Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 81

There were shadows of people across the street on the walkway between two buildings. It was the same area where she and Uri had been accosted my five men that first day she had been with him. It had been the first time she had seen men die by a bite.

The shadows receded.

Natalia thought she smelled fear. Apprehension?

She took a few steps in that direction and the shadows disappeared altogether. Natalia did another slow spin, taking in all the people and the sounds. For a party, it wasn’t loud, despite there was music playing in the background. All talk was in Viperian, which was normally quiet. There was a lot of touching and brushing against each other by both the men and women.

The man the women had undressed was now having hard intercourse with one of the them. However, it wasn’t a breeding. The other woman seemed to be waiting her turn.

Natalia listened hard.

Again, she turned toward the walkway. She felt drawn in that direction and stepped up to the curb.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder.

‘I wouldn’t go over there. They’re just watching, but they’re not welcome.”

Natalia knew the young woman as Liza.

‘Who are they?’

‘Outcasts. Young men not up to our standards.’

‘Lowlifes?’

‘You could call them that.’

‘Why are they scared?’

Liza’s nostrils flared.

‘They’re probably just cautious because we don’t want them around. Please stay within the park or the house.’

Natalia returned to her chair.

The man was now having sex with the other woman. There were now women moving about topless.

‘So this is what you’ll be doing at a bachelor house when you get older.’

Victoria was no longer fussing, but she was awake.

Char came back over with a few other women who wanted to see Victoria.

‘Don’t know if I like her seeing bachelor house life already.’

The women chuckled.

‘Boys gotta learn how to make a woman happy,’ one woman said.

‘They need to get practice somewhere,’ Char said.

‘Summer gatherings like this are common,’ another said.

‘We’re lucky with the park being here,” Char said. ‘We can spread out. They’re usually contained inside or within a backyard.’

Natalia noted the man having sex try to bite the woman, but she pushed his head away and bit him instead. Everyone now seemed to be watching the pair.

‘So he’s getting practice with sex, and she’s practicing her bites?’

Natalia noted some sly looks.

Char smiled.

‘You got the picture. It takes practice to handle all our venoms.’

‘How many are there?’ Natalia said.

‘More than enough.’

‘That’s what I keep hearing.’

All the women smiled.

Natalia now understood what she was seeing. Men being used as guinea pigs. Their reward was sex. She wondered if Uri had been part of such parties, thinking she needed to ask him.

‘Just how many times can you bite one of them?’

Char shrugged.

‘Depends on how much venom is injected. Something else we also learn to control.’

‘So did Mina pass on what it took to get Uri to breed?’

Char smiled slyly again.

‘I don’t think I should say.’

‘No? Just pass it on that the next one who tries will have to contend with me.’

‘Don’t worry. Uri’s now off limits because of you.’

‘Nice to hear.’

Char and her group rose and left.

Liza came back over.

‘Come in. We have kabobs in the kitchen.’

Natalia had the feeling they wanted her out of the park.

She followed Liza over to the house. The decor was different from when she had last been there. There were more loveseats and sofas for lounging. The dining room was no longer set as a dining room, but looked like another living room.

In the kitchen, there was a woman holding an ice pack to her mouth.

‘Idiot jerked when I bit. Bent my fang wrong. It hurts like hell.’

‘You have to learn to do it fast,’ someone said.

‘I was concentrating on the bite.’

‘It’ll be okay by tomorrow,’ Liza said. ‘I had the same thing happen once.’

‘Ends my evening early.’

She sounded disappointed.

‘Happens.’

The woman left with her ice pack.

‘Are there other ways to practice?’ Natalia said to Liza.

Liza shrugged.

‘Skin bags are available, but there’s nothing like a live body.’

She smiled.

‘Do the men remember?’

Liza shook her head.

‘If they did, we’d run out of men willing to show up. They just remember sweet sex.’

She chuckled.

Natalia took a kabob. It was warm, raw, and juicy. Victoria looked like she was chewing, but then she went back to sleep.

Natalia had this vision of the future. Her daughter chasing down squirrels and rabbits, ripping off their hide, and snarfing down the raw meat. She decided she had better do some education on the proper time and place for eating raw meals.

She wandered out to the backyard. There were a couple of tables with chairs. There were six women playing Pikers.

‘Want to join the next game? Five dollar ante.’

Natalia shrugged.

‘Sure.’

She had some money on her. It wasn’t much to lose. She watched the current game and wondered if she could go as fast as they were playing. When the game ended, one woman left. Natalia took her chair. Because money was involved, she decided to take Uri’s advice on the game and not do her own experimenting. She concentrated hard and played the cards like Uri had told her.

‘Damn. Where did you learn to play?’ one woman asked after two rounds.

‘Uri,’ she said.

She was concentrating so hard on the cards, that after the fifth round and the end of the game, she found she had won.

The ladies immediately dealt the next game.

Natalia raked in the money, leaving her five dollars. Everyone else threw in money.

They were nearing the end of the second gate, when Natalia smelled it. Victoria jerked at the same time.

Something needed a bath.

Natalia played her cards with little attention. Again she won.

‘Do you smell that?’ she said.

Everyone flared nostrils.

‘Sweat,’ one said.

Natalia nodded.

Five Viperian men hopped over the fence.

‘Evening, ladies.’

Natalia knew in a moment they weren’t invited guests. The women stood, but instead of looking alarmed, they smiled as if they had something in mind.

‘No, biting,’ one man said, wagging a finger toward them.

Natalia rose and turned toward them. The whole attitude of the men changed as they focused on her. They went from looking cocky to looking alarmed.

Natalia took note of the change.

‘No biting by who?’ she said, taking a step in their direction.

Natalia knew it was an empty threat, but every single one of them backed up a step. This made her curious since she expected them to bunch together for protection if they were scared of her knives. However, they kept a scattered formation.

In an instant, one leaped over the fence and was gone, leaving his companions.

‘Where you going, boys?’ one of the women behind Natalia said.

‘Didn’t know she was here,’ the obvious leader said.

As soon as the words left his mouth, they all scattered, jumping over the fence and were gone.

Natalia could hear them running in many directions. There were additional running footsteps and she figured a few women from the park must have seen them and gave chase.

‘They must have heard you’re the one to beat in Pikers,’ someone said.

There were some chuckles.

Natalia picked up her winnings.

‘I best leave while I’m ahead,’ she said, wondering why the men had been scared of her.

Less than a year ago, she had been terrified of them. Now, it was the other way around. She didn’t think it was because of her knives.

She went through the house and refilled her glass in the kitchen. When she went through the living room, three women had a man penned down on the floor. He looked as if he was in agony. She stepped out and sat on the porch.

Her phone told her a few hours had passed. Victoria was awake, but not fussing.

She sent a text to Uri.

Done for the night?

She looked over the park. There were still more women than men. Most of the men were naked, surrounded by three or more women.

Char separated herself from a group in the park and came up by her.

‘You’re full Undent, right?’

‘Yes, of course. Why?’

‘There’s a rumor that you have a venom that kills. Kills Viperians.’

‘What?’

‘Someone stalked a couple of those lowlifes that ran from here. They were talking about you and your venom. Causes red foaming of the mouth and death.’

‘That’s got to be the bad tea.’

Char grinned.

‘That’s got to be it. Didn’t put those two together.’

‘Those three that died by Sophie’s place.’

Char nodded with a grin.

‘You got a reputation, girl.”

Char chuckled.

‘Hopefully, it’s to my benefit and keeps those guys away from me,’ Natalia said.

Her phone dinged.

‘It’s Uri. He’ll be here in half an hour. Bonnie was over by him, so she’ll get him then come for me.’

‘Thanks for the warning.’

Char trotted back over to the park. Natalia heard her spread the word that Uri was coming. It started a chain reaction. All the chairs and tables disappeared. The lights were taken down from the trees.

Natalia didn’t even see the men leave, but they were gone. Clothing was put back on. Women passed her to go into the house. She suspected the party would resume in the back or somewhere in the house. The only remnant of the party was the music playing in the background.

Char reappeared, wearing a short dress over her shorts.

‘Let Tia know what you experienced with those boys,’ Char said.

‘I will.’

The limo pulled up.