by Anna Santos
In a couple of months, he would turn twenty, and I wanted to find a pureblood to help me before it was too late. Maybe I would find one there, someone nicer than Sasha. I had been sent there to observe and report; however, we’d had no idea that it was a peaceful town. We had assumed that it was an evil lair of vampires hiding behind important jobs to prey on humans.
I hadn’t planned on spending more than three weeks there, let alone finding my soul-mate. But it had happened, and I couldn’t just leave and forget all about Shane. I couldn’t tell him the truth about who I was, either. So I decided to play along and let him teach me. Of course, then I felt bad about letting Shane think that I was not as good at fighting as I truly was. I would let him win, but I had to confess that he was good. He was really damn good!
I had to confess that I had lots of fun being taught by him, even if he would sometimes get mad and accuse me of not taking things seriously, since I shamelessly flirted with him most of the time. I could not help it. It was hard to concentrate with him around me, touching me and talking into my ear. I would let him win; I would let him think I was an average fighter, just so I wouldn’t hurt his pride. Just so he wouldn’t find out about my secret, not yet anyway.
Besides, I was not sure I could beat him that easily. He was fast and well trained. He had had years of experience, years of leading troops and defending his master’s domains from rivals and rouge attackers. Shane was a natural leader, and that made me fall even harder for him. He wanted me to be strong and capable of taking care of myself. He didn’t treat me like a helpless, silly woman who needed a man to protect her. I respected him even more for that.
All that training and the concerned look on Shane’s face whenever I fell down or got bruised made me have flashbacks of my father training me. It was weird how Shane could make me remember my dad so often. The memories made me nostalgic. Shane would sometimes worry, thinking he was pushing me too hard or maybe that I was just tired from the workout. He was really sweet during those times.
The truth was that training with Shane was good for me. Since I’d moved there and met him, I wasn’t working out as much as I should. Over the past two weeks, I’d caught up and gotten in shape again. It had also strengthened my bond with him. I got to know another aspect of his personality, and it was really a turn on. There was something extremely intimate about sword fighting and body-to-body combat with your soul-mate. But would he understand my reasons, once I told him who I really was and what had brought me to his village? Would he fight with me or against me?
Eventually I started to understand how things worked in that town. Things weren’t as normal as they seemed. They were extremely organized and concerned with everybody’s security. Shane was the one taking care of everything. He had a lot of mysterious phone calls, which he would answer in private so I couldn’t hear them. Normally, the calls he did let me hear were about security plans and perimeter runs. It was his duty to designate teams during the day in the police station and fix the schedules if someone couldn’t make it.
The ones I couldn’t hear were the ones where he talked to his superior, probably the king that I had heard gossip about. I hadn’t asked Shane directly about the king, but I was curious. Shane had made it very clear that he was going to tell me everything about his job and the village, once I was accepted by our peers, the other supernatural members of the community. He wanted me to be part of his life, to have a home with him there. I was touched by it, and I was really hoping that, in time, I would trust him and make him part of my life, too.
Meanwhile, from what he had shared with me and by some conversations and phone calls I had witnessed, everybody in town had an hour or a day in the week to do security patrols in the woods and along town boundaries. There was also an elite squad; most of them belonged to the town police force, which had the job of protecting everyone. The elite squad had their best warriors, the strongest and the oldest ones, and Shane was their incontestable leader. Those warriors had the biggest responsibilities and had to always be alert to be summoned or ready to fight off anyone who disturbed the order or broke the law, outsiders or even inhabitants.
They were really well organized to protect their safety and their citizens, mostly to protect the children. The children were sacred, and I could relate to that. I could deeply empathize with that concern and safety measure. I couldn’t help but feel proud and admire my mate even more. Shane was all I could ever have dreamed of in a mate. He was perfect and radiated power and a feeling of protection that made me feel safe and at home. He was making me feel as if I belonged there, next to him, forever.
Chapter Sixteen
Shane
Annabel was holding back. I knew it, but I wouldn’t say anything. Maybe she was scared of hurting me. Maybe she just didn’t know how strong she really was. Maybe she was doing it on purpose. The fact was that, when we trained, she always held back her strength, her abilities, and her knowledge, and she would let me win easily. Therefore, I tried something else. I couldn’t train with her the same way I trained my men. I worried about hurting her. For that reason, after one week of training alone with me, I put her in the community training schedule. There were women there and other men to practice with or be taught by. Maybe she would be more open to showing her abilities if I wasn’t around all the time, asking her if she was okay or if I’d hurt her. I must confess, I went a bit crazy every time she fell down or got bruised.
It was Friday night, and we had gone out to dine in a fancy French restaurant. It had been an exhausting week, and I wanted to reward my better half with a romantic night out.
“I’m really proud of you,” I whispered, holding her hand over the table. It was an elegant place, and Anna looked stunning in her short black dress and silver pumps. Her glossy dark hair was coiffed in a really classy low rolled-up do, showing her pretty face and gorgeous neck. I had a fixation on that neck. I had an obsession for every single part of her, especially her eyes, lips, and neck. I was having withdrawals just sitting on the other side of the table, unable to wrap her in my arms.
“Is that why we are dining out?” she asked, smiling with her perfect, shiny red lips. Her eyes sparkled every time she smiled at me. It made me feel even more in love with her, because I knew that I made her happy.
“No, I just wanted to show you off,” I said in a playful tone, making her chuckle and touch the necklace at her neckline. “Besides, Sam’s Bar is hardly the place to take you every night. And the food is better here than in Mama Bear’s Diner.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that just yet. Do you normally come here to eat?” she asked, looking at the surrounding tables with interest.
“I have a really good friend who likes to eat here,” I said, playing with my fingers in her palm.
“James?” she wondered.
“Him, too,” I confirmed, turning to the waiter who had brought the wine I had chosen and was showing me the bottle. I released Anna’s hand and tasted the wine, approving it. He poured some wine in our glasses and filled Anna’s glass of water.
“He’s here with the drama teacher,” Anna whispered after the waiter left.
“Did he see us?” I asked, talking in the same secretive way.
“He’s coming our way,” she replied, drinking water and putting on a smile to greet them. I knew she didn’t like him much because he was a player, but she tried to be polite to him, since he was her boss and my friend.
“What a nice coincidence, finding you two here,” James said, arriving at our table with the tall, chocolate-skinned drama teacher. Her name was Natasha, if I was not mistaken. He shook my hand and patted my shoulder. Meanwhile, I got up to greet his companion.
“Anna, it’s nice to see you here. We haven’t seen you that often in school this past week,” Natasha said, going over to kiss her.
“Shane has been monopolizing all my free time with the practices and patrolling,” Anna replied. Natasha was a vampire, so she was also part of the supernatural community.
“Mr. Ward, your table is ready,” noted the waiter, so James released my mate’s hand and smiled at the young boy.
“I’ll leave you to your romantic dinner, but if you want to share a glass of wine with us, feel free to join us at our table,” James said, looking at me and then at Anna. She was talking to Natasha. They seemed friendly enough.
“Annabel, feel free to come by my office next week so we can exchange ideas about the school play. The girls are really excited about it, and I would love your help,” Natasha said before following James to their table, which was on the other side of the restaurant.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like James—I just didn’t want him ogling my mate the way he did. He had his own date. Natasha was a beautiful woman, and Anna was mine, so he should act like a good friend and stop flirting every time he saw her.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked me, noticing my pensive stare.
“Is he always like this at work?” I wondered.
“Don’t worry, I can handle him.”
Her answer didn’t reassure me, but I knew that she could handle him. I had witnessed her handling my men, the ones who were stupid enough to let their guard down because she looked like a harmless girl. Anna knew how to take care of herself. Of course, that didn’t change my strong desire to protect her, whether she needed it or not.
“You are my mate, Anna. James needs to back off with his flirting ways.”
“You are adorable when you get a bit possessive about me, but you need to calm yourself down and understand that he mostly does that to upset you.”
“I’m fully aware of that. But it doesn’t mean that I won’t smack his face if he makes you feel uncomfortable at work.”
“Does he have a history of harassing other teachers?” she wondered aloud, losing her smile.
“Well, he has the reputation of being a playboy. Any girl who goes out with him knows what to expect from him. He also has the nasty habit of trying to sleep with other people’s mates.”
She said nothing to my words, simply looked away at her plate and played with the cloth napkin.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to ruin our night talking about James.”
“Is that because I’m half panther?” she asked, her voice laced with sadness.
“Of course not. I trust you.”
“It doesn’t seem like it when you feel so insecure about James.”
I realized that I had exaggerated and given too much importance to James. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable and think that I didn’t trust her.
“I’m sorry, baby. It’s just that James has been acting like a jerk the past few weeks, since he found out that you are my mate and a hybrid.”
“He’s just jealous, Shane,” she whispered, looking at me. “People like him hide their insecurities behind a mask of fake happiness and reckless bohemia. They are actually lost in life, without a purpose and someone who actually cares about them. He’s not a threat to you, unless you make him one with your insecurities.”
I kept my eyes on her, baffled. She was extremely wise for someone her age. On the other hand, I was acting extremely immature. Anna was a beautiful woman, and I had to get used to having other men ogling her. Nothing in her behavior led me to believe that she wasn’t taking our relationship seriously. Since she’d found out that we were mates, everything between us had become even better.
“Do you want to go back home?” she asked me, noticing my pondering eyes.
“No, I want to stay right here on this date with my gorgeous girlfriend, eating miniature French food.”
She chuckled, happiness returning to her face. She had joked about the portions French restaurants tended to serve. She wasn’t sure that I was going to be satisfied, because I liked big burgers way too much. As if on cue, the waiter brought the appetizers: figs oozing with goat cheese.
“It looks delicious,” Anna said, glancing at my face to see my reaction. She had chosen the appetizers.
“Too bad that it doesn’t smell better,” I joked, stealing another smile from her.
“It’s probably the goat cheese, but the honey and the figs smell wonderful.”
“I trust your taste,” I said, looking at the plate, unsure if I should ruin the presentation. It was really elegant. I started to eat. “We should talk about next week.”
“Why? Is something important happening next week?”
“I’m going to assign you for patrolling.”
“So soon?”
“You’ve passed all the tracking and fighting tests with flying colors. Everybody agrees that you seem ready to be part of the tracking and patrolling team.”
“That’s a really important step for being part of your community, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. Besides, people don’t think you can be a spy, because you are a hybrid.”
“Oh, I guess hybrids are the ones they would least expect to work with the radicals who chase us.”
“Yes, it wouldn’t be coherent. But you really earned your promotion.”
“Am I going to win a badge for that?” she joked.
“You won something a lot better than a badge,” I teased her. “You won a date with me.”
“I hope that won’t be a common reward for other winners,” she said, making me chuckle.
“No, this was a custom-made reward for you only.”
“Lucky me.”
“I’m glad you’ve liked your prize. Since you are my mate, I had to vouch for you.”
“To whom?”
“To the king.”
“There is actually a king?” she asked, looking surprised. “How old-fashioned! I thought there was some sort of committee that ruled over the town and decided about the supernaturals’s business.”
“There is, but there’s also a king.”
“A vampire king?” I nodded. She seemed absorbed. “When can I meet him?”
“When you pledge your allegiance to him.”
“Well, that sucks. I don’t want to pledge my allegiance to anyone whom I’ve never met. That’s extremely old-fashioned. Besides, why would I want to obey a king? I’m really happy living in a republican country.”
I thought she had an incredible sense of humor, but she had a lot to learn about the ways of my town.
“You are my mate, Anna. You need to take your place by my side in this community. Part of being accepted by the community is pledging to our king. You need to prove your loyalty so others trust you, and there won’t be any more secrets between us. I hope.”
Anna sat quietly, staring blankly at me. Maybe I was moving too fast; maybe I was pressuring her too soon. But we were mates. I wanted her to be part of my life and I wanted to be part of hers.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, continuing to eat.
I thought she would be a lot more excited about my news, but there was something peculiar about her attitude. While I didn’t think that she was a spy, I knew she had a secret. Something more than the way her parents died; something that had made her become so reclusive and suspicious of people in general.
After Anna had told me how her parents died, and about the hard time she had endured after that, my protective instincts grew even stronger. It was like I couldn’t breathe if I wasn’t next to her. Besides, we had a lot more in common than she realized. There was another issue bothering me; it went by the name of Sasha. The princess hadn’t tried anything against Annabel… yet. Maybe her uncle had put her in her place or sent her away. I didn’t know, but I had made sure that she wouldn’t cause me any trouble or even think about hurting Annabel. That meant going to talk directly to the prince.
“Anna,” I whispered, feeling my heart hurt inside my chest. “You don’t want to leave me, do you?”
She stared at me with surprised eyes. “Why woul
d you think that?”
“It’s been two weeks since you learned that we are mates. You are still leaving on the weekends… And you seem to come back sadder on Monday. Why can’t you just tell your family about us? Why can’t I meet your cousin Jason?” I was fishing with that question, but I needed something to reassure me about her mysterious escapes on the weekends.
“I told you that I really need to leave for the weekends. We talked about this when we first started to date.”
“I know, but I would like to know where you go and what’s so important that it keeps you awake on Friday nights, counting the hours in the clock until you hit the road.”
“Did you bring me to a restaurant so I couldn’t evade your questions?”
My eyes lingered on her face. She was right: I was putting her in an uncomfortable position in a public place. This was no place to talk about it. There were too many prying eyes.
“I’m sorry. I just wish that you talked more about your family.”
“What do you want to know?”
“When can I meet your cousin?”
“I don’t know, Shane. He doesn’t know about us.”
“Why not?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.
“He’s… territorial about me.”
“In what way?”
“Well, we are both hybrids. He’s half-panther and half-human. After my parents’s death, we moved to live with him and his mom. His dad had been killed. He was a human. So, you must imagine that, after what happened to my brother, he’s been really protective of me.”
“There’s nothing wrong about protecting you. But I’m here now. I’m protecting you now. It’s my duty, because I’m your mate, therefore, I’m now part of your family, whether he likes it or not.” I was being really straightforward, but, in my defense, felines and werewolves didn’t mingle under normal circumstances. We weren’t a natural enemy because we were shifters and we weren’t overpowered by our instincts, but felines were extremely territorial about their blood relationships. In their natural order of things, if Anna had been a pure panther shifter, it would be expected that she would find a mate amongst her kind. Blood ties meant nothing to supernatural beings, because soul-mates didn’t have the restrictions of DNA or moral standards like humans. It didn’t matter if Anna and Jason were cousins—if they were mates, they would be together and procreate. “Were you promised to him in marriage?” I wondered. That would explain a lot. If they thought they didn’t have a soul-mate, their family may have arranged some sort of union between them. Her cousin could be under the impression that Annabel belonged to him. Maybe she was afraid to tell me that. Afraid of starting a war.
