"Now, where was I?" I asked as soon as I got the blood off of my face. It would have to stay in my hair until I was able to take a shower, but I wanted to get this over and done with.
"General Brian I-have-no-idea-your-middle-name Greyson," I said, looking at the man that was holding a gun to his superior's head because he shot me.
"Andrew, my middle name is Andrew," he said with a smile and I nodded my head,
"Fine, Brian Andrew Greyson, do you accept sanctuary into House Tesalor, to follow the laws of the Six Houses, and to obey me as your Head of House?" I asked, my gaze never wavering from his face. I would do my best to protect him, and this was the best way that I knew how.
Greyson nodded his head without a second thought. "I accept," he said, his low voice rumbling throughout the office.
"Then I, Natalia Nadezda Sokol Tesalor, Head of the House of Tesalor, Head of House Gypsy, Pure-blood, and the last of my kind, accept Brian Andrew Greyson as one of the members of my House and all the privileges that go with it."
"It has been witnessed and accepted by House Van Helsing," said Sasha coming to attention beside me.
"It has been witnessed and accepted by Mathew White of House Werewolf," said Mathew from my other side, also straightening. There was a definitive growl to his voice that let me know that his wolf was close to the surface. Since he wasn't one of Lucas' Betas, he could claim that it was accepted by the whole House, but this was enough.
"Welcome to the world of monsters," I said with a smile before I turned my attention to the man sitting closest to me on the couch. "What is your name?" I asked him. I was pretty sure that I knew his name, but this was not the time to fuck it up.
"Levi Alexandrovich Zaitsev," said the man that I knew to be the captain of the special forces team under Greyson's command. I nodded my head in understanding.
"Levi Alexandrovich Zaitsev, do you accept sanctuary into House Tesalor, to follow the laws of the Six Houses, and to obey me as your Head of House?" I asked him. I knew that none of these men understood exactly what I was doing, not even Sasha or Mathew.
Levi's eyes darted quickly to Greyson and at the other's nod, Levi accepted my offer.
"Then I, Natalia Nadezda Sokol Tesalor, Head of the House of Tesalor, Head of House Gypsy, Pure-blood, and the last of my kind, accept Levi Alexandrovich Zaitsev as one of the members of my House and all the privileges that go with it," I said, repeating the ritual for a second time.
"It has been witnessed and accepted by House Van Helsing," repeated Sasha following up with his side of the ritual as a witness.
"It has been witnessed and accepted by Mathew White of House Werewolf," said Mathew again. Witnesses were always needed for this situation as anyone could claim to be part of a house, but only those that were recorded were actually accepted.
Sasha would make sure that it was registered in House Van Helsing's records.
I bypassed the man sitting in the middle. I might have a bleeding heart sometimes, but not even I would accept someone that killed me in my House. I might die a lot, but that didn't mean that I had a death wish.
"You, what is your name?" This man had remained quiet the entire time, but he had rushed in and held Jackson down after he had shot me the first time.
The man briefly looked at Greyson before answering. "Dementyev Maximovich Marka," he said softly and concisely.
"Dementyev Maximovich Marka, do you accept sanctuary into House Tesalor, to follow the laws of the Six Houses, and to obey me as your Head of House?"
"Is there a reason why you are saying House Tesalor and not House Gypsy," he asked me, his head cocking to the side.
"There is, are you already part of a House?" I asked, impressed that he managed to pick up on that.
He quietly nodded. "I am officially part of a House, but I have been exiled."
I could see Sasha stiffen beside me, and I could feel the tension coming off of Mathew. However, the fact that he was exiled was not an issue for me, even though exile was only for the most heinous of crimes.
"House Gypsy is not the same as House Tesalor in much the same way that House Skinwalker is not the same as House Van Helsing," I explained to him, studying his face. There was absolutely no taint in his thread, and the pink of it screamed human to me, but maybe I was missing something.
"House Gypsy is an extremely large House of humans registered as Gypsies due to bloodlines. House Tesalor is an extremely small House, made up of four individuals at this very moment, and is connected to the Fates or the Weavers. House Tesalor is what created the monsters and the different Houses. Once you agree to be one of mine, you are essentially agreeing to have your thread of life severed and rejoined with mine."
"If our thread of life is severed, doesn't that mean we die?" asked Dementyev as he studied me. He didn't appear to be too concerned about that.
I tilted my head from side to side, trying to think of the best way to respond to that question. "You would shed your mortal life and be tied to me for all of eternity," I finally responded. And that was the main reason why I was so selective as to who was in my House. So far, there was me, Mike my Beta, Greyson, and Levi.
I knew that I could technically bring the two humans into House Gypsy and have them not suffer any consequences of this meeting, but something was telling me to bring them into my actual House. Who was I to argue with the will of the universe?