TO BITE WITH LOVE

COMPELLED

CHAPTER #8

“COMPELLED”

Alexi's POV:

I laid beside my mate, holding her tightly to me. I had never felt such bliss, such ecstasy in my entire life. The old wife’s tale that finding your mate would lead to one feeling whole was never truer than in this moment. This woman completed me. I purred deeply within my chest as I listened to her breath while she slept soundly within my arms. I could never want another; she was perfect for me and the only thing I could ever want henceforth.

I relived the night over and over in my head, despite the initial trauma with Jake and my fear of accepting a human for a mate, the positive bliss I experienced overwhelmed any negatives. I had never been so happy and to think, I had nearly walked away from her. I don’t believe I would ever be able walk away from my beloved. I looked forward to marking her, but I wanted her consent, I needed her consent, not just the natural pull of our bond.

I would also need to tell her the truth about me, about the supernatural world, but not today. It was always a gamble conveying our existence to those who were not turned, humans were never predictable. And honestly, I needed to think long and hard about our future, as I would never age, and she would. Would I turn her? Would she want to be turned? Vampires could not conceive children but then again, did I want offspring? I had time, I need not decide everything tonight.

I heard a soft ping from the floor, which caught me off guard. Who would be messaging me at this hour? I glanced at the clock setting on her nightstand and it read 4am. Something must be up, so reluctantly I released my mate and silently got up and walked over to my phone, which had fallen out of my slacks onto her ivory carpeted floor.

"You need to call me asap. It’s important." The message read as I opened the messages. It was from Dimitri. This had to do with Jake, I was sure of it. Karl was quite livid about his demise. I sighed heavily and selected my friend’s number, sauntering silently into the bathroom, and closing the door. I was sure after our exploits my pretty little human would not wake, but no point in taking any more chances.

"Alexi, where are you?" An anxious voice spilled over the cell towers. I hesitated.

"Are you alone?" I asked softly. The last person on earth I wanted to know about my pretty little mate was Karl.

"Yeah, I’m at your place. Where the hell are you?" He repeated.

"I’m with my mate." I responded, a small smile coming to my lips at the mere mention of her. There was silence for a good few seconds before Dimitri said anything.

"Please tell me you didn't mark her." I took a slow seat onto the closed toilet confused by his tone.

"No." I answered, followed by an exasperated exhale from my friend.

"Thank God. And you can't. " Dimitri told me with a firmness I was unfamiliar with. He was always the fun-loving friend and never spoke harshly unless something was amiss.

"What's going on?" I asked, my curiosity as well as my guard being up now.

"I found Jake, and when Karl saw him, dude, it was bad. He completely flipped out. He had taken Jake on as a protégé. He even levitated. He knows you killed him."

"Yeah, I gathered that. But why are you calling me? I can deal with Karl tonight one on one." I retorted, running my hand through my raven hair exasperatedly.

"He asked me why you did it, and I told him I thought it was because of a girl. I told him you thought you may have found your mate." I froze, my body turned colder than normal and for the first time in over a century, I felt fear, crippling devastating fear.

"Dimitri, why in the hell would you tell him that?!" There was a slight panic to my voice as I stood and began pacing the bathroom floor.

"I, I, I, f**k, I wasn't thinking. " Dimitri sounded genuinely remorseful and I knew I couldn't be angry with my oldest friend. He had been turned because I had pleaded with Doran to do so, he had been at my side for the entirety of my 272 years. " To make matters worse, that girl, Chandel… well, he took her tonight. She won't be coming back." I lowered myself onto the toilet once more, completely disgusted. He had taken one my mate's friends as a meal, one of the girls she had come to the club with. That meant his anger was real, and he had not been able to control his bloodlust. This caused him to be more dangerous than your standard vampire.

"Alexi, to be honest, if you feel anything towards your mate, you need to leave her, for her sake. Karl is bound to kill her as revenge for Jake, and if you mark her, you will die also." Dimitri’s voice was nearly a quiver.

I felt my mind spinning, already the pain was lingering in my heart at the mere mention of abandoning my mate. The concept destroyed me. I felt winded and had to catch myself on vanity to keep from collapsing. It wasn’t everyday that a vampire was blessed to find his true mate, in fact, the reality of it was so rare that we often never looked for them. You could search for centuries and never find them. However sadly, I knew in my heart what my friend was telling me was the right thing for her. If I wanted her to live, if I ever wanted to reunite with her, I needed to be strong tonight, at least until I could sort all this out.

"Okay. I will be home urgently. " I replied, my soul broken. There was no response, so I disconnected the call. I felt physically ill yet forced myself to walk back out into the bedroom and dress quickly. It was then I looked down at my sleeping mate, my beauty, my Jade and took a seat beside her on the bed. I gently began stroking her hair, pushing stray strands away from her angelic face. I felt tears welling up into my eyes as a teardrop dared to fall down my cheek. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried.

"I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep you safe for all eternity. I promise to love you from a distance until I get all this sorted out and we can be together. " I choked, as a couple more tears escaped. I sighed heavily as I watched her sleep, she was so perfect to me. I i didn't even know her and I loved her. I thought back to our love making, she had wanted me as much as I had wanted her. Every ounce of her was sweet, her feminine juices so intoxicating. I had even drunk just a little from her, had bitten her where her thigh and groin met. Her blood tasted like honey to me, sheer bliss, and only a true mate's blood could taste as such. That I just instinctively knew. I sighed deeply and pulled my hand away from her as I stood, flickering my eyes red.

"I compel you, my pretty little mate, my Jade, I compel you to forget tonight. Your memory will be as; thus, you partied with your friends, caught an uber, and arrived home alone." I cleared my throat as stood and wiped the tears from my cheek. I quickly put my coat back on and exited her apartment. Now to deal with Gregory because he was the only witness that could say I was ever here.