Three agonizing hours later, Tatiana decided she had had enough of the party. There was no point in her staying at the party and pretending like her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to go home to her safe space.
She wanted to be alone and think over what had happened today.
She needed to know how she would present herself to her mate before the war escalated. The vampires and werewolves had been at war for so long, and word had it that Alexander Dreykov hated vampires more than he hated betrayal.
He had his reasons, though, and yet the fates paired him with a vampire, one he didn't even know of yet.
Bidding Zhuri and her ‘friends’ goodbye, Tatiana turned to leave.
“Do you need a ride back?” Zhuri asked, causing Tatiana to halt in her steps.
The latter cast her best friend a quick smile before shaking her head. She answered, “No, it’s fine. I need some time to think.”
“Just…” Zhuri hesitated, looking around before continuing, softer this time, “Just be careful, okay? I know you’re happy, but he is still—”
“I know, Zhuri,” Tatiana cut in, not allowing Zhuri to finish speaking. “I’ll text you when I get back.”
With that said, the vampiress left.
Left alone on the way home, she indeed had too many things to think about. Tatiana leaned her head against the window of the taxi she had hired, watching as the skies went from clear and starry to a darkened noir, the moon hidden. Not long after, rain rolled down the glass, the droplets racing one another.
She looked to the sky where the moon had been, chewing on her bottom lip.
Maybe the moon goddess paired them for a reason, but what reason could there be?
Despite the questions she might’ve had for the stars, she was met with no reply. But it was alright. She had made it this far, after all.
She would be okay.
Tatiana arrived home much sooner than she had realized, at 53rd Wolf street, the house she had made for herself. She paused at the open gates after paying the driver, not even worried that someone may have broken in. She had broken the locks herself.
Beyond the gates of 53rd Wolf Street stood a three-story mansion so enormous that anyone who hadn't lived there for years would have a hard time navigating. It was like a wonderland on its own, charming everyone who walked outside the gates by its ethereal beauty.
The gates were never closed because the owner didn't have anything to hold on to anymore. She had nothing to protect; after all, it was just a house. Anyone who wanted to come and have a look was always welcome.
The house was a beauty, and leaving it open for people to come and do whatever they wanted should have been a mistake, especially in a world where people were greedy for antiques and hunters were yearning for vampire scores.
On regular nights, it was quiet and simply dead. There were never lights on at any point in the night. Almost like a haunted house, the mansion spent all the days and nights in darkness, and the owner loved it that way.
Tatiana was an ancient vampire and had seen more than she could ever care about. She knew there were vampire hunters around, but she didn't care about that. If they wanted her dead, they could try it, but she was immortal.
They would fail and miserably, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about someone finding a way to hurt the bastard. If the bastard died, then even she would die too. Well, technically, she was already dead, but she would just make it real this time.
The fact that she lived on Wolf Street despite knowing so well that the wolves hated the vampires meant that she couldn't care less about the consequences. She wanted him, and if she couldn't have him, then at least she would die by his hands.
That was fair.
Getting home should have been something to be proud of, especially in times like these, but Tatiana wanted to see Xander. Now that she knew who he was, she could easily find out where the packhouse was and how to get there. However, who was to say that the wolves of his pack would be as welcoming of her?
She might have been in love with the man for a whole millennium, but if she were attacked, she would defend herself. Her heart hurt, her brain was fired up, and she was just trying to make it all make sense.
Furthermore, there was a chance that Elijah had already told Xander that she was a vampire and they could be planning to attack her even right now.
Just the thought of that sent Tatiana’s blood boiling. If that Beta did anything to stand in the way of her and the man she had loved for centuries, she would make sure he wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise.
Tatiana grabbed the coat that she had shrugged off when she entered her house. She hadn’t been home for even five minutes but she was prepared to leave already. There were too many things to do and finding out whether that Beta would be a nuisance, was one of them. If he was, he would have to be erased from the equation.
Unfortunately, she was stopped before she could make it out the open gates.
“Oi, Tatiana, where in God’s good name are you going? You just got back!” a voice interrupted her, causing her to stop in her tracks. The person who spoke reached out, grabbing Tatiana’s arm so that she couldn’t budge.
Tatiana didn't need a genius to tell her that it was her best friend, Zhuri. Damn, that girl always showed up at the most opportune times.
“I need to kill that Beta. I know he knows I'm a vampire, Zhuri; he will screw me over. I didn't wait for a whole millennium just to have my plan botched by a useless wolf. Let me go,” she said as she tried wiggling her way out of her best friend’s arms.
“While that really sounds appealing to me, are you sure you’ve thought this through?” Zhuri questioned, her grip tightening. “Alexander Volkov just met you, Tati. What makes you think that he will stand on your side instead of his second-in-command? Besides, are you in love with him? Or just the idea of him?”
“Dreykov.”
“What?” Zhuri replied dumbly, taken aback.
“Dreykov.” Tatiana clarified, “He goes by Alexander Dreykov in this life.”
“Oh my cursed life… you will have to explain more later, but right now, haven't you realized that your vampire scent is coming back up? You need to stop this madness and go with me.”
Tatiana’s nose wrinkled and she sniffed the air, suddenly paranoid after Zhuri had pointed out her scent. And she was right. The mask had worn off.
“We will figure this out bit by bit, but you need to be alive for that to happen,” Zhuri said to Tatiana, who was hopelessly looking at her best friend.
Deep down, she knew that Zhuri was right. If she jumped into the pot right now, she wouldn't survive to see him again. She had to think.
“But he—”
“Patience, Tati,” Zhuri cooed. “All in good time. You know it yourself,” she reminded, “you’ve waited for centuries. What’s another night more?”
In the end, Tatiana relented, allowing herself to get pulled back into the mansion by Zhuri.
Maybe having a best friend was not bad after all.