Page 1 of The Eternal Choice

CHAPTER ONE

– LILLIANA –

I stride into the ballroom where the men are wearing tuxedos and women prance around in floor-length gowns. All of them quickly move to get out of my way. Frustration causes me to pick up my pace. I don’t want to be here, and it shows because I’m still wearing my go-to clothes, black cargo pants, a tight black tank, along with my favorite pair of combat boots.

One glance at me and you’d think I’m ready for battle instead of attending a formal gathering. My family organizes these gatherings every other year so mafia heads from all over the world can gather to find a good match, an arranged marriage, for their children.

Supernaturals grab this chance to see if they will run into their eternal mate the way my parents, and also brother has. Well, my parents didn’t even make it inside one of these gatherings and ran into one another outside. Clearly, they have a high success rate when it comes to finding a mate.

Not something I’m thinking about at this point in my life. All I’ve ever done is focus on work and training my body into a weapon. My body might be considered a lethal weapon already since I’m a vampire with special abilities.

No one really knows the extent of the special abilities due to the fact that I’m not a normal vampire. My father is one of the first vampires while my mother has the angelic touch. It’s a one-of-a-kind combination where even my brother and I have unique abilities instead of sharing the same ones.

Over the past few decades, I’ve managed to tap into the magic inside me and have developed some neat tricks I rarely show anyone else. It’s not just the magic inside me that I’ve developed, I also learned how to simply use magic. For instance, I have a huge bag filled with lots of stuff no one can see.

Learning things is what I love to do, and it’s why I’ve read lots of books about almost every supernatural out there. Something I also don’t share with anyone, and why should I? Knowledge is power, it’s as simple as that. The only things I like to show off are my knife skills. I might be a little obsessed when it comes to knives and enjoy an audience to taunt and shock.

A quick scan of the ballroom gives me the knowledge my parents are not present. Figures. I knew they were leaving for Paris today. Though, I thought they would hop on a plane after the gathering.

A young woman wrinkles her nose when she sees my outfit and I roll my eyes. No way, no how will I ever wear a floor-length, puffy pink dress with heels with my hair flowing down my back. I’m not a girly girl. I like to be ready for anything and the long fabric would get in my way if I’d need to fight, let alone my long thick hair, it’s why I always have it pulled back into a tight bun.

Good thing my parents aren’t here, my mother would be seriously pissed off if she saw me here dressed for battle. Then again, she should know better, ’cause I stopped wearing dresses at the age of six.

I notice Fiero, my brother, along with his wife, Maze, talking to someone.

My brother rumbles, “Ernestino Belfinata, what a pleasure to welcome you here.”

The name snags my attention. What the hell is Ernestino Belfinata, the leader of Birchmagma, a large dragon shifter clan, doing here tonight? I saw the invites going out for this event a few months ago, but I didn’t think they would accept and show because dragons only arrange marriages either within their clan or with other clans to gain fresh bloodlines and keep them pure dragons.

Out of all the supernaturals I’ve read about, dragons intrigued me the most. Mainly due to the lack of research and books available. Dragons don’t reveal their secrets and are extremely rare. Whatever, not my business.

My brother wants to say something else to the man, but my patience is running thin, and I’d like to get out of here within the next few seconds.

It’s for this reason I step forward and ask Fiero, “Where’s Mom? Don’t tell me she demanded my presence here only to ditch the party herself. Ugh. Figures. Well, just so you know? I’m out of here.”

I don’t even acknowledge Maze but spin on my heel and storm away. Only, I’m prevented from doing so when someone grabs my elbow. Automatically, I try to break free and glance back, only to let my gaze collide with Ernestino, the dragon shifter.

A full-frontal collision of emotions hit me hard. Pleasure rocks through me, and my body is pumping adrenaline through my system, heightening every single cell in my body. I’ve never experienced anything like this and yet I can pinpoint exactly what this experience is; I’ve found my fated mate.

“No,” I whisper, trying to let my brain catch up with what I deep down already know.

A slow grin slides across the dragon shifter’s face. “Why yes, I must insist we have a taste to make sure what we both just became aware of.”

His hand suddenly cups the back of my neck and his mouth covers mine. The kiss is short, fierce, and completely lights up my body with the need to feel this man inside me. Right. Freaking. Now.

Ernestino pulls back with a determined look on his face, along with a load of pride and satisfaction. I’m sure I’m sporting a dazed look, completely blown away from the life altering change which just took place.

“Oh, fuck,” I mutter, because that’s all I have to say at, and about, this very moment.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Maze says, followed by an awkward chuckle. “Can you two hold it together or do we need to lock you up in separate rooms? How does this thing between dragons work?”

Double fuck. Feeling out of my depth sucks. I might have toned it down a bit when I mentioned I was intrigued by dragons. It’s more like my obsession with knives. The lack of information is overly frustrating, especially now.

Ernestino doesn’t take his eyes off me when he states, “When a dragon finds a compatible mate he can hold off until they have their woman in a safe environment to fully put the claim in place.”

I notice a hint of relief in my brother’s face until Ernestino adds, “But since my dragon just tasted her, I know this woman is my fated mate which sometimes triggers a claiming frenzy. This just happened. I will not be able to hold off and need to claim her right now.” He’s still staring right at me when he asks through clenched teeth, “I hope you’re willing to accept myclaim otherwise my two brothers will need to restrain me, and you’ll have to run. I won’t guarantee you’ll get far.”

The parts of information I read about dragons contained the eternal commitment. Dragons are loyal and will only claim one mate. Unless their mate dies, and even then, some stay loyal to their first mate by staying single. Monogamous. Fiercely against cheating. It’s probably the loyalty angle that has intrigued me.

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