Shain: Immortal Forsaken Series #6 (Paranormal Romance Novella) Read online

  Shain

  Immortal Forsaken Series

  Verika Sloane

  Contents

  Dictionary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  The Centurias Newsletter

  Coming 2019

  About the Author

  Dictionary

  Ascend: verb. The act of a vampire’s soul rising from the earthly plane to a higher spiritual place.

  Avow: verb. The act of a non-fated couple to seal their bond before the gods. A show of protection and commitment.

  Before the Light: a phrase vampires utter in respect to the time when creatures of the night ruled before the sun and humans.

  Depths: noun. A purgatory where vampires are sent to receive punishment for crimes they committed in the true life.

  Ecca: noun. A beautiful place of light & dark that vampires spiritually rise to after their earthly death.

  Entyre Law: noun. Ancient scrolls. A code a vampire is commanded to live by according to the gods.

  Fated: noun. A male or female vampire that is bound to another by blood.

  Fateblood: noun. A vampire born to a fated couple.

  Gods: The 9 gods & goddesses vampires worship. Vampires refer to them simply as the gods, for short.

  Nine Group: noun. The 9 original families. The wealthiest, most prestigious, powerful, and influential vampires in history.

  Oria: noun. A spiritual counselor.

  Pürblood: noun. A vampire born to a non-fated parents, but is natural born.

  Pürist: noun. A male or female pürblood vampire that has been avowed to another.

  Remnant: noun. The binding scent a male will imprint on a female during the avowing ritual. Cannot be removed without approval from the gods.

  Sensa: noun. The energy a person gives off demonstrating emotion and desire. Vampires feed on and exchange this with humans and other beings for sustenance.

  Shadow: noun. A person born as a human who is turned into a vampire.

  Shiya: noun. A female wolf shifter.

  Shief: noun. A male wolf shifter.

  Vesser: noun. The oldest vampires living. Once the age of one thousand years, a vampire is designated a Vesser.

  One

  They were either there to kill him or kill him.

  Shain Trevyn wrenched the ax from the tree stump with one hand, glaring at the two sets of snowmobile lights scourging through the snow and around the trees. Months ago, he’d chopped down an aspen in front of the driveway to keep others out.

  No sign, no mailbox.

  How the hell did they find him?

  He snarled on an exhale, releasing a cloud of breath in the November night air. It was barely six o’clock in northern Montana; the sun had set an hour ago, and if they knew who he was, then their only purpose would be to cause him pain.

  On the other hand, they might not be coming to kill him. If they were, they weren’t being very stealthy about it.

  His upper lip curled. Only shifters are that arrogant.

  Well, tonight was as good as any to die. But not without some resistance.

  With any luck from the gods, it was a couple of humans out on a joyride, drunk, stupid, and lost. Happened once in a while.

  He trampled through the snow to the front porch and lay the ax on the rail. All he had on was a pair of jeans and boots; better put on his bomber jacket, just in case they were human. After all, it wasn’t sane to chop firewood shirtless in freezing temps.

  Side by side, the snowmobiles slowed. The motion light beamed brightly on them.

  Indeed, the approach was far from menacing.

  The man on the left switched off the engine and removed his helmet.

  Shain checked the shock from his face.

  “Shain Trevyn?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m—”

  “I know who you are,” he said, wondering why the fuck Marex Daulton would be on his property. “What do you want?”

  The man to the right removed his helmet, too. From the distance, the two resembled brothers, same black hair and wide shoulders. Shain didn’t know the man’s face; however, he did catch a distinctive scent as a gust of wind blew toward him, and it put him instantly back on guard.

  “His name is Zander Kane,” Marex explained, noticing Shain tense. “Yes, he’s a shifter. An alpha, by the way. He’s also a good friend of mine. Sorry to come up on you like this, but we need to talk.”

  Shain crossed his arms, not taking his eyes off Zander, and not in the mood for a visit with a vampire or a shifter, even a currently non-threatening one. “About what?”

  A pause. “Kimber,” Marex answered.

  Fire erupted in Shain’s chest, but short, joyless laughter burst from his throat. “You’re fucking with me.”

  Marex’s face was devoid of amusement. “I’m not. She needs your help.”

  Shain turned his back on them, squeezing his eyes shut, his shaking hand gripping the doorknob with a vice grip. Agony blasted his every nerve like shrapnel, accompanied with knee-breaking ache. Misery. Memories. “You have the wrong man.”

  “We all know that’s not true,” came Marex’s voice.

  Shain reared a resentful glare over his shoulder.

  They climbed off their snowmobiles and walked up the steps, the shifter stopping at the top. “The sooner we can explain, the sooner we’ll leave.”

  Gods. Hadn’t he paid enough, done enough, lost enough in her name? There was absolutely nothing they could say that would oblige him to help her. Nothing. Regardless, they likely wouldn’t go the hell away until he heard them out.

  “Fine. Come in.” He left the door ajar and wiped his boots on the mat, wishing he hadn’t polished off that whiskey last week. It’d be useful right about now. Waiting for them to come inside, he casually leaned his shoulder on the entryway separating the kitchen from the living room, even though his heart hadn’t ceased hammering since Marex had spoken her name.

  Kane walked in first and sniffed as he entered, looking around, swiping his boots on the mat.

  Shain raised a brow.

  How polite of him to be conscious of dragging in the elements. Shifters were notoriously rude guests from what he’d heard, mostly due to the fact they were conscious of what was rude and gave zero fucks about it.

  “Nice place,” Kane remarked. “I like the chalet-style exterior. Wasn’t what I was expecting.” He huffed. “Then again, you are a vampire.”

  “What were you expecting?”

  “Something more redneck minimalist, considering how isolated you are. This is pretty lavish for being the middle of nowhere by yourself.”

  Yeah, well, he had the cabin designed for Kimber, to make her happy, comfortable, and to see the look on her face at what he’d done. But she never got to see it or even know it existed. “Too fancy for you?”

  “Hell no,” the shifter answered. “In fact, if you leave, I’d like to rent it from you for a week sometime. I’ll pay you whatever you want.”

  He gave a noncommittal shrug. “Sure.”

  Marex grabbed a stool and sat. “How long have you been here?”

  Idle chitchat annoyed him. “How did you find me?”

  The vampire leader smiled. “It wasn’t easy. But Zander has astounding ways of tracking people down. Better than Google.
”

  Zander smirked, grabbing a handful of mixed nuts from a bowl. “Better than a bloodhound, you mean.”

  Marex arched a brow. “I thought you hated jokes that liken you to a dog.”

  “Not when I come out on top of that comparison.” He popped a cashew in his mouth.

  Marex chuckled with a roll of his eyes.

  The friendship sang strong between the vampire and alpha, that much was evident. However, their easy banter made Shain a tad uneasy. “Why are you here?”

  Zander sobered. “Right.” He reached into his inner jacket pocket and handed him a folded piece of paper.

  Reluctantly, Shain took it. By their silence, he surmised they expected him to read it first.

  Was it from Kimber?

  Teeth clenched, he unfolded it, but immediately recognized it wasn’t her handwriting.

  Alpha Kane:

  I’m from the Glacier Wolf Pack in Tavish, Wisconsin. I need your help. More specifically, a shiya in this pack does. Her name is Kimber, and she’d probably curse me out for doing this, but I’m doing it anyway. She grew up with us, but never felt like she fit in. It might’ve been the reason she took that trip to Atlanta a while back and met Shain Trevyn, a vampire. Do you know their story?

  If not, here’s the short version: against ALL odds, they fell madly—and I do mean madly—in love at first sight. Of course, everyone wanted to keep them apart and tried. They ran away together, and from what Kimber told me, it was the happiest time of her life…but it didn’t have a happy ending.

  She had no choice but to go back to her pack to save Shain’s life. They forced her to. She was sure no shifter would want to touch her after being with Shain, but she was wrong. Yesterday, my mate told me she’ll be forced to marry on the 15th to one of the omegas. This antiquated custom shouldn’t take place!! Unfortunately, with no alpha around, this maniac is in charge and gets what he wants.

  Kimber is a special shiya. Smart, creative, willful…she’d be an excellent addition to a pack that would actually be kind to her.

  I beg you, if you have any mercy, please take her from here. I’m including a map of where she’ll be staying in one of vacant bungalows. She’s not allowed to have a cell phone or email, and writing to you seemed the safest choice for me. That’s the reason for this snail-mail communication.

  I believe if she had a place to go, she’d leave.

  If I knew how to contact Shain, I would, but there’s just no way to find out where he is. If he were here, I know she’d run to him. But since he won’t be, I’m hoping she’ll run to you instead.

  With respect…

  Gobsmacked, Shain strove to absorb the words.

  What the hell?

  Why would Kimber be commanded to marry someone else?

  What happened to her mate? Had he died?

  Bitterness frosted his heart, not allowing any sympathy for her.

  He handed back the letter. “What does this have to do with me?”

  Zander frowned, taking it back. “Did you read all of it? Don’t you give a shit?”

  “That she’s about to marry one of her kind? I don’t. You guys arrange marriages all the time.”

  “When the alphas or omegas don’t find their mates and want one, but we don’t force the women into it. Both have to agree. Like the letter says, it’s an ancient custom. Most packs eighty-sixed it a long time ago.”

  Shain’s voice was resigned. “What do you want from me, shief?”

  Marex held up a hand to show Zander he wanted to reply. “My fated told me your story. It’s been whispered around like legend. You cross paths one night by chance, can’t stay away from each other, meet in secret. Fall in love. Eventually, you have to choose. So you give up your life of privilege and prestige for her, and she defies her pack and puts her life in danger for you. You run away together, hide out—”

  “And then she goes back to them. End of story,” Shain finished curtly.

  “Actually,” Zander said with a smug look, “I think your story is nowhere near ended.”

  Shain’s irritation swelled, threatening to burst into a violent tirade. “You know nothing, alpha. She and I are done.”

  Zander’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really believe that? No… I can see in your eyes you don’t want to believe it, despite everything. So why don’t you go get her?”

  “Because I don’t want her and she doesn’t want me. Get it? She walked in the room, said she’d found her mate, that he’d claimed her, and that she finally knew what true love was. And that I was a mistake.” By the gods, he wished every night of his existence that his memory of that morning would fade, that her words would be forgotten and the pain would die, disappear.

  On occasion, he’d wanted to die. The disappearing had been easy.

  Confusion spelled on the shifter’s face. “Kimber was never mated, Shain. The letter makes that clear.”

  “Then she was wrong?”

  “No.” Zander exchanged a glance with Marex. “She was lying.”

  Shain held the shief’s gaze for a few seconds, then slowly dropped it, chest heaving. What was left of his heart thudded in his ears. She’d lied to him? There was no mate? Had she been mistaken, or tricked? How was that fucking possible?

  His hand curled to a white-knuckled fist. He didn’t want to know. What was done was done. “Screw this. That letter isn’t from Kimber. How are we supposed to believe what this shifter says is true?”

  “Why would she make it up?” Zander asked.

  “To get your attention. To piss off the alpha. To start a pack war. Who knows? The letter didn’t say I need to help her. It has nothing to do with me.” What couldn’t they comprehend?

  “Holy fuck, it has everything to do with you.” Zander held up the letter, clearly waiting for a reaction, but he wasn’t going to get one.

  He then appeared to change tactics. “Do you know what she’ll go through? No? Let me educate you. It won’t be romantic. If they’re treating her like shit, then that’s how her future husband will treat her too, because of how she’s tainted by a vampire’s touch. He’ll never respect or honor her. He’ll probably have her bow to him during the ceremony to show his dominance and humiliate her, so that the others won’t think he’s weak. Immediately afterward, he’ll take her some place and fuck her until she submits to him, until he breaks her.”

  No one can break Kimber.

  Even so…

  He let out a low groan, sick to his stomach. Smoothing a sweaty hand down his short beard, he tried not to envision Kimber subjected to anything remotely close to that kind of fate.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” He closed his burning eyes. “I thought she’d found her shifter mate. Now you’re telling me it was a lie.”

  Marex answered this time. “To save your life.”

  Pathetic excuse. After all they’d been through to be together, after all he’d done to make it happen, she had thought him defenseless, had she? Had she believed him incapable of protecting her and himself? That he deserved to be lied to, betrayed, instead?

  Well, no matter the reason, she’d done it, and nothing would change the fact. “Why not go get her yourselves?”

  “All we have is a map,” Zander responded cautiously, as though talking to a crazy person. “Tavish is right on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The wedding is the day after tomorrow and we have a little more than twenty-four hours to get there. I’ve been away from my headquarters, so I didn’t receive the letter until recently. Besides, she won’t know me or Marex on sight. I’m concerned that even though she doesn’t want the marriage, she could be too scared to leave, might even alert the others. If she sees you, however, it will give her the strength she’d need to make a break for it. We can’t take her any other way.”

  Shain swallowed the hot emotion choking his larynx. “And then what? Stealing a shief’s bride is an excellent way to assure the pack will chase us to the Pacific Ocean to get her back.”

  A one-shoulder shrug pro
ved Zander’s hubris on the matter. “That’s inevitable. But I did my homework. That particular pack isn’t large in number, and they’ll need some men to stay behind to protect the territory. It’s winter, which will also slow them down. And if they find out who’s behind it, they’ll have to think long and hard about facing us.” He gestured to Marex, as if the two of them could take on any number of blood-hungry shifters.

  “Who else is joining in on this quest?” Shain asked sardonically.

  “It’s just me and Marex. The less who know, the better.”

  “Two against at least two dozen. Why are you putting your neck out to save one shiya you’ve never even met? Especially with all you have going on? I would assume this would be low on your priorities list.”

  The shifter snarled at his insolence. “It’s the right thing to do. That’s what our kind does.”

  Shain grabbed Zander by the jacket’s lapels. “Where she is now was her choice! Hers, damn it. I loved Kimber. More than anyone will ever comprehend. So much, I would’ve died for her. Don’t you dare infer that my kind wouldn’t try to save her.” He released him with a shove.

  The shifter’s eyes blazed yellow, obviously controlling the need to fight Shain for laying hands on him. “I’ll let that slide because of what you’ve been through.”

  Marex raised his hands. “Be cool, Zander.”

  “I am cool. He’s the one with the temper.” He tugged his jacket straight. “By the way, by ‘our kind,’ I was referring to men like me, Marex, and you. Or was what people said about you also a lie?”

  Frowning, Shain ran a hand through his hair.

  What kind of man was he? That was variant.

  A few years ago, he was a finance-savvy, allied-loved pürblood millionaire playboy. The immortal who lived for parties, power, and pussy.