"What's up with his forefinger?"
"That's where they channel magic," Derek replied. "Their fore and middle fingers are essentially 'wands.' They are vey sensitive about them, obviously. Cutting their fingers off is like defanging a wolf for you guys."
"What about the blood? Blood payment?"
"Power's in your veins, it is for all of us," Leo answered. "Most witches will ask for a blood payment for something that's harder to do or more risky like Bernard said."
"Can they, like, extract the power or something?"
Leo sighed. "Not that we know of, but there's plenty of spells that require strong blood. Strong blood of another supernatural is hard to come by."
"What do you think?" I asked Leo, who was leaning on the side of our truck.
As soon as Bernard left, Ethan paid the tab, then marched out of the open space concept restaurant that suddenly felt smaller with me on his arm. We were most definitely not a fan of that weird ass witch.
"I think I ought to just kill him," Leo grumbled.
Ethan breathed out a sharp laugh and nodded. "Let me know when you do, that dick knows much more than he's letting on."
"Course he does, I'll see if Alex will let me borrow Dom."
"Dom?" Ethan asked.
"Dominic's Alex's eldest progeny. His only other one actually," Leo answered. "Anyway, he just got back from a hiking trip, also has a bone to pick with Bernard so I'll let him bring him to our coven."
"Want Evie or Barrett?" Derek asked.
Leo shook his head. "I think Dom can handle it fine. I need to do some more work before I make it up your way. We're staying on your land Ethan?"
Ethan nodded. "We're getting cabins together. We should have space for you all."
"Sounds good." Leo sighed and gave us a tired smile. "Just keep your chins up. We'll figure this out."
"Thanks Leo," I replied back before hugging him goodbye.
He chatted with Derek and Elliot for a few more moments while Ethan and I headed to the car. "What do you think Ethan?"
"I think I would like to skin that damn witch," he grumbled. His wolf snarled in delight of the idea, as did mine. That witch–that witch rubbed us the wrong way.
"Do you think he's working for the other side?"
"I think he will work for whoever's offer is the best. If he's smart, he'll just stay the hell out of it."
I sighed and lifted onto my tiptoes to kiss the corner of his mouth while he unlocked the car then opened the driver's door. "Let's go buy a lot of bulk shit."
Ethan breathed out a laugh and pulled me into his chest. He nuzzled my neck then lightly kissed my mark, sending little flames down through my nervous system.
"You know, they do sell condoms in bulk at Sam's," Elliot snickered out.
Ethan rolled his eyes and stepped aside so I could slide into the truck. We made our way to Sam's, which I hadn't been to in years, but I damn sure remembered all those free samples. My belly was full when we walked in, but after seeing all the free samples my beast and I agreed that we would make room–and go run it off later.
After trying various forms of pizza rolls, one of which Ethan decided we needed twelve of, and various forms of hot sauce which I convinced him to buy a case of so I could feel like Beyonce and carry a jar in my bag.
We had to split up our shopping trip. We went to Sam's on the southern part of town first where we got things like an absurd amount of toilet paper that made the cashier question what it was that our diets consisted of, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and canned goods like the candied yams that apparently Evan and Martin loved.
When finished up our shopping extravaganza at the second Sams', our bellies so full from everything we had eaten during the day that it almost hurt. Derek had pulled me into the back seat with him and let Elliot ride shotgun.
I ended up napping on Derek's lap the majority of the way home to be woken up up arms pulling me carefully out of the truck. Blinking my eyes open I saw Ethan walking with me while a couple gammas followed us, saddlebags over their backs with our purchases from Sam's while other unloaded the rest of the truck.
"We're home?"
He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "You're a hard sleeper sunshine."
"Did Levi like his coffee?"
He nodded. "Yes, he was pretty happy about that jumbo tub."
"Good," I breathed back before I nuzzled against his chest, falling back into a peaceful sleep.
Ethan let me lounge around for a few hours while he went to work on getting the meeting together when we got back home. I eventually woke up from my second nap, dressed in his shirt and socks–an item that made me smile widely, on one of our couches; he was sitting on another with his laptop in his lap and papers spread out all over the coffee table.
I yawned, stretching my arms before I stood up groggily and walked over to where he was furiously typing away with a pen in his mouth. A smile tugged on my lips.
He reached out to me, his eyes not leaving the screen, but his hands pulling my shirt towards him so I would plop down next to him. Another yawn broke through my lips and my head found it's way to lay in his lap, distracting him from whatever it was that he was doing.
A light chuckle softly vibrated off of him. "Sleep well sunshine?"
I turned to look at him and nodded. "I didn't realize how tired I was."
He combed his fingers though my hair with a ghost smile on his lips. "Well, you slept like a damn rock, I guess it was all the samples."
"Probably," I replied on the edge of a breathy laugh. "I like my socks by the way."
"Baby, why do you think I got the jumbo pack?"
My lips tugged into a satisfied smile before I turned to place at his computer. "How's it going?"
"Good," he replied, his voice a little tired. "Ajax and Deryl are confirmed, I'm waiting on a few others. Jaxon said Greg is confirmed–"
"Greg? Isn't he the alpha over at, uh, what was it?"
"Amaruq?"
"Ya, Levi was not a fan."
"He's kind of a sniveling bitch, he's lucky that his son still isn't old enough to take their pack." Ethan leaned back and chuckled while his fingers continued combing through my hair. "My dad used to call his pack the 'retirement community' because the average age of the population was older. Always used to give Greg shit about it too."
"Alright, well now that I'm awake what do you need me to do?"
"Me," he replied with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes. "Later" I replied. "Really though?"
"Did you and Lyanna go over the cabin situation?"
"Yes, I just need the final head count and party information for everyone. I have everyone we know who is for sure coming squared away. I was thinking we could put Levi, Lander and Claire, and Jaxon and Andrea here? The vamps will have their own cabin and I was going to put Leo and Alex with their mates in the pack house?"
"I don't know if Claire is coming anymore," Ethan said with a tired smile. "Apparently Lyle fell off some fence he was trying to climb. He apparently was chasing Penelope who stole his comic books, poor kid."
"Is he ok?"
Ethan nodded. "Broke his leg, but his ok. I think Evangeline and Liam agreed to stay back to help Claire keep an eye on things."
"Well shoot, that frees up a lot of space actually. I'll talk to Lyanna. I still think Levi and Lander should stay here though."
"Agreed sunshine, where will you put the witches?"
I groaned. "Are they staying the night?"
"Yup," Ethan replied, popping the 'p' and the end.
"Away from Levi and Lander," I replied, causing Ethan to chuckle a little.
Ethan and Jaxon were able to round the other alphas together for a meeting we set for two days at the end of the week. While I was more than happy to see things moving forwards, it was more than a lot of work to get everything together for them.
Lyanna and I rushed around to make sure living quarters were taken care of as well as meals for them and our pack. Evan and I ended up having to squeeze in an extra hunt for the pack; I was worried that something may result from the meeting that would disrupt our hunting schedule and our pack needed meat. We needed to start stocking up more of it for the winter.
"Babe?" Ethan called out from the bottom of the stairs.
"Ya?" I called back as I pulled up some running shorts and trotted down the stairs, tying my hair into a high ponytail in the process.
"Can you help me finish these folders up?"
"Sure," I replied slightly breathless as I trotted off the stairs and into the kitchen.
Ethan had folders laid out and different stacks of paper. Like the alpha council meeting, Ethan thought it would be a good idea to have certain things put together for this meeting so we had a little structure to move us along.
He tugged at his hair before he took a sip of his coffee. "There's not many left."
"I can finish these if you want? Don't you need to talk to Billy about security?"
"He's coming here," Ethan replied. "Want some coffee?"
"Sure," I replied with a soft smile before I sat at our table and went to work.
My hands got into a steady rhythm of filing the papers in order into the navy folders with printed black and white labels with the name of the person it belonged to on it. Ethan had brought me a cup of coffee and some yogurt covered pretzels that he almost had an orgasm over when he tasted them at a sample booth when we went to Sam's.
The pile of folders that needed to be done started shrinking when there was a knock on our door. Ethan was ripped from his trance of mindlessly filing papers before he was up and going to the door.
My wolf perked up, no one knocked on our door. We knew everyone that was in and out of these doors.
"Babe who is it?"
He pushed back the forrest green curtains that Elliot had helped him install in the little informal living room before he let out a breath of relief, his beast deflating before he laid back down.
"Leo, he's here early," he called back before he opened the door.
I stood up and walked towards the door as Leo shook Ethan's hand with a smile on his face. He bent around and waved at me. "Sorry, I'm perpetually early to everything."
"It's not a problem," I replied before I walked to him and gave him a warm hug.
Leo winked at me then picked up his suitcases, older and vintage with tons of stamps on them. "Derek says I'm here?"
"Yes, let me take those," Ethan replied. He took his bags then pushed the door back a little more so Leo could walk in. "I'll put these in your room. You're the last one on the right, have your own bathroom too."
"Really Ethan it's not a problem, I'm not high maintenance like my brother," Leo replied as Ethan walked towards the stairs with a light chuckle.
"You mean Alex?"
Leo nodded to me. "Where do you think Evie and Barrett get it from?"
I laughed with him then nodded my chin towards our kitchen. "Want something to drink. We have coffee made, but we have beer, wine, and I think Ethan just stocked up on whiskey?"
"Coffee would be perfect," Leo replied with a polite smile. "This is really a nice place you two have. I see Elliot's handy work around here?"
"Yes," I replied as I grabbed a mug for him. "When he was here by himself he kept himself busy. Ethan had a lot done when I moved in, but according to Elliot there was still a lot of work. He finished the cabinets, did our coffee table, and a couple other pieces. They coffee table I think is my favorite though."
"He really is good at it, he made Sylvia and I this gorgeous little kitchen table with our family crest burnt into the wood."
"Sylvia is your mate, right?" I asked, sliding the coffee to him. "Cream or sugar?"
"Neither," he replied into his mug. "And yes. She wanted to come and meet you all, but I need her at home base keeping an eye on things."
He looked over at our table with folders scattered everywhere. "That looks fun."
I let out a sharp laugh. "Ethan thought it would be good to have some things prepared before, which is a good idea until you have to actually go about getting it together." I took a sip of my coffee then slid on a barstool across from him while Ethan trotted back down the stairs. "So tell me, how's are favorite warlock?"
Leo chuckled darkly. "Oh he's just fine. He and Dominic are having a lovely time."
"Hope Caleb won't be too mad," Ethan added as he rounded the corner into the kitchen.
"No," Leo said causally while waving his hand. "Besides Caleb knows better than to try and cross Alex or I. Did not work out well for him last time." He looked over at Ethan, who was pouring another coffee as his green eyes seemed to sparkle as they took in his form. "If you don't mind me saying, you could be your father's twin. You remind me so much of him."
"I don't mind, thank you," Ethan replied with a kind smile before he slid onto a stool next to me. "Did you–"
"Oh yes, Chris, Levi, Alex, and I all got along very well. He and Levi were really the only wolves Alex and I liked dealing with back then. Mostly because we all had the same mindset on things."
"Mindset?" I asked.
Leo smiled slyly into his coffee. "Words only get you so far in this world, I've been around long enough to know."
My beast growled in approval while Ethan raised his mug to Leo. "I can certainly get behind that."
"Shoot, I'm so rude," I grumbled to myself. "Do you want something to eat? We have plenty of food and Derek helped me stock another refrigerator outside with plenty of blood bags for you too."
"Actually," Ethan thought out loud. "You should try these, I swear these things are amazing."
Leo looked at the bag of pretzels Ethan was extending to him while I rolled my eyes. He took one and tossed it in his mouth, chewing slowly before he groaned appreciatively. "Damn," he said between bites. "Humans, sometimes they come up with pretty good food."
I chuckled and shook my head into my coffee mug while Ethan reached for a handful of pretzels for himself. "So everyone is coming in tonight. I was thinking we could all meet, our group that is, and get a game together."
"Agreed," Leo added. "I was going to suggest letting Barrett and Evie dream walk while people weren't looking tonight, that way tomorrow we don't have to waste half the day feeling people out."
"Fine by me," Ethan replied with a firm nod.
"What do you think Leo, about all of this?" I asked; it was a question that seemed to be the elephant in the room.
He sighed, tired and almost haggard as he sat back in his seat. His thumb mindlessly trailed the edge of his mug before he looked back at us. "You know, after we got through that mess with the treaty, Alex and I legitimately thought it was over. We all did. We had destroyed most of their numbers, let the rest wander off and die off as rogues, and destroyed their main bases.
"By the time we did, so many people were for peace anyways that their cause was far past lost. People always forget that we have another issue to worry about, which is the human population. I can't tell you how many times Alex and I had to send people to go clean up a mess related to the treaty back then. We were put at risk so many times; people let their greed and selfishness cloud their judgment and in doing so they put us at a great risk.
"It seems like they never really died, just like a bunch of damn cockroaches," he growled out. "They just waited. I should have known. I should have seen it."
"You can't see everything," I added with a gentle smile.
"True," he conceded. "I just can't believe we've let it get this far. They are much smarter this time, they learned. It's never been this calculated before."
"Did you have any concerns after the attack?" Ethan asked.
"Course, I adored Chris and your mother. Alex and I had Derek and Elliot running around the clock with other coven members trying to help. Besides the fact that we wanted to help, we also were terrified that it was related to the rebels. But you have to understand, no one found anything and things pretty much went silent after that.
"They wanted an opportunity. Unfortunately, Bernard is right. Even though any support the treaty, they do it because there has been nothing but general peace. If that trust is broken then it could be very bad.
"Chris, Levi, and Luca were some of the ones that pushed it the hardest. Besides putting targets on their backs, it made sense on the rebels end. You can't take out one, you have to take out both. Take out both and they would leave this area very vulnerable for them to do as they pleased, as they have until recent events."
"How do you think they made so many rogues? How do you think they are?"
"I've only seen that many a few times and it was a very very long time ago. People were fighting that damn Trojan war while we were trying to contain our damn species."
"Trojan war?"
Leo groaned into his coffee. "Yes, it's how Alex met Helen."
I sat back and eyed Ethan then looked back at Leo who was sipping his coffee. "Helen, she's not–"
"Yes," he groaned. "She is. It was such a bloody mess too."
"I thought she ended up with–"
"Menelaus? Yes, no–well it's complicated. Alex eventually killed him." My mouth fell a little more to the ground while Ethan shook his in disbelief. Leo shrugged casually. "It's a very long story you should have them tell you, but believe me when I say that helping my brother retrieve her was one of the biggest pains in my ass."
"So the rouges?" Ethan asked, both of us still in shock. I was going to meet Helen of Troy. Holy shit.
"Oh yes," Leo breathed out. "Well, back then like I said I had seen it. Numbers close to what you had here. We saw it again in the Viking era and once more right around the time of the plague, but since, well we haven't seen those numbers. Large groups? Yes, but nothing like what happened here."
"How? I mean–I guess I just don't understand how?" I asked.
"That's the mystery," Leo breathed out, a little frustration laced in his voice. "There's not a 'rogue' formula per se. A rogue vampire or wolf is one that lets their beast take over; they revert to the most animalistic form of their nature, losing almost if not all of their human side. A lot of times it's like a madness that degrades their brain, it's why they smell so sick. The madness can come from a lot of places, but usually as you know, it's from loosing a mate or something you loved very dearly."
"So do you think that someone is out there just killing mated pairs?" I asked, my wolf almost shivering at the thought. Ethan put a comforting hand on my leg, rubbing his thumb over my knee while Leo mused to himself for a few moments.
"Maybe. Alex and I thought about that, but we also thought that we would have to know if that happened. We weren't even sure how he was getting that many wolves to start with. As a human the shift, as you know Charlotte, is excruciating and usually kills many men and women. I remember Luke and Erik saying that they had thought they died when they shifted. I can imagine that there were a lot of good people that did die because my brother bit them, a mass genocide so he could have his army."
"Can you go rogue without experiencing the loss? Does it always happen that way?"
Leo shook his head. "Not that we know of today, but the last time I saw it was during the Trojan war."
"How?" Ethan asked into his mug.
"There was a wolf that wanted to use the situation to advantage. Build an army, take over a lot of land, that type of annoying cause," Leo replied. "There was a witch who was in love with him and he convinced her to use some very dark magic to cast a spell on him. You see, the thing about going rogue is you're more beast than man. The logic in your brain dies and the animal takes over. She did something, changed his blood so whoever drank from it would turn rogue."
"Oh my God that's horrible," I replied, my heart twisting at the thought of innocent people being taken advantage of in such a way.
"I know," Leo breathed out. "Needless to say, he turned a lot of good men and women from good wolf's into rogues. They saw him as their creator, as their father and they followed him. We were able to wipe them out, and wipe out their line. We couldn't risk someone with that cursed blood."
"And you got them all?" Ethan asked.
Leo nodded. "Yes, your great whatever great grandfather was one to help us."
"Hold on what?" I asked, my wolf perking up.
"Has Levi not told you this?" I shook my head and Leo smiled. "Well hell, I guess it's story time."
"Do you want more coffee?" I asked.
He smiled with a polite nod. "Please."
I was about to get up when Ethan stopped me. "I got it sunshine."
Leo tossed another pretzel in his mouth and nodded approvingly. "Really, though, these were a fantastic buy."
"See sunshine," Ethan teased.
I rolled my eyes while Leo chuckled before Ethan returned with a fresh cup of steamy coffee. Leo took a sip then looked at both of us with soft eyes that looked so young, so youthful. Ironic since he was literally older than the dirt this house rested on.
"Well, once upon a time," he chuckled out, causing Ethan and to both laugh lightly with him. "A long time ago there was a woman, my mother, who had fifteen children because condoms were not a thing back then."
I almost spat out my coffee while Ethan died laughing. "That poor woman," I breathed out.
Leo waved it off. "Don't worry, she loved us all until we all pissed her royally off. They say she was the daughter of the moon and the sun, but really she was the woman who sang us to sleep every night and made us bread with berries baked into it."
"Your mother was the daughter of the moon goddess? Your mother is a fucking goddess?" I quickly breathed out.
Leo laughed sharply. "She would love that you said that." He took a sip of his coffee and shrugged. "Everyone has different names for them. I never met my grandparents, but my mother was very talented. I guess you could say she was the first witch. We actually thought she was always a little crazy. I mean, saying her mother was the moon was a little out there, but we loved our mother nonetheless."
"What of your father?" Ethan asked.
"He was a childhood love of hers that eventually died after our sister, the youngest of us was born. Disease took him from us."
"I'm sorry," I breathed out.
He smiled. "It was because of that, his death, that this all started. My mother came to us one day and told us that her mother decided to grant us all one wish per our birthright, and I think she felt really bad about us losing our dad. I mean, mom had to look after fifteen of us on our own, and well, that wasn't all that easy.
"Our two eldest brothers, Balak and Hagan, were always at odds with each other. They wanted to inherit what my father had left us, and mostly they just wanted to one-up the other. They fought constantly and tried to create sides amongst us, it was annoying, to say the least.
"So when we heard about our grandmother's gift, well, we all thought our mother was crazy. I mean, it sounds insane–none of us really fully bought into our grandmother's origins per our mother's words besides our sister Aurora. But Hagan and Balak were insane and pretty desperate to destroy each other.
"Hagan was the first to take it. Mother had told us that we just needed to go out into the full moon and request what we wanted. No one really believed her, but I guess Hagan got desperate. So one night he got ridiculously drunk and went outside and stood under the light of the full moon. I remember Alex and Luke, and our other brother Ian, came and got me. They were dying laughing because they thought Hagan had finally lost it.
"We watched him from a window in our home, on his knees as he called out to the moon. He told the moon that he wanted to be the ruler of all the beasts on the land so he could rule all that was one land. He couldn't just wish for something simple, like money, or a pretty wife," Leo grumbled.
"He got what he wanted. He got exactly what he wanted. The moon spelled him right there. She gave him the ability to shift into a wolf; our sister thought it was because the moon saw the wolf as the strongest amongst the creatures on the land, who really knows, but imagine our surprise and horror to see our brother shift right there before us. We were all terrified and our mother was hysterical. When he shifted back to his skin days later, mother wouldn't let him in the house, we were all so afraid of him. He wasn't just a wolf, he was the definition of a beast in it's purest form.
"For the next month he pillaged villages nearby, he had a hard time controlling the beast within, to say the least. He chased after Balak and pretty much made his life a living nightmare until Balak went out during the next full moon to request his wish.
"He told the moon that he wanted to forever rule over man and beast. The moon, like Hagan, changed him right there. She turned him into what I am, into a vampire. She put poison in his fangs that could harm the wolf and made it so he could forever walk on this earth to see over man and beast; but according to our mother she immediately regretted it. She regretted it all because they waged war against each other then they turned to us.
"Balak came for us one day, he told us to join him. Alex, Allister, and I never wanted that. We just wanted to live in peace, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. He drained us of our blood then made us drink his until our bellies were full with his. The next thing we knew, we were waking up with this insane need to kill and drink the blood of others."
"That's terrible," I breathed out. "What about Hagan? Is that how–"
"Yes," he replied. "Hagan went and bit my other six brothers, Luke and Erik of which are your direct ancestors."
Ethan raise his brows. "What?"
Leo chuckled lightly. "Erik Everette and Luke Thorne. Erik's name came from the fact that he ran to the part of the mountains where the evergreen trees were thick and lush when he finally settled. Luke's was from that he was a thorn in everyone's ass all the time."
"Shit," Ethan breathed out while Leo chuckled into his mug.
"They were good men," Leo said. "Close to Alex and I."
"What happened? What happened to them?" I asked.
"Well," Leo sighed out. "You have to understand, not all of us wanted this. Half of us were like Alex and I, turned against our will, and the other half wanted to join up with either Hagan or Balak. It ripped our family apart.
"Alex and I made the decision to leave, our family was scattered, and we were having an impossible time trying to control our bloodlust. We decided to go where there were no humans, we didn't want to hurt anyone.
"It killed both of us. I remember the first time I drained someone, it was like something else was controlling my actions. I hated myself and what I had become. Both Alex and I spent a little over a hundred years in the wilderness trying to learn how to control ourselves, this beast in us, before we decided that we would try to go an find our brothers.
"We didn't want to be near them or people until we were sure we could control it. It was so hard, but we did it. We decided to look for Luke and Erik, we figured they would be together and we had a few ideas where they could be."
"And I assume you did?" I asked.
Leo nodded. "We found them in a series of caves near out home. Erik used to love exploring them as a child. We found them in there with our other brother Allister, bones littering the floor from the animals they had been eating off of.
"I remember Alex almost didn't want to go into the cave; when we heard the sounds of bones crunching under our feet we both weren't sure if we were going to find our brothers or the beasts.
"But we found them. They were surprisingly in their skin. They had the same idea we did, they took Allister, our youngest brother, and hid away from people. Apparently, they both tried to kill him many times–well, their beasts did, but he would just hide up in the trees away from them until they would calm down or shift back.
"They had tried to help each other calm their beasts, their wolves, but it was so hard back then–it was hard for all of us. Poor Luke and Erik could barely go through a conversation without fur popping out of their skin, even when they got a little angry their beasts would want to take over. They said that it was like they were in a savage dog fight with them all the time, barely able to make it through a day without shifting against their will."
Leo sighed and looked at his coffee. His eyes staring almost blankly into it, silence thickening around us while the coffee in his cup started to swirl.
"Magic comes with a price. Like everything in life, there is a consequence to our actions. When you wish for something, well, we never really think of the consequences of it. When the moon made Hagan and Balak what they are, it was like she split them in half to make room for the beast. Alex told me once that he felt like half of his soul was ripped out to make room for this other thing, it certainly felt that way at the time.
"Erik said the same thing. He said that he felt emptier, even though he had this other being constantly pulling at his brain to get out. They were strong, the strongest beasts on land, but to master the beasts they had to become one.
"For us it was different. Nothing can live forever, so she made us into something that was neither alive nor dead, able to live as long as we fed off of blood–life, which keeps us going."
"How long were you all in the cave with them?" Ethan asked.
"Not too long," Leo replied. "Eventually Byron and Ian found us. Byron had been turned into a vampire and Ian a wolf. We didn't know what to do. We knew we had to stop our brothers. Ian and Byron had told us that they had formed clans if you will, with vampires on one side and weres on the other They apparently had destroyed many villages to build up their numbers and were running around like the savage beasts we were.
"Once we were all sure we could exist in the world without losing it, we decided to first go scout around. We weren't sure what we were dealing with, but when we did I almost wished we hadn't. I have never seen anything more gruesome. Villages of men, women, and children slaughtered. We found one where Balak had taken the heads of the children he drained and made a small wall outside of the village."
"Oh my God," I breathed out, my hand covering my mouth.
Leo sighed and looked back his cup, a grim stoic expression over his face. "I know." He shook his head then looked back up at Ethan and I. "We decided to go to my mother. She was what would be called a 'witch' now, but when we went home we saw that Hagan had destroyed her and our home. Our home was burnt down and our mother's body was scattered across the front of our home.
"Aurora, our youngest sibling, and sister, was so devastated–we all were. She was a very talented witch and we tried to plead our case to her, we needed help but she was so furious with all of us that she refused. She refused and ran away.
"I was terrified because I thought that either Hagan or Balak would try to find her, but she seemed to stay pretty well hidden. We never saw her again until the end of it all, or what we thought was the end. "
He took a sip of his coffee and set it down, his fingers trailing the rim before he looked back at us. "After that, we grew more desperate. We were out of ideas and running out of time; we knew it wouldn't be long before either Balak or Hagan came for us, so we went back to the moon.
"Luke and Ian were not into the idea, I mean, it caused us nothing but trouble before. Alastair wasn't a fan, but he was open to it as were Alex and I. It's not like we had a whole lot of options." He laughed a little to himself, a soft smile tugging on his lips. "We all got a little drunk then drew straws of hay to decided who would plead our case to the moon. Luke drew the unlucky straw, I remember he was so pissed about it because he thought the moon would just turn him into another creature with our luck.
"But, we all went outside together during the full moon. Erik had a bottle of whatever it was that we were drinking while Luke stood out there and pleaded to the moon–Did a pretty good job too."
"What did he say?" Ethan asked.
"Just that we wanted peace and we didn't any of this. We were taken against our will and all we wanted was our lives back. He said that we each had a wish left; he said, which we agreed upon before, that we would all give them up if she would help us end this. He said that we would live as monsters for the rest of our lives if she would help us to stop the real monsters destroying this Earth."
"Sometimes it takes one monster to stop another," I thought out loud.
Leo nodded. "Very true words, " he replied, his voice soft an solemn.
"I'm assuming that she helped you then?" I asked as Ethan took another sip of coffee without turning away from Leo.
Leo chuckled. "Yes, but we didn't think she did at first. After Luke pleaded our case, we all sat there for what felt like hours but nothing happened. It was horrible. I mean, totally crushing for us. Probably the most hopeless I've ever felt.
"We all we're pretty pissed at her and incredibly devastated that she hadn't helped us, after all, she was the ones that created the monsters. Eventually, we had to move on from it. The problem was controlling the beast within. We needed to organize ourselves and come up with a plan, but it was hard. The wolves had a hard time controlling their beasts, as you know your emotions stir them more; and the vampires, well we constantly craved blood. The bloodlust was at times so horrible for Alex and I that we had to have our other brothers tie us down so we wouldn't hurt anyone."
"Shit," Ethan breathed out.
"Shit indeed," Leo replied into his coffee cup. "We worked through it, though, we had to. Our brothers were trying to build armies and the devastation was getting worse. Younglings, or new vampires, have an insane time controlling themselves, and that's what Balak had running around. New weres, well like I said before it usually kills humans. We weren't really sure how he was turning so many of them, but we knew he had or at least had tried by all the bodies he left behind.
"We had brought more people, people turned against their will, to our cause but it was difficult still. We were starting to lose hope until one day we went to this village. It was horrible; completely burnt down, bodies scattered everywhere–just complete horror. I remember standing there with Erik thinking that we would never find peace when Luke all the sudden tore off like he had a magnet pulling him. He had found his mate."
Ethan raised his brows while my wolf cocked her head. Leo took another sip of his coffee before he looked back at us with a nostalgic half smile. "That's what she gave us to help us, mates. We didn't realize it at first. Luke was drooling over this woman, Astrid, and we all thought he had lost it. You two know how it works, but imagine not knowing at all about mates or what that feeling was.
"Luke was practically loosing his mind over the mate pull. Alex had to help Erik pull Luke away while Ian and I spoke with her. We didn't know what was happening, we thought she was a witch but she was just a normal woman. Ian thought we should look after her though, he had a feeling about her, so we did. We kept her away from Luke because we were afraid his beast would tear her apart.
"But Luke swore he wouldn't. He told us that when he saw her it was like a part of him was filled with life again, it was like something balancing his scale. He begged us to let him see her, we didn't realize how much a toll the mate pull could take on you if you resisted it.
"He got so sick because we kept him away from her for too long. We didn't know any better, we were just afraid he would harm the poor girl. Eventually, Byron convinced us to let him see her on the agreement that if he tried to harm her that we would send her very far away.
"So that's what we did. We took him to where we had hidden her, a little cabin in the middle of nowhere. He was weak, so weak that I had to help Erik carry him. When we got there we saw that she was not in better shape, but when they saw each other it was like they instantly started to feel better.
"Erik convinced us that Luke wouldn't hurt her, convinced us to let them have time to themselves. When we came back the next morning, well, I thought I was going to find body parts. Instead, we found our brother laughing in the kitchen with Astrid as she made breakfast. It was like he used to be before he turned. He seemed to much happier, so much healthier, so much more like himself.
"They had mated and marked each other and Luke said the second they did that his beast balanced out. It was like his beast was his ally, instead of his enemy now. He said he actually felt this odd bond with his beast–loved him."
"So what did you all do? What about her? Did she turn?" I rushed out.
Leo chuckled and nodded. "Astrid was a strong woman, the first she-wolf." He took a sip of his coffee then looked back at us with a soft smile. "After that we realized that we had to find our mates, or at least enough of us did so we could move forward. We also knew we needed our sister. So half of us went after our sister while the other half started to work on war strategy back home.
"Alex, Allister, Ian, and I went after Aurora. We found her, she was so much older. We had forgotten that vampires and weres age much more slowly than witches, even though witches ages slowly themselves. The stronger the witch, the more slowly they age.
"Anyways, we spoke with her and her daughters who were married with children of their own. She was apprehensive, but her daughters wanted to fight. They didn't want to have to keep hiding their families.
"We brought the three of them with us; Anne, Ariel, Amelia. When we got back, more of our brothers had found their mates–found their peace. It gave us so much hope but we knew there was so much to do; but at least we could control the beast. After that it was like at time went on that we got better at controlling our beasts. We didn't pass down monsters to our children or progenys, but we passed down something they could handle. In both cases there is a unique bond between the human side and the beast, obviously it does vary though.
He sighed and looked into his coffee mug, a sad expression clouding his face. "Hagan and Balak were tearing apart the land fighting each other and both of them wanted to pull us to their sides. We needed to stop them, but as supernaturals as you know, especially the first ones–it wasn't going to be easy to kill them. We didn't want to kill them. They were horrible creatures but they were our brothers. But Erik convinced us otherwise and he was right. If we didn't kill them and their line, then we would never really have peace.
"The three sisters helped us come up with a plan, a weakness. They took their silver jewelry off and cast a spell using blood from all of us to bind it. It made silver, even for the witches, to be a thing that was deadly to us in enough amounts.
"So we made our weapons in silver, careful not to touch them ourselves. The sisters then lured Hagan and Balak out of their war camps. They told each of them that they wanted a deal–that they could be bought at the right price. It was there that we ambushed them and cut off the head of the snakes that started all this bullshit.
"They put up a good fight, but a silver sword to the heart killed Hagan, and a silver axe beheaded Balak. After that it wasn't as easy as we had hoped, we had to wipe out anyone they turned in fear of backlash, and we needed to stop our other brothers.
"We found them and gave them all a choice; side with us and drop all the nonsense or die. We didn't want to kill them but we were out of options."
"Did you?" Ethan asked, his arm sliding around my waist while I leaned on my elbows against the island.
"Some," Leo replied with a nod. "We ended up sparing Joel, Raegan, and Theo. But Magnus and Cael wouldn't budge. Magnus's progeny Theon did though, and abandoned his maker to side with us."
"So what happened? Did you end it then?" I asked.
Leo shook his head. "We thought we did when in reality we were the beginning of a conflict that hasn't really seen peace until the treaty. Back then we were so scared of someone rising up, a child or progeny, and looking for revenge. We killed a lot of people, many innocents-, but we couldn't risk it. The blood on my hands from that will never wash. I never wanted us to have to kill women or children, but we had to be sure that any child of Hagan's was eliminated."
"Children?!" I gasped out as my belly churned a the thought.
Leo sighed. "We didn't to but we didn't have a choice."
I nodded but inside my stomach was churning. My beast and I didn't like the thought of innocent babies, women, or any person for that matter dying for the sins of someone else.
Ethan rubbed my leg then kissed my hair, soothing my warring emotions. It was amazing what fear could drive some people to do.
"As for my brothers," Leo continued. "Well, we lost a lost some of then in the conflict. Besides losing Balak and Hagan, we lost Byron. He was stabbed with a silver dagger. We also lost Theo and Reagan, who when they came to our side saw the light of things and died fighting beside us.
"We did get to a point where we thought it had ended, a brief moment of peace if you will. It was then that we decided to split up and settled down around the world so we could each keep an eye on things. Weres and vampires would both be able to claim land and territory, some of which overlapped each other.
"So we dispersed around the world. Luke and Erik came here and we followed them at first to make sure that they were ok. Erik found his mate along the way, Camille. He felt a pull to the mountains, he said he had a dream that our father told him to take his mate and settle there. Whereas Luke had this itch, it was like a beast of its own that pulled him an Astrid to land just south-west of Erik's.
"We stayed with them for a while until we decided that it was time for us to settle. Back them there wasn't that many people in North America, but Alex and I liked that. It was easier for us, the bloodlust is always a challenge and we liked the fact that we could live in peace without fear of being hunted down for what we were, which started to happen more and more as our populations grew. Humans began to hate us for the monsters we were, and they had every right to. We had destroyed many lives, too many lives, which is why we decided to hide ourselves away from them.
"The three daughters of Aurora, who long since passed by then, helped us with their magic. They helped hide us and in return we always helped protect them. It's like the agreement you have here with your witches, your father's provide them with protection, as do Alex and I, and they help keep us safe with their magic."
"Levi isn't a fan of them," I added.
Leo rolled his eyes. "They can be a bit of a handful."
"So what did you an Alex do? You obviously found Helen of Troy," I said with a light chuckle.
He groaned and nodded. "Well, Alex and I never really traveled much. After we staked out our territory we took time to travel and see the world. Eventually after time he met Helen and well, they decided to come home and settle. They started building a coven of their own with Dominic being his first progeny.
"I kept traveling though. Looking back I realized that it was because I was looking for her. For my Sylvia. I found her in what is now Ireland. She was picking flowers on a hill with her bright red hair flowing in the wind. Needless to say, ever since that day Sylvia and I have been together ever since."
"And is Derek your only progeny?" I asked.
Leo shook his head. "No, technically Sylvia is my first progeny, like Helen is Alex's first. Vincent was my next one, followed by Sabrina, then Derek."
"How did you choose them?" Ethan asked into his mug.
"It's almost like finding your mate, you just feel this pull to them. With all of them though, I gave them a choice, as did Alex. If they didn't want this life then I would have let them live on as a human but regardless, I would have claimed them as one of mine and protected them."
"You said before that this was the start of the conflict, how did it come back?" I asked.
"Because we didn't wipe out their lines and after so much war and bloodshed, well, there was a lot of bad feelings that don't just go away. It was always tense. There were some packs like Luke and Erik's that were for peace, and there were others like Joel Black's that were not–well not until Jaxon took over recently.
"There were a few times war did break out, like when I mentioned before when Alex met Helen. It's been like a sore we can't heal, and I fear some days that we never will."