Contract Bound [Rewriting]

CHAPTER SIX

For the longest, no one said a word.

While Belinda attempted not to let the emotions brewing inside her spill to the surface, Aurora concealed nothing. The sadness in her expression morphed to anger as she glared at Silas and rose to her feet. When Silas moved to stop her from leaving, she shoved him back with little success.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" She sounded more hurt than furious. "Were you going to wait until I was in the middle of changing?"

"Of course not."

"Then when were you planning on telling me?" When he didn't answer, she whirled around and hurried up the stairs.

Harper shook her head. "I told you keeping it from her wouldn't end well."

He raked a hand through his hair before also heading upstairs.

"I'm going to water the plants in the garden."

Even after Harper exited the house, neither Belinda nor Fane moved for a few minutes. Perhaps he remained silent to give her time to process what he had said. "How many chosen have survived the change?"

"You are the second human chosen."

She turned to him. "What?"

"Per the norm, most vampire soulmates tend to be supernatural."

"Wait—you said that with humans it's easier to have children."

"Yes, and that is why our birthrates are low." He shoved his hands in his pant pockets. "Having children for vampires is quite rare."

"It must have been a shocker when your mother became pregnant with twins."

Sadness flashed across his face. "It was, and it almost drove her mad with bloodlust. When a woman vampire becomes pregnant, their thirst for blood triples. It can be difficult to control. My mother had to endure ten times the cravings. Most assumed she would be driven mad and become one of the lost, but she made it through."

"It's been almost a year since we met. Fane, you shouldn't have kept this from me."

"In the beginning, because I could not feel the effects of our bond, I assumed it would be a waste of time telling you when in two years, you would leave me."

She averted her gaze. "So, then why not tell me when you felt it?"

He grasped her chin and made her meet his gaze, his eyes lingering on her lips for a moment. "I feared once I told you I would lose you."

"You should have still told me." She held his gaze. "What if I don't want to become a vampire?"

He released her and retreated a step. "I suppose then there is no future between us."

She lowered her gaze, hating the pinch in her heart. "I guess so." As she walked around him to head upstairs, he seized her forearm and pulled her to him. He cradled her face, and as his hand slid to the back of her neck, he drew near, pausing when their lips were millimeters away.

"Fane." Quinn's voice sliced through the silence.

He hesitated before stepping back, and she could finally breathe normally once more.

In the span of a few months, Fane had won her heart, but she wasn't certain she would be willing to become a vampire to be with him. "I know you need to feed more, and that I can't do it." His brows furrowed as he listened. "You can feed from Quinn."

He appeared taken aback by her words. "Why the hell would I do such a thing?"

"To regain your strength." She fidgeted with the bangle. "I'm okay with it."