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Chapter 7

Nova

Chase walks toward the door and I try to calm myself down. A wave of jealousy rushed through me so fast when I heard the sound of a woman out there. I reacted instantly and my bloodlust shot to an all-time high.

The last time I felt it that strong was when I first arrived at the bunks and they had taken one of my friends. I was still young so my self-control wasn't fully developed. They had to sedate me so that I wouldn't hurt anyone. I was also left in isolation for three days because of it.

Now here I am losing control again. Someone behind me carefully pulls my clenched hands apart and slips their hand into mine. The touch starts to relax me and I'm able to retract my fangs.

"Breathe Nova." It's Charles.

I'm not sure how I can recognize his voice so easily but it's more than that. I recognize the rhythm of his heart and the crackle of power from his touch. It dances along my skin in a calming wave and I close my eyes so that I can focus on the feeling.

"Chase my man...uh, what's going on? You having a party or something?" I hear a man's voice ask.

"No. I just have some friends staying over." Chase says nonchalantly.

The other guy whistles and my eyes snap open at the sound.

"Holy shit man. Who's the girl?" The guy asks and low growls ring out around me. "Hey. It's cool."

He holds his hands up in surrender and steps back.

"Sorry man, but I'm busy tonight," Chase says.

The guy is still glancing at us over Chases shoulder and he must finally get the message because he starts moving away from the door. He grabs the girl by the hand and drags her away. She's pouting and says something to the guy but Chase closes the door before I can hear it.

"Well, that's great. They saw Nova." Asher scoffs before crossing his arms and glaring at Chase.

"She was too far away for them to get a good look at her eyes. We should be fine." Chase waves Asher off but I see a worried expression on his face that he quickly tries to hide.

"We can't keep her locked in this apartment forever," Charles says giving my hand a squeeze.

I forgot he was even holding it. Also, this is the first time he's touched me. In the little time I've spent with him he didn't seem like the physical touch.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Asher throws at him.

"We can acquire some colored contact lenses for her. She may over time be able to manipulate the color of her eyes. She carries the wolf and dragon genes, so she may be able to call on those to change her appearance as needed. It will take study and practice. I may have to travel back home to find the right materials to study the subject." Charles says.

A second later his eyes start to change and he gets this distant look on his face. I try to pull my hand away from his so he can focus but his grip only gets tighter.

"Stay." He says soft enough for only me to hear.

I stay perfectly still while the other guys watch on. It's as if we are all scared to move now.

This goes on for several minutes until Charles suddenly blinks and glances around the room.

"What was that all about?" Chase asks dropping down on one of the chairs.

"I was searching records," Charles says as if what he did was perfectly normal.

"What you have like a mind link to records?" Asher asks.

He's leaning against another chair with his arms still crossed and a scowl on his face. My eyes take him in slowly and I feel that rush of need pump through me again. The need to bite him and feel his arms on me.

This is a serious head trip.

"There is nothing more that can be done today. We need to rest and we can tackle everything else tomorrow." Charles finally releases me and drops back into his chair.

He looks tired and I wonder if whatever he just did takes a lot of energy to do.

"You are right Mage. Rest is needed." Eli says.

His eyes slide to meet mine and my whole body lights up like a flame. I watch his eyes melt into the color of fire.

"I think I will have to bunk with Eli and Nova, so you boys have to sort yourselves out," Chase says.

"'Why do you both get to stay with her?" Asher growls.

"Because Eli is bonded to her and I need to be near her to feed." He says with a shrug like it makes perfect sense.

"Well, we are going to need a new place because this schedule thing isn't going to work for me. My wolf is going to want to be near her too." Asher grumbles.

"Don't worry pup I'll make sure to get a big enough bed for your wolf to sleep at the end of like a good boy," Chase says with a wide smile.

Asher stands straight and moves like he's going to go after him but Chase moves out of the way before Asher gets a hold of him. I roll my eyes at their antics. This day has been a whirlwind and I just want to sleep.

I walk over and hold my hand out to Eli. He looks up at me and I give him an encouraging smile. He takes my hand and stands. As I head for the hallway I grab Chase by the back of his shirt and pull him along. I don't look back at the other guys because I have a feeling if I see longing looks in their eyes then I'm going to try and squeeze us all together. That doesn't seem possible right now, so we will all have to make this work for now.

Chase turns and I let go of him so he can show us to the room we'll be sharing. He opens the door to his room and flips on the light. I'm shocked to see how clean it is.

"The bed might be small for the three of us." He eyes Eli. "Especially with the big guy over here."

Eli doesn't react or reply in any way to Chase's words. His eyes are fixed on me.

"It will have to do for now, but we will definitely need a bigger place. I'm just not sure how that all will work." I let out a sigh of defeat.

I don't know anything about living in this world. What am I even supposed to do? I want to know why I was dumped in the middle of the desert and if any of my people are left, but I wouldn't know where to start with that either.

So I decide defeat is the good route to go for now and drop down on the bed. I lay back with my legs hanging over the edge and look up at the ceiling. Chase chuckles and climbs onto the bed next to me. He copies my position and lets out a sigh.

"So what are we doing now?" He asks but I just shrug.

"Heck if I know. This is not what I expected my life would be like. I don't know what to think about any of it. I don't even know who I am outside of that place. In there it was all about surviving until the next day." I squeeze my eyes and try to push back the tears slowly building.

"We will help with all of that. Over time you would learn more about who you want to be and what you'll like to do. The whole world is at your disposal." Chase says sounding far more optimistic than I feel right now.

"How? I'm still a Vampire. If people see what I am then I will have to go into hiding to protect myself." Just that thought alone makes me wish I had never come back from death.

It would have been a mercy to let my life in this plain go.

"We will find a solution my mate, but first you must rest," Eli says.

I nod reluctantly and sit up so I can scoot further up on the bed. He's already situated, so I move in next to him leaving some space between us. He immediately pulls me against him and wraps his strong arms around me. I can't help but sigh and melt into him. He feels so warm and safe.

"Don't hog our mate dragon," Chase says teasingly.

He turns the light off and there is some movement in the darkness. My eyes adjust and I can make out Chase stripping down to his underwear. He climbs in on the other side of me and moves closer so his hand can rest on my hip. His finger slides under my shirt where he brushes his finger over a small section of my skin. It makes me shiver and Eli releases and low rumble that vibrates against my back.

A small laugh escapes me and soon Chase follows.

"You're too cute Nova. Now, how about another one of those bites before we sleep." He shifts even closer.

I don't want to become addicted to drinking from them, but I guess Chase won't mind. He lowers his head so that it's resting in the curve of my neck, leaving his exposed to me. I lower my head and place a gentle kiss on his skin before my fangs lengthen and I sink them through his soft skin.

He gasps and then his body goes completely lax.

He tastes like sin and I know at that moment that I am going to get addicted to this. It just tastes so good.

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