Alpha Asher
Chapter 27

Mason and Breyona were still cackling as we walked over to her place.

I was somewhat reluctant to head back home, fearing what else my Grandma might say. I knew her and Dad were hiding things from me, but I wasn't quite sure how to get the truth from them. Asking upfront rarely worked in my Dad's case. He'd simply get defensive and retreat into his bedroom. Grandma would just change the subject, and the topic wasn't always favorable. The last thing I wanted was for her to change the topic to mine and Alpha Asher's..interesting relationship. "Back again?" Miss Shelby poked her head from the kitchen, a smile lighting up her face as she saw Mason and I.

"Brought another friend this time." Breyona called out over her shoulder, heading to the living room.

Breyona's house was much larger than my own. While my Dad was the old Beta, he preferred to live modestly. Breyona's Mom and Dad were just regular pack members, but both had large degree's from the local college in town. Breyona's Mom and Dad were both History majors, replaceing out they were mates in the middle of one of their classes. They bonded and fell in love over their shared infatuation with history. Their degree's led to two well paying jobs at the college, resulting in their larger than normal house.

Breyona's living room was basically a library with a couple couches. Bookshelves spanned the walls top to bottom, old and new books gracing the shelves. Framed doc*ments could be seen hanging on the walls, any piece of history they could fit sat inside this house. I swore they ha more knowledge here than the local library.

Something crossed my mind, the hushed conversation between my Dad and Grandma. Not much was known about Vampires, but if anyone could point me in the right direction it would be Breyona's Mom and Dad. "Miss Shelby?" I called out, wondering if she had any texts on Vampires.

It was so hard to replace accurate information on Vampires and Werewolves now-a-days. In the times where movies, novel's and social media dictated much of what we do, true information was scarce. One could simply do a Google search and learn all about vampires, but 99% of the information would be false. I wasn't very educated myself, but I was fairly certain Vampires didn't sparkle in the sunlight.

"One second, hon." Miss Shelby called out, stumbling into the living room with a tray of snacks. Breyona scrunched her nose, her eyes flickering to Mason and I in contempt.

Breyona's Mom was not a good cook by any standards, but that didn't keep her from trying. Often Breyona would simply order take-out for her Mom and Dad, refusing to eat any of their cooking. Breyona glanced at Mason and shot me a devious grin to which I caught on instantly. Miss Shelby placed the tray in front of us, the food on it oozing suspiciously. It looked like peanut butter and cuc*mber sandwiches maybe? But then what was that burnt orange stuff running off?

Mason grinned at Miss Shelby, "Thanks." He said with a smile before plopping one of the miniature sandwiches into his mouth.

He chewed for a few moments until his entire body went rigid. His eyes were wide with shock and disgust, but the goofy grin was still on his face. Breyona was turning purple, trying to hold back her laughter. Mason swallowed the strange concoction with an audible gulp and grinned up at Miss Shelby, who had been watching the entire time.

"Their-great, Miss Shelby." Mason grinned, but his eyes looked pained.

Miss Shelby sighed, a smile twitching onto her face as she glanced at Breyona.

"Should've told the poor boy I can't cook to save my life." Miss Shelby sighed, shaking her head. "I really thought that recipe would turn out good."

"Was that peanut butter and cheese?" Mason pursed his lips, giving another wary glance at the little sandwiches.

"Sure was." Miss Shelby smiled, "Sweet and salty go good together, or so I hear."

"I'm pretty sure peanut butter and cheese are both salty, Mom." Breyona frowned.

Miss Shelby pursed her lips, "I think you may be right. Maybe I'll try it with some jam next time."

I cleared my throat, "Miss Shelby?"

"Sorry, hon." Miss Shelby chuckled, "Lost in thought."

"Do you have any books on Vampires?" I tried to keep my tone light-hearted, "Like actual fact-not fiction."

"We refuse to carry fiction in this house. This house is full of facts, nothing less!" Miss Shelby shook her head, "But why on earth would you want to learn about Vampires, hon?"

Mason and Breyona both had their full attention on me. I struggled to maintain my composure, but placed an innocent facade on my face.

"I just heard my Dad and Grandma talking about them." I shrugged, "I realized, I really don't know anything about Vampires. Well-I heard they sparkle in the sunlight, but that's all I know."

I knew the last part of what I said would tick Miss Shelby off. Her and her husband hated fiction books, especially ones that had to do with Vampires or Werewolves.

"I'll have you know, they do not sparkle." Miss Shelby shook her head, shuffling over to one of the many crowded book shelves. "Kids these days-Never getting a real education. Sparkles! Can you believe it? Who comes up with this crap." "Vampires?" Breyona raised her eyebrow at me, her eyes flickering over to her Mom.

"Just curious." I shrugged, a grin on my face as I listened in on Miss Shelby's mumbling. "Honest."

"Sure." Breyona nodded, looking unconvinced but dropping the subject anyway.

Miss Shelby dropped a heavy book on the table in front of me, opening it a quarter of the way.

"So there isn't a whole lot in here, but there's still much we don't know." Miss Shelby shrugged. "So many texts were lost in the burning three hundred years ago. It's amazing we've managed to recover this much."

The Burning was something all werewolf children learned about early on. Three hundred years ago, four Vampires had gotten together and formed a coven. This was unheard of in Vampire history, as they rarely ever traveled or spent their lives together. Werewolves were thriving at the time, as we have for thousands of years. There was strength in numbers, and werewolves always stuck together. The reason on why Vampires remained to themselves was unclear, some said it was due to disagreements or feeding problems. Either way, whenever Vampires gathered many lost their lives. These four vampires Vampires came across a pack of werewolves. The story changed depending on who told it, but something happened between the vampires and werewolves. Some kind of argument or disagreement struck, starting a fight. Whenever Grandma told me the story, she would tell how one of the Vampires was mated to one of the wolves. They wanted to be together, to live in peace but the Alpha of the pack intended to marry the woman. The Alpha's mate had died many years ago, and he chose to take this young werewolf as his bride not for love, but because she looked like his dead mate. This infuriated the Vampires, stirring them into action. The Vampires were chased away by the werewolves, but returned just a short month later. The Alpha of the pack lied and told the young woman her mate had left her, declaring her a disgusting werewolf before fleeing. The young woman took her life, her heart broken and yearning for her mate.

When the four Vampires returned, they discovered the death of the young woman. The Vampire mated to her was delirious with heartbreak and agony. He attacked the werewolf pack, swearing death on their kind. Many lives were lost that day, including the four vampires. Buildings were burned down, one of those buildings was where the pack kept archives of information and history. Lives, love, and knowledge was lost that day.

Dad's version was much simpler. Four vampires wandered into pack territory, igniting a feud with the pack. The Vampires fed on the packs territory knowingly, and retaliated when they attacked. I always preferred my Grandma's version. Something about doomed lovers was so much more interesting than just a simple feeding issue.

I let my eyes trail over the words in the book. They were hand written, and fading in certain places. The pages were stained and cracked, but it was clear Breyona's Mom and Dad treated their books with much love. The pages had a heavy gloss over them, protecting them from furthe damage. The words were darkened in some areas, and made much clearer through the mending of Breyona's parents.

"Just leave it there when you're finished." Miss Shelby smiled, "Oh and be very careful. That book's older than you are."

"I will." I chuckled, remembering how Miss Shelby used to tell me that all the time as a child.

Breyona was never interested in books like her Mom and Dad. I, on the other hand had always loved to read. Her Mom and Dad would spend days shoving books in my face and even talk to me about them once I had finished.

Breyona's Mom was right, there wasn't much information on Vampires. Just a small passage in the middle of the page, written in another language. It was obvious Breyona's Mom and Dad had translated the text, writing it on a spare sheet of paper and attaching it to the book. The passage enlightened me, and sent something cold rushing through my veins.

—

Vampires 1902

Sunlight sears the skin of these cold-blooded creatures, forced to take night as their own. First recorded Vampire was 1500 BC located in Crete. All that is known about the earliest Vampire is his name, Kouritis. Vampires are not immortal-but do live for hundreds of years. It is known Vampire's have a caste that is similar to their Lycan adversaries. Lowest is human turned vampires. Next is Vampire's by birth, with human tainted blood. Vampire's are able to procreate with eachother, and human's. Even higher lies pure blooded Vampires, considered untouchable in status. The last, and highest is the blood line of Kouritis. It is believed Kouritis blood-line may possess the ability to control shadows-unproven, but suspected. It is rumored pure blooded Vampires possess the ability to befuddle the mind-This ability does not work on pure- blooded Werewolves.