Prologue: Adoption Night

Alastair

I stepped out of the backseat of the large unmarked SUV, contemplating what was about to happen. My right hand and beta stood at the rear passenger door, waiting for me to step out of the vehicle. He closed the door behind me whilst I took that moment to take in the large establishment standing before us both.

Suddenly, my stomach churned, a large blow to my pride as I considered the reason why I was standing there-why I had wound up at this place.

“You alright, Alpha?” I heard my long-time friend ask as he settled himself by my side. I could sense his concerned verdant eyes staring unwaveringly at the side of my face. He would not stop until I answered. 

“Why do you ask?” Naturally, I knew good and well why my beta had asked me this question. He thought that I was having doubts because he most certainly was having them. When Toran didn’t respond right away, I glanced at him, my brow raised, awaiting his answer.

“May I speak candidly, Alpha?” Toran requested. 

I rolled my eyes when he said this. Toran Slaughter was one of the mere few that could speak candidly with me and not receive dire consequences for it. I shifted my annoyed stare at him long enough for him to understand my aggravated permission before returning my gaze to the building in front of me.

Toran took a step closer to me as if he wanted no one else to hear what he would say next. I noticed that he’d even surveyed his surroundings first, and then finally, he spoke. “I know that things have been difficult over the last few months with Caris-” My glare cut his words off abruptly. The subject of my mate was one conversation that I would not indulge with anyone-not, even Toran. “Do you truly think that going to a human orphanage will bring her back, Alastair?” He asked. “This is…is madness!” Toran expressed.  

“Madness?” I faced him fully clothed in animosity. “Madness?” I knew that what he was saying came from a well-intentioned place. I knew that he was concerned, but that did not assuage my anger toward his choice of words.

“Alastair, whatever human you choose from that building will be nothing more than bait. Surely, Caris is too far gone to understand that this child is more than something to satiate her hunger! Are you willing to risk that for her-”

“A human?” I impatiently took a step towards Toran, restraining myself from grabbing him up by the collar. “Yes! I will gladly risk a human’s life!” I exclaimed my words bordering on desperation and past the line of cruelty. “Whether it be a child or an infant. If it brings Caris back! If..if the baby can keep her sane for but a moment long enough for me to get through to her, then I will do whatever it takes.” 

I hadn’t realized how sure I was about this plan until I said it out loud to my beta-my most trusted confidant outside of Caris. Sure, it was a cruel plan, but, as I said, I was bordering on desperation. 

“Madness,” I muttered, taking a flustered breath whilst straightening my suit. I headed for the building. “Madness…madness is what I go through every single day without her being by my side.” I walked toward the entrance of the building, deciding to get this over with. “Are you coming, or am I going to have to pick out a child on my own?” I paused, realizing that this truly was a hard decision to make.  I was, after all, potentially choosing a child to meet a horrible death. “I…will understand if you cannot,” I said with sincerity.

Not a word was muttered or heard. I began to assume that Toran would not be accompanying me into the building when suddenly I heard footsteps approaching from behind, and immediately, I was relieved. As cowardly as it may seem, Toran being there to support this difficult decision made it slightly easier.

My beta walked past me and up the stairs towards the front door. “Let’s get this over with.” He said, opening the door and standing to the side to allow me space to enter.

I watched him stand there, his gaze straightforward. Before I entered ahead of him,  I touched my beta’s shoulder and expressed my gratitude for him having my back. “Thank you.” 

Toran bowed. “I’ll always have your back, Alpha.” 

When we entered the orphanage, I did very little talking as we hardly ever had to say a word when entering an establishment. It was Virginia, my territory, and whether humans knew what I was or not was irrelevant. As long as they knew who I was. And they knew-they all knew, just as the woman standing in front of me and my beta did. “Of course, Master, Wade, and Slaughter!” She anxiously responded, bowing before quickly disappearing into an office down the hall and off to the right. 

The humans were moderately aware of inhumans, but only if we chose for them to acknowledge it. A lot of the time, the only thing that they needed to know was who ran the state of  Virginia. Knowing this, obedience came naturally. Virginia being my territory, the main thing that the humans needed to know about me was that my name carried enough weight to crush whoever crossed my path with malicious intent if need be. My people had migrated from European territory to claim the space of Virginia centuries ago, and now the state was only known under the ownership of the Wades. And there were a rare few who dared challenge it. All of whom would regret it shortly after making the devastating decision to go against me and mine.

Orphanages were one of the few establishments where humans were aware of our kind. It was a necessary evil for a number of reasons. The only thing that mattered was that they knew not to ask too many questions.

Barely a minute had passed before the small-statured young woman returned. “Would you follow me, please?” She nervously requested, her eyes wide, watching Toran and me, something we were used to. Humans would always tread lightly; they never knew whether they were friends or food, so it was always best to make as few waves as possible.

We followed the petite human woman down the hallway. The stretch was long, each side of us plagued with photos of human children, babies, and every now and again, what I can only assume to be a successful family or two. Somehow, I gathered the feeling that this stretch was a ruse to give one a chance to think about the decision that was about to be made in deciding to pick a child to raise. At least, that’s what this long stretch of hall was for me.

For a split second, I did think about other avenues whilst making headway to our eventual destination, but I thought better of it soon after.  This was the only choice that I could make at this point.

The hallway eventually opened into a corridor, each side with large-scale windows and a view of the young children playing, among other childish things. The left side was specifically designated for males, while the right was for females, and none were any younger than about five.

I found myself sparing a moment to watch the children on either side of us. 

Most seemed well taken care of and blissfully happy amongst their capering. Of course, there were a few who seemed more…solemn than others, but one could not expect all children to be happy. Even the ones who were, weren’t happy all the time. I almost felt enough pity to consider taking one of them home as well. Almost.

As we ventured further down the gallery of children, I found this sight forcing me to imagine how life would have been if things were different. If only one-just one of our five miscarriages had come to term and only lived through the delivery, maybe things would have been different for us. It was a disheartening thought to have, as I knew that I could not change the course of fate nor the fact that having our own pup may never come to fruition. Bearing this in mind only further solidified the decision I had to make. I had to pull Caris out of her grief-stricken mind before she completely lost herself and a child…an infant child would be the key to her sanity.

Toran was a good friend, understood me, and liked Caris, but in the end, he preferred that I move on from her. She wasn’t my true mate but simply a luna-wolf, chosen from desire, and because of this, I was not eternally bound-at least not in the same way as a true mate. As far as Toran was concerned, she’d made her decision to leave, and I should have accepted it. He was right to an extent; however, I could not shake the obligation I had to, at the very least, pull her back to reality, as I, in part, had been the cause of it.

“You alright, Alpha?” 

Toran’s voice waking me from my thoughts forced me to remember that I had paused for a moment, absentmindedly staring at the young human boys play-fighting with one another. 

I smirked. “Imagine a son, Tor.” I found my lips verbalizing before I could stop myself. “A young son of the Wade clan.” The idea of such magnificence made me smile. 

“Maybe one day, Alpha,” Toran said to me.

I sighed, chuckled harshly, and faced my old friend. “Yeah,” I already knew that this day may never come. “One day,” I remarked anyway, aware that he was only trying to be supportive. Continuing down the hallway, I pushed the thought of a young son of my own away. There was business to be tended to, and a child of seven or eight simply would not do-not even a toddler of one to four. I needed to go younger.

We bypassed the rooms of those that I found undesirable to my cause without inquiry. The humans at Caring Arms Orphanage had already known what I was looking for. 

There was a sudden eerie silence once we approached a door at the back of the orphanage and then another. Before opening this door, however, the human turned slightly to look at us. She smiled nervously and then pushed it ajar.

Reluctantly, I walked into the room with Toran ahead of me. Looking around, I noticed that there were quite a few cribs in the room, and they all were filled with human babies. It was a pitiful thing to see. 

“Well, hello there.” An older woman greeted me, as I found my eyes staring at a newborn baby boy. Cute, for a human, I thought to myself. I glanced at the woman standing next to me and started to return my attention to the boy when something about this woman forced me to double-take.

“Hello.” I finally greeted, inhaling around me as a sudden and subtle scent teased at my nose. It was familiar, yet different. Was it her? I took her hand into mine. “And you are?” I asked.

Strange that for a moment, I thought to ask myself whether I knew her or not. When Caris left me, I had become somewhat…careless in terms of fidelity. I knew that she had taken a fellow or two to bed, and so out of spite, I had decided to do the same. While, for some reason, I could not account for all of my transgressions, I knew that I had fallen into a rabbit hole of sexual conquests and bloodlust; in my mind-at least at the time, both went hand in hand.  So, when I shamelessly veered into the taboo of lying with human women, I wasn’t bothered by the idea of crossing physical lines between us inhumans and human women. After all, there was a list of inhumans who found profound pleasure in taking their vassals to bed behind their mate’s back. I wasn’t one of them; I was simply going through the motions of revenge. However, there was only one that I shamefully admit I could have grown closer to. She was one that I’d never forget.

This woman who was standing before me was older, but back then, I wasn’t choosy about who I took to bed. As long as the woman had a pulse and could serve my needs, I was content. She could have easily been one of those few who fit my criteria back then. Although, upon further interaction with this one, I sensed that I would not fit hers.

The gracefully aged woman’s smile wasn’t reaching, a subtle surprise as, while I would have liked to think myself a humble Inhu-man, I did have a way with women, especially the human sort. No, this one…this one held a bitterness to her countenance. She pulled away from me.

“I am the overseer of these wonderfully perfect babies.” She answered in a subtle husky voice. “And I understand that you are the King of Virginia’s territory, the Alpha of Shadow Veil.” 

“I am,” I replied. 

The woman did not respond to me initially, she just stared at me as if there was a secret marinating her tongue that I was not worthy of knowing. There was something familiar about her, eyes-something that I could not put my finger on. When I tried to find her name, I noticed that she didn’t have a name tag.  I parted my lips to speak when she interrupted.

“And you wish to adopt…a human?” Her voice was laced with something nearing judgment. “Forgive me for asking, but…you don’t intend to…enslave or…eat…” The last part of her sentence was quiet and a little paranoid. 

“I daresay that if I did…what would you be capable of doing about it?” 

Silence followed my question, and she averted her now bitter stare. “I guess there is nothing that I could do about it.” She confessed. “But surely you understand, Alpha, that I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not at least try to look after these innocent babies.” 

She was right, and while in any other case, I would not have normally obliged such a forward person, this time, for some reason, I did. 

“I am not here to kill a child, only raise one,” I said, which was partially true. Whether raising the human was for five seconds or five years, I needed the child however long it would be of use to me.

“Ah,” She said. “And you have no inhumans to adopt, I am going to assume.”

“As lovely as you are, my patience is wearing thin with your questions, love.” I leered. 

“My apologies, Alpha.” The woman said to me, “I’m so used to asking questions; it can be difficult to break out of such habits. I’m sure you can understand my concerns, nevertheless.” Her smile was curt and unreaching. I couldn’t make out whether this one was sizing me up or just doing her job, and before I could question her motive as she had mine, she spoke again. “So, I see you are interested in this little one.” The woman shifted the subject to the baby boy lying in the crib.

Trying to ignore the peculiarity of the woman’s lack of intimidation towards me, I settled my attention, once again, on the human infant lying in the crib. And while he seemed to have the perfect make of a good human specimen, I suddenly had second thoughts. I attributed it to the intrigue that this mysterious woman provoked in me. 

 Losing myself in my thoughts concerning her, I had forgotten all about her question. I noticed from my side-view the woman leaned into my peripheral to gain my full attention again. Almost as if she were growing impatient with me. Me…when it was usually the other way around.

“You have second thoughts.” Her comment wasn’t a question but a statement. I would have challenged her assumption, but suddenly it was true.

“I have a feeling that you may have something  else in mind for me.” I found myself saying to the woman before I could catch my words. I had even taken a step closer to her. Why? I wasn’t entirely sure.

I was a seven hundred and seventy-nine-year-old inhuman. I was not young by a long shot, and assuredly, I was older than her, but the overseer looked like she was old enough to be a mother of someone who looked my age. 

Usually, I’d show as much respect to women of such caliber. I tended to flock to older women, Caris being the exception as I was over a century older than her. Even during my infidelity, it was rare that  I tested the waters with a woman this experienced in age, however. Human or otherwise. There was something intriguing about this one, though, that seemed to pull me in. It was more than likely her feisty countenance. Or, more than likely, the blood pumping through her veins- a scent that I had hardly experienced before. And it drew me to this woman like a moth to a flame. What I found funny, though,  was that she wasn't having it.

The overseer backed up, frowning before turning away from me. “As a matter of fact, I do have…a child…a baby quite special. Though one could argue that all babies are special.” She said, walking away. I followed Toran close by, and apparently, he noticed my odd behavior as well.

“You into old women, now?” Toran whispered.

“Apparently,” My wolf said before I could even respond. “We are.” 

My beast never communicated much, mostly taking slumber until it was his time to shine or unless my temper roweled him up. There was a uniqueness to this situation; however, that seemed to jar him awake.

“Oh, so you’re awake, Aziz.” Something about this older woman even moved my beast from his slumber.

“Aziz, too, huh?” Toran chuckled.

I laughed dryly. “Quiet Toran. You too, Aziz.” 

The overseer stopped short of a crib at the far end of the large room. “A shame how these humans…discard their young.” The old woman said under her breath.

These humans? Her choice of words was curious, to say the least. “Excuse me?” I said, wondering if she’d repeat her comment.

“Us humans,” She said to me. “I hear that your kind finds your children sacred. It seems that our kind has a difference of opinion on such a standpoint. The woman looked at me with a small sullen smile gazing down into the crib that she led us to. 

Maybe I was hearing things. I glanced at Toran and noticed that he didn’t seem to find anything out of the ordinary concerning her words, so I shrugged it off. 

“You do not seem to hold such views.” I assumed by listening to the resentment in her tone. 

Her eyes were steady on the baby in the crib, whose scent also held its own uniqueness. “I find that children are…as sacred as the vessels who create them. They are our future, after all.” She noted whilst staring so lovingly at the child. “Beautiful little beings, they are. Miracles, don’t you think?” She looked up at me.

“I do,” I replied and then finally looked down into the crib, and just as she had said, this baby was beautiful, hair as thick and black as night, with undertones of a subtle stained red. The baby’s eyes were almost inhumanly golden-yellow, and its skin..as rich in color as brown sugar. 

It was hard to accept that this child could have been simply human. I found myself delving my gaze deeper into the crib, and it was then that the scent of the baby became stronger. Special indeed.

“This is human?” I asked to make sure. Yes, the scent was unique, but it was still human for sure. Nevertheless,…I had to be certain. It was, after all, a scent that I had never encountered before. I looked at the woman.

“This is a human orphanage, Alpha, is it not?” She said to me, her tone of slight mockery and surprise that I’d ask such a question.

My stare lingered on her a moment before returning my attention to the alluring child lying in the crib. “I wasn’t aware that human children carried such features,” I said to myself more so than anyone else.

“You were looking at a boy before.” The woman said, bringing my thoughts back to the current state of things. “This baby…is a girl.” She looked at me. “I hope that this is not a problem.” 

“This child…” I murmured. “Who on earth is crazy enough to give her up?” I found myself asking before I could catch myself.

“As I said before, it seems humans are not as invested in their young. Some of them, at least,” she added. “This little one…she just came in a few hours ago.”

I stared at the woman. “And you would have this child under my care? Knowing what I am?” I asked her. I grew suspicious.

“You came here to raise a child, Alpha. You said so yourself.” The woman’s hand gingerly ran across the cheek of the child’s face. “You have no reason to lie to me as you owe me no truth. Inhumans seem to hold their babies sacred.” She looked up at me. “Although unorthodox, I honestly cannot imagine this one in better care than that of the one who owns the Virginia territory. She would undoubtedly be protected. Would she not?” 

After she said this, I found myself watching the child again. I had initially wanted a boy, but…there was something about this little girl that…drew me in. Looking at her alone, felt like Caris if in her right state of mind, would have wanted a little girl as beautiful as this little one. Bearing this in mind, I held on to the hope that maybe the child’s life was salvageable. 

“This little one will be trouble; you do know this,” Aziz warned me as I looked at the baby. I could sense that even my wolf was intrigued by the child. 

“Maybe,” I said to my counterpart, picking the young child up into my arms. “But…she may be the answer to our problems. Is it not worth it?” 

“You seem attached to the child already.” The woman had said to me, 

“She’s right,” Toran commented. “That may be a problem, Alpha.”

“Nonsense, Tor.” I shoved away from his oncoming opinion, regardless of how right it may have been. Surely, I could distance myself from a mere human when it came down to choosing between the human child and Caris. It doesn't matter how…hard it could…be. Her little hand wrapped around my significantly larger finger before I could finish the thought, and those flaming gold eyes looked into mine, lost and innocent. Our eyes were locked on each other for an untold amount of minutes-me, and this human infant. In those eyes, there seemed to be a world of words and stories locked away, those which her infantile form was tasked with guarding until she was old enough to speak them.

“So, is that a yes, Master Wade?” I heard the overseer ask, and for some reason, I could not verbally answer. I simply kept my eyes on the child as I nodded my head in confirmation.

“Great! I will set up the paperwork!” The overseer informed me and then left the room.

“Alpha, are you sure that this is a good idea?” I hear Toran whisper to me.

And I forced myself to part my lips. I had to reassure my beta that I could handle this human child and my potential emotions toward it. “Once the child has served her purpose…well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it.”