Rebel Bitten (Blood Alliance Book 4) Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Rebel Bitten

  Copyright © 2020 Lexi C. Foss

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book may not be redistributed to others for commercial or noncommercial purposes.

  Editing by: Outthink Editing, LLC

  Proofreading by: Katie Schmahl, Jean Bachen, & Julie Robertson

  Cover Design: Covers by Julie

  Cover Photography: Eric Battershell Photography

  Cover Model: Johnny Kane

  Published by: Ninja Newt Publishing, LLC

  Digital Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-950694-25-9

  Created with Vellum

  To Tracey, for your friendship and for always making me smile. Your Jace is next. <3

  And to Wendy, I hope I did your Ryder justice. ;)

  Contents

  About Rebel Bitten

  A Note from the Author

  Welcome to the Future

  The Blood Alliance

  Prologue

  1. Willow

  2. Ryder

  3. Willow

  4. Ryder

  5. Willow

  6. Willow

  7. Ryder

  8. Willow

  9. Ryder

  10. Willow

  11. Ryder

  12. Willow

  13. Willow

  14. Ryder

  15. Ryder

  16. Willow

  17. Ryder

  18. Ryder

  19. Willow

  20. Ryder

  21. Ryder

  22. Ryder

  23. Ryder

  24. Willow

  25. Willow

  26. Ryder

  27. Willow

  28. Willow

  29. Ryder

  30. Ryder

  31. Willow

  32. Ryder

  33. Willow

  34. Ryder

  35. Willow

  Epilogue

  Kingly Bitten

  Viciously Bitten

  Music Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  About Lexi C. Foss

  Also by Lexi C. Foss

  Once upon a time, humankind ruled the world while lycans and vampires lived in secret.

  This is no longer that time.

  Willow

  They’re chasing me, even into my dreams.

  And when I awake, I see him. Striking black eyes with a hint of the devil inside. He’s my savior and my worst nightmare combined.

  Because he owns me.

  He found me.

  He saved me.

  But I don’t want to be owned. I want to be free. Even if it kills me.

  Ryder

  I needed a diversion, a plaything, something to distract me from this perpetual boredom. And she appeared as if the Almighty above had heard my prayers.

  Or, more accurately, the devil.

  Because I’m not a good man. Humanity died inside me long ago. It was what I needed to survive.

  But she’s such a pretty little thing. I think I’ll keep her and make her mine. At least for a little while. Humans are so fragile, after all.

  Welcome to Ryder Region.

  It may not be mine yet, but it will be soon.

  For I haven’t lived this long by playing nice.

  I prefer to bite.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for joining me on this journey through the future. It’s dark and depraved and so much fun to play in. Willow and Ryder’s story was actually the first one in my mind when I started the Blood Alliance world, but as I learned more about them, I realized they couldn’t lead the series.

  Why?

  Because Ryder is terrifying. He’s unapologetically sadistic, lacks all semblance of humanity, and is not a man I’d ever want to piss off. He’s the epitome of vampire, a monster of the night who sees humans more as food than beings. And that carries in his voice.

  Yet somehow, he’s exactly what Willow needs. He even makes me swoon at points.

  I hope you enjoy their story. I would also love to hear what you think about Ryder and Willow when you’re done, either in a review or via comments in my Facebook reader group (Foss’s Night Owls)!

  Happy Reading! <3

  Hugs,

  Lexi

  Ps. Join my newsletter for exclusive excerpts, release news, and more!

  Once upon a time, humankind ruled the world while lycans and vampires lived in secret.

  This is no longer that time.

  Welcome to the future where the superior bloodlines make the rules.

  Proceed at your own risk.

  The Blood Alliance

  International law supersedes all national governance and will be maintained by the Blood Alliance—a global council of equal parts lycan and vampire.

  All resources are to be distributed evenly between lycan and vampire, including territory and blood. Societal standing and wealth, however, will be at the discretion of the individual packs and houses.

  To kill, harm, or provoke a superior being is punishable by immediate death. All disputes must be presented to the Blood Alliance for final judgment.

  Sexual relationships between lycans and vampires are strictly prohibited. However, business partnerships, where fruitful and appropriate, are permitted.

  Humans are hereby classified as property and do not carry any legal rights. Each will be tagged through a sorting system based on merit, intelligence, bloodline, ability, and beauty. Prioritization to be established at birth and finalized on Blood Day.

  Twelve mortals per year will be selected to compete for immortal blood status at the discretion of the Blood Alliance. From this twelve, two will be bitten by immortality. The others will die. To create a lycan or vampire outside of this process is unlawful and punishable by immediate death.

  All other laws are at the discretion of the packs and royals but must not defy the Blood Alliance.

  All right, here’s the deal. I’m not a hero. I’m not a good guy. I’m not a prince. Well, technically, that last bit is a lie considering I’m sitting in as the temporary Royal of Silvano Region—soon to be renamed Ryder Region because, let’s face it, that has a better ring to it.

  Anyway, as I was saying, I’m not a knight in shining armor. If you want a pretentious hero type, go talk to Jace. I hear he’s good at saving people.

  I’m more practical. If someone stands in my way, I remove them. Permanently. If something amuses me, I play with it. Which brings me to the point of my story.

  Willow.

  Ah, Willow.

  She’s a gorgeous little thing. Sort of broken from her time with the wolves, but I see the beauty in her fractured state. And I have no desire in improving on her imperfections. If anything, I wish to exploit them. Use them. Craft her into a shattered toy designed for my pleasure alone.

  So if you’re looking for a story with happiness and flowers, this isn’t that book.

  I’m a brutal man.

  I’ve lived alone for over a century for a reason.

  And I’m not a fan of the political bullshit plaguing immortal kind.

  This world is dark. Humans are slaves. Vampires and lycans make the rules (because we’re the superior species). It’s been that way since the revolution a hundred and
seventeen years ago, and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.

  Unless someone stands up and fights.

  I doubt I’ll be that man. But hey, the Blood Alliance is full of surprises. So let’s dance, shall we?

  Welcome to my mind.

  It’s a dangerous fucking place.

  Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I did. And the proof of it is on this page.

  Enjoy.

  1

  Willow

  Pain.

  So. Much. Pain.

  I tried to move, to scream, to beg them to stop, but nothing worked. Not my lips. Not my throat. Not even my lungs. I was a prisoner in my own body, feeling every torturous assault as they ripped me in half.

  The drugs numbed me enough to keep the concept of reality from fracturing my mind. Yet I felt every prod. Every dig of their claws. Each swipe of a tongue.

  Something was very wrong.

  They usually came at me one at a time, reeking of liquor and smoke.

  But the stench of alcohol was different this time, the poking sharper and drawing blood.

  “She’s crashing,” one of them said.

  “No shit, asshole,” another hissed.

  “Fuck off,” a third snapped. “Out. Now.”

  I tried to open my eyes, to see my aggressors, to figure out what had changed. They always kept me lucid enough to feel them, to force my unwilling participation through this wretched dance with fate.

  Yet I was floating now.

  High, high, high above the ground.

  Mmm, that’s good. A cloud of bliss and nothingness. So dark. So bleak. So me.

  Electricity sizzled through my veins, forcing me back into awareness, my fate a dark blip on the horizon.

  No. No. No.

  I don’t want to be here.

  I don’t want to see.

  Please don’t make me. Please!

  Growls penetrated my ears, excruciating agony ripping through my insides. It was too much. My eyes flashed open, the startling light of the room flipping on a switch inside my mind. Blazing green irises grinned down at me, his feral enjoyment palpable and consuming.

  Then silence fell, the only sound the beating of my own heart.

  I glanced around, searching for the perpetrators and finding myself alone in a sea of blood-red and white.

  The door hung open, illuminating a hallway of dusky stone.

  Where am I? I wondered, swallowing and flinching at the sandpaper feel of my throat. This isn’t my cage.

  It reminded me of a physician’s examination room, similar to the ones I’d visited monthly at the university. Had they just taken samples again?

  No. I frowned. I’m not at the university anymore. But where am I?

  Then my gaze fell to my abdomen, and a scream threatened to escape my mouth. I clamped a hand over my lips before I could release it, black dots dancing before my eyes at the gruesome display below.

  Claw marks.

  Bites.

  Blood.

  Oh, Goddess… They’d tried to eat me. Fucking lycans!

  I wanted to slaughter them all.

  Burn this entire world to the damn ground.

  I should have been a Vigil. No, I should have gone to the Immortal Cup. Not to the breeding camps.

  My stomach heaved as I leaned over to expel the contents onto the linoleum floor. Nothing came out, just acidic burn.

  This place resembled the worst kind of nightmare, one I’d barely acknowledged for however long I’d been here because of the drugs.

  But I was fully lucid now.

  Why?

  Had they left me here in this pool of gore to die?

  Fuck. That. I hadn’t survived this horrible existence just to meet my end on a table in some stark white lab.

  The door, I thought, finding it again. It’s still open.

  Some part of me had expected it to close, for my mind to play an evil trick on me regarding a potential escape. Because there was no avoiding this life.

  Humans were cattle.

  Prey.

  The bottom of the food chain.

  Lycans and vampires ruled. They made the edicts. They chose our fates. They sent me here.

  I hated them. Wanted to slaughter them all. A false fantasy, one I knew couldn’t be done. They were too strong. Supernatural. Immortal. But a girl could dream, and dream I did.

  That door, I thought again, stirring from the table. Still. Open.

  It had to be a trick. A game. Perhaps the lycans had decided to invite me into an infamous moon chase.

  I shivered at the notion. No, thank you.

  But what if I outran them?

  My legs were okay.

  Wouldn’t dying with dignity be better than succumbing to fate on this table? I wondered, slightly delirious from the idea of running. It would exhaust me. Probably kill me. But that had to be better than being fucked to death.

  Which was exactly what would happen if I remained here, in the custody of these lycans.

  Breeding was the last thing I wanted.

  They could create their own fucking wolves. My body was mine. Now and always.

  Prove it, a dark voice in my mind whispered. Run.

  And go where? I asked myself.

  Anywhere is better than here.

  I groaned, my stomach churning with a fresh wave of torment. I curled into a ball and immediately regretted it, my insides pulsating with wrongness.

  I’m going to die, I realized, my blood suddenly on fire from the mental proclamation. I’m going to die on this fucking table. In this fucking room. By my fucking self.

  A growl threatened my raw throat at the injustice of it all.

  I had worked so hard for my position in this world. To be relegated to the breeding camp was a big slap in the face. That these animals had pummeled me into a pile of raw meat only grated on my nerves more.

  No.

  I was not going to die like this.

  Not here.

  I would at least see the sun one more time. Because screw the lycans. Screw all of this.

  A scream caught in my throat as I forced myself to roll off the table onto my feet, but my knees locked, holding me up.

  The bruises on my thighs throbbed with each step toward the door, just as a sticky substance ran down my legs. Blood. My blood.

  “Move,” I breathed to myself. “Don’t think. Just run.” I barely recognized my voice. It was a rasp of sound, one the lycans probably heard. Only, the hallway was empty.

  I didn’t recognize this part of the compound. It had bare walls, more exam rooms, and very little else.

  It reminded me of a hospital ward.

  However, the one I’d visited at the university after an accident had a lot more movement. Silas had prodded me during a sparring exercise, his knife swiping too close to my ribs and creating a harsh gash. He’d felt horrible afterward, but I’d healed.

  I glanced down. Not sure I’ll be healing from this.

  My palm was red, my fingers more inside me than out. The claw marks across my skin resembled grooves of hideous intent. I couldn’t remember how they appeared, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  No one stopped me as I reached the exit.

  Alarms didn’t sound as I pushed outside, where I was met by the moon and not the sun. I shivered, taking in the size. Please don’t be full. If they’d released me just to chase me… Oh, Goddess, no. I’d fight them. I’d go down screaming. I no longer cared. I refused to be raped and used again. To be bred.

  Fuck!

  I started to move, adrenaline coursing through my system and sending me tumbling—

  Down, down, down to the riverbank.

  The world shifted as I rolled violently into the chilly water below. I wasn’t even sure how I’d gotten this far, my memory of the last few minutes skipping through my mind.

  This is death.

  The final moments.

  No. Keep. Running.

  The stench reminded me of hell. Murky. Gross. Thick.
/>   I cradled my stomach, the mud mingling with my wounds.

  Maybe it would deter the lycans from eating me later.

  Run. Run. Run.

  Everything was spinning. The world. My life. So much blood. I whirled around, startled by the light above, only to realize it was still the moon. Hysteria blinked into my mind, fracturing my thoughts for too brief a moment.

  And still I ran.

  Unsure of where to go.

  Just run, run, run.

  The warm air kept me alive, the water and mud a cocoon of disgrace coating my skin. This world was a nightmare. What had I done to deserve this fate? I’d studied hard. “I shouldn’t be here,” I mumbled to myself, again glancing around and finding nothing but trees, endless sky, and river.