“Oh, Lucie … I’m sorry.” He pulled her tighter into him. “I don’t know what I should do.” He leaned down and breathed in her scent again, trying to calm himself. He felt so torn. “I don’t want to be away from you. Honestly, the idea of you leaving tomorrow is killing me. But I’m also afraid of losing you. Maybe I should talk with your parents more about this.”
Lucie let out a dry laugh and looked up from his chest. “It’s impossible now.” She could see Derrick’s confused eyes.
“You’re my mate, Lucie. You belong to me.”
“Derrick, my father gave me an order using his authority as my king and alpha. That’s something he has NEVER done before, which means he’s afraid for me. So much that he won’t risk me disobeying him by just telling me no. He gave an order Ican’t refuse. He can do this because, even though I’m your fated mate, I’m not yours yet.” Lucie sighed. What she wasn’t saying was how she felt something in her stir when she was given that order, an order that came from her father and the King of the Werewolves. Yet, it should have had a much stronger effect on her. Maybe her being a lycan was giving her an edge here. She bet that Aedan could directly defy an order from their father.
She respected her father and wouldn’t disobey him, but she felt like she could fight off his order, too. Lycans were naturally higher-ranking wolves. No werewolf could ever outrank one, which was why they had been the leaders at one time. The fact that she and Aedan were both lycans had to mean something, though no one in her family liked to say what. Even the very need for a werewolf king hinted at something bigger lurking on the horizon. A war among the wolves, maybe. She hoped not. Hopefully it was just a way to keep her family in power. But she knew her parents were already thinking the same thing she was. They just weren’t saying it out loud.
Her grandmother Lita always said, “There is a purpose to all gifts, even if we can’t see the reason right away.”
Lucie wished she had that kind of patience. Her Uncle Levi certainly didn’t. He always grumbled about the pesky, meddling goddess Selene and how she could never leave well enough alone. Since the end of the demon war, Selene had been fairly quiet, though. Just a few unexplained things that popped up randomly, enough to make everyone believe she was still pulling strings behind the scenes. Like Lucie being a lycan. Like her being Derrick’s fated mate.
Derrick rubbed small, soothing circles on her back as he kept his head buried against her neck. She could sense his turmoil and inner struggle. It was still fuzzy, but once they were marked, it would come through loud and clear.
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do it, Lucie. I don’t know if I can be away from you.”
She felt his breath beat against her neck and she closed her eyes from the sweet sensation it brought. “Then come back with me.”
“It’s been crossing my mind. But I’m their leader right now. I can’t leave in the middle of a mission like this. It could cause chaos. These people here don’t know who I am yet. I’m just their leader. The one they depend on to make the decisions. But soon, they will be our most trusted guards and friends in the palace.” Derrick nuzzled his nose into Lucie’s neck. Her soft neck was so tempting. He wanted to taste her … taste her blood. And mark her as his own.
As a pure vampire, the exchange of blood would bind them together, forever linking them to one another. Marking and mating was only one step of the binding process. Vampires mated for eternity, and few ever took another mate if something happened to their first. Most ended up either dying recklessly in battle or just giving up on life.
“I want to get to know the real you better. Not just the pull from our bond. I want to know all about you, since the person I thought was you … wasn’t.”
Derrick pulled back and cupped Lucie’s cheek tenderly. He gazed into her green eyes and smiled. “I want you to know everything about me. Inside and out. I want to be as familiar to you as your own hand.” He picked Lucie up and sat her down on the bed, climbing in front of her and sitting cross-legged. “Let’s talk. Tell me everything about yourself. I know things that Jasper has told me, but I want to hear it all from you. And I’ll tell you everything about me. I’ll start from where we left off. When my fifteen-year-old self disappeared from your life.”
The two began filling in the gaps about themselves, starting with their likes and dislikes. They talked about their schools andwhat life was like there. Derrick explained that since he wasn’t seen much during his growth spurt, it was the best opportunity to switch his life up. He started attending school as Ryan while the real Ryan was kept inside the palace with the private tutors. This was the role Ryan was born to fill, and later, he would become the leader of the palace guards.
He explained how shocked he was at first when he attended the vampire academy. Life wasn’t just different, but the nobles and others he remembered as a child were different. The way they treated him as Ryan was completely different. They treated him like a parasite. Some even openly bashed and mocked the royal family. It was a real eye-opener.
Then, when he was twenty, they started hearing rumors about a witch causing trouble. She was caught abducting vampires and wolves. He’d been part of the elite army for only a few months, and within two years, he’d worked his way up in the ranks, becoming their natural leader. This was obviously going to happen, since he was a royal. Being a royal vampire wasn’t just a title. They had scary, dangerous abilities that were often secret and unknown.
As the leader, he started running scouting missions to try to uncover as much about the witch as possible. All the while, he continued to keep tabs on Lucie. He always had Jasper report back to him and tell him about her. He loved hearing about her spirit and feisty nature.
When the strange attacks started happening about a year ago, Derrick took the elite army to their hideout. They would be stationed there permanently until they destroyed the witch and uncovered all her accomplices.This was also a bonding experience, one that was necessary to bind loyal soldiers to him forever.
“Nice, your parents trust you to go out and fight like that,” Lucie said, slightly envious.
“It’s a rite of passage, and necessary. I guess it would be similar to having your brother lead a squad into battle. My mother was never keen on it, but I’m not exactly sixteen. I’m twenty-four years old. An adult. And I’m protecting my fiancée and her family.”
Lucie smiled at him and leaned forward, laying her head on his legs. He began drawing lazy circles on her back with his hand. “One of your special skills wouldn’t be to freeze time, would it?”
Derrick looked down at her with a sad smile. “No. I wish. I can tell you about them, though. Well, at least the ones I know. I want you to know all my secrets, and I want to know all of yours.”
Lucie really didn’t have a lot of secrets. Just one. The one about her wolf not being separate from her, that she was a lycan. Jasper didn’t even know. It was something that was kept very secretive within the family. They were worried about how other werewolves would react. She and Aedan were already the prince and princess, but would they feel indignant if they knew they were lycans?
She closed her eyes and enjoyed the tingles his fingertips sent through her. It was really fascinating how it pulled you together. It made Derrick feel like an old friend of hers … a piece of herself. In a very lustful and completely clingy sort of way.
“I really only have one secret … but it’s a big one,” Lucie finally said quietly. She opened her eyes and tilted her head up to look into the amber eyes looking down at her. “I mean, I have abilities and things, but they aren’t really a secret.” She watched as a smile spread on Derrick’s face.
“And you trust me with your secret?”
She smiled up at him and nodded. “Yes, but I’m going to need your pinky for good measure.” She held her pinky finger up in the air.
Derrick chuckled and locked his pinky finger with hers. He leaned down and pressed his lips against her pinky. “So adorable. So, let’s hear this big secret. What is it? You aren’t really a werewolf.” He chuckled at his joke and then noticed her stoic face. “That was a joke … right?”
“I’m not a werewolf,” Lucie whispered. “Look, you really can’t tell anyone. No one knows but my family. I haven’t even told Jasper about this.”
