My Mate

The revelation hit me like a thunderbolt, sending shockwaves through my very being. If he could smell Deaken on me at the dining hall that means everyone could smell him on me. Deaken’s confession that I, a newly turned vampire, could be the mate of a werewolf, was as bewildering as it was impossible. Yet, the intensity in his eyes spoke a truth my heart couldn’t deny.

As we stood in the dimly lit hallway, the weight of his gaze was both comforting and terrifying. The idea of mates, soul-bound through time and destiny, was something out of a fairy tale. But here, in the shadowy confines of Lord Syndril’s estate, it was a reality I could not escape.

“I’m sorry, Deaken,” I whispered, my voice barely a tremble. "But my life is already entwined with Lord Syndril’s. I cannot be his wife and your mate."

The sadness in his eyes was palpable, a mirror to the turmoil swirling within me. This was a crossroads I never anticipated, a choice between duty and a call of the wild that sang to the very core of my new existence. I have only known him for a brief moment but I feel a connection to him in my very being.

The air was thick with tension, a silent witness to the conflict raging within me. Deaken’s presence, so strong and yet so gentle, was a balm to the chaos of my thoughts. But it was Lord Syndril’s image that haunted me, his noble face etched with the burden of centuries.

“I understand your loyalty to Lord Syndril,” Deaken said, his voice a low rumble that resonated with the pain of our impossible situation. “But the heart wants what it wants, and the soul knows no bounds of duty or obligation.”

His words were a whisper against the storm of my emotions, and I found myself drawn to him, as if by some magnetic force that defied explanation. The connection between us was palpable, a thread of destiny that pulled taut with every breath we shared.

In that moment, I realized that my life had become a tapestry of choices, each thread representing a path I could take. And here, with Deaken, stood a path that beckoned with the wild call of freedom and the promise of a love that transcended the ordinary. But that love would die because one day he would die and there would be nothing I could do to stop it. I will live forever, and that pain would be a constant reminder of what we had been. If I had been given a choice I would have chosen his love over a loveless marriage. The world is a cruel place, and I wasn’t given a choice though was I.

He pointed to a door on his left, “that is your room.” He then pointed one door down. “That is my room. The lord wanted me near you since I am your guard. If something happens all you have to do is call to me.”

I took that as my queue to leave and rushed to my door quickly slamming it behind me. What the hell am I going to do now? I wiped a tear off my cheek when there was a light tap on my door.

God I have only been awake for a few hours and I haven’t had a moment of peace. I feel as if I am walking through a minefield, and I have hit every single one in my path. All I wanted was to find a peaceful way to end this marriage without causing death and pain. I didn’t know it would turn me into this monster. I didn’t know I would be tangled in this complicated mess that is now my life.

The light tap landed on my door once more reminding me someone was just on the other side of the door. “You can come in,” I said in a hurry as I glanced at my appearance. Just when I thought this couldn’t become any worse the lord himself walked through my door. The sincere look in his eyes had me cracking at the seams. I just started to cry when he looked at me and I couldn’t stop. It was as if a damn had broken open and the floodgates could hold back no more water. “What is happening to me!” I sobbed burring my face in my hands.

He softly closed the door behind him and pulled me into his chest. “Shhh...” The small circles he rubbed into my back made me cry harder. No one has been kind to me like this in years. “Your emotions are in a fragile state, when you turn everything around you is heightened.” He placed my face in his hand and made me look at him. “This is normal.”

“Why do you care?” I can stop the tears as they socked his hands. “Why are you here?”

He looked away for a moment, a look of shame crossed his features. “I overheard the conversation in the hallway and thought you needed a friend.”

My worst fear was confirmed in mere seconds, He knows. Lord Syndril knows everything. I try my best to calm my racing heart. I did nothing wrong, there is no need to worry. I tell myself over and over again in an effort to stop the panic rising in my chest.

The world seemed to spin, a carousel of dark thoughts and fears, but his voice was the still point in the turning world. “Caroline,” Lord Syndril said, his tone a gentle command that beckoned me back from the edge of panic.

I turned to him, my heart a drumbeat in my chest. “I can’t… It’s all too much,” I stammered, the words tumbling out in a rush.

He stepped closer, his presence a fortress against my storm of doubts. “You can, and you will,” he assured me, his hand finding mine, a lifeline thrown across the chasm of my fears. “Find the balance within you. Let it center you, as it has before.”

His eyes held mine, a mirror of calm that I desperately needed. “Breathe with me,” he instructed. And so, I inhaled, a slow, deliberate breath that matched his own. With each exhale, I imagined my fears dissolving into the air, leaving nothing but a quiet strength in their wake.

“See? You are the master of your fears, not the other way around,” he said, a smile touching the corners of his mouth.

I couldn’t help but return the smile, feeling the truth of his words anchoring me. “Thank you, lord Syndril.” I said, my voice no longer a whisper but a declaration.

He nodded, his grip on my hand tightening for a moment. “I am your husband you can call me Syndril.” He wiped the water from my face. “Together, we face what comes next,” he said, and I knew it was a promise he intended to keep.