Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

“When all this is over with, I’m going to ask you to marry me,” I said.

“You know my answer,” she said quietly.

“You don’t have to become a vampire. You can stay human, or we can turn you into something else. You’re already half fairy, so that’s partly taken care of.”

“How will that work out?”

“The same way it works out now. We can stay like this forever, if that’s what you wish.”

“I really think you should give more thought to becoming a vampire, Sarah,” Louis said.

“Your opinion doesn’t count,” I informed him.

“Wow, thanks.”

She clung to me. I kissed her again.

She said nothing as I carried her to my bedroom, then went to take a shower. When I came back, she was singing Sarah McLachlan. I sat beside her, purring. I took a deep breath.

I could smell everything!

My sense of smell was already powerful, but now my sense of smell was even more potent. I could smell the daffodils in the garden, the rosebushes, wild herbs, and even a fox nearby. I licked my lips. I was tempted to chase after the fox. I wanted to run, to feel the dirt beneath my paws, to hear my fellow packmates howling to each other.

I smelled vampires and cats. The cats I didn’t care about, as there was nothing on them. The vampires, however, I wanted to taste their blood. Hear their screams as I ripped their livers out.

“Reese?” I looked over at my beautiful mate. She looked fearful, worried. I kissed her, assuring her that everything was fine. I growled, pinning her to the bed. Her scent filled my nose. Mate. Wife. Fiancée. Girlfriend. Mine. All mine.

Control, Reese. Control.

I took a deep breath. Big mistake. Scents filled my nostrils again. Human. Vampire. Cat. Fox. Werewolf. Bird. Rabbit. Squirrel. Deer. Thick. Full. Deep. My heart pounded. I had to get away. So I ran out of the room.

I kept running, even after I heard footsteps following me. Father pounced on me, pinning me to the dead grass and millennia-old earth. I tried to get away, to no avail. He kept me pinned.

“I have run!” I shouted. “Hunt! Meat! Blood! I SMELL BLOOD!”

“Silence! Reese, control!”

“His thoughts are all over the place! Mordecai, let him up.”

“NO! He’ll hurt himself!”

“No, he won’t! Relax, brother. Let him go!”

Father hesitated, then slowly let me up. And I ran.

I heard him following me, and when I glanced back, I saw Uncle Soren grabbing his arms and holding him back. Father struggled, but still, I kept running.

I came across an unlucky old buck that crossed my path. I took him down in seconds and broke his neck, then started digging my teeth in. The meat was good. Satisfying. Thrilling. I was on a high. I was no longer Reese Mordecai Emerson, the vampire prince, but Reese Mordecai Emerson, the hybrid.

I ate the buck until he was naught but bone, then moved on. I was full, but my appetite was never-ending. I could have eaten a blue whale. I came across more deer, taking down bucks and avoiding does and fawns. I took down a few foxes, enjoying the meaty blood. I came across a coyote, enjoying that meat most of all.

All in all, I took down about thirty animals, including deer, foxes, coyotes, and even a black bear that had strayed too far south. I was stuffed and happy by the time I finished. And then I realized that I was still only in my underwear.

Praying that no one saw me, I ran back to the house, where Father was now being held back by Grandfather as well. When he saw me, he broke free and tackled me to the ground again.

“DO NOT EVER RUN OFF AGAIN! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I’VE BEEN?! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT! YOU’RE COVERED IN BLOOD! IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO YOU I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’D DO! HOW MANY ANIMALS DID YOU KILL? DO I NEED TO BURY ANYBODY?! YOU STINK LIKE WOLF!”

“For god’s sake, Mordecai, give him some room to breathe and time to answer!” Uncle Soren chided.

“I killed thirty animals, no people, I’m stuffed to the brim, I ate lots of meat, although I preferred predator meat, I killed deer, foxes, coyotes, and even a bear- “

“A BEAR?! REESE MORDECAI EMERSON- “

“SHUT UP, MORDECAI!” Uncle Soren shouted at the top of his lungs. “Let him finish!”

“The meat was so good; it was like heaven! And I can smell everything! Things I couldn’t smell before. And my feelings for Sarah…it was like I couldn’t get enough of her.”

“See, brother? Everything worked out. He’s all right. He’s alive. You worried for nothing.”

Father grabbed my shoulders and began sniffing me all over. He wrinkled his nose.

“Your mother’s right. You do stink.”

“I’ll go take a shower.”

“You do that. And like I said earlier, DO NOT EVER RUN AWAY FROM ME AGAIN!”

“Father, I’m okay!”

He reached forward and tweaked my nose for sassing.

“Shush! Shower, now!”

I stuck my tongue out at him and went back to the house, where I took a long, hot shower.

I stuck my bloody clothes into the hamper for later. Usually the guards did the laundry and basic cleaning, including the Cat Room with the litterbox. I felt sorry for Toby, who usually got stuck with that job. He could of course hold his breath, but we don’t like to be without a sense of smell.

When I went back into the living room, Sarah was reading on the couch. She stood up when she saw me, and I realized she was wearing my jacket. I wondered why she liked to steal my clothes, and figured it was because they smelled like me. She hugged me around the waist, kissing me.

Kissing me took some effort, because I wasn’t willing to get too close to her. Sometimes I wished I was shorter, or she was taller.

“What are your plans for the weekend?” I asked.

“Meet the squad at the Starbucks in the mall. Just us girls,” she assured me. “Maybe shop a little.”

“Knowing you, you’ll probably buy five hundred dollars’ worth of stuff,” I teased. She blushed.

“Maybe. What about you?”

“Figure out how to divorce Sadie. Fix this mess. Try to find Other Reese.”

She bit her lip. “Maybe I should stay.”

“No, you go, have fun with the girls. I’ll be fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alas, the weekend did not start off without a hitch. It was finals week, and I had to study, study, study before the exams and then go to Denmark. Father found me asleep at my desk Saturday morning, snoring over my textbook. He carried me to bed and was fiddling off my shirt before I woke up and freaked out. I honestly thought I was dead.

He cradled me and purred to me for half an hour, and I detailed the nightmare about failing Psychology. I almost started crying, and then he rocked me back to sleep after that. I slept until noon, and made a status update about falling asleep at my desk. I don’t normally use Facebook unless I’m lurking somebody with an hourglass figure with natural curls colored brown with blond flecks and who was a total sweetheart. No, you can’t have her.

I texted said sweetheart.

Sarah: in the food court w the girls. New Chinese place!

Apparently, Ariella had been accepted by the rest of the group and was now a Beautiful.

Sarah: Scarlett Hart approaching. Looks hot in a red tank and purple miniskirt and high-heeled boots. Carrying a small purple bag with a skull on it.

Reese: Does she want trouble?

Sarah: Don’t know yet. The rest of the girls have noticed and now we’re all staring at her.

Reese: if she gives you trouble, don’t hesitate to call for Sanderson. She should be nearby.

Sarah: She is. Ur mom made her come along.

Reese: She should be with u at all times, no matter what. Toby is almost always near me, even if I don’t see him.

Sarah: Ur a prince. I’m a regular girl.

Reese: Stop right there. According to tradition and law, you will soon be a princess and must be treated as such.

Sarah: Scarlett’s talking. Wow! She actually apologized for all the shit she did.

Reese: You’re bluffing.

Sarah: No, I’m not. She apologized specifically to me. I told her that I’ve already forgiven her, and now she’s going into Nordstrom.

Reese: Keep an eye on her.

I didn’t trust Scarlett’s motives. I didn’t trust Scarlett. She could have been stringing Sarah along. I knew that Sarah would think that she was being serious.

I needed a break.

I went outside to smoke, and found Uncle Soren there already, also smoking. He smiled at me, then turned back.

“Any luck with Mitra?” I said over my cigarette.

“No,” he said quietly. “I don’t think she’s interested in dating at all.”

He was fooling himself. She was more into Romeo, if she bothered to notice them at all. Uncle Soren finished his stick and stepped on it.

“I don’t know what to do, Reese,” he said. “I keep choosing the wrong girls. I’m at a loss. Maybe I’m meant to be single forevermore. I am one of the few who remember several extinct animals, and I have yet to find my soulmate. Maybe I’ll never find her. Maybe I’m too late, and she’s found another, or she’s dead. Either way, I’m forced to accept it.”

He went back inside, hiding his face, although I saw tears at the corners of his eyes. He really needed her, whoever she was. I was lucky to have found mine so early.

As I finished my cigarette, I noticed a figure approaching. It was female, with short hair.

It was Mitra. She was missing an arm and her leg had severe lacerations.

“Help me,” she breathed. “They killed Ellis!”

“Father! Uncle Soren!”

They came in seconds. When Uncle Soren saw Mitra, he went over to her and lifted her up bridal style.

“I’m sorry,” she said, before she blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, I can’t feel any internal damage,” said Louis a few hours later. “Something’s scared her, she’s shook up.”

Uncle Soren cradled Mitra like a mate would.

“What happened?” he demanded. I had told them already what had happened and what she’d said, but I repeated it.

“The reservation!” Mitra shouted, sitting up. “Nana! It’s all my fault! I’m so sorry!”

“Hush, beloved,” Uncle Soren whispered. She looked at him. And then she started crying. She leaned into him, whimpering as her missing arm pressed against him.

“It’s all my fault,” she repeated.

“What happened?” Uncle Soren asked her.

“They attacked…Romeo was with them…they killed my friend Ellis…so much blood and death…one of them looked like Reese, except he had a scar on his chin. Bartimaeus and his coven were with them.”

“Bartimaeus is supposed to be in Denmark,” said Father.

“Look, whatever happened, it was not your fault,” Uncle Soren told Mitra. She cried harder.

“Toby! Spencer!” I called out. They stepped forward. “Go to the reservation. Investigate what happened, but don’t kill or burn anybody or anything. Someone needs to call Armani; he’s the highest guard after Dimitri.”

Mitra whimpered.

“Hush,” Uncle Soren commanded. “It’s all right. I’m here now. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

She looked at him, looked into his eyes. Uncle Soren looked back at her with love and fear in his eyes. I don’t know exactly what went on in Mitra’s head, but I could sense that Uncle Soren was deeply in love in that moment.

I was surprised next when she leaned forward and kissed him. He was surprised, too. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. Father covered my eyes, but I licked his hand. He gave me a disgusted look and wiped his hand on his jeans.

It was a moment that would have made Sarah’s favorite author, Jamie Williams, proud.

Boy finds girl, girl is abrasive and refuses to admit her feelings, boy is distraught, girl gets hurt and winds up needing his help.

It made me wish that my own lover was here, but she was still out with her friends. Mitra kept crying, coddled by Uncle Soren.

Toby came back, carrying an arm. Louis took it and applied it to Mitra’s stump. She whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Shh,