This book was originally published in the Fated Mates Anthology 2023. No additions or changes have been made to the original story. Rocky Anderson, high magic user and a Wielder of the Magic Sword, needed an anchor immediately. Stuck on the border of Poland, with no way to even read his magically encrypted messages on his phone, he was desperate enough to try using magic without the grounding presence an anchor would give him... and got soundly told off by a young homeless girl in the process. A young girl who had a brother, who was an anchor. For Neo Brecht, life was getting desperate. As an anchor, no one would give him work because he didn't speak. But because he had anchor marks, no one else would give him any other work in case he was needed to anchor for a high magic user. Magical laws determined he couldn't use the powers he had for personal gain, and yet without work, he had absolutely nothing at all. Until his sister returned with a mountain of a man bringing pastries and coffee... ah, coffee. Fated mates they might be, but Neo wasn't going to let Rocky shirk his work. There was a vampire feasting on anchor blood and he wasn't showing any signs of stopping. But Neo's gut was warning him there was something off about the case, too. Was their happy ever after going to be cut short before it had even begun?