Page 13 of His True Beloved

How could he tell me to stay away from my own kind, anyway?

Trudging toward the lake, the sun tickled the top of the trees. The benches usually filled with vampires, children, and humans transitioning had long gone. The lake was now quiet, the crickets and frogs singing in the quiet forest surrounding me.

Pulling my tablet from my chest and the pen from my pocket, I flipped it on to see the last piece of art I had made. It was a picture of Wyatt and myself, our faces smooshed together at homecoming from high school. We both looked so happy, everything was innocent between us, or so I thought.

I sniffed, feeling the tingle in my nose. This was going to be a gift for him at graduation. I took the pen in my left hand, taking the erase icon and tapping it lightly. Each swipe was enough to pull more and more emotion from my heart. Slowly, my strokes brushed through the once-happy faces.

I wasn’t just erasing a picture. I was erasing memories. Memories that were tainted, fake, all a lie.

Humming, I continued to erase, slowly but surely, until tears fell so quickly I didn’t feel another pair of eyes watching me. My back stiffened as the last bit of the picture was now erased.

Turning slowly, my eyes peered up at a vampire staring at me. He was handsome, just like every other vampire here. Tall, with a slim athletic build. His face could have been carved from stone with how sharp it was. Even with the youthful appearances of vampires, his face held a story.

There was something deeper, a longing held in those red orbs. It wasn’t an uneasy stare as he peered at me. It was a stare so deep I swear he saw every emotion that simmered in my body. My heart pounded quickly, and my body flushed. I blinked, wiping away the tears that had fallen down my reddened cheeks.

Shaking my head from the trance that beguiled me, I stood up, holding the tablet like it was the most precious thing. My eyes glared at the vampire who said nothing, whose stare continued to penetrate me. His face softened, fists that were tightened loosened, and he took a step forward.

“Stay back.” I held out my hand, ceasing him in his tracks.

Chapter 7

Sebastian

Iwasn’texpectingtofind her this quickly, far from it. I thought I had a few decades before seeing her, but I didn’t. The smell of her O-negative blood had the wind shift around me. If the whisps of Bergarian dared to come to the Earth realm, I swear they would have led me to her. My body moved with its own motivation to wander off the gravel path to get closer to the hooded figure that sat on the bench by the lake.

I had taken it upon myself to go explore on my own. As much as Rowan was being a great host, showing my room, giving me this thing called a cell phone, it was all too much. Too many electronics, televisions, all the fancy things that humans had come up with since the last time I had been here some one hundred and fifty years ago.

However, that was all behind me as I stared at the dark hooded figure that overlooked the lake. She was in deep thought, her hand going over the screen of bright colors. A picture, a picture of a girl and a boy, smashed against each other, cheek to cheek.

The bright blue eyes of the girl showed back at me. My heart dared to pump once in my body until the quiet sniffles made it stop. Her hand brushed away a salty tear from her cheek and had me still. The quill she held was slowly erasing layers and layers of the strokes of the picture, her humming capturing my spirit as the hum grew lower and lower until it stopped completely.

She stiffened, the picture now erased, and her head turned. The hood fell to her shoulders, revealing the same blonde hair that I had seen sitting out in front of the light blue house. This was the woman that had been here for one a week, the one that made me do a double take just to look at the back of her head.

It is her, standing before me. Gods, and she is so damn beautiful.

Her eyes were as clear as the morning sky of Bergarian before the second light source hit the horizon. The most brilliant blue, with hints of violet near her pupil. Her body slowed, gripping the light book to her chest while she stood up. My heart pounded in my chest, once, twice, hell, it continued to pound until my hand rested on my still beating heart.

Her skin was clear except for the few blemishes of freckles decorating her nose. The curve of her rounded face had me longing, longing to touch her delicate skin. She was human, so fragile but the fierceness in her soul was what really called.

She may have a fragile body; her walls had fallen at the worst moment as she stared at me in shock. She wasn’t expecting this. Hell, neither was I. I looked like shit after traveling for days with a slightly wrinkled shirt and slacks.

Goddess, my heart was still beating, beating more than it ever had. The brief glimpse of my first beloved didn’t have my heart beating so heavily. Her golden hair fell out of her hooded cloak, her fingers brushing away the stray hairs that hid her tainted cheeks. Strips of shining gold highlights outlined her pale face.

My lips parted, not sure what to even say. It wasn’t like I could tell her I was her mate now, could I? Her transition had been hard, still undergoing the tremendous weight on her shoulders that her mother was now a vampire, and she was left as human. She continued to sit on the lawn of their house every day, begging to be let inside. What hatred she must have right now that she couldn’t have her mother that had always been there for her.

Then again, she was put here by the Fates, by the gods themselves, and the goddess granted me her soul. To be tangled up with me to have all her burdens fall upon me, so she didn’t have to worry about being alone any longer.

I was her mate. I was going to protect her with the ferocity but still give her the tenderness she damn well deserves.

My heart stuttered in my chest. What if she didn’t want me? Surely she would want to find what her mother had been gracefully given, or would she garner hatred for our kind since she lived with those assholes who seemed to hate all of us? I took a step forward, holding out my hand, only for her to back away.

“Stay back!” Her harsh words didn’t deter me, but I stopped to give her the space she needed. I wouldn’t give her up. I wouldn’t stand down. In time, she would be mine. She didn’t have a choice, not after my longing. My beloved was in a distressed state with that picture on that rectangular frame, catching her at her weakest moment. She stared at me, her head tilting to the side.

Can she feel the pull?

“Hello,” I managed to spit out.

Wow, way to go.