Chapter 22

CLEMENTINE

“Friend?” Ivan growls as he stalks toward Carl. He takes him by his shirt and pushes him against the headboard.

Still out of it, Carl looks confused about what’s happening.

“What are you doing in my territory,” Ivan and Leonid say at once.

Carl rolls his eyes like a drunk man, and Ivan tightens his hold more. “You’re not the alpha of this territory,” the vampire says.

I put my face in my hands. ~Could he be more stupid?~

Ivan is about to beat the shit out of Carl when I put my hand on his shoulder. He immediately calms down, but he still grips the vampire so tightly that he starts to lose consciousness again.

“Please, leave him. We can talk about this calmly, don’t you think?”

Ivan growls once more. I so badly want to roll my eyes at his attitude, but I refrain.

~“He’s cute,”~ Helia says flirtatiously.

~Helia, now is not the time.~

“Ivan, baby, please, come with me,” I say, trying to flirt. When he doesn’t respond, I turn around and start walking away. “Fine then.”

I don’t get far before Ivan pulls me back.

“What were you going to say?” he asks, his voice deep.

Looking into his now lustful eyes, I say, “I was going to see if you wanted to shower with me, but I guess you have something much better to do.” I point at Carl’s unconscious body.

I turn around again, but Ivan stops me. “Wait, I will come,” he says quickly. “I have nothing better to do than to come and shower with you.”

Smirking in victory, I make my way to the bathroom with my mate following me.

***

When Carl wakes up in the morning, the veins in his eyes are blood-red, making him look extremely dangerous. I give him some bags full of blood to drink.

“Thanks,” he says.

I cross my arms. “So, before Ivan comes and shreds you to pieces, tell me what you’re doing here.”

“He left you with me?”

I roll my eyes at the question. Ivan didn’t leave me; he had to go to a pack meeting with my brother downstairs.

“Answer me now. What the hell were you thinking, coming to a werewolf pack? Surely, you knew you’d get bitten by a bunch of them?”

Carl grins. “I knew you could cure me, so…”

My eyes start to glow.

“Fine, fine. No need for violence.” Suddenly serious, he says, “I came because my sister was kidnapped by a werewolf pack. I need your help to get her back.”

“How do you know a werewolf pack kidnapped her, and how can I even help you?”

“Well, you’re a wit—”

I quickly cover his mouth and use my senses to see if someone is close to my room. Thank God, there isn’t anyone.

“Don’t you dare complete that sentence!” I whisper angrily. “No one knows—not even my mate.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know that.”

“How did you know?”

“I made the connection when I first met you.”

Confused, I ask, “But…I hid it, so how?”

“You hid it from everyone else, but vampires can make a connection with witches.”

“Oh…and when were you going to tell me this, exactly?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“I was waiting for you to tell me. I didn’t want to pry, but I guess I ended up telling you anyway.”

I roll my eyes. “Well, I can’t help you with magic,” I whisper.

“But why? You could do a locator spell.”

“Because I don’t know how. Besides, why didn’t you just go to Kalisto?”

“I don’t trust her.”

“And you trust me?”

“Yes, I do. Now, please, help me.” Carl looks desperate, but I can’t do anything without Ivan finding out.

“I’ll talk to my mate and see what I can do to help,” I say.

Carl thanks me, and I tell him, “Stay here,” as I leave the room.

When I get to Alex’s office, I sense five people inside, but I don’t even have the chance to knock before Ivan opens the door. He looks delicious with his styled hair.

“Yes, baby?” he says, taking my hand and walking away from the office with me.

I furrow my brows. “You knew I was coming?”

“I could smell you from miles away, you know.” He smirks and gives me a chaste kiss before resuming our walk. “So?”

“I need to talk to you about something…regarding Carl.”

Ivan’s face hardens, and I can tell he’s fighting with Leo.

“What is it?” he asks, teeth gritted.

“His sister, Barbara, was kidnapped, and he needs my help.”

“No.”

“What?”

“You are not going to help him. I will not let you go alone to help. No way.”

“Then come with me.”

This makes him laugh. “Me? You want ~me~ to help a vampire?”

“No, I want you to come with me to help a friend of mine.” I squeeze his hand, and he avoids looking into my eyes, knowing that he’ll cave if he does.

We’re both quiet until we stop outside our room. Then Ivan asks, “Does he…is he married or something? Hopefully?”

I fight back a laugh. “No. At least, I don’t think so. I don’t know him that well.”

He clenches his hands. “F-fine. But we will do it my way,” he says in a serious tone.

I smile and reach up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, baby.” I turn around to leave, but he stops me.

Ivan takes me by the waist and presses my chest against his. He tilts my face up so that I’m looking into his eyes, and I can tell by their color that he’s fighting back Leonid.

“Clem, I want to mark you so badly. I will once we get this Carl dude out of our way,” he says bitterly.

~“That’s unfortunate. We only have a few days until he learns that you are a witch,”~ Helia says.

~What?~

~“But don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll accept us.”~

~Hopefully, Lia.~

“You will,” I tell Ivan, moving his index finger so that it trails my neck. “I cannot wait for you to mark me here.”

This earns a deep growl.

All of the sudden, our bedroom door opens, and Carl says, “As much as I would love to hear more of your weird sex talk, I need your help.”

Ivan hugs my waist protectively, earning an eyeroll from Carl. Ivan then growls at the vampire.

“Um…let’s get to work,” I say, trying to change the subject. The tension is…a lot.

As I lead them both to an empty meeting room, Ivan keeps glaring at Carl, and Carl keeps smirking in return. I think he has a death wish.

We sit, and Ivan grumbles, “Tell me what your problem is, and tell me fast.”

“Okay, so my sister and I live in a clear forest. We’ve been living there for years, and we haven’t had any problems, but recently, we’ve been sensing werewolves around the area. We don’t have a problem with werewolves—well, other than the fact that they killed our parents—but I think a pack of werewolves kidnapped my sister.”

Carl sighs dramatically, and I glance at Ivan. He looks deep in thought.

“Well, there are only two reasons a werewolf pack would kidnap a vampire,” Ivan begins. “First, your sister did something to one of their own, and they want revenge. Second, and by far the worse reason, the Moon Goddess randomly mated someone from that pack with your sister.”

“But how could that happen? The Moon Goddess cannot interfere with vampires’ fates.”

“She can, actually—through an alliance with another god or witch.”

“Fuck.” Carl slaps himself, then sighs again. “Please, help me find her. I need to know if she’s alive.”

Ivan stands up, walks to the nearest window, and looks out. “Since you’re Clem’s friend, I will help you.”

Truthfully, I would’ve helped Carl whether Ivan said agreed or not. But I’m glad I convinced him to help us.

I smile at the vampire and take his hand. “Don’t worry, Carl.”

Growling, Ivan separates our hands and takes mine in his. “You don’t have to hold hands with him,” he grumbles.

Carl smirks and begins to make his exit. Ivan glares at him until he is gone, and then he turns toward me and asks, “Why do you have to be friends with a vampire?”

A grin spreads across my lips. “Why do you hate vampires so much?”

“I don’t hate them, but I don’t love them either.”

“Why?”

“They are—they are charming and all and can deceive you,” he cutely says.

I laugh. “You’re scared that Carl would charm me and that I’d leave you for him?” I wet my lips, getting his attention.

He scowls. “Of course not.”

“Well, rest assured, I only have eyes for one person, and he’s standing in front of me.”

He cracks a smile.

“By the way,” I start, changing the subject, “we need to talk about Luna Helen. She’s missing.”

“Yeah, I wondered. Hopefully nothing bad has happened to her.”

“Hopefully.”

With that, Ivan returns to his meeting, and I walk back to my room. There, I find Carl lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling with a strange look on his face.

“You’re still here?” I ask, walking over to him.

“Of course. I had to talk to you before I left.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t mean to offend you, but are you sure we can trust Ivan?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Helia wants to take his heart out. I control her.

“None taken,” I grit out. “But yes, we can trust him. He is my fucking mate—I love him and I trust him so much.”

Carl smirks. “You two have a weird chemistry, but I like it.”

“Thanks.”

“And Clem,” the vampire says, climbing back through my bedroom window, “Ivan is drowning in jealousy.”

With that, he disappears from sight, leaving me with my thoughts and a smile that could reach Europe.