Azriel's smirk in my direction did not go unnoticed by Piper, who growled a warning. I wasn't sure if they were feeding Azriel properly, and the lack of blood tended to make him cranky. Going by the smirk on his face, he was looking for trouble.

"Don't sing my name like it's a joke." I muttered.

He grinned, shrugging. "From what I'm aware of, the title does not come easy to you, Luna."

I scowled at him, crossing my arms. Dismissing him was easy; I wouldn't provoke his annoyance further. I couldn't help but linger on his missing forearm though; that would take some getting used to.

"Why are you here?" He rolled his eyes.

I noticed how he occasionally flickered them to Piper, who stood secretly fuming at my right-hand side. I shifted my stance, so I faced her more, my agitation growing the longer she stood staring at him.

"Yeah, Piper, why are we here?" I probed.

"Opening the silver door means you trust me," Azriel sang.

"No, it means I want to look at your stupid fucking face before I rip it off." Piper snapped.

His other eyebrow shot up in surprise, his full attention on the steaming woman beside me. She tied her dark hair into a ponytail, but her eyes were wide with fury. I wondered if chucking a bucket of cold water on her would cause it to steam.

The room fell silent, and Rio coughed a short laugh. I snuck him a glance to see him leaning against the brick wall.

"Okay then." I mumbled. "Piper..."

"You nearly killed her." She snapped.

Azriel didn't answer her right away, and the few second delay made her more agitated. Her hand wrapped around my elbow as she yanked me closer. I cursed at her as she took a fistful of my hair and pushed it out of the way. Spluttering the strands from my mouth, I found Azriel's gaze lazily fix on the nasty scar he left on my skin.

"You nearly killed her."

"And?" He shrugged, looking away. "I didn't."

"It was so bad you scarred her!"

"Venom scars. Not my teeth." He rolled his eyes. "She's alive, isn't she?"

"You're horrible!" She scolded, releasing me. "Why would you poison her?"

I pouted at her, fixing my hair and rubbing my elbow. Azriel seemed to stare at Piper with the same smirk he would give me; one of amusement.

"She annoyed me."

"Yeah, well, you annoyed me too." I muttered, and he shot me a grin.

"So, it's therefore okay to try kill someone?"

"I lose my temper easily, and you are not helping here, Sweetheart."

"Don't call me that."

"Why? I thought it was rather cute." He smirked, stepping closer.

"I despise it."

Oh, wrong move, Piper. He was going to annoy the hell out of you now instead.

"Do you? Good to know." He mused. "Luna, do you always let pack mates run so unruly?"

I rolled my eyes. "Piper is not a pack mate. She is my best friend."

"What pack are you from, Sweetheart?"

She scowled. "None of your business pack."

"Surely I should know the name of the pack I will live in one day." He grinned, standing right in front of her. "Don't forget, you haven't rejected me yet, Sweet."

She scowled at him. "And what about it?"

He grinned, shrugging. "Nothing."

This was feeling like a waste of my time. Piper became flustered when around him, and he was just as annoying as he was in his own home. I sighed, looking at Rio, who shrugged at me with a frown.

"You brought backup, I see." Azriel's lips quirked. "The beta of all wolves."

Rio grumbled at him, but didn't say a word. Azriel dismissed him with a flicker of his gaze, before settling the dark blue skies on me. My jaw tightened, knowing I would not like what came out of his mouth.

"You know, they say a beta is the best protector of the alpha."

I grew tense, my spine rigid as we held eye contact. Neither one of us moved, caught in a stalemate. If I reacted, he would know it affected me, and I would lose the dominance stare. Seconds ticked by and Piper grunted, throwing her hands in the air. It caught his attention immediately, his nostrils flaring as he looked down at her.

"Enough of this. I'm fed up with it." She huffed.

"From what I worked out, you wanted to see me, Sweetheart."

"Yeah, and I wish I never did." She scoffed.

"What was the reason you came down here? To shout at me for killing Ailia?" He mused. "The venom wouldn't have killed her, you know. She was seconds away from drowning in her own blood. Yet the little princess still continued to spit annoyances at me."

His eyes hardened as he glanced at me, but then he ultimately looked toward Piper.

"I bit her so many times, I took great pleasure in her blood." He grinned, inches away from the bars. "Every day I drank from her, lay my teeth on her, and then leave her to sleep. I deprived her too, didn't let her have any fresh air or food the entire time. Could you imagine the effects that would have on a human body? It surely would kill them to lose so much blood with no nutrients."

I couldn't help but growl my warning at him, and at the guttural sound his head raised to stare at me with interest. A glimmer shimmered in his eyes, the sadistic smirk dropping as he recognised the animal noise. And then came the smile of knowing, the small curl of acknowledgement.

The small second distraction was enough for Piper. She snarled at him, her arm darting forward so fast it actually caught him off guard. Her fist took hold of his shirt and yanked him forward until they were in front of each other. His lone palm pressed into the silver bars, trying to push his face away. He succeeded, but the silver was burning his skin.

He could easily overpower her. Easily grab her in return, or shove her to the side and burn her arm.

He didn't.

Azriel stood there face to face with his mate as she seethed at him. He did not react, merely gazed at her with so much wonder in his gaze it caught me off guard. The lack of sarcastic satisfaction reminded me of the faint moment on the battlefield. As I lay broken and bruised, Azriel's masked had slipped and he was afraid.

Why do we paint our masks on so heavily? They warp everything. People's perceptions, our egos, our confidence... If everyone was as bare and open as they were as an infant, it would be a lot easier to understand emotions.

"You lay a finger on her again, and I will kill you myself."

The threat lay heavy in the air, and the hairs on my arms stood on end. Piper had meant those words, and Azriel knew it. His throat bobbed, blinking down at her. He did not answer, and she jolted him so his cheek pressed into the silver. That time, he reacted and cursed an okay, slipping out of her hold when she let go. He raised his hand to rub at the stinging flesh, before frowning down at the mess of his palms.

"You are lucky silver doesn't burn me so badly these days." He muttered.

Piper scoffed. "Lucky? I hope it hurts."

If possible, his eyes quirked with interest. The mask was back on, and gone was the vulnerability from before. Mate bonds were magical, and I know for the smallest of moments, it had distracted him. Vampires may not mate, but Azriel was born a wolf, and wolves know.

"Is that all?" He wondered, stepping away from her.

"Ye-

"Nope." I interrupted. "This isn't all."

Piper finally looked me in the eye, her eyebrows creased with confusion. "Ailia?"

"You two are mates. Stop avoiding it." I snapped. "You come here ready to threaten your mate's life because of me? Piper, he is your second chance. Those don't happen."

"Exactly. They don't happen." She shook her head. "So, it doesn't happen."

"Not the point I am getting at." I scowled. "The Goddess blessed you with a second chance, Piper. They say mates complete you, made for you, right? You said the exact same shit to me about Asra and I didn't believe you either. But this is it."

Her gaze softened, but her shoulders remained square. "He's a vampire-

"Hybrid." Azriel muttered.

She glared at him from over her shoulder. Her back was completely to him, completely vulnerable, and that said a lot. Although tense, it was not because of that. Her agitation was because I was grilling her now, and she wasn't a fan.

My lips curled into a grin. "So what? People are weird these days. Did you know werewolves and witches are real? Like what the fuck?"

Her lips twitched with amusement. "Yeah, I heard that. Pretty rare phenomena."

"And second chances aren't?" I wondered.

She seemed to assess me, thinking deeply about what we were saying. When her gaze softened, I knew I had got to her, and she shifted so she faced both Azriel and me.

"She's right." Piper sighed. "You are a horrible man, but there has to be a reason for this."

"I'm not all horrible." Azriel cocked his head. "Just the horrible parts are."

Piper actually laughed at him, a breathy laugh that didn't last long, but it counted. "We have a lot to talk about."

"You think so?" He wondered.

That softness lifted his gaze, and I think Piper noticed it because she smiled genuinely at him. Looking up at him through her lashes, Azriel tensed, jaw tightening as she leaned in a little closer. I chewed down my smile, finding it funny how easily flustered she made him.

"Yeah, it would be... fun getting to know you." She whispered, and he leaned in close.

But then it all changed. Her palm raised, and she smacked him across the face. He was alarmed, staggering back with shock. I didn't blame him; the man thinking he had easy access to Piper through the bond. She openly flirted with him, just to hit him across the cheek. I couldn't help snort a laugh and he glared at me from over her head.

"If you ever get the fuck out of the cells for killing people!" She snapped, before spinning and grabbing my elbow. "Come on, Ailia. I have better things to waste my time on."

My eyes widened as she dragged me out of the way. She snapped at Rio to close the door, who looked at me with permission. I nodded at him and strained my neck to look behind us. I watched Azriel's lips curl into a grin, hand on his cheek, and he stared into open space. Then the door shut behind him and the same thick door locked behind us.

We passed Sadie before clambering up the steps. I tutted at Piper as she still held onto me, all the way to the top. Once we were out of the hut and into the fresh air, she released me and took in a deep breath of air. I watched her, confused, as she bent over her knees to breathe. Rio's footsteps grew closer, the gentle creak of the hut's door shutting behind him.

He gave me a look of concern and equal confusion to Piper. I waved him off silently, focusing back on Piper.

"You alright?" I wondered.

She stood upright, puffing her hair from her face. "Peachy."

Briefly looking at Rio, my lips parted. "Are you sure? That was... an interesting ride."

She grunted. "He just... I... I feel so conflicted when I am around him!"

A knowing smile lifted my cheeks. "Okay."

That could've been it; the end of the conversation, but she continued. And that was answer enough. He affects her badly. As she ranted about everything he was, my grin only broadened. She was noticing his quirks, or the colours in his eyes and hair. Her face was flustered as she spoke about how he made her want to fall into his arms and yet her mind wanted his dick to be chopped off.

When she finally finished with a low growl of frustration, I stepped up to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"I get it." I told her. "He's a dick, but the bond is too strong to ignore."

"I hate fate."

"No, you don't hate fate. You just hate the emotions that come along with it." I shook my head. "Fate has your best interests at heart. Fate changes depending on what you will need; you can't hate fate."

"So I need a psychopathic, half-vampire murderer?"

"I said nothing about a murderer." I mused. "I am still alive."

"He may as well have killed you." She muttered.

I laughed, pulling her into my arms. "Thank you."

She hugged me back, confused. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For sticking up for me."

Her grip tightened, and I returned the gesture.

"Always, Ailia. You're my best friend." She murmured. "Thank you for making me realise that not everything is... bad."

"You'll work it out." I giggled. "In fifty years when Asra lets him go."

She snorted a laugh, stepping out of our embrace. "I know right."

With a soft sigh, she suggested we go back to the pack house for dinner. Only half an hour had passed, so thankfully dinner would still be hot. Rio followed behind us, and as we entered the pack house, I turned to him.

"Thank you for coming with me." I told him.

He shook his head, dropping a hand to my shoulder. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for."

I blushed, awkwardly looking away from him as I mumbled a thank you. He chuckled, squeezing me before letting go and walking away. I inhaled deeply, turning back around to face the room. It wasn't too busy, and Piper was already digging into dinner.

Shaking off the past few hours, I joined her at the buffet, ready to relax for the rest of the evening.

***
Happy new year besties