Chapter 2 - Sudden encounter

When Romeo finally enters the classroom, he doesn't know how he got there. He had used all his energy to turn his back on that man and walk there, without looking back, or falling to the ground because his knees were shaking.

He sits down in a free space at the back of the room and takes a deep breath.

- Even though it's the first day in my class, I hope this doesn't happen again. My classes should not be interrupted by people who don't care about keeping on schedule. Next time someone is late, stay outside. – the professor says, to all students, but obviously to him.

The eyes of his colleagues turn in his direction, but at a simple glance from Romeo, everyone swallows hard and turns forward.

The teacher begins to talk about what he expects from everyone, the importance of mathematics and the degree of difficulty of the subject, and immediately goes on to announce that in the next class he would carry out a rigorous test, to assess the ability of his students.

The rest of the class went on with some subject, but Romeo didn't pay attention to any of the teacher's words.

That mutt called him mate. Mate like soulmate mate. How was such a thing possible? He knew that before the war, there were many uncleans, children of werewolves and vampires, but they had all been expelled from the nests or packs, and most had died or disappeared in time. Since the war began, no one had ever heard of a couple of the two species, joined by the Moon Goddess or any other god. That must have been a mistake. The mutt shouldn't have hit his head properly.

The more Romeo thought about the matter, the more questions than answers arose. And that scent of green apples and cinnamon that made him turn back? His father had told him that when he met his queen, she was a simple vampire, but that her scent was so irresistible that he knew immediately that she was his life partner, his destined one.

Would it be a scent as attractive as the one that made him go back and discover the origin that his father talked about? It couldn't be. His life partner couldn't be a dog. He didn't accept that, and his father would never allow it.

That was the vampire in him speaking, but the human part, of a 19-year-old young man, completely disagreed.

Julius was the most attractive man he had seen in his entire life. When he came face to face with him and looked into those green eyes, so electric and penetrating, his heart stopped beating, and he couldn't even breathe. For a few seconds, he had forgotten that Julius was a dog and that the species hated each other. For a few seconds, he wanted to pull that man to his chest and kiss him.

Mate, Julius had said, and Romeo momentarily wished that were possible.

He had already had several relationships, with other vampires and some humans. Things that are fleeting and temporary, that didn't leave a mark, and that didn't go through a few make-out encounters or handjobs for two. He had never been in a relationship with someone he wanted to go further with. For an immortal, there was no rush, and he wanted to give himself to whoever was destined to share his bed forever.

However, when he thought about Julius, his cock pulsed and his body was filled with desire.

- Fuck – he says between his teeth, making some colleagues turn to him.

Romeo blushes and shuts up. He looks at the teacher and sighs in relief. Only those closest heard him.

Julius remained on the corner for a few minutes, not completely realizing what had just happened. Was his mate a vampire? Would the Moon Goddess have been drinking the day she decided to pair him with a leech? There was something very wrong with that story. When he finally manages to force himself to move, he runs to class, and taking advantage of the fact that the teacher's back is turned, he slips in and sits in an empty seat between two of his friends.

- Why did you take so long? – whispered one of them.

Not knowing how to explain it, he simply says:

- I went to the bathroom, and then I made a mistake on the way.

The friend chuckles, and returns his attention to the class.

What the hell was he going to do now? It had been decreed by the king, to put an end to the dangerous habit that some wolves had acquired, of rejecting mates, just because they were not wealthy or well-placed in the hierarchy, that the mate bond was sacred and the result of the Moon Goddess's choice. The only way for punishment not to be imposed was if one of the mates was abusive, physically or mentally, criminal or compatibility between the two was literally impossible. Even in these cases, the request had to be made to the pack's alpha, and if it was denied, to the king.

Certainly, having a vampire as a mate was more than enough reason for the rejection to be authorized.

“Don’t you dare reject our mate.” – growls the wolf in Julius’ head. – “He is our mate. You wanted a man and the Moon Goddess gave you a man.”

“He's a bloodsucker. Worse, he is the son of the king of leeches.”

“He is our mate. The moon Goddess gave it to us. Only that matters.”

Julius blocks out his wolf's annoying voice and tries to pay attention in class, but the image of Romeo won't leave his head.

He had never met a man who was both so attractive and mysterious. For a moment, he almost lost control and pulled him towards him, and kissed him, stroking his long and unique hair.

What was he thinking? There must have been some mistake.

“There is no mistake, idiot. Romeo is our mate and I want him”

“What was the part about him being an enemy, a leech, that you didn’t understand?”

The annoying wolf buffs and blocks Julius.

- Nice! – Julius says, making everyone turn around. - Sorry. – he says immediately, when the teacher turns and crosses her arms.

He had to fix the situation. Maybe he could reject Romeo in secret. Nobody needed to know. Normally, it was impossible to do this in secret because the other party refused, but Romeo would certainly be wanting the same thing.

Julius sighed. Why is it that now that he had finally found his mate and he was everything he had dreamed of, everything was just a nightmare?

Lunchtime finally arrives, and Romeo sighs with relief. It wasn't because he was hungry. In fact, vampires only need to eat once a day to stay strong, but he was having a terrible morning, unable to pay attention to anything. His mind was constantly evaded by those green eyes that left him melted.

Unwilling to talk to anyone, he goes to the library to try to study a little. He knew it was a futile attempt. He was too affected by it all to concentrate, but perhaps the silence of the library helped him collect his thoughts.

He enters, looks for an isolated table, leaves his bag and goes to one of the bookcase aisles, looking for a book, any book. He was scrolling through the second row of books with his fingers, reading the titles, when a voice, practically a whisper, inaudible to any human, but perfectly perceptible to his ears, was heard behind his back.

- We need to talk.

Romeo jumps out and turns around and in front of him is Julius.

Romeo hissis.

- We have nothing to talk about. Don't get too close, because even if you're in a neutral zone, I'll kill you.

If this intimidated Julius, he didn't show it, maintaining a stoic expression.

- Yes, we do, you know that. But like you, I don't want to be seen in your company. Meet me by the lake at midnight tonight. Then we don't need to talk anymore.

- and what makes you think I'm going to fall into a trap so easily, dog?

- I'm not insulting you, so don't insult me. It's no trap. Do you think I want to tell any of my friends what's going on? I'll wait for you there. Don't be late.

Julius turns his back and disappears between the bookcase aisles.

Romeo sighs. What would he do now? Would he meet him? Just thinking about meeting him was a betrayal of his species. However, perhaps the mutt simply wanted to reject him and everything would go back to normal. A second chance mate would certainly be in Julius' future, but what about him? Accepting a rejection represents giving up a life partner. He could choose someone and spend his life by their side, but that wasn't the same thing.

Not knowing how such a thing was possible, he started to feel a headache. Fuck, he went to the library to get his ideas in order and ended up getting even more confused.

How come he didn't smell Julius' presence in the library? Damn the dogs' ability to hide their own scent.

Despite deciding not to attend that meeting, at midnight, Romeo enters the clearing where the lake was and looks around, smelling the air, to see if there were any traps.

The scent of Julius, green apples and cinnamon is the only aroma they smell and it is so powerful that it hides the aromas of the nature.

- I'm glad you came. – Julius says, behind his back.

Romeo turns around and Julius's mere presence makes his cock throb.

- What do you want from me?

- We need to talk about what's going on between us.

- Nothing is happening between us and will never happen.