CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON

Stephan wore his wedding ring on a chain around his neck. He took it off whenever he trained or knew he needed to phase. This and the tattoo on his back were the only reminders he had of his wife.

He couldn’t wait to see his son again, although the only resemblance of Scarlet he had was his fair skin and his brown hair, he was part of her.

Stephan growled his peace would soon be disrupted. He picked up the hormonal scent of Marquis.

“What do you want here? You do not need to enter my room you can speak through the door.”

“How rude.” She pushed the door open and went into his room, “I just came to comfort you before you go out tomorrow.”

“I don’t need you to comfort me.” He got off the bed just as she clambered on it.

“Why do you insist on hurting me like this? You always pull away from me when I want to get close to you.” She pouted.

“You insist on hurting yourself. I have never given you any indication that I want you.” He walked to the gap that was still on the wall. He was contemplating throwing her out through it.

“But your human is dead. There is no one standing in the way of our love.”

“Marquis as soon as I’m done with the beast who killed my wife, I will be back for you and Zen.” He held her chin in his hand. He smiled at her as he threatened her, and then gently planted a light kiss on her lips.

Marquis pulled her chin out of his hand, “What do you mean by that?”

“You killed Sotera, or did you think I had forgotten about that.” he hadn’t planned to tell her what he had arranged for her, but he was exasperated by her and this was his way of tormenting her.

“That was years ago. You can’t still be holding that against me.” she clambered off the bed in a hurry. She was trying to get away from him, the evil look he was giving her sent a cold chill down her spine.

“Where are you running to? I thought you wanted to be close to me.” Stephan moved behind her.

“Don’t come near me.”

“Why? Don’t worry I don’t plan to kill you until later.” Stephan wrapped his long fingers around her neck and dragged her out of the room.

“I’m the only one you can trust here,” Marquis shouted as he hauled her out of the room.

“What do you mean by that?” Stephan was stunned by what she said.

“You wait and see I am the only one you can trust.” She ran down the hallway as fast as she could, getting out of his reach.

Stephan went back into his room and lay down on the bed. He thought about what she could have meant by it. But once the glimmer of his ring caught his eye, he pushed the thought aside. There was nothing else more important than Scarlet and their son. Everything else would have to wait for later.

He took it off from the chain and slipped it back on his finger. Carefully he kissed the diamond-studded moon on the band.

***

“K, he’s too small to be anyone’s hero.” Scarlet watched her son as he played with the other children in the shared compound.

“He doesn’t need to be. They only need Stephan to see him. So that he can believe that he’s alive.”

“But it’s me he thinks is dead. Why don’t I go?”

“You are going, but he asked to see his son because he thinks you are dead.” Kayla still couldn’t believe that there was someone capable of breaking through Stephan’s shield.

Marquis had the practice, she had been trying to invade his thoughts from the first time, Stephan learned of his talent. His mind was his sanctuary, the one place he could be alone with no one to bother him. But now Marquis had found a hole in the wall and her little gift was about to cost the beasts a great deal.

They walked around the large village, weaving through the maze of small houses. Scarlet watched how close they were and how they went about their lives. They seemed at ease, not worried about the attack against them the next day.

They also watched them as they went about their lives. She could tell that they were not happy about having them in their community but they tolerated them. Vampires’ taking up residence in a beast community was unheard of, and the fact that they were still alive was more surprising.

“Remember that?” Kayla pointed out to a pregnant woman. She was so heavy she looked like she was about to burst.

“The toughest twelve weeks of my life, how could I forget?” Apart from the killings, being pregnant with SJ was a memory she would always cherish.

“The feeling is mutual. She’s just about hard it with the baby inside her.” Kayla giggled as she read the frustration in her mind.

“The joy of childbearing,” Scarlet mumbled.

“What happens after this Scar? I know I usually have all the answers, but right now there is no one feeding them to me.” Kayla confessed.

“Is that what you do? Here I thought dying had made you wiser.” She teased.

“Living dead.” She corrected. “And yes that is what I do. I mostly feed off Solara’s mind.”

“Hopefully we go back to our lives. And by that, I mean between the time of SJ’s birth and two days ago. But this time Stephan will be with us.”

“This past year, and months, has been more exciting than my whole life. Something always happens.” She sighed, “I keep expecting them to happen. I won’t be settled until it does. It’s like I’m waiting for something bad to happen, I keep expecting it to happen.”

“Someday we will have boring peaceful lives, with just SJ to keep us excited.” She added as they got back to the main compound where all the children played.

Scarlet watched as SJ played with children his age. For the first time, his playmates were as tall as he was and almost as old as he was. She didn’t miss how comfortable he felt around them.

“He does look very happy here.” Kayla followed Scarlet’s gaze to her son.

“He’s happy anywhere he is that’s just him. Sometimes I wonder if he’s the same little boy who was inside me.”

She thought about the times when he would go crazy over the smell of blood. The angry kicks he would give her whenever she fought against his desires and thirst. She once had thought that her son was pure evil, capable of taking lives.

The deaths they caused back in Washington often haunted her, but somehow she had managed to be at peace with it. She would never forget what had happened but she had decided to move on, to come to terms with her ghosts.

SJ was now the source of happiness in her family’s lives. That was why they guarded him so much. Solara, Xavier, Sam, and the twins all stood around him, but not close enough to stop his fun.

They stood at strategic places where he would always be in their direct eye view. They tried not to make it look so obvious, by joining in the games for a while but they always went back to their posts.

“Is this how his life will always be like?” Scarlet pointed out the six men to Kayla. “Guarded by a six-man army around him, waiting for Stephan to lose his mind and SJ to calm him down.”

“Well, he is a miniature Stephan. And his father’s heart melts whenever he sees him. It will be fine.”

“I have noticed that you are very positive these days K.”

“I have to be, I hear people’s thoughts, what torments them and what brings them joy. Some thoughts just break my heart, so I decided to look at the good in everything.” Kayla’s tone changed.

“How about I make it easy for you and think happy thoughts.”

“Thank you. You are such a dear. Don’t worry SJ won’t be in any danger. He’s got all of us to protect him.”

“That he does.”

They looked up as Solara walked towards them, the worried brow he wore put her on edge.

“Scarlet we need to talk about tomorrow.” He stood between them.

“Tell me.”

“She’s going to freak out,” Kayla warned him. She had seen what they were planning while he walked towards them and she didn’t like the idea.