Chapter 24

"He is my what?" i gasped, mouth open in the shape of an O.

"We will speak of it when we are far away from this place." He says, leaving me to panic in silence on my own.

what the fuck could he have meant, i couldn't possibly be betrothed to a vampire, who the hell arranged that? it couldn't of been Sarah, she would never do such a thing to me, I don't think my mother would either, but I couldn't be sure, she died before I really knew her. I climbed into the car and Edward put me down, Cautious of the new vampire that I knew would be my husband, or whatever the undead equivalent to that was. Did they even know what love was? Or was it more of a match of convenience?

They knew that they could use me, so they wanted me to keep me close. Yes, that had to be the reason, their couldn't be any other. I mean, it's certainly couldn't be love, I didn't even know who it was, I certainly wasn't old enough to do it. I was barely 18 I hadn't even had a chance to finish school.

I made sure to buckle my seatbelt, Being in a car with a vampire wouldn't go well for mortal, we were a lot more fragile than they were. Edwards brother looked at me through the rearview mirror, I had to Admitt hat he wasn't bad looking, He had mesmerising emerald eyes, and hair that was as black as a ravens feathers, I could tell, even though I was sat that he was very tall, though that was the same for all of them, I suppose.

Once Edward was in the car, his brother sped off down the mountain, making insanely good time to reach the bottom of the mountain. Everyone in the car was quiet for a long time, no one spoke, or even looked at each other, The vehicle was tense. I guess no one really knew if we would actually make it down the mountain, but we did, we made it all the way to the highway, and it seemed as though no one was following us, that was half the battle. I guess now all we had to do was make it to the vampire queen, and her and her husband with protect us. Or at least that's what I hoped. I didn't actually know for certain. I have been promised protection once before, and we all know how that turned out, I couldn't make the same mistake of trusting blindly again. I had to keep my guard. up.

I turned towards Edwards brother, wanting to know more about our betrothal, and how it came to be. "why have they chosen us to be together? Or more importantly, who?" I asked bravely I will never get answers if I let my fear control me.

"the vampire queen decided it would be for the best and your ancestor Beatrice agreed." He said plainly, his voice showing no emotion.

it wasn't exactly The proposal of the girls dream, But so many things that already been decided for me before I was even born, so I guess I should be used to it by now, if I stay calm i might even find a way out of it. I just had to tread carefully.

"who are you?"I ask."More importantly, who are you both. I know nothing about either of you in yet I've placed my life in your hands."

"you didn't exactly have a choice." Edward reminded me.

i nod, turning to stare at my savior. "no, you're right, I didn't. But that doesn't mean I don't have a right to know who you are."

Edwards brother Laughed, "I thought you told me she was weak, Edward. She doesn't seem all that weak to me." he then turned to me. "we are the vampire queen sons and I am the oldest, you can call me Calen. My mother and your great grandmother decided it would be best to unite our families, You see the witches have the strange ability where they can carry a vampires child, and that child would be a half breed, but they would most certainly have powers."

"so she wanted to unite our bloodlines to her grandchildren, would have the same powers?" i frown.

"to put it bluntly, yes." Calen laughed, "though I suppose they saw it more complicated than that."

"and you are alright with that." i question him. "you're fine with them, choosing who we marry?"

"I don't know what it's like for you mortals, Or how you were raised. But this is how things are done where I come from." He stops for a moment and laughs, his voice losing the serious edge. "besides you're not exactly bad to look at. I could've done worse."

"I doubt the vampire queen son could've done worse."

"then you don't know the women who Surround the court."

I laugh at that, "no, I suppose I don't."

Edward glances between us both, "I didn't expect you to get along so soon."

"not everyone is as boring and as serious as you brother." Calen chuckles softly.

i decide to change the subject, all the talk of marriage has me a little bit depressed, and if i am completely honest with myself, a little bit excited too, i mean, i wouldn't be 18 until next year, but i wasn't in any rush to tie the knot and have children and he didn't either. I didn't think we will be able to go against what my ancestor and his mother agreed. Even if we wanted to.

Besides, Calen was right, we could have done much worse. There are worse creatures to be tied to.

I am quite lucky in that regard, he doesn't seem too bad, for a vampire.

"where are we going?" I say instead, trying to keep the conversation light, even as the moon looms behind us.

"I have an ally that we can use, he is a little bit unorthodox, But he will help us." Calen promises, not an ounce of doubt in his Voice.

I frown not quite understanding, "how do you know he will help us?"

Calen smiles at me through the rearview mirror, "because I have saved his pack more time is that I can count, I go to him when I am in need, and he does the same."

My frown deepens, "What is a pack?"

I didn't realise the vampires had friends, I hope they werent human. I didn't want anyone else to suffer for me, I had already lost my parents and my sister. I didn't want anyone else to die, especially people that didn't even know what they were fighting for.

"my friend is an alpha, he has a pack of creature is just like him." Calen says raising an eyebrow, Is though waiting for me to understand.

It was like I am Missing something important, Like there is a piece of the puzzle, I don't have.

But then I realised what he meant.

"your friend is a werewolf, do they actually exist?" I ask, partially excited and partially terrified.

If werewolves existed to them, or else was out there?

Did all the things that go Bump in the night exist?