Trick or Treat?

Happy Halloween!

What would Halloween be without a treat? I dug around the bottomless pit (my laptop) and found another deleted scene from Vampire's Forbidden Territory. The deleted scene was Beth's POV at the camp (before Katie and Jared arrived) when she first met Mitch.

NOTE: Some of the dialogue and other details changed in the final version. The scene was not edited.

Enjoy!

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 A deep growl echoed through the trees, deep within the Sídhí forest. The harsh sound promised a painful ending.

Beth ran toward the disappearing sound, quickly reaching a campsite nestled on the edge of a small meadow amid tall furble trees. Two mid-sized tents stood near each other, away from the approaching confrontation.

At the far edge of camp, a beautiful young woman extended semi-clear claws and methodically advanced toward a grinning young man. With each stalking step, her long white blonde hair swung around slender hips. Her ethereal features lacked all expression.

On the opposite side of camp, to Beth's right, stood a gorgeous hunk in a pair of red shorts and a skintight matching muscle shirt. Six and a half feet of pure muscle rippled with barely contained power as he flexed his arms, anticipating the coming fight. Light green eyes twinkled with excitement. The large mint green iris left little room for the surrounding white of his eyes, his elfin eyes.

The large elf encouraged the coming fight with a kissing smack of his lips, blowing the slowly approaching young woman a sarcastic kiss. "Come on, Sarah, that's it. Show me your true colors so I can prove to my naive twin you're nothing but a murderous dhark warrior."

Blurred movement, racing between the trees, caught Beth's attention.

An angry young man, with dripping black hair and no shirt, rushed into the camp area struggling to button a pair of tight jean shorts over obviously wet hips. "Dang it Sarah, sheath those blasted claws. Whatever Mitch said, you can't kill him."

His harsh order was not well received, not by either party.

Sarah's immobile face changed in an instant, reflecting her anger. She opened her mouth, revealing lengthened fangs and hissed at the dark haired guy who dared interrupt her fight. Not a smart move on the wet guy's side of things, not when you considered the bear-like claws she boasted.

Sarah shouldn't have had claws, none of the other vampires did. By order of the dragons, every camper wore a silver bracelet. The silver should've restricted her ability to extend her claws, but the thin piece of metal obviously didn't work the way it should.

Beth didn't doubt for a minute that a fight would occur, especially since most dhark vampires had no honor. They lived and breathed to serve their evil masters, the dhark overlords of the Dhark Empire. And Beth knew for a fact Sarah was one of the vilest vampires alive.

"Hey, who said I started it?" Mitch asked. The laughter in his deep voice countered his innocent words.

Mitch glanced toward Beth and dismissed her as unimportant, returning his gaze to Sarah. He froze then whipped his head around, staring at her in wide-eyed shock, unconsciously taking a step toward her as if drawn toward her.

His reaction mirrored most young men she was introduced too. They ignored everyone – and everything around him – except her. It was side effect of being Haven Valley's Alpha Prime; most unmated men were physically drawn toward her like a khatt in heat.

Thankfully, she didn't see drool dripping from his lower lip, and drool did happen. Lord Morkan's son had been her last drooler.

She shuddered, remembering the long slimy streaks he left behind on her beautiful green ball gown after a single dance. She absolutely did not want the drool experience repeated.

As Mitch stared at Beth, the large black pupils of his elfin eyes expanded, indicating either surprise or pleasure. From his pause and huge welcoming smile, she assumed the later. Like males who couldn't resist the pull of her animal nature, the muscle-bound Mitch thought better with the lower half of his body and not the upper half.

"Well, hello Short Stuff.” He gave her a million dollar smile. “Jeez, for such a tiny thing, you are stacked like Jessica Rabbit: big boobs, teeny tiny waist, and hips I can grab hold of.”

Great, just her luck, she had to share a cabin for four months with a wannabe comedian who thought he was Casanova. The thickheaded moron was exactly the type of guy she avoided: a gorgeous, brawny idiot with the brain of a skrivett. She choked back a snort of disgust, hoping she could keep her mouth shut.

Several feet away, a young woman who had been silently combing her hair, snorted. She expertly flipped the long mane of black hair into a ponytail and jumped off the blue surface of a long dead furble tree. "Mitch, you're so full of it.” Without pausing, the girl turned toward the half-dressed vampire. “Nick, it wasn't Sarah's fault. Mitch asked her if all female exiles... well, never mind, I'm not repeating it. He was being a butt head, acting like a five year old, instead of seventeen."

With the speed of the Hummingbird, the dark-haired girl turned and smiled at Beth. "I'm Emily, unofficial peacemaker for the next four months."

Beth murmured a polite greeting, while keeping Sarah and her deadly claws in view. From the moment Nick stepped between her and the big elf, the young woman hadn't moved.

Like pulling nails from wood it took Sarah several tries to pull her eyes from Nick's glistening shoulders. Her cool features remained emotionally frozen, but her eyes reflected a sense of betrayal. For a split-instant, moisture seemed to pool in the vampire's eyes then just as quickly it disappeared.

The split second glimpse of emotion floored Beth. She knew Sarah's violent history and it didn't match what her eyes just saw.

Beams of bright sunshine broke through the thin morning cloud-cover, turning Sarah's blue eyes bloody red. The solid red gaze of an exile met Beth's and she wished Sarah had left her hungry gaze on the half-naked vampire. If there was one thing in life Beth truly detested, it was blood suckers who enjoyed hurting other people. From every report Beth read, she knew Sarah fell in that evil category.

As Alpha Prime, Beth had access to the portfolios of many Dhark Valley residents. Lady Sarah Trellick's folder was very thick. She was a blood thirsty piece of filth that took extreme joy in torturing her victims. The hideous white-haired monster needed to be exterminated. If Beth could've attacked and killed Sarah without major repercussions she would have.

Emily shifted from foot to foot, drawing Beth's attention to her eager face. The girl's deep blue eyes grew bright with barely suppressed excitement. “Oh! You smell human! That means you're a shifter! Oh my gosh! I've been wanting to meet one so bad. I mean, I know dragons are shifters, but that's different. What kind are you? Can you turn into more than one shape? Does it hurt?”

Brianna shoved past Beth. She barely had time to stifle her groan before her best friend snapped at the inquisitive girl. “That's rude! You don't ask someone what kind of shifter they are.”

“Oh,” Emily said, a red flush of embarrassment crossed her face. Like taking candy away from a toddler, the teenager's lower lip drooped and all the air seemed to rush from her body.

“No harm done,” Beth said, looping her arm through Brianna's. She gently tugged, silently reminding her BFF to behave herself. Sometimes Brianna took her duty as unofficial royal guard way too seriously.

She briefly touched the girl shoulder. “It would be impossible for anyone outside of Haven Valley to know our customs and such.”

“Yeah,” Mitch said harshly. A snarl lifted his firm upper lip, revealing the sharp fangs of a vampire.

Beth blinked in surprise. He wasn't an elf, not with those wicked looking teeth. Elfin eyes and vampire fangs made him a halfling. His next words made him a halfling with a mega-sized attitude problem.

“I know all about shifter customs. They include torturing and eating their prey, their human prey. Do not ever touch Emily again.” Mitch demanded in a harsh guttural voice. “You got me?”

Until next time,

Jodie B

www.jodiebcooper.com