Page 76 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

Plus, I was madly in love with him.

I had been from the word go, ever since he had first looked at me with a grave expression on his face, his eyes filled with sheer wonder at the sight of me and said that everything would be okay. And in that moment, I had realized, with a strange clarity I’d never had before, that I had no choice but to believe him. I loved him immediately, before I even understood all the reasons why I should. It was instinctive, impossible to resist.

But now it was far different. Now it wasn’t just chemical or mystical or whatever else it is when you meet your mate and just know. It was different because I understood him now. I knew that he wasn’t just the shining golden boy of his coven. He wasn’t the white knight swooping in to rescue me. He wasn’t even my golden retriever bodyguard, ready to fulfill every wish of my heart without a single question asked.

He was a real person, with his own pain and flaws, his own hopes and fears, all of which were every bit as real and important as my own. And I loved those parts of him too.

I cherished all of him and I always would.

And despite everything he knew, he had still chosen me. He had set aside his entire life to let me lead him on a wild monster hunting goose chase, all so he could protect me and keep me safe from harm.

Didn’t he deserve to be loved if anyone did?

And yeah, maybe I was a hot mess. But maybe I could be his hot mess. And maybe I could be a bit less of a mess every day if I really let myself try.

I knew he would make space for that. I knew that, because I would do anything for him, too. And I was sick of lying to myself and trying to pretend like anything other than that simple truth mattered at all.

The idea of leaving without him was like jagged glass cutting me up inside. It was impossible to even really consider it fully, to picture it in my head. I had done it once before and I knew I didn’t have it in me to do it again.

The answer for what came next was as simple as it was life-changing when it really hit me.

Tobias was my mate. And there was no way in hell I was running from that fact any longer. I wasn’t going to run from him any longer. I would figure the rest out as I went, but I would do it with him by my side.

I had stood there for only a few minutes, probably looking like a total idiot, staring off into space. But a huge grin split across my face and I felt my heart swell as I realized that we could have a whole future together if I would just stop being dumb and let him in.

It would take work, maybe months or even years of work, but I could do it. I would do it.

I would do anything for him.

Now, in the eleventh hour, I was finally ready to try.

I practically ran from the office. I didn’t quite use vampire speed, but I was tempted, any hapless onlookers be damned. It abruptly seemed pivotal to see him, to tell him everything I had just realized.

To tell him that I was ready to start our future together.

I reached our motel room moments later.

The door was ajar.

When I pushed it open, there was a half-packed duffle on the bed.

The lamp had been knocked to the floor, causing all the twisted veins of shadows in the room to climb up the walls.

The scent of freshly spilled blood choked the air.

And Tobias was nowhere to be found.

Horror flooded through me at once.

The hunters had found us while I was having my grand epiphany downstairs. But they hadn’t come for me, after all.

Instead, they had taken Tobias.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR || TOBIAS

The first thing I became aware of as I swam back to consciousness was that my head hurt. Like someone had opened the top of my skull and poured in an entire nest of live hornets, which kept stinging me over and over again.

“Rise and shine,” said a man’s voice. I blinked and my vision blurred, then refocused. Michael stood in front of me, smirking. Danny stood behind him, the expression on his face grim. “Hurts like a mother, doesn’t it?”

---