Chapter 24 #2
Maybe I’m a little nervous. It’s a human emotion, but we feel it too, usually before a fight we aren’t sure we can win.
If I react to Ansley. If she’s really my mate.
It changes everything. Could I let someone else into my sanctuary like that?
Talk with them about old books, the way humans do with those they care about?
I’ve grown to enjoy solitude when I’m not with my brothers. It just makes sense to me and always has. We don’t get emotionally attached to humans or other Scions. Without mates, or a she-wolf to fall in love with, there was no reason for me to venture beyond the world I created for myself.
“Oh, you’re using one of the good safehouses now,” I chuckle when I realize which direction we’re headed. “One that actually has walls.”
“Seemed easier with Daisy staying with us,” Hayden responds. “More privacy, for her sake.”
“And for our mate,” Remy adds. “I don’t think she’d be comfortable having her best friend watch what we do in private.”
“Humans do tend to have a problem with that,” I say. “Most of them, at least.”
“You’re lucky that you get to meet her now. I wasn’t prepared when I met her,” Remy says. “Her scent drove me crazy, but I didn’t want to tell anyone because I was afraid of how Hayden would react. You won’t have that problem.”
“I’ll be surprised if I feel anything. I don’t think I reached that level of maturity before the last she-wolf died. I never felt the desire to find a mate or form my own pack. Not like the rest of you did,” I add, not sure if I feel any sense of loss or sadness in my words.
“Yeah, you were too young to be fighting when Chicago burned,” Hayden continues. “Our parents thought they were done raising pups when you came along. It was quite a surprise.”
“Still, don’t act like you’ve never fucked anyone before,” Remy says. “I remember that librarian woman that used to follow you around like the she-wolves used to follow Hayden around.”
“Yes, we were intimate. Not at first, but eventually,” I admit. “But it wasn’t love. I didn’t feel like she was meant for me. It was just… I don’t know, something she wanted after we became good friends.”
“Whatever happened to her anyway?” Hayden asks.
“She got old,” I sigh. “Like all humans do. I still visited her, even after she lost her sight and was in a home. Then one day, I went to visit, and they told me she was gone. You guys really didn’t know that? I thought I told you…”
“You might have,” Remy says sheepishly. “We don’t pay much attention to what happens to humans. Too many of them have come and gone over the years.”
“I mean, she wasn’t part of our pack, but she was still important to me,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “But I guess that was a long time ago and we don’t hang out like we used to anymore.”
“Easier this way,” Hayden says quietly. “Helps us blend in. You know that. I wish we could live together as a pack, like we used to, but it just complicates things.”
“And it uncomplicates things for Jaxton. He prefers to be alone, just like you do,” Remy adds.
“Sometimes,” I admit.
It’s true that I prefer solitude to pack business, but I do miss my brothers when we spend too much time apart. Maybe I just miss how things used to be, before it became so complicated. Before we had to make sure Scions like vampires didn’t draw the attention of the Crimson Templars to Chicago.
We turn down the street that leads to the safehouse.
It’s a cul-de-sac surrounded by other houses.
Ours is to the right, not quite at the end of the cul-de-sac, but set apart from the close neighbors.
It’s one of many safehouses we have spread across Chicago.
Storm makes sure we have the money we need.
Hayden makes sure we find things to spend it on.
Hayden pulls the SUV into the garage, and the door closes behind us. The butterflies in my stomach return. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It’s just a woman. Just another Scion. Nothing to be nervous about.
“Ready to meet your mate, little brother?” Remy asks.
“Potential mate,” I clarify. “Right now, I’m more interested in getting a sample of her blood.”
Music is playing when we step into the safehouse. Not something classical like I enjoy listening to sometimes. The guitars are loud, the bass is heavy, and the lyrics are vulgar. If these walls weren’t soundproof, the neighbors would be complaining, even if they aren’t that close to us.
“I guess they’re having a reunion party,” Remy growls.
“Ansley’s best friend is quite lively,” Hayden says with a smirk. “I’m not sure if that Morgan’s magic, our mate’s blood, or just how she is. Regardless, she is a Mitra.”
“Already?” Remy questions. “Our mother’s best friend didn’t become an honorary member of our pack until she was wed to our father.”
“Ansley cares deeply about Daisy. They had a powerful connection, even before Daisy was kidnapped,” Hayden says, leading us down the hallway.
Hayden and Remy get to the door first. Hayden shakes his head and sighs. Remy glares for a moment, then he cracks a smile.
I peer into the living room and see a blonde woman dancing, holding a pink drink in the air like she’s at a concert. She does nothing to me, and I’m ready to brush the entire thing off until a faint scent changes everything I thought I knew about the world.
It hits me like a physical blow. Sweet, intoxicating, devastating.
My lungs seize. My heart stutters. Every nerve ending in my body ignites at once.
The scent wraps around me, through me, tearing into parts of myself I didn’t know existed.
This isn’t attraction. It isn’t desire. This is… recognition.
“What the hell?” I gasp feeling something detonating inside me. Instinct? I’ve never felt anything like this. “That’s…”
Then I see her. Ansley. It feels like time stops for a moment.
She’s not dancing like her friend. She’s sitting at the bar, sipping white wine, and she’s the most incredible living being I’ve ever seen.
Not because she’s beautiful, though she is, but because looking at her feels like coming home after centuries of wandering.
Like finding something I didn’t know I’d lost. Dark brown hair.
Delicate features. The curve of her neck when she tilts her head to sip her wine makes something feral claw at my insides.
I want to taste that skin. Mark it. Claim it.
Make sure the entire world knows she’s mine.
I’ve heard of humans falling in love at first sight.
What I feel isn’t love, but it could be the foundation of it.
Promise. Inevitability. It’s a pull, a maddening, world-changing pull.
It’s so intense that my vision blurs and the wolf inside me tries to roar to the surface, demanding I go to her. Touch her. Claim her.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I stammer, turning away. Bones begin to crack. Muscles tighten as they try to expand. Claws push through my fingertips. “I can’t hold my Third Form!”
“Concentrate, brother,” Remy snarls, putting his hand on my shoulder. “It’s difficult around our mate.”
I’ve never had difficulty staying in my Third Form before. It’s as natural as breathing for me. Ansley’s scent makes it almost impossible. I squeeze my eyes shut, struggling to keep the control I’ve taken for granted. Finally, it passes, but I gasp for my next few breaths.
“Oooo, you’re back, handsome!” a voice chimes. “And you brought friends! Now it really is a party!”
“Turn the fucking music off,” Hayden commands, walking into the living room.
Remy follows him. It takes me a moment to gain my composure, and my hands are still shaking.
My heart is still racing. And her scent…
it’s everywhere, even on my breath. I’ve spent centuries studying, researching, preserving history.
I thought I understood the world, or at least my place in it, but I was wrong.
When I turn around, I already know the truth. Ansley’s my mate. Not a potential mate. Not a possible mate. My mate. Certain. Absolute. Undeniable. It’s like she was sculpted from the universe itself and put in front of me for the sole purpose of being mine.
Every book I’ve read, every scroll I’ve preserved, every story I’ve studied about our kind, none of it prepared me for this. For her. I’d let her into my sanctuary. I’d share all my knowledge with her. I’d die for her.
This changes everything.