Falcon

Morning came fast, and we were already kissing our baby goodbye before we knew it. Nora was having a bit of a panic attack as we left, but who better to trust Speranza with than her best friend and our seer.

I could sense something was bothering Charlotte. She was acting different lately, and it was from more than just the lack of passion between her and Draco. I already had a talk with my friend about it.

Draco missed her but was afraid to touch her. Seeing her in pain had to gut him since he couldn’t do a thing about it. I told him that the whole process was normal and that he would cave soon enough. I knew I couldn’t wait to possess my wife and did the first chance I could.

We teleported just outside the hotel in the woods. “Ready, my queen?”

“Yes, my king. Lead the way.” I brushed the edge of her jaw, stealing a kiss. I pulled back before I took her on the forest floor. We walked out onto the path onto the main road that led straight to the main entrance. It wasn’t too busy as we approached, but then a group of six wolves came out and stood on the steps. All of the males were large and fierce looking, standing in front of their obvious mates as a defensive move. I held my mate tighter, leading her up the steps to the group like the ruler I am.

“Hello, I’m Falcon Lombardi and this is my lovely wife Leonora,” I greeted, holding out my free hand to shake the hand of Kane. It had to be him because he was with the twin of Charles’s wife.

He took my hand and shook it. He was as large as me with a lot of facial scruffs. “I’m Kane Holt and this my wife, Carolyn.”

“Yes, we met your sister Evelyn in London recently,” Nora said, directing her smile to Carolyn who was being held close as if I was going to steal her away. I wanted to roll my eyes, but I was the same way. Nora was practically glued to me.

“Can we go somewhere private to talk?” I asked, wanting to get down to business as soon as possible. I wasn’t in a hurry to go, but I wanted the information. My blood was itching for a way to catch Stavros before he could slither away like the snake he was.

“Sure, we can use the conference room. I’m Hunter Wolfe and this is my wife Catherine.”  I shook his hand too before the next two came forward.

“I’m Gage Wolfe and my wife Arabella. We will be joining you as well.” I shrugged.

“The more the merrier,” I exclaimed. It was clear that they were trying to show rank and solidarity.

Nora and I were flanked with Hunter and Catherine in front and the other four behind us. They weren’t taking any risks. I wasn’t scared. What they didn’t know was I could take them all out easily, but I had no reason for it.

“Wow, Dr. Lombardi, Leonora, it’s so good to see you both again,” my old security guard exclaimed, approaching us with a pleasant countenance. He was sporting a Hawaiian shirt looking like he was vacationing it up.

“Hello, Henry, are you here with your wife?” I asked, surprised at the coincidence. Wow, he knows every massive person in the Northwest. Mentally, both Nora and I laughed.

“Yes, she had some time off and wanted a small getaway. I hope that things are doing better now,” he said with concern. If any man could be trusted, Henry was the one.

“They will be. Looking into better investment options for the future.” Seeing that we were in the middle of something he decided to make his exit.

“It’s great seeing you, sir.”

“Have a great holiday,” I told him, shaking his hand. He waved and walked away with a pep in his step.

We continued walking towards the conference room that was far down a hall. Reading their obvious interest on their faces, I said. “He was my security at the lab. He’s a good honest human. One of my favorites.” I saw Hunter give Gage a curious look as we stepped into the room.

I helped my wife to a seat, then I added, “Listen, I’m not here to cause trouble. I have more than enough of my own. I’ve had two of my homes and my medical lab blown up by the Lamian army.”

“Wow, that shit sucks,” Gage added, rubbing his jaw. I stood there, observing him. He looked no different than the others, but he seemed to have a less intimidating presence. He’d been holding a book in his hand, giving the appearance that he was the bookworm type. I couldn’t make out what it said, but then again, I knew absolutely nothing about their people. I wish Charlotte had come with us. At least, she had some insight into the future.

“Yes, it sure does. I’m just searching for answers. I’m looking forward to hearing what you can tell me.” I looked at all of them, hoping one of them was going to be useful and this trip wasn’t a waste of our time or a false lead.

“Now that you have us here what questions do you have?” Kane asked us, giving me a stern face. Calm down, my King. They need to show force, but I can see they’re curious.

That they are, my sweet. That they are.

“Have you ever heard of a wolf shifter mating with a vampire?” I inquired. It was the best way to phrase it. So far that was the only running theory we had going for us.

“I haven’t,” Kane answered, “So that’s why Gage is here.” Gage placed the book down on the table, before taking a seat. His mate already had been seated but he’d been standing guard over her. The book wasn’t any language, I’d ever seen before. The intellectual in me brought out my own curiosity.

“You have a special language?” I asked, tilting my head toward the large old looking book. Gage rubbed his hand over the cover in reverence.

“Only the librarians,” Kane informed me. “We can’t read that shit either.”

“I’m the main librarian for our Pacific Northwest Region, and as it is, I had to do a lot of research to find what I did on vampires. It’s amazing that I found anything on the matter. This is one of the few vampire tales. I found it while looking up what if any relationships to vampires we had. And I believe it may be just what you’re looking for.” He flipped it open to where he bookmarked the page.

Scrolling his finger along the paper, he read it to himself before looking up at us. “There had been a serious incident that happened five centuries ago. We were at war with a small group of vampires eager to take over the area and wipe all threat of supernatural life away, so they would remain supreme around the world. With travel limited to ships at the time, once they were here they looked for dominance.” He ducked his head to read some more.

“We have natural laws that govern our being. One has to do with mating. Once a mate has been found and mating maturity has been reached, nothing can be done to stop the mating process.” We had almost the same process. Our mating process could take forever where they had a mating period and we weren’t likely to have babies. From what I learned about the Wolfe family they were all producing babies like humans did.

“One day while hunting in the woods, a young female wolf shifter ran into a vampire. The beast lurched towards her ready to attack, then something unnatural happened. They were fated.” Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise, but in truth, I felt the rumors about Stavros had validity to them.

“Did they have any children?” I asked.

“Let me finish the rest. It says that the mates bore several children with abilities and others with none. The family name was Cross.”

“Bloody fucking shit,” I interrupted. That was the key to his ability to slink away undetected. Stavros was a mixed breed, an oddity. I wished I killed the fucker centuries ago when I had the chance. “The bastard we’re looking for is named Stavros. That explains how he gets away. He must be shifting.”

“How do you know that he’s a part of this family?” Carolyn asked.

I looked around the room and then to her. “Because Cross is Stavros in Greek. He probably changed his name when his family came here in case the truth was revealed. It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of reason.”

“Wow. That’s nuts. It’s going to make it impossible to defeat him,” Catherine added.

“Does that answer your question? Or do you have more?” Kane asked, seemingly curious to know more about it all.

“Is there more to the family?” I wondered how many others were there out there ready to take Stavros’s place once I tore him to shreds.

“We don’t know. The thing is, we lost a lot of our information in a huge fire and many things were lost including the book that followed this one. Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“Perhaps you can. We came across a dog.” They narrowed their eyes at me, wondering if I was going to call them dogs or something. “And he has been rumored to have been alive for hundreds of years. I don’t know if it’s true, but there is definitely something different about him. Do you know anything about witches or curses?” I didn’t let on that he transferred back into a human form. He had definitely been not human before meeting Speranza.

“Sorry, we don’t. I didn’t know witches were a real thing,” Kane said.

“A dark wizard is the reason many of my people were forced into a perpetual state of darkness. They avoid us for that very reason,” I told them. They didn’t have many of the answers we needed, but they gave us the crucial one. Stavros was a mixed breed—a hybrid.

“Maybe we could ask Creed. He might know something.”

“Creed?” Nora asked.

“Yes, my uncle and the former head librarian,” Kane informed us. “He knows more than the books we have on the shelves. Hopefully, he can provide a little more insight.  

“That would be great. I can leave you my information to contact my General or myself.”

“I’ll definitely get to it once I return back to Redding,” Kane replied. “Remind me, love.”

“Of course,” she said, kissing his cheek. He turned and stole a quick kiss in front of all us. No one seemed to be shocked by it which meant they were used to displays of affection from them.

“It’s a start to the answers we need. It makes sense to me now. I had a feeling but needed some sort of validation. Is there anything you can tell us about your abilities?”

“Nope,” Kane and Hunter barked out simultaneously, shaking their heads with vigor.  

Nora put her hand over mine, giving it a squeeze after noticing that I had them balled up at my sides. I looked at her and immediately calmed down. They had the right to question how much they could trust me. “This is about life and death of the world. You may not want to get involved, but Stavros won’t care if he wins.”

“I understand, but most us are strong and fast and can shift. That’s it. He’s different than us. He’s got your abilities. And obviously, he’s got your immortality.”

“Not once I get my hands on him,” I promised, my teeth clenched with rage.

“Thank you for your time and information,” Nora said to the shifters. She stood up. “We’ll leave you to your day.”

“Yes, thank you for everything,” I acknowledged their scraps of generosity.  

“Wait. I want you to know. That worst-case scenario, we’ll throw our hats in. I know it’s not saying much, but with all that’s going on, he may just come after Charles and Evelyn. My wife doesn’t want that,” Kane added.

“I’m with you as well. My family’s life and those around us will depend on Stavros’s downfall,” Hunter spoke. “As the Alpha of my pack, I pledge our allegiance. Again, if only things get to the breaking point. I will not have my people risk their lives for nothing.”

“I understand, and I appreciate your willingness to assist. This is important to all of us. We need to be diligent. And if I were you, I’d watch out. They are recruiting humans.”

“Humans? Why? Immortality?” Hunter asked.

“That’s their promise,” I answered, blowing out a hard breath. Nora held my hand, rubbing her thumb across my pulse. It was soothing, but it made me long for more. I had to get out of here soon, so I could take my lovely mate.

“You don’t believe it?” Kane inquired; his brow was arched and his face curious.

“It’s not possible. There’s no turning anyone but your mate,” I told them.

Catherine blurted out, “It’s a great way to prevent overpopulation.”  

“Yes, it is. These people are very unaware of Stavros sending them to die for nothing. There will be no glory or eternity for them.”

“That is true. I don’t care for killing humans, but should it come to that we will,” Kane said.

I nodded, then stood. With all my tension, I had to get my wife alone and naked.

I could see something happening between Catherine and Hunter. It was if they were able to talk to each other like we were. “If you need a hotel room to stay in, we have one available,” Hunter offered, winking at me.

“Thank you. My wife and I will be returning home.”

“That’s fine. Sorry, I thought you both looked like you wanted to nap,” Catherine murmured. “With all this talk about dying and fighting, I’m anxious to celebrate life. Hunter, are you ready for a nap?”

“Always, my love,” he said, lifting her hand to his mouth and kissed it. I saw the love and desire between these couples. A feeling of trust came over me. I had no doubt that they were on the side of good. I already looked into them via the internet, but it was mostly what the town was about. It was clear that they tried to keep their identity a secret. They seemed to live a clean life. I know they had a hiccup with one of their own not too long ago, but we all have one of those.

“Well, now that everyone is in the mating spirit, we have to go.” All the women turned beet red but didn’t stop clinging to their mates. I waved them off and headed out of the conference room.

As soon as we made our way out of the hotel and into the woods, I wrapped my arms around Nora and we were back on the island fortress. We entered Speranza’s room and checked in on her. She was sleeping in her crib with Charlotte who had Marco sleeping in her arms.

“How did it go?” she whispered, standing up out of the rocking chair without waking her son.

“It went better than I expected. We learned that Stavros is indeed more than likely a hybrid of sorts. The information doesn’t give us more details, but from what we gathered it was extremely possible that he is able to shift.”

“Well, that would tell us a good deal. Did you learn anything else?”

“Nothing worth anything. They’re going to see if another elder knows anything they didn’t, but there’s no guarantee in that either. How was our little girl?”

“You were gone like an hour. She just fell asleep about ten minutes ago. Go rest. I’m going to lay Marco down. I need a nap too.” She walked out of the room, her large son sleeping undisturbed. Then I turned my attention to my mate. It had only been hours, but I craved her again.