Dinner with werewolves is exactly as it sounds, loud and full of meat. Wolves tended to eat in packs and so groups were assigned to the dining rooms. Multiple rooms, an entire apartment dedicated to food and tables. Typically the groups were decided by the floor the wolves resided on. And the floor level is decided by the rank of the wolf. The Alpha got the highest floor, the penthouse, all to himself. The floor below that was dedicated to Lupin's council and inner circle. Lupin ate with his inner circle, his family.

Three new people joined our group for dinner. Taron Faeyer, Rayen's father and Lupin’s uncle, walked in rather unceremoniously. He had pitch black hair and shared identical eyes with Ember. I assumed Rayen received her looks from her mother, who was noticeably absent. Lupin informed me that she had died when Rayen was very young. 

The two others to join our rooms of food, were brought in by a young willowy looking blonde female. She smiled warmly at the room full of wolves and buckled two children into high chairs. Their names were Autumn and August, a girl and a boy, twins. They looked to be about two years old and laughed gleefully at Ember and Declan. The young parents smiled fondly at their babies. The children were basically reflections of each other, they had Ember's blue eyes and dark hair. Beautifully inscribed with Declan’s dark skin, just a shade lighter. They were truly going to grow up pretty. 

Arrow said as much, though a bit more creudly. Informing the happy parents that their kids were going to grow up to be spectacular sluts. It started a heated argument about what to say and what not to say when a thought comes to mind, which was somehow brought back around to babies. 

Arrow explained that he planned to have a horde of children and teach them all to be his spies and soldiers. Tristan agreed that the plan was fool proof and declared that he would do the same. The boys then suggested that they should join their child armies together, to make it larger and more impenetrable. Rayen then stated, very passively, that child armies were all well and good as long as the boys planned to birth the children themselves. The room erupted with laughter when the boys lamented that the plan might indeed have some flaws. 

I turned to Rayen, still smiling, as she chose to ignore Tristan’s goofy smile.

“Do you plan to have children?” I asked, she chuckled but before she could answer Arrow piped in. 

“Wow, Fable, talk about personal.” I shot my, rather drunk, brother a glare, he playfully shuddered. 

“No it’s fine,” Rayen brushed off. “We’re wolves, all we do is ask uncomfortable questions.” She smiled brightly. “To answer your question, we do, but we want to wait until after we’ve been Bound.” As she spoke Tristan slid his hand into hers and squeezed it affectionately. 

“What’s Bound?” I asked, brow raised. It was Ava who answered. 

“It’s like marriage but for werewolves. We don’t have girlfriends or boyfriends, we wait for our mate. And once our mate is found, typically the Bond is accepted quickly, so we never use fancy words like finance or betrothed. We’re just mates and then we’re Bound. Which is basically just declaring your acceptance of the Bond in front of your friends and family.” She shrugged. “Just like marriage.” I chuckled and turned to Lupin, who sat beside me at the circular table.

“Is the ceremony the same as the humans?” He nodded as he swallowed the food in his mouth. 

“Yes, for the most part. I think the most noticeable difference is we don’t exchange rings.” There was a beat of awkward silence and he didn’t explain further. 

“Well, what do you exchange?” I asked, realizing no one was going to offer up the answer. It was Ember who smiled sadly and twisted around in her chair. She pulled her hair up and we all stared at the back of her neck. Two half circles branded, red and harsh, scared over the bone of her neck, undoubtedly imprinted by the teeth of a wolf. 

“What the hell is that?” Arrow declared to the silent room, his fork stopped halfway to his mouth. Oddly enough, it was Taron who answered. 

“That is the Mark.” He breathed. “Two Mates receive the Mark when they are Bound. The werewolves will Turn and then bite right above the neck where the brainstem is located. This act is to represent the control the wolf has over their monster and the control they are now freely giving to their mate. The recipient of the Mark is meant to endure the pain as a testament to their ability to now control two monsters. Both mates are given the Mark from each other and the audience is meant to witness the mates willingness and capability.” He sighed and looked at both my brother and I. His face was the picture of concern and tiredness. All the wolves watched us, waiting. A long moment of silence passed as I looked around confused. 

“Wait,” Arrow announced loudly, drawing everyone's attention. He turned to Lupin and smiled broadly. “You plan to bite my sister on the back of her neck?” Laughter entered his words. “You're going to give your monster to her?” He couldn’t go any further, the image in his head amusing him too much. If I were to really think about it, I would also be amused. I shook my head refusing to laugh along with Arrow’s immaturity. 

“Stop it Arrow.” I reprimanded lightly. He hit the wooden table with the palm of his hand.

“Come on, Fable. Can’t you imagine it? Hundreds of wolves in attendance and him trying to bite you-” He broke off into bursts of laughter and despite myself I smiled at the mental picture. I shook my head again as he tickled himself silly. 

I looked around realizing the stillness of the werewolves. The worry on their faces had lessened and was now replaced with confusion. I looked pointedly at Lupin, placed my hand flat on the wooden table and pretended to pick up a card. This was a card I was keeping. He nodded, seeming to understand, but his eyes narrowed. 

“You're not repulsed by the practices of werewolves? Biting and scarring?”  I shook my head realizing the source behind the werewolves unease. But no, both my brother and I had seen too many gruesome things to be freaked out by a bite mark. I shrugged as the wolves relaxed. 

“You should hear about some of the banshee’s practices. That will really turn your stomach.” The wolves relaxed fully and my brother’s laughing fit seemed to be ebbing. 

“What do banshee’s exchange at weddings?” Tristan asked, I looked at him. 

“Rings.” I said, overly expressing a belief in his stupidity. The wolves chuckled as I thought about it. “It’s an old tradition and not many people use it now, mostly because it’s rather archaic. But banshee’s used to tie each other's souls together over the Veil. It made it so that when one of the pair died, the tied soul would follow. Basically when one died, so did the other.” Rayen made a face. 

“Why did they agree to it?” I shrugged.

“It was the promise that they would be with the one they loved even after life and it was tradition.” 

“Are there any banshee traditions that Lupin should be aware of before going in?” Declan asked, a rare smile on his face. “I mean, now that you know our weirdest one, it seems only fair that he be made aware.” I chuckled and thought about it.

“No, I mean, we basically just do the same as the humans. Except we don’t wear white, the color is too dead, banshee brides wear blue.” I smiled, remembering Salem’s wedding and Addie’s beautiful sapphire gown. 

“And,” Arrow helpfully reminded me. “Don’t forget that the mother walks the bride down the aisle, not the father.” He rolled his eyes. “Banshees, all about the women.” The wolves looked at me with questions in their eyes, I hurried to explain swallowing the drink in my mouth.

“Banshee’s were created by the six Keeners, all of them women. They were our ruler’s long ago, but immortal beings can only be fascinated with the mortals for so long. Yet still our rulers have always been women, so we tend to be a little more traditionally important.” I shrugged. “The Keeners returned to serving as Death’s acolytes, guiding the ghosts to their resting place and we continued on.” Ava cocked a brow. 

“And do you know what that is? You know, what’s waiting for us on the other side.” I smiled small, it felt stiff on my lips. 

“There are five realms that banshees are all aware of. The most significant for us is the Astral Realm, where ghosts and wraiths reside. The Divine Realm is a seemingly empty world composed of nothing but Magic, it is the realm that witches draw on for their power. It is believed that it used to be the home for Gods, when the world was still too undeveloped for the use of sentient beings. Then, of course, there's the Mortal Realm, which is where we reside. Some believe that our Realm is either right next to the Divine or at the center of them all. This theory was concluded because of the magic leaking slowly into this world, a Realm obviously designed not to have magic.”

“Obviously.” Tristan muttered, Declan swatted him.

“Be quiet, I'm trying to learn something interesting.” The big wolf whined. Arrow groaned, slumping onto the table.

“It feels like I’m back in school.” He complained. I ignored them all and continued. 

“The Veil is the place between each Realm. It’s not really a Realm itself as it is the divide between the Realms. Then there's the space above the Veil, called the Void, it’s an endless plain of nothingness, you can’t stay in there for very long without going insane. Then there’s the last Realm,” I watched as Arrow tensed, barely moving and then relaxing, as if it was just a muscle spasm. We both refused to meet the other’s eye as memories tried to resurface and we stuffed them back down. I cleared my head of the nightmares. “The Infernal Realm. It’s basically like the human’s Underworld. The only things that reside there are the Dead and those born to, or slaves to, Death’s court.” Tristan raised his eyebrows.

“So that's the answer, when we die we pass on to the Infernal Realm?” I paused for a moment and looked down at my half finished plate. 

“I hope not.” It was all I said.

“You forgot one,” Ava said to me. “What about the Fairy Realm?” Thankfully my brother took that question. 

“It’s not really a Realm,” He explained. “The Fairies made their land with Magic, so it doesn't really exist. Just one bad spell and the entire kingdom could disappear forever. Still, it is quite impressive.” 

“Have you seen it?” Declan asked, in the process of cleaning up Autumn’s messy tray. My brother nodded a wince on his face, and didn’t elaborate. 

“Arrow is currently courting a Fae.” I explained. “She’s a pixie, to be exact, and her name is Lani. They met about three years ago at a party and my brother discovered a strong love towards red haired fairies with a stubborn attitude.” Arrow sank lower into his seat and I smiled. “However there is a slight problem with pursuing a stubborn person who initially declares to never fall in love with you.” The wolves sniggered warmly at Arrow’s noises of disdain.