Chapter 511: Fairy Tale
"If Penelope is the vampire’s mate and he is alive, is he no longer a threat? What will they do now?" Graeme asked, trying to envision it. But it was difficult. How could a creature who had lived for hundreds of years suddenly settle down with a mate and live a regular life? It seemed unlikely that those two would be able to stay out of trouble even together. Perhaps he was wrong.
"He is no longer a threat. I know that much, but I don’t know what they will do. Penelope is pregnant."
"With the vampire’s child?" Graeme’s eyes went wide. That was a whole other revelation.
"He is no longer a vampire," August reminded him.
"He will always be the vampire in my mind," he said. "Now he is simply a vampire with a beating heart."
August sighed, recalling the guilt that had kept Zagan from allowing them to heal him initially.
"How did Penelope give him life as his mate?"
"I don’t know exactly how it happened, but Nedra suspected it. I was staying with her. I didn’t even realize what had happened between Penelope and Zagan until they showed up when we were fighting off the other vampire."
"The other vampire?" Graeme’s voice turned alarmed. "There is another one?"
"He came for Zagan. He tried to kill him. Apparently having a mate as a vampire is a big no-no. It challenges whatever power dynamics exist," August said quietly, trying to visualize how this was going to play out for Penelope and Zagan. Hopefully the memory enchantment would hold and they wouldn’t have any issues from other vampires in the future. She couldn’t imagine what might happen if they did.
"What happened with the other one?" Graeme asked, his forehead cleaved in worry.
"Goddess, the other one is so horrifying. Apparently he is part fae. He can change his appearance, and his mouth widens with all these teeth." August revealed her teeth and brought her fingers up to indicate how wide his mouth would go, but it wasn’t anything like the vampire she had met. "Zagan actually saved me from him."
Graeme swallowed back the tightening panic that flared when she said Zagan had needed to save her. This was so much larger than anything Graeme was capable of dealing with, he knew that. And he hated it—that feeling that he would have been helpless in defending her from a creature like that. Instead, Zagan—the one who had held their alyko and helped kill his parents—had saved his mate. How twisted was that?
"Is he dead?" He growled.
"No. No, not yet," August said softly. She didn’t want to have to return to deal with him, but it was important. She couldn’t believe she had taken this long, actually. She should have returned right away. "I was working on that with Nedra and Penelope when I felt needed here."
"You have to go back," Graeme nodded, understanding.
"Yes," she sighed.
"I am going with you."
August’s mouth opened to object, but she saw the determination in his eyes. He wasn’t going to let her leave again without him—not after how long she had been away and now with the additional threat he knew she had faced.
"I really need to leave right away. He is in a cage, but I don’t know how long that will hold him. It may hold him forever, but I doubt Penelope and Nedra will wait that long to come find me so we can try giving him life. After what happened here today, at least now I know it is possible."
"I’m going to have to explain it to the others. Is there anyone else who should come with us?" He stood and walked to his closet so he could get dressed for the journey. He was eager to finally see where she had been. Selah had given him some indication of what Zagan’s small dimension was like, but it would be something to actually see it for himself.
"No. It’s kind of unstable. Well it was... I guess it isn’t anymore. Still I wouldn’t want anyone else there..." she trailed off when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Actually... where are Selah and Sage?"
"None of the pups were allowed at the trial, so I imagine Selah was with him at the pack house. He has been staying there with the alyko. You haven’t seen the renovation yet," he smiled.
"The renovation? The one you had me sketch out? Wow, it happened already?"
"Once the alyko came back, it seemed the best way to give them a secure place to stay without any worries about being harassed by the pack. But we haven’t had any issues so far."
"What a great idea. That makes me happy," she smiled.
"You want Sage and Selah to come with us?" He asked, pulling on the clothes he had taken from his closet.
August watched as her mate’s chest was covered by a simple t-shirt, the muscles still obvious under the fabric and his biceps challenging the hems of his sleeves. She recalled the first time she saw him showering when she had only just awoken in the tree house, this whole world alien and new to her. She had just learned of lycans. She had just learned of Eliade’s experiment. And Graeme’s perfect body was too much to behold. She could not believe that he was hers. It seemed too much—too good to be true. He was too perfect to be real.
Now this place and this male in particular felt like home. It wasn’t even that long ago and yet so much had happened. Now they were talking about returning to an alternate dimension created by an alyko for a vampire, and they were doing it to kill another vampire. Now she was the Luna of a lycan pack, carrying the promise of the next heir.
It was surreal, all of this. Her life had become some kind of fairy tale in a way, hadn’t it? And the proof was this startlingly handsome male in front of her who was too perfect even now. He was all hers.
"Little Red?" His voice tugged on her wayward thoughts.
"Yes, Bun Bun?" She said in a small voice, overwhelmed now by how amazing all of this was. Taking a step back to reflect now that she was in the safe haven of their home, it was all so incredible to behold.
"Are you okay?" He frowned, coming to crouch in front of her and that far-off look in her eyes.
She sighed, letting the wistful beauty of their situation escape with her breath as she focused back on what needed to be done.
"Yes, I’m okay. I’m perfect," she leaned forward and nuzzled into his neck, resting her forehead there where all of the warmth and security of their bond was concentrated. The proof that he was hers was permanently imprinted right there on his skin.
Graeme wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest there before they took off to finish this challenging Chapter of their life. Once it was over, they could return and focus entirely on each other and on rebuilding the strength of their pack.
Finally, she would be back for good—his pregnant mate. His beautiful Moon. The joy swelled large around him. They could focus on their little one who would be coming soon enough, and he could hardly wait.
"Come on, my love. Let’s go kill a vampire."
