Aiden really was the sweetest. He woke me up tenderly, and then fed me snacks and stuffed my face with chocolate. Then he was patiently waiting till I took a relaxing bath – which he had fixed for me – and then escorted me to show me the entire palace. Somehow, he knew all the right things to do to make me feel happier and comfortable and I could feel myself softening towards him.

It was so different for me, not having to worry about Aiden going back to another woman after spending his time with me. I knew that he was mine and only mine.

There was only love and happiness in my mind when I was with him – with him pampering me like I was some princess and getting me to laugh again and again. We walked in the corridors, and he was holding my hand, passing me smiles from time to time. I was dressed decently, all thanks to Aiden, and now I was looking around in awe.

Both the castles were huge and beautiful – one was occupied by the elders and the other was occupied by the families of the ones in command. It was crazy watching the lines of portraits of ancestors.

"Vampires and Werewolves, both the species are immortals and are basically the same when it comes to having little vamps running around. The only difference is that we don't have the 'heat' thing over here. We have mating seasons, when all the males and females are insanely horny. Also, we don't have to mark each other to strengthen the bond between mates. We have some blood rituals which involve blood fusion, sucking each other's blood and something like that. The third in-command had found his mate a few months ago and he'll be having a public ritual in a few days. You might understand that way better."

I nodded, "It's going to be interesting, I guess."

He clasped my hand in his and led me outside the castle, and there seemed to be a cave of sorts in some distance. It was not too close, and we walked past it, yet I felt strangely drawn to that place.

"What's that?" I asked him, eyeing whatever that thing was, and trying to wrap my mind around the feeling of wanting to go inside it.

"It's an underground dungeon housing those vampires who have life sentences." He said, looking straight and without any emotion, "I know you might be curious, but don't go there at all costs. What you might see inside isn't pretty."

I nodded at him, not minding the dungeon much, suppressing the pull.

He led me forward and there was a large clearing which had a stage of sorts. There was huge space and someone was arranging chairs and table neatly, while the stage was left alone. It was beautiful and looked like a place where celebrations took place so I concluded it must be for those blood rituals.

"Yes, you are right." He pointed towards the clearing, "Annual feasts, public announcements and blood rituals – they all happen here. If you look ahead, you'll find the mall and some popular clothing chains there. And yeah, food; since you are more used to having regular human food, you can have that here. We'll have the cook at the place gather something for you, but most of us here have raw meat and blood only, and it might be difficult for you to change your diet in an instant."

I nodded again, not really caring. I realised just then that I had never really explored the Were Kingdom to this extent and I had nothing to compare to. I went for a run with Liana once, when I had just found out about this side of the world and had ended up getting her and myself caught.

Gosh, all of it was crazy.

Once he had finished giving me a tour of almost the entire kingdom, we lied down somewhere outside the castle, where there was a beautiful garden. It was relaxing, just lying down and talking about things that didn't matter.

He kept telling me about his childhood and the days he spent till now. He was almost two hundred years old, but it felt like a thousand to him. As I listened to the tales he shared with me, I realised that life here was almost human. You had a similar education system with perhaps a different curriculum and similar set of rules. There was no cruelty, and these vampires rarely fed on human blood.

You just got bored of doing the same thing again and again till you died.

Everything he told me – it was unbelievable. All this time I thought Vampires were cruel creatures with rotten habits, but it clearly wasn't the case as I saw here.

Whatever it was, I loved spending time with Aiden, and I'd probably tell this a thousand times over again.

I was laughing at one of his jokes when I felt a slight pain in my chest.

I brushed it off, thinking it was just gas and continued telling him about my own stories with my grandma. I didn't know if he knew about my parents or not, but I wasn't going to mention them anyway at the moment.

The pain stayed in my chest for a while and then it intensified to the point that I winced.

"Cynthia, are you alright?" He asked, concern etched all over his features.

The pain intensified more, and I curled into myself on the grass. "Cynthia, what's wrong?" he lied back down and shifted closer to me, cupping my face, "Please tell me baby, what's wrong with you?"

"It hurts..." I mumbled lowly, wincing again when it felt as if a knife was being pierced through my heart – I didn't even know what it really felt like.

In a blur, he stood up, scooped me and in a few moments, we were inside the palace, in our room.

The pain had simmered down by then, when Aiden brushed the hair off my face. His mouth came closer to me, his lips brushing softly over mine as he spoke, "It seems like he has finally realized you're missing from his kingdom. And now your bond might be punishing you both for being away right after...marking."

Well, at least he knew what could probably be the reason. I would have just concluded that he was having sex.

Even thinking about him touching another woman, right after the days we spent together, was hurting my head.

Aiden pulled away and frowned at me. The look in his eyes broke my heart and it hurt more than the piercing pain in my chest. "You won't leave me, would you? I just got you...I know you've marked each other and you might be feeling a pull towards him...but-but, please..." his voice cracked and my heart broke some more, "I will love you more than he can – I'll treat you much better than he ever can. I'll be only and only yours, forever."

"Oh Aiden," I murmured; my eyes were tearing up, "I love you too, Aiden, and I'm not going back to him. I want to give us a chance."

I crushed my lips to his and I knew it took him by surprise at that moment. In an instant, he was responding to my kisses.

And Oh. My. Goddess.

The feelings that the kiss brought up in me were indescribable – he was so fucking tender with me. The kiss was more loving than any kiss I ever had, and I felt like I was floating in the clouds, my body was lit up with fireworks and I wanted it to never stop. I lifted up myself and straddled him, pressing my body against him.

I moaned softly into his mouth, forgetting the pain that was piercing my chest a few moments ago.

I felt cherished, loved with how he touched me so gently everywhere. His hands didn't stray far away either from my waist or my face. I was right in his arms, being kissed thoroughly as if his life depended on it.

"I'm not going anywhere, Aiden," I kissed him softly, "I'll be right here, with you."

We both pulled away, and suddenly, a thought came across me.

I suddenly felt like a traitor.

Weren't they the same people who had almost killed my best friend? Not only her, but my parents were no longer with me only because of the Vampires! And here I was, kissing one and telling him that I'd never leave him.

Goddess, I was losing my mind. It seemed like I couldn't be trusted to make rational decisions anymore. First I slept with Adrian and fucked him like there was no tomorrow, without wondering about how it would affect the lives of me, Adrian, Delia and her pup. Now, I came along with my other mate to his Vampire Kingdom and was actually professing my love for him.

It's not your human mind working, Moon. It's us who are acting on our instincts. Celeste told me, but it didn't make me feel any better.

We love him too much and we are clouding your judgment. Please don't blame yourself alone – it's all a mixture of your hormones, us, your primal instincts. Cynthia said.

"I know you are overwhelmed and this is confusing you a great deal. I'll wait for you forever and will give you as much space as you need, baby. Please don't go. I'll tell you everything you need to know, and you'll realise that Werewolves are not the only victims in this rivalry. We all are."

His face was buried in the crook of my neck now, and then he slowly pulled away from me.

"Lazarus' daughter was just one hundred seven years old - she had an entire lifetime to live ahead of her. Your Alpha Prime abducted her and tortured her to near death - mind you, it was after the war was over. I don't know why they captured her; she was completely innocent and she played no role in the war except for being the King's daughter." His eyes were pained and his voice was filled with fury, We were already too late in rescuing her - her body was battered and unidentifiable. We didn't have a PureBlood for bringing her back to life. She...she died right in my arms."

His voice was thick with emotion and it pained me too. This rivalry brought out the darkest sides of both the Empires.

But there was a hint of possessiveness in his voice, and I could feel the thirst for revenge emanating from him. But it ticked me off a little; I really hoped the feelings were avuncular and nothing else.

"I told you, Aiden. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here, with you."

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

"What are you doing with him, Celeste? You're mine."

My eyes opened. I didn't know where I was - it was a creepy empty space and everything was white around me. There was no floor - but there was something solid on the ground where my feet rested.

Right in front of me was my furious mate - Adrian Wolfe.

I stared at him for a while, wondering if it was just a dream or it was some other thing that mate bond made possible.

"Talk to me, Celeste." He said and I blinked.

Looking at him after all this time, I realised I really did miss him. It wasn't fair - after everything that happened between us, I really shouldn't have felt this way towards him but...

"What do you want me to say?" I whispered.

"Why are you with him, Celeste? You're my mate. You're mine!" He was furious; he stalked towards me and stopped a distance in front of me. I wanted to reach him too, but my mind warned me to stay in my place. I couldn't have the best of both worlds - it wasn't right and that wasn't me.

"I was running away from you, Adrian, and it led me right to him." I told him.

"Why?"

Wasn't the answer incredibly obvious? How dare he ask me such a question when he knew what we had done together and the consequences behind it? Didn't he stop even once and think how I was feeling about this all this time?

"When I came back to my senses, I was disgusted with myself!" I bit out, "All you needed was to hear the name of your wife and your pup - you ran out of your room as if your ass was on fire. Not even once did you think about how I was feeling about the entire situation!"

"Cel -"

"I am incredibly selfish for feeling this way - I know - and it's very obvious that they are your priority, but I couldn't deal with me acting like a whore then!" I was going to start crying soon.

"You were in your heat, Celeste, you were not acting like a whore. The both of us acted on our instincts -"

"No! You fucking made me feel like a whore when you didn't even think once about me and how I was feeling! And that's why I ran away from you, Adrian! I regret everything we did then. I don't want to repeat that mistake ever again! I did something I never thought I would ever do! I wrecked your fucking family; I made you cheat on your wife!"

Hurt flashed in his eyes and his jaw clenched harder. He came closer to me and cupped my face.

"I know what we did was morally wrong, but it doesn't mean that it was a mistake, Celeste. I don't regret a single moment, and I don't want you to regret them too." He told me, softly. "I wish you had waited for me, so that we could've talked this out. But now, it seems like I pushed you right in the arms of my enemy." He sighed, "Promise me, you won't be swayed by whatever they say. They're going to feed you a bunch of lies just to make us look evil and get you on their side."

No time better than now to verify the truth, "Tell me, Adrian, what happened to Lazarus's daughter? Did she really die because of Jaxon?"

Adrian's head hung low. It seemed like I wasn't being fed lies after all.

"I'm really happy here, Adrian. My mate loves me - he is giving his all to me. After so long, I'm not feeling guilty for being with someone who's not mine, and I'm someone's priority. I wonder how different things could've been if I hadn't met you at all." My lower lip quivered. "I don't want you to do whatever this is, Adrian. I'm happy with him. You have a family depending on you, take care of them. Maybe we weren't destined to be together after all."

"Celeste, there's a possibility that you're pregnant with my pup."

I panicked internally for a moment. "I will behave responsibly and inform you in such a situation, Adrian. Goodbye."

And this time, my eyes opened for real and I was wrapped in Aiden's arms, with him sleeping soundly beside me.

I didn't have it in me to tell him what just happened in my dream.

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

It was finally time to meet the Vampire King, Lazarus Vamp. I was not really looking forward to the meeting, but I was curious as fuck. There was nothing to lose - they wouldn't abduct me, well, because I was here on my own will. And if they tried to do anything, I hoped that Aiden protected me.

I wondered how different things would have been had Lazarus brought Aiden with him that day. I wouldn't have run away like I did then.

Then another thought came to my mind. I remembered Lazarus's touch slightly burning my skin. Aiden's touch didn't burn me, it just sent pleasurable, heated sparks my way. Apart from Aiden, not a single vampire had touched me in the last few days, so I didn't know about anyone else.

Maybe only because Aiden was my mate, his touch didn't burn me.

The gates to the Court Room opened and we were ushered inside. A formal announcement was made where I was introduced along with the names of my parents.

"Welcome, Moon Winters." A familiar voice greeted me and shivers ran down my spine. I shifted closer to Aiden, who just smiled down at me reassuringly and held me closer. "How the tables have turned - you walking willingly into our Kingdom. And here I had thought I'd have to concoct a plan to abduct you again."

I stared at him, wide eyed. Was he trying to crack a joke or was he serious?

"Seems like I have to thank my second in-command for that, don't I?"

Aiden chuckled at it, bowing slightly.

He started speaking again, and I remembered how annoyingly talkative he used to be, yapping off my ears constantly when we were working together. I'm definitely seeing him in a different light now, with him sitting on a throne and all.

The CourtRoom was lavishly decorated with a lot of things I didn't know how to name. All I could say was that it looked befitting to a King's Palace and there was red everywhere.

"I never knew this was possible, but then I should have known, with Aiden's long line of ancestors. Someone had fooled around with a PureBlood, right?"

Aiden nodded again. I frowned at him slightly; why didn't he tell me?

"Well, coming back to the situation at hand, I first want to apologize for my behaviour that day - i was little on the crazed side and very excited to finally see a PureBlood again." He cleared his throat, "So, I want to ask you, Moon, or should I say, Cynthia: how can we be sure that you are not here to spy on us for the wolves?"

Aiden had briefed me earlier about what was going to happen when I'd meet Lazarus. A brief interrogation, with questions which Aiden had already guessed. He told me to let him do the talking, and he had confirmed with me how he'll be asking the questions.

Aiden started, "As you and I both know, Were King Adrian already has a mated wife with an offspring on the way. He has disrespected Cynthia enough times; now she wants nothing to do with him and has cut off all ties with him."

I smiled in agreement, though something inside me sunk. That was not exactly the truth - it was not like I wanted nothing to do with him.

"She's a hybrid; isn't her wolf yearning for her mate?" Lazarus steepled his fingers, regarding both of us curiously.

Aiden shook his head, "Apparently, both her wolf and PureBlood love both of their mates. However, with the way her other mate has been treating her, they are not bound to go back to him."

Again my heart sank.

For a small moment, a silent communication passes between both the men. After giving a good amount of thought, Lazarus grunted.

"Do the both of you want to complete the blood rituals? That brings me to another question; she has been marked, hasn't she? Won't that affect your bond?" He asked.

Aiden replied, "Yes, we want to go through the rituals but we are thinking of giving it time. With her poor previous experience, I want this time to be special for her. At the moment, her being marked is not affecting our bond. We'll see if something happens later on and will keep you updated accordingly."

The back and forth continued between the two men, and I was more than happy staying silent, occasionally nodding when required.

His last question was unexpected for both of us: "If there's trouble in paradise between Aiden and you, I hope you won't go running back into the arms of your other mate. You have to make a choice here."

Was he giving me an ultimatum?

In that same moment, I realised that I couldn't completely give up on Adrian. He was my mate after all, and I didn't want to make any fake promises to any of them. But then, it was a matter of rivalry between two kingdoms and I was stuck in between.

I also realised that I was grateful I had the human world to fall back on. Grandma had left me enough wealth to last a lifetime (at least as long as I wanted to live) and I was independent there, unlike the case in these two kingdoms where my identity was dependent upon my mates.

"Well, let's just hope Aiden doesn't fuck up that bad." I shrugged, "In that case, I'd return back to the human world, and forget that I ever had any links to the supernatural world."

Lazarus raised his brow at my answer, and Aiden's grip on me tightened.