I couldn't believe how beautiful she was. I'd never looked at a woman with such desire and longing, and it had nothing to do with her blood. Her soft black hair fell over my arm and felt like cool silk, and even though her face was covered in blood, I could see how beautiful she was. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to claim her as mine, but I held back.
"So?" Amelia asked me, her voice curious and hopeful, "Was my vision correct? Is she your mate?"
"I can't tell." I answered, as I held her closer to shield her from the cool evening air that rustled through the trees. "I think so. Her scent is more amazing than anything I've ever smelt, and I feel a light buzzing over my skin, but it's nothing like you described when you met Stephen."
"Maybe it's because she's been altered." Amelia pointed out, "She isn't a pure vampire anymore, but she was in the vision. I don't know how, but she's near human now, or possibly a witch. I can feel her power. It's incredible."
"And you still think we should keep it to ourselves?" Tobby asked, sounding skeptical, as we continued walking through the dark woods.
"If she is my mate, I don't want to lie to her." I said quickly, though my eyes never left her pale face. I couldn't help examining her features, I wanted to memorize every inch of her.
"We can't risk telling her what she truly is." Amelia argued, "Not until we're sure she'll be on our side, against the King's."
"She's related to the damn King's." Tobby pointed out, "You said so yourself, she was wearing their crest in that vision you had. Would she turn against them, even if they are mates?"
"I hope so." Amelia looked at my would-be mate. "We have no other options. We won't be able to defeat them without her power. I'm sorry Jas, I hope she'll forgive you for lying."
"I'm not agreeing to lie," I pointed out, "I am still deciding. Once I get to know her more. I will decide if I tell her the truth or not, and if I do, I will accept whatever she decides to do."
"You can't, Jas." Amelia reached over to touch my arm, but I pulled away.
"You don't get to decide that." I told her, and I walked off.
Once we made it back to the other, who were waiting by the fire, everyone got up and rushed over to us, to see my girl.
"Oh, no. What happened to her?" Tempy asked, as she looked at all the blood.
Amelia quickly filled everyone in on the vampire attack, while I took my mate into the hut we'd made for her. I wanted her in my hut, but that would probably scare her, and she didn't know we were mates yet.
"We need to clean her up." Delia told us.
"I'll do it," Simone told us, "All the boys can leave. We'll need to undress her."
"I'm not going anywhere." I said stubbornly.
"Yes, the heck you are." Amelia told me, and pointed to the door, "You will see her naked when she allows it and not a moment before."
"She's my mate, I should be allowed to see her body." I argued childishly.
"Is this really how you want to see your mate naked for the first time?" Cody asked, "With her covered in blood, and unconscious. Let's go, the women will take care of her, and we'll set up some traps to make sure we don't have any unwanted guests from Anya's nest."
"Fine," I exhaled and rubbed my face.
Two hours later, we were done setting things up, to make sure we had no intruders. Anya would want revenge for her dead mate, but I would make sure mine would stay safe.
When we returned to the pack, I went straight to the hut, where the others were still sitting and watching over my mate.
"How is she?"
"I couldn't heal her." Simone told me, "But we've done what we can."
"What do you mean you couldn't heal her?" I asked in fear. If my heart could beat, it would be racing wildly in fear.
"I don't know," Simone shrugged, "My powers just wouldn't work, so I just added some herbs and wrapped her injuries."
"Thank you," I said, as I sat down and touched her face. "My Goddess, she's stunning."
"Well, she's not as gorgeous as I am." Tempy joked from where she was leaning her back up against the hut's wall. "But she's alright for a vampire."
"Okay," Delia scolded her daughter, "Time for bed."
"Oh, mom, do I have to?" She pouted, "Daddy said we could go for a run."
"Then let's go." She pushed her daughter from the hut.
"I'd like to be alone with her." I told the others.
"Don't do anything creepy." Cody winked at me from the doorway.
"Get out." I rolled my eyes and started to gently run my fingers through her hair.
After everyone left, I just sat there watching her for the rest of the night, but I fell asleep sometime in the evening, and didn't wake up until Amelia came in to check on my mate.
"Did you stay here all night?"
"Would you have left Stephen if you'd just met him, and he was injured?"
"Never." She smiled and sat beside my mate. She gently moved her glowing hands over my mate's body and smiled again. "She's doing better, she should be awake soon. You should go clean up, you look like cr*p, and you don't want her to see you like this."
I looked down at my crumbled clothes, and dirt and dried blood over my skin.
"Okay," I stood up and stretched. "I should feed anyway. You'll make sure she's safe while I'm away?"
"Of course I will. Just go." She told me.
I gave my mate one last look, before I reluctantly left the hut. I ran into the woods, and found a large mountain lion, that I drained in seconds. I must have been thirstier than I thought I was. I then went to the river, and washed up, and brushed my teeth, before I returned home, and when I did. My beautiful mate was awake.