Alpha's Mate : Daughter of the Moon (Book 2 of The Outcaste Series)

Chapter 20

Of all the attendees, the highest bidder left with the widest smile and greatest satisfaction. He was the center of envy as he claimed the rarest item for that night. Good for him. At least he could die happy.

God of fortune blessed him with his prize, but Lady Luck chose my side tonight.

My "master" was giddily drunk and was more than eager to rush home with his newest fancy. The carriage ride was much too short for any advances and so happens, he was the new lord of the house to succeed the neighboring household to the Dietrichs. Things couldn't fall any more to my favor. Perhaps the Goddess of the Moon is really watching over Ralphie and making this mission of mine as smooth as it can be.

As soon as we found a bed, the young lord sat down and pulled me onto his lap. In response, I began to undo my corset as fast as I could. He ran his nose around my neck and was so excited to dig his fangs into my nape when I pulled out my lucky charm and thrust it into his chest. With my fist, I hammered it in until streaks of blood spilt from the corner of his mouth.

The helpless lord tried grasping my neck with his hand but I pushed upward with Ralphie's sharper-than-a-knife tooth and repeated the same action with full strength and determination.

A few more seconds later, there was no more movement in the room.

Although it wasn't my first time killing a vampire, he was the first one I murdered on Vampire Territory. Sadly, he was not a high noble. Otherwise I could go back and meet Diane right this instant.

It was only a matter of time before someone discovered the corpse so I snuck out from the backdoor in his room. These noble lords always have some kind of escape room or hidden door. This one so happened to hide his underneath his priceless heirloom of a rug made from the skin of the werewolves that his ancestors hunted down.

Had he been more humble about it, I wouldn't have such ease in escaping. As soon as I pried open the wooden door, I slipped myself into the darkness and headed towards the direction from where the wind was entering. The exit led to the back gardens of the Dietrich household—somewhere I could navigate blindfolded.

It was almost as if fate wanted me to come back this way. There was no place in the castle I knew better than here. Making my way in and out would be easier than I thought given that the security hasn't changed from back then. But it did and not in the way I expected it to.

There wasn't even anyone making patrols at night! Before, there were at least one or two servants circling around the area covering even the odd hours to ensure the manor was well protected—though it was mainly just for show since no one actually dared infiltrate the his residence. Well, except for Lord Perrot who once or twice thought it amusing to sneak in to raise havoc and then brush it off as a petty joke.

If I were to recall, though security used to be much stricter, it was also a bit more lively. Now, the night seemed eerily quiet and the branches too heavy to want to sway with the wind. No leaves danced or celebrated the fresh breezy air that ran through the floral maze that at least looked the same. At least that part of this place I once called home was the same.

As much as I remember to have hated life within these prison walls, my heart can't help but reminisce the small fragile memories that came with the place. I could recreate those fragments that once defined the climax of life—the very moments that I learned to love and care for the species that humans were trained to fear and succumb to.

It was in this very garden where I first met him. From the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was different from the rest of his kind. It wasn't his colossal stature nor his graceful elegance, not even his silver blue eyes or his wicked handsomeness, but something about him intrigued me. He was shrouded in mystery with a heavy dose of aloofness and as much as I feared him, I was piqued with curiosity and attraction to him.