"So, if I'm understanding you right, we, as in the both of us, are mates? Like, Soulmates? As in us? Evan and Mizak? The human and the vampire? Are you sure?"

"You ask too many questions at once. Slow down, will you!? But yes. You and I, Evan Daniels and Mizak Nolva are mates for life."

"Oh yeah? Now you know how I felt while you had your little word spewing moment right?" The older only shrugged with a small but noticeable smile. "But-but I still don't understand. How? My life is considerably shorter than yours. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm HUMAN!"

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Mizak rolled his eyes at the younger male, though there was a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"So what do we do? Why won't you let go of me? And why do you smell like my favourite things?"

"Ohoho a smooth talker. You're already calling me your favourite aye?" Evan felt his face become considerably warmer, his words catching in his throat. No one had ever flirted with him before. Hell, he barely had any interactions with people outside of family!

"Y-You know exactly what I mean! I'm sure of at least that much."

"I do. What do I smell like to you?"

"The ocean. And hike trails my parents would take me on some weekends." Mizak hummed lowly, arms pulling the smaller male into a closer embrace.

"You smell like citrus and honey to me. It's odd really. I've never smelled anything but blood from a human. They've all been the same. That overbearing scent of iron. I quite like this."

"So I'm stuck with you sniffing me for the foreseeable future?"

"Deal with it." Evan laughed at the response, watching as Mizak's body shifted to place his head in his lap. A hand soon found its way combing through the plaits of his hair, the feeling causing the tension in his body to melt away. His eyes closed with a soft hum of relaxation, unconsciously curling closer towards the hand in his hair.

Mizak looked down at the boy known as his mate, a flurry of unseen emotions crashing behind his eyes. With this bond, it was as though love was the single emotion circulating throughout his body. He watched as Evan's eyes closed, breath soon becoming even as he entered the realm of sleep.

What was he going to do? His father didn't seem to mind Evan when he'd learned of the situation in the main hall, but he was sure he'd be receiving an earful once the event was over.

And Volak. He couldn't help but fear what his sadist of an older brother would have planned for him now that he'd found his mate. Evan was human after all. Volak would go to any lengths to ensure Mizak submitted to him and that didn't exclude threatening his mate.

A knock brought him back from his thought space, the door already swinging open to reveal both his mother and father. Idati looked to her son, then at the figure lying in his lap.

"This is your mate my son?" Though there was no malice in her voice, the way she'd said it was almost condescending, disappointed.

"Yes, mother. I don't know how, but we are bound by fate."

"I don't understand either. You've never shown interest in men. Before your coming of age, you only associated with women as far as I knew. Have you been hiding this?"

"No! I'd never even thought of engaging in...in anything with men before today!" He hurried to justify himself for fear of further angering his mother.

It was futile, however, as she'd already begun walking away before he'd even managed to finish his sentence, face pulled into a tight scowl. Kas looked on as his wife left, a sigh escaping him.

"Mizak... I understand that this wasn't your choice. I would have immediately suggested you break the bond-" Mizak's posture shot upright, fear in his eyes at the mere mention, the thought of doing such a thing. "Relax. If the bond is strong I will command no such thing. Do not think me a monster."

When vampires find their mates, there is always the option to break that bond in favour of finding love naturally. This action mainly occurred between vampire/human unions, especially those too weak to be maintained.

In the event the bond was broken, both parties went through several weeks of depressive episodes, one or sometimes both soon succumbing to the urge to escape through death. In very few cases, both would walk away unscathed except for the slight aching pull that occurred whenever they came into contact.

The fact that his bond with Evan was so strong meant that breaking it would no doubt lead to death. For both of them. It also meant if one of them died-...

"You must change him."

"What!?" Kas looked towards his son after his exclamation, face hard in absolute resolve.

"There is no debating this Mizak. You cannot remain with him while he is a human. He will only become a liability."

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"But- But father. He has a family and an entire life ahead of him. Why would I curse him with immortality and this damned constant thirst for blood? Why would I make him watch as he outlives his parents, his friends?"

"And what will you do when the factions learn of this and use him as a means of overthrowing us? I will not allow your selfish need to preserve his humanity to be the downfall of central!"

By now the albino was frantic, worry consuming his thoughts. His mate would surely hate him if he brought up such an idea. He quite literally could not live with himself if Evan broke their bond rather than being mated to him.

He felt his chest tighten as his throat seemed to close up, hands long since stopped their raking through the human's hair now climbed to his throat, clawing at it to gain some kind of relief from the pressure.

"Mizak stop your theatrics this instant. We do not need to breathe boy." Kas pulled the arms away from where they scratched, Blood coating the sharp fingernails attached to him as well as the many cuts along his throat.

Mizak's body spasmed uncontrollably, the need for air intensifying despite the truth his father had spoken. He didn't need air. What was happening to him? He looked down at his mate in his lap to find his face scrunched into discomfort similar to the pain he was currently feeling.

Was it Evan? Was Evan causing this? The young boy's chest didn't seem to be moving. He'd stopped breathing.

The answer to his previous questions no longer mattered as he promptly shook the other awake who sprang up as though his life was in danger, gasping for air he so desperately needed.

"What? What happened? Mizak?" Evan's voice shook, the tiredness he'd previously felt no longer existed as his anxiety seemed to overtake his mindset.

"You're alright Evan, but you were restless in your sleep. It looked like you were in pain. Was it a nightmare?" Evan, before answering, laid his forehead onto Mizak's shoulder, the scent of sea salt and forest trees filling his nostrils acting as a calming method.

"Yeah. I don't know what happened or why, but I was fine at first. I wasn't exactly dreaming but it was peaceful. Then suddenly everything shifted to...to things.

I remembered my childhood accident, the scenes were so vivid. My grandparents blamed me for their deaths. If they'd never met me, they would never have gotten into that accident.

Then it shifted to the incident from a few days ago. But it was different. Dizzy and Mark never saved me. That man took me, and I was sold to someone. Their faces were all blurred, but I could feel their intentions. I-"

It seemed that while Mizak's stress levels had grown during his talk with his father, his feelings had unconsciously flowed through the bond to his mate causing the shift of his dreams.

Mizak's fear had transformed Evan's dreams into things he feared which inadvertently caused his throat to tighten, cutting off his air supply, thus explaining Mizak's feeling of a lack of air he didn't need.

"This...this is unheard of! There are no records showing bonds strong enough to shift the feeling or emotions of their mates. You. What on Earth are you boy!!? A witch!?" Kas marched over to Evan in fury as said boy backed away just nearly falling off the side of the bed in the process.

The young lord quickly stopped his mate from an accident, instead shielding the young boy's body with his own. Kas looked at his son with murder in his eyes.

"YOU DARE DEFY ME, CHILD!? THAT...THAT THING IS UNNATURAL. YOUR BOND IS UNNATURAL. I DEMAND YOU SE-"

"ARE YOU NOT THE ONE WHO TOLD ME NOT TO THINK OF YOU AS A MONSTER? NOW YOU'RE COMMANDING ME TO SEVER MY BOND. THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY, RIGHT!?"

Lord Kas now went silent at this revelation. It was true. That was exactly what he'd been going to say. The bond Mizak shared with Evan was something he had never heard of. It scared him.

Two men, vampire and human, with a bond so strong their emotions flowed into one another, strong enough to affect their mental and physical actions.

"So you would rather us dead, you’d rather ME dead than dare have a son who was an oddity. You've already had to put up with my albinism, so now it's too much that I'm not only apparently attracted to a man, but the fact that said man is a human and our bond is out of the ordinary."

"Mizak I don't-"

"If it's what you wish, then I will leave. I will take him and his family, and we will leave, never to be in your sight again. No longer a problem you have to worry over. What did you call him earlier? Oh! Yes. We will no longer be the liability you so fear."

Silence. Not a soul moved within the house, the other vampire residents no doubt overhearing the discussion that just took place between father and son.

Mizak was known to be the rebellious one in the family, but never in his life had he ever spoken to his father in such a manner. The boy was inwardly cowering but refused to show any signs of weakness. He stood by what he said. He would protect his mate even if it cost him being exiled.

Even if it cost him his life.

Kas looked at his son with clear pain in his eyes but no words. It hurt to say but Mizak was right. He'd always hated the fact that Mizak turned out so...different.

His entire life, he'd treated Mizak as the outcast, the runt of his family due to his condition, albinism as he'd recently begun calling it. All vampires carried trademark features. Pale skin, black hair, dark eyes. When Mizak was born, they were sure he was a cursed child.

Skin so white it was almost transparent, pale, pastel-coloured eyes, hair as white as snow.

So now, having to hear about this bond, this human MALE, he just couldn't accept it. He was ashamed to admit he even thought about accepting Mizak's announcement of leaving. He was willing to abandon his child for the sake of saving face.

"That will be unnecessary."

"What do you mean?"

"You do not have to leave Ethereal my son. Your mate is welcomed here. I just...I am worried. Likewise, I did not mean to offend when I called him a liability. I was only thinking of protecting the family, the people."

"Yeah? Well, Evan is my mate. He and his parents are considered family just as much as Britannia, Emilie or Lennon and their families. The fact that they are human shouldn't allow you or anyone else to mark them as anything less."

Kas had never heard such conviction from his son before. The way Mizak spoke was powerful, almost mimicking the way he spoke when issuing orders or when speaking to crowds of people. He carried himself like a leader. In a way, he felt...proud, of his son. Maybe Mizak would be the one. Perhaps.