Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter twenty-seven.

"What on earth is going on in here?" North asks from behind me and I turn to face him.

"What do you mean? Preparing for the ceremony."

"Sure...but what's all this?" He waves his hand around and I look at the way the old barn has been transformed into a well-decorated, brightly lit space, with twinkling lights and flowers and decorations. It is not customary for a mating ceremony to be so....frivolous.

"It's for April. She's human, remember? I'm trying to respect her traditions as well. This is what a human wedding usually looks like...isn't it?" I have no real idea, I've never actually been to one. But I've seen them on TV and in movies.

"Right." North nods slowly, looking at me like I'm mentally insane. He's been annoyed with me ever since I told him to stay away from his mate, Harper, and I don't blame him in the slightest. If someone told me I wasn't allowed near April, there'd probably be bloodshed.

"Look, I need to go and do something, can you keep an eye on things for me here?" I request, walking up to him.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, brother." I clamp my hand on his shoulder and our eyes meet. Although we may not be blood related, he is the closest thing to a brother I will ever have. The anger that lingered before has finally fled from his gaze. Thank fuck. I hate fighting with him.

"No worries."

I head out, pick up a crate of items and jog through the woods to the cabin I have been taking April to occasionally over the past few weeks.

Most werewolves fuck in the forest on the night of their mating ceremony, but April isn't a werewolf and I don't expect her to be naked in the middle of the woods. I'll take her to this cabin instead; it's secluded enough and she'll be warm and comfortable inside.

Once I reach the cabin, I put down the crate of items I've brought for her and start unpacking.

Clean clothes, toiletries and fresh sheets for the bed. The space is small and there's no kitchen in this particular cabin, but I place a bunch of packaged food in a cupboard for her. I don't expect to let her leave the bed for a few days at least.

Time gets away from me as I set up the space, wanting it to be perfect, and I realize the sun has begun to set. Fuck. I need to get back and get changed.

I run out the front door and am nearly back to the packhouse when Lark knocks into me.

"There you are!" Her voice is scolding.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

She looks stressed, her eyes wide. "I don't know for sure. I was helping April get ready and then she just...took off."

"Took off? Where the hell did she go?"

"I don't know, she ran off into the forest and I haven't been able to pick up her scent yet."

Fucking hell.

I run past Lark, to the clearing where the packhouse sits, and try to pick up my mate's scent.

"Maybe she just needed some alone time," Lark suggests, though doesn't sound convinced.

I close my eyes and search for my mate's heartbeat. It takes a moment, but I hear it. The thumping, pounding sound of a human heart. It's drawing closer; she's coming home.

"April?" I call out, jogging toward the edge of the clearing. I can see her traipsing up a path towards us. There are blue flowers snagged in her hair, leaves and dirt twisted into the bottom of her white dress.

She looks so breathtakingly beautiful.

"Are you alright?" I demand, closing the distance between us and reaching for her.

She looks up at me and tears glimmer in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Orson," she says. It's the first time I've ever heard her call me by my first name. "I can't do this."

It's as though I've been punched in the chest. "Sweetheart, talk to me. We can figure it out together, whatever's bothering you–"

But my words only serve to increase the flow of her tears and she ducks her head and walks straight past me.

I am more shocked than I should be. How did I not see this coming? The answer is obvious, of course: because I didn't want to. I wanted her so badly that I rushed her into this. It has only been a month since I met her. She needed more time and I haven't given that to her.

"April!" I turn and hurry after her. "Wait, please."

"I never should have agreed to this," she cries, wiping her cheeks as she marches across the clearing and toward the front porch.

"That's not true. Just talk to me, please." I keep pace with her as she strides up the stairs and toward the front door.

"Talking about it won't help."

I follow her into the foyer, but she doesn't go further. She snatches up a pair of car keys from the bowl of keys and my chest collapses in.

"April, don't leave," I plead. I will get on my knees for her if I have to. She turns on her heel and walks past me, back outside.

She's still crying and I hate it. I hate that somehow I've caused this endless sadness inside her.

"I'm really sorry," she sobs, heading for the sedan that's parked on the dirt road leading up to the packhouse. I can feel the eyes of many of my packmates following us, but I don't care about any of them, I only care about her.

"I don't want you to apologize, I want you to speak to me and explain what's going on."

She pulls open the driver's side door and finally goes still, staring at me with tears rolling down her cheeks. "I know you deserve an explanation. You deserve so much more than I can give you."

"All I want is you," I insist, coming forward and cupping her cheeks. I wipe away her tears with my thumbs. "That's it."

She pushes into my hands and there is a moment where I can see her resolve waver. But then she says in a very small voice, "I can't give you that." And she pulls away from me. "I can't go through with this and promise you forever when..." She chokes and I realize that this devastation is born of guilt. "When I'm still thinking about him."

My blood runs cold.

Of course this is about him. Fucking Nikolai Goncharov.

"Why?" I breathe. "What does he offer that I don't? You want a fancy house? I will build you one. If you want to move closer to Yale, then we will. If you want–"

"Stop, stop it," she begs. "It isn't about any of that. And it isn't that I don't want you, because I do. Desperately. But how can I commit to forever with you when part of me still wants him? It isn't fair to you."

"April, just stay and we'll talk about this. We'll postpone the mating ceremony till next month–"

"I can't." She is hysterical now, backing away from me. "I can't. No matter how badly I wish I could. I'm sorry."

"He'll break your fucking heart," I snap, feeling my own eyes burn. I won't cry—I haven't since my mother was murdered—but this is so fucking painful.

"It's already broken," she chokes out.

I am frozen in place, wondering how everything imploded so thoroughly in such a short amount of time. She climbs into the car and drives away, leaving me behind.

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