Waking Up

Chapter Two

I sat on the ground, the sludge soaking me jeans. My glasses were gone, probably crushed somewhere in the alley. My face hurt and the wind felt icy against my skin as it made its way through the rips in my shirt. I had picked up my bag, with my books in it, and that set on the ground next to me, becoming equally as soaked as my pants.

"Krista!" Cam called.

"Down here." I said softly, knowing that he would hear me. I didn't look up as he stepped in front of me, knowing that his face would be full of anger, and I was barely holding the tears back as it was. A growl escaped his lips as he looked me over.

"Who did this to you?" He growled, helping me up.

"Some vampires...I don't know...they, they wanted to do more to me. Cam, I didn't know what to do, there were so many."

"Damn it! If I could have reached you through mind link, I would have been here before they even laid a hand on you." Werewolves typically communicated through a mental link with the back, but for some reason no one could hear me and I could not hear anyone. When my parents first learned this, they thought that I would not turn into a wolf, but luckily I did. "What stopped them, Krista? Why did they leave you alone?"

"I don't know...I told him me to get off, and I screamed at him and he was thrown off me like someone had yanked him from behind...the other vampire said something weird. He said...he said that I was one of Lana's." I had no idea who this Lana was, or what he had been talking about.

"Lana? How did they know you are one of her descendants?" Cam suddenly looked more panicked than before.

"Who is Lana?" I asked.

"She was Alpha Grayson's mate, she was also a vampire." Alpha Grayson was a legend in all of the werewolf world. He was the one who lead the rebel pack, Lupus Sanguine, into defeating the vampires and allowing us to come out of hiding and live among the vampires. But, his mate being a vampire, that was something that I had not heard of.

"How come I don't know this?" I asked because I know the history of werewolves, but there was no mention of this Lana.

"I'm the next in line to be the Head Alpha. I have to know this because she comes every time to make sure the next in line is worthy to take over Alpha Grayson's position. Our grandfather was not supposed to be the Head Alpha, his older brother was, but Lana saw our grandfather as fit." Cam said, helping me into his truck. "You don't know about this because werewolves like to keep it down low. She is still alive, and married to the previous King of Vampires. Werewolves took that as betrayal and have scratched her from our history, but they still let her choose the next Head Alpha, because they know she knows best."

I waited for him to walk around and get in the driver's seat. I just wanted to be out of these soaked clothes, and under a warm shower.

"What does this have to do with me?" There had to be a reason that vampire mentioned Lana.

"I'm not sure. You said that the vampire was thrown off you, did anyone touch him?" He asked, and I shook my head. "Lana...Lana was a vampire born; you know what that is right?" I nodded again. Vampire born was when two vampires managed to make a child, and when that child reaches maturity they can turn into a vampire without being bitten. They also had powers that they were born with, but they were very rare because it was only possible to bear a child every 900 years or so "She had a gift...she had a mind power, she can read minds and move things with her mind. Maybe...maybe you have her gift? Maybe that's why you can't do mind link..." Cam said, but it was almost as if he were just guessing.

"Lana can read minds?"

"Yes, that's how she knows who would be best for Head Alpha. Although I guess when she was still with the wolves, she couldn't read their minds. I don't know what has changed, but she can read everyone now."

"Isn't that a bit...creepy?" Cam shrugged.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you, other than your face?" He ground his teeth.

"No...I'm okay." I told him, looking down at my ripped shirt. It didn't show too much, but it just reminded me of what happened. I was going to have to burn this shirt, or at least throw it away so I never had to look at again.

"You need to start training with us, Krista. I know I said you didn't have to, but—"

"No!" I panicked. "I will not train with you. I'm sorry, Cam, but I can't." I wrapped my arms around my waist. I couldn't practice, I didn't want to hit anyone, or hurt anyone. That wasn't who I was, not anymore.

"You need to train...I don't want this happening again."

"Maybe...maybe I could work on this...whatever it is! Maybe then I won't have to fight!" I said, becoming excited about the fact that I wouldn't have to hurt anyone.

"I can't help you with that, Krista...I don't understand it." He sighed. "Maybe mom and dad—"

"Please don't tell them!" I begged. "They already don't like what kind of wolf I am...what if they found out I was like the only vampire in our genes? I would be even more of a black sheep..." I never lived up to my parents' expectations, and this would only be one more thing to separate us.

"Ok, I won't tell them but if you don't find someone to help you train by the time you turn eighteen, you have to train with me." He proposed.

"Deal." Four days to find someone, I could do that.

"On a different note, you do remember that we are going to the castle tomorrow, right?"

"Why?"

"It's your eighteenth birthday; the King has to meet you since you are the daughter of the leader of werewolves."

"Can't I skip it? Besides, I still have a few days, can't I just put it off?" I asked, knowing the answer already.

"He's never met you before, you have never gone to the castle, and you need to meet him." Cam said sternly

"Is he bad?" I asked, sinking into my seat. I really did not want to meet this man. Just because he was the King of the vampires, did not mean that I had to meet him.

"He's...I don't usually say this about vampires, but this man is terrifying. I heard that King Charles was a kind, and strong leader, and King Elijah is strong...but he is so dark. It seems like he could suck your soul out, simply looking at you." And I was going to meet him in less than 24 hours.

"Why...didn't Charles choose the new king?" Cam nodded. He knew a lot about vampire politics, simply because he had no other choice as the next in line. "Then why would he choose someone like that?" It did not make sense to me to pick someone who was so incredibly different than you to rule.

"Well, rumor has it that he had someone else in mind...a vampire by the name of...Milo I think, but he didn't pick him because Lana killed Milo's lover and Milo could have been out for revenge." Cam said.

"It sounds like a soap opera." I mumbled. Vampires were always filled with drama; wolves were too but the vampires seemed to thrive on drama.

"Tell me about it." Cam pulled into the driveway.

"Don't even tell mom and dad about the attack, please. I don't want them to know because dad will force me to train..."

"Only if you keep my deal, Krista because if you break it, I will tell them everything."

"Ok." I rushed out of the car, and upstairs. I did not want to run into my parents and I did not want to deal with them if they saw the condition that I was in. I dropped my mother's cookbook on the counter before escaping to my room, hopefully she would not notice the mud that covered the bottom of it. I showered, wanting to get all the sludge off and get rid of the icy feeling that covered my body. The shower was scolding hot, burning away the feeling of that vampire who was on me. Maybe I should have listened to Cam, and started training, but I couldn't. I knew it was cowardly, but I knew that I could not even spare with anyone, I did not want a repeat of what happened when I was younger, I could not go through that again. Even when those vampires were attacking me, I didn't want to hit them, I just wanted them off me.

I stepped out of the shower and dressed in my pajamas, ready to go to bed. I was not looking forward to seeing the vampire King, especially after what Cam told me about him.

I wrapped myself in my blankets, ready to forget about today and ready for sleep. My face would be healed by the morning, so I knew that no one but Cam and I would know about the incident with the vampires.

"Krista." Someone whispered into my ears. My eyes flashed open and I saw Kyle standing over me, smirking. "Get out of bed, you have to get dressed." He said, pushing me out of my bed. The sun was shining into my room, practically blinding me.

"Thanks, big brother." I laughed, shoving him back, barely causing him to move. He laughed as he headed out of my room and downstairs.

I did not want to go, but in knew I had no choice. I went straight to the shower, just to wake myself up, plus I knew that my curls were a mess. When I came back into my room there was a dark blue dress waiting for me on my bed, most likely brought up by my mom. It was long, reaching the floor, with one only one shoulder strap and it had a band made of black silk that wrapped around it just below the bust. It looked like a Roman style dress, or at least the pictures that I had seen in books. I slid it on and saw that it showed off my curves, which were not something that I particularly liked. Female wolves were meant to be tall and slender, not short and curvy, I was almost the exact opposite.

I lined my eyes with blue eyeliner and covered my lids with a light tan eye shadow. The look brought out the gold flakes in my eyes and made the dark brown look even darker. I slid on a pair of black roman sandals and then threw my hair up in a bun because I was too lazy to try to tame it.

"Krista!" My father called and I knew they were ready. I headed downstairs to see my dad, Cam and Kyle all in a dress shirt and dress pants. My mother was wearing a beautiful, simple brown dress that highlighted the red in her hair and the blue of her eyes. Joshua and Jenna weren't coming because they were out of town with their mates, which I did not mind because going anywhere with my entire family was too much.

There was a limo waiting outside for us, because the only was for a werewolf to be enter the castle is to be invited and escorted in. We filed into the car, without saying anything and then we began the drive to the castle.

"Are you excited?" My mother started her hand resting in my father's. They were so loving to each other, that it was a shame they were not as loving towards their children. I shrugged in response.

"Give your mother a real answer." My father commanded.

"Yes, mother, I am excited." I lied. I felt Cam stare at me, but I simply looked out the window and watched the towns blur by. My family began small talk, talking about the pack and who was mated with who. I used to be close with my family, but the further I differed from them, the further apart we were stretched. Cam was the only person I was close to, and that was because he accepted me for who I was and didn't try to mold me into someone else. Cam was one of the only people that I felt comfortable around, other than my best friend, Silas, who was currently off at Medical School.

We pulled into the gate surrounding the Castle. It didn't really look like a castle, but more like a massive museum, or a mansion owned by a really rich person; it had to have at least 100 rooms in it. We stepped out of the limo and we were escorted into the castle. The first room was massive, the ceiling stretched up at least thirty feet. The walls were covered with artwork from various eras. I stopped, to glance at a picture of a woman, who had a strange smile. Was she smiling, or did she have a straight face, or was she frowning? I shrugged and then tried to catch up with my family. I could not afford to fall behind, mainly because this place was crawling with vampires, most of who do not like werewolves. We were led into a large room, which ended with a throne that was occupied. I didn't want to look at the King; I wanted to look everywhere else but at him, I did not want to meet those cold eyes of his. I looked along the wall as my father spoke to him, saying the normal, but false, pleasantries.

"...and this is my youngest daughter, Krista." Cam nudged me and I looked at my father. He c****d his head, telling me to look at the King. I looked up, slowly. His hair was a dark red, crimson colored and his face was a perfectly smooth shade of alabaster. But it was his eyes that captured me though, they were hard and icy but they were a dark blue, so dark that they reminded me of a new moon night when there is no light, only faded stars. His eyes locked with mine, and refused to let me go. Cam was right, my soul was being sucked from my body, but it was different than I was expecting.

I could feel it; I could feel the buzz that was spreading through my body, the excitement coursing though my veins. I watched as he flexed his jaw muscles, clenching them tightly, which only gave notice to his strong jaw line. His lips, which were perfectly curved and full, were pressed in a straight line. I realized that I was not the only one looking the other over; his eyes were scanning every part of me, as if he wanted to engrave my image in his memory.

I hadn't realized how much time had passed, in silence, until my father began to speak. I didn't notice what he was saying, because I was in shock about the revelation that had just hit me.

The ruthless vampire King was my mate.