Hayley's POV
The drive to the restaurant was painfully quiet, the kind of silence that felt almost as heavy as a graveyard.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, glancing at Rick from the corner of my eye. He kept his gaze fixed on the road, his hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel.
"So..." Maeve finally broke the silence. "I smelled something weird when I got to your place. Something... animal-like."
My stomach dropped.
Rick's grip on the steering wheel tightened, and I swallowed hard as nervousness began creeping through both of us.
We exchanged a quick glance. One thought passed between us.
What if they've already figured it out?
What if they were simply waiting for us to say it out loud?
Another thought immediately followed.
If Maeve could sense something was off without even stepping inside the house, then it wouldn't take our parents a second to realize we'd encountered werewolves the moment they returned.
What if we didn't make it home before them?
"Y'all got pets or something?" Aiden joked from the back seat, clearly trying to ease the tension.
I turned to look at him and Maeve. They were sitting in the back while Rick and I occupied the front.
"Drop it, okay?" I shot Maeve a glare, silently begging her to let the subject go. I trusted her enough to know when not to pry.
"Okay, yeesh. I was just kidding around," Maeve muttered, barely audible.
Her voice had suddenly become quiet, almost fearful, as though my words had sounded more threatening than I'd intended.
Rick took a deep breath.
"I guess this should be the place."
Everyone's attention shifted toward the restaurant.
We climbed out of the car and headed toward the entrance, where Aiden took the initiative to open the doors for everyone.
"What's with the gesture?" Rick teased, looking at him with an unmistakably affectionate expression.
And I swear I almost saw Aiden blush.
Hmm.
What exactly was going on between these two?
I gave Rick a questioning look.
What's going on?
He merely shrugged before walking inside to join them.
Whatever, I honestly couldn't care less.
"So, what are we ordering?" Maeve asked as I caught up with them.
"Ordering?" I raised a brow. "It's not like we enjoy their food anyway."
"Well, something has to be in our tummies since our blood supply has been cut short." Aiden supported.
"Yeah, because it'll look weird if we come to a restaurant and don't eat. That's the whole point, remember? We're trying to fit in," Maeve said sweetly, trying to convince us.
I rolled my eyes, of course she'd say that.
Maeve was a Strix; a half-witch, half-vampire. Unlike us pure-blooded vampires, she could actually enjoy human food. Witches were basically humans with magic, so their bodies could tolerate normal food much better than ours.
We could eat it, sure.
But actually taste it?
Barely.
"Of course you would say that because you're a—"
I stopped mid-sentence when a strange-looking man approached us.
He was blonde, dressed entirely in black; a suit, trousers, and a black tie decorated with thin red stripes.
"Hello there. Sorry if I'm interrupting. My name is James, and I'm your waiter. Would y'all like to order anything?"
We all stared at him for a moment.
Something about him seemed... strange.
Or maybe I was just paranoid.
"How about your finest dish here?" Rick finally said, offering him a polite smile.
"Okay, then. That'll be our Pad Thai," James replied, scribbling something onto the small notepad in his hand.
None of us had the slightest idea what Pad Thai was.
But, as Maeve had pointed out, we were trying to fit in.
The waiter gave us another polite smile before walking away to place our order.
That's when I noticed Maeve staring hungrily after him.
"You interested or what?" I teased.
"He's kind of cute, don't you think?" she said, her eyes still following him. "And very tasty. I wonder what his blood is like."
I stared at her.
"You used your witch powers to sense his blood type, didn't you?"
She gave me a look that practically screamed, Yeah, obviously.
"You're crazy," I said in disbelief.
But honestly, I was used to it.
She did this all the time.
"What's wrong? You can't blame me and besides, admit it, you admire the Strix perks, don't you?"
She wasn't completely wrong. The perks were cool. But I'd never really liked the idea of being a witch. They honestly freaked me out.
"Lemme guess. His blood type is O negative. So tasty," Aiden added, practically drooling as his fangs began to peek through.
"Forget it. Humans are off-limits for now. All we get is Thai food and deer blood," Rick said coldly and sadly.
He just had to remind us of our current living situation.
Sad and pathetic.
I sighed.
Gosh.
I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me whole.
"Come on, guys. We've faced more hardships than this. We're vampires. We'll survive," Maeve encouraged.
Her motivational speech wasn't exactly working.
We were still miserable.
"Come on, guys! What are we?"
This time, she shouted loud enough to make several people turn their heads.
We all looked around.
Everyone was staring.
For a moment, we hesitated.
Then, somehow, we found the courage to answer.
"VAMPS!"
We all shouted at once and then we burst out laughing.
People around the restaurant began whispering among themselves, probably wondering if we'd completely lost our minds.
We didn't care.
For the first time since arriving in New Jersey, we were simply enjoying ourselves.
We laughed.
We joked.
We savored the moment.
And for a few precious seconds, I forgot about the blood.
The werewolves.
The secrets.
The danger.
Then everything changed.
A strange sensation seized my chest.
A pull.
Strong.
Sudden.
Undeniable.
It felt as though something invisible had wrapped itself around me and yanked me toward something or someone.
A sharp ache followed.
I froze.
My smile disappeared.
Something was wrong.
I quickly tapped Rick's leg beneath the table.
He looked at me.
I didn't need to say anything.
The expression on his face told me everything.
He felt it too.
We both turned toward the restaurant entrance.
And there they were.
Three guys had just walked through the doors.
Three guys who looked remarkably similar to the one I'd fought earlier.
The werewolves.
My heart—or whatever was left of it—seemed to stop.
They were unmistakably wolves.
I could feel it.
Sense it.
And then my eyes landed on one of them.
Blonde hair.
Broad shoulders.
A strong, built body.
And the most striking pair of sea-blue eyes I'd ever seen.
Eyes I could have drowned in.
I couldn't look away.
The pull intensified.
Stronger.
Stronger.
Stronger.
Every step he took toward us made the invisible force inside me tighten.
My breath caught.
No.
This wasn't possible.
I knew that feeling.
I'd been taught about it since I was a fledgling.
The bond.
The soulmate bond.
No.
My gaze remained locked on him as the realization settled over me.
He was my soulmate.
And he was a werewolf.
I couldn't believe it.
This had to be a mistake.
The bond between a vampire and a werewolf was forbidden.
Worse than forbidden.
It was supposed to be an abomination.
At least...
That's what we'd always been taught.
Yet here I was, sitting in a human restaurant, staring into the eyes of the one person my vampire blood had apparently chosen for eternity.
And he was the very thing I was never supposed to love.