I haven't seen or head from Sebastian in over two weeks and I'm scared that he's given up on me. I can't say I blame him, I shouldn't have gotten so scared or freaked out about him being a werewolf and my future child becoming one. I've been beating myself up over it and every time Joseph comes over to see how the baby's doing so he can report it back to Sebastian, I give him a letter to hand to Sebastian, explaining how wrong I was for thinking such a thing and apologizing for my behavior. But I have yet to hear back from him.
I decided last week that I wanted to learn more about werewolves and the only other person I feel comfortable having that discussion with is Vanessa, but she's been acting really strange ever since I told her about Sebastian. I think it has something to do with why Sebastian hates her so much but every time I try to ask her about it she dismisses it and says it's nothing. But I don't think it is I mean she knew about what Sebastian was before I did and she carries around wolfsbane, I mean she obviously knows way more than she's letting on.
Today is Friday which I am absolutely thankful for because it means I can go home and binge watch The Princess Diaries like I've been planning on all week. My back has begun to start aching which Dr. Redding says is absolutely normal for a woman approaching her 16th week, so any chance I get to lay on my bed and do nothing is a blessing.
I've just finished grading the math test the class took today when I hear a knock on the door. Tessa and I both look up to see a tall handsome, dark haired man standing in the doorway.
Sebastian.
"Um, hi sir are you looking for someone?" Tessa asks, taking off her glasses and subtly slipping on her heels under the desk before standing up.
"The woman carrying my child." He says in his sexy accent.
I see Tessa discreetly fan herself, before turning to me with a surprised look. I stay in my seat for a long time before trying to get up to introduce them to each other. But I forget that there's a stool next to my chair and I trip over it, however, before I can even touch the ground, Sebastian is there to catch me, his blue eyes searching worriedly into my hazel ones.
I give him a quizzical look, silently asking him why he's here, but also secretly wondering if he's forgiven me yet. He smiles softly before helping me stand up straight. I smile back. It seems like we stand there for the longest of times, just smiling at each other but in reality it's just been long enough to cause a little awkward tension because Tessa is just standing before us, clearing her throat over and over again until we hear her.
"Oh right!" I say, lightly tapping my temple. " Tessa this is Sebastian, the father of my child. Sebastian this is Tessa, my boss."
"Oh I'm not her boss, just a gal who works side by side with her and occasionally tells her which lessons to print out." Tessa says casually before shaking Sebastian's hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. You have a lovely classroom."
"Oh thank you! My sister's an interior decorator so..." Tessa says sheepishly.
"So," I say, turning to Sebastian. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind, it's just kind of random."
"I'm taking you on a date." He says confidently, causing me to raise my eyebrow.
"Oh I don't know, I still have to help Tessa grade the other tests."
"Are you kidding me?! Going on a date with your man absolutely trumps grading five paragraph essays! Go! You've already went above and beyond for printing and creating all the lesson plans for next week."
"But I d-"
"Look, I was going to tell you to go home before he came anyways. I just got a call from my babysitter and apparently Dylan's caught another fever which means I've gotta take him to the doctor."
"Oh no, is he okay? This is third time this week." I say, my eyes going wide with worry.
"Third time?" Sebastian says, his brows furrowing in worry.
Tessa seems at ease though because she starts to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, it's just you guys are giving me the 'oh no we're gonna have to deal with this pretty soon' look. Trust me, after a couple of times it'll feel like routine and after a couple of kids, you won't even need the doctor. You'll start diagnosing them yourself."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, being a parent gives you all types of skills. Just wait and see." She says with a smile. "Now, go! I'll see you Monday."
"Okay, bye! Thanks!" I quickly say as I grab my stuff and head out with Sebastian by my side.
He takes me out the front exit where a sleek black sports car sits parked. I notice a couple of the male teachers swooning over it and after asking Sebastian where he got it, they walk away, their beer bellies sticking out like a sore thumb as they walk past Sebastian's fit but muscular body. I shake my head.
"You don't actually expect me to get in this right? I'm almost four months pregnant man, I don't think this is safe." I state.
"I'll drive safely, trust me."
I look up at him, not expecting him to sound so serious when he says that but I give in and enter the car. He leans in and buckles me in, staring into my eyes before getting out and entering on the driver's side.
We drive for about an hour before coming to this huge piece of land where the only thing you can see for miles are grass.
"What is this place?" I wonder out loud as I exit the car.
"I will tell you all that, but first there is something we need to discuss." Sebastian says seriously as he opens the trunk and takes out a picnic table and blanket.
He takes my hand and leads me through the field and onto a spot that's almost in the middle of the entire plot of land. Once we sit on the blanket, he opens the basket, first taking out food that he hands to me, next are two bottles of my favorite grape juice, and utensils and plates and cups. Then he takes out two thick books, one I recognize as a photo album and another is an old book that I'm guessing is limited edition.
"What is all this?" I ask as I slice open a piece of bread and stuffing it with salami, cheese and butter. My mouth waters just imagining how good it's going to taste.
"After I left the hospital, I was very angry with you. And I know we haven't known each other long but I have quite the temper and I apologize for not controlling myself. I didn't realize that I had just bombarded you with a life changing piece of information and not everybody can just accept that." Sebastian says sincerely, his eyes boring into mine.
"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have been so selfish like that. I only thought about me and not you. I'm really sorry. And I want you to know that I never would have gone through with it, I was just... Scared." I say as tears begin to fill up my eyes.
"You don't have to apologize again Amelia, I read your letters. I forgave you a long time ago."
"So why did it take you so long to talk to me?"
"Because I had to find a way to explain my life, what I am, without frightening you. I still don't even know if this is the right way but considering all of my other ideas, this is the less creepy one."
"Well I don't think having a picnic in a field of grass is creepy but okay."
Sebastian creates a small grimace that immediately gets replaced with a small smile.
"Now, before I can fully explain why exactly we are here, I have to begin with what I am."
"I already know what you are. You told me remember?"
"Yes, but I wasn't done explaining myself before you fainted." He says with a chuckle.
"Hey! You try having someone turn into a wolf in front of you." I say before thinking about it. "Know what, don't reply to that." I say on second thought.
"Alright, well anyways I only told you part of what I am. Yes, I am a werewolf but there are different types of werewolves. Just like there are different types of wolves, there are different types of werewolves. Do you understand me?"
I nod as I chew the huge bite of my salami sandwich I just took.
"First, we have the werewolves who are what your books and movies are based off of. Werewolves are stronger than humans and also have a longer life span than them. Werewolves can be killed with anything silver, a bullet, a knife, a fork or even a spoon. As long as it's silver it can kill them. They can also be weakened by wolfsbane and mountain ash. Got it?" He asks, pausing so he can take a sip of his juice and so he can make sure I'm following along.
I nod.
"Next are the shifters who are stronger than the werewolves and live longer than them. Shifters can be weakened with the same things that werewolves are weakened by with the exception of silver. It doesn't effect them. You can kill a shifter by either decapitating them or stabbing them in the heart with a stake made out of mountain ash." He pauses and looks at me with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" I ask before stuffing my face with salami minus the bread and cheese and butter. Sebastian shakes his head with a chuckle before continuing.
"The very last types of werewolves are the lycans. Lycans are the strongest of all the werewolves and are most commonly known as being immortal despite having multiple ways of being killed. Lycans can be killed by the bite of the werewolf that turned them, the blood of the werewolf that turned them or by burning them alive with wolfsbane. Because we are so powerful, the poison that least affects the weaker of our species is the one that is powerful enough to kill us. "
"We? You're a Lycan?"
"Yes, so is Joseph."
"And Callia?"
"Callia is a shifter."
I form an 'o' with my mouth before shrugging and taking a huge gulp of my juice. I honestly don't understand why I'm so hungry right now, I literally raided the meat shop down the street from school during lunch and quenched my weird desire for meat.
"Okay, so what does the type of werewolf you are have to do with this field?" I ask as I wipe my face and begin to put away all the empty containers.
"I'm getting to that. A little more than 400 years ago Lycans ruled the werewolf world, we controlled where packs were formed, which land people took, where people could live; we controlled who died and who lived, we controlled everything. Unbeknownst to the Lycans, the werewolves and shifters started to plan a revolt. Then one day, out of nowhere they attacked. We all thought it was a simple revolt between a couple packs turned out to be a full on genocide that all the werewolves and shifters planned years before. They brutally murdered all the Lycans around the world. No one was granted mercy, mothers and children were burned alive and pregnant women had their unborn children ripped from their bodies."
With horror, I gasp and protectively wrap an arm around my stomach. How could someone do that to a child?
"That's horrific!"
"It was." Sebastian says gravely.
"Wait, if you guys are so strong why didn't they win?"
"Because unlike the other races, Lycan have an extremely hard time reproducing. There were only twenty thousand of us collectively while there were quadruple that amount of shifters and nearly ten times that number of werewolves. We were easily outnumbered but we put up a good fight, only three hundred of us survived. We tried to create a pack but once the werewolves and shifters got a whiff of us they attacked again and this time only seven of us remained: Me, Joseph, Killian Petrov, Isabella Argent, Alexander and Victoria Knight, and Emilie Dhark. After the second attack we all barely managed to escape and decided it'd be best if we all just went into hiding. It's why I didn't believe you at first when you told me you were pregnant. Not until got the Lycan scent from your stomach."
"Oh my God, and that's why you were so angry! Sebastian I am so sorry! I am a horrible person!" I cry out, tears automatically spilling onto my face. I shake my head when he tries to wipe them away.
"I-I don't deserve your forgiveness or your comfort! I tried to-" I gasp as I truly realize what I could've done.
I am truly a horrible person. He has every right to hate me. I hate me.
I lean in to him when I feel his arms wrap around me. My shoulders shake for God knows how long until I manage to gain control of myself and stop crying so damn much.
"Amelia, listen to me. I don't hate you and I do forgive you. You didn't know any of this, it's why we're here, so I can inform you on all of this so you have some background knowledge. You aren't a horrible person for being scared. It's okay, I'm willing to let it go and move forward if you are."
I look up at him once again, willing the tears in my eyes to not fall over.
"Okay." I say meekly.
"Okay good. Now, I brought these so that you can look them over, get familiar with the Lycan lifestyle. But before I give these to you, keep in mind this is from like the 17th centuries and probably way before that so some of the traditions may seem odd and maybe even a bit frightening. I of course don't follow every tradition in the book, but I want you to read it just get a bit of background information." Sebastian says before finally handing me the photo album and the ancient leather bound book.
I sniff as I open the photo album, frowning when I see a black and white photo of Sebastian. When I take it out of its pocket, I see that the date on the back reads London, England, March 12th 1866. I look up at him and then back at the picture. They're the spitting image of one another.
"Um, Sebastian, who is this?" I ask hesitantly as I hold up the picture for him to see. He smiles cheekily before replying.
"That's me."
"But it says 1866."
"Yes, that was a good day as well. I had finally reclaimed the land that my family had owned before the genocide."
"Wait... Exactly how old are you?"
"In human years? I'm 28. In werewolf years? I'm a little over 600 years old. I lost track a while ago."
My eyes widen before I quickly stand up. "You're 600 YEARS OLD! Ew you filthy pedophile! What is wrong with you?! Do you just go around sleeping with underage women?" I scream as I whack him with the photo album.
"Stop hitting me, and I'm not a pedophile you're twenty four. That's way over the legal age."
"Oh please I'm pretty sure anyone below the age of 200 is underage to you! No wonder you haven't been able to reproduce, you're OLD ham!" I yell again before smacking him again.
I glare at him as he stands up with a smirk on his face. "I didn't hear you complaining that night." He says cockily.
My face grows red in humiliation and I smack him again.
"Shut up!" I yell in frustration before stomping back to the car.
"Don't stomp you'll anger the spirits." He calls to me causing me to spin around.
"What spirits?"
"The Lycan spirits. This is where one of the biggest packs was mass murdered. It has been protected by their spirits for centuries. Me and the other Lycans take turns visiting it every year."
"So you mean to tell me I'm standing on top of where women and children were murdered?" I say through gritted teeth.
"Yes."
"That's it, we're leaving, NOW!"