Three

My eyes fluttered open and apart from the sunlight trying to blind me, I saw two heads looking down at me.

My eyes widened as sleep immediately cleared from my eyes, I raised my upper body up in an instant, and on reflex tried to pull one of them into a chokehold.

“Woah, calm down, miss” The person said as he dodged my hand quickly. I move in again for a blow when he held my hands and pinned it above my head, bringing his face up close to mine and that's when I saw his face clearly.

I knew that face, it was Derek Halligan. The son of the sovereign leader to Vampires and the mysterious heir to the throne.

And that's when it all started coming back to me. Last night, the club, killing Tate, Marcus calling me his mate, running, then another guy calling me his mate too and lastly, me falling unconscious.

The ‘another guy’ was freaking Derek Halligan, no wonder I found him oddly familiar. I turned to the side to see Marcus with amused eyes staring at me, like I was a specimen to experiment on.

I turned my gaze to Derek who was way too close for my liking and struggled out of his hold.

“Let go of me” I seethed, angrily.

“I will as long as you promise to stay calm, okay?” He said with his deep voice. I guess I really did wake up to his voice.

“I promise” I said, feigning as much sincerity as I could.

He observed me for a few seconds, his black orbs searching my grey ones before releasing his grip on my hands. That was a mistake on his part because immediately my hands got free, I punched him hard on the face.

“What the fuck! What was that for?” Derek cussed angrily as touched his face. I used the opportunity to jump out of bed and after searching for few seconds, I picked up the bed side lamp, swinging in front of me threatenly.

“Stay back, don't come closer” I said with wide eyes.

“We helped you after you were passed out on the ground outside so late at night, and this is the thanks we get” Derek thundered, apparently still angry about me punching him.

I don't let my hand waver as I still waved the lamp in front of me to them. He could hit his head on the wall for all I care. “Where am I? Where is my bag? Give it to me, I want to go home” I said.

I had long noticed that I wasn't in my room. This room was way fancier with the cream and white designs. My bag contained my torture equipments, they would figure out who I am if they went through it which I figured they haven't since I was still alive and well.

“I promise you, you are safe miss so please calm down. This is my house and my name is Marcus and that is Derek. We come in peace, we just need to talk” Marcus finally spoke up softly as he raised his hands in surrender and his eyes looked at me pleadingly.

Somehow, I found it hard to refuse that voice. I looked between them long and hard before lowering the lamp down. I knew what they wanted to talk about, but I chose to feign ignorance. They didn't know I knew about them before, they were both royally rich and had overall power. I was just going to feign ignorance of the whole thing to keep my identity as a hunter safe.

“Fine, you have 20 minutes” I said

“Oh good, I made breakfast” Marcus said as he clapped his hands in excitement while Derek still had a frown on his face.

***

I had to admit, the pancakes were really good and Marple syrup? Heavenly.

What? I never let good food pass me by, even though it was from a supernatural and I knew it wasn't poisoned with the mate tag they both had going about me.

I ate not so gracefully while they stared at me like I was some exhibit in a museum.

“Are you going to be staring at me weird or you are going to start talking?” I said with a bored look on my face.

They both adverted their gaze immediately while Derek murmured, “For someone who is so cautious about being kidnapped, you sure do know how to eat” 

“For a vampire who got punched in the face by a human girl, you sure do know how to sulk” I retorted without missing a beat. He glared daggers at me while I continued eating cheerfully.

“Alright everyone calm down, Derek quit whining, it was just a reflex punch in self defense” Marcus said and rolled his eyes.

“Thank you” I said with a smirk.

“Off course, you would defend her. Look, I have other things to do so make this quick” he said as he sipped his glass of wine.

Marcus rolled his eyes and said, “Things like what?”

“I am the next heir to a kingdom of Vampires and my coronation is coming soon” I could hear the pride in his voice but I kept eating and staring at them blankly, he was not going to a get a reaction from me.

He then continued, “Aren't you busy as well? You lost your brother to a hunter yesterday and the heir has been shifted to you”

I turned my gaze to Marcus to see his reaction, his face that was bright turned dull in seconds. I could see the pain in his eyes more clearly, he was faking being fine all this time. I didn't usually feel guilty after killing a person but I found it hard to swallow the food I was eating after seeing Marcus reaction.

Why did he have to be his brother? He couldn't just be a normal wolf, he just had to be born a brother to one of my victim. I felt sorry for him.

“I will take care of my business myself” he said firmly with no room for further discussion.

The atmosphere in room made me feel uncomfortable so I spoke up, “So, since when did a Vampire and a wolf become buddy buddies?” I asked

Vampires and wolves weren't friends, neither were they enemies. They mostly tolerate themselves due to the power they held. They were both supernatural and had their unique powers, going against each other will only stretch on for years without a victory. So since they were equally matched, they chose to try to accommodate each other. Despite that, there were still some kind of competition between them, although more subtle than against humans. Just like the crowning ceremony of both sovereign rulers for instance, they are both crowning their heirs around the same time just for it to be balanced between them.

Once one did something, the other would follow suit so as not to be lagging behind, it was actually quite childish if you thought about it.

“We are not buddy buddies. We are only talking because of you” Derek answered.

“Because of me? Why?” I asked

“Look, …” Marcus trailed off so I could say my name.

“Edna” I said. They don't need to know my last name.

“Edna, such a beautiful name” I loved the way my name rolled off his lips but I wasn't going to admit that.

“So Edna, I know you understood what was going on, that's why you ran away” Marcus added.

“I honestly do not. You just muttered something and your eyes were glowing. That's enough to make someone who just witness a traumatic death scared shitless” I said, the lies flowing out smoothly.

“Oh that makes sense, I didn't think about like that. I thought you ran away because… Nevermind” he trailed off.

I wasn't curious enough to pry so I asked, “So what is this all about?” 

“Edna, we are mates” Marcus announced.

“Mates as in soulmates between supernaturals? But I'm not a supernatural, I'm human” I said genuinely confused.

Mates was only between a specie and unique to supernaturals and the absurdity of me being mated to a supernatural didn't just end there. I was freaking mated to two of them, a wolf and a vampire. Was the gods crazy or something? Is that even possible?

“Sadly so” Derek muttered and I resisted the urge to hit him again in the face.

Marcus ignored him as well, “That's the weirdest thing about it, there has never been a cross specie mateship before”

“How do I know that you are not lying to me? I mean I can't feel any bond because I'm human” I asked.

“And why would be lying to become mates with a human?” Derek asked back almost immediately as he eyed me with disgust.

That's it, “If you have a problem with me being human, why don't you just end it then? Come on, reject me” I slammed back at him. He doesn't say a word, just kept staring at me with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Please let's not make rash decisions that we might regret later. Mateship is a one chance thing, we only have one mate per lifetime so let's take things slowly and try to relate better okay?” Marcus mediated.

Both of us did not say anything, we just kept eyeing each other with anger. Marcus was cute and nice but Derek wasn't. Was it possible to dislike a mate? That's what I felt for him at the moment. I hate supernaturals who thought themselves too mighty to mingle with human. It was the reason we were living with our one eye closed and one eye open. And to think, humans didn't do anything to offend them, they just wanted to live a peaceful and happy life. The reason for Hunters coming into play in the first place was all because of the supernaturals oppression. My parent's death was their fault too. 

Surely, it won't hurt me to get rejected but at least I will be free from an arrogant jerk and have in mind that I have just one wolf mate to deal with. And then Marcus would reject me too once he finds out I killed his brother and then I would be down to zero mates. Easy life.

Marcus sighed, “Edna, I know deep down that you know we are all mates. You felt the tingle too even though you are human. And I don't have any problem with you being human, I just want to give this mateship a try” He said, his eyes were clear with genuineness that it brought butterflies to my stomach. 

I ignored the feeling and said, “For your sake and your sake only, I'll think about it. Everything is all too confusing at the moment and I need some time to process everything” I said.

“Sure, I understand” He replied, his face a little brighter as he heard that I would think about it.

“I would like to go now please. Where is my bag?” I asked as I stood up from the stool I was sitting on.

“It's on the couch” Marcus said as he stood up as well. “I could drop you off at your place if you don't mind” he added, nervously.

I chuckled at how adorable he looked, “Don't worry, I can find my way on my own” I said as we both walked into the living room and I took my bag from the couch.

Derek followed us closely with a permanent frown on his face and I acted like I didn't care because I didn't. He was an infuriating arrogant but freakishly hot guy. Yeah, I totally didn't care.

I waved Marcus goodbye as I left the mansion. Immediately I was out of sight, I opened my bag to see if anything was tampered with. Fortunately no, I took out my phone and turned it on.

The first thing I saw was 20 missed calls, from my boyfriend.

Shit, I'm in trouble.