Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter twenty-one.

"Silence!" Ozius commands and the chamber falls quiet. "Girl, you are Kindred. In over two thousand years roaming this Earth, I have never met a human that is both Kindred and a mate to a werewolf."

"Well...Here I am," she says. "There's a first time for everything, right?"

He frowns at her. I have to bite back a chuckle.

"Look," she folds her hands in front of her and squares her shoulders, like she's a lawyer preparing to give a closing argument. "I know I'm human and I've only just learnt about all of this. But from what I understand, most people on both sides of this argument—werewolves and vampires—want peace. I know Reed does. He has been meticulously planning for years how best to create a truce in order to preserve life for both species. And, yes, he broke that truce. But only because he was afraid that Nik was going to hurt me. Which..." She glances back at me. "He wasn't. But Reed didn't know that. Really, it was all a big misunderstanding. And wouldn't it be a shame to let a misunderstanding undo months—no, years of hard work? Reed made a mistake, but the vampires made mistakes as well. And I am sure that throughout history, atrocities have been committed on both sides. So I'm standing before you, as the mate to New Haven pack's Alpha and...as Kindred as well, and I'm asking you to enter re-negotiations so that peace between the species can be reestablished."

No one speaks. Even I am shocked into silence.

She is articulate and moving and passionate. She is beautiful.

Ozius considers her for so long that Beatrice finally speaks up, "I think what April is saying is sensible. We shouldn't let a misunderstanding and unfortunate circumstances unravel the treaty."

There is the tapping of Ozius' finger. "And you would act as a mediator, girl?"

April looks confused. She points at herself and glances back at me for guidance. "Me?"

Ozius nods. "Yes. You are a werewolf's mate, but you are also Kindred, trusted companion to vampires. That makes you the perfect mediator between species. You will act as a conciliator during negotiations."

"Uh..."

"She'd be glad to," Beatrice cuts in, graciously accepting on April's behalf. "We will call your mate and ask him to travel to New York so that we may begin re-negotiations."

April nods and steps back toward me. I slide my arm around her middle, drawing her into my chest. I relish the way she unconsciously seeks me out for comfort.

Ozius nods his head. "Then let this matter be put to rest and let this meeting officially be adjourned."

I don't want April to get inundated with vampires who are drawn to her, so I nod my thanks to Beatrice and I spirit April away swiftly.

When we are back on the quiet, dark backstreets of New York, I slow down and let her slide down my body.

The press of her curves against me is delicious, intoxicating. She smells like heaven and all I want to do is press her up against the closest wall and make her come and then beg me for more.

But she doesn't want that. Not yet, anyway.

I content myself with the fact that she allows me to hold her hand as we walk down the footpath.

"You were...breathtaking," I tell her quietly and she looks up at me. Auburn hair frames her delicate features.

"I didn't know I could be that brave," she admits.

You are capable of more than you know. I don't think she's ready to hear that right now. At least, not from me.

We're nearly back at the penthouse when she stops, tugging me to a stop as well.

"Nik," she says and her voice is soft, but there is steel in it too. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you torture the werewolf, Lark? Was it just because you were mad?"

Disappointment burrows beneath my skin. I want to tell her that I wasn't the one who tortured the werewolf—not really, anyway. It was the other vampires. I was the one that pulled them off of her and sent them away before they could kill her. But April wouldn't believe me if I explained that. "Why are you so quick to think the worst of me?"

She looks out over the street, where a few cars pass us by. "Remember what I said before, about perjury by omission?"

I nod.

"I think you do that with yourself," she says. "You omit parts of who you are, edit them out. You only show people what you think they want to see. And you think it isn't lying because you are technically telling the truth. But it's like you're....burying evidence. So nobody ever gets the full picture. So nobody can ever see the whole truth of who you are."

I feel undressed. This human girl who has been alive for a fraction of a fraction of my lifetime has stripped me bare on a grimy, dimly lit footpath.

It's hard to speak, but I manage it. "If you saw all of me...all the things I had done...April, you would run away screaming."

"Maybe," she allows. "But at least it'd be honest."

I want to kiss her. And not because I want her pleasure or because I want to claim her or feed from her. I want to kiss her simply to be close, to hold her in my arms and know that, on some level, she cares about me the way I so desperately care about her.

My hands slide onto her waist and she grips my arms. I lean down till our foreheads press together. I can hear the quick patter of her heart, the shallow breaths that puff from her lips.

Our noses brush and then finally, finally our lips touch. She is the finest champagne I have ever drunk and the sweetest thing my tongue has ever tasted. A small whimper leaves her and I bundle her closer to me, deepening the kiss.

I know every kissing technique in the world—hell, I invented half of them. But this isn't a manipulation or a ploy.

She asked for honesty, so I give it to her, letting my instincts guide me instead of being meticulous or calculated.

She leans back and I lean forward, her mouth opening to mine on a gasp. Her fingers touch my jawline and then my cheeks as I gently push my tongue against hers. She opens her mouth wider, going up on her tip-toes and letting me deepen the kiss.

But then she abruptly turns her head away, trying to get out of my grasp. I let her go and she stumbles back, cheeks flushed and pupils dilated.

She brings her hands up to her lips, shaking her head. "I can't. I can't."

And I know she's thinking about him. Orson Reed is once again the bane of my existence.

But I can be patient.

"It's alright, April," I puff out. I'm hard as hell and I want her desperately. It's made more difficult by the fact that I know she wants me as well. But until there's nothing holding her back, she won't allow it. I tip my head back and take a moment to just breathe, to calm the surge of bloodlust that I get whenever I'm close to her. "Come on, let's get you out of the cold."

I put my hand on a very respectable area of her back and lead her down the street, to the apartment building. We ride the elevator up in silence. It only goes to the top floor, not the penthouse.

We exit the elevator and head for the short flight of stairs that leads up to the penthouse. I am still caught up in April's scent, which is why I don't notice the others at first.

In the stairwell, I go still and she stops as well, looking up at me.

"Nik? What's wrong?"

I pull her closer to my body. "We have an uninvited guest."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so excited they finally kissed! Very curious: do you guys prefer Nik or Reed for April? 

Thank you for reading!