Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Soren
As soon as I’d felt Theo’s fear and anger fill the bond, I started for the compound. My dedicated guards, who usually stayed unseen when I was outside my domain, followed at my side as I flew through the damage of the front gate.
I spared a glance at the door that lay off to the side on the dirt ground.
Upon entering, I could feel the rage—Theo’s and mine mixing and growing. The fury screamed at me for justice. Vengeance for my mate. Whoever had made him scared would pay.
Theo stood with Dashiel off to the side, clothes rumpled and caked in blood.
Inhaling deeply, I snarled.
His blood.
They’d spilled my mate’s blood.
My guards fanned out around the room.
“Holy fuckin’ hell,” someone whispered.
“Don’t stress. Soren’s the good kind of vampire,” Riker said.
The air warped around me as my power bled out unchecked, thick and suffocating. With my nails and fangs already bared, I locked my vision onto the one responsible.
The one who would die.
Nox and Deacon held him between them.
“Well, good to anyone who hasn’t harmed Spade,” Riker added.
Patrick was the only one who’d survived this foolish attack against my fated mate.
They’d left him alive for me.
Another snarl slipped from me.
The humans in the room froze instantly, their instincts screaming at them to run.
Except him.
My bonded.
My heart and soul.
I could feel how unconcerned he was through our connection, and if I wasn’t blind with rage, I would be amused by how turned on he was.
Soon, I could give him all my attention.
Soon, I would have him inside me while I was inside him. His cock. My fangs.
Before I took a step toward fixing the problem, I flicked a hand and told my personal guards, “Leave.” I didn’t hear them withdraw. They were silent, but I sensed it, and then I started forward. “Patrick.”
His name wasn’t spoken. It was delivered like a sentence and a promise.
He would die.
He smirked.
Actually smirked.
For a split second, I almost admired the stupidity. Then I was in front of him, wrapping my hand around his throat. Deacon and Nox moved away as I slammed his body back against the wall. His feet left the ground as I lifted him effortlessly.
“You dared touch him.”
He clawed at my wrist, but it was useless.
I was stronger. I was an elder. I had been around centuries before he was even born.
“You wouldn’t—” he choked out.
But I would.
He’d touched my fated mate. Harmed him. Made him bleed.
I would end his life tonight and feel better for it. Then, I would spread the word about Patrick’s demise to make sure everyone knew what I would do to anyone who was stupid enough to touch Theo.
I didn’t stand alone either. Everyone would know I had the Blackwood brothers and Dashiel at my back.
“Please,” he begged. “I lo—”
I didn’t let him finish. Didn’t let him breathe another second of air I owned.
There was no pause. I felt no hesitation or flicker of doubt.
I dug my fingers in and pulled.
Bone tore.
Flesh split.
And his head came clean off his body.
Blood sprayed hot across my hand as his body collapsed in a useless heap at my feet. The sound of it hitting the floor echoed louder than it should have.
Or maybe everything else had just gone silent because no one moved.
It even seemed people were holding their breath.
Maybe it was because power still crackled under my skin, begging for me to end more lives. It wanted destruction and to give punishment.
Then, when I turned and saw him, everything stopped.
There was no fear in his eyes or in the way he held his body.
But there was something burning within his gaze.
Something I wanted to understand.
My chest tightened as an unfamiliar, vicious pressure clawed its way through me.
I could have lost him.
My grip loosened, and Patrick’s severed head dropped from my hand like it didn’t mean anything, and that was because it didn’t.
Nothing mattered but him.
And that should have made it easy to move to him, but it didn’t.
I stood there, rooted in place, staring at Theo. I could have lost him.
Adrenaline still burned through me.
He’d seen me tear a man’s head clean off.
My gaze dropped to my hands. Blood coated them. Sticky. Drying in places. I flexed my fingers slowly, and for the first time since the fight ended, doubt crept in.
He now might see me as I truly am.
A monster.
When I heard Theo move, I looked up as he stepped toward me, and everything in me reacted; every instinct pulled at me to get closer him, pushed at me to meet him halfway, to feel the warmth of his embrace.
But I didn’t move.
Couldn’t.
What if…? I swallowed hard. What if he saw me differently now?
Like I was a nightmare.
Something to be feared.
Something that disgusted him.
He could see me as too much. My life would always be covered in blood and violence.
“I—” My voice came out rough, and I tried again. “Theo….”
He stopped in front of me. Our bond hummed pleasantly in my chest, but it could be a ruse.
“You’ve seen what I can do,” I said, quieter, the words slower than usual as I tried to make sense of the thoughts mixing in my head. “What I will do again if anyone threatens you. I—”
He gripped the front of my shirt, and he tugged me close. “I don’t give a fuck about what you did. Told you that you’re mine in every way, shape, or form, Soren. Nothin’ you do will scare me. Nothin’ will change. I stand at your side willingly.”
My worry melted away.
He obliterated it completely.
My throat thickened with emotions. “Th—” The rest of his name disappeared against his mouth.
The kiss was hard and demanding. Possessive in a way that sent heat spiraling through my chest and straight down to my cock. My body slammed into his, and whatever hesitation that had been holding me back shattered on impact.
My hands came up, and I grabbed onto him all over—arms, shoulders, whatever I could reach—as I kissed him back just as hard. There was blood between us, the metallic tang sharp on my tongue as his wondrous flavor filled me, but it didn’t matter.
None of it mattered.
We ignored the body on the floor, our audience, and the fact that we were both a mess.
This was just him.
Us.
But always him.
He was safe. I would always make sure of it, and he would now have to get used to the idea of me being glued to his side day and night.
A sound tore out of me, low and wrecked, as I leaned into him, closer, needing more, needing him in a way that made my head spin.
When he pulled back, it felt like losing something vital.
I didn’t let him get far, though. Our foreheads pressed together, his heavy breath fanning over my face.
“If you think,” he said, voice rough and low, “that a little death and blood is gonna keep me from you, then you don’t understand how much you mean to me. Fuckin’ love you, Soren.”
My chest tightened.
Something in my throat worked, but no words came out as I searched his face. There was nothing there but certainty. Possession. Something deep and unshakable that wrapped around me just as tightly as his grip still did.
He slid his hand up, fingers curling against my jaw.
This man.
My fated mate.
He loved me.
My breath hitched.
“My existence was dull until you walked into my life. I will do everything in my power to keep our ember burning brightly as we travel through our worlds together. I love you, too, Theo.”
“Baby, your words…. Fuck, they mean everything.”
“You mean everything,” I told him.
Smiling, I leaned in and kissed my mate again. Our bond fluttered in happiness and love.
A throat cleared before Monkey said, “So, Riker and his brothers are shifters and Soren’s a vampire. What does that make you?”
Spade and I shared a smile before he tucked an arm around my waist as we faced everyone. Dashiel was silently staring down at Monkey.
“Dash is an elf,” Riker explained. He wore clothes that were too big for him. No doubt they came from Razor. “He’s a prince among his kind, but he prefers our world over his. Besides, he’s got a heap of other brothers to take care of their kingdom.”
“Wait,” Theo called. “Are we allowed to tell Monkey and Coms this? I thought no human was to be informed unless they’re fated mates or connected to one?”
Deacon grunted. “Soren will erase this night from their minds.”
“Boooo,” Riker muttered. Razor dragged him into his arms and looked annoyed by the protocol too.
Theo turned to me. “You can do that?”
I nodded. “A vampire talent when it comes to humans, but I have never used it on you. However, since we’ve bonded, it wouldn’t have worked on you anyway.”
“Huh” was all Theo said in return.
“We won’t say anythin’ to anyone,” Monkey stated.
Coms nodded. “What Monkey said. We ain’t gonna tell anyone this.”
“We’ll talk about it. For now, Coms, can you check on the guards outside?” Razor asked.
Coms’s lips thinned. He looked at Monkey and said, “Try and talk some sense into them.” To the room, he added, “I get not everyone knowin’, but we just saw a lot of shit and didn’t freak out. We won’t say anythin’.” He met everyone’s stare before he walked from the room.
“Coms is right. Doesn’t this count for anythin’? I don’t want my mind wiped.” Monkey sighed when no one said anything. “I’m gonna go get the others and bring them back. I hope while I’m gone, you can somehow work out how Coms and I can stay in the know.”
Once he was gone, Riker said, “I’m calling Mom.” She was on the council and could possibly give them permission to keep their memories.
“It’s a good idea to try for Theo and Razor’s brothers,” I suggested.
Riker nodded, smiling wide as he skipped off to make the call.
Razor ran a hand through his hair. “What are the chances of it?” He turned to Deacon and Nox, who were watching the kitchen door Monkey had gone through. No doubt their mates were the ones Monkey was retrieving.
Then the shifter brothers shared a look. “Hard to know. They’re not blood related to anyone.”
Dashiel cleared this throat. “Perhaps someone within their ancestors had a connection to us others that could be used?”
Razor nodded. “Could be somethin’ we can look into.”
“We’ll wait for Riker to get off the phone and see what was said,” Deacon suggested. He took a step toward the kitchen doors just before they opened to reveal Monkey, then Rio, Keiran, and an older man.
“That’s Monkey’s father, Landon,” Theo explained quietly. “He took Rio and Kieran to safety.”
As the shifters made their way to their fated mates, Dashiel suddenly let out a pained groan, slapping a hand to his neck, which had the shifters spinning back around.
Then Landon cried out before he dropped to his knees, gripping his wrist.
“Pops,” Monkey yelled, falling next to him. Dashiel staggered over to the two as Landon dragged his sleeve up to reveal a glowing tattoo that was starting to fade.
The design matched the one on Dashiel’s skin.
He’d just found his fated mate.