At long last, after years of searching high and low, Tatiana finally found what she had dedicated her life to search for. He stood there like a Greecian God, as alluring as she remembered him last.
She could never forget.
However, it had also been years. How should she approach someone she had yearned for for centuries?
Everything that hadn't made sense over the years was finally unfolding. All her effort to attend the hopeless parties through the years finally paid off.
She was sharing the same space as him, breathing the same air, and she couldn't have been happier. Even though she felt like a fraud for hiding her scent, Tatiana knew it was finally her turn to be happy. Her heart leaped, and she watched this man in the dark.
Vampires didn't have night vision as sharp as some other species, so it was kind of hard to see his face, but who needed to see the darn face when she could smell him? His scent always drove her crazy, like it was already doing right now.
She was elated. However, she had to control herself lest they found out she was a vampire.
*****
The moon was lighting up the night, so when the man turned to look at who his beta had seen, he saw her.
It only took one second, one fleeting look, and it was enough for him to recognize her. He knew at that moment that she was the one he had been waiting for this entire time, the woman that was promised to him by the stars.
She was here.
The happiness in his heart was one of a kind, and even he had never felt it before. Growing up, he always planned on how to meet the love of his life, a moonchild just like him.
He had always known that no matter what happened, the moon goddess was not going to let him lead a lonely life. The man felt a tingle running down his spine just with one look from her. That was the sort of effect she had over him.
His mate.
His human mate.
She was here, and he had always been looking for her.
He always told himself that he wouldn't take a second-chance-mate because his mate was out there somewhere, and here she was. He was so happy that he rushed to her and hugged the living moonlight out of her, making her gasp in shock from the heat that was binding them.
Tatiana had never expected that he would be a wolf in this life. She had never expected that he would run to her the way he did. She never thought he would want her, but tonight, all her doubts were thrown out the window when he opened his mouth.
“The name is Xander, Alexander Dreykov. Sorry for ambushing you like that. I’ve been looking for you for so long. I just can't believe you’re here,” Xander introduced himself as he rambled on.
His beta, Elijah, looked at the man in shock.
Alexander Dreykov never rambled or hugged people out of the blues, and certainly, Alexander Dreykov never got excited because of a stranger. Whatever this woman had on him, it had to be one of those cheap elixirs sold at the taverns the humans called bars.
Damn, if that shit worked this fast, then he needed to get himself a bottle. The wars were draining him, and he needed a release, so if the taverns were the solution, then he would visit them someday.
“Tatiana,” said Tatiana, beaming. “Tatiana Belyaeva.”
“That’s a nice name, Tatiana… Oh, this is my beta, Elijah Romanov.”
Tatiana turned to smile at Elijah, enchanting as always. “Nice to meet you, Elijah.”
Xander’s beta, however, didn’t return the greeting. His frown merely deepened. “Alpha, we need to leave, right now,” Elijah said as he began walking away.
That was when Tatiana knew that he knew. The beta knew she was a vampire.
It would certainly herald some trouble in the future but Tatiana tried to push the matter for later on. For now, she would relish the fact that Xander had scowled at Elijah, who didn't even care one bit.
“I apologize for my beta. I’ll be seeing you soon, Tatiana Belyaeva. Take care, krushka,” Xander said with a dramatic bow as he went after his beta.
Tatiana looked in the direction they had left but couldn't see anything. So they had only stopped by at the party, which explained why she hadn't gotten his scent earlier. He called her krushka, which meant crush in Russian.
The alpha had a crush on her because she was his mate, but he didn’t know she was a vampire. She wondered what he would do with her if he ever found out. Tatiana, however, didn't want to think about anything other than the man he had been looking for centuries.
She had gone through hell to get to this man, and now, she had found him. She didn’t care what the society wanted nor how it worked. All she wanted was him, and if she had to fight the world for him, then she was very ready.
She had seen people at war, vampires, and werewolves; she had watched them murder each other out of sheer disgust of the existence of the other. Over the years, she had witnessed so many deaths that it no longer fazed her.
Her destiny was really crazy for pairing her with the wolf, not that she would reject him. Xander’s reaction earlier was proof that he didn't know who she indeed was, and she hoped it would stay that way, but for some reason, she was sure that beta knew something.
Did the beta realize she was a vampire, or was her brain just working overtime?
Tatiana didn’t know, and frankly, she was too happy to care. So excitedly, she went back to the party that she was once bored to death. She was celebrating, and Zhuri could tell the instant change in attitude from her best friend.
“What got you this excited?” asked Zhuri, which made Tatiana’s eyes sparkle. She launched into the tale, and all the while, that smile never left her face.
She had found what she was looking for. After so many years, the Belyaeva woman was finally happy, and she couldn't have wished for a more fabulous night.
*****
As the alpha strutted after his beta, he was happy. He had met his mate after so many years. Finally, he could take a break from everything and focus on the person made for him. He, however, wondered why his beta had been so cold to her.
He must have known the attraction between the woman and him, so it had to be obvious who she was to him. He had disrespected the future Luna, and Xander would definitely want an explanation.
“Why the attitude?” Xander asked.
“She’s a vampire, Xander. That woman is a vampire,” Elijah said to his best friend, who just looked at him like he had grown a new head. Xander was the best werewolf tracker, so he should have known if the woman was a vampire.
Vampires disgusted him, but that woman didn't seem to trigger any reaction from Xander. So he refused to believe that his best friend had sensed that the woman was a vampire.
“Don’t tell me you forgot about—”
Hearing Elijah’s words, Xander merely scoffed, cutting him off.
“I’m too happy, please don't spoil my mood, Brother,” Xander said as he dragged his best friend into the dark and back home to the wolves.