Viraai: (Book 1) Awakenings

| 3 | Mates, Dates and... Vampires?

M A C K E N Z I E

“Alright, then we’ve concluded this meeting. We’ll meet after any Rogue activity to discuss our next plan of attack. Feel free to help yourselves with food being served downstairs, you are free to leave afterwards. Thank you for your time.” He speaks and leaves the room with his Beta. I sigh as he walks away, swallowing quietly as I try to keep myself together.

There’s no way he’s my Mate...

“Follow our Mate Mackenzie!” My Wolf barks in my head, startling me.

“Calm down, I’m way ahead of ya…” I tell her and turn to Ethan who is walking beside me as we both leave the conference room.

“Hey Ethan why don’t you wait for me outside, I’ll be right back,” I say to him.

“Okay but imma swing by the buffet first, I’m starving.” He replies and I nod at him before going off to look for Alpha Miles. I follow his scent, his sweet-smelling scent… and it leads me to a small room that has minor furniture, where his scent is most prominent.

Just at that moment, I feel a presence with me, one right behind me and strong enough to send shivers up and down my back...

“Looking for me?” A voice says, deep and smooth, coming from right behind me just as a pair of large hands snake their way around my waist. I turn around swiftly and find Alpha Miles looking down at me, his grey orbs shifting between black and silver, his vision being clouded with lust as he stares down at me.

He then buries his head in my neck and growls lowly, his voice sending a soothing vibration across my neck, making me shut my eyes as shivers run through my body.

Boy, that's hot...

“Mate.” He speaks into my neck just as he tugs on my waist possessively. I mimic his actions and lower my head over the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and running my lips over his neck… just over the place I would mark him…

“Mine,” I whisper before I kiss his skin softly. I then lift my head to meet his eyes and find him gazing at me, completely mesmerised by my being...

He then does something unexpected and picks me off the ground with ease, holding onto my legs and making them wrap around his waist. I gasp softly just as my arms rest around his shoulders and my chest is pressed against his…

We literally just met a second ago but all of this feels so… natural… like it was meant to be… and before I know it, I feel his lips lightly press onto mine as he begins to explore them. A sensation erupts inside me as our lips dance together, my hands holding onto his neck for support as I exhale softly and deepen our kiss. But it only lasts a few blissful seconds… I soon feel him pull away from me, leaving me breathless as he shuts his eyes and takes a few breaths to try and take control of himself…

“I’m sorry... I couldn’t resist any longer...” He smiles at me, seemingly flustered as he speaks in a low, calm voice.

“I didn’t mind...” I chuckle as I look into his lustrous grey eyes.

“You’re Mackenzie... isn’t it?” He asks and I nod my head at him.

“Mackenzie...” He repeats and for some reason I blush at the sound of my own name…

“I’m Miles.” He formally introduces himself, giving me a generous smile as he tilts his head a bit to the side and marvels at me.

“It’s nice to finally meet you...” I say, before glancing down at his chest and realising that he is still holding onto me… “Do… you mind putting me down now?” I ask shyly.

“Oh, sorry…” He mumbles before he obeys me and sets me down carefully, giving me yet another flustered smile as his dimples pop out. He is literally the sexiest thing ever…

“I want to get to know you better, if it’s alright with you... I’d love to have you for dinner this evening... that is- take you for dinner I mean...” He says, blushing a little realizing how his sentence sounded just as I laugh at how cute he’s being.

“Of course,” I tell him and he grins at me excitedly just as he rubs the back of his neck lightly.

“Alright, I’ll pick you up at 8 tonight. You live in the Blue Light Crescent Packhouse correct?” He asks and I reply him with a ‘yes’, still being distracted by his soft lips.

“Yay, we’ve got a date with our Mate!” My Wolf howls.

“Yeah, I guess we do!” I say to her. I am so happy I've found my Mate... my other half. Some people would think it’s a little straight forward, how two people just fall in love automatically... but I don’t know, that’s all I could feel right now; love. And you know; the other thing... the thing that makes me wish he’d pin me to the nearest wall and rail me into tomorrow.

He then grips onto my waist and rests his forehead on mine, sighing quietly as he shuts his eyes.

“I’m so happy I found you.” He whispers and I embrace him slowly, letting him engulf me with his love as I shut my eyes as well. So this is the Matebond…

“I’m so happy I found you too,” I tell him before I reach up slowly and decide to kiss him, his lips sliding softly against mine before I pull away and hug his torso tightly.

“I’ll see you soon baby girl.” He says just as I let go and my insides flip once I hear him call me that, feeling his hands let go of my waist.

“Okay... later.” I smile at him, stepping away from him before reluctantly walking away, leaving him alone in the parlour.

I leave the house after my encounter with Miles and head for the car, unable to get the smile off my face. I get into the driver’s seat of my car and find Ethan chewing on a burrito while typing something on his phone.

“What took you so long?” Ethan asks, putting his phone away and taking another bite of his burrito which smelt amazing, making me crave some.

“I-I found my Mate,” I tell him as I sit down and face forward, my eyes staring at nothing in particular.

“What?! Congratulations!” I hear him say followed by a bump on my arm.

“Yeah, thank you.” I smile, turning to him just before starting up my car.

“Well, who is he?”

“Miles, and he’s the Alpha,” I say dreamily making my Viraai whine softly.

“What are the odds that you’re both Alphas huh?”

“I know right... hey, what did you get for me?” I ask him, staring at his burrito before facing forward as we pull out the driveway.

“Uhm... this was sorta yours but I got hungry again so I ate it...” He trails off quietly.

“Ethan!” I exclaim at him for eating my food.

“I’m sorry, I was hungry and you were taking too long!”

“Why didn’t you just go back inside and get more for yourself?!”

“Cause I was too full to leave the car!”

“But you said you were hungry so you could’ve left anyway!”

“Yeah, but your burrito was already here sitting there getting cold!”

“Well, what was I going to eat?!”

“I’m sorry stop yelling at me!” He yells back and I smile at him and shake my head.

“You’re buying me food,” I say to him, trying to sound serious.

“Fine.” He mumbles. “You still love me, right?”

“Of course I still love you dumbass. Even though you f*****g ate my food.” I glance at him before turning back to the road.

“I said I was sorry!” He says making me laugh slightly. “Let’s swing by KFC, I’ll get you 2 buckets.”

I gasp grinning at him. “Promise?”

“Promise.” He smiles at me and I nod.

“You are forgiven then.”

. . . . .

“No.” I deadpan, keeping my arms crossed.

“Mackenzie!” Shannon and Denise yell at the same time.

“No,” I repeat firmly.

“But it's a date; you gotta wear a dress and look nice!” Shannon insists, holding the yellow dress to me.

“It looks like the sun came all over that dress.” I grimace as I stare at the dress.

“Hey!” Shannon exclaims and holds the dress to her chest defensively.

“I’m not wearing that.” I shrug, casually putting my hands in my back pockets.

“Ugh fine, what about...” Denise says before walking back to my bed to look through the bunch of clothes they had selected for me.

“This!” She grins and whips out a long-sleeved grey dress that looks extremely short.

“I feel like that’s something my grandmother would’ve worn to the strip club in the 1930s.” I sigh, hating the dress she picked up.

“Mackenzieee.” They both complain, just as Jade walks into my room.

“What are tweedle dee and tweedle dum complaining about now?” Jade chuckles, amused by Shannon and Denise’ annoyed facial expressions.

“They’re trying to help me pick an outfit for my date with Miles but I hate everything,” I tell her. Jade and I are sort of similar when it comes to style so maybe she can give me a hand.

“You wanna go on a date in that?” Jade says and points to the monstrosity in Denise’s hands.

“It looks like something my grandmother would wear to the strip club in the 1930s,” Jade says and I laugh as she repeats the exact same thing I did.

“See!” I exclaim as Shannon and Denise both give me horrified looks.

“Here, lemme give you guys a hand.” Jade laughs as well as she walks to the clothes laid out on the bed and begins going through them.

“Here... how about, this.” She says after a while, walking back to me and handing me a sleeveless silk black top with a plunging v-line with a sheer fabric to cover the v-line, paired with black high-waisted black jeans and my favourite leather jacket.

“You gotta keep it simple, but you also gotta show off the goods a little.” She hands the clothes to me and I smile as I take them.

“Now this is more like it,” I say to Shannon and Denise. “Thank you, Jade, what would I do without you.”

“Ugh, wow.” Shannon scoffs, clearly hurt.

“I appreciate you guys trying to help as well. Hey, why don’t you help me pick the shoes? But no heels please and thank you.” I tell them, trying to cheer them up a little.

“Alright... why don’t you wear... these,” Denise says as she picks up a black pair of black laced up ankle boots with a thick brown chunky heel.

“Hm...” I hum as I take them, admiring them. Even though I said I didn’t want heels, they did look killer...

“Yes, definitely these.” I nod. “Thank you, guys.” I smile at them.

“Are you doing your makeup?” Jade asks and I shake my head.

“I want him to see me all-natural before he sees my glow up,” I smirk before taking the clothes and walking to the bathroom. “I’ll be back,” I tell them just before entering the bathroom and locking the door, changing into the outfit they had selected for me, admiring myself in the mirror.

“Damn, I’d tap that.” I smile at myself, running my hand through my thick hair up until the blue highlighted tips.

I walk out once I’m done and they all stop their conversing and stare at me, making hooting noises to hype me up.

“If you don’t marry me right now.” Shannon says as eyes me from head to toe.

“Ey mamasita ju lookin’ fineeeee.” Denise says in a Hispanic accent making me laugh.

“Don’t be shy, turn around so we can see that ass.” Jade lets out and I turn, posing for them and they hoot, even more, making me laugh.

“Shut up you guys.” I chuckle, trying not to blush at all the flattery.

“You look hot Alpha, you’re gonna be giving Miles a run for his money,” Shannon says, grabbing my jacket off the bed which I forgot to get, handing it to me.

“Thank you guys, it means a lot. I want our first date to be perfect you know.” I say as I take the jacket from her.

“It will be, just act natural, be yourself and everything will go smoothly,” Jade advises and I nod slightly.

“Okay.” I exhale, just now feeling the nervousness.

“Alpha.” A voice calls in my head, belonging to Isaac, our Head Pack Guard.

“Yes?” I reply swiftly, facing the floor so that the girls know I’m talking through the link.

“There is an Alpha Miles here looking for you, should we let him through?” He asks and I feel butterflies in my chest at the mention of his name.

“Okay, let him through.” I accidentally say out loud, making the girls give me exciting looks.

"Alright.”

“Okay so-” I was about to say but they all rushed up to me, Shannon holding onto a comb and running it through my hair, Denise grabbing my blueberry scented perfume and spraying all over me, choking me a little.

“Guys!” I exclaim. “You’re gonna make me late!” I try to say trying to scramble away from them as Jade simply watches and laughs at them.

“Just some finishing touches and, there!” They say and step away from me. I frown at them before pushing away the hairs from my face. “Now you look perfect.”

“Thank you. Now. I’m gonna go... I’ll see you guys later...” I tell them, watching them as I step to my side table to carefully grab my phone in case they try to attack me again.

“Have fun Alpha.” Jade salutes me with two fingers, just as I smile at all of them and leave my room.

I descend the stairs and hear the front door open and close, feeling even more nervous than ever.

Until I get a whiff of his scent, making me relax instantly.

I step out from behind the corner and walk to the living room where he is standing there, waiting for me, with a small white rose in his hand. He stands there and gazes, eyeing me from head to toe, before he smile softly at me.

“Hey...” He trails off... taking a few steps towards me.

“Hi,” I mumble a little shyly. Wow, now there’s an emotion I haven’t felt in a long time.

“You look... beautiful.” He compliments, walking to me and handing the rose to me.

“Thank you... you look pretty good too.” I blush, admiring his outfit. He is wearing a simple button-up black shirt with black jeans, his dark hair a little damp and messy giving him an edgy look. He smiles at me before leaning close and giving a small kiss to my cheek.

“Ready to go?” He asks, opening his arm for me.

“Mhm,” I nod at him, hooking my arm through his and smiling up at him as we begin to leave the house, approaching his matte Range Rover sport with shiny grey rims.

. . . . .

“You broke his arm?” Miles asks me, picking up a fry and putting it in his mouth.

“Yeah, he was being an ass so I beat him up in front of all his friends. He wasn’t even that tough.” I tell Miles about the time I was challenged by the previous Beta of The Forest Woods pack.

After we left the house, Miles took us to a small restaurant for dinner as he had planned before. We settled on ordering some barbecued chicken and seasoned disco fries, and I appreciate the fact that I can just be myself around him. In fact, he even offered to get more food after I finished the first dish.

He’s definitely a keeper.

Our waitress brought us our food a while ago, but not without staring at Miles like some hungry hyena. Of course, I had to compose myself and hope that she wouldn’t spoil my first date with my Mate.

“What about your parents?” I ask him, taking a sip of my chilled ice tea.

“Well my Mom’s currently out of the country, in Viraania, and my Dad’s still around.” He says briefly, mixing his drink with his straw.

“Siblings?” With that, he stops mixing his drink and looks up at me.

“Yeah, but we’re very distant.” He speaks with sadness to his voice. “What about you? I mean do you have any siblings?” He changes the topic quickly, making me tilt my head at him. Must’ve been a touchy subject...

“No, I’m an only child.” I sigh a bit. It would’ve been nice to have some siblings, but growing up I was alone, not even cousins or anything. That’s why I have so many best friends I guess.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you feel upset.” He apologises and I smile at how concerned he is.

“It’s okay Miles, I’m not upset.” I grasp his hand across the table and squeeze it, sparks travelling through my fingers.

“Hey, are you finished?” I hear a voice ask and I look up to see our waitress, Melanie, looking down at us with a jealous scowl on her face.

This is the third time she’s come to us in the last 10 minutes...

Her scent is off too…

“Well of course not.” I snap, a little annoyed, frowning as she keeps her eyes on my Mate.

“Well take all the time you need.” She says seductively, giving Miles a flirtatious smile and I feel a wave of jealousy come over my body and it takes everything I have not to growl at her.

“What do you think you’re trying to do?” Miles asks her, his voice laced with irritation and annoyance.

“Don’t you have something else to do rather than bother my date?” I hiss, trying all I can not to growl and not use my Alpha tone. She then turns to me, her smile falling completely as she takes a step closer to me, her eyes quickly flashing bright red…

“I don’t need to answer to you, Mutt.” She snaps at me and I raise my eyebrows at her and sit up in my chair slightly.

I guess that answers that.

As soon as she says the word Mutt, a bunch of people in the restaurant turn to look at us, overhearing her remark and evidently becoming defensive, all of us finally realising what she is…

“You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, bloodsucker…” I trail off and stand up slowly to face her, letting go of the low growl that was forming in my throat.

Oh yeah, her scent isn’t Human nor Werewolf.

It is that of a Vampire… the only reason I couldn’t pick it up earlier is because it seems to be masked, probably because she didn’t want people knowing what she is…

“This restaurant lies just between territories, so technically, I’m not breaking any rules… ” She says to me and at this point Miles is standing as well, frowning deeply.

“Besides, even if I was… you don’t have the power to do anything about it.” She says slowly as she tilts her head at me.

“Avosto rem.” (Try me.) I say in Viraanian, not caring whether or not she understood me. As I mentioned before, the origin of Werewolves or the Viraai is a place called Viraania… but what I didn’t mention, is that at some point, Viraania wasn’t just called Viraania… it was Viraania dez Vedperia… or in English, Viraania and Vedperia, Vedperia being the land of the Vedpiiri or again in English… Vampires.

At first the Viraai and Vedpiiri lived in peace with one another, until the Vedpiiri’s thirst for Human blood grew to levels that could risk exposure of both the Viraai and the Vedpiiri… A war began amongst the two species, which inevitably resulted in Vedperia breaking off and becoming its own country, being free to do as they pleased without worrying about how it would affect the Viraai.

Because Viraania and Vedperia used to be one land, the tongues we speak are very similar to one another with only a few variations in spelling and pronunciation, but in general, we are able to understand eachother.

“Vari faz vihi vela xovo xaz Alpha kos novirti vozta rem.” (The fact that you are an Alpha does not scare me.) She says slowly in Vedperian as small veins around her eyes pop out, her eye colour changing to bright red, the fangs elongating in her mouth as she tries to intimidate me.

I’ll give her a 2 out of 10 for effort.

“Let us take this outside since you think you’re so tough,” I tell her and she begins to take off her apron and walk away from me. I turn to Miles, expecting him to be upset with me for interrupting our date, but surprisingly he looks impressed.

“I’m sorry... but I need to put her in her place,” I say to him just as he makes his way over to me.

“Hey... I understand. She can’t go around talking to you like that, disrespecting an Alpha as well as our kind.” He tells me, just as a few people begin to stand up in the restaurant and that’s when I notice that we aren’t the only Wolves here… and she isn’t the only Vampire…

Most Vampires like to be on their own, but those that don’t are usually in groups called Clans… needless to say they are very dangerous… but it’s usually the Vampires that are on their own that seem to give the most trouble, and guessing this girl is one of them…

I nod at him before beginning to leave the restaurant, walking outside as Miles and a few other people follow us.

So they want a show? Who would I be to disappoint?

“For luck, not that you’ll need it.” He says just as he kisses my lips softly, taking my jacket from me as I take it off.

I smile at him before focusing on this Melanie girl, beginning to circle around her in the parking lot as we both get into defensive positions.

She flashes her fangs at me and I smirk at her, trying to psyche her out.

"Vozta kaza?” (Scared yet?) I mock her causing her to yell and run up to me, quickly going for swift punches which I successfully block. I don’t waste any energy on her, I’ll let her get tired first before I finally attack. I slap her hands away and swerve out of the way, ducking under her swings before I get behind her and grab her right arm, wrapping my arm around her throat.

“How about now?” I ask by her ear, feeling her struggle against my arms.

“f**k you.” She hisses.

“Not the answer I was looking for,” I say just before pulling her arm up sharply, dislocating it and causing her to shriek in pain and fall to the ground.

After a moment of ravelling in pain, she gets back up and pops her arm back in place making a nasty cracking noise, earning a few disgusted noises from the crowd. She grins at me before she turns her attention to Miles.

“Hey... Maybe when I’m done with this bítch, we can go back to my place and have a little fun...” She winks at Miles.

Alright, that’s it.

I growl loudly before running up to her in super speed, grabbing her throat and pinning her against a car as I feel my Viraai fight to take over my body.

“You think it’s funny to disrespect not one but 2 Alphas at the same time?” I snarl at her using my Alpha tone, watching her cocky expression be replaced by one of fear.

“Time for consequences.” I smile menacingly before growing my canines and biting into her neck, making her scream in pain as she tries to push me off her. I pull back after a while and let her fall to the ground whimpering, wiping the blood off my mouth as I stare at her, backing up slightly.

“I’d say you have about... 4 hours to live. Spend your time wisely.” I say and begin to walk away.

“W-wait... I- I don’t want to die...” I hear her sob, making me turn back to her, seeing her sitting on the ground and holding onto her gushing wound.

“But I want you to. That’s kinda why I bit you.” I say nonchalantly, trying to walk away.

“P-please... your blood is the only thing that can cure me...” She pleads and I stare at Miles who’s looking at me seriously, his arms crossed.

“I-I’m Sorry, ” She chokes out, making me sigh and turn back to her.

I walk to her and crouch down, biting into my wrist and holding it her mouth as she drank from it, up until her wound had completely healed.

Once she is done I grab her by the throat and lift her off the ground with one hand, suspending her in the air.

“You have exactly 10 minutes to get off this territory. If I ever see you again... you better just hope I never do. Understand?” I say to her calmly, and she nods quickly, holding onto my hand as she choked.

“Good,” I say and drop her to the ground. “Your time starts now-” I don’t even get to finish my sentence before she is already running away in super speed.

I sigh again just as I hear people begin to cheer as some walk away, clearly Vampires that are displeased with what they’ve witnessed. I then watch as Miles walks over to me, holding a serviette out for me as he smiles.

“That... was pretty badass.” He says just as take it from him and wipe all the blood off my mouth and wrist.

“Ah, it was nothing.”

“Why don’t we go back in and pay for the food then we can get outta here?” He offers.

“Would you be surprised if I said I was hungry again?” I laugh a little as he opens his elbow for me to put my arm through.

“Would you be surprised if I said no?” He retorts making me bump him a little as we walk back into the restaurant…