Yay! Fan made cover for Code of Conduct and also the official cover!
This gorgeous and completely stunning cover was made by: The_Lancelot_
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"Walter Valentine?" I'm almost falling off the seat of my chair now, my expression one of confusion. I know of a Valentine, but I've never heard that name to go along with it before now. All of this, the events that have been covered up by the years, keeping secrets, but why? What would happen if there was much more and we're barely scratching the surface?
With Keir's back still leaning against the chair, he nods and elaborates, "Walter is the eldest Valentine child with his second sibling being Arthur."
Arthur...the moment he mentioned the last name Valentine, a part of me already knew what would come next, I just didn't want to hear it. That would make Arthur my uncle...but if Walter was killed by a council member...or even my own mother, wouldn't he be next in line for the throne? Did the council think it best that maybe one ruler wasn't the solution and that with all their voices coming together and being heard, that they might accomplish more good?
Why exactly did this monarchy crumble?
I see no good. If that truly is the original code, then I'm going to assume that Walter's death was no accident at all...everyone who possibly could have killed him had something to gain, but the question is, who?
"Rose?" Keir asks gently and I lift my eyes from staring at the front of his desk, my breathing evening out. I still said nothing, my mind working over all of this new information and what it means for the future. Once again, Keir leans forward with concern as he asks, "Rose, are you alright?"
My voice catches in my throat at first, but then my pitch raises slightly, "I-I-I'm not sure."
"I know it's a lot to take in and I don't expect you to resolve your own conflicted emotions right now," Keir stands slowly from his chair, moving around the edge of the desk. I sit back in my chair while he leans against the front of his desk, his hands pressing down against the wooden surface as he says, "you've been through a lot and there is more that you need to understand, but I think this is enough for one night."
"Bu-"
He chuckles at my anticipation and cuts me right off, "I want you to get some sleep. You need a good rest after being treated the way you have and then we can resume our conversation in the morning. If it's sunny out, we'll go for a walk."
"But I-"
"To bed with you missy," Keir shakes his head at my persistence, but after that notion, I know I'm not going to get any further answers tonight. Though, the answers I do have, I seriously have to consider what's been revealed about my past and everyone linked to me. When I glance up to see his expression, I sigh.
Maybe he is right...maybe I do need to sleep on all of this. I wouldn't want to make any rash decisions without letting everything settle in.
"Oh," I ask, "I'm not sure where I'm staying then. Sylvie just showed me to the bathroom, but I haven't seen much more than that."
"That's quite alright," Keir nods and lifts away from the front of the desk, motioning for me to follow him to the office door. After touching my feet down to the flooring, I stand up and start to move behind him and as he reaches for the door, another person is standing just on the other side.
What is this? Here at his beck and call, it's like they all know what he's thinking...
The dark-haired man with brown eyes greets me kindly as I stand beside Keir, my confusion starts clearing up when Keir introduces the two of us, "Rose, this is Otto Corrigan, my third in command," he motions to Otto and then reverses the introduction, "Otto, Rose is Laura's daughter," at the mere mention of her name, similar to Sylvie's reaction, Otto's eyes have this flash of pain cross them, the distant memory of her death and disappearance flooding his memories.
Third? Lord help me understand whatever social hierarchy is at play here.
Keir continues when Otto shakes from his shocked state, "If you would be so kind as to show Rose where she will be staying while she is here?"
Staying...?
Here?
"Of course Alpha Keir," Otto nods and then offers me a warm smile of reassurance. I leave Keir's side, moving through the open door as Otto turns on his heels and starts to walk away down the hallway.
When I turn around, Keir says, "Goodnight Rose, sleep well."
Anxiety leaves me in those moments, replying, "Thank you...thank you for being so kind to me when you don't have to be."
Keir inhales sharply and before he can part his lips to speak, he pauses for a second and reviews his thoughts. In the next second, he says, "Laura obviously loved you dearly and I know it's what she would have wanted me to do."
My heart warms at the thought, that even though he doesn't truly know me, that he is willingly to accept me into his home. Kindness is shown seldom in this world and this act will forever remain in my heart.
"Goodnight Keir," I smile and turn around quickly to see that Otto is now waiting near the top landing of the staircase. Leaning against the post at the top, he watches me as I approach him, my eyes trailing over every part of Keir's home. It's quite nice and feels much more homey than Aohdan's over-the-top mansion ever could. It somewhat feels pleasant and comfortable within these walls, no coldness like that of the marble flooring, but fuzzy rugs on some hard wood floors while other areas are lined with a beige carpet.
"Please follow me," Otto descends the staircase, my socked feet making hardly a sound as I followed down the wooden steps. When we reach the second floor, he takes the right turn and leads me through a hallway of doors on either side standing directly across from one another. After passing four or five doors, he stops just short of a tan with a tint of maroon colored door. He raises his fist and raps his knuckles against the wood, but no response follows.
Taking the handle into his hand and opening the door inward, he offers me entry to the quaint and cozy room. It's beautiful, the deep brown walls with cedarwood flooring, a light green rug thrown out onto the floor and just a few feet away from a fireplace. The red brick surrounds the opening as what appears to be fresh logs are set on a metal holder, the door to a closet cracked open at the opposite wall from the door.
Otto eyes the fireplace, two strong book shelves three feet apart on either side of the beautifully crafted structure and then offers, "Would you like me to start a fire for you?"
"That would actually be very nice," I do take him up on his offer, the simple luxuries ones that I've hardly had in the past few weeks while staying at Aohdan's mansion. Yes, we are given everything we need...for them...but not anything to make us feel comfortable or at peace.
Otto walks across the room, stopping near the fireplace and kneeling down to begin his work. For me, I glance around the room, still feeling like everything happening around me is so surreal. Not less than twelve hours prior was I being held against my will in that estate. Here...it feels like the home I never had and a part of me wishes that my mother could have found Keir once again. If she did, maybe she would still be alive today...maybe I wouldn't have had to run for my life on my own for five years.
When I near the edge of the bed, the covers look extremely warm, a small sigh escaping my lips while I attempt to push everything away from my mind and focus on nothing. For once...nothing...
"Sylvie dropped off sweat pants and a shirt for you to sleep in," Otto points further up near the pillows and that's when my eyes land on the relaxed clothing. Even if she's only being nice due to Keir...and now Marc telling her to behave, I appreciate just these little gestures. It's the only way I can begin to feel slightly welcome here, the only trust I hold is with Keir.
A spark catches and soon flames are licking at the logs to give them further life. When Otto stands to his feet, he turns to me and asks, "Is there anything else you need?
"No thank you," I reply kindly, taking the clothing that was left for me by Sylvie, "but thank you though."
Otto gives me another small smile before he concludes his time here and leaves the room. After he shuts the door behind him, I move near to the metal handle and switch the lock up. I slip out of my jeans and long sleeve shirt, adjusting the sweat pants up to my hips and tying the string, then slipping the shirt over my head and pulling it down.
The fire crackles with life, the room quickly filling with its warmth, the hairs on my arms standing on end when I draw closer to the fire. Closing my eyes, I breathe in and out slowly, letting the tension in my muscles fade away. I roll my shoulders and blink my eyelids open, the orange and red hues of the flames dance across my vision.
When I glance to the rug, a thought strikes me.
Near the foot of the very comfortable bed stands a bench with a couple of fleece blankets folded neatly on its surface. I grip one of them with my right hand, drawing it close to my chest as it unravels from its perfect fold. I breathe in deeply once again, so many different scents fill this new place and once again, it feels like home.
Sighing, I take the blanket with me and step onto the fuzzy rug. Lowering myself to its soft surface, I cross my legs and continue to hold the blanket tight to my body. I'm mesmerized by the fire and soon I find myself gently laying down on my side, my eyes slowly blinking to stay open.
A fire?
A life that starts and continues to devour oxygen while it fights to survive every second of its short existence. More wood can always be added to the fire, but there will come a time when there is no one around to care and tend to it, only then does it flicker out and extinguish.
It's only when I let my heavy lids droop close, the fire's glow encasing my body, that I realize why I feel so comfortable. The same scent on the blanket...
...it's my mother's. It's faint, but there, still weaved into the threads of the fabric.
A smile plays across my lips, a tear sliding from between my closed lids and trailing down my cheek. She's here...she's here in my heart and everyone else's in this home. Settling in further, I no longer have any strength or energy left to lift myself from the floor and get into the bed provided for me. The sound in the distance of the flames snapping and crackling at the logs soon fade away and my mind eases, allowing myself to fall into a deep sleep which I hadn't had in a very long time.
--⊰♥⊱--
I know it's me who is crying and screaming, fighting to chase off my demons that surface through my subconscious memories. Clawing furiously from the darkest depths, I can't stop myself from reliving all the pain, from seeing her dead body...from remembering in that one moment, I lost everything, I was on my own...
I feel my fingers tighten on the fleece blanket, tilting my head from side to side, trying to force the unwanted memories back into submission. They need to stay away, they make me feel no longer in control of who I am...they make me weak and vulnerable...my childhood memories quickly striking a new cord.
There is another cry and I let loose a shaky breath, more tears sliding down my cheeks from beneath my closed lids.
The moment something warm brushes my cheeks and taking the tears away with it, that my muscles tense.
Words trickle out of my mouth, calling, "Mother...please, why'd you have to leave me all alone?" My voice holds pain, a pain I think is inconsolable.
"It's alright," a deep voice tries to soothe me while more tears are wiped from my cheeks and I almost fall into a false sense of security, until everything seeps in all at once. It's not just a thumb brushing away my tears, but I also feel solid muscle against my back, knees cradling into the back of my own. "I'm here, it's alright. You don't have to be scared. You're not alone," this time when the voice speaks, a chilling feeling travels down my spine and my body fully awakens.
I open my eyelids to stare into the still burning embers dying slowly in the fireplace, the room lighting having been lowered. Through the dimness of the room, I can make out that I am still very much in the same room...just...
"You're here?" My voice cracks when I finally use it.
"I won't let anyone ever harm you again," my head finally sits right on my shoulders, recognizing the voice as Marc's, "you're my mate and I'll protect you to the ends of the earth."
No. Stop.
Quickly, I shift all of my weight to the side I am already facing and roll away from Marc before he even has a chance to touch me again. When I come out of my roll, I'm leaning on one knee while the other is bent up with my forearm resting against its surface. My eyes narrow on his light blue ones, his black hair in disarray.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I snap at him, watching carefully as he sits up from laying on his side...from soothing me...
Maybe subconsciously it was what my soul needed, but when all awareness returned, it felt like nothing...or something I want to ignore for the sake of fear. That unknown fear playing with my emotions and tearing at my rapidly beating heart.
He's wearing deep navy blue sweat pants, his light brown shirt almost fading with some of the coloration of the fleece blanket I left behind on the floor. Marc furrows his brows and states, "Comforting you?"
"I never asked for you to touch me," I'm quite upset about the fact that he thinks it's alright to enter into the room and hold me.
Didn't he get the hint earlier that I want nothing to do with others? I don't want to believe that trusting in others that I don't know well at all, will be the solution I have been searching for.
Marc shrugs his shoulders while standing up from the rug, my eyes lifting to lock with his. He simply replies, "I don't need permission to touch you."
Oh, I've about had it up to here with you!
"Personal space?" I motion to the air around me and state, "My bubble...stay out of it," I push on my knee and stand to my own height, still having to tilt my chin up to keep his gaze. I can see something in his eyes, but I'm not sure exactly what it is, so instead I say, "I'm not your anything, so kindly just leave me alone."
That's when his features change slightly, his anger precipitating quickly to the surface. He tries to cool the temper already brimming to be released, but he's holding on just barely, "You are my mate, that makes you mine."
"I don't belong to you," I shift my gaze to the closet, the ajar door standing just further open. Pervert must have been waiting for me...I then shift my gaze to the door and wonder just how quick I can make it there before he catches me. He's about to come up with some type of interjection, but I edge very slowly to the side and state, "You sound like a possessive child who doesn't even know how to share their toys. I mean, you're a fully grown man and you're going around claiming, 'mine, mine, mine,' you sound just absolutely ridiculous!"
"Keir said you would learn," Marc sighs in frustration and begins to take a couple of steps toward me, "but you don't know anything...how can you not know..."
That's it!
He edges too close to me for my own comfort, and I reach for the fireplace mantle, gripping the bricks with my fingers and lifting off the floor. After bringing my knees up and in close to my chest, I swiftly and forcefully kick out and catch Marc in the chest with my sudden strike. He's thrown off guard, surprised by my actions when he ends up hitting the bench at the end of the bed. He topples back for maybe a second or two and in that time frame, I take a few good running strides to the door.
I reach the door seconds later, but only to have my chest shoved against the wooden surface, feeling the slight warmth from my cheek pressed against its smooth surface. I do try and use my hands to push against the door, but the muscular body of his will not let me move but an inch away from the door. My wrists are restrained together and above my head, the only thought flashing through my mind briefly was that of Cormac...
The warmth of Marc's breath fans the exposed skin of my neck, my heart skipping a beat when I breathe out, "You're not any different from the vampires."
"Right now, I'll do whatever I need to, to make you understand," Marc's voice is slightly dangerous and I have no idea what he means by that.
I understand for the most part...I just don't want him.
I don't want any of this.
"You are my mate," again with the I already understand this statement, but he continues, "you will be the luna of the Imperial Stars Pack and stand by my side. I already can feel the strength and fight in you, you'll make a strong luna, someone that others will look up to and respect."
I don't say anything, my breathing shallow as I run through the options in my mind to escape from his grasp...none appear to be too pleasant.
After another second, his body presses harder against me, feeling the muscles ripple beneath his clothing, displaying to me just how strong he truly is. His lips part and the grip on my wrists tighten just for a second before loosening, "As strong as you are, you will show your submission to me, just like the rest of the pack."
"I'm not apart of your pack, I'm not a werewolf!" I bring my knee up and try to wedge it between the door and myself, pressing my luck to hopefully throw him off balance if he just makes one wrong move.
Taken by surprise, with his free hand, his fingertips brush over the scarred puncture marks left behind by Cormac and Marc growls, "No, you're not. You're something much more powerful...if you'd just stop fighting against it and actually listen."
"Why are you getting angry with me? You're the one coming onto me so strongly and you think I'd just roll over and accept that? I don't even know you!" I just wait for an opening, for him to slip up and make a mistake, the window of opportunity still wide open for a simple fault.
Panic strikes through me, Marc leaning further, his lips almost brushing my ear before his breath skims over my neck. I freeze, my heart skipping a beat when his nose touches the crook of my neck and I hear him inhale, a similar feeling rising up through my body when Cormac breathed in my scent. After his lips brush my skin, there are teeth that touch my flesh, but it doesn't feel entirely human-like.
"He's already marked you," his voice causes another shiver to run down my spine, "but you are mine..."
Is this guy for real?
"Call me yours one more time," I glower back darkly, my own body heating with anger at his constant declaration, the forceful assertion in his words...
The knee I've placed between myself and the smallest space against the door shifts to the side slightly, feeling Marc's own muscles tensing against my body. Both of our hearts beat expeditiously, feeling his pounding against my back through his chest with my own very close to leaping from my own chest.
Silence passes, maybe ten or so seconds before his resonant voice breaks through and he growls...
"Mine."
--⊰♥⊱--
Two Valentine siblings, could there potentially be more?
What on earth is Rose going to do to Marc?
Will she actually teach him a lesson and overpower him?
Or...will Marc put Rose in her place?
Wonder what is happening at Aohdan's estate and what is running through Cormac's head?