The Huntress – Chapter 14

I apologize if you run into any typos or errors. I do not own any of the Twilight characters except for Emery

Emery's POV

With the assessments complete all of the children's physical ailments were treated. Other than cleaning certain wounds there wasn't a lot I could do. The kid's healing factor had done a majority of the work already. The bite and claw marks had already scarred over so now the three would have physical reminders of their life in captivity of those animals. It was the physiological effects that had me most worried. We found out that Sara was thirteen, Morgan nine and lil Chris 3. Both girls took after their parents and changed into mountain lions with some slight color variations. Chris still hadn't shifted yet which gave me some pause but it was a question for later.

I cleaned up the medical supplies and ushered the kids back to the kitchen for some food. Tanya had spent a majority of the time telling the girls about vampirism and her coven. Lil Chris stuck close to me after I had cradled him. Young cubs can find the presence of an alpha especially a female alpha soothing and I am glad I can give them some comfort in that way.

Upon reaching the kitchen area I saw that the food was spread out with the plates already arranged. I gestured for the kids to take a seat but no one moved. I turn back to them when Sara spoke up "We are not allowed to start until you are done." She was staring at the food longingly while she said this.

"Is that how things were ran in your house hold?"

Morgan shuffles her feet and glances at me "Father, wouldn't let us eat until he was finished. And Chris got whatever scraps we left behind."

The vampires in the room seem to take issue with this not understanding the dominance play their father was pulling upon his own children. It wasn't uncommon for packs to perform such actions to show their own superiority over what they viewed the weaker members. And there was a hierarchy to it as well. Depending on the feed order you could tell the value of each member.

"I see. I don't hold such rules in my pride. We eat together at meals. I start and finish with everyone else. There will be plenty of food. You can eat as much as you like." As I say this I pick Chris up and make my way to the table. The girls follow me. I sit at the head of the table with Chris in my lap. Bella starts filling everyone's plate with a little bit of everything. The girls sit on the right side of me with Bella on the left. I grab an extra set of silverware and hand Chris a spoon. I cut everything up into small pieces on my plate and look over to the girls to start eating. It took some time to get Chris to start eating, the hunger won out and in the end we were both eating from my plate. I made sure that the plate never went empty while Chris was slowly making his way thru.

"Sara why hasn't Chris shifted yet?" I asked once I was done but still had the little guy on my lap as he was in a world of pancakes and syrup.

She looks up from her eggs and sausage "Father didn't feel he needed to"

"Huh, was he afraid that he was an alpha?"

Sara turns to look at Morgan who is still focused on her food "He said that Chris could grow up and over take us like alphas did in his old pride."

I turn my head, thinking over the situation "Your father was a Beta, but seen as alpha because he was the only male, right?" Sara nods "I think so. He didn't smell or feel like you"

I smile at that "Your dad was right Chris is different than a Beta but he is not an alpha." I hum into the back of Chris's hair as he leans into me. "He is an omega."

The chatter quieted down after that with the children slowly nodding off now that they were all full. Lil Chris is currently curled up in my lap. "Bella, help me get them upstairs. They can use the rest." The vampires had slowly migrated to the living room once the children started eating. Leah still hasn't returned with Kate. Not that I'm surprised. They'll have a lot to talk about and will need time together for the bond to settle. Leah wouldn't want to share Kate's time or attention with anyone else right now.

When we get to the guest room that the kids showered in earlier I settled them altogether in the bed and told them to call out to us if they needed anything.

The planning of what we need to accomplish has to start. Bella and I make our way to the living room with the rest of the vampires. Once I settle into a loveseat next to Bella I close my eyes and let my head fall back "Who wants to start?"

Bella huffs "With Leah imprinting on a member of this coven it has limited our options." She looks around the room "We originally only planned on spending a few days. That obviously is out the window now."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and look up to Tanya "As coven leader will you allow us to stay until we acquire lodgings close by. We will not be able to go far with the newly bonded pair. And I will not abandon Leah."

Tanya straightens up and has a shine to her eyes "We would be more than happy to accommodate your pride for as long as you need it. You can even just stay here or another cottage on the property." I incline my head in thanks "That will have to be something I discuss with the rest of my pride before a decision is made."

Rosalie shifts forward in her seat. She had been chomping at the bit for a while now "What about the children?"

"The kids will stay with us. Their parents were killed and the father wasn't associated with any pride. So they have no ties. It would be dangerous to send them out into the world. A temporary pride bound has already formed for each. This will not be permeate until they reach of age and make the decision of whether to become a member or go out into the world."

I clear my throat "They will need support. And if we are to stay here that includes this coven. The physical damage is healing but the damage to their psyche will be a never-ending process to repair what was done."

My attention was pulled to Irina "Carmen and I have multiple degrees in psychology and I know that Rosalie has always been involved on child development over the years."

"That is good, you know the theory but this will be different than most other cases. To put that knowledge into practice will be hard but I would be grateful for any help you can provide. The kids are also going to have to get over a traumatic pack dynamic. And it sounds like the home life they had before was also oppressing." I look at the vampires in the room to gage their reactions.

Rosalie seems to want to be the most involved. Bella once told me that all she wanted in her human life was to have a happy marriage and children of her own. "I noticed that. Why did he treat his own children like that?" Her eyes have darkened just thinking about the mistreated of the three upstairs.

"It was a power play on his part. It kept them all submissive to him. Have you noticed that none of the children make eye contact? Unless I directly talk to them and even I have to wait until they have the courage to look up. He was not born an alpha or grew up into the position. It sounds like he left a pride before with bitter feelings. Most likely he wasn't allowing Chris to change because he was afraid of losing that leadership position. The father could tell that Chris was different but unless you have smelled an omega before you wouldn't have known unless he presented himself. Chris got lucky. Most of the males like his father and a majority of them are alpha's would kill any boys born just to maintain the status without any future challengers."

Carmen put a hand over her chest "They would kill their own sons?"

"Yes some do. But a majority don't have the chance. Females are the direct opposite we would do anything to protect our cubs. If the mate of a male alpha became pregnant with a son. She typically leaves her pride to a safe place or even stays with a sister pride until after the child is born and grows up. She will only return once she knows that her cub is safe in the presence of her mate. Beta males don't have such a high drive to squash any rival sons."

A sneer makes its way onto Rosalie's face "Some people shouldn't have the right to have children." I can't really disagree with her on that one.

Tanya refocuses us "You said that Chris was an omega why does that have any significances?" I scratch the back of my neck and decide to give them a general description "Omega's are rare especially a male omega. They can aid the mood of the overall pack or pride. An omega is more docile than everyone else. We would have to keep him the most protected. He will never start a fight or go for the killing blow unless it was a threat to his mate. Most omega's hold the position of mediators or healers. An omega's role is also important when members enter in there heat or rut cycles. They release pheromones that would promote fertility or just ease the cycle with his presence in the link. Because of their docile nature most omega's get mistreated and step over. They are seen as the weakest member in a pride by most. But really the station of an omega is just as important as any other if not more."

I look to Bells "Speaking of heat. Do not be surprised if Leah starts hers in the next few years now that she is mated."

Bella cringes and I laugh. Irina snickers "Why would she? She mated to a female and vampire at that."

I clear my throat "Well we start our cycle when we find our mate and our bodies decide it's aligned with the other and wishes to procreate."

The vampires look to me like I am stupid. Tanya clears up the looks with her next statement "But she is mated to another female. And a vampire at that. She would never be able to have an offspring with Kate."

Aw I see the confusion "I don't know what the extent of Leah's heat cycle will be because there is not too many female shifters that I have talked to. But I know that if I was mated to a female vampire, I would be able to impregnate or become pregnant with our offspring."

It was like I dropped a bomb off into the room. Every vampire was looking at me like I just grew another head. Tanya is looking at me with pitch black eyes and Rosalie leans forward "How?"

This is taking a turn that I didn't see coming "Well when you four become sexually arouse you become wet right? Don't answer that I already know. The female vampire's body is frozen however you are still able to secrete cum. If I was truly mated to a female vampire I would be able to align my genetic mapping with her. If her body was particularly responsive to me and my pheromones I would rut her and impregnate. The child in her womb would reactive some of her body functions while pregnant, she would feed more often usually from myself to sustain herself and our offspring. If I chose to carry then my body would be able to take her cum and use that as the genetic material to become pregnant."

Tanya is purring from her corner of the couch. I raise my eyebrow and look over at her and stop. She was giving me her hungry eyes. Irina clears her throat "So the child would be what a hybrid?"

I shake my head "No, the child would be Were. The genetic material we would take is the vampire's human genome. If the venom was allow the child would be an immortal child. My Were-Lion would override any venom in the gestation process. And only pick traits from the human left over genes. But as I said the vampire would have to be my true mate. The Were virus would be present but it would pretty much use the human genetic makeup to scrabble a few things, this would ensure that the child was Were. The child could inherit the looks, personality and physical stature of the vampire parent."

Tanya's POV

I can't help but purr just thinking about carrying a child with my mate. While I was human I had become pregnant with the child of the nobleman I was sold to. But I miscarried due to the conditions back then. I couldn't help but feel relieved at the time. It was bad enough that I was sold into his household but to bring his bastard child in the world. There would have been no protection for the child nor future and I wasn't in a position to provide one. I was only 16 at the time. After the miscarriage I started taking herbs that a women in the kitchen would provide so I couldn't become pregnant again.

Irina picks up the thread "So what your saying is we could have lil Kate's running around?" Emery coughed "It's possible. Leah is a shifter which is a mutation of the Were virus. Shifters are a result of Were-Human breeding but diluted down over generations, which laid dormant in her case. For me once I had completed my mate bond I would go into a heat or rut soon after to get kind of a feeler of my mates fertility and genetic material. It would take years, decades or even centuries for our bodies to sync up to the point that I could produce offspring with a vampire female. But with Leah being a shifter it could take longer or possibly not at all. It would really depend on her and her wolf."

Rosalie shakes her head "Did those bastards succeed in breeding Sara?" Emery clenches her jaw "No, Sara has not had a heat cycle yet. With all of the bite makes on the kids especially Sara, the males were trying to induce a heat by force. But her body was able to fight it off subconsciously. Us Were's by choice would only ever breed with our mates. However a forced pregnancy could happen like what the poachers were trying to do with Sara. Or if a Were was so old and not had a mating bond the instinct to have an offspring would be to strong and they would find the next best candidate like in the case of my mother."

We need to get back to the topic at hand "What do we need to provide for the children?" Those dark blues lock onto my golds "Since we have all come to the conclusion that we are now bound together as a pride and coven, can we all agree to do what is best for the kids in the immediate future?"

I look around the room to my coven members and they all nod their heads in agreement. I know Kate would do her best to help the children as well. Even when we fed on humans we stayed away from children and most women. Our primary victims were males. "I can say on behalf of my coven that we will do what we can to aid the children in healing process."

Emery and Bella seem to be in silent communication "Most likely the kids are going to have to be taught things about the human world as well. History, math, social interactions, and modern technologies. Usually secluded families like they came from wouldn't have seen that as a priority. We will have to support them in their psychological rebuild as well. I don't think the captivity has fully hit the girls yet. Remember these are not human children either. They may appear as such most of the time but they will have more of an animalistic drive at times."

"What do you mean animalistic drive?"

Emery leans forward "The three of them would still be considered cubs. Once they become comfortable they will become more affectionate, probably starting with me, then the rest of my pride and finally your coven by extension. Just think of a wild cat turned house cat. Cheek rubs, nips, scent makings, cuddles that sort of affection. All three will have things to learn about being Were-cats and my pride will handle that. They will have to go thru conditioning with us to get them up to par and stronger. Leah and Bella will start working with the girls soon. But I will be working with Chris as soon as possible. Usually he would be on the verge of controlling the shifting forms of himself by now. However he has not shifted once. This can cause problems later down the road if it is not addressed."

"Having some sort of schedule will help. The kids will eventual need the structure to hold onto and this can help make them comfortable if they know what to expect each day. I would like all of us to work with them if possible. They need the variety even if it is someone showing them how to make coffee or mow the lawn. Typically an entire pride would work together to raise a cub. I have a small pride but with Leah being mated to Kate your coven has now fallen under my umbrella. I would do anything to protect Kate because she is now Leah's mate."

I am disappointed that my mate didn't feel the need to include my coven because of being my mate but Kate being Leah's. But I have to wrestle that urge in. She still doesn't feel the bond. Little does she know that this coven would do anything to protect her and her family because of my devotion? I would murder anyone that threatened to lay a hand on her.

The group of us discuss the schedule for the kids. We plan to have it ready for once the kids awake. I can see Emery is exhausted so I wrap up the meeting quickly. Soon after Bella and Emery head up to guest rooms next to the kids.

Irina sits next to me "So, how are you adjusting?" I huff "I don't know. I want to hold her in my arms most of the time. Every sound, move and smell she makes I am just hyper aware of everything. It's going to drive me crazy until she is finally mine."

Rina pats my thigh "She is here now. You can start working towards that." Rosalie looks up to the ceiling "I wanted change from the Cullen's and I sure got it. It must be a family trait with the Swan's. The ability to sniff out trouble where ever they go. Things are going to be interesting from here on out."

I couldn't agree more.

So, thoughts?