"Why are you suddenly forgetful?"

Raphael gulped, why was it so damn hard to please her? Must he behave the same way Asher does? Sure, he was pretending to be Asher but he had the right to improvise sometimes so could someone cut him some slack.

"I'm sorry" He apologized.

Lia watched her mate tuck a lock of her hair to the back of her ear, "I've been distracted lately. I was thinking of what I would have been missing out on if Raphael had won. If he had taken me away from you"

"No one would take you from me" she caught his hand leaving her face, "Even your brother Raphael, I wouldn't hesitate to end him!"

The fierceness in her eyes almost jump-started his dead heart, she meant what he said. So he would do his best to remain hidden - as her mate.

Lia smiled against his lips, this minute with him was what she wished for. Their kiss was a slow dance, their mouth moving in symphony just as she moved down to his neck while her hands thread through his neck.

Lia left a wet trail there, her heart beating in anticipation at the sight of that vein. She licked her lower lips, her fangs lengthening, unable to keep off the hunger any longer.

The hybrid lowered her head, caressing his skin with the tip of her fang as if teasing him. The result of which made him grab her waist and move against her.

Lia gasped, pleasure screaming through her body but it wasn't time for this yet, she would return to him after feeding.

Unfortunately, the instant she was about to sink her fang into his neck, a piercing headache reeled her.

"What is it?"Raphael's lust-filled eyes cleared when he heard her painful moan. Her eyes were closed and she was rubbing her temple with her hand.

"Heck, it is that God awful headache again" Lia complained.

But the moment she opened her eyes, she stiffened. It wasn't Asher's face staring back at her but Raphael's.

Lia screamed and got off him as if she was scalded by fire. What the hell was going on?

Raphael's eyes narrowed, what brought on this unusual behavior? Has she by chance discovered anything?

"Are you okay?" Raphael stood to his feet and went to her side.

Lia observed the face was now Asher's but she had to be careful, she was having a bad feeling about this. It couldn't be a coincidence that she had a dream where her mate's face switched to Raphael's and now, had a vision about it.

"I'm okay" she smiled at him," I just keep having this horrible headache and it's quite disturbing. Also, my mom hasn't checked on me the entire night so there's a hundred percent she might come in any moment from now"

"So you want me to leave?" He asked in disbelief.

Lia sensed a hint of anger in his tone and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, "Is not that I'm chasing you off but it can't be good if my mom catches you. She thinks Daniel is my - "

"Of course, it's because of Daniel," he said bitterly.

"Hey, I love you" Lia clasped his face, "And nothing is going to take me away from you"

She saw a smile pull his lips and had to smile back too.

Raphael kissed her, hard and demanding, the way he loved it but just when his hand went around to cup her ass, she pulled away abruptly.

Lia giggled," I'm sorry about that but you do know that I can't stop when you do that," was her seductive whisper into his ears.

"So you're not going to feed on me," he asked, kissing down her neck which she gave him free access to.

"No, I'll take a raincheck" she dropped a kiss on his neck this time, "But make yourself presentable the next time cause I'll have my full with you"

"I'll be expecting then" Raphael kissed her one more time before leaving through the window.

After confirming her mate wasn't around her neighborhood, she let Lolli in. She had to come up with that convincing act earlier to keep whoever that was - Asher or Raphael - from suspecting a thing.

"Tell me what the hell is going on?" Lia demanded.

"How could you be such a fool!" Lolli scolded her, "Oh right, I forget I was the wolf to an eighteen-year-old high school kid, what was I expecting?"

"Maybe, if you had gone to the point and stopped overwhelming my head, I would have been able to sense something was going on and not fight a crazy headache!"

A knock on her door interrupted her conversation with Lolli.

"Hey, mom" she opened the door halfway, leaning against the doorbell and barricading her mom's entrance with her body.

"What is today?" Her mom questioned sternly with her arms folded across her chest.

"Today is umm..." Lia tried to remember. Her head was a tumult of activities right now," Today is Saturd..."

Crap.

"So?" Her mom raised a brow.

Today was per every other Saturday, a day to keep the surrounding clean.

"Mom-"

"I gave you all the rest you needed yesterday, so you could help out today"

Lia groaned, running her hand through her hair. All these supernatural activities had kept her so preoccupied that she had forgotten about her mundane duties as well.

"I know mom, just give me a few minutes. I'll promise I'll be down in a jiffy"

Jenny hesitated but the desperate look on her daughter's face melted her heart, "Better hurry up, then"

" Thank you so much, love you mom" Lia blew her a kiss, shutting the door at once.

"Alright, what's your problem? Why are you being harsh to me?!" She questoned Lolli.

Thankfully, both of them could communicate telepathically without someone eavesdropping on their discussion.

"You put me to sleep!" Lolli accused her.

"What? That is outrageous! Why would I put you to sleep? I only shifted to my …."

At once her mind drifted over to that Incense from last night. She gasped, could it be that Asher tried to put Lolli in jeopardy? But why would he do that? He had told her that incense was medicinal.

"Alright, unless you don't want me to go crazy, you have to tell me what's going on with Asher? Why does his face keep switching to Raphael's?"

"We share a soul with our mates hence the bond, through which we sense one another's pain, desperation, happiness, our feelings. But when I tapped into Asher's, it was empty, void."

Fear crippled Lia's heart, she wished whatever she was thinking right now was not true.

"So, what are you trying to say"

"You already know the answer, Lia. Our mate's soul is not in there, his soul has been ripped out of his body"

That moment, everything began to make sense to her. That night she fainted in the moonlight pack, that must be when his soul was removed. Lia felt it, just couldn't understand.

How was she going to understand something she never thought was possible until now? No one in her shoe would have even imagined that.

"Oh my God," Tears dropped from her eyes. If that was the case, that means Ralphael had been the one occupying his body all along. That son of a bastard has been playing and using her all times.

Guilt gnawed at her heart, it pained her to the point it made her unable to breathe. All this while, she thought she was having fun with him without knowing it was that bastard Raphael.

Who knows what that psychopath has done with Asher's soul? The thought of it terrified her to the bone.

She needed to call Dan. He needs to know about this. Followed by Sabrina, she was the person who had the best shot at figuring this out.

Lia knew Ralphael had not done this alone, he must have had a witch help. No matter how powerful vampires were, there was no way one would possess the ability to rip out souls. That had to be magic - Lia hoped she was right.

Witchcraft was Sabrina's expertise. Even without powers, she must know a way to figure out everything and give her back the real Asher.

"Come on, pick up" Lia tapped her feet impatiently, he was not picking her calls and she had no time for this.

Raphael was a tricky vampire, if he had even the faintest inkling that she had figured out everything, he would surely come for her and who knows what he would do to her?

"Seriously, pick up!" Lia yelled into the phone. She knew she was panicking but couldn't help it - this was a matter of life and death for her.

Finally, she decided to leave a voice message, " Hi, Dan, it's me. There's a lot of weird things going on right now but the most important thing you need to know is that Asher is - "

Lia felt a sudden pain in her neck and fell to the ground. The image of Raphael crouching down beside her was the last thing she saw before her eyes closed.