Forbidden Love

When your love is considered a taboo, would you break it to get what you wanted?

Keta is a vampire hunter with revenge deep in her soul. She is hunting and killing all vampires until she finds the one responsible for her torture and the one who changed her into something more than what she was before.

Elijah was born a vampire but bitten by a werewolf. He is the only known half-breed in existence. The connection between his werewolf master, alpha male and pack leader, Rio, and himself can’t be broken, even by vampire law. So when Rio’s daughter, Katrina, goes missing, Elijah is ordered to search for her.

Keta and Elijah’s paths cross and an explosion of deep lust neither of them understand is awoken, threatening to destroy everything Keta believed in and unmask the identity she tried so hard to keep intact.

Can Keta trust Elijah before their
forbidden love
kills them both?

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Forbidden Love

Copyright © 2013 Natalie Hancock

ISBN: 978-1-77111-566-7

Cover art by Carmen Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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Forbidden Love

By

Natalie H
ancock

To Brandy Thornton. Simply because she deserves a book dedicated to her for being such a great person.

I need to escape.

Katrina chanted the words in her head, keeping calm at the comforting thought of freedom. No more torture, no more nightmares haunting her every waking moment. No more guilt from the deaths she caused whenever other women were thrown into her cell for punishment.

For weeks she endured the cries and screams. The helpless feeling of being the one who caused the pain, took a life from an innocent.

Everything would change.

Katrina could hear the whispering women behind her. Thrown in her cell for punishment.

The vampires had a sick sense of humour.

Though whispering quietly that no human could hear them, Katrina was no human and she could hear them whispering about her. She turned and saw the women huddled together in the corner of the room.

They averted their gazes quickly, a sickly scent filling the proximity of the cell, letting Katrina know that they were frightened of her. They knew they were going to end up like the others. Dead.

It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have stopped it even if you tried.
Shaking off the guilt, knowing she was right, Katrina cleared her throat, silencing the women. “I’m escaping tonight when they bring in the food and I want you lot to come with me.”

The women were silent, staring at her as though she was crazy. She probably was.

“We’re not going with you.”

Katrina turned her attention to a tall, dark skinned woman. “You would rather stay here and die?”

“We’ll die by your hands anyway. I know what you did with the others. You’re a monster.”

Katrina slammed her into the hard wall, putting a forearm against the woman’s throat. Being locked away for days or weeks had taken its toll. “That wasn’t my fault.”

“You let your anger get the better of you. Is that what happened? Did one of the others insult you, forcing you to lash out and rip them to shreds?”

Katrina growled low, pressing herself closer to the woman. “It’s the night of the full moon.”

The dark woman’s eyes widened.

Katrina pushed herself away from her and walked to the corner of the room. “They put those women in here with me for a reason. They knew I would change and they knew what happened when I did. Why do you think I’m still alive?” Katrina ran her hands through her dirty, tangled hair. “It was out of my control and the reason I want to escape. If I don’t, I’m going to have more deaths on my conscious. All for the fun of those sick men.”

Each woman’s eyes were wide, their nostrils flaring, and chest heaving as they pressed their shaking bodies against each other, and against the wall to get as far away from her as they could. They knew what she was, knew what she was capable of. Knew she was a monster. They’d been the ones to clean up the mess in the cell while she’d lain unconscious in a pool of blood that was not her own.

The vampires were quick to rub it in her face. It was their way of getting the women to behave.

Katrina swallowed heavily. If only she’d been strong enough to control the beast and stop it from attacking when the smell of blood hit her hard.

“They’re better off.”

“Marie, don’t say something like that!”

“No, she’s right!”

Katrina turned to the arguing women, saw two holding hands, practically hugging their naked bodies together.

A muddy blonde haired woman stared at her with big black eyes. “Marie is right. They are better off. Think about it, what we’ve all been through, the beatings, the fights we had to endure.” She swallowed hard. “The rape. Katrina did them a favour. At least they don’t have to be put through that anymore.”

“I’m going with you.” Marie hugged herself against the blonde, still shaking.

“You need to make sure you’re ready. Once I leave, you won’t keep up with me, but you won’t be able to turn back either.”

The dark woman spoke up before the others could. “And how are you planning to do this exactly?”

“When they bring in the food, I’ll attack and run. If you follow, you follow. I plan on escaping whether you’re following or not.” Those who didn’t would surely be punished.

“How will you get out? We’re underground in the middle of an island.”

Katrina smiled. “Swimming. I’ll be a wolf after all.”

The brown skinned woman glanced around at the others. “Shit. We’re in. You better be sure about this.”

It didn’t surprise Katrina that the women were less afraid of her than they were of the vampires. She knew first-hand what they were capable of. “Run and don’t look back. We should be able to escape.” Katrina rolled her head from side to side while she paced. The sun had already set and the anticipation of being able to change to help the success of being freed made her heart pound against her ribs and her stomach writhe.

When she heard footsteps on the other side of the door, she stilled and waited for the deadbolt to unlock and the door to open. When it did, Katrina attacked, knocking the vampire into the wall and covered his mouth. With a hard twist and a crack, the vampire dropped to the floor, his neck broken.

“Run!” She headed down the hall, knowing the vampire wouldn’t stay down for long. She pounded up the stairs, hearing the others behind her as she sped up. She knew exactly where she was, having escaped before. So she knew which door led directly outside.

The cold, fresh air felt good against her bare skin as she searched the grounds while the women spread out nearby.

“Okay, what now?”

“You run through the trees until they fade out. At that point, you’ll be able to hear the sound of running water. To the left there’s a pier. Take one boat, but push the others into the water as far as you can before setting off. It won’t stop the men, but it’ll give you a head start.”

“What about you?”

Katrina cast a sideways glance at the brown skinned women. “I’ll take care of myself, don’t worry.”

“Oh I wasn’t. I meant what if you attack us?”

“You’ll be safe. It’s the bastards who tortured us I’m after.”

“I’m so glad to be on your side right now.”

Katrina shivered as the clouds uncovered the moon for just a second. “Yes, well you better get running then. If I don’t make it to the water in time, it
will
be you I attack.”

The women glanced at her with wide eyes and ran.

Katrina turned back to the door, slamming it shut as the vampire charged at her. His arm caught and before he could scream, Katrina jumped on him, wrapped her strong legs around his neck and twisted while she pulled with her hands. The crunch of breaking bone echoed into the night as blood squirted up the wall and over Katrina when she ripped his head clean off his shoulders.

Katrina inhaled deeply, taking in the scent. Her inner wolf quivered, hungry for blood, before she shot through the trees as fast as she could, ignoring the temptation before it became too much. Weaving around the trees quickly, she caught up with the others. “Come on!” Ignoring the sting of stones and twigs when they dug into her skin, she pushed her legs faster.
I will escape.

Yells echoed into the night, stopping Katrina instantly.

The other women had stopped, too.

The vampires knew they had escaped. They were being hunted.

“You lot, run now.”

“What was that?”

“Vampires.”

“Vampires?” Marie’s squeak echoed through the night.

“You need to run. Now!”

They did.

The vampires would keep on Katrina’s tracks. They would follow the scent she left behind, a call that just screamed
come and find me
. Katrina couldn’t have hidden her scent if she tried. Sweat covered her entire body—not from exhaustion, but from fear. She was terrified even though she was a wolf and was strong. There were more vampires than she. She was way outnumbered, unless she could turn into a wolf.

Still running fast, Katrina checked the dark sky. Not only was it going to rain, but thick clouds rolled across the sky, the moon poking through a little.

It wasn’t enough. Katrina needed more.

The stitch in her side burned, making it hard to breathe as pain shot through her sides and chest. Holding it didn’t help either.

Katrina jumped up, lightly landing on a boulder. Turning around, still holding her breath through the pain.

The others were nowhere in sight.

Guilt made her stomach squirm. She was a protector, more than a predator. Choosing to escape seemed like a good idea at first.

Katrina breathed with relief when the others came through the trees, not even glancing at her as they ran past, their feet and legs covered in scratches and mud.

Quickly, jumping from the boulder, she increased her speed through the trees as the sounds of snapping twigs and rustling leaves followed behind her.
These vampires are getting sloppy.

Trees flashed by her, just a blur of colour as she fled.

She might have failed the others they’d all left behind, the ones she had killed, but if there was one thing she could do it was make sure their deaths didn’t happen in vain.

Just a little bit further.
The trickle of running water was all Katrina could hear over the pounding of her heart and panted breathing. The moonlight shone down through the trees and her entire body shook. Her senses sharpened, her gums throbbed as her teeth lengthened. She almost moaned at the relief she felt.

Then she heard them behind her. They were after her, the challenge that made them work for their fun.

Not this time
. She was escaping and with the full moon on her side, the vampires were in for a shock. They’ll all be taken down for all the others they hurt—for what they did to her.

The trees thinned and spread out, leading to an open space with nowhere to hide. The moon shone brightly down, almost warm like the sun. Katrina’s bones cracked but she kept running, keeping at a steady pace, determined to make it to the water before she completely changed.

The others pushed the boats in the water.

Katrina watched them speed off into the distance.
At least they had the sense to turn the motors on.

The vampires pounced, knocking her to the muddy ground and pinned her there.

Katrina struggled against them, still changing, her limbs lengthening with her hair while she kicked and punched, trying to escape.

One of them bit into her neck hard.

Katrina screamed loud and hard, the noise echoing around them. The change withdrew as her energy and blood did. She needed the strength to change completely. She would have fought otherwise, and with a vengeance.