Page 72 of Rejected and Pregnant By the Alpha
Watching her serene expression for a moment, I return my gaze to the road ahead and think about what question to ask first.
“How can vampires walk in the sunlight?” I finally ask. This has been the one question on my mind since I was a little pup. Everyone knows that vampires burn in the harsh sun. It’s why hunters prefer to transport them during the day.
“There are two parts to this question,” Aileen says with a soft smile. “The first is that it depends on the age of the vampire and whether they drink blood regularly, like I do, but the blood has to be human blood,” she continues, her hand moving to toy with a ring on her fingers, one that I have never seen her take off before. “The second part is that we wear a moonstone enchanted by a witch, though those are rare to come by these days after the Salem witch hunt a few hundred years ago.”
Shocked once again by this revelation, I stop walking as I look at the wistful expression on Aileen’s face. “Witches exist?” I ask, Aileen stopping to look back at me.
“They do, although only a handful exist now. Their numbers have dwindled to one hundred in the world.” She smiles sadly, looking down at the ring in her hand. “Witches were alwaysfemale, whether they were born to a witch and a human, a witch and a werewolf, or a witch and a vampire. But not all females in a coven would be born a witch. Between my sister and me, I was the unlucky one—I was born human…” Her voice trails off, and her hand returns to her side.
For a moment, I am stunned by this revelation. I always assumed Aileen had been bitten and turned into a vampire. I just didn’t think she had family.
“How long do witches live?” I find myself wondering, the question coming out without thinking.
“Longer than a human but shorter than a wolf. Marianna was three hundred and six when she passed, but she learned how to make the rings that allow vampires to walk in the sun and passed this knowledge to her children. I guard them day and night with my coven, making sure they are safe,” Aileen answers, turning to look at me. “Now come, Wolf King, you have hunters to destroy and wolves to manage. The faster you can get this done, the faster you can return to Hannah, and we can make a treaty between the royal pack and Coven Sunblaze.” Without another word, Aileen walks away, and I follow after her.
She is a strange vampire, but one that I now want to get to know as a friend. Hannah trusts her, and Saben adores her, so I know Aileen and her coven will be part of my life for good. With a soft smile on my lips, I welcome the silence between Aileen and me.
“There you are, King Julian!” Aliah calls with a smile, her eyes looking wearily at Aileen. “I just got word that our plane is ready and waiting to depart,” she adds, her voice quieter while Aileen glares at her.
“Aliah has a mate, Aileen. She means no harm regarding the mate bond between Hannah and me,” I reassure the vampire.
“I see. What a relief,” Aileen purrs, her glare turning into a friendly smile.
Goddess, I swear this vampire is bipolar. Sighing, I tell her to enjoy her night before joining my wolves at our vehicles while she zips away. Fabian looks worried as he stares in the direction of Hannah and Saben’s home, and I pat my friend on the shoulder. I know he is close with Hannah, and I am glad that he was in her corner while I was a complete asshole to her.
“Does Hannah know what we plan to do?” he asks me, and I nod.
“She does. She isn’t happy about us leaving like this, but she is glad we are going to destroy a large Hunters Association,” I answer, getting a smirk from Fabian.
“She was never happy when we left the royal pack without her, but that was when she was still a pup and unable to shift.” Fabian shrugs, his smirk turning into a grin. “But she was always so happy when we came home.” His voice is soft, and I close my eyes, picturing the white-haired pre-teen Hannah rushing to our side with a grin, her blue eyes wide with happiness to see Fabian and me returning home safely. Goddess, I was such a fool not to see how genuine Hannah was after the rumors started circulating.
“Let’s get our job done so that we can return quickly to her. I know Hannah is excited to start planning your wedding to Miella,” I say, playfully nudging my friend with my elbow.
He rolls his eyes, but he can’t hide the cheeky grin at the mention of his mate. “Miella is amazing. I always thought my mate would be a wolf, but I am happy with a vampire as well, knowing that she drinks animal blood. It will make bringing home fresh game easier now,” Fabian says.
I smile, happy for my friend and excited to get to know the vampire who will inevitably become my beta female. From what I have learned from Fabian, the vampires in Aileen’s coven help with hunting patrols. They drain the blood of the prey that the wolves in Haven Trail hunt, making the kill easier to clean and less messy when transporting them back to the pack. The idea of having a few vampires in the royal pack helping with cleaning up our kills does sound good, but only once the pack can get used to vampires being around.
“Come on, boys,” I hear a friendly voice call out, and I find Miella waiting by the vehicle that Fabian and I will be taking. “We have hunters to kill and a long trip ahead of us.”
Frowning at the vampire, I give Fabian a look before leaving his side and stalking toward my car. Miella looks amused by my annoyance but thankfully keeps her mouth shut as she takes the front passenger seat, with Fabian taking the driver’s seat. With everyone set, we drive off, and I pull the fabric of the sweater over my nose. These next six months will be hard for me, being separated from Hannah for so long.
68
Hannah
The room is cold, and I open my eyes to find that Julian is no longer beside me. Sadness seeps into me at this realization, and I take a deep breath, trying to stop the tears welling in my eyes from falling. His scent reaches my nose, and for a moment, I wonder if it is from Julian lying on the pillow I clutch in my hands. Opening my eyes, I reach out to the right side of the bed, hoping to feel some lingering warmth. Instead, my fingers touch something soft, something that isn’t part of my bedspread. Clutching the soft item in my hand, I discover it is Julian’s shirt. He must have left it here for me to keep so that his scent would be with me while he was gone.
I pull the shirt to my nose, breathing in his mango scent and relaxing into the bed. By how dark my room is, I know it is past midnight and not yet time to wake up, but the ache I feel with Julian gone woke me up.
Six months.
He will be gone for six months completing the royal tour. I have a feeling it is longer because he wants to hunt down a few more hunters’ headquarters while visiting each pack. I can’t blame him, as I heard that Sabrina helped them find more bases to attack with the files that were recovered before they burned down the one here in Ottawa.
Carefully turning onto my back, I wince as my wound pulls a bit, and I close my eyes. I was shot without warning, thinking all the hunters were dead. Who’s to say it won’t happen again with Julian risking his life to take down more of the hunters?
Opening my eyes, I look over at my nightstand to find my phone sitting there. Julian must have put it on the charger before he left, and I can’t help but miss him more. I have learned that he is attentive since we talked about the past and cleared up all misunderstandings. If I needed anything, it would be within my reach without asking. He waited five years to find his mate and went through ruts that nearly broke his mind because he did not want to touch another she-wolf unless it was his mate. He was loyal to the mate bond because he did not realize he had rejected me, and now I miss him.
Reaching out for my phone, I unlock the device once it is in my hands and click on the contacts, thinking I would have to scroll to find his name. I laugh instead when I find that he put his name at the top of the list by adding an “A” in front of it.
