She Belongs To No One

Keisha squinted as sunlight pierced through the darkness of her slumber, groaning in annoyance at the prospect of waking up.

She'd never really been a morning person, and with the severe ache she was currently feeling in her neck, she wasn't going to start today. Sleepily reaching up to massage her throbbing, band-aid covered neck, Keisha tried to recall what on Earth she could've done to hurt herself so badly.

All she remembered was ordering pizza and getting two boxes delivered.

"Oh my gosh!" Keisha shrieked, as all the events of the previous night came hurtling back to her. Despite the intense pain she was feeling, she shot up in the bed, letting out an aggrieved gasp as she suddenly realized something.

"My pizza!" the human cried dramatically, throwing her hands up in exasperation, flinching as the action intensified the ache in her neck. "My beautiful pizza! Why is life so cruel?"

Now Keisha knew she had much more pressing issues to worry about, like the fact Luka 'marked' her yesterday by biting her or the fact that she was currently in his room, on his bed. Despite knowing these things, Keisha couldn't help but mourn the loss of her pizza that she'd quite literally given her blood, sweat and tears for.

And to make matters worse, she was still starving!

"I'll never forget you, pizza! Never!"

"Who is Pizza?"

Mr. Samuel's bemused voice cut through her moment of madness, and Keisha nearly jumped out of her skin. The older man leaned casually against the doorframe as he watched the human girl with folded arms, bewildered yet amused by her odd behaviour.

Embarrassed at being caught, Keisha cringed as she buried her head in her palms. "Mr. Samuel, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," he chuckled sheepishly, making his way toward her. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, the dean cast her a worried glance.

"How are you feeling, Keisha?" he reached up to touch her forehead, gingerly checking her temperature as he spoke. "I heard about what happened yesterday. I'm sorry I couldn't take your calls, I was busy. Are you alright?"

His caring gesture flustered Keisha, sending a wave of butterflies flurrying in her stomach as she suddenly became hyperaware of the intimate position they were in. He was sitting on the bed right next to her, gently caressing her face while peering his big, brown doe-like eyes at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

Was this man trying to make her heart explode?

Trying her best to steady her beating heart, Keisha gave him a small smile in spite of the worsening neck pain. "I'm okay. My neck hurts a little but I'm fine."

Taking his hand to her neck, the older vampire ran his fingers over the band-aid that covered her injury, rubbing small circles on the surrounding area to soothe the girl. Keisha's breath hitched at the sensation, the gentle touch of his callous fingers doing a lot more than just soothing her.

"Are you sure?" he whispered absentmindedly, his fingers trailing down the soft skin of her neck as he examined the injury. "Usually, marking hurts a lot for the first few days. Or is this an effect of your Klypeus?"

His hand stopped at her collar bone, barely avoiding touching the Klypeus which she wore around her neck, before he retracted it altogether, stripping Keisha of the warmth of his touch which she was enjoying more than she should've.

Realizing he'd found out about her secret medallion, Keisha cast him a wary glance as she leaned away, putting some much-needed distance between them. Noticing her reaction, Mr. Samuel's expression turned serious.

"Tell me Keisha, how did you get it?"

The atmosphere in the room had quickly turned tense, and Keisha contemplated whether or not she should tell the truth. The mysterious archer had clearly given it to her for protection, but she couldn't tell Mr. Samuel that she was his spy. That could literally endanger her life.

Not sure what to do, Keisha cast her glance down. "A friend gave it to me"

"What friend?" Mr. Samuel asked, narrowing his eyes with doubt. "Only bounty hunters have access to a Klypeus, Keisha. The university conducts extensive background searches on all students, we've never admitted a hunter. So where exactly did you meet this friend?"

Realizing he was on to her, Keisha tried to backtrack. "The person isn't from here. They live far, far away from – "

"Is it the archer who saved you in the forest?"

Luka cut her short, raising a questioning brow as he entered the room. Taking a seat on his couch, the pureblood cast an interrogating glance at Keisha, who simply averted his gaze as she struggled to come up with a lie.

"I knew it," he scoffed, clicking his tongue. "That's why he kept on saving you. So, what's your involvement with him? Are you some kind of spy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Keisha defended. "Stop spewing nonsense, Luka."

"Nonsense? You're such a bad liar, little girl," he chuckled as he spoke, rolling his eyes. "If you didn't get it from him then who gave it to you?"

Racking her brain, Keisha tried to come up with a satisfactory answer. She couldn't afford to expose herself and risk the wrath of the vampires, but what could she say?

"Answer us, Keisha," Mr. Samuel pressed, looking expectantly at her. "Where did you get it?"

"I stole it!"

Keisha had just blurted out the first thing that came to her head, and having no choice, she followed up with it. "When the archer saved me from the shaman, I took it from his satchel. I heard him say what it does, so I took it to protect myself from you guys. He doesn't know I have it though, at least that's what I think."

The two vampires shared a look, and Keisha silently prayed they would buy the absolute trash she was selling. After what seemed like an eternity, Mr. Samuel gave her a small smile.

"Alright, Keisha. That seems plausible."

The human silently let out a relieved breath, thanking the heavens that they believed her. Looking up at the dean, she gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry about lying earlier. I wasn't sure if the truth would get me in trouble or not."

"It's all good," he reassured, accepting her apology with a nod. Turning to Luka who was staring at the human with skepticism, the dean motioned toward the door. "Luka, can I have a word?"

The younger vampire didn't acknowledge the dean, instead getting up to head outside. Casting Keisha a final glance, Mr. Samuel followed after the boy.

-

"She's lying."

"No shit."

Luka responded dryly to the dean as they both strolled into his study to discuss in privacy. Shutting the door behind him as he entered the spacious room, the dean spoke up.

"This just keeps getting worse. Just how did she get involved with a hunter?"

"How would I know?" Luka sat on one of the chairs in the study, cracking his knuckles in annoyance. "The bitch is a fucking trouble magnet."

Samuel frowned at his crude words. "Don't call her that."

"I'll call her whatever the fuck I want. She's mine now anyway."

"Just because you marked her under pressure doesn't make her yours, Luka. She's her own person. Respect that."

"Spare me the lecture, Bowers," the pureblood scoffed, eyeing his overbearing guardian. "Just admit that you're pissed because I've stolen your little toy away from you."

Samuel simply chuckled, tsking condescendingly. "You haven't stolen anything from me, Luka. On the contrary, it seems you're upset that your new pet prefers a different master."

"She belongs to me now," Luka growled, glaring daggers at the older vampire. "Back off, old man."

The dean merely snickered at his ward, unbothered by his threatening demeanor. "Down, boy. Save all that bravado for the issue at hand. We have a hunter lurking, remember?"

Knowing his guardian was right, Luka rolled his eyes as he heaved a frustrated sigh. "So, what are we going to do about it?"

"If she's truly involved with him, we have to be careful what we say around her. He will probably contact her so you'll have to keep an eye on her so that when he does, you can get to the bottom of this."

Nodding in acknowledgement, the pureblood leaned back in his chair. "And when we do figure it out, what next? You know Lydia is already suspicious of her."

"It's your job to keep your fiancé under control, Luka. She can never know the truth about Keisha."

"Don't call Lydia my fiancé," Luka said pointedly.

Samuel rose a brow. "Isn't she your betrothed? What's wrong if I refer to her as such?"

"I don't like it. So, stop."

"Only if you stop speaking badly of Keisha."

"What's your obsession with the human anyway?" Luka questioned, peering curiously at his guardian. "You've always been suspiciously close with her."

"What's it to you? Since when do you care about my business?"

"Since it involved things that belong to me."

The dean scoffed at that, getting up from his seat. "She belongs to no one, Luka. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go check up on my – I mean your pet, Keisha."

Luka gritted his teeth as the dean walked away, wishing he could slap the smug grin off the bastard's face. He was feeling high and mighty because the human trusted him, and that didn't sit well with the naturally competitive pureblood.

Calling out to him, Luka yelled, "Too bad I'm going to fuck her first!"

Samuel smirked mischievously as he stood in the doorway, casting his temperamental ward a final glance. "She'll probably moan my name while you're at it."

With that, he walked off, leaving a very pissed Luka in his wake.