Vasilisa's POV
I never slept at all. Not really.
When I went back home I laid down and stayed there for as long as I could before jumping up and pacing.
I needed to do something.
Anything!
I just needed to get this off my mind.
I went out in my trousers and tunic. I'd had to convince Scar to let me keep my pants. He'd mentioned burning all of them once and I'd put up a hell of a fight for them so he laid off.
I exited the town and found my bow. I strung it up and expected all of the arrows. I'd have to replace several of them soon.
I climbed up a tree I was very familiar with and waited.
I heard some rustling and turned that way, ready to release the arrow at the slightest movement.
When a few wolves burst through the brush, I lowered the weapon.
One of them shifted and it was Talon "Hey, whoever you are, come down!" He shouted.
I hopped down and Talon stopped, his eyes widening "V!"
His gaze went down to my chest "You're...a woman." He muttered.
I sighed "Yes, I am. I suppose you're here for that infuriating bastard, eh?"
He nodded, still staring at me in shock "Well, let's go. You might want to shift back. The ladies here still aren't used to seeing the truly immodest."
Talon did without further comment, which was surprising and followed me.
I slung my bow and arrows over my shoulders, content to carry them home.
When we got to town's center I just waved them in "Last time I saw him he was in there."
Talon stopped as if saying "You're not going to show us inside?"
By the look on my face he saw that was a definite no. He trotted in with a few members of his pack trailing behind him.
I went home.
Scar's POV
When Talon walked in all naked and such, Rhyn and I fell silent.
I heard various gasps around the room as the human females left and the mates of our males shifted a little uncomfortably, but stayed where they were. They would have to get used to it.
He sat down across from us with raised eyebrows "So..." He started, staring at me with wide eyes "a woman?"
I sighed and rubbed my face "Yeah. Can we not talk about Vas for the moment being? We haven't been on the best of terms since..."
I trailed off and Rhyn supplied "Since every time they're in the same room they nearly end up coming to blows."
I felt an ache begin between my eyes and rubbed it "Yes, that. Shall we visit the infirmary?"
Talon nodded and stood. Pants were thrown at him and he thanked his pack member as he slipped them on.
We all headed to Madge's and just happened to find Vas and Julie there with Madge all leaning over a book with strange drawings in it. Julie exclaimed "Madge...look! There it is! Human blood is used for this one!"
Vas grumbled "She wasn't exactly human, Julie. That and it just says a small incision."
Madge butted in, waving them off "You two, she was drowned! She still has blood in her."
Vas groaned "The spell is used for cattle to birth more than one calf! I'm sure the woman was used for that!"
Julie sighed and rubbed her face "Is there anything that's used for drowning?"
Madge looked at her "Oh! Yes! Let's look for that!" She exclaimed.
Talon was already moving forward.
Julie perked up and looked around, her gaze locked on him.
Vas's gaze followed her sister's and she moaned with knowledge. She knew what was going on "Goddammit! Talon! If you hurt her, I'll have your testicles in my hand before you can blink." She threatened, pointing her finger.
She turned to me "And you..."
I grimaced "We came to see Kendra."
She rolled her eyes and Madge turned "Of course, Scar, Talon, leave your mates here"
Talon obviously didn't want to go, but I shoved him towards the hall "Come on, let's go."
Talon growled at me "Watch yourself man. Just because you're not getting along with your mate, doesn't mean I can't get along with mine."
I scoffed "Oh yes, her sister will surely be easier to deal with considering they're both witches, they're both stubborn as hell, and she has a protective older sister willing to cut off your testicles."
He grumbled a string of curses, but nothing intelligible as we entered the room.
We spent several minutes going over the body and Madge threw out some theories her and the Grigori sisters were working on, but none seemed too solid.
When we returned to the foyer, Julie and Vas were gone.
Madge looked around and tsked.
"Scar. Take this to your mate, sit her down, tell her she's pretty and you'd like to start over or something like that." She shoved a container in my hands. It had a smooth blue/purple hue to it.
"What the hell is this?" I asked.
Madge waved me off "Just take it to her."
I glanced at Talon "Come on. You can meet your mate officially I guess, say hello to her mother."
He paled a bit "Her mother? What about her father?" He asked as we walked down the street.
I shook my head "He's been dead for a while. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but anytime Vas brings it up she...she doesn't talk for a while afterwards."
Talon crossed his arms behind his head and gave me a sidelong glance "So...your mate dressed as a man, but's now a woman, and you try to kill each other when you get together?"
I gave a warning growl but he kept talking "Did she tell you why she decided to become a cross-dresser?"
I huffed "The way I understand it is that she was under the impression the rest of the country was still free and that she could get her family out. Of course that didn't happen and she was already dressed as a man so she just went alone with it. I thought my mate was a man for several weeks."
Talon started to chuckle but when he saw the look on my face, he stopped "Okay, okay, let me see if I have this right. She's a woman? She's your mate? She seemed to like you okay when you came down right up until the point...Oh." He sighed "No wonder she hates your guts."
I looked away "Yeah. I can't really do anything about it now. That's when I still thought she was of my gender."
He pulled his arms from behind his head and rubbed his jaw "That is a toughy. It's partly her fault for not telling you she was a cross-dresser, but equally your fault for not taking her to begin with even if you thought she was a man."
"I know that." I barked.
We came to their house and Julie was out front. She smiled when she saw Talon and I wondered what it would feel like if Vas would smile at me like that.
Talon strode forward and nervously stuck his hand out "Uh..hi...I'm Talon."
Julie looked at his hand, amused and then reached behind his neck before pulling him down and kissing him. She pulled away after a moment and replied breathlessly "Hi, I'm Julie."
She glanced behind his shoulder at me and scrunched her nose "My sister is in the town hall...looking for you."
I was about to thank her when she started kissing Talon again.
I turned around awkwardly and walked away. It was best at this point not to interfere with them.
Why did my love life have to be so determined by a single event in my life? It just seemed like an impossible task; to start cleaning up this gigantic mess.
On the way back, as I was pondering these things, I opened up the container and sniffed it.
It smelled sickly sweet.
I raised it to my lips and took a little sip. It tasted like the equivalent of its smell.
I screwed the lid back on and hurried my pace. My mate and I were going to have a little chat.