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Draven nodded. “The school is primarily for wolves, but seeing as we can only shift on the full moon, the Ambersy family opened the school to New York’s elite humans and opened their estate to the wolves for their monthly run.”
“And Joseph was one of those humans?”
“Yes. He was our fourth, at least as much as he could be as a human. But Joseph got sick our last year at school, and back then, medicine wasn’t what it is today. He was dying, likely from a form of cancer but I can’t say for sure.”
Draven leaned back on his heels and fisted his hands in his lap. Flora wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but she needed to understand.
“Joseph suspected what I was. At least the vampire side. He’d walked in on me feeding from Kade late one night, and though I compelled him to forget, I suspect he wrote it down before I got to his room because he asked me about it after he got sick.”
He looked up, the darkness in his eyes a plea for her to understand. “He was like a brother to me, Flora, and he asked me to turn him. How could I say no? I was his only chance to survive. So I did it. I sired him. It was incredible. We were friends before, but the bond between us grew tenfold. We just… understood each other.”
Draven scrubbed his hand down his face and swallowed hard. “Everything seemed to be going well. Until it wasn’t. A month after I turned him, Joseph began to change. He stopped relying on me to help him through the change. He gave into the darkest parts of himself. Joseph lasted another month against the bloodlust. He grew cold and depressed. When someone is turned, it’s different. Not the same as it is for those of us who were born vampires. It’s more difficult. More intense. It tore him apart. I can’t watch it happen to you too. I won’t.”
“Draven, I’m not him.”
“I want everything with you, Flora. Every experience. Every wrinkle. Your appearance doesn’t matter, you’ll be beautiful at every stage of life. And if you think the pack won’t respect you, you’re dead wrong. You’ve already got Kade and Mateo wrapped around your pinky finger. They will see what I see, an inner strength that can’t be measured with speed or immortality. If it makes you feel better, I’ll train you to fight. You’ll have the skills of a warrior to match that beautiful brain of yours.”
“You’ll do that anyway.” Flora knelt in front of him, her knees straddling his. “What happened to Joseph?”
Draven’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “He couldn’t handle the strain on his mind and body. I couldn’t get to him in time. He slept on the roof knowing the sunrise would burn him, and by the time I reached him he was too far gone to save.”
“I’m so sorry, Draven.” She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a gentle squeeze. Flora understood why he was so against turning her. His reasons were valid, but so were hers. For his one turn gone wrong, she’d seen a thousand that had gone right at the castle.
She pulled back and met his troubled gaze. “I know you don’t feel the same, but I am going to convince you to turn me. This is important to me, Draven. I want everything with you too. I wantyourforever, not just mine. I want your pack. Our pack. As my mate you will be my life, which means I need to be yours too. All of yours.”
Draven shook his head, a single tear falling down his stubbled face. “I can’t do it to you. It’s never going to happen.”
Flora wiped the tear, her finger lingering at his lips before she dropped it and nestled into his chest. “I guess you have nothing to worry about then.”
Only he did. She had come too far to stop now. He was jaded by his experience with Joseph, and while sad, she meant what she said. She was not Joseph. She was stronger, because not only did she have Draven at her side but she grew up in this world. She knew what to expect. Flora would do whatever it took to prove to him that she’d survive the turn. Because she would be his equal, and he would be her sire and mate.
