The cheer of the crowd is definitely deafening. If I knew, I would have taken some earplugs. I hate noisy places especially so early in the morning. Aren't we vampires? Aren't we supposed to be silent creatures of the night? So why is everyone screaming when none of the challengers are out? Oh, yeah, I forgot that Matthias has been parading me around since I am the prize. I didn't even get a good night sleep yesterday because Nikolas somehow slept in the same bed as me for the first time. I tried to escape to my room, where I could sleep alone. That was what I thought, but we ended up cuddling, and I was the little spoon. I am humiliated for life.

Once we have walked around for a good hour, I finally get to sit down. Only when I have cooled down a little that I notice something really annoying. Why am I sitting all alone on top of what looks like a tower? I am not a trophy nor an object! But there is sure a lot of people here. I look around the arena and realize that there are a lot more vampires in this city than I thought. I wonder if Eva is here? Who will she be cheering for?

"Welcome everyone! This is a chance of a lifetime, are you guys ready?!" the commentator shouts through the microphone while standing on the stage. "They are both from noble families and have only one goal. The winner of this duel will have unlimited access to this maiden's heart! While the loser will never be able to see nor talk to him ever again," he explains making me grit my teeth in annoyance. I will kill that commentator!

"It looks like you're a maiden and a princess," Matthias chuckles as he sits on the chair next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I grumble while looking away from the man who just arrived.

"I have to protect our damsel in distress, so she can't escape without her knight," Matthias answers with a smile which seriously makes me want to hit him in the gut.

"I am not an object you can toss around! Pures may have lived long enough to settle down and play around all day, but life is not a game!" I complain with a huff.

"We are all players in the game of life. Like any game, there are all sorts of players. How you live your life is your own business, but your life happens to be entangled with my brother's. Finding a mate is the most important thing in our immortal life. What you have done to Nikolas is completely unfair and you are the one who should stop playing around!" the older vampire accuses angrily.

"I know that a mate is important, but I am not ready for it! Did any of you think about my feelings? No, you didn't! Nikolas forced me into it without even working for it. Do you think I will fall in love with anyone saying that we are mate?! Nikolas only wants me because I'm his mate, he doesn't even know me!" I shout back angrily at the other vampire.

"And what about you? Did you try to learn more about my brother? If I follow your logic, you're also guilty! You didn't even know what the mating was before and now, you are saying this? If you knew anything about it, you would not be fighting the mating bond. We, vampires, are lonely creatures. Do you even know how long Nikolas has suffered without knowing if his mate was even alive? If you truly care about my brother, even without mating him, you should have been able to feel his loneliness."

"What about him, did he feel mine?" I ask after a moment of silence between us.

Matthias does not answer my question since the commentator has started talking again. But before he can turn his head, I see it. I saw the answer he would have given me if it isn't for the interruption. The painful expression and how his sharp gray eyes turned dull give me the answer I have been looking for. Nikolas has been suffering too. I have always blamed him for what he did to me. He stole my freedom. It is the only thing I really had since money and the objects I buy with it are just fleeting illusions. He has taken everything from me, so why am I feeling remorseful? This makes no sense.

"Now, let's get to the main event shall we?!" the commentator shouts excitedly while getting off of the stage before giving the signal to begin the fight.

Nikolas and Elizabeth are standing in front of each other with a few meters of distance between them. Their eyes are already glowing red and it is obvious to see that they are fighting to control their instincts to fight. It is clear that none of them are considering defeat as an option.

After a little staring contest, they start to walk in a circle while staring at each other's movement. I can see their fangs and claws slowly elongating as they hiss at each other as if warning the enemy to not come any closer. Surprisingly, it is Elizabeth that makes the first move. It seems like she ran out of patience. So, she charges at Nikolas with her claws ready to shred the man. However, he doesn't move away, he stands there as if surrendering himself to his enemy. When she is close enough, he steps away from her and since she can't stop because she has jumped at him, Nikolas easily lands a blow with his knee on her stomach. Elizabeth curves her body around his knee in pain as she spits out blood. The impact must have been intense and painful. Before she can recover, Nikolas pins the woman on the ground with one of his knees in the middle of her back and a hand on her neck. She struggles to get out of his grip, but everything she does is useless.

"Is it possible that Elizabeth may be surrendering?!" the commentator shouts through his microphone as the crowd starts to get crazy. I can hear bets going around and people selling all sorts of food and drinks.

"Never!" Elizabeth shouts back as she somehow succeeds to get away from Nikolas' grip.

The woman trips Nikolas over and this time it is her that is on top of him. As she is straddling him, she starts to strangle him. To stop her, Nikolas tries to push her over, but even if Elizabeth is a petite woman, she is nonetheless a vampire and a Pure. She is everything, but weak.

"Give up!" Elizabeth snarls with her canines close to Nikolas' neck that I fear she is going to pierce his neck.

"Make me," Nikolas grunts back as his opponent is blasted away from him a second later.

When she stands up, her nose is bleeding, but she doesn't wipe it away, she lets the blood drip down her lips and chin before falling on the ground.

"If you want to play it like that," she smirks as her eyes glow red.

While using her claws to make an incision on her wrist, a large amount of blood pours down on the stage. It smells as sweet as I remember. When we were back in that cabin, she occasionally gives us a little of her blood as a reward. It was like a mother giving candies to a child to us. Then, small drops of blood that has dripped on the floor start to fly up. The liquid floats together to create what looks like a thin rope of blood. With only a flick of her fingers, she makes the liquid slash at Nikolas like a whip and because of that, he can't get close to her and can only dodge her attacks. He has tried to use his own powers, but Elizabeth doesn't let him concentrate long enough to do it. A moment, she is trying to whip him to death and a second later, she is shooting bullets of hard blood. Now, she has Nikolas backed up into a corner.

I now know her abilities as a Pure. She can control blood at will. Well, this must suck for Nikolas. If he gets injured or injures her, it will only benefit his enemy. But the look on his face says that he hasn't given up yet. They are both fighting for me, but for two different reasons. I can't believe that he is willing to go as far as risking his life for me. I may be his mate, but I had done nothing, but refuse him. I don't deserve him. After our first date in the shopping mall, he had taken me out a lot more. He seriously did everything to win me over, but I have been too stubborn to see anything, but my own interests. Matthias is right, I have to stop thinking around my own navel.

"Nikolas, you can do it!" I shout as loud as I can as he turns his head in my direction with wide eyes.

He must not have expected me cheering for him since I had done nothing more than ignoring him as much as I could. With renewed energy, he barely dodges another attack from Elizabeth since she took the opportunity to attack him while he was distracted. Instead of dodging while stepping away from her, Nikolas has decided, to dodge while getting closer. As he closes the distance between them, Elizabeth has less time to attack and because of that, Nikolas finally gets the chance to land a blow on her.

"Don't you get that a woman's face is everything?!" she screams in anger after she gets up from the heavy blow.

"Well, I think you look better now," Nikolas answers back with a smirk while wiping the remnant of the blood away from the healed injury on his cheek.

Roaring, which is very unladylike, she runs head down toward the man on the ring. Since she is blinded by anger, Nikolas easily avoid her and land several bashes on her petite body which only make her even angrier. She doesn't even care about protecting herself anymore. She gets so injured that her body doesn't even have time to heal. In no time, she is covered in bruises and her feet can't even hold her weight anymore. We may be vampires and regenerate our wounds at will, but we all have a limit. If she ever wants to come out from this and win, she needs to feed. To gain back her strength, she will need at least 10 liters of blood which more or less two humans, but in a duel, it is a break of the rules. In my opinion, she's finished.

"This looks like it's the end folks! Elizabeth just collapsed on the ground!" the commentator explains in his microphone while examining the woman on the floor. "We have a winner!" the man shouts happily as he lifts Nikolas' arm up.

With the announcement of the winner, the crowd cheers loudly. It is so loud that my ears are hurting. Then, Matthias sits up from his chair and grabs me by the arm before dragging me down to the stage.

"You better behave while we are in public," Matthias warns me before ushering me into Nikolas' arms which makes the crowd cheers even louder.

As the older brother leaves us alone before walking to the woman still laying on the floor. Two men appear behind him as they take Elizabeth away from the crowd's eyes. They are dragging her away, but even if the fight has ended, I know that there will be more to it behind the scenes. I will just have to wait and see.

Turning my attention back to my future mate, "Congratulations," I say with a smile while looking down hoping that he will not see the blush on my cheeks for the public display of affection. It's not that I have a problem with that, but since it's with a man, well... It is a new experience for me.

"Thank you," he answers while lifting my chin up with a finger under my chin. He leans in to give me a kiss and for once, I close my eyes and don't complain about it.

As the crowd continues to party about... Well whatever they are partying about, Nikolas leads me out of the arena into the backstage. There, Elizabeth is sitting on a bench with the same two men guarding her. She is still beaten up as she is slowly, very slowly healing up. As we stand in front of her while Matthias is by the door, the room stays deadly silent. There is no noise at all, if I didn't come from the arena, I would not have known that there is a party outside at the moment.

"You lost, now relinquish your bond with Micah," Nikolas orders while crossing his arms.

"If I refuse?" Elizabeth answers arrogantly even in the state she is currently in.

"You will not keep your word? Do you have no pride?" the man beside me asks back with disgust in his tone.

"What about it?" she asks casually as if it has nothing to do with her.

"You are a member of one of the few families of Pures left, doesn't our standards and manners mean nothing to you? Right, I forgot you were banned from your own family because of similar reasons."

"Shut up! How dare you talk about things you don't know!" she shouts while trying to get up, but the guards both put their hands on her shoulder to keep her down.

"Oh, now you are being all good and proper?" Matthias snorts while rolling his eyes.

"Keep your mouth shut, you manipulative brat," Elizabeth retorts without fear.

Before the older brother can beat the shit out of her, Nikolas stops him by holding the other man's arm.

"Don't let her get to you so easily," Nikolas whispers even if we can all hear him.

"Will you also let that bitch insult you?" Matthias grits back.

"No, but this will get us nowhere."

"Then, what are your plans?"

Nikolas turns to look at me and gives me an indescribable look. A second later, he turns back to talk to his brother. I don't know why and how, but I can't hear them anymore. What kind of trick is this? Are they talking with their mind? No, it's impossible since the Pures cannot have more than one ability.

After a few minutes, Nikolas walks back to me with a frown. He seems very displeased, but why? What did Matthias tell him to make him look like someone died?

"If words will not make you change your mind, emptiness may do it," my future mate says making me frown since I don't understand what he just said.

"You will not do it. You don't have the guts," Elizabeth shakes her head as if trying to convince herself.

"Watch me."

Nikolas calls my name, so we are now facing each other. Then without a word, Matthias hold my arms behind my back while pushing my chest out.

"Stop! You can't do it. Everything, but that!" the injured woman pleads. "You don't know how much he means to me."

"What are you doing?" I ask with a frown since I am confused as hell, but I know that it isn't good. Something is going to happen, but no matter how I move, Matthias has a tight grip on my upper body.

"I'm sorry Micah. It's going to hurt, but you won't die. I won't let you," Nikolas states calmly making me look at him disbelievingly.

With a swift and quick move of his hand, I clearly feel my body being pierced through. I cough up blood as all I can see is read. I don't even know when Matthias has let me go, but before I know it, I am falling on the floor with blood all around me. I feel someone picking me up as chills take over my body, but as suddenly as the cold comes, it disappears to only be replaced by warmth.

I can feel something slipping away from me. Something that I have cherished for so long is getting away from me. Elizabeth's warmth and comfort are replaced by something else, something much more powerful, much more pleasurable that I have ever felt.

"That's right, don't stop. Keep drinking Micah," I hear someone whisper next to my ear as the person gently rub my back. His voice is like music to my ears.

The sobbing in the background gets erased as the only thing I can feel, smell and sense is Nikolas' presence. He is so warm and his presence is so soothing that I can't stop drinking. I want more of him. I want everything he has. He is mine.