Chapter One - What have I done?

Samael Wulf

After asking Kali to marry me, she was surprisingly silent for the first time in her life. I could see her eyes beginning to well up as a smile stretched across her sadistic face. Looking at her slight smile reminded me of Freya, and I imagined that it was her standing in front of me, accepting my hand in marriage. That would have made me the happiest vampire alive. As Kali's smile widened, those murderous fangs of hers peeked out beneath her ruby red lips. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach with a mix of disgust and apprehension. 

"Yes, Sam. I thought this day would never come!" She replied while hurtling herself at me. In a split-second decision, I caught her, but it was very close. If I’d taken a few more seconds to mull it over, the nasty bitch would have slid right down my body and landed on her ridiculously perfect ass. She would have deserved it too.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close to my body. I had to hide my face, because the images of her hitting the floor with her backside nearly had me in stitches. I calmed myself and got back to the task at hand. I whispered into her ear in such a low tone that I knew Alpha Quinn and Finnley wouldn’t be able to hear me through the bedroom door.

"Get dressed. I'll get the others to meet us in the woods. We need to leave right away. Azael will be preoccupied with Freya, he won't bother to come looking for us. It's our only chance to escape this mansion and his clutches, once and for all." 

She nodded in agreement while moving away from me to put on some clothes. I hurried over to the dressing table and when Kali walked into the bathroom, I pulled open the drawer. Placed inside the drawer were two invitations to the Thirty-One Overlook hotel. I plucked them out of the drawer, then thrust them into my back pocket while looking around to make sure that Kali hadn't seen me. For my plan to work, to be rid of her for good, I needed help, and I couldn't think of anyone better than, Victor Alexander. His hotel was infamous among the Sires of our kind, it was a place where anything was possible, and it was a favorite spot for vampire royalty. No rules, and more than enough virgin blood to go around. 

I was never interested in hanging out there, although I had met Victor there a few times, and he actually owed me a favor. So, when I finally decided to take care of Kali, once and for all, he was the first person I thought of. Shortly after asking for his help, as if by magic, the invitations appeared. I didn't know what plan he'd come up with, he just told me to get her to the hotel, and he would take care of the rest. I trusted the guy, but she was strong, and if it didn't work, then I'd be screwed. She didn't know yet, that once we left the hunters mansion, insanity would begin to consume her, well more than usual that is. 

See, Azael had been secretly feeding her his fallen angel blood for years. Once she’d been cut off, she would eventually become a bloodthirsty zombie, hell-bent on getting back to him and his blood. I couldn’t have that, without me right by her side she would tell everyone that it was me that killed my father. I'd lose my position as Sire, be chained up, and left to starve for eternity. If that happened, I would never be able to save Freya and make her my Queen. I took in a deep breath as Kali emerged from the bathroom. She wore her tight leather pants and a top that left very little to the imagination. Her mousy brown hair was slicked back into a ponytail that swung behind her as she walked toward me. 

"Let's blow this joint!" She said with a grin. 

I faked a smile of my own and tried my best to control the thump of my nervous heart. If she sensed it, I'd never be able to convince her to leave with me. We made our way over to the window, where she ascended and spread out her giant black wings. Holding out her arms, I instantly embraced her. She jumped out of the window and we began to soar through the sky. As I looked down, I could see all four of my siblings running off into the woods. We flew over the trees and into the night. 

We left my siblings safely at the castle, with the rest of the brood looking after them. I packed up two suitcases and put them into the car. Kali wanted to spend some time at the castle, because we hadn’t been there in over a decade, but there wasn’t time. It took some convincing, but after mentioning that the Thirty-One Overlook hotel was having a masquerade ball, and had virgin blood on tap, she pretty much dragged me out of the castle. We drove for almost forty-eight hours, and by the time we arrived at the hotel, I was exhausted. Kali didn’t offer to help with the driving, of course, and spent most of the trip sleeping. The more time that past the harder I found it to resist the urge to snap her selfish neck.

 ***

"Sam?... Samael? Hello? Are you listening to me?" she shouted while holding a glass of whiskey in front of my face. I broke out of my daze, taking the glass from her, before replying,

"Yes, Lilith, I'm listening."

"Then what did I just say, hmm?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, and a smug look on her face. 

It was cute, being away from each other for so long, she had clearly forgotten that I could stay aware of my surroundings while I daydreamed. Years of my mind being pulled to the moon realm, taught me how to be aware of both worlds at the same time. I couldn't leave my body vulnerable back in the real world, while my mind was up there.

I sat back in my brown leather office chair, and took a sip of my vintage whiskey.

"You said, that there is still no word from Ashtaroth or Andras. The scouts can't find them anywhere, am I correct?"

She huffed, and rolled her eyes, then slumped down onto the chair opposite me. 

"I still don't know how you do that. I could have sworn you weren't listening to me."

"Assume I'm always listening dear sister," I replied with a cheeky smirk.

She rolled her eyes at me again, but I could see the corner of her mouth curl a little. Just when I thought it was going to spread into a smile, the corner dropped again and her expression became one of sadness.

"I'm worried about them, Sam. I know that they do their own thing, and leave for long periods of time, but they have never been gone this long. At least not without any contact at all."

I gulped down the rest of my drink, sat forward, and placed my arms on the desk, holding my hands out for her. She sat forward and took my hands into hers. I stroked the backs of her hands with my thumbs and said softly, 

"They will be fine Lil, they always are. I'm sure they are just off with some tramp. You know they've been pretty lost since Kali left."

"Yeah, and I still don't understand that either. I thought you were the love of her life, and you were getting married?" she asked me with a raised brow. 

I sat back in my chair again and sighed. I'd gotten fed up of all the lying, but there was no way that I could tell the brood, or my siblings, that I'd had her kidnapped and imprisoned in that hotel. I had no choice but to keep lying and hope that they never learned the truth. It had been over two years without her, and people were only just giving up talking about her.

With another sigh I replied, 

"I thought so too. Taking her to that hotel was the biggest mistake of my life. I knew powerful and ancient vampires, shifters, and other supernaturals went there, but I never thought she'd leave me for someone else. I guess the power they had, was too tempting for her to resist."

"Yeah, she was always a sucker for more power. I won't lie, it's been nice not having her here. She causes too much drama, and I like how the brood is without her. I just miss Ash and Andy, they are complete assholes, but they're family, it's not the same without them," she replied in a sad tone, before getting up to leave. She reached the door, and I called out to her,

"They will be back soon Lilith, you'll see."

She smiled softly at me, before leaving and closing the door gently behind her. I pulled my hand down my face, wondering what I was going to do. I couldn't bring them back for her. How can you bring people back from the dead? 

They'd found out about Kali being locked up in the hotel. I hadn't taken into account about their mate bond. They had turned her, so she was able to communicate with them. When I had her locked up, and then returned to the castle without her, the guys went insane, insisting she would never run off and leave them. She'd left her hybrids with Azael at the hunter's mansion, so I assumed the others would buy her running off and leaving us.

The boys weren’t having any of it, and immediately ran off in search of her. They called me when they got to the hotel, letting me know that they had found Kali. I had no choice. There was no other way. Now, I must live with the constant nightmares. 

Dear God, what have I done?

***

Freya Rose

I stood there staring in awe at my reflection in the mirror. Marik was on one side of me, Traian on the other. My pack were behind me, and the prospect of a bright future ahead of us had me feeling excited. Of course, there would be a lot of obstacles in our way, but I had faith in myself. I would do everything I possibly could to ensure a safe and secure future for all.

Selene made her way over to me and placed her hands on both of her son's shoulders. They each looked at me in the mirror, so I nodded, letting them know it was okay to do whatever Selene had told them in their minds. They each kissed my cheek, before moving away from me, ushering the rest of the group out of the room. 

I heard the door click shut, while I scanned over my reflection. My new ashen gray wings were stunning. I ran my hand over their beautifully soft feathers. It was strange to me; I was used to the opaque hunter's wings. I had seen solid feathered wings before, Kali had black ones, and Azael had them too. Well, I'm guessing he used to before they were burned to pieces in the fall from heaven.

Selene slid her hand under my chin, grabbing a hold of my face a little tighter than I expected. The expression that awaited my gaze was one of dominance, and although she was trying to portray her power, with my new vampire senses, all I could feel was the vulnerability and fear coursing through her veins. I stood there silent, while she took lead of the conversation, and I won't lie, it wasn't where I was expecting it to go. Her face softened and head dropped as she said, 

"Freya, you are now more powerful than I. You no longer have to follow my lead, if you choose not to. I am the one who will follow you, to the ends of the earth, and for eternity. I may have been labelled a Goddess, but I am far from it. Silly illusions and black magic..." She confessed as she casually strolled over to my bed, before gently taking a seat. I descended and sat on the bed next to her, she definitely had my attention.

"What do you mean Selene? I thought the old Gods made the moon realm for you and gave you powers to be able to survive there?" 

"Yes, they did, but as the centuries passed, new Gods became popular, and the old Gods lost their power. Less and less people prayed to them, and before long, very few believed in them at all. They faded away into a deep slumber, taking with them the power they'd given me, and many others."

I turned to face her, still not quite understanding where she was going with all of this.

"So, how did you keep your powers and stay in the moon realm?"

She lowered her head, and sighed, before replying, 

"Witch and warlock children."

"What?" I asked in a disturbed tone, I had no idea what she was saying.

"Freya, I am as to blame for the state of our supernatural community, than any other. Long ago, to keep my moon realm alive, I asked for help from a powerful warlock. He and his coven were able to feed me and my realm enough power for decades. In return, I kept them safe from werewolves and vampires. Once the older witches and warlocks aged, then died off, the younger members felt their deal died along with them. They refused to help me any longer. So, I began kidnapping their children, using the powerful and discarding the weak."

She raised her head up to look at me, her bright white hair almost covering her eyes. Through a few strands of her hair, I could see the glisten of tears that were readily rolling down her cheeks. As a friend, I should have comforted her, but as the future leader of all supernatural beings, all I wanted to do was choke the life out of her. In my head she was no better than Azael or Kali, using innocent people to gain power. As I struggled to hold my rage in, I thrust my hand forward and grabbed her face. With her lips all smooshed together, I knew she wouldn't be able to reply, as I said in a deep and authoritative voice, 

"I don't know what you were trying to achieve by telling me this, Selene, because all I want to do right now is skin you alive. Get to the point, and quickly."

She looked up at me with fear clearly filling her eyes. I guess she knew exactly how powerful I was, even if I didn't have the slightest idea myself. She quickly pulled herself together, brushed her hair out of her face, then stood up off of the bed. Her demeanor morphed back into the strong and fearless woman I was used to. To be honest the sniveling wreck she'd just shown me wasn't exactly something I ever wanted to see again. It was more than a little uncomfortable, and frankly kinda pathetic.

"Fine, I will leave that story for another day. I wanted you to find out from me and not the magical community, or Azael. Look, my point is, I have done a lot in the past to hurt my people. I am now trying to change, and make it up to them. I don't want you making the same mistakes I did..."

"I'm not you Selene," I quickly cut her off.

"Yes, I know that Freya, but with the power you now possess, it is easy to get addicted, and before long, you'll crave even more. Look at Gideon, Azael and Kali. I don't want that for you. Power changes people, it makes them do horrendous things, that they normally would never even think of doing. Please just be careful, that's all I'm saying."

With that said, she turned and strolled out of the room. I sat on the bed dumbfounded by her speech. Less than ten minutes ago, I felt amazing, ready to take on the whole damn world. Now, well, now I felt a little crap. I was angry with her for even insinuating that I would ever be like her, Azael, Kali or Gideon. They all have evil sides to them, or let's face it, they are all evil through and through. That isn't me, is it?

My mind began to race and play me visions of everything I'd done to hurt people over the last few years. Ripping Balan's head off and throwing it across the dancefloor like a bowling ball. Putting my stiletto heel through Amber’s eye. Nearly ripping a few people apart, letting hunters die and be experimented on. Breaking Tristan and Mason's hearts, and killing Chase. 

I sighed, as every last horrible thing that I'd done in my life swam around in my mind. Maybe she was right, I had more evil in me than I cared to admit. I needed to keep my head straight and I needed to make sure, no matter what, that I didn't turn out like any of them. God knows I was already on my way there.

"You won't be like them you know."

Without looking up I knew exactly who it was. With my new senses, I could smell her unique scent, and hear the beat of her heart, before she even walked into the room.

"What if I can't control myself, Savanah?" I asked as she sat down on the bed beside me. She slid her soft, delicate hand down my arm then linked her fingers with mine.

"I'll make sure you do, we all will. That's what we're here for. We are your family, strength and support. We are your pack. We will be your anchor, keeping you grounded, and I will be the glue between you and everyone else. When you feel like you're losing your grip on reality, I will be here to bring you back. Always and forever my precious Luna." 

Her words were so comforting, like a warm blanket on the coldest of nights. Her calming voice swept over me, easing my chaotic mind instantly. I rested my head on her shoulder, and replied, 

"Thank you, Savanah. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I sat there for a while listening to Savanah humming a beautiful lullaby. Before I knew it, I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I sensed Marik and Traian come into the room, but my eyes were too heavy to open. Traian silently scooped me up and placed me into the middle of the comfortable bed, then covered me up. I felt Savanah leave the room, and I expected the twins to follow, but they didn't.

Traian laid on the bed next to me, stroking my hair, while Marik climbed onto the bed and laid at my other side. He gently rested his head onto my shoulder and began to purr. The love I felt from them both was overwhelming, but soothing at the same time. I finally fell asleep, feeling the calmest and safest I had in a long time.