Nausea took over my insides at the similarity.
"Everyone knows Russell isn't mated to Philippa and that she used her children, of a supposed pure golden dragon bloodline, to get the Queen to make him marry her some centuries ago. She never loved him, but she always craved the position of Crowned Princess of the Supreme Dragon Court. She pursued him since they were students in Belladonna, but he never gave two shites about her," disgusting bitch. "She's as rotten as the Queen is, so much that I doubt she's under her grasp at all, the Queen simply found a younger version of herself. That's what Philippa is."
"Russell lost the will to fight centuries ago, maybe when he felt that the mating bond broke with… with Shay's death. He used to be incredible, Hel. Powerful and insanely strong, and so cool. He was fantastical, actually. He's about four thousand years older than me, while Shay's two thousand years older. She was three thousand years old when she had you, and when… when she died. She was a young dragon, had too much to live. If that jerk had fought for them, had fought together with her, if he was there when the Queen and Philippa went to Shay and you, everything would be different, Hel. Shay wouldn't have died at all."
He clenched his jaw so hard that his teeth made a sound, "That's why I can't stand him anymore. I used to look up to him, then to be jealous because he was Shay's mate, and then to loathe him when she disappeared and he didn't even went after her. When I learned what happened, after I took you under my wing, I began to hate him even more. Mates can find each other anywhere, and he didn't try finding her when she disappeared. He was too busy trying to find a way to break the bond, while your mom was too busy raising their baby daughter away of the danger. I doubt that fucking bastard even know he had you."
"Your mom definitely left to protect you, but mates are supposed to be together, Hel. If he had fought for their mating bond, there was nothing the Queen would be able to do about it, because no manipulation can break a mating bond. That bloody bastard was weak, and gave in to fear, he was scared of her being in danger if they stayed together, and look where that got him. His mate was killed, his daughter kidnapped and tortured, and he was used. You deserved more than a father like that, Hel," he growled.
Swallowing hard, I reached for his hand again, getting his eyes on me. "And I got. I got you. You are the father I have, the one I chose to have, remember? Believe me, I also loathe the fact that he didn't fight for mom, that he didn't go after her, even though mates can reach for the thread that binds them and find them wherever they are. Oliver taught me that family isn't solely the one you are born in, but the one you chose, and I chose you, not him. It's you who raised me, not him. He just got mom pregnant."
He got up, walked to my side, sat on the chair on my right and hugged me again. "Don't get me this emotional, it'll fuck with my fame," he growled, tucking my head on his shoulder. "Cool tattoos by the way. You have to show me the big serpent later though."
Giggling, I nodded, "Abellona made them by the way."
Cosmos growled, "Ugh, crimson-fangs learned about your mom?"
A nod, "She did. She actually thought I was her at first sight, but then she quickly noticed I wasn't a dragon, and then I told her a bit of what happened," everything, actually. "She mocked you, but said you did a crazy job on me, and that I'm ripped."
That got him giggling, "That infuriating vampire." But out of no-bloody-where he made a weird sound that sounded pretty much like a squeak. "What the hell is this, Hel?"
"What?" I tried to put some space between us to know what he was talking about, but he held me still in a tight grip. "W-what is it?"
"You've got to be fucking with me," then he pushed down the turtle neck of my shirt, and I let out a high-pitched scream, trying to push him away. "Fucking hell, Hel!" He yelled. "Are you insane?"
"I… I can explain!"
"Please, please, don't tell me it's what I'm thinking. Fucking shite, Hel. HEL!" He yelled, turning me to stare at my face. "Tell me it's not the bloody case, kid. Don't tell me he's your… fucking shite."
Covering my mouth with one hand and Oliver's bite on my neck with the other, I tried to come up with something. "It's not what you think."
He glared at me, "Oh, really?" He pointed at Oliver who was still frozen, "Because fangs is very much bloody fucking alive. We both fucking know he wouldn't be fucking standing bloody alive if he was just a normal boyfriend who drank your fucking blood, Wilhelmina!"
Aye, not good. "I…"
Growling loudly, he covered his face with both his hands, "I can't fucking believe this," he groaned. "I can't fucking believe this," now he's yelling. And when he looked at me again, he had a no-bloody-fucking-way look on his face. "I'll ask you, and you better tell me the truth. I want to hear it from you. Understood?" Shite.
"U-understood!" I answered automatically, used to his way.
"Is Oliver-Sean Montgomery Strauss-Khan your mate?" Aye.
Clenching my jaw, I looked at my hands, and then up to him, he was still staring at me, waiting, pissed off. "Y-yes."
His jaw dropped and he stared at me for what seemed like a eternity without saying a word, barely breathing. "He. Is. Your. Mate?"
I gulped, "Yes!"
Then, after the shock, he burst out laughing. Laughing like a damn maniac. Laughing because it was either that or to start crying. "Fate must be fucking with us. It must be a fucking joke," he gasped when he stopped laughing. "You and fangs. Mates. This world is doomed," then he burst out laughing again. "The strongest kids in centuries, made to be enemies, turn out to be mates. Oh, my, dear, goddess."
Blinking, I frowned, "Are you angry, sad, or… happy?"
"Both?" He scoffed. "The Queen and his parents are doomed," this time his grin was wicked. "A winged-serpent and a vampire. Did you fang him too?" He burst out laughing. "Oh, my, fucking, Lady."
"You mean if I drank his blood?"
"Yes."
"I did," I chuckled, hands on my cheeks.
That made him have another burst. "That means his blood is all full of your poison now, since your fangs are primarily made to pour poison. If his parents try drinking his blood, they are done for," he grinned widely again. "Amazing. Since when did you know?"
"My first day. I kind of knew the second I laid my eyes on him. I avoided his touch because I was scared of being right, but the bastard only sought me harder. That's why we fought. That was my first fight in here. But he didn't rest, when I was leaving the cafeteria on dinner, on the same day, he and the Circle popped up. They messed with me, I lost my temper, I almost sliced Irene's throat and then he provoked me. I froze time and attacked him, but the bastard insisted in touching my cheek. I was blinded by anger and only noticed when it was too late. I avoided him for more than a week, but he was bloody insistent."
He laughed again, "Only you to run from a mating bond."
I growled, "Seems like it's the only thing I took from Russell."
Master got all bitter again, "But you aren't trying to break it," when I said nothing, he glared at me. "You're not trying to that, right? You're not that stupid. Right, Hel?"
Avoiding his eyes, I looked at Oliver, frozen in his place, "I'm kind of scared of Meredith harming him like she did to mom."
I felt when he tensed up, but then he reached for me and hugged me again. "She was alone, Hel. Don't think like Russell did, or you might regret forever. Don't do that to yourself or to him. It's precisely this that caused your mom not to make it, Hel. Not the fact that she was attacked, but that she was attacked when her mate had abandoned her because of his own fear. I can't let that happen to you and fangs right there."
How would I know? I had no idea about this. "I don't want him to be in danger, father. At all. The simple idea of him in danger hurts me."
He caressed my hair, "He'll never be in real danger if you are with him, Hel. Same goes for you. And your mating bond will make you even stronger than you already are. No one will be able to tear any of you apart, as long as you are together. You are insanely strong and so is he. And you know what?"
I looked up to meet his dark green eyes, "What?"
"As long as you're in here. Mia won't let her harm any of you!"