BLOODMOON

GAIA's POV

"Are you fucking serious?! No fucking way! She'll die from something like that.”, my mate yelled at my brother.

"Can I-"

"This is not the first time my sister is doing this. She didn't die then, and she certainly will not die now.", Daniel yelled back.

"Do not raise your voice at my Alpha vampire. You are still on werewolf territory. Watch how you speak.", Charles yelled back with darkening eyes.

"Is that a threat wolf? You should stick to babysitting that pup over there since that’s probably all you do.", Thomas fired back.

"Pup? Who the fuck do you think you are?", Eliza retorted.

I don't even know why she's here.

"Guys can we please calm do-"

"Shut up you bloody desperate whore.", Delany snapped back.

I'm starting to lose my patience here. How did we even end up in this mess? Why couldn't this wait a few more weeks?

A sudden crash brought me out of my thoughts. I snapped my attention to see Daniel and Avalon about to go at each other throats, the crash however was from Delany throwing Eliza into the glass table.

Things have gotten way out of hand.

Tension was high and yet nobody was backing down with the rise of this argument. I keep trying to get input but to no avail.

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”

Rubbing her temple, she could slowly feel the onset of a headache she sighed out loud in annoyance.

Earlier in the morning

I've always wondered what it was like to wake up in your mate’s arm after mating for the first time. My father would always tell us the first time he and our mother completed their bond as a bedtime story. I always thought it was the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard, and he’d always recite it with a lovelorn smile on his face.

**Flashback**

“You would feel their warmth as they lay next to you. The shining sun would be just at the right temperature, and it would just give your mother this type of glow that makes her look even more beautiful. She’d smile at me the way she usually does. Sometimes I swear it even sparkles sometimes. Love so strong that just for THAT day you’d forget all your problems and just spend the day in each other's presence and warmth.”

**End of Flashback**

Well, he lied to me.

It’s complete bullshit.

Because I woke up to the blinding glare of the sun.

Turning on my side away from the sun, I'm met with blue eyes staring at me.

"Good morning beautiful", the husky voice of my mate sounds.

"Hi", I smile." How long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes, just long enough to fall in love with you all over again."

I squinted my eyes at him cause his left eye twitched. It only twitches when he's lying. He doesn't even look sleepy.

"You’re lying how long have you really been awake?"

He smiles sheepishly and replies, "A few hours maybe. One or two?"

I look at him shocked. "Because that’s not creepy at all.", I reply sarcastically as I get out of bed and bend over to pick up my bra and underwear. A sudden groan from behind me makes me turn around after putting them on.

"What?"

"If you're going in the bathroom and hope to get out of this room today, I suggest you move quick. I’m tempted to steal you back to this bed."

My only response was a huff of disbelief, "You’re insatiable.”

He only cocks an eyebrow at me and gets out of bed displaying his growing erection. I stared at it wide-eyed before scurrying to the bathroom. His deep chuckle was the last thing I hear before I shut the door.

After a bath, we both headed down so that Avalon could take breakfast. There’s this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something, but I can't quite remember.

Where the hell is Thomas?

In the middle of breakfast, Nathaniel appears out of nowhere, scaring the crap out of me in the process. Out of instinct, I attacked before I even realized it was him. Nathaniel started laughing as he got up off the floor from where I threw him. If this is the way Avalon feels when I phase, then it was a tad bit funny. But what I want to know is why he's here of all places unannounced.

"What the actual fuck Nathaniel! What happened to using the fucking door like a normal person?"

"Come on Gaia, you know I'm anything but normal", he grinned.

"What are you doing here so early?"

"It's 3 in the afternoon sis.", he replied.

I only gave him a blank stare. You know the kind of look that says, 'get to the fucking point'? Yeah, that look. Once he realized I was serious all humor was erased from his face to a more serious look. Nathan's never serious unless it's important.

Immediately I knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong Nathan?"

"It's the first of September. The blood moon is in fourteen days.", he said.

FUCK! I knew I was forgetting something. The Bloodmoon.

"The blood…moon?", Avalon asked.

I could only rub my head in defeat. If Nathaniel is here for something this serious, it means Daniel is probably here as well. And as if he was summoned Daniel phased into the living room space as well; the door is opened as Charles enter. I can already tell from the look on Daniel's face that he’s very pissed off.

"How the hell could you be so careless, Gaia? You know the consequences of not being in containment during the blood moon yet you're here ‘falling in love’ and forgetting your responsibilities! You have not once forgotten about it in centuries.", he shouted.

"I'm sorry, Ok? I didn't realize it was time already." He’s right I NEVER forget things this important. NEVER.

"You cannot afford to forget this kind of thing Gaia!", Delany yelled.

"What the hell is so important about the blood moon that you all keep attacking her like this. I thought the moon only affected vampires beyond saving?", Avalon sounded just as confused as I thought he would.

” You didn't tell him, did you? About Lune de Sang?", Nathaniel asked me skeptically.

I blew out a frustrated breath and responded, "I had no plans on telling him anytime soon but now I’m forced to, no thanks to you.”

"Gaia?", Avalon questioned.

"Lune de Sang is always the 15th of September every year. The vampire king found a way to control vampires who have sins to pay for as well as keeping the innocents safe by reding the moon once a year. The blood from the moon sends vampires like us into a blood lust state in which we lose rationale and seek out blood. But once we taste human blood…. innocent human blood, it becomes toxic. You die within a week. “

"So, this happens to all vampires then? No that can’t be right. Everyone knows it’s only the immoral vampires that suffer the most during a blood moon. The council usually uses that week to weed out their kind.", Charles recounted.

"Exactly. Only the ones with the blood of the innocent on their hands.", Delany spoke up. I looked away in shame. There is nothing I regret more than the decisions I made in the past.

"The innocent? Gaia did you-"

I cut him Avalon off before he could dig deeper, "In the past, I've done some things that I'm not proud of, and for that, I'm being punished. To make sure my vampire doesn't lose control my siblings contain me in a special cell designed for it. I have my wrists, ankles, and neck chained with silver-". his growl of anger cut me off, so I grabbed his hand to calm him down. When he’s calm, I continue,"-while they give me daily shots of my serum to keep me sane and my hunger sated.”

"So many things are wrong with what you just said-", he paused as a look of realization crosses his features. “This is what you were hiding from me. What you didn’t want me to find out. This isn’t the whole thing…. there’s something else, right?”

“Yes, there is”, I sighed.

"Hold on, you said 'us', who is 'us'?"

"My second in command.”, I smiled knowing I'm never alone in that week.

"Thomas”, he stated more than questioned.

"And this place this happens is….”, he drawled.

"Valkyrion."

His next reply had me furrowing my brows in confusion, "No"

The fuck does he mean 'no'?

In my state of confusion, I didn't sense or smell Thomas nearby with a scent I've come to hate since the first time I stepped foot in here willingly. I turned around to inquire where the hell he was but paused when I noticed Eliza with him. She’s got on this ridiculously short black leather skirt and white shirt with her entire cleavage on display. Maybe I should take her shopping for some clothes since she seems to be shopping in the wrong department. Both the skirt and shirt seem to be too tight for her, I can actually hear her lungs struggling to expand for air.

"Eliza", I said with fake enthusiasm. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"Alpha Avalon", she kept batting her eyelashes at him, though it looks more like something got caught in her eyes.

"What do you want Eliza?", Avalon sighed, probably tired of her presence already.

"This leech-". Delany cut her off before she could finish, "Do not speak of him like that!", she snapped.

"Oh, are you a whore like your sister too? She seems to enjoy stealing other people’s fiancés’.", she bit out.

"It sure looks different from where I’m standing. From what I saw, she wasn’t the one trying to seduce someone else’s bonded mate.”, Delany snapped back.

That shut her up.

Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and continued, "As I was saying, he dragged me here when I was taking a nice stroll through the forest looking for herbs.", she replied pouting though again she looked like a blowfish this time.

An unladylike snort at the door caught my attention. Iris and Keiho walked in behind Thomas, though Iris was eyeing Eliza with a look of disgust, "We found her eavesdropping at the door on my way here, so I forced her in. She was saying something about heading to Avalon’s office. I missed the part where pack doctors dressed as if they shopped in the kid’s department of a clothing store."

"Gaia the blood moon is in 2 weeks. We must prepare.", he said.

I sighed out loud, "I know Thomas. Have you fed enough to last the week?"

"I started 3 months ago."

"But Gaia I haven't seen you drink any blood since we've met. I thought you always ate when you weren’t with me but that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.", Avalon questioned.

"I haven't had blood in over 2 centuries. My mother however created a serum that sates my hunger instead of blood. I'll be fine.", I told him as I smiled at him and pecked his cheek.

"Gaia, mother, and father are still in hibernation for another two weeks and you have 5 shots of serum left.", Thomas interrupted.

Everyone but the wolves understood the gravity of that statement, "If mother can't make any more then I'll have to do without as long as you restrain me properly until mother wakes up."

"You told me your parents were dead Gaia.”, Avalon spoke up beside me. “So, you lied to me.”

“I’ll tell answer anything you ask but not right now. Some of the people you have around you cannot be trusted but I promise; I’ll tell you everything you want to know when the time is right. I know how this looks but I need you to trust me right now. Please.”, I pleaded with Avalon.

After a brief moment of staring into my eyes, he pulled me into his arms, “Okay but no more lies Gaia.”

A fake cough had me turning to see Eliza glaring at the arm wrapped around my waist. She smiled sweetly at Avalon and turned to me, "That means you'll die, right? Great."

Delany grabbed her by the shirt and but Eliza shoves her with a push and stumbles into Charles who grabs her shoulder to steady her. A low growl comes from Thomas‘s direction but I’m too distracted by Avalon and Daniel caught up in an argument.

“You’re not doing this Gaia. We’ll figure something else out. Binding you with silver is a method the councils use on criminals. It’s barbaric to use on you.”, Avalon grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him.

"My sister is not weak. She can handle this.", Daniel replied nonchalantly. It only seemed to agitate Avalon.

“I hope you die”, Eliza whispered, but we all heard it.

-This brings us to the current situation right now. -

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”

As the fighting seized, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Eliza pulling glass from her body after Delany threw her into the glass table.

"You are all acting like children. Fighting over the inevitable. Avalon, I know you’re trying to find a less barbaric method, but we’ve tried everything. Nothing works as well as this one. I won’t subject you to that sight. The chains are charmed so you won’t feel my pain and it’s only a week. None of us can. It has been like this for centuries and I’ve been fine.”

I grab his face between my palms, “I’m…fine. My family is only trying to protect me. Look at me…I’m okay. And I’m never alone.”

Eventually, he let go of his anger and deflated, “I know baby. But I’ll stay the entire time it lasts with you. This is something I won’t budge on.”

I look away in frustration. I have enough time to figure out how to keep you away. I’ll think of something. I look back at him, “Okay.”