"You have to understand, Joaquin. I'm giving you this chance because I've been listening. I am the manifestation of all your wants and needs. I am the courage that you lack. I don't need anything from you— You are the one who needs me to help you. Why are you thinking that I'm going to do something wrong? How can I harm myself?"

'But is that the truth though?' Joaquin moved to Irlan's side and rested on the damp grass. He sat quietly, observing everyone with his keen senses. 'I don't know if it's true. Is he real? Or am I suffering something from the recent happenings?'


"Is something amiss?" Joaquin felt Irlan peruse him with a critical eye. He almost felt small with the young man's authority despite his young age. 'Where did Lance get him anyway?' He couldn't help but instinctively deduce that the child is from a family with great significance in the magic kind.

His power smelt like burnt flowers. An unusual scent from a magic user.

"You're avoiding us these days, you know." Joaquin heard him sigh as though it burdened him to speak the next sentence. "We're welcomed properly. What are you being all squeamish about? It's not like everyone smell like dead meat. Just, probably, half of them."


Joaquin chuckled. "Your sense of humor is still incomparable to Lance, Irlan."

"I've been told that for three times this day. Should I worry if he's really my dad?" The disgust in his voice couldn't be any clearer. Joaquin dreaded to think that he, too, will grow up the way Lance is.


"Do both your parents approve of you going here?" Joaquin shifted so he can rest his knees. His hand itched to grab something— or someone.

"Bern was with Samael and Lance discussing god-knows-what about this pack." Irlan huffed as if bored. "While my parents are... gone, I guess."

Joaquin intended it to be an idle talk while they wait for the rest but now that Irlan claimed those words with his tone devoid of any emotion, he paused to consider the truthfulness of his sentence. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't know what happened that caused them to disappear and I'm not sure if it's something that you can be sorry for. Every death has its purpose. I'd like to think that my parents left early because their future life is more prosperous than with me here."

'He sounds hopeful.' Joaquin swallowed the lump in his throat. He could never think like that for his father. Joaquin doesn't have an idea as to who is his mother and what had happened to her. 'Is she somewhere safe and happy now?'

He refused to think that he just popped out of nowhere and Adarmus saw him first hence he is his father. No. Their resemblance came with their eyes. And with his blue wolf, there's no way that he can deny being Adarmus' scion.

If Joaquin was in Irlan's position, he would feel pity for himself. His parents couldn't take him with them into that 'prosperous' life in their next life. He would strive to understand the different ways how his parents deserved the word 'selfish' for not taking him too.

That's twisted. He wouldn't deny that.

Joaquin thought that it was fine. 'I'll never tell Lance. Or anyone. No one needs to know that I'm lonely.'

SAMAEL was pushy tonight and Penelope was having the end of it. Wherever Lesley wants to go, he follows like a fly. He always murmur condescending replies and nasty comment about the girl that even Penelope thought of bashing his head just once.

'How can you call a girl an 'ogre'? Lesley is entitled to like Lance!'

Although Penelope had a hunch that Lesley's identity is just a shamble of misguided information and were actually Beatrix herself, she can't deny that Lesley could actually still be the real 'Lesley' and was just heavily influenced by the female alpha.

They had no proof aside of that one posibility long time ago. And that could change overnight.

"Irlan is with Joaquin. You should be careful about the food and the drinks. They can be spiked." Lance tactfully whispered in Penelope's ears. The noise made their conversation unnoticeable. "Let that stupid Samael be ganged up by Beta wolves later. He needs to unwind."

"That's really not how mating works, Lance."

"And you have any thoughts about how should I handle it?" Lance squinted his eyes before shaking his head. "Nada. We should let the matter drop naturally."

Penelope couldn't help but wonder how did he get this wrong information about fated mates. 'No. You can't drop your fated mate 'naturally'.

"Well, I see you're not the jealous type."

He laughed. "Jealous? No. I'm not like that. He can move to another mate and I would still be like this, smiling."

Penelope tilted her head and moves her eyes to the entrance of the gate. Several cars are coming in. And it was all Alpha Beatrix' entourage coming home in their territory.

"YOU GOT the exact number of people? That's impressive." Horan fixed his hood after savoring his meal. He tossed the empty bag for blood outside the car and wiped the excess at the side of his mouth. "My dinner had a foul smell to it— didn't I order it to be fresh?"

"We made sure it is fresh." Alpha Beatrix's eyes wandered outside the expensive car. The discontent in her voice is clear as day. "I don't know what kind of blood do you like— you were never satisfied with whatever we serve you, anyway. That's a donation from a willing omega. That should taste sickly sweet."

'Idiot.' Horan resisted the urge to knock her head a few times forcefully. Instead of being offended, she would most likely think of it as his sexual invitation towards her. He hated the smell of her wolf. Horan would rather stay away from her. "It doesn't taste anything more than fish' blood."

"Tsk. Then tell us specifically what kind of blood do you usually go by! You're always complaining yet you never tell us your real deal."

'How am I supposed to know? I don't know what I like.' Ever since Horan's last mission got bunked by a freak, something changed in him. Mainly in his taste buds.

He's a vampire with half a mage kind. He can live under the sun within a very limited time. He can be powerful and with his knowledge in magic, he can help even the poorest pack succeed a whole city.

By the means of evil magic.

In his last adventure, he made a miscalculation. Horan has been searching the fool who kept picking all of his traps around a village. When he found the guy all broken and pitiful, he played a trick with him and decided to punish him for life.

He gave him his blood.

This should act as a poison in the guy's body. But along the process of injecting the guy's body with his blood, he accidentally drank a mouthful of the man's life essence.

The man was also a mage. And he is a strong one.

Horan's wickedness took a nasty toll on him.

Now, he seemingly can't be satisfied with another creature's blood. He desired drying that guy's body.

At that time, he was disturbed by the urge that he felt and so he ran away without looking back.

'I should've drank all his blood 'till I'm full.'

He once thought of searching the guy but the certainty that he was still alive is a probability below twenty-five percent. Horan left him pretty-much damaged and a hair-width to hell's door.

That guy should be dead by now.

Horan couldn't get the feeling of restlessness out of his chest. He allowed himself to admit, 'It would be a pity. He has the most beautiful blue and grey eyes I've ever seen.'

"Ah, welcome to my home, Horan." Alpha Beatrix giggled. He noticed the malice in her eyes. "Welcome to the Crystal Lake."