Chapter 2

*Few days earlier*

I felt it in my guts that something was wrong when I saw Father rush into the house, ignoring my greetings and rushing up the stairs, visibly petrified. I stood up from the sofa quickly, looking at the stairs in shock. I mean, that was a sight no one would ever expect to see of such a man with high respect from his people. Father was the leader of our vampire clan, The Night Exiles; popular for a reason I was yet to understand. I mean, we barely have anything.

I heaved a deep sigh, rubbed my sweaty palms on the side of my jeans pants, and walked up the stairs gently, curious to find out what made my father that way. I would’ve knocked right on the door and reasonably asked for an answer, but something told me they might just lie to me or try to make me believe everything was fine. I leaned against the door of my parent’s room, trying to make out what they were saying.

“What do you mean, Cassius?! I thought you said everything was perfect!” That was my mom’s voice, sounding very disturbed.

“I know Alexia, I had no idea it would go this way,” My brows were knitted together in confusion since I couldn’t get a grab of what they were talking about. It’s getting sad that they have begun to hide a lot of things from me. I was eighteen and at the right age to know literally everything about the clan but here I was, completely clueless. Maybe I shouldn’t blame them; I’ve been doing quite the same for over a year now. Sneaking out of the clan to the human’s city, I wouldn’t do it if they gave me a chance to be free though.

But I don’t regret it, since I bumped into my mate in the big human city and no one knows about it, just Eve. I was quite scared to tell my parents. I can’t expect what their reactions would be if they find out their very obedient daughter had been doing the unthinkable, putting herself right in the middle of danger. And not the danger of the humans—those creatures are fragile; I could take out a hundred of them alone. Dangers of the other paranormal beings, I would be future leader, and no matter how my parents tried, we have a lot of enemies. That’s why we stay very far away from other creatures, somewhere I would describe as the middle of nowhere.

But how was I supposed to help it? He was my mate, granted by the goddess. It would be impossible to stay away from or. Or reject him just as my parents would want me to. I can't disrespect the moon goddess and this was the only choice I got till I came up with something else. Unfortunately, that seemed pretty impossible since I was just eighteen and there was nothing I could possibly do to not let my parents throw a tantrum when they found out I'd been fated to their enemies.

Another reason I could tag myself 'unfortunate'.

I left the hallway heading to my room as I remembered Tyler and I had arranged to meet today. Thankfully, they were engrossed in whatever they were talking about and wouldn't notice me leave.

As usual, Eve was in my room, burying her face into a novel as she lay on the bed. I walked into the walk-in closet and grabbed a winter coat since it was almost freezing outside already. "Valerie, don't you think it high time you have a change of mind? This is risky. You know what would happen if your father finds out. He would have my head for being an ally." She said, looking up from the book and at me.

"So seeing my mate is a crime, huh?"

"I did not say that. I'm just trying to let you know how risky it is for you, especially for the position you hold in the clan."

"I don't care, Eve, if my parents could get together despite their differences, ignoring the fact that my mother was a werewolf, then why can't I be with my werewolf mate, huh? Why do I have to be the one who's different and miserable?" I rolled my eyes, moving across the room to grab a bag.

"You're not miserable. They're just protecting you."

"Whose side are you on Eve, my parents? Don't forget you're just as miserable as I am, being a hybrid as well." She let out a heavy sigh and crossed her arms, obviously not having a reply.

"Now look out for me. If my parents come looking for me, come up with a lie as usual. I love you." I blew her a kiss before scurrying out of the room and heading down the stairs to the backyard that leads into the woods.

I was quite surprised to see Tyler sitting on a log of wood there already, using his fingers to draw images on the ground. "What are you doing here?!" I asked in a hushed tone, cautiously looking around. "I thought we agreed on this. You can't be here. They'll kill you if they find out." I placed my palm on my forehead, heaving out a tired sigh. We had always agreed never to meet in my clan, obviously for his own safety.

"What? I just thought it'd be nice to pull up a surprise since we haven't seen each other in almost three weeks." He replied and stood before me with his usual smile on his face.

"Nice, but let's get out of here. This is risky." I grabbed his arm, pulling him further into the woods, and headed to the town. I would admit Tyler has been the nicest person I've met so far, well after Eve and my parents. I had almost thought he'd reject me, knowing I was from a clan that his people hated the most. But no, he set aside our differences and let love do the trick. If only I could get my parents not to throw a tantrum about it when they find out, and let me live my life just like they are living theirs, completely unperturbed.

We spent a few hours in the city, taking walks around and having random talks. Tyler had to leave after a call from his father and I returned to the clan.

"You know, sooner or later we wouldn't be able to hide this and your parents might just find out." Those were Eve's first words as soon as I stepped into the room.

"Try to be a best friend and support me instead of telling me all the bad things that could possibly happen." I pulled off my coat and plopped down on the bed, keeping my eyes on the ceiling.

"I'm just looking out for you." She said in a soft voice lying beside me.

"I know." Time was running out, and I knew that, and it was quite choking that everything would end up bad or I might just be mateless. But that doesn't mean I would give up, right? Something had to be done, yet I had zero idea what to do, and it was becoming quite unbearable to resist the force of the mating pull. How miserable and unfortunate I was.