His Stolen Mate

Chapter 4: Underground Castle

~Anika’s P.O. V~ 

    Matthew and I continued to walk through this maze of a castle, I could have sworn that it would take me at least a year to memorize this place. If it were not for some of the portraits on the walls, I would have gotten lost in this place. We passed several of his guards who gave us respectful salutes and I noticed a few of them looked at me like they were flirting with me. As I looked at Matthew, I took in his appearance first; He was wearing a three-piece gray suit with a black shirt underneath. His shoes were made of leather with black soles, his hair was mahogany brown and short. His eyes changed back to their deep-sea blue when they were not blood red and glowing. He kept his facial hair cleaned and the 5 o’clock shadow was more pronounced, his skin paler than mine and that was saying something. I could not help but giggle to myself. 

“What is amusing you, love?” He kept his arm around my waist. 

“I was just looking at you and your skin is slightly paler than mine. Which is funny in a way. I do not tan. I either get sunburned or in winter I look like a Vampyre myself.” Laughing to myself. 

“I think you would be the most beautiful Vampress in existence. What do you say to dinner in a few hours? Get cleaned up, find a dress that you like, and perhaps my culinary staff can whip us up some dessert?” He kissed the top of my head as he chuckled. 

“I am still surprised that Vampyres can eat human food.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. 

“It does not satisfy the hunger, sadly. However, the taste we still enjoy.” I looked away. 

“How often?” I wondered. 

“How often must we feed on humans? Once a month. I, like many others, tried feeding on animals at one point, the blood poisoned us. The pain was unbearable. If there was a way not to feed on humans, we have not found it.” They tried to make efforts not feeding on us, I admired that much. It still made me sick to think about those dead people in that area of the castle. 

“This may lead to something I may regret, but...” I bit my lip and blushed. 

“Share your concern, my dear.” 

“You could, I don’t know, feed on me if you had to?” This made him stop and turn to look at me. His eyes held hurt and concern. 

“My queen, I would never take you like that. Sometimes we cannot control our desire to drain the blood completely.” He gently cupped both my cheeks and looked deeply into my eyes. “The day I bite you is the day I will mark you, my love. Whenever that day maybe, it is not this day. You are far from ready for that.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I will escort you to your new room.” He took my hand in his and walked with me, I could not help it, I laced my fingers with his. It did not seem to bother him; in fact, he would sometimes squeeze my hand whenever he took a turn. With all this added information becoming known to me, it was hard to think that Vampyres could be this caring or werewolves being the real monsters. I wondered what dragons and the other mythical creatures were like. 

    We rounded the last corner to double doors that were larger than any I have seen before. They were made of dark wood with rose patterns along with the frame and two giant roses in their centers. The woodwork was immaculate and beyond gorgeous, I let go of his hand and went up to the doors, gently placing my fingers on it. It was stained but, in a way, where you could not tell at a glance. It was so old, well beyond vintage, I wanted to study this more. From the carvings, it looked to be made in the early 1600s if not earlier than that. I sat on my knees and bit the nail on my thumb, the wood itself came from a redwood tree and I only knew of one place where those grow. This door was made in California before it was named a state, I tried looking for any splinters and spotted none. 

“My love, what are you doing?” I did not want to be interrupted; I held my index finger up at him indicating that I wanted a minute to look at this majestic old door. This is the reason I went to college, I wanted to be a historian and a conservator. 

“This is incredible. The carvings are at least late 1500’s yet they look so new. The roses indicate a family name and this,” I pointed to a sentence in Latin, “Pulcerrima rosa est Sicut sanguis. ‘Blood as beautiful as a rose.’ I can only guess that Vampyres made this.” I stood back up and just took in its magnificence. I covered my mouth in happiness as I tried not to bounce off the walls. I put my hands to my sides in small fits as I bit my lip with a grin. I slightly bounced on my heels as I felt the excitement building up. I never would have thought something like this would be down here. “I need my sketchbook.” At this point, I knew I was talking to myself. I turned to Matthew who was leaning on the wall, smiling at me with an eyebrow raised. “What?” 

“Seeing you like this. You continue to surprise me. How many languages do you know?” He stood straight, “Better question, who is Anika Butler?” 

“Where should I begin? I was born in Beaverton, moved to Downtown Portland for half of my life, I love books, art, and history. I know 6 different languages with English being my home language. I used to go horseback riding with my mom on Saturdays.” He made me stop by planting an icy kiss on my lips. It did not last long, but it was intense. I let out a shaky breath that I could see. He backed up an inch with eyes widened. 

“I apologize, that was more spontaneous than I planned.” He cleared his throat. 

“N-No, it’s fine.” I moved a strand of hair behind my ear, “Matthew, I’m not ready for another relationship yet. Peter, well, he...” He placed his hand on my right cheek. 

“He hurt you in a way that he should not have.” His eyes had sympathy in them, “You do not wish to be hurt like that again.” I nodded and felt a tear escape. 

~Matthew’s P.O. V~ 

    I stood there watching her as she appraised the doors that held my family’s crest on it. Muttering to herself every so often, I tried to ask what she was doing, the response I got was a finger in the air. She hyper-focused on the grandeur of the entryway, tracing her fingers along with its carvings. “Pulcerrima rosa est Sicut sanguis. ‘Blood as beautiful as a rose.’” This caught me off guard. I knew very few humans that spoke that language and none that could translate that. Who was this woman? I leaned against the wall and just grinned at her. When she was finally done, she turned to me, “What?” Seeing her this happy made my undead heart want to relive again. 

“Seeing you like this. You continue to surprise me. How many languages do you know?” I went towards her, “Better question, who is Anika Butler?” 

“Where should I begin?” Was the last thing I heard before I studied her peachy lips, they were plump and ready to be mine for the taking. Without realizing it, I made my own lips touch hers, I did not force her into what they call a French kiss, I did, however, make it last for about 5 seconds. When she breathed, her breath came out as if it were winter. Shocked at my actions, I had to take a step away. 

“I apologize, that was more spontaneous than I planned.” If I were not already dead, I would have been from the embarrassment alone. I wanted to take my time with her, she has only been single for less than a week and I do that to her. 

“N-No, it’s fine.” I watched as she moved a strand of her platinum blond hair behind her ear. “Matthew, I am not ready for another relationship yet. Peter, well, he...” She paused, so much sorrow filled her eyes as she recollected the day that he broke her heart. 

“He hurt you in a way that he should not have.” I tried to comfort her, “You do not wish to be hurt like that again.” She shed a tear that I caught on my finger. Peter Holmes, the man who cheated on this angel and broke up with her. My first intentions were to steal her away and taste her untainted blood, then she kicked my arse and that is when I wanted her for more. Then she ran down that hallway, I would have expected to see her passed out there, to my surprise she was still standing and willing to fight. She did not give a tart that she was standing there revealing herself to me. I had to use sleep on her to move her away from the corpses, after that, I decided to make her my queen. Still, she refused me, her time of the month made her cry out in pain and made me hold back my fangs. She smelled like strawberries and whipped cream, I had to get away from her quickly. I also could not let her be on the floor. It was then I realized that she had my heart. 

“Matthew?” her angelic voice snapped me out of my thoughts. 

“I apologize. Shall we go in?” I asked her. 

“Of course, if this is what the door looks like, I could only imagine what the inside holds.” That beautiful smile appeared on her once again. 

“Before I interrupted you, I do believe you were telling your story.” I held my arm out for her to take. 

“You already know that I traveled the world for two years with my masters, I neglected to mention that Peter was along for the ride. At least for the second year, we met in Hong Kong. This while applying for University of Oregon and Oregon State University along with Portland State University. I was beginning my first term with online classes over the summer.” She just started college, huh? 

“And what major were you after?” 

“Historian and Conservator. I love history and in my spare time, I would help an antique shop restore paintings, old frames, and other forms of art. At night while I was alone, I would sketch what some old civilizations would look like or draw former kings and queens. I also drew some animals to help me sleep.” 

“You were alone?” It is a miracle that she was not kidnapped earlier. Though, I suppose I should apologize about that as soon as I can. 

“Yeah, Quinn and I used to live together, but we soon found out that was a bad idea. We were at each other’s throats constantly. So, I moved out into an apartment on the ground level.”  

“Anika, you were lucky that you were not stolen sooner. A single young woman living on her own is the perfect bait for evil humans.” I was concerned for her, if she chose to go back, I would not be there to protect her.  

“Quinn said the same thing as did our parents.” 

“Your brother and family were correct.” I finally opened the doors, “My love if you went home then I could not be there to make certain you were safe.” I pushed the two doors open. Her gasp made me smile a bit. 

~Quinn’s P.O. V~ 

    Day 5 without my sister here, I was beginning to lose hope. That Vampyre tore my family apart, dad has not been home since he went back to being a P.I, mom was drinking every hour and the press were hounding us at every corner. Adam would come back even tired than before. I begged God to keep her safe if she was still alive and hoped beyond hope that she was not a Vampyre herself. I was sitting in my room with my head on my hands and my eyes closed in prayer when my door slammed open. 

“We have a lead!” Adam comes bursting in. 

“What? Really?” 

“Yeah, but his information may be one-sided. So, be careful when interrogating him. It took all my strength to restrain him.” I got up and walked out to my living room with Adam. 

“Who is this?” 

“His name is Dimitri Falls. New Alpha.” 

“Can it, Davis mutt!” He spat at Adam’s feet. 

“He says you have information on my sister. So, talk!” I yelled. 

He began chuckling “That Butler brat nearly killed me. I could tell by her scent that she was not human. Not a Vampyre either, her scent of fresh strawberries filled the hallways.” 

“Of course, she’s human!” I punched him, knocking out a tooth. 

“Oh. How interesting.” He spat out the blood, “You’re not human either.” 

“Get him out of my sight before I kill him!” 

Adam held my shoulder, “Dimitri, where is she?” 

“With him.” He smiled, “Yeah, that Butler b***h is with Matthew Hastings. That is all the information I am willing to give you.” Adam punched him again, knocking him out. 

“Damnit! She could be anywhere by now. Matthew does not stay in one location for long. We are out of our depths.” Adam sat on my couch, “He used her sent on the surface earth to lead us on a goose chase.” 

I punch my wall in anger, “So, what are you saying?! She could be anywhere in the world?!” 

“That is exactly what I am saying!” He yelled back at me. “He used tunnels to escape with his clan. We almost wiped out his line. When we tried to follow, he collapsed the tunnels.” He heavily sighed, “He is right, Quinn.” He looked at me. 

“About what?”  

“You may not be human. A punch to the face for a wolf from a human is no more than a poke to the arm. But you made him bleed and feel it.” He got up and started sniffing me.  

“Dude, really? Back off. I do not care about my species now. I care about getting my sister home.” I leaned my head on my wall and closed my eyes. “Get that man out of here.” I heard Adam move that piece of s**t Alpha out of my apartment. I took bleach and a white rag to clean up the blood and threw the tooth out of my apartment and into the forest area next to it. This Dimitri left a lot of questions in my mind, ones I will address when my sister is home and safe. 

~Adam’s P.O. V~ 

    This is a whole lot of mess for one girl, would be my normal response to this situation, after finding out Anika was my mate, that opinion changed. Plus, Quinn is my best friend, even if she were not my mate, I would look for her anyway to help my friend. I dragged the useless mutt into the forest and left him there. He was fine and would wake up in about five minutes anyway. Though what he said does concern me, Matthew is a well-known enemy on this side of the states, if he has her then time is not on our side, I thought her scent not leaving the borders was a good thing. I had completely forgotten about the underground tunnels he used to have here. And there is no way to find out if he built more or not, he was a clever man. I pinched my nose.  

He could have already taken her out of Oregon. I am certain he did. That is a larger area to cover that would require allies that we do not have. I told Jasper. 

For once, I agree. Not to mention we would be breaking pack laws. Territory is one thing no one messes with and we would be stepping into many of them. 

Central and Eastern packs are even more ruthless with intruders than we are here. Once we step on to their areas? We might as well be killed off. 

Yellow Stone Pack would most certainly kill us. I like living, Adam. 

I leaned against a tree and pulled out her scarf, I hate myself for running out the way I did when she came through that door. Human or not, I was a coward for admitting that she was indeed my future Alpha Female and I will do anything to get her home.  

Except for black and white magic, Adam. You know what happens to those who play with that s**t. 

Yeah, I get it, not that crap. 

~Anika’s P.O. V~ 

    The doors swung open and my jaw drops, I gasped at the beauty of this room. It was well lit with a fireplace at the back of the wall, bricks made it look like we were inside a princess’ room, the left side was dedicated to one huge book shelve that required their own stairs. The right side had the entrance to the bathroom and a freaking California king bed, the posts of the bed were made of marble and in the shapes of unicorns. I ran inside, I felt like a kid again, I just had to twirl around to look at the details. The carpet under the bed was red, but the floor was made of granite, in front of the fireplace lay a couch with two side rocking chairs. I felt the fabric of the furniture; it was velvet and matched the color of the carpet under the bed. It was then I noticed a darker room. I took a menorah with 5 already lit candles and went into that room. I nearly dropped the thing when I see a closet full of gorgeous 1600 era dresses. 

“Do you like it?” Matthew came from behind me. 

“Like? I love them.” He wrapped his arms around my waist  

“Good. What scents do you prefer when you cleanse your body?” 

“Natural scents like Violet and Vanilla or Ocean Breeze.” I subconsciously rubbed his arms.  

“Those suit you, my dear. I also have brought in a calendar with a clock. Time is meaningless for Vampyres and werewolves, since you are neither, it could drive one mad.” He kissed my neck; his kiss leaves my skin with a feeling of want. 

I unwrapped his arms from me and looked at him with worry, “Dimitri said that I was not human. I thought my strength came from the years of training with my masters. If that is not true and I am not human, then... Matthew, what am I?” 

“I wish I had an answer for you, love.” He takes both of my hands and raises them to his lips, feeling the cold on them before hearing the sound made this action sexy for me. “Do not take this offensively, my dear, you are starting to have an unpleasant scent. I will take full responsibility for that.” He let go of my hands, “I shall be back to escort you to dinner.” Bowing to me before he leaves. I did not hear the door locking, though there is no point to lock it. Even if I wanted to escape now, I would just get lost and Matthew would have to come to find me. 

    I started to look through the dresses, which were all just beautiful that it was hard to pick one. That is until a baby blue dress with gold roses caught my eye, I pulled it from the rack and I just admired it. Sleeveless, ball gown with a sweetheart neckline and a beautiful gold silk shirt to match it. The bodice had golden pieces to it that looked like fall leaves. This dress was beautiful. I took it with me to the bathroom where I saw a stack of underwear and strapless bras waiting for me. Matthew knew how to impress, but did he get the right size? 

“32 G. That is my size.” For a skinny girl, my breasts were huge. I took off the dress that I was wearing and disposed of the now really bloodied tampon, I had forgotten that I slept for an entire day and with Matthew’s hands over my stomach, I had forgotten that I was PMSing. I looked for a place to put the dirty dress and I could not find a hamper in here. I should not be shy around him; he has seen me naked and sick so, here it goes. I opened the door and went over to the main door, cracking it. “Um... Matthew?!” I yelled out into the hallway. In a matter of minutes, he was there. 

“I am here, my love. What...” He blinked a few times, “How can I help, my queen.” 

“Where should I put dirty laundry?” My cheeks burned red for not knowing where to put my clothes. 

“Ah. There is a door inside the bathroom on the right, it is a laundry chute.” He tried to avert his eyes. 

“Matthew, you have seen me naked already.” 

“I know, my dear. I am trying hard not lavish your body.” 

I rolled my eyes and grabbed one of his hands, putting it on one of my boobs. “Consent is a thing, and I have grown to like your hands on my body.” This made him look at me in the eyes. “As long as s*x is not involved, you may with my consent fondle my boobs and every so often, I might let you fondle other places.”  

He cleared his throat, “Then, may I take in that pleasure this evening?” 

“Yes, you may.” He let go of my breast and kissed me hard on the lips. Pushing me to the wall as his hands wandered my body. I kissed him back with equal force and let him touch my body. His hands grabbed both of my boobs and squeezed, making me moan in pleasure. He let out a seductive growl from his chest. Before things went too far, however, he slowed down his kisses, when he reached the final kiss, he backed away. 

“My dear, we shall continue this later. Once you have bathed and eaten, I will be happy to listen to your requests. For now, I bid you ado.” He again bowed to me and left the room. That was super intense, and I loved it. Peter is an amateur compared to Matthew, I felt like I was on the verge of Cumming with just his touch. I wondered how much he could make me c*m with his libido or even the size of it. I had to shake the thoughts from my head. Going into the bathroom, I followed his instructions. 

~Matthew’s P.O. V~ 

    For the love that is holy in this world, that woman is going to be the death of me. I quickly ran to my own chambers and took a cold bath, her body was on fire tonight, feeling her perfectly round bosom was one thing, what surprised me was the fact that she kissed me back. It has been nearly a week since her arrival, and this is the second time in a day where we have enjoyed a bit too much of each other. No, I will have to resist her, I will not take her innocence so soon. She did say intercourse was off the table, perhaps other ways can help. Seeing that little mouth around me was quite the image. I heavily sighed and closed my eyes, why must women have that effect? 

    I got out of the tub and dried off, I had clothes that I enjoyed wearing while out in the human world, but here, I wore what suited me best. After all, I was the Prince of all Vampyres. I put on my royal garb to meet my lady tonight. Most nights we hold grand feasts and occasionally have some ballroom dancing. I was going to announce her to my guest tonight as my new queen.  

“Good evening, Count Matthew.” Two lady's maids bowed in my presence.  

“Evening, girls.” 

I approached Anika’s bedroom and knocked on the door. I waited for an answer yet got none. I tried it again. Still no answer, I opened the door and saw another wolf in my castle. She was cornered and covering herself. 

“Anika!” I ran to the fleabag and leaped on his back. He fought me as a wild horse would. I pulled his neck to the floor, making him roll and whine. 

“Matthew! Look out!” Before I could do anything, another wolf had gotten a hold of me. I was in pain. The first one was growling at Anika. The one who had me shifted then threw me against my own wall. I coughed up blood. “No!” I heard her scream. 

“Stay right there, Butler!” I did not recognize these wolves. “Xavier! Shift!” The one that was growling at my queen shifted. 

“Time to come home, little girl.” He grabbed her by the arm.  

“Not with you!” She managed to get out of his grip and throw him against the ground of the room, breaking the floor. Having his arm still, she twisted it making him yell in pain. “Are you with Horse Tail?! Hood?! Or Davis?!” She yelled at them. 

“What does it matter?” The second one said. 

“I sent one of your pack members away already! Whimpering like a puppy! I will be happy to do it again!” She broke his arm; his screaming was ear piercing. 

“How is a human able to hurt us?!” The second yelled at her. 

“Stay away from her!” I roared in anger. 

“Or you will what, Matthew? You know Werewolves are stronger than Vampyres.” 

Another ear-piercing scream came from the first one, both of his arms are of no use for a while. 

“Keep it! I will keep breaking his body!” 

“How about a deal then, Anika?” He held up his hands. 

“I do not make deals with murderers!” 

~Anika’s P.O. V~ 

    Who did this guy think he is? Ordering me around?! I was livid. I cannot harm them in their wolf forms because they tower over, but once in their human forms, I can land devastating blows. I looked at Matthew, he was hurt badly by the guy talking to me, I had to wrap this up quickly before he lost too much blood.  

“You call us murderers when you are defending the one who drains humans of their blood.” 

“He does it out of necessity! You kill for pleasure!” I kept my voice raised to hide my fear of them. 

“Calm down, Miss. Anika. Your family just wants you home.” 

“Nice trick, asshole. I know what you are after. You want my grandfather's company because of its location.” This stopped him for a moment. 

“How did you find that out, I wonder. Matthew, spilling our secrets to a human? That is a new low for you.” He looked worse by the second.  

“Leave him out of this. I want you and your pack of murderers to leave this place and never return!” I looked down at the one underneath my foot. “Take him to get treated for his broken bones. That is an order!” The walls shook when I gave that command. The other guy backed up a bit and looked pissed. 

“Fine.” I let up my foot so he could grab his injured friend. They left the same way they came in. I ran over to Matthew and lifted his head. 

“Huh. It seems I have won the heart of an alpha.” He chuckled to himself before coughing. 

“Easy, easy. Here.” I put my arm in front of his head. “Take it from me.” 

“Anika, we have been through this. I may not stop.” He was coughing up blood this time. 

“I don’t care. My life is fragile and insignificant, one day I will eventually die, but I can’t lose you. I know we have only known each other for a few days.” My tears fell onto his cheeks. “Please, Matthew.” I could see him fighting with himself when he decided, his teeth sunk into my arm and the blood. At first, it hurt, then it turned to pleasure, I felt my eyes getting heavy and my vision blurred. Before I knew it, I passed out. 

~Xavier’s P.O. V~ 

    My arms hurt like f*****g hell, when did humans get so strong? She managed to take me down and stand up to my commander. I screamed in pain as the healers at Mount Hood were putting me back together. I swear, I will kill that b***h for doing this to me. When the pain subsided, I was left panting and sweating. 

“Xavier. We need to talk.” Commander Whitney sat by me. 

“About what, sir?” 

“Anika Butler.” 

“She is going to pay for this. I swear it.” Moving still hurt. 

“You are not going to touch her.” 

“Why?!” I barked. 

“I think, and I could be wrong, but I think she is a wolf.” If I were not in pain I would have laughed. 

“Yeah, right. And I am the tooth fairy.” 

“I am serious. My wolf kneeled before her.” 

“How is that possible?” My commander shook his head. We needed to know who Anika Butler is, where she comes from, and who her family is. If she is indeed a wolf, then whose pack did she belong to? And if she made the commander kneel, then she is of ranked blood. 

~Anika’s P.O. V~ 

    I woke up in Matthew’s arms once more, his cold body was relieving the fire within mine. I cuddled into his chest more and took a deep breath in then out. What I did not notice at first was the heated water over the rest of my body. I slowly opened my eyes to my bathroom and Matthew’s eyes closed. My face heated up as I realized he was also naked with me in the tub. This seemed to get his attention. 

“Thank the heavens, are you all right, my love?” He lifted his hand and put it on my cheek. 

“Tired, what happened?” 

“It would seem that you, my dear Anika, saved my life and for that, I owe you it. Once I had gotten the amount of blood, I needed from you, my fangs unlatched on their own. I feared I might have been too late.” 

“What happened to the dogs?” 

“They went home with their tails between their legs. It would stand to reason that you are an Alpha Female.” I thought he was joking. 

“Are you serious? No, I am not a dog. I’m human.” 

“My dear, when you commanded that ruffian, he looked like he had no choice but to follow your orders. The room shaking when you used your voice is further proof of that.” I looked down at my hands.  

“No, I can’t be. Would I not have shown signs earlier? Like shifting?” 

“No, you are still 18 years of age. Wolves on this side of the country do not gain their counterpart until the age of 19.” I wanted to cry when he told me this. 

“What does that mean for us? I don’t want to leave.”  

“Calm down, my dear. We are still we. It just means that when I mark you, you belong to me. The same would go for you once you have marked me.” 

“I can do that?” I asked cautiously. 

“Now that we have an idea of who you really are, yes.” He held on to me tighter and I did not want him to let go. 

“How do you know so much about wolves?” 

I felt his chest deflate as he gave a defeated sigh. “I was once mated to a wolf. She looked like you in many ways, in others, you are the better. She had just gained her wolf and I was named Prince by my father. She only spoke one word to me that night, ‘Mate.’ We met in secret near Salt Lake and I marked her. However, her father became furious with her. She sent me a letter saying to stay away for a while until he had a calm mind.” I think I know where this was leading. I let him continue. “I did not listen, when I went to her pack's borders, I saw the unspeakable.” He paused and looked at me, “Her pack beheaded her.” My hands went to my throat. “She was 19 years of age and mated with a Vampyre. This was many hundreds of years ago.”  

“Was she also an Alpha?” 

“No, she was an omega. Lower ranked in her pack.” 

He finished his tale of his first love, and I felt bad for him, could I be his second? Did I have what it took to be his second mate? I let those questions wonder my thoughts as we sat there in the tub, cuddling each other.