Chapter 13
Lucie stared into the amber eyes in front of her. Maybe he didn’t really know. How could he possibly know, right? Unless she called out his name? Oh gosh. She had been told she talked in her sleep. She wished she could become invisible right now instead of pinned by his heated gaze.
Clearing her throat slightly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, trying to play it cool and hide the stomach-turning embarrassment inside her.
“It’s perfectly natural. Nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s normal to dream about your mate.” He flashed her a wide, cocky smile. “It would be nice if it wasn’t just a dream …”
“What are you talking about?” Lucie said nonchalantly, even though her heart was racing.
Ryan lightly rubbed the back of his neck.
He looked up at the ceiling and breathed in through his teeth, making a hissing noise.
“I know, Lucie. Well … we are connected as mates. And we must be really connected, because suddenly these visions started popping into my head. At first, I was confused with what I was seeing, but then I realized that somehow I was getting these images from you. And when I went looking for you, you were in here, sleeping … dreaming.” He peeked down at her and quickly returned his gaze upward. He knew she would be embarrassed.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you actually. And since we’re finally alone, I think this is the perfect time for that.”
Lucie was mortified. She immediately swung her legs over the bed and got up.
“Wait, Lucie.”
“No. No. No. We aren’t talking right now.
” She held her hand out and took a few retreating steps until she reached the bathroom door.
Then she spun around and ran inside. It hurt her legs to push them like that, but she had to escape.
She quickly shut the door and locked the latch.
She heard Ryan’s chuckle and the soft thud of his head against the door.
“Really, Lucie? You know I can just break the door down, right? No need to lock it.”
She could hear the cockiness in his tone and rolled her eyes.
She took a couple of steps back from the door and buried her face in her hands.
This was so embarrassing. She peeked through her fingers to take a look at the room she was in.
It was an impressive bathroom. There was a large stand-in stone shower with multiple shower heads, and she could also see a large white porcelain bathtub. Was this really a cave?
She stared at the door cautiously for a moment.
If he was going to break down the door, he would have done it already, right?
It seemed like he was going to at least respect her privacy.
She walked over to the tub and turned the water on, adjusted the temperature, and shed her clothes onto the floor.
“You, uh, sure you don’t want company in there? You know, with your injuries, I should be in there to help you get in and out of the tub … and to wash you.”
Lucie let out a quiet, airy chuckle. “I’ll manage.
” After the dream she had, she completely doubted herself.
She wasn’t sure she would be able to stop things from happening, and she was sure he had a newfound confidence after seeing that dream.
She needed to get her mind straight so she could face him as levelheaded as possible.
She listened to the sound of him leaning against the door and the gentle thud of his head against it again.
“This hurts, Lucie. I really need to talk to you.”
She looked at the door and felt a pang in her heart.
She could hear the pain in his voice, and the memory of his tormented expression in her dream flashed through her mind.
She clenched her fists and bit the inside of her lip.
After hearing about the kind of guy he was from Tonya, she really didn’t want to hurt him.
“We can talk about it after I get cleaned up.” Lucie stepped into the tub, sucking air in through her teeth as the water stung her wounds.
“I’ll have some clothes waiting for you right outside the door for when you’re done. I’m sure you want fresh clothes.”
“Thank you.” Lucie listened as he walked away from the bathroom door, and she heard the sound of the bedroom door opening. She sighed and sank down deeper into the tub so the water covered her mouth. She blew air out in frustration, creating bubbles.
Since he’d seen her dream, she felt exposed.
An empty, disappointed feeling filled her, and she frowned.
It was only a dream. And while it was probably a good thing, she couldn’t help but feel cheated.
She had decided in her dream to allow that moment for herself.
But now, after having the dream, she felt like she couldn’t play with Ryan’s emotions like that.
He was a mate she couldn’t have. And she hated the flame of hope that flickered inside her, hated how she burned to be with him.
Ugh. Girl, get a hold of yourself. You don’t even know this man.
He’s a stranger. Well, at least that’s how she tried to justify it to herself.
But this was her mate, her other half. A mate was someone you didn’t know you were missing, and once you found them, you could never be whole again after rejecting them.
And she felt it. She felt connected to him, like he was hers.
She leaned her head back on the tub and closed her eyes.
Ryan couldn’t go against the royal family, so why did he think he could keep the prince’s bride?
What did he have up his sleeve? Did he really think that it would be okay because she was his mate and he was pureblood?
Maybe that was one of the things he wanted to explain to her.
She really hadn’t let him explain himself.
She had to hand it to Ryan for his self-control, though.
Her own father had forcibly marked her mother, not giving her a choice.
It was an accident, and her father wasn’t that kind of person.
But he had just gotten his powers as the Werewolf King, and his wolf was able to seize control of the moment.
That was something she and Aedan wouldn’t have to worry about, since their wolves were not separate from them.
Vampires weren’t separate either, but she had been told several times that their primal instincts could take over.
This was why newly-turned vampires could accidentally kill others.
It was also the reason why they usually ended up marking their mates immediately.
They weren’t able to control themselves.
What she couldn’t get over was Ryan’s gaze. How he already looked at her like Harley looked at Destiny. Like how her parents looked at each other. There was a possessive tenderness in his eyes. She wondered if her eyes betrayed her when she looked at him.
She raised her hand up and played with the surface of the water, making a trickling sound.
She would have to reject the mate bond. She had to marry the vampire prince, and then Ryan could go and find …
someone else. She bit her bottom lip as she burned with anger.
The very idea of him being with someone else not only infuriated her, but it sent a wave of pain through her.
It would be different if they rejected each other, right?
Though to be honest, she wasn’t sure. She knew from her father who rejected his first mate after he was betrayed that it was an incredibly painful experience.
He told her that if her mother hadn’t come into the picture, he probably would have wanted the she-wolf that he had rejected back.
It was a strong bond that could last despite a rejection.
She had even heard of the rejection not working for some.
What if she couldn’t sever this feeling inside her?
She didn’t want to think about it. If she still had these feelings, she wasn’t sure how she would bear to be away from him.
She had no idea how she would be able to walk into another man’s arms and to his bed.
The idea of lying with another man made bile rise up her throat.
It repulsed her. The mate bond had already fastened her to Ryan, convincing her that there was no life without him.
He was her oxygen, and without him, she would die.
She realized how na?ve she’d been all these years.
She’d thought it was just a feeling she could push aside.
She thought for sure she could easily reject her fated mate for her duty to her people.
Now she was saying the words but didn’t mean them.
There wasn’t a part of her that wanted to reject Ryan.
But it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to their species or to Derrick, who was waiting for her.
This wasn’t just on her end. Derrick was also sacrificing his fated mate too.
She wondered if he had met her yet and how that meeting would have gone.
It just depended on if she was born yet or not.
It wasn’t unheard of for it to take decades or even centuries for a vampire to meet their fated mate.
Vampires who were born vampires and not changed stopped physically aging in their twenties.
This was the same for werewolves and fairies.
They aged, but once they hit their prime, their bodies just … held there.
Her parents weren’t normal werewolves, though.
They were also part vampire, which complicated everything.
The King of the Vampires had confirmed that while they weren’t invulnerable, they were both immortal because of their vampire blood.
That had been a strange day, hearing that said out loud, like it was just another fact about them.
And then there was Aunt Reiya. In another weird turn of events, they found out that her father’s sister was also immortal now.
Apparently, the Moon Goddess had gifted them with something called the Ocean’s Tear, an object meant to connect her life to her mate’s, who happened to be a deity.
What it actually did was tether their lives together.
As long as Reiya wasn’t killed, she would live as long as he did.
But if either of them fell, they both would.
Since her mate was immortal, that meant Aunt Reiya would live eternally too.
Lucie imagined that would make things interesting for her as the fairy queen.
As for her and Aedan? The Vampire King wasn’t sure about her brother yet. He said he’d need to test Aedan’s blood as he aged. It didn’t matter for Lucie, though. Once Derrick marked her, she would be his immortal bride … for all eternity.
Reality finally sunk in. What she was about to do wasn’t just for a short amount of time. She was promising to be with the vampire prince for eternity, or until death parted them. What if Derrick never changed how he acted with her? What if he continued to be cold and uninterested?
She bit her bottom lip, and her chest squeezed. Eternity. An eternity of a loveless marriage. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She knew what she wanted at that moment. She wanted Ryan. She wanted to be wrapped in his love and to be his world.
But life was what it was. Who said you get what you want?