In the end, Cassy was forced to go back to the bedroom and get some rest.
After Mikhail told her that he would send a servant to bring her dinner in bed later — which meant that she had slept for almost 24 hours already, holy cow — she sat there on the edge of the canopy, in a daze.
‘My dear’? In what century was he born to call her a cheesy label like that?
Ah, right. Vampires were ancient creatures. She almost forgot.
‘Just my luck,’ Cassy grumbled in her heart as she lay down on the soft bed, trying not to think too much about the situation.
Even just being in a vampire’s home felt like she was betraying the human race.
But she had no other choice.
‘I wonder if he has something to do with the recent increase of rogue vampires,’ she thought.
They say curiosity killed the cat though, so Cassy tried not to ponder over it too much.
For now, she just needed to be Mikhail Ivanov’s woman.
For three whole months.
Cassy restrained the urge to groan out loud. This was possibly the worst development in her life.
When it came to Mikhail Ivanov, the news and gossip were mixed. Most people feared him, naturally, but some regarded him with admiration.
The women, especially.
Mikhail was, after all, very handsome, in an ethereal way. His beauty was something that transcended ordinary people’s appearances, which was why he easily caught the attention of women. Even at that banquet five years ago, he was always surrounded by women, both humans and vampires alike.
Cassy sighed. Since she agreed to this, she had no choice but to stay by his side.
It was no secret that Mikhail had many enemies, ranging from humans to vampires to werewolves and other supernatural beings. He had killed a lot of them as a result of protecting Azallea. He also showed no mercy to those vampires who betrayed him.
He was one of the most powerful vampires in the world. Nobody dared cross him, especially not alone. Which was why most of them gathered in groups and tried attacking with numbers.
But Mikhail’s Warriors and Guards were quite skilled. Azallea was under heavy protection and remained undefeated thanks to Mikhail. The ones he killed had belonged to clans and organizations that now wanted to seek revenge. Some ambitious ones even wanted to defeat Mikhail just so they could get the title of ‘Elite’.
It was also why a lot of them wanted to know Mikhail’s weakness and exploit it for their own gains.
‘If they find out about me, I’m going to be in the most danger,’ Cassy thought to herself, taking in a deep breath. ‘Everyone knows how a mating bond works.’
Then again, it wasn’t like Mikhail would treasure her from now on. Even though they were fated mates, a vampire did not have a heart. They were heartless, bloodsucking creatures.
Cassy vowed in her heart that she would not allow herself to get attached no matter what the mate bond was telling her.
The concept of mates was a tricky one. It varied with every pair. With werewolves, they could recognize their mate once they came of age through scent and intuition. With humans, it was the accelerated heartbeat, the incessant tugging, and the ability to sense if one was in close proximity or not.
It was kind of like a soulmate bond. If the two acknowledged the fact that they were mates, then it would bring a myriad of emotions. They would be connected to each other until death, or until one’s rejection.
Rejection was one of the most painful things in the world for those with mates. If one ever rejected the other, or if one of the mates passed away, it would bring excruciating pain, one so strong that it felt like they died a hundred times over. It would take them a long time to recover afterwards.
Sometimes they might never recover at all.
‘So rejection is out of the question,’ Cassy thought to herself. It was better to endure being mates rather than being in pain for the rest of her life.
To be honest, she had no clue what the mate bond felt like for a vampire. Was it as devoted as a human’s? As passionate as a werewolf’s?
For now, her feelings were mixed. Happiness, disgust, sadness, and anger churned in her gut, all of them clashing against each other in her heart. It was such a strange feeling, like a tug-of-war of sorts.
It was also something that she didn’t want to dwell on for now.
***
When dinner was brought up to her room an hour later, it was surprising, to say the least.
Dinner was extravagant. It had dishes that looked exotic, ones that she hadn’t seen before or even knew existed. They smelled heavenly though, which made Cassy’s stomach react in hunger.
Though honestly, it was more shocking that a vampire’s home didn’t only have packets of blood in the fridge. Did vampires ever eat solid food daily, or only when necessary? She always thought that most of them preferred blood for the rest of their immortal lives.
As far as she knew, they were capable of eating food that humans usually ate, only that it was entirely optional. Anything other than blood tasted bland, probably like paper. It did help keep vampires alive if ever they had no blood sources nearby during an emergency, but only barely.
It was why vampires rarely ever came to restaurants. They would frequent bars, sure, but only because they were either looking for human blood or planning on having a fun night. Some odd vampires did love to party.
Then again, with Mikhail’s wealth and power, he could just easily hire a human chef to make her some food like this. Though he didn’t have to, really.
It was almost as if he did genuinely care about her.
Cassy grumbled as she started eating dinner. She would have to start getting used to this place…
“How does it taste?”
Cassy instantly jolted in place, and she almost choked on her food. When she whipped her head towards the source of the voice, she was startled at the sight of Mikhail standing there, staring at her with no emotion on his face.
Since when had he been standing there?!
Sure, vampires were silent creatures of the night, but still!
She never even heard the door open!
“What are you doing here?” she choked out. It was so awkward trying to eat with this man in the same room, just staring at her!
“I’m here to check on my mate,” Mikhail said without missing a beat. “You are my woman now, are you not?”
Cassy glared at him in disbelief.
Did the infamous Mikhail Ivanov really have this kind of strange personality?
Though why did it feel like she was a prisoner that was constantly being observed?