Page 25 of Taming His Mate

Mercy pauses and looks up at me through her soft brown eyes. Her head turns slightly to the side as she takes me in, much the same way I’m taking her in.

“You’re different,” she says quietly. “I never expected to like you.”

“I’m not different,” I huff, narrowing my eyes at her. “I just had to hide this part.”

She grins at me and then pulls me to sit beside her, with Luka on my other side, and Jarik beside her. The four of us fall into comfortable conversation that mostly consists of the brothers bickering and us girls rolling our eyes.

“I told you it would be okay,” Luka leans over to whisper in my ear.

I hate that he’s right, but I’m also incredibly thankful that I was wrong.

The first course is brought out along with several bottles of wine.

“Shoot, can vampires even eat food?” Mercy gasps when my plate is set in front of me. “If I’d know you were coming, I could have prepared…uh…”

“What, a virgin from the nearby village?” I can’t hold back my laugh at the horrified look that crosses Mercy’s face. “Relax, this is fine. Vampires eat food just like anyone else.”

Just then, a young woman leans over me to fill my glass with—I breathe deep—a smooth, malbec. Flashing her a toothy grin, I add, “Although we enjoy a blood infused beverage now and then, as well.”

The girl nearly drops the bottle before scurrying back to the kitchen while I giggle at her expense.

“Izzy,” Luka warns me.

Lifting the glass, I give the dark ruby wine a swirl before lifting it to my nose. The notes of dark cherry and blackberry are pleasant but when I take a sip, I can’t hold back the scrunch of my nose. Before I can set the glass back down, Luka takes up the knife beside his plate and pricks the side of his thumb. My mouth waters at the sight of the crimson drop that wells up, then my breath catches when then he holds his finger over my glass and squeezes several drops into my drink. When I sip it this time, Luka’s blood melds perfectly with the fruity flavors.

“Better?” he asks, as he holds his thumb out to me, where a small drop is clinging to the side. I lean forward and suck it into my mouth, lapping at the droplet with my tongue before sliding back into my seat with a satisfied purr.

My attention snaps back to our hosts, who are both staring at us with matching looks of shock.

“Um…” Jarik clears his throat and lifts his glass up. “A toast. To new beginnings.”

“To family,” Luka adds with a soft look at me.

“And changed opinions,” Mercy continues.

All eyes focus on me.

“To being put on the spot,” I snort into my glass before taking a long drink. When they continue to stare, I roll my eyes, “Fine,” I lift my glass and look over at Mercy, “to new friendships.”

Mercy beams at me and then takes a tiny sip of her wine, before putting it back. “Oops, I forgot. No more wine for me for a while.”

Jarik’s head snaps to his mate. “Why is that?”

She grins at him and makes a show of rubbing her belly. “I was going to tell you at dinner. Well…I guess I just did.”

Luka and I both groan, when Jarik pushes his chair back and snatches his mate up to spin her around the dining room.

“I want a girl this time,” he tells her, and she giggles.

“Jarik, that’s not how it works, and you know it.”

Before she can say more, he silences her with his mouth and then carries her out of the dining room.

“Huh. Guess it’s just going to be us,” I say as the kitchen staff quickly remove their plates, probably to keep the food warm. Apparently, this is something that happens often.

The chicken piccata is almost perfect as I savor bites between sips of my blood wine. After we finish that course dessert is served, and Mercy and Jarik still have not reappeared.

“So,” Luka says between bites of gelato. “Kids?”

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