Royal's Belonging

Stubborn and Confused

Nicholai POV

         I swear that girl can sense who is down there with her. Every time I offer her food, she refuses to eat even a bite. She always drink the water or milk I bring her though. I sat the full plate on the kitchen counter before heading to find Alexei.

         Per usual, I found him in his office doing paperwork. I slumped into a chair across from him and waited for his sigh of annoyance before smirking slightly. He hated paperwork as much as the rest of us, though he almost never got behind like Dom, Day, and I did on a frequent basis.

         “I swear she can tell, sense somehow, which one of us is in the cell.” I groaned in irritation, “She is more than willing to drink the milk or water I bring, but refuses to even try the food.”

         His head snapped up from the paperwork to meet my frustrated gaze.

         “she isn’t eating when you go down there.” It wasn’t a question but concerned statement to which I simply nodded. I was confused where this was heading.

         Dominic, Damien office. Now. He suddenly mind linked them. I frowned in confusion but my elder brother simply shook his head at me. The twins soon arrived, wasting no time with a command like that from Alec.

         “Anastasia is refusing all food from Nic,” He began. “She refuses all but drinks from me as well. When did she last eat?”

         “Uhm… I assumed her stomach was finicky and she was eating when you guys brought her food.” Dom responded.

         “Same,” Day affirmed. “Wait, so she has refused food from all of us. None of us were able to get her to eat even a bite.”

         “It’s been thirteen days.” I said slightly panicked.

         “She is human, they don’t do well if they haven’t had any food for extended periods of time.” Day chimed in, “So she hasn’t eaten in the thirteen days down there. I think she had an omelet the morning we first put her down there.”

         “s**t”, “f**k”, “Damn it”, “Not good” We all exclaimed at once before rushing out of Alexei’s office.

Anastasia POV

         I was starving, all I wanted was to eat the food they kept bringing me. I was scared, cold, confused, hurt, and the hunger pains never stopped anymore. My stomach felt like it was burning, my body felt heavy and weak.

          Yet every time the scent of food hit my nose, I could hardly stop myself from gagging. The instant nausea kept me from trying even a bite of the food they brought for me. I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was I couldn’t survive this much longer. I was already malnourished and weak before this and I doubted my body could take much more.

         I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed. All I knew was I felt myself slipping back into the oblivion of sleep. I didn’t know the guys would soon realize what was happening and would rush down to me. I didn’t know it would be a while before I awoke again.

Alexei POV

         It was a mad dash down to Anna’s cell. We probably would have arrived faster had we not been tripping and shoving into each other the entire way. It would have been comical really if the situation was different, four of the strongest vampires unable to move in coordination to reach our mate. Eventually we reached the cell doorway and the sight we saw broke our hearts and terrified us.

         Anastasia was laying in the fetal position not moving. Her eyes were wide open, skin pale, and lips slightly blue. I was the first to reach her and cradle her in my arms.

         “She’s breathing, her heartbeat is slow but steady.” I announced in relief, “She is freezing though. Dom, call Doc please, Day put some of her blankets in the dryer to heat them up. We need to get her warm but can’t risk shocking her.”

         They went running off as I gently shifted our mate more firmly in my arms before heading to her room. I could hear Nic trailing behind me, lost as to how to help Anna.

         Soon enough we reached her room and Nic hurried to pull down her blankets for me to lay her in bed. As I went to do so I realized how filthy she was. I headed towards the bathroom to clean her up. Nic must have caught on to my thoughts as he turned to her closet to retrieve clean, warm clothes to change her into.

         I perched her on the counter and used my body to keep her upright. Dampening a washcloth, I carefully washed away the dirt, grime, and blood from her exposed skin. She could bathe properly after she had regained consciousness. Nic and I changed her and laid her in the bed just as Day brought a mound of warm blankets from the dryer.

         Minutes later Dom arrived with the doctor. We all huddled around nervously as he inspected out little mate. He quickly inserted an IV and started the fluids. After some time and several tests later, he turned to us.

         “Honestly, I have no idea how she is still alive.” He stated frankly, “She was malnourished and sick prior to this, now even more so. She should wake within a few days. However, I believe the blood tests will reveal more. Her slowed heartrate and breathing could be from the malnourishment and unconsciousness. However, it is also quite similar to a transition, but I see no bite marks, claiming or otherwise. I have no explanation for what is occurring with her at this time. When she wakes up please notify me, make sure you have simple, lite meals for her to eat. Small bites here and there is better than a large meal that makes her sick. Call for me if anything arises.”

         With that he exited the room leaving us stunned. We expected to hear she was malnourished and the eating instructions. But the mere possibility of her transitioning? We haven’t even talked about marking, mating, or turning her. Also, only purebreds like nobles and royals transition, the others are turned.

         We are born stronger and faster than humans but have no powers, don’t require blood, and are much easier to kill. We are also susceptible to regular human sickness, they just don’t impact as harshly. We typically start showing signs of transitioning between sixteen to eighteen years old. Usually the sooner they show signs of changing the stronger they will be as a vampire.

         Come to think of it, it makes sense that she is transitioning. The core temperature drop, the disinterest in food but accepting everything we give her to drink. What doesn’t add up is how she is a vampire. Common vampire pregnancies are almost unheard of, and there are no missing noble or royal vampires that I know of.

         “I am heading to my office,” I tell the guys, “I need to look at something. Make sure one of us is always with her. I’ll be back in a couple hours to spell whoever is in here at the time.”

As promised, two released and three more to go. Next three will be up in the next couple days!