Sebastian's POV
"My darling i know you have a mate now but that does not mean you can just skip out on your royal duties."
"I'm sorry mother," i said as i sat down across from her. "She asked me to stay with her, i didn't know how to tell her no."
She sighed. "Sebastian, you will be king someday, someday soon."
"I know mother."
"What did you do about the perimeter break?" she asked. Lately she has been having me run the affairs of the palace.
"I increased security on the gates and had Nate and Darrian do a perimeter check."
"And?"
"We found nothing, must have been a false alarm."
Mom shook her head. "It is never a false alarm."
I nodded. "I'll do another check myself right now."
"Come right back." she nodded. I stood up and bowed my head. She smiled. I walked out of the room.
I collected my favorite guards from around the palace and headed to the front door. I froze when i heard a scream. When i heard her scream. I was frozen in my spot as the guards ran past me outside. I recovered and bolted outside. Ambragerias surrounded Darrian and one had a hold of Alexa. "Get the princess."
The guards and i started fighting. I fought a path to Alexa. I watched as the ambergira bit into her. I couldn't get to her in time. She was on the ground, filled with venom. "Oh baby no no no." i picked her limp body up off of the ground. "On me," i yelled to the guards. They quickly surrounded me and protected us as we made our way inside. "Mother!" i screamed once we were inside the palace. I dropped to the ground. Alexa started seizing on the ground. Her eyes rolled backwards. Her heart was beating too fast. Any minute she'd be dead.
"Sebastian!" mom yelled as she ran towards us. "What happened?"
"Ambrageria's broke the perimeter, one of them bit her." mom kneeled down beside me. She touched her cheek. "Mom please, I can't do it, i'll turn her if i do it."
She nodded. She looked down at a still seizing Alexa. i held Alexa's hand close to my face. mom leaned down and sunk her teeth into her neck. A scream broke through her lips. It pained me to watch Alexa in so much pain. It took mom several minutes to extract all the venom from Alexa's body. Mom finally pulled away from Alexa. "She'll be in a lot of pain."
I nodded. Alexa went limp in my arms. "It hurts," she whimpered.
"I know, i know. I'm so sorry." i stood up with her still in my arms. i walked us upstairs to my bedroom. i climbed into bed holding her close to me. I kissed the side of her head. "My scent should help you in some way."
I held her closer to me. She laid against my chest. i found myself rocking her in my lap. "What happened?" she whispered.
"There was an Ambrageria attack on the palace."
"I thought Ambrageria's were a myth?"
"No my love they're very real." A vampire can come into existence in three ways. A natural born vampire is the child of two vampires and stop aging at twenty one. A mated vampire is when a human is turned by their vampire mate. An ambrageria is created when a human is turned by someone who is not their mate. Because their soul is not bonded with another they lose all humanity and become a slave to the vampire that turned them. "The turning of humans into Ambrageria's was outlawed centuries ago but i suppose someone did it in secret."
"Am i going to die?" she whispered.
"No," i said. I hugged her tighter to my body and kissed all over her face. "You're fine, you're absolutely fine."
She closed her eyes. "I've never been in your room."
I chuckled. "No, I suppose you haven't." my room was a lot bigger than hers with white walls and black furniture. I had the same sized closet and bathroom as her. I found myself liking her room a lot more but that could just be because her scent fills that room. If i was lucky, her scent would linger in here as well.
"Is it safe to go to sleep?" she asked.
I nodded. "Of course. I'll watch over you." she fell asleep in my arms. I couldn't bring myself to let her go. Hours must have past when my door was opened. I snapped my head to the door growling at Darrian.
"My lord, we found someone in the woods. He seemed to have been watching the attack."
"Where is he?"
"The dungeon."
I nodded. I carefully set Alexa on the bed. She whimpered. I kissed the top of her head. I stood up and followed Darrian out of the room. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "I'm fine, how's Alexa?"
"Mother got all the toxin from her body, she's weak right now but she'll be alright."
"Forgive me, i tried to protect her-"
"I know you did, it's not your fault." not wanting to wait any longer, we sped the rest of the way to the dungeon. The guards bowed their heads and opened the door for us. We walked past the empty cells to the back of the dungeon. There was a man chained to a chair in the center of the room. "Who is he?"
"We don't know, he won't speak."
I nodded. I rolled up my sleeves as i stepped in front of him. "I will ask nicely first," i said slowly. "But if you do not answer, i will simply compel you." i leaned down to be face to face with him. "Tell me your name," i compelled with a slight growl in my voice.
His fists clenched and his jaw tensed. "Ar.. a.. Arlo," he growled out.
I smirked. "That wasn't so hard was it?" i straightened myself up. I slowly walked around his chair. "You've clearly had training against compulsion but you have only trained against normal vampires. But i'm a royal. I'm the next king of the vampires. You cannot defy me."
"You are not my king," he growled.
"You're not a vampire so you're right, i'm not your king. You are a weak little human." i grabbed his neck and pushed him back, his chair tipping backwards. I started squeezing his neck, his face going purple. "You will tell me everything i want to know or i'll turn you into one of the creatures that attacked my mate."
Darrian put his hand on my shoulder. "He can't answer questions if he's dead."
I let him go and took a step back. "Who ordered the ambergiera attack on my mate?"
"It wasn't meant for your mate. It it was meant for you. The ambergieras got confused. You were meant to be with her but you weren't."
Darrian grabbed my arm and pulled me to the door. "If the attack was intended for you we need to put guards on you and not Alexa."
"My mate is my main priority. It's more important that she's protected." i turned back to the man. "Why is a measly human working with amberieras?" his head was limp. "No," i yelled, as the smell of almonds hit me. I ran to him. I pressed my fingers against his pulse feeling nothing. "Damnit."
"Fuck, i told the gaurds to check him for weapons," said Darrian. "Sebastian, i didn't even think about cyanide."
"I didn't either." i slammed my fist against the wall. "I want two guards in front of the door and two on my balcony," i ordered. "And I want perimeter checks every hour and Alexa is to not go anywhere without a guard present."
He nodded. "Your mother already made the order."
"Good. dispose of the body, i need to be with Alexa."
"Right away sir."
I sped past him out of the dungeon and upstairs to my bedroom. There were two guards in front of my door. They allowed me in. i locked the door behind me. Alexa was peacefully asleep in my bed. Her breaths and heartbeat were even. I quietly laid down beside her. I pulled her to my chest wrapping my arm around her waist. I tucked my face into her neck letting her scent surround me. I stayed like this the rest of the night, just needing to be in her presence.