My Birth Right

Chapter 12: Coming Together

*Derek*

               After my brother Blake disappeared, I assumed the Alpha position. My brother had always wanted me to take on the role alongside of him, but it was forbidden; In a pack there can only be one Alpha. “I see you have been doing great things as the Alpha” Blake smiles over at me “Thank you Blake” I say back. He starts laughing “I always knew you would make a great Alpha” “You know by birthright, you can always claim your rightful position” “I don’t want it, the Alpha role suits you better. Brother” he jokingly vowed to me, and we both burst out laughing. “You guys are acting like a bunch of teenagers” Cole butted in our brotherly reunion. “Oh, come on Dad, we haven’t seen each other in years, I missed him” Blake said pretending to be butthurt, we busted out laughing again, I cannot believe he just called him dad, I’ve missed my brother too much. Cole shook his head in a disapproving manner “Just because I’m your father-in-law does not mean you can call me dad. You may refer to me as Sir” oh, Cole was definitely joining in on the fun now, this was great. “Excuse me, Sirs.” I forgot that Wesley was still in here “but we have more oppressing matters that need to be taken care of.” The three of us looked at each other and straightened our composure. I cleared my throat before speaking again not wanting to let out an accidental laugh. “You’re right Wesley, please get a conference call set up with the Alpha’s of the surrounding packs, mind link me when everything is ready” I finally said “yes Alpha” Wesley bowed his head and exited the room.

               The room had suddenly gone awkward, and I didn’t know how to start up a conversation again, “Well I should probably speak with the noble families of the vampires and see where they stand in this, since Dominick is gone, it will take me a bit longer to fly around, I will call you with any updates,” “Thank you Cole” and with that he was gone. Blake and I were the only ones left in the room and he looked like he had something on his mind. “Blake, is everything ok?” “Derek, I wanted to thank you for taking care of my daughter when I wasn’t able to, you don’t know how much that means to me” he sincerely said. “It was no problem at all, I love her like she’s my own” and I did Lilith held an incredibly special place to my heart, just like my daughter Odalis. “Talking about Daughters, your Daughter Odalis has grown to be a beautiful woman as well.” We talked about how special our daughters were to us, how we would give our lives for them to be able to survive. “By the way Blake, tomorrow is Lilith’s 18th birthday, I had a big party planned for her. But now I’m not too sure we should do it, with everything that’s been going on.” “I think a party is exactly what we need, at least one last party before we go to war” he was right, we all needed this, not just for Lilith but for everyone else as well.

               We were walking around the castle just talking and catching up when Wesley mind linked me. “Alpha, the other Alphas are ready for you” “Thank you Wesley”. I cut off the mind link. “Well brother, would you like to join me for the conference call?” “Sure, I can’t wait to see the other Alpha’s faces when they see me” he smiled and started running like a little kid to my office, I just shook my head and chuckled under my breath before taking off on a run myself. He waited for me outside of the office door, he was much faster than I was, but that didn’t matter. He opened the door for me and waited till I went in first, as I was walking in, he stuck his foot in front of me so fast I didn’t see it and tripped. He hysterically laughed and stepped over me before taking a seat on the couch across the television.

               I grunted and stood up dusting myself off before making my way over to my desk and sat down on my chair. I pressed a button on the remote that was on my desk, on the T.V. all of the Alphas that Wesley had summoned were present. Surrounding our pack borders, including Adrian’s pack, were 3 other packs. So today I would only have to speak with three Alphas, once this conference was over then Wesley could take over with future conferences regarding this matter. “Alphas, thank you so much for taking this time in joining me today” “Alpha Derek, Beta Wesley” all the Alpha’s greeted us. They then turned their attention over to Blake, looks of confusion and surprise were written all over their faces. “Alphas allow me to re-introduce you to my brother Blake, at first thought to be dead, we recently learned that he has been in a coma for the past 10 years” I decided to keep the truth from them for the moment. “Welcome back Blake, will you be resuming your position as Alpha? Is this what this meeting is about?” Alpha Jason from the Light Moon pack asked, “Unfortunately not, my brother has been doing a great job taking care of the pack and I will not interfere” Blake respectfully answered.

               “With that being said, we have called you for other matters” the Alphas now turned their attention to me. “My brother and I have kept a secret from the moment we first shifted, we are what is known to be the Gemini twins” all three of the Alphas gasped. “Why keep it a secret? I believe we had a right to know something like this Alpha Derek!”  Lucas, Alpha of The Mist pack spoke this time, he didn’t sound very happy that a secret this big was kept from him, being the oldest of the Alphas here. “Being a Gemini twin comes with many dangers, other beings seek to take the power away for their own selfish reasons, which is why we kept it a secret” I raised my voice at him, how dare he question a decision made for the safety of others. “we are currently facing one of those threats, the king of vampires and his son Ciaran are after the powers of the Gemini, putting my pack and others at risk. The vampire king has recently awoken and will be seeking to regenerate his strength by taking the blood of whoever he wants” this meeting was starting to irritate me, I forgot how stubborn some of these Alphas could be. “If I remember correctly, Blake you have a daughter isn’t that right?” the third Alpha spoke this time, Alpha Joshua of the Mountain Pass pack. He had seemed the only one that was calm about all of this and the one trying to pay attention to all of the details.

               My wolf put his guard up, knowledge of Lilith should have been erased within all supernatural beings. “Yes, but how did you know about my daughter?” Blake had tensed up. “When my father was Alpha, being one of your closest allies, told me about your daughter. Somehow my memory of her was erased until recently, care to explain?” how could I have forgotten, the previous Mountain Pass Alpha was one of the most knowledgeable wolves around this area, if anyone knew more about the Gemini twins, it would be him; from the looks of it though, he passed down everything he knew to his son Joshua, I slapped my forehead and grunted out loud. “Alpha Joshua, it seems that you already know why we are having this meeting” I said before my brother could say anything. He smiled over at me, “as a matter of fact I do, my father wrote a whole book on it, I will arrive with my warriors late today. But I will stick around for the remainder of the meeting, in case you need help with any explanations” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, thank god he agreed to help, having him on our side would make it easier for other packs to join in as well. “Can somebody start talking! I’m tired of waiting around for answers!” once again old man Alpha Lucas yelled “not only was a secret kept from the rest of us, but a child Alpha like Joshua is in on it?” Joshua growled at the older Alpha “You watch your tone old man, that attitude of yours is probably why other Alphas don’t trust you to keep werewolf secrets, especially with a big one such as this one.” I was amused and so was Blake I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh, nobody dared speak that way to Lucas before, but the younger generation demanded just as much respect as the older.

               The quicker we got this over with, the better, I did not want to sit here for hours listening to Lucas complain about how nobody respects him as an Alpha. I growled getting everyone’s attention to me and shutting them up from whatever argument was about to take place. “I think that is enough! We need to continue with the conversation at hand.” I took a deep breath to calm me down a bit before continuing; “Since my brother and I are the Gemini twins, him being the oldest has the ability to possess a single magical power, also the gifts will be passed down to his children. My brother’s mate was also a Gemini twin. As it is known women Gemini are vampires. My nice was born a hybrid. As the hybrid child she also has possession over magic. The myth says that the hybrid child will possess magic that surpasses the most powerful witch.” I finally finished “So, a war is about to break out all because the vampire king is after your niece?” Blake and I both growled at the same time. “Watch the way you talk about my daughter Lucas” I’m fairly sure that Zion was the one that spoke out. If he would’ve been in here, Blake would have definitely attacked him. “If I didn’t know any better, Lucas, I would think that you would want to hand over Lilith to the vampire king” Joshua spoke, I let out another growl “That’s not going to happen” I blurted out. “Well why not? If its she that he wants, we could prevent this war from happening, sacrifice one, and save many” Lucas was really starting to piss me off. “Alpha Lucas, if the vampire king gets his hands on the girl, he will absorb her powers, making him the most powerful creature ever to exist. He is a power-hungry maniac. If we allow this to happen, he will exterminate all of the wolf kind” Joshua spoke, I could tell he was holding his wolf back from lashing out as well. I saw the color leave from Lucas’ face, it seems that he finally got the message through his head. “I will arrive later today as well Alpha Derek, my pack and I will back you up on this” Alpha Jason agreed to join us in the fight.

               Now we just needed to wait to see if Lucas would join as well or not, he was sure taking his time in saying anything at all. “Blake, I have a question for you” Joshua broke the silence between everyone. “What is it?” Blake answered. “Has your daughter gotten her magic yet?” his question had gotten my attention, why did he want to know if she had her magic yet or not? “um, yeah why do you ask?” “Because it seems that your daughter’s magic might be the only thing powerful enough to help us out in this war… if she knows how to use it” I knew what Joshua was doing, in his own twisted way, he was going to convince that coward Lucas to join us. “she has been practicing non-stop. She knows how to wield her magic.” I answered before Blake got the chance to. “Good, in that case I believe that we have covered everything we need” Joshua talked with confidence in every word he had said “We will be there as well. My pack will arrive in the morning” Lucas finally said, somehow Joshua manipulated him into joining. “oh, and one more thing before you go, tomorrow is also Lilith’s birthday, and we will be hosting a celebration for her.” Blake added, everyone nodded and got off the screen.  

               This was the most stressful conference I have ever held in my life; I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my temples with my fingers. I had somehow managed to get a headache with all the bickering form Alpha Lucas. “Well that went well, wouldn’t you say brother?” it shouldn’t surprise me by now that Blake would be amused by something like this afterwards. Sometimes I felt like the more responsible and mature one. “I should’ve listened to the doctor and stayed to rest longer” I whined. “Wesley, please contact the remaining Alphas and fill them in on the situation, I am going to rest” I started to get up from my chair. “Yes Alpha” Wesley quickly headed to the phone, while Blake just shot me you are no fun look. I wasn’t in the mood for this right now. “I will see you later Blake, and please. Don’t cause any trouble while I’m resting” I said with a tired voice. “actually, I was thinking of spending more time with my daughter, so don’t worry about me Derekey” he bolted out of the room before I could say anything. Ugh brothers. I walked out of my office, headed to my room, and passed out.   

                                                                          ~~~~~~~

               *Cole*

               Being around Blake and Derek was entertaining, but they needed to start acting like adults and focus on the matter. I never had a brotherly connection with my own brother, so when Blake jokingly called me dad, I just had to try to join in as well. Unfortunately, my fun was cut short by the Beta Wesley, who seemed more focus on the war than having fun. That was probably a good thing though, the Alpha needed someone to keep him in check whenever he would have his childish moments. I had used my super speed to get out of the castle, once I was outside I shifted and took my wings out, I immediately took off flying and made it to Romania in about 10 minutes instead of the 4 hours it would’ve taken if I had traveled by plane. Many of the vampires lived within the castle grounds, but there were the noble families who had their own mansions spread out throughout Romania and other places around the world. The majority of the vampires that lived outside of Romania preferred not to be in a coven and enjoyed the solitary life instead; once I would talk to the noble families then they would make sure that word spread to all vampires that would want to join forces with Witches and werewolves.   

               So, it was decided, this is where I would start, and if I needed to, I would go to my father’s castle, but I was really hoping it would not come to that. I would now be considered a traitor to my father, and he would most likely drain me of my blood, and this time there would be no one to save me. I walked up to the first mansion, being of royal blood and a prince, I could not be denied a visit; I could always compel other vampires to do whatever I wanted, but I wanted them to choose of their own free will. “Prince Cole, please come in” a small maid opened the door for me and invited me inside. “Please follow me” we walked over to a library where she motioned for me to take a seat, “Please wait here while I go fetch the master” I gave her a nod in approval, she then exited the room closing the doors behind her. I did not take a seat though, the room looked too amazing, and I wanted to explore. I came up to a table that had several bottles of whiskey and small glass cups, so I poured myself some whiskey.

               After a few minutes, the door to the library opened again, this time instead of being the maid, a man in an expensive suit walked in holding a baton on one hand. “Prince Cole, welcome, to what do I owe this pleasure?” the man sounded happy that a royal vampire would visit him in his home. “Thank you, I am not here on a formal visit, so I will get down to business. I have come to ask you where your place stands in this upcoming war?” “yes, I’ve heard that the vampire king has awakened and he’s looking to seek more power from the werewolves” he poured himself a shot of whiskey and shot it back, then poured himself another before taking a seat on a chair. “I believe that it is time for another vampire to take reign, many vampires have suffered at the hands of king Vladimir, he is not fit to rule anymore, and neither is Ciaran. Us vampires are getting tired of having to sacrifice ourselves for them to survive and gain more power” he shot back the rest of the whiskey he held in his hand. I could tell that he was not done talking so I waited for him to keep speaking. “The vampire race is going to fall in its numbers if we keep going this way, many have no choice because they are being compelled to obey every order given to them, with that being said… the majority of the noble families have come together to overthrow the king and the one next in line. Of course, we know you are nothing like them” he stood up from his chair and put his fist over his heart “Cole, Prince of the vampires. We will follow you to war against the vampire king” he bowed his head to me.  

               When I came here today, I was expecting the noble families to deny my request, but for them to request to fight by my side was definitely unexpected, this was great. “Thank you, Lazarus, I really appreciate this. You should know that we will be joining the werewolves and the witches. Please gather all the vampires that are with us and meet us in Darkwood pack in London.” I ordered him “Yes sir. And if I may ask, what is the king after exactly?” curiosity getting the better of him. “My father is after the power of the Gemini twins, we will also be protecting the hybrid child, my granddaughter” I proudly stated. His eyes lit up with amazement, “The savior of the races” he said almost in a whisper, but because of my super hearing I was able to hear, a smile crept up over his face. “This is a proud day for vampires everywhere, I will gather everyone up immediately” he excitedly said. “Thank you, Lazarus, I will meet you in Darkwood” I bowed my head to him and left, as I was exiting, I heard him calling his wife. Besides for the blood, I have never seen a vampire being much more excited over a war.

               I hope that the others had as much luck as I did when getting everyone to join in. this war will definitely affect everyone, possibly even the humans. As I was taking a walk through the forest I stopped to think. Just how many people had my father and Ciaran compelled to follow them obediently. I was quite sure Lazarus was one of the vampires that was the most loyal to my brother. If he had been obediently following his orders before, how come now he was set on overthrowing him? and the rest of the noble families as well? Had they been compelled this whole time to be loyal followers? If the compulsion is gone then that would mean that Ciaran was dead. I flew to the castle and snuck around so that I could confirm my suspicions. I entered through the window of my old room on top of one of the towers. I opened the door slowly and looked in the hallway to see if there was anyone around, once I was sure it was clear to come out, I used my super speed to walk through the hallways. I made it to the very bottom floor without being spotted. I spotted a vampire girl that was walking towards the kitchen, I quickly grabbed her and pulled her into a closet. I stared directly at her eyes to compel her, “I’m going to ask you a few questions and you’re going to speak with the truth” I said “I will speak the truth” she answered back meaning that the compulsion worked. “Where is Ciaran?” I asked, “I’m not sure, nobody has seen him since the attack from the werewolves,” “and my father is here?” “Yes, king Vladimir has taken charge of the castle” “what is he doing right now?” “He has ordered many of us to find blood for him so that he can regain his strength, he has even taken some of the vampires and killed them, draining them of their blood” I felt my face went pale at the sound of that, he was a monster, and he didn’t care who he was taking blood from as long as his strength was back.   

               I took a deep breath; I didn’t know what to do right now. If I attacked him, I could risk getting drained myself. if that happened then the vampires would most likely not join forces to overthrow him. Any information that I had gathered would also be lost, my granddaughter would need me to come back. “How long before he reaches full strength?” “I d-don’t know. I’m afraid that if I go in there then he will drain me too, he’s ravenous for blood right now, we are trying to stay away from him. Most of us have been capturing humans and throwing them to him, afraid for our own lives.” “how many of you?” she looked at me confused before answering. “um, maybe 50” “gather them all up and meet me in the forest, we are getting out of here” “but, we can’t, he will kill us all” she said afraid for her life “We have an army that is going to fight against him, would you like to join or not?” I asked getting irritated. “yes” she whispered. “great, now go get everyone and meet me outside in the forest by the west side” she nodded and left the room. I still didn’t know whether Ciaran was alive or not, the fight could have left him more injured than Derek and Adrian thought at first, if that was the case it was better not to fight him and my father at the same time.

               I made my way out of the castle, this time without having to sneak around so much, about half an hour passed before vampires started making their way to the forest where I was waiting for them. They all had nervous looks on their faces, probably thinking whether they should leave with me or not. “Brothers and Sisters, thank you for joining me, we will leave this place and head towards Darkwood pack in London, there, we will come together with the werewolves and hopefully the witches as well to finally end the reign of the vampire king Vladimir.” I said my voice emanating power and authority. Everyone stood tall and brought their fists to their chests “yes, sir” they all said in unison. “now follow me, so we can prepare to go to war” I turned around and started speed walking through the woods with the vampires following close behind. Dark clouds started to form, as the darkness from the night filled the earth, thunder boomed through the sky, mist starting to form on the ground, we became invisible as we disappeared through the forest in our natural predatory environment.