His Cursed Mate!

It feels different.

~Thierry~

My curiosity got the best of me. I should have stayed away, but I couldn't. That nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach said otherwise, the pull of a bond shattered and broken. If the feeling was correct, I'd soon face my fated mate. I could feel the tug in the bond although it's been broken for almost a hundred years, but this Institute for children. Children of all kinds were different. It was fascinating that different factions could live amongst each other so freely. It was essential to see how they coexisted with each other. So that each faction would have the comfort of knowing it was perfectly safe to let the younglings mingle and bond and forge friendships as well as alliances.

I found it oddly intriguing that they lived in peaceful harmony. I went through all the school records and they were clean. All the teachers were of high rank and the most sought out educators in existence. The students were thriving in every sense of the word. Not one student lacked in anything. They are a studious and smart bunch. All trained, physically, mentally and emotionally. Their magic and abilities honed, I wasn't going to lie. I was deeply impressed.

But I had to see with my own eyes what this Institute was really about. So I ran with my second and third in command.

We patrolled the school grounds. Of course, it was protected by a magical barrier created by the elements. I felt the familiar essence of the magic that bound it. I'll have to speak to the Fae Queen about it another time.

Magic couldn’t affect us as the first vampires to walk the earth, we were created by magic after all, but we had to be careful not to set any type of alarms off. Dante and Kade and I climbed up to the highest point in the trees and we watched the two unknowing wolves spar.

And like magic, there it was, the pull of the mate bond and said mate was alive and thriving as well. It had to be a coincidence, but I've been alive for a long time to not believe in coincidences.

Kade gives me a knowing look, but it's Dante that answers, in the safety of our minds. 'Nothing is ever coincidental.'

I didn't dare answer him. I just looked at the beauty that is mate.

She was fast. Almost too fast. Her back was to me and I could see the dark chocolate brown wolf shift form in the blink of an eye. He tried to pin her to the ground, but she crouched and held on to his muzzle. Craning her neck away from his sharp canines. My gut instantly twisted with the need to protect her. A hiss escaped my lips.

Dante pushes my chest with his palm. 'It's training T, she's a wolf.' his voice sounds calm, although I know him all too well to know that its anything but. To me she's my mate, my Queen, my equal, but to them she's their sister.

My eyes turned down as I continued to watch them spar. Her eyes never lost focus, her body always at the ready- never turning her back on the werewolf. They will snap your head from your body in one single bite given the opportunity. She knew her warrior friend well though, easily dodging and avoiding him. She pulled on his fur, kicked her feet in the air and jumped out of his way.

He shifts back to his human form. And delivers swift and accurate punches, but she evades them easily. Blocking and hitting and kicking just as fast.

“She’s good,” Kade says through our link.

Dante and I agree. We continued watching them until she missed his claws that ran down the length of her cheek. I let out a guttural growl. I don't bother reigning in my emotions. She is my mate and someone dared to hurt her.

Kade and Dante look at me. “She’s okay. Look.” and just as quickly she wiped her beautiful face on the sleeve of her black t-shirt.

The boy places her head in between his hands and looks over her face. Not a single claw marked her face. She truly was fine. It still didn’t sit well with me that he had the audacity to claw her face in the first place .

Danté and Kade must’ve felt my distress because they both gave me a look. The don’t kill the pup, because your mate can kick his ass if she wants to.

I gave them a respectful nod. Letting them know I was fine as we continued watching the young werewolves below.

The pup asks her if she’s okay and she responds she’s fine. She could obviously handle herself, but I must not interfere with her training, no matter how much I wanted to skin him alive, this very second, but I don't want to raise the wrath of my Mate and the wrath of the Goddesses themselves for murdering a young werewolf that no doubt still had a lot to accomplish.

It took everything inside me not to jump down and do it now.

The pup lets himself fall on the floor in complete exhaustion and she goes down with him. She seemed comfortable with the boy. They laugh and she wants to keep sparring, until she remembers he has a date with his mate.

Suddenly, I released a relieved breath. One I didn’t notice I was holding. Dante pats me on the back. “No need to worry your highness, she wasn’t destined for him.”

I nodded and looked down upon them. “Excuse me, your right. I didn’t come looking to kill such a young and gifted pup.”

“Do you think the dreams have started already?” Dante asks.

She looks about seventeen already, if I'm not mistaken. “I’m guessing.” but I wasn't so sure. Everytime I find her-something changes, its not Deja Vu, each cycle is different, she's a little different and our situation seems to change every time.

“It feels different this time,” he says. He wasn't wrong. They felt it too, but that could be from the bond they had with her over the course of a thousand lives. They cared for their Queen and she cared for them. Always hoping and praying to the Goddess that they will be blessed to find their mates.

She wanted everyone around her to feel the same way we did. To be loved and accepted unconditionally.

We watch them in amusement as he rushes to put weapons and his things away in his bag. She laughs and throws him his phone. He catches it swiftly with one hand and runs off to wherever he needs to be.

She looks up towards where we are. I doubt she could see us all the way up here. She puts her things back in her bag and the bell rings signaling her to go inside.

“s**t, did she us?” Kade asks, pulling his body back as if that would do anything to obscure him from her sight. Werewolves have heightened senses just like us, but hers could differ. I had to remind myself that I didn't know her in this life.

“Doubt it man, we’re too high up.” Dante confirmed, but I can’t underestimate her. That’s a mistake I’ve made one too many times.

“Did you see that though? I think she kicked wolf' ass.” Kade says, fist pumping Dante.

I bit my lip, lost in thought. They were right. This time somehow felt different. I don’t know what it is and I can't seem to put my finger on it just yet, but it’s not a bad feeling like the last one thousand times.

This time was going to be different. It had to be. Every life she’s ever lived not once had she ever been trained in combat. My mate was blessed with a wolf, but one she never got to meet most of the time, but it seems like now she has that advantage.

I looked at the heavens above and sent the Goddess a silent prayer. I was never one to pray after the first time I lost her. I hated the Goddess because every time I found her, I lost her just as quickly. To feel the bond snap into place and for it to break is horrible to live through. The first time it broke I thought I'd die with her and the last time it did I prayed I would. To feel and see your mate die in your arms is not something I wish for anyone. You're losing the better part of you.

Dante and Kade have been with me through it all. We were all cursed in a way. In our first lives, we were royal guards. She was a Princess. My Princess, but we’re taught that the choices we make change the course of our lives. I asked for her hand in marriage and she accepted.

The King and Queen approved and on the day that we were supposed to wed, her life was sacrificed by the same vile being that threatens her existence today.

So now my best friends and I walk the Earth as the very first beings to be called Vampires.

I’m not the kind that goes bump in the night. Not that you shouldn’t be scared of me. But I’m not a despicable creature either, ruled by my animalistic tendencies. I sleep and eat, but only minimal and I even dream. Blood is essential to our diet, but we don’t kill for it.

It’s a modern era. That’s why blood banks and donors exist.

But I know what you're thinking, you're a Vampire Thierry. I am, but we do not drink from the vein…ever. That’s sacred to us and we only do so and save it for when we find our mates. Rogue vampires just feed, they don't care. I still have my humanity.

I promised the goddess I’d never take a life that way. Not in the same way, her life was stolen from her. Unless I had to, then may the Goddess forgive me.

We jump down from the trees and begin our trek back into the woods. Dante on my right and Kade on my left.

I could only pray that this time would be different… I hoped the Goddess knew I hoped I’d have forever with her. Was that too much to ask for?

My very existence was in jeopardy because I couldn’t handle another thousand life cycles of losing her. I think I've tortured myself long enough by letting us repeat this tragedy over and over again.