The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 101

ALPHA MARK

"Nothing is wrong per say," Reyland said on the other end of the phone. Despite his words, I could tell he was on edge.

"What is it?" I asked. There was a feeling in my chest, and I was suddenly worried about the safety of my pack. We were running out of the time we had to be here.

"I'm not sure exactly. The patrols have noticed strange movements from the vampires. They are watching us, but they haven't made any moves to strike. They appear in sight, just outside of the border, but before anyone can react, they are gone," Reyland explained. "I just have this feeling they are planning something big, and it's best if you get home as soon as possible." "We'll leave first thing in the morning," I said.

"We can hold down the fort here a little longer if you need more time to replace what you are looking for," he said. He was nervous, and I didn't blame him. If I was helping out another pack, I wouldn't want to be the only alpha there if they faced an attack. The guilt that would come with any unexpected losses from a pack that wasn't my own would be great, and I didn't want to put Reyland through that if I could avoid it. He had been there for my family and my pack most of the lifespan of my pack, and he was family at this point. "We'll make it back tomorrow," I insisted. "I'm sure Caulder is eager to get back home, and Rie and Mason are anxious about Harper being with us. It'll be best for the pack to be reunited."

"Right. Just be on guard when you return." Reyland was trying to hide his worry, but I could still feel it.

"Thanks." I hung up the phone, and Adira was waiting for me, listening to my side of the conversation.

"What's going on?" she immediately asked. She moved over to me and wrapped me in her arms.

"Reyland thinks the vampires are planning something. They are acting strangely, and he thinks it's best if we get back as soon as possible," I explained.

"What about Remy's training?" Adira asked.

I pulled my lips into a frown. I didn't want to leave before Remy found out what she needed to, but I didn't know how long that would take. With the vampire threat looming over the pack, we couldn't take much longer here. "She can have her training with Cain in the morning, but we have to leave immediately after that. I would say that Cain could come with us, but I doubt he is willing to leave his people, and I'm not about to let Remy stay here without us." "No," Adira instantly agreed. "Cain seems to be a changed man, but I still don't trust him. Not yet, at least."

I could feel a spark of emotion come from Adira, so I pressed my lips against the top of her head. I knew all of this had been a lot for her, but I was proud of how she had been handling everything. "It's almost over," I whispered into her hair.

She pulled back just slightly and looked up at me. "But is it? There's so much more we have to deal with. The vampires are knocking at our doorstep, and after what Caulder told us about his escape, I can't imagine the Council of Magic is just going to sit back like nothing happened. They are going to come after us again. They are going to go after our children. I can feel it in my bones."

"We'll be ready when they do. We have allies on our side, and the twins are getting stronger every day. We can do this." I wanted to believe it more than anything, but there was a seed of doubt sitting in my stomach. We had faced enemies and struggles before, but this felt like it was beyond our abilities.

-

REMY

I had a little more than an hour before we had to leave. My parents made it clear we had to leave early in the morning for the safety of the pack. I understood why, but it made me anxious. I had to replace out more about the prophecy before leaving here, but I had yet to try looking at someone else's timeline. Caulder's was the closest I had gotten, but that was accidental.

I had one hour to replace out the truth or at least gain the skills to replace out the truth, and the pressure was on.

I lay down in the middle of the grassy field, waiting for the sun to creep over the mountains. We were supposed to start at sunrise, but I made sure to be here early, because I didn't want to waste a single second. The field looked different at this time. It was dark and calm. There were no signs of anyone else around here, except the two sorcerers tasked with following us around like guard dogs, but they stayed away from us, keeping just close enough to be able to see us.

Blade sat next to me, playing with my hand as I stared into the lightening sky. It was still too dark to be considered morning, but it was light enough that most of the stars were being drowned out now.

"I wish I could help you with this," Blade said, breaking the early morning silence.

I turned my head so I could see him. He was playing with my fingers and looking off into the distance. He looked forlorn, and he seemed far away from me.

I pulled myself into a sitting position, so I could look at him better. "What do you mean? You being here for support is helping me more than you might realize."

He lifted my hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the back of my hand. "I'm glad I can be here to support you, but that's not what I meant. I'm supposedly the Son of Blood and Magic, but I can't even feel my magic. I don't know how to use it, but maybe if I did, I could help you with the training and replace the answers we need to figure this out."

I pushed up onto my knees, so I could straddle Blade. His hands automatically went to my hips as I placed my hands on his chest. I looked into his eyes, because I wanted him to know that I was here with him, no matter what.

"I didn't realize this was bothering you this much," I said. I had wondered about Blade's lack of ability for magic use, but he hadn't brought it up, so I just assumed he was okay with it. I needed to stop assuming these things with Blade. He was always by my side, following me wherever I went while putting a smile on my face. He didn't talk about himself much, and I felt like an i***t for not asking about him more.

"I just feel like I would be more useful if I knew how to use my magic. I have always been weaker than Draven, no matter what I did. Now that he's threatening you and your family, I want to beat him more than anything, but I'm not confident I can as is. But if I could use my magic, maybe that would be enough to give me an edge on him. I would be able to stop him from trying to hurt you and take you." He took a deep breath, and it was clear this had been weighing on him for a while.

I could feel the tightness in his chest, and I just wanted to take the stress away from him. I pressed my forehead against his and closed my eyes. "No matter what happens, I will be fighting by your side. Even if you're not strong enough to defeat Draven on your own, you're not on your own anymore. I'm here to fight with you. Caulder and Harper and my parents are here, too. But if you want your magic, we will figure out what happened to it and replace a way to awaken it for you. I can ask Cain if he knows anything about it." "You shouldn't waste the little time you have to train with Cain to ask about that," Blade said. He tightened his grip on my hips, and every little movement was filled with stress. I wanted to take away his stress, just like he had taken mine away repeatedly. He kept me grounded while Caulder was gone, and it was my turn to ground him.

"Don't be ridiculous. We can take a few minutes to figure this out for you. You're important, too. If this is bothering you, then we will do what we can to fix it," I insisted. I slid my fingers up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. "We're in this together, okay?" Blade whispered, "Okay," and then he closed the distance between us. When his lips touched mine, it sent sparks down my spine. Every kiss with him felt magical, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life kissing this man.

A deep throat clear made me jump and pull away from Blade. The moment I saw Cain standing over us, I practically flew off of Blade's lap. My cheeks were burning hot. For a moment, I had forgotten that we were in a public area. "Good morning," I muttered, avoiding all eye contact.

"Good morning, indeed," Cain said. I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and it bothered me more than I wish it had. "I wasn't expecting to see you two so close so openly. You really should be more careful with that prophecy hanging over your heads." My stomach twisted at his words. It wasn't his place to be criticizing how close I was to Blade, and it especially wasn't his place to warn me about the prophecy and the risks it held. However, I couldn't bring myself to say anything back to him. I still needed his help after all, and I didn't want to upset him.

Blade quickly grabbed my hand. "Respectfully, we know what we're doing and don't need your commentary."

I looked at Blade, surprised by his boldness. He was willing to say what I wanted to, and he sounded so mature about it.

Cain raised his eyebrows and looked Blade up and down. "You have some guts there."

"I appreciate the help you are providing Remy with her magic, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to sit back while you scold her for something that really isn't your business. We already understand what we are facing, and if kissing were going to trigger the prophecy, it would have already happened," Blade pressed.

I stared at Blade in disbelief. I wished I had the kind of confidence he just showed as he stood up to Cain.

"Right. Shall we get started then?" Cain turned away from Blade and focused his attention on me. It was clear he didn't like Blade putting him in his place, but to my relief, he wasn't going to focus on it.