Chapter 1
EMMETT
The light in the room comes on. Like many nights, I watch from afar and wait to see her.
This has been my life for the last fifteen years, keeping an eye, making sure she is safe.
“I knew you would be here,” Gage grumbled as he stood beside me. I didn’t even hear him coming.
My eyes never left her room. We stood there in silence for a moment until he sighed. “The girls are taking her to that party tonight,” he said. “Like you suggested.”
I grinned. It is not every day that you turn twenty-five. Her birthday is on Halloween today. So attending a fancy dress party was only fitting for my stunning mate. I planned everything. There are more humans there, but a few vampires too—we will feed the humans who will know about our kind.
Most humans who know about us are only curious as many believe in the shows such as Twilight and True Blood, which can be so frigging annoying. The only human who won’t know what’s going on will be my mate.
I say nothing as he grunts. “I hate this,” he gritted out. “You have been doing this for years. Why now?”
I turn to look at him.
Gage is one of these people who likes to do things straight away, whereas I wait till the appropriate moment to strike. There were countless times I could have put a claim on her, taken her, and made her mine, but it wasn’t meant to be when I first saw her. She was too young to claim. Initially, I had a good reason to wait, but many questioned why I didn’t when she got older.
I shake away my thoughts. “The blood moon,” I murmured, looking back at the window as she stepped into view, which caught me off guard. She is laughing at something, but I don’t want to listen, even though that has been a pastime of mine many times over the last year.
“The blood moon,” Gage whispered, sounding surprised.
I nod and look back at him. His eyes widened. “You know if you claim here on a blood moon, she will be strong,” he said, glancing back at the window.
I knew that, and I didn’t care.
My eyes lingered on him for a moment and then moved back to the window. “I know she will,” I murmured. “But my reasons for having her are selfish. I know how we all act on a blood moon, and I will find it hard not to be around her. I have lasted this long in claiming her, and I don’t want to risk it all now just because I was bloodthirsty and craving every damn inch of her. I don’t want to reveal myself that way, not to her. I have waited too long to throw it away for her to be afraid or, even worse, reject me.”
The last part was more rasped than it should have, but it was true. Our kind has never had much luck with mates. There was a scarce amount of them for us. It is like someone forgot about us. I witnessed many vampires choose their chosen mates and live a loving life with them, but I was one of the lucky ones to find mine, even if it was in a gruesome way.
Gage sighed, making me pull from my thoughts. “I know,” he murmured. “And I understand. Hell, everyone back at the compound does. We have watched you for these last few years. The number of times you have protected her and even wiped her memory of you and all that has happened. You have tortured yourself, my friend. I believe it’s your time to have what’s yours and to be happy.”
I said nothing as I glanced at him with a weary smile. “Thanks,” I muttered.
My eyes darted back to the window. It was quiet, so I listened in.
“Come on, Lena,” Whitney called. “Let’s see the outfit.”
There was silence for a moment, but a door opened, and someone wolf-whistled. “Damn, girl,” Sasha murmured. “Who would have thought red lipstick and a short witch’s costume could be so damn hot on you?”
“You think,” Lena murmured.
A slow smirk inched the corners of my lips up.
Witches and red lipstick are my favourite things on my mate.
I felt my c**k harden at the image that appeared.
Fuck.
I needed to be with her.
“Sure hell think so,” Sasha said, pulling me out of a fantasy-filled state, and I listened in again.
“You know, with that costume, you will have every man eating out of your hand tonight,” Whitney said, making Lena laugh. “Yeah, whatever. No one ever notices me like that,” she sighed. “Everyone avoids me.”
A grin forms on my lips, knowing I made that happen to her. I had my reasons, but I never liked how men looked at her. Every time a guy went near her, I wanted to rip them apart and drain every ounce of their blood. I used compulsion to make sure they had no regulations about her.
She was mine—no one else’s.
I listened in again, only to hear what shoes she should wear. “Wear these,” Whitney said.
“Thigh-high boots,” Lena exclaimed. “Not high shoes.”
“Yeah,” Whitney sighed. “It is cold out, and your outfit barely covers your ass. At least keep your feet warm.”
I chuckled.
My eyes stayed on the window. “Fine,” Lena mumbled. “But I need another drink if I am going to be seen dead in this damn thing.”
I heard a door open, and feet go down the stairs. My eyes stayed on the window as a shadow appeared.
“She is already for you, Em,” Sasha murmured as she looked at me. “The costume was a good choice. You picked well.”
I gave her a nod.
My plan was in motion. I would be at that party tonight, and I would finally have her as my mate. Well, till she knew who I was, but that wouldn’t be for a short while.
“Get ready,” Sasha said. “We will bring her to you.”
With that, Sasha moved from the window and drew the curtains as Lena returned to the room. “More wine for us,” she chanted.
Sasha and Whitney are vampires, just like me. I placed them in Lena’s school for her protection, as I couldn’t be there in person to protect her, even if I loved the idea of a teacher-and-student affair.
Whitney and Sasha are the same age as Lena and fit perfectly in her life. They were there for her when I couldn’t. Initially, it was an assignment to them, thinking they had to babysit the boss’s young mate. But over the last few years, they became the best of friends and have even been there in ways I surely knew I couldn’t have.
“Well, are you now ready to leave?” Gage asked, shaking my thoughts away as I looked at him. He gave me a knowing look.
“Sure am,” I said as we both turned away and returned to the coven.
Tonight, I was dressing up as the thing I am—a vampire—the cliche of it. But I wanted to make sure I fit into the role.
When I bought the costume and tried it on, Gage laughed. He thought I was out of my mind, but after witnessing how excited humans get about this Halloween tradition, eventually, he bought a costume to join in the fun—Frankenstein.
“I am looking forward to seeing what this Halloween thing is around here,” he grumbled as we stepped into the compound.
Vampires were lingering around.
We all know what Halloween is around here. We have been around for hundreds of years and witnessed it change. Every year the same costumes, but they have become sluttier than normal, which to us men, we don’t complain. I have seen it all. I never find the fascination with it all and usually stay away from crowds. But since finding Lena, I stayed in the shadows and watched her change every year with the times.
“So, when are we going?” Gage asked, making me stop outside my room and look at him. “We will leave in an hour, and don’t make any pit stops.”
Gage grinned and walked away but still faced me. “I won’t,” he said. “But I am taking a woman tonight for a good old f**k session.”
I growled as he turned around and laughed.
Gage was a player regarding the ladies, and he didn’t care whether they were human, werewolves, vampires, or a unicorn. He would screw them if they had a cunt and leave them the next day without a trace.
I walked into my room and closed my door as my eyes went to the costume hanging in the wardrobe and groaned. I wasn’t looking forward to wearing it, but an image of Lena popped into my head, which sent my c**k hardening.
Moving over to the window, I placed my hand on the window.
“Darling, it won’t be long now,” I murmured as I reached into my pants, wrapped my hand around my shaft, and closed my eyes. “You will be here with me, and I will finally have you.”
I stroked my c**k till I found my release. My c*m sprayed all over my hand and pants.
My eyes open and move slightly till my eyes land on the painting above my bed. A slow smile slid across my lips.
My wait was ending of staying in the shadows, and I was finally willing to take a chance on making my mate mine.