Chapter 10

AN: Italics is Rose's thoughts or Lissa speaking to her through the bond. Underlined is text from the book.

I didn't get an opportunity to talk to Lissa the next day. She was conveniently busy at lunch talking to the royal moroi group. I chose to sit in the library as there were less people around, even Eddie and Mason were avoiding being associated with me.

I borrowed the Dhampir biology book from the library and started reading about alpha mates.

Mated Alpha's are very affectionate and they often like to display their affection for their mate. Alphas are particularly proud of their mate displaying their bite on their necks. A freshly made mark is vulnerable and during this time the alpha is extremely possessive.

Hopefully one day I can proudly display my mark from Dimitri for everyone to see.

In alpha culture, it is considered dishonourable to lie about a partner being their mate and actively discouraged by other alphas. Alphas like their partner's wearing their clothing, it aids in partner scenting and is very arousing to the alpha.

While alpha's are very possessive, they pride themselves in caring and protecting their mates. They like carrying their mate's possessions such as bags and jacket.

That would be a very Dimitri thing to do. I imagined what he would be like if I was pregnant, he would hover over me and never let me lift anything.

Alpha's traditionally present their mate with a gift to commence their courting as a signal of their intentions. If the mate wears the gift, the partner signifies that they are accepting the courtship. They love seeing their mates wear their gifts as it makes them feel appreciated. Other common courting gifts include flowers, hygiene and beauty products, sporting apparel and nesting material.

My necklace and the flowers. Shit…Abe has already seen the necklace. I resolved to keep the necklace hidden.

Following the courting gift, it signifies to the parents of the Alpha's intentions resulting in a chaperoned date. The courting period is undefined, it can last from a few weeks to a few years as bonds are more permanent than marriage. Courting may be less formal in different regions and among families.

I had stolen a few of Dimitri's hoodies, perhaps it would be nice to replace some for him. He had showered me with gifts, it was high time that I reciprocated. Perhaps I could give him a naughty gift.

I quickly ordered four high quality stone island black hoodies for express delivery. I planned to wear them before I gave them to him, to mark them with my scent.

"Roza," His voice caressed me like an embrace and I felt a flush run up my spine.

I blushed furiously and looked up to see Dimitri standing over me. He sat down next to me, his shoulder touching mine. I itched to climb into his lap and curl up against him. He gave a soft, low growl and I felt myself relax. I had been tense all morning with everyone making crude comments as I walked by.

"What are you reading?" He asked me. I tried to hide the biology book, but he stopped my movement. I removed my hands, showing that I was looking at the mating section.

Alphas are fiercely loyal and protective of their mate. They have strong sexual urges. When encountering a mate, they will emit a growl as a sexual call to the Mate. A female mate may purr in response.

"I purred at you" I murmured. He growled softly in response, not loud enough for others to hear.

Male alphas are very possessive of their mate and become very aggressive even violent when others are trying to lay claim to their mates. They have a warning growl, if heard the challenger should know to move away very quickly.

I couldn't wait for Dimitri to issue a warning growl, I'll bet it would be sexy.

Both male and female alphas go through a rut twice a year. The last from three days to week, and they experience extreme urges to spread their seed and copulate. They are extremely protective of their mates, resulting in ramped up aggression.

I moved the page to mating and my face formed a pout. "Soon Roza."

There is only one true mate of each alpha, but they may form an acquired mate relationship after the death of a true mate.

I noted a small section on bonds, apparently in rare cases, a mated pair formed bonds. Some could even hear each other's thoughts.

"How has today been?" He asked. I turned to see the concern in his eyes.

"Oh you know, another day, another bunch of gossiping jerks who believe lies about you."

I longed for him to pull me into his arms and I could see him clenching his fists too.

"It'll get better." He said to me, I smiled weakly at him, but I didn't think it would.


Lissa was present at our table at dinner. She was waving at everyone who walked past our table.

"You're popular today," Natalie observed.

"Just doing my Dragomir duty." She said offhandedly. She avoided looking us in the eyes and started digging into her meal like she hasn't eaten for days. It was almost like she had suddenly gained my appetite.

"It just seems like you don't have time to hang out with us anymore." Natalie pouted. Lissa scruitanised Natalie closely,

"Actually, I thought you would join Abby and I tonight, we are studying together." She said to Natalie. "Hey Abby."

Abby Badica waved to Lissa as she walked past our table and smiled at me. That was odd.

I looked around the room and noticed a few smiles my way, in addition to the stares and the laughter. I looked at Lissa and she smiled at me. I felt her through the bond, superficially she was happy, but I was blocked from delving deeper.

What are you hiding from me Lissa?

Then I felt the amount of darkness she was carrying through the bond. She was ravenously attacking her dinner and had just returned from the feeders. Clearly she had been using spirit, I glare at her and she looks guilty in response.

"Was this the diplomacy you were referring to?" I ask her.

She looked at me. 'How else would I combat the rumours? You might not like how I went about this, but the only way to fight rumours is by providing an alternative narrative.'

I opened my mouth to respond but I realised that Natalie was watching us closely, so I kept it shut. Just like so many times lately, our conversations were often unfinished.


The next day Eddie and Mason started sitting with me again and some royals greeted me when they were walking with Lissa to our table. I noted that Lissa had been feeding twice a day and gave her a disapproving stare.

At dinner, My father and Pavel made a show of checking in with us. Abe sat down next to me, while Pavel took his place against the wall. Ralph Sarkozy and Jesse Zeklos stood up, Jesse was wearing a bandage on his neck and Ralph looked like shit. Jesse made an ear splitting whistle that silenced the whole cafeteria.

"May I have everyone's attention." The cafeteria quietened to a low buzz, Jesse was one of the prominent royals in the school and commanded attention. "Ralph and I lied about Rose. We never slept together and we never bit her, she's not the type of girl to do that. Mia made us lie to settle a score with Rose. Rose, will you accept our apologies?"

I stood up, placing one hand on my hip. "You can take your apology and shove it Zeklos. Just know that you have made my list." I flipped him off and then sat back down to finish my dinner, not sparing them a second look.

Abe nodded at Pavel. "Well Kiz, I have to leave for my business trip. Take care darling. How about we take you two on a shopping trip next week."

He gave me two kisses on the cheek, and he kissed Lissa who looked brightened by the prospect of shopping. Ralph and Jesse visibly shuddered as they walked past. Lissa and I looked at each other. It's probably best that we don't know! Lissa thought and I nodded in agreement.

A few Dhampir and Moroi walked up to me, cursing Jesse and Ralph for spreading such filth. While I appreciated their sentiments, I didn't see them talk to me when everyone thought I was a dirty slut.

I looked over to see Christian eating alone. He had told us the truth when no-one else had. He looked sad and lonely.

I noticed him looking wistfully at Lissa. Then he noticed me looking at me and his face turned into a scowl. I felt guilty for lying to him, he was more decent than the other royal moroi guys like Jesse and Ralph.

Unfortunately, Aaron decided to come sit down next to Lissa at this moment. I saw Christian get up and leave the cafeteria. I jumped out of my chair and went to follow him.

Mia intercepted me as I started to leave. "I'll bet you're happy." She sneered.

"I'm happy that people know the lies weren't true. I don't even know why you hate us so much, we didn't do anything to you!"

"I have my reasons." She said stubbornly.

"Well, I'm more of the type to air my crap out. Let me know if you want to tell us what your beef is. Excuse me, I need to clear the air with someone."

I ran after Christian, catching up with him as he was crossing the quad. He groaned when he saw me. "Come to rub it in, have you?"

"No, I haven't… I came to apologise."

He stopped and turned to look at me. He quirked an eyebrow at me. Damn, can everyone do that except me?

"What are you apologising for?" He stared at me.

I bit my lip and looked down at my feet. I felt guilty. "I lied… Lissa didn't call you a freaky psycho."

Christian crossed his arms. "I believe that I was called a freak and a psycho stalker."

"Well, Lissa never said that. I lied and I am sorry." I said flatly.

"Wow, what a heartfelt apology. Why did you even tell me this?"

"Now that everyone knows that I am not the bloodwhore they thought I was, they are talking to me again. You told me the truth and you didn't lie to me, which is much more than I can say for most of our classmates. I think she likes you and I was worried that you would hurt her, so I played a good defence."

"She seems to have gotten over it."

"Well you did act like a jerk for no reason."

He glared at me. "Do you enjoy playing with people's emotions? I acted like a jerk because of what you said."

"Which is why I am sorry. Look, she could do a lot worse than you, at least you are honest to people compared to the other backstabbing royal moroi."

"What a ringing endorsement" He said sarcastically.

"Look, Don't let me ruin this for you, she barely tolerates Aaron. I don't necessarily like you, but I know she does."

"Can you ever give a compliment without an insult?"

"It's part of my charm. Don't be an idiot and repair the damage that I caused. Come to my dorm room on Friday and hang out with Lissa." I say and walk off. I look over my shoulder to see Christian staring at me in disbelief.


Dimitri came to my room later that night. He kissed my hand and I pulled him onto the couch. He sat down and I snuggled in his lap with my back resting against his chest and his arms wrapping around my body.

Being in his arms I felt a sense of peace and purred in contentment. He kissed the top of my head and growled softly in response. I felt so safe in his arms. He cleared his throat, "I thought you might have some questions given your reading material this afternoon. Ask me anything you would like."

I looked at my hands, nervous to ask the next question. "What about rutting, when is your next rut?"

"My next rut is four months away." That would take place around January

"What do you do when you have ruts?"

"I take leave and go into the wilderness, far away from other people."

"Have you had someone with you before? When you had a rut?"

"No, I was aggressively horny when I first presented. My height made it obvious that I was presenting as an alpha. I made a fool of myself with my female classmates, so they spotted the signs quickly and isolated me. That is what I have done ever since as I don't like losing control of my impulses."

I couldn't picture my Dimitri making a fool of himself, but it was hard to picture him as a teenager.

"Can I see a picture of you as a teenager?" I grinned at him. I couldn't picture him as a teenager, he just looked too manly. I could picture him standing next to a little boy, the spitting image as him.

"I don't have any pictures with me, just one of my family and me with Ivan."

I pouted, I knew I wasn't going to see his teenage pictures any time soon.

He chuckled and then yawned, "Don't worry, I'm sure that my mother and sisters will bring them out as soon as we walk into the front door when I bring you home to Baia."

I looked up at him with surprise. "You would introduce me to your family?"

He nestled his face into the side of my neck, planting soft kisses. "Of course Roza. you are my mate. I'll introduce you to my friends and family, and show you around town."

I purred with delight and snuggled into his embrace. "I can't wait. I hope they like me."

"They will love you, because I love you." He said and I snapped my head up to look at him. This was something major, I didn't even think my mother ever said that she loved me.

"You do?" I asked in surprise. I could see the love in his eyes as he gazed down at me. I positioned myself to face him while straddling his lap.

"Of course I do Roza, even if you weren't my mate, I would still love you. You put others above yourself without complaint. You are so full of life and passion, how could I not love you. You are the most beautiful person inside and out and I am unable to resist your charms."

I kiss him gently and pull back to look him in the eyes, "I love you too."

My lips return to his and he responds with a ferocious intensity. He pulls me closer to him as I press every part of myself into him. He weaves fingers of one hand in my hair and the other slides down my back to grab my butt.

I move my hips forward to grind against his crotch and remove his shirt. He picks me up, pulling at my shirt as he walked me over to my bed. his lips I start working on his pants as his phone starts beeping.

Dimitri gives off a low growl and stops kissing me. "I have a shift in ten minutes."

I pouted as he put his shirt on until he bent down and kissed me until I was breathless. "Goodnight Roza. Moya Lyubov"

He leaves my room quickly and silently while my fingers traced my swollen lips. They still tingled from contact of Dimitri's lips.

He loves me. I smiled to myself.

Were we about to have sex?

AN: I have not been writing for the last few weeks with the move and a massive car emergency. No-one was harmed but it has resulted in the most stressful move, but I am finally settling in now. I feel like I had to get this out, I might have to edit it if there are too many glaring errors.

I have a bonus chapter featuring Abe which I will release soon, it is shorter than my usual chapters.

As for the rest of the story… I'm splitting it up into 2 parts. I have written a lot of the end of part one and start of part 2, but i'm still trying to figure out where the second part will go. Which means that I don't know when I will start releasing part 2 so make sure you are following the story.

I have a few other story ideas in mind which you may see in the near future but I have a busy job and need to get back into study soon for work qualifications. I wish I could write more, but I can only do so much. I'm overwhelmed by the feedback from this story, thank you for your reviews and kind words.