Royal shuffle: Vampire’s mate

ANDREA

The girls rushed to me as soon as William left the restroom. The sat on the tiled floor with me, and held me as I sobbed.

“It’s okay…it’s okay…” they chorused as they rocked me.

I nodded, and relaxed into their embrace as they rubbed my back.

“Do we need to call someone for you? A cab maybe?”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

I shook my head and smiled. “Thank you so much. I got it.”

I stood on shaky feet, and rinsed my face. I brought my hair forward to cover as much of the damage as I could. I thanked the girls again, and with blurry eyes, I left the stall. I walked slowly back to where Leo was seated, trying to buy enough time to gather my wits about myself. He looked up, saw me and smiled. I smiled back, and sat down.

“You took a while…” he said.

“Yes. I…um, wanted him to leave before I came back,” I replied.

He stared at me intently, like he was trying to look into my soul. Our food was already on the table so I immediately dug into mine. Trying my best to enjoy the meal regardless of the situation.

“Andrea?”

“Yes.”

I looked up to see that Leo was still looking at me. This time, with anger in his eyes. His hands reached for my neck, and I pulled back.

“Don’t move.”

He reached out again, but this time I stayed still as he moved my hair away.

“Did he do this to you, sweetheart?” He asked.

I nodded my head and tears dropped from my eyes. He got up, and walked over to my side, kissed me on the cheek, and began walking out.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

He didn’t respond.

I quickly picked up my phone and followed him, running after him as his strides were long and fast. Just as I stepped outside, I watched as he made a beeline for William who was about to enter his SUV. William must have sensed him, because he looked back, and immediately closed the door. He smiled sinisterly as Leo approached him.

“Leo!!!” I called out to him, knowing fully well that he wasn’t approaching him to discuss the weather.

I watched in horror as Leo took a swipe across his face, blood seeping out of the wounds on William’s face. William growled and the fight began. Clothes were torn, the smell of blood heavy in the air. It didn’t escape my notice that the attention of people had been drawn to the fight, and some had brought out their phones to record. At this point. I didn’t care. I just wanted them to stop fighting before they killed each other.

“You people should do something!!!” I screamed at the security guards that stood around, looking just as perplexed and flustered as I felt.

“We can’t…they’re…you know…” One of them replied.

They were royals, the probability of commoners stepping in to stop the fight was low. Especially as they were super strong, they might die before even trying. Leo lifted William up in the air, and slammed him down on the concrete floor hard. I heard the shocked gasps of the spectators as Leo knelt over his body, and lifted his hand in the air, claws drawn, and ready to take his life. I screamed as loud as I could, so loud that I was sure that I was going to lose my voice.

“Leo!!!”

He paused, and looked at me. I dropped to my knees and began begging.

“Please…please…just leave him alone…”

His eyes softened as he looked at me, and then he slowly got off William’s unmoving body. As soon as he took a few steps back, the restaurant’s security immediately rushed in, lifting William off of the floor. Leo walked over to me, lifted me off the floor and into his arms. I wrapped my hands around his neck, and legs around his waist as he walked us to his car. I could see the cameras flashing, and all the phones held up, and sighed.

“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” he said, whispering into my ear.

I nodded, and closer my eyes. I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow’s headlines.

“What’s going to happen now?” I asked as soon as we were both settled in his vehicle.

“Nothing,” He said, shrugging.

“What do you mean ‘Nothing’? You just beat up the werewolf prince!!”

“Nothing will happen, Andrea. They will be angry for a while, but they’ll be fine.”

I was worried about me. What were they going to do to me?

“What about me?” I asked quietly. He paused, and I knew that he was thinking what I was thinking.

“I will protect you. I swear to you on my mother’s grave, that I will protect you.”

I nodded. Even though that wasn’t enough assurance for me, it will have to do. Needless to say, I was angry. Tonight was supposed to be perfect.

“What’s wrong? I can feel your anger,” Leo risked a glance at me, and then returned his eyes to the road.

“You just had to fight him, didn’t you?”

Leo groaned.” You wanted me to just let him walk?! I could never have done that!!”

“So, risking my life was a better decision?”

“You’re fine.”

“For now. I’m fine for now. Did you forget that those people threatened my mother? My sisters?! For all I know, they’re probably following me about.”

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

I shook my head, and looked out the window.

“What were you thinking?”

The rest of the car ride was silent. I was angry and afraid, and Leo…well, let’s just say he still had that adrenaline bursting through him. As soon as the car pulled up in front of my house, I got out and slammed the door shut.

“Bye…”

I didn’t respond. I only looked back at him when I got to the door, and without as much as a goodbye, I slammed it shut. I sighed, and leaned on the door, sliding down on it slowly. I heard footsteps, and my mother emerged from the kitchen, regarding me with a gaze that you would fix an errant child.

“I’m sorry, mom,” I apologized.

She nodded. “It’s okay. I’d ask how your date went, but I’ll take it that it didn’t go well?”

I got off the floor, and took off my shoes.

“No, not exactly.”

I opened my mouth, and the loudest yawn came out.

“You look tired. Do you want to talk about what happened?” She asked.

I opened my mouth to say no, but then decided that I wanted to get it off my chest.

“Yes…”

Tears gathered in my eyes, and I walked into my mother’s arms. She wrapped her hands around me, and stroked my hair.

“My darling…it’s okay, love. Come on,” She pulled me into the kitchen with her, and we sat down at the small dining table. “Tell me everything…”

I took a deep breath and told her everything. From the abuse I experienced while working at the palace, to how I attacked the prince, and met Leo. And how I found out we were mates. I told her about the ball, and how I and Leo had danced. I told her how I was being blackmailed by the royal family to find out everything the vampires were up to, and how William had attacked me at the restroom today. I, of course, didn’t leave out how Leo and William fought until Leo almost killed him. By the time I was finished, my mother’s mouth was wide open.

“What?!” She screamed. “Andrea. All of this was happening, and you didn’t think to tell me?!”

“I didn’t want to bother you…” I said, my voice cracking.

My lips quivered, and tears began flowing down my cheeks. My mother pulled her chair closer to mine, and hugged me.

“It’s okay, honey.” She said. “Honestly, I’m surprised that you have a mate. We don’t usually get those.”

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”

“So, what’s his plan?”

“About?”

“You. When am I going to see him? When is he going to mark you? Have you met his parents?”

“That’s a bit complicated. We can’t do any of that for now.”

“Okay.”

I was glad that she didn’t push it.

“I’m going to bed,” I said, stood up and kissed my mother on the head. “Goodnight.”

“Sleep tight.”

I went to my room, and took my clothes off, had a quick bath, and went straight to bed. The events of the past few hours still fresh on my mind.