Brad Pitt as Raul Winter and Angelina Jolie as Georgiana Klyne

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We are all in the foyer ready to leave for Crimson River Pack. Staffs are loading our luggage into the cars. The noise, the running around, the number of luggage that keeps increasing is astounding to me. Last count, we had over ten pieces of luggage just for my sister. I hate travelling with them, too much luggage, delay in taking off and I guarantee that they'll scare my mate.

"Mother, do you think you have enough clothes and shoes yet?"

"Sweetie, I don't know how long we'll be there, so I pack for any and every occasion."

"Did you pack that sexy red number I like?" Raul winks at my sister.

"Won't leave home without it," she replies as she bends down to kiss him slowly and long.

"Dad, you're not helping," whines Freddy.

"That's it! We leave for the airport in five minutes, anyone not in the car stays behind," I yell at the ruckus that is my family. I put on my coat, walk out down the breezeway to the first car with Julian my cousin by my side. "Jeffery, we leave in five, got it?"

"Yes, my Lord," replies Jeffery as he gets into the driver seat.

Five minutes later, Jeffery pulls out. I don't bother to check if they're following or not. It will be great if they don't make the trip, if they miss the flight that works in my favor.

My mind's back to my mate, I am looking forward to seeing him, spending time with him and getting to know him. A werewolf in a werecat pack? That takes a lot of gumption for him to do that. I wonder why?

"So, your mate is a wolf?"

"Unh unh," I grunt, not in the mood for conversation. I just want to sit back and think of my mate. But good manners require me to answer him. Julian is my first cousin; we grew up together and are quite close. He's a Lord in the clan, but I am the High Lord of Silvern Clan. If anything should happen to me, my sister, or niece, he will assume leadership of the clan. In vampire clans, leadership is by birthright.

"Yes, he's a wolf."

"A wolf, very unusual."

Moving the conversation away from my mate, I ask him, "how was the meeting with Tobias?" Lord Tobias Hunter is the leader of Blood Dusk Clan and a good friend. He's battling a sudden rise in hybrids same as I.

"He has also seen an unusual increase in hybrids. He put his best people on it and has nothing to report."

Hybrids are what we call humans turned by an Original, a Lord or Lady and a Fledging. A soldier cannot turn a human. They end up killing the human if they attempt to turn one and use this particular skill to kill in battle.

A sudden rise in hybrids can mean one of two things: one, a High Lord or Lady is breeding an army or two, he or she is trying to start a Clan without the approval of the Originals. Both situations are rule breakers in my world with dire consequences.

The Originals are the ruling body for vampires. They sanction every Clan in existence since time began. As High Lord, I am charged with resolving this issue because the sudden hybrid rise is in two places: one is my neck of the woods, Tobias the other. I have limited time to resolve it or the Originals will step in. I don't want the Originals to step in because no one wins when they interfere.

We arrive at the runway. I get out of the car and see my family pull up. Not a minute to waste, we get on the jet and head off. I lean back, close my eyes, and link my niece to keep her mother occupied. I need a minute or two to think about how I'm going to explain six more vampires to Salim.

"...and he's a vampire." My friends have the same stunned look on their faces. I wait a few seconds for someone to say something. I just told them that I met my other mate and he is a vampire. Someone please, say something.

We're in Raven and Serena's living area. I had linked all three that I need to talk to them. Roland is next to me on the sofa on my right, Raven sits in the chair to my left, and Serena on the floor opposite us.

"Cal, seriously, what did you ever do to the Moon Goddess for her to treat you this way? Why is she throwing everything at you, like she's playing ping pong with your life or something" asks Raven who turns to face me.

Okay that was not what I was expecting to hear. "I don't know," I mumble.

"I've always known something was different about you since we were kids. I mean no wolf will readily be friends with a witch. No Omega I know has ever accomplished what you have. No Omega will go head to head with an Alpha and come out of the fight with another Alpha as an ally. Now you have a vampire, a High Lord as a mate?"

"I..I..I..."

"Don't get me wrong. I love you but I'm worried that every time you take a step forward, something pulls you back two steps. How's a wolf and vampire pairing going to work out? Are you going to move into his clan? What about Wood Inc?" Raven asks.

"Honestly, I didn't sleep at all last night, thinking about everything and what to do. Alpha Salim says he's a nice man and that's my impression of him. I don't know where we'll live. At this point I don't know anything but one thing I know is that Wood Inc is our baby, and nothing is going to mess it up."

"Wood Inc. has always been more of your baby that ours. You envisioned it, started, it and ran it. We were just lucky to be part of the business. The move here has been great for all of us. I think what Raven is trying to say is that, when you do move to your mate's clan, we will not move with you," Roland chimes in.

"But we've always been together," I wail, looking at the three of them one by one.

"I know but we are all growing in different ways and directions. We are still friends and always will be. I know I love it here and I believe so do Raven and Serena?"

I look at the other two and they nod their heads slowly. My eyes get teary, I'm losing my friends, my anchors, what am I going to do?

"Cal please don't cry," Ronald says as he scoots closer to me and hugs my shoulder. "We love you. What I'm trying to say is that now is your time. You need to be selfish for once. Do you! I mean it, look out for 'Cal Yorke' for the first time in your life. And we are fine. Really, we all are. I love working in the construction company, you can't yank Raven away from the clinic and Serena is louder than the cubs she watches and having a ball. We've all found our niche so now is the time for you to find yours."

He continues, "and if this Lord..,"

"Lord Rafael Klyne," I inject.

"Lord Klyne, is your mate, he'll do what all real mates do – love, protect and nurture you. And if he doesn't, Goddess help him, I've seen what you can do to an unruly mate and it ain't pretty."

I smile and wipe my eyes.

"I love you guys too. We still need to make the time to go see Esme about potential new employees. She may have three people for us to meet. Should I tell her we'll see her in two weeks?"

"Sure, we just need to let Alpha Salim know. We'll need a ride hopefully on that tricked out jet," says Serena smiling, rubbing her hands together.

"Seriously Cal, I'm glad you found a new mate. I was worried about you. You are too good to be without a mate. So, if it's a vampire, or werecat or whatever, I'm fine, as long as they are good to you. No matter where you go, you know we are with you and always have your back."

She gets up, hugs me, Raven joins the hug and Roland too. We all fall back on the sofa in a big pile of hugs and laughter. I will miss this, I'll miss them, I really will.

"Let me go call Esme and let her know to expect us in two weeks."

I smile, get up and walk out the door.

I open the door and run into Summer and who looks like she's been crying. Alarmed at her tears, my protective instinct kicks in, I hug her to me and ask what's wrong?

"I'm sorry. Salim sent me to tell you something and I couldn't help overhearing your conversation and you all are so close, I'm just a bit jealous."

"Unh?" Not understanding what on earth she's going on about. At least she's not hurt so that's good.

"Most of the folks here just like me because I'm the Alpha's sister and want something. Other than Winter, I don't have close friends. So, hearing your conversation just makes me envious, that's all," she sniffles.

"We are friends now. Apart from Alpha Salim, you're the first person who has made us all feel welcome and accepted. And I'm sure the other three feel the same. You my dear just inherited four new, lifelong friends. So, what's the message?"

"Message?"

"From Alpha Salim?"

"Oh, he said that your mate just left Redwood and should be here soon. A vampire? How posh! I think Salim likes him and if Salim likes someone, trust me, they're not all that bad. Well bye."

What a scatterbrain, delightful one though. I walk straight to my room to change. I need to do what I do best when anxious, go searching for new herbs to experiment with.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Serena says

"He will be, it's Cal after all." Raven assures her.

"But a vampire? I don't care what we said, I'm still worried."

"We all have his back. If all else fails, Esme's got him covered." Roland says.

"Please don't mention that witch, she gives me the..."

"Heebie-jeebies, we know." Roland and Serena chorus.

"We didn't tell him what we decided about Wood Inc." Roland reminds the two.

"He's really going to be devastated. Do we have to?" Serena cautions.

"We talked about this, yes, we do. With this new development, our decision makes perfect sense now. Don't worry he'll be fine, you'll see," Raven replies glancing worriedly at the door Cal just closed behind him.

Finally, I sit in my car as we head off to Crimson River Pack, I am dying to see him again. I have not been able to get his face out of my head. I lean back and pray to the Sun god that my family will behave. Julian and I are in this car alone and the others have situated themselves in the other two cars. I appreciate Salim's offer to provide transportation but if I'm staying here indefinitely, I need my own way of getting around.

Julian and I continue finalizing some company business.

"I'll need to leave in a day or two. Remember I am meeting with those two clinics in Nevada that we heard are arm rolling their blood donors? I know we function on volunteer basis only so I'm meeting with their CEOs to let them know they've lost our business. We don't do business with shady dealers."

"Good, take the jet. I'll be here for a while."

The drive continues, and we get to the pack and drive up to the entrance. Getting out, we are 'welcomed' by Salim and ten werecats, and by their bulk and demeanor, I presume they are some of the pack soldiers. Salim is not as relaxed as I thought. Smart Alpha!

"Salim," I reach out to shake his hand.

"Rafe," he returns the handshake. "Welcome to Crimson River Pack. I was expecting one vampire not seven. You will have to give my folks a few minutes to get additional rooms ready for all of you."

"Apologies Salim, my family is very excited to meet my mate. This is Alpha Salim Taylor everyone. Let me introduce my family: my sister Georgiana, her boyfriend Raul, my cousin Julian, our Chef, Jeffery, and my niece Freddy," pointing to each person.

"We met before, Esme's store, right?" Salim asks Freddy.

"Oh yeah, you walked in as I was leaving, small world."

"Nice to meet you, please come with me."

We follow Salim into the foyer, and he leads us down the hallway where we see and run into a lot of scantily clothed werecats. My mate shouldn't be seeing this! The sooner I get him out of here the better.

"Where is he, Salim?"

"Out in the forest, picking herbs."

"Again? No worries, I'll find him. You're good with them?" I ask nodding towards my family.

"We're good, how will you find him in that big forest? Oh right, the vision and speed thing."

In addition to some supernatural abilities we all have in common, vampires are gifted with super sight, speed, and telepathy. Higher level vampires have these abilities heightened so I have it in spades. I leave my people in Salim's very capable hands and head off to find Callum.

I scan the area and I see him stooping to touch some leaves, about ten miles out from where I am. I fly to the area and land just twenty feet from him.

"You're back," he says without turning around.

I walk slowly towards him as he gets up and starts to run towards me but then stops himself.

"It's okay you know."

"What?" he asks.

"The desire to run into my arms, it's okay, I'll always catch you."

He resumes walking, reaches me and looks up to me with those lovely sea blue eyes. They turn gold and I realize that color belongs to his wolf. I bend down and kiss him long and deep, holding him close to me. He wraps his arms around my neck pulling me closer. I feel sated, happy and home at last. I stop kissing to look at him.

"Kiss me again," he says demandingly.

"As you wish," I gladly return my lips to his and mold his whole body to mine, thinking to myself, I kissed a boy and I like it!

"Missed you. Couldn't wait to be back." I hold him close not wanting to let go. "What's with the leaves all around you?"

"It's my business, I make herbal pain reliever among other things for supernatural. Though I don't know if it works on vampires. Want to sit? Shit, you're dressed in your expensive suit, never mind."

"No worries, they'll clean, you invite me to sit and I'm sitting." I plop down rather ungracefully hoping my mate didn't see that. I never sat on the ground before in my life. Callum sits down beside me.

"You make healing creams, nice. Don't you need a license or approval to sell them?"

"Esme took care of all that, no idea how but she did. I've not tried them on vampires though. I'll like to know if it works on you guys too."

"No need, vampires self-heal. So, I'm told you're Esme's root? Unusual and very disturbing."

"Esme is cool. She may seem a bit rude and brash, but she really is sweet."

"Esme sweet? We are talking about Esme Wood the High Priestess, right? Sweet? There are a lot of words I can use to describe Esme like rude, obnoxious, arrogant, loud, annoying, exasperating, crazy, ..."

"Okay, okay, that's just on the outside. Deep inside she's a loyal friend and I don't know what I would do without her."

"Let's talk about your friend Esme another time. I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?"

"When I told my family that I'm staying with you, they insisted on coming along, so they are here at the main house. My sister, cousin, sister's boyfriend, and my niece."

"All of them?"

"No, not all. My parents didn't come. Don't worry, my family's okay just a tad opinionated and a little bit pompous. Other than that, they like any other family."

"I have to change, I can't see them looking like this," he points to his stained pants.

"You look fine, believe me, it's easier to get the initial meeting over with and not fret too much about it. Come on let's go, I don't want to leave them alone for too long. Don't know what kind of damage they'll inflict on the werecats. Close your eyes and hold on to me, okay?"

We arrive at the pack house entryway a minute later and walk into a commotion. Georgiana has a cub up by his neck, Raul is standing by her side hissing at the other cubs surrounding them. Freddy is sitting on the arm of an occupied sofa looking relaxed, but I can see she's in fighting mode. Julian is leaning against the fireplace smirking, and Jeffery is standing by the door. Salim meanwhile is trying to pacify Georgiana. Seriously, just a few minutes and my family has managed to turn the pack house into a roadhouse.

"Alpha Salim, what do you teach your cubs about inappropriate touching?" Georgiana asks, effortlessly holding the cub up, moving his head back and forth, looking into his eyes as if she's studying an unknown species.

"Darren, I have warned you about touching people without permission. Do you want to die?" Salim questions the young man.

"No sir, but what a way to go. I'll gladly die touching her."

"Touch my woman again and I promise you, that you will die," Raul threatens the young man.

"Such a cute cat, dumb but cute. Now what do you call that style of dancing you were doing?" asks Georgiana as she drops Darren to the floor.

"Twerking" replies Darren, who scrambles off the floor and discreetly moves away from Georgiana and Raul.

"Dancing you say. I beg to differ. Dancing my dears, is all about the enticement of your partner's mood and soul." Georgiana says as she walks around the werecats, winking or touching the male ones as she glides around the room.

"The best type of dancing is not acrobatic. No, no, no. It's more of a graceful movement, fluid, sensual and captivating to watch. When dancing with your partner, especially your lover, your moves should be like making love on your feet with your clothes on. Raul, I think we need to teach these cubs a thing or two about Argentine tango, you game?"

"Always my love."

"Who's that," whispers Callum in my ear.

When Georgiana puts on her full-on mesmerizing aura, she's something to behold and these cats are captivated.

"My sister, Georgiana." I whisper back.

"Uh uh, and you say Esme is crazy?"

Well he's got me there; my family is just as crazy as Esme Wood.

I'm at loss for words. One minute she has him by the throat and next she's going to teach him to dance? I think I just flew into the twilight zone. Alpha Salim walks up to Rafe and I, motioning to his soldiers to disperse. I didn't even notice them.

"So Rafe, how long is your indefinite stay going to be again?"

My mate looks at Alpha Salim apologetically and shrugs.

I mind link Alpha Salim.

Alpha Salim?

Yes, Cal.

HELP. ME! I think my mate's family is cuckoo for cocoa puffs.

Alpha Salim burst out laughing.

The vamps are in town and not afraid to take over, the fun is just beginning 😊.

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