Claim Me

Chapter 3

The next day—when it was time for me to visit the Hidden Moon Pack and its territory—I decided to bring four others with me. Of course, they were my closest followers, Abraham, Zachariah, Ji-Sun, and Blair.

Abraham, Zachariah, and Ji-Sun had been long-time friends of mine, even before I became the head of the Vincenti. Our friendship never died and I made sure to keep them close as my attendants. Blair on the other hand, arrived only a few decades ago and was much younger than us. At first he was repulsed by the idea of serving under a woman, but once I showed him my strength—more like kicked his ass—he became completely loyal.

“Werewolves.” Blair spat the word like a curse. “The Elders must be senile.”

“Now, now, Blaire. We shouldn’t curse the werewolves.” Ji-Sun said in a soft tone. “I’m sure they’re just as confused as we are.”

“Regardless, Lydia shouldn’t be marrying a mutt.” Blair hissed.

“Just as they believe their alpha shouldn’t marry a leech.” Zachariah said, earning a glare from Blair.

“He’s right you know.” Abraham jumped into the conversation. “There are people complaining on both sides, not just ours.”

“I’m not complaining.” Blaire quickly muttered. He still grumbled like a child at times.

“Look.” I finally spoke. “Just don’t be rude. We don’t want to make a bad impression on our first meeting.”

“Depends whether they’re rude first.” Blair continued to complain. “Damn mutts.”

Ji-Sun shushed him as we entered the clearing where the meeting hut was. Standing there was Giovanni and Cole, his beta who I was also on friendly terms with. There were two others standing behind them as well. I was surprised to see that they weren’t glaring at us, but I knew better. They were probably more of the polite members. We were bound to meet some who cursed our names.

“Lydia.” Giovanni smiled and began walking towards me. Blair stiffened, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Abraham give him a warning look. “And here I thought you weren’t coming after all.”

“We decided to wait until the clouds started rolling in.” I said as I looked up at the sky. When the sun was out, vampires had to wear sunglasses or something of the sort to protect our eyes. After living underground most generations, many vampires’ eyes became sensitive to the sun. The positive was that our eyesight in darkness was the best among all Underworlders.

“Anyway, should we go, Gio?” I used the casual nickname I had given him long ago. Giovanni was a mouthful, and surprisingly, Gio sounded like an endearment for him. It was perfect since the two of us were apparently fiancés.

Giovanni nodded and took hold of my hand. Everyone else was probably surprised by the action and not just me. It was the first time we ever held hands and he was being pretty bold about it, as if it wasn’t.

I decided to not question him and simply accepted his touch. I even squeezed back—maybe a little too painfully—but Giovanni continued to wear a calm smile on his face. Behind me, I heard a small growl and guessed it was from Blair. However, it was cut off and I knew Abraham had dealt with him.

“How’d your pack take it?” I asked as we walked through the path that led to Giovanni’s open territory.

He sighed. “Of course, like I predicted, they didn’t like it.” he looked at me. “A few…curses were thrown here and there.”

My lips twitched. “My followers weren’t exactly innocent either.”

Giovanni simply chuckled as we continued our casual conversation. My guards already knew that my relationship with the werewolf alpha was good so they weren’t surprised by our friendly interactions. Giovanni’s werewolves were confused and perplexed however—except his beta, Cole. I was sure others would be just as surprised if they knew.