ADRIA’S POV
I moistened my lips, and wiped my sweaty palms on my jean shorts before closing the door, and walking towards him.
He sat without being asked, and crossed his legs, and I suddenly had the feeling that he was there as an Alpha, and not as the Lucien that had been in love with Adria.
I sat opposite him on the next sofa, and grabbed my crackers, not because I wanted to eat them, but because I needed something to make me seem like I wasn’t fretting.
My hands reached out for the remote controller, and I turned it off immediately.
“Adria.” He called, and I badly wanted to crumble, and ask him all my questions, but I held myself up pretty well.
“Yes?” I answered in a confident voice, as I threw a cracker into my mouth.
“I will need you to stop.” He said, looking at me with steely eyes, and I raised a brow because he was asking me for something I couldn’t give.
“You need to elaborate on what you want because I don’t understand what it is that I need to stop.” I retorted coolly, and heard him give a little sigh.
“When you started with the cows, did you think it was fine? You didn’t pay for them, you stole them, and killed them, disrespecting them…”
“Disrespect? If I used them as beef, is it still considered disrespectful?”
“At least, now you’re admitting to it.” He commented, condemning me with his eyes.
“Answer my question. Using them as beef, is it still considered disrespectful?” I probed, not willing to fail under his stare.
“You didn’t pay for them. That’s cheap. I thought you’d stop there, but you went on to get humans, the very beings I’ve been assigned to protect.”
“Well, I’m doing this to protect the ones I love.”
“By killing other people’s loved ones? Don’t they have parents? Who is feeding you bullshit, Adria?”
“At least, the person feeding me bullshit, didn’t leave me when I was at my lowest, and needed all the help I could get.”
“You’re going in the wrong direction, Adria. Stop this.”
“I can’t! I’ll go crazy if I don’t drink blood.”
“Who told you that?”
“Oh, don’t try to lecture me. For all your knowledge, you don’t know what it’s like to be a vampire. After all, you’ve never been one.”
“I asked a question. Who told you you’ll go crazy if you didn’t take blood?”
“It doesn’t matter who.” I snapped. “I have experienced it firsthand. I know what happens if I do not drink blood. I go crazy, and cannot recognize anyone, or anything. I can’t control it. I have to take blood. I have to take as much blood as I can to stay satisfied.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Adria. Someone is lying to you. Training your body to take minimum blood is necessary if you’re going to live as a vampire without any problems. Like any animal, your body can be tamed. You can be tamed. What happens to a dog you feed too much, Adria?” He asked, clasping his hands together, and leaning forward, but I didn’t reply.
Not because I didn’t know the answer, but because I knew what he was trying to do, and knew that it made perfect sense.
Instead, I squeezed on my bag of crackers discreetly.
“The dog you overfeed always wants more, and when you present less to it, it is never satisfied. The dog is spoiled, and will not settle for less. It will growl, bark, and demand for what it has always been given. The monster in you will not settle for less if you continue drinking every human you see.
If you drink an animal’s blood, then pay for it, and stop being so cheap. It’s not the fault of the farm owners that you are what you are, so why should they suffer for it? You are what you are, so cover for your defects…”
“That will not stop me from taking human blood. Just like humans hunt for animals, vampires hunt for humans, and it is not wrong.” I said to him, squeezing my bag of crackers quite noticeably.
He stared at me for a while, as if trying to see through me, then he got to his feet.
“You are a waste of time. I’m disappointed in you, Adria.” He remarked, and the look in his eyes was like a bow, propelling the arrows in his words to my heart.
He left, walking briskly to the door like he had better things to do, and when he left, I smashed my bag of crackers, and my fist into the center table.
Why would he say he was disappointed in me? That word hurt like hell. It struck a chord within me.
~
That evening, I sat with Derek, sighing, and sighing at intervals.
“What’s wrong?” Derek finally asked with a sigh, and it seemed like I had been waiting for him to ask.
“Lucien told me to stop.”
“Stop?”
“Eating humans, I mean.”
“So, you’re going to stop?” He asked, and I turned to him with a smile.
“Of course not. I will keep on having the best fun of my life. Although, I loved Lucien, and maybe I still do, but, it might be we’re just not meant to be together. Maybe I’m meant to be with someone else.” I blurted out slowly, looking into his eyes, and his silvery gray eyes developed some kind of softness in them.
“Maybe.”
“It hurt to hear he was disappointed in me. I… I had the best moments of my life with him, and my saddest moment was when he left—when he left because of what I was.” I explained, and he placed a gentle hand on my cheek to comfort me.
“There are people who wouldn’t leave you simply because of who you are.” He said softly, and I blinked hard, trying not to let my tears fall.
“Thank you.” I replied, and then, we stared at each other for seconds, communicating only with our gaze, but the connection was broken when he suddenly leaned in…
Leaned in, and tried to kiss me.