Forbidden Love (8 page)

I didn’t even make it into the living room before he attacked me. It’s hard to say what happened after that. I know I was dragged out of the house and then I was surrounded by vampires, gagged and blindfolded. I didn’t stop fighting even for a second. They were too strong and they always got what they wanted.

Elijah growled, pacing in front of her. His hands clenched into tight fists at his side. “Why? Why is he selling women off? Why and how could a werewolf do that?”

I don’t know, but it’s what he does and it’s how I became the Silent Killer.

“How did you become Keta?”

I became Keta after they changed me into a half-breed, wanting more of a challenge and while I was filled with hunger and anger, they threw a woman into my cell. I attacked her, drinking her to the point of death before I could control it. I apologised and that’s when she told me she knew what happened, knew what I was and how I became that way. She didn’t blame me. When I asked her what her name was, she told me it was Keta Torrez. That’s when I told her that her name wouldn’t die in vain. I would find a way to avenge her, and all the others who suffered.

“And so Keta died, and Keta was reborn,” Elijah finished.

Keta nodded, inhaling to calm herself down. She hadn’t spoke about what happened to anyone. Speaking about it now brought some relief inside, but it still hurt.
Also, I can’t be connected to Katrina with this name and Rio can’t find me. That’s why I hunt vampires. I’m tied to the wolves just as you are, so I can’t touch them. I needed revenge on the ones who had a hand in what happened, and vampires were the ones I could touch without trouble.

“So that was one thing you didn’t lie about then. Rio really did sell you off to the vampires.”

Keta turned away, her eyes filling with tears again. She couldn’t blame Elijah for still being mad at her for what she’d done. She didn’t even deserve to be in the same room as him now.
What will you do?

“My fate has been sealed. If I don’t show up, Rio will find me and command me to take my punishment in front of the pack.” Elijah ran a hand through his hair as he continued to pace.

Keta jumped when he laughed.

“I was hunting Katrina long before he even mentioned her.”

Though he spoke to himself more than her, Keta didn’t mind. She just listened while he figured things out. When he wanted her to speak, she would.

“If he knew—if the entire pack knew what he did.” He stopped pacing and turned to face her fully, a huge smile on his face. “This is my way out—our way out—they need to know what he did, and they will know. But how to do it without him commanding me into silence before I can even get the words out.”

Keta was confused. Her face seemed to show it because Elijah sat next to her and took both of her hands in his.

“Nod for yes and shake your head for no. Do you want to become alpha female and pack leader? Just as we discussed.”

Keta shook her head instantly, her hands tightening in Elijah’s for a brief moment. She didn’t want to be leader of a pack she didn’t belong in. She didn’t want the others to walk on glass around her, afraid because of what she had been changed into.

“Okay. I will challenge the pack and kill Rio so you can be free.”

Keta forced a smile.
Thank you.
She turned away from him, hiding the feelings she knew showed across her features. Elijah still wanted to set her free like he always wanted to, but not be with her or start a new pack with her.

To be rid of her.

* * * *

It was close to midnight when Elijah finally stepped into the circle of Rio’s pack.

“I didn’t expect you to show up.” Rio stepped away from the large pack, looking him over with a slight curve to his lips.

“You should have commanded me to show up if you were worried.”

Rio grunted as he walked around Elijah. “I would have been able to find you if you had ran. I was not worried.”

Elijah didn’t speak, keeping his eyes on the darkness of the trees ahead of him.

“Elijah stands here before you, to take his punishment!” Rio’s voice rang across the pack. “I gave him a command, a command to find our beloved Katrina and he refuses to do so!”

The pack stirred, baring their teeth and growling. Of course they would believe anything Rio told them. They would never suspect what he was capable of doing.

Elijah stiffened when Rio stepped close to him, sneering. “You will be whipped and condemned to death. If you wish to explain your actions, do so now while you can still speak.” Rio stepped away.

“I have only one question to ask.” Elijah stared at Rio’s back when his shoulders began to shake.

“A question, for whom?”

“You.”

Rio faced Elijah, his smile still in place and his eyebrows rose. He swept his arms out. “Do ask.”

Elijah kept himself from hitting Rio’s smug expression from his face. “Why did you sell your own daughter to the vampires?”

Rio stiffened and his smile slipped from his face.

The entire pack went silent.

“What?”

“You heard me. Why did you sell Katrina off to the vampires? How could you do that? She’s your daughter, your own flesh and blood, your—”

“Enough!” Rio put his face close to Elijah’s. “You have no right to question anything I do—”

“Answer the question, Rio.” A young man, taller than Rio stood up and the whispers from the pack died down. “Why did you sell your daughter—my sister to the vampires?”

Rio shook with laughter. “Debt, my dear son. Debt. I owe the vampires and they don’t want anything but blood and…” He chuckled. “Well, women. I captured women to give to them but it wasn’t enough. Katrina was sacrificed to keep this pack safe.”

Elijah shook with rage, his hands clenched into fists as the pack began to yell, the women screamed and the children cried. He hadn’t kept the pack safe, he had ruined it.

“Silence!”

As the pack quietened, Elijah spoke loudly and clearly, his words full of rage. “You spoke so casually, why?”

“Elijah, Katrina is dead and I am pack leader of this pack. I don’t need to worry, I have control and those who move against me will be condemned to death, just as you are.”

The pack stayed silent.

Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle. The time for his payback had come. “Who said Katrina was dead?”

Nervously clenching her hands into tight fists, Keta stepped out of the shadow, her eyes on her father as the pack gasped in shock. Anger replaced the nerves when she saw his eyes widen in shock, his mouth hung open as she walked towards him. She hated the man stood in front of her, hated what he did to her, what he put a lot of women through, all because of his debts.

Keta punched him hard, putting all the hurt, the anger and betrayal behind it. Pain shot up her arm as Rio’s head snapped back with the force. Keta didn’t care. She took satisfaction as he staggered back a few steps.

After licking his bloodied lip, he growled, his hands curled into fists as he lunged for her.

Keta stayed where she was and waited for his attack, ready to take him head on, when Elijah stepped in, wrapping his fingers around Rio’s throat and slamming him into the ground. Keta raised her eyebrows, shocked, surprised and a little turned on by Elijah’s actions.
Damn.

“Rio, I challenge you!” Elijah lifted his head to the pack. “Anyone who tries to stop me from killing him will face their own death!”

No one stepped forward. No one spoke and no one came to Rio’s aid.

Keta felt relief sweeping through her. She was worried that Rio had commanded the entire pack to do his bidding, and, challenge or not, they would have attacked. But she was also worried they would attack to protect Rio, despite what he had done, who he had hurt.

Elijah met Keta’s eyes.

Do it quickly. I know he doesn’t deserve it, but I’m tired of seeing his face. At least my promise to Keta will be fulfilled.

“I have a better idea. How about we give him over to the vampires? He can pay off his debt with them and then face death by their hands.”

Keta smiled.
That’s a great idea.

Rio fought against Elijah’s hold. “I comman—”

Keta jumped when a loud crack echoed around the quiet night and put her hands over her mouth in shock when Rio stopped fighting, wheezing and gasping for breath while clutching at Elijah’s hands that clenched around his throat.

“Any last words?” Elijah chuckled when Rio opened and closed his mouth, but didn’t speak.

“Wait!”

Liam!
Keta saw her brother move forward away from the pack. She moved forward and pushed on his chest, stopping him from moving while she shook her head. Liam couldn’t side with their father. Not after what he did. He deserved to be punished.

He raised his hand to her cheek. “I’m glad you’re alive. I really am, but I can’t let Elijah take Rio to the vampires.” He turned behind him.

Keta let her eyes stray over his shoulder and saw his wife, Cecilia watching them with wide and tearful eyes as she rocked a baby in her arms.
I missed the birth of his first daughter, because of Rio.
A newfound anger surged through her veins like fire. She wanted to kill Rio with her bare hands, but when Liam touched her cheek again, and she saw the determination in his eyes, she knew he wasn’t about to let Rio be free.

“I want to take him myself. Anything to ensure my family is safe from his sick intentions.”

Keta turned to Elijah, her mouth open slightly with surprise.
Elijah?

He bowed his head, keeping his eyes locked with Keta’s. “He can take Rio himself. I will give him that.”

And become pack leader.

Elijah repeated what she signed.

“Are you sure? Don’t you want to be pack leader? You are the oldest.”

Keta shook her head and turned to Elijah once more, knowing he would know what to tell her brother.

“You take the pack, but Katrina won’t be in it any longer. I’m giving her the freedom she finally deserves.”

Keta breathed in, her heart thumping hard in her chest. Without unlocking their gazes, she raised her hands.
Please, it’s Keta. Katrina died when Rio betrayed her. She doesn’t exist anymore.
He bowed his head again, a small smile forming. Keta couldn’t help the small smile that tugged on the corners of her lips while she watched Elijah move away from Rio so her brother and a few selected others could drag Rio to his feet. They hauled him away from the pack.

Elijah’s touch almost burned her skin as he pulled her into his body. She silently gasped when he crushed his lips against hers.

“Stay with me. I don’t care that our love is forbidden. I want you with me. I want you to be mine, and for me to be yours—equals and in a pack of our own.”

Really?
Tears filled her eyes.

“Really, I love you, Keta. I love you with all my heart and everything I am.”

Oh, Elijah.
Keta kissed him.
I love you, too.

Elijah pulled her further into him, claiming her lips and leaving her breathless for more. “Let’s go home. We have a lot to plan for.”

Keta laced her fingers with his as they walked away from her old pack, and into a new life. She couldn’t turn back to say goodbye. She’d said it silently when she chose to take the name Keta. She didn’t belong anywhere but with Elijah now.

He was right—they had a lot to plan for. If they were going to be together, they would be hunted by both vampire and werewolves.

The secret about their
forbidden pack
wouldn’t stay one for long.

I’m a talkative, hyperactive writer of Erotic Vampire Paranormal Romance books. I love both reading and writing, and I love listening to loud rock/hardcore music. I was born in Devon, Plymouth in 1991. I didn’t stay there for long and moved to Lincoln. I wasn’t always a lover of books, I was more an animal person then. I went to University of Lincoln, Riseholme College, where I studied an animal course for two years. It was only when I saw J.K Rowling’s, Harry Potter books that I start reading. Over the years, I read more books, including Twilight and House of Night and soon I became a huge lover of books. I love reading so much, and all the books that I’ve read have inspired to start writing my own, though reading vampire books did not inspire me to write vampire books myself, my dreams did that for me. I own more than a hundred books, mainly vampires, and read over double. I plan to have my very own library of books that I love and will continue to read repeatedly, without getting bored. I’m a true believer of all things supernatural, and hope that one day, I’ll have the pleasure of meeting one. I live in the middle of nowhere with my partner, Reece and my little zoo which consists of an army of hamsters, a hyperactive chinchilla called, Hektor, and four guinea pigs. We hope in the near future that we can get an army of guinea pigs, and chinchillas to add to the family. Along with a goat.

I have written a seven book series called the Cursed in Darkness series. They are Paranormal Erotica Romance books which tells the story of half-breed Layla as she goes about her daily life, struggling with her hunger for blood, to keep her secrets a secret and to keep out of Deaths hands as he constantly reaches out. I also am currently writing a spin-off series called World of Darkness.