Chapter 3 - Soo...

Aubrey surprisingly kept up with me as we ran back into the theater. There was still plenty of chaos: people fleeing - or at least trying to - whilst wolves and cult members fought in the aisles. My eyes frantically searched for our mate when Aubrey suddenly tugged on my hand. "There!" He said, pointing out our mate.

He was fighting off what looked to be a spotted hyena. Probably that man he was with, I reasoned. We quickly ran up the aisles to help him. When we arrived, he glanced at us, pausing on Aubrey for a brief moment, before reaching out to try and stop the hyena mid-lunge. The hyena brought him to the ground, but before I could step in to help, our mate threw him off, sending the animal crashing into a row of chairs.

He panted for a moment but kept his eyes on the hyena as it shakily stood back up again while cackling. The laugh sent a shiver down my spine, but our mate didn't seem to be affected. He crouched down in preparation to fight, a hiss escaping him. I noticed that he was dressed in a very nice suit - well, it would've been nice had it not been ruined by the chaos - with a small, blue sticker on the lapel. So he was a non-human. That's what our intel told us the blue sticker stood for. Besides, I didn't think many humans could launch a hyena into the air like that.

The hyena lunged again, but our mate was more prepared and dodged its attack, before scrambling to escape it. He looked at us one last time before running off at an inhuman speed. Shit!

Aubrey and I took off after him, but we could hear the hyena bounding after us. I hurried Aubrey to go faster and I felt so bad for making him run around like this when he'd obviously not been fed well enough. He was all skin and bones.

"Wait!" I shouted after our mate, but I doubt he heard; he was long gone.

The hyena behind us yelped and I glanced behind me to watch as a wolf pinned it down and tore into its throat. I quickly looked away and made sure Aubrey didn't see it as we finally escaped from the theater.

It was no use, there was no way we'd get to our mate in time now. We'd have to leave without-

"Wait!" Aubrey cried, pulling me after him.

Our mate was by the valet station, searching through the keys to probably look for his. I almost wanted to laugh. Why was he looking for his keys at a time like this? If that wolf hadn't taken the hyena down, our mate would have a lot more to worry about than finding his car.

Aubrey pulled away from me to run to our mate. I almost went over to follow, but I heard the distinct sound of trucks revving. Oh no. I ran around the corner of the building, watching as our rescue vehicles drove off, followed by plenty of wolves running beside them. Okay, maybe that car will be useful now.

I ran back to my mates, only to find Aubrey hugging our very confused mate. I stopped when I noticed him look up at me and slowly walked over. I wasn't sure what to do now. Introduce myself? Hug him too? Smile? Okay, a smile sounded good for now. I offered a very awkward smile, throwing in a wave for good measure. "Uh... hi."

Smooth, Aaron. Real smooth.

"Hello?" Our mate responded, glancing warily at Aubrey.

Aubrey pulled away to smile eagerly at our mate. "It's so nice to finally meet you both," he breathed, glancing at me. "I never thought I'd meet my mates."

"Mates?" Our third echoed, pausing.

Oh...oops.

"Right, yeah," I said, cringing when a nervous laugh bubbled up. Geez. If Erin saw me, I'd never hear the end of his teasing. "We're all mates. Uh, I'm not quite sure what you are so I don't know if you can feel it but.."

"I'm a vampire," he answered slowly, still a little wary.

I almost wanted to laugh again - excess nervous energy. Werewolves and vampires; a tween-aged girl's dream. Okay, that vampires-and-werewolves-were-enemies stereotype was way too exaggerated by my tastes. Werewolves and vampires were on neutral terms. Now, shifters and witches? A whole other story. Witches were known to hunt us down for our blood, especially my blood, the special kind that's been "blessed by the Goddess." I don't particularly feel blessed.

But I digress. It made sense that he wouldn't know what we were, then. Vampires didn't have mates. At least, they didn't really have the kind of bonding shifters and some other species did. Vampires could still mate and did so often, but they had more of a choice in the matter. And I wasn't sure what Aubrey was - seriously, I hadn't paid attention to a single thing that fire lady talked about on stage - but if he knew we were his mates, then he was one of those species with that kind of special bond.

The sound of flames being thrown from behind us drew my attention back to the situation at hand. "I really want to talk about this, but I think it would be a good idea if we got out of here first," I suggested.

Aubrey nodded his head quickly. Our other mate glanced at us and seemed to straighten out his - still messed-up - suit to get rid of a nervous tick. After clearing his throat, he said, "Alright. Well, I have my keys, if you two are open to joining me?"

I shrugged. "Our ride left anyway, and I don't want to take you to our base of operations, so sure."

The redhead nodded slowly, finding his keys and beginning to walk. Aubrey ran after him, obviously excited to be around his mates. I was, too, but I didn't have it in me to jump around about it just yet. I kept glancing warily at the estate, and my heart almost stopped when I looked in a window and saw the shadow of a man. My feet quickened and I jogged over to my mates, trying not to let what I saw bother me.

It was fine... right? Just my imagination?

Our mate - who I'd noticed on our short walk was slightly limping - stopped in front of an extremely expensive car. "Holy shit. Is this your car?" I asked in awe.

"It is," he agreed, before unlocking the car and slipping behind the driver's seat.

I decided to sit up front with him and let Aubrey take the back, but Aubrey quickly grabbed my hand before I could get in. "What is it?"

"Um, is it okay if I sit in the front with you guys?" He asked.

I paused in a brief moment of confusion. "There are only two seats, though. What's wrong with the back?"

The slightly shorter boy bit his lip, looking away. "It's just that... I've never really been in a car before, and I'm kind of nervous."

Oh. I felt a pang of sadness go straight through my heart at his words. Had he been cooped up with these psychos his entire life and never even gotten to ride in a car? How inhumane were they? I ran a hand through my hair, deciding to help him out. "Why don't I sit in the back with you, then? That way we have more room."

Aubrey smiled and nodded his head, tugging me along. We both climbed into the back and Aubrey surprised me by trying to sit on my lap as soon as I was situated. "Wait, wait!" I said before he could.

"What?" He asked, looking genuinely confused.

"You should sit down in your seat. It'll be safer. But you can still rest on me," I explained.

"Okay," Aubrey said slowly, looking slightly disappointed.

He sat in the seat next to mine, and with a little bit of instruction, was buckled in and ready to go. Our third looked back at us and made sure we were ready to go before driving off at a speed that was probably not very safe, but I understood his eagerness to get out of here.

The car ride was extremely silent... and extremely awkward. Aubrey leaned against my shoulder as we drove, which felt nice. The sparks were just as pleasant as people described them to be. I wondered what he felt, though. I needed to ask what he was. Not a shifter, I could at least smell that.

I don't know how long it took for us to drive to our mate's house - and I honestly could've kept track of time since I'd been on my phone the entire time - but eventually, we were driving into an underground garage underneath a very tall and modern apartment building. It looked so luxurious.

The three of us exited his car and he led us to an elevator and pressed a button for one of the top floors. Aubrey was quick to grab my hand when we started moving, and I had to fight off a smile. I couldn't soften up that quickly.

When our vampire mate opened the door to his apartment, I had to inhale quickly to get rid of a gasp. Aubrey merely grinned - he was trapped in a ginormous mansion for who knows how long, so he must be used to lavishment - and ran over to the couch in the living room.

The space itself was very open and appealing to the eye. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted with a dining table. Further into the apartment was the kitchen on the left, which was open to the living room that took up pretty much the rest of the space. I noticed a grand piano - of course - in a corner of the room out looking the view that stretched around the apartment via floor-to-ceiling windows. Further to the right was a set of doors, one of which I assumed led to a bathroom.

A set of stairs next to the kitchen led up to what I figured was his room and bathroom. Maybe. I wouldn't know unless I explored, which I honestly really wanted to do. Aubrey didn't let manners or awkwardness stop him from doing what I wanted to do as he bounced around, obviously excited about a new environment.

So cute.

"Why don't we sit down and discuss this...situation?" Our third suggested.

Aubrey paused from opening one of the kitchen cabinets and nodded, plopping down on the large, white couch facing a fireplace and huge TV. I followed after him and decided to sit in one of the chairs - Aubrey pouted at that. With a sigh, I switched seats to sit next to him, and he took the chance to slide onto my lap. Eh, I wasn't complaining; he wasn't heavy.

Our other mate sat down in the seat I had previously occupied, intertwining his hands and placing them in his lap. "Alright, I believe some proper introductions are in order. My name is Evander Carlin. I'm a vampire, as I already stated."

Evander. His name seemed so... fitting. "I'm Aaron Kingston. Uh, beta werewolf," I answered.

"Aubrey," the boy on my lap piped up. "I think my last name is Keene... I'm not really sure. It's been a while," he said with a small laugh. "I'm an anthousai."

Ahhh. No wonder Aubrey smelled of flowers; he was a flower nymph. It also explained his cheery disposition despite his previous captivity. Flower nymphs were very peaceful and bright souls who mated for life just like shifters did. Their bond was recognized through direct eye contact if I remembered correctly.

Evander nodded his head slowly before reaching up to rub at the stubble on his face. Now that I got a good look at him, he definitely looked like a vampire if you knew what to look for: pale skin, dark eyes that looked almost pitch black - though that could also just be his eye color - and fluid grace that only immortals seemed to have. After so many years on the mortal plane, they had to pick up something right?

"How old are you?" I found myself blurting out.

Great Goddess, Aaron. What the hell is wrong with you? I cursed myself internally for being such an idiot. My idiocy will never leave this apartment. My pack knows me to be a very serious and closed-off person. Not a mushy blabbermouth with no filter.

My question didn't seem to surprise Evander, because he smiled lightly. "I'm one hundred and fifty this year, in a few months. I was turned when I was about to be thirty," he explained. "Can I ask how old you two are?"

Thirty huh? Not bad. I ignored the immortal age seeing as, if I thought about it, it kind of weirded me out. "I'm twenty-five," I answered, before looking up at Aubrey.

"Twenty-four," he answered, and I think his age shocked me more than Evander's. "At least, I think so."

He looked so young. Were nymphs naturally baby-faced? They did live a lot longer than my species; maybe they just aged way slower. I looked at Evander when I noticed him nod again. "I see."

We all fell into silence after that. Aubrey shifted around in my lap, showing how anxious he was. It made sense; he'd just been broken out his prison right as he was about to be sold off to some perverted weirdo. "So, uh," I spoke, drawing both of their attention to me. "It's not safe for Aubrey or me to check in with the group I was with until morning. The cult people might look for him and the other captives," I explained, before eyeing Evander warily. "You're not going to turn us in or anything, right?"

Evander's brow furrowed at my question. "No. Why would I?" After he said that, the meaning behind my question dawned on him. "Oh, no, I'm not a part of that... group. My coworker tricked me into joining him; he said it was an art auction."

Now that he said that, I'd noticed his apartment was filled with plenty of art. I glanced around at it for a brief moment before looking back at him. "Good. It would've been very awkward knowing our mate was part of a cult."

Evander hummed. "So, about this mate situation, what will happen next?"

"Right..."

Now that introductions were over, I guess it was time to get into the deep stuff, like what we were going to do from here.

Yipee.

~~~

Lol, Aaron is so funny to me sometimes. I'm enjoying his perspective way too much. Anyway, they're all gonna have to talk some things through XD

I don't want to make their relationship progress too quickly, but I also don't want to make things unnecessarily awkward. Tell me your thoughts on how they might progress!

Stay tuned for more insanity and thank you so much for reading!

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