again. “You’re right about the other thing that keeps drowning out every other thought you have. You’re not afraid of me or Luka. You’re afraid of yourself.”

“But why fear yourself,
munya
?” Luka frowns at me.

“Because I’m a monster, Luka,” I whisper. “The lupine gene is in my blood like a ticking time bomb. And my…magic…is waking up. It scares me.”

“Do no fear what you are, Alexandria. Your power is a part of you. The gifts born to you through your blood.”

“It feels more like a curse than a gift.”

Even to me, I sound pathetic.

“No, this is curse.” His eyes flare with his own power, red rings encircling onyx jewels. “There is darkness in me, Alexandria, a darkness that drive me to do bad things because my family owed a blood debt. We would no kill, so they curse me to kill, but you? You are special. Your power is yours only. There are no many in this world like you.”

“You don’t understand, Luka,” I cry. “You don’t know what this drove my family to do, the horrors they inflicted to gain more power. I don’t want any part of it.”

“You were no raised like them.” His black eyes burn into mine. “You are no them. You could no do the things they have done.”

He looks so adamant, so sincere, I have to wonder how much he knows. He told me he came to kill me, but I have a feeling there is more to it. More that he’s hiding from me.

Micah apparently either hears me or the same thought occurs to him.

“And you sound like you know way too much.” His lips thin. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Luka’s face closes off faster than I can blink. It becomes the cold stone mask I know so well. I instantly miss the warmth of his smile.

“I tell you what you need to know.”

“What else is there, Luka?” Micah presses, ignoring the forbidding look on Luka’s face.

“
Alex
!”

I knew it wouldn’t last. Why, oh, why does my brother have to interrupt us now? My shoulders slump in resignation.

“Over here.”

Jason carries his baseball bat. He eyes the three of us with suspicion. “What are you doing out here, Alexandria?”

Never a good sign when he uses my full name. I can see the wheels turning in his head. Oh. As if.

“Not what you’re thinking, and even if it was, I’m an adult. I can do whatever I want.”

“Even if you are an adult, you’re still my sister!” Anger glows in his eyes. “It’s not safe to be out alone, Alex.”

“I’m not alone, now, am I, Jase?”

“I can see that,” he grinds out.

I stare him down.

“You know you’re not supposed to come out without telling someone,” he says at last, breaking the stare. “It’s not safe.”

I always win our staring contests.

“He’s right,” Micah agrees. “That’s why we came to talk to you, if you remember.”

“I’m trying not to,” I grumble.

“It’ll be fine.” Micah squeezes my hand. “The pack knows there are trackers in our territory now. We’ll be watching next time. They won’t slip by us.”

“As will I,” Luka assures me. “You’ll be safe, Alexandria.”

“What exactly is going on here?” Jason demands.

Micah grins and flashes amber eyes at him.

“Alex, get back!” He lifts the bat, preparing to swing. Before he’s raised it more than an inch, Luka is up off the ground and throws him back across the yard several feet.

Micah grins. “Showoff.”

Luka shrugs.

“Jase, are you okay?” I glare at them both and go to check on my brother.

“Alex, you have to get inside.” He struggles to sit up.

“No, Jason, everything’s cool. Micah and Luka are friends. They want to help.”

“But…”

“No buts, Jason. Calm down and listen. I think Micah can help you.”

“Help me? Did you see his eyes?”

“That’s why I think he can help you. He’s like you.”

“She’s right.” Micah approaches him just as carefully as he had me the other day. “My pack can help you. All that anger is getting harder to control, isn’t it? You’re almost ready to change. You’ll be lucky if you make it to the next full moon.”

Jason stares at him with open hostility. “I don’t need any help.”

I sigh. Boys.

“Do you want to change where there are humans around?” Luka asks him bluntly, cutting off any argument I might have made. “You would kill one of them. A newborn pup is no right in the head. He has no control. All he think of is the hunt, the smells, the feel of all that hot blood pouring down his throat. Is that what you want? Do you want to kill some innocent human because you are too proud to let anyone help you? What if that person is your sister? How would it feel if you kill her?”

“I won’t hurt her,” he replies hotly. “I’m not a monster.”

Oh, but he is. It seems I’m not the only one having trouble coming to grips with that particular fact. Jason just hid his anxiety better than I did.

“You will no be able to stop yourself,” Luka tells him grimly. “The first shift is like nothing you will ever know. There is no you left. The instincts of the wolf will take over. You will be the animal you have turn into. It take time and practice to learn to control the wolf. You can no do this by yourself. Let Micah and his pack help you.”

“No,” Jason snarls at him.

“You little fool.” Luka jerks him to his feet.

Jason growls, I mean really growls, as in a doggy growl. His eyes begin to glow with an amber light.

“Luka, maybe you should let go of him,” I whisper.

Luka smiles.

“You will no harm me and you will calm yourself.”

Power pours off of Luka in icy cold waves. Micah staggers back under its weight. It hits me hard, and I fall to my knees. I want to fight, I try to, but it’s useless. I have no will of my own anymore. Luka’s will controls me. I can’t deny him anything he wants.

Lord, give me strength.

“Luka,” I manage to choke out. “Stop.”

Instantly, I am free of whatever weird control he holds over me. Heat pours back into my frozen mind. Micah floods me with warmth. At least now I understand Luka was not controlling me. Maybe that first night in the woods, I concede. I felt the wind then and it calmed me down. Luka doesn’t look at us. He focuses entirely upon my brother.

“Who are you?” Jason breathes, his eyes back to their normal blue.

“Someone who plan on keeping your sister safe.”

“Luka, will you put him down, please?” I ask, getting to my feet and noticing my brother has somehow become suspended. Luka holds him easily.

Luka lets go, and Jason falls flat on his back.

I glare at him. “Did you have to do that?”

He shrugs.

“Alex, who is he?” Jason is staring at us from the ground.

“He’s my friend and he’s…something I can’t explain. He was cursed, and now there’s something in him that is as much a beast as we are.”

“You need to stay away from her.” Jason tells him softly.

“I will no do that. I will keep your sister safe, even from you.”

“I wouldn’t…”

“
Arvah
, you would.” Luka’s voice softens. “You no mean to, but if she were first thing you see when you shift, your instincts would take over, and then you would tear her to pieces.”

I shudder at the image.

Jason looks at me with growing horror. I feel so bad for him. It’s exactly what I’ve been feeling the last couple of days.

“I’ll take you tomorrow to meet the pack,” Micah offers. “We’ll help you get through this.”

He nods, never looking away from me. “I don’t want to hurt her.”

“I would never let you,” Luka promises, an almost feral look in his eyes.

Jason looks at him sharply. Whatever he sees in Luka’s face makes his own drain of color, but he nods and takes a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

“Now,” Luka turns his attention back to Micah and me, “I think you and your brother need to be inside, Alexandria. You must sleep.”

He’s back to sounding arrogant and ordering me around again.

I open my mouth to tell him what he can do with that little bit of advice when Jason stands up.

“Let’s go, Sis.”

I indulge in a childish urge. I stick my tongue out at Luka, and he laughs. So not my intention.

Jason pushes me ahead of him and into the house. He really isn’t taking things as well as I thought. He’s just as freaked out and messed up as I am. Maybe being with the pack will help him.

I hope so.

Chapter

Eighteen

Why do people insist on banging on my door just when I’m falling asleep? My contemporary literature class really did a number on me. Professor Hanks has this monotone voice meant to put us all out. I had to pinch myself a couple times to stay awake. With no other classes today, I figured I could get in a much needed nap, but no. Someone is pounding on my door.

Grumbling a promise of death, I drag myself off the couch and open the door. Luka is on his phone, his foot tapping impatiently. “No, she here. She just open the door.”

Who is he talking to? I rub my eyes and step back so he can come in.

“You did no check to see who it is.” Accusation rolls off his tongue. It sparks my own irritation.

“Yes, well, I didn’t think trackers would knock on the door.”

“But others would. Is no just trackers you have to worry about,
schatzi
.”

“What does that mean?” I yawn and lie back down on the couch.

“Is German. It mean treasure.”

“You speak German now too?” Grumpy, I know, but I’m tired.

“My family, we travel much and I learn words from everywhere. I like that word. You are treasure to me, one I will keep safe even if she no try to keep herself safe.”

A slow smile blooms on my lips. He thinks of me as a treasure?

“We have problem.” Those words freeze my smile. “Some of the other families are in town. Asking questions about you and your brother.”

“
What
?” It feels like I’ve been slapped in the face with a bucket of ice water. The Ice Bucket Challenge has nothing on this.

“There are three main families, yes, but there are many smaller ones loyal to those families. They are here, and it no mean good things. Come, we must hurry.”

“Where are we going?”

“To Sabrina’s.”

Who? I don’t have time to ask as he hurries me into my shoes and out the door. I’m expecting to go to the parking lot, but instead, he hauls me around the corner and up the stairs to Saidie’s apartment. It clicks then. Sabrina is Bree. I’m so used to calling her Bree, I’d forgotten her full name. He bangs on the door, and Conner lets us in. Now I’m really confused. What is Conner doing here?

“Hey.” He gives me a tired smile. “Glad you’re okay.”

Before I can ask him about that strange statement, Bree comes in and Luka gives her a hug. And a kiss. On the cheek, mind you, but it’s still a kiss.
Mine
. The word vibrates in every fiber of my being. Luka is mine. Why is he kissing another girl? And my friend?

Irrational anger and hurt bleed to rage. Blind fury explodes, and with it, something else. Something stirs, stretches under my skin. We become one being, one mind. We look at Bree with curiosity. Luka is
ours
. She dares to challenge us?

“Uh, guys, I think something’s wrong.” Conner’s voice sounds distant. It has no meaning to us.

“Bree.” Our voice is hollow, but full of rage.

Bree turns around, but pauses when she sees us. Her eyes widen and she moves back, but lands right against Luka. The wrong place to be.

Blue, no! I’m coming! Stay calm!

We want to spring, to snap, to tear. We want to sink our teeth into her throat and shake her until her bones turn to dust. We want…

Alexandria!
Micah’s voice echoes in our head, panicked. Why is he upset? We are only defending what belongs to us.

We take a step forward, our hand outstretched to snatch her away from our mate, and then our brother is there, standing between us and the interloper. His beast rolls behind his eyes.

“Alex, you don’t want to do this.” His voice is calm and we cock our head, sizing him up. We do not want to hurt our brother, but we will if we have to.

His eyes bore into ours. Jason may have six inches on us and a good hundred pounds, but in this, he is no match for us. Something shimmers around us. Warmth, like the heat of a summer’s day, flows off our skin and into him. He whimpers and bows his head. Foolish to think he is any match for us. We crow in triumph.

That’s when it hits us. A cold sheet of ice crashes into us, dulling the heat. No, he can’t do this. He will not stop us from taking down our prey. We try to take a step forward, and the cold winter wind beats us back. His power pours into us with the rush of a gale force wind.

My mind becomes my own again. The wolf whines in my head, unable to disobey. Luka speaks no words, but neither of us needs words. We both understand.
No.
He tells us no, and she shrinks back, leaving me alone, exposed to the hurt that fills me with his presence.

“What is going on in here?” Saidie demands as my mind orients itself back into its human reality. What just happened? I blink and try to focus. Bree—she’d been kissing Luka. The fury roars back, but the icy wind cools the fire. Some of my better sense surfaces and I close my eyes. Good God, what had I just done? I almost attacked Bree. Oh, God.

“Girlfriend, I have no designs on your man. I swear it.” Bree is holding up both hands, her eyes downcast in a submissive manner. It assuages some of the rage my wolf is still feeling. She is not challenging us.

“Somebody needs to explain what the hell is going on in here.”

Saidie is standing by the door, hands on her hips, confused, but determined.

“Alex’s wolf just woke up.” Conner says it so matter-of-factly, Saidie and I both gape at him.

“Thank God she didn’t shift.” Micah pushes his way in and shuts the door. Saidie is staring like we’ve all lost our minds. Maybe we have.

“She almost did.” Luka comes over and wraps his arms around me. “I no let her.”

“You can do that?” Bree’s eyes light up.

“Yes, is part of my magic.”

“Magic?” Saidie sounds like I’m feeling, but her face tells a different story. She’s upset for an entirely different reason.

“Is confession time.” Luka sits down in the floor, dragging me with him. I settle on his lap and he looks down into my eyes. “Yes?”

He means Compton. Why does he want me to fess up to that?

Micah’s voice whispers to me.
There should be no more secrets between us. If we are to help you, we all need to know the truth.
It makes sense, but it makes me uncomfortable too. Do they really need to know that? Is there any point in keeping that secret, though? One thing I’ve learned is secrets have a way of coming out.

“I do need to confess something. Before I came here, I was in Compton Academy. It was a mental facility for troubled teens. I had night terrors so bad, I started having them when I was awake and I couldn’t tell reality from my dreams, so I ended up there.”

“A nuthouse?” Conner’s eyes light up. “Wicked cool. You owe me stories.”

“You’re better now, though?” Saidie asks me, her eyes worried.

“Yes. Turns out I wasn’t so crazy after all.”

“At least you found her before my vision came true.” Conner flops down on the couch and stretches out.

“Vision?” Jason’s head whips around, mouth hanging open just a bit. “You have visions?”

Conner looks at me when he answers. “Yes. I have The Sight.”

“The sight?”

“No, man. The. Sight. It’s something I inherited from my grandmother, part of our Celtic heritage or something. I see things, mostly in dreams, but sometimes when I’m awake too. I knew Alex was in some kind of trouble, but I didn’t know what exactly. I tried to keep a close watch on her when I could. Then today, I had a vision of her dead in her apartment and called the big guns over here.” He nods to Bree.

“Bree is a witch,” Micah explains. “Like you two. She can help you, Alex.”

Bree is a witch? I remember Saidie complaining about all her nonsense, and she did have a witch’s journal that day I met her…wait. Bree Winters. As in, one of the main families? The ones who want to kill me?

Luka keeps his arms wrapped tight around me. “Is no what you think,
munya
. She does no want to hurt you.”

“Explain that.” Jason’s eyes have gone hard. He is watching me, and I guess my expression must have given something away.

“My name is Sabrina Winters.” Bree steps forward, facing off against Jason. “My family is one of the main three magical families left in the world.”

“The ones who want us dead?” The snarl in Jason’s voice is unmistakable.

Bree’s spine stiffens and she turns to face my brother, her own anger flaring. “No, we don’t want you dead. I came here to protect you when we discovered your dad brought you back. Not all of us are out for blood. Luka confronted me the day after the movie marathon. He knew who I was and came to warn me off.”

“But I discover her true intentions.” Luka leans down and nuzzles my neck. “She mean no harm. I would kill her if she try to hurt you or your brother in any way. And she knows it.”

“I just want to teach you how to control your magic. Luka said it woke up. I bet the buzzing is driving you crazy, right?”

I nod, distracted by the feel of Luka’s lips. He is doing this on purpose to keep my anger and my wolf at bay. It’s working too, dammit.

“There is only one way to make it go away, and that is to use your magic.” She goes over and picks up her journal. “This is where you need to start writing things down. As your uncle and I teach you, you need to keep a record of it. Potions especially. Trying to remember what goes in some of them can be a beast.”

“They need all the protection they can get.” Conner leans forward, his eyes unfocused. “They know she’s in town, but not where.”

“Easy enough to do a locater spell,” Bree mutters. “We need to get you two a charm to conceal and protect you.”

“If you are a Seer, why did you no see the first attack?” Luka’s hands run up and down my arms, his touch calming and erotic at the same time.

“Hey, I’m still new at all this,” he admits with a shrug. “I didn’t start having dreams or whatever until I met you guys.”

“Or until you met Alex?” Luka asks.

“Who knows? I met all you guys the same day.”

Luka frowns at me thoughtfully. “Could her awakening energy flow have trigger his gift?”

Connor shrugs. “But I do have a theory, sorta.”

“Theory?” Luka frowns.

“Yeah. I keep thinking about how weird it was that we all just sort of clicked that first day, ya know? Usually when you meet someone new, there’s awkward conversation and it takes time to get to know people, but not with you guys. It was natural, instinct, maybe. I don’t even hang out with half my old friends anymore. I think maybe it’s because of Alex.”

“Me?” I ask, startled.

“Yeah, what if your…magic pulled the people you needed to you? We all have some kind of weird connection, have since that first day. I think it’s you.”

I remember that day at the bookstore asking for the things or people I needed in order to get through everything, to be normal. Could I have caused all this?

“You could be right.” Luka nods thoughtfully. “You must be learning to control your visions since you force one earlier.”

“Not really,” Connor disagrees. “I think you’re right about Alex being some kind of catalyst, though. The visions,” I see him wince at the word, “seem to get stronger when she’s around. It’s like I can focus better or something when she’s near.”

All of this is overwhelming. I mean, they’re talking about visions and charms and who knows what else. Believing in all this, despite what I’ve seen and felt, is hard. How can they just talk so casually about it? Then my gaze catches sight of Saidie. She looks so small and quiet, sitting there in the corner—her face pensive, afraid. I know that look. It’s been on my face for a while now.

“You okay, Saidie?”

“No, she’s not.” Conner’s attention is focused on her now. “We’re not the only ones hiding secrets.”

“I’m not hiding anything!” She sounds more angry than scared, but again—been there, done that.

“I think it’s time we all come clean.” Micah sits down beside her and bumps her shoulder. “Just so you know, I’m a shifter. I turn into a wolf. Luka there is a Gypsy cursed to become some kind of monster. Conner is a Seer, and the girls are witches. Oh, and Alex and her brother are shifters too.”

“That was a surprise,” Bree mutters.

“You need to keep that information to yourself.” Micah’s voice is ice hard. “No one in the community knows that secret, and if it gets out, I know exactly who to come looking for.”

“It’s cool. I’m not going to tell anyone.” Bree’s eyes flash with irritation.

“So what are you?” Micah asks Saidie. “Nobody’s going to judge.”

“I’m not anything.” Her swift denial lacks the conviction to pull that statement off.

“It terrified me too.” I catch and hold her eyes. “I was so scared, and I feel like some kinda freak show, but I realized something. I’m not alone, and neither are you.”