In The Beginning, Chapter 130
“Force you to be what?” Charlie asked, Hyacinth wore a smug smile when I winced.
“It’s nothing, Hyacinth wants me to do something, I don’t want to do, so I'm not doing it!” I snapped the last part at Hyacinth, I wouldn’t have stayed there, but I was in sweats, and the problem still wasn’t completely resolved.
“Is this about you being King again?” Charlie asked quietly. I looked at the pillow on my lap guiltily, we were just getting back to normal, and she hadn’t had a chance to start her Luna duties, let alone get used to them. It was too much too fast, and I couldn’t put her through anymore, or put any more on either of our shoulders. “You don’t have to say no because of me. If it will make things easier, then could we maybe make it temporary?” She asked me in the link, unwilling to take away my excuse if I didn’t want to do it for another reason.
“It doesn’t work that way, and other Alphas will be pissed, they could come after me...” I almost added, “and without a direct heir, I would be particularly vulnerable”, but stopped myself before I opened that can of worms, thankfully. The truth was, I was already vulnerable, as was any Alpha without a son; if an Alpha falls in battle, traditionally, his son would avenge his death by taking back the pack, and the pack of the usurper. If the son was particularly clever, he would wait until the usurper’s heir was of age, so he would die with the warriors, leaving no male from the original bloodline to challenge him. I had always been curious if Eric had been tempted to challenge my father, why he didn’t was obvious, he would have lost. No way to find out now, I thought as I avoided the subject off King. It wasn’t just Charlie, although she was a bit part of it... Being King, is a big ask of someone, more responsibilities, more danger, more stress. More people to be responsible for, mouths to feed, livelihoods to ensure, lives to protect! The responsibilities I already had made it difficult to have a life, how was I supposed to make any time for Charlie, and goddess willing our pups...? “We don’t need a King. Lander, Kasa and I will share a link, while we maintain the pack link to the warriors.” I said aloud, finally able to stand and walk away.
“You can’t fight destiny forever!” Hyacinth called after me, and I snapped.
“I’m not painting another target on mine and Charlie’s back! Not for you! NOT FOR MY MOTHER! OR FOR YOUR PRECIOUS FUCKING DYNASTY!” I bellowed before storming out of the house and getting in my car. “I’m going back to the high school, I split the men into two football teams, work out some of their aggression.” I linked Charlie as I pulled away. I needed space from Hyacinth, not her, and I didn’t want her thinking I was angry with her.
“Okay, you alright?” She asked, and I let out a shaky breath, unsure of how to answer.
“I don’t want to be King. I want a life with you, not missing dinners and birthdays and even fucking Valentine’s Day because of pack business!” I vented as I sped through the deserted streets.
“Okay, that’s fine with me... I want that too.” She admitted a little shyly, and I almost turned the car around.
“I love you.” I sighed, the urge to go back and take her to bed was almost too strong to ignore.
“I love you too, go make sure no one gets hurt.” She encouraged; I could hear the happiness in her voice again.
“Be back in a couple of hours.” I replied, closing the link before she did something else that created another situation, I wasn’t exactly unaffected as it was. I pulled into the school parking lot, a few minutes later, and gave myself a few moments before I went and joined the men in the stands, my emotions feeling muddled and confused to the point I didn’t even feel like myself.
Charlie POV
Daniel shut down the link, I was still concerned, but slightly less so than I had been, I turned my attention back to the women in my living room, slightly frustrated with them both.
“Can you lay off the King thing, the more you push the more he will dig his heels in. Let Lander and Kasa persuade him, if it’s really what they want.” I told Hyacinth coldly, turning to the kitchen, I needed more caffeine, the latte I had made myself earlier had gone cold. “Do either of you want a drink?” I called behind me, but they were already off of the couch and trailing after me.
“Coffee please!” Theia chirped, clutching her cup tightly, she had become addicted, and was obsessed with watching the process.
“I should still have tea in my pot.” Hyacinth added as I entered the kitchen. It was still odd, not to see the staff, the house seemed to quiet now that it was just the three of us. I made my way over to the expensive machine with the water jug, and began preparing a drink for myself and Theia, while Hyacinth made her own tea at the breakfast bar.
“Seeing as we can’t go train today, again, maybe you could tell me more about vampires? You’ve both mentioned a few things, I was hoping you could go into more detail, the more I know... you know?” I chuckled awkwardly, unsure how to broach the subject, and feeling like it hadn’t been a natural transition like I had hoped.
“What is it you wish to know?” Theia asked, always pleased with my curiosity.
“You said once, that when they first feed... they can stay with the creature, who was supposed to be mated to the soul they... consumed?” I asked awkwardly, trying to be clear, but also understand myself.
“Why do they stay?” She asked, confused.
“Yes, Hyacinth, didn’t you say you heard of only one vampire that joined a pack?” I asked her, confused as to why one of them would. From what I had witnessed, they had no remorse, guilt or pity, so why? I couldn’t understand it.
“Yes, although that was decades ago, I doubt he is still there.” Hyacinth nodded.
“There are many theories, we have not been able to learn much from those we have fought. They few we have captured have not gleaned much, almost all have forced us to kill them before we could interrogate them effectively.” Theia replied casually.
“And the bodies?” I asked, not even I was naive enough to think they would leave such a valuable resource for information undisturbed.
“We know from comparison, the older they get the less like the species their mother was, they become. Meaning if a vampire impregnated a Lycan for example, the pups could remain like their mother their whole lives, but at some point, they will come close to death, depending on the sire, this could be anywhere from the age of ten years, to fifty, it also depends on how much they took from the mother, or if the sire donated some.” Theia explained.
“I thought they all stole from the mother to be born?” I asked confused.
“Yes, but we found Heracles, would also leave part of a spark he had consumed, allowing the child to take a small amount from its mother, and thus allowing her to live. This way he could return to her and enjoy the confusion and fear when the bond felt wrong, he claimed it made consuming whatever was left of her spark all the more satisfying for him. While we cannot examine the sparks, we can see the effects of feeding on the body. The more they’ve consumed, the more corrupted they become, their blood more decayed, black and sludge like. The paler their skin, as their life-force is stolen, and thus keeping them alive, but no more. They feel less and less, until they feel very little at all, mild echoes of joy or pleasure might be possible, but rare, the pathways in the brain between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala.”
“So, a child of a vampire, doesn’t actually become one themselves until they feed?” I asked, trying to make sure I understood.
“Yes, I suppose, in some cases...” She replied, taking a sip from her cup, and trying to avoid my questioning glare. “One of his sons... Hermes, would do more than leave a part of whatever spark he had ingested. He would alter the foetus’s DNA, creating monstrous bringing that almost always stole all of their mother's spark, several, without even knowing they had done so. This kind of corruption from birth... it’s despicable.” She shook her head, staring at her drink, while I tried to understand.
“But if they all-" I began, but Theia held up a hand.
“Apollo did steal from my sister, but not all sired by a vampire steal in the way you are imagining. When a female is pregnant, she channels my mother, and regardless of how she feels, her spark gets fuelled, and grows. When the child is being separated from the mother, she gives her spark to the child. It doesn’t always work, sometimes the child was just not meant to be. The sires of vampires are not meant to be, I could see the transference, from Deo to Apollo. She tried to withhold it, she knew the being was wrong, but it latched on, and sucked it out of her. Typically, a child that was meant to be, will have a small part of the father’s spark, that he gives to his mate freely, allowing the foetus to grow in the womb, then the mother, who has been growing and storing her spark, gives it to the child, allowing them to grow for a year or two, for humans and Lycans, it is slightly different with the other species, at which point the child should take those embers left by their parents and made their own spark. Most children sired by a vampire take more than this however, but the mother rarely fights it like Deo did, they give their sparks willingly to their children, and die in the process, some have enough from their father to only take a few years from their mothers, although that can leave its mark on the mother. Because the spark is freely offered, most of the time, they simply take on more of her qualities, and will live like that for many years... until the spark starts to fail. It has been borrowed time that sustained the body, they will feel the effects, and then, they will feed. Take another’s spark, damning themselves. The one in your cells, do you know his history? Whom his father is?” Theia asked calmly, I shook my head, my mouth dry, it made sense in a twisted sort of way. “His mother had a difficult birth, they had to take her womb to save her life. Knowing his father is a vampire... it leaves me to believe he took too much of her soul. A human cannot take a spark from another, those occurrences are more of Zeus’s handiwork.” She huffed angrily.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my curiosity too great to hide.
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