Alastair:
I should have known that she would be late. Even the elusive vampire elder, Lucious Madris, had made an early appearance. His son, however, was not so eager to make his presence known.
“Alpha, Wade!” Lucius Madris approached with that the same charm and subtle deviousness that he’d carried through his eight and a half centuries of life. “It is always a pleasure.”
“I’d say the same, but it usually depends on what kind of mood you’re in, Lucius.”
To my reply he found no offense, and simply responded with a grin. “Right you are, alpha. I guess I can be a hard to swallow at times. However, since Shadow Veil is the priority, I promise to be on my best behavior tonight. Or at least try.”
“Hm,” I took his word with a grain of salt and a risen brow. I’d always have to make a mental note to keep an eye on him. “Your son,” I shifted the subject. “I take it, he will not be gracing us with his presence tonight.”
At the mention of his son, Lucius rolled his eyes subtly. The boy was the only thing that could truly get under the vampire elder’s skin. I guess that was the way it was when it came to children; they could always seem to find a way to get under your
skin.
“To be honest with you, Wade, I wouldn’t know whether he was coming or going.” When Lucius’s eye veered passed me toward the kitchen, I followed his gaze to see that the tail end of Valene darting back into the kitchen. “I must say, he may be inclined to attend if he knows she is here.”
The elder made no attempt to speak bluntly on the matter. Valene was indeed, an interesting person to find yourself in the company of. That was well before she was this blood thirsty inhuman. I could imagine that young Damian would find something intriguing about the girl.
“Well, if the only reason that he’d come is to ogle and attempt to woo my daughter, your son should stay where he is.”
Lucius found this amusing, of course. There was very little that the vampire did not find amusing. “Of course, alpha Wade. Though, I hope you don’t mind; I’d still like to see if I can convince him one last time to come.”
Suddenly more reluctant to have the young vampire heir around, I didn’t answer immediately. “Sure,” I said half-heartedly, silently hoping that the boy didn’t come. I’d already have the young alpha lycan’s awkward tension toward my daughter to deal with. Not to mention Valene and her beef towards her mother. I also couldn’t discount the argument had between she and Harlyn. I didn’t need yet another distraction.
“Don’t worry, alpha,” said Lucius. “If the boy does come, I swear I will keep him on a leash.”
Without another word, we parted ways as the front door made a rapping sound before opening. I had left the door unlocked as I wasn’t going to be guarding the door to answer it every time someone came knocking.
“Alpha Wade,” greeted Ares as his Beta and Delta came walking through the front door.
“Ares.” I greeted and as I approached I notice the young Lycan’s stoic gaze subtly shift around. He was looking for Vale. “Almeida…Boscoe.” I continued to greet the Beta and Delta.
“Alpha,” they both acknowledged in unison with a slight bow.
“Is everyone here?” asked Ares.
“No,” I replied. “We’re waiting on one last person.” In truth, I was irritated that she wasn’t the first one here.
“Your daughter?” Ares asked. There was a hint of bitterness in his voice as he said this.
“No, actually,” I replied with an unwaveringly suspicious gaze. The young alpha seemed to notice my silence and then looked at me. It was then that he seemed to realize that I was well aware that something was going on beneath the surface of he and my daughter’s association with one another.
It was when Ares shifted his anxious stare away from me that I knew that I was right. Anyone else would have cast this small gesture off as something that wasn’t to be taken seriously. In the eyes of someone else it was just a uncaring shift of the gaze. But I had known this lycan since he was pup and one thing that he was never good at was lying to me. I didn’t comment on it, however. Now was not the time or the place for such a discussion; so, I instead continued the conversation that we were currently on.
“It’s actually Merari Van Doren, that we are waiting on.”
Ares’s curious eyes found mine. “Merari Van Doren.”
“Yes, my daughter’s mother.”
It was as if on cue that she entered the house following my remark. Everyone shifted their attention to the remarkably exquisite inhuman that walked through the door.
Lucius was closest to Merari so of course he was the first to introduce himself. Though he could have been outside clear across the opposite side of the house and still would have found a way to be first in line to introduce himself.
“You must be the one that everyone has been talking about.” He took her hand into his and bowed his head. “The rumors do not disappoint.
He kissed her hand, his eyes fluttering as I noticed him subtly inhale her scent. It took everything in me not to intercede then and there, but I knew that it would only turn the boiling water that I was already in with her to scalding.
Aziz, however, did not bother trying to hide his aggravation. I cleared my throat to cut off the growl that was pressing to release from my mouth.
“Lucius Madris,” he smiled. “It truly is a pleasure.”
Merari’s delight in his blatant flirtation was unbearable. She was eating it up and I knew without a doubt that she knew I was aggravated by it. What she said next was simple confirmation for me
“Lucius Madris. It is a pleasure. If only all men had your…courtesy,” she winked and then sauntered away, not even obliging me with a glance. “If everyone’s here, we should get this thing started.”
“Right,” I spat irritatedly. “Alright everyone, I called this meeting today because-”
The door opened and in walked Lucius’s son and with Harlyn of all people. I was surprised to say the least. And she was utterly sloshed out of her mind.”
“What the bloody hell is going on?”
“Isn’t obvious?” Damian came into the house, carrying Harlyn into his arms. She was struggling against him as he came into the house. “Your daughter can’t handle her liquor as well as she bragged she could.”
A chuckle came from the kitchen entrance. It was Valene, leaning against the wall with a bowl of something sweet-cereal it smelled like-in her hand.
“She never could handle her liquor. Lightweight, she’s always been.”
As she said this, I went over to Damian Madris and took my baby girl out of his arms. He was obviously glad to be rid of her.
“Well, if it isn’t vassal turned bad-ass.” he grinned and approached Valene.
“Harlyn,” I turned my attention back to the daughter who seemed to need me the most. “What on earth were you doing?”
“As…as the bloody…v-vampire said. Well, except I can…I can hold my alcoh-my alcohol,” she slurred.
“Apparently, you can’t.” Already things were turning out to be a mess and the meeting hadn’t even started yet.
Toran’s son, Talon approached with impatience. “If it’s alright with you, alpha, I’ll take her upstairs so she can sleep it off.”
“Thank you,”
When I handed her off, I noticed the flush in her cheeks. She was seemed to be ashamed of her actions now when she noticed that Talon was around. Harlyn became silent and docile.
Everyone knew that she and Talon were true mates. Everyone also knew that Harlyn was being difficult when it came to making it official. It was frustrating, as her father, to see her denying the natural order of things simply because of a title.
“Talon…I…” I heard her say in a submissive way.
“Not now, Harly,” he said, frustration apparent. “Not the time,” he said and immediately, turned away and then headed upstairs to her room.
“Well, now that that’s taken care of, shall we get down to business?” said my Delta.
“As you all know there have been more sightings of the enemy around Shadow Veil. They’ve been lurking near the forest line.”
“Have there been any attacks?” asked Merari.
“No,” I answered. “Which is…in my opinion, even more suspicion than if there were.”
“Why is that?” Merari asked.
“Feral’s are called feral for a reason,” said Valene impatiently. “They’re mindless and they’re utterly controlled by their appetite for whatever they have a taste for. You of all people should know that.” there was obvious bitterness in her voice.
Merari, instead of responding to her daughter, shifted her gaze, took a deep breath and looked at me. I could tell that she was upset by Valene’s harshness toward her. She was trying to tread lightly.
“Well,” John cleared his throat in an attempt to revert the conversation to the subject at hand instead of the unspeakable tension between mother and daughter. “Valene has a point. These beasts usually roam mindlessly. Their patterns lately, however, have become less erratic and more…focused. It’s abnormal.”
“As if something or someone is controlling them,” said Ares. “That’s not good.”
“What else is not good, is that they’ve been shifting back into their human form. Invading bar spaces and starting a lot of trouble,” Zevi said. “I can’t count one hand how many times I’ve been called on for a disturbance. Alpha Wade, you should know, they’ve been showing a specific interest in Herry Bone’s bar.”
“Somehow, that does not surprise me,” I murmured with aggravation apparent.
“Well,” young Damian Madris started. By this time he’d become engaged with the subject at hand. It helped that Valene had disappeared into the kitchen again. “What could they be searching for now?” he asked. “There’s nothing that’s changed between now and the years before they came sniffing around.”
“And what do you suppose we do…once we find whatever the problem is, son?” asked Lucius.
When I saw the elder vampire glance at me, I knew that he as well as I knew why those beasts had begun circling Shadow Veil like a buzzard to a corpse.
“It depends,” said Damian without hesitation.
“On what?” Merari asked. She seemed curious by his answer.
Damian became distracted by the beautiful woman standing near him. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he smiled.
Merari was amused by the lad’s complete and utter disregard of the conversation after noticing her.
“Damian Madris. It…is truly a pleasure.”
“Merari,” she replied. “Now, how about we get back to the conversation.”
“I’m sorry, I just…am surprised that I didn’t notice you before.”
“Understandable,” she replied. “It seems hard to notice anything else when my daughter is in the room.”
“Ah,” he snickered, seeming to know that Merari was referring to Val. He glanced back toward the kitchen and then shrugged. “That explains a lot.”
“I’m sure,” said Merari. “Now, as you were saying?”
“Of course,” he then turned towards us again. “Well, it’s clear that the only reason that ferals are here is because of this lovely woman and her daughter. I don’t know why we are tip-toeing around it.”
“He’s right,” said Ares. “It’s just as it was before the little inhuman…disappeared.”
“You mean killed?” Valene’s voice interrupted the conversation like a overly sharpened knife to butter. “Call a spade a spade, alpha.” she crunched into yet another bowl of cereal.
“How many bowls of cereal have you had?” Ares hissed. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough sweets for one day?”
“Well, it’s either the sweets or your blood. So…do you want to rethink that question?”
He growled and then a sneer appeared as he took a step toward her. “No, not at all, pequinina. My question still stands.”
“Val,” I turned to her just as her incisors began to elongate from her gums. “That is enough!”
She backed away, her eyes guiltily looking away from me. She took a deep breath, crossed her arms and did as I told her.
“Both of you!” I hissed. “Knock it off!”
“I apologize, alpha,” said Ares. “Out of line and very contrary to my title.” As he said this, his eyes never left Valene, however.
When I glanced back at her, I noticed that she was still livid. She stormed off and back into the kitchen. Moments later, the sound of a bowl slamming into the sink could be heard.
“Well, that was interesting,” remarked Lucius. “Now, about resolutions to ur problem,” he reverted back to the conversation. “There’s really only one,” he said.
“And what is that, elder Madris?” asked Merari.
“Protect you, of course,” he smiled at her. As Valene re-entered the room, he continued. “There’s a reason behind why these beasts and whoever is following them are looking for you. I think that it would be in our best interest to find out why you, and or your daughter are worth the risk of being put down.”
“I agree.” I said.
“With all due respect, alpha, it would probably be best to put this before clan heads in the city,” said John. “Everyone in this room, has some biased in one form or the other to go along with you and the elder’s decision. Does not mean that everyone will agree to the risk.”
He made a valid point. John always did. Does not mean that I was happy about this remark, however. “And bias aside,” I said to him. “What is your vote, Delta?”
John smirked. “Bias aside, I’d vote to protect the girl, as logically it makes the most sense to keep her and her mother under our watch. If they, in some way, can add to the formidable nature of Shadow Veil, I’d prefer that they stay alive and safe. Unfortunately, there are those who are content with where Shadow Veil stands as a whole-understandably so. They may not think that keeping your once-vassal, and your ex-lover safe, is worth the risk.”
“That is true,” Ares said. “But if they vote against it, are we really going to shun Ms. Van Doren and her daughter because of it?”
“Not completely,” said Toran. “It will be on us to protect them, if they so choose against the decision to protect them. We would simply have to move them away from Shadow Veil to keep everyone else safe.”
“You speak as if you’ve done this before,” Said Merari to my Beta.
“We have, alpha Van Doren.”
“That is…quite inconvenient for you and still very kind,” she complimented.
“We protect our own. It’s as simple as that,” he replied as I knew that he would.
“Fine,” I said. “We will bring this before the clan leaders, but it will do very little to sway my decision to protect them.”
“Neither will it sway us,” said Ares. “But maybe everyone-or at the very least, the majority will side on your behalf. You are their alpha, and you have led them thus far. They owe you as much.”
“And it will not hurt to remind them of that,” said Toran.
“Well, then I guess that is what we will do. Toran, tell Slade to put the word out to the clan heads of a meeting. Wednesday evening. Eight, at the town hall.”
“As you wish, alpha.”
“Until then, we will disperse and I want all available parties in the forest and around the city line to make sure that there are no infilitrations. Anymore questions?” When no one replied, I called for dismissal. “Alright, disperse.”
Everyone left. Merari was the last to leave out of the door, but I stopped her. “Rari,”
“What is it, Wade?”
I noticed that she wouldn’t look up into my eyes willingly so pressed my forefinger against her chin and lifted her face so that she’d look at me.
“I don’t want you to worry.”
“I’m not worried,” she quickly retorted. I knew that she was lying.
“You’ve never been good at lying to me. You recall.” She rolled her eyes at me and it took everything in me not to smile.
“Wade, I didn’t come here for your help outside of finding Vale.”
“I get that,” I replied. “But I’m here now, and so are you. And so is she. You’re both in trouble, and I refuse to stand aside and not protect my daughter and…” I wanted to say the love of my life, but…self-doubt cut me off. “I want to protect you.”
“Wade this…this situation is dangerous and-”
“So what?”
“There are some things that…that I…”
She was hiding something and I could tell that whatever was in her mind was something that harbored a guilt.
“Merari?” I said.
“What is it? What’s the matter?”
“So, she hasn’t told you,” I heard Valene say from behind me.
I turned around and regarded her curiously before looking at Merari. “Merari? What…tell me what?”
I watched as Merari grimaced. She glanced at Valene and then so did I before she shook her head and disappeared.
“Merari….what is it that you’re not telling me?” I asked again once Valene left.
She looked down. “It’s…I think I know who’s controlling the ferals.”
“That’s great!” I thought but there was something about her countenance that began to cast doubt. “It’s one step in the right direction. So, why are you so…upset?”
She was silent. She stayed silent for a moment that seemed like eternity. Then finally, she said. “Alas…we need to talk.”