CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

There are things in my life I could never explain. Never understand. Even if I had a life span of eternity, I may not ever hold the answers. My heart and mind were confused, torn between two men.

Daniel was my love. My life. My mate. According to our laws, we only had one mate. I was a Lycan, a female wolf. Never in a million years would I have expected my life to be in such turmoil. I loved Daniel.

Richard was my torture. My heart broke for him. I was not supposed to love him the way I did. I knew due to my nature as a Lycan, we loved deeply. Richard was a vampire, a very dangerous and seductive vampire. A vampire who had fallen in deeply love with me. I know now, his seduction methods were as dangerous as his killing methods. I was almost certain it was because Richard was a vampire that I was drawn to him, pulled to him. I was his obsession. With one kiss, Richard opened me to another world, a world that desired him.

Daniel had taken control of the Lycan Council. We had killed the former Council in defense of our lives and my family. My family who called themselves the Dark Wolves, another surprise for me, a family I never knew existed. They accepted me with open arms and accepted Daniel as a part of them. Gramps even accepted Daniel as a Dark Wolf.

With this new venture, Daniel reconciled the clans with their originators, once again bringing the rule over the Lycans to their rightful bloodline, the Aniwayahs.

Gramps was more than just a leader to his people. He was a great man of spiritual power. A Shaman of the most powerful magic I had ever witnessed. This was my bloodline.

I finally understood why my father kept the secret of who my mother was from the Lycan Council. The Council itself was wicked. My father knew this. For this reason, I believe he lost his life. It was my theory that the Council knew the power behind my mother‟s lines, what she was capable of. They knew the great strength of Gramps was in her blood. Would this be my Fate as well?

A war was on the horizon, set forth by Daniel as the new leader of the Lycan clans.

Fear grew in my heart for Daniel. There was something that had taken him over that night he changed into a Dark Wolf. I feared becoming the leader of the Lycan Clans would change him as well. My fear was becoming stronger.

Daniel‟s plan to wage war against the vampires was terrifying. How many more lives would we lose? The vampires helped save my life. It was his rage against Richard that set this into motion. Richard was not the only one with an obsession. Richard was, in fact, Daniel‟s obsession. Almost every day, he contemplated ways to kill Richard and save me from the clutches of this vampire.

The future was not certain. Unlike Daniel, I couldn‟t see that far ahead of me. There was one thing I did know. Whenever I was around Richard, my bond with Daniel was broken. The mere presence of Richard voided any mental ability I had with Daniel, leaving me to be consumed totally by the inhumanly beautiful vampire.

What did the future hold for us? War? Greed? Obsession? Desire? In the midst of all the warmongering, where was the love? Where was the love we were willing to die for?

With my heart broken into thousands of pieces, I dared not contemplate the answers. There was one gift I treasured; my child, the child that grew inside my body.

What would it become? What would Fate have in store for it? I could only hope my unborn child‟s life would be better than mine. Is this the way my father felt for me?

In my heart, I knew there was a death to come. Whose, I did not know. I could feel it. Sense it on the horizon. If Daniel managed to bring war against the vampires, then we would lose. How many of us would lose our lives? I knew in my heart, Richard would never let another vampire kill me. With this knowledge, it only made me wonder if he would take personal satisfaction in killing Daniel. To fulfill Daniel‟s agreement, upon his death I would belong to Richard. Did Daniel realize he had set his own death sentence? At least in the eyes of Mithras he did.

Then again, there was Mithras. The thought of his name sent chills down my spine.

Dangerous. Haunting. Controlling. Absolute power. Those were the words that came to my mind. Mithras was not the type of man who would make peace offerings, which is why I wondered if he had ulterior motives. His words to Daniel, “A vampire is a vampire,” what did he mean? Did this mean we couldn‟t trust the vampires?

My life was not what it had seemed. Day by day, it changed. The people around me changed. War tends to change people, myself included. Every day my thoughts changed. My heart was pulled in different directions. My will was changing. I could no longer fight the power of this vampire who now had control over me. This vampire who had willed me to be his and whose kiss drew a deep passion from me that I had never before experienced. This inhumanly beautiful vampire - Richard.

Even in my dreams, he haunted me. That night I had one of the most interesting dreams, it was actually terrifying.

I stood outside in a grape vineyard. It was almost dawn. Richard stood beside me.

He took my hand and we moved swiftly through the vineyard to a spot high on a hillside. Richard stopped and sat down on the edge of the hill. He held his hand out for me, pulling me down to sit between his legs. I eased down on the ground, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer to him. His face nestled in my neck, kissing me then resting his head on my shoulder, pressing his face against mine.

We sat together only for a few minutes, when I noticed the sun rise, peeking through the low lying clouds. The brighter it became, I could see the sun‟s rays piercing through the break in the clouds. The gentle rays of sunlight flowed in a sparkling radiance down on the grapevines. Yes, as Richard had painted the story, it was just like he said. The land came alive, with the brilliant colors of greens and browns, accented by the beauty of the blue sky. The sun‟s golden rays glistened on the dew left on the grapes from last night‟s fog, giving the appearance of sparkling diamonds. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I exhaled softly, nestling my head against his chest.

“It is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen,” I whispered softly.

“It used to be for me, once,” he whispered.

My heart melted. His arms wrapped around me tighter as his lips pressed to my neck again, and then his face nestled against mine. Feeling the smoothness of his skin so close to mine, I nestled my cheek against his as a soft moan escaped my throat.

An immense love crashed down inside my heart as I looked into those beautiful eyes hidden behind the tinted contacts. Richard‟s beautiful face was at peace. He actually glowed from the love that was inside of him.

I turned my head, resting my body against his again, my eyes glancing over the huge vineyard below.

For a moment, within the dream, an odd sense of reality hit me. I realized as I sat with Richard on this picturesque hillside. There was something more to this dream.

Immortality was something I had never dreamed of or imagined, but here I faced it. I wondered what it would be like to spend years, who knew how long, hundreds or even thousands of years walking on the face of this old earth. To watch the earth change before my eyes, to see buildings come and go. How could I measure the time?

Captivated by one moment in time like this.

My eyes traveled upward to the sky, so blue and so brilliant was the morning, sitting here on a little countryside in France with Richard. I shifted against his chest again, the feeling of an odd stirring rang in my soul. Little did I realize what I had truly become.

Enjoy

Fall of kNight

By

T.L. Mitchell

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Sequel

Dawn of kNight