Owned By Moonfire (Mateless Shifters #3)

Chapter 1

Nyx

“Ilove you, Lumi,” Ambrose says.

The words feel like a thousand daggers driving into my heart all at once. Lumi isn’t his to love. She’s mine.

My mate.

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

MINE.

But it’s more than just the possessiveness I feel about Lumi that hits me like a ton of bricks.

The curse…

Ambrose just sealed Lumi’s fate. She’ll die at my hand.

Magic washes through my body in a wave, sinking into every muscle, vein, and nerve. Its talons are so deep that I know my sole mission will be hunting her down until I’ve sunk my fangs into her neck and killed her.

No, this can’t be happening. This can’t be real. It has to be a nightmare. I’m dreaming. Wake up. Wake up, you foolish bastard!

I don’t wake up.

Lumi is staring at me with her luminous blue eyes, probably for the last time.

She knows what those words mean better than anyone.

The fear I see when she looks at me breaks something in me, something deeper than my fucking heart.

A piece of me calls to her, so desperate to say fuck everything and mark her right here, right now as my mate, curses be dammed.

“Run!” I send through our bond.

The single word falls off a cliff in my brain. It falls, cascading down, down, down into an endless valley. My connection with her is gone. Severed so completely that I can’t even find a remnant of her in my mind. And yet, I know she was there—the void remaining is vast and unending.

I was prepared to give her up. I knew she wasn’t my mate. I knew that she and Ambrose were the ones predestined by the gods. I knew that to save her life, I had to let her mark with Ambrose. Even if we were mates, my own vampire curse would eventually take me out.

I knew what that would mean for me: the bond I shared with her would sever. I knew my connection to her would end. What I didn’t realize was how painful, how empty, it would feel. A part of my soul has been ripped from my body.

Ambrose catches her eye, concentrating as if speaking through their bond. She scowls, unhappy with whatever he said at first. Then, a moment later, she nods and starts running faster than I’ve ever seen her human legs run before.

“I’m going to kill you,” I growl at Ambrose.

“I’m sorry,” Ambrose says.

“I’m going to fucking kill you! Maybe the curse will end with your death,” I snarl, leaping across the field until I’m standing right next to him, ready to rip his head off.

Ambrose doesn’t move, frozen. Suddenly, I remember why I can’t kill him—at least, not yet. I have to deal with the reason he’s frozen in place first.

Fucking hell.

I turn my attention toward Isolde, who is slowly shifting her gaze toward where Lumi has just reached the edge of the forest.

“Go!” I send to Sylara, needing her to protect Lumi with her life. Only the simplest, most emotional messages can be communicated between beta and alpha. Sylara was moving before I even gave her a command. In one leap, she’s at Lumi’s side.

“Make Lumi shift,” I send to Ambrose, before realizing I probably can’t talk to him through the bond either.

“She’s never going to forgive me,” he sends back.

“No, she fucking won’t. Not that it matters, because as soon as we kill these lying witches, you’re a dead man.”

Ambrose concentrates for a moment, and I see Lumi’s glistening white fur as she leaps through the forest trees.

He turns, looking me dead in the eyes. “No, you won’t, because if you kill me, she won’t forgive you either.”

“Who says I’m looking for forgiveness?”

Ambrose narrows his eyes at me, like he’s trying to read my mind—maybe he can.

“Why are we still connected if Lumi severed my bond to her?” I ask Ambrose.

“Fuck if I know, but how about we use it to our advantage instead of bickering about whose dick is bigger and who is going to kill who.”

“My dick’s definitely bigger.”

“So childish.” Ambrose huffs. “And you’re wrong.”

“We’ll ask Lumi later. I may not be her mate, but it doesn’t mean I’m not the best lover she’s ever had or will have again.”

“I think I will kill you after all, and ask for Lumi’s forgiveness later.”

I smirk, knowing I’m getting under his skin as I scent the witches moving. They take one step toward where Lumi disappeared into the forest. One. Fucking. Step. But it will be their last.

“Are you going to help take down these witches, or am I going to have to do that myself?” I ask, curious whether he’s broken free of their magical hold enough to move again.

The rest of my pack has already started chasing after the witches, ready to attack without me needing to give the order.

“Have I broken out of the magical bindings that held me frozen while I was forced to say the words that I’ve been dying to tell Lumi since the moment I met her, but also is a death sentence for her? Yes, asshole, I have.”

I narrow my eyes in on Isolde—the bitch is surrounded by her entire coven. Meaning we’ll have to kill them all to get to her.

“Good, take the left, I’ll take the right.”

“I get to kill Isolde.”

I’ve already leaped from my spot, running with a speed that I know he can’t match. I stay in my vampire mode, rather than shifting. But I hear Ambrose’s shift happening behind me as he bounds from his spot. He can’t catch me. My speed is unmatched.

“She’ll be dead before you reach her,” I say.

I reach the first witch, sinking my teeth into her neck without hesitation. My venom injects into her vein. She’s as good as dead now. I need to release her and go to the next witch, so I can kill as many as possible before they even realize I’m here.

My pack is still running this way. They haven’t reached us yet. As soon as they do, the witches will realize they are under attack. I have a few moments to kill silently.

I open my jaws to release when a drop of her blood hits my tongue.

Delicious.

It’s been a long time since I’ve fed as a vampire. Once I knew about the vampire curse and that feeding more was the fastest way to bring on the curse, I stopped. But I’m hungry—so fucking hungry.

I want her blood. Every. Fucking. Drop.

I suck hard. The witch grabs for her neck, trying to pull me off of her. But it’s no use. I’ve tasted her blood.

Must drink.

So hungry.

I pull more and more of her blood into my mouth. Each drink is the sweetest drug. It should soothe the burning flame that’s always in my throat, but each swallow of her blood only ignites the flames, stoking them until my entire body is engulfed.

I need more. More. More. More.

The witch’s hands slowly drop. With each pull, I get less and less blood into my mouth. There’s not much left, but I don’t stop. I drink more, not wasting a single drop. Only when I suck and come up empty do I drop the witch’s lifeless body on the ground.

Blood—I need more blood. Kill them to—

The thought drops mid-sentence from my mind. Where should I get more blood? I scent, trying to find blood with the strongest aroma. The first scent that hits me smells similar to the one I just tasted—warm, velvety, with a spark of magic that flickers as it goes down.

I sprint. In less than a second, I’ve grabbed the vessel carrying the blood.

A force hits me in the chest, almost knocking me away. It’s not enough. My grip is stronger. I will not lose this blood. Claws dig into the wrist I’m holding. Wolf claws appeared just when I needed them. Even my wolf side is determined to get this blood.

Witch—the word floats through my head. She must be a witch.

I sink my teeth into her neck. She tastes similar to the other’s. I crave her blood more and more with each pull. I need it. Every. Single. Drop.

I drain her too fast. She’s petite and short. Her blood was barely a snack. I toss her body to the ground in frustration after drinking her dry.

Two bodies’ worth of blood aren’t enough. I should feel sated. I’ve never drunk this much before in one day. Instead, I’m starving.

It must be the witches’ blood. It’s not strong enough. I need something different.

“Nyx, focus…” There’s an annoyingly deep voice in my head, but I block it out. I don’t have time for whatever that nonsense is. I need more blood. Blood that will actually satisfy me.

I scour the woods, my eyes turning into lasers as I search. But all I see or smell are fucking witches. There’s got to be something better.

I scent again—wolves.

My wolves.

Hmmm, they smell good. Probably delicious, but they’re mine. Mine to control. I can feel the threads connecting me to them.

I shouldn’t kill them. At least not yet. They can help me get more blood.

The hunger stirs deep in my belly. I’m about to settle on another witch when I get a whiff of the most intoxicating scent I’ve ever smelled.

I can’t focus on anything else. I need this one—the one that smells like the first snowflake drifting through the chill of the night.

Cool. Sweet. Winter itself. And absolutely irresistible.

Her blood alone would soothe the ache in my throat when all other blood fails. Hers and hers alone.

But she’s not here. Her scent feels distant.

I grin; she’s going to make me work for it.

Howls from my pack reach me as they run toward me. In my vampire form, it’s a little harder for me to understand their meaning, but their incessant howling drives the message home, despite my not wanting to listen to them.

Shift.

Change.

Stop feeding.

I shake my head. They don’t get to command me. I’m their alpha. I’m a vampire lord.

I lick the drop of witch’s blood from my bottom lip, feeling the ecstasy cascade through my body like the most addictive drug in the world. I can’t stop.

Those words settle into me—I. Can’t. Stop.

But their howls broke me free enough to have a moment of clarity. And I remember—the vampire curse. This is the curse’s doing. It’s already strengthened so much in me that I can’t stop drinking blood. I need it as much as I need air, and I don’t care who I take it from. I just need it.

Lumi—the love of my life. I’m losing myself to the vampire curse. And Ambrose’s curse ensures she’s my next target. She’ll be dead before the sun rises.

A wolf with deep brown fur approaches me. His red eyes sink into mine, as if he’s trying to read my mind. Trying to see how lost I am to my blood lust.

“Kill me,” I say, holding onto the last part of me that isn’t lost to the bloodlust. If he doesn’t kill me, I won’t stop until I’ve killed everyone that exists in this world.

Until every being—witch, vampire, and human has been drained of their blood.

This is their one chance to stop me, before I doom us all.

The wolf just stares at me. But I’m so in my bloodlust that I can’t even remember this wolf’s name. All I know is he belongs to me, my pack. He’s mine.

“Kill me,” I say again.

He shakes his head.

I growl, preparing myself to kill him for his insubordination, but then I take a deep breath again.

Her.

The snow wolf.

The one that brings light into the darkest of winters.

She’s my strength, my love, my reason for existence.

My mate.

Lumi.

I take another breath—her. All I want is her. Her blood.

I don’t think, I just run.

Run away from her. If I find her, I’ll kill her.

My bloodlust—my vampire curse will.

Ambrose’s curse will force me to.

Or maybe the curses are just excuses for what would inevitably happen if she chose me as her mate anyway. I’m a predator, a killer. I kill.

She chose Ambrose and made a blood deal with him. She severed our bond. She can never be mine.

But I can make sure she’s mine to keep alive. Mine to protect.

And I can do that by running as far and as fast as possible away from this.

Everything inside me is begging me to turn around.

To stop and drink any of the many magical creatures’ blood around me.

I need blood—blood, blood, blood. Two witches’ blood was not nearly enough.

But then, nothing will ever be enough again.

I can continue my draining of blood in a few minutes. I just need to get away first. Away from the most intoxicating thing I’ve ever smelt in my entire life. She’s always smelled good to me. I’ve tasted a drop of her blood before. But that was before I lost all control over myself.

Suddenly, I stop running. There’s a light in front of me. The sun is beginning to crest over the horizon. It’s coming—the light that will hold me hostage and keep me from leaving the shadows of the forest until nightfall.

My heart stops. There, standing in the middle of the light, is Lumi in her wolf form.

Breathtaking shimmers dance across the gold flecks in her otherwise pure white coat.

If I didn’t know better, I would swear I saw frost clinging to her eyelashes and fur.

She stands stoic with a quiet grace about her.

Otherworldly in her appearance, she’s never looked more beautiful.

The light isn’t enough to protect her from me, not yet. I don’t know how I ended up here with her alone. I ran the opposite way. I sent Sylara with her. We shouldn’t have ended up this way.

She doesn’t move, just stares into my eyes. She can see how the curses have already affected me. How lost I am. How I can’t be saved. I’m not her future. I’m her end. The death of her. The one who will bring an endless night down on her if she keeps trying to save me.

She entered into a blood deal with Ambrose to try to save me. She made her choices, and now it’s my turn to do something unforgivable. She’ll hate me for the rest of her life, but at least she’ll have a life.

I let all of my power surge through my body as I lock eyes with her, invoke my vampire mind control, and dig my talons into her mind.

“Kill me.”