Blood of Ash

I was sitting in the hospital waiting room when I first realized she was my mate. My sister, Sophia, and I had been home alone at our adoptive parents' house. I was 10 and being a brat. Soph was 15 and in charge and I just absolutely refused to listen to her. I don't remember why we were alone, but I remember she was teaching me about my wolf and how to control it. She told me the story of how our birth parents had found out that they were mates, and I couldn't stop asking questions and bugging her to tell me more. I finally went upstairs and was just falling asleep when I heard shattered glass and her wolf's growls. I was sneaking down the stairs when I smelled the stench. I have no words to describe it even to this day, but I always said it was the stench of evil. I peeked through the railings and saw the strange man with his pants around his ankles and my sister forcefully bent over the back of the couch. She looked up at me and growled before linking into my mind and saying , "Ash, you need to remember what I've taught you. Go hide. Don't let him find you, and always be strong. I love you, Asher." I nodded and ran and hid. I could hear every scream and every sob and the sound of flesh hitting flesh, but I was still too young to understand what was happening. When all was silent, I snuck downstairs only to see Sophia's long blond hair covered in blood splayed out behind the couch. I could hear her breathing and I screamed for her, trying to get her to get up. Her last words to me were what she had said in my mind. I knew I had to get help, so I called 911. I don't remember the call or how I got to the hospital or why I was the only one there when Bella showed up. I was sitting there sobbing my eyes out when all of a sudden I smelled something different. Instead of antiseptic and death and sickness, I smelled life. I breathed that scent in deep trying to identify it. Where is this scent coming from, I thought to myself. I had just identified the first layer of the smell, apples, when I heard her voice saying, "Big brother! I'll be right back!" The scent was getting closer and I wasn't sure why I suddenly felt so much calmer as it came closer and I smelled the lilacs. Suddenly, her little pink boots appeared in front of me and she handed me some tissues and a piece of candy as she said, "You look like you could use these more than me." I looked up into her gorgeous eyes that were swirling shades of blue, green, grey, and gold and whispered, "Thank you." She tucked her hair behind her ear and grinned at me. I felt something like a chain around my waist snap into place and yank hard on my gut. I gasped a little bit and That's when I finally identified the scent. It was swirling layers of cherry blossoms, lilacs, and apples, with the faintest hint of honeysuckle. Someone, I later found out was her brother Jason, called for her and she said, "Okay, I gotta go!" I grabbed her wrist to tell her thank you one more time and when our skin touched, I felt the sparks that was concrete irrefutable proof of a mate. My mate. Most people wait years, a lifetime, to find their mates if they ever do, and here I was. Only 10 years old and I already found her. Desperate to keep her there longer, I whispered, "Can you help me?" She looked back at her brother and then sat in front of me. "What do you need?" I told her how my sister got hurt and asked for help getting ahold of my mom and brother. She nodded and asked me to wait while she ran to talk to her brother. He looked down at her dotingly and came over to me. He said, "Hi. My name is Jason. What's yours?" I flinched a little bit when I smelled him. Everything had become a little sharper to me and all of my senses were even more heightened than normal. I could hear her heart beating and all of a sudden I realized she was holding her breath and waiting for my answer. I looked right at her as I responded, "My name is Asher." Jason nodded. "That is my little sister Bellalyse. She tells me you need some help? That you need to call your mom?" I nodded. "Do you want to use my phone?" I shook my head. "She won't answer." "Why not?" "She's here. She works here. But they told me I can't see her." Bellalyse came forward and clucked her tongue saying, "How rude! I would be so scared if it was me!" Jason said, "Bellalyse." I knew she was upset, but it wasn't until years later that I understood she was pouting because she couldn't make me feel better. "Asher, I'm going to go talk to the nurse at the desk. I'll be right back, okay? Bellalyse will keep you company until I get back." I said, "Okay." After he left, I looked at Bellalyse. It really is a beautiful name. And she IS really pretty. The goddess blessed me. She was babbling on and on about a cat she found and I couldn't help smiling. I said, "Bells, I live right by those woods. Do you think we could play together some time?" She blushed at the nickname I gave her and smiled. "I would love to! I live right near there too!" Jason and Bells ended up driving me home for mom. We stopped at house to drop Bells off and I noticed the house looked almost identical to mine. We were just around the corner from my house pretty much. I watched longingly as she got out and ran inside waving goodbye to me. Jason looked in the rearview mirror at me as we pulled away and he said, "How long have you known what you are?" I flinched and responded, "I don't know what you're talking about." "I can smell it on you. You're like me." My head shot up and I looked at him. "Are you a wolf too?" He chuckled. "No. I'm not a wolf. Bella and I are vampires." I tensed up. "I can see what you're thinking." I shook my head. "That's impossible." "Vampires are evil. The Goddess couldn't possibly have given me a vampire as a..." his eyes grew wide same he stopped the car before turning around in his seat to look in my eyes. "What do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'a vampire for mate'?" I shook my head. "I don't know what you mean." She may be a vamp, but she's my mate. I have to protect her. I was thinking all of this when suddenly get face popped in my mind. I couldn't help smiling and he said, "Asher, please tell me. Are you talking about Bellalyse? What do you mean by mate? I know a lot about wolves but I've never come across that term." He looked at me pleadingly and I sighed. "Mates are-." I breathed in deep, smelling her lingering scent and slowly relaxed. "Mates are the moon goddess' blessing. She made each and every one of us and each of us was made for one other person. A mate." He was listening intently. "How do you know? That you've found your mate?" I smiled again. "Well, I'm no expert. I'm still young, however I've heard all of the stories from my sister. You know you've found your mate because all of your senses are more heightened. You feel something like a rope or a chain around your middle and you can feel that person on the other end of the bond. You always know what they're feeling. No matter how far away you are, you will always feel their strongest emotions." Even as I said those words, I know what I was saying was true. I could feel her happiness and excitement. Jason whispered, "Vampires don't have mates. We're solitary creatures." I shook my head. "Not true. I've heard stories of Vampires being mate bonded to another." He sighed. "You're right. Those usually only happen when a vampire is in a frenzy and they usually suck their mate dry before they ever have the chance though." I smelled his worry. "Please. Is my sister the one you've been talking about?" "Would it be a bad thing if she was?" "It depends on what you want with her." I smiled nervously. "All I want is to protect her." "I'll ask one more time. Is Bellalyse your mate?" I nodded and he sobbed softly. "Thank you, Goddess." "Are you okay," I asked as I patted his arm. He shook his head. "I'm dying. I have 8 years or so. I won't be able to stop her." I felt her getting worried. "She's worried. You're taking too long. She's scared something happened." He nodded. "Promise me you'll take care of her? Even after I'm gone?" "I promise." ~2 years later~ "Ash," she whined. "Hurry up! Just tell me what it is already!" I grinned at her. Today's the day. I'm going to tell her everything. "I can't Bells. If I tell you, it'll ruin the surprise." Her blond hair was whipped up by the wind and her scent was intensified. I longed to hold her and just breath her in. She snapped me out of my daydream by saying, "How much longer, Ash?" I pointed ahead of her to the little stream of smoke above the tree line. "See that? That's where we're going." It took us a couple minutes before we reached the edge of the clearing and she gasped. "What is all this?" I smiled in pride. I had worked for hours every day this past summer saving up money to put towards this place. Mom ended up buying the land and the cottage, but I was paying her for it. There were wildflowers everywhere and a little stream cut a path through the lush green grass. There was a quaint little cottage with smoke rising out of the chimney right in the middle of the clearing. I took her hand and led her inside. I worked hard decorating it for her. She had a queen sized bed decorated in shades of purple, a bookshelf filled with copies of all of her favorite books, a dresser with clothes already in it, and a little kitchen area as well as a fireplace. "Happy birthday, Bells." She blushed at her nickname just like she did that first day. She whirled around and hugged me for the first time. My heart was racing and I felt myself blushing like crazy as I hugged her back and buried my face in her hair. She said into my chest, "This is amazing, Ash. How did you do this?" I let go of her and shoved my hands in my pockets, looking away awkwardly. "That's a secret." Her cheeks were flushed and the hint of honeysuckle got so much stronger as it does when she's happy. Puberty must have been hitting me hard because all I thought about was her. I was constantly getting turned on and all I wanted was to love her openly. She was a goddess in her own right. She was looking at me with such a tender look I had never seen in her eyes and I gently reached out and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. I smiled at her as I felt her nerves. I want to kiss you so badly, Bells. How long do I have to wait? I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Turn around, Bells." She did as I asked and I pulled her hair out of the way. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace I had got her. I gently put it around her neck and brushed her hair away from the clasp at the nape of her neck. My fingers lingered on her skin and I couldn't resist nuzzling the back of her neck. She caught me by surprise by turning around to look at me, her lips inches away from mine. I glanced at them and was about to kiss her when I sensed her hesitation. I smiled sadly and stepped back. She fingered the gold and diamond dragon and whispered, "It's gorgeous." I blushed and said, "I'm glad you like it, Bells. It looks amazing on you." My phone buzzed and I knew it was time for me to go. I sighed. "I have to go, Bells. I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday." I was still grinning by the time I got home. Jackson was the only one there. He looked up as soon as I walked in the door and said, "Why do you reek of my bride?" "What do you mean?" He grinned smugly. "Bellalyse. You reek of her and she's mine." I felt an aura explode out of me as my rage kicked in. I growled, "She is not yours. She is mine, Jackson. Back off." He hissed at me and I came inches away from tearing out his throat. I wasn't going to let him threaten my happiness. I knew them and there I was absolutely the strongest and I would always be. He left the very next day for some expensive boarding school. It was at this same time that I found my pack and learned about the culture of wolves. I met Adam, a wolf my age, the son of the Beta and he taught me everything. I learned that I was the Alpha of the pack, the leader of the group if you will. "A pack is just a congregation of wolves," Adam explained later. "You as the alpha, are in charge of everything and everyone. I will eventually be your Beta, your second in command, as soon as my father either retires or dies. Then you have the Deltas, they are the messengers of the pack. You have the Gammas, our elders, of which everyone older than you with a high position (any previous alphas or lunas) would be included. It's mostly an honorary title. We're all warriors here. Not that any of us have seen battle in years thanks to your father, but we all train daily in case. The lowest members of the pack are the Omegas. They do all of the menial work and in most packs are abused. Here, they only face any sort of physical punishment when they disobey the rules of the pack and only when it's a grievous enough charge." "Luna," I asked. He paused. "We haven't had one my entire life, but the Luna is the only one that has any real sort of power other than the Alpha. I've heard that the Luna is the only wolf in any pack that can challenge the alpha without any sort of punishment. It's a very honored position and very coveted. You'll have all of the females after you in an attempt to be your Luna." "So how do mates play into things here?" He glanced over at a redhead. "Mates hold similar power as each other. For example, if an Alpha and an Omega were to mate, the Omega would gain an incredible amount of power." I cut him off. "I'm asking about Natural Mates. Not Chosen Mates." His eyes went wide. "Those are so rare, Alpha! Your father had a mate but she passed away long before you were born I hear. Natural Mates have to be accepted by both parties. I've heard there's something called a Second Chance Mate that can occur if a Mate is rejected or dies, but that's even rarer. A Natural Mate, has ALL of the same power and abilities as each other. For example, if you found out your mate was human and they accepted the mating bond, they would gain the same life span and strength as you, a natural born Alpha, as well as the power they would have in the pack. Although, I highly doubt the pack would accept a human as their Luna. They rarely accept anyone that isn't a wolf." I spent the next three years trying to convince myself that Bella wasn't my mate. I wanted her to be accepted. I wanted her to be loved everyone, just as much as I already loved her. ~3 years later~ We were changing after gym class where I had completely destroyed my competitors in weight lifting and wrestling. I knew something was wrong. Bella was taking longer than normal and almost everyone had already left. I heard something shatter in the girl's locker room and then I smelled the blood. I felt a fog coming over me and I sensed her bloodlust. I raced into the locker room just in time to see her biting Lilly and drinking her blood. I growled and flung her off, wincing as the mirror shattered on impact and her head hit the wall. Lilly was drenched in blood. I had to help her. Bells would be devastated if she hurt Lilly too bad. Bella launched herself at me with a hiss and I caught her around the waist. I spoke to her until she calmed down and scrubbed the blood off of her face. If anyone else had seen it, they would know she had attacked her sister and she would be in danger. I couldn't let that happen. I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders and scooped Lilly up in my arms, dragging them both to the nearest staff member to call the emergency staff. Just before the ambulance took them, I kissed Bella's forehead. I whispered in her ear, "Remember, you control the bloodlust, not the other way around. I love you." It would be another 3 years before she would remember anything that happened that day. She was my first and only love and I intended to get her to choose me in turn. I wouldn't force our bond on her, but I would continue to use it to keep her safe. All she had to do was admit to me that she was a vampire and drink my blood in the mating process. If she did, she would never frenzy again. She needed me and I needed her. Forever and always.