Hours have passed by, the night sky brightening, and turning pink. I lost count of the amount of vampires I killed. They were everywhere though, as Tristan said. I was pretty sure the entire population of the vampires in Philly were here. Invading the Wolf Den, for whatever reason. Or I suppose, for a specific reason, to get me.
We worked our way down the floors, Lupin at my side for the majority of it. At some point Arrow joined us and my brother and I fought together, as we had been raised to do. Lupin worked with his wolves and killed efficiently. Thankfully we were in a building full of werewolves and though vampires were gross and painful, they were also weak and no match against an army of werewolves. So we only made it to floor 13 before the vampires were mostly dead and the rest retreating.
We continued, though, making our way down, checking for injuried and helping who we could. No one had died tonight, I could feel it and Arrow confirmed my evaluation.
Vampire bodies littered the halls, and clean up was going to be extensive, but no body died. Lupin had gone off in another direction with Ember, Ava, and Declan. I could feel the Bond stretching but he wasn't far enough away to hurt, I traveled with Rayen, Tristan, and Arrow. His shadows working to help us find the wolves that had hidden away.
Even with the slowly glowing sky outside, the building still seemed brighter inside, the hall lights blazing and illuminating the damage. Dents in the walls and blood on the carpets, decorative tables broken and flower vases shattered into pieces. I couldn't help but feel this was my fault, mostly because it was.
"Nobody died." Arrow softly reminded me. I shook my head refusing to look at him.
"Still my fault." He had no rebuttal because he knew I wasn't wrong and he shared my same guilt.
"No it's not." Rayen stopped, turning to look at us both. "It is neither of your faults. This?" She said, indicating to the damage around us. "It's His fault. Carter, or what ever His name is, this is on Him. So don't you two start feeling guilty for things you couldn't have stopped but still tried to." She smiled reassuringly at the two of us. "It's always the bad guys fault, okay? Blame Him." I smiled back at her thankful for her words, unfortunately it wasn't that simple. He wanted me, He always wanted me. This was simply my punishment for disobedience. Last time the casualties were my siblings, this time He went after the wolves. Who would be the next person to die because I refused to be used? Perhaps it would be better if I simply submitted.
Arms wrapped around me, heavy on my shoulders and the smell of forest and pine and sandalwood centered me. His face pressed against the crook of my neck and I leaned against him just needing to be held for a moment.
"That's enough of that line of thought." He mumbled against my throat. I huffed out a short breath through my nose, silently cursing the mind sharing powers of the Bond.
"He hurt your wolves Lupin." His arms slowly released me and then turned me around to face him.
"We fought back, no one died, and we won." He smiled at me. "You forget, love, that tonight we won." I took a deep breath and forced myself to smile.
"This floor is clear." Declan stated, the rest of the group joining ours. "And it's the last one, everyone is accounted for. I'd say that's cause for some sort of celebration."
"You're right, we haven't lost yet." I said, Lupin chuckled and kissed the top of my head.
"And we won't."
"Damn right, we won't." Arrow added on. "I refuse to go back to that place and you're not allowed to go alone." He pointed to me. "So, we're just going to have to win. And don't even try going down the whole martyr route, Fable, it's completely unattractive." I smiled at my brother.
"One bad guy at a time." I nodded. "Currently it's Eros, and we just beat her vampire flunkies, so go us!"
"Exactly right." Rayen agreed.
"Go you?" We all turned to the new arrivals coming up the hall. "You all look like a scene from a cheesy zombie apocalypse movie. I'd agree a glass of wine is definitely in order, but after a shower." I smiled at the girl dressed all in black leather. Her brown hair tied up in a pony-tail and dark makeup pristine. Her blue eyes striking, the same blue eyes as mine.
"Echo." I laughed moving to hug my sister. "What happened to Maine?" She shrugged as he hugged me.
"It got boring, however it does seem we missed all the action here." I sighed, stepping out of her embrace.
"Not quite yet." She smiled sympathetically and squeezed my hand. I turned away from her and smiled at the other girl tailing my sister.
"Lani." I said in greeting. She batted her eyes at me ever so innocently.
"Yes?" She asked breathlessly. I laughed at the short button nosed redhead, she looked ever the fairy, unrealistically perfect and extremely beautiful.
"Get over here." I motioned and she rolled her eyes but easily gave me a hug.
"It's nice to see you, Fable."
"It's nice to see you too, I thought you were in the Fairy Realm." She stepped out of my embrace.
"Ha ha, don't even pretend that your mother didn't warn you of our arrival days beforehand." I hit her in the arm.
"Don't blow my cover." I protested.
"You knew!?" Arrow accused, though he had managed to remain noticeably quiet through the whole encounter. "You had ample warning of this harpies' arrival and yet decided not to inform me?" He said feigning extreme offence, and flinging the harpy insult in his lovely girlfriend's face.
"Yes." I nodded, moving back over to Lupin, who watched the exchange, as all the wolves did, with rapt amusement. "I did." He gaped at me, appalled.
"I will remember this betrayal, Fable Renee Walker, mark my words."
"Consider them marked." I intoned, sliding an arm around Lupin's waist.
"I see you haven't settled down with time." Echo smirked at our brother. He pursed his lips at her.
"I literally saw you two weeks ago." She shrugged.
"A girl can hope." He squinted at her but refused to respond, turning slightly to eye Lani.
"And you? Why are you here? Weren't you on some important mission or something?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm a princess of Fairy, Arrow, there are important things I need to do. But if you need help, of course I'll be there." He raised his brows at her.
"Really?" He asked, anger and disbelief clear. Lani's defenses fell instantly and she just blinked at him. A flash of pain flickered through my brother's eyes and then he shook his head.
"I can't." He huffed a breath. "This is why I left." Then he turned around and walked away. The amusement on the wolves' faces had vanished as they watched my brother, the guy they had managed to adopt into their group in such a short time, walk away broken-hearted. But I watched Lani, as she simply stared at his retreating figure.
"He loves you Lani." She blinked and turned to me. "But you keep breaking his heart, at some point he was going to walk away." She huffed a breath and looked down at her feet.
"I already had a long car ride with one Walker sister informing me of all the things I'm doing wrong. I don't need the other one doing the same." I chuckled and looked at my sister. She rolled her eyes and shrugged. I shook my head and turned back to Lani.
"Do you love him?" She looked up and me and her face contorted like she was about to cry and laugh but couldn't figure out which one.
"Of course." She whispered. I chuckled and nodded my head in the direction Arrow had headed.
"Then go after him." She smiled and raced down the hall.
"Now why didn't I just ask her straight out if she loved him?" Echo questioned out loud. I turned and smiled at her.
"You're just not as smart." And she stuck out her tongue.
☽◐⬤◑☾
Hours had passed and the vampire corpses had been piled up and the halls cleaned. Lupin and I had made our way back to his rooms. We had already addressed the steady anger growing in the Pack towards me for the obvious danger I posed. I was the vampire's target, but this time I was not the only one injured. Lupin had basically informed his Pack that if they had a problem with me staying, then they could leave, because I wasn't.
Now we both sat on his couch, we had showered and changed out of our gory clothes, and then curled up against each other. We had needed it, the stability of each other. The Bond had strained when we separated, it had been necessary but not easy. So we took a moment just to sit together and rebraid our Bond.
His arms tightened around me, his chest at my back. His eyes were closed and I knew he was relaxed. But my mind spun and he let it, waiting for me to speak. I just couldn't agree with his proclamation. I was the target, I was the liability. People could have gotten seriously hurt and it would have been my fault.
Lupin sighed and loosened his hold resting his chin on my shoulder.
"Say it." I sighed. Stupid telepathic bond.
"I just don't agree, Lupin." He groaned and flopped back. I turned to face him. "I can leave. You could come with me if the problem is the tearing."
"The problem isn't the tearing, Fable." He shakes his head and stands up.
"I get that we can't be apart, Lupin, but I can't stay here. Not at the risk to your people." He stops and pauses then glances down at me, I purse my lips and look down. Lupin bends down in front of me and places a hand on my knee.
"Thank you." He whispers and leans forward brushing a kiss to my forehead, my heart twists and I feel my face flush. "Most would demand I put them before my Pack. But you…" He chuckles and his smile is breath-taking. "I put you first and you fight back." His eyes, my god. Is that even a color?
"Lupin…" I mutter and he shakes his head.
"Unfortunately, you can't fight me on this, Fable. You come first. If it comes to a choice, I choose you. Here you have five hundred werewolves between you and the next vampire. If you leave then you're at risk… and I just can't do that." He falls forward, head in my lap and takes a shuddering breath. I sigh and run my fingers through his hair. This had to be so hard on him. The instinct to protect him drove me hard, I had to constantly work against it, or anyone near him would be dead. I had a target on my head and a thousand vampires vying for my heart, yet somehow he hadn't stuffed me in a padded room and wrapped me in bubble wrap. He was wonderful. And I loved him for it.
I froze. Loved?
Lupin lifted his head feeling my tension, his eyes questioning. His brows narrowed, growing concerned. I could only imagine what my face looked like.
The door opened and Arrow skipped in announcing himself loudly. Echo and Lani followed behind him, the red head smiling almost as gleefully as my brother. Declan, Ava, Tristan, Ember, and Rayen sauntered after them, all of them equally bemused and irritated. They all found seats around us talking amongst themselves. Lupin squeezed my knee and I looked back at him.
"You okay?" He gently asked, I nodded and he sat back down beside me. Love? When did that happen? Did I love him? The monster chuckled in my stomach.
*Could you leave him?*
No, of course not! I grimaced at my quick reply.
*How would you feel if he were with another?*
A low rumbling vibrated in the back of my throat. I sighed as everyone glanced my way.
*Do you love him?*
I thought about. Really truly thought it through. And answered honestly: Yeah.
The monster chuckled once more, before folding back into my lungs.
"You have an epiphany, Fable?" My brother asked, a knowing glint in his eyes. I grabbed the closest pillow and chucked it at him.
"Keep your shadows away from my secrets." I demanded.
"Keep your secrets quiet and maybe I won't pick them up." He retorted, smiling at me. I shook my head but couldn't help the returning smile. I glanced at Lani who sat beside my brother.
"I take it you listened to my advice." She smiled brighter and nodded, leaning her head against Arrow's shoulder.
"As much as love is lovely," Echo announced. "I have some bad news." We all turned to her, the werewolves braced. "Carise called and informed me that the vamps are on a straight course, headed directly towards Philly." I sat up.
"Eros's power can't be that far reaching." I reminded her.
"But," Arrow interjected. "If she had His assistance…" He let it hang there, the conclusion obvious. With Carter's help Eros most definitely could gain control of all the vampires in the US. I looked up at the wolves.
"She's building an army." Ava stated her jaw tense.
"We can't wait for her to strike, there are too many children and untrained wolves here." I turned to Lupin. "I can't be here." Lupin growled.
"What do you want us to do? Hide?" He shook his head. "We're werewolves, Fable, our instincts won't allow that." I pursed my lips and thought.
"Then we bring the fight to her."
"How?" Tristan shot back. "We don't know where she is." I turned to Echo.
"Zeke would." My sister licked her lips and glared at me apprehensive. "He would know, right Echo?" I said more firmly. She sighed and nodded.
"Yeah." She rubbed her face. "Yeah, Zeke would know." I leaned back against the couch.
"Why does that seem like a bad thing?" Declan asked after a moment of silence.
"Zeke is… a peculiar person." Arrow helpfully explained. Lupin turned to me and I groaned.
"He's an ifrit." I elaborated. "Spirit of the dead, they tend to keep track of the vampire population." I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. "The problem is Zeke is a bit eccentric, he created a pocket realm in which he resides. Getting in is easy, getting out... not so much."
"He would see you Fable." Arrow reminded me. I nodded and sat up.
"Yes, but I doubt he would welcome Lupin as… warmly." My brother grimaced at my word choice. Ifrits had a proclivity for fire and Arrow had learned that the hard way.
"Ah yes," Ava muttered. "The dreaded Mated Pair." Echos' head shot up, her blue eyes glaring at me.
"Mated Pair?" She asks too sweetly, I cringed.
"Yes, but now is not the time. Lupin and I can not separate from each other without immense pain. Any solution?" An obvious silence ensued.
"Um," I look over at Lani as she scrunches up her face. "I have an idea." She announces warily.
"Go ahead." I urge. She glances over at Arrow and shrugs.
"Maybe try Astral Projection? It's what we use in Fairy when there's a meeting between the Kingdoms." I look over at Echo, her eyes squinted and lips muttering together.
"Is it possible?" I ask her after too long of a silence. My sister huffs and flops back against the chair.
"Technically, yes." She runs her fingers through her long hair. "I mean, if the question is can I do it? Then obviously, yeah. But the problem is that your spirit would still need to be given access to Zeke's realm. If he refuses to let you leave, your body's would be stuck here." She glances between the two of us. "Unconscious." I grimace and flop back. Obviously we wouldn't hope for that. But if it were to happen…
Now, I'm not bragging, but I am the biggest weapon my family owns, if I fall that leaves them at a disadvantage. With Lupin being my magic equal, or so the legends say, then him being out of commission is bad for his family and worse for the hierarchy of the Pack. If we were attacked Lupin and I would be defenseless and add to our families priorities. We would not only be useless but a detriment.
"Do we call Salem?" I ask my siblings. The both of them grasped the situation quickly.
"I thought we were trying to keep our family out of the cross hairs?" Arrow reminds me with a quirk of his eyebrow.
"Yes," I nod. "However, Carter is coming whether we like it or not. Eros's mass amount of power only proves it."
"I still don't get how He's doing it." Lani chimes in. "You guys made a Deal, He can't break that." I shrug and shake my head.
"Currently the how isn't important, we have to focus on stopping the vampire army." Tristan chuckles at my word choice and Rayen smacks his arm, only causing him to laugh more.
"How is 'vampire army' funny?" Declan questions.
"I just never thought I'd see the day." Tristan replies wistfully, as if he'd only been dreaming of a mass vampire horde.
"Your mate is weird." Ember directes at her cousin who nods.
"Don't I know it." Rayen mutters, giving her mate a loving look.
"Okay, focus, people." My sister announces. "Inviting Salem is a splendid idea, my dear sister. In fact, I think it would be best if we invited our entire family." I glare at her and she shrugs. "A little family reunion never hurt anyone." I give her a dry look at the falseness of her claim. When my family gathers, somebody gets hurt.
"I will also call my parents." Lupin states. "They might be able to offer some assistance." Echo nods her approval.
"Now," My sister continued. "The astral projection is a good idea but not a solution to your separation problem. Your soul is essentially what is being transported and it is your souls that are tied. Projecting just Fable would still lead to this... pain." I shake my head because after assessing the situation my opinion has changed.
"I'm not going without Lupin." I say. At the same time Lupin declares.
"She's not going without me." I look over at him, trying to fight a smile. He doesn't though, smiling big and bright.
"Okay," Echo starts again. "Astral projecting is still a good idea, if your corporeal bodies are here it's possible I could bring your spirits back to the realm your bodies reside in." My sister shrugs. "But, eh, maybe we'll get lucky and Zeke will just let you guys go." I sigh, that is unlikely.
"Do you need anything to perform this?" Lupin asks my sister. Echo glances over at me and I shake my head answering her silent question. A quick frown flashes over her face until she looks back over at Lupin.
"Yes." She says all seriousness, but I can see the mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'll need a ham, a left shoe, a different right shoe, the center stuffing of a teddy bear, the residue from a shooting star, and a sacrifice, preferably virgin."
Lupin blinks a few times at my sister, not quite understanding Echo's rapid fire sarcasm, yet.
"She's kidding." I affirmed him, a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me a little surprised, then glanced down at my hand. Thinking that he didn't like it I took my hand away, a little pang of hurt throbbing through my heart. I chastised it, I shouldn't care, shouldn't let myself.
Lupin growled and took my hand back, pulling it into his lap and wrapping both hands through my fingers. The pain in my heart eased out and I watched him for a moment too long. Letting myself feel what I had just realized I felt, for though I knew I shouldn't, I loved him. Knew it would only lead to heartbreak and sorrow, still I did. Somehow, someway I had fallen in love with Lupin Hunt.
It made me happy and then it made me giggle. Lupin glanced back my way, confused. I smiled at him and shook my head. For this was something I would never tell him. I wouldn't get the chance, we would break before I ever got to hope. And I would never hope.
I felt Arrows eyes on me, sad and angry, at me and for me. My brother could always know what we were feeling, what we were thinking, it made him who he is. When we were sad he'd make a joke just to make us feel better. So he grew up eccentric and sarcastic hoping we would never be sad. Obviously he knows those hopes of a child could never actually be attained but he still tried. But I knew, I knew my little brother's pain, and watched it myself. Now he covers it up in the only way he knows how, but he's still broken. We all are. So I glare back at him, for he has no place to judge me for my trauma, for my pain.
"This isn't pain, Fable, this is denial. Denial of something good." I refuse to acknowledge him so I turn to my sister. She takes it as her cue to continue.
"I'll call Salem and then we can get right down to it." She says her smile less than it was, understanding my brother's words.
"I'll call my parents." Ember says as she makes to stand up.
"No." Lupin mutters. "I would like to speak to Mom." His sister chuckles softly but nods.
☽◐⬤◑☾
We all break up, the wolves going to inform the Pack of what the plan is. My sister going to call our family and Arrow and Lani going off to do… something. I didn't ask.
I lay in my room, on the bed. Thinking. I need to think this through, to just absorb it. I have never loved another person other than my family. I never let myself.
Heather, though not blood related, was my childhood friend and more a sister than anything else. She knew me before and after, helped me build myself back up. Sadie I met in college, she was a Knox even before we met. She knew I was something different and when I told her I was a banshee she didn't run for the hills. But she still doesn't know it all, doesn't know specifically what I am.
*And what are you?*
I laugh at my monster. He knows what I am, knows me better than anyone. I am a mean, mean person. My monster laughs right back at me.
*You are what you are, Fable.*
I don't know what to take from that so I don't respond. Slowly my monster fades back into my bones.
I close my eyes and let myself dream of the life I could have. I do this often, wishing away the pain. This time though I wish for something, I wish for Lupin and me. It's a harsh, cruel dream.
I open my eyes at the sound of the door opening, I look over only to find my door still closed. Listening closer I realized I had heard the door across the hall, Lupin's room. I hear the sound of a dial tone and then the line picks up.
"Lupin Hunt," A feminine voice reprimands. "You, young man, are in loads of trouble." I smile at the chidding voice of his mother.
"Mom." He responds in a flat tone, and she huffs.
"How is it that I hear of your mating from your sister? You couldn't call up an old lady and give her some very important information?"
"You're not old, Mom." Lupin affirms his mothers. She laughs.
"Old enough to have two grandchildren and a son who doesn't love me." I smile at her dramatics.
"It's not a lack of love for you, mother. It's a lack of love on her end." My smile drops at that, able to feel the pain in my heart, his heart.
"Oh my dear son." She coos. "Did the banshee hurt your heart?" I laugh out right at that, and quickly cover my mouth.
"Mother." He chastises.
"Every mate goes through the Bond differently and reacts to the effects differently." She says, tone more formal, serious. "She's not a wolf, Lupin. You can't be hurt if she doesn't act like one. That's not fair to her and, frankly, unhelpful."
"I don't care what she is, mom." He retorts.
"You say that now, but you will miss it. The stories you're told as a child, the feelings you know from us, your parents. You'll never meet her beast, never feel her Turn, and you can't Mark a human, there is no monster for you to exchange." My breath hitches at her words and I hear Lupin growl his disapproval. I had never thought about it like that. She's right, but then she's also wrong. We could do all of those things, not that Lupin is aware.
"I don't care." Lupin grits out. "She is mine." His mother tsks.
"You may be Alpha but I am still your mother and you need to watch your tone." I can feel Lupin calming at his mothers words. "You can't let your wolf take over on this, Lupin. The Fates may have decided that she was yours but she has to agree to it first. You are a better man than that." I smile sadly, he is a better man than I deserved.
"I would never force her into this." Lupin says, still a slight growl in his voice.
"I know dear. But you know first hand that sometimes the Fates make bad pairings. You, as Alpha, have had to split up abusive mates because they think they have the right to it."
"I would never-"
"I know. But sometimes the wolf wants it more." Lupin grunts, it sounds painful and stressed.
"My wolf wants nothing more than for her to be happy." The utter truth of his words wrings my heart. Squeezing and twisting, with the sadness that he knows I'm not.
I slid out of bed and open my door. His room was left open and he stands at the window, the phone at his ear. It says a lot that he doesn't hear me approach.
"And if she doesn't want you? If leaving would make her happy?" His mother's words send a wave of sadness flooding through his soul and I feel it like a tide washing over my body.
"Then I would let her go." The words, his own, hurt him more. I feel it like a spear through my chest. I wrap my arms around his waist and brush my cheek between his shoulder blades. He relaxes into me, my touch a balm to his growing pain. He lets out a small sigh of contentment.
"She's there?" His mother asks with a smile in her voice.
"Yes." He answers, the pain having left his voice, I hold him tighter.
"May I speak with her?" He waits a moment for my response. I nod against his back and he passes me the phone. When I untangle from him so I can hold the phone, he stiffens, the calm leaving with my touch. I grab his wrist and wrap his hand around my waist, leaning into his chest. Doing what I can to relieve his stress. And it works, he relaxes easily around me.
"Hello." I say to inform her of the switch. I swear I can hear her smile.
"Hello dear, my name is Soraya." I smile at the gentleness in her voice.
"I'm Fable."
"Yes, I've heard. The banshee whose aunt is the Albion Witch." She chuckles at herself. "How peculiar."
"Mrs. Hunt-"
"Soraya, please, dear." I sigh.
"Soraya." I lament and she laughs.
"Excellent. Now I know I'm entirely biased so I won't ask much of you." Lupin growls in warning at his mother. But he doesn't say anything, arms draped over my shoulders and chin resting on my head. He holds me close to him, soothing his wolf. "I ask simply that you be happy." Soraya continues ignoring her son. "Don't let monsters dictate your path." I swallow, against her words.
"I will try." I promise her, knowing it to be impossible.
"That is all I ask." I lean against Lupin, waiting for him to take over, but he only holds me tighter.
"Well, it seems my wolf is out of commission." I sigh and Soraya laughs.
"Can you relay whatever urgent message he no doubt needed to tell me." I cringe, thinking about it.
"We need help." I start, ready to explain.
"We'll be there as soon as we can." And then she hangs up. I chuckle and pull the phone from my ear.
"I like your mother." I say to him and he grunts in response. I sigh leaning back against me.
"I'm sorry." I whisper. Sorry for so many things.
"No." He mutters, kissing the top of my head. "There is nothing to apologize for." We stand there for a moment in companionable silence. My body is warm and content in his arms. His forearms brush across my breasts, sparking my core just enough. He groans as my scent changes, and I suppress a whimper as his changes too, musky and sweet, the smell of lust. He buries his face into the crook of my neck. I sigh, taking that moment to love him. Just that moment.
I pull away. Out of his arms and made my way across the room.
"We should get going," I called back to him, over my shoulder. "They're waiting for us." As I leave him behind, frozen and staring after me, I feel the pain again. The pain I had tried to releve, rise it's head and coil around his soul. But I keep walking, it's for the best.