Daniel continuously ran his hand on that spot where Lia had bitten him, it refused to heal which could only mean one thing- she had marked him. No wonder, he felt the bond between them had heightened, so he was on the same par with Asher?

As selfish as that sounds, he was glad. He had always been slightly jealous of the vampire having an upper hand in the relationship, but now he had a mark to show off too.

But then, this made resisting her all the more torturous. Now, he would have a much harder time resisting her when it was everything his wolf desired, to finally be one with her.

As if she knew what was on his mind, Lia awoke that moment and placed her head on his chest, her hair tickling yet sending her tantalizing sight straight into his nose. Gosh, this was plain torture.

"How do you feel?" He asked, feeling her temperature. She had had a fever when he first brought her in.

"Never been better," She bit down on her lips sexily, he gulped. Every one of her moves - innocent or not- was deemed irresistible in his eyes.

She lifted her head, her eyes holding her gaze, and slowly pushed herself to be on the same level as him.

A low grunt was torn from Daniel's throat, he lifted his hands and grabbed her waist to pull her away from him - he probably would not be able to handle himself around her until he got used to this new feeling.

But the girl refused to be moved, pinned his hand to the bed instead and she hovered over him, moving sensuously against him as a low growl resonated from his throat. That was a warning and the limit he could go.

"Lia, I won't be able to-"

"Shhh," She pressed her finger against his lips, leaning her head to whisper into his ears saying, "Don't say a word,"

Her hot breath hitting his neck made his body tingled. Did she even know what she was saying? Don't say a word when he was slowly losing it? Was she giving him a signal to go on with the wicked plans he had in store for her? Or was this one of her teasing again? Gosh, he was so confused.

Daniel lifted his head, "Lia, you don't understand what you're getting into. Something's changed -"

"I said shut up! I mean…" her raised voice lowered, "Lie down and don't say a word,"

That was odd yet sexily mean.

"Fine," Daniel gave up and laid back. Lia was his mate and probably knew what she was doing. If she wanted to have fun with him, why deny her? He'd rather be starved than let her go look for Aster to satisfy her after getting the same offer on a golden platter.

She slowly took his shirt off without taking her eyes off him, Daniel grew bigger beneath - who said being a man was easy. His muscles flexed as she caressed his abdominal muscles.

Daniel watched her cover the space between them, her soft, warm lips finally moving against his- all he could ever wish. She didn't waste time to pry his tongue open, inserting her tongue and sucking him.

The werewolf was so much lost in this pleasure that it came as a huge shocker to him when something sharp was plunged into his stomach.

His scream of pain was swallowed by her as she kissed him further while his eyes widened till they couldn't stretch anymore.

The pain was unbearable that he tried pushing her away but her grip was surprisingly ironclad, she had him real tight.

"Lia!" Daniel finally managed to pull away from the kiss but all he received was a cold smirk and her magenta eyes screaming mockery at him. What the hell was wrong with her?

"What are you doing?" Sweat beaded his forehead, she was stabbing him with a knife.

"Ending your miserable life," she released a smile that made the hairs on his arms stand on edge.

To prove her point, she twisted the knife causing him to grunt in pain. At that moment, Daniel realized she was intent on ending him. He could now smell the blood lust on her which she had hidden earlier with her sexual act.

Daniel didn't understand what was going on at all but it was obvious to him that it was to defend himself or get killed. So he head-butted her, causing her clasp to loosen, and drove his kneel to her side which threw her off the bed.

He pulled off the knife wedged into his stomach with a scream of agony, tossing it to the side just as his mate threw herself on him, attacking him once more.

"Lia, get a grip on yourself," He managed to speak through her choking him.

"I'm in my right senses," She claimed. However, the mad glint in her eyes told Daniel he was far from okay, something was not alright.

He tried to take her hands off his neck yet the girl was unbelievably strong. How did it get to this?

"Die!" Lia hissed, tightening her grip.

Suddenly, Daniel left her hands and snapped her neck causing her to collapse on top of him.

His breath was uneven and fast, still not believing what just happened. One moment, she was loving him and the next, killing him.

He pushed Lia who had lost consciousness to the side, struggling to get to his feet. He winced upon moving, the knife wound was deep and wouldn't heal anytime soon.

"Ryan," He called for his beta through the mind link, without telling him what happened.

When Ryan made it into his room, his eyes widened to the size of saucers when he took in the scene.

"Alpha!" he was at his side immediately, "What the hell happened? Gosh, you're bleeding, you need help!" he attempted to call for one but Daniel held him back.

"No, don't. It would spell scandal if the pack gets to hear that their impending Luna stabbed the alpha - they might cast stones at her for this," Daniel was worried.

"She did this?!" Ryan fumed, "At Least, let me deal with -"

"No, she wasn't in her right senses," Daniel stopped him once more, "I think that something is wrong with her. I need you to do something for me,"

"You need to be treated first," Ryan demanded. Why was their Alpha so damn stubborn?! This girl would be the death of him!

"No, I'll heal in a few hours -"

"Painfully and slowly. Look how deep that wound is, she really wanted you dead, Daniel. Can't you see that?" Ryan pointed out with a stubborn thrust of his chin.

"Am your alpha and you would do as I say," Daniel ordered.

Ryan sighed, this was the time he wished his aunt Phoebe was here, she would restore Daniel's senses.

"Fine, what do you want, Alpha," He goaded him.

Daniel sensed the scorn in his voice, however, didn't say a thing. Ryan was only looking out for him.

"Tie the girl up, make sure she doesn't escape. Then call Asher while I go to take care of my miserable self,"

***********************************

Asher found himself downstairs where he met the hunter on his feet, taking in the look of the living room.

"The chairs are not for fancy, " Asher implied he should have a seat.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to dilly dally. I want this settled as soon as possible since it's obvious that I can't stand the sight of you vampires," Chris didn't hide the disgust in his voice.

"Your loss then," Asher plopped down on his expensive modernized sofa with a devil may care attitude. There was a flute in his grasp containing a red, thick liquid which Chris didn't need to guess what it was- blood.

Asher knew the sight of him sipping that blood made the man uncomfortable yet didn't give a care. He had done it on purpose to irk the bastard - Chris knew.

"What's the reason behind your visit, Chris?" Asher drawled as if speaking was a huge job.

"You should know that?" The hunter retorted.

"Oh," Asher smirked, "Are you giving me permission to hypnotize your mind and find out the truth?"

Chris scowled at him yet assumed a blank expression, " What's your relationship with the girl?"

"What girl?" Asher asked without blinking.

"Don't play games with me, Asher Nicolli. I know what it's going on around here" Chris claimed.

"Really? Do tell then, humor me," His irritating smirk grew.

Chris formed a fist with his hand yet went ahead to say, "You turned Daniel's mate into a vampire which explains your usual relationship with both. We all know the strong bond between the sire and the sired"

"So?"

"That's what I thought but the more I think about that, it seems I'm missing something major,"

"So?" Asher continued.

"I need to have the girl investigated,"

This time, something flashed across Asher's eyes. He dropped the flute on the ground, "And here I was thinking you were here to investigate the war between the Nicolli and Raven clan,"

"You'd still be investigated for that," Chris informed him.

"Just as you said, you understand the bond between the sire and the sired. So if you want to lay your miserable finger on my sired, go through the formal procedure and get the license from the council,",

Chris' jaw ticked, as far as the girl had not committed any notable crime, he had no right to interrogate her without the permission of her sire.

" I would not give up, " He swore.

"Sure, determination Is a pretty good motivator. Now be on your way, hunter"