Royal shuffle: Vampire's mate

ANDREA

William took a few steps into the cave and was tackled to the ground by a bloodied Leopold. I screamed as another contraction hit me. But this time, I couldn't tell if it was just pushing the baby that was making me scream. Or if it was a combination of the baby and my frustration at the entire situation.

"Come on, baby..."

"But Leopold..."

I said between pants.

"He's a big boy, he can take care of himself. Now push!!!"

I took a deep breath; and have one strong push, and was finally rewarded with the loud cry of a baby. He slid right out of me, and into his father's arms. Leo sighed, and began to laugh. "We have a boy..."

I smiled, and nodded. Tears of anguish and joy dropping from my eyes.

"Thank goodness..." I said as my eyes drifted close, and all strength left me.

As I slipped into a peaceful sleep, I could hear Leo's voice calling me to come back.

I woke up to a warm body next to mine, and soft kisses being placed on my cheeks, and forehead. I subconsciously shifted closer to the warm body, and sighed.

"Hey..." I smiled and lifted my head. "Hi..."

Leo leaned his head down and kissed me. We were interrupted by the sound of our baby crying, and Leo immediately jumped from the bed, and hurried to the crib that was in the corner of the room. I looked around the room and everything looked strange to me. I tried getting out of the bed, but Leo stopped me.

"You're not getting out of this bed. Doctor's orders." I sighed and fell back down on the bed.

"Where are we?" I asked Leo as he settled our son into my arms.

I pulled out my breast, and I smiled as he immediately latched on to my nipple. It all seemed so natural to me.

"We're at the palace. I brought you back here after that night," Leo replied.

My eyes opened wide in fear and panic. "Why? You know your father hates me...and what do you mean by 'that night'? How long have I been here?" Leo shrugged.

"You've been out for about a week."

"What?!!"

My scream seemed to startle my baby, as he unlatched his Louth from my nipple and began to cry. I hushed him, and rocked him till he calmed down enough to return to feeding.

"It's fine. My father understands. In fact, he wants to meet you again."

"I don't understand..." I was genuinely confused.

"He wanted to carry his grandchild, and I told him he cannot do that if he isn't at peace with the mother," Leo said.

"What? He no longer wants Leah?!" I gasped as I remembered Leah. "Oh my goodness, she..."

"I know. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened when I got to there and she was the only one standing, but all the strongest men were dead. Not a single scratch."

I sighed. "But I kind of see why your father wanted her as queen though. She is quite strong."

Leo shrugged. "That doesn't matter to me."

"What does matter to you?" I asked.

"You. Our baby. Us. The second I found that you were captured by the wolves, I discovered that I would give up my crown of it came to it."

I looked at him. Truly looked at him, searching his eyes to see if he was telling the truth, and I blushed when I saw that he was in fact truthful.

My cheeks heated up with his declaration of love. "Stop..."

"I'm serious. And I want you to know that now. If it came to it, it's not going to be a competition. I will always choose you."

"That's nice to know."

We sat in quietness for a while, both of us basking in the warmth of having overcame one of the most difficult moments of our love story. And then William came to mind. "William?"

"Leopold took care of him. I told you he was a big boy."

I could easily pick up the pride in his voice.

"Is he...did he kill him?"

"Nope. That would have been an easy way out for all the trouble he has caused us."

I remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. I sighed in frustration when I had to urge him to continue going.

"And?!!!"

"Oh, and he's currently in the dungeons, reliving the same treatment that he had given to you, even in your pregnant state."

"I like that...and Leah?"

"She has been shipped back to her family in Australia. She is banned from setting foot here, and the best part? The contract is annulled," Leo said.

I smiled widely. Even though I didn't understand it, I was happy that the contract no longer existed.

"I love that..."

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We both laughed at the misfortune of our enemies, and the happiness that the news was giving us. And then I remembered what William told me.

"Did you kill William's mate?"

Leo froze, and his eyes widened in shock. He stared at me for a while, not doing anything, and then he cleared his throat and moved away from me.

"We haven't named our baby yet, you know," Leo said.

I scoffed at his lame attempt to digress.

"Yes, I am aware of that. But that wasn't what I asked you. We can come back to that later. Did you kill William's mate?"

He sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He has grown a beard in the one week that I was blacked out, and j couldn't even lie. It was one helluva distraction. "Yes. I did. But it isn't how you're thinking it."

I shrugged. "I'm honestly not thinking anything. I just want to hear your side of the story."

He sighed again, and ran his hands though his hair again. "Her name was Celine. She was a vampire."

"He told me that much," I replied.

He gave me a look, and I pinned my lips with my fingers.

"Sorry...carry on..."

"Well, she was a vampire, and somehow she and William met and found they were mates. She didn't tell us, despite the fact that we were more or less family to her. My father raised her as his own, and we grew up with her playing with us." He was quiet for a while his eyes telling me that his mind had left his body. He was staring into space. Looking but now focusing.

"And what happened?" I asked softly, and began playing with the hairs at the male of his neck.

He sighed, and leaned into my touch. "She started avoiding us somewhat. Hidden calls. Hidden texts. She started spending more time outside than inside. I and Leopold were worried for her. We suspected that there was a man behind the behavior, we just didn't think that that man was William."

He took our son from me, and gently cradled him in his arms. I smiled as our baby cooed, and closed his eyes. He was so gentle with him. "What happened?"

"The secrecy was becoming too much, and it got to a point that she was almost becoming paranoid. I and Leopold decided that we needed to intervene. We searched her room, and nothing prepared us for what we saw." "What was that?" My curiosity piqued.

"Cocaine."

"But that couldn't have hurt her. She's a..."

"Mixed with silver and wolfsbane." Leo deadpanned.

I gaped, my hand going over my mouth. "Was it William that gave it to her?"

"Yes. He confessed to it at the time. He wasn't remorseful, and that was what hurt me. Have you ever had to watch the one you love turn into a shadow of themselves and not being able to do anything about it because they chose the path themselves?" He asked.

I nodded, even though I haven't. I didn't want him to feel alone.

"She was imbibing...substances. We were trying our best to keep the news away from our father, and see how we could pull her out. She wasn't listening to reason. We kept an eye on her. Shit got out of hand the day she tried to kill us all." "What?!!" I sat upright on the bed. "Is the mate bond that strong?"

Leo cocked an eyebrow and looked at me. I blushed, and nodded.

"It is...noted." I replied.

He chuckled, and continued his story.

"She came down to dinner one night armed with guns. She fired at everyone. Thankfully, she's got terrible aim so the bullets hit our arms, legs, and no vitals. The guards heard it and came in. One managed to get behind her and snap her neck." "Shit...how did you find out he asked her to do it?"

"We searched her phone after the incident, and found chats of them planning to kill us and all that. It was meant to be a simple plan. She walks in with guns. We would be sitting ducks. We would die. They attack and take the territory." I was shocked. These people have wanted their lands for a long while. All that planning and plotting for all those years. They saw an opportunity in me and took it.

"So, that's how she died," I said. "But you didn't kill her."

"No, I didn't. But it feels like I did. If only I had..."

"Shhh...no. All of us here know that nothing could have been done at that point. She had chosen her path, and she had walked it to the end."

"It's funny how mates are so rare, and yet when we get them, there's always so much drama and fighting," I said.

Leo smiled sadly, and pulled me closer to him.

"It's really sad."

"What about the war?" I asked.

Leo laughed. "That's up to his father. We already sent word to him to withdraw his troops and show up at the council next meeting, or we won't have any choice but to send his son's corpse to him."

I leaned in and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too, my darling."

"I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. You have no idea."