"How's James?" I ask the Immortal as he comes back downstairs. I can no longer refer to him as Mr Coleman in my head. I know it's only an alias and for some reason, it doesn't feel right. I feel like I shouldn't be referring to him so formally. It feels like I should know him. If what he says is true then we've known each other for centuries.

"He's sleeping. Finding out your world isn't what you thought it was is difficult and takes a lot out of you." He replies sounding pretty tired himself. He gives me a look which tells me he wasn't only referring to James.

"Alex is doing okay. She always knew she was born with the wrong body, but with our family being the way it is she could never be herself around them." I tell him.

"Actually I was referring to you." He says giving me a sideways smile.

"Oh! I just thought . . . I'm doing ok. The whole being the reincarnation of one of the Immortals thing was a bit of a shock. I'm still not entirely sure I believe you to tell you the truth, but some part of me feels like it makes sense. It would explain quite a bit actually. How I sometimes know things I shouldn't and remember things that never happened to me. My powers and how I can do things that even the oldest and most powerful Sage's can't. Even the strange dreams I sometimes have, but it's just so unbelievable you know?"

"I know." He replies quietly. His smile is kind and understanding. His presence is so warm and comforting. I feel the emotions within me which had been starting to bubble up and overflow, settle. He really cares about me and Alex. This man may be a stranger to me but I don't intend for it to stay that way for long.

"What should I call you?" I ask suddenly. "I know your name isn't really Mr Coleman and I can't just call you the Immortal so what do you want me to call you?" 

The smile he gives me in response could brighten a dark room. It banishes the sadness from his eyes and makes him look younger than he did before.

"Lucien. It's the name I was given by Zenon and it's what you and Luna have always referred to me as. You don't mind that I call you and your sister by your original names do you? I've just always known you as Nix and Luna."

"It's fine. For some reason, it feels right coming from you. I feel like it would be weird having you call me anything else." I reply. I don't know where this sentiment is coming from but it feels right saying it.

Just then Alex walked in from where she'd been sitting in the kitchen carrying two mugs of coffee.

"I made everyone coffee." She says handing a mug to each of us. "Sorry I didn't ask before going through your cupboards. I just needed to do something you know."

"It's fine. You may not remember but this is your house too." Replies Lucien as the last was directed at him.

"But that's just the thing. I do remember. That's how I knew where to find the mugs. You still put them in the same cupboard as you did almost 200 years ago."

Hearing this we are all silent for a moment as we absorb this new piece of information.

"How much do you remember?" Lucien asks calmly.

"Not much. Just pieces here and there. Little things you normally wouldn't even think about. Nothing really. I . . ." Before she could finish her sentence her voice broke and her lower lip started to wobble as tears came streaming down her face.

Suddenly her legs gave out from underneath her, but before she could fall to the ground Lucien caught her and held her close as she sobbed into his shoulder for the second time that day.

I had never seen Alex this emotional before. She hadn't cried in years. Not since father had taken away her favourite stuffed animal. He had said she was too old for those sorts of toys and when she had cried he hit her, told her that only girls cried and to "man up". We had been 4 at the time. Ever since then Alex had been very careful to hide any emotion or sign that she was trans. She could never bring herself to cut her hair though. It was her one open show of her gender. Father allowed it as it was not uncommon among Werewolves for the men to have longer hair than was the standard. He had no idea she was doing it as a way to feel more feminine.

Seeing her cry like this was too much. I felt her emotions through our Twin Bond. Her love, sadness, and loss washed over me like waves in a storm. They overwhelmed me and I soon felt tears running down my own cheeks.

Lucien saw this and opened one of his arms, holding Alex in the other. I found myself falling into his embrace and clutching at his shirt as I too began to sob. Alex turned to me and we held each other and cried within the circle of Lucien's arms.

As we did this images flashed through my head. Memories from our previous lives, some from Alex, some from Lucien and some my own. I was past my disbelief now. I could no longer deny what I already knew to be true, so I accepted the memories and opened my mind to encompass the three of us.

I feel a wet nose nudge my hand and look down to see Sirius looking up at us through big intelligent eyes. I give the wolf a weak smile and scratch behind its ears. He closes his eyes before turning and sitting down, keeping watch over us.

We stayed like that for a while, letting the past flow over us as we calmed down and the tears slowly stopped raining from our eyes. By the time we had pulled ourselves together the coffee had gone cold so Alex put on another pot and Lucien started getting things out to make us all some lunch. 

"In my experience with Werewolves food always makes us feel better." He said as he grabbed eggs and shaved ham out of the fridge.

"What are you making? Is there anything we can do to help?" I ask coming over to look at the seemingly random lot of ingredients now piled on the bench.

"I'm making what I like to call leftover scrambled egg sandwiches. I just take whatever I can find lying around, fry it up with some egg's and cheese and then put it in a sandwich. They're really quite good. I've got everything sorted here but would you two mind setting the table and cutting open and buttering the buns? That would be a big help." He tells us first pointing to the table then to the bench where I can see a basket filled with fresh rolls.

"Of course. I got the buns." I reply.

"I'll do the table. Plates are still in the cupboard next to the mugs right?" Alex asks. She seems to be back to normal now. She's moving around the kitchen like she does back at the main house. I can see she feels at home here.

"Yep. Don't forget to get one for James." Lucien reminds her before turning on the gas burner for the stove.

The three of us fall into a companionable silence as we work. I feel myself relax and settle into the motion of continuous work and repeated movement. I watch as Lucien throws things into the pan which I would have never thought to put in scrambled eggs. He throws in ham, onions, mushrooms, tomato, some tinned fish which I think might have been tuna, mozzarella, pesto, and chillies. It smells so good that my mouth starts watering and my stomach grumbles in anticipation.

I'd never seen someone cook like this before. Most of our food was prepared by the pack chefs and the rest came from five-star restaurants and cafes. I remember the first time I went over to someone else house for dinner. Mum had found out beforehand and ended up sending one of the chefs with me because she didn't want me eating food that "some strange person with no qualifications" had cooked. It was a complete mess and I was never allowed back at their house. After that whenever someone wanted to have dinner or a sleepover I always made sure it was at our house, wherever that was at the time. 

"Eggs are almost done!" Lucien says startling me from my thoughts. I look back down at the bench and realise I've finished cutting open and buttering the rolls and that they now sit in a neat stack on the plate in front of me.

When did I do that? Must've been on autopilot.

"I'll go wake James," I tell them.

"He's in the second room on the left upstairs," Lucien explains.

"OK. I'll be back in a minute."

I wandered out of the kitchen and back towards the front door and the stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a sharp right turn into a hallway with five doors. Two on the right and three on the left. I go up to the middle one on the left and knock.

"James! It's Laiela! Lunch is ready!" I call through the wood.

There's no response so I turn the doorknob and slowly open the door and poke my head in. What I see inside has me flinging open the door and rushing into the room.

James is lying on the bed on top of the covers still in his clothes with his shoes lying on the floor. He is breathing hard and his head is moving back and forth on the pillow restlessly as sweat pours down his face and all over his body, soaking his hair and plastering it to his forehead. All his muscles are twitching and spasming and he looks to be in pain.

His thoughts are a mess. Jumping all over the place and becoming so jumbled that nothing makes sense anymore. All I can feel is pain and heat and the desire for this to end.

I kneel next to the bed and begin shaking him and stroking his face trying to wake him up. He doesn't respond but suddenly the spasming becomes worse and his back arches up off the bed. His fingers spread and I can see them more clearly. His nails are lengthening and becoming claws then changing again and returning to normal, Shifting back and forth from human to . . .

"His body is trying to change," Lucien say's from the door.

I whip round to face him. He is standing in the hall with Sirius sitting by his leg and a very wide-eyed Alex at his back. His expression is stern and worried and as he watches his hands clench into fists, his knuckles going white.

"Well, why hasn't he?! He's too old! This should have happened by now!" I exclaim. If this is what I think it is it should have happened to him during puberty and only lasted a couple of seconds. Yet James was much too old and it didn't look like he would change anytime soon.

"His blood's too weak. There hasn't been a Werewolf in his family for generations. He shouldn't be able to change without being bitten but for some reason, his body is trying to do it on its own and it's not working. It's been like this for a year now. It was getting to the point where I was thinking about biting him myself, but being bitten by an Immortal is different than being bitten by a normal Werewolf. Not everyone survives. Our magic is too potent." Lucien explains looking pale and haunted.

"Could one of us bite him?" Alex asks after a moment.

"That could work. . . but, do we really want to be doing this? Turning him without explaining what's going on and what it could mean?" asks Lucien.

"Do it." croaks James.

I whip my head back around to see that his eyes are half open and looking between the three of us. Seeing him awake and aware has a weight lifting from my shoulders and my heart soaring.

"James!" I exclaim going back to stroking his face and cupping his cheeks in my trembling hands.

He gives me a weak shaky smile and lifts one of his hands to come and cover mine.

"James are you sure about this? Once you become one of us you can't go back." Lucien cautions.

"I'm sure. If it will make the fevers go away I don't care. I'm tired of being sick." He says to Lucien before turning his attention back to me. "Plus I think I'm meant to do this."

That causes my breath to catch and a lump to form in my throat.

"Lucien he's Laiela's Mate. He's also my Beta. This is the right decision." Alex tells him reassuringly. She then comes over to the bed to stand next to me. "James, we need to get you outside. Can you stand or do you want me to carry you?" She asks.

"I think I can stand." He replies pushing himself up into a sitting position. He swings his legs around and almost pitches off the bed but Alex and I catch him, each taking one of his arms and swinging it over our shoulders.

"Wow. Okay maybe not. Thanks, guys." He says leaning on us for support.

The three of us stand and walk like that out the room down the stairs and outside with Lucien walking in front of us to hold open doors while Sirius circled and danced around us nervously.

Once we were outside Alex and I slowly lowered James to the ground where he lay panting and shaking. The walk outside had taken a lot out of him and Alex and I had practically been dragging him by the end. He was fading in and out of consciousness. We needed to hurry.

"Which one of you will do it?" Lucien asked.

"I will," I reply quickly. "He's my Mate."

I crouch down beside him and Alex and I help him remove his shirt. 

"You'll need to change at least partially as you have to bite hard enough to draw blood and it will be easier and less painful for him that way," Lucien tells me.

"Okay. You two should step back. We don't know how he'll react." I reply.

I watch them both take several steps back before turning all my attention to James.

"James. James, can you hear me?" I ask tenderly.

His eyes which had slipped closed again opened to mere slits and stared up at me. I again felt like I could get lost in those eyes which at the moment were filled with pain and fear.

"Hey there. It'll be okay. Just look at me and don't think about anything else. It's just you and me." I murmur softly.

He gives me a weak smile and takes in a deep shuddering breath.

"W-what's gonna happen to me?" He asks shakily.

A lump formed in my throat which I had to swallow down before I could answer.

"You'll go through your first change and become a Werewolf," I say.

He chuckles and gives me a look.

"I kind of got that bit. I was hoping for specifics." He replies.

"Oh. Right. Well, I don't know what the bite will be like but it will likely hurt. Afterwards, you'll feel hot and your skin will feel all strange and tingly. The change itself is painless but for a moment you won't be able to feel anything and it will be like your no longer connected to your body. The feeling will pass and you'll be in your wolf form." I tell him explaining as best I can from my own experiences and from what others have told me about their first change.

"That doesn't sound so bad." He replies the tremulous smile back on his face. "What if it doesn't work?"

"We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it," I reply sternly. I won't think of that now. It will work. It has to work.

"Ok. I'm ready." He says, gripping handfuls of grass in his fists.

I take one of those trembling hands and hold it in my own, linking our fingers together and squeezing gently. He squeezes back before closing his eyes and taking deep breaths in and out.

Taking a deep breath of my own I transform, just enough so that I can pierce his flesh with my teeth. I then bend down so I am hunched over James' prone body, my mouth at his throat. I tilt my head and move slightly to the side so that I will be biting down on his shoulder rather than his neck. I let my breath puff against his skin and watch as a shiver goes down his spine and goose bumps appear on his skin. He lets out a gasp as I press my mouth to his skin and bite down hard.