Astrid's Wish (4 page)

“We always stick together,” he whispered.

“That’s right.” Miles patted him on the cheek.

“Miley, can I ask you something?” Astrid bit at his bottom lip.

Miles was his best friend. He would help Astrid understand the tingling feeling in his belly.

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“Sure, buddy. You can ask me anything.”

“That man down there.” Astrid pointed toward the door. Miles nodded. “He makes me feel funny.”

Miles’s right eye started to twitch. “Funny how?”

A smile spread across Astrid’s face. “Remember when you and Trevor took me rolling down the big hill in the backyard?” Miles nodded. “And I had that dizzy feeling in my head and twirling sensation in my tummy?” Miles nodded again. “I felt that when I saw that man.”

Miles kept nodding his head. Then his breath hitched. “Oh god, no!”

Astrid watched as Miles stomped out of his room. Had he said something wrong?

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“What the hell is wrong with you, man?”

He wasn’t sure if he should tell Ben or not. To find one’s mate, especially after so many years, was supposed to be an exciting development. Others went their whole lives without ever finding their mates, and some died never knowing the touch of their mate. And here he stood trying to find a way to rid himself of his. This made him a bastard in more ways than one, and he didn’t need Ben vocalizing his shortcomings out loud.

“Well, Klaus? I’ve known you for years. I’ve never seen you behave like that. What gives?”

What gave was with his job, he had no place in his life for anyone.

He traveled more than not, never able to lay his head in the same bed for more than a couple of nights. The constant danger he put himself in, all in the name of the council, was no life for a man who, by all pretenses, was a child. In the few moments he spent with Astrid, the man appeared afraid of his own shadow. How could he claim a mate that wasn’t his equal? Astrid would be a liability. A liability that could get him killed.

Miles came back into the room. His face blazed a beet red, and the vein at his temple pulsed with every beat of his heart. His nose flared as he took deep breaths. The petite vamp looked ready to blow his top, and Klaus just happened to be the bull’s-eye.

“I don’t know how, but you need to reverse that bond,” Miles shouted at Klaus. He walked up to him until only an arm’s length separated them.

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It was one thing for him to think being mated to Astrid was a bad thing, but for a complete stranger to demand he give up his mate all together was another. He didn’t want Astrid, but he’d be damned if this little guy would have a say in what took place between him and the witch.

“Watch your tone, whelp. This doesn’t concern you.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he couldn’t let his own doubts and concerns bleed through the confident image he projected to the outside world.

The council counted on him to keep a cool head. Klaus had to be able to think clearly in any situation. But this wasn’t just any situation.

This involved him personally.

“Hey, guys, what am I missing here?” Ben looked from Miles back to him then back again. Klaus saw it the moment the light clicked on for Ben. “No fucking way.”

“Yes way,” Miles said without taking his eyes off Klaus. “So, besides this prick coming to question Astrid, he’s also his mate.”

Klaus didn’t like Miles’s tone or his attitude. This was some serious shit for him, too. Miles made it sound like Klaus had planned the whole thing. He had no control over this, and it really pissed him off that this newly turned vampire would treat him like some common criminal.

Ben laid his hands on Miles’s shoulders and pulled the man back against his chest. “Calm down, baby. I don’t think Klaus knew Astrid was his mate until about fifteen minutes ago. He’s just as shocked as Astrid must be.”

“Are you? Or are you upset that you’re saddled with a mate who’s more like a child than an adult? Someone who knows nothing of your world?” Miles scoffed. “You wouldn’t even know how to take care of him.”

He bristled under Miles’s claims. The man condemned him without even knowing him. This was what a witch had to deal with every minute of every day of their life. According to majority opinion, witches were monsters who took advantage of people and turned them
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into their worst nightmares. Some, not all, witches did that, but it didn’t matter. One bad apple ruined the bunch, according to popular opinion.

“Nothing to say?” Miles laughed bitterly. “That’s what I thought.

I can see it in your eyes you don’t want him. Why don’t you call your precious council and have them send another witch out to talk with Astrid.”

He flinched at the accusation that he didn’t want Astrid or that he couldn’t take care of him. “Don’t pretend to know what I’m thinking and feeling. You don’t know me, so you have no right to pass judgment on me.”

“From what I hear, you’re a killer. You use your magic to get your desired outcome. You don’t care who you hurt as long as you get what you want.” Miles pulled against his mate’s hold.

“I’m not an innocent, but this world needs people like me to clean up the messes others would rather soon ignore. Without men like me, chaos reigns down on your precious little world. I’ve seen things I would rather soon forget, but I can’t because if I do, people die.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself so you’re able to sleep at night, but I won’t allow you to mate with Astrid, and by god I will not let you take him from us. We’re his family. We’re the ones who are helping him pick up the pieces of his life. You’ve no clue how he’s suffered. No clue.”

His chest puffed with every breath. This man had the ability to anger Klaus like no one had before, and that was saying a lot since they’d just met. They continued to stare at one another in silence.

Klaus couldn’t help but wonder what Miles meant by “suffering.”

Benedict told him that the young witch had been held prisoner for over a hundred years, but he didn’t give any details.

“Miles, calm down. You cannot tell him he can’t mate Astrid. It’s not our decision.” Ben turned Miles to face him. Klaus’s heart ached at the closeness the men displayed. “I love Astrid just as much as you
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do, and I would rather cut off my own arm than see any harm come to him, but this doesn’t involve us.”

“But…”

Ben held up his hand. “No buts, babe. This is Astrid’s decision just as much as it’s Klaus’s.”

“How do you expect Astrid to know what all”—Miles waved his hands around frantically—“this means. He doesn’t know what being a mate is, and the only type of sex he has experienced was forced upon him. He’s too fragile to deal with all this right now.”

Klaus’s head snapped up. “What do you mean “forced” on him?

What exactly has he been through?” He wanted to know but was afraid to hear.

Miles’s eyes started to water at the corners. It took him a few minutes before he could speak. Whatever had happened to Astrid must have been really bad.

“I thought my father told you what happened to Astrid? Didn’t the old man give you a report?” Ben asked.

“He did, but not a lot of details since no one has even spoken to Astrid yet. All I know is that his mother sold him to Malcolm when he was thirteen, and they raised him from that point on until he came to live here.”

“Raised? That isn’t what I would call it.” Miles swiped a hand across his cheek. “He was beaten daily by Lucian. But that isn’t the worst. The worst is that Lucian also raped Astrid as often as Malcolm would allow.” Miles’s voice cracked on the last bit, and he started to cry.

The heart beating in his chest threatened to stop. The blood in his veins ran ice-cold. Astrid had been raped. Not once but several times.

His lungs screamed in agony for breath, but Klaus forgot how to breathe. The torture the young witch had endured must have been horrific. It was nothing if not miraculous he survived to tell the tale.

“Baby, don’t cry. We need to be strong for Astrid’s sake.” Ben hugged Miles close and kissed the top of his head.

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Klaus’s knees gave out, and he fell into the chair. Why had fate been so cruel? No one’s life was perfect, but there wasn’t even a chance for perfection with Astrid. It made sense now why Astrid was frightened of him. The things he must have endured in the past hundred years had to have left him scarred on the inside.

“Why is this happening to me?” Klaus’s words were just above a whisper.

“To you?” Miles shouted right before he smacked him across the face. His head jerked to the side. “Astrid didn’t ask for any of this, and he sure as hell didn’t ask to be stuck with a mate who thinks only of himself.”

His cheek stung from the hard smack, but he refused to rub it. He couldn’t show weakness. Strength and control had been drilled into him from an early age. Guilt and sadness were useless emotions that he couldn’t afford to feel. It would make doing his job that much more difficult. But every time he thought of Astrid, that was all he could feel. Sadness for the despair Astrid must have felt being held prisoner for so long, and guilt for not being able to protect his mate from that violent past.

Klaus screwed his eyes shut and tried to erase the images racing across his mind. No matter what happened now, he was still here to do a job. He blinked open his eyes and stood.

“I’m sorry, Miles. I didn’t mean to belittle or disrespect what Astrid has suffered through. I wouldn’t wish that life on anyone.” He took another deep breath. “But be as it may, I’m here to do a job, and I will need to spend time with Astrid, like it or not.”

Miles opened his mouth to say something then clamped his lips down tight. He must have thought better of what he was about to say.

“I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” Klaus shook his head no. “Just please be careful how you handle him. He’s so fragile, and I’m not sure what might send him over the edge.”

“I will. Believe it or not, I would like to get to know him. I agree a mating is not beneficial for either of us, but friendship is doable.”

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Miles nodded. “I still don’t trust you. But like I said, I have no choice.” Miles walked out of the room without any further comment.

“That was surprising,” Klaus said in disbelief. It seemed too easy that Miles just walked away without an argument.

Ben shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Miles doesn’t mean any disrespect. He’s just concerned. He loves Astrid like a brother. Astrid saved his life. Plus, if anyone knows how strong a mating bond can be, it’s Miles.” Ben barked out a laugh. “Fate can be a motherfucker sometimes.” Ben motioned to the waist-high bar that sat against the far wall. “Want a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

Klaus followed Ben and took a seat at the bar. Klaus accepted the small tumbler full of clear liquid and downed it in one shot. It blazed a trail down the back of his throat, causing his eyes to water. The burn subsided to a warm tingling sensation working its way through his body, but it didn’t dull the ache he felt for Astrid or the desire he had for him, either. He still heard his mother’s warning in the back of his mind. For the first time in his life, Klaus had no idea what to do next.

“So, old friend, what happens now?”

He looked up from his empty glass. “I’m not sure, Ben. I’m just not sure.” The defeat in his own voice made him cringe internally. He felt vulnerable, and he didn’t like it.

Ben reached across the bar and rested his hand on Klaus’s shoulder. “I know the feeling. But can I give you some advice?”

Klaus nodded once. “Don’t make any decisions yet.” Ben shrugged.

“Get to know Astrid. You might be surprised how things might work out.”

Klaus chuckled. “I don’t think our story will have a happy ending like yours and Miles’s. I’m not hardwired for relationships.”

“Sure, Klaus. Whatever you say.” Ben set his glass down and headed toward the door. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room.”

He grabbed his bag and followed Ben up the winding staircase. As he trailed behind Ben he thought of all that had transpired in the past
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hour. He’d met his mate, a witch who knew nothing of their kind or the governing laws set upon all paranormals. Where to go from here he had no clue, but he had to think of something quickly. Benedict would want an update by tomorrow, and there was only so much stalling he could do.

Ben stopped at a wooden door and pushed it open. “This is where you will be staying. Mine and Miles’s room is at the end of this hall, so if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Ben, wait.” Klaus grabbed his shoulder when he started to turn away.

Ben turned to him. His brow furrowed. “Yeah?”

“Can we keep this whole mating thing from the council for the time being? I haven’t decided what I’m going to tell them.”

“Sure. I’ll make sure to tell the others to keep hush-hush about it.”

“Thanks.”

Ben smiled and left the room. Klaus stood in the entryway, leaning against the doorframe. The sound of a door creaking open had him turning to look across the hall. His pulsed picked up at the sight of Astrid peeking through the small crack. One bright blue eye was all he could see.

He started to say something, but Astrid quickly shut the door.

With a heavy sigh, Klaus stepped back into his room and closed his door. He slumped back against the hard door, needing its support to keep himself upright. The mating bond was doing a number on his self-control. The need to go across the hall and pull Astrid into his arms and never let go warred with his sense of self-preservation.

Klaus pushed away from the door and went to the bathroom to take a hot shower. He hoped the hot water and steam would clear his head and help him regain focus to do what he was sent there to do.

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