However, he knew it would take some time to lose his taste for her.

Perhaps eternity.

This was not a thought Yuri had ever had. He’d never been tied to a vampire or human. His longest relationship had lasted eleven years, and at his age, that was not very long.

But he remembered his father’s agony when, in order to save her life when The Dominion outlawed vampire/human partners in a way they meant it, and if defied, they killed both, Gregor had denounced his human mate.

Thus, he was the sole vampire in recent history (that being five hundred years) who broke a vow.

But he did it for the best reason there was.

Love.

His father had not shown his torment to anyone but his son. And his suffering held Gregor in such a grip that Yuri worried he’d end his own immortality. It didn’t help that Gregor kept tabs on the mate he’d saved from the noose. Even watched her himself on occasion.

And thus, he saw her marry another human, give him children, and find her brand of happiness.

But Yuri also watched her. He’d liked her. He’d liked that she’d made his father happy. But in the life she built without him, she had not been truly happy. Not as she was with Gregor. Not the happiness of a woman who knew she was with the precise being on this earth who the fates had destined for her.

Yuri rarely thought of it as it brought back unpleasant memories, but he knew then, as he knew now, that his father had found his lifemate—the one being who would exist throughout eternity who was meant for him.

She died at ninety-two years of age, a long life for that time; however, Gregor had been giving her his saliva for decades so he’d given her one last gift: an elongated life. A gift Yuri had no doubt she didn’t want, living those extra years without Gregor.

Experiencing this through his father, living under the edicts that vampires were not allowed to take human lovers unless at a Feast, he’d not thought of eternity. Not with vampire. Not with wolf. Definitely not with human.

He found it freeing to be able to do so now.

And thinking of it at the same time thinking of Aurora, it was not only freeing, it was pleasant.

His phone rang, and considering all that was happening, Yuri didn’t have the luxury of ignoring it. Therefore, he moved to the end of the bed and reached out an arm to his slacks. He got his phone, looked at the screen, and saw it was his father calling.

He gritted his teeth but took the call.

“Father,” he greeted.