The Princess And The Wolf

How to be surprised

"I've never heard about a vampire and a werewolf being mates before." I break the silence between the two of us. I know about a few members of our court that suposedly had human mates, but I have no idea what happened because there aren't any vampires parading around mates from a different subspecies, so I always assumed they rejected each other.

Lucas quirks an eyebrow at me, his arms crossing over his chest, making those huge biceps flex. I gulp, all of a sudden becoming very much aware that we are alone and that his blood smells so deliciously, that naughty vein on his neck pulsing in the rhythm of my name. Snap out of it, Clara! I scold myself.

"You know, you really shouldn't be going around telling people you just met that you are a vampire." His smug smile makes it a bit easier for me to snap out of my earlier trance.

"I'm pretty sure that running someone over with your car is also frowned upon and not only in the human world, so spare me the speech, will ya?" I retort, now fully back to my senses. I already know where all this is going, so it's best if I don't make it any harder on myself by getting distracted.

"Feisty, I like it!" Lucas' eyes go completely back, and even I know that this is a sign of his animal side taking over. I'm not sure if that means good or bad news for me, but I'm confident I could take him if need be.

Lucas takes a step towards me, and I take a step backwards. OK, I'm now fairly confident that I could take him. Another low growl escapes his chest, and I take another step back, bumping into a side table, unable to move further away from Lucas. Maybe I could hold my own if he attacks me, I have received enough training, though never against a freaking werewolf. But surely he wouldn't shift here, right? I mean, that's forbidden...

Seeing that Lucas' eyes are still completely black and he keeps taking steps to approach me, I start feeling genuinely scared. I have nowhere to go, and the abilities I have as a vampire don't seem much when I think about going up against a wolf. He must have seen that I'm scared, because he closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, his eyes were their normal grey again. I let out a small breath I didn't even realise I was holding, but it doesn't mean I feel safe all of a sudden.

"You're scared of me." Lucas says, his words barely a whisper. For some reason I couldn't find the strength to answer. He looks sad and in pain because I'm scared, and that makes me feel sad and in pain also. It's so weird and confusing that neither of us knows what to make of it.

"I'm sorry I scared you, princess. My wolf took over because he was too excited to meet you. He has been waiting for a long time to find his mate." I don't know what to say to that, so I do nothing and say nothing, running through a few dozen scenarios in my mind of how I can get out of here and convince Patrick to take me back to my Kingdom, no questions asked.

Lucas breaths in and then exhales loudly, his right hand combing through his hair in a way that he must be doing it without realising. "I think we started off on the wrong foot." He finally says, and I eye him suspiciously.

"You tried to ru..."

"I didn't, alright? I was trying to make a point. I don't know... it was stupid and childish." Did he just apologise? Oh my, I must be already dead, killed, mauled by a wolf, because there is no way that Lucas actually apologised. I only just met him, but I'm pretty sure he;s not the type of person that goes around acknowledging his mistakes and apologising.

"Are you going to reject me now?" I could slap myself for voicing that out loud, for making myself more vulnerable than ever.

"I should do that..." As soon as he said those words, my heart sank. I know the procedure. Having a fated mate outside of your subspecies means that you meed to reject each other on the spot and move on. No one really talks about it, and I know for a fact that this is considered a tabu, and not only in the Vampire Kingdom.

"...but I really don't want to." Lucas continues after a long pause, where I was holding my breath. An avalanche of joy comes over me, erasing the dread and fear I had been feeling earlier.

"But nobody can know about us for now, princess. At least not until I can figure out a way for us to be together." His words are everything that I was craving to hear, and once more I am shocked at how different he is compared to his act.

Despite his bad boy persona, Lucas appears to be what every girl dreams of when thinking about their fated mate. He is willing to go against the first and most important law of our kind, and risk everything so that we can be together.

"You're assuming I want the same thing." I can see that my words hurt him deeply, but I have to stop this before it gets even further.

Lucas has no idea who I really am, and I'm certain that if he would know, his decision would have been a completely different one. Fated mate or not, nobody would be that crazy as to pursue a member of a Royal family belonging to a different Kingdom. I am saving his life by pushing him away like this, even though this is the last thing I want to do.

"And you don't want the same thing?" I haven't noticed just how close he had gotten to me, and now his warm hand is gently caressing the side of my face, slowly warming up my cold skin. An abundance of delicious sparks travel from his touch all through my body, making me feel more alive than I've ever felt.

Wow, this guy is the best kind of trouble, but I have to put my feelings aside, and despite this year of freedom that I'm enjoying, I have to think about responsibilities and put my Kingdom first. I have a duty towards my people and I intend to honour it, despite it meaning that my soul will be forever missing it's other half.