Kapitel 2: A kiss

Auriana's world came to a standstill as the king's words hung in the air, piercing her very soul. Her wolf, once excited, now whimpered in despair, sensing her turmoil. The king's gentle touch ignited a spark within her, but she knew she had to resist.

"Tell me, my dear, can you?" He coupped her face in one palm, it was small and his hand nearly covered her whole face but it felt so perfect at the same time.

"This can never work," she whispered, stepping away from his grasp. "Our people are bound by a fragile truce, and our laws prohibit union between our kinds. King Lyrus, you signed and brought that into law," she said, pointing out the truth.

No matter what happened, their truce was only temporal. One day, one or both sides will betray each other and seize the opportunity to eradicate the other. A werewolf and vampire mates had never been heard of and were deemed impossible. The two races had always been at odds even before the rebellion.

The king's eyes clouded with regret, his fists clenched in frustration. Auriana's words struck a chord, echoing the truth he had tried to ignore. Their love was forbidden, a dangerous spark that could ignite a firestorm of conflict.

"Even without the law, our people will never accept each other. As their next ruler, who is meant to uphold that law and ensure that everyone follows accordingly, I can not be with you," she said as if he was not hurting enough already.

They stepped further away from each other when they heard footsteps approaching and turned in their direction. Two people could be seen, one a vampire servant girl and the other was Asrid.

"Your Majesty," the servant called, bringing along with her the human princess that was requested.

"Could you wait for me outside?" Auriana said to Astrid who nodded and left, still looking shaken by what had happened.

"The same goes for you, leave us," Lyrus said to the servant who bowed and exited the room as well.

"I will take my friend and leave, Your Majesty, I hope we never cross paths again unless necessary," She curtsied and turned around but he stopped her.

"Wait," he called out to her and closed the distance between them. "Before you leave, at least give me something to hold on to," he requested, to which she frowned and raised a brow. "A kiss," he stated.

Surprise flashed across her face as her lips fell open unknowingly. The man could not be any more shameless than that, could he?

She knew she had to leave, but the king's request lingered, a tantalizing temptation. "A kiss," he whispered, his eyes burning with longing. Auriana's lips parted, her breath caught in her throat. She knew it was wrong, but her mate's touch was like a siren's call, impossible to resist.

He held her waist and cupped her face again. "If you are leaving me, then give something to me, something that I can always use to remember this moment. The moment my mate left me without looking back."

"Alright, I will give to you what you have asked," Auriana responded. Hooking her arms around his neck she tiptoed to meet his lips. She knew it was wrong to do this and it just might backfire on her, but he was her mate, and they would never see each other again unless on official duty in the future, his request was not a difficult one to meet.

Their lips met, a fleeting moment of passion that left her breathless. As they parted, the king's words echoed in her mind: "Give me time, Princess. I will find a way to make it work." Auriana's heart skipped a beat, a glimmer of hope in the darkness. But she knew the truth – their love was a dangerous dream, one that could shatter the fragile peace between their people.

"You said…" she trailed off when he smiled, cocked his head to the side and raised a brow.

"I know what I said, but I have come to realize that I can not let you go. Not after knowing what it feels like to have you in my arms. Just like this," he goes ahead to hug her before releasing his hold on her. "You can go, I promise to come find you," he steps away but she does not leave immediately. Taking a moment to put herself together before she left without looking back, which he understood why.

After she left, he raised a hand and touched his lips, reminiscing the feeling and softness of her lips, looking up at the ceiling, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the throne room and some servants came in immediately to clean up and have the door which was knocked down by Auriana fixed.

As she left the throne room, Astrid's concerned gaze met hers. "What happened, Auri?" she asked, but Auriana just shook her head, her secrets locked away, hidden from prying eyes. The silence between them was heavy with unspoken words, the weight of their forbidden love hanging like a shadow over her heads.

"Astrid," Auriana called and went to hug her.

"Auri, I…"

"Don't say anything, let's just get out of here first," She took her hand and led her out of the vampire territory before she let go.

"Thank you for coming for me, I know how much damage this would cause you," she said. Her hazel eyes displayed genuine gratitude.

"It is fine, you are my best friend and I had promised to protect you," Auriana replied, but her mind was still far away. As if realizing this, she turned and gave a smile which was returned. "Can I ask you for a favour?"

"Yes, anything, what is it?" Astrid readily agreed. At this point, she was more than willing to do anything to repay Auriana for saving her although she wondered how she was able to make the vampire king release her so quickly.

"Tonight's incident, could you keep it under wraps? I want this to be a secret between us," She requested and this had Astrid halting in her steps momentarily.

"Why? Your father would know about this even before we got to your castle. I believe they must have realized that we are missing already and are searching for us," Astrid could not understand why she wanted it hidden but it was impossible to do some everyone already knew they were missing. "Besides, the vampire will make a scene out of this, we did trespass."

Auriana looked up at the moon, it was already very late and they had taken longer than their usual time whenever they snuck off unnoticed. "I doubt they will know about this from the vampires. They will not know unless we tell them," she said with much certainty that surprised Astrid but she nodded her head anyway.

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," although her life was in danger and the possibility of her never seeing her family again was almost a hundred per cent if the one who saved her said to keep it a secret, she would do so. "But can I know why, Auri?"

"I am not in the mood to talk about it for now, I am sorry," she replied. She was barely holding on when her wolf was whimpering and howling in her head for leaving their mate the way they did. If only things were not as complicated, she wouldn't have left either. It felt good when he held her and although he took advantage of her to deepen and lengthen their kiss, it was very enjoyable. Her first kiss and with her mate.

"Okay, whenever you are ready. I can wait," Astrid said, understanding that something was bothering her friend.

"Come on, let us take the secret passage back, I will have to carry…." She stopped realizing that she could not shift now because her wolf just might turn around and head for the vampire castle instead of returning home. "We will have to run," she said and Astrid nodded her head.

The moon cast its silvery glow as they made their way back to their territory, Auriana's heart raced with every step, her wolf whimpering in her mind, urging her to return to her mate. But she knew she couldn't, not yet, not until she found a way to make their love work, to bridge the divide between their people and forge a new path, one that would lead them to a future together.

The secret passage was a place they found together as children playing around. It was more like a magic doorway linking the two sectors together but no one else has discovered or put it to use. It leads directly to the bother between the two kingdoms. Somehow, until now, they have been the only ones to know about it.

They had snuck out of the castle as usual and ended up there right where the vampires were out hunting for prey. Looking for the new blood donors for their king, Astrid was just about perfect for that and she was taken the moment they saw her.

Telling anyone about the incident wouldn't only get them into trouble, it would also reveal the secret passage to others and they didn't want that to happen.

"Be careful not to be seen when we step through," Auriana said and Astrid nodded knowing the price to pay if what happened with the vampire to repeat itself was high.