CHAPTER 9: TRUST

MAKENA

The look in Val's eyes as he admitted that he had no memory of his past life was devastating, and my voice trembled despite my best efforts not to let it. “I believe I know what you are, Val." I squeezed his hand for reassurance, and the look of pain in his eyes changed to one of confusion, fear, hope, and something else I couldn't describe.

"You do?"

"I believe you are a vampire," I said, watching his face become increasingly confused. So I started explaining what a vampire was, but he suddenly stood up, pacing with a panicked expression. I stood and approached him, but he stopped me in my tracks with his hands raised.

“I can’t imagine how overwhelming it must be for you, but I promise you’ll be okay. I’ll help you figure things out." He interrupted me.

“I don't want to figure it out! I don't want to be like this. I don't want to be a monster that hurts people!”

“I’m sorry, Val. But, I assure you, it is not all bad. Yes, we occasionally hurt people, but that is not all we are. Sometimes we do good, such as when you saved my life. If you had been a regular human, I would have died that night... and most likely so would you. Being magical beings is a burden, I understand, but it is never one we cannot bear."

He sat back down, and so did I, with a moment of silence passing between us before he spoke.

“You're a vampire too?” He asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question. I shook my head.

“No. I'm something else. I'm a werewolf, like the men you saved me from. We have super strength, heightened senses, and super speed like you, but we have two forms, and we are… alive.”

I told Val everything I knew about wolves, our abilities, and the main differences between us and vampires. I also cautioned him to proceed with caution, noting the tense relationship between our kinds. His eye color was the only thing I couldn't explain. Normally, vampire eyes turned black, but his turned crimson instead, which I had never heard of.

But I said I would investigate. I promised to bring him books that would teach him more about vampires and perhaps help him rediscover his true self. I also planned to steal a key to one of my parents' empty apartments and move him in while I figured out what to do. I couldn't let him continue living like a wild animal.

The sun had also begun to rise in the sky, so I needed to return home before my parents realized I had left. My heart ached at the thought of leaving him behind, but I needed to. I told him this and promised to return with food and other items.

Speaking of food, I asked where he got the blood bag I saw the night before, and he told me he had been sneaking into the hospital and stealing blood. Again, that shattered my heart into tiny billion pieces.

We held each other for a long time before pulling away, and he leaned in, connecting our lips.

"I love you," I whispered as we pulled away from the kiss, and Val told me he loved me too. He was hot; even as rough as he looked, he was still so hot with his steel-blue eyes that drew me in.

Getting up, he walked with me as I headed back home, leaving my heart behind.

----

MINUTES LATER

I sighed with relief after successfully sneaking back into my room. However, the was a knock at the front door just as I closed the sliding door. I quickly threw on my robe.

"Why are you still wearing a robe?" my mother asked, stepping into my room with a tone of panic, and I looked at her, puzzled. It was Sunday, and I had no obligations on Sundays.

"Akira's people have arrived. Don’t tell me you forgot,” she said, and I cringed at the sound of his name. Shit! I had forgotten.

There was a festival going on in Brindle, Akira's city, and he had promised to send his people to get me. He was expected to make a speech at the festival, and he wanted me by his side, or his father wanted me by his side, since my betrothed never really cared if I was present or not.

He had not even come to see me since the near-death experience. He was supposedly half across the world when it happened, and I guess he just couldn't make the time.

My mother's face lit up as she told me to hurry and get ready, but I couldn't. I couldn't spend two days in Brindle when Val needed me. I promised him I would come back, and I needed to find him a place to stay. I couldn’t let him spend another night out there.

I walked away from the door, running my hands through my hair in frustration, and my mother realized something had happened. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t go, Mom.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked, approaching me, but I took a step back and turned away.

“I can’t leave. I can’t go to Brindle.”

“I hear that. What I want to know is why.”

“I have somewhere to be, and it’s important.”

“More important than your fiancé?”

“Yes, more than him. Please make an excuse for me. I can not go, Mom," I said, still looking away from her and unable to hide the panic in my voice.

"What exactly is going on, Makena?" She asked gently, putting her hands on my shoulders and turning me around to face her. "You have been acting strange all week, and now you want Akira's people to return without you after he sent them all this way? You know your father won't allow that. Tell me what’s going on.”

Tears pooled in my eyes. She was right; Father wouldn’t let me turn them away. But I didn’t want to break the first promise I made to Val. I needed him to trust me. He needed someone in his life whom he could count on.

“It’s everything, Mom. I… I-” I began, but she cut me off, taking my hand in hers.

“It’s overwhelming, I know. Marriage is a scary thing, especially when you don’t know the other person that well, but I promise you, you’ll be fine. I was the same when the time came for your father and me to get married. Our marriage was arranged at a young age, similar to yours with Akira. And, despite having years to prepare, I still was not ready. As the day approached, I felt like I was falling apart; I could not even keep food down for the entire week. But look at us now. It feels like we have known and loved each other forever. That will also be true for you. You’re going to make it work, and I’ll be here for you every step of the way.”

She drew me into a hug, and the tears I had been holding back finally spilled. It felt like I was suffocating. I wanted to do right by my family, and I was willing to give up my soul for them. But it was no longer just my soul at stake.

I had only recently met Val, and our bond may have influenced my feelings for him, but he was my mate. We were meant to be together, and there was a reason we found each other.

No one had found a mate in decades, but somehow we did.

“Now, I’m going to call Erika, and she’ll help you get ready,” my mother said as we pulled back from the hug. Erika was my maid, but I always let her spend her time however she wanted when my mother was not watching. She and I had grown up together and were very close as children, but as adults, our roles did not allow us to be as close. Her mother was our house's chief maid.

My mother left, and I collapsed on the bed, crying until Erika knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Miss, is everything all right?" she asked, and I gave her a look. She knew she didn't have to address me so formally when we were alone.

“I’m sorry,” she added, walking over and sitting on the bed beside me. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a long story,” I said, rising and heading to the shower, feeling torn in half. But then Snow mentioned something that might help us with our situation, and I paused. I disliked it. I told her I couldn’t do it; I didn’t want to hurt her. But she insisted, and after a lengthy internal debate, I eventually gave in and stepped out of the shower.

"I need to ask you a huge favor, Erika," I said, approaching her as she laid my dress on the bed, and she turned around to face me.

"Of course. What do you need?”

“I need you to inject me with wolfsbane.”