“I would like to speak with your wolf, Fable.”

My body went tense, not liking the idea. I turned involuntarily and looked at Lupin. He appeared less ragged, my panic had diminished relatively, thanks to Addie’s distraction. She had always been good at that, being the light in the dark, perfect for my brother. Lupin raised his eyebrows at me and I shrugged, it was his choice. He nodded and stood, making his way across the room and stopping next to me. 

“I am here.” He said. Arrow scratched his head and gave one a pointed look, I ignored him. 

“I realize you are my sister's mate, and so I will not prohibit her from choosing to trust you with this much information, even if I do not agree.” Lupin glanced at me. 

“If you ask me she has given me very little information.” 

“It is a good thing I did not ask you, then.” Lupin tensed at my brother's words and I looked away. I was so not getting in the middle of this. “My sister has given you much, Wolf. There are many who would kill for the information you now have, and many more who would kill her for giving it to you. Yet still it is her information to give. I would be grateful, if I were you, that you know anything at all. Even I do not know all of my sisters secrets.” Lupin's shoulders rolled as he adjusted to that information. “If you do choose to betray her, Wolf, know that we will kill you swiftly and mercilessly. You will find that we are family first, and Impiriuil’s second.” Lupin glanced at Arrow and I. 

“This man you are all afraid of, how are you certain he played a part?” 

“My brother said so.” Salem answered, simply. Lupin narrowed his eyes, studying Arrow, who winked at him in turn. 

“Couldn’t he be wrong?” Lupin asked.

“No.” We all responded instantly, Arrow hitting an air drum on cue with our response. I shook my head. 

“Arrow is never wrong,” I explained to Lupin. Arrow bowed to me, humbled, I rolled my eyes. “And he wouldn’t suggest this unless he was sure.” Arrow nodded, but his smile lost a bit of it’s joy. 

“And this man, why is he after you?” Lupin asked, he kept his voice flat, he knew he was reaching. Salem sighed. 

“That is my sister’s secret, and hers alone to share.” Lupin sighed. 

“And I suppose I shouldn’t even try to ask what his name is.” Both Arrow and I smiled, but it was Salem who answered. 

“We do not know his name, no one does.” Lupin looked over at me with a question in his eyes. I shrugged. 

“We call him Carter.” His brows raised. 

“Why?” I shrugged again.

“He asked me to pick a modern name for him. It just so happened to be that Carter was the name of the boy that peed himself in front of the entire school in second grade.” I threw my hands up in the air. “You know, coincidences, they happen all the time.” Lupin scoffed and Arrow was grinning, it was one of the few things we got away with, and He never found out.

“So this… Carter.” Lupin started. “He wants you dead?” My breath caught, any amusement that had been there before disappeared. 

No, He didn’t want me dead. He wanted me back. 

I shuddered and Lupin started, he felt it, the fear, the dread, the pain, I couldn’t hold it back. Not about Him. It was a nightmare and it was all too real. 

“I’m sorry.” Lupin whispered, I shook my head, it was not his fault. Not his fault that I was a monster and not his fault that I hated that I was a monster. 

The monster under my skin turned, offended. I caressed him, calming him. 

It’s not your fault either. We are what we are. We are one. 

He stopped his protesting and stroked me back. Claws scraping gently against my soul. It was not my fault either.  

Thank you. 

And at that he settled back into my bones. Sleeping until called upon. 

“I think that's enough, Salem. Thank you for answering our question.” I said realizing a long moment of silence had passed.

“Of course, Fable.” I picked up the phone, about to hang up. 

“Wait,” Addie called. “Emmaline’s been calling you, Fable.” I winced. 

“Tell her my phone broke.” Addie tsked. 

“I’ll tell her, but that’s not going to stop your mother.” I winced again. 

“I know, I’ll call her. Kiss Izze for me.”

“I will, bye.” The line clicked and went silent. I turned off the phone and handed it to Arrow. He mumbled his thanks and pocketed it. 

I turned around and took in the wolves. They all looked… confused. I suppose there were worse things. 

“OK.” Tristan blinked, sitting forward. “Who in the world are you?” Yep, that would be worse things. 

“I’m Fable Walker.” I answered simply, bluntly deflecting the question. Ava raised her brows at me. 

“What is an Impiriuil?” I smiled softly. 

“I am.” I answered. She narrowed her eyes at me.

“I thought you were a banshee.” I nodded, shrugging. 

“I am. People can be two things.” She snorted and sunk into the couch. 

“You don’t have to tell me that.” The werewolf intoned. I smiled an apology at her and she cocked her head in acceptance. 

“So you're going to tell us nothing?” Rayen asked, genuinely curious, a smile on her lips. 

“I’ve told you plenty.” I growled, some part of me still wanting to rip open her throat. This time the girl had the good sense to straighten her back and widen her shoulders, finally realizing the threat I presented to her. I smiled a little and shook my head, clearing the anger. 

“Sorry.” I told her and she relaxed, brushing it off once again. I sighed and addressed all the wolves in the room. “I will tell you what I am comfortable with you knowing, at this point. You may ask your questions and I may choose not to answer.” I turned to Lupin. “Does that seem fair to you?” Lupin nodded solemnly. Everyone else agreed, it was only Rayen who spoke up. 

“I understand the distrust, Fable, truly. But I can promise you that we will not betray you, at least not intentionally.” Arrow nodded, stepping forward. 

“I can vouch for that. None of them hold any ill will towards you, in fact, most of them have the best of intentions.” He nodded towards Ava. “Only she is skeptical of you. But that only means she is the smartest among them.” Ava smiled brightly at him and I chuckled, then turned back to Rayen. 

“Unfortunately, your intentions change nothing. I do not trust you, and you can not expect me to so quickly.” I shrugged. “I like you all, despite my better judgement. And I wish to trust you with time. That is why I am still here.” I met her eyes, urging her to understand. She looked at me for a long while and then nodded.

“Let's start off simply.” Declan declared after Rayen had agreed. “Who is Eros and why is she trying to kill you?” I squinted at the wall. Now, I had to actually figure out how to answer that, and how much of it I wanted to answer. Sheesh, lying is so much easier. I sighed. 

“Ok, I figure everyone is familiar with Cupid?” I asked and they all nodded. “Great, well Erote’s are winged creatures with a divine power to make any being love them wholeheartedly. The difference between the typical Cupid is that Erotes don’t use arrows and they tend to eat the hearts of those that love them.” I let that sink in for a moment. When no one asked any questions I continued. “Erotes, while they aren’t gods in the traditional sense, are divine and thus killing them has its problems. Typically when an Erote dies they become Wraiths. Wraiths are the same to Ghosts, except for the fact that they are confined to the Veil forever, unable to cross over. Wraiths are a rare occurrence, and typically a banshee can live out their entire life span without running into a Wraith. However when such a thing does happen Wraiths tend to get clingy and try to hitch a ride back to the mortal realm. Of course it doesn't work that way, we can’t resurrect people, even if we wanted to. 

“Anyway, one day a banshee was strolling through the Veil and happened upon an Erote’s Wraith. The Wraith came towards him, he was preparing to run, but then the Wraith did something unusual and stopped in front of him. They had a conversation, apparently it was quite riveting, because the banshee agreed to come back and talk to the Wraith the next day. It went on like that for about a week. Little did the banshee know that the Erote’s Wraith was slowly making him fall in love.” 

“I predict this story ends badly.” Tristan whispered, earning a sharp shush from everyone in attendance. I laughed as Rayen rubbed his hand, choosing to stay loyal. I started up again after waiting for everyone's attention. 

“One day the banshee went to talk, once again, with the Wraith. Only this time the banshee professed his love for the Wraith. The Wraith took this declaration, smiled, and ripped out his heart.” 

“Told you.” Tristan whispered, earning more shushes.

“As the Wraith ate the heart, slowly he regained his organic body. And with the last bite the Erote was alive once again.” Ava tsked and turned to Tristan. 

“It ended just fine for the Erote.” Tristan scowled. 

“But we’re not rooting for the Erote. They are evil and eat people's hearts.” Ava pursed her lips. 

“She never said they were evil.” Tristan hissed.

“It’s implied.” He gritted between his teeth. 

“May I continue?” I asked. They both looked at me and nodded sheepishly. Beside me Lupin chuckled. I started once again. “Ok, so, the knowledge that the consumption of a banshee’s heart could free the Erote’s Wraithes was quickly spread throughout the Veil. Soon banshees were going into the Veil and never coming back. This presented a problem and thus the war between banshee’s and Erotes began. We won, in the end, all the Erotes are dead, or as dead as they can be. We locked up all the Wraiths in a cell specifically designed to intrap the Dead, none have ever escaped.” I sighed. “Well, until now. Eros, the one Carter has oh so graciously released, has a specific vendetta against me.” I squinted. “You see, I killed her brother, and she believes that my death, by her eating my heart and thus regaining life, is a fitting end.” Declan raised a brow.

“Why not give her brother your heart?” I winced. 

“They were half siblings, I wouldn’t even classify him as an Erote. When I killed him he passed on to wherever the Dead go, after the Veil.” Declan tilted his head at me, realizing something. 

“How old were you when this happened?” I pursed my lips.

“Well I was eleven when I killed him, it was an accident. An instinctual reaction to his presence. But the war of Love and Death predates me by a few centuries.” He nodded and went back to his thoughts. 

“Why vampires?” Tristan asked and I shrugged. 

“Well she's dead, there's only so much at her disposal. The Undead are easy enough for her to control, and obviously effective, when your target is unarmed and unprepared.” Tristan smiled at me, mischief sparking in his eyes. Tristan shifted his gaze behind me, to Arrow.

“How stupid is it to suggest sparring with her?” The wolf asked. Slowly a wicked smile grew on my brother's face. 

“Very.” He said, more a dare than a warning. I shook my head, boys. Rayen reached out and squeezed his shoulder. 

“You can’t spar with her, dear. She’s decided to let the disgruntled wolves challenge her as they see fit. I figure giving her the element of surprise will help her to win.” Lupin gave me a look and I shrugged.

“I needed the exercise, and besides, it’s not everyday that you get to fight werewolves.” He shook his head but didn’t argue, it surprised me. I narrowed my eyes at him. 

“Why was there no fight? What are you planning?” He looked at me sidelong, arms crossed over his chest. 

“I’m not planning anything. They’re my wolves, they won’t touch you.” He spoke with conviction and I knew he could do it. Make all the disagreements go away with one pointed snarl. I turned to face him fully, crossing my arms. 

“Your wolves don’t think I have what it takes, and you stepping in to stop them only proves them right. I need to prove myself or there is no point in this.” He turned to me intrigued. “If there is any chance of this ever working out between us, I need to show your wolves who I am.” He raised his eyebrows at me. 

“You won’t even show me who you are.” I looked at him sadly, feeling his pain at the statement. 

“No, Lupin, I won’t show you what I am. Who I am is always open to you.” He looked at me for a long time and then cocked his head. 

“You want to fight some werewolves?” He asked, mildly questioning my sanity. I smiled real bright at him. 

“I promise not to kill them.” Ava scoffed. 

“You have to kill them, those are the rules.” I sighed. 

“My skill is a surprise and I have to kill them? Where's the challenge in that?” Most of the wolves stared at me, convinced I was crazy. Tristan smiled, teeth on display. 

“Can I please spar with her?” He asked no one in particular. 

“No.” Lupin growled.

“I’m always up for a good sparring match.” Arrow suggested. Tristan glanced at me.

“Could he beat you?” I pursed my lips, thinking it over. 

“Probably not, but he’d give me a run for my money. And he’d definitely beat you.” Arrow nodded. 

“Yep, the Shadow’s have spoken and they say you're going down, Wolf.” Tristan tilted his head, brows furrowed. 

“Shadows?” He asked. I groaned internally, apparently we’re telling them this. Arrow smiled at the wolf. 

“Yeah, I’m Shadow Kissed.” Every wolf in the room turned and looked at my brother, then turned to me, looked back at my brother and grimaced. I dragged a hand over my eyes. There were only three Shadow Kissed creatures in history. All of them were born as lesser Fae and the kiss from the Shadows made them powerful beyond imagining. One was a great hero, one committed horrible atrocities, and the last lived as a king. My brother is the strongest Shadow Kissed in history, and the fourth one to ever be born. 

A long moment of silence echoed throughout the room. Slowly, Tristan smiled. 

“Ok then, can I spar with him?” Rayen hit him in the arm and forbade him from doing life threatening things voluntarily. I laughed and felt the relief hit me like a wave. To know that they didn’t resent him for being what he was. Deadly and overly powerful. They knew yet still they let him into their group. I realized Lupin was watching me and I looked up at him, he smiled kindly. 

“We’re all monsters here, Fable.” My heart swelled, I don’t think he’d ever understand the gravity the statement held for me. I smiled at him. 

“If I have to kill the wolves, can you at least make it fair and let them kill me too?” Lupin sighed and was about to answer when the laughter of his friends made him turn. My brother had joined them in their little circle. They talked, laughing and sharing. Lupin turned back to me.

“You could really beat him?” I glanced over at my brother again and smiled. 

“Yes. Your family might be comprised of monsters, but so is mine.” He narrowed his eyes but nodded. 

“Very well. I will let my wolves kill you.” I giggled. 

“Thank you.”