Ace, Artur, and Moon looked at him, finding it weird the question, was so out of the blue. When she was about to answer him, Reese came running.
“Fuck! Are you fucking crazy, Artur?”
Artur looked at everyone, confused. “What, now?”
“How could you… Why did you bring her here, today, of all days?”
Griffin smirked, then chuckled and put down his book on the kitchen island, now observing the scene evolving in front of him as if he could taste something delicious out of it. “That’s why I’m asking you about your strength, Moon.”
“Ok, guys, I honestly don’t understand a shit of what you’re all saying…”, Moon sighed. “Elaborate further, please.”
“Gray is coming home.”, Reese said, exasperated. That sentence should already be enough, as he said, but no one understood him yet. “Griffin, help me, please.”
“Moon is a vanik,” Griffin stated.
“Well, that’s… obvious. We all know that.”, Artur snorted.
A loud honk was heard from outside the mansion.
Moon fidgeted in her place; something wasn’t right, and she was feeling, slowly, growing inside her.
“And our dear brother, Gray…”, Griffin said.
“Is a fucking vampire.”, Ace grabbed Artur by the collar. “Why did you bring us here, today?”
Artur looked confused and scared. “Fuck, I forgot. I completely forgot about it.”, he looked at Griffin. “Fin, your bike. Give me the keys. I’ll get her out of here…”, he turned to Moon, who was now staring blankly at Ace. “Moon, come on.”
“Hell, no…”, Moon muttered.
“Moon…”, Ace said softly. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s so not fair…”, her voice trembled. “What a fucked up life is mine, huh?”, she laughed, hysterically. “Oh, fuck.”, she wiped a tear.
The three Sutherland brothers were now silently looking at her odd behavior. It didn’t seem as if she was nervous at all when they all were.
“I can’t run away.”, she says, holding up her left hand to them.
“What are we supposed to see beside your hand?”
Ace sighs, hand on his hips, and tilted jaw. “A red thread. She’s your brother’s mate.”
“Tell me, G. How strong is your older brother?”
Griffin tilted his head, then smiled. “This is going to be interesting, isn’t it?”
“You know me. I always put up a good fight.”, she walks to a counter on the corner and roams through the cabinets, soon finding a hidden liquor. “Told you it’d be good to hide it here…”, she said to Artur.
“Can anyone explain to me what’s going to happen now?”, Reese sits on one of the stools. “Cause all I know is that vampires and witches aren’t a good mix.”
“Being a witch is not a problem.”, Moon says.
“Being a vanik is…”, Artur says and sighs, feeling completely distressed and guilty.
“A few hundred years ago, it was discovered that vanik blood was a great source of vitality and strength to vampires. Thus, they began being hunted, to stop the vaniks from being kidnapped, and most of the times, killed.”, Griffin said.
“But there were good vampires who were mated to vaniks and they caused no harm to their loved ones. Unfortunately, as time passed by, they ended up being consumed by this… thirst. And so, they ordered their mates to give them their blood. You know, right? Vanik's bodies automatically obey a vampire order. You can figure out what happened, then…”, Ace couldn’t stop looking at Moon, somewhat worried.
“The ones doing the hunting were alphas, so… They were on a killing spree.”, Griffin said. “You must be wondering, Moon, how the hell did our brother become one of them… He used to be an alpha. The strongest one around…”
“It was five years ago, on his trip to Trento, wasn’t it?”, Reese was remembering the incident.
“Yes.”, Griffin confirmed. “He was mugged and shot, multiple times, then was thrown in a forest. There was a vampire, who was living there, hiding, for the last eighty years… Gray told us he looked as if he was still in his thirties.”
“Without vanik blood, they can’t last long…”, Ace said.
“He learned a potion from a witch, one strong enough to keep him living like that…”, Griffin told.
“It’s possible.”, Moon said. “That’s why I wanna know how strong he is…”
“Honestly?”, Griffin asked; everyone looked at him, anticipating. “I think you’re equally strong.”
“Then it’s going to be a good fight.”, Moon drank a tall glass full of whiskey. “Cause I ain’t giving my blood to him… And he’s better not order me around, or I’ll kill him in his sleep.”, Moon then sniffed a couple of times. “Is it raining?”, she muttered to herself as she turned around, at the same time someone answered her.
“You can’t kill your mate.”, a male voice, accompanied by the smell of rain that only Moon could feel, spoke.
“Try me.”
“Let’s go…”, Griffin stood up and started pulling his brothers as he walked back to the living room. “You too, Ace, let’s go. Leave these two alone.”
In all the times she visited Artur’s, she’s never met, for once, his older brother, Gray. The man was always busy with work, whether staying up late in the family’s company or away, on a business trip. And that was something her uncle was grateful for.
Gray being a vampire was a tad bit dangerous for Moon.
But, overall, staying away from him was an easy task for her, after all, she and her uncle were not part of Berkshire like everyone else. And they always lead a simple life.
She was sure he didn’t even know her name.
For some odd reason, she couldn’t hear the party anymore; but the ticking of the wall clock was loud. Her body was numb, she didn’t even know whether she was breathing or not… Everything around her vibrated weirdly as if she was stuck between dimensions.
Gray was staring at her. His black hair was messy and a few strands were hanging over his forehead; somehow, it didn’t match his clean and sophisticated image. His black eyes looked empty, his face was expressionless. She asked herself why. Why wasn’t he feeling any of this? Or was he?
His collarbone and part of the torso were visible thanks to two undone buttons of his white social shirt. He had tattoos, which designs she couldn’t recognize since he was at least a foot taller than her.
“What are you thinking about?”
“What?”, Moon was brought back, realizing she’d been staring for way too long. “Great, just great.”, she thought, biting her lip in regret.
“What seems to interest you so much in me that you won’t stop staring at me?”
“Nothing interests me.”, she answered, a little irritated. “I’m getting ready to run away if you try anything…”
Gray chuckled.
“You can’t run away from me, you know that.”, he took a step closer to her. “Moon Bexley, I’m Gray Sutherland. Nice to meet you.”
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