THE BLOOD OATH

THE REJECTION

ASTERA

After I gulped the glass of champagne, I looked at my friend's eyes and they started to shine, letting their wolves come out. A few seconds later, I understand why. I felt sparks ignite from my shoulder, as a hand touched me softly. I felt the warm breath of Maximus on my ear and I told to Saradi “Goddess I think I will explode!” His breath alone touching my skin made my body spark with the most pleasurable feeling I have ever felt, and soon after that, I heard that incredible sexy husky voice telling me: “Please join me to my office”.

I turned my eyes just a bit to catch a glimpse at his beautiful hand. I wanted to hold that hand and never let it go. But I knew that was impossible, that he did not want me as his mate. I softly stood up and turn around and my plan not to see him failed miserably then and there. It was considered an act of defiance to look in your Alpha’s eyes, let alone in your Alpha Prince/king to be, but I could not care less. I could just die then and there, but I must look into his eyes! And so I did it! I looked into his eyes! WHAT A STUPID MISTAKE! WHAT A F*CKING STUPID MISTAKE! When our eyes meet, I felt like my Universe merged with his. I felt like I wanted to obey and submit to him in every way I could. I was very independent, I could not imagine me wanting to submit to anyone in this life. Not even to my mate. But this bond was out of this world. It was an entirely whole new Universe on its own. I felt like we were the only ones in the world and that the world was our playground. All this is just a few seconds of eye contact. I continued to stare into his eyes, hoping for a sign of recognition that he was feeling the same as I did. The sign did not come. I have to break the eye contact, or else it would be mistaken for a challenge. Seconds before I could break the contact, I saw him shifting his eyes from the most amazing emerald green that reminded me of a pure mountain lake nearby our packhouse, to a darker / yellowish-green that reminded me of a crocodile swamp. “oh! F*ck! I did it! I provoked him! F*ck! Saradi, what should we do now? “You fool! It is his wolf, Xander. I think he likes you! He just linked me and introduced himself and then poof! He disappeared!” she said to me with confusion in her voice. “What do you mean by “he introduced himself and disappeared?”. “Well, he linked me, he said: I am Xander, Maximus’s wolf” and then he just disappeared. His husky voice broke the line of my thoughts telling me: “after you!”

MAXIMUS

I left my parents to return to their seats, and I headed to find my mate. I let Xander and the bond guide me to find her. Her smell become stronger and stronger, and as I walked through the hall, I started to see her back. An empty, sexy back, with some small beauty marks, covered only by the thin straps of her backless ivory dress. Her long, wavy chocolate brown hair looked amazing. Her perfect legs rested on a pair of gold sexy sandals. Although she looks so small, I can feel her strong aura. Who is she? She is an incredibly strong she-wolf, that’s for sure! This kind of strength can only emanate from an Alpha, but she is a female. “you dumb! SHE IS an ALPHA!” I heard Xander yelling at me. NO! SHE CAN’T BE! Is she THAT Alpha she-wolf??? I asked Xander desperately. I HATED HER! I hated the stories with her! everybody talked only about her! Of how heroic, how brave, how innovative she is! Goddess how I hated her! She made me look bad. To be honest, all of her deeds were quite impressive. But still, all everyone was talking about was her and her pack. I despised her only because of my parents, because they always talked about her and how she would be perfect for me and how I should choose her as my mate. The goddess must have made a mistake by making her, my fated mate. I could never mark and mate her. I like my females soft and tender, submitted and docile, and I heard that this female was a fierce beast. To be honest, now Inoa does not sound bad compared to her. Nevertheless, I must reject her and clean up my mess with Inoa. “and you say that I am the stupid one!” Xander replied in my mind. He liked her, I could feel it. And I think he liked her wolf even more! As I approached her, my heart started to beat very fast. This was very unusual for me. I put my hand on her shoulder. WHAT IS THIS??? I feel sparks ignite from the place our skin touches. I can feel her with my whole being and the whole of my being is yearning for her. I must control my untamed urge to grasp her fully in my arms and never let her go, to touch her body, to feel all of it in my arms, to protect her in ways I did not know existed. STOP IT! I screamed to myself as I removed my hand from her desirable soft skin. I see her getting up from her chair and turning her face to me. Even with her high heels on, she is so small and delicate! Her body looks divine, toned, and round in all the right places. Touching her skin felt delicious. I do not dare to look into her eyes, but I feel a hypnotic urge to look up at her face. She has the most beautiful face. Her lips are perfectly shaped, her white perfect teeth mimic a perfect smile, letting a small beauty mark from the corner of her mouth rise and disappear in a small dimple that is formed in her attempt to smile. Goddess knew I liked tall, blonde girls, but with her took all the risks making her a whole new kind of perfection I did not know existed before. I have no choice but to look into her eyes. What?? The nerve on this female! She is staring right into my eyes! She practically stared into my eyes from the moment she turned her face to me. Is she trying to challenge me? “Boy, you are a whole new level of moron! Can’t you feel it??? She is MATE! Our mate! Our bond!” Xander lashed out at me. I heard him introducing himself to her wolf, Saradi. Saradi… what a beautiful name! I must stop this nonsense! I can’t take my eyes off her, I can't break the contact! An unstoppable force is connecting us, making our souls merge into one piece. I MUST STOP! I suddenly hear myself telling her: “after you!”… the mutt is right! I am a moron! What a stupid thing to say to her. "After you… " Goddess, I’m stupid! She does not even know where to go… “hahahahahaha” I hear Xander laugh out loud, more precisely, rolling his a** off from laughing. I am doomed! She makes me feel like a clumsy teenager, and despite that, I have never felt calmer and at peace in my life! She takes a few steps in front of me, moving her sexy ass like the biggest teaser in the world. She stops midway, turns around, and asks me: “Where to?” I look at her and tell her in a cold demanding tone: “in my office. Follow me!” as I step in front of her. Just before exiting the ballroom, we ran into Edric, the Vampire King who looks at her and shouts out loud: “MINE!” claiming her as his mate. My jaw dropped! I could feel Xander coming out. I could feel a rage I have never felt in my entire life! I could kill this bastard right here and nobody would mourn him. I must control myself. How could be?? It was never heard off that a vampire mated with a wolf. It is known that the Moon Goddess is still mad at them, thus denying them the blessing of having fated mates… or even lifelong mates... “he must be scheming some devilish plan!” I and Xander agreed.

ASTERA

“After you,” he said, disrupting me from my thoughts. He was very imposing. He was about 6’4 and very muscular, but not in a bulky way. In a hot, hot, HOT way! You could tell that his muscles were very defined because they would show off even through his perfectly fitting tuxedo. He looks amazing. He has warm light skin, big emerald green eyes with big eyelashes, very expressive thick eyebrows, short and dark blonde hair with golden highlights, a strong jaw with a small dimple in his chin, full lips, and a smile that amazed me. His shoulders are very broad, his arms very strong and muscular and his body looks very appealing. His aura is strong and it has something that makes me wanna jump him right here, right now, marking him as my mate. As I walk through the ballroom, I realize that I do not know where should I go, so I must stop and ask him for directions. “where to?” I asked him, trying to sound as natural as I could, given the conditions… “in my office. Follow me!” he replied, as he stepped in front of me. Just before exiting the room, we ran into Edric, the Vampire King. I can see in his eyes that he is up to no good. “MINE! ” he shouts after he stares into my eyes for a few seconds.

- "I beg your pardon? What do you mean by “mine”? is this a joke? Are we a joke to you? Your… ‘highness’?" I respond to his affirmation with a hint of contempt in my voice.

- "I, Edric Valont, King of Vampires, claim you, Astera Black, Alpha of the Blackmoon Pack, as my mate!"

- "The Hell you are! I, Astera Black, Alpha of the Blackmoon Pack, re… " and just before I reject his proposition, a falling noise stopped me in the middle of my rejection. A loud horrible growl escapes from King Albert’s wolf. His queen dropped on the middle of the dancing floor, looking almost dead. In just a few seconds we were near her, and I saw Maximus petrified at the sight of his father holding his unconscious mother wrapped around his strong arms. The King took his Queen into his arms and he run with her to the pack hospital. I launched myself at Edric, pinning him to the wall in search of answers.

- " I know this is your fault, somehow. I do not know what you did to her, but I command you to fix it now!" I shouted at him using my Alpha voice. Usually, I do not use my Alpha voice, but this time I was making an exception.

- “Well now, dear, this is not the proper way to talk to your future husband.” He said to me with a smirk on his face. I was filled with rage and I felt Saradi taking control, holding her claws at his neck.

- "I will rip your head off right here, right now! Tell me what you did!"

- " It’s not about what I did, it’s more about what YOU did!" He said to me with mockery in his voice.

- " What do you mean???"

- "Well, this tends to happen when a blood oath is about to be broken..."

- "I never did a blood oath in my life!"

- "Well, YOU may not, but your father did."

- "I do not understand. What does my father have to do with all this? What are you talking about?"

- "You see, my dear, your father is part wolf, part warlock, as Luna Larra is part wolf, part witch. They knew each other very well because they were given magic by the same wizard when they were only pups and they grew up as close friends. The moment you were attacked by that rogue vampire, you almost died. Only the magic of your father saved your life. But his price for that magic was, ironically, your freedom. For him to save your life, he needed blood from the King of Vampires, me. I gave him my blood in return for the promise of your hand in marriage when you will turn 21. The third person who sealed and witnessed our blood oath, was Luna Larra, your father’s friend. What I am trying to say is that if you do not honor your father’s oath, he and Luna Larra will die of horrible and painful death. As you were about to break this oath, they started to feel the consequences."

- "This can’t be true! You lie!" I said to him as I made a deep cut in his neck with my claws.

- "Also, you cannot kill or harm me, because my safety was part of the deal, of course."

I was petrified! This can’t be true! Goddess, please save me from this monster!

- "Astera… I am afraid he is telling the truth..." Maximus’s deep voice confirmed Edric’s crazy story.

- "What do you mean?"

- "Well, I link my father and mother is starting to feel better and she confirms his story. I am so sorry…"

- "What am I supposed to do??"

- "Mother requests to see you."

This day CAN NOT BE WORSE! I ran to my Queen and she started to tell me the whole story. The vampire was right. My father promised to him, to save my life. I would rather die than be his mate, but this is not an option. My death would only cause my father and my queen’s death also.

- "My queen… is there a chance for me to escape from this bloody curse?"

- "I am afraid I do not know…"

- "But what is his plan? Why does he want me as his mate? He is rich enough, powerful enough… what could he possibly gain from this deal?"

- "Well, he would be in charge of the second-largest and strongest pack from all the Realms. Also, with you by his side, we would gain respect and, most important, when the magic transfers from you to him through your mate bond, he will become the most powerful being of all the realms. Powerful than the Devil himself. Not to mention that he could get the ability to turn wolves into vampire wolves and make an unstoppable army of powerful and immortal hybrids."

- "This is insane! I cannot allow this to happen. It must be an escape, a loophole to his plan."

- "I think there might be something, but for that, we need to talk to Ivan. We must find him!"

I could smell the King and Maximus eavesdropping at our conversation, but at this point, nothing mattered anymore.

In no time, the Queen recovered completely and we returned to the party, as nothing happened, waiting for it to end. I briefed my Beta, Gamma, and Delta about my situation and we stood in silence at our table until the party ended. The only good news of the night was that Johnny found his mate. A she-wolf from Redmoon pack. On the bright side, nobody knew a thing about all of this crazy situation, and all the guests thought that the Queen made an allergic reaction to the fairy mushrooms. Nobody knew that I was the one with two mates, the prince, and the vampire king. Nobody knew that my father sold my freedom for my life. Nobody knew that I felt hopeless and desperate. Nobody except my team, King Albert, Queen Larra, Maximus, and the filthy vampire king, Edric.