CHAPTER 26
Gauge watched as Seraphym carried Lena into the bedroom, surprised by his sudden irritation at seeing her in the arms of another male.
It didn’t appear to matter to his addled brain that the male was her uncle.
Samantha walked in behind them, waving at Gauge.
Except for the long blonde hair, he could see very little of Abby in her sister.
Samantha more resembled the serpent she’d been transformed into.
There were substantial differences between Samantha and Lena.
Lena didn’t have horns, however dainty, nor did she have wings.
Lena couldn’t shift forms either. The ability to shift, the horns and wings, had all been bred out of the Leviathan females.
Though he personally found the action unconscionable, Gauge knew the Leviathan always gave infant females born with wings to the Catalan serpents.
They didn’t want to contaminate their bloodlines with regressions to distant ancestors.
He suspected Catalan and Leviathan serpents originally came from the same world.
They likely had the same creator, either the Djinn or Umi queen, the mothers of all shifters, whatever their species.
“How are you feeling?” Gauge asked, seeing pain in Lena’s eyes.
“I’m sore, but otherwise I think I’m okay. Jax gave me blood. It seemed to help with the cramps.”
Gauge nodded, knowing it wouldn’t last. “You will need more soon.”
“Yes, Jax told me I would. He said I should take it from you.” She couldn’t look at him as she said this, as if embarrassed.
“Will my niece be considered Leviathan or vampire now?” Seraphym asked, his teeth grinding as he clenched his jaw.
“Seraphym, stop,” Samantha said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll still love Lena no matter what.”
“Her father, my brother, and the alpha of our clan, will want to know.”
Samantha stepped away from her mate, frowning. “So, what? Are you telling me he’ll chase his own daughter off if she isn’t fully serpent any longer? Turn his back on her like he did me and you.”
Seraphym’s tone softened as he replied to her. “Sam, you know why we had to leave. Saeran had no choice. He needed time to convince—” He stopped when Samantha glared.
“Yeah, why don’t you go ahead and finish that thought, Seraphym,” Samantha growled, smoke curling out of her nose. “He needed time to convince your people that Catalan weren’t the brainless animals you guys made them out to be. Right?”
“Sam, you’re not being fair. It has always been this way. My people can’t remember a time when it wasn’t. You can’t change a practice like this, a belief, overnight. The Catalan didn’t want anything to do with Leviathan either.”
“I didn’t hear anyone object when we asked to live with the Catalan.
In fact, I remember their alpha welcomed us, welcomed you, with open arms. Stop being such a racist asshole.
” Samantha reached out to take Lena’s hand.
“Sweetie, just know this. Whether you become a vampire or stay a serpent, we’ll love you no matter what.
Who knows, maybe you’ll grow wings and have horns like me.
” She leaned in closer and winked. “Flying is fun, fun, fun, and let me tell you, breathing fire isn’t half bad either, especially if your mate begins to irritate you.
You can fry Gauge’s ass if he gets out of line, just like I’m going to do with your uncle as soon as we get outside. ”
Seraphym sighed as he looked down at Lena in his arms. “I meant no disrespect, Lena. Sam is right. I just want you happy and healthy. If that means you are vampire, so be it. It won’t change our love for you.”
“Thank you, Uncle. Could you put me down? I’m starting to feel crampy again.”
“Put her beside me,” Gauge said, struggling to shift around with the restraints in place. He glanced at Jax. “I think it will be safe to remove these.”
Seraphym waited until Jax removed the cuffs to set Lena down beside Gauge.
Aaliyah walked forward and set a small garbage can beside the bed. “Everything all right in here?” She exaggerated a shiver, giving a pointed look at each of the males in the room. “You boys need to tone down the testosterone levels. You could cut the tension in this room with a knife right now.”
Samantha pushed on Seraphym’s shoulder, shoving him toward the door. “Yeah, we’re all okay, Liyah, but I think Gauge and Lena need some alone time. They certainly don’t need the seven of us hovering over them.”
“Teo and I should remain for now, just to be safe,” Jax said. “Lena will need blood often until the conversion is complete. She is lucky her symptoms are relatively minor.”
“I can donate,” Haven said. “I’m sure Raif will too.” She grimaced. “And maybe Skylar, but I can’t say any of the others in the pack will. The elders have them convinced all vampires are evil bastards. It’s going to take time to get them to see reason.”
“You can count on me and Seraphym,” Samantha said.
“And us,” Aaliyah said, looping her arm through Rafa’s. “You’ll be fine, Lena. We’re all here for you. We’ll be out in the living room whenever you need us.” She smiled, then pulled her mate from the room. Samantha and a reluctant Seraphym followed.
“Okay, I guess I’ll go check on Raif,” Haven said. “Jax can reach me any time. We’ll come by later and bring some food. If you need anything else before then, just ask.”
“Thank you,” Gauge said, drawing Lena up against his side. Only then did he start to relax. He touched at her mind, finding his mate in more pain than she wanted to let on. As soon as Haven left, Teo closed the door, then he and Jax took a seat on the other side of the room.
Gauge ignored them as he turned his attention to Lena. “Tell me what you are feeling, Lena.”
“My muscles hurt, and my stomach. I’m so thirsty, but Jax told me not to drink any water. He said it would only make me sick.”
“You need more blood. Jax told me you couldn’t hold down all that you took from him.
We’ll need to be careful over the next few days.
It’ll take time for your system to complete the conversion so you can properly use the blood taken in.
Until your conversion is complete, your stomach will try to digest the blood instead of being absorbed into the body.
It’s this that will make you feel sick.”
Gauge wanted nothing more than to hold his mate as she fed from his neck, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to control her as well.
Instead, he sat up straighter against the headboard and brought his wrist to his mouth, puncturing the vein there with his fangs.
Keeping his thumb over the small wounds, he brought his wrist to her mouth.
Lena shuddered as she closed her mouth over the wound, groaning softly.
Gauge clenched his jaws when she sucked, his cock instantly growing hard.
He had fed countless people his blood over the centuries, his blood working to heal those like Teo when they became wounded.
Never had he gained an erection from a simple feeding.
But then again, none of them had ever been his mate.
“You should stop her now,” Jax said. “If she keeps this down, she can have more in an hour or so.”
Gauge knew the Hunter was right. Through their link, he could feel his blood grow hot in her stomach. Any more and she risked losing it. “You need to stop now, Lena.” He twisted his wrist, using his finger to break the seal she had made with her lips.
Lena struggled to hold on for just a moment, then released him, moaning softly as she rested her head against his chest. “So hot,” she murmured.
“Try to relax. My blood will help you make the change.” Surprising him, she closed her eyes and was soon sleeping.
What Lena was going through did not resemble anything he’d seen in others who had been converted. They were usually mindless from pain, and the bloodlust couldn’t be quenched. She had not fought him as he’d expected when he took her from the vein.
When Gauge glanced over at Jax, he could tell the other Hunter had similar thoughts. “Do you think this is a true conversion?” Gauge asked.
Jax shrugged. “Your mate definitely craved blood, so I believe it is, at least to some degree. We know very little about serpents or how they might react to a significant blood exchange. And to my knowledge, no Laizahlian has ever formed a shaprata. We still don’t know the full repercussions of that, my friend.
I can see the abaci pattern along the sides of your neck has already darkened. ”
“It was not a blood exchange that initiated this conversion, if that is indeed what she is going through. I took blood from Lena, but I did not have time to give her mine before Seraphym stunned me.”
Jax shrugged again, not responding.
“I think we should all be grateful she isn’t going through a normal conversion,” Teo said.
“It’s a frightful thing to witness, let alone go through.
I haven’t spoken personally to the recently claimed mates who survived conversion, but I’ve been told what they said about it.
The only difference between what the mates experienced and full humans is that the mates were able to eventually overcome the bloodlust. From what I see here, Lena obviously needs blood, but she is not experiencing a true bloodlust.”
Gauge nodded, knowing he should feel grateful, but he couldn’t forget the laughter that had filled his mind. And the voice. What had she said?
He jolted when it finally came back to him. ‘You belong to me now, Hunter.’
“What is it?” Jax said, coming to his feet.
“It was a Djinn. A Djinn is behind this. I’ve been a fool, Jax.
Lena is not my mate. A Djinn has tricked me into believing she is.
She means to try to control me through Lena.
You need to take Lena away from me. Take her back to the ship.
Take Seraphym and Samantha too. They can take care of her while I try to figure out what to do. ”
Jax took his seat, his expression thoughtful.
“What are you doing?” Gauge growled, shifting his gaze to Teo when Jax didn’t answer. “Teo, come take Lena.”
Teo frowned, looking between him and Jax.
“You’re forgetting something important,” Jax finally said.
“Your mate is going through a conversion. She is going nowhere until this process is finished. She needs blood. Your blood, Gauge. If a Djinn is indeed behind this, we will deal with her later. You forget, we believe Djinn are behind all the hybrid mates being found. Yours is not a unique situation.”
Gauge forced himself to relax, keeping Lena resting against him. What had the Djinn meant when she said, ‘You belong to me now?’ What did it mean for Lena?
He suspected he wouldn’t like the answer, whatever it turned out to be.