The Dimitri Twins

Chapter 14

King Nicholas Anderson

Damien and Jason said very little about the relationship between Arabella and her vampire ex-boyfriend, but what little they did say angered me to no extent, and the fact that he was with her right now, did nothing to settle me.

We were still following the scent of the vampire, after taking the night to rest. We had to go slower than normal, as we were having to track the scent, which we had to follow carefully. The never-ending descent of snow covered up any tracks that were left pretty quickly, and, unfortunately, made the scent quite hard to keep track of too. Luckily, I had Frederick, the best tracker in the world, who actually could find a needle in a haystack. If not for him, they would be long gone.

"We need to break, the snow is getting too heavy," Logan stated, and the Royal Guard, consisting of the best Night Warriors, agreed.

"Someone start a fire, I will go and hunt some dinner," announced Frederick.

"This would be so much easier if Ari was here," sighed Jason, trying, and failing, to light the fire.

"What exactly are your powers?" asked Logan, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"I control wind, water, ice etc, Ari controls fire and earth," he answered.

"Well, I think we have enough wind and ice for now," I mumbled. One of the Night Warriors came and lit the fire with ease, and we all huddled around it, warming our cold hands.

"Who is this vampire then, do we know his name?" I posed the question to the two boys sat in front of me.

"Seth," answered Damien, pretty quickly.

"Seth Nostro?" asked Frederick. Damien nodded.

"As in the Prince of Vampires?" confirmed Logan. Damien nodded again.

"Get me on the phone to the vampire King immediately," I announced.

***

"King Remus, hello," I said.

"Alpha King Nicholas, lovely to hear from you," Remus replied.

"Do you have my mate, Arabella Dimitri, with you?" I asked, straight to the point.

"And why, pray tell, do you think that I do?"

"I have my sources, answer the question."

"I may do. I may not. Why do you ask?"

"I want what is mine," I stated.

"And she is yours because..."

"She is my mate."

"Ah, werewolves and their mates, very finicky business."

"You know not to mess with an alpha and his mate. Not after last time," I threatened.

"Threats do not belong in this conversation, King Nicholas. I will grant you and one other entry to my castle. If she leaves with you on her own accord, then fine, if not... she will stay."

"You cannot keep my mate from me," I growled.

"I would not be keeping your mate from you; she would be keeping herself from you. I will see you soon. You know where I live. Au revior." With that, he hung up the phone.

***

Arabella Dimitri

I heard the entire of their conversation; Remus had it on loudspeaker. Seth was there too, which surprised me, considering the state he was in yesterday I didn't expect him to be awake for at least a couple more hours.

In my room I paced and paced. I knew that they would be waiting out the snowstorm for the night, before heading here in the morning. That gave me time. I could run away further, but did I really want to be someone who was always on the run? No. I wanted freedom, being on the run from someone is not freedom, it is the opposite. Here, at least, I knew that if I did not want to go with him, I wouldn't have to.

"Why don't you want a mate, Bella? I never quite understood, it's not like you don't like commitment; you dated me. What is it about a mate you dislike so much?" asked Seth, sneaking up on me as I continued to pace around my room.

"I like my life the way it is, the way it has always been. I like living in my cave, hunting for my meals, I like being in my wolf form almost as much as I am in my human form. I like having no expectations of me, because then I cannot let anyone down, and I like being so close to nature," I replied, my hands running through my hair and pulling at it.

"Some things would change, like you wouldn't live in a cave anymore, but a lot of it can stay the same, you are just putting up barriers wherever you can because you are scared."

"And what exactly am I scared of?" I stopped pacing and turned to look at him.

"You are scared of having your heart broken, you are scared of the responsibility of being queen, you are terrified of disappointing people, but most of all, you are scared of rejection, not just from your mate, but by all of the werewolves. That's why you have hidden away for so long; if you don't put yourself out there, there will be no one to reject you, no one to disappoint," he explained.

"Look, I don't need you psychoanalysing my life right now," I grumbled.

"If you aren't going to do it yourself, then who will?"

"Piss off Seth. I'm going out," I stated, grabbing my coat and leaving the room.

The gardens of the vampire castle are beautiful. Most of the flowers that are planted are rosebushes, with deep red roses dotted within them. I ran my hand along the bush as I walked down the gravel path towards the fountain, cutting my fingers occasionally on the thorns, but my werewolf healing fixed them up almost as soon as they were made.

I know that Seth was right. I didn't want him to be, but he was. I have always had this cold, hard exterior. I am Arabella Dimitri for Goddess' sake. My mother and father are Martina and Ottavio Dimtiri, complete and utter badass'. I have the power to wield fire, and make the earth do my bidding, yet here I am, sat in a garden, contemplating how absolutely terrified I am to have a mate, but not only that, to be queen of the entire werewolf race, to have so many people looking at me for guidance, and as a role model. I needed to get it together. In moments like this, I really wished my mum was here. I just feel like mums always know what to say, she would know what to say right now.

I looked up at the sky, letting the snow rest on my cheeks and eyelashes, occasionally blinking to make sure the snow didn't land in my eyes. The stars were nowhere to be seen, as the snow clouds filled up the entire nightsky. Occasionally the moon would poke out in between clouds, and shine its soft rays down upon me, igniting my skin, filling me with power, but it would go as soon as it came, and I would go back to the sad little girl, sat on a bench, wishing her mum was here to give her a hug.

"Mum would've told you to stop being a baby you know; she was never really one to sympathise. It was dad that always gave the hugs. Mum was a stone-cold bitch," I heard my brother's voice behind me. One thing about us as siblings, we often knew exactly what the other was thinking. It wasn't exactly mind reading, but more just a feeling.

"That's true," I replied, but I didn't turn my head to acknowledge he was here. "I thought I would have more time until you guys arrived."

"Nicholas didn't exactly want to wait, once he knew exactly where you were, he ran as fast as he could."

"Where is he now then?" I asked.

"Waiting for my signal. We thought I should see you first," he answered honestly. "I know you don't want a mate, or responsibility, or disappointment, but Nicholas is a great guy, he's really funny, and you should see him with Madison, they are so sweet together. He has a heart of gold for those he loves, for his family, he deserves a chance."

"Send him in," I said, still looking up at the clouds, still allowing the snow to fall down onto my face.