-Xenia-It’s 4 pm. I know I should get up and go to my own room, that staying here next to Church is a mistake… but how can a mistake feel so right? I thought our fight would be the end of us, that our words would cut so deep that there would be no turning back. Misunderstandings can lead to the worst of endings, but somehow Church pulled us back from the edge. My face heats up when I remember how I offered myself to him last night, telling him I would gladly have let him drink from me if he had asked. Ugh, that was so cringe of me! Now I probably seem like a super jealous person who will wait outside the house until he gets home.Damn, Xenia; could you be needier?I brace myself up on my elbow and look down at his handsome sleeping face, realizing how much of his stress and worry disappear when he’s asleep. When I lay my head on his chest, I don’t hear a heartbeat, but his skin is so warm and he feels human. At first, it confused the hell out of me when he fell asleep, only for me t
-Church-Xenia doesn’t know this yet, but I can tell when she’s serious about something and when she’s just saying it out of excitement. I’ve been around her long enough these last few weeks to know this about her.So when she mentions she wants to Entwine in the middle of sex, I knew that she didn’t mean a fucking word of it. I storm into my bathroom and wash my hands before splashing my face with cold water and raking my fingers through my hair in frustration. This is definitely not how I pictured our first intimate moment going. It started off sexy as hell, I could barely contain myself while slamming into her; then she had to fucking ruin it with those words.How the fuck do we come back from that?A knock on my door and I know it was Xenia. She opens it and walks inside, wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Her face is somewhat red, and a confused expression marrs over her face.“I’m not in the mood for a fight right now, Xenia,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Let’s just coo
-Xenia-It’s a blistering day today and I find myself at the pool after 4 pm. Last night was somewhat therapeutic; clearing things up with Church and having a heart-to-heart with Kat about what’s going to happen next. Things feel better, and less strained and I actually feel lighter because of it.They should be waking up soon, too.The conversation Church and I had still sticks with me. It looks like he knows me better than I know myself and this is all from spending maybe a week or two with me. I have to admit that thinking about Entwining with him still scares me a bit, but he knew that before I even admitted it to myself.Becoming a vampire is a scary as fuck thing, so unless it’s a life-or-death situation, I’d rather stay warm-blooded for now. But Church knew that too.God, the man is perfect; while I’m over here, still indecisive about things.I hear the roar of a vehicle in the distance and get to my feet; no one should be heading this way unless they’re a Devil’s Void member o
-Gabriel-I can’t blame Church for not telling me about Matthew Décès before I tended to Xenia; he only wanted to save his Fated. But this might leave me without mine and while running into the mansion, I pray to fucking Gods that I’m not too late.I strain my hearing to listen out for her, but all I hear are muffled voices. There’s no scent of blood either, and I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. Following the voices, I barge into the room that used to be Katherine’s…Only to find Matthew sitting on the bed with her, holding her hands gently in his. Her head whips up towards me and her eyes widen; that heartbeat I’ve missed so much picks up its pace and she gets to her feet.“Gabe!” she exclaims, her hand going to her chest as she takes a tentative step toward me. She’s wearing a pair of black silk shorts and a tank top to match, but it still makes her look like the most beautiful woman in the world.My eyes flicker to Matthew, who stands up and crosses his arms, grinning
-Katherine-Gabriel is quiet while staring at my stomach, but I can hear how his heartbeat picks up after a few seconds… then he looks up at me with wide eyes.“W-what…? I don’t understand, how is this possible?” he asks, his voice and scent both laced thickly with confusion.I sigh. “At first when I left DC, it was because I was hurt and angry at everything that happened; but then when I went up to our bedroom, I heard our baby’s heartbeat and knew I had to make a choice for all three of us.”He furrows his brow and lightly shakes his head, but I continue. “I wanted you to put your all into picking up the pieces of the authority you had left, I wanted you to grow into the leader everyone wants you to be. I wanted you to focus on the role you had…without worrying about me and placing me above everything else.” He stares at me with a glazed expression while I explain.“You left not only because you were hurt, but so I can focus on being a leader?” he asks incredulously, and I catch a q
-Katherine-Gabriel and Church join us outside not too long after that and we sit at the pool’s edge. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before chuckling; all of us look at him as if he’s gone insane.“I forgot to tell you all Valentine has met his second chance Fated,” he says, stunning us all with this news. Church’s mouth hangs open and Xenia literally has to close it, I am sure that I’m wearing the same shocked expression on my face. “Second chance Fated? I thought that doesn’t exist for vampires?”Gabriel nods and leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “They rarely happen since we never reject what the Goddess has given us; I mean, 200 years of waiting for your soulmate is a long time!” He says, winking at me. “However, if a vampire finds themselves rejecting their Fated, they have the option to choose who they want to be with afterward. This is why the second chance Fated is called a Chosen. Their Threads of Fate are gold, similar to a wedding ring.”This c
-Gabriel-It’s been a week since we returned from Las Vegas. Katherine is settling back in again but she’s been busy with her secret project while I’ve had to deal with starting up something similar to the council. The twins and Gustav are helping me back in Europe, while I oversee the States for now. There will be a meeting in about a month’s time to see where we sit with everything after the demise of the original council.After getting back to DC, we haven’t been able to schedule a checkup with Autumn for Katherine since the doctor has been busy. But right now we’re on our way to her first checkup and to say she’s nervous is putting it lightly.“Don’t worry, little lamb, I am sure everything is fine with the little one,” I say for the fifth time as I pull into the parking lot of her clinic. It’s 9 PM, so there’s no one around right now.“I know! But I can’t help worrying about the baby after everything that has happened. The baobab stakes, the baobab in the blood Matthew gave me, n
-Gabriel-“GABE!” My heart literally drops when Katherine’s scream echoes throughout the mansion. I run from my office and fly up the stairs to our bedroom, only to see Katherine standing there looking down at her feet. Her head whips up towards me and she points down. “My water broke!” And that is how I felt fear chill me to my bones. I move on autopilot and grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from her walk-in, then slowly walk with her to the bathroom. Her panicked heartbeat keeps me calm for some reason, even as she trembles while I help her clean up and get into dry clothing.Afterward, I grab the overnight hospital bag by the bedroom door and pull out my cell phone. “It’s time, let Autumn know,” I tell Valentine, then kill the call and lead my woman downstairs with the SUV keys in hand. Luckily it’s just after 1 AM, so we’re able to get to Autumn’s without a problem. However, just as I put her into the passenger seat, I feel a sharp sting on my shoulder - a familiar fuckin
The filth of Las Vegas never fails to disgust me. I don’t know why my father insists that I come here and take over what he’s left behind when I would gladly have stayed at his side as his second. But I suppose that my best friend is here, and he owns Vegas, so there’s an upside to it. I walk into the upmarket club I’m supposed to meet him in and take a seat in the reserved VIP section. We’re meeting up for a few drinks to formally welcome me to Vegas. However, he also has some news regarding his ascension after his father’s retirement and wanted to get pissed while he’s at it. Not that it will help, since he’s a hybrid Lycan. After ordering a bourbon from the server, I sit down and observe the cattle rolling in. Every woman looks the same and they all want the same thing; it’s even more evident when you’re a vampire. You can smell the lust coming off them in waves and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a needy, easy woman. The blatant stares coming my way makes me roll my ey
-Katherine- It's been six months, and I knew this day would come. Gabriel and I are sitting in Autumn’s office and I have Elijah in my lap. He’s cooing and making cute as fuck baby noises; this shouldn’t be a problem at all since it signifies a happy, healthy baby. But for Pureblood vampires it is because the infancy stage usually lasts for five years whereas Elijah is growing like an average human baby. “Okay, there’s no bad news,” Autumn says as she opens the folder in front of her. “But there is something.” I can tell Gabriel’s getting antsy, and so am I but there’s no point in getting impatient with the messenger who’s trying to help us. “We’re listening,” I say, taking Gabriel’s hand in mine under the table and giving it a squeeze. Autumn sighs. “Elijah is growing like a human baby because of what happened to him in utero; the stakes, the baobab mixed with blood that you ingested. This seems to have interfered with the slow growth spurt of an average Pureblood baby,” she sa
-Gabriel-“GABE!” My heart literally drops when Katherine’s scream echoes throughout the mansion. I run from my office and fly up the stairs to our bedroom, only to see Katherine standing there looking down at her feet. Her head whips up towards me and she points down. “My water broke!” And that is how I felt fear chill me to my bones. I move on autopilot and grab a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from her walk-in, then slowly walk with her to the bathroom. Her panicked heartbeat keeps me calm for some reason, even as she trembles while I help her clean up and get into dry clothing.Afterward, I grab the overnight hospital bag by the bedroom door and pull out my cell phone. “It’s time, let Autumn know,” I tell Valentine, then kill the call and lead my woman downstairs with the SUV keys in hand. Luckily it’s just after 1 AM, so we’re able to get to Autumn’s without a problem. However, just as I put her into the passenger seat, I feel a sharp sting on my shoulder - a familiar fuckin
-Gabriel-It’s been a week since we returned from Las Vegas. Katherine is settling back in again but she’s been busy with her secret project while I’ve had to deal with starting up something similar to the council. The twins and Gustav are helping me back in Europe, while I oversee the States for now. There will be a meeting in about a month’s time to see where we sit with everything after the demise of the original council.After getting back to DC, we haven’t been able to schedule a checkup with Autumn for Katherine since the doctor has been busy. But right now we’re on our way to her first checkup and to say she’s nervous is putting it lightly.“Don’t worry, little lamb, I am sure everything is fine with the little one,” I say for the fifth time as I pull into the parking lot of her clinic. It’s 9 PM, so there’s no one around right now.“I know! But I can’t help worrying about the baby after everything that has happened. The baobab stakes, the baobab in the blood Matthew gave me, n
-Katherine-Gabriel and Church join us outside not too long after that and we sit at the pool’s edge. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it before chuckling; all of us look at him as if he’s gone insane.“I forgot to tell you all Valentine has met his second chance Fated,” he says, stunning us all with this news. Church’s mouth hangs open and Xenia literally has to close it, I am sure that I’m wearing the same shocked expression on my face. “Second chance Fated? I thought that doesn’t exist for vampires?”Gabriel nods and leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “They rarely happen since we never reject what the Goddess has given us; I mean, 200 years of waiting for your soulmate is a long time!” He says, winking at me. “However, if a vampire finds themselves rejecting their Fated, they have the option to choose who they want to be with afterward. This is why the second chance Fated is called a Chosen. Their Threads of Fate are gold, similar to a wedding ring.”This c
-Katherine-Gabriel is quiet while staring at my stomach, but I can hear how his heartbeat picks up after a few seconds… then he looks up at me with wide eyes.“W-what…? I don’t understand, how is this possible?” he asks, his voice and scent both laced thickly with confusion.I sigh. “At first when I left DC, it was because I was hurt and angry at everything that happened; but then when I went up to our bedroom, I heard our baby’s heartbeat and knew I had to make a choice for all three of us.”He furrows his brow and lightly shakes his head, but I continue. “I wanted you to put your all into picking up the pieces of the authority you had left, I wanted you to grow into the leader everyone wants you to be. I wanted you to focus on the role you had…without worrying about me and placing me above everything else.” He stares at me with a glazed expression while I explain.“You left not only because you were hurt, but so I can focus on being a leader?” he asks incredulously, and I catch a q
-Gabriel-I can’t blame Church for not telling me about Matthew Décès before I tended to Xenia; he only wanted to save his Fated. But this might leave me without mine and while running into the mansion, I pray to fucking Gods that I’m not too late.I strain my hearing to listen out for her, but all I hear are muffled voices. There’s no scent of blood either, and I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. Following the voices, I barge into the room that used to be Katherine’s…Only to find Matthew sitting on the bed with her, holding her hands gently in his. Her head whips up towards me and her eyes widen; that heartbeat I’ve missed so much picks up its pace and she gets to her feet.“Gabe!” she exclaims, her hand going to her chest as she takes a tentative step toward me. She’s wearing a pair of black silk shorts and a tank top to match, but it still makes her look like the most beautiful woman in the world.My eyes flicker to Matthew, who stands up and crosses his arms, grinning
-Xenia-It’s a blistering day today and I find myself at the pool after 4 pm. Last night was somewhat therapeutic; clearing things up with Church and having a heart-to-heart with Kat about what’s going to happen next. Things feel better, and less strained and I actually feel lighter because of it.They should be waking up soon, too.The conversation Church and I had still sticks with me. It looks like he knows me better than I know myself and this is all from spending maybe a week or two with me. I have to admit that thinking about Entwining with him still scares me a bit, but he knew that before I even admitted it to myself.Becoming a vampire is a scary as fuck thing, so unless it’s a life-or-death situation, I’d rather stay warm-blooded for now. But Church knew that too.God, the man is perfect; while I’m over here, still indecisive about things.I hear the roar of a vehicle in the distance and get to my feet; no one should be heading this way unless they’re a Devil’s Void member o
-Church-Xenia doesn’t know this yet, but I can tell when she’s serious about something and when she’s just saying it out of excitement. I’ve been around her long enough these last few weeks to know this about her.So when she mentions she wants to Entwine in the middle of sex, I knew that she didn’t mean a fucking word of it. I storm into my bathroom and wash my hands before splashing my face with cold water and raking my fingers through my hair in frustration. This is definitely not how I pictured our first intimate moment going. It started off sexy as hell, I could barely contain myself while slamming into her; then she had to fucking ruin it with those words.How the fuck do we come back from that?A knock on my door and I know it was Xenia. She opens it and walks inside, wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Her face is somewhat red, and a confused expression marrs over her face.“I’m not in the mood for a fight right now, Xenia,” I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Let’s just coo