Hey!
This is my early Thanksgiving gift to you! I'm thankful for your support!! Eat a lot of food because I will be! And, cross your fingers because I'm giving a huge speech tomorrow! So, tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!
~ Lissa
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Edited: 12/28/14
"Well, I mean, he's thought to be dead," Brody said, looking down at the picture of them in the old book on Drew's desk in front of us. When he had said that Caine was dead, it caught me off-guard. For a second, I actually thought I was crazy until he corrected himself by saying that he was thought to be dead. Didn't he realize there was a difference? I pushed away my anger at him for the scare and rubbed my forehead in frustration, looking at him. "He and his brothers are freaking old - it's believed that we descended from them hundreds of years ago. But, even though there's some evidence a-and this picture, people just consider them a myth nowadays."
"Why?" I questioned, folding my arms across my chest.
"Well, they're powerful," he answered, bluntly. I was still confused as to why I hadn't known about them; surely my father would've shared that piece of information. "But, God couldn't have created us because we shake the balance of life - you're supposed to live, then die when He chooses. But, that isn't the case for us; we're pretty much immortal." Werewolves decided when they wanted to die; they were capable of controlling their aging, among other things. "So, years and years ago, I guess someone found this picture - " he gestured towards the Volkov brothers in the book, " - and the 'myth' of how werewolves came to exist started with the three brothers: Caine, Ryker, and Ethen."
"Do you believe they're a myth?"
"Um, I don't know. . ."
"I'm not going to stab you," I said, rolling my eyes at his hesitation. He chewed on his bottom lip as I eyed the picture, curiously. "So, supposedly, they're the first werewolves - you descended from them?"
"Yeah, I guess," he responded, brightly. "You see, the myth goes that the brothers lived in a poor village, somewhere near the mountains. And, the brothers are completely different from each other." He pointed towards the one on the left who was almost squinting at the camera. "That's Ethen - he's believed to be the fairest and nicest of the three. He was also known to be very loyal and smart. Back then, people mostly sought him out to fix their problems rather than his brothers. He wasn't feared; he was trusted. And, he's the youngest, but people claim he was constantly cleaning up his brothers' messes."
Then, his finger shifted towards the brother on the opposite side. "And, that's Ryker - he's the scary one." His voice was quiet, nearly a whisper. "He's the one everybody watched out for. He was tempermental and impulsive; he was very cruel. He's the middle child."
"And, Caine? What about him?"
Brody hesitated. "He's the oldest. In the book, it talks about how he was known to be a leader and very skilled." Several thoughts were swarming through my head as I listened. "He was excellent at sword fighting; he spent lot of his time sword fighting with his father when he wasn't chopping down trees. He knew how to defend himself pretty well." His eyes flickered my direction and he made a sound with his tongue. "You think you saw him?"
"I know I saw him," I corrected, seriously. "Now, how did they become werewolves?"
"Um, apparently, the brothers left their home one night to meet some other boys," Brody started, slowly. "They weren't friends and I guess one of them said something that ticked off Ryker. Of course, he started swinging and Ethen joined in because - he always put his brothers first. Then, Caine got involved . . . long story short, Caine lost it and accidentally killed one of the boys."
"Murders can't be accidents."
"Well, actually - "
"Continue."
"Well, the other boys ran off, suddenly terrified after the death of their friend," he contiuned, staring down at the book. "They ran screaming, waking up the rest of the village. Everybody came out of their homes and the boys pointed at the three brothers, screaming that they had killed him. The three brothers stood around the boy's body, bloody and out of breath. Obviously, everybody started freaking out. The dead boy's mother came pushing through the crowd and when she saw her son, she burst into tears. But, you see, she wasn't normal - she was believed to be a witch. And, instead of letting the three brothers receive the punishment of death by the village, she punished them herself. She cursed them, right then and there in front of everybody. She made them slaves to the moon and for the rest of their lives, they were bound to suffer through the transition into monsters because they were monsters for killing an innocent."
"Witches don't exist," I said, confused.
"Well, not anymore," Brody said, shaking his head. "It's said that sometime from then and now, all the witches were hunted down and killed by werewolves." I processed this in my head, imagining Caine killing an innocent boy. I should've killed him out in the forest, despite my lack of strength and focus. He had killed an innocent; actually, he had probably killed several innocents. "And, well, the brothers ended up splitting up and disappearing all together. Nowadays, they're considered a myth."
I rubbed my temples. "But, I met Caine in the forest - that means, they're still here. The Volkov brothers are still alive, Brody."
"Or, you're crazy."
"The pencil is seriously a foot away from me," I blurted, gesturing towards the pencils on Drew's desk. His eyes widened and frantically, he shook his head. He stepped away, creating a wider space between us, cautiously. I found myself grinning, before speaking. "Look, Caine is going to be sticking around; he told me he's protecting me - I don't know where his brothers are, though."
"Nora, if he's still alive, the guy's over five-hundred-years old," he said, taking a deep breath. "He'd be the most powerful person on this Earth. It's crazy to think he's still here."
"Well, he is," I said, positively. "And, he has some explaining to do."
"About what?"
"About how he knows me and why he's protecting me," I answered, shaking my head. "And, then, I'll kill him."
"Kill him?!" Brody screeched, his eyes wide. "Oh no, I'm out of this now!"
"Baby."
He stumbled a few steps away from me. "Did you not hear me when I said that he's over five-hundred-years old?" I nodded my head, before skimming the page inside the book. "You can't kill him! And, it isn't mentioned in the book, but I've heard that the Volkov brothers are capable of dark magic. When the witch had cursed them, some of her magic was left behind, allowing them to reach into it." He ran his fingers through his hair, his brown eyes looking around the room. "You're insane if you think you could kill - a possible alive - Caine."
"And, his brothers."
"Look, I know a very nice therapist who can help you - "
"Brody, I'm serious," I interrupted, stepping away from the desk. "They're werewolves - I'm a pro at hunting them."
He gulped loudly. "Werewolves that are capable of dark magic."
"Okay, that's a possibility," I said, holding up my index finger. "I can - " I stopped speaking when the sound of footsteps filled my ears. I turned around, seeing Drew lingering in the office, his arms folded across his chest. A confused expression was on his face as he looked between the two of us.
"Uh, what are you two talking about?" he asked, deeply.
"Uh, er, I'm - uh, yeah," Brody stuttered from behind me, trembling. "We were, uh, talking about, uh, how I believe dolphins are going to involve into alien creatures." I mentally smacked myself in the forehead at his stupid lie; why didn't he let me answer? Actually, why was I stupid enough to involve him in anything? I looked towards Brody, gritting my teeth together and giving him the 'you're-an-idiot-look'. Brody shrugged apologetically and mouthed, 'Sorry'.
"Oh, is that so?" Drew said, somewhat amused. Brody nodded, before biting his bottom lip and dropping his head. Then, to make things worse, he ran straight around me and out the door, leaving me to handle the situation by myself. Drew shook his head, holding back the grin at his pack member's fear. He ran his fingers through his hair and approached me, a serious expression on his face. "Okay, so what were you two really talking about?"
"Nothing important," I lied, closing the book behind my back on his desk. Luckily, he didn't notice or hear the sound of the papers shuffling.
He pressed his lips together. "Fine, but there is something important we need to talk about." I frowned at the seriousness in his voice and gulped loudly, keeping my chin held high. "Your family, more specifically, your brother."
I froze for a moment. "I swear to God, if you've hurt them, I'll - "
"I didn't hurt them," he interrupted me, frowning. "But, your brother just killed some of my pack members in a bar. He walked straight in there and shot them." My eyebrows shot up in shock at my brother's actions, but also the fact that he had been in a werewolf bar. "Somebody saw him walking out of the bar, covered in blood. His face wasn't hard to place, Nora."
I tossed my hands into the air. "What do you want me to say? He's angry you've kidnapped me - that's not my fault."
"Well, things are about to get interesting," Drew responded, scowling at me with his hands curled into fists. "Because, your family just declared war, sweetheart."