The Vampire's Bride

"Why are you here?" Mallory, who was awoken by Leo's presence, could only look at Leo with fear as she asked the question.

Deep inside, she was panicking. Why did she see Leo Azazel when she woke up? She was in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar place. Her eyes wandered as she tried to analyze the situation she was in.

She could only come to a conclusion; She was in Leo's room. But how did she enter his room? All she could remember was drinking her orange juice in a restaurant, limping her way out of the stinking place as she felt her head aching. Beyond that, she could not remember a thing.

"You were staggering at the streets when I passed by. You're lucky it was me that first came to you and not the others or else your secret will be out."

The fear that was evident in Mallory's eyes turned into confusion.

What secret was he talking about?

Slowly, Leo let her sit on the bed. Mallory continued to stare at Leo, following his every movements. Something was wrong but she cannot put a finger on what was wrong.

Sighing, Leo knew she was still half-asleep. He picked up his coffee and took a sip. At this movement, Mallory knew what was wrong. She scuffled to the corner of the bed, until she felt a wall to support her.

Mallory lifted a finger to point at Leo — or his collarbone. "W-Why is there—"

"So, you want to know why my blood dried and why there are two small, round holes at my collarbone? You sure are dense," Leo did not wait for her to finish her question.

"Well, why don't you tell me what you think, darling."

Anyone could have guess what could happen, and Mallory knew what he meant. She knew but she couldn't bring herself to agree to what happened.

"Y-you must be lying!" Mallory's body was trembling and that made Leo flinched.

It was a different type of fear. Mallory knew she was going to be killed. Why did she drink another person's blood? She knew she was forbidden to drink blood. She had no right to do so. That kind of thinking was instilled in her mind at a very young age. After many years of suppressing her d.e.s.i.r.es, she thought she had forgotten how to do so in the first place. Who would have thought that a simple event could make her lose her mind? Who would have thought she'd drink blood after a couple of years of not doing so? She knew it was true. She knew it was the only explanation yet she had no recollection of doing so.

"Th-they're going to kill me," was all Mallory could think of.

Leo knew something was wrong. A vampire loves to drink blood yet her reaction made it seemed like she hated blood. He wanted to comfort the girl who looked fragile while clutching her head. Slowly moving, to avoid alarming the girl, he reached out a hand, while his mind wandered searching for a plausible reason as to why she's overreacting.

He could not help but pity her. Why are you so scared?

Just as his hand was about to reach her face, they both felt an alarming presence from the door. Before Mallory could react, she saw something flying straight to her face. Just an inch away, she couldn't help but close her eyes.

*Crash*

She waited for a few seconds before she felt nothing. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a hand at her front. Leo's hand. She felt something wet fell on her clothes and noticed a red stain on Leo's hand. Blood. Before she could ask Leo, she heard her name being called by a familiar voice.

Leo growled angrily as he looked at the door, "What are you doing here?"

Unfortunately, the other party seemed uninterested at Leo. They were too focused at Mallory that they did not hear the dog barking at them. Three women entered the room through a black portal. All of them were angrily glaring at Mallory, not giving a thought to Leo.

"You ungrateful child! Who told you to suck other's blood?" The woman, who looked younger than her actual age, pointed at Mallory who was still in a daze from the sudden attack.

"See, mother! I told you something was wrong!"

"We just let her be for a short time and then we will find her with some sort of trouble!"

It was not hard for Leo to recognize the three ladies that had entered his house uninvited.

Surely, this is a sudden family visit. But they dare ignore me and scold Mallory right in front of me? They sure have guts. Leo could only growl silently, keeping his thoughts to himself.

"M-Mother, what are you doing here?" Mallory's question turned to out to be a whisper.

The weak response of Mallory did not escape the ears of her mother and sisters. Smirking, the eldest between the two sisters, Thana, spoke, "Isn't it obvious? You just broke one of mother's rules."

Anna, the other sister, followed her sister's example. "And you dare show those disgusting ears after drinking another person's blood?"

Their mother, Mikva, could only smile as she watched Mallory suffer from her two children.

Leo looked at Mallory in confusion. He noticed her hood fell off when he protected her and saw a pair of wolf's ears. It was color grey with white on the inside. He couldn't help but wonder who Mallory truly was.

Mallory, on the other hand, quickly tried to cover her ears with her hood but before she could lift her arms over her head to reach her hood, someone grabbed her arms and that someone was Leo.

Leo crawled besides Mallory and sat besides her. Flinching, Mallory thought he was going to throw her, just like what the others had done to her. Leo's next moves was a surprise for her.

He sniffed her ears, blowing air in the process.

Mallory barely let out a m.o.a.n but that did not escape Leo's ears. He growled as he pulled Mallory into a hug. Definitely showing his protectiveness.

"W-What?" Mallory could not help but be confused by Leo's actions.

Leo glared at the three women who were dumbfounded. Finally taking notice of Leo, they were mesmerizing Leo's handsome features as he glared at them.

He said, in a cold tone, "Do not provoke me any further than this, women. One more word that comes out of that big mouth of yours and I will kill you."

"What are you doing, Thana? This man here needs to be reprimanded!"

"That's not it mother," Thana paused, lowering her voice as she continued, "That man is no ordinary man. That man is known to be the Young Master Orpheus!"

Mikva felt her blood drained as she recalled her insulting words.

It was normal for the three women to be scared. After all, Mikva and her family were too weak to compare to Leo alone. Leo's family was one of the families that could rule their kinds. In other words, they had money, influence, and, most of all, power. He was one of the most powerful vampire in their time. Who could not know about the powerful, handsome, young man?

Mikva quickly apologized and tried to earn Leo's favor towards them but when she remembered that Mallory drank Leo's blood, she could not help but glared at Mallory.

She took deep breaths, gaining a calm composure to talk to Leo, silently hissing at Mallory.

I will make sure that child will have the worst punishment she ever received.

"I am sorry Master Orpheus. Your blood was drank by the ungrateful child. I will be sure to reprimand her when we get home. She will not be able to escape the punishment waiting for her. Please allow us to — Ahhh!"

Just as she was about to touch the hem of Mallory's sleeves, Leo cut through the air, leaving a small gash of wound at Mikva's arm.

"Mother!" The two sisters ran to their mother who was staggering backwards.

They tried to glare at Leo for hurting their precious mother but involuntary shuddered at the presence of a cold voice.

"You are not allowed to touch even a single hair on her body. Who are you to enter my house without permission? This is a warning. One more word and I will not hesitate to kill all of you."

Mallory, who stayed and silent, shivered as she heard Leo's cold voice. She knew it was directed to her mother and sisters but she felt as if Leo was reprimanding her. The only thing that kept her warm was Leo's embrace.

To avoid her mother from ranting, Anna quickly interfered as Thana held Mikva's arm tightly.

"Master Orpheus, we just want to get our dear, little sister back at our home. It is unimaginable for a low level demon, such as our family, to drink your blood, Master Orpheus, let alone a halfing like her!"

Though her words seemed to state the truth, they all knew it was meant to hurt Mallory.

Before Leo could defend, Thana quickly intervene, "You might want to hurry and go back home with us Mallory. Stop this nonsense if you want a lighter punishment and apologize to Master Orpheus!"

Mallory knew what they meant. She knew that she won't be able to escape. They just said those pretty words to avoid what could be worse. She could not do anything except to obey. She never had a choice. At that instant, she saw a child version of her and realized that nothing— as in nothing, have changed. Her eyes showed an unexplainable devoid of emotion, turning into a wavering gaze.

Distancing herself from Leo, she slowly, while shivering, lowered her head.

"I-I'm so—"

"Don't," Leo cut Mallory from speaking, placing her back in his arms as he inhaled deeply. Without looking at neither the sisters nor the mother, Leo uttered one word.

"Leave."