I ran home after saying goodbye to everyone and promptly took myself to bed where Ethan later joined me; waking me up with fingers that were slipping the shirt I was wearing off because, 'Baby, what did I tell you about wearing clothes to bed?'
Waking up to soft breathing, Ethan was laying with his head on my chest and an arm splayed over my stomach. I suppressed a laugh, because we looked like one weird ass pretzel; I had a leg intertwined with his and a hand snaked in his hair while our sheets were bunched up all around us. Needless to say, Ethan and I were apparently not graceful sleepers.
I didn't want to wake him, but the longer I stayed awake the more restless I became. My fingers started to slowly play with his hair before my free hand itched closer to the remote that was just out of reach. Moving him a little as I grabbed it, he just nuzzled into me and pulled me closer to him with the arm that was wrapped around me, like a sloth hugging a tree.
Clicking on the television, I flipped through our movies until I found 'The Princess Bride.' Smiling as I clicked it on, back to where we had left off, I laid back against my pillow while Ethan snuggled a little more into me.
"Princess Bride again?" he sleepily murmured against my skin.
I purred slightly at the sensation of his breath dancing over my chest. "We didn't finish it."
"Did you sleep?"
"Yes," I replied back as he slowly woke up. "You seemed to have slept well."
"You make a pretty good pillow sunshine," he said with a soft smile, his head tilting up so blue-green eyes could meet mine.
"We should get up–" I began to say when he growled lowly–playfully crankiness before he looked back up at me with a mock pout. "Ethan..."
"You ruin all my fun sunshine," he replied, kissing the skin on my upper breast before he rested his chin on my chest.
"Don't give me that look, we need to go to the tree. We told Bernard that we would fetch him this evening, and it's almost evening." Ethan sighed dramatically causing me to roll my eyes.
"Fine, but I want blobs in bed tonight," he quickly replied before he sat up away from me, leaving me in the sheets as the warmth that his body left started to fade.
Shaking my head, I slipped out of bed and strolled past him to the closet, drawing a low growl from him which made my lips twitch up into a sly smile. Footsteps caught up to me as I slipped on a sweatshirt, and arms wrapped around my waist. "You shouldn't tease me so much sunshine," he breathed against my neck, his voice low and husky.
I quickly turned then kissed the corner of his mouth, because teasing Ethan had to be one of my favorite pastimes. "Tree, come on," I said, pulling him by the arm out of the closet.
Ethan groaned but eventually followed me out of the house where I tossed off the sweatshirt, drawing another low growl from him before I shifted into my fur. "You don't play fair sunshine."
I yipped at him then trotted out down the hill as cracking sounded, the sound of Ethan shifting into his wolf that caught up to me; rubbing himself against me before he licked at my neck. My wolf purred slight then playfully snapped at him before she leaped forward and started to run into the woods.
Ethan and I raced down towards Bernard's cabin; nipping playfully at each other and racing along the way. Bernard just rolled his eyes when he saw us as he stepped out in his black slacks, black shirt, and shiny black shoes.
We walked with him to the tree, staying in our fur which was nice–it had been too long since I let her out. She was curious of Bernard, but he didn't seem to mind her too much. He ruffled her fur a few times when she nipped playfully at his hand.
The tree was humming as Ethan and I approached it–the blood was humming to us. Ethan loped over to a burrow and pulled out some clothes for us while Bernard took in the tree.
I pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt then walked over to where Bernard was standing while Ethan pulled on some basketball shorts. "This is interesting little wolf."
"Have you seen anything like it before?" I asked as Ethan climbed up the rocks to walk over the perfect green grass where we were standing.
"Jaxon has something like this, a rock. Alpha's there take their blood oath on it, but this is different," he breathed out as the tree started to sway in the wind.
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.
"The rock is a dead thing, this tree is alive–the tree in itself is alive. Even still, Jaxon's rock is peculiar as well. Can I watch?"
"I don't see why not," Ethan breathed out before he reached for my hand. "Come on sunshine."
"So what should we do? Ask for Ezra?" I said as we approached the tree that seemed to sway a little more the closer we got.
Ethan shrugged. "I don't know, I guess?"
"We could ask for Lucas to get Ezra?"
Ethan gave me a curious brow as we stopped in front of the tree, the blood humming louder to us. I sighed and looked back in front of us, at the bloody handprints up to the one I recognized as Ethan's, which drew a soft smile from my lips. "Remember? He's closer because he hasn't walked, it's easier for him, or at least it seems that way."
"Alright sunshine," Ethan sighed out as he pulled me around in front of him, snaking an arm across my stomach and intertwining our free hands together.
"Lucas! Get Ezra!" I called out. Ethan looked at me again like I was crazy, but I just shrugged. "I mean why not, right?"
He let out a breathy laugh then held out hands up as the blood hummed a little louder; I shivered and leaned back against his firm chest right as he closed the distance between us and the bloodied bark.
And we were pulled.
Ethan was holding onto me as we fell through what felt like air. I almost started screaming until we landed on something hard with a loud 'thud.' Groaning and rubbing the part of my butt that had taken the fall, I sat up and looked around.
We were at the treehouse.
"Shit," I hissed out, disappointment starting to fill me.
"Hey sis!" a familiar voice called out. "So, am I going to be an uncle?" Lucas asked.
I snapped my head around to see Lucas leaning on the doorframe with a beer in his hand. I looked around again and saw Ethan staring with wide eyes before I snapped my vision back to Lucas. Lucas just rolled his eyes as he took another sip of his beer. "Christ sis, how hard did you hit your ass on your way down?"
Scrambling up I marched over to him, my arms shaking as I looked him over. "Are you–is this?"
He sighed and pulled me into a hug; into a hug that I felt. I could feel him. I could feel the blood in his veins that felt like Levi's, the pulse of his heart, and the vibration of his chest as he started to laugh. I could feel his wolf moving under his skin; he was so strong, so alive, and curiously watching me while I stood frozen in his arms.
"Holy shit," I breathed out against his chest before I hugged him back.
"I know, the tree is one trippy ass plant," he replied.
I pulled away as Lucas waved to Ethan. "So dude, really, though, am I going to be an uncle or what?"
Ethan groaned and muttered some curses under his breath before he walked forward to hug Lucas as well. "You're still an asshole."
"Obviously," Lucas laughed out.
"Lucas where is Ezra?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I called him so I guess we'll see?"
"What do you mean you called him?" I replied back slowly.
Another thud shook the floor, causing Ethan to reach out and pull me next to him. Lucas quickly turned and ducked his head inside, deflating while footsteps walked out to us.
"Dude, are you having a kid or not? Mom has been on my ass, and honestly, it is such a damn pain. Beer?"
"Jesus Eli I swear to God if you were not dead... " Ethan grumbled before taking the beer from him.
They could have been twins. Eli and Ethan were bickering while Lucas and I looked on; Lucas was just smiling, amused at the situation, while my mouth almost hit the ground.
He was a hair taller than Ethan, but they were both about the same size; same chocolate hair, same blue-green eyes, same defined jaw. Although Eli's face was a tad longer than Ethan's and his hair slightly shorter.
He turned to me then punched Ethan in the chest. "You are such a dick, you didn't even introduce me to your mate."
Eli rolled his eyes then proceeded to walk up to me and hug me. I wasn't really sure what to do, I just kind of stood there in shock until I found Lucas' gaze. Lucas rolled his eyes then nudged Eli. "Dude, I think you may be too much for her."
"That's what she said," Eli breathed out.
Lucas laughed while Ethan groaned as I pulled away from Eli. Shaking my head and giving Lucas a long look, he shrugged innocently while Ethan walked into the treehouse.
"Where is Ezra?" I asked.
"God, it's like not every day that I get to see you," Lucas whined.
"You just spent like a week ghosting her you idiot," Eli bit back.
I nodded before I smiled up at Eli. "It is nice to meet you, you and Ethan could almost be twins."
"I know," He said with an amused nod. "Although I am definitely the better-looking one."
I scoffed out a laugh then walked to follow Ethan. "Keep telling yourself that Eli."
"Burn man!" Lucas laughed out.
"Really, though," Ethan said while he sat down on one of the couches. "Where the hell is Ezra?"
"Everyone needs Ezra," Eli answered as I took a seat next to Ethan, who slipped an arm around my shoulders then kissed my hair, drawing a mock vomit from Lucas' lips. "He and Leland, Luca's father, are pretty popular."
"So you're stuck with us until they come," Lucas said with a devious smile.
"If they come," Eli added as he pulled out another beer.
"Get me one?"
Eli shook his head. "No can do Char."
"Come on...."
"What?!" he shrugged innocently. "You may be like super pregnant and that is not good for the baby, I'm just trying to be a good uncle."
"I am not pregnant," I groaned.
"Let me see," Lucas said with determination in his voice. Before Ethan could stop him, he had his nose to my belly, sniffing it out for the longest time before he pulled away and shook his head. "Looks like you were shooting blanks man."
"Lucas," Ethan bit out while Eli bent over laughing.
"What?! Better luck next time man," he casually said as he walked back to his seat.
I sunk into the couch as redness feverishly heated up my cheeks. Ethan just muttered curses into his beer while Eli walked around to sit across from us.
Lucas rested his elbows on his knees. "Man, all that work for nothing."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" I said, my tone starting to heat up while I eyed him. "You didn't do anything!"
"I ghosted your ass, didn't I? You can at least name your kid after me," Lucas shot back.
"I'm going to kill him," Ethan grumbled.
"Too bad we're already dead," Lucas teased before he clinked his beer can with Eli's.
Ethan was about to say something when Eli cut him off. "Ought to let it happen, Ethan, Lucas has been salivating for months over what a fight between the two of them would look like."
"You're insane," I said to Lucas, who just shrugged. "So this is what you two do now? Hang out in the treehouse and drink beer?"
"I got plenty of free time, can you blame me?"
Eli scoffed while Ethan just rolled his eyes. "Were they always like this?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes, always."
There was another crack before something landed hard out on the porch. Lucas stood up quickly and walked so he was standing more in front of me while Ethan walked up next to him, his beast shaking his fur out as an older male walked in. Lucas sighed a little while Eli waved. "Hey, grandpa E!"
The male was taller than both Eli and Ethan and reminded me of Chris; blue-green eyes like the boys with thick salt and pepper hair that I was willing to be was probably chocolate at one point. He had the same smile as Ethan and Eli, and smiled over at Ethan then me as he stepped in.
He looked at Lucas and Eli then rolled his eyes. "What the hell are you two doing?"
"Keeping them company while they waited for you," Lucas said very matter-of-factly.
Ezra shook his head and muttered some curses under his breath then walked over to Ethan. He sighed and looked Ethan up and down, while Ethan tried to close his mouth. "I think he looks more like your dad Eli."
"Definitely better looking," I muttered under my breath, causing Eli to shoot me a scowl while I laughed under my breath.
Ezra gave Ethan a light hug and patted his back. "Not a bad job you're doing son, where's your girl?"
"Hi," I said with a small wave.
He looked me over then laughed to himself. "Smells like a damn Thorne. Too bad Luca couldn't make it, he'd get a kick out of you."
Lucas rolled his eyes and walked over to sit next to me, while Ethan took the other side, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. Eli stood up and eyed the beer stash. "Want a beer?"
"Please," Ezra breathed out before he looked back at us. "So I hear you have some trouble?"
"Some trouble is putting it lightly," Lucas added.
Ethan nodded. "Do you know everything?"
"Most of it," Ezra replied while Eli handed him an open can of Shiner.
"Do you remember anything from the rogues during the black plague? The ones that were made in large quantities?" Ethan asked.
Ezra took a sip of his beer then shook his head. "I don't have first-hand experience with them unfortunately, we were already settled here. Leland may, he did some traveling back then. I can ask, but I do know for a fact that they were all turned with cursed blood."
"Cursed blood?" I asked, leaning forward while Lucas wolf seemed to flick his ears forward.
Ezra nodded. "It happened first, well the first time anyone can remember, during the Trojan war, and a few times after–like the black plague."
"Leo told Ethan and I a little about the Trojan war. He said they tried to kill all the wolves that had it?"
"From what I was told they did, but you can never be too sure," he replied.
"So, could that mean there was a child? A child with cursed blood?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know, that's still a mystery even to me. A witch created a curse that created the blood. From what I was told growing up, it was very bad and ended up killing a lot of wolves," he replied before he took another sip of beer. "When the plague happened, it was thought that a witch did it again–created the cursed blood. The plague was a bad time, there was a lot of conflict between all the species, a lot of people–humans, going missing because it was easy to hide the bodies amongst the plague victims.
"Some of them were mistaken for having the plague, when really they died from being drained. When they went to wipe out all the rogues, they just made it look like those rogues were sick with the plague too. It was a pretty easy cover up."
"Holy shit," I breathed out.
"So, when you say 'rogue,' do you mean rogues in the way we know them?" Ethan asked.
"I don't know son," Ezra answered. "But I do know that they are rogues without losing something. Usually, a wolf or vampire will go rogue when they have a loss, like losing a mate, that's so severe it snaps something in their brain. The human side starts to die and the crazed beast takes over. But theses were not like that, they were more animal, but without the sorry. Some, from what Leland said, had almost all their mind when they killed them."
"Do you think that's what attacked us?" Eli asked. "Cursed blood rogues?"
Ezra nodded. "Yes, I do actually."
I cringed as Lucas let out a hot breath. "So, do you think it's a witch this time?"
"Could be," Ezra answered. "Could be a child, honestly I'm not surprised by anything anymore. I do think the ones you're referring to are made with cursed blood, getting those kinds of numbers is almost impossible and it's only been heard of with the blood."
"Awesome," Ethan groaned out. I rubbed his thigh while Eli gave him a sympathetic smile.
"Do you know anything about Aurora and her daughters?" I asked.
"Well, there was just her and the three," Ezra answered. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, I just have a feeling about it," I replied. "I guess I am just hung up on why the daughters chose to help but Aurora did not."
"No one really knows," he stated, swaying his beer can around while he thought. "We were always told that it was because their mother just wanted to stay out of it, but they wanted to do the right thing."
"But what do you think?" Ethan asked.
"I think there is a lot more, but it's been such a long time. Even when I was around, it had been a very long time since all that happened, which means the story over time has been twisted up, so it's hard to really say."
"What about the seven? The Pure Seven?" Ethan said, his beast watching his great-grandfather curiously.
"I know they are messing with things they should not, some very powerful magic that concerns even us," Ezra replied before he took a sip of his beer.
"Why? What are they doing?" I rushed out.
He shook his head with a half-smile. "I can't say, I'm sorry. But know that honestly, I don't even understand how it all works, Leland does a little more than me."
"So what about the cover-ups? What do you know about that? Do you know what they are planning on doing?" Ethan said, his voice moving quicker as time in this tree could be gone from us at any moment.
"It's been happening for such a long time, since the beginning of time," Ezra replied. "To be honest, I was opposed to the treaty when it was first talked about."
"What? Really?" Eli asked.
Ezra nodded with a sad smile. "Emmett's younger brother, my youngest Elijah was killed by a vampire when he was young. I had taken them both with me to a nearby town to make some trades with the other packs. Alex had some covens in that area, and I guess a youngling had gotten loose from one.
"I took my eyes off Elijah for two minutes and the next thing I knew he was being drained. Obviously, I was furious, more than furious. The next thing I knew I was ripping the vampire apart while my beta held Emmett back.
"Emmett wanted me to wage war on Alex, a lot of weres did. Even Leland at the time said I would've been justified; things had been heating up and that youngling should never have gotten loose. Leo tried to talk to me, he was more than apologetic. I always liked Leo, he seemed like he was always just trying to do the right thing."
"I'm so sorry," I rushed out, my heart squeezing in a dull pain for him.
He smiled to me. "It's alright, we're all together now."
Sighing, I nodded to him. "So what happened?"
"Well, I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want a war, but I wanted justice for my son. The vampires were furious that I killed the youngling–it didn't matter to them that he had killed my son who was not even eighteen," he bit out, slight tension gripping his voice. "I decided to sit down with Alex, my beta told me to try and talk to him before we decided to spill blood, so I did. Alex was incredibly upset. He kept going on about how the youngling was just acting on a thirst he couldn't control–that he didn't mean it.
"While I understood where he was coming from, I still didn't agree. We may be beasts but that isn't an excuse. We have to control ourselves, be a master of our own demons, or what place do we have in this world? The coven that the youngling belonged to should not have been so careless, and his maker should have been behaving as a maker should.
"I went back home and talked for a long time with my mate, Christiana. Neither of us knew what to do, but we both knew we never wanted anyone else to feel the pain we were feeling–no one should have to bury their children. I agreed not to go to war with Alex, mostly because I didn't want any more sons to die because of mine. I didn't want his legacy to be one of war, but one of peace.
"Emmett was furious with me, he and Elijah were so close. I guess that's where it all started for him, after that day he couldn't look at a vampire without showing it his teeth. After that day as well, we started to talk about the treaty. It took a very long time until it was actually signed, obviously, but we did try to move it along."
"Not like it's doing much good now," Lucas muttered out.
Ezra scoffed out a laugh and nodded. "The intention was very good–is very good, but when not everyone abides by it, then obviously it creates problems. You have to understand, there is still a lot of harbored hatred on both sides, and it doesn't help that people still break the rules.
"I've heard both in my life and up here of underground dog fights, humans being used against their will as blood bags, vampires turned rogue so they can fight like a bunch of animals for filthy gambling men. We are all guilty, and the treaty is breaking. It needs to be reworked and people need to be held accountable; it also needs to be more flexible so it will last with time."
" I agreed," Ethan breathed out. "But right now we need to stop a full-blown war or I fear that there is no peace to fall back to."
Ezra nodded. "Levi may have some of Leland's old things. It would be in storage and I doubt anyone ever looked at it. They keep a lot of those things in the basement with the pack records."
"I can attest to the fact that my dad has definitely never looked through those, that basement is a damn dust trap," Lucas added, causing me to smile slightly at the thought of Levi grumbling his cranky ass off while he had to look through those dusty boxes.
"There may be some of my things down in the basement of the packhouse," Ezra added. "Although I don't know if it will help, but maybe?"
Ethan nodded. "Evan and I can go look."
"I'll try to snoop around up here. I know Luca already has been and Leland as some things he's working on too. We can start there, maybe you can find the source of the blood?" Ezra said, his voice mildly optimistic.
Ethan nodded. "And figure out who this 'Snake' person is."
Eli growled lowly. "I don't know who they are but I am sure as hell pissed that I can't be there to lay them out."
"Agreed," Lucas added, his silver eyes a cold fury as they looked over to Eli. He nudged me with a soft smile. "Beat their asses for me, sis."
"You could always come ghost and help?"
He chuckled before he pulled me into a side hug and kissed my hair. "We'll see, look after dad, ok?"
I nodded while Ethan pulled me closer to him. Ezra took another long sip of his beer then looked over at Ethan. "Watch your asses, I don't need to remind you."
"See ya Char, I'll beat your ass around next time," Eli teased.
Lucas scoffed then shook his head. "Idiot. My little sister would totally wear your ass out, death has made you lazy and fat friend."
Eli growled lowly to Lucas while Ethan shook his head. Lucas looked up at Ethan and nodded to him. "Look after her, or I will come ghost your ass."
"Lucas—" Ethan started to say when we were pulled.
Falling again through what felt like free air as we clung onto each other. Ethan held me tight and buried his face in my neck until we both looked up to see the tree. To see that we didn't land, but blinked our eyes open to see we were standing right where we had been when we left.
Ethan pulled us back and let out a shaky breath while Bernard walked over to us with wide eyes. "Well, that was interesting. What did you see?"
"Ezra," Ethan replied a little breathless. "Ezra, Eli, and Lucas."
"You saw them?" Bernard repeated back incredulously.
"Yup, Lucas is a real ass, kinda grows on you after a while though," I said with a soft smile.
"You talked to them?" Bernard asked as his eyes flickered to the tree.
"Had a beer, Lucas hugged Charlotte. Sat around in the treehouse and talked to Ezra," Ethan replied.
"You touched them too?" he rushed out. We nodded causing him to let out a shaky breath. "Well, that is very interesting."
"Why? Is something wrong?" I asked.
"I don't know, well, you have to understand little wolf, they are in a different realm than us. You say 'walk to the moon,' I have no idea what vampires say, but we say realms. So the fact that you could not only communicate but interact physically with someone from another realm, well–it should be quite impossible."
"But it's happened before," I replied. "Ethan has a similar experience when he touched the tree and Lucas also ghosted me when I was in heat."
"Well," Bernard sighed out as he watched the branches sway. "Ghosts are very real, but this is something else."
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
He shook his head before he snapped his eyes to Ethan. "I have no idea. I would like to look into it if it's alright?"
Ethan looked at me, slight unease in his eyes. I shrugged and nodded to him. Who knows? Maybe Bernard would find something. Ethan flickered his eyes back to Bernard with a firm not. "Alright, but we'll have some of ours with you."
"Fine by me," he replied.
"So what did Ezra say?" Bernard asked.
Ethan sighed and pulled me to him, my beast pacing while we chewed on our time with the tree as Ethan explained everything to Bernard. I couldn't believe I saw Lucas–hugged Lucas. I saw Eli–hugged Eli. They were real; so real I could feel their wolves almost as much as I could feel Ethan's.
The thoughts made my heart twist though, the thought that I would never really be able to see them. That our time would be limited by the tree and if Lucas ever wanted to come 'ghost' us. Part of me wondered if he ever tried to ghost Levi, although I was pretty sure that it would send Levi on a trip–good or bad I was not sure.
Bernard shook his head as Ethan finished and looked back over at us. "History always finds a way of repeating itself."
It clicked.
"They tried to do this before," I said, my voice rushed as the thoughts flooded into my brain.
"What?" Ethan asked. "Sunshine?"
"This–the rogues, think about it; every time this has happened, it has been in a time where there was angst between the species. It's like there's conflict, then this sudden rise of rogues, before a confrontation of some sort. However usually the side that is not creating the rogues wipes the other out, it seems like the rogue side never gets really far."
"So they tried and failed many times," Ethan thought out loud.
I nodded. "And now they are trying again. Something must be different or they must think they have some kind of an upper hand."
"I'll call Caleb," Bernard added. "I think you're onto something little wolf."
"What about Camille?" Ethan asked. "Should we be worried?"
Bernard scoffed. "You can shit in a bag and mail it to her for all I care, don't worry about her. They're all talk anyways."