It Was Fate Ch. 05

Hey everyone, long time no write. I know. This chapter isn't perfect, but I just want it off my computer before I go crazy editing and rewriting over and over. Well, enjoy. :)

SSG

--

The morning sun was just beginning to peak through the sheer white curtains, yet Annabeth was already awake. Lying on her side, she studied Collin's sleeping form with her head propped up on her palm. She couldn't find the strength to wake him. He was beautiful awake, yet asleep he was even more so.

Her mind was still spinning at the fact that he actually wanted her.

Well, that didn't quite mean he was in love with her yet. Mates were always a strange thing, when she was growing up even. Her mother had been her father's mate. Just thinking about the way it killed him when she left made her shake her head in disgust. He would have killed himself, but there was the fact of three little girls that needed raising that helped him stay going. But, she never thought she would have her own.

Yet, it was how ironic that mating instinct had both gotten her in and out of her mess. It all started six months ago...

She can remember the day like it was yesterday. She had stood leaning against her kitchen cabinets, a cup of coffee gripped in both hands as she sipped at gingerly. Then her peace had been quickly destroyed as her dad flew down the stairs.

He was forty-five, yet he didn't look a day over twenty-one. That was because he hadn't aged since twenty one, the day he shifted he froze in time. He looked like he did everyday with that perpetual tan, short dark brown hair, and those piercing yellow-brown eyes she had inherited.

"Don't leave this house. Keep the doors locked." He ordered quickly flying out of the house. Yet, he left behind his shoes and shirt in a neat pile beside the door.

Her dad had left to go see who was trespassing in their territory. That person she would soon find out to be Gustavo Gala, a so called peaceful lone wolf in search of a mate and a warm place to sleep. Annabeth's dad being the kind man he was welcomed him into the pack, even organizing a little pack dinner that night to help Mr. Gala in finding the thing wolf's spend nearly their entire life doing, his mate.

That night at the pack feast Gustavo's eyes met hers and she watched him shiver involuntary. From that moment on her life changed.

"Annabeth," Collin's velvety voice broke through her painful daydream.

"Huh?" Her head snapped to look at him her expression dazed and mouth slightly ajar. For a few moments it had been like she had been back in time.

His hand moved to up cup her cheek in his palm. "Go put some clothes. I'll call down to Alec and Eli and have them meet us in the restaurant downstairs for some breakfast."

"Okay." She answered and attempted a small grin.

--

Emma lay directly in the middle of the bed, yet she was far from comfortable or sprawled out. She lay on her side uncomfortably close to the vampire/man Alec. His morning hard-on was pressed far too firmly into her butt. She knew it wasn't sexual, but that didn't ease her mind one bit. And the fact his face lay buried in her neck didn't help either.

The weirdest thing about it all was he seemed to be purring. It was the strangest thing she had ever heard. It was an abnormal mix of a low growl and a contented sigh. It hurt her to admit it, but... it was kind of sexy. God, what was she thinking everything about this man was sexy. His entire fucking body looked to be built for sex. She needed to clear her head. She had been on the way to rape the previous night! The only conclusion she could come to was that she was obviously fucked up in the head.

She just wanted to grab a fist full of that hair and...

Taking a deep breath she exhaled the naughty thoughts and came back to reality. He could be some kind of rapist killer!

All of a sudden the phone rang.

Emma felt the cool breath on her neck suddenly stop, whilst the arm around her waist tightened. Then, quicker that she could have moved herself he peeled himself from her back and was up standing beside the phone.

With a hand flat on the night stand and back hunched over he answered, "Hello." His voice smooth, but yet still a bit husky from sleep. "Everything went perfectly. Yes." She watched him nod his head a few times before he spoke again. "We were spotted in the southern border, but they were completely evacuated by the time we arrived. They left the girl for some untold reason." He stood up and leaned against the nightstand.

All of a sudden someone knocked on the door.

Alec caught Emma's gaze and nodded toward the door. Reluctantly she slipped from the bed and smoothed her wrinkled shirt.

He lost all focus for a second as he watched Emma shyly tip-toe to the door. The way she looked in his silk light blue button down was affecting him more than he realized. Shaking his head he wrote off his hungry eyes on the fact that he hadn't been laid in a while.

Emma reached the door and opened it slowly. As the door creped open she finally laid her eyes on her visitor.

"I'm Stella." She grinned even wider pulling her into a hug. Yet, Emma's eyes were wide. She knew absolutely nothing about where or why she was here. "Here you go." She passed her a shopping back with everything she would need.

She was far to confused.

"Oh, I guess I should explain." She giggled. "I'm James mate." Yet, the confused look in her eyes didn't subside. "James is Collin's right hand man."

"Who's that?" She asked lowly still holding the bag.

"Your sister Annabeth's mate silly," She smiled.

"What?" Emma set the bag at her side eyes wide.

"You can't be saying Alec told you nothing?" She raised an eyebrow. Emma just nodded as the woman pushed past her and into Alec's room. Closing the door she followed Stella back into the room.

Stella literally stole the phone from Alec's hands. "Yeah, hey Collin. Do you know that you supposed best vampire didn't tell Emma anything when he rescued her?" She snapped. "Do you even know what Annabeth would do to you if she knew that Alec had let her sister think who knows what for an entire night!? You're trying to get her to fall in love with you and you send insensitive jerk here?" She growled into the phone.

"Fine. Fine. FINE." She hung up the phone.

With a deep breath she faced Emma and smiled. "Okay, so this man here," She picked up his tattooed forearm and waved his arm around, "is Alec. He was sent with a bunch of other vampires to save you," She used his arm to point at Emma, "on Collin Sangue's order. Collin found your sister a few days ago and has been helping her get you and your sister from the werewolves. And yes your sister Kadence is here and safe."

Emma simply nodded.

Stella eyed Alec fiercely and then strode out of the room slamming the door behind her.

He just stood there for a moment still clad only in his boxers pinching the bridge of his nose between two tattooed fingers. After a few moments he finally opened his eyes and looked up at her his gaze suddenly as cold as ice.

"The bag by the door should have everything you need in it." He informed. "Go get ready. We'll be meeting your sister's downstairs for breakfast in an hour."

--

Stella stormed through the hallway, Eli's room in her sights. If he hadn't told Kadence anything either Eli would get more of an earful than Alec had gotten. Pulling the universal key card out of her jean jacket she unlocked it and stormed in.

Yet, she quickly slowed to a tip toe as she laid her eyes on the sight in front of her. Annabeth's other sister still lay in the middle of Eli's bed. She was on her stomach with her golden brown hair thrown over the pillow and her face; while Eli sat across the room his feet up on a desk whispering into a phone.

She dropped the last bag of clothes she had and stepped the rest of the way into the room.

"I'll try." Stella watched Eli smirk. She knew he was talking to Collin. "Okay, okay, bye." He set the phone silently back to the cradle.

"Hey, is she okay?" Stella asked watching Eli sit up in his chair.

"Yeah, just a little bit of exhaustion and there's something wrong with her left leg." He told her standing up and beginning to move toward Kadence. "But, now I have to wake her up and she scares me." He grinned.

"This young human girl scares you?" Stella laughed.

"She tried and succeeded at beating me over the head with rock."

Stella burst out laughing. "Come on you big pansy just wake her up." She shoved him toward her.

"Fine, okay I'll do it. " Eli moved to stand beside the bed.

With his fingertips he brushed the hair out of her face, "Kadence," he whispered running his hand slowly up and down her back. She made a tiny sound and unconsciously arched to his touch. "Come on, you need to wake up."

He watched her face carefully as her eyelashes fluttered open and her eyes fixated on his. Eli could see the switch from confusion to realization as she remembered him from last night.

"Hi." He smiled. "I'm Eli if you care. The guy you tried to beat over the head with a rock. You didn't know, but I was actually sent to find and rescue you by your sister. Get up and get ready and I'll bring you down to meet your sisters for breakfast."

Kadence sat up in the bed rubbing her eyes, "Are you a werewolf?"

He laughed. "I'm a vampire." Eli smiled flashing his fangs.

She raised an eyebrow and yawned while sliding over to the edge of the bed. "Did you bathe me?" She asked wrinkling her nose.

"Yes."

At the exact moment he replied she stood up completely forgetting her previous injuries. She made a small sound of surprise and fell to the ground.

"Are you that disgusted that I saw you naked that your legs gave out?" He smiled down at her.

"You hit the nail on the head there big guy." She smirked sarcastically.

--

Annabeth lay on the middle of the bed, on top of the comfort with her calves hanging off the edge. She had gotten ready with nearly thirty minutes to spare. She'd admit she was excited to see her sisters, yet that only made each minute tick by slower than normal.

At that moment Collin wondered out of the bathroom a white towel knotted at his waist and Annabeth's attention was caught for the moment. She felt like a pervert as her greedy eyes roamed him.

"What?" He smiled.

"Oh, n-nothing. You're just very pretty." She grinned back at him.

"I'm pretty?" He questioned with a chuckle.

"Mhm." She laughed.

"Okay then." He shot a smile at her as walked back into the bathroom.

In the next moment he was already walking back into the room in a pair of dark wash jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

He stood bending over her for a second with a small grin on his face. Reaching for her hands he gently pulled her back to her feet and very, very close to him.

"W-what are you doing?" Her breath hitched in her throat as she lost focus. Collin was so close that she could feel his cool body radiating toward her along with his intoxicating scent.

"I figured since we had twenty minutes to spare I could try something. " He said slowly with a hint of reluctance in his voice.

With his index finger he raised her chin up until he had the perfect angle of descent. His eyes moved from her eyes down to her lips and back up again. "If you want me to stop just say it."

Annabeth's arms rose up and encircled his neck. "Just kiss me," she spoke with a sly smile.

With that little encouragement he leaned the rest of the way down and did as he was told. There first real kiss. He wasn't in vampire and she wasn't kissing him out of need. It wasn't violent or rough. This was the way true mates kissed.

His arms wrapped around her waist pressing her to him and for the first time in a while his past wasn't on his mind. All he could think and feel was her and that soft flesh pressed against his without inhibitions. This was his heaven.

She was thinking quite similar thoughts. There were no more reasons to fight the feeling she felt for him anymore. Yet, she still had conflicted thoughts. A part of her told her never to let another powerful man touch her again, but another side pointed out how gently he was with her on a regular basis.

Collin made this sound deep in his chest that caused Annabeth to stiffen in his arms. He broke the kiss suddenly, but didn't let her go. He was breathing a bit heavy and shivering.

She set her head in his collarbone and just stood there enjoying the feel of him and his comforting scent. She couldn't help it as she nuzzled his shirt, just waiting for him to relax, thankful that he didn't let her go.

"Collin," she whispered. "Why are you shaking again?"

"I'm a wild animal Annabeth," He spoke through gritted teeth. "I have to fight the mating instinct."

"Oh." She said nearly silent.

"But..." He smiled cupping each sides of her face in his palms, "I'd fight much more than just myself and my instincts for you."

He bent down and laid a single lingering peck on her lips right as the phone rang. He made a small sound of frustration and in the next second he was already answering the phone.

"Hello," He answered huskily. "What do you mean-. Fine. Okay. Yeah. Bye."

"What's going on?" Annabeth asked crossing her arms.

"That was Eli, he said he finally woke Kadence up and he said something about a possible fractured ankle." Collin reached back and scratched the back of his neck. "Apparently she's refusing to let him carry her down for breakfast."

"Sounds like her." Annabeth laughed. "So, what are we doing here?"

"I figured I just call Alec and tell him it'll just be us and then head up to see your other sister afterward?" He inquired.

--

Alec escorted Emma down the hallway a firm grip on her elbow. Occasionally she would try to pull away, but he would only tighten his grip. She'd admit it; he scared the hell out of her.

She wished he would just stop touching her and most of all stop looking at her with those eyes. The second they focused in on her she felt as if she couldn't speak. Yet, she knew it wasn't a normal human male she was dealing with.

He was a vampire.

A completely gorgeous and obviously powerful vampire. The powerful part she could simply feel. The way Alec moved and the way he gripped her elbow felt as if he was holding back. Yet, he couldn't hold back the vibe he put off. It was simple and reeked of power and sex. She thought she had been going crazy with lust, but in reality it was him quietly seducing with ease. Now that she knew she could at least fight it.

"Emma." Alec muttered in that smooth voice, breaking her out of her trance.

"W-what?" She replied focusing her eyes on his, losing her train of thought in those sea green eyes.

"Thought I lost you for a second. " He grinned flashing those blindingly white fangs devilishly.

"Just thinking..." She trailed off as they walked through the hallway.

Emma's eyes shot up suddenly as a tall red-headed vampire stalked by eyeing her like a piece of meat. His light green eyes caught hers and time slowed.

"Rafael." Alec growled pulling Emma completely to him, but her eyes were still on his as he stopped.

"Alec." Rafael smiled. "She isn't your normal type. Do you think I could borrow her?" He asked and approached them to quick for Alec's comfort.

Yet, Alec was ten times as fast. Within the second he moved Emma out of the way and caught Rafael by his neck slamming him into the nearest wall with a crack.

Alec lifted him higher and higher his eyes bright red. "If you touch her I'll cut off each and every one of your fingers and choke you with them." He growled in barely a human voice. He dropped him and he fell to the ground like a rag doll.

He turned and took a deep breath, but it caught in his throat at the sight of the trembling form against the wall, her eyes wide. He should have known. She had been through a trauma the day earlier; she really didn't need to see him in his true form or threatening to choke a guy with his own severed fingers.

Alec slowly approached her and pulled her up by her arms.

"Get used to this." He spoke holding her wide-eyed gaze. "I swore to protect you and that is how I'm going to do it."

Alec growled to himself as he began pulling her to the direction of the restaurant. He used to have quite a way with woman. Well, that was before he swore them away and chose a new path for himself; he though eyeing where his tattoo emerged from his shirt.

He dragged her into the basically deserted restaurant and sat her down beside him in a table near the back. He studied her out of the corner of his eye. She just sat there still shaking a bit, but he could hear her teeth grinding as she calmed herself.

Not another moment passed before Alec's gaze shot up to the approaching hand-in-hand couple of Collin Sangue and who he could only guess to be his new mate, Annabeth.

Yet, Alec turned his attention back to Emma as her face lit up in the first real smile he had seen on her face. He'd admit it; she was beautiful when she smiled.

Annabeth released Collin's hand and flew around the table to embrace her baby sister. "Did anyone touch you?" Annabeth whispered in her ear. There was no point. Both Collin and Alec could hear her, but she wanted to at least feel she was asking Emma in private.

"Kind of, but no not really." She whispered back as Annabeth released her.

Annabeth gave a half smile and gave her a look that meant they would talk later. She moved to sit down, but Collin made a sound deep in his throat.

"Oh, and this is Collin." She laid her hand on his chest and Emma shook his hand reluctantly. "...He's my mate." She said lowly.

Emma's eyes were wide for the second time in the hour. "That's strange." Emma muttered. "I didn't know a werewolf could imprint on a vampire."

"Me either." Annabeth mumbled to herself as they sat down.

The meal didn't feel like it lasted very long as the girls ate and talked about nothing important as Collin and Alec sat there.

As the waitress walked away with the plates as Alec finally spoke up. "What am I supposed to do with her for the rest of the day?" He asked addressing Collin.

"You need to go downstairs and meet with the rest of the Elites." Collin said sitting back in his chair.

"I haven't trained with the Elites in nearly a year since the newborn epidemic." Alec pointed out brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"I know." Collin said. "But, I need you guys back in sync and the way you were last year. From what I heard a few of the team has put on a little weight."

Alec laughed. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"You also need to teach her," he informed pointing at Emma, "a little self defense."

"Fine then," Alec yawned.

"I'll be down in an hour with Annabeth." Collin said standing up. "I told Stella to bring some workout clothes to your room for Emma."

"So, am I going to be her bodyguard?" Alec asked leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"Yeah, or I could always get someone else." Collin reasoned. He knew Alec wasn't exactly the most sensitive guys in this place, but her life was safest in his hands.

"She's safest with me." Alec concluded. "I'm fine with it."

Annabeth muffled a smile. It was something about seeing Alec, a so called big bad vampire, start to care about her baby sister.

"Well," Annabeth spoke up. "Are you going to tell him or am I going to have to?" She asked eyeing Alec then Emma.

"There's no need to tell him anything." Emma snapped attempting to shush her sister.

"Wait, wait. Tell me wh-"Alec began but was cut off.

"If you're going to be staying with him, he needs to know." Annabeth argued.

"No he doesn't." Emma argued right back. "I'm a big girl now. I can handle it!"

With a growl Annabeth turned her attention to Alec despite the bright blue eyes boring into her face. "Every single night-"