Chapter 14
Chloe's POV
"We don't know much, just that it's obvious they're here and I think they're trying to start a war." Beca informs him and when he gestures for more, she shrugs. "That's literally all we know. The head of Chloe's vampire unit, John Smith, was killed. It was made to look like a werewolf did it, but I noticed fang marks on his neck. He was drained of enough blood to kill him but not necessarily enough to be noticeable. Then he was ripped to shreds, just like a werewolf would."
"You noticed this? How?"
"I notice things. It's my job."
"Huh," Darren huffs and looks back and forth between the two of us. "What job is that?"
"I'm an agent of the NLSP."
"Ahh," Darren leans back and laughs. "When I looked into your eyes, I could tell you weren't a vampire, but you don't seem quite human."
"Her eyes?" I ask and Beca cringes. I'll finally truly learn how the agents always know who's a vampire and who's not.
"When you look into a vampire's eyes, it's like nothing looks back. It's just cold and empty. Some people say the eyes are the window into the soul and I guess, in your case, it's true. Since vampires don't have souls, we don't see or feel anything."
"Oh. I've only ever looked into a vampire's eyes once before I was turned but it was so long ago that I guess I never really processed it." My heart sinks and I look at Beca. "Is that what you see all the time with us?"
"With most of you," she whispers and looks into my eyes. Her eyes plead with me and I know she wishes to talk about it later so I nod. I look back at Darren and find him staring at us with a curious look on his face.
"Let's move on. Can you tell us more about you? The First, I mean."
"I'm the alpha of The First, but that doesn't mean I'm the only original. There are others that were with me when we first came along. Several of us just came to be after a full moon one night. No explanation so we created a pack, The First. After a certain age, all of us originals stopped aging, but with our kids and their kids, the once very powerful laneige, dwindled down until now, where werewolves just age slower but die in the end. With each generation, more packs were created making The First's numbers low. All those wolves out there aren't part of my pack except for a few."
"But they bowed when you came into the clearing?" Beca questions and he nods.
"They know who I am and respect my power. I travel occasionally, getting the wolves of different towns together to celebrate and remember who we are. Because I'm the alpha of The First, all wolves bow down to me. My true pack remains miles away though."
"I can't believe I never heard about you guys before," I gush as I love learning about this stuff. "Well, I'm sure it's because vampires and werewolves don't mix so why would I?"
"That's not necessarily true," Darren says and my heart skips a beat. "We don't all hate each other. My mate is actually a vampire. The First doesn't just consist of werewolves though the majority of us are. Here, look at this." He pulls out a notebook and opens a page to where The First symbol is, just enlarged instead of the tiny version on the flyer.
"If you look closer, you'll see that the face is that of a vampire while the body is a werewolf." I look and see that he's correct. The eyes are filled in with black and there are fangs instead of canines. I shake my head in confusion.
"What about The Old Ones?" Beca asks, referring to that symbol. Darren sighs and I swear I hear a hint of sadness in his tone.
"Not all vampires were okay with our vampire/werewolf relationship. They hated that werewolves had the same amount of power as them. So some of the first vampires gathered up a group and led some werewolves into the woods where they tortured them until they shifted. The werewolves then retaliated and went off on a vampire killing spree, sparking the hatred that most have now. They started a war which left hundreds dead on both sides. We kept our pack together, promising to accept any creature that we crossed paths with. The other vampires created The Old Ones, attempting to establish dominance over us. They used to chase us down, trying to kill us, to erase us from the face of the earth but we are resilient."
"So what you're saying is The Old Ones are the bad guys. Y'all are just trying to live and create peace. So you have nothing to do with this war that's brewing?" Beca questions and I love that she summed up his long story in just a few words.
"Not intentionally. I think our group existing pisses them off. They want all supernatural creatures at war which would lead to casualties within the human race. Their hope is that eventually, only vampires remain."
"That is a lot," I exhale heavily and Darren smiles, amused.
"It is and I'm sure it's very confusing. Look, what if you two come with me back to my pack? That way we can address this issue and figure out the best course of action." I look at Beca, leaving it up to her to make the decision. She has the best judgement of people and I trust her to make the right choice.
"You said there are vampires in your pack?" Darren nods at Beca and she smiles. "Let's do it. We need to stop this war before it's too late."
"We leave in the morning. Here is my number. I'll text you the details when I get it all figured out. Beca and Chloe, was it?" I nod. "It was very nice to meet you and thank you for bringing this to my attention. A war is something I don't wish to happen so let's do our best to make sure it doesn't."
…
As we walk back to the cars, I hold Beca's hand and question her about the whole eye thing. If that's what she sees when she looks at me, how could she love me? Is that all she thinks I am? An empty vessel with no soul and no purpose.
"Beca, what do you see when you look at me?"
"I don't see coldness, if that's what you're thinking."
"What do you see?" I stop walking, letting the group go ahead of us. "Apparently all vampires are like that so how could you fall for me if you don't see anything when you look into my eyes?"
"Chloe, stop." Beca grabs my hands and looks into my eyes. "It's the weirdest thing. I don't see nothing, I see you. I see life and feel warmth. When I first met you, I had no idea you were a vampire because you didn't have the same eyes. There's a pull I feel toward you that even if your eyes were empty, I wouldn't be able to resist."
"Really?" I sigh in relief when she nods. "I wonder why my eyes are like that, at least to you. Darren seemed to know I was a vampire pretty quickly."
"I don't know. All I know is I love the way your eyes shine and I could get lost in them. If I could spend my whole life staring into your eyes, I would."
"Now you're just being cheesy," I joke, secretly loving it. "Let's go. We have to pack. Who knows how long we'll be wherever their pack is located."
"Am I making the right decision doing this? It'll just be us two."
"I trust your instinct and if you think we can trust them, I believe that. The ones I really think we have to look out for are The Old Ones."
"I agree. It's so crazy that he has a vampire mate isn't it?" Beca starts walking toward the car, me right beside her.
"Yeah. I thought that every vampire and werewolf hated each other. Who knew? Well, I guess it's not too unbelievable since we're together. Me a vampire, you half human, half vampire."
"You have a point there. Should I let the girls know now or just wait until after the trip?" I take a second to think, wanting to give the right answer.
"Either way, I think they would still accept you. You are warming your way into their hearts pretty quickly."
"Yeah?" Beca questions and I nod, making her grin. "I'm just that awesome, I guess."
"Shut up," I laugh. She starts to join in but cries out in pain instead. "Becs? Are you okay?"
She bends over, holding her head. For a few minutes, we stay there. Eventually, Beca takes a deep breath and stands up straight.
"I'm okay. Just a really strong cramp."
"Are you sure?" My heart thumps loudly as I worry. What if she's getting really sick?
"Yeah, I'm really fine. Let's go." The rest of the way to the cars, I keep an eye on her. She makes jokes and acts like she's fine, but she doesn't realize that I see the occasional grimace of pain. What is going on? Maybe it's something she caught when we were out in the rain? That would make a lot of sense. We reach the cars where everyone waits for us.
"You guys took forever," Aubrey comments and I glare at her before turning my attention back to Beca.
"Do y'all have an extra seat?" Beca asks and Amy nods. "Chloe, I'm going to go fill in my boss so why don't you ride with them."
"You sure?" Beca nods and I give her a quick hug. "Promise me you'll message me if anything is wrong."
"I promise," Beca whispers into my ear. "Now get your sexy ass in that car." Laughing, I do as she says, watching as she gets into her car and starts down the gravel road. God, I hope she's okay. I don't know what I would do if she wasn't.