My Vampire Mate

Chapter 3

Mate?

That’s the best he could’ve come up with?

I actually felt relieved when he said that stupidity, because all the ‘emotion’ I thought I had been feeling flew right out the window when I realized that he’s crazy. I’ve never seen a crazy vamp before, but this surely gave me a shocker.

My face was in a stunned state for a while, but then I found myself busting out in a fit of laughter. I had to cover my mouth with my hand, so that I didn’t disturb the ball that was still in full swing just a few meters away.

Drew, as he said his name was, stared at me in annoyance. What did he expect? That I’d fall all over him and accept what he just said? What does ‘mate’ even mean?

“You’re crazy,” I said as my laughter died down. “I actually won’t kill you tonight, because you made me laugh for the first time in days.” My words made him look pleased for a second, as if he liked that he made me laugh. But then it fell back into mere annoyance.

“I’m not too thrilled about the union either, Amber. But the fact still remains that you are my mate and--”

“I’ll go back to my ball now. And since you scared off my groom, I’ll probably go straight to bed,” I retorted as I turned on my heels and made for the door.

I almost yelped in shock when a sudden whoosh of wind blew past me, and Drew was in front of me again, glaring this time.

“Listen to me, Amber--”

“No you listen to me, Drew.” I cut him off, hating that he was blocking my way. “I’m not going to play along with whatever sick game you’re hosting. Let me go before I have to reconsider your liberty of living.”

Like before, his lips tilted in a wicked smile as he reached out to touch my face. Again, I didn’t flinch away. “You are so confident that you can kill me. I already told you, I won’t let you and you couldn’t if you tried.”

“And what makes you so sure?” I asked simply because I hated that he was challenging me. “What’s to say I can’t kill you right now?”

He laughed humorlessly with a wicked glint in his eyes. “You haven’t accepted it yet, but the mate bond is still affecting you. You couldn’t hurt me if you tried.”

“I--”

“And.” He jabbed a finger over my lips, stopping my speech. I bit down on it hard, but he didn’t even wince. “I’ve been watching you for years Amber. I know your stance when you’re about to attack.” His voice fell an octave as he slowly circled me. “I know the look on your face when you’re annoyed.” He lowered his lips to my ear as he continued to dictate my habits that I didn’t even notice. “I know that you grit your teeth before you plunge that little dagger of yours in a vampire’s heart.” He dropped his voice to a whisper as if he was telling me a secret before continuing. “And I know about your little bracelet.”

“So if you’ve been watching me, how have I never seen you before?”

He just confirmed my theory of being crazy. He’s been stalking me, and that gave me even more reason to end him. But the fact that he’s been watching me and I haven’t noticed it greatly unnerved me. I needed to know how he did it.

“I know how to get around, Amber. And once you kill a vampire, I leave so that your pretty little bracelet doesn’t remain glowing.”

“You’re a freaking stalker,” I spat, grabbing his jacket and halting his maddening circling. “Why would you watch me?”

“I just told you,” he gritted out, sounding annoying. “You’re pretty brave and slightly badass, but what if you met a vampire who you couldn’t win? I’d have to intervene of course.”