Chapter 87: **What happens now...?**
“Besides…” Kassandra said, her words becoming heavy with sadness. “Right now, I’m just hoping when I do meet my fated mate, they won’t reject me.”
Kassandra’s words had a sobering effect on everyone. Their newest family had been rejected by her mate today. It’s what broke the spell that kept Sebastian from being able to sense Alora’s life.
Stephanie, her heart aching over her daughter’s very real concern, sought comfort in Sebastian’s arms. Sebastian, his heart also aching, welcomed the weight of his mate in his arms. He took a moment to bury his face in her hair and take in her scent. Drawing it deep into his lungs. Stephanie buried her nose in the crook of his neck at the same time, drawing in his scent.
Usually, this amount of publicly displayed affection between their parents would have all the siblings grumbling and making remarks by now. However, even Cathal could feel his parents’ emotional distress. So, they all remained quiet, trying to give their parents the moment they needed to pull themselves together.
While remaining quiet was easy for most of the siblings, it was another story for the youngest. Cathal was the type of child who had an endless stream of questions…about everything. Cathal was biting his lip and fidgeting in his seat. In his eyes you could see question after question flash through his eyes.
The rest of the siblings started to look at one another. They had what was essentially a silent round table. They didn’t use any telepathy. Their communication was all in the eyes and body. Suddenly, they started switching seats fast and quietly.
On the sofa with Cathal, Nathan and Asher sat on either side of him. Their hands ready to cover his mouth before any of the questions, building behind his eyes, had a chance to burst from it. On the other sofa, there was Kassandra with Bryce and Daniel.
The moment Cathal opened his mouth, Nathan and Asher quickly covered it. He tried to struggle, but Nathan and Asher were bigger and stronger than he was. Cathal had so many questions he wanted to ask, and his brothers were not letting him ask them. Finally, he stopped struggling and just sat there. Arms crossed he stewed in silent indignation at the unfairness of this treatment.
Kassandra didn’t want to focus too much on her newly found fears of meeting her mate or mates. So, she instead asked a question to direct everyone’s focus elsewhere. “What happens now that you know about Alora?”
“Yeah, like what are you going to do now that you found our ‘not dead’ and ‘not a boy’ older sister?” Bryce asked, the gold of his eyes sparkling with curious excitement.
“What Bryce said. What are we going to do now?” Daniel asked, brushing a hand through the waves of his shoulder length hair.
Daniel and Bryce were basically copies of each other. Their hair style, the color, and their eyes were the same. White hair with thin bands of gold. The outer ring of the dual-colored iris of their eyes was gold, the inner ring white. Kassandra thought that their looks, once they lost their childlike softness, would be enchanting.
Cathal was even more upset, why did Bryce and Daniel get to ask questions, but he couldn’t. ‘This isn’t fair!’ He complained to his Sprite, Aisling.
‘Just wait, they can’t keep us contained for long.’ Aisling answered.
Every Vampire and Vampire hybrid was born with a Sprite. The inner space the Sprite occupies starts out small at birth and grows as they age. For Kassandra and her siblings, the space of their Sprites was larger than other Vampires of their age because of the combined power they inherited from their mother and father.
All their Sprites had names that meant something. Aisling meant ‘dream.’ Kassandra’s Sprite’s name Artemis meant ‘safe’. Asher’s Sprite’s name Rex meant ‘king’. Nathen’s Sprite’s name meant Magus meant ‘magic’. Bryce’s Sprite’s name Draoi meant ‘diviner’. Daniel’s Sprite’s name Galdor meant ‘spell’.
“Now.” Sebastian said, “Now I keep my scheduled call with the Alpha of Alpha’s and Alpha of the Moon Mountain Pack, Andrew Moonstar. We’ll go from there afterwards.”
“Are you two planning on taking us with you when you go to meet our ‘not dead’ and ‘not a boy’ older sister?” Nathan asked.
“Stop addressing her like that!” Stephanie snapped. “Her name is Alora, say it respectfully!” she ordered.
“Yes mamma.” Nathan said, feeling guilty. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but now that he thought about it, his words had been rude. “Are you planning to take us to meet Alora when you two go?”
“Well…” Stephanie started then trailed off. She looked up at her mate, meeting his equally hesitant gaze. “Umm…” she tried again when she turned back to face them. “We were going to discuss that after the call with Alpha Moonstar.”
“So, you’re going to leave us here?” Daniel asked, his tone accusing.
“We didn’t say that.” Sebastian protested. “Just that we want to wait till after the call with Alpha Moonstar before setting things in motion.”
“Right.” Kassandra said with narrowed eyes. “I’m sure my impending majority has nothing to do with this decision?”
“No.” Stephanie protested quickly. Kassandra’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. Prompting Sephanie to more expressively deny the accusation. “No. It definitely does not.”
Luckily Sebastien jumped in to take their daughter’s focus off Stephanie’s not so convincing denial. “We just don’t want to overwhelm Alora when we go to meet her.”
Sebastien knew he failed when the response he got back was, “Uh huh, sure. I get it.”
Stephanie cleared her throat. “Well. Why don’t you all go back to what you all were doing before this. There are things your father and I will have to put in place if we are to make the trip.”
Kassandra and the rest knew their mother had her reasons for trying to shoo them out of their father’s study. Looks passed between the siblings before they all agreed. While their parents were going about setting up a plan, they would set one of their own up. No way was any of them going to be left here.
“I don’t like the look they had in their eyes.” Stephanie said after all the children had left.
“I don’t either, but there is nothing we can do about it right now.” Sebastien replied, giving her a small squeeze before letting her go.
Stephanie followed Sebastien back to his desk, standing by his side as he took his seat. Stephanie grabbed his face gently and both her hands and met his gaze. “How is Deimos handling all this?”
Sebastian closed his eyes, taking a deep bracing breath. He thanked the Goddess for tying his fate to Stephanie’s. He let Deimos take over to answer for himself. The shift was instantaneous. Stephanie’s hands stayed on his face. When his eyes opened, they were those of his Sprite.
“I will be fine my light. I promise.” Deimos said softly, his voice full of warmth.
Stephanie gently stroked Deimos’s hair. “Good.” She said, in an emotional voice before placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. Gaining a purr of appreciation from Deimos in return.