CHAPTER 6: A VAMPIRE

SEVEN DAYS LATER

WIREMONT CITY

MAKENA

Groaning, I checked the time, which was 7 a.m. I was usually on my feet by now, but I had not been sleeping well since that day in the morgue. A week had passed, and we had not seen our savior since.

But every night, we awoke to his scent lingering in the air, as if he had been in the room, and the last thing he said to me played over and over in my mind.

“No one will ever hurt you again. Not while I breathe, not while I exist."

Following the attack, I awoke in a hospital bed, my savior nowhere to be found. Dr. Miles explained that I was unconscious upon arrival, and my rescuer left without waiting.

The hospital notified my family, and my mother arrived moments later to take me home. My mate's memories haunted me the entire way home.

Before my mother told me about the scene in the morgue where my attack occurred, a part of me had begun to believe that I had hallucinated the entire thing, or at least the part of being saved by my mate.

In our world, mates were nonexistent and had not been for decades. But the more memories flooded in, the more I realized it was all real, not a figment of my imagination. But how did he just leave? Surely he wasn’t supposed to do that; surely he was supposed to stay.

My mind raced with questions again, as it had for the past seven days until one detail caused me to pause: his eyes. Were they just Red? Or had I imagined that part? As far as I knew, only vampires and hybrids had eyes that changed completely... but even then, theirs turned black, not crimson.

I sighed, pushing myself upward. There was no point in dwelling on it. We needed to find him. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t think, and I couldn’t silence his voice inside my head. How was he going to just show up and then disappear? Leaving me to go crazy.

The worst part was that I couldn’t even talk to anyone about him being my mate, because nobody would believe me without him as proof. I headed for the shower, already knowing what I’d do next.

I would go back to the hospital. I needed to speak with Dr. Miles again and learn more about the man who brought me in. According to the description she gave me, it was not my mate, but he might know where I could find him.

----

HOURS LATER

"Wait! Please don't go... please," I yelled, abruptly sitting up in bed after waking to the overwhelming feeling of his presence again. My gaze fixed on the silhouette standing rigid on the other side of the sliding door. "Please, don't leave." My voice was quieter as I got out of bed and approached him, my heart racing with each step.

Reaching for the handle, I slid the door open, but when I looked up, he was gone. How did he do that? The hair on the back of my neck stood as a chill crept down my spine. But still, I moved slowly forward onto the balcony, not knowing why, because he was clearly gone.

Why was he doing this to us? Didn’t he long for us the way we longed for him?

I stood there for a while, staring blankly at the distant wall, until I finally decided to do what I'd been thinking about all day since speaking with Doctor Miles: return to the morgue.

The thought alone sent another shiver down my spine after what had happened the previous time, but we could not keep going like this.

My visit to Dr. Miles had produced no results. The man who brought me to the hospital had left no details, but thankfully, Dr. Miles was able to provide me with a picture of him; they had been reviewing the security cameras when we arrived due to an incident in which blood bags had gone missing.

Getting back inside my room, my hands were frantic as I put on my shoes. My wolf was ready, and we wasted no time. We dashed into the garden after jumping down from my balcony floor.

My house was heavily guarded following what had happened to me. And my father, who was away at the time of the attack, was still tearing up the city in search of my attackers.

He suspected one of his mafia rivals, as the attackers had been recording everything, indicating that they intended to inflict pain on him by killing me.

There was not much found on their recordings. They made a point of keeping their faces out of the camera's view. However, one of the bodies discovered was that of a man who worked for my father.

It was unclear if he was in on it because he was supposed to be working that night, so it wasn't strange for him to be found at the morgue. Their camera had also failed to capture my mate saving me as the men had dropped it during the fight.

After checking the coast, my wolf, Snow and I leaped over the wall and continued running until we eventually entered the forest that led to the Morgue. We took a shortcut.

Snow suggested we shift in case we ran into trouble, and I agreed; our senses were heightened when she was in charge. I didn't want anyone to see a large wolf and panic, but I also knew I would never be able to relax in this forest again, especially at 1 a.m. Furthermore, I doubted any humans would be roaming around at such a late hour.

So I let Snow take control, and we continued to the Morgue, which appeared before us. We weren't going in, but instead looking around and trying to catch his scent, as my father had repaired the cameras and added more surveillance inside.

Sticking to the shadows, we searched and searched, but there was no sign of life, so we decided to venture deeper into the forest.

Snow and I wandered the forest for over an hour before I suggested we go home because it was obvious there was nothing out there. Plus, I was starting to realize how stupid it was of us to think he would be hanging out here.

But what else could we do when we had no idea where he was and he kept running away?

I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces, but just then Snow came to a screeching halt. I asked her what was going on, but she bolted south without responding.

I called after her again, asking what was happening, but she still didn’t respond; she just kept running. Panic rose in my chest, and I demanded that she return control, but she abruptly came to a halt in front of what appeared to be the entrance to a rundown building.

Slowly, she approached it, and that was when his scent hit me, and I froze. Why? Why would it be here? We crept inside, and without Snow's eyes, I would have had to feel my way in because it was so dark. It didn't look like it had a roof, but the trees and vines that had weaved themselves all over it made it impossible for the moonlight to shine through.

We entered what appeared to be a room, and it immediately became clear that he was staying here. My heart broke again with each step as I surveyed the state of the place.

How could anyone live like this? Why would he hide out here?

I spotted a pair of boots alongside a T-shirt. Aside from that, there was nothing: no blankets, food, or supplies... nothing which could explain how he was able to survive here.

My voice trembled as I begged Snow to give me back control, which she did immediately. Shifting back to my human form, I took a cautious step forward, but a scream escaped my lips as I tripped on something and nearly fell, startled as I was already on edge.

Looking down, I saw what appeared to be an empty blood bag, and my eyes widened. "Is he the one stealing all the blood? But why? What would a werewolf be doing with blood?”

I was still considering my next move when Snow said something that made me freeze.

“He’s a vampire,” she muttered, barely able to believe it. It was impossible. Vampires were banished a long time ago and were thought to have perished. However, as in denial as I was, and as impossible as it seemed, I could not deny that every sign I'd seen pointed to that fact.

The manner in which he moved that night. I had never seen a werewolf move like that before, and his aura was unlike that of a wolf's; it was cold... ice-cold.

The implication caused my heart to race even faster. But just as I was about to lose it in fear, an icy sensation swept through me, stealing the breath from my lungs. I felt him behind me before my chest could even attempt to fight for air, and everything stilled.