Chapter 8

He grumbled as he went to his desk and sat down. I followed him and stood in front of his desk, "You are impossible!" He looked to the ceiling, "You need to worry about yourself, El. With all that happened the past few days, it might be best to start over somewhere else. We can't stay and wait until he pinpoints your location." His eyes met mine and glistened gold for just a moment, "You said his name nine times! This is serious, El! You are in danger!" He slammed his hands on the desk, "Are you really willing to give up? Do you want to go back and follow his will? I can't follow you this time!"

"I know you can't, and I do not expect you to." I sighed as I brushed hair behind my ear, "I don't think I can continue much longer. I am in so much pain and am wearing out. I have never heard of someone leaving and hiding for more than a century, let alone three. I think I have reached the limit of my transformation."

"We could leave and start somewhere new. You always wanted to see Australia! You, me, Collen, Chris, Luther, and that boy could leave and start over!"

"I can't destroy everyone's lives. We are comfortable for the first time, Ty. You have found your place and I cannot bring you with me."

"As if you can get rid of me," he scoffed, "we could make it look as though you died of complications related to anemia. You have played out your death countless times! What will one more time make? You cannot tell me with a clear conscious that you are satisfied with that man of the church. He is the enemy, after all! His kind hunted us! What if he finds out? He would hunt us too!"

"I will think about it, alright? This is not something I can do lightly. This life is very calm and relaxing, which I've never had before. To leave that would be difficult." I went to the door, "You and Luther should talk about this too. He needs to make his own choice. Call me if you need something."

I left the room and went to my cubicle. I got to work on the project for the meeting. It was finally reviewed by Ty and the head of the corporation, making it so I had little time to edit the final product to present tonight.

My phone buzzed, pulling me from my work. I looked to see Carley had messaged me in the group chat with Aaron and Cade. 'El, how are you feeling? Heard from Zach that you have been sick.' I sighed as I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms.

'I am doing much better, Carley. Thanks for watching over the kids every day.' Carley replied with a smiley face. 'Something has come up and I want to talk with all of you. Can everyone meet tonight at the usual spot at 8?'

Aaron, Cade, and Carley replied with a 'yes' in different forms. I went to Jonathan's messages. 'Hi, would you be alright with me coming home a little later than planned? My coworker friend is going through a hard time and asked me to go to dinner with her after the meeting.'

I closed my eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. My phone quickly buzzed and I saw Jonathan had replied, 'Absolutely. You should spend some time with your friends occasionally. Take your time and I will see you when you get home. I love you.'

'I love you too.' I put my phone back on the desk and started back on my work. I did not look up until someone covered my eyes with their hands.

"Staring at a screen so closely is going to kill your eyesight!"

I smiled as I turned to Heather when she took her hands away, "Its part of the job. No avoiding it, you know?"

She shrugged, "You ready to go? I want pizza again."

I nodded before grabbing my coat and purse. I followed Heather as I smiled slightly. She began talking about another failed date from the weekend as I got lost in thought.

Could I leave this easy life? Repetitive, predictable activities with nice humans? If I left, I would hurt Heather and could not see her every day. I view this human as a minor version of a friend, which I have not felt in a long time. I enjoy this area as it's easy for people to disappear. Being so close to Las Vegas and having a lot of travelers passing through makes it easy for taking prey and not fearing the repercussions.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as we got to the pizza place and focused on Heather. If I leave, I want to treasure the last moments I have with her. After a quick lunch, we returned to the office. I quickly got back to work and finalized the design before sending it to Ty for final approval.

I felt my heart race as he sent me an email soon after. Luckily, he approved the final design and I let out a sigh of relief. I looked up to the clock and realized there was only about 20 minutes until the meeting would start.

I stood and went to the lounge area by the large windows in the front of the building. I leaned on the window and just watched the humans roaming around in their own worlds.

A tingle crawled up my spine as my eyes darted to two people walking in a group of six. They were walking towards the building and, by the items they carried, they must be the people here for the meeting. I felt myself shake and quickly rushed to Ty's office.

I threw open the door but froze as I realized another employee was inside. "You need to knock next time, Ellen." He looked up to the employee, "We can finish this later."

"Please excuse me." The man whispered before leaving the room. As the door shut, I collapsed to the floor and wrapped my arms around me as I shook. Ty rushed over to me and kneeled in front of me.

"Are you sick?"

I looked to him as tears welled in my eyes, "Full-bloods," I whispered in a shaky voice as his eyes widened, "coming here."

"What? Where?"

"They are coming up. They are coming to our meeting."

Ty put his hand on my arm as I shook harder, "They could be like us and left the pack."

I shook my head, "I know them. They would never leave." Ty stared at me as his face whitened, "They are some of the firsts. The 9th and the 23rd. They are high ranking in the pack. They would have no reason to leave."

"People said that about you too El," He whispered, "maybe they left. It is possible."

"I cannot do this!"

He embraced me, "We can do this, El. We will do it together. We are stronger as a team."

I hugged him back, "Don't leave my side, I beg you. I will lose my control if I don't have you!"

He let go of me and kissed my forehead, "I would never dream of it." He stood and took my hand before aiding me to my feet, "Take a moment to compose yourself and then we will go in. Together."

I nodded as I took deep breaths while watching him grab his computer and some papers. I took his hand in mine, "Thank you for following me Ty; you are my strength."

He smirked, "You can never get rid of me. I will follow you for eternity." He squeezed my hand before letting go of me, "Let's show them how human we have become."

I nodded before following him out of his office. We went down the hall and to the conference room. I forced a smile as the six people stood and came over to us. Each put their hand out to Ty. He shook each person's hand before I shook their hands after him. I noticed that the 9th squeezed my hand slightly more than needed. I focused on my performance and quickly sat down next to Ty on the opposite side of the large table as the six people.

"Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with us. I am Ty Pierce, the branch president and this is the head of our digital design department, Ellen Smith."

An older lady in the middle of the group smiled broadly, "It is great to finally meet you both in person. I'm Lucy Sanders, the president of our branch." She gestured to the man at the end of the group on the left, the 23rd named Meilyr. "This is Mellor Walters, the second in command of our sales department," She moved on to the woman between Meilyr and her, "This is the head of the sales department, Patty Reaves." She moved to the 9th, Affan, on her right that stared directly at me with a smile, "This is the head of our technology department, Allen Layton." She gestured to the man beside Affan, "And this is Will Armstrong, the head of our digital designs department."