CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

A nna stood in line at the Great Hall, waiting to pay for her bag of cookies and bottle of plasma. Perfect breakup diet.

Heartbreak diet.

Damn you, Ben diet.

But what could she do?

Anna had no idea what kind of secrets Ben was protecting or what he was hiding, but whatever it was, it was bigger than the two of them. Which hurt a lot.

She, and many others, had been wrong about him being her mate. He would never have been able to walk away if he was, and now he’d done it twice.

Anna couldn’t imagine feeling more for a vampire than she did for Ben. If he wasn’t her mate and it got worse than this, then maybe she would pass. Death would be preferable. She realized that sounded dramatic.

When Ben had walked out the door, she had fallen to the floor, but instead of crying like she had the first time, she had just been numb. It was as if she had pushed all her feelings in a little box and taped it shut, hiding it deep within herself.

Now, all she wanted to do was pay for the cookies and eat them all while binging some mindless TV.

Then she’d set her mind to making this place her home and building friendships. Maybe one day being interested in some of the males here.

A little noise escaped her.

Crap. A tear slipped out.

Anna.

Her eyes widened.

Anna, where are you?

Ben?

What the hell?

Where are you, baby?

Baby? Was he fucking joking?

I’m at the castle. Why?

I need to see you. Where are you?

Anna wiped away her tears, pushed in front of two other customers, and threw down some cash, running out of the hall, ignoring the shouts behind her.

Are you kidding me? No, Ben. Two farewells are quite enough. You need to leave me alone.

She heard a low growl in her head and frowned. She quickly made her way back to her room, and when she was turning down the last hallway, she saw him. Arms crossed, in a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt folded to expose his muscular forearms. As she got closer, she saw his hair was wet as if he’d just had a shower.

He stepped up to her.

“We need to talk. Please hear me out,” he pleaded, and there was an intensity to him Anna was unable to ignore. Shaking her head, she opened the door and waited for Ben to enter.

When the door closed, she turned, and he took her in his arms.

“No, Ben,” she said, pushing him away. “Not again.”

“I understand. I’m sorry. I have been a damn idiot.”

Well, who was she to argue with him?

He let her arms go and began to pace in front of her, running his hand through his hair. She really wished he would stop doing that. It was too damn sexy, and she was trying to focus on a lot of things.

First, she was really upset and hurt. Second, she was trying to fight the need to find out what was wrong with him. She cared about him, and he was clearly upset. Third, even seeing him like this was bringing out her feelings for him again, and she was trying to stop them.

Dammit, she loved this vampire.

“Ben, you have to go. I just can’t do this.”

He turned, marched up to her, and grabbed her face in his hands.

“Anna. I love you!” he cried. “I fucking love you.”

Her lips parted, and she stared at him.

“From the moment I met you, I lost my damn mind, and have seriously messed things up. God, you have no idea how badly,” he said. “But none of it matters, not really, because I know you’re my mate. I’m sure of it.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Anna tilted her head to take in his eyes, and he waved her off, knowing what she was doing. “It’ll happen. Craig said it sometimes takes time.”

“You love me?”

“I fucking love you.”

A little sobbing noise escaped her as she smiled. “Is that different?”

“Yeah, baby, it’s a lot different.” He grinned, and dammit, his dimples completely did her in.

A tear fell down her cheek. “Wait. Are you staying this time?” she asked before she let herself burst open.

“Forever,” Ben replied. “I get to love and protect you for the rest of my whole damn life. I am your home now, sweetheart, and you are mine. We get to create our future together.”

Anna’s eyes started leaking again, and her throat tightened.

“It’s okay,” he said, pulling her against his chest. “I’m sorry I was such a moron.”

She had to speak, to tell him how she felt. Anna pulled back and stared up into his sparkling blue eyes. “I love you, Ben Ferrero, so damn much.”

He picked her up and carried her to the sofa. “There are some things I need to tell you. Let’s talk, and then we need to await the king, who is going to summon me tonight.”

“Oh, God, what have you done now?”

Ben grinned. “Oh ye of little faith.”

She frowned at him.

“Okay, yes, things are a little fucked up, but it’ll be fine,” he replied, nodding.

BEN EXPLAINED TO ANNA as best he could that he’d been working for a top-secret organization but would be resigning.

More like fired, but why focus on the negative.

Ben could never tell a living soul what he knew. It was very unusual to keep something from one’s mate, but this was a unique situation.

Vincent Moretti was unlikely to be happy about him knowing, but more importantly, would he see Ari’s existence as a threat?

What if Ari did one day mate and produce heirs? Would he create his own line of Moretti’s and then they would have two dynasties?

It was anyone’s guess.

And yet, after all these centuries, the original was still a bachelor.

He tried to answer as many questions as possible until, eventually, exhaustion hit them both, and they drifted off to sleep, Ben holding the female he loved in his arms.

He had chosen Anna. There had been no other choice for him. He saw that now.

She was his mate, his love, and his life.