Unedited.
Embry POV.
I stare into my mate's amber eyes and I'm lost.
They are so beautiful one may compare them to the bright and blazing early morning sun.
Maybe the Moon Goddess heard my prayer for guidance after all.
My father always said that when he stared into my mother's eyes he felt like he was staring at his glimpse of a heavenly world. I always felt like he was being a little overdramatic.
Okay, he was being extremely overdramatic! Big Time. How could staring into someone's eyes make you feel like you're on some sort of heavenly cloud? Or as my father used to state, "I was staring at my glimpse of a heavenly world." That's not realistic. There is no such thing. However, I won't dare say that to his face. I didn't have the heart to. You wouldn't either if you witnessed the look of love.
There was a dreamy fog tint inside of my father's haunted eyes when he told Ruq, Farrah, and myself the stories of his time with our mother. They made my heart swell with joy but sometimes the stories could be compared to fairy tales. They sounded ridiculous, in all honesty. Impossible.
I was never able to connect reality to his fictional choice of words. I can now.
I've never seen someone as enchanting as my mate. He's so mysterious.. and deadly. His eyes are the shade of the purest honey. Fascinating. He has thick and dark brown eyebrows that are a tad bit darker than his thick, wavy, and tousled mahogany hair. It reflects the sun's gentle light, penetrating its smooth layers. His hair is wild and untamed and I can't help but want to run my hands through it. Just so I can get another glimpse of his god's god-given face. I bet he would look extremely handsome with his hair slick back. He'll look sexy with his hair pushed back. Who, am I kidding? This man would look hot even if he was bald.
He's gorgeous. He is just that handsome. While staring at him I feel like I'm staring at the golden gates of a heavenly world that are covered in vines.
I lick my lips, once again enjoying the sweet taste of his blood. No wonder why my wolf followed his every commandment with no complaints. Usually, my wolf would whine about me showing compliance. She's the complete opposite of me. She hates falling in line. She hates following orders.
But it's different with him. She feels the need to follow him to the end of the world. She feels like we are destined to follow his lead, which is just flat-out weird if you ask me. This is not some type of movie or fictional story. This is real life and in real life, people don't fall in love at the first site. That's not realistic.
No matter how he looks and boy he does look good.
I guess that's why I can't stop staring at him.
His oval face structure has been painted to perfection, a masterpiece. I'm in awe of his majestic features. His nose has a dramatic curve shape and prominent bridge, resembling the beak of a predatory bird. His pretty, pink, and plumped lips are shaped into a heart, kissable. There's a dauntlessly dangerous air about him that calls to my inner light. It's pulling me in with ease. I want to explore his wicked world of wonders which is weird.
Typically, I would run from danger. I would attempt to flee but in his arms, I feel safe. I'm attracted to his danger, it's exciting. There's something different about him.
He's a vampire. Wait! He's a vampire. My inner warning bells start to ring and buzz, going off. My mate is a vampire. Oh, my Goddess!
Oh, my goddess. I'm lost for words. I'm just trying to register it all. Embry Wilde's mate is a vampire. A freaking vampire! Out of all the careful creatures in this hell of a world, my Goddess paired me with a reckless creature as such. Of course, she did!
Of course, my destined pairing would be a frustration of the stars. It's just my luck.
I like to believe that I'm a civilized person. A good person and bad things always happen to good people.
Be grateful Embry my inner voice suddenly scolds. Yeah, be grateful my wolf almost growled inside of my head.
I mean that sounded bad. It's not that my mate being a vampire is a bad thing to me. I could care less if he was a frog, but being with my mate is like basically being a lamb that unfortunately stumbled into a pack of wolves. It's dangerous. My mate would be endangered because of me.
We're doomed! I open my mouth to speak but again I'm speechless. I seemed to lose my vocal cords.
Right now all I can do is stare at him. I told you. I'm lost. It's just me and him. He is all I can see, hear, and feel. Me and my wolf. We are lost inside of him... and we don't ever want to be found. We want to stay right here. At this moment in time, were lost in the wicked world of the wondrous him.
Plus, he tastes just as good as he looks.
Rumor has it that vampire blood can make you feel high. I never was the type to listen to rumors. Only an idiot would accept a rumor I thought. Whelp, I guess I'm stuck on stupid! Possibly, the biggest fool to ever exist because I'm here to tell you that the rumors are true.
I'm buzzed. Completely, stoned-face! Yup, I'm officially a hippie, high off life and high in love.
I'm in a zone. It feels like we have been staring at each other for a long while into he finally decides to break the spell. His eyes scan the forest. He's searching for something or someone.
"Hey you," I find the courage to speak, gaining his attention.
His honey and vines tainted eyes fall back onto me. "Hey you," he speaks, sending chills down my back. Seriously, why does his voice sound like a siren singing? His voice does strange things to me. My heart flutters inside of my chest like fire fluttering in the wind and my skin buzzes from a sudden force of electricity, sticking like lightning.
"What's your name," he questions me with a soft smile and I swear to Goddess my heart stops, flops, and then beats again. The wickedly delightful feeling that comes to me when this man smiles. It's magnificent.
"Oh, where are my manners," I excuse myself. "I'm Embry," I tell him in a hurry. "My name is Embry Destiny Wilde,"
"Embry Destiny Wilde," he repeats tilting his head over to the side. "Interesting," The sound of my name rolling off his tongue makes a volcano erupt inside of me. I completely disregarded the other word that fell from his lips. What did he say again? "Interesting," I think. I don't believe that my name is really that interesting. Now what I do believe that is interesting is the way his hair hangs over his angelic face. Now, that's what you call interesting.
I want to touch his hair. I want to touch him.
"Embry," he states my first name, with a teasing smile. You would think that he knows the effect that he has on me. There is no way. We're not bonded, claimed, or mated. This is real-life Embry I use my own voice of reason against myself. Remember that! Stop overthinking it, be cool! He cannot feel what I feel, yet.
"Yes I'm Embry," I say quietly, almost in a whisper. Why am I whispering? It's just us. There is no need to be shy Embry. I give myself another little pep talk."What's your name?"
"What's my name?" His eyes sparkle with amusement. "What's my name," this time he almost laughs. He lowers his face dangerously close to my face, officially being the core heat that suddenly has my body drenched in a thick coat of sweat. The skin-to-skin contact is too much to bear. He gives me a fever.
Especially, when he presses his forehead on top of my forehead, looks me deep into my eyes, and then answers, "My name is Cyrus," he huskily declares. Oh, my! It's getting hot out here, which is also impossible. We're in Canada and the month is December. Yes, I'm officially burnt to a crisp, or at least my brain is fired.
"My name is Cyrus, Embry Wilde." Wow, the way he says my name and his.
His name is Cyrus. "Cyrus and Embry sitting in a tree. K- I- S S-ING!" Celine's voice pops inside of my head, figuratively speaking of course.
Seriously it does have a nice ring to it. Cyrus, I mean his name has a nice ring to it. It fits him. I swear, I've heard it before, but I can't place my finger on it. What's his last name?
"Just Cyrus," I question, surely he has a last name. Do vampires even have last names?
"Just Cyrus," He says, answering my unspoken question. I guess they don't. "But you may call me Cyrus The Great if it suits you," he releases a hearty laugh and then winks at me. He is so cocky.
However, Cyrus The Great does kind of suit him. I would go with Cyrus The Glorious or more like, Cyrus The Gorgeous.
"Why do you smell like a hunter Embry Wilde," his next question, catches me by surprise. Not to mention, it disturbs me due to the distaste and jealousy that I can identify in his tone.
"He saved me," I respond in a hurry, not wanting him to be upset. I don't want to anger him. He has no reason to be jealous of anyone at least when I'm placed into the equation.
I'm destined for him. I belong to him. "My hut was on fire and he rescued me, I think."
I don't know why I feel the need to tell him everything. I probably shouldn't. He's a vampire and most likely participated in the attack. But he's my mate, my wolf howls inside of my head.
"You think," he questions the uncertainty in my voice.
"Yes, I believe so," I tell him, looking down at my left hand. During, the fire I believed I was burnt but to my surprise, my flesh is flawless and smooth. "I'm not sure," I confess. Everything is in a haze, honestly. But I do believe that he was trying to take me to safety. I, on the other hand, was more concerned about my family's safety."
Speaking of which, I need to make sure that they are okay I think to myself, attempting to mind-link to Ruq. He must be worried sick. I attempt to open my mind to him, only to find nothing. I can't feel him, but I know for a fact that he's alive.
I would have felt his or Farrah's death through the connection of the Wilde wolves.
"And did you find them," Cyrus questions, bringing my attention back to him.
"Find who?"
"Your family," He asks before, breaking eye contact with me. Once again, his eyes scan the forest, and this time I'm able to identify that he is searching for any sign of a threat. Does he know the legacy surrounding my family name? He can't possibly believe that I'll betray him because I'm a Wilde Wolf. He has to know that I would never do that.
"No," I tell him, grabbing onto his face. Sparks fire from the skin-to-skin contact of my touch. It feels so good. His eyes widen in shock like he can't believe that I touched him, or possibly because he felt the sparks too. "No, I didn't find them."
"Such a shame," he whispers, gently removing my hands. "Because I will," he declares, and something about the tone of his voice places me on edge. Before, I had a chance to question him. Cyrus's eyes shoot up and then two words echo inside of my head. "Play dead!"
Wait! What? His voice is in my head!! My body automatically goes limp and my eyes slam shut. I feel and hear everything going on around me. Other than that, I'm a corpse. My mind is telling me to drift off, go to sleep but my wolf refuses to give in. She's fighting to stay awake, to be alert. She always had the strength to disobey an Alpha command, even though we never did.
It's too painful and I wouldn't allow it. I know my place and understand who is supposed to be at the top of the food chain. That's the way of life, but when it comes to my mate it's different. For the first time in history, my wolf and I agree. We shall not follow his command, not this time.
I feel the wind shift as he throws my body over his neck. I'm dangling and playing dead. Unbelievably, right? I was told that some vampires possessed the power to force others to do want they wanted them to do. "Play Dead" his words echo again. Why would he want me to pretend to be dead? I guess we shall find out soon enough.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," someone speaks, breaking my train of thought. It's a female. A vampire, judging by her scent... My wolf paces back and forth inside of me when she gets a whiff of her. She smells strange. She smells like him. My wolf doesn't like it. "What set you off during battle? Are you hurt," she sounds concerned. Why is she so concerned about him?
"What happened here? Why are our men dead and why are you carrying that thing?"
"I'm fine." My ears focus on the tone of his deep sexy voice. Your voice tone is everything, my father would say. Sometimes it's not what you say. It's how you say it. He sounds irritated.
"It's alive," the female speaks again. She didn't just call me it? I'm a person, why is my mate allowing her to call me anything but what I am.... because you're a wolf idiot! My subconscious speaks up. Their enemy. My mind is everywhere. I'm rambling inside of my head. Maybe, it's an effect of tasting my mate's blood. Maybe!
"Why does she smell like your blood?" The unknown voice carries on. I wish I could see her. Who is she to him? My wolf is now growling. She doesn't like her which is the second weirdest thing that has happened to me tonight. Okay, well probably the tenth if you add in everything else that occurred on this night filled with unfortunate events.
"What the fuck Cyrus, please don't tell me that wild thing is your new toy."
Toy?! I'm not his toy.
"Yes, Ravana," he agrees. My mind doesn't believe my ears. "This is my new toy." Aw, you little.....
"Sire," another voice cuts in. This time the voice belongs to a male vampire. I can all but see his sudden discomfort. My ears pick up on movement.
It sounds like the new source of smell has dropped down to his knees. Is he bowing? Why the hell would he bow?
"You may rise, Marko," My mate commands. He was bowing. The vampire by the name of Marko was bowing to him. What the Goddess?!
"What are the reports," my mate questions. I can feel that he is now walking but I can't hear his footsteps munching over the snow. His movement is as quiet as a mouse, undetected.
"The raid was successful. We lost a total of twenty, plus the two that were eliminated here." I can feel the newcomer stare at my body. But unlike the female vampire, he doesn't question the strange scene before his eyes. I wonder why? "The targets have all been eliminated and put down. The village has perished in the flames. We have no prisoners. Your orders have been followed, Your Highness. The dogs are all dead."
"You're orders have been followed, Your Highness." His words wash over me like a tidal wave and gut me out like a fish. He ordered this. He is the one in charge of this. "Your orders have been followed, Your Highness, "You orders have been followed, Your Highness," the words repeat, over and over inside of my head."
Why would he command such a monstrous act? Better, yet! Why would they carry out his command? Who is he to them? What the hell does he mean by calling him, Your Highness?
Isn't that what people call royals?
"What's my name?" His eyes sparkled with amusement. "What's my name," At that time he almost laughed. "My name is Cyrus." he huskily declared.
Cyrus! His name has a nice ring to it. It fits him. I swear, I've heard it before, but I can't place my finger on it. Suddenly, my finger is put on an exact point.
If I heard him correctly! Which I'm quite sure that I have, he's indicating that my mate is some type of Royalty.
The only Royal vampire I know by the name is Cyrus is The Ruthless Vampire King.
Goddess no! My mate can not be The Ruthless Vampire King.
<🌪>
Awake Friday Update. Please don't forget to hit that golden star ⭐️ comment and follow. If you want to read a chapter ahead you can access my Inkitt link on my profile.
Q: Which of the 4 elements of the earth would you want to control? I'll go first! Fire🔥