Prey

Chapter 33

Doe's POV:

He was mostly quiet as the day went on, with that hopeless look appearing at random intervals.

Luckily he didn't succumb to spending hours on his bed again and attempted to look busy instead,

Emphasis on attempting.

He wasn't very good at focusing in general, so it was easy to tell when his mind was wandering somewhere else.

Even now as he got himself ready for the dinner that he would be attending without me.

Since I was, you know, dead.

Xander and I rarely if ever ran into Layla anywhere else in the castle but here, and have never once seen her in the city.

So he was just playing it safe for now by keeping me here.

During the few times he's spoken since this morning, he did mention taking me during the blood collection. It was good to know that he at least had the sense to not keep me trapped in here for however much longer he planned on having me.

Yet he never spoke of the thoughts that I knew were bombarding his head.

Truth be told, I was curious as to what direction his thoughts were leading him.

Vampires were very different from humans, especially when it came down to their desires.

A part of me wanted to understand it better so I could deduct my own conclusion as to what was going on in that skull of his without him having to say anything.

Like how he could do to me with seemingly no effort.

My eyes squinted as I watched him fix the collar of his shirt, trying to recall the information I already knew.

From the vampiric academia that every pet I grew up with had to learn.

Vampires were greedy by nature.

And like most of their more... intense reactions, it roots from the most feral aspect of them. The part of their biology that's always present, but only shows outwardly when necessary.

The part of them that's so difficult for them to fight.

And so, once they begin to desire something, that deeper part of them practically fixates itself on it, no matter who or what it is.

It becomes ingrained into them that they need to do whatever it takes until they get whatever that initial greed stemmed from.

To seek it out, protect it, nourish it, whatever it may be until they finally receive the end result they wanted in the first place.

Don't let anything else get in the way.

I guess I should be a little bit relieved at the fact that their instincts made them earn it instead of forcing them to just take it like savages.

I'm certain that there's a lot more to it, but they only disclosed the bare minimum in the classes my pet mistress put us through.

Still, it didn't take a genius to figure out who Xander was set on.

Who he's been set on for many years at this point, despite what it was doing to his relationship with his brother.

Which is why I was naively gaining hope at his latest defiance towards her.

Of course, I never let it last long.

I wanted to think that maybe he was breaking through, but the reality was that it wasn't that easy for him.