The Broken Mate

But Harlan only stared at me, reading my expression, letting me decide.

"But I.." Callum tried to speak again, but Blaze kept yelling at him.

I had a feeling that even though Harlan would happily die for his brother, he would stand up to him on this if I felt I couldn't do it. But the problem was I didn't know if I could.

I wanted to. I wanted to help these people that have done nothing but support me. But it scared me, terrified me. What if I couldn't handle it? What if I'd lose my mind faster than I was supposed to?

Because that was another thing I was dealing with: the pressure of finding a mate before the next eclipse. The more I turned, the more I would lose my mind.

But this had nothing to do with that.

I looked around the room at Damien's pleading eyes, at Selene's ashamed expression—she looked so sad. Arden seemed worried, and Blaze looked heartbroken and irate. I looked at Elowen, who was just staring at me, waiting for a response.

"You don't have to answer right now," Harlan said, standing up and walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm in the mood for ice cream. Wanna come while you think about it?" he asked, and I hesitated as I looked back at all of them.

"It's okay, go," Selene said with a smile.

We walked for an hour in complete silence before Harlan started speaking.

"You don't have to say yes, you know?" he started. "We can always find another way."

"I want to," I said honestly. "I hate myself for even hesitating, but I.."

"Don't. I would hesitate too," he interrupted. "If I had forgotten all the things I'd been through, all the things I've done, I would never want to remember any of them."

"I know I will remember eventually, I do." I started chewing my lip. "But I just want to keep avoiding it as long as I can... I have treated.." I couldn't even say the word, so instead I said, "assault survivors before. I've seen how horrible it can be."

"Then say no," he said, as if it was that simple.

"I don't want to let you, them, down," I corrected myself. "You have all done so much for me."

"Normally, they wouldn't even ask," Harlan said. "None of the things they did for you are expected to be returned. But Damien and Selene are rather desperate because of a little reason," he said, a smile creeping through his lips. He seemed genuinely happy.

I immediately gasped. "She's pregnant? Oh my God! Are they happy?" I wanted to know how they felt about it before being excited.

"Over the moon, just very worried about the baby's safety," Harlan said. "That is why they are asking. I just thought you should know."

Selene was going to have a baby. She was going to be a mother.

I couldn't believe it. I would ask her all about it when I got back. I couldn't imagine anyone more suited to be a mother than her. She was going to be amazing.

And just like that, I said, "I'll do it."

All my fear had suddenly vanished, being replaced by a sense of something I couldn't describe. A sense of loyalty. A sense of family.

"She might not have to," a female voice said from between the trees in a seductive, and sweet voice with a British accent.

Harlan put me behind him so fast that I got dizzy.

And before I knew it, she was there, standing in the shade.

I examined the figure in front of me. She had the body I always wanted, thin but curvy in all the right places. She was dressed in a little black dress with high-heeled boots that reached her thigh. A long cloak with the hood pulled back adorned her body. Her jet-black hair was glossy and was styled in curls so perfect they had to be fake. I couldn't see her eyes or the top half of her face as she was wearing beautiful designer sunglasses, but her lips were plump and painted red. She stood calmly in the shade.

This girl was a portrait of elegance, from her style to her attitude. A girl so beautiful caused anyone to gawk, but Harlan was only growling.

She laughed. "Down boy," she said, not looking scared of him at all. Weird. A normal human would have been terrified the moment his eyes started glowing.

I looked closer. She didn't look like a wolf and didn't smell like one either. She didn't smell like anything. And she was pale, so, so pale.

She was standing in the shadow produced by a large tree. Could it be?

"What are you doing in werewolf territory? Your kind aren't welcome here," Harlan said before he lunged at her, but she avoided him effortlessly, moving supernaturally fast, much like a wolf, but dare I say, a little faster.

"Is that how you treat your guests? How rude!" She removed her glasses, revealing the most beautiful ice-blue eyes. She had long luscious lashes and perfectly groomed eyebrows. She knew how to do makeup to accentuate her already beautiful features as it was flawless, much like her skin. She looked like an eighteen-year-old.

She looked at me. "Why, thank you, darling." She smiled, and I might have been caught up in the fact she just read my mind if that wasn't when I saw them; sharp, pearly white fangs instead of upper canines.

The only set of fangs I had seen were Damien's, and his were different. She only had two. Damien had sharp canines on the bottom as well.

There was no doubt in my mind as Harlan shifted and attacked her again. She was a vampire.