They are and

and I'm really fortunate to have you guys as friends

Arielle's pov

True enough, we were in some kind of vampire mall. We've been here for like, 3 hours and everyone has bought their stuff...except Megan. She hasn't even picked a dress, not even a shoe

"Megan, please promise we'll be out of here in the next 30 minutes, I'm already getting mall sick" Devon says

"no worries, I've found the perfect dress" she says and comes out of the dressing room in a black gown. It looks absolutely stunning and she is really pretty in it. I look at the others and they are all speechless, with their mouth wide open...even Joshua but especially prince Michael

"so... Do you guys like it?" she asks, looking shy

"turn around baby girl" prince Michael says, making Megan blush and Devon roll his eyes. Megan did as Michael said and we all heard him groan

"perfect" Michael says and Devon kicks him in his leg

"ouch! What was that for?" Michael pouts and Devon just shrugs. Megan goes back inside to change and comes out

"okay..." she smiles "... Now I just have to find matching heels and purse" she runs off and we all groan

After 20 long boring minutes of searching, she finally found the perfect heels, purse and accessories. They paid for everything and we all went back to the limo, tho Michael left in h own car

"the gown looks really pretty princess Megan. I'm sure you'll look the best tomorrow" I say and Devon snickers, making Megan frown

"thanks Arielle, I'm sure you'll also look amazing" she says with a smile and Devon also let out a little smile.

"well, it's not like I'll look horrible or anything" Joshua says, making me smile and Megan laugh

"stick to your boring jeans and t-shirt but we the ladies have to look pretty" she says in a sassy accent

"well, yeah..." Joshua was about to say but the driver stops the car, announcing that we're back to the mansion

*********

The day of the Ball has finally arrived and me being nervous is an understatement. It's still morning and final preparations are ongoing. Vampires from other kingdoms have arrived and I saw some pets without clothes. Luckily, I haven't seen any male yet.

"are you nervous?" Devon asks as he enters the bathroom without knocking . I've been staring at the mirror for a very long time now

"what if I was naked?" I ask

"no problem with that, pet" he smiles and pats my head, making me roll my eyes

"really" I say

"don't worry, I read your mind" he says and sniffs my neck. Devon has been doing that a lot the past few days. At first, I thought he was going to bite me, but he never did. He just kept sniffing me...

Dog

"I'm not a dog" he mumbles on my neck

"you're right, you're a mosquito" I say and he pinches my side, making me jump a little

"watch your tongue pet" he grumbles on my neck, giving me goosebumps.

"I'm nervous" I say and he leaves my neck

"you should be. A lot of vampires and other supernaturals from all over the world will be there" he says

"all of this just to find your mate? "

"not really. There's no guarantee that I'd find my mate in a ball that some vampires wouldn't attend. It's just to find a suitable queen, you know... Incase I don't find my mate. The same for Megan, and also Adrian" he says and I freeze at the name of Adrian

"Adrian.... The scary vampire..." I stutter and he chuckles

"Adrian isn't that scary. He's just stupid and he's from silvatorem so he does things differently. It's his Birthday today and since he's older than I, there's more pressure on him to find a Queen" he says

"oh, so how old is he?" I ask

"older than I am" he answers with a smile

"okay... How old are you?"

"do you really wanna know?" he smirks and I think about it

"now that I think about it, I don't" I say

"Exactly. We still have to like... 6 more hours. What are me gonna do with so much spare time?" he asks and falls face down on the bed

"just sleep" I say

"I don't sleep"

"what!?" I shout a little

"vampires don't get tired easily so we don't necessarily need sleep until after a long period of time . I slept last week, you know, what the witch did to me, so I'm not tired"

"oh well, I'm gonna hang out with Joshua and Talia. Talia is going to introduce me to other pets" he sits up

"okay then. But make sure you only move around with Talia and not Joshua. I don't trust that human " he says

"yeah yeah" I say and I'm about to go but he stops me

"wait!"

"yes prince" I say and he rolls his eyes at my formality

"incase you meet any vampire, you need to wear this...." he brings out a choker with his name on it and puts it on my neck "... Or they'll think you're a free meal"

"thanks"

"whatever" he says and plugs in his earphone

***************

A lot of pets were surprised when they found out that I was bought the same day I arrived at the pet house

"so you weren't tamed"

"you're soo lucky you didn't have to go through the horrible process of taming"

"you must be really worth something for the prince to notice you"

On and on they went. It was getting really frustrating until Talia decided to change the topic

"who's ready for today's event" she says and gives me a sympathetic look. I couldn't thank her more

"not us" three boys, including Joshua, came out of nowhere

"hey Talia" the guy that spoke earlier says and they all say their pleasantries

"so... Who's the new chick" the other guy asks

"I'm Arielle and I'm not exactly new..." I say

"oh really? How come we haven't seen you around the past week" he asks and I could tell he's probably a new pet as most pet see me in the dining hall

"She's Devon's pet" Joshua says and a look of realization flashes on their faces

"well then, Nice to meet you. I'm Cole and this is Andrew and Joshua" Cole says and Andrew gives a little wave and says a small '

she's already met me" Joshua says, making them confused

"really?" Andrew asks

"yeah, we see once in a while" he says and awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, making Talia and I to snicker

"really Joshua? Just once in a while?" I playfully ask and he rolls his eyes, making the rest more confused

"anyway, are there only 3 male pets? I could swear I've seen one other male pet around" I say and look around

"oh, that's probably Justin. He's Elite Rhea's pet. He's a pain in the ass" Joshua says making Cole to chuckle

"more like a pain in Rhea's ass" Andrew says and the boys laugh while the girls just snicker

"what does that mean" I ask, completely oblivious to whatever they were talking about

"I think it's no longer NEWS what happens to Justin and Elite Rhea behind closed doors" Talia says

"yeah. Some Elites caught them in a heated make out session in one of the halls. Last week, Rhea and Elite Karla had a heated argument and during lunch, Karla 'mistakingly' let it slip. They were so embarrassed and ever since then, Justin hasn't come out of the room." Cole says

" well, I don't really blame him. Who would give up the opportunity to bang a sexy hot vampire" Andrew says, doing a weird jerking up and down movement with his waist

"eeew" Lisa, one of the pets says

"anyways, I've got work to do. Let's go Arielle" Talia says

"it was nice meeting you guys" I say, wave and walk away with Talia

"wait Arielle, I'm coming with you" Joshua says and runs to me

"Talia, don't worry, I'd walk her back to the room" Joshua says

"no, I don't think so...." Talia says but Joshua cuts her off

"no really it's no problem, I just wanna talk with her" he says and I suddenly remember Devon's warning

"But make sure you only move around with Talia and not Joshua. I don't trust that human"

Realizing this was a bad idea, I try to stop

"no Joshua I don't think so..." I say

"please Arielle, I just want to talk" he says and I sigh. It's just one walk... What could possibly go wrong?

"fine. Thanks Talia, I'd just go with him" I say

"okay then. Take care guys" she says and walks off

"so.. What do you wanna talk about" I ask as we enter a hallway I've never been to before, but Joshua says it's a shortcut

"nothing really, I just wanted to spend time with you" he shrugs

"okay then. Can I ask you something?" I ask

"sure, go on" he says

"how do you know that witch" I ask and he looks confused

"witch.... You mean Isabella?" he says

"her name is Isabella?" I ask. He definitely does have some kind of link with her

"yeah.. You're talking about the one we met that day right?" he asks and I nod

"yes, how do you know her? " I ask and he shrugs

"Megan should have mentioned her once or twice before" he says nonchalantly, but that isn't a reasonable answer

"that isn't a reasonable answer. That day, she looked at you as if she knew you" I say and he sighs, and looks at me

"look, I don't know anything about that. All I know is that she's Isabella and she's a witch. She probably saw a vision about me or something..." he says and walks off. I could tell he wasn't telling the complete truth but I just left it

"so, how has Devon been treating you?" he ask

"pretty good actually. In fact..." I say but stop as Joshua stops walking

"oh my God! I forgot to ask Andrew for something. Stay right here, I'll be right back"

"but..." he runs off. Now I'm left alone in the middle of nowhere. I slide down the wall to wait. 4 minutes later, Joshua still hasn't returned. I hear someone coming and thinking it's Joshua, I stand up

"finally, it's about time...." I stop as I see who it is

"who are you human ?" the vampire ask.

"I'm... I'm a pet, I was just about leaving" I say and try to walk off but he vampire sped and holds my hand

"not so fast. Whose pet are you" he Says, slowly backing me up against the wall

"p-prince Devon" I say and he looks at the choker

"I see, well I guess he wouldn't mind if I have a little bite" he licks my neck a little, running shivers down my spine

"sir, I'm not so s-sure he w-would like that" he pins both my hands up

"shh, don't think too much..." he pecks my neck "I'll make this as fast as I can. Try not to scream darling, we wouldn't want to be interrupted now would we?" he says with a smirk. You know, he looks really attractive but this situation is pretty ugly

"please don't do this..." I felt the tears fall from my eyes but he just pouts against my neck

"no don't cry, I haven't even done anything. If you don't struggle too much, it would be less painful" he says and pecks my neck again

I felt his fangs elongate and I could do nothing but cry

"please..." I whisper and one word kept repeating in my head

Just as he was about to sink his teeth into my neck, I hear a crack. I open my eyes and see Devon standing in front of me with dangerously red eyes and hardened jaw. I look down on the floor and see the vampire that tried to bite me. His neck was in an awkward position. And he looks unconscious, is he dead?

"he isn't dead, let's go" his scary deep voice was like ice. He looked somewhere else and whatever he saw seemed to make him more angry. He carries me and vampire sped out of the hallway

But out of the corner of my eyes, I see a shocked looking Joshua and I knew instantly that that was what made Devon angry

***********