A Soul Keeper

**Vladimir***

It had been two days since Alpha Damien had left, I could feel Guinevere’s emotions and I knew she was stressed out, and I knew my presence wasn’t helping, I could tell she was confused by our relationship. I let Guinevere stay in my room and I took the Queen’s suite. I stayed away trying to give her the space she needed to sort through her thoughts and recover from the loss of the baby.

Today I was in my office researching any information I could find on Jupiter and how my vampires could be used to help take him down.

‘Vlad,’ my second in command Nikolai mind linked me.

‘Yes?’ I had left Nikolai in charge of watching over Guinevere’s room and making sure her needs are met.

‘The Queen is leaving her room. She’s heading your way.’

Just as Nikolai cut the link, Guinevere comes crashing into my office.

“Why are you avoiding me.” She hissed at me, a touch of hurt flashing across the bond before she sealed off her emotions.

“I’m not avoiding you, my Queen, I am simply letting you rest, and sort through your emotions.” I shrugged at her before looking down at the papers in front of me.

“What is it with you men!” She yelled at me, her anger growing, and her power level rising, her eyes started to glow like the night I first met her. “What is it with you men, making promises you can’t keep, marking me and leaving me, I didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

Papers started to fly off my desk. Guinevere’s power didn’t bug me, but if I didn’t calm her down quickly my office would be a wreck, and all the research I’d done would be lost. I stood up from my desk and walked over to her grabbing her arm and pulling her into a tight embrace, enjoying the tiny zaps that came with holding her. Guinevere stood as stiff as a board, but I continued to stand there just holding her, letting my calm aura ooze over her.

Guinevere breaks the silence between us, “If you’re my mate, how come I don’t feel the need to mate with you?”

“Because Guinevere, succubus don’t have mates.” I said calmly.

Guinevere pulled herself from my grasp, “Then why did you mark me, why can I feel this pull towards you!” She shouted at me angrily.

I could feel her power level start to rise again. “If you stay calm and promise not to destroy my office, I’ll explain everything to you.”

Guinevere looks around and sees the mess surrounding us. “Wait are you saying I did that?” She asks pointing to herself and then gesturing to the mess around us.

“Yes Mi armor. You are very powerful woman.”

Guinevere looked like she was going to ask more, but decided against it. Instead she walked over to the couch on the other side of my office and sat down on it. I moved to grab my chair and drag it over, when she patted on the cushion right beside her.

“Please sit with me Vladimir. You help keep me calm, even all I feel is despair,”

“Of course My Queen, whatever you wish.” I swiftly walk over to her and sit down beside her, grabbing her hand and pulling it into mine. We’re both slightly turned towards each other.

Guinevere jumps straight to the point. “If we’re not mates, then how are we connected, why did you mark me, why do I feel the need to be close to you.” She whispers the last part.

Instead of answering directly, I ask her another question trying to gauge how much she knows about my kind, “What do you know about vampires?”

Guinevere rolls her eyes at me. “You’re avoiding my question, but if you must know, I don’t know a lot about vampires, just that they were created from a succubus mating with a human.”

I chuckled shaking my head, “So you know nothing at all.”

Guinevere wanted to interrupt but I continued on.

“What you’ve just told me is the rated G version of how vampires were created. We are not the children of succubi and humans, we’re what’s left of the human after a succubi has drained them completely of their life. We are humans without a soul.”

I pause for a moment letting Guinevere absorb the darkness that I just engulfed her in.

“Werewolves have mates because they’re part wolf. They have the animalistic instinct to mate and to keep their pack growing. It’s why upon meeting Damien, you could not keep your hands off of each other, it’s why even know that he’s gone, all you can think about is his touch on your body. It’s the animal part of you that craves each other.”

Guinevere let out a gasp, startled to realize that even though she worked hard to keep her thoughts on lockdown, that I could still feel every emotion and want that she felt.

“Vampires are not animalistic in nature at all, we don’t have the urge to mate. Instead we wander the earth looking for what we call our soul keeper. Our soul keeper is the person who makes us almost human again. They’re the one who completes us.”

I paused for a moment letting that news sink in.

“When I first saw you outside of Lazarus’ cottage, I felt alive for the first time in a long time, I felt my heart beat again. I felt emotions that I’d hid forever ago come to the surface. I felt a strong will to live, but an even stronger will to give my life to you. Guinevere, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth, I will follow you into battle along with my brethren, and help you conquer all of your enemies.”

Guinevere licked her lips and then bit down on her bottom lip. I could tell she wanted to ask me a question but was hesitant about it.

“Guinevere you can ask me whatever is on your mind.”

Guinevere stroked my arm with her free hand. “Why does it tingle when we touch?”

“It’s our souls combining as one.”

“That makes sense,” she hesitated once more before finally asking what was really on her mind.

“If this is purely a soul connection, then why am I attracted to you physically?” She asked shyly.

I ended up choking trying to swallow my laughter.

“It’s not funny.” Guinevere glared at me pulling her hand from my lap and crossing her arms.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be so blunt. What you’re feeling is called Lust. I am a male and you are a female. It’s normal that we would be attracted to each other, the soul keeper bond, helps ignites that lust, to bring us closer together. But we can choose to keep our bond platonic. I won’t be offended either way.”

I’d thought about it for the two days Guinevere was recovering, I wasn’t willing to let her go, I needed her in my life. Since she already had a mate, I decided I was willing to give up being her lover and be her protector only.

“Don’t you need heirs to throne? Would we be required to produce offspring?”

“Guinevere,” I smile at her, falling more in love with her personality, “vampires cannot have children, we’re created. If something ever happens to me, then all the vampires in the higher up positions would fight amongst each other and the winner would become king, and then he can pick the members of his court.”

“Oh.” Guinevere said softly.

“So Mi Amror, it’s your choice on whether we become lovers or not.” I wink at her.

***Authors Note: Mates are common in the fantasy world, but soul keepers are more rare. What type of relationship do you think Guinevere will chose?