บททั้งหมดของ The Alpha's Mate, The Vampire's Desire : บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

`Moon Child.`Layla stiffened at the familiar, gentle, baritone voice that seemed to be whispered in her ear. She spun around, careful not to knock the blue vase she was dusting off its stand.Sleep disappeared for her silver eyes, and they darted across the room. It was empty, saved for the numerous vases and urns of different colours and shapes arranged about. As she had expected.It wasn’t the first, second, or third time she had had the experience that day. She had lost count of how many times she had heard the voice, but she always looked over her shoulder.Like she was waiting for someone.‘I just imagined it.’ She thought, biting her bottom lip and turning back to her dusting. ‘I’m so stressed and sleep deprived that I’m now imagining his voice during the day.’It was a mantra she kept telling her each time the voice came. An imagination. She was imagining the voice of one of the men she saw in her dreams as a way her overworked body was using to ease itself.She missed them. T

“Is it that you can’t or don’t want to?” Alaric asked, unfazed by Layla’s answer.“Well, um… Mr. Richardson’s won’t let me go because I still owe him a lot of money.” She explained.“What if I paid your debt, then? You would come with us, right?”“You can’t! That would be too generous of you.” She gaped. Why would he pay for her?“I don’t mind, and I’m sure the Headmaster won’t either.” He shrugged. “So if I do, will you? Or is there anything else holding you back?”“Well… I…” Layla bit her bottom lips as the words formed in her mouth. But she couldn’t say them. She averted her gaze from Alaric’s piercing ones and stared at the ground. The words were begging to come out, but could she say them? They were strangers, Supernaturals, and Terra seemed to dislike her. Would they care about what human maids were going through?“Terra, can you excuse us for a moment?” Alaric said.“But sir!”“Please, give me a few minutes with her.” His voice sounded like he was asking her for permission, but

Layla knew she should listen to Headmaster Brenton’s speech, but she just couldn’t concentrate, no matter how hard she tried. Her body still throbbed, and though it wasn’t as painful as before, it was still distracting. But it wasn’t as distracting as her main thought. What had happened to her? ‘Zayne didn’t touch me, but I’m sure he caused it. What did he do? Cast a spell on me? I don’t think so. The only thing he said was, I do not accept you as my mate—’ Pain shot through her body as the memory flashed through her mind. She grabbed her chest, almost gasping aloud. ‘That’s it. That’s what caused the pain. His rejection! He rejected me! Why? Is it because I’m human?’ She blinked away the tears that had begun to form. His rejection hurt. She didn’t know what a mate was or why he didn’t want her to be his, but it hurt. Just thinking about it made it seem she was choking, like the air had become impossible to breathe and she was dying of suffocation. Layla’s gaze flickered

Human? No. Layla couldn’t call herself a human. No human could do what she did. A witch, then? There were witches in her world, but was she one? What she did couldn’t be called witchcraft, could it? No, that didn’t feel right. Then what was she if she wasn’t one of the creatures in the new world? “You’re sure you don’t know what you are?” Boris quipped a brow, and she shook her head again. The four exchanged strange looks and hushed words. “I’ll try to say it as simply as possible,” Demeter said, folding her hands on the table. “You’re one of the two Children of Iniquity, the Child of Darkness. A malevolent creature of evil that appears in our world once in a while.” ‘Me? A malevolent creature of evil? That’s not possible. There has to be a mistake somewhere.’ She wanted to argue. She wasn’t calling herself a saint, but evil wasn’t a word she would associate herself with. She tried to be at peace with all people, no matter how annoying they were. Sweetheart? Yes. Nice? Also yes.

Die there or train to be a war machine—that was if they were satisfied with Layla’s progress at the end of the school year. If they weren’t, she would die.It was like being asked to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. Both options were bad in themselves and had death as the end sooner or later.If Layla said no, Blaze would chop off her head before she took the next breath. If she said yes, she would either die because she couldn’t control her power at the end of the school year, die in battle with the rebels, or die after because there was no way they would let her live when they had no use of her. No matter the route she chose, she had only one end. Only one came sooner than the other.“I… I accept your offer.” She breathed, and she felt an invisible cuff placed around her wrists. She didn’t want it; just saying yes felt like she had signed her life as a slave, but it was the only reasonable option she could choose.‘It’s better I’m alive and searching for a way to esca