Chapter 24
Wyatt
The vampire trail has gone cold.
That means I’m all alone, at the house I call home, surrounded by old books, scrolls, and ancient texts salvaged from Scion libraries before the Crimson Templars burnt them to the ground. The smell of aged paper and leather reminds me of our old den, before it became ash and memory.
I’m in my Third Form. It’s easier for me to maintain than it is for my brothers.
It’s likely because I know it as well as my other two forms. I was barely more than a pup when the Crimson Templars came to Chicago.
I was certainly no battle trained warrior, though I fought alongside my brothers until we realized it was a war we’d never win.
All we did was buy time for the other Scions to escape, but it cost us. Our mother. Our father. Several brothers and all of our sisters. The she-wolf Jaxton planned to wed and her entire pack. I still carry the burden of their loss, but being the youngest, my relationship with them was different.
I always just seemed to be in the way. Too young to fight properly.
Too small to spar with my older brothers.
I was the one they had to protect, instead of being their equal.
That’s why I usually sought refuge in our den, learning things from my mother and her Mitra.
I was always fascinated with the stories about how things were before humans started building cities.
“Still nothing,” I sigh, tossing a scroll to the side. “Whatever Ansley is… I don’t think I’m going to find the answer here.”
I sense Hayden and Remy approaching. Based on their speed, they’re not running on four paws. Hayden texted me earlier and said he had something to discuss with me. I’m not sure what it could be, since we’re still doing reconnaissance on the area where we believe the vampires have moved to.
I get up from my desk, grab a bottle of whiskey, and walk to the living room. My brothers won’t knock. They never do, since we can sense each other when we’re in close proximity.
Hayden walks through the door first, Remy is right behind him. I already have whiskey poured for them. I’m not much of a drinker. They say it helps them maintain their Third Form, when blending in with humans. I guess I don’t have that problem.
“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this personal visit?” I ask, putting their glasses down by the couch and sitting in a chair. “It’s been years since either of you came to my place.”
“It’s important,” Hayden answers, picking up his glass of whiskey before sitting down. “But first, have you read anything about a Scion with blood abilities?”
“Blood abilities?” I raise a brow. “I got your message about the vampire not being able to bite Ansley. Did something else happen?”
“Yeah, Hayden let her give blood because her best friend needed a transfusion,” Remy interjects. “Now Daisy seems to be immune to vampires, too.”
“Huh,” I say, pondering it for a moment before standing up. “Hold on, I was looking for stuff about Scions who had visions or premonitions or could sense when people were watching them. I came across something about Scion blood, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time. Wait right here.”
I hurry back to my library. My desk is covered with scrolls and old books. I can’t remember which one had the information about Scion blood, so I quickly look through them until I find a scroll. It’s damaged and I had it sealed in mylar years ago to stop the decay. Some of it has already been lost.
“Found it,” I say, walking back into the living room.
I sit down and carefully read it, translating the text in my head as I do.
“Okay, this is a story. A fable, really. I’m not sure if it’s true, but it talks about a Scion who shared their blood with a pack of wolf shifters.
It made them stronger… The rest of that part has been lost.”
“How did the Scion share their blood?” Hayden asks.
“The wolves drank it,” I say, continuing to read past the part that is missing.
“Like fucking vampires?” Remy growls.
“Like I said, it’s just a story. It might not even be true.
There are a lot of old stories like this that are obviously just embellishments or exaggerations,” I say.
“Same with human stories, even their religious texts, unless you believe in angels, demons, talking snakes, and giants. Although, I’ve always wondered if the giants were shifters. ”
“Could be,” Hayden says. “We don’t really know how long our kind have been around. If you believe some of the stuff the older wolves used to tell, we were here when humans still lived in caves.”
“No way to know if those cave drawings were left by wolves or early humans,” I say. “But we should test this. If Ansley’s blood made Daisy immune to vampires, it could do the same thing for us.”
“I’m not drinking her blood,” Remy says, shaking his head and sipping some of his whiskey. “I don’t need that to fight vampires.”
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that either,” Hayden adds.
“She’s your mate, so it’s your call,” I say, putting the scroll down.
Remy tenses up, an odd look on his face. “Yeah, about that…”
“That’s the real reason for this visit, Wyatt,” Hayden says, downing some whiskey and leaning forward. “Ansley isn’t just my mate. When Remy met her, he felt the same pull towards her. She’s his mate, too.”
“Impossible,” I say, shaking my head. “Sure, a wolf can fall in love before they find their mate, like Jaxton did, but even in the oldest books, a she-wolf only mates with one wolf.”
“But Ansley’s not a she-wolf. She’s a different kind of Scion. One you can’t even identify, no matter how many old books you read,” Hayden growls.
He’s right, and that stings more than I want to admit. I’ve spent centuries preserving our history, and now I’m faced with something completely outside my knowledge. It’s humbling. And terrifying.
“There’s more. You know how our kind react when someone tries to come between us and our mate,” Remy continues. “I thought Hayden would go for my throat when I told him I felt the same pull towards Ansley that he did.”
“Well, you’ve still got your throat,” I say, trying to make sense of it. Logical sense, because it sounds like my brothers have lost their logic. “Really, Hayden? You didn’t feel jealousy? No rage?”
“Nothing at all,” he answers, sipping his whiskey. “It just felt right. Almost right. It still feels like something is missing. Like the mating ritual can’t be completed until all the pieces are in place.”
“That’s where you come in,” Remy says, leaning forward. “It’s time for you to meet Ansley.”
“I figured I would eventually. Hopefully before she was wed into the pack,” I say. “But why now? You think…”
“She could be your mate, too,” Hayden finishes my sentence. “You’re the youngest. If you have the same reaction we did, then it likely means Storm and Jaxton will as well.”
Okay, maybe they haven’t completely lost their sense of logic. “Jaxton… no, he’ll never go for that.”
“I know he won’t react well,” Hayden says. “That’s why we want you to meet her before he does. Then Storm. If the four of us all have the same reaction, we’ll figure out how to approach Jaxton with it.”
“It’s possible he won’t feel anything. He loved Joanna. They weren’t wed, but what they felt for each other could have taken root and severed his chance of ever finding his mate,” Remy conjectures. “If that’s the case, then we may not need him to complete the mating ritual.”
“Damn, I don’t know,” I say, suddenly wishing I’d poured a glass of whiskey for myself. “A mate? Really? You know I’m… kind of a loner. I don’t even go out looking for women like you guys do.”
“If she’s your mate, even her scent will drive you crazy after you meet her,” Hayden says. “It’s not something you’ll be able to ignore. Your instincts will be too strong.”
I’m no virgin, but I’ve never felt like I needed the company of women.
I can count the number of them I’ve had in my bed on one hand.
I never felt the overwhelming desire like my brothers.
I assumed it was because they were old enough to start searching for mates when the last she-wolf died.
I felt the pain of that loss but not like they did.
“Alright,” I relent. Hayden’s the Alpha so I can’t refuse a direct order.
“I believe in what I can see and feel a lot more than I believe in the things I’ve read.
I preserve history, but I’m the first to admit some of it doesn’t make sense.
I’ll meet her, and if I don’t feel anything, we can put this behind us.
I still want a sample of her blood, though.
You two may not be willing to drink it, but if it’ll help us fight vampires, I’m not opposed to it. ”
“You really are the weird one, aren’t you?” Remy chuckles, his lip twitching. He reaches for his whiskey and downs what is left. “Ready to go?”
“Yes,” Hayden agrees, standing up. “Come on, little brother. If she’s not your mate, then at least she can turn you into a vampire.”
“I don’t think it’s going to turn me into a vampire,” I say, standing up and grabbing my coat. “Did it do anything else to Daisy?”
“Her eyes changed colors,” Hayden says, walking to the door. “Used to be blue. Now they’re green.”
“Huh, interesting,” I mutter. “Nothing eyes changing colors in that story about the blood drinking wolves, but maybe that’s in the part that’s missing.”
“Perhaps,” Remy says, following behind me.
I have a strange tremble in my stomach when we get to the SUV. What is this? It feels almost like what humans describe as butterflies. Not something a wolf normally feels. Definitely not one of our instincts, which guide us more than anything else.