Instincts

Margo was leaning over gripping her knees tightly and growling steadily when Antione came into the room. She was way too far gone to hear him come into the apartment, which was one of the things he was concerned about immediately. He approached her slowly knowing she could snap like this, not even recognizing him.

He approached to where she could see him and stopped. "Margo what has happened? You need to come back now. Everything is fine. Everyone is safe." Antione stepped closer to the side of the desk and went to lift the laptop screen so he could find the reason that she was like this.

Margo's hand slapped down on top of the laptop stopping him from opening the screen. "No, Cora is busy." Her voice was quiet barely a hiss.

Antione stepped back understanding the problem. He walked around to the front of the desk and sat down letting Margo work through her battle with her instincts. He had heard how strong they can be, especially in older vampires like him and Margo. He hoped there was no mate for him because he didn't want any of this.

It took a few minutes, but Margo finally sat up taking a deep breath. She took a surprisingly shaky drink of her wine. "Did everything go okay tonight." Her voice was hoarse and slightly scratchy like she had been screaming.

Margo was still agitated but she was still herself and still in the office of her apartment not downstairs forcing the turn on Cora. The vampire part of her didn't care, its instincts were to possess its mate through turning and claiming her and reasoned that Cora would understand once she was a vampire too.

"Yes, mostly. Other than at the camp but that was luckily short-lived." Antione answered quietly. It still bothered him to think of the girl's reaction to people's assumption at the camp.

"What happened?" Margo asked sitting straighter.

"What always happens. People are assholes. She showed up with me in that car late at night to check out of the camp. People assumed she sold herself to a wealthy man. Told her they'd see her in a couple of weeks. Cora was upset." Antione answered in a level tone.

Margo swallowed the rest of her wine. "How upset?"

Antione sighed, "She was crying but pulled herself together quickly." Margo's growl was aggressive as she stalked to the windows staring in the direction of the camp. Antione figured she was considering wholesale slaughter right now.

Finally, Margo came back and reseated herself. "How was Cora?"

Antione smiled at his friend genuinely. "I like her a lot. She is intelligent, quit-witted, and more insightful than I expected. She is also haggard from living as she has been, nervous, anxious, and completely devoid of faith in humanity or the ability to trust. You must be gentle with her, or she'll run. She is smart enough to not be found if she chooses. Plus, she deserves goodness and gentleness. She has received none for a very long time."

"It sounds like my mate made an impression on you, my friend." Margo gave him a small smile, incredibly grateful that Antione had taken to Cora so easily.

Margo would be eternally grateful if her two most important people were not at odds with each other, and she was never forced to choose between them. It was impossible to choose a side other than their mates but living without Antione would have been like losing a limb or trying to breathe with one lung.

"It's true… She will have my protection automatically, but I feel no reservation offering her my friendship as well." Antione said slowly as he realized he would like to be friends with Cora, genuinely.

Margo grinned happily. "That's good to know. I will feel safer knowing you will also be by her side. It also puts my instinct at ease for you to be around her when I can sense genuine sentiment from you. Sometimes people change us in some small way. Perhaps she will give you someone other than myself to care about."

"Who says I care about you?" Antione griped with a small smirk on his face. They both knew he was all bluster.

"Oh… I forgot. It's a secret." Margo said with an answering smirk. Her friend was an emotionally introverted man. Antione had always been reserved. His direct praise of Cora was out of character for him so her mate must have made quite the impression on him.

"Damn straight." Antione grinned. "Check and see if she has gone to bed yet so that I know you're okay before I go to bed."

He knew he couldn't actually stop Margo if she went after the girl. She was much too old and strong for him to have any hope of doing anything other than slowing her down. However, he was the only person that might be able to talk her down before it was too late.

Margo slowly opened the laptop surprised that it wasn't broken. She typed in her pass-code and the screen popped back to life. Cora was sound asleep in bed. She was in a soft blue nightgown sleeping curled under the blankets on her left side. One hand rested under her chin and her long blonde hair was fanned all around her. Margo thought she looked like an angel. Why the hell would an angel ever want a monster like her?

"Cora is in bed asleep." Margo told him with a sigh. Her monster faded into a sleep of its own knowing its mate was safe for the night.

Antione fidgeted, "is she covered? Is it safe for me to look?" Margo nodded to him that it was, and Antione went around the desk to look at the video screen. Antione watched for a second and announced that he was off to bed.

"Goodnight my friend and thank you for looking after Cora for me." Margo told him sincerely.

"Goodnight Margo. Just be careful with your mate. I get the feeling that she is special somehow." Antione said curiously before slipping out of the room. Margo wondered what he meant by that but was distracted watching Cora sleep.