Claribelle's Mate

Chapter 25

I smiled down at him and ran my fingers through his thick fur and I watched the vampires converse. I could tell that the woman wanted to give this a try, but the two men were worried about the safety of the decision. I could only hope that the woman won the argument and got them to see sense.

They conversed for a few more minutes before turning back to face Damien and I. Patting Damien's head once, I stood and walked towards them again, Damien retaking his place by my side.

"Have you come to a decision?" I asked them, waiting tensely until they answered. For all my conviction earlier that they would be willing to join our coven, I had no idea what their answer was going to be.

"We would like to meet your coven leader," the black haired man finally declared.

Unable to help it, I let out a sigh of relief and closed my eyes for a moment. I was so happy that we were going to be able to help them, that they were going to let us help them. Opening my eyes, I smiled brightly. "That's great!" I told them happily. "Damien and I will take you to Jerome, but first, what are your names?"

The black haired man took the lead again. It was obvious that he was the designated leader in their little group. "I am Kaden, this is my sister, Anastasia, and our good friend, Evan," he declared.

I nodded, smiling at each of them in turn. The woman was the only one to return it. "I'm Claribelle Walker and this is my mate, Damien," I introduced us again. "If you'll follow us, I'll take you to Fangs and you can meet Jerome."

We started running, but kept a pretty even pace so that we didn't leave Damien in our dust. It wasn't long before they could no longer hold on to their curiosity.

"So your mate is a werewolf?" Kaden asked me.

I nodded with a smile. "My mate is a werewolf," I confirmed.

I almost laughed when Anastasia shuddered. "How is that working for you?" she asked, sounding like she expected a negative answer.

This didn't bother me. Damien and I hadn't started out very well, but I couldn't be any happier now. "Really well," I told her. "You're going to notice real soon that we aren't like most covens."

"What do you mean?" Evan asked. He didn't speak often, but he had a deep, calming voice.

"We are allied with a pack of wolves," I told them, ignoring their shocked looks. "My mom was a dormant with no knowledge of her genes when her mate, a werewolf found her. Her cousin came and introduced her to her heritage and her genes, but she resolved to stay human, fearing that her mate would hate her if she ever made the transition. Even with that knowledge, she spent a lot of time with my coven. During a battle, she sacrificed herself to save my dad's life, making the change to a vampire. The pack and coven learned to coexist."

They were silent for a moment before Anastasia said, "That may be the strangest story I've heard in my life. And I've been around for a while."

I laughed. "It's definitely a new concept," I agreed. "It works well for us though. My mom is the beta female of our pack and we spend at least two nights a week with the coven. There's also a barbeque tonight at the pack house for both the coven and the pack."

Kaden gave me a sidelong glance. "I don't think that's a good idea for us," he told me.

I waved a dismissive hand at him. "You'll be fine," I told him. "Think of it as a learning experience."

They went silent, looking like they didn't really agree, but didn't want to argue with me.

I smiled down at Damien when he brushed against my leg. I ran a gentle hand down his back as we ran, smiling wider when he moved a little closer.

In another minute, we had reached the city and stopped on the edge of the woods so that Damien could change back to his human form and walk the rest of the way to Fangs with us.

I glanced around the forest while he was changing and saw a flash of brown fur through the trees. I tried to look for it, leaning back a little, but whatever it was, was gone. One of the patrol wolves must have been checking on us, although I know none had orders to.

Dressed in only a pair of shorts when he came back, Damien threw an arm around my shoulders and smiled at the vampires. I forgot about the flash of fur and leaned into his side as we began our short trek through town to Fangs.

"This is Fangs?" Kaden asked, staring unimpressed at the run-down brick building with the graffiti sign, a simple curved line for a smile with fangs included painted on the side of the building where the bricks were less worn.

I grinned as I took in the deceiving structure. "This is Fangs," I replied with a smile. "Don't worry, it's great inside."

They didn't seem to believe me.

~~~*~~~Author's Note~~~*~~~

Here's the next one! I hope you guys enjoy!

~Haley~