Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter twenty three

*Phillippe*

I woke up early to go down and give the groups a good talking to. They had been distracted lately, thinking more about the females that had joined the guard than about their own progress in training. Yes it had been a while since our group had been needed, but it was not out of the question that we would be needed, sooner rather than later if my sire continued to make changes the way that he did.

I knew that I had lost a bit of his trust when it came to my readiness to be in a fight. The night that I had heard Frankie shouting for help, everything inside me froze. I thought that my demons were long behind me, but they weren’t. I didn’t know what to do, what I could try to help ease my mind from the horrors of my past. I knew that I had to try something, even if just to find a way to push past them in my waken state.

I felt that my dreams would always be haunted. Every day, when I closed my eyes, I knew what was going to be waiting for me. The screams, the terror, the sound of my own family dying all around me. I was so thankful that Sven had found me when he did and helped me to get my revenge, but it was not enough to rid me of my demons that came to me day after day.

Strangely, I found that the darkness of the night was inviting and it was the days that I wanted to hide from because that is when I had to rest, where I could not push past my demons and they ruled me.

I shook my head, walking down to the basement and heading to the dorm for my group. When I got there, I was not surprised to find them all dreamy eyed talking out the female guards yet again. “Have you seen Nicole? She has thighs that I bet could squeeze the life out of me while I pounded her.” Sajid growled as he stood up and started to thrust his hips causing a few cheers of approval.

“Sajid!” I yelled, causing him to stop and turn towards me, his back straightening as he stood to attention. “Do you think it is your job to be the class clown?”

“No sir!” He barked back.

“Do you think you even have a chance with a woman if she found out that you were speaking about her so crassly?” I yelled.

I saw a flash of panic pass his eyes as he looked at me, my expression telling him that I was not beyond telling her what I had just heard. “No sir!” He replied, his voice breaking slightly.

I paced up and down, staring at each of my men in the eyes. “I am sick of having to get you all back on track when you cannot pull your heads out of the gutter. You are here to represent the Master vampire, you are meant to be the best of the best and all I have seen recently is that you are all too busy thinking with your d***s to get your head in the game. Do I need to start trying to find replacements for every single one of you?”

“No sir!” They all replied immediately, those that had remained sitting so far standing to attention.

“I want you all out on the field in the next ten minutes, I don’t care if you have had time for your blood or not. We are going to run drills until you are all too tired to even think about trying to get one of those women into your beds. Now, move, move, move!” I yelled, watching as they all quickly started to run around the room, grabbing their clothes and pulling them on while some who were dressed ran to go and grab a blood bag.

I smiled as I moved out of the dorm, walking to the room that Franko had. He was the only one of my group that had proven himself enough to earn the right to not have to sleep in the dorm with the others. I walked back up the stairs and up to the level where the rooms for such people resided, finding that my sire was there, standing outside one of the rooms which had the door wide open as servants ran in and out with different adornments.

“Sire?” I greeted questioningly, looking into the room to find a fine desk with a lamp and stationary neatly set upon it, a four poster bed with purple drapes hanging from the canopy, matching throw pillows on the bed and small bedside tables either side. The wardrobe looked like it was filled with clothes as one of the servants closed it before running past us.

“Phillippe.” He greeted me in return, not even bothering to turn to me.

I looked once more at the room before releasing a long sigh, realising who it was for. “Do you really think that Yasmin has earned the right to be up here with the others? I mean, she has not even ran one training session yet.” I argued, not liking that the Sedvey was quickly advancing without being truly challenged.

“How do you expect the other guards to respect her if she has nothing to show her standing?” He asked with a raised brow.

“That is for her to figure out. If she does not have the power to lead, then she does not deserve to be elevated.” I grumbled.

Sven turned towards me, his eyes darkening slightly as he took a step towards me. “She was able to fight off an attacker, which is more than I can say for you of late. Maybe it is you that I should be questioning.”

I winced at my sire’s words, knowing full well that I deserved them. Before I had a chance to reply, Angel came out of his room, walking towards us. Angel was the best of the best in terms of the groups and he had fully deserved the room that he now had, more than his new neighbour did. As he walked past, he took a moment to look into the room next to his own, a smile growing on his face as he continued down the corridor. Well, at least it was not only my group that were being distracted by the ladies recently.

I bowed my head respectfully to my sire, heading to Franko’s room to tell him to be down at the field as soon as possible. I knocked on Franko’s door, waiting a moment before he pulled it open. There was a scent in the air, a scent that did not just belong to Franko. I looked past him, noticing a bra sprawled across his floor making me roll my eyes. “Training now!” I barked before turning and heading back out of the castle, not bothering to stick around to see which slut was going to be doing the walk of shame.

*Yasmin*

I worried about Isla when she was not in the dorm when I got back at dawn and even more worried now it was dusk and she still was not there. Lilbeth was on duty watching over Frankie with her partner, Nicole getting ready to go and relieve her from duty whereas Astrid was getting ready for her first training session.

I was worried with the girls always having to do a day duties meaning it would only be one or two of them in each training session that sometimes they may feel self-conscious, but at least Frankie would be joining us which meant that Nicole could join in as well. I had been to the mess this morning, finding the timetable for all the guards had been changed and that Martyn had even indicated who was going to be training when, making sure that everyone had a training session at least once a week.

I had studied the board, finding that we would have a group of around thirty guards per session which, while large, would not be too much once we started to split the group and do half endurance training and half combat. I was nervous about when we split the groups that the other guards, well, the male guards, would not listen to my directions, and I could only hope that these fears were unfounded.

I had been disterbed several times in the night, not just by Isla’s absence but also by thoughts of Michelle and the Master vampire together. I do not know why but the possessiveness that she had over him made me think that she must have been more to him than just a concubine. Maybe she was his secret girlfriend, or maybe even his intended bond that was not made public.

I had heard about vampires deciding to tie themselves to one another in a ceremony known as bonding. It was similar to human marriage from what Doyle had told me and was a magical ceremony where the two vampires' life essences were tied together. However, that also meant that if one of the pairing went on to sleep with another, their bond felt a tremendous amount of pain. Would anyone want to go through that just to be bonded to the Master vampire?

I shook my head, trying to get the two of them out of my mind. I was going to have to work at the Master vampire's side all night and I could not be worried about how he had been holding on to another woman before coming to the training ring.

I headed up the stairs, walking out and standing at the side of the field waiting for the guards that were training today to appear. Phillippe and his group came out, occupying the field, his eyes landing on me as he sent me a stern look before huffing and ignoring me. I knew that some men questioned if I should be in this position, hell, I questioned if I should have the position that I now held.

A few guards came out, standing and whispering to each other a few yards away from me, their eyes looking me up and down as if I was a juicy ham bone and they were a cartoon dog. “So Yasmin, are you going to be the one training us?” One of them finally asked, his eyes focusing on my legs which made me have to fight shifting them uncomfortably.

“Not just me, the Master vampire will also be running the training sessions.” I explained, noting how they all suddenly stood to attention and stopping whispering to one another. I suppressed the need to roll my eyes, already knowing that if my answer had been yes, that they would have probably tried to find a way to leave.

Astrid arrived next, offering me a warm smile as she joined the group that was slowly building. I started to worry slightly that the Master vampire was not going to come and that I would be left to run the training session alone, when I finally noticed him come out of the castle and within the blink of an eye, he was by my side. I could not help but take in his appearance, so different in his work out gear, his giant muscles on show under his tight vest that showed off every bump of muscle that he had on display. I found myself taking a deep intake of breath, making me freeze slightly.

I had come accustomed to his manly scent when I spent all of last night in his office, but tonight, there was another scent along side it as well as the scent of s*x. I took a small step away from him, not wanting the smell to push me further into my thought of him f*****g another woman. Why did I care? Why did I find my hand gripping tightly at my side and my teeth gritting together so tightly that I was sure they would break?

Frankie, Nicole and her partner came out, Frankie giving me a wide smile that I nodded to in return as I did a quick head count, realising that everyone was now here. “Tonight, we will be staying together as one group, but in future training sessions, we may be breaking off into smaller groups so that you have more time actively improving your skills. We will start tonight with some exercises to improve your agility, stamina and strength.” I told the group, my voice projecting more strength and confidence than I felt at that moment.

“We will start by doing laps of the forest. Me and Yasmin will stand at opposite sides to ensure that no one cheats.” The Master vampire stated, glaring at the guards with disapproval already, some shrinking away as if he had read their minds. “You will do ten laps, through and back, as quickly as you can. Now everyone line up.” With that, the guards ran to form a line before I quickly made my way through the trees, ready to watch for them appearing at the other side, glad to have the distance between me and the Master vampire so that I could focus on what needed to be done and not on where his hands had been.