Circle of Three

Chapter 4

Freya found herself playing with her ice cream as she sat next to her siblings. Neither of them said anything as they could feel the vampire's eyes on Freya and the emotional monsoon building within their sister. "Just go talk to him." Seth cajoled causing Freya to shake her head vehemently. "Come on, sis. He's your mate. Your forever. Don't be afraid." Freya looked at both of her siblings before sighing. She wanted to say a quick spell for luck, but she still felt too depleted.

She got up and made her way across the parlor to the booth in the back where the two vampires were sitting. The entire time she made her way over his honey brown eyes never left her. He had already cataloged her face a thousand times over. Freya stood beside their table a nervous wreck and he knew. Her heart beat a mile a minute and he couldn't help the smirk that made its way onto his face.

"Hi. I'm Freya." She finally spoke up and he could tell she was admonishing herself internally. He didn't want to engage her though. He was totally fine just watching from a distance, but here she was in his face and the proximity was intoxicating. "Hey sexy." The other vampire responded catching Freya off guard. Her focus had been solely on her mate making every other person a non-factor.

"The name's Lazlo Benson." Freya couldn't help but smile at his smile. It was bright and contagious and his brown skin just added to the appeal. "Nice to meet you Lazlo." Freya turned her attention back to her mate. She was confused as to why he hadn't spoken to her. She had made the first move to come over there and now it was his turn. "This here is Philip. Philip Wang."

Freya's smile was too beautiful for words, so Philip didn't try to describe it. Her very presence was bringing out emotions he had never felt before. He could tell she was a happy person the moment his eyes spotted her. She reminded him of the feeling he assumed one would get when the sun touched your skin on the first day of spring. She exuded joy on the highest decibel and it was deafening. Her whole aesthetic wasn't attractive to him, and he knew instantly that their pairing wasn't right. Fate had got it wrong.

"Hi, Philip. It's really nice to meet you." He looked into her bright blue eyes that contrasted with her mocha skin. There were many things he was realizing and hating that he liked about her, but her wild curls were his favorite. It looked so soft and springy that he just wanted to touch and play with it. However, Lazlo taught him early in their friendship that you were never to touch a Black woman's hair, especially if you didn't have permission.

He could tell she was becoming confused and frustrated with him, but he didn't know how to come out and just say he wasn't the type of guy she needed or wanted. Philip came from a long line of Chinese vampires who were quite royal and well known throughout Asia for their hospitality and warmness. That was not him. He left his family when he was 13 because he couldn't fit in. He was more than just the black sheep. Philip was the odd man out and when he realized who his mate was, he knew the same narrative would repeat itself.

He wasn't sure who his mate was upon seeing her until he saw who she sat down with. He didn't know her personally, but every vampire knew the daughter of Val Terni. She was the vampire princess and her equally royal and powerful siblings were known throughout the supernatural world as well. They were the children of the highest-ranking supernatural creatures and kids of the first known tribrid. His mate was royalty and his heart dropped a bit when he realized which triplet she was for a lot of reasons.

He had heard the stories of the great witch and werewolf hybrid. She was powerful and strong on both sides, but it was also known that emotions drove her. Even as she stood in front of him when they met, he took into account the overjoyed emotions pouring out of her and the sunshiny day outside when just a couple of hours before it was a hailing mess. Philip knew this wouldn't work. He just did and for some strange reason it saddened him.