WITHOUT NOTICE

Avalon's POV

*A few minutes earlier*

I eye Keiho as he gripped the chair arm hard enough that it breaks under his hold, my brows furrow in concern as he grabs his chest and leaps out of the chair. My eyes catch Nathaniel, Gaia’s older brother in confusion before he also furrowed his brow. He and I have been running around all day discussing pack and coven business relating to the blood moon in a few days. Keiho only came into my office no more than 5 minutes ago so when Iris suddenly phases into the room looking frantic, we’re immediately on high alert. Her hair was messed up, her face was flushed, she had blood splashes on her shirt and her breathing was irregular, even for a vampire, especially one like her. I immediately knew something was wrong; the blood wasn’t hers. A deeper inhale and I was on my feet in a flash as well. That’s Gaia’s blood. Keiho must have sensed her too because he was heading towards her before she even got here.

"Iris! What's wrong? This is blood! Are you bleeding? What happened?", he fired off questions at her while frantically checking her for wounds.

"I'm fine", she said before rushing past him to her brother, " Something is wrong with Gaia. She’s not healing and she’s so weak she can’t even keep her head up."

" That's not possible.", Nathaniel responded.

"I'm telling you.", Iris pleaded.

"It must be the Blood Moon", he said.

He turned to me, "Where did Gaia put the last vial of serum?”

“In the dresser, second drawer, our room."

He phased before I could question him. Nothing was making sense, so I lost it and yelled, "What is going on?!! Where is my mate?", at the same time Keiho yelled, " What the hell happened?"

"I DON’T KNOW! I heard Thomas and your beta arguing so I went to check it out, but the blood wouldn’t stop. It just kept flowing from her nose. Thomas didn’t know what to do so he sent me to find Nathaniel.,” Hanna said while pacing and rubbing her hand down her face.

"Where is she Iris?", Nathaniel asked when he teleported back holding a needle and syringe filled with a light red liquid. I've seen her use it before, it’s the serum that controls her hunger.

"Charles's room", was all she said before she left. I grabbed Nathaniel’s hand before he phased to Charles’s room and paused to stave the effects of it but what I saw had me a shocked. Gaia had pinned Charles while Thomas was laying on the floor weakly trying to stop her. Her eyes were red instead of the blue I fell in love with, and she was acting almost…. rabid. Nathaniel immediately rushed towards her and snatched Charles from her hold. She snarled in anger when he threw her into the wall where Iris attempted to pin her there, but she just casually tossed Iris aside and moved to grab Charles again. Whatever trance I was in I finally snapped out of. Nathaniel and I grabbed both of her arms and tried to hold her down. Shock coursed through me at how freakishly stronger she was and at the fact that she was easily overpowering us.

"GAIA STOP", he shouted but she wasn't listening.

She started screaming and looked as if she were in pain. She grabbed my arm and twisted her body in a way that allowed her to roll over and slip out of my hold. She kicked Nathaniel’s leg out from under him and slid past us as he fell. Iris used her magic to throw Gaia out of the way, but it only forced her back a few steps. She paused as she inhaled, and it was all we needed to grab her again and pin her to the wall. It physically hurt to see her in pain like this.

" Do something!", I shouted. "Can't you see she's in pain? ". She just kept screaming and trying to break free. Nathaniel pulled the cap off the needle and stabbed her in the chest. She slowly stopped thrashing as the plunger decompressed and released the liquid into her body. She slowly calmed down and looked around. It was silent until Charles broke it, "What the fuck was that?"

After a while, the only thing she said while taking the needle and syringe out of her chest was, " It's here.", while Nathaniel helped her off the floor.

"What is?", I asked slowly.

She only looked at a now awake Thomas and said, " The Blood Moon."

I grabbed her and yanked her into my chest. I was probably squeezing her too tight, but I couldn’t stop the tremor in my hands. I felt like I had nothing in my control. The Flanington’s had too many secrets and now my mate almost killed my beta. She was something I didn’t even recognize. I saw not a sliver of the Gaia I knew in those red eyes. I squeezed her tighter when I felt her dig her face into my chest.

GAIA’s POV

Avalon snatched me away from my brother and wrapped me in a painful hug. I made a move to protest but the tremors wracking his body made me stop. He’s scared. I stick my face in his chest and just drowned in the warmth only he could provide, the rich scent of cinnamon.

" That's impossible. The blood moon isn’t supposed to be here for another 3 days. It’s never appeared before time.,” Nathaniel started.

"I know what I felt. That underlying pressure in my head, that aggressive feeling, and that-...... that unbearable hunger. I felt it. I know it’s impossible, but I felt it. He warned me."

“He?", Avalon questioned.

"There’s this person, I don’t know who he is, but he often comes to me in my dreams. I always thought I had unknowingly stolen the gift of premonition from someone, but I soon realized that wasn’t the case. He often sends me warnings of the future or the unexpected. He said, ‘the blood moon would come upon you when the sun sets in the sky', but I didn't know he meant it would come an entire 3 days ahead of schedule." Thanks a lot for that little heads up.

" Oh…Okay?"

"You can explain all of that later. Right now, we need to get you and Thomas back to the castle and chained before nightfall.", Iris cuts in.

"Why before nightfall? What happens if they're not chained before nightfall?", Keiho asked.

“Did you not hear what she just said Keiho?”

"Exactly what happened to Gaia a few minutes ago will happen to both of us when the moon is upon us.", Thomas told him.

"Does this happen to only the two of you in your coven?", Drew asked me.

"Fortunately, there is only us in my coven but among the other 9 covens…... there are 80 vampires in total.", Nathaniel sighed.

"80!!?”, Charles questioned.

“Hang on…... There are only eight covens-"

“That are registered to the council.”, Iris interrupted.

“You need to remember that to be officially recognized as a coven, you need to be registered to the council. The total number does not include those of the rogue population.”

“Rogues.,” I watched as the realization hit them.

“There used to be nine covens, but a mad man currently heads the ninth one. The things he’s done are no different than the rogue people, so the council no longer recognizes them as a coven. But they still add numbers to the poll where the blood moon is concerned. They don't follow the rules of the council and they kill without mercy. The blood moon, however, is what the gods use to lessen the number of vampires like them. Since it doesn't allow us to attack innocents, they turn on each other sometimes which leads them to their death." He's going to ask. I know he will.

"If that's the case, then why does it affect you? And to this extent no less. I know you said you'll explain all of this to me in time.”, Avalon questioned again. And there it is.

"The extent of Gaia and I's actions in the past have led to the removal of drinking from an innocent. She tries to control the natural instinct of a vampire to consume blood for a different reason, however, I don't. During the blood moon, it’s like our sanity is stripped away from us against our will. When that happens, we can't control our actions, the only thing our instincts are telling us to do is feed. If either one of us consumes the blood of an innocent, that’s it for us. Just a drop and we die.", Thomas said with a far-off look.

He's probably remembering the past. The horrible things we did. We've learned to lock it away in the depths of our memories but like always, it resurfaced.

"The extent? What did you do?", Keiho asked looking at me.

I know I may be paranoid but every time someone asks me what I did in the past I feel like they're judging me before I even explain. It makes me uncomfortable.

“I don’t understand. Something as big as this should’ve been known. The council always said the red moon was their doing. That they used it to contact the Gods once a year. They go into seclusion for a week to talk to the Gods and get the instructions needed to guide our world of supernaturals.,” Charles questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion. If only you knew who really was in charge of the council when it came to decision-making.

“The council has their reasons for keeping this matter hidden. You’ll understand them in time.,” Nathaniel said.

" We need to go. Nightfall is in a few hours.", Hanna said cutting the discussion.

" I asked Luis and Eliza to take over the pack for the week while we're gone.", Avalon said grabbing my hand in the process.

I gave his hand a gentle squeeze and let go. I beckoned Thomas over, “Are you alright? I drew enough energy from you to kill you.”

“At least you didn’t kill me.,” he shrugged.

“You are such an ass.,” I mind-linked him. We both laughed as we rested our foreheads together. “We should probably leave the portal opening to Nathaniel.”

I turned around to tell him, but he was already opening it before I could.

"Let's go."