Chapter Twenty-Three
-Volterra, Italy-
Caius raised his eyebrows when he entered the throne room. Aro sat at the table, a book cradled in his lap, looking quite… happy? The blond eyed him wearily as he approached and took a seat beside him, "You seem rather cheerful this morning."
Aro turned with a smile, "Indeed. We can thank Corin for that."
Caius rolled his eyes. Of course he'd seek her assistance. As though reading his mind, Aro added, "Six months has been too long to be without the presence of my love. I should like to see how you'd fare."
Ignoring that last bit, Caius took the opportunity to speak while somewhat on topic, "Yes, speaking of Lorna. Six months has been too long. The search effort needs to be increased."
The smile fell just a bit, "Brother-"
"Do not 'brother' me," the younger man tried to keep his temper in check, "She is an uncontrolled werewolf. Maybe she is no longer a threat to humans, but she is a threat to our kind. And what if she infects others?"
Now Aro's smile disappeared entirely, "Lorna would never. She despises what she has become."
Caius snorted in retort, "Only because she's under the impression she cannot procreate, not because of what she actually is. Do you honestly believe she gets no joy out of dismembering a vampire?"
But it seemed his brother had stopped listening after the first thing he said. Aro's brows knit in confusion, "What is it you mean? The illness renders the female sterile."
Caius darted away and reappeared with a book, which he offered, "I recommend reading this one. Much more accurate than the current one in our collection. This information comes directly from a man dedicated to their study. Most female werewolves cannot reproduce. The Betas are the only ones that can. And only with their Alpha."
Aro thumbed the pages, "She was physically involved with her Alpha and never conceived."
The blond suppressed the desire to cringe. Too much information about the wolf than he wanted. "Yes, but did she accept him as her mate and Alpha?"
Before Aro could answer, Caius did it himself, "She did not. According to the research, a Beta must do so in order to be capable of it. Once she does, she will begin to have regular heat cycles, lucky you."
Now he did visibly cringe. The thought of his brother and the dog being any more physically involved than they had been was stomach churning. And also, he realized how very Lorna that last line sounded. Aro shook his head, "How would such a thing even be possible? Assuming this is true, I'm no werewolf and incapable of becoming one. Therefore, I cannot possibly be seen as an Alpha."
Caius shook the uncomfortable mental imagery from his mind, "Consider this, though, brother. You issue her commands regularly, and she obeys. Correct?"
Aro only stared, waiting for him to actually make his point. Caius gestured, "Have you once witnessed her execute a similar order from me? Marcus?"
No, he hadn't. The memory of their first encounter replayed in his thoughts. She charged at Caius, intent on destroying him. Aro had demanded she stop. And she had. It was a phenomenon that had occurred more than once, actually, and he had yet to understand it. As for not listening to Caius, he had assumed it was because she disliked him.
"Anyway," his brother continued, waving flippantly at the book, "There's an entire section discussing their reproductive habits. It also discusses their changes. Now that Lorna is a mature wolf, she isn't so much of a threat to humans as she is us. Immature wolves, on the other hand…"
He trailed off, shaking his head, "They cannot control themselves at all. They will slaughter a human as readily as a vampire. Allowing Lorna to remain out there, where she could create more of these beasts, is a liability. Your efforts to locate and retrieve her must be increased significantly."
Now Aro frowned. As much as he would love to have his wolf found and returned immediately, it simply wasn't feasible. "Brother, seven of our Guard are currently on assignment as it is. That leaves us with only twenty. It would not be wise to spread our number too thin. Sending more to look for Lorna will need to wait until Natalia's team returns from Russia."
Caius sighed. If it were up to him, he'd throw Natalia to the literal wolves. Well, wolf. Currently there was only one in their custody. Speaking off, "What do you plan to do with your prisoner, Aro?"
He hummed, "I'm undecided. I'd like to tear his throat out for his betrayal, but I fear Lorna would never forgive me. His fate remains to be seen."
Not the answer Caius had been looking for. Normally, punishments were left for him to decide, but this one was a "special" case. So there was no overstepping this time. His eyes narrowed, "Do be timely about his judgment. We need no more dogs around here."
Aro waved him off, now engrossed in the reading material he had been offered. His smile slowly returned as he read the part discussing the mating rituals of the Children of the Moon. Perhaps Caius should not be putting ideas into his brother's head.
-Forks, Washington-
I turned my nose to the sky and inhaled deeply. Nothing yet. So I continued pacing as the Cullens watched me. Carlisle chuckled, "There's no need to be so restless, Lorna. They're not a threat."
"Call it a habit," I muttered. My inner wolf was restless with the anticipation of more vampires. Granted, they lived the same "vegetarian" lifestyle, but it was in my nature to be anxious when it came to the bloodsuckers. The blonde woman mentioned something about a kennel. Har, har. Bitch. I suppressed a growl. The wind shifted then, and I caught a whiff of something so foul I wanted to hurl. I grimaced, "Your friends are near."
The thunder of their rapid footfalls grew louder before finally bursting from the trees. Five more reeking leeches appeared before us. And this time I did growl low in my chest. Everyone stared at me. I shrugged, "Sorry, I've been stressed."
"What the hell is that?" A curly haired blonde lady asked, eyes wide. Another blonde woman with straight hair added, "And why is it wearing a dog collar?"
It? I snorted and then mumbled, "Because my ex thought he was funny."
Again with the 'ex' shit…
Carlisle placed a hand on my shoulder. Dear Artemis, the man was sexy. It really was a shame he was married. "This is Lorna. Because of some unfortunate circumstances, she's staying with us for awhile."
"Okay…" the curly blonde continued, "But why did she growl and why does she smell like a wet dog that rolled in a blood puddle? Is she a shifter, too?"
I barked out a laugh, "Ah, that joke will never get old."
I wiped a non-existent tear from my eye, "I'm a Child of the Moon."
Shocked expressions spread across the newcomers faces. Esme stepped forward, "She is harmless to us, though."
"Not gonna lie," I interjected, "Your diet makes you smell worse than anything I've even smelled before. Like, I literally want to puke right now."
The new coven exchanged glances.
Against my will, and theirs probably, we were introduced to each other. Kate was the one with the straight blonde hair. Apparently she was capable of producing an electrical current to zap people with. Naturally, I had to try it out. Yeah, it didn't feel too nice. Her mate was a man with dark, messy hair named Garrett, a former nomad. Tonya was the curly haired one who apparently had no special talent and no mate. Carmen seemed nice enough. Apparently she was originally from Spain. I about choked when her mate, Eleazar, announced he was a former Volturi Guard member. I played it off as having inhaled a fly.
Apparently the group wasn't staying for long. Only for the weekend, which was still longer than I cared for. But I could handle being near Eleazar for that long. Probably. No, not really. I excused myself and bailed to my bedroom to hide for the remainder of the day. Esme wasn't really having it, though. She insisted I go hunting with them all. I politely declined. So now I was sprinting through the forest as everyone chased after their meals. I really had no need to pick at the animals they took down, they kept their kitchen well stocked for me and Renesmee, but I had to admit that it was nice stretching my legs.
"So," Kate asked when we were back at home, sitting in the yard under the stars, "How long have you been a werewolf?"
"How old am I?" I asked myself, then counted on my fingers, "Five years. I was bitten just after I turned eighteen. The prick."
I curled in on myself at just the thought of Glenn. Apparently I was more affected by him than I had told Aro…
...Also a man I didn't really want to think about, but for different reasons.
Carlisle turned to the newcomers, "So, how is everything in Denali? We've been considering moving back in a year or two."
Thank you for the save, Carlisle. I managed to catch his gaze and nodded, to which he smiled. Why were all the sweet men already married and I get stuck with an asshole who's already married?! I shivered and decided I'd had enough for one day. I excused myself and retreated to bed.
