Chapter 102
My hand froze on the wooden gate that had shut behind Morgan as he struggled to walk towards the house. Swallowing hard, I looked up to see Auri, standing in the doorway. Rydere howled loudly and I felt my knees go weak. Goddess, she was beautiful. In her arms looked like a tiny fey child who was clutched to her. She was wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a deep green apron that covered most of her front. Her bright blue hair was short, shorter than the years after Micah had cut her hair off, barely reaching her shoulders. It reminded me of when she was Astra all those years ago. Hell, she looked as young as she had been back then as well.
Her eyes went from Morgan to me, standing frozen at her gate. I braced myself for anger but the only thing I received was a smile. The grip I had on the wood tightened as I started to sway.
'Mate!' Rydere purred like a kitten.
"Sorry, Princess. We have a wayward werewolf vampire who is worried about his future." Morgan turned to me, now grinning like a madman. “I thought I would bring him to the expert."
Suddenly, anger bubbled up. Morgan knew all along. Knew where he was taking me and knew it wasn't where I wanted to be. That I didn't want to see her. How long had he known she was here? Hell, how long had she been here? Quickly, the anger wained as questions started to fill my mind. What was she doing here? Why did she have nine kids? Who were there? How was she? How was she dealing with all these kids on her own? Let alone if they were all mixed.
"I don't know about expert but I've got some experience." There was amusement in her words. Auri motioned me in. "You don't need to be invited in. That's a myth."
Morgan outright laughed while Auri and a couple of the kids giggled. Rubbing the back of my neck, I swung the gate open and stepped inside. Looking around, I realized the planter boxes in the front were all food. Ranging from tomatoes and zucchini to what looked like herbs. Morgan had picked up two of the kids, both looking about three and siblings. Another five year old came over to me and narrowed her eyes.
"Who the hell are you?"
My eyes widened as I realized not everyone was as they seemed. “I am a friend of Morgan and Auri."
“Mommy doesn't have any friends like you." The voice sounded strange coming out of a five year olds mouth. I realized she must be a vampire and older than just five years old. It was shocking since I thought there was a law against changing children into vampires.
"I'm half werewolf, half vampire. So I feel like I fit in a little better than most."
This brought a smile to the child's face. “Ah! You're a fuckup like the rest of us! Welcome!"
"Felicity, you call anyone in our family that, you're going to lose that bedroom of yours." Auri's voice filtered outside.
Felicity's eyes widened and inhaled. "Yes, Mommy." It was weird hearing the difference in her voice saying 'mommy'. Especially after cursing and talking like an adult. She raced back into the house, seemingly running from whatever punishment she would receive if she continued.
Heading into the house, I closed the double doors behind me. Morgan was passing out items from his bags in the parlor to the left and to the right three kids were in the kitchen with Auri. The little fey was sitting on the counter next to Auri as she was making food. The other two, definitely the oldest out of the group, maybe thirteen and fourteen, were helping with prep as well. I felt torn, standing like an idiot in the hallway. Finally, I took a deep breath.
"Anything I can help with, lov...Auri." I bit back the word.
"If you can, grab two more plates from the cab next to the refrigerator. We weren't expecting guests. Gale will show you where the silverware is." I looked at the two. The eldest boy, Gale, glared at me before turning back to what he was doing. Swallowing, I already felt his hostility. Auri moved seamlessly, the little fey child next to her humming a tune. The older girl, the other one who was helping, was also humming.
Going over to the fridge, I opened up cab next to it and looked at the table. Grabbing the matching plates, I placed them at two empty spots and then walked back over to Gale. He glared up at me again, his eyes bright. Tapping the drawer next to him, he moved just a bit to allow me to pull the drawer open. I grabbed silverware to match the setup on the table.
"Do you know where the napkins are?"
"What? Don't have eyes, wolf?" Gale growled.
In a flash, a wooden spoon bounced off his head and he rubbed his head.
"Gale, is that how we treat guests? Seriously?"
He pouted for a moment. "Sorry, Mom." Reaching over, he grabbed two napkins from a pile to his left. He handed them to me without saying anything else.
Setting the rest of the table, Morgan was done with the gifts being handed out and easily corralled the kids to the table. He was picking up the little ones who needed boosters. I jumped in and helped push in some of the other kids who were too small to push in their chairs.
"Gale, Sammy, and Herr, your gifts are in the bags for after dinner."
"Thanks, Morgan." Gale smiled brightly as he brought a serving plate full of vegetables.
Morgan grabbed a huge pot of soup and carried it to the table while Auri took a huge plate of meat one handed while she carried the little fey girl. Placing the plate down first, she put the little fey in a seat and grabbed two more huge plates.
"Sit, Hector. You too, Morgan."
I almost sat right there on the floor. My name from her lips easily made me weak. Swallowing, I took up the empty seat next to Morgan who was at the head of the table. Auri was at the other head of the table.
"Uncle Uriel brought the buck for tonight's dinner. So next time you see him, make sure you say thank you."
I looked at Morgan, eyes wide. “Uriel? As in King Uriel of the Fey?"
Auri chuckled, bringing a cup to her lips. "Yes. That Uriel. We actually keep in touch frequently. Checks in to make sure everything is okay and I haven't lost my sanity yet. I think he does it now out of friendship, not just because he feels his mates magic." She tapped her eyes and suddenly it clicked.
I coughed. "That was Uriel? You said that a fey lost his mate but you didn't say who it was. It makes more sense now that you were running around with him to find the labs."
She shrugged. "Fey don't have mates unless they are royalty. I thought you knew that."This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
"I mean...I did but I guess I never put it together." I grumbled. Being put on the spot like that, a couple of the kids giggling, made me realize I really hadn't been paying attention.
"So, what did everyone get from Papa?" Auri asked the table.
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All the kids erupted into an exciting chatter and Morgan laughed, taking his glass and drinking it. I grabbed it and took a sip as well. Goddess, it tasted good. Like fresh fruit that quenched a thirst I didn't know ow had. I took another sip and set it down, grabbing food as the other kids also were digging into the food already. My eyes turned to Morgan to ask if he wanted something but his eyes were on me, a wide grin on his face.
"What?"
“Enjoying the drink? You sighed so loudly there for a second."
My eyes narrowed. "Yes? I didn't realize how thirsty I was. I'm assuming it's fresh fruit from the garden?"
"Fresh raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blood." Gale answered who was sitting across from me.
My eyes widened and I started to shake my head. "What? You're...you're joking, right?"
Morgan burst out laughing. "No, Hector. Every single one at this table has some vampire in them."
I looked horrified at Auri.
She held up her glass, smiling. "I'm glad you like it. Makes it easier for the kids."
"I...but...where do you get it...?"
Gale answered. "Some guy was snooping around the house. So we..." He made a motion across his throat.
My hand started to shake as I looked at Auri who was shaking her head.
“Gale, come on. What the hell is going on with you today?"
"I don't like him! Why is he even here? He can't be a grown ass adult and face his own problems?" Gale glared at me as he answered.
"Gale Storm, stand up now." Auri's commanding voice hushed the entire table. Everyone's eyes were on her or on Gale. She stood up and walked over to him.
“Stairs now." He raced up the stairs and she slowly followed after him.
"Oooo....Gale is in trouble." One of the younger girls chuckled.
Felicity, the only full vampire outside of Morgan, shook her head. "He shouldn't have snapped like that. He knows better. Whether or not he likes a guest."
"I mean, we all dislike him but you don't see us throwing a fit about it." The girl who had been helping Auri in the kitchen, shook her head.
I looked at Morgan who was struggling to keep a straight face. He was biting his lip to not let the smile completely take over.
"All of you are wrong." The little Fey
girl spoke up. She was still eating her soup. "You guys don't know how much he means to her. You guys aught to be nice. He's not bad. Just new you can't expect everyone to come in and be okay with all of us."
All the kids looked at me and I straightened my back. "To be honest, I'm still dealing with my own vampire changes. It's a lot to take."
"See. Don't be so harsh. He hasn't had Momma. She can help him if she gets over her anger and feelings of abandonment."
Morgan coughed. "Herr, sometimes, things shouldn't be said. Those are feelings that are personal. You know that."
Herr rolled her eyes. "Momma would never say that out loud. She'd probably just accept him running away and justify it. Again." She was going to say something else but Auri came down the steps and sat back down.
"Sorry about that. Really, he's not usually like that." She smiled at me and my heart hammered in my chest. "He's a good kid. Just sometimes he takes his duty as the eldest a little too seriously."
Picking up her spoon, she smiled at the quiet table. "Alright, who wants to tell me about school today?"
The heaviness the hung a moment ago disappeared as the kids chatted happily about their school day. From what I could gather, they went to school in a pack territory that welcomed all supernatural children. Witch, fey, werewolf and even some
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hatt humans. But the kids kept their vampire sides under wraps save for Felicity. She was currently in middle school with some of the other kids.
I glanced over at Morgan who had gone quiet. He was swirling the drink in his cup around before taking a sip, staring into it. His eyes met mine once
and he sighed.
"I've known, Hector. Auri told me. Everything. Everything she went through, everything that happened between you two. Everything that happened after. If that's what you're wondering."
I hadn't but I was surprised. She had told him we were mated. Was she not ashamed of me? Ashamed of what happened between us? The fact that I raped her while she was hanging on a wall.
'No. I'm not. I'm sorry you're so ashamed of me though.'
My eyes widened and looked down at Auri. She had mind linked me. She was in deep conversation with one of the kids about a math problem he was convinced the teacher had been incorrect. Her eyes glanced up at me and I saw the flickering hurt in them.
'Auri...that's not...it's not...' I felt the link close before I could even finish my thought.