Page 21 of His True Beloved

Besides, my subconscious was still infatuated with one particular piece of eye candy. All right, so he was a vampire, and he had fangs, and a relationship wouldn’t work out with him at all. I mean, poke me hard enough, and I’ll bleed to death, and besides, I wasn’t looking for anything or anyone.

But I can look.

I smiled devilishly, plopping on the landing with a loud thump, and saw the front door partially open. I rattled the door handle, making sure it still worked. The haunting feeling went in my gut that someone had forgotten to lock it when I saw Ashton and my other roommate, Juan, staring at the window.

The scowl on Ashton’s face wasn’t pleasant, but he lit up like a firecracker when he saw me. “Morning, Christine.” He waved. Juan, my other roommate, had his hands on his hips and rubbed his finger along the pane.

“What’s going on?” My eyes diverted to where Juan was running his finger. Four distinct claw marks had shattered the white wood. “Gah, what kind of animal did that?” Ashton whipped his head back over to me and scoffed.

“It wasn’t an animal, Christine. It was one of those bloodsuckers,” he snapped. I stepped back, not liking his tone, and frowned.

Gah, he reminded me of my father.

He wiped his face with his hand. “Sorry, it’s just, these are distinct claw marks, and underneath, it looks like a thumb caught it. This isn’t some animal. Animals don’t come around here because vampires are predators. Why would they go into their nest?” I hummed at that conclusion.

Maybe Ashton did have a brain.

“Then why would a vampire do that?” I pointed. “And to this window? It isn’t like it’s someone’s bedroom window, or they tried to get in. Maybe they fell or something.” I mumbled and backed away. The ping on my phone gave me a perfect chance to get away from Ashton.

He had red flags all over him. The snapping, the sweetness like father did when he wanted something. Not going near that mess. I wasn’t sure about the others, Juan just did what Ashton did, and the girls, well, they were probably trying to get any type of dick they wanted the way they dressed.

“Be careful, Christine,” he called out. “I think one of them is after us.”

“Probably you,” I muttered under my breath. Ashton was real paranoid, but then again, it made me wonder why there were claw marks on the windowpane.He might have a point. Some vampire coming by and scraping the window could be a warning.

I’ll just have to talk to Justin about that.

Stepping up to the house, Justin appeared in the doorway before I could even knock. “Daring to go off territory?” He shut the door with a slight click. He waved me over to the couch and patted the extra floral cushion.

Not that spending time with Justin was torture, but I think I just needed to get away. Spend some time with normal humans who don’t have to be around vampires 24/7.

“I’d like you to tell me more about this Wyatt,” Justin deadpanned. I leaned my head back onto the couch, not wanting to go into it. “I’m serious. Your mother is upset that she forgot about it. I hope you don’t blame her too much. The bond’s a crazy thing.”

So I have been told.

“I’m not mad at her. She deserves all the happiness she can get,” I said honestly. Justin growled in his throat, his hands clenched together.

“I just wish I had found her before…before she got into any of that,” he said with distaste. “I would have protected her.” I grabbed Justin’s hand; that didn’t seem so cold anymore.

“I know you would have. But you are here now with her, and you have been awesome to me. You seem like you care.” Justin narrowed his eyes.

“Of course, I care. You are like a daughter to me, Chrissy. You are part of your mother. Therefore, I love and care for you too. The bond pulls you to me. I feel like you are mine. I know it sounds crazy.” He ran his hand through his hair.

Holy crap, he loves me like his own daughter.

“Frick, I have cried more in the past three weeks than my whole life.” I barked out a laugh. “Now I want to cry for a whole other reason besides being sad.” Justin pulled me in for a hug. I didn’t shudder like the first time I’d met him.

Yeah, I could see why people could be afraid of them. They were big, scary, all good-looking, and you wonder about this whole bond thing, but dang, it felt good to have a male figure who wanted me, to love me without anything in return.

Should I shy away from this? Yeah, I should, but for once, Mom is happy.Mom never dared to do something so bold as to leave the sperm donor, not with the risk of something happening to us. She always thought of me growing up, even if it was difficult for her. She had no idea how to raise a kid, not with her upbringing.

Now, it was my turn to look out for her. I was twenty-three years old, a freaking adult. I didn’t have to follow them here, but I wanted to make sure she was all right.

Now, I keep saying it was for mom, but was it really for me? For a new start?

I sniffed, pulling away from Justin. I playfully punched his shoulder, fixing the mascara trying to run down my eye. “I want to hear about this Wyatt when you come back,” he ordered as he tossed the keys in the air.

The black Maserati is now at my disposal. Teehee.

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