I know I uploaded already today but I couldn't wait to write this chapter and not share it right away with you all so enjoy!
No warnings for this chapter.
A few hours had passed as I tried in vain to hunt in the dense Denali forest. Tanya watched over me with an articulated eye and gave me some pointers which would help me with future hunts. Part of me wanted to give up on it entirely and hunt somewhere where humans would be, yet my conscience screamed in protest. I didn't want to lose myself to my instincts again, it was an easy line to cross and as simple as flicking a light switch I could shut out my conscience and give over to my instincts again and be lost to the bloodlust again. Eventually, I caught up to the herd of Elk and took down one of the larger male elks, the scent held zero appeal to me and its blood despite it being warm tasted stale in comparison to human blood.
"Over time it becomes easier," Tanya chuckled softly, seeing my distaste for the Elks blood, "It will take time to get used to the taste."
"I believe you but I will be honest as much as I hate to admit it I will struggle getting used to it," I replied sheepishly, looking down at the Elk's lifeless body. I didn't want to be more of an issue to the Denali's - mainly Tanya. For some reason that I couldn't understand I didn't want to disappoint her by giving up on her way of life, she'd been nothing but kind and patient with me in the few hours I'd known her. Her warmth and approachability made her easy to talk to, unlike her cousins, it was clear that the centuries she had walked the earth, made her more open-minded.
"You're a newborn Bella don't be so harsh on yourself," she replied reaching out to touch my shoulder with a warm smile, "the fact you're already willing to try and hunt animals this early into being a vampire is quite impressive. I know for certain very few would be willing to do so, even in my first few years of this life I struggled to be around humans without massacring them." She went on casually, it was almost impossible for me to imagine her as a blood-crazed monster.
"That's kind of you to say, Tanya," I said giving her a half smile trying not to get lost in her honeyed eyes. "I just don't want to be a burden to you and your family given the law forces your hand in being responsible for me."
"You're not a burden to us Bella," she replied in a serious voice, her role as coven leader taking over, "We follow the law very closely and pride ourselves on doing so over time I'm sure you'll learn the values of them and understand why we follow them so closely."
I felt my eyes well up with tears that would never fall, her words pierced through my heart igniting a warmth that I'd never felt before, it was a sense of belonging.
"Thank you, I will do my best to learn what you have to teach me and be worthy of being a member of your coven," I said softly trying not to let my emotions take over. Tanya's eyes alit with a low glow of hope and pride at my words.
"We're a family, not a coven," She insisted, " and I'd be glad to welcome you into our family. Now shall we return to the others?"
"Sound's good," I replied following her as she began to walk back in the direction we had come. She didn't appear to be in a rush to return to the mansion so I used the time to find out more about my new family, one member in particular.
"I hope it's not rude of me to ask but what's up with Irina she seems..." I began.
"To be a bitch?" Tanya asked looking at me out the corner of her eye with a sly smile.
"Yeah..." I awkwardly chuckled. Tanya let out a small sigh.
"Honestly both myself and Kate have been wondering the same thing. She's been acting odd for the last six or so months, taking extended hunting trips by herself and having a short temper when she's at home. It's almost as if she's found her mate and growing frustrated by their absence but she isn't mated she would have told us if she were. She knows the laws as well as the rest of us as well as prides herself on it, if her mate were human she'd have informed us to make the necessary arrangements to have them turned. It's frustrating for us all to see her this way, she's usually quite lively and has a great sense of humour which ultimately helped us grow so close in our adolescence." She explained, still walking at a casual pace, she was in no hurry to get back to the mansion, and I took the opportunity to learn more.
"Can vampires only find their mates in humans or other vampires?" I asked carefully.
"It's forbidden for us to mingle with any other creatures with a few exceptions of fairies and faes that tend to keep themselves to themselves. But to answer your question yes, vampires usually find their mates in other vampires or humans," she explained carefully her eyes trying to hide what seemed to be a small level of nerves. Why she'd be nervous was lost on me.
"Other creatures?" I questioned trying not to focus on trying to read her expression.
"Surely you're aware of the supernatural creatures that make up the majority of human myths and legends," She began, it wasn't a question but a statement I nodded encouraging her to continue. "Werewolves have been extinct since the eleventh century as they started a war with us vampires it only lasted a decade but the Volturi made sure that they were extinct and would only remain as myths in human history. The same couldn't be said for witches and warlocks, they remain although their numbers are smaller compared to what they used to be but it was their downfall in trying to oppress the human world back in the fourteenth century."
"Wow..." I mused in mild shock and disbelief, "What about the Salem witch trials didn't that occur in the seventeenth century to rid the world of them?"
"In the fourteenth century, they had a civil war that caused them to lose most of their kind fighting for superiority, they tried and failed to make allegiances with the Volturi and other vampire covens, although there was no gain for us vampires to form any alliance, ultimately leading to a truce being made between their kind and ours. The few witches that survived went into hiding and started the Salem witch trials as a way to cover their tracks. The human world has always been quick to spread news of the supernatural and they exploited the human's fear to their advantage. It's rare for us to ever cross paths with a witch or warlock as their laws are stricter than our own, if they break the law the punishment is death it's the same for us." she explained further, "If we do ever cross paths we've to ignore them and not get involved with their politics."
"Why is that?" I questioned, "Surely there are some 'good' witches and warlocks out there."
"I'm sure there are however, despite us vampires being superior apex predators witches are the most dangerous creatures that walk this earth. They can cast spells and illusions without us knowing which as you can imagine most vampires don't take too kindly to that which led to the deaths of many powerful vampires and witches alike. That's what led to a truce being made between our kinds as they could not afford to go to war with us vampires as they would face the same threat of extinction as the werewolves." She answered truthfully.
"Have you ever crossed paths with one?" I wondered aloud, as we both quickened our pace a little into a gentle jog.
"I've never met one in person but I've come across ones scent a few centuries ago, they smell sweeter than humans do given the magic that flows through their blood but it's sickeningly sweet and not at all appetising, it's almost nauseating if you can imagine that," she answered once again sending a small smile in my direction, I smiled in return.
"That's quite interesting to know," I replied returning the smile, " Thank you for telling me."
"You're welcome Bella but you need to know this as even though the chances are slim you may cross paths with one, one day," her tone and expression turned serious with slight worry, likely due to me being so new to this world and its strict laws.
"I'll admit I wouldn't have been able to imagine that half of the myths and legends of the human world were true," I admitted slightly embarrassed.
For the remainder of our jog back to the mansion Tanya briefly explained the remaining laws that were most important, maintaining the secret, not getting involved with other creatures, and not turning humans without proper cause this did bring up questions as to why Victoria had turned me but that would need to be answered later when we were back at the mansion with the others. If we were to find out her true motive we would need to locate her as a coven and question her actions, not before I'd learn more of the vampiric customs as well as basic defence without having to rely on my instincts. Given I was a newborn I couldn't trust my instincts as they were as Tanya described impulsive decisions with little to no thought behind them and if I wanted to live a long life I would have to be more thoughtful with my actions.
As we approached the mansion we began to hear the raised voices of Kate and Irina.
"I've changed my mind Kate I'm going out to hunt again to clear my head!" Irina snapped.
"Bullshit Irina! You got back from hunting four hours ago and you've been going out to hunt every other day for the past month what's going on?!" Kate snapped back. Tanya's face was a picture of concern as we approached the main entrance.
"Nothing I just need to be alone with my thoughts for a few hours," Irina growled.
"You can be alone with your thoughts here Irina," Tanya stated coldly crossing her arms over her chest as entered the living room. Carman and Eleazar were still sitting on the soft silently watching the two blondes arguing both looking worried at the argument the two sisters were engaged in. Irina turned to Tanya and shot her an annoyed look.
"I just want to be in the fresh air is that so wrong?" Irina hissed coldly back narrowing her eyes at her sister, part of me was angry at the way she spoke to Tanya.
"You've not needed fresh air for centuries what is going on Irina?" Tanya hissed back coldly. Irina let out a warning growl looking more agitated by her sister's question.
"Nothing," she growled.
"Bullshit!" Kate growled in annoyance at her little sister's blatant lies, Irina growled in response to Kate.
Tanya sighed in frustration closing her eyes in an attempt to compose herself, when her eyes snapped open alert as she began to sniff the air more intently. Kate, Carman and Eleazar all shared a look of confusion before they too began to sniff the air as Tanya did, Irina looked almost in shock as she caught the new scent that travelled into the mansion.
A sickeningly sweet scent of fruit and spices blew through the jarred window behind Tanya and me, the scent didn't ignite any hunger but almost turned my stomach in a nauseating way. The thumps of a raised heartbeat began to grow closer to the mansion accompanied by heavy breathing and footsteps, within a second we were all out on the front porch as a young woman stumbled out of the forest.
She was covered head to toe in thick crimson blood as if she had walked off the set of a horror movie, the combination of the scents that came off her was enough to make me want to throw up so much so I held my breath. Her blue eyes darted between all of us as she froze in place. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart rate spiked. Her limbs trembled with fear as well as the cold Alaskan air suddenly dropping in temperature, it was easily minus twenty-two degrees, and she wasn't dressed for the Alaskan weather which made her appearance all the more unnerving. It was clear from what Tanya had told me earlier that the young woman in front of us was a witch.
Her eyes snapped to Irina where her expression changed ever so slightly to relief but it was clear she was still in shock. Irina's breath caught in her throat and I could feel the anxiety radiate off her body.
"Why are you here witch?" Tanya growled threateningly, the witch's eyes snapped to Tanya and she swallowed loudly as her heartbeat quickened and fear began to in-tangle with her sickeningly sweet scent. Irina let out a deep warning growl all of us looking at her in confusion, why was Irina being defensive of a witch? If what Tanya had said about witches was true Irina shouldn't be defending a witch unless she had a death wish.
"They're dead..." The witch said breathlessly, she had a soft Scottish accent which only emphasised the state of shock and fear she was in. Irina darted over to her within half a second before any of us could stop her, the witch jumped in surprise before Irina pulled her into an embrace and began to purr in a comforting matter to try and calm the witch down. I watched them confusedly whereas the others shared my confusion Tanya and Kate shared a look of betrayal.
"Who is miláčik?" Irina asked softly taking the witch's face in her hands and forcing the witch to look at her. The witch's eyes pooled with tears that began to stream down her face, and her bottom lip trembled before she broke down crying.
"All of them," The witch sobbed, "The whole coven... by newborns... they're all dead." She began crying as Irina pulled the witch into an embrace and Irina began to purr in an attempt to sooth the witch...
A/N: miláčik means sweetheart in Slovak - or at least that's what Google Translate says. I've read a few fanfics where they have the Denali sisters speak either Russian, Hungarian or Slovenian and I didn't want to copy them in any way and give this world more of my own twist to it but I'm sure you all could tell given how I've described the mansions layout.
See you all in the next chapter!