Chapter 4

The next morning Ravenna and Zane left their hotel and made their way to the Shadow Coven. They stopped at the border, introduced themselves to the guard, and waited patiently as he called former King Xander. They glanced around the border of the coven’s land and began to reminisce about their previous time here, and notice how much everything had changed since they stepped foot on this soil 21 years ago. They stood there and recalled the past and how they managed to find Allison, who was held captive in a bunker not too far from here. The sound of a car door interrupted their conversation as they looked up at those approaching them. They both smiled at former King Xander and his wife Marguerite, who walked hand in hand up to them. “Welcome back to Edonia you two. I hope your drive was well?”

As Ravenna began to form the words to answer she was stopped by the sound of another door closing. She looked up and noticed that Queen Ebony and King Vallen walked up to them full of smiles, and she was wrapped in a hug by Ebony. Once Ebony released her she turned back to Xander and smiled. “The ride was wonderful, we dropped Angelo and Violet off at Edonia University yesterday and decided to visit today,” Zane answered.

“I hear that Angelo has found his mate,” Ebony said as she grinned mischievously at them both.

“Yes, we have heard that little rumor too,” Ravenna said with an innocent look as she returned Ebony’s smile.

“Please, let’s head to the castle, we can catch up,” Vallen said as he opened the door for Ebony and the group started heading towards the castle. Once they arrived, the castle looked the same as it did 21 years ago. It was a beautiful grey brick castle that was three stories high. Each floor contained minimal windows, to help to ensure the comfort of those who didn’t like the sunlight that the windows provided. The castle was surrounded by red and white rose bushes that were well maintained, which gave them a large output of roses. The only change they found was a large flower garden, which had taken the place of weeds that grew there 21 years before. Ravenna couldn’t help but gasp at the beauty of the gardens and the flowers they grew. “That is Marguerite’s garden, she has kept it going since she and I arrived back here,” Vallen explained as he stood beside her, both of them were enjoying the serenity of the flowers.

“It’s beautiful,” she remarked as he led her into the building.

They were led to the Queen’s sitting room where they all took a seat and began to catch up on lost time. After nearly three hours of conversation, a knock on the door was heard. Ebony looked at the door quizzically and called for the person to enter. The Shadow Coven general Liam entered and bowed to the group. “Welcome back to Edonia Your Majesties,” he said as he bowed and smiled at Ravenna and Zane. He stood straight again and turned to Ebony and Xander, his smile quickly dropped. “Your Majesties, I have sent the paperwork to Lamia, I have not heard back from King Benedict nor has our messenger returned. It has been two weeks, and all of my phone calls have gone unanswered.”

Zane tensed up and looked quizzically at Xander and Ebony. “That’s unlike Benedict; I hope nothing has happened over there.” The group looked at each other uneasily; they all knew that Benedict Moretti led the kingdom with caution and care. He was extremely distrustful of non-Vampires but had close ties with the neighboring Vampire kingdoms of Alaria and Edonia. The lack of response gave them all an extremely bad feeling about the situation in their neighboring kingdom of Lamia.

“We will allow you all to get back to work. We will be in Edonia for a few days at least to enjoy some time together, if you need us, feel free to call,” Zane informed them as he stood to his feet and helped up Ravenna. The two of them bowed to the King and Queen and said their goodbyes. They walked out to their car and headed out of the coven. Unable to shake the feeling that something is wrong, Zane looked at his wife. “I hope this isn’t a sign of bad things yet to come. Han isn’t ready to lead a war.”

“Don’t talk like that, we don’t have a clue what’s happening in Lamia, overreacting isn’t going to help a thing. We will just keep our ears open and our mouths shut. Are we still going to go visit the Crescent Dawn Pack too?”

“Tomorrow, for now, let’s head back and relax. We still need to visit Michael and Jasmine too,” he said as he grabbed her hand. She entwined her fingers in his and held his hand tightly; they drove the rest of the way to the hotel in worried silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Violet spent the day unpacking more boxes, she was exhausted. Thankfully, she still had a few more days until her college classes started so she could finish unpacking and decorating the apartment to her liking. She quickly checked the time, and couldn’t believe that it was that late. She quickly ran into her bedroom, grabbed some loose-fitting clothing, and ran into the bathroom to shower. Once she was finished, she threw a pair of sneakers on and pulled her hair into a messy bun. She grabbed her car keys, quickly left the room, and started making her way next door to Emma’s room. Quietly, she knocked on Emma’s door. She was surprised when Emma answered after the first knock. “Are you all ready to go?” Emma asked with fake enthusiasm.

“I’m ready, but you don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Violet suggested as she stared at her friend. She couldn’t miss the fact that Emma was upset, her eyes were puffy from crying, and it looks like she hadn’t slept at all.

“No, I have a job to do and I can’t do it from here,” Emma replied as she grabbed a hoodie, and her keys, and walked into the hallway shutting the door behind her.

Once they got into the car, Violet started it up and turned to Emma. “I don’t want to brag or anything, but people tell me I’m a great listener if you need to talk.”

Emma sent her a half-smile and nodded. “I’ll talk about it when I am ready.”

Violet accepted that for an answer, threw the car in reverse, and followed the directions that Tatiana had shown her the day before. Once she approached the coven, she parked and exited the vehicle. Emma was requested to follow the Witch who waited for her at the gate, while Violet walked up to the house. Before she knocked, she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between Belinda and Scarlett.

“I want to be with her Mother, please don’t deny me this.”

“She’s a wolf? Are you sure you want to do this?”

Then it finally clicked to Violet what Emma was upset about, the fact that she was mates with Scarlett. Emma had to be worried that Scarlett’s mother would not let them be together after Belinda’s outburst the previous evening. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Violet composed herself, knocked on the door, and entered when she was instructed. “Good evening ladies, I’m here for my training,” she informed with a smile.

“You will be with me tonight, my daughter needs to go spend some time with her mate,” Belinda said as she rolled her eyes and pointed Violet to the door. Smiling from ear to ear, Scarlett hugged her mother and ran out of the shack giggling in excitement.

Violet smiled at Belinda, the appreciation was apparent in her eyes, “Thank you for not objecting to them being together.”

Looking at Violet like she has three heads, Belinda turned and started walking outside. “We will be training in the cave.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Once she closed the door to her mother’s house, Scarlett took a deep breath. She needed a way to help curb the excitement she had knowing her mother was going to allow her to be with Emma. As she began to walk toward the house that Emma was located in, the insecurities started kicking in. “Will she even want to be with me?” Scarlett questioned out loud to no one in particular. The house came into view much quicker than she expected, and she climbed the steps. Once she was at the top step, Scarlett stared at the door in worry. Her palms became sweaty and her breathing uneven, she slowly placed her hand on the doorknob. Sounds were coming from inside the house, sounds that resembled light sobbing on the other side of the door. So, she slowly opened it and entered the house.

She looked around the room in confusion, she finally noticed that Emma was sitting at the window watching the red maple blowing in the wind. She was so lost in thought, that she never even heard Scarlett open the door. Quietly she shut the door, Scarlett took a deep breath, and slowly walked towards Emma. Finally, she bent down next to Emma and wrapped her arms around the crying girl, and pulled her into a hug. Rubbing her back, she said nothing and allowed Emma to release her feelings. Scarlett finally pulled back to where she could look at Emma. “Are you ok?”

Emma wiped her eyes and blushed, “I’m sorry, I think I’m ready though so please let’s get this whole rejection thing over with.”

Scarlett’s jaw dropped and she stared at Emma in disbelief. The worries and fears that she was having were returned by Emma. Emma was probably more fearful, considering her mother’s statement the previous evening. Scarlett shook her head and chuckled. She looked at Emma, smiled, and took her hand. “I have no intention of marrying you tomorrow, but I have no intention of rejecting you either. I want to see where this goes, but there is no rush on anything. How about we just take things slow and see what happens?”

“But your mom,” Emma protested.

“She’s fine with this, we discussed this already. She was a little skeptical about you being a wolf, but she gave us her blessing. So are you willing to give this a shot with me?”

Emma wiped the tears from her eyes that were sneaking out and smiled widely, she was thrilled that she wasn’t being rejected. She nodded in affirmation to Scarlett she wrapped her in a hug and gave her a hug and a quick kiss. “Let’s do this!”

With a huge weight off both of their chests, they curled up on the couch and spent the evening waiting for Violet, they talked and got to know each other.