The Mating Rules

‘Daddy?’ I whimper, my voice breaking slightly as I stare up at the man who loved and cared for me my whole life who is now standing mere feet away from me, smiling down at me, his arms outstretched like he’s some sort of much wanted present.

A lone tear wells behind my eyelid, spilling over and tracking down my cheek as I fight the overwhelming betrayal that washes over me.

My father tilts his head slightly, studying me intently for a moment, his gaze following the tear before he shakes his head. ‘Hmm’ he muses, ‘too much? Maybe I should have gone for this instead?’

As he speaks, he waves his hand, a cloud wrapping around him only to dissipate and reveal Alpha Scott who smirks widely at my open mouthed shock.

‘Is this more what you envisioned the big bad warlock to look like?’ he questions, doing a slow twirl, showing off his broad physique.

Seeing me gaping wordlessly, he nods with a frown. ‘No, you are right’ the Alpha murmurs decisively, ‘too cliché. It’s always the Alpha isn’t it, what about this one?’ Another wave, another Cloud, and the Vampire from the trial sneers down at me, licking his fangs with the tip of his tongue as he stares at the pulsing vein in my neck.

I shiver under his hungry gaze, inching back into my chair, my back pressing into the hard slats behind me.

‘This has that sinister vibe, yes? A Vampire as the bad guy, soulless, b***d sucking vermin of the dark, yes, this could definitely be the man that has haunted your dreams’ he leers, red eyes watching me closely.

I’m hating this, hating that he’s getting what he wants. Me, nervous and unsure, questioning everyone and everything.

The guard that was called at our trial is the next to appear, his gaze running over my skin, making me feel naked and dirty.

‘Are you going to run through every person I’ve ever met?’ I finally shout angrily. ‘Are you so scared to reveal yourself that you need to hide behind the façade of the people I trust?’

The guard’s smile falters, darkness flickering in his gaze as he stalks closer to me, danger radiating off him but I refuse to show fear. I meet his gaze stubbornly, holding it as he sinks to his knees in front of me and reaches out to caress my face gently.

‘So sweet yet full of fire’ he murmurs reverently, ‘it’s almost a shame . . . ‘

‘I doubt you’ve ever even met me’ I scoff, ignoring his attempts to bait me, get me to follow his narrative. I’m done playing this a*****e’s game, I want to know who he is and then hopefully I can find a weakness to exploit and get my mates out of here.

Avrilak straightens slightly, a frown creasing his forehead, ‘I’ve met you little wolf’ he mutters softly, ‘you just didn’t recognise me.’

I shake my head, ‘who were you then?’ I demand, ‘I want to see what you really look like.’

The warlock smirks, his brow smoothing out as he shakes his head, ‘you didn’t even know you were looking at me’ he replies simply, standing back up and taking a step away from me. The now familiar smoke envelopes him again before clearing to reveal a mundane looking, young man. He’s dressed in a cheap suit, his dirty blond hair hanging just low enough to make me think he spends a lot of time brushing it impatiently out of his eyes. An expensive wrist watch catches my eye on his right wrist, a stark difference to the man’s clothing choice.

‘Remember me?’ the Warlock asks, raising an eyebrow as he checks his watch before straightening the sleeves of his jacket.

I shake my head slowly, I have no idea who this man is.

The Warlock chuckles, shaking his head as though I amuse him greatly, ‘so unobservant’ he murmurs, ‘no wonder you never spotted my men trailing you from the moment you left the Council building.

The mention of the Council building triggers something in my mind and I screw up my nose, trying to catch the fleeting memory that’s desperate to evade my capture. Finally, I grasp the thought and grip it tightly as I raise my gaze back to Avrilak’s who is beaming down at me proudly.

‘You were at the Council building’ I murmur, ‘you sat across from us outside of another court room. Hadley was staring at you but he said he didn’t know who you were. You never came back from your trial.’

The Warlock nods happily, seemingly pleased that I’ve remembered him. ‘That’s right’ he agrees encouragingly, ‘I was curious about you and I admit that your Mate’s unusual interest in me made me feel a little concerned. I almost thought that maybe he could recognise me, be sure that I was thanking you when you distracted him from me.’

‘But why would you have a trial?’ I blurt out in complete confusion, ‘do the Council know who you are?’

Avrilak throws his head back, laughing heartily, ‘no child’ he wheezes through his chuckles. ‘Those Council members wouldn’t be able to pick an apple out of a bowl of oranges even if you marked it up with a big sign saying I am an apple.’ He wipes his eyes, fixing me with his attention again, ‘I had no trial, I just needed an excuse to be near you. I got one of my men to call me into the room after a while as I thought it might be suspicious if I just sat there as long as you were, plus, I needed to get ready.’

I scowl suspiciously, ‘get ready for what?’ I growl.

The warlock grins, ‘why, for your trial of course’ he replies simply, ‘I could hardly attend as the man who was waiting for his own trial could I?’

A snarl curls from between my lips at his words, ‘so you were that damn Vampire’ I accuse, ‘I thought you were too damn interested in me.’

The man in front of me shakes his head, his smile widening, ‘please’ he replies, waving a hand dismissively, ‘as if I would be so obvious! I am if nothing, a perfectionist in my craft.’

A wave of his hand, a swirl of smoke and a tall, elegant, ethereal woman straightens up in front of me. Her aura still demands respect and I now understand why I felt that she always got what she wanted.

‘YOU!’ I hiss furiously, ‘it was you?’

Chandra smirks down at me as she arranges her expensive robes around her slim frame. ‘Well who else would I have been?’ she asks demurely, ‘I couldn’t trust those imbeciles to give the result that I needed could I?’ She examines her fingernails carelessly as she begins to pace back and forth in front of me. ‘The witch, Allegra, she was easy to sway my way regarding the Warrior, harder to convince over you and the Alpha, wanted you all to pay for your crime.’ The Enchantress rolls her eyes in disdain, ‘no finesse that woman, how she got so high within the organisation I shall never know. The Vampire, well he was already in my pocket, I keep his little secret and he votes the way I want him too.’

My lips press together in a thin line as I stare at the woman, ‘what secret?’ I grit out.

Chandra laughs musically, ‘why the fact that he isn’t a pure blooded Vampire of course’ she replies. ‘Do you think he would live to see another moon if his people found out that his b***d is tainted? That his bastard of a father was actually of another species? He would have been outcast by the very people he called family, shunned, beaten and then when he finally, begged for death, left out in the sunlight to burn to ash.’

I shake my head, ‘no, he was in the courtroom during the day, if he can cope with daylight he would be fine in sunlight surely?’

Chandra sighs, patting my cheek as she strolls past me, ‘oh my dear sweet innocent child’ she croons. ‘Hendrix can walk in the shadows of the day, as long as he stays out of direct sunlight, he will survive, the one decent trait that his father gave him. Put him out in direct sunlight and he will suffer just as every other of his species would, just much much slower and more painfully. A true blooded Vamp would turn to dust in minutes, the dear Hendrix would most likely take hours to succumb to his fate.’

I chew on my l*p, trying to keep up with all the information being thrown at me, ‘so the other Council members, they know he’s not a full Vampire?’ I whisper.

The Enchantress shakes her head, ‘no’ she confirms, ‘they think I’m this’ she waves a hand down the length of her body, ‘they believe I can change reality within my immediate vicinity, which is technically true, my magic does allow me to control what people see. But in this case, they were under the impression that I changed our reality within the court room to nighttime so Hendrix was safe to preside over the meeting.’

‘Do you do that for every trial then?’ I demand scornfully, ‘just change reality to suit you?’

Chandra’s face lights up as she giggles, ‘this was a special occasion, usually, Hendrix will remain on night cases, presiding over the Vampire cases we receive. I admit I was a little reckless bringing him in, but I needed one of my own men on the board to give me the advantage, with Allegra as a guaranteed prison sentence, the warrior was guaranteed to be found guilty.’

I swallow, ‘what about Isaiah and the other guy?’ I mutter, wondering just how many people in my life over the last few weeks had been on the payroll of this man.

Chandra shrugs, ‘oh they were straight laced Council people’ she replies. ‘That Isaiah wanted to let you all go, a perfect patsy to help me make sure that you and the Alpha walked out of the court. Ay-Rohn tends to go with the majority, so when it was three to one for imprisoning your warrior, he sided with the higher percentage. When we voted on you and the Alpha, it was Allegra who was on the outside, unhappy to let you go. She was slightly mollified with the fine we handed down to your pack though, she really wasn’t happy to let you off without punishment.’

My head falls to my chest as I suck in a deep breath, fighting back tears that are prickling my eyelids.

‘Don’t you want to know who I was the first time you met me?’ Avrilak asks softly, stopping in front of me, his fingers playing with a strand of my hair.

I don’t even have the strength to shake him off, just merely shrug, my eyes on the floor between us as I feel the wave of his hand.

‘Look up child’ comes a hoarse voice, one that allows the tears to fall unbidden as I shake my head. I realise now, this man has manipulated me and everyone around me since the beginning. I was never going to get away from him, I never had a chance, he made sure of it.

I finally force my head up, meeting the gaze of the one person I never thought was working against me, ‘Hello Luella’ I sigh in resignation.

‘Hello Spirit Wolf’ the old woman returns, her penetrating gaze x-raying me as I feel the last of my fight leave me, I can’t win.