Fangs, Fate & Other Bad Decisions Chapter 92

The silence between us is thick and charged, but it’s different from the heavy tension I felt earlier when I couldn’t quite figure out where we stood with each other. This time, the tension is not just filled with anticipation—it’s filled with the need for clarity.

I gesture toward the plush couch in the living room behind me, feeling like I’ve stepped into the unknown. This isn’t a normal conversation we’re about to have. It’s not something that can be brushed off with a quip or a change of subject. If I want to make sense of this, if I want to know what the hell I’m getting myself into, I need to ask him outright. I need to know the whole truth, even if it shakes me to my core.

“Sit down with me?” I ask, my voice soft but firm, as I get up from the counter and move in that direction, gesturing for him to follow me.

Thane looks at me, his posture still tall and even regal-like, but there’s a slight uncertainty in his eyes that I’m not used to seeing. He’s waiting for me to say something more. To lead this conversation, I guess. But how do you lead a conversation when you don’t even know where it’s going?

He follows me, nonetheless, and takes a seat beside me on the couch, his gaze never leaving me. The space between us feels electric. Like something is about to snap. I can’t tell if it’s my nerves or his. Maybe it’s both.

“I need you to explain something to me,” I begin, and my heart beats a little faster than I’d like it to. “What does it really mean when you say you’re a vampire? I mean...we both know what that entails according to novels, but I need to hear it from *you*.”

His jaw clenches as he takes in a deep breath. I can see him weighing his words, and the way he’s considering what to say before he speaks. It’s like he’s measuring the weight of his truth, but when he answers, there’s a quiet certainty in his voice.

“It means I’m not human. I don’t age. And I don’t heal like you do. My needs are...different.” His gaze hardens, and his tone becomes quieter, more deliberate, when he adds, “I need blood to survive. That’s something you already know. But it’s not the only part of it.”

I lean back and tuck my legs underneath me as I try to keep my breathing steady. Everything he’s saying is stuff I’ve known or guessed at, but hearing it from him makes it real. It makes it undeniable.

“I know that this is a lot,” he continues, his voice steady but laced with something darker, something that carries the weight of centuries. “But there’s something you need to understand about us. About me. You’ve felt it, haven’t you? The *pull* between us that you find inexplicable.”

I swallow hard, unsure of what to say at first, but then tentatively say, “Yeah. I’ve felt it.” I’ve definitely felt the connection that pulls me toward him like a gravitational force. The one that makes me want to stay close to him, even though part of me is screaming to run as fast and far away as my legs can carry me.

He shifts to the side, closer this time, as his knee bumps up against my thigh, the space between us becoming charged with the weight of his words.

“I’m not just any vampire, Harley,” he says, his gaze fixed on mine. “I’m a vampire king. I’ve been alive for centuries. I’ve met scores of my people over the years, but I’ve never...” His voice falters slightly, but he catches himself before continuing. “I’ve never had a connection with *anyone* like the one I feel with you. And what that means, what that *really* means, is that we’re fated mates.”

His words hit me like a punch to the stomach. “Fated mates?” The term feels foreign on my tongue, but it makes a sick sort of sense in the context of everything that’s happened recently. I almost laugh as the absurdity of it all rolls through my mind. Fated mates. Like something out of one of those books I read when I need an escape.

I wait for him to explain. And explain, he does.

“It means we’re bound,” he says, leaning even closer now, his voice dropping lower to an almost whisper. “By blood, by destiny, fashioned by the Moon Goddess. We were *always* meant to be. And it’s not just a physical bond—it’s emotional, spiritual. If you choose to stay, if you choose to be with me, you’ll be bound to me in ways you can’t even imagine. And it’s not just about the attraction. It’s not just about our unrivaled chemistry. It’s a connection that runs deep. Deeper than anything I could ever explain.”

I blink several times as his words wash over me, and the weight of them crashes into me like a tidal wave. Fated mates. Vampire king. A bond that I can’t escape. A connection that’s bigger than either of us. Suddenly, I feel a coldness settle in my chest. This won’t just be a fling or a one-time thing. This is real. *Too* real.

“And if that’s not something I want?” I ask, my voice coming out weaker than I want it to. I know my question is ridiculous, but I need to ask it nonetheless. I need to understand if there’s any room for me to step back from this. To retreat from this whole mess before it swallows me whole.

He’s quiet for a moment as his eyes search mine. Then he leans forward slightly, and his hand brushes against mine where it rests in my lap, in a subtle but intimate gesture.

“You have a choice. You’ll always have a choice,” he says softly, but the conviction in his voice tells me there’s no real choice. Not for him, anyway. “But if you do choose to leave, it’ll break me. I can’t just let you go, not now. Not after everything we’ve shared.” He pauses for a beat, letting his words sink in before adding, “And I’ll never be able to truly let you go.”

I try to swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat, but it’s no use. This is too much. This whole thing is too much. I came to his penthouse with a somewhat light heart, and now I’m drowning in words I don’t even fully understand. Fated mates. A bond that can’t be severed.

“Why me?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “Why someone like me? I’m... I’m just a normal human woman. I don’t belong in your world.”

His expression softens for just a moment, and I see something in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Vulnerability. A flicker of the man behind his vampire king’s veil. And for a brief moment, I almost see the cracks in his control.

“Because, for one, the Moon Goddess sent you to me. And second, I don’t believe in coincidence, Harley, but it’s become apparent that you were *always* meant to be in my world, whether I knew it or not. And now that you’re here, I won’t let you go, I can’t let you go. And also, because you’re more than I could have *ever* dreamed of.”

I slump back even further into the plush couch cushions as the weight of his words crushes me under their intensity. This is a lot. It’s too much.

But even as I fight it, even as I try to push him away, something inside me is already starting to give in. Something inside me is already reaching for him, no matter how scared I am. And no matter how much I want to run.

I’m not sure if I’m ready for this. But I know, deep down, that I don’t have much of a choice anymore.