Restless sleep filled my night. Mikaela and Julian were still gone in their own blissful voids. They were tangled together, the picture of happiness. My heart swooned at the sight. The love that was held between them. We were officially his. When will we have to take on more important roles? Meet his court? I pressed the idea away as I stood from the bed. The moon was still high, a slight breeze blowing through open windows. Autumn was starting to turn the air chilly, but not cold. My birthday was a month off. Mated before my 21st, how ironic. Staring out the window, a ghostly orb gazed back. High and inviting. Wolves loved the dark almost as much as a vampire loved blood. I grabbed a black robe draped over the back of a chair and glanced back to the sleeping forms. Neither seemed to stir from my absence. Settling my nerves, I trotted to the door and made my way down the hall, I headed towards where I knew they were keeping Andrew. A part of the house we hadn't explored. Didn't want

Julian found me early in the morning with a book curled in my hand. The library had become my place of solace in the last few hours before dawn. Words were always more appealing to me than people. Worlds could rise and fall within days when a good book was your company. Looking at my life now, I wondered if anyone would write about us. Tell our story to the masses. Would they glorify or villainize me? Lillian had left me not long after our talk. She made a point of it to tell me she knew Julian had mated us. Marked us as his brides. There wouldn't be a wedding, as all of this had happened so suddenly. I had never cared for weddings, either way. She also casually informed me that all the vampire diplomats and aristocrats would be arriving for Mikaela and I's claiming. Julian was just to send out an invitation today. We had already broken several customs according to the old woman. I wasn't pleased but hadn't felt it my place to argue. Vampire customs were strange and after all, we we

Two days had passed since our little session. Days filled with nothing but sex and love. This morning, Mikaela woke up with the biggest smile on her face. I knew then that we had done things right. Not just with the sex, but also announcing our mating to everyone. Mikaela and I had adopted new titles, along with various mundane duties. Everyone was to refer to us as our titles, showing that we were now as important as Julian. Our coronation will take a while to plan, but for now the staff knew who we were. Julian also assured us that we would receive proper training in etiquette and such. Royal training, how strange and somewhat intimidating.Maids and estate workers dashed up and down the hallways, preparing every single room in the mansion. Products of varying types tumbled from their arms, faces drawn and barely noticing our presence. Everyone was to be on their best behaviour. According to Sebastian, a mating was a rather grand affair. More so now, seeing as Julian had ta

The three of us stood at the top of the grand staircase, patiently waiting the arrival of our first guests. The prince of Asia would be arriving first. The hierarchy of this whole situation was nuts, but it was custom. Upon leaving the pack, I thought stupid customs wouldn't follow, but look at us now. Julian had shown us the proper way to stand and how to hold ourselves. Shoulders back, faint smile. Look them straight in the eyes and never look nervous. From the way he spoke about all of these encounters, I wondered if we had entered a new den of wolves. One wrong move and all of this could come tumbling down before it had even started.Although the style was uncomfortable, fake, I knew Mikaela needed reassurance. I couldn't touch them, not when it involved actual emotions. There would be moments where touch and affection were necessary, beside those moments, we were restricted. Soon our physical contact sessions would be limited to cheek kis

Mikaela's Point of ViewJulian seeing Luciana's back brought down the final blow. Feeling his anger bleed from him. Every fibre of my body wanted to comfort her. Help her. Show her that all of those gruesome things that had been done to her was in the past. We were her future. No one would ever touch her again. I knew from looking at Julian in that moment that he would gladly go to war, if only to right the wrong that happened to Luciana. Happened to the love of our life.So many years had gone by where she was marred, not just physically, but mentally as well. After a while he had become more careful in what he did to her. Had gotten healers to fix her up before people truly started noticing. Luciana never broke, instead her spirit grew stronger, more rebellious. She never ran to anyone else. Never tried to get her father to stop. At some point, I knew she had started believing that she deserved every hit. Every drop of blood she had lost. Her father