The one Melinda called Selene remained by the door. Her stiff posture gave nothing away and I noted that the veil that covered her lower face also wound around to conceal her hair and top of her head.

Her hands, which I could barely make out from the silks of the dress, only had the tips of her fingers and nails bared. Each nail was long and pointed, all painted black too.

She gave nothing away as I spoke. She didn’t even look at me. Instead, her gaze was fixated on the window behind me as if she’d no desire to be within my presence.

I scowled as I told my story, casting looks to Melinda as if she were punishing or else humiliating me. But she watched the Sister with narrowed eyes, her gaze flickered up and down at the tiniest movement of the woman’s breath, as if that could give her some answers.

When I finished, my voice trailing off into nothingness, Melinda leaned forward, “Well Selene, it means something right? The Mother is watching!”

“Mother? What mother? I AM the mother,” I interjected, shooting her a furrowed look.

“Shush you,” Melinda hushed, waving a dismissive hand at me.

Rolling my eyes, I peered more at Selene as her eyes fell to my form. Surrounded by dark lashes that almost appeared fake, her eyes were gold. No brown or blues mixed in but shades of yellow meshing into molten gold. Her stare pinned me in place, and I could feel it trail over my body. Something dipped down my throat and coiled around my heart, testing and squeezing lightly.

I gasped.

The door was pushed open, causing her to step forward. Our gazes broke and I swallowed thickly as that strange sensation evaporated from my chest. Selene straightened but tilted her head in that weird angle everyone seemed to do before she silently stepped past the man who now stepped into the room.

“Oh Richard you have horrible timing!” Melinda groaned watching the other woman retreat. “She was going to tell us something.”

“Dear what did I say to you? Don’t involve the sisters or risk angering them because of-.”

“Do not finish that sentence,” She warned wagging her finger at him. Melinda stood and crossed her arms. “It’s not just shock or disillusion. It’s too specific to the Sight to be a coincidence."

“Melinda-,” His sign was cut off as she raised her hands into the air. “She’s human.”

“And her sons are our grandsons! Wolves! That has to mean something, Richard!”

Richard paused, those eyes, bright blue like ice. Eyes he gave Dean who then passed them to my sons. They focused on me and his lips pursed. It was easy to see the kind of man Dean may age into by looking at his dad. The two were so similar though the grey patches and wrinkles Richard held was what told their age difference. Like his son he emanated power and like his son, disapproving eyes was all that took me in.

“I have no reason to lie,” I said into the silence before standing. “Though to be honest, I do not care if no one believes me. I know something weird happened but if it helps me find my boys then I’ll make it happen again.”

“You would risk experiencing something you know nothing about to save them?” He wondered, following me with those intense eyes as I moved around the bed.

“I will risk death for my sons. I will murder for them. I will castrate the bastard who took them, be he wolf, human or a fucking vampire.” I waved a hand as Melinda opened her mouth, “And no I don’t really want to know if those things are real.”

“Vampires are not your concern,” Richard agreed folding his arms. Like the other men around here, he was dressed half formal. A pair of black trousers and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “However, wolves are.”

Dropping the bag, I’d been escorted in here with, onto the bed I raised my head and met his expectant gaze. Resting my hand on my hip, I awaited the lecture I felt brewing.

Richard obliged. “Wolves are not like human men. You need to learn how to act and speak around them. The structure and layout of this life is different. If you wish to remain here when we get back my grandsons, you will need to obey.”

Hackles rose along my neck and I felt my lips rising into a sneer. Heat coiled in the pit of my stomach, bubbling to the surface. “First off, they are MY sons. They will leave with me. I will not ‘wish to remain’ here with you. If you want your grandchildren in your life, you will act accordingly towards me. I birthed them, I raised them. I struggled and built a life by myself to care and support them. Know that I am not here for money or anything, only a means to take back what is mine. I don’t need you or Dean in their lives. Though - ”

That strange grumbling noise, which I was slowly equating to a dog growling, echoed around them room. It cut off though as Melinda slapped her hand onto her husbands arm and as his lips pinched together, the sound was gone.

“Did…Did you just fucking growl at me?”

“Don’t think to tell me what I can and can’t do,” Richard spat back, ignoring my question. “I am an Alpha and - .”

“And I’m a human who doesn’t have to obey that shit,” I cut off ripping open the bag and yanking out one of the many photos hidden within. I tossed it onto the bed and watched the pair of them snap their eyes to it.

My beautiful boys grinned up at them, eyes bright and glimmering in the light as they held their respective teddies in their grasps. Melinda glanced at me before pulling up the photo. Like Dean had done at the apartment, her fingers fluttered over their faces. Richard stepped closer and peered down over her shoulder.

“Though-,” I continued finishing my earlier speech. “I will never deny you visiting or seeing them. And I guess they will need to be around you all to learn. But I will not be forced to conform to a life I clearly do not belong to, nor will I be ripped apart from them because of it.”

“Their names?”

“Damon and Ryan.”

Richard and Melinda fell silent. 

His hands came to rest on her waist as she leant back and held the photo up higher. An ache blossomed within my chest as I watched them fall in love with the grandchildren they never knew existed. While a part of me yearned for the look in their eyes to have been what my parents had shown, a smaller side of me knew I could never deny them the right to see their grandchildren. Which was followed by the realisation that if they remained in my sons lives, so would their father and I bit down on my lip to suppress the groan at the trouble that would cause.

“Here,” I murmured nudging the bag towards them. It toppled over, spilling out more framed photos, some albums and their toys and some clothes. Whoever had packed this had been thorough and I was thankful for that.

Their teddies were in a separate bag, but I didn’t reach for them. No one would touch them but my sons.

Melinda all but fell on the albums, snatching the first one up and rifling through it with watering eyes. Richard continued to hold her, but his eyes levelled with mine.

“They are of my blood.”

“And mine.”

“Let’s make a deal then.”