The Broken Mate

"I said down, boy!" She extended her hand and Harlan collapsed, wincing with pain.

"Harlan!" I ran toward him, but I stopped as I heard his voice in my mind.

Stay put, help is on the way.

"You wolves are so aggressive," she tutted, lowering her hand, but whatever she was doing didn't stop. "I said I meant you no harm, and yet here you come.."

"Stop! Please!" I begged, seeing how he contorted with pain.

"I would but he'd attack me again," she said. "I just have to keep him down until your friends are here. I'm sure they would be more coopera.."

"Violette Bellerose, if you do not stop that, I will be forced to attack you!" Callum yelled as he ran as fast as he could, followed by everyone but Selene, Arden, and Elowen.

"But he attacked me first," she pouted.

"Stop it!" Callum said.

"You know her?" Blaze yelled, enraged, as he ran to my side.

"Fine," she said, and without making any sort of gesture, the pain just stopped.

"Harlan!" I ran, leaving Blaze behind. He had shifted back the moment she stopped, so I kneeled and gently placed his head on my thighs and checked him. Damien was soon next to me, but Blaze made to attack her.

"Blaze, don't! She's here to help." Callum put himself in front of her, and Blaze tackled him instead.

"Get off me, you fleabag!"

"What do you mean she's here to help? She's a vampire!" he exclaimed.

"Harlan, are you okay? Harlan!" I had no idea when I had started crying, but I only calmed down when I felt him stir.

"I'm fine, Di," he said calmly as he started getting up.

Di? He had never called me that before.

"But the bitch has five seconds to explain before I rip her to shreds." He got up, and that is when I noticed he was completely naked.

I was so worried about his safety, so overwhelmed fearing something would happen to him, that I didn't register what I was seeing. And I don't know how I missed it because it was so big I had to do a double-take.

The vampire, Violette, if I had heard correctly, gave him a coy smile that had my blood boiling.

"Wow, I have to say, I'd heard the rumor but damn, you wolf boys are big." She crossed her arms and Callum pinched his nose bridge in frustration and snapped his fingers, and a pair of jeans appeared next to him. Harlan put them on.

"You heard my brother. You have five seconds to explain before we rip you to shreds," Damien said as his eyes started glowing red.

"I called her!" Callum said. "She's a friend, she's from the council."

Damien's face softened. "She's here because the rebels went to the palace."

"Vampires are arrogant and selfish. She's not here to help, she could kill us!" Blaze said, fuming.

"And werewolves are emotional and impulsive, but I came here anyway." Her accent made everything she said sound ten times more poetic. She looked at Damien and Harlan. "I am not your enemy. And if you would hear me out", she threw a pointed glance at Blaze, "you would be able to tell why."

"Let's hear her out." Selene suddenly appeared, and Damien frowned at her.

"I told you to stay at home," he said, suddenly having moved to her side. He placed a hand on her cheek. "She could be dangerous."

"But she isn't," Callum said. "Not to us."

"I don't understand how she can be useful. She's a vampire, we're after werewolves," Blaze crossed his arms.

"Let her talk!" Callum said, annoyed, and Blaze looked extremely on edge. As if there was something about her that deeply bothered him. He had to take a few steps away, as if her mere presence disturbed him.

Maybe it was a wolf thing, but none of them were reacting like that. And whatever that aversion was, it seemed mutual.

The woman examined Blaze, and something flashed in her eyes. Something I couldn't quite catch. But it wasn't until Callum cleared his throat that she returned to reality. That flash of emotion was deeply buried by her arrogant and cold demeanor.

She sighed. "My name is Violette Bellerose. Please, don't butcher my name, just call me Vi-o-let." The equivalent of her name in English. "I am the third daughter of Vesper Bellerose, the vampire king." She sighed. "And I will tell you everything you want to know in exchange for something."

"See? I knew a vampire could not be altruistic," Blaze mumbled.

"What do you know?" Damien said, hiding Selene behind him.

"The rebels went to my father to ask for an alliance. They told us his plan. I know everything about their operation." She sighed. "I know when they will strike, how, and where."

"And why should we believe the information you are to give us?"

"You shouldn't. But beggars can't be choosers," she smiled. "Besides, I need you alive and them dead for my plan to be successful."

"What is your plan? What do you want?" Harlan demanded.

"I want you to offer me a safe haven for a while, and after I've done something I have to do, I want you to kill me."