“Ready?” I nodded and he motioned for the door to open. We all shuffled in, the room was medium sized and brightly lit. Arrow was pacing the expanse of the room and we all took a place. There was more than enough room for all of us. As the door shut behind us the din of movement and people quieted. Arrow looked up and surveyed us all. His eyes landed on me and he moved. Stopping just a few feet away, he looked me up and down.
“You look fine.” He gritted exasperated. I cocked my head and clutched my chest in mock appreciation.
“That is the best compliment anyone has ever given me.” Ember sniggered on the couch curled up with Declan. Arrow regarded them for a moment and then turned back to me, glaring.
“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through? You disappeared for two days. I thought you were dead.” I smiled at him.
“I’m fine.” I informed him, his glare intensified.
“Obviously.” I shook my head smiling. He reached up and flicked me on the forehead. “No, Fable. It’s not funny. I get a call in the middle of the night from a terrified Addie, convinced you’ve gone and died. I find a butt load of vampire corpses and your blood littered all over the scene. But your scent is gone, covered by wolves. At this point I’m convinced you’ve been abducted by your wolfish paramour, which was the entire reason I came to town. I run throughout the entire city trying to find your scent and find nothing. I get another call in the middle of the night, this time from Salem and this is what he says: she's alive. That's it, that's all he says, and then he hangs up. I tried calling him back but he wouldn’t pick up. I called Echo, I even called Mom, they were no help. Convinced I was being overly dramatic.” He threw his hands in the air and started pacing again.
“You are being overly dramatic.” He growled at me and the wolves around me tensed. His growl was not one of an animal, it scraped like metal on metal, eerie and piercing. I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m perfectly alright, Arrow. Alive and un-abducted.” He looked me over and the anger left his face, replaced by the fear he had felt. The panic we all knew, we held it close to us and barely ever let it show. But we had been through too much, me and my sibling, not to have the ever lingering fear that one of us would die. We had made it out of that hell, we had all survived, yet still we were scarred.
I moved to him and held him in my arms, my baby brother. Years had passed and he no longer required my protection, but he would always have it. He wrapped his arms around me.
“I thought you were dead.” His voice broke and I held him tighter. I was aware of the wolves in attendance, though they had all taken to looking anywhere but at us. A brief moment passed where we just held each other and I was able to succumb to the pain and fear I had experienced when faced with almost dying.
“The vampires surprised me,” I explained. “Some took a bite out of me and the wolves saved my life.” I whispered into Arrow’s ear and he nodded, accepting that and we separated.
“You're alright?” He asked, wanting one more clarification and I nodded. He sighed and then turned to the crowd. The wolves were awkwardly trying to give us some privacy, even in the enclosed room. They failed. Miserably.
When I turned, Lupin met my eyes and I smiled sadly. I felt the question through the Bond, he wanted to know if I was ok. I nodded soberly and he gave me a reassuring smile.
“Okay.” Arrow announced loudly and all of the wolves turned to look at him. “Now that my raging panic has ebbed, I must be made aware which one of you is Lupin.” I looked at him dryly and he shrugged.
“I called mom.” He said as an explanation. I winced remembering he had said that.
“What’d she say?” I asked, trying hard to prepare myself. He gave a lopsided shrug.
“Well she was pissed. Went on a rant about keeping secrets and then hung up to chastise Salem. He’s now rather pissed at me for ratting him out.” I nodded. I was kind of pissed too, he rolled his eyes. “I called her back about an hour ago when your lovely dove-like wolf friends dropped me off in this room. I informed her that you were alive and kicking, and…” He scrunched up his face taking a few steps back. “I may have also told her that we were being magnanimously hosted by your new canine companion.” I bared my teeth at him and he smiled tightly. “Suffice to say, she’s jubilant.” I groaned and had to fight the very strong urge to strangle my brother.
“I hate you.” I stated and he blew me a kiss, I batted feverishly at the air and he chuckled.
“I don’t get it.” Ember said, drawing the attention to her. “Why is that a bad thing?” I laughed at her but Arrow answered.
“You obviously don’t know our mother.” She looked him over and was obviously unimpressed, she turned back to me.
“Why is that a bad thing?” She asked again, I laughed. Yep, I definitely liked her. Arrow, ever persistent, didn’t give up.
“Our mother is a bit of a romance enthusiast and is increasingly excited that all her children are starting their love voyages.” I shook my head at him.
“Echo’s still a free little bird.” He shrugged but nodded.
“Yes, but to her Echo’s still a little baby so she doesn't count. Either way, in her mind, grandchildren will soon be spilling out of her wazoo.” Rayen choked on a laugh as I stared at my brother. I opened my mouth trying to say something, I closed it, unsuccessful and tried again, once more I failed. Arrow winked at me.
“Don’t worry, I’ll wait.” I picked up the pillow behind me on the chair and threw it at him, he caught it and threw it back, I dodged and it landed harmlesses on the floor. Ava leaned forward in her chair, brows raised, regarding Lupin.
“Your mate is acting like a child.” I pursed my lips and crossed my arms.
“He started it.” I muttered and Ava shrugged in an I told you so manner, leaning back in her seat. Arrow stepped forward, studying Lupin.
“So you're my sister's mate?” Lupin watched him unsure how to respond, he looked at me imploring but I just smiled. Arrow continued on, not needing social cues. “Would you mind if I took a picture of you? My mother wants a reference so she can be prepared for how attractive your children will be.”
“Arrow.” I reprimanded, he cackled gleefully, turning and snapping a quick photo of Lupin. He danced away, typing quickly into his phone, undoubtedly sending it to our mother. Lupin stared at me, extremely perturbed. I laughed at the look on his face. This was just one of my family members.
“Look what you’ve done to poor Lupin.” I chastised teasingly. Arrow looked up at the two of us, narrowed his eyes and typed something more. “Now what?” I asked and he smiled, impishly.
“Just informing her that you're on a first name basis.” I shook my head and turned to Lupin.
“I’m sorry, my mother’s going to put our relationship into a novel.” Arrow scoffed, still typing.
“I wouldn’t put it past her.” He muttered and I chuckled. I turned, feeling Lupin’s eyes on me, he looked almost lost. I moved closer to him, he was sitting on a couch near the door. I stopped in front of him and reached for his hand.
“What is it?” I asked, for whatever reason, feeling slightly afraid. He squinted his eyes up at me.
“We have a… relationship?” I laughed and knelt down to look him in the eye.
“Whether this ends good or bad we definitely have a relationship. Convoluted as it might be.” I shrugged and he smiled.
“Look at me.” Arrow sang and we turned, he was three feet from us and snapped another photo. He gave us a thumbs up and walked away. “Thanks, that's a much better photo.” I growled at him and he flashed me a cheeky smile.
“Is he always like this?” I turned to Rayen, who sat at the far end of the same couch, smiling from ear to ear. I appreciated the distance she was giving Lupin, I liked not wanting to rip out her throat. I nodded and rolled my eyes at her question.
“Yep, my entire family is insane.”
“So are you.” Arrow quipped.
“I’m a part of the family, idiot.” I snapped back and all the wolves smiled at our banter.
“Didn’t you say he took out all the wolves that went to apprehend him?” Declan asked Tristan. The brown haired wolf nodded, eyeing my brother while standing beside Rayen, leaning against the couch.
“They were all incompasistated in moments and Davis says he could have killed them if he wanted to.” Tristan looked over at Lupin and I, arms crossed. “They all said he was made of shadows, claimed he was the commander of the dark, or something like that. Most of them were scared out of their wits, the others were in complete awe.” I smiled small, that sounded like my brother. Ava’s eyes slid to me.
“Can all banshee’s do that?” I shook my head but explained no more. She watched me for a moment more than turned to Tristan.
“You believe what they're saying?” He raised a brow.
“They have no reason to lie. And their wolves, if someone beats their ass, they tend to form a god complex.” I scrunched my face at him.
“Don’t tell my brother that.” He smiled at me and nodded. I turned to face Ava again.
“You think my brother isn’t capable of it?” She shrugged.
“He just seems rather harmless.” We all turned to watch my brother, smiling at his phone and typing something in response. I looked back at her and tilted my head, smiling pretty.
“But don’t I also appear rather… harmless?” She shivered as I let the monster whisper the word. He scratched and clawed at the little room I had given him. I sighed, reconfining him, it had been too long since I had let him out. He needed to stretch, but not here, not now.
I looked at my brother, seemingly focused on his phone. Then I regarded the wolves and decided my game plan. Secrets were secret, and if they didn’t have to be revealed then why reveal them? I pulled the Veil over myself, and stepped out of my body, standing in the Astral realm. It was the little foothold that banshee’s used to commune with the dead, the inbetween.
I sent my soul there, my physical body still blinking and breathing and looking between the wolves, smiling at their jokes. Arrow’s soul joined me soon enough, his own body still typing into his phone. He looked at me, his soul a translucent apparition of his physical form. His brows were raised, hands in his pockets.
“What?” He implored. “You don’t trust your doggy-day pals?” I regarded him dryly.
“They saved my life and for that I’m grateful.” He cocked his head.
“Oh, how formal you are.”
“Drop it, Arrow.” His shoulders sagged and his face pulled sad.
“You like them, Fable. Why can’t you just admit that?” I shook my head.
“I have secrets they can’t know, we both do.” He rolled his eyes exasperated.
“None of us would fault you if you told them.”
“And if they used it against us?” He shrugged.
“Then we’d deal with it. As a family, as we always have.” I looked away and heard him sigh. “Look at me, Fable.” I complied and his eyes were kind, the same warm brown as our fathers. “You are mated to the Alpha of the Pennsylvania Pack. Whether you accept it or not, you will always be connected to the werewolves. And this guy? Lupin? He’s extremely powerful. The Shadows around here told me he was accidently elected into the position.” I nodded. My brother sighed and continued.
“My point is that, even if he switched Packs, he’s likely to be Alpha anywhere he goes.” He chuckled, wickedly amused. “Fable, you're mated to the strongest werewolf there is.” I scoffed, but knew not to disagree, only idiots went against my brother's intel. He shrugged at my still blatant disbelief. “It makes sense, in an odd way.” I shook my head.
“None of this makes sense, Arrow.” He threw up his hands.
“Fine, it's all coo-coo bananas. What did you want to talk to me about.” I sighed.
“The vampires talked to me.” He raised an eyebrow.
“And what splendid conversation did they give you?” I leaned on the back of my heels.
“They delightfully informed me that the Commander of Love and Desire plans to eat my heart.” Both of his brows raised then furrowed.
“That's impossible, they’re locked away. They couldn’t possibly escape.” I flicked an eyebrow at him.
“Are you positive?” I asked, simply because he needed to be, I needed him to be. A long moment passed while he mulled over the possibilities. His eyes met mine and I was almost positive he was going to cry.
“Fuck.” Was all he said, and his aspiration was sucked back into his body.
Comments (0)
See all