Chapter 14

"Protect me from what?" Blanca asked, she was hell-motivated to inquire and to know more about these new changes in her life, and if what she thought was true, that Dimitri was indeed a vampire or some kind of weird supernatural being, then she was genuinely curious.

However, Dimitri knew that if the council came to know about her existence and even knew that he was alive, everything would change. Those ancient council foolish folks don't like to be threatened, and they were threatened by vampires. That's why they eliminated his kind. Bid war against them. They had been hunted for millennia, and if they knew that he was alive, the last living vampire, then Blanca's life would be in danger not because she was his mate, but because she was something else too.

Nevertheless, The Fates were rarely forthcoming when he asked them. As the last vampire on earth, only The Fates knew about his existence, and when he asked about his destiny, they never divulged anything valuable. Rather, they gave him puzzle upon puzzle to decipher, and while they had revealed that his mate, the woman, was born to join him, The Fates had not yet explained exactly what she was. But deep inside, he reckoned Blanca was a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire. It was no big deal, but there was something else in her blood too. Something he didn't recognize. He just hoped he had someone to ask about vampires.

However, Blanca couldn't be all human and werewolf. Her power and ability proved that. And he could detect no demon blood running through her veins either. Added to the fact that she didn't seem to have an inkling of her abilities, it left nothing but a gaping concern.

A problem he intended to find the explanation to before she was taken by the Council.

"I don't know." A pretty frown tugged at his brows. "All I know is, you are mine to protect, and yes, I am a vampire."

"Holy fuck!" Blanca gaped as she began to pace. Was he telling the truth? He must be, because why would he lie? "What am I then?"

"You, young lady, are a hybrid of a werewolf and a vampire…"

"Holy crap! Seriously?" She gaped. "Yes, so I will become a giant dog at the full moon?" Her mouth fell open at the thought. She wasn't anti-Jacob, but ew! Canines smell unpleasant.

"What? Where the hell did that idea come from?" Dimitri smirked.

"Probably Hollywood movies?"

"No! But I fear if you are not only a hybrid of the two creatures but something else too."

"I don't believe you." She forced a smile.

"And why not?

"If I am a vampire… then why didn't I burn in the sun? And why don't I have fangs?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Dimitri asked with furrowed brows. How pathetic. He thought to himself.

"Yes."

"Human, those Hollywood movies are pitiful, very far from reality. First, vampires don't burn in the sun, second, you are still unmated, that's why you don't have any fangs… yet."

"What do you mean, unmated?"

"Something like marriage in human words."

"But I'm still fucking young? I don't want to get married."

"Wait till you taste your lifemate's blood." Dimitri shivered from the thought. He drew his lower lip between his teeth.

"Lifemate?"

"Forget about it."

"Fine, for now... But... um-so why don't you talk like Dracula from Transylvania, blah blah!?" Blanca said with an imitation of the Dracula, Transylvania animation accent.

"Are you serious right now?" His mouth curved into a smile.

"Yap!" She opened her mouth to check for fangs, but found none."Right, no fangs." She mumbled under her breath and felt a little disappointed as she turned around towards the man who looked bored watching her check herself as someone came from another planet."

"For a moment there, I thought you were telling the truth, vampire my ass. Such nonsense." Goodbye, Dracula. Blah Blah dear!

"I told you, you don't get it until you mate."

Dimitri stepped a little forward and took the tumbler from the bedside table and offered it to Blanca.

"Here, take this."

"What the hell is that? And when did you get that?"

"This is my red juice, I took it from the fridge." He handed her his tumbler.

"I didn't see you leave."

"Because I'm fast, dear. When you turned away from me, it took me three seconds to get this in the kitchen. Drink this…"

Oh! He was that fast? So he could have fast-forwarded sex too? She mentally shook her head. "Is that blood?" On cue, when Blanca smelled the blood, her pointy sharp fangs appeared,... Holy crap! Just like that? And the look she had was enough for her to faint yet, with the look of determination and her brain still processing the fact, she touched it slowly and gently, clearing her mouth wide open. Wow, I'm not panicking. Why the hell am I not panicking? Why? I'm a fucking Dracula and I am not panicking. She thought to herself.

Dimitri's eyes widened. "How the hell did you get the fangs?"

"How would I know? You are the expert here, remember?"

Dimitri gaped at her. Were the ancient books about vampires wrong? After all, no one had told him anything about his kind anyway, it's not like he could ask someone without them killing him.

She grumbled, "Bloody Hell, Oh my God, I'm a vampire. No, no wait! Yes, I'm a vampire. I can fly and turn myself into a bat! Ha! Take that, bitches! From a dog to a bat!

However, pacing around, she began to panic as she held the tumbler. Her brain couldn't accept the knowledge. It was like a computer that was overloaded. There was no definite processing capacity, and when her ability to process stopped, her fear was exceeded, much like those of panic attacks. It was like her brain was a machine with decreased inputs and couldn't do anything other than be frozen. She was beyond scared and nervous.

Dimitri, unbeknownst to her, had implanted a small command in her mind, instructing her to stop panicking and breathe normally and with sudden strength, Blanca inquired. "How? Did I have these fangs? I thought I needed to mate before…" she couldn't help but touch her fangs. Yes, it was really a fang.

"Hell if I know... this is something beyond my knowledge. We need help. We need answers." Dimitri began pacing while Blanca looked at him like he had grown a horn.

"Did you turn to me without even knowing something?" Blanca murmured, now, that she remembers what happened that night five years ago. He bit her. Then something in her changed. "That night, after I woke up. It was as if a voice was whispering in the back of my mind to flee. It seems ridiculous now, but at the time I was convinced that if I stepped back from the apartment I would be dead."

"Yes… I turned you." I marked you, he silently added. Premonition? An innate ability to sense danger? Stupid, blind luck, maybe? He knew it wasn't... The list was endless. He met and held her gaze. "It's not ridiculous at all, Blanca."

"What? Why?" She inquired in an uproar and stared at him dead-eyed. Can I turn into a bat?

"Of course not, that is not even possible and wrong in a weird way. So no bats!" Dimitri replied.

"Did you just read my mind again?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, God." Now he knew that I was worried about what happened five years ago. Oh shit, I want to die now! How could she imagine their lovemaking? But her mind wanted to panic, yet for the love of God, she couldn't. Some mist in her brain prevents her from feeling it. It was like a wall, a comfortable wall that hindered her from feeling her anxiety and fears. Odd. She thought, under any circumstances, A. she would panic nonstop, B. she would lose consciousness and drop like a sack of potatoes, and C. all of the above. Yet, none of those happened. Unusual indeed, and D. She would steal a kiss from Dimitri and turn herself into a bat, then run away like some crazy maniac and run herself into a huge fucking truck windshield and be dead for an eternity of nothingness and be done with the bat life.

"When I…" He swallowed a lump, "When I bit you, some of the werewolf salivae that ran through me managed to stay in your veins. That's why you also forget those memories. Feral saliva is toxic; too much could kill someone, but a drop can alter your mind differently." He murmured.

"Why did you bite me, then?"

"B-because... you are mine." I've marked you.

"Are you fucking serious? No one owned me"

"I know... But it's primitive to... well, you will know soon enough."

Blanca rolled her eyes.

She went to the bed and sat there like a robot. Her brain was lost in the lull of Dimitri's command as he did manage to push her mind not to panic.

"Yes, your real parents were both werewolves too. Their bloodline, however, was ancient. But when I bit you… my um-saliva had changed the genome of your DNA. It was like you'd been crushed inside out as the structure of your DNA changed, yet it had opened the ancient lineage in you that lay dormant for years. And now you are something else, by the way." A powerful unknown hybrid, he mentally added.

She stood and began pacing again.

He smiled at her sour expression. "I didn't make you immortal, Blanca. You are already one of the supernatural. Your parents were werewolves."

"Did you know them?"

"Yes. They are my friends. But they passed away. I will tell you someday." Changing the subject Dimitri added, "But you have to know when you were attacked at the alley that night, I know you were bleeding, was it because one of the ferals at the school had nipped you?"

"Yes."

"I was right then. That night, I bit you, not just because I wanted to. It's also to save your life…primitive desire. My only means of doing so would be to turn you into a vampire, and since I can see every lovely inch of you in the mirror and you have what I can only describe as a wonderful tan, it's obvious that you are still very non-vampirish in a weird way.

Blanca wasn't convinced. She certainly wanted someone to blame. And that someone was Dimitri. "Then you put a spell on me? That's why I'm so weird and I have these dreams and power?"

"Vampires can't cast magic."

"Magic is real?" She halted.

Tired of being the scapegoat, Dimitri took a step forward. They were alone in her room, and he didn't want to squander time being the adversary.

Not when she could be easing the enormous, roaring craving that had returned after nearly five years.

"Blanca, your abilities have nothing to do with my bite or with any magic, and yes, witches can do magic." His voice thickened with need. "You were born special."

"Witches are real too?"

"Yes."

"Oh God, your voice is like a hammer to my skull. It gives me a headache."

"You are hungry."

"Wait, you think I'm special?" She took a voluntary step back as if understanding his dark desire. "Being able to bake a brownie that actually rises is special. Being able to sing Adelle's songs in her key is special. Being able to pass through airport security without setting off the metal detector is special. But I'm a little more than freaking special." Without warning, she strengthened, her head turning toward the door. "Shit. What the hell was that?"

Dimitri was on instant alert. "What is it?"

"Do you smell that?"

Dimitri closed his eyes and sensed the air. It was extremely vague but apparent. "Magical smoke… witches…" The word was a curse on his tongue. Vampires and fire don't mix. "We must get out of here," he commanded.

Dimitri absently rubbed his blistered wrists as he allowed his powers to flow outside. His fangs lengthened as he realized that the fire was not only near but mysterious in nature. It was magical. Ancient and powerful.

This was a conscious attack on Blanca. Someone knew about her.

"The fire is just outside the mansion door," he warned, striding instinctively to scoop her slender body into his arms. The Fates had decreed that he would protect his woman, but even if they hadn't, he would have walked through the pits of hell to keep her safe.

They had unfinished business.

Business that even now was making him hard and desperate to be inside her.

"Will you stop thinking nonsense?" She beat her tiny fist against his chest as she blushed. As if that could possibly hurt him. "What are you doing? Let me down, Dimitri. I can walk."

He willed the window to open as he dashed across the room. "Getting us out of here. Unless you prefer to remain and sacrifice that beautiful skin to the flames?"

"The water sprinklers will put it out."

"Not this fire. It's magical, which explains why I didn't sense it the moment it started."

"A magical fire? Jesus…" Her phrases became a shrill scream as Dimitri launched them through the window, and they fell toward the ground floor in a second. With a technique only a powerful vampire could utilize, he landed easily on his feet, still cradling her closely in his arms. He was rewarded with another blow to his chest. "Damn you, put me down. You almost gave me a heart attack." Blanca shrieked. "You frightened the hell out of me."

He lowered his head to talk directly into her ear. "Why? Would you prefer to remain to face the magical flames, dear?"

She jerked at the hem of her shirt, which had inched up to reveal a tiny pink thong. Dimitri's erection twitched in silent applause.

Hell… if he wasn't hard.