The Vampire's Bride

"W-What?" Dazed and confused, Mallory thought she was hearing things. It was a first for her to hear of vampires having partners.

Leo licked his lips, tracing the blood of Mallory from the holes he made with a finger, before repeating what he said slowly, "You are my partner, Mallory."

Leo moved to the side of the bed, allowing Mallory to sit down. They were facing each other; one with a serious face, the other with confusion.

After a few seconds of staring, Mallory faked a laugh and wave her hands in the air. "No, no, no, no! You must have been mistaken. Besides how can I be your part—"

Hearing Leo's growl made Mallory to stop. She looked at him and saw his two fangs wide in the open. Then she felt it. Her heart beating faster than usual. Not because of his fangs — or maybe not only because of his fangs, but also because of the dripping blood from his hand. Leo, once again, opened his wounds.

"You idiot! You can't just open your wounds! We have to clean it up!" Mallory was frozen stiff when she realized what she was saying. Slowly, she looked at Leo with a forced smile, "Err- Master, we need to get your wounds clean."

Leo, on the other hand, was surprised. It was the first time someone outside his family called him an idiot. And the first time they tried to correct how they called him.

He could not help but innerly smile. "Just call me Leo. Just drink the blood. You're wasting it."

Mallory could not help but bit her lip, suppressing all of her d.e.s.i.r.es. "I cannot."

There she goes again with her "I cannot." Seriously, why is she rejecting it?

Leo frowned hearing the words of rejection. He knew he cannot force her to say yes. He slowly opened his mouth, carefully pronouncing each words for her to hear. "Why can you not? You just drank my blood."

If it was another woman, she would have lied or change the topics. But no. Mallory was scared to do so. She was forced into submission at an early age. All she was told to do was to submit, submit, submit. And she did. And she would to Leo as well.

"You heard my family, I am a halfing. I cannot drink blood." Leo saw the resolution in her eyes yet he also saw another emotion: fear. It was as if she said the last sentence to convinced herself.

"It's not that you cannot. It's just that you," Leo slowly raised his hand to remove the hair on her eyes, c.a.r.e.s.sing her cheek in the process, "You were told not to... am I right?"

"M-Master—"

"Call me Leo."

Mallory ignored Leo's request and moved back only to have Leo grabbing her arm, not allowing her to escape. "P-please let me go. The full moon is out."

Leo furrowed his eyebrows. Of course he knew about the full moon. That was why his d.e.s.i.r.es were trying to escape his body. That was why he drank her blood. Of course he knew but something felt strange.

Not moving an inch, Leo glanced at the moon. "What about it?"

"I am a halfing!" Mallory could not help but looked down. The grips on her arms loosened a little. Leo had completely stopped moving. After regaining his composure, he leaned in and whispered at Mallory's ears. Seeing them flinched, Leo could not help but curl his lips upwards. "You mean this is real?" Blowing wind in the process, Mallory let out a small m.o.a.n.

Pushing him away, Mallory begin explaining. "As a halfing, the day I d.e.s.i.r.e something is a very dangerous day."

"Why?" Leo finally sat back, allowing Mallory some space, but he held unto her arms as if she would disappear the moment he let her go.

"I'm half wolf, half vampire. I d.e.s.i.r.e blood just like any other vampires. As for being a wolf..."

"What about you being a wolf?"

Hearing Leo's demanding voice, Mallory was forced to spill the beans. "I temporarily go into heat!"

In an instant, Mallory looked like a tomato with her flushed face. Before Leo could speak, Mallory quickly continued. "Ahh but I still haven't experience it since the first time. I think the first time I had it was when they learned that I am a halfing."

"That doesn't satisfy me. Tell me, why do you hate blood?"

Mallory looked at him with a face as if saying, "Is it really not that obvious?"

She took a deep breath before repeating her words, "I am a halfing."

"What about it?"

"T-they don't like halfings," Mallory said as her reply.

Only then did Leo understood her fear. The punishments she received, the punishments she'll get once she went back to her home, the consequences of being a halfing, all those scary things mold her to be afraid of who she was. It was a sad thing that despite the wars between clans had ended, the bullying of the weak still continued.

"But you can. You lost control of yourself earlier. Besides, I'm a full-fledged vampire. I won't die easily from someone who only drinks little." Leo brought his hand to her mouth, an inch as their distance.

"L-look!" Mallory quickly pushed his hand as soon as she felt something bubbling inside of her; her d.e.s.i.r.es. "The only reason I lost control was because I drank alcohol!"

"Alcohol?" Leo was dumbfounded. Can alcohol give your d.e.s.i.r.es a boost?

"It's been years since I last tasted blood. Since I'm a halfing, drinking alcohol has its side-effects. It boosts my d.e.s.i.r.es. I did not know it was a full moon so I agreed to it but once I got out of the restaurant, I blacked out. Then, I woke up in this room."

Mallory's voice slowly went down as she ended her explanation. She remembered tasting something sweet, hearing a few words.

"I'll make sure you repay what you owe, darling."

She looked at the blood at his hand. Did she really drink from him?

"Drink. Your d.e.s.i.r.es are burning. Don't hesitate." Leo's gentle voice made Mallory's will to shake.

"You know, Mallory..."

"Hmm?" Mallory's gaze was fixed on the blood before her.

"I just have this urge to just force my blood in your mouth. And I will do that if you don't drink."

"You can't force a person to drink when they don't want." Mallory pouted as she looked at him.

Leo reached to touch her visible fangs. "But you're obviously hungry. I'm surprised that you survived without blood for so long. Even if you are a halfing, you still needed blood."

"S-stop touching my fangs," Mallory said as she felt Leo's cold hands on her fangs.

Gently rubbing it, Leo wanted to take her lips; he wanted to claim what was his. Not just her blood; her whole body and her heart.

"Nn... M-Master—"

"Call me Leo," was all that was heard before Leo drank some of his blood, without the intention of swallowing it, and closed the gap between them.

Mallory was surprised by his actions and the first thing she thought of was to push him away yet the taste of blood in her mouth made her lose strength.

All the hardsh.i.p.s she made broke in that moment. She felt Leo biting her lower lip, forcing her to drink his blood.

"Mmm! Mm!" She desperately, despite having no strength, pushed him away but the latter did not budged a single bit. Blood was dripping from her mouth, was it her blood or his?

L.i.c.k.i.n.g the blood in his lips, Leo smirked as he looked at Mallory, "You truly are my partner."