Chapter Forty-Six – The sleeping pack

“How did he get in?” Adam asked all of a sudden. On most occasions he would be alerted about strangers at the gate. It wasn’t common for outside people to just waltz in like they lived there. But old man Bell had just walked in through the front door without any warning. And no one had come in to check on the spectacle.

**'Devan'** Adam tried reaching his Beta through the link, but silence. **'Dimitri'** He tried, also silence. **'Oliver'** The young boy didn’t respond. Adam kept reaching out to everyone in the pack, trying to keep the panic at bay.

“Adam – you should see this” Nadine said from the windows. Her face unreadable, it was enough to make him his worry skyrocket.

“That son of a…” Xavier started as he went to stand by her.

“What did he do?” Adam dreaded the answer, but his legs still carried him to the window. From the dining room they had a perfect view of the front of the property, where most of the others had been lounging around earlier. It was dead quiet, people laying scattered around like they had fallen over.

“What happened to them?” Talia asked quietly, she couldn’t help but worry. “Are they?”

“No, they are not. But my guess is a sleeping spell” Nadine answered with a sight.

“He said he had help. To get her in the amount of time he had, he’d have to use a portal. And what better way to ward of the people that might be a threat with sleep? It keeps them from intruding or interrupting, yet no blood is shed” She continued.

“Good riddance” Xavier mumbled before going back to the table, sitting down heavily, rubbing his hands over his face.

“What did you do to him?” Talia asked. “You just walked into the portal. Where did you take him?”

“Someplace he can never return from” Adam answered, putting an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

“Did you?” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Neither of them answered her, and a silence fell over the four of them. The entire property was quiet, all the teens and adults sound asleep on the ground outside, every pup already in bed for the night. Monica had said it herself.

“What do we do about the people outside?” Talia asked in the end.

“What about them?” Xavier asked, his mind clearly focusing on something else.

“We can’t just leave them out there. How long will they sleep for? And what if it starts pouring? It’s rude!”

“We can’t carry everyone inside and just put them on the floors. And we don’t have enough room on the floor or in the beds. Even if we use the ones at the clinic” Adam replied thoughtful. He thought he’d seen much, but clearly the world had loads in store for him.

“I can’t answer any of the other questions without knowing what kind of spell was cast” Nadine answered.

“Normally water in the face wakes up people” Xavier suggested drily, twirling a glass of water in his hands.

“Would it hurt trying?” Talia looked to Nadine. As the residential spell expert there was no one better to ask.

“I don’t think so. But I can’t say it would work” Nadine answered with a shrug.

“Let’s give it a try” Xavier took the glass with his, walked out of the door and tossed the content on the person closets to him. The person didn’t even move.

“So that didn’t work” Talia sighed.

“No” Adam and Nadine said in unison.

“What does the weather forecast say?” Xavier asked as he came back inside.

Nadine whipped up her phone. It had been a grey day, but the sky had cleared later in the afternoon and the sun was shining.

“Sun. And not too cold” Nadine answered with a sigh of relief and started typing away on her phone.

“So, they could all safely sleep outside for tonight, if it comes to that. If needed, we can light some fires and throw some wool blankets over them” Talia said, and the two men nodded agreeing with her. Nadine was still busy typing away on her phone.

“What do we with those who haven’t been affected by it? How did they even get affected?” Talia kept talking while Nadine was typing faster and faster until a wide grin spread across her face.

“YES!” She threw her fist up in the air triumphantly.

“Do you have answers?” Adam asked.

“Yes. Since everyone effected was outside it had to have spread in the area, which makes me think it had to be some sort of powder that spread locally just in this area. Which of course narrows it down. And lucky for us I have a friend who happens to be sort of an expert on these kinds of concoctions. They typically last for 3 to 5 hours, and it will be like any other sleep. They’ll wake up like nothing ever happened” Nadine explained, her smile widening with each word.

“So, my grandfather dropped a sleeping powder bomb on the pack?” That seemed so out of character from the man she’d once known that if it hadn’t been for the evidence, she wouldn’t have believed it.

“He most likely had someone open a portal, drop the powder, then open a second portal a while later so he himself wouldn’t be affected” Nadine answered.

“At least he didn’t hurt anyone” Xavier said. He couldn’t help it, but he felt relieved. His grandfather had obviously lost his mind in the last couple of hours, and he was just glad it hadn’t led him to committing a mass murder.

“I’ll take that as a win” Talia tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“How are you holding up?” Xavier came to stand beside her.

“We’ll give you some space” Nadine said and nodded her head in the direction of the library, urging Adam to follow her. It was clear to her that the two cousins needed some time alone. Adam hesitated though; he didn’t want to leave her.

“Just go – we’ll join you soon enough. Who knows, maybe you find some more answers” Talia patted him on the hand that rested on her shoulder, and in turn he released her from his embrace.

“Just shout if anything happens” He planted a kiss on the top of her head before walking back down to the library with Nadine.

“This is crazy. Tell me I’m not crazy for thinking this is crazy” Talia said when they were alone.

“It’s beyond crazy” Xavier agreed with her.

“He took one look at me, and he was ready to kill me. It was like I was no longer his little grandchild. That I was some stain that had to be removed” Talia wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold; like an icy wind had taken hold of her.

“When I walked around with him this morning everything was like it used to be. We talked about everything normal. He even told me that my father has a new wife and expecting twins. And now…” Xavier threw out his arms in frustration. With everything that had happened he’d almost forgotten about the news.

“Now everything had changed yet again. But still, you’re going to become a big brother. That’s something” Talia nudged his ribs with her shoulder, it was high as she could reach on her almost two-meter-tall cousin.

“I know. It’s crazy to think about” Xavier said with a small smile on his lips. Though he hadn’t spoken with his father for years he was glad that his old man had found love and someone to have a family with.

“Do you think you’ll ever settle down?” Talia couldn’t help but ask. From what she could remember he hadn’t settled down when she was still alive. And judging from what little she knew about his life now there was no evidence of that having changed.

“Maybe. When the world is a little less judgmental of who you settle with” Xavier said after a moment of silence.

“You want to settle with someone who your father nor mother approve of?”

“I don’t care if they approve or not. It’s more of a not wanting to put someone in danger because of the believes of one’s specie” Xavier answered, his smile now turned into a frown.

“Adam asked me earlier, when you were with Lilith, about what happens to the offspring of a fae and some other species. And the answer is death. Death and destruction, from their own family. If a fae become pregnant with someone of another species, and the family learns about it, she’ll be forced to get rid of the baby. Now there are medical procedures to make that happen. But when it wasn’t, they would do anything to get rid of the stain. They were so worried about unworthy blood that the women risked their own lives. And if the baby was born it was left to die” Xavier chocked up, tears welling up in his eyes.

“You asked Adam not to mark me before we knew what I am. Is that also why? You don’t want us to paint a target on our back?”

“Imagine a fae and werewolf hybrid, born with both set of powers. That child would have a special gift, unlike any other. And people fear that. And with people I mean the fae’s. They fear that by settling with someone with different blood they are committing a crime against their own kind, their Goddess and the universe. We were all created different for a reason, and we have to respect that. If the elders where to find out, it wouldn’t be pretty” Xavier answered her with a forlorn expression.

“I want nothing more than for you to be happy and feel loved. And I know that Adam loves you, I can see it in every little thing he does. You’re his everything, and he doesn’t care that you’re not wolf. You’re his other half, bond or not”

“Do you think it would be best if I never have kids?” Talia asked him. Knowing what she did, and what it could potentially lead to, it made her reconsider everything.

“No, I don’t” Xavier answered in a heartbeat. “But I also think it’s vise to not try to get pregnant right now. We don’t yet know the extent of your power, what they came from and who. But don’t write it off. Not yet. Not until you know for sure it wouldn’t be safe for you”

Talia nodded slowly.

“Will you ever have a family?” She looked to Xavier. There were still marks on his cheeks from where silent tears had run down his face. But he didn’t look sad. He looked more lost in thought. Like what was outside these windows, something far away in the sky were drawing him in.

“Maybe one day. Our family name is stained because of our dear grandparents, I don’t think it would matter what or who I settle down and have a family with at this point” Xavier said eventually, turning to Talia with a small smile on his lips.

“At least something good came out of this” Talia chuckled, and Xavier nodded.

“Yes, even destructive fire’s make room for something beautiful to grow”