"I saw the man he was before Cale picked him up at a bar one night. He had gay friends. He had a fiancé, and he had a family that abandoned him because they thought he was a gay prostitute all because of what Cale and Heidi did to him. I know what he did to me, and to Burt, and so many others, but part of me at that moment felt sorry for him."
"Cale raped him Ethan and had Heidi mind-controlling him into seeing Cale as the devil while he raped him, over and over, and shoved a bottle up inside him. I know that's why he does that to his victims Ethan, all because of my sick twisted ex-boyfriend. Why does my life have to be so connected to so many other things going on in this world, Ethan?"
Ethan looked puzzled. He rolled his lips inward as he frowned. "I don't know what to tell you on that one, Xairin. What I do know is that we need to find Cale before he hurts someone else and makes someone else into a monster. With him being an Alpha vampire, making people into monsters holds an entirely new context to that statement. Cale craves power and being an Alpha, that is a dangerous combination, Xairin."
"We will find him," Ethan said confidently.
Damien arrived with Helena, and her youngest sister, Evette. Sara was with them, alongside her husband Isac, and Vaughn. Griffin came walking in with the same black man Xairin saw him with last week and prompted the young vampiric prince to shake his head with a playful grin. "I hope you keep it down because I am spending the night in my old room tonight."
Griffin smiled and locked arms with his human play toy and walked off.
Vaughn sat down in front of Xairin, smiling. "Okay, dude, you have got to teach me how to make one of those rift things."
Ethan looked over at Xairin. "You can open rifts?"
Xairin flung his head back. "Okay, okay, yes. I can open rifts, and I found out that I can drain an entire room just like my great grandmother can."
"WOW! Sis didn't tell me you can do that too!?" Vaughn cried out.
Sara sat down across from Xairin, smiling at him. "Safe to say, you take after both sides of my family."
Damien patted him on the shoulder as he walked by. "I'm proud of you for not giving in to your darker nature, I can't imagine how tempting it must have been for you."
Xairin looked up and over at Damien. "You were right, I was tempted, and I did let my blood control me for a bit, but I found my way back to myself."
Sara grinned at Xairin. "So far, the places we hit, none of them had my mother. I've been talking with Ayrwen Sateele, and she thinks she might know of another location we could try, it would require someone that has seen the place firsthand, and someone that can use those memories, to open a rift. Think you would be up for that? If so, we could change your teams' target for tomorrow."
"You mean, I might be able to help save my Great Grandmother? HELL, YES I'M INTERESTED!"
"I will change the assault plans right now."
Helena smiled at Xairin as she drank from a wine glass filled with synthetic O+. "To Xairin!" She said.
Vaughn had a glass of blood also and raised it. "No, To my Nephew, PRINCE XAIRIN!"
Xairin scoffed. "Okay, if we are toasting, I need some blood guys, kind of unfair for me to sit here and you all toast without me being able to join in."
Damien smiled. "I think I know my way to the kitchen. Be right back."
Cecilia walked in and sat across from Xairin and her mother. She looked at Xairin. "I'm proud of you."
Xairin looked at her, he kept holding his knees and didn't react with sarcasm, but let his heart open up a little. "Thanks, mom."
Damien returned with a wine glass filled with one of Xairin's favorites and had a few other drinks floating behind him as he levitated them out. "To Prince Xairin," Damien said.
"TO PRINCE XAIRIN!" Everyone in the room said in unison. Xairin smiled.
_____
Xairin wasn't the only one having a celebration. Ezra was sitting at his desk as the office was partying all around him. Hannibal had a date, a pretty brunette on his shoulder. Fentrose had let the entire department dress casually tonight. Even she was having a good time. The mayor had shown up, giving her support, and pledging additional funding to Fentrose's division in bringing an end to the murders, though they knew Roland and his lackey were still out there. It was a sign of hope.
Marine had brought someone with her to the party. She had picked up her nephew, Kaysen Brown. The fourteen-year-old looked a little out of place, standing there in a white polo t-shirt, and jeans. His mixed heritage, showing clearly, being half African American, half Caucasian, and then his werewolf half, giving him some bushy eyebrows. Marine hoped that bringing him, would give him an idea of the people she worked with, and now that she was his guardian, she wanted to try and help cheer the half-werewolf up. He was having it hard, trying to adjust. She took him over to meet Ezra. "Ezra, this is Kaysen."
Ezra was wearing a tropical patterned button-up shirt and white shorts with flipflops. He stood up and leaned over. "Hi, Kaysen." The handshake on Kaysen's end was a weak one.
"This is where I work, Kaysen. Ezra here is like a brother to me, a human one, with a little extra."
The boy's voice was cracking as he spoke. "A little extra? Like me?"
Ezra smiled. "I'm a sensitive. Want to see a trick?"
"Yeah, that would be cool," Kaysen said.
Ezra raised his hands over his desk and started levitating pencils, pens, and his tablet, spinning them in a circle. Kaysen smiled. "That's so cool!"
Marine smiled at her nephew. This was a side of Marine Ezra had never seen before, she truly had a maternal instinct about her. Seeing her smiling at her nephew, made Ezra smile. Marine looked at Kaysen. "You should see Ezra blast the bad guys with his powers. Now that is a sight to see."
"Really? You can really blast people?"
Ezra nodded. "I sure can. My sister can do it; also, she's about your age."
Kaysen smiled. "It would be nice to know someone my age."
He looked up at Marine. "Will she be going to the same school as me?"
Marine looked at Ezra then at Kaysen. "She goes to a school for sensitives. But I promise you will make friends in no time."
Grace showed up alone. She was pretty much the cliché of being all work and no play. She went straight to her desk and was looking at case files. Ezra just rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Grace, really?"
Grace turned around. "Hey, we have other cases; besides, I'm monitoring any activity that could lead us to where Roland is hiding."
Even Fentrose had to say something as she passed by. Her electronic voice didn't hold back. "Have fun, that's an order."
Marine took Kaysen over to a line of food that the city had brought in. Kaysen could eat just about anything he wanted since he was just a half-werewolf. He loaded his plate up with some meatballs while Marine went for some raw pork ribs.
Despite the festivities going on around him, Ezra felt cheated. He wanted to have fun but felt like he couldn’t. Roland was still out there, and after the interrogations, he knew there were at least fifteen others out there with him. Ezra sighed.
Ezra crossed his arms and smiled as he watched her. He felt a tapping on his shoulder.
Ezra turned around to seeing Enforcer Jones, standing there, the same young dark-haired man that had worked the scene where Albert had been rescued. He was in uniform; the enforcers didn't get the same night off of being out of their black and white suits. Enforcer Jones extended his hand. "Agent Huxley, how's it going?"
Ezra shook his hand with a curious glare. "Enforcer Jones, right?"
"Actually, you could call me Tristan if you wanted. I wanted to come by and congratulate you guys on what you all did. Even being an enforcer, I'm also a sensitive. It made me scared to even try dating anyone with all that going on."
Ezra shrugged as he looked around. “Honestly, I think this celebration is a bit premature, but we did apprehend nine, so… Besides, they were only targeting gay sensitives."
Tristian nodded. “At least your part is
wrapped up though right? According to the news, after you guys found that weapon, the Global Alliance’s Military took it over, right?”
Ezra smirked. “They had to take it over, we had no choice but to alert them. Once Eve confirmed what that thing could do to sensitives, we had no choice but to hand it over. Roland and his group are now officially declared a Global Terroristic threat.”
Tristian was picking up on Ezra being depressed. “Upset that you didn’t catch Roland instead of the Globals?”
Ezra shrugged. “I never will. He is now a terrorist, and Global Alliance Ops will handle finding him.”
“At least you helped make it safer for our community.”
Ezra agreed. “Yeah, true. Wait, our community?” Ezra asked curiously as he looked at Tristian.
Tristian shrugged. "I use manfinder a lot. I never have any luck, most guys just want a hook-up, and well, anyways… I wanted to thank you guys for making it safe for people like me to try and find someone."
Ezra shook his hand again. The thank you, he was getting, helped him feel a little better. "You're welcome, Tristan."
"Well, I guess I should be going, us enforcers didn't get the night off."
Tristian went to walk off and then turned around. He knew rumors of Ezra being gay, and Ezra was very attractive. He decided to make a pass. "Agent Huxley?"
Ezra smiled. "You can call me Ezra while I'm off duty."
"Okay, Ezra, since you are off duty, and well, I'm technically on my lunch break, would you, like to, cut out and maybe grab a bite, elsewhere? With me?"
Ezra looked at Tristan. He had to be at least twenty-three, maybe twenty-five at the most. He looked young. Ezra wanted to say no, he still thought about Xairin, and after him saving his life the way he did it made him realize Xairin had to still feel something. Ezra was going through the motions. But he had to admit, he was lonely. He looked at Tristian, remembering everything Marine had said about trying to date a royal vampire and bit his lip. "There's an Italian eatery just around the corner, they probably have better meatballs then what's being catered. I could probably slip away for about an hour or so. How long is your lunch?"
Tristian smiled. "I could probably squeeze ninety minutes."
"Alright, I will meet you in the parking garage in five minutes?"
Tristian grinned from ear to ear.
_____
Jason hadn't stopped smiling since he returned home. His employees were getting slightly annoyed at his grins, but also, for the most part, each of them was happy for him. Sam was the most apprehensive, but she knew how important it was for Alpha werewolves to find a mate. She just hoped the vampire in question would take it as seriously as Jason was.
Jason was working hard, covered in oil and dirt, as he replaced an engine to an old white Cadillac up on the rack. Sam was working on a bike, while the others were on break. Jason heard Brittney Ugo call out. "SYDNEY, YOU CAN" T GO BACK THERE!"
Sydney Boothe was the very man that had outed him years ago and started the torment that August put Jason through. Jason's good mood soured fast. He stopped working on the Cadillac and turned around to see the leanly built blond standing there, tapping his foot. His over the top effeminate voice echoed. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?" Jason asked as he leaned up against the car.
"I asked you, is it true?" Sydney asked with a more demanding tone.
Jason rolled his eyes. "And I said, IS WHAT TRUE?!"
Sydney scoffed while his hands rested on his hips. "That you bonded with a vamp?!"
Jason chuckled. "What's the matter, Sydney? Is someone jealous?"
Sam stood up and grabbed her wrench and tapped it on her left palm. Sydney paid her no mind. "You race traitor!" Sydney yelled.
"Excuse me!?" Jason asked harshly.
"You heard me, I called you a race traitor. How could you, Jason, a vampire? Really? HE IS A VAMPIRE! What could possibly tempt you to turn your back on your own kind like this?!"
Jason continued leaning against the car. He didn’t raise his voice, but it was firm. "Who I bond with is none of your Goddamn business!"
Jason glared at him. “More importantly, I’m not a racist.”
Sydney stood there bobbing his head. "It's the pack's business, it's everyone's business, you bonded with someone outside of your race! How could you be tempted and so careless to do that, you race traitor-bitch!?"
Jason looked down at him with a cocked eyebrow. "You need to fucking leave my shop."
"I am not leaving until I understand why? WHY JASON!? Why a vampire? Of all things, why a vampire and not one of your own kind? You could have had me, you, ungrateful idiot!"
Jason yawned. "First off, out of the twenty or so gay wolves living in our wonderful backwoods town, none of you are my type. Secondly, Sydney, after what you did to me, there is no way in fucking hell, you ever stood a chance of ever gaining my interests." Jason pointed at him as his own inner diva emerged. “You and I will never fucking be! You outed me all because I said I wasn’t interested when you asked if I would bend you over and I said no thanks. You kept harassing me the entire time I was in San Francisco; I can’t count how many times I politely stressed you were just not my type. Then you proceed to harass me on Grindr when it was a thing until I blocked you at least eight times and your bitch ass kept making more profiles. Then I come home, and you go and out me! I am not into you, never was, and you sure as hell are not my type now!”
Jason's eyes turned yellow. "And for the fucking record, I don't care what the pack thinks about me falling for a vampire. He's a better man then you could ever possibly be, not to mention he doesn't go running around acting like some whiny ass bitch that didn't get his fucking way!"
Jason growled. “At least my man can kick some goddamn ass and still be sexy when he’s coming across sassy. Now FUCK OFF!”
Sydney growled. His eyes were turning a wild orange color in his irises. “I hope your fucking business goes down the fucking shitter you race traitor, vamp loving whore!”
Jason laughed. “Whore? How the hell do you get me being a whore when I haven’t been with anyone in almost twenty years thanks to you outing me to my fucking bigoted father! Now you on the other hand, how many times have you been caught fucking half the gay guys in town? Oh, and not to mention, being seen at that truck stop out on route 80?”
Sydney rolled his eyes. “I hope it was worth turning your back on your own species.”
Jason’s growing was getting deeper. "Now I'm going to tell you this one time, Sydney. Get out of my shop, get out of my life, and stay the fuck away from my territory!" Jason let out a sinister hair-raising growl.
"You can growl all you want, you don't scare me, race traitor!" Sydney flopped his hand as he spoke. “What you are doing is unnatural!”
Jason scoffed. “Unnatural? Humans used to say the same thing about gays and lesbians, some still fucking do. If it was so goddamn unnatural, then why does our biology allow us to bond with non-wolves in the first place you ignorant racist asshole?!”
“It is WRONG! I hope your business suffers for it! NO ONE IN THIS TOWN IS GOING TO GO FOR A RACE TRAITOR!” Sydney yelled.
Jason rolled his eyes. “You act like I am the only one in town dating or bonded to someone, not of our kind. Massey’s groceries is alive and well and she married a gargoyle.”
Sydney growled.
Sam knew if she didn't do something, Sydney would keep going and end up pushing Jason to the limit. She knew Jason would do something he would regret once that limit was reached. She went up to Sydney and twisted his arm until she had him into a position to escort out. "You heard him, time to go asshole."
Sydney yelled as Sam pulled him along. "You think your business will make it after everyone knows you bonded with a vamp?! Do you think your business will make it?! RACE TRAITOR!"
Jason stood there, trying to calm down. His feral eyes slowly became brown again.
Charlie Boothe came rushing in. The five-foot-five inches tall employee s
tood there in his blue uniform covered in dark grease. Charlie stood there in front of Jason, trembling, lost for finding words to say. He was so embarrassed that his cousin acted like this and was terrified it would get him in trouble. He needed this job. “Jason I am so so sorry he got passed me.”
Jason nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to blame you for how your cousin behaves Charlie. I don't judge people based on their family. I judge people based on how they individually treat others.”
_____
The party at Ethan's mansion was picking up. Several vampires, a few council members, and some other immortals had arrived. Xairin was getting to relax, which he needed. He had been so gung-ho about everything and between Jason and the party, he was feeling like himself again, his real self, his happy-go-lucky self, the person he was before the comet. Ethan had even invited Topher over. Xairin's eyes lit up and ran to hug him as soon as he saw the door open. "TOPHER!"
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