To say that the night the Du Sang twins had planned would be a night to remember would be an understatement; although, for the wrong reasons. Their lives had been riddled with mystery before they were even born but they had soon come to terms with the secrets that lay hidden behind their given names. For now, they had a show to put on, and if they had any secret talents, acting would be one of them.
Lying was an ability that people gain naturally, however, lying successfully was a completely different matter. To some, like Riley Du Sang, it came naturally; each lie rolled off her tongue with ease, perfectly acting out a scene from her own play. For her brother, lying was something of extreme difficulty. His morals were something different to his sister's, and he hadn't gained that ability naturally. Either that or he refused to embrace it, causing the perfectly rehearsed lines to get jumbled in his throat somewhere and resulting in him breaking character.
At times like this, Reece would leave the talking to the better twin, but this time was different. Her life was on the line at every moment from now on, and especially newfound news that his uncle was also at risk, every second left until the beginning of the party needed to be spent rehearsing both his lines and his personality. From that moment on, he would be a puppet without a master, a façade masking his true self. The Danielson's were the main concern of the night, and that would be his only focus.
In her room, Riley wasn't as composed as everyone thought she was. Her encounter with Damon still ran through her mind, like a broken record. His hands on her waist, his breath on her lips, his eyes, god, his eyes. Something was wrong. She wasn't supposed to feel like this; she wasn't supposed to feel anything at all. Emotions just weren't something that came to mind when thinking of her.
Maybe it was his dominance. That had to be it. It just shook her. But, she was higher up than him. That cant be it. Alphas, no matter how powerful they were or how assertive they were, they just couldn't affect her. Especially not like this. God, what was wrong with her. She had to be focused, and she was the exact opposite. Although, its extremely hard to focus on something when your mind wont cooperate. She wasn't in the right mind. Maybe the pressure of everything was finally causing her to crumble. But shed been through way tougher situations than this, she was being distracted by mere feelings.
Feelings.
But what kind.
What kind of feeling could possibly throw her off as much as this.
There was only one thing that came to mind that could possibly explain the way she was reacting to such a minor event, but the chances were almost nothing. There was no way Damon Clarke could be her mate. His grandmother was the Moon Goddess for fuck's sake. Why would she pair him with someone like her. Her blood was tainted and there was no way to get rid of it. The entire supernatural world wanted her dead and it would only complicate thing if they found out she was his mate.
Did he know? Was that why he acted like he did earlier?
There was a knock at the door that somehow managed to pull Riley back to her senses. She subconsciously flattened out any creases it her dress and gently brushed her hair from her shoulders before opening the door.
Damon stood almost uncomfortably outside the door and Riley was somewhat relieved. They needed to sort things out before anything bad happened. Grabbing the collar of his shirt, much to Damon's surprise, she dragged him into her room. She muttered a few different muffling spells that Damon only just picked up on before turning to stare straight into the werewolf's eyes.
"I know why you did what you did earlier. But nobody else can find out of were both in immensely huge trouble." It took a few seconds and an extremely weary glance, but Damon realised she was talking about his inability to control himself around her.
"You know that we're mates?" Riley avoided his eyes almost shamefully and he had to supress a whimper. Riley could sense his sadness and immediately took a step forward, to which Damon took one back. Now it was Riley's turn to feel pained by her actions.
"Look, I'm not supposed to have a mate, okay? If people found out then they'd kill me, my family and then you and yours. That's not something I want." He looked up at her, a sense of protectiveness glistening in her eyes.
"They? Who's they?" Riley sighed, her eyes dropping to the floor.
"The Vampire Council." She let her eyes change to their natural red colour and bared her teeth as fangs grew in place of her canines. The veins under her eyes darkened to an almost black colour and her skin grew even paler that it already was.
Damon watched in a mixture of amazement and shock. He finally knew what she was. But she still looked ashamed, mostly of herself.
"But," She continued to speak.
"Then there's the witch council." Her eyes changed colour yet again; bright blue this time, and her fangs shrunk back into her gums. The veins around her eyes disappeared and the colour of her skin deepened to an almost tan colour.
Damon couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Hybrid Princess they'd been tracking for years was stood right in front of him, and it was his mate.
"The Hybrid." He whispered. His eyes never left her as she nodded, avoiding his eyes.
He continued to watch as she changed for a third time; this time into a mixture of the two forms. Her eyes were now the most beautiful purple he'd ever seen, and he skin was a blissful shade of warm peach. Her fangs grew back, but they weren't as threatening as before. Sure, she could still as easily tear something to shreds, but Damon had a feeling that was the opposite of her intentions.
Damon stepped forward, his eyes filled with an emotion that Riley couldn't recognise, but she didn't step back. Now that she knew about the bond, there was some sort of mutual respect shared between the two. She still may not like him all that much, he could help out so much in her plan, as well as trying to stay out of trouble with her powers. Although, there would be the constant pull between the two; a constant need to complete the bond, and it would grow stronger each day they both refused to acknowledge it.
"I'll keep you safe. I wont let anyone hurt you. I promise." Riley's eyes snapped up to meet Damon's, surprise masking her features. He was tempted to touch her, hold her hand, anything, but he knew he had to hold back. He had yet to gain her trust and he sort of understood that. What he didn't understand was why she didn't realise he was her mate straight away.
When to mates meet, already-formed bond becomes present in each of the mate's minds, and they should be able to sense all of their other half's emotions, pain, thoughts. Of course, they can block each other from their minds, but if Riley didn't even know who her mate was, how could she know to block them out. All he could sense was darkness, cold darkness. The bond was barely there, which only confused him further. They'd met, begun to understand each other, yet there was nothing to indicate that the bond was even there, let alone active.
However, Riley didn't need the bond to sense Damon's emotions. It was something that all witches were capable of. Each person, whether supernatural or not, had a magical aura that surrounded their bodies. It changed colour depending on what emotion that person was feeling. Witches are able to see the bond, and therefore determine what emotions people are feeling.
Damon's aura was stronger than anyone's Riley had ever seen. Usually it was a mild glow, but Damon's was almost a beacon of light. Maybe that was the way the witch side of her amplified the bond between two mates.
He was very confused. And shocked. And slightly terrified.
See, the problem with being able to see the emotions, but not being able to access the thoughts that go with them. There are different spells that can allow a person to be able to see another's thoughts as well as their feelings, but it's mostly used for married couples who never find or lose their mates as a way of comfort and normality.
Riley tilted her head slightly, making Damon look down to her. Her eyes showed her concern, but her merely brushed away his emotions and focused on the context of the situation.
"My mother is a guardian, as you already know, as well as some others in my family. I know it's a push, and possibly extremely dangerous, but would you consider meeting them?" Fear flashed through her eyes and Damon mentally punched himself for mentioning it too soon.
"I promised to protect you, remember? I would never let them hurt you. If there are and group of people that would be thrilled to know you, it would be them. Honestly, there's something not quite right about the bond. I think it has something to do with the whole Hybrid situation. You don't have to if you-"
"I'll do it." She let out a breath and pulled her lip into her mouth with her teeth.
"If there's something wrong with the bond, then it'll kill us both, and I kind of need to be alive to protect my family." Damon nodded firmly, but pulled his lips up into a smile.
"Tomorrow then?" She nodded and let herself shift back to her human form.
Damon was about to leave the room when he stopped at the door and turned back.
"Are you going to be okay tonight? You know, with all of your old coven here. What if something goes wrong?"
"I'll be fine. I'm the most powerful being on Earth besides the Guardians, right? Plus I have you, Reece, and my uncle here. Just don't mention to anyone about us being mates or me being the Hybrid, okay? If that got out Me, you, as well as the rest of both our families would be dead where we stood." Damon sent her a grave nod.
"Be careful." He whispered before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Riley continued to stare at the spot where he stood, suddenly feeling all of the warmth leave her body and the room.
Her walls were crumbling around her, but this time she had an anchor to keep her grounded.
She just needed to learn how to trust again.
The day was near where her life would either thrive or fade.
But either way, Sachiko Du Sang would be the name painted across the supernatural world.
In either her blood, or the council's.