Chapter 2

"Here's the plan." Arlis says, pacing around the hospital room. "You're going to be introduced as a new member. If anyone asks where your family is or anything to the subject, say that you don't know much about werewolves because you're parents died when you were young. That's why you ask so many questions. You're my mate and we met while I was on a hunt."

Arlis takes in a deep breath. "So let's leave this shit hole because I really hate hospitals."

I nod and follow Arlis out of the hospital, realizing that I was pulled to him with every step we took.

We passed by a couple of nurses and doctors. They bowed their heads and let us pass with ease despite the crowded hallways. It was a small place with white walls and white shiny floors, lights shoved flickering.

After about thirty seconds of walking, Arlis grabs my hand and pulls me to his side. "Watch out. Stay close. I'll deal with this."

I cock my head. "What's up?" I whisper, my stomach doing flips.

Arlis shakes his head. "Everything is fine. Just— stay close."

He pins me up against his back and basically shields me from the view forward. He's a lot taller than me. "Please. Let me handle this." I barely heard what he said, I wasn't exactly able to focus completely on his words. Everywhere he touched me was like strips of heavenly electricity.

I nodded once, because words were starting to be lost in my throat.

We leave the corner and stand in the middle of the hallway. In a second, a beautiful blonde girl walks up to him.

"You god damn liar!" She screams in his face.

He doesn't retaliate.

But when she goes to slap him, he grabs her hand. "Calm down, Dalia." He says.

Dalia shakes her brilliant blonde hair. "Are you kidding me? Don't tell me to calm down! You were sleeping with some bitch weren't you! I saw you last night carrying some girl!"

Excuse me? I don't know if she's talking about me or someone else but either way I'm mad.

I move out from behind Arlis, standing in her face. "Who are you?" I ask angrily.

The girl stands taller than me by a few inches, but she acted like she was a mile higher. "The current Alpha adviser and you're the girl who slept with my brother!" She points to Arlis. "Wait till Jonah hears about this."

A couple people in the hospital look at us, fear in their eyes. But most look fearful for me.

"Dalia, meet..." Arlis looks at me. "I don't know your name." He frowns slightly, disappointed.

Dalia looks at me. "Wow. He cares so little about you, that he doesn't even know your name."

I stick out my hand. "My name is Kadelyn Summers, Arlis's mate. But you can call me Kate."1

Dalia's mouth drops a couple inches. "Seriously?" She looks shocked, happy, and sorry all at once. Dalia pulls me into a huge hug and whispers in my ear. "I am so sorry. I thought he was screwing around with some girl and I was mad because that's sacred and meant just for the Luna."

I nod as she pulls away. "Thanks," I say. "It was a good gesture." I smile and decide I like this girl.

She's a little bi-polar, but she seemed nice.

"I like you," She says. "My name is Dalia Barron. And," She looks apologetically at Arlis. "My little brother should be coming any second."

A fist swings out of nowhere to hit Arlis in the face, but he catches it at the last second, his face not showing any sign of surprise or weakness.

The boy with brilliant blonde hair like his sister falls to his knees, his face twisting into pain.

He glares at me and then at Arlis.

"Mercy. Uncle. Un-cool." He groans, collapsing to the floor.

Arlis let's go of his fist one the boy is on all four. "Kate. This is our little brother, Jonah."

Jonah rolls his eyes. "I'm the good brother, obviously. He's messing around with—"

"His mate. He's messing around with his mate." Dalia finishes the sentence, elbowing Jonah in the side.

Jonah opens his mouth. "Oh. Okay. I'm Jonah. And it's lovely to meet you. Now c'mon little sis, we have much to talk about. Like the fact I almost punched our older brother in the face because of you, but I stopped myself at the last second."1

Dalia scoffs under her breath. "Almost? You couldn't if you tried."

They hook arms and walk away, arguing with each other.

I look back at Arlis. "Siblings?" I ask. "Why do they both call each other little?"

Arlis sighs. "Twins. But they were born at an early time in the morning and the doctor wrote their times down as the same. Nobody knows who was born first."

I nod. "That must really suck."

He shrugs. "Not really. I'm the oldest so I took over for Alpha. Their age matters to only them."

I look over Arlis and get stuck on his image again.

Tall, probably six foot five inches. Beautiful, sparkling, brown eyes. Gorgeous dark hair. It's like Aphrodite made him herself. Zeus should be jealous of him.

Even I'm jealous of him and I'm a girl.

"You know, it's not nice to judge someone by their looks." He says.

I snap out of my haze and a blush creeps up my neck onto my face.

"It's okay though, I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a good looking guy." He says, raising his eyebrows.

I scoff. "In your dreams."

He smirks at me. "I am in my dreams, or at least I must be, because you're here."

A couple moments of silence goes by before someone clears their throat. We look up and see Chleo giving us a parental look. "Okay I need help finding Seymour."

Chleo turns in circles looking for whoever Seymour is.

"Seymour Hall. He helped me track down which direction your attackers went. You party?" Arlis smiles at me, leaning closer and making my body stiffen. "Young people these days." He shakes his head, and helps look around for Seymour.

I'm about to question why he called me young when he can't be much older, but he continues talking.

"He was the old man I was talking to when you stumbled over." He continues. "The other was Sam. They've uh— they've been through a lot."

It seems like everyone has.

"Then again, everyone has." He says exactly what I was thinking. "Chleo. The Halls. My family."

He's gone melancholy and cold.

"There he is!" Chleo claps his hand. "Seymour!"

He doesn't even seem to notice Arlis's sad face.

Seymour spins and sees us. He smiles warmly at me before grabbing my hand and kissing it. He was a tall man with a long-ish white beard and blue eyes.

Surprisingly, Arlis doesn't get mad or even annoyed at this old man like he did when Chleo shook my hand.

"Glad to see you're okay, Luna." Seymour says.

I nod. "Well, if it weren't for you and Arlis I wouldn't be." I add a slight chuckle to end my sentence.

Seymour nods, running his wrinkled hand through his beard. "Glad I could help." He sees Arlis and bows his head. "What is it that you need, Beta Queens?" He says, turning to Chleo.

Chleo's eyes brighten. "Well, I need you to contact Constance for me."

Seymour widens his eyes and arches his grey brow. "That sounds like the stupidest idea to come from your mouth." He whacks the back of Chleo's head, making Chleo lurch forward. "Why in high heaven would you want to do that?"

Chleo runs the back of his head. "Ouch, Seymour."

"No. No. No. Don't 'ouch, Seymour' me. I'm not the one messing with the Hunters!" He scowls at Chleo.

Then he faces Arlis. "And you!" He yells. "Did you know about this? You of all people, I would expect to hate them."

Arlis shrugs. "Yeah, I guess. I'm the one who told him to do it."

Seymour scrunches his eyes together. "How could you?" He asks. "Huh? Don't "I guess" me."

Arlis seemed to shrink down a couple sizes.

"And you." He looks at me. "I know what you really are." Seymour whispers. "And I'm acceptable of it, because you seem to be something special if you're mated to a werewolf. You seem to be a good Natural."

I tilt my head to the side. "Natural?" I ask.

Seymour nods once. "We're supernatural, all humans are just Natural." He says.

"Sammy and I— where is that kid?" Seymour leaves us and returns holding a kid— around thirteen— by his ear.

Seymour lets go of Sammy's ear. Sammy looks at me and grows an adorable shade of red. He bows his head. "Luna. Alpha. Beta."

Seymour faces Sam. "And?"

"Grandpa Seymour?" Sammy says questioningly.

Seymour glares hard at Seymour. "I'm as old as Jesus, probably older, and you can't even call me by my desired name?"

Sammy widens his eyes. "Yoda." Sammy bends down and bows to Seymour. He looks back to me and sighs. "He makes me call him Yoda."1

I suffer from a laugh attack. It starts in my chest and flows freely out of my mouth. I'm laughing so hard that my side starts to hurt, and I double over. Electric hands grab my sides, and I nearly fall to the floor after warmth spreads through my body to quickly. I suck in a gasp and stop laughing. I let the breath come out slowly, and everyone stares at me in shock. Arlis quickly removes his hands and it's all I can do not to put them back.

Seymour smirks at me. "That's what I mean. There is no way a human could feel what she just felt."

I widen my eyes. "What? What did I just feel?"

Heat. Warmth. Shock. Electricity. Sparks. Literal sparks.

Seymour places a hand on my shoulder and I instantly take a step back, towards Arlis, not realizing I'm doing it. "She's definitely your mate, Arlis. I just don't understand how." Seymour bites his lip and itches his long silver hair. "Oh, how I wish Einstein was here." He murmurs.

Einstein? "How did you now what I felt?"

Chleo opens his mouth. "That's right, you wouldn't know. Seymour, over his longer than average life, has picked up a trick. We all insult him by calling him a vampire because this trait is associated by all vampires, but he can feel what others feel. He used to actually be friends with a vampire, he's long since been killed, but he taught him."

"Oh, okay." Is all I can say. I'm shocked and confused all at once. "So he can feel what I feel?"

Well then I don't know how he's not puking because that's how I feel right now. Like puking.

"That's right." Seymour says.

I have so many questions and I don't known how to ask any of them. "I have a lot of questions." I say.

He nods. "Expected. Ask away." Seymour says.

"What's a Luna?" I ask. People keep calling me that and I have no idea what it is.

Seymour sighs. "A Luna is the Alpha's mate. Yes, we value Alphas more than just about anyone... but we value the Luna more than even him. Lunas keep the Alpha in check, which is something nobody else can do. A Luna is the queen of the pack and without her all we have is a king with anger issues. Packs with a Luna are less likely to go to war."

Huh. Who knew? They value girls here more than men. That, honestly, is nice to know.

"So, I'm the Luna?" I ask. I pick my arms up to push all my hair to the left side of my neck, and when my arms fall down to the side they accidentally brush Arlis's arm. He sucks in a deep breath.

"Definitely mates." Seymour murmurs. "Listen, if anyone asks you to change, say you're underage."

I put on a genuine smile. "I'm not gunna undress in front of somebody. Being underage has nothing to do with it, I have respect for myself." It's funny how people assume a pretty girl will just undress.

Arlis faces me. "Better not." He says, furrowing his brows.

Sam starts laughing and claps his hands. "That's golden. Nah, that's not what Yoda meant. He meant that if anyone asks you to— ya know, become a wolf— tell them you're underage. Because you are, yes?"

I shake my head. "I'm nineteen. That's not underage. I mean, I can't drink but I can technically live on my own."

Sam laughs even more. "You've got a lot to learn little duck. You're an underage until the night of your twentieth birthday."

Twenty? I've only ever heard eighteen and twenty one.

"You're like, thirteen. Who are you calling a Little Duck?" I'm offended a little bit.

Sam laughs even harder. "Thirteen? I'm twenty four, thank you."

My turn to laugh. "But you look thirteen. I wouldn't be laughing, that's an insult." I say.

Seymour points at me, smiling. "I like her." He pushes Sam's shoulder. "Son, you're only fifteen. Telling girls you're older, especially if they're mated to your alpha, so you can finally get laid is not the best idea."2

Sam shakes his head. "But it's a great—" Arlis growls lowly and Sam's eyes widen. "Great way to get killed! And that's exactly what I don't want, so I'll stop." Sam gives me a warming smile, but mutters. "I do not look thirteen."2

"He's your son?" I ask Seymour, noticing the age differences.

Seymour looks at the ground and shakes his head. "No. Sam is my great grand son. His parents, along with his grandparents, were killed by the Damarion pack. That's why we were out that far from Sovereign Pack Territory. We were going to talk to Alpha Rylee but circumstances changed now. My question though, is how you two are mates."

Chleo, who's been silent this whole time snaps his fingers. "Call Constance, please." He asks. "She'll figure this whole thing out."

Seymour pops his fingers, shaking his head. "Being older than the human equivalent of Jesus, I've watched some people do very stupid things. But nothing this stupid. If you get caught talking to Constance, Kasparov will kill you."

Chleo brushes off his shoulders. "He can try." Chleo stands tall with pride.

Seymour glares at Chleo. "It is not wise to be foolish, boy."

Chleo rolls his eyes. "Well, obviously."

"I have seen Kasparov do some very inhumane things. He's—"

"Sorry to interrupt but who is Kasparov? Constance?" I know they're Hunters but... I need more information.

"Way back, back in B.H, the world was in dark times," He must have sensed some confusion because he explains what B.H was. "B.H is Before Hunters. I don't know how to compare it to your time zones... perhaps the B.Cs but B.H started during B.Cs and ended during B.Cs... Anyways, the world was a dark place. People would worship wolves, despite how your history put it, and would call upon wolves for protection. But when people found out about werewolves— whew— that was interesting. We were gods amongst men.

"And people felt protected. But to be protected meant that something was out to get you.

"Vampires. Vampires were out to get people. And people called upon us to solve their problems. They believed Vampires were a work of rogues— werewolves who can't control their beasts— they called Rogues demons. They called upon us, not rogue werewolves, their "gods" to protect them. And we did for a while, for a long time actually.

But vampires can repopulate much faster. We called upon the Salem Witches of the Old and they made The Hunters. Only a hundred bloodlines so they could kill the vampires and then they'd eventually die out, and then it would only be the supernaturals connected to Earth left. You see, Vampires aren't connected to the Earth as we are. If you met them, you'd feel drawn to them, but in a greedy evil way. When underages meet us, they feel like we're Gods, truly. They feel our connection to Earth. And you'd feel it, but the mate bond is messing with your head. Hunters are kind of connected to the Earth, but they're still not as natural as us. But as of today, Hunters have wiped out much of the Vampire lineages.

Vampires can only die by a Hunter's hand. That's the only way. And they have to be killed with special cursed blades. Unless of course, a human has a lotus poisoned blade. Now keep in mind that Hunters excel and beat Vampires in each and every way except one... Hunters can die by anything. They bleed and can bleed out. They're immune to age and disease and that's about it. But, know that it takes a lot to kill a Hunter. I once watched one get sunk with rocks and he was okay the next day.

Kasparov is probably the oldest living one as of right now. Him and—" Seymour spares a glance at Chleo. "He's the oldest living one. He was born in let's see... 1473."

"Woah, wait, what? That so long ago!" I exclaim.

"His daughter was born in around 1680s." Arlis finishes. "I was born back in 1722." He smirks at my shocked face. "Chleo is 1808."

"Yeah and I grew up with Aristotle." Seymour says. "Can we get back to the story?"

I nod.

Wait. Aristotle?

"Well, Kasparov and Constance are Hunters and have been hunting for as long as up to five hundred years ago. Just life." Seymour smacks a fly on the wall, and I gasp. He just caught it! "But back to the original bloodlines— a war eventually started because werewolves were mad that the people worshipping them left and went to the Hunters. It turned us against the Hunters, and we already had a problem with the Vampires. It was a circle. We all wanted each other dead. It was the War of the Species.

"As Hunters rose to power and we realized that we couldn't take them and the vampires on, we left peacefully. We walked away. A woman named Angelica led us to peace and prosperity. We separated ourselves from the human world and we kept ourselves in the mountains.

"Eventually, Angelica talked to the Salem of the Old Witches. They placed a peace treaty between the Hunters and us, however they said that we needed to pay a price. And Angelica agreed to give up her life so we could learn our lesson that power was not everything. We thought it best to hide our identities and that's what the Hunters protect.

"But the war between the Hunters and the Hunteds, as we began to call them, still raged. Hunters live and breathe and were literally born, to kill Hunteds. But we backed out. The Witches backed out, all of them. They were exhausting resources and we realized what it was doing to our planet. The blood being spilled was cursing places."

I have so many questions. "Was he real? Jesus? What about Galileo did you meet him? Buddha? How about—"

He puts a hand over my mouth. "Shhh, child." He says. "I'm not saying anything and I never will. History is best left in the past."

I shake my head. "How old are you?" I ask

Everyone bust out laughing.

"My earliest memory is placing a hand on a mammoth in 3,300 B.H.... aka 2,500 B.C." He says.

A mammoth? Those have been extinct for forever. This is way to much info to take in at once.

My head twists and turns, and I feel dizzy. "You're the oldest living thing on earth." I say, resting my hands on my knees. "This is a lot."

"Please call her, Seymour. If anyone can help it's her and you know I'm right." Chleo begs Seymour.

Everyone gives me a side glance and I feel left out of something.

"What?" I ask.

Arlis looks at me with pity and then sighs. "There is a prophesy out there. A prophesy about two different species falling in love and starting a new War Of The Species. I think it could be about us." Arlis finishes off and faces Seymour once again. "Seymour, have you been studying up on that?"

Seymour bites his lip grimly. "It could be about you. You are two different species. You will fall in love because your mates. I just, don't understand how. I wonder if the prophesy shaped you two together so it would come true."

Sam shakes his head. "Another War Of The Species? Seymour, how would we survive another one?" Something in the kid's eyes made me feel sad.

Seymour wraps his arm around Sam and all faces go dark. "I don't know, Sam. The only thing we can count on are the Hunters and well... they're almost extinct."

"Call Constance. Now. That's an order, Seymour." Chleo says, sounding anxious and angry. "This isn't just about the War Of The Species anymore, Damarion pack is threatening war on us specifically, because of her," he points to me. "And we all know Alpha Rylee has been collecting humans. If we don't do something, they'll realize we kept the human and then they'll call us traitors. Eventually Constance won't be here on our terms, she'll be here to kill us, or worse Kasparov will come. If Constance comes—"

"Then she can tell the other pack that she killed the girl. But who's to say she won't actually kill her? Constance would do anything to stop a War Of The Species." Seymour finishes Chleo's thoughts. "She has her whole species to loose if there is another war. Werewolves would probably continue living."

Everyone looks at Arlis and he takes a stand in front of me. "I've fought Constance before. She—"

"Have you fought Kasparov? Have you met anyone who lived after a fight with him? Only reason you won a fight against Constance is because she had never fought a werewolf before, and now she has." Seymour widens his eyes. "You two are gambling with all odds against you."

Chleo and Arlis both nod. "There is the possibility we'll live if we get to Constance first. There is no chance of living if they get to her first." Arlis says, glancing at me. "Nobody is going to touch you."

And I know he meant it, just by the light in his eyes.