My Hunted Mate
Sixty Five

Corinna

Once Gia and Jack agree to keep an eye on Elias for a few minutes,Phoenix and I exit the room. We wander through the house, stoppingoff at the kitchen to grab one of the many bags of blood stocked in therefrigerator before wandering outside to the gazebo

Nerves bubble away in the depths of my stomach when Phoenix pullsthe jar of Kai's blood from his pocket as soon as we sit on the benchtogether, he gently places the jar in between us, but doesn't say a wordabout it, indicating that he is allowing me to take my time.

A feeling of gratitude rises in me from my in-laws respectfulness, asmall smile momentarily forms on my lips as I place the bag of blooddown next to the jar on the metal of the bench. Phoenix starts to pushthe swing into a light, rhythmic sway.

" You know, you have fit in here perfectly from the moment Mal foundyou. You have been unbelievably kind to all of us, you gave us a giftthat all of us never thought was possible. " Phoenix mumbles, runninghis thumb across the face of the silver watch clasped on his wrist, theone I enchanted so he can be protected in the sun. " I don't think I everproperly thanked you for it, so thank you. *

"You don't have to.. "I shift awkwardly at his kind words.

" And I also wanted to thank you for making my brother the happiest Ihave seen him in a thousand years, for giving him unconditional loveand testing him when he has needed to be tested. * Phoenix ignore me,continuing his little speech.

" He.. He died because of me Phoenix, he died trying to protect me. " Iwhisper sorrowfully.

" It's not your fault Cori, you did what you could. " He shakes his head."1 couldn't get to him in time, how pathetic is that? There's a chance hecould've lived if I had just gotten to him on time. " Tears stream downmy face as the overwhelming guilt and grief fill me up.

" You did everything you could. You tried to get to him, you avengedhim, you brought him back to life and you did your best to fix thedamage that was done to him in the process of rising from the dead. Iwould hardly call any of that pathetic. " Phoenix musters up a smile,gently shoving my upper arm with his elbow. He pauses, his smile fadesas he places his hand on top of mine in a form of comfort. * My brotherdied to protect the woman he loved, so she can be a mother to theirson, pretty honourable death in my book. "

" Thank you. " I sob, leaning across the bench to wrap my arms aroundhim tightly.

Phoenix returns my embrace, then when we separate after a minute orso, he speaks again. "I think you should lead the clan, now that Mal isgone. "

My face contorts into pure shock at his words. " I should what? *

" Dahlia and myself have never been fit to lead, we never wanted to. Welet our turned go their own ways without a second thought, we wantedto continue to travel and party when Mal wanted to settle down, takecare of the people he had turned. " He explains. " The clan know mysister and I have absolutely no interest in leading them, they'll start toargue amongst them for who will take over and it will no doubt turnviolent. You wanted to stand by Mal's side and lead, so by that logicthis is your role now that he has passed. "

"1 don't know, I don't think Kai would want me to- " I speak, but hecuts me off.

" He would. Trust me. " Phoenix smiles. * Think about it, okay?

I nod my head, then finally turn my attention to the jar still sitting onthe space on the bench between us. With shaky hands, I pick it up,unscrewing the lid, letting the top fall to the ground with a clatter.Taking a breath, I bring the jar to my lips, allowing the familiar thickhoney tasting blood to coat my tongue. As I gulp down the liquid, I feelmy heart beat come to a complete stop as fangs begin to extend frommy gums, veins prickle under my eyes and down my cheeks and thenfinally my heart's beat returns but it is faint and slow.

All of my senses burst at once, everything around me becomes louder,sharper, clearer. Everything I feel intensifies to the point it feels almostcrippling, I try to breathe to focus and ground myself but a sweet scenthits me, causing an overwhelming hungry inside me to spark.

My gaze snaps toward the bag of blood that is sitting on the benchwhere the now empty jar had previously, without it begin a consciousthought, I know that's what I need

My hands move before I process it, snatching the bag and tearing itopen. Without any hesitation, I gulp down the cool crimson liquid andwithin seconds nothing but an empty piece of clear vinyl remains.

" Wow, you're fast. " Phoenix mutters, but I hear his words perfectly andsnap my head in his direction making his eyes widen.

The confusion at his reaction causes my face to return to it's normalstate. " What? What's wrong? " I question.

"Your eyes... They're.. " He trails off, shaking his head in what seems tobe shock.

" What? They're what? " I ask, my tone demanding as the worry starts toturn into panic.

" I've just never seen anything like it, your pupil turns this dark purplelike indigo, but your iris is this glowing lilac colour and anythingbeyond that is just black. * He informs me, his tone both confused andamazed.

At the description, my confusion and panic grow. I stand to my feet,looking around, my eyes fall on one of the many trees I mutter a wordin Latin, barely getting to wave my hand before the tree violently cracksdown the middle.

The crack spreads throughout the entire tree until finally it splits andbegins to fall down in my direction, I go to run away but without anyeffort and within the blink of an eye, I'm back sitting beside Phoenix,the tree lands on the ground, shaking the earth thunderously.

" So you still have your gifts, you're faster than any vampire I've everseen, including myself, freaky. " He chuckles.

" My gifts are stronger now too, I can feel the energy coursing throughme, it's strange and I didn't know what it was before. * I mumble,unsure of how I'm going to manage all of this new found power.

" Are you still a wolf? * He questions quietly.

" Only one way to replace out. " I shrug, standing to my feet once more.Moving away from Phoenix, I close my eyes. Immediately and painlesslymy bones begin to crack and reshape, much quicker than usual I replacemyself on four paws. Looking over at Phoenix, I tilt my head as my eyesmeet his extremely wide ones.

" Has your wolf always been this big? " He whispers.

Now that he mentions it, I realise I feel much taller all of a sudden, atleast a foot taller. Panic floods me again as I shift back, my breathingcomes out in short pants when I'm back on two legs. Phoenix averts hisgaze from my naked form, but follows after me when I take off runningtoward the house.