The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 87

REMY

When the car stopped, there were no signs of civilization anywhere. It was the end of the paved road, and the only thing moving forward were thick trees making it impossible to see very far. "We're here," my dad announced, turning off the car. "Well, we are as far as we'll be able to go by car at least. The rest of the way will have to be on foot." "Where are we going exactly?" Blade asked.

My dad stepped out of the car. "From the information we were able to replace, Cain settled into a small settlement in the neutral zone. While we are here, no shifting into werewolf form. We don't want him to know we are coming and run before we can get to him." The rest of us got out of the car, and the smell of pine trees overwhelmed my nose. We had plenty of trees in our hometown, but here, nature was unfiltered. There were no cars or people here to pollute and dilute the scent of the trees. "What's the neutral zone?" Blade asked.

"It's the small area of land that exists between the land designated for vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers," I explained. It was one of the subjects we had gone over during class, not that the teachers had much information to go over when it came to the Great War. "When the treaty was made, they couldn't decide what to do with the land, since if it was given to any one party, they would get more land than the others, and it wouldn't be fair," Harper elaborated.

This was the first she had spoken since we left. It wasn't easy convincing her parents to let her come, but when she pointed out it was probably more dangerous in the territory where the vampires were actively watching our pack, they reluctantly agreed to let her come with us. I was glad she was able to leave the territory. I hoped it would be good for her to get away from constant reminders of Caulder.

My dad started leading the way into the forest, and we all followed. There was no specific path to follow, so we had to navigate through nature in its untouched form. It would have been easier if we transformed into werewolves, but I understood that we needed the disguise of our human appearances more than we needed the ease of movement.

"It was supposed to be a sort of safe haven for any humans who wanted to live away from magical beings," Harper continued. "I didn't know anyone actually lived there, though."

"We didn't either," my mom added. "We're not even sure if we'll replace Cain there, either. We discovered several rumors about more people gathering there and the settlement being led by a sorcerer with no magic."

"How often do sorcerers lose their magic?" I asked, hoping the rumors would lead us to where we wanted to go.

My mom took a moment to respond. "Honestly, I don't know. Since I grew up barely knowing anything about sorcerers or magic, I know very little about their lifestyle or culture. Ginger knows more than me, but she has lived separated from the sorcerers for a good portion of her life, so she doesn't even really know. She did say that she hadn't heard of a sorcerer who gave up their magic before. Why would anyone do that?"

"To hide from the Council of Magic," my dad answered.

"Wait, can this council sense people with magic?" Blade asked.

"That's how I understand it," my mom said. "It's why Remy was safer without her magic. If someone senses the magic within her, knowing she is a werewolf, anyone who knows about the prophecy can come to the conclusion that the prophecy is about her." "I wonder if that's why no one ever came after me," Blade said. He reached out his hand to help me over a fallen branch. Then he helped Harper.

I waited for him to continue walking before I spoke again. "What do you mean?"

"I can't use magic," he said simply. "I didn't even know I had magic in my blood, until Ginger helped me remember my mother."

I stopped walking, feeling completely foolish. I knew he was the Son of Blood and Magic, but I had never stopped to think about why he didn't use magic. I hadn't even thought of asking him about it, because when we met, I knew him as a vampire, and that was it. "So you have never even felt your magic before?" I asked.

Blade shook his head. "Not that I know. I don't exactly know how magic works, so I have never tried it before. You are the first magic users I have even met."

"It's possible someone suppressed your magic," my mom said. Her voice was quieter as she spoke. "Like how we did with Remy."

Blade's face was cool and calm, but I could feel his energy buzzing within him. From what I knew about his father, it wouldn't surprise me if he had found a way to suppress Blade's magic to keep him in the dark about who he was. I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing.

I slipped my hand into his and squeezed it, trying to comfort him in any way I possibly could.

"I'm sure it was my father," Blade said in a monotone voice.

-

Everyone else grew quiet, and the mood of the group diminished. I wasn't sure if it was because they felt sorry for Blade's past or if they felt sorry for what they had done to me. Either way, no one talked for a while after that.

JULIE

I checked my nose in the mirror. It still had a slight discoloration from the healing bruise, but it was no longer broken. I couldn't believe Harper actually had the guts to punch me. She always seemed so weak, and it annoyed me more than anything. She got along with other classmates just fine, but I knew Caulder could do so much better than someone like Harper. Caulder was going to be the alpha after all.

Caulder deserved someone strong, who wasn't afraid to go after what they wanted. The luna of a pack should be someone people were jealous of when they looked at her. Harper was not that someone.

Harper had to pay for what she did. She acted like it was her responsibility to keep me away from these men. First Caulder. Then Blade. Who was she to think she was better than me? She thought she could teach me a lesson by punching me? I was going to show her what it was like to actually teach someone a lesson.

With the alpha and luna gone, the pack was in chaos. There were too many people in the pack house with Alpha Reyland's warriors here, as well as the werewolves who were on the outskirts of the pack. No one would notice if I disappeared for a little bit.

I put my lipgloss in my bag as well as a bottle of pepper spray before making my way out of the territory. There were warriors constantly patrolling, and there would be no way for me to get past them unseen. Sneaking out of the pack was impossible with the added security.

I took a deep breath and scruffed up my hair before running over to the closest warrior. I widened my eyes to make me look as pathetic as possible.

"Hurry! I think I saw a vampire over there." I pointed away from the post and pouted my lip.

"What are you doing out here?" the warrior asked. It was someone from Alpha Reyland's pack, so I didn't know his name, which also meant he didn't know who I was.

"I was just looking for my little brother, and I heard a noise. I thought it was him, but then I saw red eyes. Please hurry." I made my breathing shallow, as if I was about to have a panic attack, and it worked like a charm.

The warrior looked to his partner and then back to me. "Go back to the pack house immediately. We'll go check it out."

I watched them run off, and my demeanor changed instantly. I pulled out a small mirror from my purse to fix my hair before moving on. I hurried out of the territory before those foolish warriors came back. The farther away from the pack I got, the quieter it became. It was late in the day, and I had never been this far on my own before. Usually there was some boy who I could get to sneak out with me, but no one could know what I was doing.

I didn't know how far I had to go to replace a vampire. The rumors were saying that the vampires were constantly watching the pack, but I wasn't sure if those rumors were true. I didn't know why else we would have another pack to help with protection if it wasn't true, though.

When I was far enough away from the pack that I was confident that one of the werewolf warriors wouldn't hear me, I called out, "Hello? Are there any vampires here?"

I didn't get a response, so I kept walking. I hoped they were around here somewhere, or all of this would have been for nothing.

"Hello! If you can hear me, I have information for your vampire leader. You better not be ignoring me." This was annoying. Someone should have heard me by now.

I was about to give up, when I heard a branch snap behind me. I flipped around, and there was a woman standing behind me with pale blonde hair and bright red eyes. Her fangs were glistening in the moonlight, and something about her made my entire body freeze. What was it that Blade had said during training? Even a few seconds could be a matter of life or death when it came to vampires.

"I want to talk to your leader," I demanded, trying to sound as confident as possible.

The vampire moved in a flash, and her hand was around my throat before I even understood what was happening. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't just just kill you right now."

"I have information for your leader. I want to make a deal with him," I sputtered, losing any semblance of confidence I thought I had.

She clicked her tongue and released me. "I don't believe you, but I'll let Draven decide that. If your information isn't good enough, he can be the one to kill you."