The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 55

CAULDER

My mother's face paled as the words came out of my mouth. She made direct eye contact with me, and her look told me more than her words. I knew they were planning on attacking vampires, so for me to meet with a vampire behind their backs was a bold betrayal. On top of that, I was putting Remy in danger-at least in her eyes. I knew the prophecy scared her, but her fear was crippling her decisions.

"I don't understand." My father was the first to speak. "You lied to me about what you were doing when you snuck out?" A flash of anger filled his voice, which wasn't surprising. I had always had a good and honest relationship with him. It wasn't like me to lie like that.

"Yes," I said confidently. "Emotions were high, and I knew telling you what I was actually doing wouldn't go over the way I wanted. I needed both of you to be level-headed and open-minded about this, especially because I know you guys are wary of vampires. I decided it was better to lie then and tell the truth later."

My mother looked at Remy, and her frown deepened. I was forcing this discussion to happen in front of Remy, and there was no way to exclude her without directly kicking her out of the room, which I knew Remy wouldn't stand for. "Why?" It was all my mother could manage to say. She was angry. I could feel it, and I understood that in her mind I was working with the enemy.

"Blade wants to help us out. He is against the vampires who are trying to release that creature," Remy said, quickly defending Blade. "I know you don't like vampires, but not all of them are bad. Blade is different. He's here to help." "You know this vampire, too?" my mother said, her mouth gaping. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"I was the one who met him first," Remy said. "When Caulder found out about him, he insisted on checking him out himself to make sure it was okay. If you just gave Blade a chance-"

"No," my mother quickly said. "You two have been putting yourself in completely unnecessary danger. Vampires are known for seducing people. You don't know how trustworthy this vampire actually is."

"Adira, we need to give them a chance to explain," our father quickly said. He put his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down. He was definitely on edge during the conversation, too, but he was trying to stay calm and listen, which I appreciated. "How do you know what vampires are like?" I said, coming to Remy's aid. "Have you ever met one?" When I was met with silence, I continued. "When I first saw Blade, I attacked him, because I thought he was hurting Remy. He selflessly put himself in danger to protect her. He wouldn't do that if he was our enemy. He even helped out during the last attack. He helped save Julie. He didn't have to do that."

"How long has this been going on?" my father asked, keeping his hand on our mother.

"A few weeks now," Remy answered. Her voice wavered, and I knew she was scared. Our parents were resistant to the idea of Blade, but our father seemed a little more open to the idea. If we continued to explain everything, there was a chance we could win him over at the least. Then he could help us convince our mother.

"You've been sneaking out and lying to us for that long?" our mother said. Her hands were quivering now.

"You've been lying to Remy for longer than that. You showed me that if it's to protect someone, lying is okay," I snapped back. I would not put up with the hypocrisy of being criticized for lying and keeping secrets. "Caulder," my father said in a cautioning tone.

"No," I said back. I had never felt so confident about arguing against my parents' words, but I knew I couldn't back down. "If you just gave Blade a chance, you would understand why I've been working with him. He's been training us to fight against vampires. He has even offered to train the pack. You are planning an attack against vampires. This could give us a huge advantage."

"We don't need it. Our pack is strong enough on our own," my mother said.

She was being stubborn and too set in her ways. I was about to argue against her, but Remy spoke first.

"Why are you so against vampires? Sure, there are some vampires trying to wreak havoc, but that doesn't make them all bad. As a half-sorcerer, I expected you to be more open-minded," Remy said. "Or is it because I'm the one vouching for him that you don't trust him?"

"You have been sneaking out, lying to us, and putting yourselves in danger. No part of that warrants me trusting a vampire. Frankly, I don't trust either of you right now, let alone some random vampire who just showed up one day." My mother's voice raised in volume.

"He's not some random vampire. He's my mate!" Remy snapped, flying to her feet.

The life drained out of my mother the moment those words came out of Remy's mouth. She looked like she had just come face to face with Medusa, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Finally, my mother stood up and looked at Remy directly. "You will never see that boy again, and that's final. You both are grounded and will not be leaving the pack house without express permission and escorts." She left the room without another word.

I looked at Remy, and she was shaking. Tears filled her eyes, and I wasn't sure if they were tears of anger or if she was devastated that our mother hadn't even tried to listen to us.

Our father was still in the room, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I agree with your mother that you both broke our trust, but given the circumstances, I'm not convinced you two were necessarily in the wrong. If this Blade can help us like you say, then it'll be worth looking into." He stood up and let out a long sigh. "I'll talk to your mother and try to talk some sense into her. Until then, you are both still grounded."

He left the room, leaving Remy and myself in silence. Remy was still shaking, and the tears had started falling out of her eyes. I reached over and grabbed her hand, but she ripped it away from me.

"This was a stupid idea." She jumped up and ran out of the room.

I slumped in my chair, beyond frustrated. This wasn't the worst this could have gone, but it was close.

-

ALPHA MARK

I found Adira in our room, pacing back and forth. She was pulling at her hair, and her emotions were running high. I shut the door behind us and leaned against it. "Are we going to talk about your reaction?" She paused and looked at me, and there were tears running down her eyes. "She's mated to a vampire."

"And?" I didn't see the big deal. Adira was my mate, and she wasn't a pure-blooded werewolf.

"In the darkest hours of the darkest days, the Daughter of Moon and Magic and the Son of Blood and Magic would be fated together, creating the most powerful couple in existence," Adira recited from memory. "It was a bond no one could break and one that would end up breaking the world. Destruction would rain when the two became one, and the world, as we know, would be lost." She walked over to the window and looked out of it.

"Do you know what this means?" she continued. "The Son of Blood and Magic is a vampire and sorcerer mix. If Remy found her mate, then there is a good chance that this is the other person in the prophecy. If they mate, it could make the prophecy come to fruition, and then everything we have done would be for nothing."

I walked over to her and stood by her side. I grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "We know nothing about this boy, and forbidding Remy to never see him again is not the way to approach this. I think it's time that we tell Remy the truth. If there is a chance that her mate is the one that will make the prophecy come true, she needs to know before she accidentally does something she will end up regretting." Adira squeezed her eyes tight. "We have to protect her."

I brushed the hair out of her face and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "We will, but keeping these secrets isn't protecting her anymore. It's time we change our game plan."

-

REMY

I opened the window to my bedroom and climbed out onto the little ledge below. I didn't trust sneaking out the way we normally did, especially since Caulder had been caught. I had a backpack filled with my stuff in it, making sure I had all of my savings and extra clothes. I wasn't sure when I would be coming back home.

My mother thought she could forbid me to see my mate, and I didn't understand why she would even consider it. It was hard enough to replace a mate in this crazy world, and I wasn't about to give up on the chance for love, just because my mother said so.

I wanted to say goodbye to Caulder, tell him what I was doing, but there was no way he would let me go just like that. He would insist on trying to work things out, but I couldn't risk it. Blade needed my help, especially if he was still injured. He had already done so much for me, and I wasn't about to abandon him.

I left a note for him under my pillow, telling him I was sorry and hoped to see him soon. I just hoped he would be able to forgive me.

I shut my window as much as I could, leaving a c***k, so it wouldn't make a noise when I closed it. I walked along the roof, until I came to a section where I felt comfortable jumping down. My room was on the second floor, so I had to be careful I didn't jump down where any noises could be heard.

When I found the spot, I looked around, making sure there was no one on patrol nearby. I listened for the footsteps, and when it was clear, I jumped down, rolling to break my fall. I took off in a sprint, needing to get to Blade as soon as possible before anyone discovered I was missing. I would only get one chance at running away, and I needed to make it count. I needed to see Blade again.