Blood binding, p.1
Blood Binding, page 1
Contracted to a wolf pack, she makes a choice that frees her body and shakes the very stone around her. Bound magic is still dangerous.
Atty is contracted to a wolf pack to fulfill a prophecy, and they have educated her to be a good mate to their upcoming king. The night before her wedding makes her throw fate to the winds, and the next day at the ceremony, she rejects all that she had been raised to expect and makes a run for it.
Her exit from the pack did not leave her unscathed, so she drives as far as she can and pleads her case to the moon when forced to walk. She sits and draws patterns on the stone under her before feeling serenity flow through her and giving her the strength to continue her journey.
Years pass as she goes from menial jobs to manager positions to opening her own café in a downtown highrise. When she meets the building owner, there is something familiar about him, and the familiar thing is her own magic in a huge grey body covered with carved glyphs. How he got her power is a mystery, but the look in his eyes says that they have met before. She hates to think it, but he’s right.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Blood Binding
Copyright © 2023 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-990635-29-8
©Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Look for me online at violagrace.com.
Blood Binding
An Obscure City Book Two
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Agony speared through her sternum, and Sara sat upright, whimpering, “What the hell was that?” She kept her hand pressed to her chest. She slowly massaged circles to relieve the pain that was internal as well as in her bones. A huge weight had just settled into her, and it had very little to do with the wedding dress hanging on the wall. Sara got up and tried pacing next to the ridiculous bed the werewolf king insisted was appropriate. Pillars, carvings, and frothing bedding always made her feel like she was being smothered.
She looked for her phone to call Andrew, but then she saw the time. It was two in the morning. The pressure on her chest flexed again, and she grabbed her robe. If Andrew were awake, he would be good for a comforting hug. She could curl up against him, breathe him in, and get the comfort he always offered her. She pulled the robe on as her fingers twisted, and she cast the location charm. That was what would make her the next werewolf queen. It wasn’t because she could shapeshift; it was just the stupid ability to channel natural magic.
The beeswax scent of the wood polish filled the hall. It was going to be a huge wedding. Everybody who was anybody was going to be there. Moving silently through the dark halls, she ran to Andrew’s study, her toes getting cold on the hardwood floor. The pain in her chest made her want to scream. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.
She stopped outside the study and prepared to open the door when she heard something. Voices. Voices were coming through the door. A woman was moaning, and a man was laughing and groaning. The rhythmic thudding made Sara sick.
She raised her hand and saw through the heavy door before she snapped her fingers to shut it. The sprint back to her room was done in numbness. Inside, where she thought she was safe, Sara tried to come to grips with the sight of her best friend and maid of honour sitting naked on the edge of the desk while Andrew railed her.
She looked at the framed wedding invitation next to the bed and ran to the bathroom. she hadn’t eaten much at dinner, but what she had was gone. Brushing her teeth and washing her face took up ten minutes, but she was no closer to a solution.
In seven hours, she was going to bind herself to a man who had insisted on her purity while betraying her in the most basic of ways. That was the pain. The magic was protesting. It wasn’t going to bind to that bastard, even if he needed her to become king.
Walking into the bedroom, she sat on the chair at the desk and started making a plan.
Seven years had been wasted. The king’s men had found her when her ease with magic had made her an easy target. She had been brought to the boarding school, made a ward of the king, and educated alongside Andrew in hopes that affection would grow. It did, and when they told her that she would be the new queen when she turned twenty-one, she was excited. Andrew was handsome, charming, and a two-faced, backstabbing asshole!
That was it. She wasn’t going to marry him. She got her charm book and opened it. She held her hands above the pages and chanted, asking for an answer. The pages flicked and flashed, falling quiet on a mandala and a few words. She swayed at what that would mean, but then she knew it was what she needed to do.
First thing she needed to do was pack for her honeymoon, and then, she needed to get some sleep. She was going to have a trying day.
Hair, nails, makeup, and finally, dressing marked her morning. When the laughing bridesmaids teased her about wedding night nerves, she smiled and tried to summon a blush. They got their bouquets and headed down to the grand ballroom.
Sara was serene. Calm. She kept her head high. Her beaded gown was designer, and the rage inside her was ancient. She felt like she was carrying the rage of all betrayed betrothals before her. She was going to do what they couldn’t, and it was going to hurt.
The bridesmaids made their way up the aisle to some music she couldn’t remember picking. When Leah flashed a grin and a thumbs-up, Sara watched her go, wearing the rose-coloured dress Andrew’s mother had picked out. There was nothing of her in this ceremony.
She walked toward the treacherous asshole who had shattered her future on the edge of his desk. Broad shoulders, blond hair, golden skin, and blue eyes were all she could see. He was striking, and she had been so very lucky to win his attentions, she thought. It was only this year that Sara found out the king had been acting out a prophecy. Only with a powerful witch at his side could Andrew remain king. Sara was the most powerful witch in this generation, and she was about to derail the king’s plans because Andrew couldn’t keep it in his pants.
Every step brought her closer to the traitor, and she was nearly screaming with panic. Sara could taste her own blood in my mouth. When she stopped next to him, he was beaming with pride and excitement. Liar! Sara clutched the bouquet so that Andrew couldn’t demand her hand, and his father beamed at them, excited by the possibility of sealing the safety of the wolves and continuing the family line.
“Hello, everyone. We are here today to unite Sara Blessing with Andrew York, creating a bond that will echo through the centuries.” Robert’s tone was full of happy delight.
“Please, join hands.”
Leah’s hand appeared to take the bouquet. Sara handed it over but didn’t reach for Andrew. He reached for her.
“Uh, Sara Blessing, do you take my son as your husband and mate?”
She looked at him. Sara stared at Robert, and then she turned her head to look at Andrew with his confident smile still on his lips.
“I will not take the man. I will take the mark.”
Shock rippled through the closest guests. Robert went white. “What?”
“I will not take the man; I will take the mark.”
She got her hand away from Andrew and tore her dress down the front, kneeling at Robert’s feet.
Andrew was demanding to know what she thought she was doing. Sara turned to him. “You keep no faith with me. You have already consummated our wedding day without me.”
Shock crossed his face, and Robert stared at his son. She cleared her throat. “I will take the mark, Your Majesty. Right now.”
He was overtaken by her command, and his hand extended. Under the force of her order, he reached out and began to draw the mandala. From an analytical perspective, her skin was on fire, and her magic was boiling in her veins.
Robert drew with his fingertip, and the scar and blood followed in its wake. After a few minutes, he was done.
She got up and looked at Leah. “He’s all yours.”
Leah got pale and stepped back, but it could have been all the blood dripping down the front of the torn dress. Sara grimaced. It was time to leave.
She walked past the wedding guests with her hair piled high, the veil dragging behind her, and the blood running into the gown. When Sara was out of the ballroom, she sprinted upstairs to change into the going away outfit, grabbing her phone and suitcase. She grinned to herself. It was a lot easier to get out of a wedding gown when it was split down the front.
The run down the stairs in heels was weird, and the guests that were out of the ballroom and milling around were in the way, but she used a burst of her dwindling magic to keep them from noticing her. She was out of the house and in her ratty car three minutes later. It was time to begin her next phase of life. She just didn’t know what that was.
The spluttering and choking of her car had a grim finality to it. The trees were thick, the night had firmly lodged around her, and she was tired. Distance was the only thing she could think of to separate herself from the wolves. Her magic was still spluttering as blood continued to flow, so this was as good a point as any to pull over and anchor what was left of her power. Those fuckers were not getting any of it.
When she opened the car door, the air rushed in and woke h er up. It was a sign. Sara walked through the woods and followed the moonlight. Stumbling in the woods and smelling the crushed greenery swell up around her kept her on task. Her heels scrabbled against stone, and she began to climb.
There were ridges, crevices, and protrusions, and she kicked off her shoes and kept moving until the moonlight created a circle for her. Being led by moonlight wasn’t new for her.
She dropped into the puddle of moonlight, ran her hand over her new mark, and used her blood to replicate it on the stone. “Because he cheated, I lock you away. Because she cheated, I lock you away. Because my future shattered, I lock you away until I can find a man who can stand up to the wolves, offer me joy, and have my heart be his alone. A man I can trust.” She started crying. “I want someone who is worthy of me. I want a bit of luck. I have a lot to give. I thought I had a lot to give. I want someone to love.” Sara wailed it, and it echoed on the rock. Her tears had gotten the pattern wet, so she straightened the lines and got herself together.
With her shoes in her hand, she checked her phone, and to her shock, she would have a ride share in twenty minutes. The stone had her magic, blood, and tears. The king had her dress. Her past was left behind, and it was time to start her future. Finding a job would be a good start. Her business courses might finally come in handy. She skipped through the woods with the moon leading her and no trace of her magic flaring up to change her direction. The bleeding was over, and the magic was locked behind the rapidly forming scar.
Her luggage was next to her when the car pulled up. “Hey, Miss, I’m Gerald. You headed into the city?”
“I am.”
The man was part troll and part squirrel. His shock of red hair contrasted with his grey-green skin. His arching tail was stationary as he moved around to put the luggage in his trunk. “So, where do you want to go?”
“The Ekerhart Hotel.”
“Really?”
“Yes, please, Gerald. I have to get myself together and restart myself. It is clean and inexpensive.”
He nodded and settled his tail behind him.
He had driven for half an hour when he commented, “You know, Miss, I have not had a fare who didn’t comment on my tail before.”
“I thought you would be sensitive about the curse.” She smiled.
“I usually am, but I now know that I am a little addicted to the attention it gets me.” Gerald chuckled. “You know it’s a curse?”
“Yes, it has the common hallmarks. Penitence is the cure for it.”
He laughed. “I know, but I don’t wish to repent. It was a great night, and I am not upset that I didn’t call her, but she obviously was.”
“Witches are fickle beasts.” She chuckled as she thought about her conduct that day. “They are either pursuing sex or magic. I guess both hit you.”
He laughed, “You could definitely say that. So, what is your story? I smell blood but don’t see it.”
“Oh, that. I cut myself out in the woods.”
“I see. Any danger to my seats?”
“Nope.”
“Excellent. It is hell to get blood out of leather.”
She asked, “Which territory are we in?”
“Jiandis City.”
“Who rules it?”
“The gargoyle council.”
“Good. I am glad they are still in power.”
“Oh, you have been here before?”
She looked around at her birth city. “Once, many years ago. I haven’t been here for quite a while, but I have always thought of this as home.”
Dawn was creeping up on them, and she nodded when he pulled up in front of the hotel. She left a tip and ripped her SIM card out of her phone. She looked at him. “Gerald, can I ask you for two more favours?”
“Ask away. Thanks for the tip.”
“Can you bite this card, and can you dispose of this phone as far away from the city as you can manage? Break it as well?”
He grinned, showing tusks. “Sure. Not a problem. Is trouble going to follow you?”
“I hope not. I am hoping that I have left trouble behind, and my normal and boring life is now waiting for me to find it.”
Gerald got out and got her luggage for her. Sara smiled and took it. “Thanks, Gerald. It was nice meeting you.”
“I am not normally out that way, but I guess you got lucky.”
Sara smiled slowly. “It has been that kind of a day.”
She got her suitcase and walked to the doors of the hotel. She waved at the night clerk, and the door buzzed open. She rolled her luggage in and went to check in. She used a chunk of cash that the magic had urged her to save. She had about twenty thousand on her, and that was enough to start again. She would look for jobs and an apartment in the morning and change her name back to her birthname or maybe something new. It was going to be a fresh start all the way around.
First things first. She was going to find a sex shop and fuck herself seven ways from Sunday. This virginity thing was going to die a swift death on some silicone, preferably with batteries and rotational options.
* * * *
Robert grabbed his son by the scruff of the neck and hauled him into his office as soon as the guests had left. He threw Andrew to the chair and said, “Details. What the fuck did you do?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” his son stammered, but the look of guilt was all over him. His body stank of it.
“What did you do that made her run? She said you already had your wedding night. Did you force yourself on her? If you did, we can work with that.”
“Of course not. You have hammered home how important it was for me to be her first, so I had sex with Leah instead.”
Andrew didn’t see the fist coming, but when he was lifted out of his chair and dropped on the floor, he knew he had been hit.
“What? What did I do wrong? I left Sara alone as you ordered.” He was whining.
“Leah? Fucking hell! You screwed her best friend in the same house where she was getting married in a few hours?” He backhanded Andrew again, and blood sprayed.
The door swung open, and the little bitch under discussion ran in and draped herself over Andrew. “No, this is my fault! I’m in heat, and I presented myself to him.”
Robert reached out and lifted her off Andrew by her hair. “You have used your cunt to doom this family. I am not going to forget and forgive that. You are going to marry my son to fix this. Everyone needs to think it was a simple love triangle.”
Leah shook. “Yes, Your Majesty. I will be a good daughter-in-law, I promise. Just as good as Sara or better.”
He dropped her. “You have unlimited magic coursing through your veins that will transfer to your offspring? Really? Your parents were vague on your pedigree.”
Leah blinked and swallowed. “Uh, maybe we can convince Sara to come back. Convince her it was all a mistake.”
Andrew grunted and sat up, his eye swelling. “Shut up, Leah. She saw us with those freaky witch powers of hers.”
Robert looked at his idiot of a son and paused. “If I take another mate, I might be able to have another son. One that isn’t such a waste.”
Andrew’s eyes went wide. “Dad, no. It’s fine. We don’t need Sara. I am going to be the best king ever. At some distant time. When you retire.”
Robert growled at him. “I am interested to see how you are going to do that when every clan king in the province knows that you need her wed to you in order for you to become king and our line to carry on.”
“They will forget. Seriously, Dad. Who listens to seers anymore?”
Leah sat there and said, “I will have as many kids as Andrew can give me.”
Robert didn’t say anything. “I am sending trackers to find Sara.”
Andrew looked at Leah and then paused. “Sure. Of course. How far could she have gotten?”
Leah nodded. “I will tell her how sorry I am if you find her.”
Robert looked at her in disbelief. “You have no idea what we are dealing with. I really pity the day that you figure it out.”
* * * *
