'I'm sorry,' Lay apologized again, tightening the cords around her wrists, 'You can loosen them any time you want, like this.' He pulled on the string he'd left hanging, unravelling the knot.

'I'd rather not do this but Kris ordered me and I can't go against it.' He looked absolutely devastated and Mei couldn't find it in her to feel angry at him.

'Hey, that's okay,' she reassured him, smiling at the depressed look he gave her. 'Like you said, I can loosen them any time I want… besides, I wanted to just sit somewhere and think, so this is really the perfect opportunity, you know?'

He sniffed and Mei cooed internally; there was just something irresistibly cute about this man, who dressed like a butler but acted like a child. 'Are you sure?'

'Absolutely.' She nodded. It wasn't like anyone would miss her at the dorms, not with the long weekend coming up; most of her close friends, including her roommate, had already left so it wasn't like anyone would get suspicious… except the dorm warden.

'Um, Lay?' she called after his retreating figure. He turned around rapidly, 'Yes ma'am?'

'Just Mei, please,' She smiled. 'Could you do me a huge favor and call my university and tell them I'll be staying with a friend tonight? I don’t want to get into trouble with the warden.'

'Of course, consider the matter settled.' He smiled, flashing a thumbs-up cutely. 'Are you sure you're comfortable?'

'Yes,' She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Sheesh, the man was worrywart. 'I'll call you if I need anything and no, the knot is not too tight. Now leave.'

He gave her a sheepish smile before heading off, the door closing behind him with a gentle snick. Mei sighed, stretching her arms over her head, the ropes loosely knotted around her wrists not impeding in the least, before she slumped back against the pillows.

If Baekhyun's place had been lavish, Rus- er, Kris's mansion seemed fit for royalty. It was large, spacious and grand, perhaps even a bit pompous but a whole lot more intimidating. She'd seen the family portrait while coming up the grand staircase, and it was so eerily similar to the one she'd seen at Baekhyun's that she'd stopped short.

Lay, seeing what had caught her attention, explained that Kris was Baekhyun's older brother and that the man in the middle was their father. Apparently the family portrait was one of the last gifts their father had given them but due to their arguments, both brothers weren't willing to even look at each other.

Actually, Lay explained further, it was also the reason Kris had demanded that she be chained but they – meaning by the rest of the clan, including the handsome Luhan who'd thrown her about – had talked him out of it and he'd agreed to ropes.

Kris, Lay had explained rolling his eyes, wanted Baekhyun to come over and accede the family throne to him, swear fealty in exchange for Mei's life.

Mei's eyes had expanded at that, suddenly questioning her sanity.

First she went and slept with a vampire, then jumped into the car of one and begged him to bring her home. What the hell was wrong with her? And now, apparently, she was the center of the argument between two vampire brothers – sort of like Elena with the Salvators… except, you know, Baekhyun was way, way, way hotter than Stefan. Damon though…

Eh, whatever. Point being, she'd panicked for no reason and acted impulsively, running off and now, Kris was planning to use her to lure Baekhyun and make him swear fealty to his wicked plans.

Now that she thought about it, Kris was pretty damn evil and if she got the chance, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. What kind of older brother did that?

Anyway, Lay had brought her here and reassured her that she was in no danger and that if Kris tried anything, he would have to answer four very angry and one teary-eyed vampire.

Relatively eased – Lay had a kind of aura that inspired trust – she decided to think about more important stuff. Like Baekhyun and what she was going to do about him.

Technically, there was nothing to do. Whatever had happened last night had been entirely mutual and she did not exactly regret anything. Okay, so she regretted nothing, sue her.

Honestly, the only worrisome part was, she did not remember getting married… so why did he call her Mrs. Baekhyun? And more importantly, was she ready for this kind of commitment?

Behind her closed lashes, Baekhyun's smiling face flashed, making her lips twitch in response.

Well, if it was Baekhyun, she was totally willing to go all the way and from what she'd seen of him this morning, he was exactly like her dream Baekhyun, all sweet romance and iness and she had no doubt they would get along famously. Not to mention the flaming attraction between them; she could still feel its heat on her cheeks, biting her lip as she remembered his scorching kisses.

She'd spent the past six months literally pining after the guy, doing everything in her power to get him to notice her. And now, he finally had and the results were as amazing as they could get. Did she really have anything to worry about?

He's a vampire…

In her mind, she saw him again – this time, his eyes were flashing red and his fangs, sharp and beautiful ivory, slowly emerged as he ran his lips along her neck. Her body shuddered in remembrance, in the phantom touch of his claws along her arms.

Frankly, she did not see how it was a bad thing… unless he went around killing innocent humans. She couldn't really imagine him doing that but she thought she'd ask Lay, just to be sure. After all, he could've killed her if he wanted to, last night but she was still here. And the rest of her friends – D.O, Suho, Kai, Sehun, Chanyeol – had been nothing but cordial.

Same with Lay and his group, none of them had actually harmed her. Even Kris, although he had ordered her to be restrained. Really, if they actually wanted to kill her, there was nothing stopping them.

So… there was no practical reason for her to not be with Baekhyun. In fact, if she really thought about it, the real-life Baekhyun was even better than the dream one because… well, he was real. Duh. So honestly, she'd be nothing short of stupid if she let the man of her dreams go.

Which meant that now was the time to loosen these knots and make her way back. She didn't know how he would react to her but she'd cross that bridge when she got there. Decided, a smile bloomed on her face and she undid her bindings like Lay had shown her. In moments, she was free and raring to go.

This time, she was more cautious and took special care to step lightly so that no one would catch her sneaking out. She felt a little bad to be honest, because Kris and his clan had been nothing short of hospitable and kind to her; Xiumin, the cute-cheeked chef had gone so far to cook special meals which were palatable to her, even adding garlic to spice it up,  although the dish was given a wide berth by all the others.

And Kris, despite locking her up and his general evilness regarding Baekhyun, had presented her with a large bouquet of red roses with a fancy card that read 'Welcome to the Family, Sister-mine' and had a buttload of wishes scrawled inside from each of Kris's clan mates. The gesture was sweet and belied his evil intentions. Why would he wish her and welcome her to the family if he truly hated his brother?

Lost in her own thoughts, she forgot to look before taking a turn and bumped into a pole, falling back on her bum.

'Ow…' she groaned, sitting up and opening her eyes to look at what she'd bumped into.

Or rather, who.

'K-kris!' she squeaked.

'Mei…' He looked down at her from his intimidating height, hair pushed back severely and black cape flowing behind his back, looking cold and furious. It was downright scary.

'What do you think you're doing?' he growled, the Russian accent making him sound angrier than ever and she flinched, trying to back up. Oh, she was so done for!

'I…' she began, not sure what to say.

'You are not even wearing your shoes!' he scolded, squatting so that he was face level with her. 'What if you run into something and hurt yourself? And your clothes are hardly warm, at least take a blanket if you want to wander in the hallways! Tch…' Ignoring her jaw, which was hanging to the floor for sure, Kris fretted about, quickly unfastening the buckle and taking off his cape to wrap around her.

She hadn't realized it but she was indeed cold and the moment his cape wrapped around her, she sneezed.

'Ah seriously,' He shook his head, standing up and pulling her along. 'What if you catch a fever, huh?' He put a rather cold hand to her forehead, making her feel like a stupid child. How was this guy the same man who'd abducted her so Baekhyun could accede the throne to him? Really, how?

'Chen,' Kris called and there was a loud poof, a grinning vampire appearing in front of them. Mei was surprised; where had he come from? Had he been watching her all this time?

And here she thought she was being careful. Tch, these vampires were tricky.

'Sire?'

'Bring some slippers for my sister-in-law,' he commanded, 'and have Lay start the fire. Will you join me for tea and some snacks?'

She really did not have the heart to refuse, so she nodded.

'And have Xiumin prepare tea and snacks for us.'

'Aye aye sir!' Chen saluted cheerfully before poofing again and vanishing. She must've looked baffled because Kris explained, 'He turned into a bat. It's our alternative form.'

'Oh, I see.'

Thinking about it, this was the perfect opportunity to find more out about vampires because Kris, despite his intimidating appearance, seemed like a friendly guy. And she could find out more about his supposed grudge against her husband (kyaaaa! her mind squealed at her) as well.

Maybe she could do something to settle this tussle between the brothers as well… and maybe she was taking Elena's role on a bit too seriously but… eh, she was having fun and it was for a good purpose. After all, a proper and filial wife would try to make amends within the family, wouldn't she? And what better way to gain acceptance in her in-laws than by having them overcome their differences? Right? Her mother would be so proud of her right now…

She was dragged out of her self-praise by Kris.

'Shall we?' Ever courteous, he offered her his arm and she'd just latched onto it when a tall, intimidating vampire came striding in, carrying a pair of slippers. Stopping in front of them, Tao flashed Mei a soft, sweet smile. 'Your slippers,' he told her shyly.

She internally cooed. 'Thank you.'

Putting them on, she and Kris made their way to the large living room where Lay was tending to a large, old-fashioned fireplace, complete with logs and a lovely woodsy burning smell filled the area. The moment they w