(CARA'S POV)"I cannot share the same room with you, ...sir.""Who knows, I might want a midnight snack," he says, his strange eyes piercing into mine."I refuse to share the same room with you.""Fine""What?""You want your room; you get your room; your loss; I could have made it more fun and pleasurable in your case."I couldn't help but give a small smile; that was easy, but the smile disappeared when my eyes met the dead girl laying there on the floor; that could be me there. "And you can call me by my name. Vlade Drakul""Vlad, what would you do with the girl's body?" I asked, and he seemed to have forgotten about the girl he had so easily killed."Does it disturb you?, the sight of blood and dead bodies?"I was silent for a while; of course, it did bother me, but he didn't have to know that. "No""It should not; you would see more of that." I felt the irritation rise, and I held in my sneer. "I must say, you are different. Where are you from?""You should know better.""And su
(SOPHIE'S POV)---- Back to the present... "That's enough," Ken said to me, but I wouldn't stop drinking; all my injuries healed up like some kind of magic; I felt nourished, which was strange; and I couldn't stop drinking his blood.He pulled away his wrist, his eyes bright. "That did feel good," he admitted."Tell me about it.""I didn't think you would like it that much.""Neither did I; maybe I am a vampire after all," I said, joking, and we both chuckled.There was a moment of silence, and he was the first to break it."I want you to know Sophie; I don't just see you as a blood bag; I really, really like you, and I'm ready to change if only you come back to me. I understood that he is your mate, so the choice is up to you, but from now until eternity, I will always love you; you will be the only one for me and even if you don't choose me, I would be waiting till you do", he confessed, and his words hit deep.From the first time I saw Ken, I knew things would be different; even Ca
(SOPHIE'S POV)"It's alright" Laurent assured me, "I just need to heal," he said, and I could only nod."Do you need anything to eat or maybe to drink?""No, I am fine, but there is one thing I do need: stay with me; I want to talk to you.""I am here.""You know, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. I've always waited for the day I would find my mate. All my life, I didn't realize it, but there was always this emptiness, this loneliness I felt," he said. His eyes were glassy, and there was so much emotion in them, I realized I hadn't bothered to even know more about him."Tell me more," I said, out of curiosity—or maybe something more."My brother, Teo, I guess you've heard of him; we were all living together; I could barely remember those good times; it always seemed so far away, maybe too good to be true, when I had a mother, a father, and a brother. We were one happy family, but everything changed after my father's death." He paused to inhale sharply. I couldn't tell
(SOPHIE'S POV)I faintly remembered the kisses Laurent placed on my forehead as he whispered something my sleepy mind couldn't understand, and then he was gone.My whole body itched for Ken's fangs. By now, I knew I was addicted to it, and nothing I did would ever change that. I was restless if I spent even a few hours without it, and it was getting worse. I was trying my best to tune it down, but how long would I be able to do that? When I finally woke up, the sun was up, but there was something blocking my view. Slowly, my eyes opened, and I saw it was not a 'thing' obstructing my view but a person, Ken.He had his back towards me, and he stared out of the window."Ken, what are you doing here? I thought you left," I said, even if deep down I wanted him to stay."I came back.""Why""I realized something I had not noticed, something I stupidly missed.""What?" I asked because my mind was still foggy."I didn't realize you were pregnant," he said, his voice only a whisper. That was
(SOPHIE'S POV)I couldn't push away the look of betrayal I saw in Laurent's eyes from my mind; he had finally opened up to me. This was his fear, and I used it against him. That was what it seemed like."Do you love me?" he asked."Of course I do.""And you love this leech too?""Yes," I answered truthfully."You would have to make a choice now; is it either this Leech or me?""I can't.."Laurent chuckled; there was no humor in it. "Funny how you betrayed me; you fucked this man right under my nose, Sophie. Why? Did he make you feel responsible for what happened to him? Was that why you were trying to please him?""That was not the reason, Laurent; we can talk about this alone.""No, I am freaking tired of hearing one side of the story; now is the time to understand what the hell is going on and why my mate is cheating on me.""You are the outsider here," Ken said. "You wanted to take her away from me; you wanted to take my child and my family; I would not let that.""You left her; sh
(ROLLINS POV)I walked into my room after a very stressful day of hunting those damned creatures down, she waited for me in my room, Gwen. I purposely delayed coming back to my room which I was slowly dreading, just so I wouldn't have to see her; she should be asleep now, but of course, typical of Gwen to keep waiting and denying herself sleep just to see me each day, it only irritated me more."Welcome, Rollins," she said to me, a bright smile on her face. She thought she deserved to be here; if not that Cara hadn't begged me to take care of her, I wouldn't have cared where she stayed, but she kept on pestering, and finally I let her stay with me in my room, I hated how people thought it meant I had finally accepted her as Cara's replacement. Though I made it clear to her that this little change didn't mean anything, she agreed to keep out of my way and I would be happy to do the same, but of course, she would say anything to get in, and now that she was here, she waited for me to re
(ROLLINS POV)I didn't know how all this happened to me or how I had to go for Gwen out of all the women in the pack, it had to be Gwen. Again, I was ashamed of my actions, if only I knew.Why wouldn't she tell me?, why she hide such an important thing from me?Every day I saw many reasons to believe I was cursed. I always lost anything that came close to me, and I hated it.I waited patiently for Gwen to wake up, and finally she did."Rollins," she called, staring around the empty room."Here," I say. I stood from the chair I had sat waiting and walked to her. "How are you feeling?" I asked"I am alright now," she said, watching me intently as if waiting for me to say something. I didn't, so finally she spoke up. "She told you, didn't she?"I nodded. I didn't need to ask the question; it was clear in my eyes."Why didn't you tell me, Gwen? Why didn't you tell me about your condition?""I was afraid you wouldn't want me; I was afraid you would push me away, and I just can't take this
(Cara's POV)I was getting annoyed, sitting in my room and staring at the elegant celling. I couldn't believe him. When he offered me the job of a personal assistant, I thought it was the perfect opening to get all the information I needed. So far, I've gotten close to nothing because Mr. Vlad left me in the room, and here I was being treated like a princess, locked up in a room. I didn't reject my mate for this.And then there was a knock on the door. It should be the maids bringing in my food as always, but the man coming in didn't have a tray in his hands; he had red hair with matching red eyes and he was in a suit."Vlad request your presence," he said to me, but there was something about the way he called the vampire prince's name that made me know he was no ordinary vampire; he most likely had some kind of ranking here."Finally," I said silently to myself, but this red-haired guy was not as flippant as Vlad, and his gaze bore into me, his eyes looking suspicious. He didn't trus
(Epilouge, Part One)(ROLLIN'S POV) I walked into my room to see Gwen there. I didn't know how to tell her. Cara had decided that she would stay in one of the guests rooms till it was all over, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to stay here knowing that Cara was just a few rooms away and I had never been the one to get sneaky. Gwen had to know."We need to talk," I said to Gwen. She looked tiny now, too thin, but I still thought she was beautiful."It's about her, right?" she asked."I don't want you to stress yourself.""Let me guess, she is back at the pack, you both are back together, and you guys are waiting for me to die so you could go on with your relationships, right?" She asked, and I was silent. I had never felt this kind of guilt, but she surprised me when she smiled."I knew this was going to happen, but you see, I don't even care about the fact that all that went on between the both of us isn't real; I don't care about any of that. I am happy; you made me happy, and you
Three days after the war.I wished I could follow Rollins back to our pack; I wished... but I knew that things would never be the same, and so here I was, with Teo. I couldn't deny that I wanted to be with Rollins; every fiber of my being wanted him, but I couldn't have him.Teo walked down the stairs, fully dressed."Are we going somewhere?" I asked"No, not we, me."I shrugged. "Okay, when would you be back? ", He stared at me, giving me that long look. "Are you leaving me?" I asked, and I couldn't hold back the sob."Is not... is not in that way.""I don't understand.""We were never a thing; as much as I wanted it and still do, I know you love someone else, and I've learned some good lessons, we don't always get what we want , I would always love you, but not in that way, not anymore. You love Rollins; you would never settle for less. I want you to go get him.""What if he doesn't want me?""You both were meant for each other; I don't know what the outcome will be, but what I can
(Cara's POV)Teo led me towards the exit; he held the most of my weight, and I limped trying to go faster."Wait!""No, we have to go," he said, tugging me on, but I had stopped moving. I thought I saw something. "That window," I said, pointing to the window we just passed."No, Cara, not now.""Take me back," I said.Teo made an annoyed sound before taking me back. I looked through the window; I knew what I had seen. The 'human' girls ran out of the gate, but there were two vampires running after them. Those two vampires alone would be able to finish them off; how did they escape?"Sophie," I gasped."I'm sorry, Cara, we can't save them.""Yes, we can't, but you can.""Cara, I was given an order; I have failed him enough; please, we need to go.""Face the truth, Teo, I won't be allowed out of here, but they... they are so close to freedom, please. I have done so many wrongs; I want to do this one right thing, please.""Wait here, don't move one bit; you hear me, don't fucking move."
(ROLLINS POV)"I want to give you a more honorable death. I'll let you kill yourself," he said, throwing the gun at me. "One shot to the brain, that would do," he said, his face still having that smirk I hated."And what do you know about honor?" I asked, staring at the gun, that wouldn't kill him, I knew it."Nothing. That would have been a better death... but now," his eyes glittered. "Welcome to hell," and then there was darkness. I could not see a single thing, and then Cara came into view, it was like a clip was being replayed before my eyes, a clip from my mind. She walked into Teo's room and let her robe fall to the ground.Teo waited on the bed, watching her, his eyes watching every part of her. I couldn't run from this; it was like I had been trapped by some invisible force in a very dark room.And then I saw Teo again, forcing himself on her. I watched her sob.I inhaled. "Get out of my head," I growled."Not yet," Vlad whispered, and then I was in my pack. The Shadow Pack
(Laurent's POV)I couldn't look her in the eyes; she didn't know that I had come searching for her. When Teo told me she was here too, I knew that I had to find her, but I couldn't even look at her. I couldn't let her deceive me this one more time.Maybe we were never meant to be. The thought alone caused a strange kind of anger to rise in me, and I finished off the vampire. I exited her room, her scent in there was too strong. Finally, I could focus; I knew my next target. Ken.I ran through the hallways, checking through room, to find him. Nothing."I guess I am the one you have been looking for." Slowly, I turned back to see Ken, and a smirk spread on my face."I've always wanted to pass a stake into your heart.""Why? Because I have every right to fuck your mate, or perhaps because she would always be left with a part of me any fucking place she goes.""Maybe you are right, but guess what?" I asked, not even waiting for his answer, "We both won't be getting her.""Not if I kill
(SOPHIE'S POV)Ken left to help his master. Vlad. There had been an attack; I heard the shouts; I didn't know what exactly was happening, and maybe I didn't want to know anymore.I had made so many bad decisions in my life; I know I deserved this. I had never been a good girl, unlike Cara. I played with the feelings of others and was only loyal to Cara as a friend.My thoughts were cut short when the door to my room busted open and a vampire walked in. I knew him; he had always watched me with an expression on his face. I could only place it as hunger... and lust; he wanted my blood; he wanted to feed; and he wouldn't care if I died in the process. Ken was nowhere to be found; maybe he was dead. I was shocked that the thought of Ken dead didn't make me feel anything at all.The vampire licked his whitish lips as he moved closer, his dark red eyes regarding me, maybe deciding where to sink his teeth, and then they settled on my baby bump."No!, stay away from me!" I cried out. I hadn'
(ROLLINS POV)I knew I was in the right location when I got to the castle-like building; it had this dark loom over it; this had to be the place.Teo walked forward; he knew the directions. All through the journey here, I had given the two brothers some distance, as I knew they had a lot of catching up to do."That is the main gate; there are vampires guarding the gates—the strong ones; there is no way we can go in without being detected.""Then we would have to kill them as fast as we can," I said to him, and we walked towards the gates. Of course, the vampires noticed that we were not a part of them quicker than I anticipated. We had to act fast; there were about five of them at the entry. Teo ran forward; his speed alone told me he was stronger now, different. He faced two, engaging in hand-to-hand combat. I threw a wooden stake I had carved to him, and he slammed into the eyes of one. The remaining three came at me, all ready. I tried holding them all back at once till Laurent j
(Cara's POV)Shade walked into my room. I knew why he was here; it was time for my doze of wolf's bane. The past few days, I have begun to feel less pain anytime the liquid was injected into my veins, but I didn't know how much longer I would last.I didn't know where Rollins was now or what he would be doing. Had Teo found somewhere to start a new life? That would be better for him."It's so funny how this little liquid causes your kind so much pain," Shade said with a smirk as he drew closer. "I love seeing you in pain, and guess what? Vlad had been busy recently..." he trailed off, his hands on my throat. "And right now... he isn't watching you; he has finally seen you for what you are—a slut. He has that already; he doesn't need you, but I want to know... I've always wanted to know what he enjoyed when he was with you and what he saw so differently.His hands went down to my breast, and he pressed hard on it, his eyes brightening up. "Does this turn you on?""Get your hands off me
(ROLLIN'S POV)I couldn't bear it, that she was there with HIM. Teo assured me that he wouldn't harm her; Vlad wanted her alive... for other purposes, and that made me furious at the fact that he had touched her, but I guessed she knew when she was going to work for him.She was only helping. I tried to tell myself, after all she had said it, that I could be with anyone I wanted to be with, and I shouldn't be mad at her for fucking the vampire prince to get what she wanted. I couldn't help but wonder if she was hurt; if the bastard hurt her, I was going to kill him. But then again, vampires were already dead.Teo had managed to bring Laurent back from the woods. It was a wonder to me how he had yet again changed; little by little, he was becoming the Laurent I knew, but if you looked deeper into his eyes, you would see the little emptiness. Still, it was better; he was back now.Teo, Laurent, and Lucian sat in my office as we discussed tactics. Though deep down we knew the odds were a