by LeeSha McCoy
‘Did you notice how firm his grip was on us? And that response time… Imagine what—’
I cut Malika short. ‘Don't even say it.’
‘You were thinking it.’
‘Hush.’
“You sure everything's alright?” Amarey asks, walking us around the tree.
“Yes…” I chance a brief look up at him. “My pire, sometimes we have disagreements.”
“What about?”
I shrug. “All sorts.”
“What's her name?”
I spot a slight dip in the terrain and try my best to gracefully step over it, which I succeed in doing. “Malika.”
He falls silent for a moment. “I love that one, too.”
My smile is instant. Surely that means he likes mine as well. “Do you mean that?”
“I never say anything I don't mean. Do you have similar personalities?”
“Hmm…” I've never been asked that before. “In a way, yes. The more I get to know myself, the more similar I believe we are.”
He nods thoughtfully. “I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to have another person inside me.”
“It's interesting, let's just say that.”
“I bet.”
“There aren’t many like us, though. The average vampire’s pire doesn’t have a voice, they only give a feeling.”
“So how do you hear yours?”
“Because our family has use of two types of magic, and our noir is much stronger than the usual.” I’m intrigued to know just how much he knows about my kind… “Do you know about noir magic?”
“Ells told me a few things.”
“Ariella?”
“Yeah.”
I open my mouth to ask my next question, but the scent of blood distracts me. It's not human as far as I can tell. “Can you smell that?”
He brings us both to a halt before looking down at me. “Smell what?”
“Blood.”
He seems relieved. “It's my kill. I'd just finished stripping the meat off when I sensed you arrive.”
“Oh… So will you leave it there?”
“Yeah, unless you wanna see it?”
“Yeah, we’d love to.”
“Alright.” He changes the direction we walk in, and we soon arrive at a tree with a dead deer beneath it, or what’s left of it. All the flesh has been removed, so there are only bones left. The meat is piled high, and there’s a lot, so it must have been a large one.
I shake my head in awe. “How long did it take for you to do that?”
“A few minutes.”
“You must be fast.”
He smiles, and Malika gets excited all over again. “As fast as you, apparently.”
“Maybe we can test that sometime, if I visit again.”
“I hope you do.”
He packs the meat into several bags it a whirr of speed, then throws them all over his right shoulder so we can continue to hold his right arm while we walk. He didn’t use this hand, and I think it’s so we wouldn’t get blood on us.
‘I bet he's stronger than us,’ Malika says. ‘He's carrying those bags over his shoulder like it's nothing.’
‘You could be right. I wonder just how strong he is...’ “Wow. Is that your house?”
A white building comes into view as we finally leave the densest part of the woods. It appears two storeys high, and there are glass windows for walls on many of the rooms as far as I can tell. It’s quite high up, too, which makes me wonder what the view is like from the other side. I’ve never seen a house like this, but I love it.
“It is. Do you like it?”
“I love it. It’s so different to anything like we have in the kratius.”
“Do you live in a castle?”
“Yeah, I live with my parents at the moment, but I do have my own castle. It’s nothing like this, though.”
He nods thoughtfully. “I like space, so having the windows this size makes it feel bigger inside. The view from the other side is pretty amazing, too. It’s a good place to think.”
“I’m sure it is.” In some ways, this place does remind me of Mirada. It’s very peaceful, with only the sounds of nature around.
“Why don't you have a look around while I wash up real quick?”
“Um, okay. Is there anything I shouldn't touch?”
“No. I won't be long. You can ask me about anything you're curious of when I get back.”
“Alright, I will.”
He leaves me alone in what he called the living room, so I begin to slowly look around at first. He said there’s nothing I can’t touch, but I’m still wary. There are so many unusual things here…
‘What’s that?’ Malika asks, bringing my attention to a large, black, rectangular square on the wall.
‘I have no idea…’
‘And that.’
I look at the square thing below it with the time showing on it. ‘Heaven knows.’
Twenty-Two
Amarey
I've never showered so fast in my life. My dick is raging; it has been since that hypnotic scent engulfed me. Everyone knows scents are one of the most important things to a ware, and I’m no exception to that.
The entire time I was washing the blood from my body, I obsessed over every word she’s said so far, every bat of her long ass eyelashes when she saw something that intrigued her, and most of all, what she thought of me.
I’m hoping she’s being herself as much as her nerves are allowing her to, and so am I. I’ve never once tried to change my character to be liked, but my feelings for her have me tempted to. It’s not even like I should feel this way, because we are made for each other, but still, I know there’s still work to do on both our sides before we truly mate.
But I’m here for all of it.
It's clear I'm gonna have to be patient with her, but that's cool with me. I'm trying to delve into her mind before her body anyway. Not that I don't want to get into the latter. The thought of falling all up inside her is driving me crazy already, ‘cause I swear she's the sexiest woman I've ever laid eyes on.
Everything about her, from her height, to the way her gown hugs those full hips and pouting belly has me insane with thoughts of touching, caressing, and tasting her. I’d love her so good, we’ll both lose our minds.
I suppress a growl.
Ells was right. The universe knows exactly what it's doing when it pairs us mates up.
I wrap a towel around my waist and head for my bedroom, but I can tell already she's in there. I find her fiddling with the remote beside the bed.
“That's a remote control, for the television.”
“Tele—” She silences when she turns, and just as another blush creeps over her skin, she spins back around. “I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.” I move as fast as possible to pull on a sweatpants and tee, then I go to stand beside her to gently pull the remote from her hand. “Here, I'll show you how it works.” I gently tug at her arm to turn her around before pointing it at the TV. “This button switches that on.”
She blinks as the history channel springs to life, and a scene of World War Two plays out. “Is that real?”
“Yeah. It was a hundred and twenty-five years ago.” I give her a rundown of both world wars between the humans. “The world is a pretty peaceful place now, though.”
“That's good.”
“What about yours?”
She sits on the edge of my bed but quickly stands back up. “Ours is, too. My mother and father run a pretty firm hold on the laws.”
“Do you help out?”
“Yeah.” She stares at me intensely, but then she quickly looks away and moves past me to leave the room, so I follow her. We end up in the kitchen, and I see her attention fall on the fridge. “Is there blood in there?”
“Yeah. My sister said she left some in there for you. Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
“There’s fruit, too,” I tell her, pointing out the fruit bowl on the table. “
She said those are safe for you to eat.”
She eyes it suspiciously, so I reassure her. I know she hasn’t realised I'm her mate yet, and until she asks if I am, I'm sure it's gonna be hard for her to trust me.
“Why don't you grab some. I'm gonna cook anyway.” The thought of not being able to cook for my mate is a little disappointing, but maybe I could get my sis to help me grow some fruit trees here. “What’s your favourite fruit?”
“Grapes, mostly, and I like figs. What do you like to eat?”
“Beef, but I also like moose meat. I eat fruits, too. I pretty much eat anything.”
“What’s moose meat?”
“It’s like deer, but you don’t get them in this country.”
“I see.”
She moves to sit at the table, so I grab some meat from the fridge to start cooking, but she appears beside me. “Can I help?”
She’s showing an interest in my shit… I fucking love that. “Sure. I need some onions and garlic diced up if you could.” I smirk. “You can touch garlic, right?”
She laughs, and I think my entire world comes to a standstill. “You have legends here about us, too?”
“Yeah…” I have to force myself to go to the fridge, just so I don’t snatch her pretty ass up. “Y’know what humans are like with their stories.”
“I do…” The tone in her voice tells me she’s suffering the same as I am.
I take a deep breath as I reach for the garlic.
God help us.
***
Once I've finished cooking, we sit at the table opposite each other. She has her bottle of blood, a glass, and a plate of fruit in front of her, and I have my stewed steak, potatoes, and greens in front of me. As different as our diets are, somehow, this shit still feels normal.
“Do you drink anything besides blood?”
“Whiskey, sometimes. We mix it.”
I make a mental note to get some for next time. “I'll get some for when you visit next.”
“You don't have to do that.”
“I want to.”
She blushes as she looks away, and I almost reach for her hand to tell her not to. She's so shy around me, it's almost painful. I just wanna stare into those beautiful eyes of hers. The red almost flames inside of them where it merges with the yellow. Her skin is flawless, too, not a mark on her apart from a few cute freckles over the bridge of her even cuter nose.
My imagination runs wild wondering if she has them anywhere else.
“Amarey?”
I look up from my plate to meet her bright eyes. “Yeah?”
“I asked you if you have a job.”
“Oh, nah. Well, I kinda do. I have some start-ups that are mostly online…” I sense I’ve lost her, so I tell her I’ll show her my MacBook after we eat. “I also help out at the holds. I run a football league and some other things.”
“Holds?”
I swallow my mouthful. “It's where werewolves live when they don't wanna live in society.”
“Oh, I think I read about those,” she muses. “And what is football?”
“It’s a sport. A game where you try to kick a ball into the other teams net.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“I’ll show you, if you’d like.”
“I’d like that.” She looks deep in thought for a moment. “Is it hard, being a secret in your world?”
“Not really because I've grown up knowing about us, but for some people, especially those that weren't born into this life and were changed against their will, it is.”
She looks disgusted by that. “They were changed against their will?”
“Some were, yeah.”
“Wow, that must be difficult. Is that allowed? In my world, we pull fangs for messing with the humans.”
The fact she doesn’t like that kinda shit sits well with me. “We've had a couple of wars, which is when they were changed. The alphas don't allow that shit anymore.”
“Oh, that's good. What are they like? Ariella’s told me a little about them, but I suppose she’s biased because of who they are to her.”
It’s hard for me not to be able to tell her that they’re my parents, but I trust Ells knows what she’s doing. “They’re honestly good people and very protective over their kind.”
She nods thoughtfully, and then she finally picks up her glass of blood. “Sounds like my parents.”
Ells has told me plenty of times how similar they are. “From what I’ve heard, the have a lot in common when it comes to their roles.”
“Hmmm…” She nervously sips her blood and then sighs in relief.
It pushes me to say something this time. “Why you actin’ shy for?”
Her eyes widen. “I'm not.”
“You are. Down that shit if you need to. Hell, I ain't exactly practicing restraint over my food.”
She bites her lip. “But that's normal for you.”
“And so is that for you. I don't like to think that you're trying to hold back for my benefit.” Hell, if I thought she could drink from me, I'd let her.
Damn, I wonder how that would feel...
“I don't want to come across—”
I frown. “I'd love it if you'd just be yourself. I ain’t trying to get to know a fake you, just how I’m sure you don’t want me trying to be something I’m not.”
“That’s true,” she mutters before drinking some more of her blood.
“What does it taste like?” I ask once she rests her almost empty glass down.
“Good as fuck.” She blushes, but this time, I'm more intrigued by the way she answered.
Fiery as anything.
“Did you wanna taste some?” she offers.
“I—”
“Hey, you two,” Ells says, appearing at the island. “How you getting on?”
“Fine,” I reply, less than impressed. ‘The fuck sis? You taking her back already?’ She’s literally just loosened up.
“We’re good,” Karrisee says, giving me a brief glance, and I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing.
“Good. Well, I’m sorry to have to cut this short, but you're needed in the kratius, Karrisee.” She looks at me. ‘I'll be back to talk to you.’
Great. The fuck I do?
“Oh, okay.” There’s no missing her disappointment when she stands, but I try and give her the look that says I feel exactly the same. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Amarey.”
“You, too, Karrisee.” Shit, I really don’t want her to go.
She smiles, and the red in her eyes flames a little.
“And Malika,” I add.
Her smile widens at that. “She said until next time.”
“I hope there is.”
The way her smile slips worries me a little, but I let it go. I have no choice but to, ‘cause my sis disappears with her.
Twenty-Three
Karrisee
“Ughhhh.” I advance my fencing partner, hitting him square in the chest with the tip of my sword and pushing him back with the force of my strike.
He stumbles a little, but although he stays upright and counters, I deflect his sword to land another strike.
Again.
Again.
And again.
‘You should just ask Ariella to take you back,’ Malika says, tiring of this now.
I want to, but… I strike my partner again. ‘I can’t.’
“All right, I'm done,” Migam says breathlessly, looking up at me from his elbows. “I concede.”
“No, you won't. You don't give up!”
Malika snorts. ‘What, like you are?’
‘Shut up, Malika!’
Migam blinks as he gets to his feet, but then he stills, and so does everyone else around us.
I frown. “What the…”
“You cannot project your fears onto others, Karrisee.”
I turn around to face Aura. “I'm not.”
“You are. I understand your concerns, but denying yourself what you truly wish is o
nly going to enhance your pain. You even feeling this unease whilst in Mirada is disturbing.”
“I'm not denying anything,” I say more forcefully.
She sighs as a sword appears in her hand. “I will partner with you.”
“What? You?”
Her eyes widen. “Why not? Scared to lose? Because I will not concede.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Then begin.”
I narrow my eyes as I take my stance. “Are we using magic?”
She shakes her head.
“Alright.” I waste no time lunging forward, but she sidesteps and swipes my sword, almost knocking the hilt from my hand.
“Again.”
We begin to circle, slowly, and then she lunges forward to land a hit on my lower stomach. I counter immediately, but I miss, earning another prick to my arm.
“Damn it,” I grit out. My arms aren’t covered with armour, so I’m wounded, but luckily, I heal almost instantly.
‘Left this time,’ Malika says as I step forward, but I go right, and Aura strikes my arm again. Deeper this time, though.
I huff in annoyance, my heart racing as I become more pissed off as the second’s pass. I can't lie, I feel like giving up myself now, but I don't. I just need to get one hit in. Just one, to prove I can.
‘Go fucking left,’ Malika screams at me, so I listen and catch Aura's arm this time.
She isn’t cut, obviously, as she’s not only immortal but invincible, however, my smile is still instant, and so is Aura's. “Well done.”
“Thank you.”
Her sword disappears, and so does mine. “So, what have you learned?”
I close my eyes briefly and sigh. “That I should’ve known this was a test.”
She smiles at my joke, but then I sense by her expression that she wants the real answer.
“To listen to my pire,” I answer, admitting defeat.
“Why?”
I'm at a loss. I don't want to give the wrong answer.
She sighs now. “Walk with me.”
So I do.
“In life, there are no right or wrong choices, Karrisee. The most important thing is that you make one…”
“But—”
“And in addition,” she continues, “that you not only trust yourself enough to, but you learn the lesson from each result that those decisions bring. You control your own life, so leaving your decisions up to others will always leave you disappointed.”
