4. Four

Four

Sunny

As soon as I caught his scent, I knew he was supposed to be mine. My task as the protector of our coven was to use my superior nose to check any areas we were staying in for threats, such as hunters or shifters.

Yes, shifters didn't like us. I didn't understand why, and had always strived to be kind to them. Apparently, it was something to do with how we smelled to them, so Kayden said. It was possible for them to overcome that dislike, to even learn to love us, but it was often best to avoid them. A pack could be unruly and attack first, asking questions about our intent later. Kayden had lectured me at length about this, deeming me too friendly and most likely to end up bitten because of it.

Being bitten wouldn't kill me, but it did slow my healing dramatically, making it easier to give me my final death. Something I wanted to avoid, given how I'd finally found my mate!

I'd been checking out some of the stores in the little town that we were making our own, since I was the nicest of our group, when I'd caught the scent. It was tangy lime, with the scent of freshly turned earth, and, of course, an underlying bitter scent of man. The scent was old, by a few weeks at least, yet it lingered like it was waiting for me to catch it.

Kayden always called me a dreamer. He was amused when I spoke to him about it.

"I think there's a witch here who is my mate," I told our coven leader after giving my report.

The witches weren't particularly keen on us settling with them. I wasn't sure why, because we could be great for them. Our relationship with them was supposed to be symbiotic, whatever that meant. Kayden said they would feed us, just small amounts of blood, in exchange for some of our blood to strengthen their magic. Our leader, Kayden, had access to magic the witches could only dream of. His partner, Theo, had been a witch so we knew of their origins. They came from demons! I would love to meet a demon! Kayden said we could help them bring a new generation of stronger witches into being.

Except no one had explained anything like that to them, the others complained. The residents were terrified of us. Some had even left! How rude!

"Is that right?" Kayden wore a tiny smile on his handsome face. He wasn't my maker, but I'd been drawn to him when I was a young vampire. All these years later and he was still looking out for me.

"Yes," I said firmly. Kayden needed to believe me this time. Okay, I'd been wrong before. I knew I was right this time.

"And what do you need of me, Sunny?" Kayden was the oldest of us by far. I was sure he'd forgotten his original name or even when he was born. He was the one who renamed me Sunny.

"Permission," I said simply. My job was important to our coven. They could manage without me, especially now we were fairly well established in the town. I was trying to be responsible for once by letting people know what I was up to.

"For what?" Kayden was fighting back his smile.

"To court him. To keep him just for me. I want to… I'm not sure, really. All I know is there's this drive inside to protect him. His scent calls to me like none ever has."

The smile dropped. Yet I wasn't worried I had offended Kayden. He was just thinking things through. He did that a lot. Theo didn't move, content to let Kayden handle things.

"Do you feel he needs protecting from us?" Kayden asked slowly. I shook my head in response. "Would we hurt someone one of our own has claimed?"

"No!" I knew they wouldn't. It was one rule I could guarantee would be followed to the letter. We never harmed another who was under the claim of a vampire. My witch would now be mine, if Kayden accepted my claim.

"Do you want to claim this witch?"

"I do."

"Then he is yours." My knees felt weak with relief. "Find out what you can about him and let the others know he is out of bounds."

"Thank you, Kayden," I said with a heartfelt smile.

"No thanks necessary, Sunny. It will be a shame to see you leave." His eyes became distant. I wondered what he was seeing. Sometimes I wondered if he had visions of things to come. He was so old it wouldn't surprise me.

"Leave?" I frowned. My place in the coven was solid. I liked the others and was happy with how our lives were run under Kayden's leadership. The witches would soon realize it was for the best we were here. They would get stronger with us. Humans were dangerous and took more and more of the land each year. We needed to stick together.

"Your witch is a wanderer and unlikely to stay once he finds out the coven is under new leadership."

"How do you know?"

"He is the only one unaccounted for. His family left in a hurry at the same time his cousin, the former leader of the council, did. They will encourage him to leave. He may not return at all."

Disappointment settled heavily on me, making my shoulders droop. "Oh."

"I hope I am wrong and he does return long enough to give you a chance. He sounds perfect for you, Sunny. His name is Rainbow."

Once I had left Kayden and the house we were staying in, I went to Rainbow's house. It was a small home where his scent clung to me like a hug.

Inside the house, I got to know my mate through his belongings. There were family photos which let me see his sweet face for the first time. I enjoyed comparing us. He would fit against me so well. He looked to be around five-ten, so smaller than my six-four. His shoulders were narrower, his build athletic but lean compared to my wide shoulders and muscular frame.

I noticed Rainbow wore glasses, which was unusual for a witch. They normally healed any sight problem with magic. In my time, I had seen magical eyeballs as replacements for missing or unfixable eyes. I wondered if the glasses were a lack of power or a style thing. Either way, it didn't matter. The glasses were fashionable and suited his face. They drew attention to his hazel eyes.

Over a few days, I learned a lot about Rainbow. He was the older sibling of Sky. His parents were still happily married and Sky was single. It was likely Rainbow was too. Rainbow had a bearded dragon familiar, which was a cool pet to have. I spent some time learning about them so I would know how to help him take care of his familiar properly.

Rainbow worked collecting and growing rare plants for his cousin's wife to use in potions in her shop. A job which he was out doing right then. He would return with new plants to grow in his greenhouse.

Without his family around to tend to his plants while he was away, I took over the job. Rainbow was a bit of a slob, so I cleaned his home and did his laundry for him as well. A fact he missed when he returned. I was quick to forgive him for missing it. After all, he was tired from work and travel.

I just enjoyed knowing I had been useful to my mate's life by providing a comfortable home to return to and clean things to wear. Laundry was easy to get wrong, so I paid careful attention to the labels.

Watching from the greenhouse, I saw him enter the house, fail to notice my hard work, then plug his phone in and shower.

While he cleaned away what smelled like weeks of travel, I flashed into his home to check his phone. Dead. No wonder he had returned here so casually. Not once had I picked up the scent of fear. He seemed unaware of the changes in the town.

He returned to the living room after his shower, dressed in a freshly laundered hoodie. One of the ones I'd washed for him! It was like I was giving him a hug. He looked so soft. I longed to wrap him in my arms and just hold him forever.

Instead, I had to rush and hide. I returned to my watching place and listened as he caught up with the events of the last few weeks.

Perhaps I should have paid more attention to just how frightened Rainbow was of my kind. On hearing vampires were in his town, he packed as quickly as possible.

Needing something of his to track him, I stole into his house again as he packed up his plants. I picked up a spare pair of glasses, still puzzled over him wearing them. There was a stray hair stuck in the joint of one of the legs, perfect for a finding spell.

Rainbow panicked when he found my note. I thought the gesture was cute! He needed to know someone cared for him! I would just have to work harder to make him realize we would be perfect together. He left his home, expression fearful and distraught.

I stayed behind to return power to his greenhouse to preserve the plants. He didn't just use spells, thankfully, or I would have had to find a witch to do that. Once I knew where he was going, I would follow him with his precious plants as a sign of my devotion to him.

Needing a general direction, I caught the path his car was taking and arrived just in time to see him leave.

"Is something wrong, Sunny?" Amara asked.

"My mate! That was my Rainbow!"

"I did wonder if it could be him. He's cute," Eddie remarked. He was rather new to being a vampire, but I liked him.

"Isn't he?" I gushed. "Oh, I have so much to do before I can go to him. I don't want to wait! Do you think Kayden could convince a witch to do a tracking spell? I have a hair and his glasses."

"Hmm, there's a couple who are trying to ingratiate themselves with us. The upstart boy and his fiancée would likely do it," David mused. He was quiet, though knowledgeable.

"Upstart boy?" I asked.

"Yes, he is the one who made the deal with us without discussion with the rest of the town. It's mostly his fault we are struggling to integrate with the witches. Our arrival blindsided them."

"The girl would be better," Amara said. "She is less resistant to us and our knowledge after Kayden saved her pregnancy."

"Brittany?" David suggested.

"Yes," Amara confirmed. "That's her name. She's dumped her boyfriend, the snake, and is going to be a single mom, so if you pay her, I'm sure she will perform the spell."

Amara was right, Brittany was willing to help me. She grinned a lot, laughed often, when I told her about Rainbow being my mate and how I wanted to follow him with the rest of his plants.

I didn't like her purely because I felt she was being scornful of someone I deeply cared for. It didn't matter that I hadn't met Rainbow properly yet. He was mine as much as I was his. I wanted to be the one to protect him and bring him joy.

Brittany did the spell after a large payment. The money was nothing to me. Before he went to his death, my maker had made sure I was provided for. He had me vow to always keep property and savings in many places, so I would not have to rely on just one source of income. His help had made sure I had little to do in order to keep that money pot growing, just as well, since business was not my thing.

Kayden took control of some of my accounts in the fifties because I kept giving my money away. I trusted he was doing the right thing, and he often showed me that the money was growing steadily.

Just a couple of days after I had lost my precious Rainbow, I tracked him down to a town called Umberwood. The place was full of shifters. I wasn't sure Rainbow was aware of it as he dined in a shifter restaurant or stayed in a shifter owned motel.

The place he was staying was off putting on purpose. Shifters could tell it welcomed their own. It was supposed to repel humans, though Rainbow was a witch, not a human. His poor senses wouldn't have picked up on the shifter stench clinging to the building, but I bet his familiar did.

On the guise of being Rainbow's husband, well, we would be married eventually, I entered his room. As I was coming to realize, Rainbow's mind was too full of other things to worry about being clean or tidy. His things were strewn over the room. So, as his husband to be, I cleaned up for him, reorganizing the space. I even watered his plants!

Seeing the plants he had taken with him reminded me I had a truck full of Rainbow's things. Kayden had booked me a short term rental, so I left the hotel to drop them off there, anxious to return before Rainbow did.

When I pulled up, I saw Rainbow was hastily packing up his Jeep. Where was he going? I left another note for him and waited as he drove away, then followed at a distance.

Unsure of what to do, I called Kayden and explained what had happened.

My coven leader sighed, long and deep. "Oh, Sunny. What a mess you've made."

"What?" I was so very confused and worried about my mate. Rainbow had parked in a grocery store lot for the night. I was grateful he wasn't driving away from this place. Hopefully, he would stay put in one area long enough so I could introduce myself properly. The notes weren't working.

"Nothing. You need to figure this out for yourself. Maybe give the witch a few days without you breaking into where he's sleeping?"

"I didn't break into his motel. They gave me a key!" I said petulantly.

Kayden sighed again. "Just back off for a few days. Then go meet your witch, preferably in a public place. Do not surprise him with breakfast in bed or something stupid like that."

How had he known my wooing plan?