Dreams and Nightmares

The furious golden beast brought down his claws, aiming for the shifter that was sprawled on the ground beneath him.

He froze suddenly. The sweetest scent assailed him and he inhaled deeply. This was the only scent that was able to penetrate his rage and calm his beast. The sweet mixture of roses and apples. It soothed him instantly.

And when she called to him, he shifted slowly into his human form.

"Riven?",Layla said tentatively. She watched as Riven slowly shifted back, unsure about going close to him. From what she had seen, Riven's fury was unmatched. And it scared her most times.

Riven shook his head to clear the haze surrounding his mind and looked towards his mate. She was back.

"Layla?",his voice came out thick and hoarse. His arms opened wide and he finally relaxed when Layla threw her arms around him. He held her tight, his hands wrapping round her slender waist. The sparks moved over their bodies and Riven sighed in contentment. He thought he lost her.

"My soulmate... mine",he whispered. Without another thought, he lifted her in his arms and marched into the mansion.

...

The mansion became totally quiet and less tense after the return of Layla. The shifters all stayed in their rooms, terrified of moving and aggravating the Alpha again.

Henrietta used the strength she had left in healing Cade from his severe wound. He had his healing ability but Riven had dealt with him brutally and his wounds were fatal. After healing him, Henrietta collapsed.

Apparently she had used one of the incantations from the book of shadows in recalling Layla's form from the past. She wasn't a Sorceress, so the incantation weakened her tremendously. After healing Cade, she was totally spent. Caleb and Alec had to place her in a locked room with various potions and herbs meant to rejuvenate her.

The shifters all wondered within themselves though. They wondered about Layla's disappearance. They wondered what caused it and what she actually was. A few of them were not happy because it was her disappearance that caused the Alpha to go into such rage. And slowly, they began to loath Layla.

...

Lord Brandon was one of the prominent men in the human world. He ruled a part of the city he stayed, keeping his true identity as a Vampire Lord a secret. He was able to move freely in daytime because of the spelled jade ring Jezebel created for him and he made the witch put a spell around the city so the humans wouldn't wonder why he never aged.

Right now, he sat in his grand mansion where he lived alone. His members were scattered about the city in different places and he only had to spill a drop of his blood on the ring he wore for the entire nest to come racing down to his mansion.

His eyes were closed and soon, he slipped into a slumber filled with dreams and nightmares.

He was back in that dreadful day. The day he would forever despise for the rest of his life. He could see his brother, Lancelot. And it brought back painful memories.

Lancelot had fallen instantly for Belinda, the Alpha Princess, the moment he saw her. Not minding that she was mated to someone else, Lancelot had pursued Belinda with his love until he became obsessed with her. He swore to have her and take down anyone who stood in his way.

Brandon jerked in his sleep as he tried to come awake. He didn't want to relive that particular day. But the scene played into his mind nevertheless.

Lancelot had gone after Belinda's mate and murdered him in cold blood, thinking Belinda would finally turn to him at the death of her mate. Instead, Belinda turned feral and killed Lancelot in her murderous state. And then she had stormed the vampire's nest and unleashed her pain and rage on them.

At the death of his only brother, Brandon had gone into a state of shock and fury. With the taste for vengeance flowing through him, he and the remaining vampires attacked the Qinn's mansion, slaughtering every shifter they came across.

It was a bloody massacre.

Riven had just been crowned the new Supreme Alpha when the disaster struck. Knowing fully well that Riven could take them all down due to his inhumane strength and power, Brandon had come prepared. The silver bullets had weakened the lycan totally, giving Brandon the chance to avenge his brother's death. And killing Belinda had never felt so good.

Brandon finally jerked awake from his sleep. His eyes were bloodshot and he could still see the image of his dead brother's face. He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself from his seat. He needed blood.

Moving slowly, he staggered down the stairs that led to the basement. He grabbed the keys from his pants and struggled to open the locked metal door. His hands shook and his fangs elongated, red veins appearing at the corners of his eyes. He needed blood now!

The door fell open and he staggered into the dim basement. There were twelve young human girls gagged and chained to the wall. The girls looked pale and gaunt, after having most of their bloods sucked out by the Vampire Lord. They whimpered softly as Brandon moved towards them.

He grabbed the closest one and tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. His hands clamped around her slim frame and his palms gripped her waist. He ran his nose along the side of her neck, sniffing and savoring the smell of her blood, and sank his fangs into the tender skin.

She flinched and turned limp in his arms.

Brandon moaned as the flavour of the blood burst through his taste buds. His hands moved from her waist and cupped her round bum cheeks, pressing her against his hard erection. He fed until his head cleared and the veins cleared from his eyes. Retracting his fangs, he pushed the girl away from him and licked his lips.

"I should have known you would be down here",Jezebel said from behind him.

Brandon who was already aware of her presence didn't bother to turn around.

"Have you found out what creature the girl is?",he asked.

"No, but I..."

"What exactly have you been doing?",Brandon snapped angrily.

"I found Annabelle",Jezebel said in a hard voice. She was angry and fed up of being Brandon's servant but she had no choice. If she tried to leave, he would kill her. She wasn't as strong as Annabelle. She was just a common witch.

"You found her?"

"Yes. And I think she's hiding something",Jezebel said. "She's adamant on taking her daughter away from the island".

Brandon turned and faced the witch. There was a sinister smirk on his handsome face.

"She's obviously hiding something",he said darkly. "The girl isn't ordinary. I can feel it"

"What do we do now?",Jezebel asked.

Brandon stalked out of the basement and went back to the large room where he stayed. There was an opened casket at one corner and a few bronze goblets with droplets of blood within them.

He collapsed into a large black chair and threw his head over the headrest. He was quiet for a moment, planning out his strategy.

"Keep an eye on Annabelle",he said finally. "Once she succeeds in getting the girl, we take her"

"Why can't we just take her ourselves?",Jezebel asked.

"Unless you're ready to die a horrible death in the hands of Riven!",Brandon said sharply. "I'm never going to that island. I barely escaped with my life the last time. Inform me once Annabelle succeeds in taking the girl from the island"

"Yes Brandon",Jezebel said. She was about to leave when she remembered something.

"One more thing",she said quickly.

"What?"

Jezebel snapped her fingers and the dead broken body of Cara appeared in front of Brandon.