Chapter Eleven

“ H ow does the mating go?” Hugo asked as he sat on Gray’s sofa.

“Just fucking peachy.”

“Have you spoken to Kelvin or Key? They could help, you know.”

“Nope and nope. Not gonna happen. I’ve said all I intend to say. We’re gonna see each other when we have to and that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Hugo raised his eyebrows. “What about sex?”

“When I feel the itch to fuck, I’ll go to him.” He didn’t want to discuss this with Hugo, but the fucker wouldn’t leave. If he didn’t leave in the next five minutes, then Gray would, even though they were sitting in his apartment.

“I’m sure he feels all warm inside, knowing he’s a hole for you to fuck.”

“It’s me or his hand. I told him he couldn’t fuck anyone else.” Gray ground his teeth together, thinking about the fact Henry had slept with Jess after they’d mated.

“And how did he take that?”

Gray shrugged. “Like I fucking care. He’ll do as he’s told. He’s my mate and that’s it.” Grinding his teeth together, Gray inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring.

“I bet he felt all warm and cozy inside as you ordered him around.”

“Would you accept your mate sleeping around?”

Hugo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “No, but I wouldn’t treat my mate like dogshit either, which is what you’re doing here. You’re the one in charge. You’re the one who lays down the law. Your mate has no choice but to agree to whatever you want. Some partnership that is, and he’ll know it too.”

“Well, we’re both stuck, aren’t we? The whole ‘dying without each other’ thing means we have no choice.” Gray rubbed his jaw. “Maybe there is a way to break it?” he murmured.

“Hmm. Is that what you want? Ask yourself the question honestly. He’s your mate, the one who is meant just for you. You’ve seen how other mates are together, haven’t you? The connection they share, the obvious bond between them, the way they look at each other. You’re willing to walk away from that over something he can’t change? He’s human. He will always be human, just like you’ll always be a vampire.”

“Are we talking about this again?” Kai asked as he appeared in Gray’s living room. “Still struggling?”

Grunting, Gray muttered, “What do you think?”

“Awww, poor Gray has something we all dream of having and look at him pissing all over it.”

“Shut up.”

Kai pursed his lips. “Nah. This is too much fun.” Sitting, Kai placed one leg over the other and drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Is he a good fuck?”

Gray’s mouth fell open, and he narrowed his eyes at Kai as he snapped his mouth shut. “None of your fucking business.”

“Come on. You don’t want him, so why not let us share? Oh, that’s right. You only want to fuck him. A hole for you to stick your dick in and get off.”

“Get out.”

“Nah, I’m having way too much fun messing with you.”

“You bastard.” Gray stood and stomped over to Kai, glaring down at him. “You come over here to wind me the fuck up? Like some fucking kid’s toy?”

“Well, I didn’t want to use that as an example but…” Kai straightened and stared at Gray. “One mate,” he whispered. “We only have one and you’ve found yours, yet you’re here bitching about the fact he’s human rather than enjoying what you have been gifted.”

“Feels like mates are becoming this mythical thing,” Hugo murmured. “Before Kelvin found his, I couldn’t remember the last time we had a mating. Several decades ago, if not longer.”

“Nah, longer than that.” Kai shook his head and exhaled heavily. “Don’t fuck this up. Don’t let something like his species ruin the best thing in your life.”

“You know how I feel about humans.”

“We all know how you feel about humans. The fact you let Key work with you is astonishing, considering how much you detest them.”

“I’m not stupid. He has skills that I need.”

“So you can put up with him being human because he’s skillful. Does he know about this?”

“I imagine if he doesn’t, he will at some point.” Gray went back to the sofa and sat. Rubbing his hands over his face, he bit his bottom lip. “I’ve hated humans for a long time.”

“You have, and now you need to face that hate or lose your mate, because he will at some point become pissed off with how you’re treating him and find a man who wants to be with him. We all know how you’ll react to that.”

“He’s already fucked another man.”

“Did he know what he was to you when he did?” Hugo glanced at Kai, who was watching Gray.

“No, he didn’t, and the man is someone he was involved with.” Gray detested admitting the truth, but no matter how it made him feel, he had messed up by not telling Henry everything.

“So he had sex with his partner before he found out exactly what you two are. Not his fault then.”

“Never said it was. I can admit—just—when I’ve fucked up, and I did then.”

“And we all know how you reacted when you found out.”

“How would you have reacted?” Gray demanded from Kai.

“I wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. I would have told my mate everything he or she needed to know. Not overreacted like a petulant child, and stormed off. For someone as smart as you, you can be incredibly dumb at times.”

“Finished insulting me yet?” Gray almost shouted. He was growing more and more annoyed with Kai and his attitude. The vampire didn’t need to keep reminding Gray that he’d messed up. He already knew all of that and was trying to move on, which, with him being him, was hard. He’d hated humans for decades and no one should expect him to erase all of that in a matter of days.

“No, not really. I’m enjoying myself.” Kai sat back and stretched his arm along the back of the sofa. “Not often I see the almighty Gray in this position. You’re normally looking down your nose at people.”

“I have never done that,” Gray spat out.

“No, you haven’t. Not to vampires at least. Now humans… that’s a different matter entirely.”

“I know!! I get it. I hate humans and didn’t care who knew about it. Fucking hell, get off this horse because you’ve flogged it to death.”

“Interesting way to put it,” Hugo commented. “Though Gray is right, Kai. Let’s drop it for now.”

Gray grunted. “Gee, thanks for your support.”

“I could let Kai carry on if you like. He isn’t saying anything that’s a lie and you know it. Now that we’ve agreed to move on, what are you going to do about your mate?”

“I’m… trying…” Gray hardened his jaw. “It might take some time.”

Kai snorted and shook his head. “Take him out somewhere nice for a meal. Talk in public so you won’t shout at each other.”

“People scream and shout at each other all the time and no one cares.” Gray sighed. “I’ll ask him out. See if we can talk…” Gray caught the look Kai shot him and changed what he was saying. “…if I can talk without erupting.”

“Look.” Hugo paused. “You can’t change who your mate is, but you can change how you react to it. He is now the most important person in your life and we all know what will happen once Maxim finds out, and he will find out. Look what happened to Key. Do you want that to happen to Henry?”

“No, and I need to find out how Maxim knew Kelvin had mated.”

“We have a spy, but we’ve always known they had someone on the inside. We’re doing the same. Which reminds me that I have some files to look at.” Standing, Hugo stretched, waved then disappeared, leaving Gray alone with Kai.

“We should lay a trap and find out who it is. We could use him or her to our advantage.”

“I was thinking the same thing, but for now I need to sort this out.”

Kai nodded and stood, then left. Gray stared at the spot Kai had been standing and slowly closed his eyes. He wasn’t going to rehash everything. He knew who he was and how he’d responded, so going over it wasn’t going to change anything. He had to learn to handle the situation and try not to lose his shit every other second. Fuck, why a human? Why?

Sighing heavily, Gray stood and walked into his bedroom. Stripping until he stood in his boxers, Gray went into the bathroom and turned the shower on. He needed to clean up and head into work and somehow take his mind off the mate he had but didn’t want. Kinda.

He was slowly—sloth slowly—changing his mind about that. They were great in bed and Gray had no issues where that was concerned. It was just the small talk. Well, any talk because they didn’t talk. They shouted. Mainly he shouted. A lot.

Stepping under the spray, he gasped when the cold water hit him. Gritting his teeth, Gray waited for the water to warm, forcing his mind from his mate and onto matters of work. He had to find out who they were so he could use it to their advantage. The thought of using Maxim’s spy against him had Gray’s lips lifting in a smile.

He wanted to be a fly on the wall when Maxim found out what they’d done and how much they’d infiltrated his network. Maxim would not be happy. At all. In fact, knowing Maxim the way Gray did, it was safe to say vampires would die at Maxim’s hand, and that didn’t bother him at all.

Those who served Maxim and rejected their laws deserved everything they got, and Gray would love to see it happen. Maxim would hunt them down and rip them apart, which meant there would be less of them for Gray and the others to hunt.

Once he’d finished in the shower, Gray quickly dried and dressed, grabbed what he needed, then appeared in his office. Key was already there, a frown on his face as he stared at the monitor in front of him. Okay, for a human, Key was alright, and Gray had helped Kelvin out when he’d mated Key, but they weren’t best buds or anything like that.

Sitting, Gray waited for the system to log him in, listening to Key murmur to himself. “Who is he?” Key asked.

Gray pushed his chair over to Key and stared at the monitor. Watching the man on the screen, Gray furrowed his brow. “He looks familiar…”

“He doesn’t appear often, but he’s watching some guy.”

“What made you watch him?” It wasn’t like Key to become distracted by some random dude.

“His behavior. He knows where the cameras are, knows when to appear and disappear. Reminds me of that Maxim guy. He’s only seen when he wants to be.”

Gray watched for a few seconds more, then straightened when the man or vampire disappeared as he crossed the road. “Fucking idiot. We don’t do that shit where humans could see and not on CCTV. What the fuck is he playing at?”

“First time he’s done it out in the open like this. It’s normally down some out of the way alley.”

“He’ll end up on some rag like Minho.”

“Minho enjoys it. Nothing like flashing his abs and his fangs then telling them he is just a plain old human and the fangs are fake.”

“Keep an eye out for him, and I’ll let the others know as well. He isn’t one of ours.”

“I figured you would know. I only know a few vampires, but he didn’t look familiar at all.”

“He does remind me of someone, but I can’t think who. For now.” Pushing back to his work area, Gray said, “Leave him for now. Do you have the new shifts?”

“All done and we have three new vampires who had asked to join. I’ve printed out their details and put them on your desk.”

Gray glanced at the pile he had and sighed. “Along with all of this?”

“Yep. Must be fun being the boss.”

“Yeah, but no.”

“You should have a deputy or someone like that.”

“You wanting the job?” Gray grinned when Key shuddered.

“Fuck no. I’ve seen the shit you put up with and there is no way in hell I’d put myself in that position. Some of the vamps who work here are… challenging.”

Gray snorted. Challenging was a good way of putting it, but Gray let some behaviors slide because they were damn good at their job and he needed vamps who could work under pressure.

Staring at his to do list, he exhaled heavily. At least he had something that would keep him busy and his mind away from a certain mate.