William

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

William

ISBN # 978-0-85715-921-2

©Copyright Sam Crescent 2012

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright March 2012

Edited by Rebecca Hill

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Total-e-sizzling
and a
sexometer
of
1.

This story contains 112 pages, additionally there is also a
free excerpt
at the end of the book containing 10 pages.

The Valentines

WILLIAM

Sam Crescent

Book two in The Valentines Series

Time is running out.

He promised to keep her safe, he promised to protect her. William Valentine failed. On the night his father was murdered, the same wolf took Katie from him. The one and only surviving witch…or is she?

Katie White is going to die. She can feel it. Her determination and thoughts of William are what is making her fight to stay alive. But time is running out.

An old foe from William’s past is determined to see Katie finished.

Will William make it in time?

The Valentines—the war has only just begun.

Dedication

I would like to thank my family for all the love and support. Also, I would like to say a huge thank you to Rebecca Hill, my lovely editor. Without you this wouldn’t be possible.

?Prologue

A few hundred years ago

The sounds filling the air were of running feet and heavy, panicked breathing. Two people running for their very lives. They ran through the forest, not sure what was coming. William could feel the power coming towards them, not seeking to help their situation but to destroy them.

“Run, Emma.” William grabbed her hand and urged her forward.

“I’m trying. I can’t continue anymore,” she gasped, slowing to a stop, grabbing her side in pain.

“We don’t have time for this.” He pulled on her arm and tried to get her to move, his fear for her life making him forget she was only human. She cried out, falling to her knees.

“Stop, William, please. I can’t go on,” she sobbed.

He glanced down and saw her agony. They’d been running for well over an hour. William looked through the thick layers of leaves and trees, nodding. He crouched down beside her.

“We can stay and rest a little.” His eyes strayed to the trees all around them—any one of them could hide a foe.

She shook her head. “You should go on.”

He disagreed. “I’m not losing you.” He held her face—beautiful; this was the woman he had fallen in love with—and he could see how weak she was. Already, her face was beginning to look gaunt and shadows were appearing underneath her eyes. He knew in his heart of hearts that unless she rested she would not be able to make it.

He laid a gentle kiss on her lips. They felt dry even against the barest touch. He could taste death and he couldn’t…he
wouldn’t
accept it.

“We’re in this together. No matter what.” He held her against the strength of his body. “Take some more of my blood.”

He made to bite into his flesh, to make it easier for her to drink the powerful liquid, but her hand on his arm stopped him.

“No, no more.”

He nodded reluctantly, holding her cold body against him, humming to himself. He could even smell a change within her, almost an acceptance of what was about to happen. It terrified him. He kept looking around for any signs of danger, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t find any. William wouldn’t be able to protect them both for long. He wasn’t strong enough.

William knew, deep down, that this sense of calm was about to end. His brother Robert had already told him what to expect. His father had shipped his mother, younger brothers and sisters off out of danger the moment it had all gone wrong. The witch hunts had grown more deadly than any of them could have imagined. A madman’s accusations…and now this. Humans hunting them as though they were nothing but dogs, forcing them to run for their lives.

None of them were safe anymore.

“They’re coming. I can feel them, William. So much anger and fear, and it’s all for us.” He could hear the fear in her voice. They had survived many attempts on their lives—they were immortal, after all. But never had anything scythed through their numbers so quickly. Just as a plague kills humans, now the humans were a plague to the immortals, killing them off one by one.

“Don’t worry—just rest,” he told her, but his eyes stayed on the forest. He could feel them there. He couldn’t see them, but it wouldn’t be long until they were here.

Just then, Emma started to panic in his arms, lashing out with her hands and screaming, ‘Get off me, get off me’, over and over again. He couldn’t see what had her so terrified.

“Emma? What is it?” He was helpless. She was screaming and crying for him to help her and he didn’t know how. There was nothing near her that could hurt her.

Laughter emerged from the tree line, followed by a male form.

“Witches are such pesky little things.”

William stood and squared off against James, the Alpha wolf of the Beyer West pack.

“What are you doing here?” William asked.

A female followed him—her eyes were shut, James guiding her by the hand, and he could tell that she was chanting. William was confused. Why would Emma be terrified of what was coming when James was bringing reinforcements? James was one of them, he wouldn’t attack them. Would he? But the wolves were supposed to be taking cover…

“Yes. My little witch, it seems, is more powerful than your witch.”

James leant down to where Emma sat crying. “Boo.”

William shoved the other man away. “Leave her alone.”

They circled each other in hunting stances. The sounds around them were of the mystery witch chanting and Emma whimpering.

“What are you doing here? You’re the leader of the wolves.” They could live among the humans, which meant that they were safe and could help vampires and witches to hide from the search parties.

The wolves were in hiding…weren’t they?

“Well, you see, here is my problem. I’m supposed to risk my neck, and those of my wolves…for what, exactly? For you and your vampires? You see, I suddenly had this idea.” William had a sick feeling in his gut as he listened to James talk. “This idea of what would happen if the witches and vampires who controlled me and told me what to do just disappeared…poof. Then I suddenly wondered what would happen if I screamed devil and witch in a room full of humans. You see, William Valentine, the mind is a dangerous thing. They went nuts.” James started to laugh, the sound hysterical.

He was mad—barking mad. William couldn’t grasp what he was telling him. He refused to believe it.

But looking into James’ eyes, he knew.

“You led the humans right to us.”

All this time their father had wondered how so many witches and so many of their own kind could have been hunted and killed within just months. Now it seemed obvious. Someone had to have known—someone from the inside.

The leader of the Beyer West Pack, one of the most powerful werewolves in the world, had destroyed hundreds of witches and vampires alike.

“Yes!” James jumped up and down with joy. A rather strange and child-like thing to do.

William felt like he was going to throw up. All this time, the person they had believed was helping them had been the one destroying their kind.

“But the one downside is that I have to have a witch of my own. Helps to weaken yours. You should be thankful—she’s the one sending the humans off in the other direction at the moment. We’re safe for now.” James patted the chanting witch on the shoulder. “You can stop now, my dear.”

“So how shall we spend our time together?” James asked William.

William saw the hundreds of dead faces. Remembered the reports of a vampire being burnt in the sunlight, of witches being hunted and killed. Months of agony, trying to protect his friends.

William was still a young vampire. He couldn’t control himself. He lashed out and dived for James, going for the other man’s throat. James swatted him down as if he were no more than a bug. William got up and went for him again, landed a punch that knocked James to the ground. He fought fiercely but there was no way he could win. James was the leader of an entire race; William, the younger son of the most powerful vampire. His older brother Robert might be able take James, but not him. He never stood a chance.

As William charged at him one final time, James had obviously already seen his opportunity. He grabbed William around the neck and pinned him to the ground, standing over him, his foot resting heavily on his chest.

William was stuck. He couldn’t move.

“You know, I came here to see if you’d join me. I’ve heard about you. You never do as you’re told. A free spirit. The one Daddy Vamp can’t control. Join me, William, and together we could own this world.”

William hated the power his family had and he’d never wanted to be part of that world. But as much as he pissed his father off, he still loved him—he was still his father.

“Never,” he growled, blood landing on James’s face.

James wiped the blood away with the material of his shirt. “Big mistake.”

James tightened his hold on William’s neck. The pressure felt as though James was going to rip his head from his body…which was one of the few things that would kill him.

William closed his eyes, praying for Emma.

“Big mistake, wolf.” A flash of light threw James off him. Emma was standing, pale and shaking, her hair dishevelled.

James collapsed in a heap across from William, but he wasn’t dead.

“The next time you get a little witch, get one who knows how to do a chant properly,” Emma panted. A burst of flames consumed the other witch as Emma was hit by the final blast from the other witch.

William could feel Emma’s pain, but the other witch
screamed
.

“Nooo!” James yelled. “Bitch!”

Emma threw more magic his way. William grabbed her before she allowed it to consume them both. She had created enough of a diversion.