Hiii guys.
Okay, so I haven't updated in a few days.
Go ahead, slap my wrists.
anyway, here's the next chapter.
reviews are so needed.
x

Chapter Twelve

"I'm confused." I frowned. Me, Tom and Dougie sat in the library of the Poynter household the following day. Two days to go until my fate is sealed. "What's the difference between mating and Blood mating?"
"Blood mating is hotter." Dougie stated, staring out of the window whilst sat on it's ledge.
"Blood mating is commitment." Tom replied. "It's tradition on the night of being bound together. Exchange of blood. You're more likely to produce life when B-Mating. It's, and excuse me for the lame terms, love making." He continued. "Mating, on the other hand, is just sex."
"Right. Okay." What more could I say? "How do you exchange blood?"
"Well, apart from biting prêt, what else do you think our fangs are for." Tom raised an eyebrow, then glanced over at Dougie, eyeing him cautiously. "Unless you've already been bitten."
"No." I frowned. "So, biting each other?" I watched as the pair of them nodded, Dougie now looking as distant as ever. "But doesn't it hurt?"
"Not at all. It's an instinct. It's what we do when our body know it's connected with it's other half. And when you draw the blood, it's like symbolizing the bond you share with that person." Tom smiled dreamily. Okay, someone's a little drunk on idealism. "It's because when you're in love…"
"I get the idea, Tom." I smiled falsely. "Love, commitment and kinky sex."
"You're sure you still want to get out of being bound?" he asked. "They're not bad people."
"But I don't love Danny." I grumbled.
"Pardon?" Tom choked.
"Well I don't." I snapped. "I can't be bound to him!"
So you wouldn't mind it being Dougie?" I finally understood why Tom had reacted how he did. He looked across at Dougie who's eyes didn't leave mine.
"You like Dougie?" Tom asked. I shook my head with a smile.
"I love him." I smiled shyly, letting my gaze drop to my hands, entwined in my lap.
"Doug." Tom began. "Maybe you should…"
"I love you too." Dougie interrupted his friend, standing up from the window sill and walking across the room. I looked up, taking the hand he held out to me.
"I take it Harry doesn't know about this?" Tom said.
"First Jessi, now Tom. Can't stand all these interruptions when I'm trying to declare undying love." Dougie chuckled. "No, Tom. He hasn't got a clue. It's going to stay that way."

"These predictions have never been wrong, Claire." Tom stated, letting his thick, black rimmed spectacles slip to the end of his nose as he looked up at me, fingering the page he was on hesitantly. "Every family record has shown it. Your bloodline, ever ancestor before you and Harry that were betrothed. Every pair were together until death."
"So you're telling me, that no one has ever made a c-ck up." I frowned, noticing that Tom's arm slid across the page, covering what his eyes kept flickering to. He nodded and glanced down at the book blankly. "Stop lying." I spoke through gritted teeth, and grabbed at the book. Tom's reaction was quick; he lifted the book above his head, out of my reach. Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on Dougie being stood ready behind him, snatching the hardback quickly from his grasp.

Dougie sat down at the table, allowing me to sit on his lap before looking for what Tom had been trying to hide from us. It didn't take long. The page contained a list of betrothals. My bloodline. Dating all the way back to the 17th century. Crikey me! And then, nearing the bottom of the page was my name, a blank space to the right of it, waiting to be filled in. Above my name, was my mothers, matched to my fathers.

'Lillian DeVrae to Harry Judd Senior'

It felt a little weird looking at the names. The people I never even got to meet or see, yet here they were, still existing, scrawled on this aged paper. But this wasn't what Tom didn't want us to see. Above my mother, my grandmother. I felt Dougie tense up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

'Rowena Chase To Arthur Davenport
Postponed

Rowena Chase To Maximillion DeVrae.'

"I don't understand." I frowned.
"Davenport. That's my granddad. My granddad and your grandmother." Dougie said. "Why was it postponed? How come no one told me that?"
"He was a bit of a runaway." Tom explained. "Left the clan, married a human before he even knew he was supposed to be mated to Rowena. By that time, he was twenty two and had already given his wife two children." Tom took his glasses off, cleaning them with his shirt. "Rowena was chosen another mate."
"So, my grandmother, and Doug's grandfather were meant to get it on, but they never even met?" I exclaimed, wide eyed. Tom nodded.
"It makes you wonder." He smiled a little. "Perhaps they weren't meant to. It that had never happened, I doubt you two would have found each other. Actually, the pair of you wouldn't even exist."

It was nearing ten in the evening when Dougie and I were watching Tom walk down the drive, about to close the door when Jessi's familiar figure came sauntering towards us, smiling broadly as she nearly floated in through the open doorway.
"It was amazing." She beamed, breaking from her daydream momentarily to briefly explain her lateness home.
"I don't want to know." Dougie grimaced, shutting the door after his sister.
"We walked through the park." Jessi gushed. "It was magical."
"It's the park." Dougie stated bluntly. "There's nothing magical about broken glass and bin fires."
"But that's the beauty of it." The smile was even annoying me. I'm actually beginning to question whether or not she might just be high on some happy pills. "Because when you find someone, it doesn't matter where you are."
"Someone pass me a bucket." Dougie grumbled, stalking away in to the living room, away from me and his sister, who simply stared after him.
"He doesn't like Danny giving me attention." Jessi shrugged.
"He's rather protective of you." I remarked.
"Doubtful." She retorted.
"Danny suggested blooding you the other day." I said. "Dougie nearly killed him on the spot. He cares. Possibly too much."
"That's so sweet." She smiled, returning to a state of being high on infatuation.
"What is?" I asked. "That Dougie attacked Danny?"
"No." She giggled. "He wanted to blood me."

Am I the only one who finds that statement slightly off and hypocritical? Especially as Jessi's main goal in life so far has been to loathe all forms of Vampyric existence. Now, all of a sudden, she's fantasizing over Danny blooding her in to the clan. Talk about split personalities.

"Claire!" Dougie yelled. Jessi gave me a small shove towards the living room where Dougie held up the phone for me. "It's Harry."
"Hello?" I took the phone. "What d'you want?"
"Just wondering if you've finished packing." He spoke.
"Packing?" I questioned. "Why would I be packing?"
"Because I'm picking you up in the morning. Rules of the binding. No contact with Danny or Dougie twenty four hours before the ceremony, I'm afraid." Harry replied.
"No contact." I repeated. "Right. I'll just go finish packing then."
"But I though you hadn't starte-"
"Bye Harry."

"It's true." Dougie stated monotonously, staring blankly at the battered book on his legs, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. This was a new side of him. This was sensitive Dougie. The vulnerable part of his usually well controlled structure. "This is our last night together."

I was when he spoke these words that something hit me hard. An indescribable force punched my heart with all it's might, breaking it in one swift movement. I got up from the floor, walking over to where Dougie sat on the bed before lifting the book from his lap, discarding it to the carpet carelessly. He looked up at me, his frown questioning my actions. I simply smiled and sat on his lap, pushing him back on to the bed.

"Claire…" he whispered. "We shouldn't."
"We should." I murmered before pushing my lips to his. He didn't hesitate to comply, his lips moving as one with mine.
"You're doing this because you're upset." He gasped for air, breaking from me suddenly. "You're not thinking straight."
"I'm doing this because I love you." I mumbled, sitting up. "I want you to be my first, Doug. I need you to."

Dougie sat up, our lips merely inches away from one another. He smiled a little, fingertips decidedly grazing up and down my arms affectionately as his gaze flickered from my eyes to my mouth. I allowed my lips to curve as we kissed again, both clumsily shuffling further up the bed, ferverently tugging at and unbuttoning each others clothing.

Bodies entangled as one, naked as the day we were born. We sat, my legs around his waist, halting all movement between us, exhausted.
"If this…" His breathing, still heavy. "if this is the last time…"

I was no longer listening, for as I clutched on to him, my gaze dropping to his bare neck, I felt overcome by the most peculiar feeling. Fangs made their painful yet relieving appearance, the urge to feed from him surged through my blood. I could think of nothing else until I felt my own flesh being pierced. I gasped, fingers running through Dougie's hair as I mirrored his actions, sinking my sharpened teeth in to the soft, tender flesh, drawing blood immediately.

We broke apart simultaneously, his lips glazed in a watery coating of my blood. He grinned goofily. I guessed I now had similar distinguishing features. I placed two fingers to my mouth, glancing at their own red gloss. I smiled and looked back up at Dougie who slid his hands down to my hips. I blushed, only now did I start to feel self conscious. Naked, covered in both his and my blood.

"Don't forget this." He whispered, lying down. I followed, resting my head on his chest as I rolled off him.
"Never." I replied.