by Anna Santos
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” Eve mumbled, noticing my thoughtful gaze.
“It’s okay,” I said, straightening up when I noticed that someone else was coming our way. Soon enough, the door opened, and James came in with worried eyes. When our eyes met, he sighed with relief and approached us. Everybody greeted him; he just grumbled some incomprehensible word, making us stare at him with puzzled eyes. He was normally a lot more cheerful and polite than that.
“Did you just see a cross and run?” Sebastien asked. He was funny like that, or at least he tried to be.
James ignored him completely, talking to me. “I’m glad you are still here. You need to come now. He’s here.”
“Who?” I asked, intrigued as the other two frowned.
In my mind, I noticed Shane question me about who was there, too, wondering what was going on that changed my mood. He could be clingy like that when it came to a change in my feelings. I replied that all was fine, that it was just James acting strange again; he became less worried.
“Cut the mind link,” James ordered, like he’d guessed. “The prince is here to see you.”
“Oh!” I said, finally understanding his nervous state.
“The prince! Such an honor, Anna!” Sebastien joked in a sarcastic voice.
“Don’t be a smart ass and show some respect. He’s older than you, and he was a good friend of your father’s.” James lectured Sebastien like a grandfather disciplining his grandson for disrespectful behavior. Sebastien pouted and rolled his eyes.
“As if I don’t call him by his first name,” Sebastien muttered, annoyed. “Dude, he’s my godfather!”
“Wow, you are friends with a royal vampire? Such an honor, Sebastien,” I teased back.
“Yes, I’m important like that,” he said with a boyish grin. “But I thought he was abroad.”
“He arrived today, and he’s in a hurry, so please don’t make him wait,” James said with a serious face.
I could not hear anything else that people were saying, because Shane was invading my mind with all sorts of questions. He wanted to know why the prince was there, why I hadn’t told him that he was coming, why James had called him there. I just had one answer for him: I don’t know.
When I looked again at everybody, James looked cranky, Sebastien was quiet and bored, and Eve was simply flustered. I was intrigued and gave her a questioning look. She formed the words with her lips, “The prince is gorgeous!” then sighed dramatically, fangirling over him. I laughed, which made everybody stare at me as if I was crazy. So another gorgeous man slash vampire slash immortal—what else was new? They seemed to grow on trees around there.
“Come on, don’t keep him waiting. He wants to talk to you.” James hurried me, more impatient than ever, like the world’s salvation depended on my meeting with the prince.
I got up, arranged my skirt and jacket, gave a smile to Eve and Sebastien who waved me a little goodbye with their fingers, and followed James to meet the prince.
I didn’t remember ever meeting a prince before. It was odd even that people called him “prince.” I guess they were royalty back in Europe and had decided to keep the titles. It was something to be proud of among vampires, especially purebloods. I was a bit curious to meet him, mainly because I needed his family’s help. But I didn’t have a clue as to why the prince wanted to talk to or see me.
We followed the empty corridor; I noticed bodyguards in every corner, dark glasses over their eyes and communicators in their ears. They looked like the Secret Service and followed our moves as if we were a threat. It was almost too unreal to be true!
It seemed the prince was waiting in the principal’s office, because that’s where we headed. However, before James could open the door, someone at the top of the corridor opened the school’s front doors and called for James. It was Shane.
“James, don’t even think about it,” he said, and I blushed from head to toe because he was just wearing a pair of jeans. Nothing more, nothing less. He was barefoot with messed-up hair, walking toward us and growling at the bodyguards who had taken a step toward to him. Then, they just went back and bowed their head. I frowned and folded my arms, staring at him as he came closer. Was he being serious? Had he just shifted from his wolf form and come running to the school? Why? What was going on? Why did he seem so worried?
“He isn’t going to be happy,” James said, talking to Shane, who had just arrived next to us.
“And do I look happy to you?” Shane asked James, his face serious. His eyes were glittering amber, and his fangs were out. He was not happy at all! “Go outside, Anna,” he ordered, as if I were just some other person in the group, not his mate; probably because I was his mate. We had completed the marking, so maybe he assumed I was now under his orders or whatever sexist stuff was going on in that mind of his. Anyhow, I was getting mad, myself. What the hell did he think he was doing?
I didn’t move an inch. And that was not unnoticed by Shane, but he didn’t growl at me. That would have been interesting to watch: him growling at me and me telling him to go to hell and then giving him my back. We could be mated, we could be together, but no one would boss me around. He had to give me a good reason to leave, because I was more than curious.
“Please go outside, honey,” he pleaded in a sweeter tone that was much better to hear than the previous one. “Or just go home and wait there for me. I have to talk to the prince.”
“Come,” Sebastien demanded, appearing like magic by my side. “Leave the grown-ups to their business.” He was playful, smiling at me; I smiled at him. He was cute, with an adorable smile. However, Shane didn’t like his hands on my shoulders and my smiling back, because he growled at Sebastien. It was interesting to see Sebastien’s eyes also change color as the Alpha in him surfaced to growl back at Shane.
Great, a contest of who would growl louder was all that I needed!
“My mate. Keep your hands to yourself,” Shane said between his teeth, and Sebastien rolled his eyes and got his wolf under control. At least they were not going to measure who could growl longer. That was a relief.
“Possessive much, are we?” Sebastien teased. He should not do that, and I should not have laughed, but I did.
“Men,” Eve said with a sigh as she appeared by our side. I didn’t notice when she’d arrived, but wondered, had they all come to get me out of there? Sebastien had probably come because Shane had asked him to; Eve, likely, because she was stalking Sebastien. Yes, that explanation was more logical to me.
“All of you leave. I have to talk to the prince,” Shane said, out of patience as he put his hand over the doorknob.
James sighed, waving his hands dramatically. Sebastien pushed me away under Shane’s eyes. Shane seemed to talk to him in some sort of wolf-mind link. I was sure of it. Therefore, we left, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye as my hunk of a mate entered the principal’s office, followed by James. He sure wasn’t properly dressed to meet a prince, even if they had known each other for a long time.
The door closed, and I looked at Sebastien. He was still pushing me away, because I was not really in the mood to leave. If anything, I was curious and wanted to see the prince. I had lost a really good opportunity to meet a pureblood vampire, thanks to Shane!
“What just happened?” I asked them, not understanding all the fuss about the visit of the prince or the reasons Shane had had for my not meeting with the royal vampire. It was beyond strange. And he’d looked stressed and worried, but mostly he’d looked mad. Not at me, but at James and the prince.
“I have no clue! Shane just reached me on our mind link, out of the blue, and asked me to go and get you and take you out of here,” Sebastien clarified.
“And I just came after Sebastien,” Eve said, shrugging her shoulders, not seeming really curious about all that had happened. Well, her stalking Sebastien—I had already figured that out.
My phone started to vibrate in my pocket and stopped me from thinking or saying a
nything else. I reached for it and noticed a text-message from Jason. That was weird and, at same time, worrying. The strangest was that he was asking me to meet him outside the town. He was nearby the same town that I was and that could not be weirder! What could he possibly be doing there?
I tried to reach Shane to tell him that I was going to meet my cousin, that my cousin was in town, but I got no response. Sebastien and Eve were in the middle of the corridor, waiting for me to start walking again.
“Shane is not answering me in my mind link, and I have to go meet someone,” I shared with Sebastien.
“He probably blocked everybody out of reaching him so he could talk to the prince without interruptions. I can tell him for you when he gets out of there.”
“Blocking? Can I also block him out?”
“Of course. It goes both ways. You just need to want to. You just need to concentrate, clear your mind, and build a wall around your thoughts. It’s really helpful, since werewolves can go mad with so many voices in their head if the whole pack decides to have a little chit-chat. Someone can actually think they are schizophrenic!”
I stared at him and sighed about his lame attempt at a joke. Anyhow, his information about the blocking was really useful. If Shane was blocking me, two could play that game. He was being too weird for my taste.
“Okay, thank you. Just tell him I’ll see him at home,” I said, going to get my purse so I could leave to meet my cousin.
Sebastien and Eve remained in the corridor, Eve smiling creepily while he scratched his head. He was going to be left alone with her, and it seemed he was afraid of what she could do to him. That was a bit funny: a grown man slash werewolf Alpha afraid of a sweet stalker and innocent vampire hottie!
Chapter Twenty-Four
Anna
I met my cousin in an almost-empty diner outside the town, where humans were the only ones we had to worry about seeing us together. I was feeling anxious and unsure of the reason he was there. I hated to keep secrets from him. I was also still troubled by what had just happened at school. Shane was acting weird and, to make things worse, I had to face Jason and come clean about him. I was hoping to have a bit more time, to tell Shane first and then tell my cousin. Shane was happy that I was going to spend that Saturday with him, so we could go to the prom together. We had to chaperone the students, but there would be lots of time to dance and enjoy ourselves.
Jason seemed impatient and rattled. He wanted to know why I wanted to spend more time there, and why I was so keen on defending the people of that town. He knew that I was hiding something important; therefore, I decided to tell him the truth. I told him about Shane being my soul-mate, and how I wanted to tell Shane all about me and my real job and to introduce him to my friends and family. I also wanted to tell Shane about Kevin. I thought that Jason would understand and give me the benefit of the doubt, but he became really quiet. He actually stared at me, dumbfounded and incredulous.
“You are really silly, Annabel,” he finally said, and I lost my good mood and waited for another sarcastic, mocking remark. “Did you really fall for it?” he asked. “You have been here for at least two months now, and you didn’t find out anything about the purebloods who rule over this community. You continue here even when you know we need you elsewhere! When we talked last weekend, you misled me into thinking you just needed a few more days to find out about the royal family that lives here. Now I find out that the real reason you are staying is because you are dating a mutt, and worse than that, you are believing the bullshit that he’s telling you about being your soul-mate! Annabel—we are hybrids. We don’t have a soul-mate!”
My worst fears were real. Jason didn’t believe me; furthermore, he was being sarcastic and mean about everything I’d told him. It upset me, because he wasn’t giving me enough credit. He was treating me like a naïve girl. He was talking to me as if I was being irresponsible and stupid. He was probably forgetting that it was my life and I could do whatever I wanted with it, date whomever I wanted. Moreover, he shouldn’t insult my boyfriend by calling him a mutt. And he should keep it down, since the other people in the diner where looking at us with intrigued eyes. We were shifters ourselves; we knew a lot of werewolves. He should be more respectful and less arrogant in his biased behavior.
“I thought you were going to be happy for me,” I said, offended by his cruel words.
“Happy for what? For falling in the trap that the sheriff of this town laid for you? Do you really believe him and all that crap about soul-mates?” he asked, whispering this time. He seemed disappointed. “He’s playing you! Wake up!”
“Playing me for what, Jason?” I found his fears ridiculous. Besides, I was annoyed by his lack of credit for my intelligence. He wasn’t inside my heart, able to know that I‘d fallen head over heels for Shane. He didn’t know Shane to judge him like that!
“Sex, of course.”
I almost burst into laughter at his idiotic answer. Now who was being naive? Did he actually think I was such a prude? “If it was just for sex, Jason, my darling cousin, he didn’t need to tell me he loved me and I was his soul-mate. I was happy just sleeping with him with no strings attached!”
Jason stood, livid at my statement that apparently shocked him. It was sexist of him! Just because I was a woman, couldn’t I have casual sex with someone who pleased me sexually, just as he did?
“For information, then,” he said, making me sigh.
He was doing his best to make me doubt Shane. He knew I was paranoid and very suspicious, but what he didn’t know was that my gut told me Shane was real and loyal. Not just my gut: my heart and soul recognized Shane. He was a part of me just as much as I was a part of him. There was nothing that Jason could say to make me doubt my love for Shane and his love for me.
“Jason—why aren’t you happy for me?”
“Because we need you. You can’t just hang your swords and stop doing what we do!” He seemed upset. “You belong with us and not here, trapped in this weird supernatural community teaching literature to kids and marrying some sheriff wolf! You are not marriage material.”
“Thank you for that,” I said, angered by his last observation. “What am I then? Just one-night-stand material?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, trying to explain himself. “You were born for the life we are living. You are our leader. You are the best we have! Can you actually see yourself living the life that sheriff guy wants for you? Even if he is your soul-mate. Can you see yourself ignoring all the people who suffer at the hands of supernatural beings that have no respect for the rules and for humans?”
“I didn’t say I was going to stop doing what I do,” I said, understanding what was troubling him. I’d had those questions, too, before accepting Shane and our bond. But no, I knew that I had to consolidate my secret life with my life with Shane. I had to tell everything to Shane, even if I’d postponed doing it. I was sure that Shane would understand. He just wanted the best for me. He was the first to tell me he would go anywhere with me. Now that Jason was there, it was time to get over all the secrets and just tell Shane why I couldn’t stay and continue to teach there, that I had to leave from time to time. We could find a solution to make our relationship work.
“Does your beloved wolf know about your secret life? Or does he think you are just a hot, sexy, innocent teacher?” I knew that Jason was being sarcastic and mean again.
“He doesn’t know about my real job. But he knows that I’m everything but innocent and helpless. You don’t know anything about Shane—you can’t judge him like that.”
“Trust me, I know plenty. I’ve been doing my homework, too,” he said with enigmatic eyes that left me surprised and curious. It seemed he had found some big secret but didn’t want to share. I was puzzled. “You had to date the sheriff. Couldn’t you have chosen someone else? Or maybe he chose you—have you thought about that?”
I was not understanding Jason’s rant. There was something he wasn’t telling me.
“Jason, what are you really doing here? Did something happen to Kevin? No one called me. They said that he was stable.”
“I’m glad that you remember him.”
“Of course I remember!”
“Anna, have you stopped to think that maybe you’ve been too distracted by your supposed soul-mate to realize what is really going on right under your nose?”
“You are being paranoid! These people are good people. I’ve already told you this. I’ve been part of this community, and there isn’t anything fishy going on here. This is a nice place to live, actually. They accept people like us. They protect their own. Have you ever found somewhere like this before?”
“They really brainwashed you,” he muttered, baffled. “I’m not recognizing you anymore. You used to be a lot smarter and mistrusting of people. How can you trust a guy you’ve just met?”
“Shane is not a random guy. He’s my soul-mate,” I reminded him, annoyed. “He’s part of my life now, so you better get used to it and stop trying to rule over my life!”
“I’m trying to protect you!” Jason claimed grumpily, making his eyes shine golden. “Apparently my opinion doesn’t matter anymore. I’m your family and—you kept all this from me! Why? Because maybe, just maybe, you were also being paranoid and wanted to hide this from me so I wouldn’t call you to reason and make you understand that you are pushing your luck by staying here so long and, apparently, by letting a wolf into your life and head!”
“I’ve kept this from you because I knew you wouldn’t understand.”
“Well, you were right. I don’t understand. We are a team, a family, and you are leaving us just like that because of a dude.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I sighed, trying to keep calm. “I’m just trying to live my life and be happy.”
