Young blood, p.1
Young Blood, page 1
YOUNG BLOOD
J.E. Taylor
Young Blood © 2022 J.E. Taylor
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This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Cover Art by Eerilyfair Design's Book Cover and Logo Art
YOUNG BLOOD
Duty and fate collide when a cocky young alpha finds his forbidden mate.
Robby Young never anticipated meeting his true soul mate on the first day at the Monster Defense Academy, especially considering relationships with other members of the agency are strictly prohibited.
When that girl ends up listed as his partner, Robby has to muzzle his wolf to keep her safe.
If he falls prey to his desires and crosses the line his father set, he’ll sentence his partner to a position in front of the firing squad.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Page
Book Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
About J.E. Taylor
AS WE CRESTED THE top of the hill, I caught the first view of my home for the next year. The Monster Defense Academy sprawled out before us, tucked in a valley of the Appalachian Mountains of New York. Dark, squat buildings surrounded the center high-rise that gleamed in the midday sun. The entire footprint of the academy was bigger than most small colleges, but the interconnected buildings made it look like a giant octopus with a huge dick sticking out of its center.
“Do I really have to...” I started, still staring at the buildings with enough disgust that I was sure it bled into my face.
“Yes,” my father said from the driver’s seat before I could finish my sentence. He glanced at me with the same piercing blue eyes I saw in the mirror on a daily basis. “You’re a legacy. You will carry on our tradition. One day, maybe you’ll be running the company.”
I scoffed. After all the information my father fed me over the years, I didn’t want anything to do with the Monster Defense Agency. But my father had grand plans for me, whether I liked it or not. Leading the Allegany pack was one thing, and that I was all for. But walking in his shoes at the MDA? No way. I wanted nothing to do with that.
Unfortunately, I had no goddamn choice.
At least I wouldn’t be here alone. The rest of the legacies in the pack would be here with me. We’d be paired with witches and then hunt the vilest creatures out there. That might just be the only thing I looked forward to. Ripping apart vampires had its own sick appeal, especially because a vampire was responsible for the rest of my family’s deaths.
The only reason I was breathing today was the fact on that fateful night, I was not home with my mom and my younger brother and sister. I was at my beta’s birthday party. Me and a half dozen others watching late-night television, laid out in sleeping bags on the family room floor while a vampire feasted on my family. I still remember my father arriving at Johnson’s house before the sun rose the next morning. His eyes had been frantic as he searched the sleeping bags on the floor and when they landed on me, it seemed all that tension turned into something else that made his eyes shine. Relief. Disappointment. I have no idea, but blood streaked his shirt and hands, and he had some in his hair, too.
That night was the only time in my life that I ever recall my father visibly shaken. And dread filled me at the tears shining in his eyes. He took me aside and delivered the news that shattered my world.
I shook the memory away as we pulled up to the grand entrance of the academy. We were the only ones up here on the plateau, looking down at the lower parking lot where the rest of the wolves and witches were being unloaded from buses and cars.
“Why aren’t we unloading down there?” I waved to the mass of new recruits.
“We’re the elite. This is where I enter.”
I hated the superiority in his voice. I glanced at the lower parking lot, wishing I was with them.
A crop of red hair caught my attention and I blinked, with my duffel bag halfway to my shoulder. Even from this distance, I caught her attitude and the ream of swears spilling from her mouth as they hauled her off the bus. Something inside me stirred.
A slap against the back of my head brought me back into the present. “Everyone here is off-limits. You’re going to marry the right wolf. You understand?”
“One you deem worthy?” My voice dripped with sarcasm. He was going to marry me off to some alpha’s daughter once he found a worthy alliance. It was not my choice. None of this was my choice.
He glared at me.
“Fine. I get it.” But my gaze kept drifting to the crowd below. Not only did I wish I was with the rest of my pack, now I wanted to seek out that girl.
“I’m serious. No fucking around here. You keep your nose clean and learn everything you need to do the job right.” He shook his finger in my face.
I had to clench my jaw against the urge to bite his digit off. Instead, I hauled the duffel bag over my shoulder and headed inside where a short, bespectacled man led me to my dorm room in silence.
White painted cinderblocks and gray linoleum flooring met my gaze as I stepped into the room the little man waved at. It certainly did not instill any sort of excitement for being here, especially considering the furniture looked too small for my stature. But I guess it was better than sleeping on the hard floor.
A bathroom stood to the right of the entrance door, and the entire thing was about as big as my oversized walk-in shower at home. The scent of antiseptic in the bathroom permeated everything, as if it had just been scrubbed clean. It was enough to sting my nose.
“The assembly starts in twenty minutes in the grand hall.” He left me to claim a bed.
I threw my duffel bag on the single bed on the right, assessing the lack of length. Man, if I stretched out on that thing, my lower legs would hang off. I was going to seriously miss my California king at home. I ran my hand over my face, irritated at the prospect of spending a year in this glorified coat closet. I turned and stormed out. I didn’t want to be the last person into the assembly, and I wanted to catch that brazen redhead, despite my father’s warning.
He wanted me to marry a nice werewolf. Someone subservient. But I liked my women feisty and bold, not meek and mild. And I didn’t care what she was. Human, witch, wolf, fae: it didn’t matter to me. The only off-limits species was vampire, because those monsters were the walking dead. They even smelled hideous.
I followed my nose, and searching for the assembly hall took less time than I anticipated. It wasn’t difficult. I just followed the magical signatures filling the air. Wolves and witches filled the entry leading to the assembly room. Because I had been in the sleeping quarters, I entered the hall on the balcony level and descended the stairs as I scanned the crowd.
Johnson, my beta and the reason I wasn’t in a grave with the rest of my family, gave me a wave. I nodded at him but didn’t head where he and the rest of my pack stood in a tight circle. My gaze kept moving, past the frown on my father’s face, and over the nameless crowd, until it locked with hers.
The reaction was immediate, like a shot to my chest. Her eyes widened as she took me in, and the smile that toyed on her lips had my wolf nearly in a frenzy to claim her. I stepped off the stairs on legs that felt like rubber, and I lost her in the crowd now that I didn’t have a clear view.
I cut my way through the mob, catching sight of her as I maneuvered around people. She moved toward me, and when we met in the middle of the gathering, it was as if everyone disappeared. Her chocolate eyes scanned me.
“Hi.”
Even her voice made me want to drop to my knees in front of her. Her beauty made the rest of the women in the room seem like hags.
“Hi.” I put out my hand. “I’m Robby Young.”
“Sarah Stone.” She took my hand in a sure grip and pumped once before breaking the contact.
But her touch was enough for me to know.
My father had told me what happens when we meet our true mates. The wolf in me reacted to her, and I had to struggle to keep him in check, despite the crowd surrounding us. He wanted to stake his claim on this wild one right here. I inhaled her citrusy scent as if it were more precious than air. This wasn’t just physical, either; it was as if my soul cried out for her, and the glint in her eyes was enough to make me step closer.
A hand landed on my shoulder. I almost didn’t turn away from her, but the hand squeezed hard enough to break whatever spell she had on me. I turned, meeting my father’s stern gaze.
“The assembly is starting.” He didn’t remove his hand, either. He pulled me away from Sarah Stone with an iron grip. The scowl on his face screamed disgust, as if my being near her threatened his fucking kingdom.
I glanced over my shoulder and caught the flame of her hair in the crowd as we entered the assembly.
“She is off-limits.” His growling voice filled my ear.
I snapped my gaze to his. “What?” I shook his hand off my shoulder. “But she’s my true mate.” There was no way I was staying away from her.
His step faltered, and his glare homed in on mine. “The MDA will not tolerate interagency relationships.”
“It’s not like she’s my partner.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Besides, they made an exception for you and Mom,” I pointed out.
Although the agency did have a strict rule against becoming romantically entangled, he and my mother had gotten a pass. I didn’t know whether that was because of his legacy standing or because he had become invaluable to the agency, but they didn’t crucify either of them. Scolded them, from what I understand, but did not kill them for their transgressions.
Of course, if they had been partners, it would have been a very different story. That’s why the agency matched males with males and females with females—it lowered the opportunity for that to happen. The punishment for violating that rule was archaically severe. And not in a job loss way.
It usually meant forfeiting the witch’s life, unless they were powerful mages. Then, in that case, the wolf met their end. It was all way too militant for my tastes.
“She was a wolf.” He grunted at me, as if that made a difference. “That girl is a witch.” He led me up front, where he pointed to the aisle seat before he headed up on stage with the rest of the agency board.
I turned, scanning the auditorium. My gaze landed on her in the back row on the far side of the auditorium. When she looked my way, my lips tilted into a smile. She responded with a grin and a little wave of her fingers.
Man, my wolf was in so much trouble.
I turned back to the stage, to a searing glare from my father. He leaned over to the board members and whispered something I could not pick up. The shock on their faces made me shift in the seat but they nodded at him and took out a bound ledger, marking it up.
When Mr. Simmons, the headmaster of the Monster Defense Academy, stepped up to the podium, the lights dimmed. I stared at the non-descript human as if he wasn’t there. I mean, his lips moved and his hands moved in an animated fashion, but I did not hear a word he said.
My mind was focused entirely on the redheaded girl in the back row.
AS SOON AS WE were excused from the assembly, I stood to leave.
“Robert,” my father called as he hustled down the stairs.
I hated when he called me by my formal name. I was Robby to all my friends and everyone else in the family. I never asked to be a junior, and I tried like hell to differentiate myself. Even with my friends, who were loyal because I treated them with respect and not because I instilled fear in them.
I had the capacity to pull the alpha card and force loyalty, but I never used it. I wasn’t into the control game that so many other alphas, my father included, were into.
When Robert Young Senior was out for blood, the pack quaked. He had a mean streak that would make any self-respecting wolf run with their tail tucked between their legs. He ruled the pack through fear, and it irked me. Although, I had to admit that even I got a little skittish when he was on a rampage.
“What?” I snapped. I couldn’t wait until he left, and I was free to be myself.
“Remember. Learn.” His stern finger waggled at me. “Nothing else. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Arguing never boded well with my father. And I was still a month shy of eighteen, so technically, he was still in charge of my decisions. At least until he left the campus. Then I was on my own.
“And you will stay away from that girl.” He pushed his alpha influence on me.
It draped over me like a wet blanket, chilling me, but I just stared back at him, unwilling to cower, especially on this point.
The muscles in his face jumped, as though he ground his teeth. While other wolves in the vicinity nearly folded in on themselves or turned and hurried along to get away from this display of power that my father was attempting to wield over me, it didn’t faze me.
I didn’t accept his authority on this one.
“Damn it, boy. Do you want to ruin your life?”
“No, sir.” I didn’t have a choice in the path he set me on. It was expected of the pack to serve up their young to this organization like sacrificial lambs. As such, I wasn’t necessarily going to play by their rules of engagement, especially because my wolf demanded I claim that girl, and who was I to ignore my wolf?
“Then do as I demand,” he growled, low.
I neither nodded nor shook my head, but I did turn and walk away, leaving him to stew at my non-reaction. I headed straight to my room, like we had been instructed, to unpack before dinner. Then after we ate, we were expected to head back to our rooms for the night.
My father arranged for Johnson to be my roommate. Allegany pack members usually had pre-arranged roommates who were part of the pack, but from what I understood, they usually opted to room with their partners. Even so, I was glad Johnson was my roommate and not some stranger. It was an indication at how fundamentally powerful the pack was to the MDA.
When I got to my room, it was still empty. Johnson hadn’t had a chance to bring his stuff to the room like I had as the son of the grand master of the entire Northeast region. By the time I had unpacked my duffel bag, Johnson strolled in with an expression I recognized.
My father had gotten to him.
He threw his bag on the other bed and turned, opening his mouth.
“Don’t.” I put my hand up. “I do not want to hear whatever the hell he told you to say.”
Rick Johnson closed his mouth and ran his hand through his dark hair. “Okay, man, but it’s your funeral.”
“My dad got them to change the rules. I can, too.” It was cocky to think that way, and I knew it, but there was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to deny my wolf this.
“Maybe I’ll sleep with her.”
Before he even finished saying the thought, I had him against the wall. The growl that tore from me was enough to make Johnson wide-eyed. “If you want to see the sunrise, I suggest you kill that urge right now.”
“Shit. Fine.” He put his hands out, palms forward in submission. “I didn’t realize...” He trailed off, eyes still wide with shock.
“She’s my true mate, and I’m not letting my father, or the MDA, dictate what I can and cannot do with her.”
“Robby, they are serious with their rules. Besides, you don’t know if she’s into you. She’s not a wolf. She wouldn’t feel the connection you’re feeling.”
I nodded, stepping away from him. Her pupils had dilated when we first met, as I’m sure mine had. But did that mean she was into me? I didn’t know, but I sure as hell was going to find out.
I spun away from Johnson and stalked out of the room in search of the dining hall in this monstrous academy. When I finally found the dining room, it was still locked, so, I parked my ass on one of the benches in the hallway, waiting. Not for the doors to open, but for my redheaded dream to walk by.
The door to the opposite hallway creaked, and I caught a glimpse of red hair poke through. I had to clamp down on the smile. She liked being first, too. Either that or she was on the same mission I was.
“This is the dining hall.” I allowed a small smile at her gasp, and then her wide eyes landed on me.
“Why are you so early?” She looked around at the deserted hallway.
“I’m hungry.” I shrugged. “And I hate to wait in line.”
She slid into the spot next to me. “I like to be early so the food isn’t picked over too much.” She stretched her legs out and crossed her ankles and arms, leaning against the wall with the kind of smile on her face that stirred more than my wolf. Her hair was long, with the kind of waves you see on the beach in the summer, but not frizzy, and the color wasn’t the scream-in-your-face red that you get with dye. I had seen too many girls back home try to achieve this look, and it always turned out unnatural. Sarah’s hair was a subtle auburn that truly turned heads.
