Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Equals?” Sean asks.
Oracle waves his hand clearly not wanting to explain further. “We’re drifting from the main reason we’re here. The most important reason. My body grows tired. I need to be alone with my Luciana. Once a supernatural creature drinks from another being that is older and more dominant than them, their bodies begin changing so that the need for blood becomes all-consuming. In a mating bond, the blood becomes something that cements your humanity inside of you. Protecting your mate and putting them first is second nature. It’s a nurturing bond. However, if you’re fed blood from another creature who is older than you are and it has nothing to do with mating, the bond that is forged is twisted. It gets to the point that you become a prisoner to the one that feeds you. In essence, you become nothing more than a blood doll.”
“Which is why we left. You thought nothing of turning us into your slaves,” Endy says, bitterly. “You’re no better than Scar was, using us without our permission.”
“I grow weary,” Oracle says in a soft sing-song voice as he closes his eyes. He waves his hand, sending Endy crashing into the wall behind him. Endy jumps to his feet, growling as his fingers elongate into claws. Jacob’s muscles strain as he tries to hold him back.
“This is a vial of my blood, which I admit I was feeding you before the showdown with Draven. If I put a drop on the table like this…” Oracle pauses as he uses a dropper to suck out some of the blood, placing a single drop on the stainless-steel top of the table in front of us. We all step in closer to get a better look. None of us are sure what to expect. I figure whatever it is, can’t be good.
“Now what?” Leo asks.
“Are any of you driven to devour it?” Oracle glances at each one of us as we look to each other, shrugging.
Endy’s claws retract as he chuffs out a breath, proving his beast is close to the surface.
“And we all agree that even though it has been a while since some of you have tasted my blood, you should still taste a little of its power, yes?”
We all nod feeling uncomfortable. This feels like a twisted science class. The sad part is, right now I think we’re all more than a little afraid of where this might go.
Sean and I should feel more than anyone else in the room as we’ve had more blood in our system, but I feel nothing. Looking at Sean, he looks as unfazed as I am.
“I don’t feel anything, but I’ve bonded with my mate,” Leo says, taking the words right from my thoughts.
“Yeah, but I don’t feel anything either and I don’t have the bond to protect me,” I add, looking up at Oracle and away from the offending droplet on the table.
“Keep watching,” Oracle instructs, nodding to the table.
We all watch between glancing at each other with silent questions. Sean’s eyebrows are furrowed as he gives me the side-eye. I shrug and stare down at the table. I peek up at Oracle, wondering if he’s zoned out to his la-la land again. His face is passive and almost bored as he watches with us. Maybe this was for nothing. He rarely holds conversations this long. I can tell by the look on Ettie and Leo’s faces they are mirroring my thoughts.
But before I can open my mouth to say anything I have to blink a few times. The blood is spreading out on the table and seems to be gathering into a smaller, almost ball like consistency. The droplet begins to quiver, moving towards Oracle—who is standing across the table.
“When our blood can’t find another, the one we’ve forged a bond with, it longs to go back to whence it came. That, in this case, is me,” Oracle says.
“Why are you telling us this now?” Jacob asks, his eyes still locked on the moving ball of blood.
Oracle smiles. “You hold promise, Jacob. Watch.”
Oracle wipes the blood up on his finger and licks it into his mouth. He then pops the top on another vial. “This is Scar’s blood,” he mumbles. He gets some out and then repeats the process of dropping a tiny amount on the table almost in the same spot his had been earlier.
“Now, how do you feel?” Oracle asks, watching Endy and Jacob closely. They both stiffen, muscle flexing.
Endy looks at Jacob who glances at him before looking at the table. “So, we can feel the pull…but that’s to be expected. Scar fed us without our knowledge too. Just like you did. We all feel it. Your blood must be weaker…that’s all,” Endy says.
“I know you are destined to become Alpha of your pack, but only if you stop being stupid. It was Draven that fed you. Scar’s blood shouldn’t affect you.”