Reborn: Chapter Sixty Two "Oblivion"

Book Cover created in acrylic by the extremely talented @therealpaul

Series Summary

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Chapter Sixty Two

For the next couple of days Anna found herself moping. She kept trying to get involved in conversations, but quickly lost interest or got distracted. She'd asked a lot of questions about mated males, and from what everyone seemed to know....Jared must loathe her. Intensely, as he was fighting one of the strongest known forces of nature. A bonded male supposedly couldn't stand to be parted from his female, and though sometimes it was necessary, they wouldn't feel right or whole again until she was near. Particularly since they had the overwhelming instinct to protect their mate from any and all perceived dangers. But if something were to happen to her...wouldn't he die too? That was a question she'd asked and was answered in the affirmative. Maybe he didn't care, she thought. If he was LeJariende’Dachielle then he'd forsaken his old life. Maybe he wanted death.

She decided she was going out that night, she had to get her mind off this....or maybe find him? If only she’d drank from him or paid more attention to where his house was when she was there. Last night she had stood outside trying to figure out how to retrace her steps but it eluded her. And she couldn’t track him since she hadn’t drank from him. She’d asked why, if they were bonded, couldn’t she sense him and learned that until she drank from him for the first time, the connection was incomplete. On her end at least.
She couldn't believe how desperately she wanted him to look at her with tenderness, to pull her into his arms with something other than lust. Like passion or...dream on Anna. And she was dreaming on, constantly. There was no other male in the world that she could imagine herself with now. She'd always thought that she would be struck by lightning when she found her soul mate. Turns out she was right.

She got the girls together and they headed out on the town. No one even tried to stop her, it seemed that her loss of innocence had changed things. Or maybe, she thought hopefully, it was because they thought that Jared would take care of her if the need arose.

Even though she wanted to see him she couldn't go to the vampire hangouts, especially with the girls. So they settled on a lively club downtown. Her sole mission for the night was to get hammered. Sooo drunk that thinking would be a chore, and she set about it with a vengeance.

A few hours later she was dancing with some guy, her hands draped over his shoulders to hold herself up. She was slurring and her vision was getting a little funny. The guy, whose breath was on her neck at the moment, said something she didn't understand. She started to ask for a repeat, when suddenly she was yanked from him and taken to the back of the club into a deserted hallway.

Mr. Fury Eyes we meet again, she thought and giggled. He clearly didn't think anything was funny.

"What were you doing with that human?" he hissed, "were you going to let him fuck you?"

She looked at his face and there were two of them, she couldn't decide which one to look at so she kept shifting back and forth.

"You're drunk." He said flatly.

"Um. Yup. I am super duper wasted," she giggled again.

"Stay right here." he commanded. He strode away and came back several minutes later. She was still standing there bopping her head to the music and shifting her feet.

"Where are the males you stay with?" he demanded.

She half focused on him. "Dunno. Prob'ly out fightin shadow men."

"Do they know you're here?" he growled.

"Um," she wrinkled her forehead trying to concentrate and failed miserably. "I think…maybe."

"Are you here alone?"

She shook her head.

"Who's with you?" His voice was icy.

"Jenna and Jess, and Harri," she ticked them off on her fingers.

"Bring me to them."

She walked unsteadily back towards the dance floor, her vision fading in and out. The amount of alcohol she'd consumed would have killed a human. Straight liquor all night. It was the only way for a vampire to hold onto any kind of buzz for long, their bodies purged alcohol far more quickly than humans.

She attempted to survey the room, what was she looking for again? Oh yeah, the girls. She got dizzy with the back and forth motion and stumbled. Arms caught her and swept her up.

She laid her head against his solid chest and she could hear his heart pounding and the sound of his shallow breaths. He was most definitely pissed off.

"Anna!" A familiar voice rang out. She turned her head and saw the blurry form of Jess hurrying over then stopping several feet away to stare at the male holding her.

"Anna?" His voice rumbled.

Oh yeah she'd lied about her name too.

"Are you going to hurt her?" Jess's voice was shaky.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm her friend."

"You're a human." He said the word like it was corrosive.

"What are you doing with her?" Jess kept her distance, but her voice had gained strength.

"Whatever I’d like. She's mine."

"But she doesn't want to be! It's not fair that you can make that choice for her!"

Anna vaguely thought Jess had it wrong, the first part and most likely the second too.

"She said this?"

"Yes! Its Michael she belongs with, he loves her. He would be good to her!"

"Who is Michael?" His voice was ominous.

"He wants to break the bond or whatever it is, and she does too."

What?? Anna squirmed in his arms, wanting to deny her friend’s words but having trouble making sound come out of her mouth.

He released her suddenly and she dropped onto the floor. Jess rushed forward and bent down glaring up at him.

"Tell this Michael to hurry up and be done with it."

Anna watched him stride away and pain filled her chest. She looked at Jess in disbelief. Where’d she come up with that?

"Come on, get up." Jess tugged her to her feet and she tried to locate him, wobbling back and forth unsteadily. But he was gone.

"Why'd you say that? I don't want...

Jess wasn't listening, she was pulling her towards the front of the bar. Jenna and Harriet were waiting there, relief on their faces when they saw them coming.

Anna stumbled again, and Jenna ran forward to catch her. "Whoa, I think we need to get you home to lie down."

She allowed them to lead her outside to the car. When she was seated in the back she tried desperately to make her thoughts coherent but the struggle made her head hurt and she squeezed her eyes shut.

She woke to someone lifting her and her hopes soared for a moment, then his scent hit her nose and it was wrong. She cracked her eyes open and saw Michael's grim face. Why had Jess said those things, she thought distantly then slid back to unconsciousness

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