Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter eighteen

*Yasmin*

Frankie woke me up, a small crease between her eyes that showed her concern for me. “You’re okay Yasmin, you are just having a bad dream.” She cooed, brushing my damp hair from my forehead. I let out a long sigh, pushing myself to a sitting position and looking out the window to see that the sun had already set. Frankie let out a long sigh, drawing my attention back to her. “I felt so useless last night, so helpless. I didn’t even think of using my ability to help you, instantly thinking about going to get help instead.”

I leaned over, taking her hand in mine supportively. “I wasn’t much better either. I mean, I used Nelson’s own strength to beat him to submission. I didn’t think about actually killing him, I just wanted him to feel the same pain that I felt.”

“At least you fought back.” Frankie gestured around the room, seeming to feel out of sorts.

“I didn’t use to Frankie. With my sire, I had to take it. He had the ability to make me think that I wanted him, and I would try to escape in my mind from what he did to me. I didn’t have to do that with Nelson, I knew I didn’t want him and I used that to fight back.” I pointed out, feeling my stomach roll over, nausious of the thoughts that my words brought to mind.

“Is that what your nightmares are about?” I let out a long sigh, nodding my head and looking away from her.

“Most of the time, sometimes they are about my human father. He was not much better than Antonio, just using his fists instead of his mind to beat and control me.” I admitted for the first time to another person.

Frankie squeezed my hand that was still held in hers. “Maybe we can get stronger together, so that I don’t run from a fight and you don’t have your nightmares anymore.” She offered with a warm smile, not looking at me any differently than she did before for my admission.

“I would like that.” I nodded, truly meaning it. I was glad to have Frankie back as my friend, and the fact that after the Master vampire seemed to protect me from Nelson, she felt more comfertable spending time with me socially.

Why did he do that though? I mean, I had been told several times that I pretty much had no rights and was on my last warning, so why did he not blame me for what happened? In fact, he seemed to almost be worried about me. He didn’t even punish me for smashing my fists into his chest, although I doubted that he could even feel it with how hard his muscles were underneath his t-shirt. When I had come down from my anger, I then feared that he may retaliate, ending my existance for having the audacity for fighting back, or even for taking his ability without permission. My head was in such a daze that I didn’t even notice I had taken it until the bolts of lightening started to fly all around me.

I had never felt such a strong ability. I knew that a vampres power, like their strength, speed and agility, got stronger with age, but I had never expected something like that. It was so strong that I was struggling to control it, struggling to hold it inside me. It wasn’t until I stared into his eyes, his head against mine, his lips so close that each breath that he took fanned my face, my breathing slowing to match his own, that I was able to try and stop it. I could feel my body aching for him, wanting him to make the declaration that I dreamed of but then he stepped away.

I was so confused. How could I find the idea of being claimed by another vampire so unthinkable, but then my body was leaning towards the Master vampire like a moth to a flame? There was something about him that seemed to lure me in, and I found myself wondering if all women felt that way around him. After all, he was the Master vampire, with probably tens if not hundreds of women at his beck and call. Being another notch on his headboard did not hold appeal to me. I promised myself that if I choose to be with a man again, then it would be on my terms. I had settled too much in my time on earth already, and if the Master vampire was true to his word from the day, then I would have the right to choose who I was with, and I would choose to be with someone who wanted to be with me and only me, just the way I was. Maybe it was a pipe dream, but I hoped that I would be enough for someone else.

Frankie and I got out of bed, taking turns to shower and change into some work out gear. Her bathroom was amazing, the water pressure feeling like it was taking off the first layer of your skin making you feel like you had never been cleaner, which is what I needed right then, still able to feel where Nelson grabbed and pinched my skin. As we walked outside Nicole gave me a curious look, but I would have to explain to her later about what had happened.

We headed down to the dorm, Astrid pulling me into a tight hug as soon as we entered. “Oh my god, I heard what happened. Are you okay?”

“Wh-How did you hear?” I asked, worried about peoples reaction to what happened, even though I knew I did not do anything wrong.

“Everyone knows. There was a massive uproar in the mess about half an hour ago when the new rules were posted and Martyn and Charles explained what had happened.” Lilbeth explained.

Isla stepped closer, noticing my look of concern, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, most people were angry at what happened, not at the new rules. I mean, the others have pretty much welcomed us with open arms, it is only a few that think as Nelson did. But still, the fact that he tried to… I hate to even think about it.”

We both shuddered at the same time, my own mind hating the thought. “Me and Frankie are going to train if you would like to join.” I offered, not wanting to talk about it any longer.

“Sure thing.” Lilbeth said, the others agreeing with her as we headed to the mess. I was glad that there did not seem to be many people there, not wanting to have to put up wth their sympathetic stares at the moment. We had some blood bags and checked out the training schedual for the groups before heading out to the training ring.

When we got there, the four women turned to me, waiting to find out what we were doing. “I think that we need more practice using our gifts in battle. When Nelson attacked me last night, I almost lost control. If that had been a life or death situation and Frankie was under attack, I am not sure if I would have been more a hinderence than a help.” I admitted.

“I know what you mean. Although I use my gift often, I need to learn more about how it can help me in combat.” Astrid added.

“We will refrain from overly hurting each other, and instead, when one of us is hit by the others power, we will count that as a win. We will take turns fighting each other in pairs and then swap, not knowing what type of powers we will be up against in a real fight.” I offered, surprised when everyone nodded.

We split into a pair and a three, given that Nicole could not join in as she was on duty, the three acting as a two on one situation to help practice using their gifts with a partner. Although we did have a set partner in the guard, if the kingdom was actually under attack we could be separated or need to work with someone else. The feeling of being back in control of my life, made me feel more settled, more at peace and the fact that we were preparing for attacks made me feel more confident that if anything like yesterday ever happened again, I would be sure that he never even laid a hand on me.

*Charles*

I could hear the sound of fighting coming from the training ring, wondering what the hell was going on now. “Phillippe, look after alpha group while I go check that out.” I said, noticing the glint in his eyes at my words. I let out an annoyed tsk as I turned and walked towards the noise. Phillippe had not even bothered to come and help last night, instead staying in his room like he couldn’t hear the commotion. His room may have been the furthest away, but that was no reason to ignore the ruckus, not knowing what could be causing it.

If we had been under attack, would Phillippe even have come then? I knew that he had some issues with post traumatic stress disorder from his human years, but I honestly thought that he had gotten over that a long time ago. His entire village had been slaughtered and he was the only survivor, and only because he was lucky enough to be saved by Sven. The two of them had gotten Phillippe his revenge, but that still did not seem to stop his night terrors.

That was the only reason why, despite the fact that Phillippe had been turned before me, that I was in charge of the Alpha group instead of him. I knew he saw that as a slight against him, but would he really be able to handle the strain of knowing that you could be sent out at any moment to fight god knows what enemy. Beta group was hardly ever sent beyond the kingdom walls and that seemed to be more suited to Phillippe’s pace.

I got to the training ground, creaping up the steps to the stand before peering over the edge. I was shocked at what I saw. Yasmin seemed to have brought the female guards and Frankie to the training ring to practice their battle techniques. I thought that after what she had been through yesterday, that she would be hiding away in the castle, but here she was, turning the pain that she had felt into something constructive. That showed true strength and ingenuity and I could not help but admire her for that.

She was encouraging them to try using their abilities in different ways. Lilbeth was trying to shoot her spines from somewhere other than her palms, pointing out that if an opponent realised they were the source of her power, they would try to bind them or avoid them. Astrid was trying to control a copy of herself, making it move slightly instead of standing completely still like she had in her tial, which once she mastered it, would make it even more of a useful gift given she could be a one woman f*****g army. Isla was trying to do as Yasmin had done in the trial and use her wind to create a sort of shield, whereas Frankie was trying to use her shield to absorb Lilbeth’s spines and then fire them out towards a set target.

To my amazement, Yasmin was trying to do all of these, switching between the powers to help demonstrate how they could be used. She was adept at all of them, even though they were not abilities that she would have normally come across. She really was a good teacher, as I could see from my short time observing them that they were improving. I wondered if the Master vampire would ever be amenable to having a female group, because by the look of how well Yasmin was training the others, and if she was in charge of the group, then they would be a force to be reckoned with.