Chapter Thirty-eight

“Should we notify them that we are around? Standing here feels weird,” Alexia said after a moment of silence.

“Nah, I have something better. Watch this,” Hayden replied, smiling.

“Ace.”

Ace jumped off Vanessa like she suddenly burned him. He stood, facing away from them.

“Just…how long have you been standing there?” he asked, slowly pivoting.

Hayden and Alexia shared a glance and put on serious faces. “Give or take about 5 minutes now. Care to tell us what’s going on?” he asked sternly.

Ace gulped. Vanessa was already standing beside him, both of them mirroring contrite looks.

“I…uh…we…” Vanessa who never lost her cool and never minced words was stammering.

“We’re mates,” Ace said simply.

Hayden and Alex gasped like they were really shocked. “What? Is this a prank or what?” Hayden asked, perching on the arm of the second couch. His mate stood behind him. He faced Vanessa, “Is Ace telling the truth, Vanessa?”

She remained mute.

“Answer me, dammit!” he roared. Alexia put a hand on his arm to ‘calm’ him down.

Vanessa exhaled loudly. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes fell. She wrung her hands nervously. “Yes…yes, he’s telling the truth. He’s…my soulmate,” she declared.

“Who else knows about this? Have you informed your coven, Vanessa?” Alexia chipped in.

Ace jumped to answer the question, casting Vanessa a sidelong glare, “Nobody else, apart from you two now. She insisted on keeping it a secret.”

Vanessa glared back at him, huffing.

They could not hold it in anymore. Hayden and Alexia burst into laughter. Their friends looked confused.

“Why are you laughing?!” Ace snapped.

They were still wheezing, trying to get their laughter under control. They were laughing so hard; tears were coming out of their eyes. Finally, Alexia managed to stop laughing, and she wiped the tears away with the tip of her finger.

“It was fun watching you guys be so uncomfortable. We knew about you two,” she finally said.

“You did?” Ace asked incredulously. Vanessa facepalmed and collapsed to the arm of the couch.

“Yes, we did. We even placed a bet on how long you could hide it for, and when you were going to tell us,” Hayden explained, “Alex. I believe I owe you 100 dollars?”

“Yes. You do,” she replied.

Hayden grabbed Alexia’s hand and stood up, “Anyways. You do you. We’ll be heading upstairs.”

Hayden mindlinked Ace, “You have so much explaining to do.”

Before they ascended the stairs, Alexia turned her head and mouthed, “Details later, Vanessa.” Her friend groaned and pulled at her hair.

“I told you so,” Ace said after their friends went upstairs. He pecked her lips then walked out of the packhouse. She huffed, exasperated.

***

Later in the evening, Alexia stood in the warm light of the sunset, holding an unlighted floating lantern and a box of matches.

She was staring at the lantern, but she was unfocused. Hayden crept up behind her, and covered her eyes with his hands. She jumped and he uncovered her eyes, stepping back.

He turned her around by the shoulder and he made a sound in his throat when he saw that her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

He quickly guided her to the gilded iron bench in the balcony.

“Babe. What’s wrong?”

He tried to collect the lantern from her, but she didn’t loosen her grasp on it. He decided to leave it and asked her again, cupping her face with his hand.

Alexia smiled a little and rested her face on his warm hand. The first tear slid down and his thumb darted out and brushed it away. He drew closer to her and braced her with his body, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.

She broke the silence, “Today is the death anniversary of my grandparents. They died 9 years ago at the hand of a werewolf whom I thought was my friend.”

Hayden said nothing. He allowed her to proceed at her own pace, rubbing her arm.

“Her name was…is Delilah. Then, I knew we were Hunters, and I knew we killed Supernatural beings, but it had been drilled into me that we only killed the betrayers and the bad eggs among them.”

“When this sweet girl about my age showed up, we were attracted to each other like moths to flame, or at least I was drawn to her.”

“She told me she was a werewolf, and I told her that I was a Hunter. She didn’t mind; therefore, I also did not mind.”
Back then, I went to my grandparents’ every weekend, and she claimed to have just found an after-school job in their locality. So, we became friends.”

“One weekend, a few days after my birthday, I was at my grandparents as usual when a raid suddenly began. The other villagers were being slaughtered by people, and wolves were tearing people apart, alive. Immediately, I swung into action. I fought as hard as I had the ability to, then.”

“Imagine my shock, Hayden, when I saw someone who was supposed to be my friend, cackling and kicking the bodies of dead Hunters.”

“I launched myself at her, but her ‘followers’ held me back and forced me to my knees. They brought out my bound grandparents, and Delilah herself raised the sharp knife to their necks and dragged it. She slit their throats while I was pleading my lungs out

“When she was done, she got in my face and told me that a werewolf and a Hunter could never be friends. Her blue eyes, which were usually reserved, burned with icy hatred. Then she knocked me out.”

“When I came to, I was back at our house, with my parents. They told me the bad news, but I didn’t reply to them. I couldn’t.”

“I could not open my mouth and tell them that I watched and could do nothing while my mother’s parents were being murdered.”

“How could I open my mouth and tell them I was weak and powerless, that I made friends with the enemy and allowed them to infiltrate us and massacre a village? I couldn’t, so I kept mute. I did not say a word for the next six months.”

“Then I started training hard, waiting for the day I would meet those icy blue eyes again, and settle a score with the person who murdered my grandparents.”

“I finally did today, and she still got away,” Alexia explained. Tears coursed down her cheeks silently, but she didn’t

Hayden was at a loss for words. He interlaced his hand with his and hugged her closer.

She perked up, “Anyways, that’s not the point for today,” she announced and wiped her tears.

“Today,” she continued gaily, “I am lighting a floating lantern in their memory. I do it every year. Help me, please?”

Hayden stood up and collected the lantern, then he helped her to hold it up as she lit the flame under it. The lantern billowed in the light night wind, then started to float into the air.

On the sides were written the inscription, “To James and Eleanor Green. Keep fighting, keep laughing. I miss you.”

As they watched the lantern float away, Hayden said slowly, “Delilah was wrong.”

“Hunh?” she muttered.

“She was wrong. A Hunter and a Werewolf can be friends. Mates even,” he said and brought her hand up to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of it.

She smiled and leaned against him, “Yes. I guess she was wrong.”


***

“Vanessa! Tell me the truth, or I will report you to the Coven right now! Are you sleeping with the Beta?!” Cole yelled.

“Why the hell are you so fixated about this? It is none of your business if I’m sleeping with anybody, or who I decide to sleep with. Back off!” she snapped.

“I saw you kissing him. I saw you guys hugging. The closeness and intimacy between the two of you is not normal. Are you fucking him?” he asked.

“Like I said, Cole. None. Of. Your. Business! That’s between him and the eye.

Suddenly, awareness dawned on Cole, “Ace is your soulmate,” he declared.

Vanessa tossed her head and put her nose in the air, “So what if he is?”

“Have you accepted him?” he asked, this time with a note of fear in his voice.

“That is strictly personal business, Cole. I don’t have to explain it to you,” she said calmly and made to walk away.

Without warning, Cole grabbed her hand and forcefully smashed his lips to hers. She pushed him away roughly and slapped him.

“What the hell was that, Cole??”

“I have wanted to tell you this a long while ago. I like you. I like you a lot. I want you to be my soulmate. That’s why he cannot be your soulmate. You should be mine!”

Vanessa gritted her teeth, “Never, ever, in your life say that to me anymore. I belong to myself only. Not to Ace, and definitely not to you, you smarmy bastard!” she warned and walked out of the house that they shared.

Cole growled and punched the wall with his bare fist, “I’ll get you, Vanessa. And you will definitely be mine,” he vowed.