Merari:
As we stood there, facing young Tobias, I could not help but picture the face that I remembered as a baby at that orphanage. Then too, the young man that he had become once the beta had decided to take him in.
Admittedly, Valene was treated particularly well for Alastair not to know who she truly was to him. I guessed that Tobias would have gotten the same treatment. At first I felt guilty about steering Alastair into our daughter’s direction. I knew, after seeing the way that Vale was being raised, that I had robbed him of a comfortable life.
Then Toran showed up and decided to snatch him up. Toran was far more lax than even Alastair was, when it came to Tobias.
Sure, the young lad was respectful, and stayed in his place like the rest of them, but when left to his own devices, he was as free to do what he pleased as Vale.
It was because of this that for a time, he had been allowed to leave the Slaughter’s vassal hood. Interestingly enough, he found his way right back into their household as their vassal once more. Life outside of Toran Slaughter’s ownership was more difficult than he thought it would be. So, there he stayed until that night. The night that he had sacrificed himself for my little girl. For Vale.
How did I know all of this? I kept a close eye on him after I manipulated Vale’s father into taking her instead of him. I thought that it was the least that I could do. Turned out that I really did not necessarily need to after Toran Slaughter took him. Still, I did, however. Especially, when he went out into the world on his own.
Whenever I checked on Valene, I made sure to make some time for little Toby; reassuring his safety where he was not even aware that he was in danger. My surveillance died down a bit when he returned to the Slaughters. I knew he’d be safe there, but I could have never imagined that he would lose his life so soon. Not that way.
Guilt began to fill me as I thought about the fact that maybe I could have done a little more to see to the boy’s safety. Admittedly, however, Vale was my number one priority and concern. She always would be.
Anyone who knew what I knew, would no doubt believe that I had robbed the young man of a good life by manipulating Alastair as I did. Maybe it was true. One thing was for sure, however, was that Alastair’s beta treated him like just as much a son as Alastair did Vale like a daughter.
It was well-deserved, his treatment. All-in-all, he did deserve it. That version of Tobias was gone. At least. Mostly.
The boy had grown into a handsome young man , but there was darkness shrouding over him like a cloud of darkness, and a confusion within that seemed to battle against the good that he used to be and the bad that…that brought him back to life.
There was a darkness within him that…that I found familiar. Whatever had turned him…I couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with…him.
“Your mother seems to have a lot on her mind.”
When I heard his calm and deep voice interrupt my thoughts, I met the young man’s gaze. Then I turned my attention to my daughter, and I noticed that she was far too close to him for my comfort. I shuffled forward and reached for her hand. I pulled her away from him, or at least I attempted to. The girl was strong.
“Baby, I think we should be getting to that meeting.”
“You go on ahead, mum,” Vale said to me in a distant manner. She was so…taken by the fact that Tobias was standing before her that she couldn’t seem to shake her gaze away from him. “I’d like to speak with Tobias, further.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with him!” I growled anxiously.
This aggression was what finally forced my daughter to regard me and with clear impatience.
“Mum, he’s my friend. I don’t believe that he’s going to hurt me.”
“She’s right,” said Tobias. “The last thing that I want to do is hurt your daughter,” said Tobias. “Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I did die for her once,” he added.
I didn’t even bother to resist the frown suddenly playing across my brow. Was he throwing it in her face? Was he trying to throw it in mine?
“You did. Back then. You are quite obviously not the same person now,” I said to him.
The young Tobias took a step toward me, a dark gleam in his eye as he did so.” And what makes you say that, Ms. Van Doren?” There was a knowing look in his eyes as he approached me closer. “Do you not trust me?” he asked.
“No,” I said without thought. “Quite frankly, I do not.”
There was a glint of something in his expression that he immediately recovered from. Had I not been on all my p’s and q’s around him, I would not have caught it as I am quite sure that my daughter did not.
“You may have risked your life for her once, but that part of you that did is all but dead now,” I said. “So, surely, you understand my hesitation to leave you alone with my daughter.”
“Mother,” said Vale as she kept her gaze on Tobias. “I can handle myself. You of all people know that. Go,” she said once more. It was only then that she met my gaze and nodded.
It was at that moment that I realized that I hadn’t trusted my daughter as much as I should have. I could see it in her eyes.
She was well aware of the fact that this was not the same Tobias. She did not fully trust him either. Still, I could sense her hesitation and doubt. If it came down to putting him down, I wasn’t sure that she could. But I did have the confidence, however, that she’d maim him so that he would not hurt her. Still, though, I wasn’t completely sure.
“Vale?” I said one more time for confirmation of her decision.
“We will be perfectly fine,” she said. “Won’t we, Toby?”
He turned around and looked at her with a sense of adoration that I could not deny. He truly did still feel for Valene, but that did not mean that he was safe with her. Especially, if he was brought back by who I thought it could be.
His darkness was saturating the boy. It was frightening to witness. I needed to get to Alastair. I needed to get to the others, but…but I was just so afraid to leave Vale alone with him.
“Maybe you should come with me,” I suggested one more time before leaving.
Instead of responding right away, Vale shifted her ember eyes to mine. I needed no answer after this. With one last nod, I darted off and quickly headed to the packhouse, hoping that Alastair and the others were still there.
Vale:
She was concerned and she had every right to be. Tobias was different; he wasn’t the same Tobias that I knew before. Not completely, at least.
He watched my mother closely the entire time that she was there, and when she left, he watched her depart. His eyes lingered on the spot long after she had gone. It was sort of unsettling.
I thought to break the silence, but I didn’t because I wanted Tobias to do it. I wanted to know what was on his mind. It was clear that this was not the same Tobias that I knew over two years ago, and half of my life before that. Still, I wanted to know that there was some part of him remaining behind whatever this darkness was that shrouded him so.
“You know, she’s right,” he finally said to me, his back still facing me as he broke the lull in the conversation.
When I didn’t respond, he turned around and finally faced me with that trademark, charming smile on his face. I still didn’t respond to him, because I wasn’t ready to. Not just yet.
“Your mother,” he finally added to his comment. “She’s right to not trust me.”
I took a step toward Tobias. “So, you were here to hurt us then,” I gathered from his remark.
He tilted his head to the side, there was a sullen amusement in his eyes. “Not necessarily.”
“That’s oddly cryptic, Tobias,” I took yet another step toward him. “I’d prefer it if you were straight with me.”
He watched me for a silent moment and then chuckled. “Of course, you’d prefer that, Vale.” He turned away from me casually and haphazardly paced the ground a bit before regarding me again, his hands behind his back as he said, “Always straight-laced, no foolishness, no games.” His voice regressed into almost a distant whisper as he ended his view on my character. “Oblivious to anything but the orders that you were given. Oblivious to…” he approached me closer, and for a moment, I thought about stepping back. His hand lifted to touch me, “How impeccably beautiful you were. Even as a human.”
His hand lingered in the air surfacing the skin of my cheek. It was as if he was teasing himself. He reluctantly pulled back from me, shook his head and backed away from me.
“You-” instead of finishing his sentence, he let out a low growl. “You make things hard, Vale. I will give you that. You….” he sighed. “You and that family of mine,” he snickered.
I had my concerns from the moment that I saw him, but I stood there watching him and his erratic demeanor. I knew without a doubt at that moment that Tobias was warring with something. Something that was fighting hard against a better nature that I once wasn’t sure was there anymore.
“Who saved you, Tobias?” I asked, and after I did, immediately regretted my choice of words.
“Saved?” he grimaced but took a deep breath, and moved his head from side to side. “Maybe…I guess that is one way to look at it.”
“But, it isn’t the way that you look at it,” I came to realize as I studied his expression further.
After a moment to seemingly consider something, Tobias removed his distant stare from the ground and looked at me, that same award winning smile.
“To be honest, Vale,” he said. “I’m not so sure that I wouldn't have preferred death.”
It broke my heart to hear him say this. So much so, that I found myself clenching my chest after he said this.
Sure, feeding on humans and even inhumans, in my case, wasn’t the best thing that one would have to deal with in exchange for living again, but to prefer death?
If I was being honest with myself, I understood where he was coming from. At one point in my life, it wasn’t easy taking a life for the sake of your own. Then I…I slowly came to the conclusion not to look at it that way. It was all about the food chain, and…for the time being, I was the one on top.
“Tobias, I…” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to even finish that sentence. I wanted to validate his feelings, I wanted to apologize for being the cause of him losing his life in the first place.
There were so many things that I wanted to say to Tobias, and yet I could not bring myself to say them. I could not bring myself to verbalize those feelings that I desperately needed him to hear. This seemed to be a running theme where I was concerned of late.
“Vale,” he said, thankfully saving me from trying to pick up the conversation. He exhaled. “I was sent here to track you down.”
Now we were getting to the root of the conversation. I was cautious not to respond. I wanted him to keep talking. It didn’t seem to take much.
“You and your mother,” he added. “Especially, your mother.” He glanced back toward the area in which my mother had gone moments earlier. He didn’t seem to like the idea that this was his mission.
“What is the end result, Tobias?” I asked him. “After you found us.” I took a step toward him. “What happens now, Tobias?”
He smiled, but it wasn’t as reaching as it once was. In fact, his charming smile would become smaller and smaller as time went on throughout our conversation.
“Toby?” I pressed.
“Do you need me to really answer that?”
That was my answer. My eyes began to darken, my incisors elongated from my gums. I didn’t want to but if it came down to my mother or Tobias, I’d have to put him down. I just…I just hoped that I could.
“Oh, Vale,” he said to me. He backed away and then turned to leave. “I’ve been here too long already,” he said under his breath. I began to wonder if I was meant to hear what he had said.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked. He didn’t answer. “Tobias, answer the bloody question! Who’s controlling you?”
As soon as I said this, he whirled around and looked at me with a solemn smile. “Control,” he nodded his head. “That is exactly what’s going on here,” said Tobias. “So, maybe you understand why I never considered being here, right now, a save.” He turned his back on me again. I knew that he was in certain terms telling that he was done with our little visit. Then he surprised me with one last bit of information.
“Vale, if you haven’t picked up on it already, you and your mother…you're in danger. He’s coming for you.”
“And what role do you play in this?” I asked. “What pawn are you in this game?” I asked.
“I won’t know until he puts everything into play, but for now, I am the one who finds the elusive two that he just could not seem to track down before now. Unfortunately, everything has gone according to plan. I am his first play,” he said to me.
“And you’re alright with that?” I asked. “You’re alright playing the toy?”
He scoffed, and he frowned. I hit a nerve. “You think that I have a choice?!” he snarled. “You think that I have a choice in this, Vale?!” he spat.
“Tobias, I…”
I should have known better than to think otherwise. Tobias wasn’t the type to follow anyone blindly. Not even the family whom he loved the most.
“I don’t want to do this, Vale. I don’t want to be a part of this,” he exhaled. “I have to go. Be careful, Vale,” he said and started off and then paused. “You and the woman. I know now that she’s been watching over me this whole time. Knowing this only makes it harder,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked. Had my mother been looking after Tobias as well?
Tobias turned his head to the side far enough for me to catch a glimpse of his smirk. “Tell the old men, and my brother that I said hi. And that…I miss them.”
Then without another word, Tobias flitted off into the night.
Alastair:
I dispersed the crowd for the meeting. There was no point in further discussion if the whole reason behind the meeting was missing. I gave orders for the witches to cast border shields along the city line and alarms that would signal us whenever a rogue was near. It would at least make things easier on the pack.
“Alright, let’s disperse to the borders,” I ordered my pack. “Ares, you disperse yours on one opposite end and I’ll do the same for mine.”
“And what do you want us to do?” Harlyn asked.
I had forgotten that she was there at first. “Harlyn, you don’t-”
“Dad-alpha,” she corrected herself. “I will not stand by and do nothing.”
I looked at Toran and then his boy. “Oh, I’m not sitting around and twiddling my thumbs,” he said. “All due respect.”
I smirked. I always did like that boy’s gumption. He reminded me in more ways than one of his father.
“Fine. You’re on me, Harly,” I said.
“Talon on me,” said Toran. “Time for you to learn in depth what your title entails, son.”
They both shared a smile, and we started to depart when the doors burst open and there stood Merari. Without Vale.
“Rari…where…where is Valene?”
“She’s with the boy! He…he’s alive, Alastair.”
“Who?” I asked with alarm. Who was she talking about? When Merari shifted her gaze to Toran and Talon, I was even more dumbfounded.
“Your vassal, beta,” she said. “Tobias…he’s alive!”
“That…that’s impossible!” Toran hissed. “I buried him, myself. Talon saw him die!”
“You as well as I know, that resurrection is possible, Beta.”
“How could this be?” he whispered.
“That’s not the worst of it, I’m afraid.”
“Well, then what the bloody hell is, Merari?” I snapped.
She exhaled, shaking her head nervously. “I…I think I know who turned him into what he is, Alastair,” she said. “And if I am right. We have a problem.”