Chained To Fate

Chapter 6

Easton Pov

    I laid there naked under the blanket on his bed, watching as Hayden crouched in front of the fire, placing more sticks on it. “What’s the point? You’re a vampire, you don’t get cold.” I muttered, rubbing my eyes.

    Hayden turned to look at me, wiping the palms of his hands on his blue jeans as he grinned. He was shirtless, his slim body pale, like the rest of his skin. Cold and clammy. It used to bother me, but I had long gotten used to it. We’ve been secretly dating for almost a year now, after all. “Well, my boyfriend is a werewolf, and he does get cold.” He retorted. I picked up the pillow and threw it at him. He leaned over sideways to grab it, raising his eyebrow at me. “You almost bbq’d the pillow, Easton.” He snickered, tsking at me as he wagged his finger back and forth.

    “Well, you deserved it,” I said, shrugging. And don’t wag your finger at me, or I’ll bite it off.” I said with a growl.

    He came over to me on his knees, slowly crawling towards me, his eyes shining from his hunter gaze as he smirked. “You can’t do anything, little pup. Not until you’re twenty. Your teeth aren’t able to pierce my skin, only a wolf’s teeth can do that.” He said with a grin. “I on the other hand…” He whispered, his teeth popping out of his upper lip and sliding down. He grinned, grabbing my finger and lightly holding it in his grip, staring down at it as he slid his tooth against it. It raised goosebumps on my arms but that was it, he didn’t draw any blood, he never bit me. “You are able to be bit, my love.” He whispered.

    I stiffened up and he sighed, letting go of me as I rolled onto my side facing away from him. He stood up and moved away from me, going to the couch and sitting on it. He was currently revolting, or so he said. He belonged to a coven in town, a pretty small one. All of us werewolves knew about it, because we had a rocky alliance with it. They were supposed to follow our Alpha’s rules, and if they broke them, they had warnings, second chances, and then the choice of death or being banished out of the state. So far we never heard of them causing any problems, but from what I heard the leader of the coven was really easy-going and uncaring, dull and pretty lifeless. He didn’t try to start any trouble, and if we complained about one of the vampires going against the rules, he brought them to us to kill without a question. The last one that was killed was Hayden’s older sister. She started problems, fell in love with a human. She not only told the human what she was, but his whole family and friends as well. They were also part of the mafia, the underground selling, and she went rogue to run the mafia with the man she loved. They were a terror. Everyone they had problems with she tortured them without a care, ripping off their body parts and sucking the blood dry in front of them even as they slowly died watching her eat them.

    It was...horrifying, to be honest. When we caught word of it, I remembered that. It was last year, when I first met Hayden. My father led the team to retrieve her, to shackle her, to hold her in our cells as we told the leader of the coven what had happened. He didn’t even bother to come to see her, just told us to kill her. It was my father who killed her, shifting into his wolf and slowly ripping her body parts off one by one, just as she did to others. Her screams, they were horrifying. He let her live by tearing off the smallest parts possible, until there wasn’t anything left to tear off. He shredded her, and then gathered up her body parts for a big bonfire in the courtyard. It was soon after that when I met Hayden. “I know, I know. Don’t say the word love. Got it, sorry.” Hayden said stiffly, frowning from the couch.

    I sighed, pressing my hands against my eyelids, blocking the world out. Hayden had come for revenge. He knew who killed his sister, and he wanted to kill him. He wanted to torture him the way his sister was tortured. He kidnapped me, took me to this very cave. But, that’s where his plan went haywire. He didn’t torture me or kill me. He...he fell in love with me. Love at first sight, he said. I shuddered, cringing. I hated when he said that. Stupid word, it meant nothing, mostly because I felt nothing. “I’m hungry,” I said, changing the subject as I rolled over, grabbing my pants off of the ground. I ignored him as he sighed deeply, before standing up. “I can get it myself,” I said, wincing as I struggled with my pants.

    I was being stubborn and we both knew it, but I wasn’t going to admit to weakness, not in front of him, or anyone. “I’ll be right back, so stop trying to struggle to stand.” He said with a smirk, his light green eyes lighting up as he chuckled at me. I growled at him as he sped out of the cave, the vampire speed that I couldn’t help but envy every time I had to walk up this damn mountain to get to the cave. The moment he was gone I sighed, laying back down and shimming the pants up my body, trying to ignore the shooting pains in my lower back and my legs. Every time we wait a month it always hurts like a b***h afterward, but I couldn’t help it. He was a secret, and It wasn’t exactly easy sneaking out here. He had caught me sneaking out when he kidnapped me. It was funny, because he didn’t even know who I was. He only knew I was a werewolf and that was good enough. It was dark, the day after I had...gotten back from the hospital. I wanted to run away, I had every intention of doing that. But then he kidnapped me, brought me here with a bag over my head. It was strange, even now I could still feel the sharp sting of the ropes on my wrists and ankles tying me to the chair. He left the bag on my head as he told me what he was doing there, who he was, and what he wanted. Then, I told him who I was. He ripped the bag off of my head fast, his eyes wide and red, filled with blood lust and rage. He was shaking as he stared at me, but that was it. He blinked, his eyes calming down, his fangs retracting, and he stared at me.

    I remember how I had some snarky remark and he ignored it, falling to his knees in front of me crying. All I could do was sit there awkwardly and watch him, feeling the rope digging into the stitches of the place on my wrist I had cut open. It was then that he fell in love with me, and he knew then and there he couldn’t hurt me, and it shattered him. Finally, he released me, but he kept me there for a whole week. He restitched my wound, nursing the fever that I had from my wound being reopened, and the whole time he watched me, taking care of me. I didn’t love him, I was...empty. There was something wrong with me, I was sure. Even still, when he asked me to come back and visit him, I told him I’d think about it. He was the enemy, he came to kill my father, he almost tortured me, but even still...I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. So I kept coming back, my little escape away from reality. He was my escape, nothing more. He knew it, I knew it, but even still he kept asking me to come back, and I did. It wasn’t love, not for me. It was loneliness.

    “Here you go, I got you Chinese food.” He said with a grin, sitting down on the bed. I sat up with a groan and he chuckled at me, handing me the food. I growled at him as I grabbed the food from him, staring at the red stain of his lips and the twinkle in his eyes.

    “Looks like you had some Chinese too, except a rarer kind,” I said lightly, uncaring. He grinned, shrugging. One of the rules was that vampires were only allowed to drink animal blood. Except, Hayden told me that none of them really listen to it. The thing that’s the most startling was it was originally the leader of the vampire clan’s rule. He decided no human blood, and of course, my Alpha agreed with that. The vampires didn’t listen much, just hid the evidence of their drainings. Make sure to only take a pint or two, drink from unseen areas like the underneath of the arm or the inner thighs, and use mind control to stop them from remembering. If they were caught, their leader would deliver them to us personally for us to kill, no questions asked. I personally have never seen the leader before, but that was because I was a second born. I wasn’t important enough to know or see any of this stuff. If it wasn’t for Hayden telling me everything, I’d still be in the dark.

    “So, are you excited?” Hayden asked me as he watched me eat. It used to be strange, eating with someone that didn’t eat with me but would sit there and stare at me. Now, it doesn’t really bother me anymore. I looked at him, my mouth full as I raised an eyebrow, expecting him to elaborate on his question. “Your birthday, tomorrow, obviously. Are you actually going to go this time?” He asked with a chuckle.

    I shrugged, swallowing my food. I never really went to the birthday parties. They were always really awkward. Only the twentieth birthday mattered to the point of a group of people showing up for a party, but if you’re one of the command kids, your birthdays still ended up having a few friends each over. At first, it was just Jared and me, but that grew awkward since Mom only liked me and dad only liked Jared. After that, Jared started bringing that stupid girl and Ashton, and I started bringing my best friend, Abby. That didn’t do anything to lessen the awkward state, it mostly just made it worse. Mom would get into arguments with dad in front of all of our friends and for weeks afterward, we had to hear their feedback about it. So, for the last few birthdays, I skipped them, not showing up until the next day, after the party was finished. It didn’t bother me when I skipped, even if Jared always had a haunted look in his eyes like he was in the middle of a strange tug of war between the two of them. I sighed, glancing at him. “I have no choice. Normally I can get away with whatever because Jared is the golden boy, but on a twentieth birthday, we’re all watched. It’s a big right of passage into adulthood. Meeting your wolf for the first time, shifting for the first time, and...finding your mate.” I said, a blush on my cheeks.

    Hayden grunted, looking down at his jeans. He had been staying in the cave since he left the coven. They refused to stop the killing of his sister, and then they refused to help him get vengeance for her death, and he left them. He’s been held up in the cave since. “Mate. Everyone gets one, right?” He said with a dry chuckle.

    I sighed, closing my eyes as I tapped the chopsticks against the side of the container. A mate. Someone chosen just for me, made for me. Someone that would love me and accept me no matter what happened. I...I probably was one of those that didn’t get a mate. There was a small number that never found their mate. Usually, everyone did, but a handful didn’t. Their mates were probably in another pack, but there was only one pack in each state, and it wasn’t likely to meet any others. Some left to search the other packs, and we never heard from them again, unsure if they ever found them or not. Me, on the other hand. I probably didn’t have anyone. Why would the Moon Goddess think that I was worthy enough to get someone that was made just for me? “I probably don’t have a mate, Hayden. Some don’t get one. It’s rare, but, I have a feeling I’ll be one of them.” I said with a shrug. “But even if I do, it doesn’t matter one way or another. We won’t last, Hayden. Eventually, my parents will want me to get married. You know this. If I don’t find my mate my mother will start looking at eligible men in the pack that are mateless. She’ll find me someone, even if she has to look at another pack. She’s determined to do everything in her power to coddle me. If she had her way, I’d be the next second in command, not Jared.” I said with a shrug.

    Hayden, sighed, running his fingers through his hair, before tying it behind his head again. A stray strand fell in his face and he pulled it back, annoyed with it. “I know, I know.” He grumbled, frustrated. “Just eat your damn food. You need your strength.” He said with a smirk.

    I looked at him, confused. “For what?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.

    He laughed at me, shrugging. “For round two, of course.” He said with a grin.

    I rolled my eyes at him, smiling as I took another bite of my food. Despite what I said, I couldn't help but be curious. What if there was a mate for me? Tomorrow night was the party, but the time we were born was early in the morning the next day. Normally we celebrated it that night instead, but this time, they wanted the party to happen when we turned twenty, right on the dot. No one would want to come for an early four a.m. party, so it was made for the night before, and we’d just stay up all night long partying. Supposedly. I’d just be in my room most of the time reading, trying to ignore all of them until I would be forced to come down. Well, that's the plan, but Abby probably won't let me. I took another bite, chewing it slowly. What would happen if I did have a mate? No, it wasn’t possible. Not someone like me. There was no way.