Aurora P.O.V.

2 days later...

“Seriously of all places you just had to choose Rome didn't you?”Courtney pouts as she downs her drink in a go.

“C'mon it isn't that bad! You're in italy girlfriend try to have some fun, and think of this as a getaway trip. Besides you deserve one, We both do”I murmur as I twril my glass.

“You know Aaron is going to be pissed right? You promised to help Killian and Aaron with their pack issues but instead here we are, in a bar drinking”She says sighing sarcastically

“Are you done scolding me? Remember I never forced you to tag along so don't make me regret letting you convince me to come with me”I say tactfully as I took a sip from my glass.

“Am sorry, I guess I feel we’re making a huge mistake here. I feel guilty for just running off like that”She says smiling..

“Me too. But if I stayed where I have to pretend everything is okay then I'll probably just blow up”I murmur as the memories of Nic’s near death experience haunt me once again. During my flight to italy, I haven't even been able to sleep, It's like all my nightmares were unleashed and I haven't been able to curb the fear that seems to be my companion these days.

“I guess you were right, running away didn't really help. I thought if we ran away to an unknown territory, glamored no one could recognize us. Then I thought maybe, Just maybe I could breathe again but I was wrong yet again”I whisper as I felt tears slip down my face.

“You know what! Let's not sulk anymore, we'll drink till the sorrows in our heart becomes numb”She chants raising her glass...

Antonio’s P.O.V.

The crowd in the bar is frenzied with chaos, humans drowning whatever sorrow and pain they harbour with alcohol, the atmosphere reeks of bad decisions of clumsy teens and a promise of future regrets..

This is definitely what I need right now to let off some steam...

“Giovanni is going to be pissed if you

fuck up the Treaty."Lorenzo says always

the voice of reason, as he spoke

behind me.

My name is Antonio Cage Blackthorne and am the 8th prince of the king who rules the dark court clan. Some might call us bloodsuckers while others fancy the name by calling us Vampires, so we'll go with that. We vamps are creatures that lives on for eternity and living that long and getting to experience all stages of lives makes it all dry and boring. I stare down at the writhing couple before me as we made our way

through the mass of people.

The crowd in the bar is made up of a few Vampires and humans too. Most of the Vampires in the bar are mainly here tonight for two things. One to get a meal: a drunk human to feed on or secondly: they're here to latch onto me simply because of my name and title. Everyone knows the battle between the princes will only lead to one thing, which is a new successor to the Blackthorne throne. So some of the noble Vampires are either here to play or they are to make alliances.

“I’m bored.”I murmur as I took a seat at the far end of the bar where the whole club could be seen.

“Well you won't be, not for long. Our

treaty with the hunters has held

strong for the past few months now, We

stayed off of their territory and they

kept a safe distance from ours but it seems to be a bit shaky this past few weeks and Antonio we are on common grounds so If you're that bored to pick a fight with one of the hunters. Then have at it”Karens spat at me. Oh before I forget let me introduce you to my two companions Karen and Lorenzo, Lorenzo has been my friend for centuries now while Karen, well you could say we're friends with benefits. We have like an on and off relationship

“Well am sure you're wrong, They know my status with the vampire king, He

created me many centuries ago I'm the 8th prince and above them in rank and status so am sure they won't try to play dirty.”I replied smirking.

Reaching the bar, I ordered and

turned to face Karen who shook her head disapprovingly.

“Really Karen it's just a drink. How much trouble could I get into”I exclaimed laughing.

I knew she was going to call bullshit

on my response and she didn't disappoint. Her eyebrow rose in disbelief giving me a bored look.

“Do you really want me to itemize all of your past indiscretion? Because I am not

certain eternity is enough time to sufficiently do them justice”Karen murmurs  .

“Yeah sure whatever”I murmur as I smile gratefully to the bartender as he slides a glass in my direction and I caught it with

ease. I take a sip from my whiskey and let it burn down embracing the warmth it provides even for a short moment. Finally, maybe I could relax I thought as I sigh out.

However, my plans for a normal evening of carousing and satiating my thirst and just maybe a touch of frolicking with one or possibly two willing human participant all went down the drain. I mean literally, it went haywire because just as I was about to take a second sip from my glass A hiss escaped through my teeth, I could feel my fangs aching to be released. Every muscle in my body locked down and grew tense, rigid, tight and strained against the confines of my clothing.

It wasn't possible and yet my nostril seems to flare out searching and inhaling the sweet and glorious scent. One that's exceedingly rare to come across, the scent emits that of something sweet and tantalizing making my mouth water for just a sip and it seems it's coming from a human which is not possible and unexplainably rare. A human that carries the

scent of something which isn't written or explainable in the vampire bloodline.

Whoever it is most certainly carries a bloodline scent It just isn't one of the bloodlines known to exist. And that is what

makes it impossible. Karen's frame

went equally tense next to me and lorenzo

hissed, "What is that?"they both whisper

So they smelled it too, I ignored their question and slowly turned my head in the direction of the scent, scanning the crowd.

They both fell silent, recognizing my

posturing. The human wasn't hard

to identify even in a room thick with the scent of stale sweat and cigarette smoke, her scent can be trailed after because the more I inhaled the more I craved more. The more I search for the source the more intense and thicker the tantalizing scent gets.

The human wasn't hard to identify as I then focused to search for who didn't belong right there amidst the drunken part revelers. And that's when I saw her, her bright red hair seems to glow under the club dim lights and her eyes seems to be whispering sweet nonsense to me, she was staring right at me intently.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins heightening my already extreme senses as my feet moved before I made them to. As I approached her, I drank in her features. She looks shockingly young but the hard set of her shoulders indicated a maturity

and determination beyond her age which is unexplainable. Her red blood hair framed her diamond shaped yet small face with full pink kissable lips and her mysterious violet eyes with her golden skin that seems to shimmer under the light. At first glance she looks young, ordinary and completely normal but the smirk in her eyes is a warning that she might be a damn siren.

I could find no physical clue to her identity except her darn sweet, spicy, Mandarin scent. Which is becoming real Intoxicating as I breath it in deeply. Fuck, there

was no doubt in my mind, she's

dangerous.

It's obvious she doesn't belong on this part and territory but before sending her off, I Intend to get some answers because her gaze grew more intense and riddled with confusion, almost as if she was surprised to be caught staring at me which made no sense. What knocked me off was how she smirked then casually tore her attention away from me like the intense stare never ensued.

I then noticed for the first time, who sat with her. It was Roderigo Gonzales a fucking jock and player, the son of the prime minister of the dark court. And of course someone who smelled as amazing as she did would be cozied up with vamps who see her as a meal. My hands immediately curled into fists, the pressure made my knuckles crack as I fought the overwhelming urge to hit someone real hard.

This was even worse than I thought.

Only the slight inclination of my

head gave away my intent, as I

honed my extrasensory hearing

on their conversation. I guess we aren't the only ones who noticed how different she is, The petite female's eyebrows puckered and

her succulent full lips turned down

into the smallest of frowns, as she

questioned Roderigo and to top it all she looks drunk.

“How did you

know I speak English?"She shouts trying to be heard above the loud music. Little wolf has no idea she's in the lions den does she?”I thought to myself.

Interesting!

I stood a distance as I watch Roderigo hesitate obviously caught off guard by her direct and unexpectedly intuitive question, but recovered quickly by using his cheap pickup lines “Well you seem like a pretty english lady to me, and a sexy one at that”Roderigo quips smirking as he flashes his pearly white teeth.

“Hey have you seen my friend?”She suddenly asks as she searches around looking for someone.

“Who?”He asks now confused.

“My friend, her name is Courtney she was just sitting here a while ago. Did you see her leave”She murmurs as she tries to stand  but almost slipped, Roderigo rushes to her side murmur as he smiled sleekly saying..

“Don’t worry I'll help find your friend”He murmurs as he begins to usher her out.

I snorted and made my way through the mass of bodies toward the enigmatic beauty. Leaving her drunk with him is definitely not an option. As I approached her a grew flushed, Her heartbeat raced, causing my unreleased fangs to ache. I may have had no answers about her identity, but I knew the female body exceptionally well. And she

definitely wanted to be closer to me.

I would give her exactly that.

I bowed and right before the words I whispered I remembered not to use English.

I don't want to give her the same apprehension that Roderigo had. I spoke fluidly in Romanian, "(Would you permit me the honor of a dance?)"

She blinked. A lovely pink hue

rose to her cheekbones. Her mouth

worked to form a response but none

released from her lips. I smirked and

contemplated just tossing her over

my shoulder and walking out with

her.

The drive to get her alone and touch her creamy skin made me go mad. I want nothing more than to bathe myself in her intoxicating scent. But I suspected she would not take kindly to my caveman-like

display. So, I waited.

Roderigo interrupted her self-imposed

trance, clasping a hand on her arm.

His tone clipped. "I don't think

that's your...safest idea."He grunts out.

“Subtle”I bit back the growl that crawled up

my throat. I removed his leech like claw from her hand and I did it

for him painfully.

Her eyes suddenly flashed green and a look of anger sparked but it then returned to it's normal violet color which blew off.

“Who are you?”That question seems to pop as I stare at this mystery girl. The mischievous light dancing in her eyes is a big enough sign that she might rain hell fire and storm.

My lips turned up into a wicked

smile and I purred, "You shouldn't restrain a lady like that. Let her decide." I was confident she would respond favorably to my obvious dare.

Exactly as expected, she planted a polite smile on her face as she turned to him saying “I’ll be fine, I do need to stretch a little while I wait for my friend.

She's even got Impeccable manners!

Damn...

Her attention is now focused on me. My

smile widened as I guide her to the dance floor. Finally, I could touch

her"I thought to myself as I held her, distracted by the exquisite feel of her body in my hands. Her scent intense, pulling on me.

“I knew you would you come”She whispers softly as she smirked.

As we moved to the sound of the music, I felt the urge to drown myself in her scent.

I want more of her!

“Hell, I want all of her”I thought as I spun her in my arms, so that she

faced away from me and pulled her

tight against my chest. She gasped and laughed out loud the sound of her sweet laughing finding an immediate

reaction in my dick. She raised

her arms above her head, opening her body to me, and completely surrendered to my touch.

Fuck, she's sexy!

My hands slid down her sides, grazing her breasts to firmly grasp her full hips. She shivers and moved perfectly in sync with me to the pulsating erotic rhythm. Her

body a seduction in motion. I have a myriad of question that needs answers, but right here right now in her arms all I wanted

to know or do is to pleasure her. Which excites me and makes me curious. I leaned

down and growled low, "Do you like

to watch?"

“Maybe. I don't know you tell me?”She murmurs as she laughs playfully.

Her scent seems to envelop me. I

wondered if she knew what it meant. Searching for answers, I leaned

down and purred, "Tell me, what is

that lovely scent you are wearing?"I murmured in between her ears

I know it wasn't perfume, so I tried to lure her to talk and I listened to how she would respond.

She shivered as my breath tickled

her neck, and answered hesitantly,

"Um..soap,"She says huskily

Laughter rumbled through my chest.

No, she had no idea how very unique she was.

Her body stiffened.

Shit, if I wasn't careful, she was

going to bolt and I needed to get her

away from here and alone. My voice

lowered soothingly,

“My name is Antonio, but

please call me Tonio. What is yours?"

She hesitated again, clearly not sure if she wanted to tell me.

“Renèe, My name is Renèe”She murmurs 

Okay, I definitely need to do better

to loosen her up if I plan to get

the answers I want without using

force.

Suddenly her eyes grew wide with shock. I turned to track her line of sight. Only to be

confronted with yet another stranger  again. A pretty burnett, curvy and quiet mysterious.

“I believe the

requested dance is now completed”She says smiling as she moves out of my grip. Walking towards the new Female.

“You okay”She asks her and the girl just nodded.

“You ready to go?”She asks as they begin to stride out of the club together hand in hand. That must be Courtney her friend.

My legs immediately moves towards her saying..

“You’re leaving without saying goodbye?”I tease.

“Well you did hijack a dance from me and now my friend is here. Have got to run, maybe I'll see you around Tonio”She says cheekily before striding out with such grace and pride leaving the air cold and empty without her lovely scent.