ROMANCE: The Lion's Chosen Mate (Paranormal Lion Shapeshifter New Adult Contemporary Romance) (Shapeshifter Mystery Alpha Lion Romance) (8 page)

-Acceptance-

“Are you a vampire?”

“Yes, I am a vampire. But I am a good one. I would never do a damn thing to hurt you and you know that. I just wanted to get this one out of the way so that we can forge our way forward without any secrets.”

Then there was this incredibly long stretch of silence as they both let the moment sink in. it was at that moment that mike had to start preparing the possibility of losing the girl that he was starting to develop feelings for permanently. And he also knew that if at all he was getting to lose her, then there was absolutely nothing he was going to do about it.

That was the worst thing about the whole thing, not being able to do a damn thing at all. Once he had already spoken something that he had been hiding for many decades, he was supposed to feel as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. But now the funniest thing happened. Instead of feeling as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, all he felt as though something heavy had been added to the burden that he was already feeling.

Mike then made a point of glancing at her and she was still dead silent, not uttering a damn word. Mike could read her feelings, and at that moment, he just wasn’t sure about how she wanted to react because she wasn’t showing anything that he could end up picking up.

But by the mere fact that she wasn’t as scared as the average human would be when they were told that they had just shagged a real life vampire, mike decided to give himself a benefit of a doubt, at least for a moment or two. But as the silence stretched even further, mike started getting a little bit more anxious than normal and for a moment, it seemed as though he just had to ask her whatever the heck was going on in her pretty little head.

“Oh, nothing. I am just curious as to how a vampire did all of these things so perfectly. You lasted more than ten men would even after having their times combined and yet you were so gentle, making sure that you were getting to hit every single part of myself without any struggle.”

But still, Joyce was still not answering his question at all. What mike wanted to know was why she wasn’t scared by the fact that he just confessed he was a vampire. And even though he didn’t utter a word, it seemed as though his look was enough get her to decipher what question was trotting in his mind. And she decided that maybe it wasn’t fair for her to keep him guessing.

“Well, my boss peter came clean about who you guys were. And trust me, I freaked out. But after a while, I figured that if you guys hadn’t killed people yet, what was it that you were waiting for? And for a moment, it occurred to me that indeed, there are some good vampires out there.”

The last time that mike had that kind of a sense of relief was when the blood suckers decided to spare his life way back and just turned him into a vampire. It was an incredible feeling knowing that Joyce wasn’t going to abandon him despite everything that they had been through. And now, it was time to move the relationship to another level.

“And when were you planning on telling me all about this huh?”

“Well, we human females like to put men into plenty of tests over and over and over again just to test your worth. And once we would have made sure that you are worthy, then we can tell you your mistakes. You, on the other hand, didn’t make any mistakes. Word of advice – never withhold information from a human female.”

-The fight-

The movie was incredible and as everyone was walking away from it, it seemed as though something was wrong but for a moment there, mike could tell what. There was just something in the wind that screamed ‘looming danger’ and so he had to be careful. Joyce didn’t notice anything and so she continued making all the chatter in the world, laughing as she walked as fast as possible towards the car.

But then his worst nightmare came to happen. Two vampires jumped in front of them and behind them, respectively, all shifted and ready for a fight. The sharp fangs sipped slowly through his lips and his eyes turned glow-white while his finger nails became longer. He quickly held tightly on Joyce and growled.

It was at that moment that Joyce realized that she was in the war of a shit storm and there was no way out.

“Good evening mike or should we say, Viktor? It has been a very long time. Do you remember us?”

“Of course I do. You made me into a vampire. What I didn’t understand is why?”

“Ah, it was simple. You were a brilliant mind and we knew you could keep the wealth for us as well struggled to survive. You know, the humans were trying to kill us all at one point. But you, you were resourceful. And all the war proceedings were carefully hidden over the centuries while we watched. And now, we have come for everything you own, including your human pet. She smells nice. I shall eat her first.” The vampire growled.

For a very long time, mike always knew that this day was going to come sooner than later. And thankfully, he had been preparing for it. He quickly tossed Joyce under the car and started fighting the two vampires in a murderous rage. If they wanted the wealth, they could have had it all. But there was nothing person that they were never taking from him and that was Joyce.

And while the grizzly fight was going on, Joyce covered both her eyes and ears, making sure she wasn’t seeing all of the blood gushing from the fight. All she hoped was that when she opened her eyes, all of the blood and the monsters would have gone.

The fight didn’t last long. Mike used his girl as motivation to give him the strength to stay focused and strong and needless to say, he managed to stay on top of the curve at the end of the day. Besides, it seemed as though everything was going to work out rather perfectly because mike had managed to slay his demons. But despite that fact, other demons were just about to pop up in his world.

Mike had killed the vampires. But he had been injured a great deal and that said, he would need some time to recover from the injuries.

*** 

Mike fell to the ground. And for a moment, he didn’t have an idea of what had come over him. For over three centuries he had managed to restrain himself from feeding on a human. But now, out of lack of choice, he had to do it. And now he didn’t how to convince his woman that he didn’t have a choice.

Joyce just stood there, watching him with her mouth wide open and tears falling from her eyes. It was such a difficult thing for her to get herself to understand why mike would break a promise that he made just a couple of months back.

“Baby, I can explain. I was left with no choice!” mike pleaded as he finally stood over the body that he had killed, trying as much as possible not to break down to tears.

“It’s too late. I don’t want to see you again!”

And with that, Joyce took to her heels and ran as fast as possible, trying as much as possible not to look back. Her heart had been shredded into pieces and there was nothing Mike could do about it.

-Love is forgiveness-

Mike had broken the promise. And that wasn’t what they had agreed on. Despite being a vampire, and a vicious one if he wanted to, he made a pact that as long as he was dating her, mike wasn’t going to be violent. But now, it seemed as though everything that he had promised was nothing but shit and needless to say,

Joyce sat up all night crying. Her heart had been misleading her all the time. How on earth could she had fallen for a vampire when her mind already told her that he was a monster? Love was clearly blind.

Eventually, it seemed as though things were starting to get a little bit twisted than normal. And it was at that moment that Joyce remembered that one very important quote that she had been taught from cradle to always embrace. It was all about people not being able to mix with animals because animals will always be animals and they would always follow instinct.

It was apparent that mike wasn’t human, but an animal. And when he was attacked, the first instinct that he had was to kill. Every single time she closed her eyes, she just remembered how the horrors went down in front of her eyes, how he jumped from one vampire to the next, ripping their throats off and taking their hearts.

Then there was the blood that was spilling all over the place. It was just too darn disgusting and quite a horror to see.

She tried everything she could to erase the horrors from her mind including having to drink copious amounts of alcohol. But from the look of things, even that didn’t do her any good since the moment she got sober, the grim images came back flooding into her head, making her feel as though she was going to be sick.

As soon as she had broken into a run from the scene and told him never to come looking for her or even call her, she didn’t make an attempt to try and find out how he was doing. And that was a little bit difficult especially as far as he was concerned since he clearly loved her.

And if he wasn’t going to have the chance to get to know more about her, then it meant that she was going to start to miss him. And since missing someone she considered a monster wasn’t going to be an option, Joyce ended up drowning herself in much more liquor.

She wasn’t receiving any calls from anyone including her dad as well as her new boss, peter. Thankfully, peter had been running that club for as long as he could remember and so he figured that maybe she was just having a rather bad day and she was going to come round and show up.

But as the days went by, it seemed as though it wasn’t happening. And so it was time for him to do something about it.

And it was at that moment that peter, his employer, came through the door. It was open and he had sensed that something was dreadfully wrong. He had tried to call Joyce for a while but from the look of things, it seemed as though what he had warned mike about at the beginning of this relationship had come to pass. But still, peter believed that the relationship could work out.

And that explained why he made a point of visiting, trying his level best to ensure that everything was getting to work out rather perfectly in the end.

“Peter, I am not in the mood to talk right now. I am sure you can manage your club for a couple of days until I am emotionally stable.”

“I am sorry for intruding but you didn’t close the door. Also, you weren’t calling back or replying my texts. I was concerned.”

“And now you can see that I am perfectly fine”

“Yes I have seen you but my dear, you are far from being perfectly fine. And I will tell you why. Look, there is something you need to know about mike and why he did what he had to.”

*** 

Mike had his private jet fueled and had instructed the pilot to take him to Africa. He didn’t know what he was going to do in Africa. But since most of the vampires, especially those whose identities had been discovered, always made a point of flying to Africa since it was an incredible place for her to start things over. And so he thought that everything would be fine if he just disappeared for a century or two.

He still loved Joyce. But now the main issue was that if he wasn’t going to leave everything behind, then he wasn’t going to live to see the following day. In his long life, he had come to know of how animalistic the human nature could turn out to be when they realize that there are some beings who were more advanced that they are to the point that they are prey.

Plenty of holocausts had happened thanks to the humans trying to finish off the vampires and thanks to their numbers and now their latest technology, they were winning. And despite the fact that he had lots of money, it wasn’t going to help him against the angry mob. His heart was heavy and for a moment, he almost didn’t want to leave. The plane was ready and the pilot had to come out and ask him if it would be possible for them to leave as soon as possible.

He nodded. But he remained in his custom Rolls Royce car for a moment or two as though he was rethinking his decision.

The worst thing about having to start over was the fact that you had to make new friends, get a brand new identity and needless to say, the entire process was just too much for a vampire to bear. He tried to adjust his sunlight ring like he always did, trying his level best to ensure that every single thing was going on according to plans so that he could leave.

And it was at that point that his other stretch limo got through the gate of the airport. The only other person who had the keys to that car was peter. And as far as he was concerned, he had left the car with him and so he didn’t understand why he would want to join him in.

And so the car pulled up short and peter came out of the front door, and then from the other side, came the one person that she didn’t expect at all – Joyce. He knew that it was peter’s idea since he didn’t want to talk to him. But it was Joyce who made a point of running all the way to where he was and knocked on the door.

“Hey, I love you and I don’t want you to go. Please, stay with me. Please.”

“But I thought you had gone to tell on me. I am a vampire and I can be a health hazard.”

“I hate violence, and I didn’t know why you had to do what you had to do. But peter told me everything and how you got here. You were doing that to protect me. Yesterday I was crushed, thinking that love is blind. And for the most part, it is blind. But love is also forgiveness. That is the small part that makes love worth it.”

Mike couldn’t remember the last time that he shed a tear, but from the look of things, there was nothing he could do to stop that one notorious drop that was pushing itself past his lashes. And the moment he blinked, the floodgates opened.

Of course he had been a monster for a while now. But in the end, he figured that there was some human left in him to love and be loved. And he had decided to cling on that human side of himself for as long as possible since it kept him going. And now that all of that was being treated, he didn’t know what he was going to do for a moment.

But eventually, things just worked out and now things were going back normal.

Peter was a true friend who had never forgotten how mike had come to his rescue many, many times over. And in as much as mike would have wanted to thank him, peter wasn’t planning on accepting his thanks. It was something he just had to do and he knew that if they had traded places, mike wouldn’t have hesitated to do the same for him.

“Hey, you can always hug and kiss in the comfort of your homes. We are in an airport for crying out loud. And just in case you haven’t noticed, my vampire balls are freezing!!!”

Peter had complained, and it was then that they realized that it was indeed very cold for them to stay at one place. So they made a point of driving away. The future was very promising and both mike and Joyce couldn’t wait to see what it had in store for them. After all these years, it seemed as though the nightmare of the merchant of death had come to an end and thankfully, a happy one.

THE END