Bloody Mate

Chapter Twenty - Blackmail -

She smiled a kind smile. "Hi! I'm Cassidy."

I stared at her slowly, my eyes narrowing. What was she doing here? I looked behind her to see that we were alone. "What do you want?" I asked, suspiciously. 

Her odd scent hit me strong as the wind blew. I was smart enough to know that she wasn't a normal wolf. Maybe she is a mix breed or something? I don't know much about werewolves to assume things. She didn't smell like a vampire so I knew she wasn't a hybrid. I don't like not knowing. I may be over five hundred years old, but I don't know everything. 

"I came to talk but," She looked around cautiously, her pink hair whipping to the side, before looking at me straight in the eyes. "I would rather do it inside. May I?"

Inviting her inside made me feel squeamish. She came to talk. Talk about what? What is so important that she needed to come to my house to talk to me in private?

"Alright." I nodded, stepping aside. "Come in." She came all the way here for a reason. Might as well listen. I closed the door when she came in, before leading her to the living room. Maya was putting in her movie when we entered. 

"Juju, come on!" She squealed before getting comfy on the couch. 

I smiled. "Uh, later buttercup." I told her seeing Cassidy looking at Maya curiously. I don't like people knowing about Maya. I don't like people getting into my personal life. It's none of their business. But also, I don't want people to use Maya against me. Maya is my weakness.

Maya looked back, her eyes widen when she saw Cassidy. I knew she was going to go crazy over her hair, seeing that Maya's favorite color was pink. She looked at Cassidy's hair like if Ariel from The Little Mermaid was here. I rolled my eyes.

"I want her hair, Juju!" I mumbled a grumpy "yeah, yeah", walking into the kitchen with a chuckling Cassidy. I told her to take a seat as leaned against the counter. 

"Coffee? Or maybe lemonade?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"Coffee, please." I nodded, getting a mug from the cabinet. "Start talking." I demanded, trying to make my voice sound monotone instead of cold. 

"I need your help." I halted, raising an eyebrows. Before I could ask, she said, "I need to be accepted back into the pack." 

I swallowed as I continued to make coffee. "You were kicked out?" I heard her heartbeat accelerate causing me to narrow my eyes. 

"Uh," She chuckled awkwardly. "Something like that." 

I will take that as a yes. "If you want help, spill it out." I told her straight up. I placed the mug under the coffee machine. I turned around to finally face her. 

"I was kicked out because I 'couldn't be trusted'." She said coldly, putting up air quotations with her fingers. I can practically smell her anger. 

"So how are you here? If you are not to be trusted then how come you are in the territory?" I asked, a bit confused. 

"Well, you see, my mother is dying." She said, her tone indifferent. She said it like if it was nothing. 

"Oh. So are you here until your mom dies?"
 
She nodded. "But while I'm here, I'm planing to gain the Alpha's trust back and hopefully be accepted back into the pack." I have a bad feeling about this. While she was talking, I was focusing on her heartbeat. It kept accelerating with her every word. "This is where I need your help."

"Why would I want to help you?" I asked honestly. 

She tried to smile kindly but I saw through it. I have seen so many fake smiles through out the years that I can probably still recognize one even if I were blind. I don't know if she thinks I'm a fool but I'll play along. "Because it will prove to Angelo that you have a kind heart. It will show him that you aren't just a bloodsucking vamp." Her heart was running a marathon. What was this girl hiding? What is she trying to do?

I don't need to prove nothing to anyone. Not even Angelo. I'm not ashamed of what I am because I know who I am. If Angelo really cares about me, he wouldn't need me to prove anything. I know my stone heart is not pure. I know that it has it's flaws. But I try to pretend I have a beating heart like everyone else. That's the difference between me and other vamps. They gave up while I'm still hoping. Hoping that I can fit in and live life like a human. 

"Don't feed me that load of crap." I told her as I turned to get the mug full of coffee. "Sugar? Milk?" I asked, smiling as I changed subjects. When she didn't answer, I shrugged my shoulder and set the plain coffee on the counter in front of her. She was deep in thought, biting her lip.

I scrunched my nose, smelling her sweat. Why was she nervous? "Okay. How about a deal?" 

"What kind of deal?"

She smirked. "You help me, and I can give you information of the Ravnos Clan." I narrowed my eyes. How did she know about that? How could she know about the clan? 

"What do you know about Ravnos?" 

Something flashed through her eyes. "Tit for tat." I wanted to strangle the information out of her. I wanted to spill the coffee all over her and force her to open her mouth. I wasn't going to let this little mutt try to manipulate me into helping her. How the hell does it benefit me? I don't need info on the Ravnos clan. I can do it myself. What I am curious about is how she knows. She must have known that I went to meet up with the vamps. She must have been there in order to listen in. Or some vamp is working with her. Someone is leaking her information.

I smiled at her. I will play her little game. "Deal."