Royal shuffle: Vampire's mate
Chapter Forty-five

ANDREA

It had been five long years since the tumultuous events with Esmeralda, the pain still lingering in every crevice of my being. The weight of my past pressed heavily on my shoulders, a constant reminder of loss and resilience. Adela, now twelve, stood at the threshold of her dual heritage, the air charged with anticipation. The whispers from Leo's palace reached me, carrying echoes of Leopold replaceing his mate and marking her. Stacy, my dear sister, was not handling the news well.

I sighed and knocked gently on Stacy's door, a hesitant precursor to the storm within. Silence enveloped the room. With each unanswered knock, my worry deepened. Fumbling with the spare key, I entered, revealing a scene of disarray, bottles, and shadows casting darkness upon Stacy's struggles.

The curtains parted, allowing a sliver of light to expose the wreckage. Several empty bottles of alcohol littered the room, and accompanying it were several sticks of cigarette. "When did you start smoking?" I inquired, unleashing a torrent of emotions.

Stacy, beneath the covers, groaned. "Close it..."

"No, enough of this rubbish," I asserted, refusing to let the shadows dictate the narrative. In the newfound light, the room's chaos became painfully evident-emptied bottles, discarded cigarettes-a symphony of self-destruction.

I confronted Stacy, a mix of frustration and empathy in my voice. "Stacy, I warned you about Leopold. We both knew this path was fraught with challenges. You're human; he's destined to replace his vampire mate. It was inevitable." Her tear-strained eyes met mine, a painful acknowledgment of the truth she had tried to escape. "I loved him, Andrea. I thought we could defy the odds."

I sat beside her, the weight of shared burdens hanging heavily in the air. "Stacy, you are strong, and you deserve more than a love that defies your essence. Leopold has found his path; you must replace yours."

In the lingering silence, the room pulsated with emotions. Finally, Stacy spoke, her voice trembling with vulnerability. "What if I'm not enough, Andrea? What if being human is a flaw he can't overlook?"

My heart ached for her, the rawness of her insecurities laid bare. "Stacy, being human isn't a flaw. It's your strength, your uniqueness. If Leopold can't see that, then he's not worthy of the love you're capable of giving." Tears glistened in her eyes as she grappled with the painful truth. "I just wanted to be enough for him."

"Stacy, you are more than enough. You deserve a love that embraces every part of you, human flaws and all."

As our conversation reached an impasse, a maid opened Stacy's door in a frenzy, gasping in relief when she saw me seated next to Stacy. She smiled and began taking deep breaths in an attempt to force air into her lungs. "Yes?"

"You majesty, your attention is needed," she said, her hand wrapped tightly around her midsection.

"Well, yes...and no. Adela got into fight with another child. And um...she almost killed the child."

I sprung up my my place on the bed, i and Stacy looking at each other, befuddled. Her present predicament now a thing of the past.

"What do you mean she almost killed the child?" Stacy asked, standing from her bed.

"I think you better come see for yourself. They're at the hospital."

I ran out with Stacy hot on my heels. Several questions running through my head. How was it that she was able to do that? Was it true? I burst through the doors of the clinic, frantically looking around. Adela sat alone at a corner with her head down. "Adela?"

She raised her head to look at me and lowered it again. I took deep breaths as I walked to her, trying to recover from the exhaustion. I sat next to her, and put my hands around her shoulder. Stacy sat on the other side of Adela, sandwiching her between us.

"What's wrong, love?" I asked.

Adela looked from me to Stacy and lowered her head once again...but not before I caught the tear that dropped from her eye.

"Tell me what happened? What they're telling me...is it true?" I asked again, moving even closer to her.

Adela solemnly nodded her head. "I didn't mean to, I promise..."

"Okay. What is it you did exactly?" I asked, not wanting to believe the report I was hearing.

"I...I umm...I punched her in the head," she replied.

I looked up at Stacy, her face mirroring my perplexed look. "That's all?"

Adela nodded.

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"And then what happened?"

"I heard a crack and she fell down."

"But what happened? Why did you hit her?" I asked.

I watched as Adela's disposition changed. Her hands clenched and her eyes darkened.

"She called Will a bastard, and called you a whore. She wouldn't shut up, and I eventually let her have it."

Will was my son. Short for William. Not many people had received his birth too well. I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by the doctor.

"Your majesty, may I speak to you for a moment?" She said, pointing towards the hallway.

I nodded. "Stay here. Don't go anywhere."

I followed the doctor down the short hallway to a ward, we stopped right outside the ward where a child was admitted. She was surrounded by people, and her head was severely bandaged. "My goodness, is that the child?" I asked.

The doctor nodded and pulled me to the side, away from the door. "Yes, that's the child."

"My goodness..."

"I want you to look at the bigger picture actually..." the doctor said, smiling.

I frowned in confusion. "The bigger picture is that there's a child on the bed fighting for her life because my child hit her. I don't think there can be any picture bigger than that at this time, doctor." She rolled her eyes. "I meant the bigger picture for your child."

"What do you mean?"

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.org is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! "Very few children are this strong at their age,"

"She just turned twelve, it's expected that she would get her abilities by this age. That's very normal. I just didn't expect her to be this strong."

"Exactly!" The doctor exclaimed. "Your daughter isn't just werewolf. She's vampire too."

My eyes widened in shock and I wrapped my hands around my neck. "What?! But that's rare. That hasn't happened in..."

"I know. I was surprised too."

"What do you suggest?" I asked the doctor.

"I'd say train her to harness her powers as both a vampire and a werewolf. As it stands, your daughter is the strongest being in all the kingdoms." The doctor said excitedly.

The strongest being in all the kingdoms. That wasn't going to go well. Been the strongest meant that people would want to kill her. People would want to marry her into their families. It would bring undue scrutiny to her and to the cute little bubble that I had created for myself. Above all, acknowledging this would also mean having to reach out to Leonidas for his help. I shook my head.

"No."

"No?" The doctor asked, confused.

"No. This thing stays between us both. No one else hears about it. Do we understand each other?"

The doctor nodded her head disappointingly and sighed.

"If you need my help for anything..."

"I just need you to tell me how the poor child is doing."

"She's fine. She should be out of here in two weeks."

"Good."

I marched out of the hospital, not bothering to check with Stacy and Adela. The moon goddess sure had an odd sense of humor. It wasn't enough that I had almost lost everything, that I had gone through hell. Now, she wanted to see to it that my daughter faced the same fate.

"Fuck!!!"