"I don't like this," Demi grumbles, yawning into her hand.
We watch on the northern dock as a boat approaches with two people on board: The driver, Alex, and the passenger, Valentina de la Mort. Alex's almond skin glistens under the moonlight, whereas Valentina's porcelain complexion doesn't so much as reflect any light. She looks like a ghost compared to Alex.
"Don't worry about her," I tell Demi. "The sooner we find Bianca Greywood, the sooner the vampiress gets out of our hair."
As the boat gets closer, the horizon has changed from the black of night to the dark blue of an approaching dawn.
The stench of death and flowers arrives.
I approach the docks as Alex gives Valentina a hand. She emerges wearing a full black outfit, her stilettos clacking as she steps onto the dock. Her hair is tied back with the front white pieces freely flowing in the island breeze.
"Welcome to Mesaniskia," I greet her.
"Thank you, Alpha Xenakis," she bows. "A hundred years I've spent visiting every corner of the world, leaving out your hidden island. I must say, I was expecting...more."
"Well, this is a Greek island and we are Greek," I plainly state.
She smiles and nods.
"Alors, have you found Bianca yet?"
I look over to Demi, who shakes her head and regards Valentina with a disdainful look.
"Not yet," I verbally reiterate.
Valentina's porcelain face drops slightly as she sighs.
"Then, may I be shown to my accommodation?" she asks.
"Certainly."
We begin to walk back to the parked jeeps. Valentina is a little let down by the news that she is to put up with Alex. Demi takes one step into the backseat, then backs out, shaking her head. She says she will walk home, refusing even a ride from me. And so, we part ways, Alex and Valentina in one jeep, me in the other, and Demi sulking off down the beach.
On the ride back, I switch off from my Alpha duties and think about the kiss that Astrid initiated this time. Rarely do I get caught off guard, but I was for once in my life. Despite what I thought was a build-up of annoyance and hatred directed at me, she kissed me back. It was a little victory.
Then I almost took it too far thinking she wanted me to lead her to bed. Silly of me to presume. But I couldn't help the way her rosy fragrance drove me crazy. It always drives me crazy.
I reach home and park the car and mistakenly find myself on the family side of the manor. Or was it a mistake? Perhaps my subconscious mind wanted me to end up here to go up the grand staircase, to the left and into her room.
I laugh.
What would I even do? It's 4 am in the morning and Astrid would be dead asleep by now. Come to think of it, I need my rest too.
I start the car back up, and head all the way around to the Alpha's residential entrance. I climb up two flights of winding stairs to get to my room at the top of my tower-like home. From up here, I get a view of the entire island. And I also get a view of Astrid's room. Maybe I chose that guest quarter just to spy on her a little, but as look down into her room, I only catch a glimpse of the foot of her bed. I should have asked the Omegas to rearrange the furniture in that room.
I get into bed and fall asleep almost immediately.
My vision is black. And I feel cold. But I hear voices. Or is it one voice?
"Yes, it was futile..."
"Still here..."
"I only became it..."
"Mother..."
I try to speak, but my voice is muffled.
I try to move, but my arms are weighed down.
So, I stay still and listen.
"To think I could die..."
"Aren't I..."
"And waited for this moment..."
"Dearest..."
My eyes flutter open as if something shook me awake. I survey my bed room but find nothing out of the ordinary. The clock on the wall reads 7 am and I close my eyes to catch up on at least another hour of sleep, but I toss and I turn to no avail.
I get up to make my bed and feel an urge to look into Astrid's window. She is awake.
I freshen up quickly, impatient to see my destined once more, anticipating a warmer front today. Although a small part of my mind lingers on the ominous dream I woke up from. But I'll have to put it on hold to tell Astrid about Valentina and her clue.
I head downstairs, across the bridge connecting my residence and the family manor. I stop to pick a fragrant rose in the garden. An Omega tending to a plot of hyacinths watches as I do so and scowls at me. The rose smells sweet but not as sweet as Astrid.
I knock on Astrid's door, which she opens a smidge, poking her head out.
"Good morning, Astrid," I greet her.
"Good morning, Rio," she replies.
Astrid looks radiant with her dewy skin as if she'd just emerged from the ocean.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Mm-hm."
A beat passes.
"May I come in?" I ask politely.
She nods and opens the door wider to reveal a simple outfit of shirt, shorts and sandals. She could be wearing a potato sack for all I care and I still would find her to be the most beautiful woman in the room.
"This is for you," I present the rose.
Astrid takes it and smiles as she brings it up to her nose and lets it graze her freckled cheeks while inhaling its scent.
"Thanks."
She looks up at me expectantly, her lips slightly parted. I look at them and back at her eyes and I almost lean in till she turns away to sit on the bed.
I clear my throat. "The Omegas should be done with setting up breakfast soon."
"Sounds good. I need to refuel from last night's run."
The memory of Astrid in her tiger form strikes me. She was bigger than I expected and was able to easily keep up with my pace at the front of the pack. The way her roar shook the earth when the rest of us howled, was another thing that struck me with awe. To be honest, I wasn't expecting her to integrate so well with the run. But she did. Of course, she did. The Moon Goddess wouldn't have chosen her for me if she didn't.
"Before we do, Astrid, I have some news."
Her brown eyes instantly light up and she asks, "Did you find her?"
"No, not yet. But we have narrowed down the general area she could be in."
"Where's that?"
"The Himalayas."
"The mountain range that stretches over at least 4 countries?"
I thought this was a helpful clue, but by the tone of her voice, I can see why it wouldn't narrow down our search by much.
"Yes," I reply sheepishly.
Astrid looks down at the rose in her hands and sighs.
"Hey, we will find her, Astrid. Promise."
My generic words of comfort don't do much as her face tugs at one corner, twitching her lips into a forced smile.
"Also," I continue, "do you remember anything else from the dream you had on the plane? Any specific details that could help?"
"Well, I remember feeling scared. And there were a lot of vampires...and tigers." She scoffs. "I should've known she'd be somewhere in Asia."
"I deduced as much. A place where wolves are not native so other Mighty Five packs wouldn't be able to trace her."
"Right," she purses her lips.
"Were there a lot of tigers in your dream?"
"Um, I think so. I'm a little hazy on the details, but, yes."
"Do you know any places that have large amounts of tigers?"
"I've never stepped foot outside of Silver Bow, so, no."
I sigh, a little from exhaustion and a little from being nowhere near finding Bianca's exact location, when I laugh a little to myself.
"It can't be as obvious as that one tiger monastery in Bhutan," I utter more to myself than to Astrid.
"Bhutan does come under the Himalayas."
"Right, but those tigers are animals, not shifters. Besides, it's too obvious of a location."
"Still, wouldn't hurt to check the place," Astrid shrugs.
I take my phone out to text Demi an update on our mission.
"How did you know about the Himalayas?" Astrid asks.
"It seems Bianca's vampiress lover forgot to tell us," I reply as Astrid's eyes grow dark. "Also, she is here. In Mesaniskia."
"What?"
"It turns out that she may have bought us some time from Alpha Greywood. In exchange, she's asked to accompany us to find Bianca."
"So, vampires can feel guilt," Astrid scoffs.
"Maybe it was your rousing speech," I wink. She shakes her head. "Anyway, you hungry?"
When Astrid and I stroll into the dining room, only mama is there, sitting under the sun in the veranda and reading a newspaper in her blue robe. I hear Astrid gulp and her breath jolt anxiously beside me.
"Sorry," I whisper to her. "Didn't know she was here already."
She shakes her head. "It's fine."
"Good morning!" mama shouts, never once moving from her position, tanning under the sun. "Just getting my Vitamin D."
Astrid and I greet her back in unison and smile at the little chorus. We sit at the table, which is stacked with all kinds of fruits, cereals, breads, jams and the like. An Omega appears by my side to serve me a plate of eggs, bacon and sausages. Astrid stares at them and unknowingly licks her lips while she serves herself a plate of diced cantaloupe so I order a similar plate for her. She beams at the sound of that.
"So, when are Kobe and Leon joining us?" Astrid asks.
"Well, we won't see Kobe until the afternoon. And Leon should be in in a few minutes. He has school to attend."
Astrid chuckles at this. "And so would I if I were back home. I'd be cleaning all the instruments in the music room, warming up my fingers on the piano, maybe even singing a couple of tunes before the kids got in."
I am about to ask her if she would like to teach a special music class at the school, when my phone vibrates in my pocket. It's a text reply from Demi with a link to a video titled "Vampire attack in South Asia." I open the link and it starts playing a video of blurry figures in a dimly lit snowy town. The person recording breathes heavily as his camera shakes. The vampires in the distance are loud with their screeches and growls.
"What's that?" Astrid asks.
I share the screen with her and we watch in silence as a tiger appears in the mass of vampires ripping them to shreds one-by-one. Then, in a white flash, another beast joins the fight. Astrid gasps.
"Bianca."