Royal shuffle: Vampire’s mate

ANDREA

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here…”

My eyes sprung open, and looked frantically around to identify where I was. I was in a rather large, stone walled room, with only a tiny window very close to the roof. The room was bare, with only a mattress placed on the floor at the edge of the room. A toilet was positioned at another edge. And seated by the door was the werewolf prince. I groaned and struggled into a seating position. Every part of my body hurt. I wondered where this was. I have never encountered suck a room cleaning the palace before.

“Are you happy now?” I asked, my voice straining to come out.

He leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “No, actually. Before, yes, I would have been. Not now, knowing that you’re his mate. Nope. I can do better.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want his territory. I want everything.”

“Why don’t you just wait for your own mate? I’m just a fucking omega!!!”

“You will watch your tone with me, Andrea. It seems the short time you spent away from this palace, you lost your manners…and you’ve forgotten whom you’re speaking to.” He began tapping his fingers on the armrest. “Anyways, to answer your question. My mate is dead…”

“What?! You found her?!”

He nodded. “Yes, I did. She was a vampire.”

My eyes and mouth opened in shock. “The moon goddess is out here playing tricks on us, yes. The vampire king found out about her being my mate, and killed her.”

“My goddess…”

William threw back his head and laughed.

“Oh, you thought this was all about you?” He laughed again. “I’m going to make his son feel the same pain I felt, and then I’ll take his throne from him.”

“The vampires are very strong.”

“So are we, sweetheart. Its going to be like taking candy from a child because, well…Leah.”

My blood ran cold.

“Surely, she isn’t in support of you destroying vampire territory…”

“Well, what she knows won’t kill her, would it? To the best of her knowledge, I’m just going to keep up the fight for a week, and then retreat. Leave the vampires to lick their wounds. Leo won’t go to war because daddy dearest won’t send his troops with him. And she gets to be Queen.”

“So, she doesn’t know you plan to take it all then?” I asked.

“Of course not. If she did, she wouldn’t have given us the security plan to the territory.”

“Please…”

“I really liked you, Andrea,” William continued.

“You really liked all the maids,” I countered.

He nodded. “I did. Each of you had their own spice. But you, sweetheart. You are quite different. I didn’t just want you for the night, I wanted you forever. And the fact that you would reject me for that blood sucking, dirty, little shit…how dare you?!”

His eyes had changed color, a sign that his wolf was just as angry and ready to make an appearance.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

“Nothing. For now. I can smell him on you…” He scrunched his nose. “You will remain here for now. Till I decide what to do with you…”

“When will you let me go?” I asked quietly.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Never,” He got up from his seat, and banged on the metal door. “Enjoy your new lodgings. I understand that it might not be up to the standards of what you’re used to. But I’m sure you can manage…”

The door opened and he laughed his way out, and I could still hear him even after the door had been closed. I reached for the knife in my boot, and realized that it wasn’t there. Of course, they would take it out. What was I expecting? I sighed, and raised my knees to my chest, and wrapped my hands around my lags. I stayed that way thinking of every possible scenario and all the ways that this could end while tears fell from my eyes. I stayed that way until my room became so dark that I couldn’t see my fingers in front of my face.

I crawled around the room until I found the mattress, and then I lay on it. The mattress was very hard, but at least it was better than the stone floors. My body still hurt. I would just have to wear the pain out. I reached down and touched my ankle, instantly flinching as the pain reverberated through me. My midriff still hurt from where the wolf had pushed me down, and my head still hurt from the accident. I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep, something told me that I’d be needing all the rest that I could get. But I couldn’t sleep. Images of Leo fighting, and of Leah came unbidden to my head. I worried for him. I wondered if he was okay. If he had vested Sergio in that fight. If he was alive, and well. I wondered if he missed me.

By now he definitely knew that I didn’t get to the designated location. I wondered if he had begun looking for me. Or if Leah told him that I was dead. Maybe she would say that she had seen me get torn to pieces by the wolves, and my parts swallowed down. Maybe she would try to pint herself as the hero and say that she had tried to save me, but was too late. I wondered if Leo would give in to her. If he would see through her lies. I cried myself to sleep and with my mind filled with events and possibilities. I just want to be happy.

Judging by the number of times the sun had risen and fallen, I think I’ve been here for about a week. I felt very weak. My body still hurt as there wasn’t any proper care being given to it, and I’ve not had anything to eat or drink. My throat was patched and I felt drained. I heard the door unlock, and looked to see the last person I wanted to see.

“Fuck…” Savannah sauntered in, chewing loudly on a piece of gum, and holding a tray of food in her hand.

The smell of chicken drifted into my nostrils and my stomach growled.

“Oh, the little bitch is awake!!!”

Her voice was too loud and shrill for my sensitive ears. I sat up on the bed, waiting for her to drop the food.

“Savannah…”

She stood over me, and looked around the room, and then she scoffed.

“Look where you ended up. You always thought you were better than us. You always felt you were too good to be among us.”

“I never thought that, Savannah.”

“Oh, but you did.” She bent low and blew a bubble in my face. “Now look where that landed you, huh. The audacity to think that you could bag a prince. You couldn’t even choose the right prince, you had to go for that…”

Her face scrunched in disgust, and she dropped the tray of food carelessly on the floor, causing water to spill out of the cup. Thankfully, the plates of food were wrapped with plastic food wrap.

“Anyways, that’s your food. You’re lucky the prince is a nice person. If it were me, I would make you starve to death!!!”

She took the gum out of her mouth, and stuck it on my tray. My stomach churned, and I would have thrown up if there was anything in my body to come up. I took the plastic plates out of the tray, and immediately dug in. I didn’t know when next they planned to feed me so I saved some of the chicken, and wrapped it in some of the plastic food wrap, and hid it under my mattress. I would save it for tomorrow.

Savannah returned and took away the plates, making sure to remind me that I was in a disadvantaged position, and she was fucking the Prince, and was the one calling the shots now. Weeks turned into a month, and then some weeks, and my anxiety only got worse. Fear and worry settled in, and nibbled at my soul. I worried about Leo. Was he safe? Were my sisters safe? Even despite questioning myself, I knew that my sisters were in good hands. He would care for them.

I lay down and held my grumbling tummy. Food only came in once a week. Sometimes big portions, and I was able to save some to tide me over on other days. Sometimes, very little portions that it was barely beeping to fill me.

“Fuck…” I swore, and looked at the stone ceiling, saying a silent prayer to the moon goddess. Begging her to save me from this predicament.

The door opened, and I sat up as the smell of food hit my nostrils. Prince William came in with a tray balanced on one hand. He stood there and we regarded each other as the door closed and locked behind him. Why was he the one brining the food?

“Because I am the prince and I can do whatever I want.”

“Oh…” I had said that out loud.

He took slow, purposeful strides towards me, and I instinctively began to move back until my back hit the wall, and I realized how stupid running was. He settled the tray on the floor, and sat on the mattress next to me. His strong cologne hitting my nostrils, making my stomach churn even more.

“You must be very hungry. Eat,” he said.

I moved closer to the edge of the bed and quickly unwrapped the food. It was a rather large portion, but I wouldn’t be able to save any because he was watching me eat. I feared that if he saw me save some, the portions would reduce drastically. I tore into the food, and was done in no time. I gulped down the water, draining every drop, and sighed in satisfaction. William had sat there and watched me eat the whole time, and now he was looking at me with a small smile.

I shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

He shook his head. “You’re so beautiful.” I was very confused.

“Thank you.”

He continued staring at me, and I decided to lay down on the mattress. My eyes on him. His smile disappeared and was soon replaced with a frown. I sat up slowly, and loved to the edge of the mattress.

“What?”

“Why am I hearing two heartbeats?!” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Maybe because we’re two in this room…”

I mean, that seemed pretty clear to me.

“No. It’s from you!!!” He moved closer to me, and I moved further back, but he grabbed my leg and pulled me closer to him. “Hold still!!!”

My heart began to beat a fast, unsteady rhythm in my chest. What was wrong with this man? He lowered his head slowly to my tummy, and put his head against my body. He held this position for a few seconds, and then he began growling. I moved away from him as much as his grip on my leg would allow.

“You fucking bitch!!”

He raised his other hand, and slapped me across my face. I screamed, the force of the slap sending me into the hard mattress. “You’re pregnant!!!”

“I’m not!!!” I denied. How could I be? Leo and I…

My eyes widened in shock. Was it possible that our one night or hot passion had resulted in a baby? Still, I didn’t believe it. I mean, the source of this information was William. This man wasn’t normal in the head.

“You fucked him, didn’t you? You fucking slut!!!”

He stood from the bed, and kicked the tray into the wall. I gently touched my stomach, and felt warmth in my heart. If there was a baby there -which I honestly hoped was false- it would be a child that I and Leo created out of love, and it would be my responsibility to get this child out of here safe and sound. William screamed and growled for almost and hour, and then with one last disdainful look at me, he left.

It made me wonder, was his obsession with me solely because Leo had killed his mate?