Asher was restless, he kept pacing up and down in his office. Today was the D-day as agreed, he was going to hand the girl over to Daniel.

But he was reluctant , in as much as he believes that the feelings he had for her were fake, he didn't want to let her go.

This was the first time in his seven hundred years of existence, he felt something akin to a mate bond. Eventhough he wouldn't show it but he longs to have his mate too.

Though he has had his own fair share of women over the years but nor of it, was strong as what he felt with the girl eventhough it was just for a fleeting moment.

His hand unconsciously moved to his neck where the girl bit him, the mark was still there. It was the only scar on his body that refused to fade away.

The girl clearly marked him proving he was her mate but then Daniel? It was impossible to have two mates, it has never being seen since the beginning of time.

One of them had to be the fake one , there was no such thing as one having two mates but Daniel didn't seem fake either. They had provided evidence, narrated what happened, the curse week and all.

Moreover he had listened to their heartbeat, non of them were lieing, the evidence was solid so it had to be Daniel, the real mate.

The witches must have toyed with him, Asher thought. Placed some sort of hex on him unawares, leading him to believe the girl was his other half.

Though he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for the mark but he was sure the witches had something to do with that, again.

The sharp ringing of his phone snapped him out of his thoughts , he frowned realizing it was a private number but he picked up nevertheless.

"Asher speaking " He said and waited patiently for the person on the other end of the line to speak up.

There was a long pained silence but the faint laboured breathing told Asher who was on the line before the voice came in

"It's me Daniel "

Asher gulped deeply, it was time. He shut his eyes and clutched his cellphone tight almost crushing the poor thing.

"I'll send her over to you after scho"

"No " Daniel said.

Huh? No?

"No what? " He asked confused.

"K-keep her with you for the moment " Daniel stammered, it took every strength he had to say those words to the vampire , especially after knowing he had taken a fancy to his mate.

Asher removed the phone from his ears to check the number, he wanted to confirm he was still speaking with the same person.

"Why? " was all Asher asked.

It was strange Daniel of all creature asking him to keep his mate for a while? Something bad must have happened.

It was worth knowing that werewolves were extremely possessive creatures and that trait is amplified when it comes to their mate.

They would not even tolerate a male of their own kind staring at their mate talk more another specie? Something disastrous must have happened for Daniel to request such a thing.

"There's a strange disease ravaging my pack, I have eight deaths on my hands already and still counting, the humans in my pack hasn't shown the symptoms yet so I can't tell whether it affects humans or not but I can't risk her getting infected " Daniel explained, concern and apprehension etched deeply in his voice.

Asher was supposed to be happy, afterall he gets to have more uninterrupted time with the girl, who knows when the disease would be cured anyway ? But when he heard Daniel's explanation, he felt this huge lump in his throat and a painful sensation in his still heart.

Contrary to what he deluded himself into thinking, Daniel cared about the girl deeply to the extent he was willing to leave her to his enemy if it meant her safety was assured.

Asher wasn't a fool, he knew Daniel must have sensed his usual relationship with the girl on the day he visited his office. That day he had exposed himself by letting his emotions get the better of him.

Yet the guy still wanted him to take care of his mate. Asher snorted, unlike Daniel he wasn't that righteous.

"Aren't you afraid I might snatch her away? " Asher asked on purpose

There was a short laugh before a response came "I might not know you much Asher but I know you love your clan more than anything else "

Asher listened, jaw clenched.His clan was his greatest weakness but what nobody knew was that, the girl's position in his heart was beginning to threaten that. It was beginning to scare him, that one day he might really choose the girl over his clan.

"Moreover " Daniel continued " There's no amount of attraction the mate bond can't defeat so quit trying to trifle my emotions, you've lost already " Daniel spat mercilessly.

Asher's heart sank, the werewolf was right, he was fighting a losing battle but he would never admit that to that proud alpha.

"We'll see then " Asher said.

"Fine by me " Daniel agreed and was about to cut the line when he remembered something "A-ha! just to remind you, the girl might be in transition "

Asher eyes lit up , he was beyond stunned when he heard the Alpha's words. He stuttered at once "Y-you know? "

"Of course I know, how do you think I lost connection with her initially ? I think a rogue must have bitten her, so you probably know how dangerous she is to you at the moment "

Asher's head buzzed with confusion, what the hell was Daniel talking about?

"What do you me-" He wanted to ask but the line went dead immediately. He tried recalling but it wasn't connecting at all.

Asher has never being more confused in his entire life as he was right now. The thoughts running amok in his head was enough to drive him insane.

What did Daniel mean by the girl must have been bitten by a rogue? He thought Daniel was about to confess he knew about the girl being a converted vampire.

Everything was just insane, if Daniel knew the girl was a vampire then it would create more problems.

Never in history has a vampire being mated to a werewolf, it has never being told of. Though there was rumours, wishful and fetish fantasies of vampires getting together with werewolves but nor of it involves being mates.

There was a huge difference between a werewolf getting attracted to a vampire and a werewolf having a vampire as a mate.

He initially wanted the girl to keep the fact she was some sort of vampire away from Daniel when they finally meet, since she wasn't exactly like other converts and watch how things unfold, but now?

He didn't know what to think anymore but he choose to believe Daniel must have made some sort of mistake.

He was thinking about that when he suddenly felt a familiar presence. He looked up, it was Dan and the girl.

Speak of the devil.

But something was wrong, the girl was shivering fervently and staring at her hands with horror, that's when he saw it.

Claws?

But her's were much larger and hooked, talon- like and black in colour.

Oh my God, Asher breathed. Daniel was right and couldn't have been more right when Dan suddenly collapsed.

His eyes widened and his stomach clenched, he shoved past the girl and rushed at Dan. His breath hitched when he saw Dan convulsing and vomiting black blood from his mouth.

He immediately lifted Dan's sleeves and was shocked to discover Dan's veins were black, a very thick black in colour.

Asher heard the girl gasp behind him but he ignored her and instead , began to trace the blackish veins and found it on his other arm too.

She poisoned him.