A Split in the Road, Book 3 of Vampire Wars

By CR Guiliano

Samuel had finally gotten away from Master Dumas, but his mother’s abandonment hurt, not to mention the pain of starvation he would endure. Plus, Master Dumas was searching for him, bent on mating Samuel and keeping him under his control.
Taking a human trucker up on a ride wasn’t Samuel’s smartest decision, but being young and small, he wasn’t sure what else he could do. And the human—Tayen—was as sexy as hell, and drew Samuel in like a moth to flame.
Tay took Samuel to his family’s home, their time together resulting in Samuel falling for the big human. But, Myron, Tay’s brother-in-law and a master vampire wouldn’t allow Samuel to remain in their home, too worried for his pregnant mate, Sarah, Tay’s sister. Samuel wouldn’t stay where he wasn’t wanted, and felt guilty for putting Tay in such a situation. But before he could leave, tragedy struck, they were attacked, and Master Dumas once more had his hands on Samuel.
The remorse and anguish Samuel felt at the death of Tay and his family ate at him like acid. He didn’t care whether Master Dumas mated him now. He deserved the pain and degradation he was sure to be subjected to.

But to his surprise, another clan destroyed Master Dumas’s clan, and Samuel found himself free, even if the mate bond still pulsed within his mind, weak as it was. His shock only increased when he was accepted into that clan, and was told they weren’t vampires at all, but dyads.
But still the mating bond held him captive, even being bonded to Kylor, the alpha master of the dyad clan. It took time until Samuel was able to ignore the mating bond that tied him to a dead vampire, and the guilt that continued to eat away at him over the deaths he’d caused would never go away.
Only Kylor knew of Samuel’s humiliation, and knew nothing of Tay and Samuel hoped it stayed that way, even as he began his new life without his mate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CR Guiliano
• Release date: Feb 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311210456

CR Guiliano

CR Guiliano is an avid reader which logically morphed into the love of writing. She writes in many genres, but is most happy writing the love between two men (or more!) She makes them work hard for their HEA, and considers herself an expert in angst. CR finds her favorite form of writing is in serials, where she can continue to write about characters who have captured her heart, and hopes have captured her readers as well. You will usually find CR cuddled up to her laptop creating stories to entertain, inspire, and bring your emotions to the surface. CR has a huge warren of plot bunnies that is growing every day, and can’t wait to fill out each story idea, and share them all with her readers. CR was proudly nominated in the Goodreads Best Anthology Nominations and was thrilled to be included with the many talented writers from the same Anthology. CR is the author of the Best of 2015 reads on USAToday, with her award-winning title, Omega Born. CR is a committed advocate for the GLBTQ community and does her best to change society’s attitudes, one mind at a time. You can learn more about CR Guiliano and her stories at the following locations and feel free to drop her line as she loves to hear from anyone interested in her, or her writings: Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CR-Guiliano-Author/243814592322136?ref=hl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crguiliano Author blog: http://crguiliano-author.blogspot.com/ Works-in-progress blog: http://guilianowip.blogspot.com/ Website: http://crguiliano.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/pernwish Email: [e-mail]

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A Split in the Road by CR Guiliano (Book 3 in Vampire Wars)

A Split in the Road

Book 3 of Vampire Wars

Published by CR Guiliano

Copyright © 2015 CR Guiliano

All Rights Reserved.

Digital Edition

Cover Designer: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Shardel

This book 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.

License Notes

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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 author.

Warning: This book contains material that is only suitable for mature readers.

Chapter 1

Samuel ran, trying to keep up with his mother, but his shorter stature just couldn’t do it and the snow wasn’t helping. He called out, but his mom didn’t stop and before long, he could no longer see her through the trees. His heart lurched, knowing he was being left behind. He stumbled and tripped, landing heavily on his hands and knees and biting his lip to keep from crying out as the twigs and rocks under the wet snow cut into the tender flesh of his palms and scraped his knees through the denim of his pants.

Breathing heavily, he floundered to his feet, his chest aching and his head pounding, his body feeling frozen. He could feel Master Dumas’s blood bond, the master searching for him. He glanced back, but there was nothing there except a brisk breeze swaying the few leaves left on the barren trees. Taking a few deep breaths, he moved forward as quietly as he could, extending his senses to follow his mother’s path, but he couldn’t feel her, which meant she was too far from him to detect.

Holding in the tears that threatened, he struggled on, knowing he needed to put as many miles between him and Master Dumas’s kedges as he could. The fear the master would find him drove him forward, no matter how exhausted he was. It wasn’t long before he broke from the trees, a winding, two-lane road snaking off east and west in front of him, snow scrapped off and onto the side. Just as he was ready to dart across the pavement, he heard a loud engine. Turning to his right, he saw a large semi barreling towards him.

Desperate, Samuel waved the truck down, but when it passed him, he slumped in defeat. A low, long horn had him turning to see the semi pulled off to the side of the road a few yards past him and idling. Surprised, Samuel hurried to the passenger side of the truck and opened the tall door. The driver glanced down at him, and his brown eyes widened. Samuel knew what he was seeing. Not only was Samuel a true vampire, his pale blue eyes without the black pupil’s humans had and his long white hair giving him away, he was also dirty, missing a coat in this frigid weather, his clothes were torn, and blood was seeping from his palms and stiffening the denim at his knees.

Come on. Let’s get you off the road.

Samuel shivered more from the man’s low voice than the freezing temperature and scrambled up the steps into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind him. He couldn’t think about his mother right now. She’d left him, abandoned him to be caught by Master Dumas’s kedges. He had to look out for himself now. How he was going to do that since he was practically a youngling at twenty, and a pyrina as well, he didn’t know. Hell, his fangs weren’t even fully developed yet, though his senses were a lot stronger than what he’d heard they should be at his age. Maybe that was why Master Dumas was so intent on possessing Samuel. He only hoped the human who’d stopped to give him a ride wouldn’t hurt him, or turn him over to any vampire master Samuel didn’t know. Or worse, and he shuddered, give him back to Master Dumas.

Seatbelt.

Samuel jerked at the man’s words and fumbled for the belt, snapping it into place, keeping his head down as the engine rumbled and the driver got the big truck moving again. He felt his eyes grow wide when the man reached over and opened the glove box, producing a small first aid kit and handing it to Samuel. He staunchly ignored the large, black gun he briefly saw before the human closed the glove box.

I’m going to assume you’re in some kind of trouble, given the state of your clothes.

Silently, Samuel nodded his head, then shook it, his head throbbing at the movements, as he opened the kit and found items to clean up his hands. He’d heal quickly, being a vampire, but it was still a thoughtful gesture. He chanced a glance at the man driving and tried not to think how handsome he was…for a human. He was big, a lot bigger than Samuel, with dark hair cut close to his scalp, high cheek bones and a sharp jaw covered in a thin stubble in the same dark color, and a thin mustache, giving him a slightly rakish look. The man’s eyes were such a deep brown, they looked black. Currently, they had a concerned expression in them and Samuel flushed with embarrassment.

I’m not…I didn’t do anything wrong, but my ma… Samuel stuttered to a stop, not knowing what to say to the man. Could he divulge that his master was searching for him to mate him against his will? Could he confess Master Dumas wanted to possess Samuel in a way he didn’t want, to a stranger? Shame swamped him knowing he’d refused the master, which had enraged Master Dumas and was the reason Samuel and his mother had fled the compound. His mother had been furious, berating him until she needed her breath for running.

It’s okay, man. I know about vampires, my sister is married to one, but you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.

Samuel was shocked this man had a vampire in his family. He’d heard rumors about vampires that left the compounds, became rogues and found lives among the humans, forsaking the bond that tied them to a master, but Samuel had never met one, nor had any contact with humans. Samuel relaxed a little. As a pyrina he could tell the human was telling the truth. Not that he would trust the man, but he was convinced the kind driver wasn’t going to hurt him. My…my master, he wanted…wants to mate with me. He’s not my true mate, and I refused. He grew angry and my mother and I had to run. He would have killed her, and held me prisoner until I caved to his will.

Samuel’s voice got stronger the longer he spoke until he was nearly shouting, indignation, pain and anger coloring his speech. He snapped his mouth shut when he realized what he was doing, and turned to stare out the passenger window, unsure how the truck driver would react to his outburst.

Where’s your mother now?

Bleakness filled Samuel when he thought of his mother. She ran. I couldn’t keep up with her, and she left me. Samuel knew the anguish that he was feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon, and he didn’t say anymore.

Well, that sucks. You can’t be much more than a youngling. Are you still bonded to this master? And where is your father?

Samuel was getting uncomfortable with the intrusive questions and squirmed, beginning to wonder if maybe he’d made a mistake getting into this truck. He didn’t want to tell the man he was still bonded. That put the driver in danger. Master Dumas would have no problem killing a human that he thought was keeping something that belonged to him. And Samuel did belong to Master Dumas. Until the bond was broken, which meant until Master Dumas’s death, Samuel would be tied to him. Which gave the master the means to find him, no matter how far he ran.

Samuel couldn’t even say anything about his father, since he didn’t know who the male was. It had always been just Samuel and his mother, and she refused to talk about anything that even remotely involved his father. He did overhear the master