Love That Binds Me (Remake)

chapter 10

"My body is dying. That's it. It's dead." I groan laying down on the ground.

That earned a deep chuckle from Hakeem and a nudge from his foot.

"I can't be charged with the death of the king's pet." He jokes as he helps me up.

"Was that...a joke? Wow. We've known each other a month and now you Crack jokes?" I nudge his shoulder.

"Eh. I guess you're ok, for a mundane." He shrugs as we both walk down the garden path.

"And I guess you're ok for a wolf boy." I respond playfully.

His face scrunches up at the name.

"Wolf boy?" He questions and for a second I think I might actually get a laugh out of him.

Before I can say anything Chris and Ariel are in front of us. Ariel frowns slightly before addressing Hakeem.

"You may go Hakeem. Your work is done." She says as if shooing him away.

A small frown appears on Chris's face as he looks between us before his face becomes neutral once more. Or maybe I imagined it?

Hakeem bowed slightly before turning to leave. Not so much as a goodbye.

"We have a special party planned today. It's a chance for you and Talia to meet some very important women in vampire society." Ariel says as we walk down the hall.

"I never understood all of these special occasions for these women. Honestly if it were me I'd cancel it." Chris said walking ahead of us.

"It's a shame your brother has ordered me to go through with everything as tradition." Ariel sighed with a smirk while his back was turnt.

"It's agree with fang boy over here. There's no need for me to meet all if these vamps." I say in agreement.

"It's not so much for you as it is for Chris's offspring. With you knowing them, you make connections for them." Ariel informed as cool and collected as ever.

"Which is something my mate and future wife can do." Chris glances back at us but then changes his mind and heads into his study.

The door slammed shut and Ariel turns to me.

"He use to love traditions. I don't see him complaining about his maternal mother." She continues walking and follow.

"Who was his maternal mother?" I ask in curiosity.

"A human girl. Rescued from the streets by his father's coordinator. He was actually really fond of her, even though he had already married his mate." She shook her little head and not a blond hair moved out of place.

"This mating business, how does it work exactly?" I press to find out more.

Vamps were always talking about mates.

Ariel gave a long sigh and glanced at me. "Every vampire has someone. Our Goddess has given us all a chance at love. It's the person you can't part with, you'd never hurt them and you'd protect them with your life. When you meet them you know instantly. It's a special bond only for the supernatural." She says almost dreamily. I feel her emotions of happiness and love spilling over to me and it feels nice in a weird way.

"Have you found your mate?" I ask growing high from her emotions.

She stops walking immediately and I almost bump into her. Her emotions stop feeding into me and I wonder if I asked the wrong question.

She takes a long pause before replying with a simple, "no." And leaving me standing there.

Later on that day women were arriving for our little sleepover. Talia seemed to be out of her funk and excited. We were both dressed in designer onesies as our guests arrived.

Jewels came first sadly.

"Talia darling!" She hugs my cousin enthusiastically while tossing me a frown.

Jewels wouldn't be too hard to ignore. She was childish at best.

Another woman arrived who hid under a cloak of a fine fabric. Her fingers adorned in so many rings my grandmother would drool.

"That's Versai. Her father is the husband to Emmaline the woman in the council." Ariel spoke literally appearing from nowhere. I literally jump when I first hear her voice.

"God, don't do that." I mutter.

"It's important you know these people." She informs me. "Talia is learning quickly." She nods to our right where Jewels and Talia are giggling.

"I just don't understand why." I huff crossing my arms.

"Any of these women could possibly be Chris' mate or future wife." She explains.

"I thought mating was a love at first sight kinda thing?" I ask as more women come.

"It only happens when our goddess thinks the time is right. Which is why many of them wear cloaks in the palace. To avoid our king's gaze, so that if they are his mate they won't know until the time is right. Such as the Lover's ball." Before we can continue our conversation all of the women arrived.

I was actually intrigued by these vamp traditions.

There were 5 women and of then 3 wore cloaks. The first one, who Ariel said was Versai, had dark brown hands and curly hair that sometimes escaped her hood.

One woman without a cloak talked animatedly to Jewels. She had short brown hair that neatly sat at her shoulders. She wasn't pretty, but really average. Made to look more so by standing next to Talia and Jewels.

"Excuse me ladies. We'd like to begin our festivities according to traditions. First off are the blessings." Ariel announces to everyone.

Blessings?