Vampire King Chapter 41

The Golden Hour
Beginning of Book 2
Emory
I close my bedroom door gingerly, trying to make the least amount of noise possible. I do think it’s ridiculous that I have to sneak around the castle which have come to see as my new home. Even when I was a prisoner here, I hadn’t had to be this careful with how I moved around. Much has changed since the first time I walked into this ancient and foreboding fortress.
I look around to check if the coast is clear. There have been guards stationed at my door for my protection, but I have spent days learning their blind spots. There is a guard change that gave me two minutes to escape. I walk briskly down the hallway, trying not to make noise and hoping nobody sees me. There are always servants walking around, but if I keep my head down, I might be able to get away scot-
free.
This wing of the castle has many twists and turns like a labyrinth. Since this wing is connected to the wing where the royals are, it has been designed to be difficult to navigate for anyone who doesn’t know the castle layout. I spent all of yesterday studying the floor plan so I know where to go. After one last turn down a long hallway, there’s a door I know leads to the outside. From here, I’ll be able to get to the gardens and to sweet freedom.
I reach the door and I grasp the handle when a familiar voice asks, “Where are you going, Emory?”
I have to stifle a scream, putting a hand on my heart, which is beating faster from shock. I turn to see Kane’s handsome face with his sharp cheekbones, porcelain skin, dark hair, and those striking pale blue eyes. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to how attractive he is. He has a hypnotic beauty that makes me want to keep staring at him… which makes sense, as he’s a vampire.
His species can hunt with their superior speed and strength as there is no other creature on earth that could match them, not even wolf shifters. And if they want, they can lure their prey with their deadly beauty. Most vampires nowadays are too impatient to bother tempting their victim, preferring to get blood from feeders. Still, looking at Kane reminds me that vampires are always dangerous even when they haven’t lifted a finger yet.
“Emory,” he says my name almost in a purr. “Why did you leave your room?”
I refuse to act like a child that has been caught sneaking out by my parents. I am a grown woman, I am almost twenty-one. I can leave my room if I want to.
“I just wanted some fresh air,” I explain. “I can feel the cabin fever settling in.”
He raises his eyebrows in disbelief. “It’s only been a week since the doctor put you on bed rest. Are your that bored already?”
“I’m ready to claw at the walls, Kane.”
A week in bed with nothing else to do has been frustrating and mind-numbingly dull. Kane has been away dealing with King Peter and trying his best to stave off a war with the other kingdom. His best friend Rainier has been helping him with that, so that leaves me with few visitors. My maids have tried their best to keep me entertained with card games and books, but I want to go outside.
While I don’t mind being indoors, there is an intrinsic part of my being that craves to be in nature. I am a
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wolf shifter. I revel in the freedom of being surrounded by trees and feeling the earth underneath my feet. Feeling the sun on my skin and breathing in fresh air makes me feel the most alive. Every shifter has the same connection with nature, and any of us would start to get antsy if we are cooped up for too long
Kane looks exasperated. His blue eyes stare me down, and I refuse to back down. I tilt my chin up defiantly. I know Kane is the boss around here, as he is the literal king of the castle, but I am the new Alpha of the Moonraker pack.
I have my own power.
“Were you going to go outside alone?” he asks. “Where are Helga and Nellie?”
“They’re busy, and they don’t know I snuck out.” I don’t want to get my maids into trouble so I add, “They wouldn’t have been able to stop me. I was ready to tie up the bed sheets into a rope and scale down the building through the window if I had to.”
He smiles at the thought. “You could’ve fallen and broken your neck.”
“Which is why I went with the safer option of just going out the door,” I tell him. I haven’t let go of the door handle, still intent on escaping even if I have to run screaming from the castle like a madwoman. “If you will excuse me…”
“Emory.”
I go still.
Kane’s icy blue eyes don’t even blink as he moves forward. He carefully pushes me out of the way with the gentlest touch, forcing me to let go of the door handle. I glare at him, ready to give him a piece of my mind. I don’t care if he’s the f***ng vampire king.
“It’s locked,” he explains before reaching into the pocket of his pants and pulling out a large iron key. He unlocks the door and gestures for me to go outside. “Go on.”
I didn’t even know the door was locked. That’s embarrassing. It would have made my escape plan futile. I don’t know how to pick a lock.
My anger dissipates like smoke. I’m too embarrassed and confused. “You’re just letting me go?”
He gives me an amused smile. “If you must go outside, I’ll go with you. I want to be there just in case you
feel faint.”
“Oh.”
He waits.
Sheepish, I say, “Okay, then.”
He offers his hand, and I take it. He laces our fingers together and leads us outside. It’s the later part of the day, and the sun will be setting soon. Sunlight can’t kill vampires. Kane won’t burst into flames, but the sunlight is uncomfortable on sensitive vampire eyes, and that’s what makes some of his kind prefer being nocturnal. He’s the king-not much can harm him.
don’t have that problem at all. When we reach the gardens, I let go of Kane’s hand to spread my arms as wide as I can. I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air and the smell of earth and flowers. The sunlight warms my skin, and I soak it up like a deprived sunflower.
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It’s
golden hour, and the world is saturated and beautiful. Kane stands by a tree and watches me. He isn’t as ghostly pale in this lighting. He looks even more handsome. It’s a little bit annoying. Does he ever look terrible?
“What are you thinking?” he questions.
“Nothing.”
I am not going to stroke his ego by complimenting his good looks. He already knows he’s hot. Even other vampires aren’t immune to his allure. Being a powerful king makes him irresistible to almost everyone.
He moves closer, and I stay still as he reaches me. He t**s my chin up with a finger, and I close my eyes as he kisses me. His lips are soft and warm. I have always thought kissing a vampire would be like kissing a marble statue, cold and unpleasant, but the reality with Kane is different. He deepens the kiss, his tongue lightly touching mine, and I shiver from desire.
I have missed how he tastes-like strawberries and c**on, and I want more. I’ve missed how he smells. I’ve missed how his skin feels in my hands. I’ve missed the weight of his body on top of mine.
I reach for the collar of his shirt, wanting to unbutton it, but his hand stops me. He pulls away from my mouth to kiss the inside of my wrist.
“The doctor said no sex,” he reminds me, apologetically.
“He also said bed rest, and yet, here I am,” I reply. “We’re already breaking the rules. We might as well keep going.”
He kisses my other wrist. “Emory, think of the baby.”
I sigh, knowing I’m beaten. He has to use the baby card I have only known I’m pregnant for a little over a week, and I’m already being treated with kid gloves. Ever since I told Kane I was carrying his child, he has been acting like I’m as delicate as a china teacup.
I pull
my hands away from him. “I’m strong. I can handle it.”
“I know just how strong you are, but vampire pregnancies are notoriously difficult,” he says. “My mother had a few miscarriages after I was born. She was unable to have any more children after she had Lex.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Most vampires are unable to have children naturally. They usually grow their numbers by turning humans into vampires. There are a few royal bloodlines that are able to birth children like Kane’s family, and no one quite knows how this is possible. Even more unfathomable is Kane getting me pregnant.
I have never heard of a vampire and wolf shifter creating a child before. Wolf shifters can’t be turned into vampires. For centuries, we have been told that our two species are completely incompatible. We have managed to defy everything we’ve been told for generations by falling in love.
“Pregnancies amongst wolf shifters are risky, too,” I explain, a hand touching my abdomen in concern. Women can’t shift while pregnant as they could miscarry or induce labor too early. If they get sick during pregnancy, their bodies don’t heal as quickly, so it can lead to complications.”
I watched Mother help deliver babies for years. So many things can go wrong during labor.
Kane must sense my distress. He cups my face in his warm hands, “Look at me.”
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I look up into his blue eyes and feel some of my worry melt away. I’m reminded who I’m with. This is at king that has ruled for a long, long time. He doesn’t balk at difficult situations.
“We’ll talk to the doctor,” he says. “If it is a risky pregnancy, we’ll take every precaution to make sure you! and the baby are safe.”
“Will the doctor even know what to do? This baby is going to be part-vampire and part-wolf shifter. Does anyone know what we’re dealing with?”
“We can consult with a wolf shifter healer as well. I’ll move one into the castle immediately.”
“What is the baby going to be?” I ask, trying to picture something unimaginable. “A vampire? A wolf? Something else entirely?”
“It’s our baby,” he reassures me, his conviction unwavering. “No matter what he or she is, they’re ours.”
“Ours,” I echo.
Our baby.
Ours.
It doesn’t matter if the baby comes out with fangs and six arms, I will love them anyway. I have always wanted kids, and now I am getting my dream. And I get to share this with the man I loved. What else matters?
Kane strokes my cheek, his gaze soft and adoring. No one has ever looked at me that way. When I was a child wondering about my mate, I wondered what he would be like. I thought it would be Darius, the son of my father’s Beta, but I hadn’t and could never love him. Darius is nothing like Kane.
Kane is something I could have never seen coming. I haven’t even told him, afraid of what it would mean for both of us. He deserves to know. A part of me aches to tell him and to put into words what I know deep in my bones.
I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it.