by Anna Santos
“Huh,” I muttered as I furrowed my brow. Then I just pouted. “I still don’t think we should rush things.”
“Why not? We are meant to be together. We are not rushing, just putting it on paper.”
“You just want to do that because you are afraid that I won’t stay with you,” I grumbled.
“For God’s sake, Anna, marking was far more important than a ceremony. We are bonded. Besides, you’ve already said that you would never leave me and that you love me. I’m not worried about that.”
“Huh.” I thought carefully about his words. “Grrr,” I growled at him, really annoyed when I heard his thoughts about Sasha wanting to marry him back in the days when they were a couple. I could so slap him for being such an annoying mate and trying to make me feel even more jealous with that information. As if that would be enough to convince me to marry him right away! The nerve he had!
“I love it so much when you get all jealous if Sasha’s around us,” he mumbled in my ear, tickling me while I tried to get away from him. “Stop, honey. I was just teasing you. I didn’t want to be so pushy.”
“It is just too soon. It is not that I don’t want to marry you. I do.”
“Good,” Shane whispered. “Then we wait one year.”
I looked at him sideways. He was really insistent! I could just bite him! He smiled, certainly reading my mind and liking it.
“That would be so wrong to do in a hospital,” he said with a wicked smile that made me laugh. His thoughts went to all the biting and the sex that the bite would bring. A hospital was not a good place to think about that.
“Stop it,” I demanded, caught inside his daydream fantasies. He kissed me possessively and caressed my lower lip with his tongue, making me breathless.
“It’s not like you weren’t thinking the same,” he whispered huskily in my ear, making me shiver. He was so shamelessly right! Still, it didn’t mean it was what we were going to do.
“I’m just going to remind you of something. Supernatural hospital and super hearing everywhere.” I smiled as he realized what I meant.
It was a bad idea, and I was glad he agreed. I would die of shame if we got caught or someone heard us. And I realized I was just afraid of getting caught, nothing more and nothing less. I was almost tempted to go with him to find a place to make out. It was appealing, and I sure was missing him! We had been there for several days with no privacy.
“Yes, that would be wrong of us, making everybody horny around here with the delicious moans you make.” Then he ran, because he knew he was in serious trouble if I caught him. He was so going to pay for saying something like that! How dare he? I was not the only one to moan during our intercourse! And it was not like screamed out loud when we were doing it. At least… I mean… I didn’t think I did. Did I?
Shane ran to my brother’s room where my grandfather and uncle stared at me and signaled me to be quiet, pointing to the Quiet Please sign on the wall. I would catch Shane and I would make him pay, regardless. I would make him pay a lot of times! I was getting perverted again. I needed to go home and have some time alone with him.
Shane sat down on the empty chair, trying to swallow his laughter, while I sat next to him. “Just wait until we get home,” I menaced and then looked away to make my point firmly.
“We can go home right now,” he said in a hopeful voice. I laughed, winning a new hush from my grandfather.
I couldn’t stay mad at him. He was—adorable! I could just eat him up. He frowned, knowing exactly what I was thinking. He got annoyed when I thought he was adorable and cute, but I knew he liked to hear it. He was just playing hard to get.
“I’m not hard to get,” he whispered, making me roll my eyes. “You need some rest.”
“How would that be resting?” I wondered, and he offered me a sexy, wicked smirk.
Let’s just go home, and I promise I’ll let you rest, he conveyed through our mind link, trying to convince me. I will run you a hot bath and you can feed. It’s been too long since you last fed properly. And I can even make you pancakes. Sweet and hot pancakes with delicious black chocolate filling and caramel topping.”
Gosh! That was such an unfair proposal!
I should have put the ring inside a pancake and covered it with chocolate, he joked, tuned to my thoughts. I smiled, amused by his idea. That would have been original: a ring in a pancake and then my having to go to the hospital to take it out of my stomach!
He laughed at my thoughts. I mentally rolled my eyes in front of his face as he smiled and shrugged. He had his hand inside his pocket. He was playing with the box, and I was starting to feel my cheeks burning. It was a really beautiful ring.
“Let me put it on your finger,” he requested, next to my ear.
“When we get home. Then we can tell everybody with a family dinner.”
“That’s a really good idea,” he said. “Are you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Kevin is awake, we can go home,” he whispered, using his warm, sweet voice. His eyes were shining like the blue sky on a summer day. I could spend my whole day staring at his eyes. “You need to rest and eat,” he insisted, and I brushed his face with my fingertips.
I was happy because he cared so much about me. I was happy to be his soul-mate. I was just happy for his existence, but I couldn’t go home just so he would be less worried.
“I… can’t. I can’t leave him alone.” I sighed, and Shane nodded in understanding.
I couldn’t leave Kevin, not yet. I had to keep him company and make him feel safe and loved. I was all he had. Well, I used to be; currently we had a lot more family.
I stared at my newfound uncle and Grandpa and smiled. I was so happy to have found them. They were nice, and they seemed to be really happy about finding me and my brother.
Eric was talking to Kevin, and I felt emotional by the captivated gaze Kevin had on him. Eric looked so much like Dad that it was understandable that my brother was feeling fascinated by him. Besides, Eric was a wonderful uncle, and he had more resemblances to my dad than just the physical ones. Eric was kind and had a really paternal gaze when he looked at us. It was actually sad that he hadn’t found his soul-mate so he could have his own kids. He would have been a wonderful father.
Shane’s hand touched mine, holding it and making me feel safe. My hand met Shane’s lips. He always acted like a gentleman near my family. It was almost funny to watch. Funny to watch but hard to do. I always acted more effusively than Shane, and my grandfather always made some remark about it. He was old fashioned. I could understand it: my father would also call my attention to my being excessive about displaying intimacy.
Shane was probably feeling my need to cry again. I wasn’t crying with sadness, though. My life couldn’t have been more perfect. I had found my soul-mate, my family, and I’d saved my brother. The only thing that was missing was my parents being alive. But there was nothing I could do to make that happen. I just had to be happy about the fact that I was no longer alone. I had Shane, and I would have my own family.
“We are already a family,” he whispered in my ear, holding my hand tight to his chest.
I stared at him and nodded in agreement as I leaned in to give him a kiss. Suddenly we broke apart: we’d been hit by a pillow! We looked at the bed where Kevin, Jason, Eric, and grandfather were laughing as they looked back at us.
Did Kevin throw the pillow? Was he strong enough to do that? How funny of them!
“Didn’t I tell you that she doesn’t care about us anymore?” Jason asked Kevin, who just winked at me. He was still pale and his lips were dehydrated, but at least he was awake. I could not wait for him to get out of that bed as he became his happy self again.
“Maybe now she will stop treating me like she is my mom,” Kevin joked, looking at Jason who nodded.
“Yes, keep dreaming.” I tossed the pillow at them, hitting Jason’s face.
Perfect throw! Right on the mark!
Epilogue
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sp; Two days passed before Kevin left the hospital. Then life started to get back on its normal track, if I could ever describe my life as normal.
Shane and I were having the time of our lives. We couldn’t have been happier or better together. Kevin fully recovered and came to live in my newfound family’s home. Or should I say, palace? Shane and I lived between Grandpa’s palace and our home.
I found out that my grandfather had brought his family palace, stone by stone, from the Netherlands, where they were originally from. They’d moved to the United States more than two hundred years ago, when Europe was no longer safe for their kind and when wars had erupted everywhere. A lot of the new ideas about freedom and new types of governments helped their decision to leave on a quest for a new, peaceful place to exist, away from commotion and extermination.
In other news, Jason still followed Sasha everywhere like a puppy, which was actually funny because he was half panther, half human! However, Sasha continued to care less about him, or at least it looked that way. She would sometimes throw him a bone, letting him babble about stuff, places, and things that might make him seem interesting to her. Sometimes, I had even caught them having some steamy make-out sessions. But they weren’t a couple; my crazy vampire cousin didn’t seem to want to be a couple with Jason. I think she was just playing him a bit until she got bored. Smart girl! I loved my cousin, but he was a player! He took nothing seriously! So I guess he found his match! Ironic, I know.
My uncle was the nicest person ever! He became like a father to me even after only knowing him for a couple of weeks. He was really smart and told us a lot of things about my dad. It was nice to talk about my dad again. I used to feel like talking about him was some kind of a big secret I had to keep to myself.
My grandfather was an enigma wrapped in a puzzle. He was intriguing, wise, and overall really paternalistic toward me and Kevin. We loved him. He had nice caring eyes, even if he spent most of his time sleeping. Yes, sleeping. Go figure! It seemed that vampires could fall into a deep sleep and manipulate their dream world to make them relive their memories. So my grandfather was able to live for many centuries after my grandmother’s death because he spent his time reliving the moments of happiness he had with his wife. I had mixed feelings about that. I didn’t know if I found that nostalgic or just being helplessly romantic. I guess it was both.
I saw more paintings of my grandmother. Isobel was pretty; I did resemble her, and that may be why my grandpa had a really soft spot for me. We talked a lot when he was awake. However, I couldn’t help but think that my grandfather wouldn’t be there for much longer. It made me sad, but his mate had died, his older son had died, another son had turned out to be a hateful, crazy demon, and he had found his grandchildren. His life had become kind of aimless and without purpose. Maybe Grandma was waiting for him to join her on the other side. Living in his dreams was not as good as living in reality, but what did I know? I couldn’t picture my life without Shane, and we’d just been together for three months, so I couldn’t begin to imagine the pain my grandpa felt, after living with Isobel for centuries.
Things between Shane and I couldn’t have been better. We did have some ups and downs because he wanted me to put the ring on my finger, and I thought it was still early. Then he sulked for an entire day, and I realized I was being an idiot. I finally put the beautiful ring on my finger, and we announced to everybody that we were engaged.
My grandfather couldn’t have been happier. I was happy as I had never been before. I couldn’t take my eyes off my ring! I felt like a fool, but I actually blushed with love every time I stared at the sculptural piece and thought about how Shane had bought it more than one century ago, before meeting me, before I even existed. He’d kept it for all those years to put on my finger. And it looked good on my finger! It looked like it was made for it. And I will probably never take it off while I exist, and if I die, I want it to be buried with me. Creepy—I know!
I loved Shane so much it hurt! Have you ever loved someone so much that you thought you would die if he ever went away? I would die if something happened to Shane. I was finally understanding Catherine in Wuthering Heights when she said, “He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Tacky, I know. I was becoming a serious sucker for romantic gestures and romantic poems.
But I believed that Shane was inside me like part of my own thoughts and I was inside him, like part of his own being. I could never love him less, and it seemed that each day I loved him more. Yes, I would die without him, and I would die for him just the way I knew he would die for me. I loved being tacky like that!
The weirdest thing was that, all my short life, I’d thought that I would spend eternity alone or would just have some lovers to keep me warm at night and satisfy my needs. But I’d imagined that I would always be incomplete. I hadn’t been able to imagine that someday someone would deserve to have my love and my respect. I had never thought that I would find someone who understood me, who completed me and made me think that the whole world was perfect and that the birds actually sang in the morning just to make us smile.
Sometimes, I watched the horizon through the break of morning and remembered all that had happened in my life, all the moments sad and happy, and I’d smile in wonder and incredulity. All looked so random; however, Destiny seemed to have his own agenda and had brought me there to Shane’s arms. I guess the gods are not that bad after all!
I was lucky. I knew I was. I had found my purpose to live, and I had just had to wait twenty-three years. A lot of other immortals weren’t so lucky. My uncle was still waiting for his mate, so he could start living. My grandfather had lost his, and he was just waiting for death to join his wife in the afterlife. My brother was overwhelmed by all the changes, and he was intrigued by the fact that he might also have a soul-mate—a witch, for all we could guess.
Regarding him, I was highly intrigued by the tattoo that had appeared on his forearm after he woke up. Jessica couldn’t explain that, either. She didn’t know if it was a witch’s emblem. She knew that powerful witches could mark their soul-mates, but it was not a sure thing. Maybe it was not a mating mark, since the phoenix was a well-known symbol of rebirth and fire. In a way, my brother had been reborn. In a way, he had been graced with a new life. But why did the symbol appear on his arm? Did it have some concealed meaning? Was it some sort of prophecy? He looked fine, he looked normal, in a normal hybrid sort of way. Jessica had promised me to investigate and try to figure out its meaning. I just had to be patient. Like I was being patient and not running in pursuit of Alaric.
Alaric being my uncle still haunted my dreams and thoughts. He had lost his soul; he was no longer the person he once was. He had no feelings, no morals or empathy. He was just a twisted, hateful, and pitiful vampire with a crazy quest to exterminate others as if he was a god. All the drinking from the source had turned him into that. It was a reminder to all my other relatives not to drink from the source, to keep their souls pure of other people’s imprints, dreams, fears, and memories. It scared the hell out of me!
I knew deep down inside of me that heaven and peace had not arrived permanently to my life. I knew that, sooner or later, even if I hoped it would be later, Alaric would make his appearance, and I would find him. But I was not going to waste my life in the pursuit of revenge when I could spend it with my newfound family and my breathtaking mate. After all, I had already lost my parents to Alaric’s hate. I had been given a new opportunity, and I could either spend my existence hating or being happy.
Shane made me happy. Shane gave me the peace of mind I needed to be happy and to feel normal. Besides, I was not alone to face Alaric. I had my soul-mate, I had my family, and I had my friends. We were ready for him. His reign of terror was going to stop, but I was not going to let him ruin anything else in my life. And for now, all my energies were focused on living happily with Shane and the people I loved in a place that I called my home.
End of Book One
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Acknowledgments
Several people helped me out at various stages of this novel, and I’d like to take a moment to leave them a thank you. I would like to thank my husband for believing in me and giving the support I needed to become a published author in a foreign language. I would like to thank my mother and also my followers who gave me the courage to publish.
I would also like to thank Booktrope for giving me the opportunity to publish my work and work with my editors Lisa and Kathryn, my book manager Jessica, and my cover designer Brenda. This book wasn’t possible without them.
Finally, I would like to thank you, the reader, for taking a chance on my book. And whether or not you like Soul-Mate, please leave a review to help others decide on the novel.
Meanwhile, there’s more to come, and if you’d like to know about it, you can join me in:
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Feel free to drop me a line. I’d love to hear from you.
Happy reading,
—Anna
About The Author
Anna Santos is an up-and-coming New Adult and Young Adult author with an impressive number of followers who builds worlds of undeniable beauty, with witty and enchanting characters. Her next book was also published by Booktrope. She is currently working on Book 2 and Book 3 in the Immortal Love series. Anna always keeps her readers on their toes with her adrenaline-fueled adventures, suspense-filled cliffhangers, and steamy love scenes.
When she isn't writing, Anna is considering plot twists for her next novel or delving into the world of her favorite authors. She loves superheroes, and she’s a geek at heart. She grew up watching Star Wars and plotting a way to become a Ninja. She has a fascination for Chinese Kung Fu movies and cherry blossom flowers.