The Princess And The Wolf

How to find your mate

I took a deep breath, deciding that if I will be roommates with Laura for the next year, I better give her a bit of credit.

"Vampire Kingdom." I answer her question truthfully, but without any details that might be revealing too much of who I am.

"I did not see that coming." She chuckles nervously, the chirpiness leaving her voice momentarily.

I also pale even further, if that's possible. I quickly scan her features, her built and try to inconspicuously catch another whiff of the scent her blood gives. Yep, werewolf, and a strong one for that matter, I no doubt about it.

"I knew I liked you. I mean, I was expecting some rehearsed bullshit like 'I'm from Tombstone, Arizona'." Laura explains her reaction, making me choke at her seemingly random choice of small towns. So she also figured out what I am.

"Tombstone, really?" I raise my eyebrows at her. "Now that's just plain rude, Laura. You're being such a bitch." I fake pout at her.

She literally roars with laughter, and I join her, because I could barely contain my grin and keep a straight face while I was talking. I had to think about those words for a second, but seeing her reaction, I'm glad to see my comeback was not too much.

"So you figured out I'm a werewolf." She wiggles her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me.

"Nope, I was just expressing my genuine opinion of you." I give her a toothy smile.

"Clever, I'll give you that." Laura winks at me. "I'll be honest Clara, I was really cooking that Tombstone joke since the very second I met you." She smiles sheepishly. "I'm glad you're cool about banter like this."

"What if I wasn't?" I ask, trying to put on a threatening glare, but Laura just shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess Arizona would be way too bright and sunny for your kind."

"That's nonsense, vampires aren't at all affected by sun or light, not the way you would think, anyway. Or garlic for that matter, do don't you even dare! We just don't tan, see?" I shove my arm in her face, pointing at the healthy color my skin has. "All this is fake tan. If I sweat a little, my armpits turn green." We both burst out laughing at my confession, but the truth is, I never really liked my deathly pale complexion. Add dark hair and dark skin to the mix, and you get the idea...

"You really are something else, princess." Again that word which makes me cringe and I get defensive. Laura seems to catch on to my sudden change in mood, so she quickly changes the subject.

"I should call Lucas and see if he can find some kindness in him and come back to campus with my bags." I completely ignore the way my stomach fluttered when I heard that name, knowing who it belongs to. OK, maybe not completely ignored it, but I got over it pretty quickly.

"Assuming you mean your brother" Laura nods "... can't you just like... do the mind linking thing?" I know I would use that skill if I got it.

"Not allowed to, remember?" I mentally curse myself for forgetting the first rule of being out of my kingdom and into the human world. "And also, you'll find out that you can't. Unless it's the primal thing that makes you what you are, which in my case is shifting into my wolf and in your case I guess it would be sucking someone's blood, you can't really use abilities like mind linking or compelling."

"I'm not a leech, you know!"

"Of course you're not." Laura chuckles and goes to make her call, and I start the tedious task of unpacking while muttering profanities under my breath. It has been a long day already.

"Need some help?" She kindly offers and by the looks of it she's genuine.

"Sure." I answer and Laura grabs the other end of the duvet while I put the cover on. "So, is you brother coming back to drop off your bags?" I do my best to sound casual about it, but it's like I forgot he nearly ran me over. I just have to see him again, I want to see him again and I don't even understand why. And no matter how much I try to lie to myself, it's not because I want to get back at him, I just feel this weird need to be close to him, no matter how much it enrages me.

"He is." Laura hums her response and, as on cue, the obnoxious roaring of that death trap of a car can be heard. I must have reacted at the sound somehow, causing my roommate to eye me suspiciously.

Laura's phone pings and she quickly texts something back before heading to the front door of our room. It doesn't take long before there is a loud thud just outside our room. Laura opens the door and is met with a backpack being shoved in her face. Lucas follows next, making a spectacle out of dragging the rest of his sister's luggage, like it wouldn't be obvious that he could balance them all on his pinkie.

Oh this guy is perfect to fantasise about when you're alone at night and you've had a few glasses of wine, but at soon as he's in front of you, with that smirk that says he knows how hot he is and how much it affects you, then I promise that all you want to do is punch him straight in that pretty face.

Mmm, I wonder what his blood tastes like. And just like that, shocked by my own sinful thoughts, I drop the glass of water I was pretending to drink from.

"s**t!" I curse out loud.

"I'm pretty sure it's just water, otherwise Laura, you might want to consider coming to stay with me."

"Funny, I can see how you two are related." I retort, sarcasm dripping from my every word.

"Oh hell no!" Laura shouts all of a sudden, looking from me to her brother and then back to me, like she was watching a tennis match. "Lucas, no!" She threatens her brother, a low growl accompanying her words. I just watch them, having no idea what is going on, debating if I should clean up the broken glass, or just wait until they finish whatever this is.

Another warning growl, this time coming from Lucas, makes the furniture in our room shake like it's an earthquake. Laura whimpers a bit, and I barely contain my own whimper, so I just blurt out the first thing that comes into my mind.

"I thought we couldn't use our abilities here." It must have come off as I am scolding them, for Laura throws her hands up on the air signalling she is giving up.

"Great, just great, you two are perfect for each other, all pointing out the rules like that." I frown at her, because she literally reminded me about not being able to use our abilities a few minutes ago.

"And growling is not a f*****g ability!" She mutters lowly, earning herself yet another warning growl from Lucas, this time not as loud.

"I don't understamd what's going on, Laura. And what does it have to do with me?"

"It's not just you, Clara, it's the two of you!" She glares at Lucas and then turns her head back towards me. "Don't give me that innocent look, princess, I might not be able to use my abilities, but unfortunately I can smell your arousal from here."

I. Am. Mortified. I just stand there awkwardly, not saying anyting to defend myself, and stare at them in shock, like someone just dumped a bucket of ice cold water on me. The worst is that smug smirk on Lucas' face. I feel my cheeks heating up, and I am positive I have never had this much colour in my face, ever.

"And you, literally hanging around the dorm like a lost puppy, after you threw a hissy fit that she was standing in the middle of the road." Lucas' cheeks turn pink, but his ears are bright red. Laura continues her ranting but I am still stuck on how cute this bad boy is when his ears blush.

"We're on the first floor, genius. I could smell you lurking outside." Now is my time to smirk. So he hung around, why am I so giddy about this?

"Oh, cut it out, Clara, you're doing it again!" Laura warns me.

"But I didn't do anythi..." Lucas' nostrils flare and I clamp my thighs together, understanding what she meant.

"You two, sort this s**t out!" She points her finger at me and then at Lucas, before grabbing her phone and heading towards the door. "We all know that a relationship between members of 2 different kingdoms, is strictly forbidden."

Well s**t, it finally hit me, Lucas and I are mates!