Dr. Luna
The Vampires Promised Bride Chapter 44

The four of them returned back to the celebration. People were dancing and enjoying their food. Lucy was surprised that no one seemed to notice their disappearance.

"It's normal for us to have to leave sometimes abruptly. No one thinks anything of it." Jasper said, winking at Lucy. He looked at the table where Stella was still seated. The group decided the best way to handle it would be for Jasper to act confused over it. And insinuate that Ryan has another girlfriend. And even bring up he would go to Ryan over them being together. That should be enough for her to backtrack her story. Lucy took the lead and left the three men to go and sit back at the table. While she waited for Ryan (the real one) to come and suggest they take a selfie together. A way to initiate the conversation.

"Lucy." Ryan slid his hand on her shoulder. "Let's take some pictures. I want to have lots of memories to show our children one day."

She giggled up at him. "Children? How many do you plan for me to have?"

"As many as you'll let me make." Ryan grinned down at her holding his phone out.

"Here I'll take them for you." Jasper said, walking up with Aiden.

"This is my brother Aiden. He is single by the way." Lucy winked at the girls sitting at the table while Aiden made his move.

"You care for a dance?" Aiden smiled as Stella tilted his head over to the dance floor.

"You can't have her, Aiden. She has a boyfriend." Lucy watched as another girl jumped up and walked over to Aiden.

"I'll dance with you though."Updated by FindNovel.net, visit for more free novels. The girl said, grabbing onto Aiden's hand leading him to the dance floor. Lucy smiled. That part wasn't part of the plan but that is where improvising comes in. "You have a boyfriend Stella, who?" Jasper asked.

Stella took the bait and excitedly brought her phone out. The rest of the girls at the table groaned and got up. They didn't want to relive her mushy stories. She flipped to the pictures of her and Derek and showed them to Jasper. Lucy watched as his brows furrowed as he analyzed the pictures.

"You are dating Ryan?" Jasper looked up at her as she smiled bashfully. "Are you sure you two are a couple? Because I think he has a girlfriend."

Stella giggled. "That's me. I'm his girlfriend. You can go ahead and flip through the pictures there. I even have some videos too."

Lucy felt her confidence dwindling by the second. She was so certain before that this was all untrue. By somewhere deep inside of her doubt was cracking. She kept trying to tell herself she trusted Derek. But when there is video evidence too... what do you do with that? She watched Jasper's face closely. She could see he seemed a bit confused with what he was looking at. She stood up so that she could view the phone from behind his back. She watched the pictures flipping through the screen until a play button appeared. It was a video.

One of the videos was of Derek laughing with Chaz and Enzo as Lenny struggled to stand after drinking too much. She saw another video of Tonya and Zach dancing around a campfire. Then she could hear a voice that sounded like Sabrina talking as the video continued. It was clear Sabrina was now recording on the phone with her minorly slurred voice. There was a part that zoomed in on Derek poking a stick at the fire while Stella sat at his side. And as the camera moved at the very end you could see Stella's head lean onto Derek's arm. They were no longer in the picture at this point as Sabrina tripped and quit recording.

Jasper moved to a final video. It was of another day and the elite soldiers were getting ready to depart. The video moved as Stella walked around saying her goodbyes to everyone. When she got to Derek the video moved off him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The phone was now pointing down at the ground but the voices continued to record. You could hear her say "I'm going to miss you."

A male voice was heard saying, "I will think about you every day." Was this Derek's voice? It was hard to tell.

"Last night was incredible. I'll hold onto the memory until we can be together again." Stella's voice rang through sweetly.

Lucy watched as Jasper's grip on the phone tightened. His eyes flickered dark as he stared at the video.

"Wait for me... I love you."

Lucy felt numb as those words echoed into her ears. Jasper growled and looked up at Stella.

"That isn't Ryan's voice." He said angrily.

Stella giggled. "Whose voice is it then?"

A low lethal snarl crept from Jasper. "I want the truth."

Stella tilted her head to the side and took her phone back. "I'm sorry... were you interested in me? I'm sorry... but I am with Ryan."

The noise in the area began to fade. Flashes of the pictures of Stella and Derek entered Lucy's head. And then the sound of his voice saying he loved her on the video. She felt sick. Physically nauseous. A storm slowly raged inside of her, but she couldn't see to navigate her way out of it. She was becoming lost inside of herself. Doubt seized her and poked at her. Did she really know Derek? She wanted to know Derek. She wanted to trust Derek... but could she?

Lucy's fears surfaced inside of her as anguish took refuge in her chest then a wave of rage crashed together. An emotional storm brewed and grasped a hold of her.

Was it all pretend for the sake of the treaty? Did Derek only tell her what he thought she wanted to hear? What he could feel she needed to hear? She didn't have any experience with relationships. She was naïve. She thought she could have love... but at the end of the day, it was just an arranged marriage. Derek had already found his person and he loved her. Something inside of her cracked and she felt a stabbing pain inside. Her vision blurred and it became harder to breathe. She wanted to think logically about everything but the emotions were suffocating her.

Lucy felt arms embrace her and then in a flash, she was inside the castle. She blinked blankly and then looked at the body that retreated from her. His dark hair and dark eyes slowly came into focus. He looked at her with concern. "Deep breaths," Abaddon said quietly.

"Am I...broken?" Lucy's breath staggered as she felt her insides being torn apart as another wave of nauseousness hit her. This time she swallowed the bile down, it burnt her throat. She looked up to see Abaddon's legs trembling slightly. She remembered he needed to be resting and used his energy to teleport her inside. "I told you to rest." Her voice said quietly.

"You needed me."

She nodded her head with a smile. She relied on others too much. She needed to be more like how her mother was as a huntress. She didn't need anyone. She relied on no one. She never had to feel herself being destroyed... not after the loss of her parents. "I'm weak aren't I?" She looked up to Abaddon's dark eyes as hers watered. "I don't know what I'm supposed to believe. How can I be this weak? Why can't I just believe in someone? Why do I have to doubt? Why is this fear gripping me and why am I saying all of this to you?" She bit her bottom lip and inhaled a deep breath. "You need to go rest. I'm going to go to visit my family now... thank you for pulling me away from that situation. Really... thank you."

Her nose and eyes burned but she blinked the tears back. Jasper would probably be coming soon. She needed to bury her feelings like she used to. She didn't want to feel any of this. A strange numbness began to creep through her body.

"Don't do it to yourself, Lucy." Abaddon's voice was quiet and gentle. He watched her eyes look at him. She looked broken. But he knew where that road could lead. "Don't lose yourself... you could end up down a very dangerous path that spirals out of your control... trust me...I know." He met her gaze and gave her a small smile. "Having someone to lean on is a strength. One that not everyone has. Use that strength Lucy. And discover what the truth is. Once you have the undeniable truth go from there."

A single crystal trickled from her right eye. She reached up and slowly wiped it away. "It's so hard being apart from him. I find myself doubting the bond the longer we are apart." She reached up and touched her bare neck. "Was it real? Did I really feel it? I have nothing to prove it is there. What if it wasn't real? What if it was a clever spell? And what if... what if I am not who he wants? I don't like this." Her voice was an icy whisper as she hated the person she was being right now. "Don't do this to yourself... I... I understand how this all feels. It's a painful feeling. To wonder why you weren't good enough. To wonder why you couldn't be the one. And why someone else ended up being the right one. Why them? What is wrong with me? You aren't even given a fair chance and then the poison latches onto your soul and before you know it..." Abaddon looked away from her. "Before you know it you are no longer the person you were. You are the poison you create." He looked back at her. "All I know is he always talked of you. I wasn't always around him when he was here but when I was his focus was you. Don't fall into darkness. We have enough demons in this world. We could use more fairy princesses. I know things seem bleak right now... but search for the light. And if you can't find it then create your own."

Abaddon had a chance there to kick her further into darkness and instead he ended up throwing her a life preserve. A faint smile spread across her lips. The pain was still there and she still needed to sort through her feelings but she wasn't going to shut everyone out. She wouldn't lock away her emotions. "Thank you..." She stared at his eyes. At one point he was evil and deserved the death he got. But this soul of his had to be different. Maybe this was who he could have been if he would have chosen a different path. A sharp pain tore across her stomach. It was like being ripped apart by a hot sword. She threw herself backwards and clutched her stomach. She slid down the wall as a whimper escaped her throat.

"Shit... I was afraid of this." Abaddon said as Aiden came running in.

"Lucy...Oh HELL." Aiden shook his head and muttered several choice words of profanity. He walked up to Lucy and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I think the shock of everything plus her new fairy powers is the cause of this." Abaddon shook his head angrily. "You need to get her to a guardian."

"Lucy! What happened? Abaddon, why did you take her?" Jasper ran down the hall with Ryan at his side.

"What's wrong with her?" Jasper asked as he slid down to her side. He watched as she curled into a ball on the floor. A cry escaped her lips as her body shook in pain.

"She is in heat..." Aiden squeezed his fists together. "This is why she should have been marked already. After finding your mate... and the shock of everything that has happened..." Aiden looked up at Jasper angrily. He was livid with Derek. And he would personally see to his cheating self for hurting his sister.

"It isn't true." Jasper shook his head adamantly. He looked down at Lucy. "It isn't true. He never... he wouldn't ever... I know..."

Lucy couldn't even look at him. Her eyes were squeezed tight as she tried to weather the pain. She had two storms now meeting together and it was forming a massive hurricane inside of her. She felt Aiden tenderly scoop her up into his chest.

"We are leaving now. She needs to get to where someone can help." Aiden said coldly.

"Her mate can help... I can send-"

Aiden growled loudly baring his fangs at Jasper. "We are leaving. I don't want HIM near my sister."

Jasper grit his teeth and exhaled loudly. "I'm coming with you guys. Give me one second to grab a bag." He sprinted off and grabbed their things. He wouldn't push the Derek issue right now when emotions were so sensitive. He wouldn't believe it. Yes, the evidence was damming... but it couldn't be true. Not Derek... He refused to believe it. His cousin has been in love with Lucy since he was a kid. There was no way there could ever be anyone else. Never. He needed to talk with Derek and figure everything out.