SERENITY

I flew back against the wall as pieces of glass filled the air in slow motion, hitting furniture and immortal, not taking any prisoners. I tried reaching for Mason as my back slammed against the wall.

It was useless.

I hit with such force it stole all the breath from my lungs.

I crumbled to the floor and coughed as the glass from the windows made a crashing noise against the ground.

And then seven pairs of eyes were trained on me…

In a mixture of worry.

And awe.

I didn’t feel any different.

If anything, I felt like I’d just been run over by a truck; my head hurt, my eyes stung, and my body felt too heavy to stand.

Mason rushed to my side; his shaking hand pushed hair from my face with such reverence that I wanted to weep.

“What?” I croaked out, even my voice sounded different, sharper. “What’s wrong?”

Alex peered around Mason and gave me a satisfied smile before saying, “Well, well, well… looks like there’s finally someone strong enough to give me a run for my money.”

I frowned down at my glowing palms then slid my tongue over my fangs. Thank God, they were still there.

Cassius simply shrugged. “She was born of this earth, fully vampire, fully immortal, half goddess.” He stopped and then lowered his voice. “Half Watcher.”

I flinched at the word Watcher.

And then realized all too soon.

My mate looked just like one.

Did that mean I looked like my mother?

Mason hung his head as he dropped my hand. “You knew?”

Cassius sighed; it was long and drawn out, as if he didn’t want to have the conversation. “You’re aware that I see all possible futures, but whenever it comes to those closest to me, there is only so much I can see, Mason.”

A trickle of blood ran down my lip. Mason reached out and caught it with his hand. “Is this why her blood tastes so good to me? Is she what brings out the vampire?”

I flinched when he said she.

As if I wasn’t his mate anymore.

As if I was this unreachable being that just happened to be sitting in front of him and in his house. I still felt that tether of connection between us, but I also felt pain, insecurity. I felt betrayal, and it was all directed at me.

I tried to climb into myself as I hugged my knees to my chest and looked away. When would I ever learn?

I was the problem.

Me.

People always left me.

Should have known. I was a freak.

He would leave too.

Just like them.

“You crave her blood because it is the very blood that keeps you alive, wolf.” Cassius said the words with venom, as if he was pissed he even had to utter them. “She is the only reason that Bannick was able to use Gadreel as an anchor to make you what you are today. You want to know why you are powerful? Why you are the true Alpha? Why you are alive and breathing today rather than crippled the way your disease would have left you? Look no further than the sacrifice she made the minute she was brought into this world — and bound, to one such as you.”

Mason closed his eyes as the room fell into a tense silence.

And slowly, one by one, people rose and left, not once making eye contact with Mason, but nodding to me, as if I was in the right. And he was in the wrong.

He didn’t move.

Finally, I stood, and tried to walk past him.

His hand jerked out and grabbed my wrist. “I was afraid. I didn’t mean—”

I pulled away and walked off whispering under my breath. “I’m going to go to sleep.”

I could feel the pain in Mason’s chest at our separation; the way his body ached to join with mine was so real that it made me catch my breath as I slowly made my way up the stairs.

I stopped when Hope gave me a look and then pulled me into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

“He was wrong,” she said in a small voice, “to react that way, but he’s wolf. One thing you need to know about wolves is they react. It’s what they were born to do, to react, to heal, and above all else to protect their clans.”

“What about their mates?” I suddenly jerked up my chin. “Doesn’t it matter who I am?”

Her brown eyes softened. “It does when he has to face his family again, a family he left a long time ago — a clan all but abandoned. He is the rightful king. How do you think they will react to his return? With the way he looks? With the way you look? Bad enough that he mated a vampire.”

I tried not to be offended.

“What’s worse… you have goddess blood mixed in your veins, and people tend to be fearful of what they don’t understand. Who’s to say you don’t destroy them all?”

I scoffed. “I would never do that! I don’t even have any power.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Maybe tell that to all the windows Ethan’s going to have to replace.” She touched my arm softly, “Look, I’m not giving him a free pass. All men are assholes — we can agree on that — but he already feels like the cards are stacked against him, and this was a surprising blow to an already full deck, alright? Don’t doubt his feelings for you. This is more about him, about his place, and let’s be honest, had he done the right thing all that time ago, this wouldn’t even be a big deal.”

I gave her a look.

She smirked. “Okay, so it would be a big deal but not like… apocalyptic or world-ending.”

My eyes widened. “It’s not that bad.”

“To the true Alpha, it will feel that way. There are certain—” She stopped as if she wasn’t sure she should say it. After glancing at the door, she lowered her voice. “—there are certain rituals you will need to take part in once he takes his rightful place, certain things you’ll see and…” She licked her lips. “…do.”

I rubbed my arms as the sound of footsteps neared the bathroom door. Hope gave me a nod before going to it and pulling it open. Alex had his hand up ready to knock. He was shirtless, his low-slung leather pants hung so painfully past what was appropriate that I had to look in his eyes. And something about his eyes always made me feel like he was… probing.

I didn’t like it.

He smirked as if he knew it and then kissed Hope on the cheek, “Ready for our shower?”

“I think that’s my cue.” I felt my cheeks heat as I pushed past both of them and walked down the hall.

Did I go to Masons room?

Or the room I’d been staying in?

Awkward didn’t even begin to cover it.

I’d never felt so wrongfully out of place, my heart knew which direction to walk in, my soul screamed, my blood pounded against my flesh, and yet my mind told me that I should sleep it off — alone, give him space.

Give us space.

So much had happened in the span of forty-eight hours.

Slowly, I walked back to the room that I’d been staying with and pulled off my shoes and clothes, with each garment I peeled away, I felt more and more distance stretch between me and Mason, until my chest ached so much I couldn’t stop the tears from falling down my cheeks.

I didn’t ask to be born this way.

I didn’t ask to live a life of complete isolation and loneliness.

I curled into a ball and started to drift to sleep when the door to my room opened, footsteps sounded, the bed creaked, and then a warm body was lying down next to mine, its muscular form too great to ignore as I stilled next to him.

“Never again,” Mason whispered in my ear. “Never walk away from me again without talking to me first. I’m your mate, not Hope, not Alex, not Ethan, not Cassius—” He growled in the back of his throat. “You. Are. Mine.” His teeth grazed the edge of my ear, and then he sighed, his head pressed against my neck. “I can be an ass.”

I didn’t move. I was afraid he’d see the tear-stained sheets or the runny nose that refused to go away even though I had stupid goddess blood in my veins.

“I’m sorry.” Mason tried again. “Hurting you, making you feel anything other than the most important person in my existence is inexcusable.”

I nodded as he tugged the sheet away and very slowly tilted my head toward him.

Icy blue eyes locked with mine as he whispered, “I’m responsible for these.” He gently ran his tongue up my neck as a tear collided with him, over and over again. He pressed his tongue, his mouth to the wet salty spots and then hesitated. His eyes held a sadness I only knew because of the quivering of the tether between us, as if his heart was skipping beats because it wasn’t strong enough to go on.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered, afraid that it was me. That I was the wrong in his life.

He gave his head a shake, the dark pieces of hair falling against my face, I wound them up in my fingers and flinched when the red pieces touched my skin and caused an electric jolt to shoot through my system.

His expression was grave. “The red represents the sin. Whenever another immortal touches it, it’s a reminder.”

“A reminder?” I whispered.

His forehead touched mine. “Not to listen to our feelings, but to listen to the truth.”

“What’s truth?” Frustration welled up within me. “I feel like my entire life I’ve been living a lie, as cliché as that sounds, and now I’m supposed to blindly trust. Why? Give me one reason. Why?”

“Because…” It was as if a switch of light turned on Mason’s face as he almost glimmered before me. “The Creator is good, and He allows us… the great privilege… of a choice.”

Instantly ashamed, I looked away. “Would you have chosen this though? This life? You were sick as a boy. That’s why they gave you my blood, angel blood. Would you have chosen differently, Mason? Given your…” I knew it was a touchy subject, but I was his mate. If we couldn’t talk about it, then we couldn’t be together. “…given your first mate dying? The life of solitude you lived?”

“Listen—” Mason almost growled the word out., “—very carefully,” He cupped my face with both hands, the warmth of his palms seeping into my skin. “There is nothing I would do different. There is no better life in existence than life in your arms, than life…” He pressed a hot palm to my chest. “…shared with this heart.”

I didn’t realize I was crying until his tongue was on my cheek again.

And then the rest of my clothes were discarded as his tongue sought every other pleasure it could find, while I bucked beneath each touch like he was searing me, marking me more and more, and when he bit into my thigh, all I saw was light, goodness…

Us.

The tether between us pulled tight, strengthened.

“You are my mate, made for me, since the beginning.”

“Yes,” I agreed as our bodies moved together, as he took me on another wave of pleasure, as I felt his thickness inside of me, reminding me, that I wasn’t alone anymore.

That I had a partner.

That I wasn’t abandoned.

Betrayed.

I was his.

I was an us.

I soared with him to higher heights and swore then and there that I would die to protect the wolf I married. I would die to protect the heart he carried inside his chest, the one that pumped so valiantly for his people, for me, for humans.

I would die.

With no regrets.

And I fell asleep, with a smile on my lips.