Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Unedited

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My father's face is grave as we pull up on the driveway. A small crowd of pack members have gathered around the foot of the pack house stairs, many of them in their pyjamas or with blankets wrapped around their person. Pups are holding their parents hands, wiping sleep from their eyes as they watch on with hooded eyelids.

I mindlinked my father on the way back from the bonfire and at first he was less than amused when I was inside his head at one o'clock in the morning. But when I explained to him the situation, his whole attitude changed and his alpha came out. He told me to come straight to the pack house and to bring the body of the vampire with me.

Kaden is carrying the vampire boy towards the pack house, the large towel I "borrowed" from the bonfire party thrown over his body, so that none of the pups have nightmares.

Stood behind my father is his beta Thomas, Harry, the pack doctor and Lyle Clay.

Lyle's jaw is tight as his eyes follow Kaden up the driveway, his gaze never leaving the body in my mate's arms.

Lyle Clay was very much a member of the Lattimore household, before my father sent him away to learn more about his responsibilities as chief warrior. My dad had always believed that Lyle would do great things, and his greatest achievement would be to make CrescentMoon a force to be reckoned with.

He's over six feet tall and built like a brick wall, with arm muscles the size of car tyres. His dark hair is long and tucks easily behind his ears, and he has a thick heavy beard that makes him look a little bit like a rogue. He's honestly terrifying to anyone who doesn't know him, but I'll tell you now he's the funniest person you'll ever meet and his laugh is so contagious you'll be in tears purely by laughing at him.

He's maybe 10 years older than me, and my dad trusts him with both his life and mine. Lyle has been babysitting me since he was fifteen years old and I see him as the brother the moon goddess never gifted me with.

I think Lyle was the person who taught me how to ride a bike, and he once stayed up all night learning how to French plait just so I could have hair that matched the rest of the girls at a dance class.

His eyes flick up from the vampire to my own, and I can't help but send him a cheeky grin which has his shoulders visibly relax, before his face returns blank as we all walk inside, leaving the pack to assume the worst from outside the closed doors of my father's council room.

My father takes his place at the head of the table, whilst Kaden lays down the body he's been carrying and removes the towel, revealing the transformed vampire we found at the bonfire. His eyes are still all black, and even though they're very much dead, I feel like they're looking straight into my soul.

I can't help but shiver.

Kaden stand beside me and his hand goes straight to the small of my back, and my cheeks heat up at his obvious display of, well whatever it is. Whether it's him being affectionate or just possessive, it's increasing the temperature of my face and I'm definitely sure that my face is the colour of a tomato.

Lyle is looking at me with a raised eyebrow, a small smirk on his face as he sees how I'm responding to my mate's simple touch. Even though the moment is serious, Lyle still finds a way to brighten it.

"Where did you find him?" Thomas asks, his eyes running over the vampire's body.

"We found him a few minutes away from the bonfire." I reply, and I see my father's eyebrows pull together with a frown. "Whoever dumped him didn't even try to hide the body, or what he is."

Harry has gone considerably pale, his eyes unable to tear away from the stake in the vampire's chest. I have a feeling he's present because he was on my list of prospects, along with Lyle, but I don't think discussing a dead vampire was the best choice for his first council meeting.

"What I want to know," my dad growls, his eyes red and his nostrils flaring, "is how the hell this vampire got across pack borders without being detected by the border guards."

"I'll look into it alpha." Lyle replies, his head bowed. "But there must have been some magic involved. That section of our border was being patrolled on the double due to the bonfire, and unless a guard fell sleep there was no way someone waltzed straight through our defence."

"Well find out, and I want your report on my desk tomorrow morning." My father snaps, and Lyle bows his head again before walking from the room.

The little wink he sends me doesn't go amiss by Kaden, and I can feel his hand move from my back to my waist, pulling my body towards his.

"I fear Lyle may be right, alpha." Our pack doctor, Otis, says. His eyes study the body and his fingers run along the slashes on his arms. "Only a strong spell can keep a vampire transformed when being drained of blood. It's natural for their bodies to become human one more time before dying."

"Can you think of who could be behind this?" Thomas asks.

Otis shakes his head. "All I can say is this was not the work of rogues. The stake is made of old birch ash, which is not very easy to come by. If rogues are behind this then they are being aided by someone far more knowledgable."

"I'll need you to head to the catacombs and read up on every use for vampire blood." My father says to Otis. "We need to prepare for possible outcomes and we need to be educated on them."

"I'll get to that at once." Otis replies, bowing his head like Lyle did before exiting quickly from the room.

"I'll have my pack doctor and seer looking into this as well along with sources for old birch ash, Alpha Lattimore." Kaden speaks, his tone of voice suggesting he's far from the playful mate I've just spent the evening with. His wolf is in control, and his alpha side has taken a front seat over his mate side. "If we have more people looking into this, we may find a result faster."

My father nods and turns his attention fully onto Kaden, his eyes still very much red. "There has now been a change of plans, Alpha Thorne. You are to take Lola with you back to your pack tomorrow morning. I will not have her around if something strange and dangerous is happening in my pack, especially with the ascension so soon."

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To say my mother was annoyed that she was left out of the part of the conversation where I was shipped off to DawnStar, well that's an understatement.

She stormed out of my parent's shared room, her hair in her rollers and a dressing gown, and she twisted my dad's ear so hard he was forced to his knees. Even the wolf inside him couldn't overpower the strength of his wife; the strength of his Luna.

But, she agreed with my father's decision to send me away and is currently helping me pack some of my belongings in a bag whilst Kaden is downstairs mindlinking a member of his pack to pick us up in a car.

"You need to pack some warm clothes." My mother says, throwing some fluffy socks into my suitcase. "Alpha Thorne's territory can get really cold during the winter. Oh and pack your best lingerie, you need to leave a lasting impre...."

"Mom!" I shriek, covering my ears with my hands. "Too much info, too much info!"

"What?" My mum smiles innocently, sipping at her glass of water. "It helped me wrap your father around my little finger."

"Yeah, that's still too much information." I gag, throwing in pyjama shorts and one of Lyle's old college hoodies. "Please just, you know, stop talking."

My mother just chuckles to herself before opening my wardrobe and fanning through my clothes. "At least take some fairly decent underwear.."

"Right I think I can finish packing by myself." I shout, pushing her out of my bedroom door and sighing heavily.

I'm both excited and nervous at the same time. Excited to be finally getting out of CrescentMoon and out from underneath my father's overprotective thumb, but nervous because I've always had him to lean on for guidance, and now I can't just walk into the council room and ask for his help.

I look at the clothes my mother piled up for me on my bed and frown, hating to admit that most of the clothes she picked out are super cute.

Grumbling profanities under my breath that I know she can hear because she's probably stood outside my door, I dump all the clothes I picked out on my floor and replace them with her pile, and instead of putting Lyle's hoodie in the suitcase, I just pull it over my head.

"I know you're outside." I hiss when I hear her chuckle. "I've packed your stuff so you can leave me alone now."

"You'll thank me later!" I hear her muffled voice through the door.

Shaking my head, I pull up the handle on my suitcase and head towards the door, hearing her quickly retreating footsteps. My eyes are feeling heavy because it's almost three o'clock in the morning, and I can barely keep my eyes open to see where I'm going.

I then smell sandlewood and cologne, and my suitcase is taken from my hands and rolled outside.

"Who's jumper is that?" I hear a voice growl angrily behind me, and I turn around to see Kaden eyeing Lyle's hoodie furiously. "And don't say it's yours because the scent of another male is all over it."

I close my eyes and cringe internally at my moment of stupid ignorance. "It's belongs to my father's chief warrior." I admit truthfully, seeing no point in lying to him for two reasons. One, I shouldn't lie to the man I'm supposed to grow to trust with my life, and two I can't lie to save my life.

"The same chief warrior who was winking at you in the council room?" Kaden asks, eyes blazing.

"The very same." I shrug, walking in the direction of the front door, only to have a hand placed on my shoulder and spin me round roughly. "Kaden!"

"I don't want you wearing another male's clothing." Kaden snaps, his nostrils flaring and his breathing heavy. "Do you even know how it makes me feel to see you in that?!"

I look in his eyes, and in amidst the fury and the anger, there's hopelessness and fear, and I feel my features instantly soften. "Kaden, he's like a brother to me. You shouldn't feel threaten by him because you are my mate, not him."

I feel my palm reach towards his face, but I pull back, not knowing if we're at that stage of affection yet. I see his eyes follow my hand and a frown form on his face, almost as if he's disappointed. But the emotion disappears as quick as it appeared, and he returns to being annoyed at me. "Kaden, if it angers you that much I'll take it off when we get to your pack, and we can burn it together okay? But I'm cold now and I don't want to go back upstairs to find another one."

I can tell he's considering it, and after a good few profanities mumbled under his breath, he sighs, grabbing my hand and lacing his fingers with mine. "Alright, but the second we get to DawnStar, we're burning that and I'll give you one of my jumpers."

I barely hear anything he says, because I can hear my heart beating in my ears due to the electricity flowing from his hand and into mine. I blink a couple of times and I shake my head, rolling my eyes at the smirk on my mate's handsome face.

He knows that even the simplest of touches has an effect on me, and judging by the mischief behind his eyes, I can tell that he plans on using my weakness to his advantage.

Whatever his advantage may be.

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Gif at the top is of Holland Roden, who plays Sophia Harrison. Only saw it fit considering her and Crystal are best friends in real life!!

This is so weird, because I never have this many ideas flowing into my head for one story, and luckily for you guys I've not got a writers block yet so I plan to keep writing.

I actually finished this chapter a couple of days ago, but didn't release it just in case I hit a brick wall with chapter 5. I don't want you guys waiting between chapters because I as a fellow Wattpader (does wattpader have one d or two?? Idk moving on) I HATE having to wait for chapters.

Chapter 5 should hopefully be up soon.

Hope you guys enjoyed the cheeky, Kaden and Lola moments in this chapter.

What do you think happened to the vampire boy?

Comment your theory, and don't forget to vote and tell your friends about me!!

Love you loads guys, honestly I'm so glad a lot of you are still reading hahah