Chapter 33: Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
Lucivar stepped beside her. He looked at her, not as a king, not even as Damien’s father, but as someone who had long since sacrificed personal dreams at the altar of duty.
"Luna," he began, "one thing in life is constant. And that’s change. Centuries ago, vampires and werewolves wouldn’t have shared the same continent without trying to rip each other’s fangs and fur out. Now? Look at us. Allies."
"Yeah," Luna muttered.
"My point is more change can come through you. Through this... bond. You call it a burden, but maybe it’s the very thing that can forge a better future. Think of what you could do for your people with the resources we have here. The strength of two kingdoms. The knowledge, the protection. Your people wouldn’t just survive. They’d thrive."
Luna turned to face him now. "What are you saying?"
"I’m saying, you think this mate pairing is a curse... but maybe, just maybe, it can be a blessing."
******
Damien wasn’t exactly proud of how badly he was handling things with Luna. In fact, he’d been avoiding her. Which was, by all logical and emotional accounts, the worst thing to do when trying to convince someone they were destined mates. Or that he didn’t find her terrifyingly beautiful when she was angry. Or both. But the truth was, he still had questions.
He found himself trudging up the narrow path to the home of the kingdom’s most learned vampire. Sage Veyron.
Damien arrived at the small, crooked house at exactly 10:04 a.m. The sacred window after coffee but before lunch. Timing was everything with Veyron. If you interrupted him too early, he would throw you out.
Damien cleared his throat and called out toward the door. "Sage Veyron!"
No answer.