Chapter 26

Skylar’s POV

Four years ago…

When I acted on my plan I hadn’t exactly thought we’d be kicked from our pack. I planned just for Tallulah to reject her mate, giving Roman and me the chance we deserved. Clearly, things didn’t go a hundred percent according to plans. Things were a lot harder on the human land, neither of us was able to let our wolves out, the worst part was trying to be with Roman. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many moves I made he’d still refuse to even touch me. When I kissed him in the kitchen I thought he’d come to his senses, instead, I got pushed away. My anger had gotten the best of me that night, I accidentally confessed to everything I had done, everything I did to make sure we’d end up together, yet he never valued my hard work and true love. That bitch was on his mind too much.

After Roman ditched me to go to the Lycan blood pack, I tried one last time to be with him and sought a place within the pack, but Alpha Vesper denied me of that. I finally took a hint and began going my own path. I stayed on the human ground, working at the same bakery. Luckily my business school papers helped out and I scored a good spot within the actual business part of the bakery. With the huge amount of income I had now I kept traveling to different places, hoping I would find my true mate but everywhere I went I left with disappointment.

I started to miss home, my parents, my little sister even. I gave all of that up for a guy who didn’t even like me back. Roman Nicholas Sterling, I sure hoped I would get my revenge on him, so far I knew the queen was still single. Good for him. If I can’t get what I want, then neither can he.

Since I had started at the administration side of the bakery, their revenue went up significantly not to mention how I had also taken it upon myself to improve their social media appearance. All these points earned me an extra bonus, more than enough for me to go on a trip to Europe again, this time I’d cover the grounds I hadn’t explored yet. However, part of me had let go of the dreams of finding my mate, I just wanted to enjoy the trip so I packed up and informed my bosses I’d be traveling and could do the work remotely.

Everything went fine until I arrived in Portugal. I originally wasn’t even interested in the country, I hadn’t prepared myself for the language, not even the basics. Yet when I arrived there I couldn’t leave, my wolf wanted to stay longer than we had initially planned.

When I decided to rent a small house in the countryside I went on a late-night walk. As I got closer to the river there was a certain scent I couldn’t get out of my head. It smelled like artemisia with hints of bergamot. This wasn’t the smell of the river but it sure smells heavenly, I needed to find the source. I looked over my shoulder and saw a man in the shadows. I frowned and walked towards him, with every step it was as if he walked back, trying to avoid me.

“Mate!” I shouted without thinking. Once the words left my lips, I frowned a little. Had I finally found him? My wolf was so excited, as was I, however, the man only turned to face me when he had heard what I said.

“Excuse me?” He raised a brow at me. I finally got a better look at him. He had such pale skin that went perfect with his dark brows and black hair that fell down to his shoulder. His eyes reminded me of chocolate, a slight hint of innocence as I stared deeply into them. The stranger who happened to be my mate looked shocked and wanted to walk away hastily but I couldn’t let go, not after all the searching over the years.

“Wait, please don’t run away,” I pleaded, taking a hold of his hand. The moment our skin made contact it was only sparks I felt cruising through my body.

“Who are you?” He frowned, gently pulling out of my hold.

“Skylar White, a rogue…” I told him, shamefully. Not everyone was fond of a rogue especially if they were to find out why you got kicked out of your pack.

“You’re a werewolf?!” The man asked, surprised, taking a step away from me.

“I’m confused, aren’t you one too?” I frowned. Dear God, what is he? By his tone he seemed way too surprised by my race, does this mean he wasn’t a werewolf. He’s my mate, he’s supposed to be a werewolf.

“Yeah, right as if,” He scoffed, running his long fingers through his thick black hair.

“Who are you?” I wondered, looking up at him. My wolf and I couldn’t stop admiring him, how gorgeous he looked under the night’s sky.

“Pietro Steinburg of the night runners clan,” He announced proudly. Pietro… such a beautiful name, it suited him. Just then I realized he said the word Clan. That couldn’t be right.

“Clan?” I asked, watching as he nodded. “Clans only exist for vampires—” I pointed out.

“Exactly dearest,” Pietro replied, tucking his hands in his pockets. I frowned at first, did that mean he was a vampire… It couldn’t be, could it?

“How can you be my mate then?” I asked out loud making him chuckle and he then realized just how I was about this.

“Your mate? What kind of cruel joke is this?” He got defensive quickly as if I was trying to make a fool out of him when really it was the Moon Goddess who made a fool of us both.

“Pietro, I’m serious. My wolf led me here and she can’t keep herself from you,” I said truthfully, hoping he wouldn’t run away again. I needed to have this moment.

“Sidney—” He wanted to say.

“Skylar,” I corrected him, awkwardly.

“Skylar, it is not impossible for us to be mates,” Pietro told me as if I didn’t know that already. “Also, vampires pick their mates themselves,” He added. I heard the stories before; it was such a weird concept because vampires also get to pick more than just one. Does this mean he already had a mate perhaps?

“Then why was I led here? Why do I feel such a strong connection with you?” I asked, searching for an answer. My heart wouldn’t long to be here if it wasn’t for nothing.

“There could be a mistake?” Pietro suggested.

“Do you feel this too?” I asked as I took his hand in mine, all I could feel was the sparks igniting. The feeling of butterflies rising in my stomach. I never felt this way before, it made me happy. Something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. “Am I the only one who’s experiencing this?” I asked again and he shook his head.

“I—Why am I feeling this?” He frowned, taking my other hand too. He didn’t seem to believe it, yet he kept seeking more.

“I don’t know…” I answered truthfully. “All I know is since little pups are taught this would be how they feel about their mates,” I added, looking up into his chocolate eyes.

“You’re a wolf, this is supposed to be—” He frowned.

“It was never forbidden,” I mentioned, just because it never happened doesn’t mean it was against the law.

“But it has also never happened. Humans go with humans, vampires mate with vampires and wolves mate with wolves. That has never been broken before,” he told me as if I didn’t know already.

“Why would the goddess have given me a vampire then?” I frowned.

“Punishment?” Pietro suggested, “Now, what is it you did wrong, Skylar?” He asked in a low tone, his voice was still so smooth making me want to tell him everything.

“She pairs us up decades before we’re even born,” I reasoned, sure this seemed like punishment, and though my past actions aren’t the best she still couldn’t decide to punish me just now. We got paired together before we were even in the planning.

“You’re a rogue, what did you do, Skylar?” Pietro pointed out, clearly knowing one doesn't get kicked out of the pack for no reason.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked quietly, I looked over and spotted a bench a few steps away from us.

“Well, I should know about my mate, right?” He asked, following me to the bench and took a seat as well.

“Your mate?” I frowned; did I hear correctly?

“It’s who you are to me, no?” Pietro shrugged, a slight smile on his face. It was hard to trust him, the vampires and wolves didn’t exactly get along in the past and after the truce, they just tried staying clear of each other’s paths.

“I’m confused, do you want this?” I wanted to confirm.

“I’m new to this, but I’ve never experienced something like this,” Pietro answered softly, his pink lips in a slight smile as he caressed my face with his soft hand.

“So, you actually want to be with me?” I leaned closer into his soft touch, for the first time I felt safe again and it was in a stranger’s arms.

“We have things to figure out,” Pietro shrugged.

“Yeah a lot of it actually,” I chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.

That’s how it began, I told Pietro the truth about everything. I was ashamed about how I handled my obsession with Roman. I refused to accept he wasn’t my mate, and I ruined my perfectly good life over a guy who didn’t love me back. What I found the most surprising was how understanding Pietro was, how perfect and acceptable he was about the whole situation. What pained me was the way he and people were treated now. I'm a wolf but honestly, I felt no connection to them anymore. Not after everything they did to the others and to me. For the first few weeks we snuck around, his choice not mine. If it were up to me I’d mate with him as soon as possible but he kept thinking of his people. I knew my heat was near and I didn’t want to go through it alone…

“Pietro, can we talk?” I asked, looking up at him as he joined me on the couch.

“Of course, dearie,” He answered, his tone sweet and caring. He paused the movie and focused those big brown orbs on me.

“My heat is near,” I said awkwardly, looking away from his eyes.

“Heat?” Pietro wondered, clearly not having the faintest idea what that might be. The cons of being with a vampire I guess.

“Oh right, you don’t know what that is,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. How was I supposed to tell him about this? It surprised me that the vampires didn’t experience this. His not knowing is slightly understandable, it’s not like they’re interested in getting to know us.

“I have zero ideas, are you okay?” He asked calmly, rubbing my back. The soft pad of his thumb hooked under my chin, making me look up at him again.

“Yes, no, I don’t know,” I stuttered, unsure whether I should tell him about it or just deal with the heat myself.

“What is this heat you talk about?” Pietro asked, his eyes boring straight into mine, almost as if he was forcing the answer out of me but in a subtle matter. I looked away from him and pressed my lips together for a moment.

“It’s when a female wolf found her mate and they haven’t mated yet. Over time the woman experience something called a heat, it’s basically you get fucking horny, but you barely experience that, all you feel is like you’re burning from the inside and the only solution to that is mating,” I began to explain to him, noticing he was following along quite nicely.

“You want to mate?” Pietro asked, surprised. His dark brows were slightly furrowed, and his lips were always a bit more pouty when he made this expression.

“I think it’s time…” I told him truthfully, true mates never wait long to get the deed done. The faster, the better.

“Do you know how vampires mate?” He asked me, catching me by surprise.

“I, uh… It involves blood?” I assumed, hoping I didn’t offend him. There weren’t too many books about the real vampire and their methods and the one I was busy with didn’t exactly get to the mating part. These beings sure had a long history...

“I’m supposed to drink your blood, either from your wrist or neck,” Pietro told me, running his smooth finger down my neck, slowly trailing it down to my hand.

“Like with your fangs in there?” I asked, unsure how painful that would be.

“Something like that yeah,” Pietro answered, and I just nodded and looked down at my hand.

“Do you want to go through with it?” He asked, looking at me with promising eyes. Only this man could make me feel this way. I thought the feelings I had for Roman were real but what Pietro and I had? That was special, out of this world.

“Yes, Pietro,” I answered, slowly moving to straddle him. His soft hands cupped my cheek and pulled me in for a kiss. His warm lips molding perfectly with mine, my hands trailed down his toned chest. I pulled out of the kiss and led my lips down to his neck, sucking a dark bruise. Pietro moaned in my ear and tipped his head back, I took that as my sign and finally marked him, his hands that were on my hips tightened, a lewd moan leaving his lips.

Pietro pulled me back and looked up at me, a finger trailing my jawline. He wrapped his hand around my throat and pulled me back in for a kiss, I moaned against his lips. I waved my fingers through his dark strands, holding them back and deepening the kiss. He only pulled away when he needed to breathe, his head buried in my neck, kissing my skin softly. I soon felt a slight prick in my skin making me wince softly but the moment he started to suck at my skin I felt euphoric. I tugged on his hair, holding him close to me.

That was the beginning of something wonderful… It hadn’t stopped, never did. My mate was a vampire and somehow he’s the best I’ve could’ve wished for. Something that was difficult for us was his people accepting me. Sure there was a truce but that didn't make up for all the lost ground. I hated the situation I had been put in and wished to do something, anything, to make it up to them, to prove to them I’d rather be one of them.

Niklaus, Pietro’s grandfather, clearly wasn’t such a big fan of me. In fact, whenever I’d enter the room it became tense immediately. As of right now, I was nervous, my heart was pounding against my chest hard. Pietro called me over to the living room because his grandfather wanted to talk to us. I knew deep down Niklaus never approved of our mating, a wolf’s mark was on his grandson, the next in line to take over the clan…

The moment I entered the room I felt the cool temperature, due to the fact that they never opened the curtains, not to mention being closer to the woods. I looked over at Niklaus, his tense eyes on me made me turn to Pietro.

“Hey dearie,” Pietro greeted me, a trusting smile on his face as he watched me come closer to him and his grandfather.

“Pietro, Mr. Steinburg,” I finally greeted, sitting down next to my mate. Pietro moved his hand over mine and squeezed it as he looked at me.

“Skylar, how are you?” Niklaus asked, crossing his legs, those eyes still as intense as ever.

“I’m fine and you?” I answered politely. I wondered if I did something wrong.

“Fine too…” He answered then the room went silent. Neither of us is talking.

“Well… Ask her would you,” Pietro cleared his throat. I frowned, unsure what he meant by that, but I was quite curious to hear what Niklaus had to say.

“So I know you said once you’d wipe out the wolves if you could,” Niklaus mentioned, referring to the night I got drunk on wine. I cringed at the thought of that night, it was safe to say I said some things I shouldn’t have.

“I was drunk, sorry for that,” I replied shamefully, hoping to stop talking about this subject.

“Did you mean it?” His question caught me by surprise. Should I be answering that truthfully?

“Um, part of me did…” I admitted truthfully.

“Why?” he wondered. His curiosity made me wonder what he had in store, but I just decided to let it all out, if I wanted them to trust me I should try and be as honest as I could with them.

“They made all these rules to protect us all yet when it came to applying them it only happened when it was in favor of the ones higher up the chain. They haven’t exactly been kind towards me and clearly, they haven’t been good to my mate and his people,” I began to explain, giving my opinion on what I thought about the wolves. I shouldn’t have been treated the way I was. What I deep down hated the most was that your mate gets decided for you and although it contradicts a little with me feeling blessed with Pietro it still didn’t mean it didn’t ruin things for me.

“So if there was something you could do to take care of them, would you?” Niklaus asked, his grey brow up in an arch. I looked over at Pietro for a moment and he just gave me a nod.

“I’d do anything to help the vampires, especially the night runners clan, I know how much it means to Pietro,” I answered, giving Pietro’s hand a squeeze as I looked over at him and noticed a smile forming on his lips.

“There’s something we’ll need from you then,” Niklaus asked.

“Anything,” I answered quickly.

“Your blood,” Klaus responded, calmly. I was taken aback by what he asked.

“Excuse me? What for?” I frowned, a little sure what exactly would be done with it.

“We’ll design a poison just for wolves, we’ll need a wolf’s DNA sample. Lots of it,” Pietro finally spoke up, explaining the situation.

“How much are we talking about?” I wondered, knowing there’s only so much one can give before passing out.

“Maybe feeding on you will happen much more often than before,” Niklaus explained. Pietro only fed from me a few times a week and never for a long period.

“Will Pietro be doing it?” I asked, nervously. It was one thing to give my blood willingly but another for some stranger to feed off of me.

“Of course dear, he made it clear this is totally up to you and you should feel comfortable,” Niklaus said, and we both looked over at Pietro.

“Well, when will we start then?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

“You’re serious,” Niklaus said, a little surprised but I could tell by the smile on his lips that he was proud.

“Will it prove to you and your people just how much I care about your son and the clan?” I raised a brow at him.

“More than anything,” He grinned, that smile was the exact same one his grandson had.

“Then let’s get to it…” I smiled back at him and looked over at Pietro.