Chapter Three

A fucking human for a mate. How was that possible, and why hadn’t he cared about the possibility while they were fucking or before they’d fucked? Why after they fucked and he’d bitten him? Why had he been cursed with a mate, and a human mate to top it off? Over two centuries walking this planet and he’d avoided mating and now this.

Fuck, he was mad as hell over it, and if what happened to Kelvin and Key did happen with all vampire and human matings, then any vampire who came near him would be able to scent whatever his name was on him. Well, not on him. The human’s scent was now part of his, braided together like Kelvin’s and Key’s were.

“Fucking fuck. Just fuckity fuck fuck.”

Work. How the fuck was he meant to work when he reeked of a human mate? Gray growled and stomped into his kitchen, glaring at his fridge. He pulled the door open and stared inside the full fridge, not seeing anything to eat. Which just made his day even better.

A human mate and no food to eat.

Slamming the door shut, Gray paced the kitchen, running his fingers through his hair. Life had fucked up. It had majorly fucked up, giving him a human mate. He tolerated them and when Kelvin found his mate in the human Key, Gray accepted it, but never would he accept a human mate for himself.

“Fuck.”

This was fate’s way of playing a dirty trick on him, wasn’t it? Because he had no problem fucking or feeding from humans, and as long as they enjoyed the sex, he could walk away. But no. Fate decided to be that bitch and give him the very thing he didn’t want.

“Fuck.”

A human for a mate.

“Fuck.”

At this rate, the only word he’d be saying would be fuck, and he felt every fucking letter of it, too.

“Fuck.”

His phone rang, and he checked the time, then groaned. Late. He was late for work, but there was no way in hell he was going in where everyone would know he’d mated a human. Grabbing his phone, he saw Key’s name on the screen and answered.

“What?”

“Well, hello to you, too. Where are you? It’s not like you’re sick, or do you guys get sick?”

“Ask your mate.”

“We have more important things to discuss.”

“I didn’t know fucking each other’s brains out constituted a discussion.”

“Well, there are certain phrases like ‘oh yeah,’ and ‘fuck me harder.’ I personally like ‘suck it, bitch,’ but you know everyone has their own preferences.”

“Thank you for the TMI.”

“You are so welcome, Gray. Now where is your skanky ass?”

“I’m ill.” Gray grinned when he heard Key snort. He liked the human, which was rare given his indifference, or really, borderline dislike, maybe hatred. No, he didn’t hate them, hate them. They were a disease on this planet and he was fucking mated to one.

“Kelvin said it is extremely rare for vampires to be ill.”

“Thought you hadn’t discussed it.”

“The mind linky thing does come in handy.”

Gray inhaled and counted to ten. Maybe liking Key was a mistake. “Rare, but we do, in fact, become ill on occasion.” He heard Key hum and ignored it. “I’ll poof in, grab some work, then poof out.” Poof. Key’s word for their ability to translocate, and when had Gray started using it? Fucking humans.

“Seeya in a second then.” Grunting, Gray ended the call and stood next to Key, who jumped. “A fucking bell. That’s what you all need.”

“Nah, that would be boring. Nothing like scaring the human.”

“Get fucked.”

“I did actually, and it was good, too.”

“What’s really up with you?” Key looked him over and Gray stared at him.

“I’m ill. Can’t you tell?”

“No. You look like normal to me. Are you avoiding someone or something? I only called in sick when I was avoiding someone or something and it had to be really bad because I only had five sick days.”

“Working in the human world sucks.”

“Worse here. You guys don’t know the meaning of the word sick, but I have you for a boss and you get it.”

Gray grabbed some papers from his desk. “Humans are more fragile than us.”

“Fragile? Interesting word there. I know we’re not as strong, but we’re not fragile. Maybe you are ill after all—”

“I told you I was.”

“—though you don’t look it.” Key arched an eyebrow at Gray and looked him over.

Gray coughed. “Sick. See?”

The other eyebrow arched up. “Right,” Key drawled the word.

Gray grinned, then walked over to his desk back at his apartment and dropped the papers on it. Pulling the chair out, he sat and spent a minute logging into all the systems. Lucky for him, he could remote work, but at some point he would have to actually go to work and then his secret would be out.

“Fuck.”

Yeah, that was the word for today and probably tomorrow, too. And who knows how long after that?

“Fuck.”

What was worse was he was stuck. He had a human mate and nothing he could do would break the bond now that it was in place. Only death would release him and he wanted to carry on living. And you know what was even worser than that? Was worser a word? Fuck it. Who cared? The worse thing was that he couldn’t fuck around. Nope. His dick was tied to his mate. His human mate, who wouldn’t have the same limitation placed on him.

Sure, it would feel off if his human mate fucked someone else, but he could still do it. Not like Gray. His dick was for his human mate only now, and he couldn’t even remember his name. Why would he have bothered to remember it when a human was only good enough to feed on and fuck?

“Fuck.”

Life had screwed him over, and now Gray had to find a way to live with it. At least he could masturbate, but fisting his own dick would get boring quickly and he didn’t want to whack off and never fuck a man’s ass again.

“Fuck.”

He dropped his head into his hands, then growled when his phone rang. Seeing Kelvin’s name on the screen, he rolled his eyes. Fucking telepathy. Shit. Telepathy. Could his mate ‘hear’ him? Did he actually give a shit if he could?

“What?”

“Sick, are you?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Grumpy, yeah, sick no. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“You lie for shit.”

Gray stared at the phone. “That makes no sense.”

“You can’t lie to me. I’ve known you too long.” The phone buzzed, and Gray closed his eyes when Kelvin appeared next to him.

“Please make yourself at home.”

“I will, thanks.” Kelvin stood next to him, watching him. “What’s going on?”

Gray debated ignoring the question, but if any vampire could understand the predicament he was in, it was Kelvin. “Met some human in a bar. We fucked. I bit him and bam. Mated.” Kelvin stared at him for a full five seconds, then burst out laughing. “Not funny.”

“Oh it is. It really fucking is because every one of us knows your dislike for humans. Not hatred. I don’t think it’s that and you treat Key well, but we all know you would have to give it some serious consideration before helping a human if one needed it.”

“I run you guys. I help humans every single fucking day.”

“But you do that because it’s us vampires causing the problems. If it didn’t involve vampires, you would walk away.” Kelvin scratched at the short beard on his jaw. “I thought you might be mellowing with Key being around you. Maybe I was wrong.”

“I like your mate, even if he is human. He’s responsible and smart and doesn’t put up with my shit. Gotta respect that, but all the other humans can fuck off.”

“Except your mate.” Kelvin sat on the edge of the sofa. “You need to find him. Did you even get his name?”

“What do you think?” Sighing when Kelvin stared at him, Gray added, “Got his first name.”

“Then you need to go back to the club and find him.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“No, he won’t.”

Gray shook his head. “What are you trying to tell me without telling me? I don’t have telepathy with you, so I can’t read your mind.”

“He’s human and is bonded to you. His body will be changing. Key was fine because I was with him, but mating a human had me curious about our past, so I looked into it.”

“And? Spit it out.”

“Humans need to have regular contact with their vampire mate during the first few days after mating or they become ill. I don’t know why and our histories weren’t sure why either. Maybe with technology today we could figure it out. Maybe hormones changing or how their biology alters so they have some of our abilities.”

“You’re saying he’ll be ill without me being around?”

“Yeah. From what I was able to find.”

“Fuck.”

Kelvin gave him a close-lipped smile. “Hack their CCTV and find him.”

“It’ll have to wait. Maxim’s men have been seen scoping a few human places out. They’re up to something.”

Standing, Kelvin stared at him. “Don’t leave it too long. I couldn’t find anything about what the long-term effects are for humans who aren’t around their vampire mate right after mating. What I did find wasn’t good, though.”

“Kelvin. Keep this quiet.”

“Don’t come into work, either. I can scent the changes on you and if I can…”

Nodding, Gray clenched his jaw. “Everyone can. Fuck.”

“I know a human mate isn’t something you want.” Kelvin spoke quietly, “But you have been given one. You know how rare it is now to find a mate. Don’t throw this chance to find true happiness away.”

“You can leave now. Head to Slater St. That’s where I’ve seen the most activity.”

Ignoring Kelvin’s sigh, Gray stared at the monitor until Kelvin had left, then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face. He had no choice. He couldn’t let the human become ill, but he didn’t want to be around him, either. Sure, he’d been a good fuck, but that was meant to be it. One quick fuck, then gone.

Staring at the words on the screen, Gray saw nothing. He knew he was going to struggle until he’d decided what to do and the fact he was even considering finding his mate had him questioning his sanity.

But, if what Kelvin has said was true…

“Fuck.”

Standing, Gray walked over to the window and stared out. It was night now, so he didn’t have to be cautious where the sun was concerned. Why they had to hide from the sun eluded him. They burned, and Gray had experienced that pain when he was younger and determined not to let a bit of sunlight stop him from going out and having fun.

Yeah, he wasn’t going through that again. He’d healed but the pain had been intense and now he was careful to avoid the sun, but he wanted to know why it affected them the way it did. They had scientists looking into why, but so far nothing. That annoyed Gray.

He wanted to feel the warmth on his skin, feel the heat prickle his skin in a way that didn’t cause immediate intense pain. One day he would have it, but when he didn’t know.

A low hum in the back of his head had Gray tilting it. It triggered a memory of Kelvin saying that after mating Key he had a murmur, a hum that was a constant reminder of his mate. It had taken time to become used to it, but now that he was, he never wanted to be without it.

Gray wasn’t so sure if he would ever feel comfortable knowing someone, a human, could pick up on his thoughts. Life was a bitch, it was fucking Gray up the ass with no lube, and it burned.

“Fuck.”