There is a fine line between what is right and what is wrong. There is a fine line between fact and fiction. There is a fine line between a lie and the truth.
My fingers flicked through pages of the old book, that seemed to have been written in the 17th century. I had the gift of understanding language and even these words messed with my head.
Katrina sat on Tristan's lap, his head buried into her neck. Her long red nails caressed his arm, as she thought deeply about something. His arms were wrapped tightly around her waist and she squirmed slightly at his possessiveness.
My mate sat next to me, trying to decipher the book in front of her. She was book smart and street smart as she liked to put it, and the crease on her forehead proved it. Her eyes glazed over as she processed her thoughts and quickly jotted them down on the notepad next to her.
Ray was asleep and Camilla was on her phone texting someone, her fingers literally flying over the screen. Her legs were propped up on Ray's legs, and Ray's hand lay over her crossed ankles.
An addition to the small circle we had was Azrail and Timothy. The inner circle as Jade put, was now complete. Azrail conjured shadows up and spun them in the palm of his hand. Trinity was basically the twin of Jade, although while Jade had life in her eyes, Trinity's black eyes were soulless and void of emotion.
Timothy remained mateless due to the fact that he never saved himself for his mate, although eventually he would have to pick a women to provide an heir for his throne. He was the perfect definition of a good boy. Blue eyes, blonde hair. The exterior hid the amount of pain he had on the inside. Like every single one of us here.
I looked to where Damon stood. He had been standing quietly for an hour, just staring out the large window. I followed his gaze to see the twins fighting. Except with the elements. Shirts off and sweat gleaming off their frames, they fought. Jade was watching them, snapping commands here and there.
She still looked exhausted and pale from her shift. Red streaked her hair, from the shift and the tattoo on her neck circled the back of her neck like a choker. Her hair was done up in a messy bun, showing off the ink and mark.
A matching mark was on Damon's neck, that was permanent and clear for all to see. Our mates could mark us all they wanted, but it would still fade, since only males were supposed to mark females.
"This whole Gregory business needs to be done and over with." he spoke out finally, turning around to face us.
Camilla hit Ray and he jumped slightly and shot her a glare. Azrail put the shadows away and he leaned forward. Tristan lifted his head slightly from Kat's neck. Basically Damon had everyone's attention now.
"What are you going to do about it?" Tristan asked
"Track and torture." Damon replied simply
"That's vague." Jade said from behind of the room. We all turned to her in surprise. She had somehow managed to sneak into a room of professional alpha's and we hadn't noticed. "Don't trouble yourselves so much. Do you know how many times I had to sneak into my house with after long night partying?" she smirked at us and leaned back on the wall.
"Thank God." Timothy sighed and stood up. Jade held her hand up, her eye widened.
"I didn't tell him yet." her eyes remained wide and a sheepish look crossed her face.
"I really don't care." Tim said and stepped towards her.
"Tell me what?" Damon asked confusion plain on his face. Tim ignored him and Jade shot him an apologetic look.
"What is going on?" Jess asked and few seconds later we found out what was happening. Tim quickly grabbed onto Jade and kissed her deeply. Jade locked her hands behind his neck and literally breathed in from Tim.
Damon growled and Tristan held out an arm, stopping Damon. We watched as a purplish glow shielded Jade and Tim from us. A literal glow. Azrail winced slightly at the colour. Obviously the colour didn't mean anything related to death.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I said, the answer coming to me fast. Tim was the alpha of purity and the fücking idiot, lost his virginity to Jade and the only way he could survive was to have sex with her. Idiot!
Tim and Jade snapped their heads to me, as with the other alphas. The sheepish look had transferred from Jade to Tim and everyone just had confused looks on their faces.
"The idiot lost his virginity to Jade." I slapped my forehead and the other alphas groaned in annoyance.
"Dude, I'd rather you die than have sex with my mate." Damon said bluntly.
"Thanks." Tim said
"No problem." Damon replied with a smirk
"Chill out." Jade flicked her hand at us and held out a finger for us to wait a minute or whatever. She quickly crossed her fingers in front of her and lay them across her stomach before placing her fingers on Tim's chest. "Breathe out." she murmured quietly
He complied and breathed out long and hard. She opened her mouth and his breath basically traveled straight to her. Her eyes flashed purple and she staggered slightly, before Tim grabbed her arm, stabilising her.
"Ok." she stood shakily on her feet and shook her head to clear it. "So basically I might of been drunk and completely high, when I slept with him." the sheepish look made it's way back onto her face and Tim just scratched his neck slightly.
"Why didn't you stop her like any of the other women who've tried to do that?" I asked Tim
"You have not seen her." he defended and Jade nodded in agreement.
"Great so my best friend slept with my mate, before I did." Damon muttered
"Don't be mad at Tim. It wasn't his fault." Jade said softly. "I mean it wasn't my fault either, I just thought I was getting with a random."
"That doesn't help this situation at all." Damon told her. She looked like a child that just got told off, it was kind of adorable.
"How does Tim vent his power, if you two aren't having sex?" Ray asked
"We've only slept together twice. Once a month, we have to do that." she waved her hand about, most likely reminding us about the little make out session they had. "Sex just amplifies the power and it was too much for me, so Ana takes the power and basically stores it." she explained
"So you don't have to sleep together to stabilise him?" Damon asked slowly
"No." she agreed, "And we're still working out on how we can transferring power without making out."
"When did this happen?" I asked moving my hand between them
"How are we supposed to know?" she looked at me like I was crazy, "It's not like I'm some crazy psycho bïtch that notes down every single time she had sex. That would literally take up a thousand books."
"A thousand?" Tristan choked on his water
"I got around." she batted her lashes seductively and he choked again
"You're seventeen!" he said
"I had like three years to get around. It's not that hard." she smiled, "I would tell you to try that sometime but trust me you could probably fill up a few hundred books on your pretty mate over there." he choked on his water again. Kat had been sending slight death glares Jade's way, but now she sent Jade a wink.
"Call me sometime honey." Kat smiled, a seductive prowess coming over her
"We should so do a threesome." Jade leaned back into the chair she had found and blew a kiss Kat's way.
"So is your mate straight?" Ray rose a brow
"Which one?" Damon asked, "Mine or Tristan's."
"Definitely straight." Jade raised her hand, "I dunno about that one over there."
"She is not straight!" we heard someone yell from outside. Jade's grin vanished and she jumped o ver the table to the window where Damon had been standing and put her fingers together. The blonde twin clutched his throat, his eyes wide, while the dark haired twin just shook his head and started to walk away.
"I am so straight!" she retorted
She isn't. The dark haired twin mouthed at us.
"I am straight." Jade protested, all though she released her brother from whatever she had him under. With her back turned to the glass, she didn't see the blonde one shoot her the middle finger.
"Which one is which?" Ray asked, "I keep forgetting."
"Dark hair is Leon, blonde one is Liam." she said, "And who's the death angel?" her lip curled into a smirk as she stared Azrail down
"Azrail, our death alpha." Damon gestured at Azrail who bowed his head
"Damn. That's kind of sexy." she brushed her lip with a finger, looking at the death alpha through her lashes. Damon just sighed and sat down, pulling Jade towards him. She stood behind him, lopping her arms around his neck, her fingers straying to the mark on his neck.
Within a second, Damon brought her into his lap, her arms still around his neck and her legs, across the arms of the chair. She looked right at home, although there were bits of uneasiness around him. She would flinch when his head lowered into her neck, although she welcomed it and leaned her head back onto his shoulder.
"Stop staring Alx. It's getting creepy." she said lifting her head. I looked down, resuming my reading. "This is boring. What are you guys even supposed to be doing?" she complained
"Well we're trying to figure out Gregory." Damon said rubbing his chin
"Start from the beginning then." Jade shrugged, "He's a vamp who's got enough experience from shït that didn't even happen in this century."
"He's in history?" I asked
"Tati said something about 'The Hunt'? I dunno. Maybe it's something around that." she sat up and leaned against Damon's chest, her legs crossing over each other.
"Here." Jess ripped out a page from her note pad with scribbled notes on them, "I looked into The Hunt, after that ball."
"So they attacked in 62, 68, 76, 82, 90, 96, 04, 10 and now." my finger followed the numbers on the page, as I read.
"The pattern?" Damon asked
"6 years, then 8 years." I replied
"So basically they attack now, finalising the pattern." Damon looked at me and I nodded back impassively. "One thing that doesn't fit in with this, is the fact that he was supplying Jade with drugs that could kill her and her wolf. Technically the hunt hasn't really followed protocol or pattern, whatever they call it, for the past two years." he pointed out
"Just because they come up in prominent places in history, doesn't mean that they can't work behind the scenes during the other years." Camilla spoke up
"What Gregory was doing, wasn't behind the scenes. He sold to the entire town. Sometimes he would take the weekends off to sell." Jade said "The fact that he was a chemistry teacher, added to his element. People knew he made his drugs manually, which just added to the appeal, so to speak."
"And you know all this, how?" Tristan asked
"Former drug addict." she waved her hand with a smirk
"You say that so casually." he said
"I can't lie about who I was, now can I?" she raised an eyebrow. Tristan shot a look to Damon who shook his head subtly.
"So you got high and drunk on a regular basis?" Tristan asked slowly
"I'm pretty sure that's what being a drug addict means." she replied sarcastically. "What? You're not into druggies?" her tone was teasing, even though there was a glint of defensiveness in her eyes.
"I didn't mean it that way." he said gently
"So." she said brightly, trying to change the subject, "If Damon's a vamp, then the rest of inner circle must have some sort of difference to their wolves." Tristan choked. Again!
"Protector Alpha, so I'm a griffin." Ray raised his hand. Jade nodded.
"Can I see?" she asked. Ray stood up and snapped his wings out dramatically. The golden feathers spreading wide and long, forcing some of the girls to duck. He tucked them in and then sat back down.
"Show off." Camilla slapped his thigh and he flicked her nose.
"Death alpha. Shadow-singer." Azrail said smoothly. His voice was deep and managed to lull everyone to sleep and when he was in a bad mood, to a grave. Shadows rose around him and Trinity, hiding them from our view, before vanishing just as quick.
I watched as Trinity and Jade gave each other a stare down, before quickly admitting defeat to each other.
"Literary alpha. Obviously." I pointed at myself, "Phoenix."
"Hold up, don't phoenix's like die all the time?" she frowned
"Born again." I corrected, "That's why I don't shift as much."
"Twins!" She held her pinky up and I stared at it in confusion, "Never mind."
"Purity alpha. Fae." Tim told us and Jade nodded, staring at Tim a few seconds longer than normal. She had probable seen him shift more than once already.
"War alpha. Angel." Tristan said gruffly
"I want to see." Jade leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand. Kat got off his lap and sat down on the floor. He stood up and flexed his arm muscles by his side and snapped his wings out like Ray, except less dramatically.
White feathers ombre into black, the tips sharpening into knives. For a minute he didn't seem like the guy kidding around all the time, but rather the war alpha. Jade looked on in shock and admiration, as the feathers floated down from his wings onto the ground.
"I want wings." she pouted
"No wings!" Tommy said firmly, "No fücking way!" He had entered the room at one point and now was looking on in worry at Jade and the way her brain was thinking thing through way too fast.
"They're so pretty." she said
"Yeah, so is everything in the world." he said, "Are you high?" she shook her head 'no', with a quick middle finger to him, as assurance. "Karina needs to tell you something and she's locked me out of the fücking room."
"Get her some ice-cream and blankets." Jade smiled, "She'll love you forever."
"Good. Great. That's exactly what I need, since my freaking mate thinks I have a thing with an ex."
"Me?" she asked sweetly
"And if it is?" he asked suspiciously
"You're an ass." she gave him a cheshire smile and pointed at the door, "I'll talk to her later. Just makes sure she doesn't try and drown herself."
"Drown herself?" he asked cautiously
"Oh you didn't know. Apparently I'm a bad influence." That sweet smile just remained on her face, although now it was just mocking
"Fück you Jade Fücking Aria Blake!" he snapped, slamming the door
"You wish!" she hollered
"You lot act just like children." Damon shook his head
"They are children." I sighed
"Tommy isn't and Karina just turned eighteen. So ha." Jade looked pleased with herself
"But you're still a child." I leaned forward and nodded at her
"Fück off." she scowled
"Damn, you gonna clean that dirty mouth of yours?" Tristan asked
"Honey, those few hundred books you would fill with Kat, have a few hundred or so dirty words in there." he glared at her.
We all turned to the door, where a keeper had just walked in, his head bowed.
"Keeper Grant?" Damon acknowledged
"There's a Jamieson Shepherd, requesting presence with Queen Luna Jade." Jade looked up from her nails, a frown on her face
"Jaime's here?" she asked
"Yes Queen Luna."
"Queen Luna my ass." she muttered, "Well send him in then." the keeper nodded and went to get this Jaime person. "Jaime's in the drug industry, he'll know a little something something." she explained
The door opened again to a human dressed in a silver suit, stubble lining his jaw and a pocket square poking out of his blazer pocket. It was literally Christian Grey in real life.
"Who in their fücking sane mind would put you in the royal family?" he asked
"The moon goddess or whatever so watch who you're talking about." Jade reprimanded
"Well she's out of her fücking mind." he smirked. "A little reward." he chucked her bag filled with white powder and Damon's hand shot out and grabbed it before Jade could catch it. "Who's the hottie?" he asked
"What are you doing here?" Jade asked
"I got myself in a spot of trouble and decided to ask my wolf best friend to help me out." he smiled and a deep dimple appeared in his cheek
"What happened?" she frowned
"My stock went missing. All the natural stuff." he clenched his jaw, "Knocked me out."
"Shït." she breathed, "Hold up did you say the natural stuff?"
"Yeah. None of the ready-made ones, all the plant stuff."
"Okay, for the people who aren't druggies. English?" Tristan asked
"You know how basically a lot of drugs base off plants." Tristan nodded, "Well, Jaime collects all the natural stuff so he can mix and make stuff for other customers, whose metabolism are high." she explained
"How does that help us?" he asked
"No wonder, he's not the literary alpha." Jade smirked, "What did I tell you about Gregory preferring to make his own shït, he doesn't buy. He steals."
"You mean, your chem teacher stole my stash?" Jaime asked
"Yep." Jade nodded
"This is why I dropped out of school." Jaime dropped into a chair
"Sit still." She stood up and stood behind Jaime, her fingers resting on his temples. "Tell me to stop." she murmured quietly
"Hmm stop." he seemed drowsy
"It's him." she confirmed. Damon caught her, as she started to sway
"So he stole my stash." Jaime's eyes were closing and opening slowly, like he was just waking up.
"That's not it. When did you start selling silver?" she growled
"Ages ago. It slows metabolism down." he said, "Why?"
"He mixed the natural stuff with the silver. On top of that, with the freaking amount of people he has, it looks like he's prepping an entire army." Jade said grimly
"He's one step ahead of us." Tristan groaned
"He's also very predictable." Jaime spoke up, "I don't know the vamp side of him, but I've worked with his people before. All of them work to a timetable, they can't stray from it."
"How do you know he's a vamp?" I asked
"How do I know that y'all are wolves?" he tested, "Look I want my stock back, so I'll help, but the only thing you can do is go back in history."
"Have fun Alx." Tristan clapped his hands
"Hell no, all of you have to help." Jade frowned, "Have you seen the amount of history books there are."
"I'm dyslexic." Tristan protested
"I'm sure Jaime's got something for that." Jade said cooly and Jaime nodded in agreement. "You want to take this son of a bïtch down, you're gonna have to work together. Bring the inner circle together again boys."
"What about the girls?" Camilla spoke up
"Puh-lease. I'm not getting my hands dusty, we get to go speak to ancient witches." she clapped her hands excitedly
"I'm in." Trinity held her hand up quickly and the other girls agreed
"Great, now let's all promise that we won't die today."