Monster - Valeria's POV

Monster - Valeria's POV
“Monster?” He muses. “I like the sound of that. A monster doesn’t have to obey the rules or be the hero.”

As the man carries me out of my cell, his shirt rubs my skin, making me hiss. The next time I open my eyes, we’re leaving the dark room where the cells are and into the light.

I look up at him and go into shock. He’s nothing like I expected. The man before me isn’t old or even ancient, like I thought he would be. He looks young, barely older than Kendric. I watch as he gently bites at his bottom lip, which reveals his fangs as they poke out.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought you were admiring me, but I can see now that it is just a shock. Did you not think that vampires were handsome?” He asks, his voice cocky. “We are quite beautiful. At least, most of us are. We also can lure almost anyone in with just one glance.”

I blink a few times as I digest his words. Shock is an understatement. I meet his dark brown eyes for a few seconds before looking up at his hair. It’s cut short, with the top being longer and the sides shaved. It’s not something I’d expect from an ancient vampire. Even his ears are pierced.

And if I’m not mistaken, I can see the tops of tattoos peeking out over his shirt collar.

“The longer you look at me like that, the harder this becomes. I want to devour you already, but that mating bite is the only thing stopping me.” He looks away for a split second down the hallway before returning his gaze to mine. “Still looking at me? Kendric will be jealous.”

“I’m not admiring you. You’re just not what I expected. I thought you’d look as ancient as you are old. Not look like a man in his thirties.”

He nearly chokes at my words. “While I have lived many millennia, that does not mean that I have the appearance of an old man. Apparently, you have never learned about vampires, but that will be quickly rectified.”

“You sound like you’re the one who is going to teach me. I hate to inform you that I don’t trust you nor will I be taking any lessons from you.”

The man glances down at me for a split second, then opens the door in front of us. I realize that we’ve made it down the hall and I never once took a look around the entire way here.

“If you accept my deal, then I plan to do that, and so much more. Kendric may be your fated mate, but sometimes fate can be wrong,” he says with a chuckle. “And oh, how you were built for something more. You were meant to be a vampire’s bride.”

The door swings open wide, revealing some kind of arena. In the middle stands Kendric with chains on his wrists and ankles, keeping him from moving. I gasp once I lay eyes on him.

I blink again, uncertain of what I’m seeing.

“Ah, so you are speechless? Don’t you like how broken he looks?” He chuckles to himself. “I think I like him better this way.”

Kendric’s eyes lift up to meet mine, and I grimace. The man I know is nowhere to be found. All I can see are the red eyes of his wolf glaring back at me.

“I did what you asked and you now have your mad dog back. Let her go,” he mumbles.

The man holding me chuckles with delight as he glances at Kendric. “I have let her go. See? She’s in my arms, safe and sound. A deal is a deal, after all.”

“A deal?” I ask, turning toward the vampire holding me. “What kind of deal did he make?”

The vampire’s smile spreads across his face as he glares at Kendric. “Tell her, mad dog. Tell her what you have done.”

“I agreed to give him whatever he wanted.” Kendric’s words are barely audible. “For your freedom.”

“And tell her what else. Tell her everything we discussed.”

Kendric gulps, and his eyes shift to the ground when I turn to meet his gaze. “When you screamed, you went quiet right after. He told me you passed out from the pain and something about a whip being used.”

He becomes quiet for a moment, but this only angers the vampire. “Tell her the rest.”

“Fine. He said there was a lot of blood and that you smelled delectable. That blasted vampire holding you even mentioned tasting you. That is why I agreed to do as I said to save you. There was no other way, Valeria. It was this or you would die.”

I look back at the vampire, feeling a surge of anger swelling within me. “You did this to get to him.”

The vampire’s eyes light up with joy. “I asked him if he meant anything? Saving you means he’s choosing you above the packs. I kind of like the way he did that. It means he’s not a selfless hero anymore. Isn’t that right, Kendric?”

“What?” I ask, breathlessly.

The vampire looks at me, then back at Kendric on the ground. “His words were that he will burn this world to the ground to save you and to use him instead of torturing you. I plan to hold him to his words.”

I turn to look at Kendric again, completely shocked by his agreement. “Why would you do this? You know what we are here to do. We’re supposed to save them. Midnight is coming.”

The vampire laughs heartily, causing his chest to rumble against me. “Because he’s selfish, just like I am. Now that we have that out of the way. Here’s how this is going to work. Kendric is going to become the mad dog once more and carry out every duty I require of him. If he doesn’t, then poor little Valeria pays the price. That is how this is going to work. If he does everything I ask, then nothing happens to you.”

I push at the vampire’s chest as I try to break free. He eventually laughs, rolling his eyes as he sets me down on my feet. “Now you are ready to get away from me? Just a moment ago, I could have sworn you were admiring me.”

“You’re nothing but a monster,” I proclaim again. “This time you are not going to win. Put me down.”

The vampire before me shifts his footing as his gaze darkens. “I have won each and every time over the last few thousand years. Do you really think that coming back into this life that you are going to win after so many failures? Don’t be so optimistic.”

I stand there for a moment, motionless as everything starts to click. The vampire is the same one that has caused all the pain and suffering in the packs. It all began because of him and yet, we have failed each time we have come back. I don’t know why, and some parts of our past are still blurry.

“Putting things together, but not everything makes sense, does it? Maybe my name will jog your memory. Ramsey Callisto, the original vampire. The one who started all the wars, but no one ever knew until the last few times. Sadly, it didn’t do them any good and now your council works for me. Poor pitiful wolves can’t even run themselves correctly.”

Ramsey? I think back to what I remember of our first life. Everything is blurry surrounding the memory except for the fact that Kendric and I were mated to stop the impending war between our clans. If what he says is true, then the war wasn’t really between our clans, but because of something he did. “What did you do?”

Ramsey pauses, looking amused at my question. “Would you really like to know?”

He puts me down, but I can barely stand straight. When I move to take a step forward, I nearly collapse onto the floor from the pain shooting down my back. The only reason I don’t is because he catches me, which causes Kendric to snarl.

“Hush your growling, wolf. She can barely stand and if I didn’t catch her, she would have fallen on her face. Would you prefer for me to let her drop? Maybe you want her to break that beautiful face.”

Kendric stops growling, but says nothing in response.

Ramsey waits for a moment, then lets out a sigh. “Well, there is nothing left for us to do here. I’m going to take you to our healer, then you can ask me all the questions you want about your past. Maybe I can fill in the gaps that you seem to be missing.”

“Why should I believe you?” I glance up at his arm until I see his face.

He’s smiling down at me with a smug expression. His glowing eyes seem brighter than they were before. “Why wouldn’t you believe me? I have no reason to lie. Now that everything is out, it doesn’t matter anymore. I have what I need.”

I tremble as my legs nearly give out. He seems to notice and sweeps me off my feet. “Let us be clear, vampire. I hate you and everything you have done.”

“How can you hate me when you don’t even know what all I’m responsible for? Now say goodbye to your wolf. You won’t be seeing him for a while.”

I look back at Kendric, but he refuses to meet my gaze. “Kendric, this isn’t goodbye. I promise there is a way out of this.”

“How touching. You think you can really escape, even after I’ve told you how it’s going to be. Tisk. Tisk. Little wolf is a trouble maker.”

He carries me back out of the room and I look up at his face, trying to find his weakness. I don’t know enough about vampires to know what to do to kill him, but I want to.

“I can see that look on your face. You think you can end me. Well, I have news for you. This is my world now and you’re just in it. There will be no killing me, little wolf.”