Chosen by The Fates: The prophecy

Chapter II - A rude awakening

“Hunger getting worse, young-one?” he asked, handing me a blood-bag. I nodded and started drinking the cold blood. As soon as it touched my tongue, I could feel my body shivering with delight. My strength was replenished and I suddenly felt energised. Ambro didn’t say anything, just sat down on the bench and looked at me.

“How long do you think you’ll last with that only?” he asked as soon as I was finished.

“About a week, a week and a half. Maybe two if I don’t use my affinities.” I shrugged.

“That long? You want to test it?” he asked.

“No, I am going to ascend within the month, I need to start training for it. It's going to be a big one. I can feel it. Which means this will require a lot more blood than last time. I have a feeling this is going to be the ascension of both sides and, if I am correct, it could potentially kill me or someone I care about.” He was the only one I have confided in with this information and I wasn’t sure how he was going to react.

Since it was uncommon for hybrids to have two active beast genes and most of them died in their first stage of ascension, we didn’t have much information as to how any of my stages would go and they were all terrified of losing me to every stage of it.

So far, I had survived two wolf stages and two vampire stages. Getting my wolf form and the scent manipulation were the first two stages of the wolf ascension and they happened at 13 and 18 respectively. While the first wolf shift was painful, the first vampire stage was excruciating. Getting my second set of fangs felt like my gums were being cut open and the worst part was that as soon as my fangs came out completely, the thirst and hunger for blood became physically painful and I was left in agonising pain for six days without the ability to move even as much as to open my mouth to drink the blood they were offering me. They had put me in an induced coma to keep me alive and feed me blood through an IV. For 2 weeks after the coma they continued to feed me blood through the IV and occasionally rubbed my gums with blood to activate my fangs, to think that’s how I was getting the blood. The amount of magic they all put into that stage alone knocked out six of the twelve Impartials for three days after I finally woke up. And when I did wake up, all of my senses had been heightened to an extent where I thought I had died from the pain of the ascension and I was filled with so much rage all I wanted was to kill. I nearly killed Theo and Ambro and scared the s**t out of my mom. Theo and Ambro were in the infirmary for two days after that and said I caught them off-guard. I think we all knew if it wasn’t for Circe’s stun spell they wouldn’t be here today. After that, the second vampire stage gifted me with mind control and telekinesis. The first stages almost killed me, while the second ones were somewhat more mellow and I wasn’t sure why that unsettled me even more.

When I spoke again, I realised none of us had said a word in quite a while, both contemplating on the weight of my previous statement:

“I need a favour from you. You aren’t going to like it and rest assured neither am I, but it has to be done. I have built a place about 350 miles away from here, in the middle of nowhere. On the day of my ascension I need to be taken there along with the triplets. None of us will be able to shift into our wolf forms that day. The house itself is secured so that it can withstand everything and I mean everything. Larna’s water affinity, Kimmy’s fire and Kerbe’s poison affinity, mine as well, whatever it might be. We’ve been working on this for the past three years. They know what they need to do. You need to drop us off there and leave. Keep anyone from coming over. We are going to be at the peak of our powers and we will be connected. If the connection between us is broken, we could all die.” I looked into his eyes hoping he would understand that this was not something I wanted to do either, but like I said, it had to be done.

He took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands, exasperation lingering in his scent, before he spoke:

“What are we supposed to do while you all ascend? Just sit and wait quietly for you to come bursting through the door, skipping around like happy-four-friends?”he bit, glaring at me.

“Is that a Happy-tree-friends reference? Good job Ambro.” I laughed awkwardly trying to defuse the situation.

“What the f**k is wrong with you, kid? When did you become such an asshole?” he too smacked the back of my head. What is up with that today? Is that a godly thing to do?

“Ambro, I can feel it in my bones, so can they. This ascension is going to be more powerful than before, more violent, for all of us. If we don’t do this right, we will die. If we do this right, it will mark the beginning of our reign. There will be no stopping after that. We’ve known since our first stage that at some point our ascensions will interconnect because of the prophecy. We are bound, we know it, we can feel it. We spent four years testing and understanding our affinities, how to block them, how to work with each other. It took us two more years to figure out where the house needed to be and the materials we needed in order to block our affinities or at least limit them. It then took us three years to build it, you know, with training, lessons, school and everything. We are ready for this, now more than ever. We’ve trained alone for the past nine years for a reason. How do you think we discovered my fangs and claws can grow back?” I laughed, remembering the first time Kimmy did that. She didn’t mean to, she had just ascended and landed a perfect uppercut, my fangs just shattered at the impact. She didn’t realise how much power she leveled-up into, we also didn’t know they would grow back and for a full week, before we noticed they started growing back, we thought we would be in deep s**t if any of our parents found out.

“We also discovered we are immune to each other's bites. Especially to Kerbe’s, even with his poison manipulation. It can’t kill us. It stings like a b***h though, feels like your skin is burning off from the inside. Larna almost killed me after her second ascension. She nearly drowned me when she got her water affinity. Kimmy almost burned-out in a fit of rage; her fire consumed her and I had to bite her to bring her back. Remember when I got my heart-broken by Laurie Bakers when I was 16 and locked myself in my room for 3 days?” He nodded. “Yeah, well, I was recovering from the burns I got bringing Kimmy back.” I looked at him hoping he would understand why I was telling him this. None of them were aware of the extent of our affinities. And while they also taught us important things, like how to control our powers and our emotions, potions, poisons and spells, we needed to know what we could actually do with the amount of power we all possessed. We couldn’t do that if we always learned how to defend ourselves but never how to attack, so we taught ourselves, through practice, how to fight, human form and beast form, affinities or not.

“I get it, we were so caught up in teaching you how to defend yourselves from others, we never taught you how to use the power that was given to you. We were foolish. You have all put so much work into this and it’s unbelievable we never noticed it… I’m sorry, kid. I will help you, but before that, can I see it? Maybe I can help improve it by the time you ascend.” I knew I could count on Ambro, he was always understanding of everything, especially my vampire nature, since he was, after all, the first ever vampire.

“Of course you can. Not today though. I got a training session with the triplets in about three hours and your place isn’t the closest. I also need more blood. Have you got any left or do we need to go to the feeding grounds again? That place sucks.” Feeding grounds, known as feeding lairs, were nightclubs where humans worked legally, with the accord of the hunters, to feed any creature that desired anything possible for a human to give without being harmed. Blood, s****l energy, magic,whatever the beast desires. Yes, magic, even humans have small amounts of magic that are capped at about a quarter of the magic that we possess, allowing them to make potions and perform small protection spells. He laughed whole-heartedly and I honestly could not understand his reaction:

“I’ve got three more of those for you, one for tonight, two tomorrow. You shouldn’t need more for two weeks. I will get some more for you next week, just in case you start burning through them faster. Let me know if anything changes, immediately. Mind-link me if you need to. Okay?” He looked at me and I nodded in agreement. “Don’t go before you drink the second one. You also won’t be able to shift and run home, so I’ll get you home. Here. Drink.”. He passed me the blood-bag and I started drinking. I understood what he meant by that I wouldn’t be able to run home. I am high as f**k. I have no idea what kind of blood this is. But it’s so good I never want to drink anything else. Before I got to sit down on his comfortable couch, he put one of my arms over his shoulders and opened a portal into my bedroom. I finally understood why he laughed earlier, the bastard! He tossed me on the bed and left without saying a word. The next thing I knew, darkness was enveloping me in the most pleasant way.

When I woke up in the morning, I felt more rested than ever. My thirst, however, was still there. I remembered what Ambro told me yesterday and searched for the blood-bags in the mini-fridge I had in the bedroom. I found them there, with a note attached to one of them.

“Do not gulp them down. Have them at least one hour after the other or you will pass out like last night. No training today either. I took care of it last night. Asshole. - Ambrogio.”

I chuckled at the note and started to drink. It felt as if I was stuck in the desert and that was the first mouthful of water in days. I didn’t realise just how hungry I was. In my blood daze I also remembered that the bastard made me miss training last night.

I had a shower and started making my way downstairs. I think I only got to descend two or three steps when I heard my mom talking to Theo in the kitchen.

“He used the f*****g Alpha command on us yesterday and the little s**t hasn’t even had the decency to show up to training!” my mom shouted at uncle Theo.

“So I heard.” uncle Theo responded, unimpressed.

“You are not concerned about this?” mom asked him, perplexed.

“Not in the slightest. Did you know he hadn’t been feeding for the past three weeks before last night, when Ambro brought him in? Aside from that, he is, after all, the next king of two territories. He will have to eventually step up to the role , he cannot continue explaining himself to anyone and that includes us as well. We cannot treat him like a teenager anymore. He’s been training with the triplets for the past nine years and none of us had any idea. He’s been preparing for this his entire life, in secret, without our help. We are the ones that should start preparing for his ascension. Once this stage is done, he will be ready to take both thrones and that will be a challenge in itself. Not to mention, he will need a Queen, and we all know… being the chosen one by the Fates, there is no one out there that could be his match. The kid’s got the world laid at his feet but his soul is full.”

As I sat there replaying his words, I couldn't help but feel that I was more cursed than blessed by the Fates. I saw what having a mate meant. You had someone perfect for you, to understand you, treasure you, love you and support you in the purest way. All creatures got one. Except me. Even the triplets will eventually find their mates. Even if nothing was guaranteed, finding your mate was one of the things beasts treasured the most. There have been thousands of wars since the creation of Nezarches, fought in the name of mates. While this wasn’t exactly my main concern, it would simplify the task of finding a suitable Queen and I can’t say I didn’t want to know how it feels to find your mate. Someone that fits you perfectly, someone you can trust completely, someone who is made for you.

I brushed the thought quickly and continued my way down the stairs, going into the kitchen, pretending not to have heard any of that.

“Good morning” I said as I fixed myself a cup of coffee. “All of today’s lessons will be suspended. I would also like to call a meeting in the conference room in two hours. Everybody should be present.”

“Very well, kid. We’ll gather everyone. Are you okay?” uncle Theo asked.

“I am fine, uncle. I will explain everything in the meeting. Make sure the triplets are there as well, please. I will see you then.” I said and walked back upstairs, into my room and I was surprised to find Kimmy in my bed, sitting turkish style in front of her laptop.

“What are you doing here little beast? ” I asked and kissed her forehead, she was kinda burning up. “Where is the rest of the trio?”

“Kerbe is still following Brianna around like the dog he is and Larna is out shopping” she said, rolling her eyes. “I was actually looking for you. I think your next affinity is going to be ice. Or water, I’m not sure. Now, when we ascend, I mean.” She said and blushed.

“Why do you think that? I went to the mini-fridge to get the last blood-bag out and got back to bed and sat next to Kim.

“Well, you know how we’ve been getting closer to each other lately? I didn’t realise it until yesterday, but I am starting to feel your coldness. Every time you kiss my forehead like you just did or even just touch me, I can feel my fire calming down. Not in a painful way, in a very pleasurable way, actually.” she blushed furiously and dropped her gaze back to her laptop. Was she flirting with me? Was I actually enticed by her? She’s my best friend’s sister, for f**k’s sake! I don’t need this right now. “Anyway, I was doing some research and some elders think that twins can feel each other's new power before the ascension begins, some kind of connection between the siblings; some even share mates because of the link between them. Now, I know we are not siblings but we are linked, so what if it is like that? I shrugged my shoulders, looked at the clock and decided it was time to have my last blood-bag. I started drinking, and I felt her hand on mine:

“Can I have a taste?” she asked, licking her lips.

“Sure” and I passed her the half empty blood bag, thinking that is what she meant. The next thing I knew, her small body was straddling mine, her soft lips on top of mine. She was right, she felt so very hot to the touch. Like her flames were consuming the whole of her body and when we touched they transferred onto mine, heating me up. Without realising, my hands were holding on to her waist. I felt her tongue teasing my lower lip and I obliged without a thought. Our tongues were fighting for dominance and it felt better than anything that I had ever experienced. She pulled away from the kiss and we were both panting for air. She then slowly started kissing my neck, paying attention to a very specific spot. I then felt her canines graze my neck and I knew exactly what this meant.