61, Cleatus' confession

Sean’s POV

The next day, they drove to an abandoned warehouse a couple of hours away. Sean knew the drive would be difficult for Adina, and he kept making her eat saltines. She hated them, but they helped with the motion sickness.

Sean hated the fact that Adina would be in the same room as Cleatus. He hated she would be in danger and that he had to allow it. He knew it was her decision, but he didn’t like it. Colin had been in a bad mood all day because of the same thing.

As the car pulled up to the warehouse, Sean and five warriors stepped out and checked the area. When they were satisfied that it was clear, Colin and Adina stepped out.

“Do you need anything?” Colin asked Adina.

“No, I just want to get this over with,” she said.

Sean and Colin flanked her, and the warriors made sure they were covered as the three of them entered the building. In the middle of the open warehouse stood Cernack, with the crate they now knew contained Cleatus.

The area was well lit, and there were no places to hide that wasn’t easily seen. Sean appreciated to choice of venue. Cernack may be many things, but he knew how to pick a good location.

“My lady, my lords,” Cernack said with a slight bow.

“Cernack, it’s nice to see you. I hope everything has been well,” Adina smiled.

“As always,” he nodded.

“Let’s get this over with. What do we know?” she then asked.

“Cleatus has been stored away as requested. No one on the council knows he is alive. I opened the crate every third day and asked him if he was ready to talk. Each time he has told me no, until the day before last,” Cernack told them.

“In what condition is he?” Colin asked.

“He has degraded quite quickly. I would say that he hadn’t fed for a day or two before being captured. And the weeks since then have not been kind to him,” Cernack answered.

“He is powerful, but he is just over three hundred years old. That is young for a vampire. He still needs to feed regularly to keep his strength up,” Adina said.

“We are lucky in that case. If it were an older vampire, we would have to wait decades for the same results,” Cernack agreed.

“Okay, let’s open it up and listen to what he has to say,” Adina said.

Cernack opened the crate, and Sean looked at the creature inside. The vampire had been fearsome and intimidating when they had last seen him. He was now hanging from the restraints. His skin clung to the bones of his face and had a sickly pale blue tint to it. He looked at them with hollow eyes.

As last time, Adina put up a barrier and loosened the restraints so that he could talk. There was a dry, coughing laughter.

“The mut and her two bitches,” Cleatus rasped. He then looked at her neck and smirked. It caused both Colin and Sean to growl.

“I see you have walked on the adventures side of life and made both of the lap dogs your mates. Didn’t think you had something like that in you,” he scoffed.

“I guess he didn’t want to talk after all,” Adina said and started to tighten the restraints again.

“Wait,” Cleatus squeezed out with his last air.

Adina released the constrictions a bit, and Sean couldn’t help but smirk at him.

“Well?” Colin asked.

“What do you want to know?” Cleatus asked.

“Why did you betray the pack and me?” Adina asked.

“I told you, you are not the Beloved One I would follow,” Cleatus said.

Sean growled and took a step closer to the vampire.

“I heard you the first time. I need to know if not me, then who?” Adina asked.

There was a deep sigh from Cleatus. Sean could see the battle that raged inside the vampire. It was as if his survival instinct was fighting some higher belief. But in the end, the basic need seemed to win.

“I will tell you, but you won’t be happy,” Cleatus finally said.

“I wasn’t happy about being betrayed, but that didn’t stop you,” Adina growled. Sean smiled when the vampire flinched.

“It all started with your grandmother,” Cleatus began.

“My grandmother?” Adina asked.

“Yes. For generations, your ancestors had mated with wolves, humans, even some witches, but never a dryad or a vampire,” Cleatus told her.

“Dryads, that makes sense. Even half-dryads need to stay close to their soul tree. It wouldn’t work out in the long run. But a vampire. Can you imagine the power? Even if half-vampires aren’t immortal like the purebloods, they still will live for hundreds of years. And if they, in turn, mated a pure-blooded vampire, the child would have a chance to become immortal,” he continued.

“You must see the advantages of an immortal Beloved one? We tried to convince your grandmother to take a vampire as a mate. But Selene had other plans, and she met her mate. A human,” Cleatus spit out the words like they left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“We sent a vampire to seduce your mother, as we had failed to convince your grandmother with logic. But your mother didn’t fall for him. She was waiting for her true mate. Then she met your father, another wolf. That’s when we realised Selene was biased. She pairs the Beloved One with her wolves to keep the rest of us on the outside. We came up with a backup plan.”

“We sent a vampire to seduce your uncle. He was much more easily persuaded,” he smiled.

“My uncle? But he had a mate,” Adina objected.

Sean walked closer to her, and he saw Colin doing the same. Sean could see where this was heading and wanted to make sure Adina knew she wasn’t alone.

“This was before he found his mate. Once he found her, he broke it off with his vampire girlfriend and never looked back. But it was already too late. She was carrying his child,” Cletus told her.

“I have a cousin, and they are alive?” Adina said, sounding shocked. Sean took her hand.

“Yes, you do. Diedre, your cousin, was born six months before you. We all thought she would be the next Beloved One. She was the first female of your bloodline in your generation. But she was born with black hair, and her eyes turned brown. We knew the gods hadn’t blessed her,” Cleatus sighed.

“Then you were born, and it was obvious they once again had favoured the wolf bloodline. We realised that the only way the gods would acknowledge our bloodline was if your bloodline ceased to exist,” he told Adina.

“You. You attacked and killed my family? My and my uncle’s pack?” Adina asked.

“Oh no, no, that really was the Order. They might have gotten some pointers from us, though,” he smiled.

Sean could feel the change in Adina’s stance. He felt the air tingle with the power of magic.

‘Adina, my love, not yet. There are more things you need to know,’ Sean mind linked her.

‘I will kill him,’ she hissed back.

‘I know. No one will stop you. But let him tell you everything first. It will pain him to betray his cause to you,’ Sean told her.

He felt the tingling in the air slowly disappear, and he could hear the deep breath Adina was taking. Colin whispered calming words to her as Sean squeezed her hand.

“You have been cooperating with the Order since then?” Adina asked.

“I would like to tell you yes. But unfortunately, no. After we failed to kill all of you, we saw how the council took guardianship of you. We realised they would do the same if we killed you and “discovered” Diedre. We would lose control over her,” Cleatus said, shaking his head.

“We couldn’t have that. We also saw how destructive the Order could be. If they found out the next Beloved One was part vampire, they would come after her. We took care of two problems in one go. We let you live and put all our resources into hunting down the Order. We wiped them out a couple of years ago,” he proudly told them.

“The scene was set for Diedre. We disguised our effort to be those of the Order, letting you think they had grown in strength again. Our single goal is to take you out, ending your bloodline, leaving Diedre as the only option for the gods,” he smirked.

Sean and Colin growled, as did Cernack.

“Are all vampires a part of this plan?” Adina asked.

“No, it’s just two clans,” he admitted.

“Your clan and?” Colin asked.

“Mine and my mothers,” Cleatus sighed.

“Why are you keeping this a family matter?” Sean asked.

“The vampire first chosen to be your grandmother’s mate was my older brother. He was also the one that tried to seduce your mother. Diedre’s mother is my sister,” Cleatus said.

“So, it’s not so much about giving vampires a chair in the power as it is about giving power to your family,” Adina concluded.

Cleatus tried to shrug, but the chains made it almost impossible.

“Did you ever think that there is a reason the gods didn’t want the beloved one to be immortal?” Adina asked.

“They are afraid we would become a living god,” Cleatus told her. Sean heard Adina laughing, and both he and Colin looked at her.

“Is that what you think? I’m surprised, Cleatus. Even a snail could figure it out after considering it for a day or two. You have had three hundred years to think about it,” she chuckled.

“Enlighten me,” he sneered.

“You should know what happens to vampires around their five hundredth birthday. You call it The detachment if I’m not wrong,” Adina said, and Cleatus nodded.

“No one can live for that long and not become partially detached from those with an ending life. It must be excruciating to watch people around you die. You detach, stop carrying about anyone that will dye a natural death,” Adina said.

Cleatus huffed.

“The Beloved One is supposed to care for all magical creatures. I am tasked with upholding balance and helping others. I can’t do that if I’m detached from the world. The power I have should not be wielded by someone that has no connection to the weaker and those in need,” she told him.

He looked at him. There was a mixture of hate and confusion in his eyes. It made both Colin and Sean growl.

“You mean to say that the gods haven’t forsaken vampires?” Cleatus asked.

“Is that what you think?” Adina asked.

“It is what my father has told my siblings and me,” Cleatus said.

“You should have told my grandmother, mother, or me about your doubts. We would have summoned Absalom and Selene for you to talk to,” Adina said.

“You would have done that for us?” he asked.

“I would have. But now it’s too late. Where is your base of operations?” Adina asked.

“In my father’s ancestral home in Finland,” Cleatus said.

“What else do I need to know?” Adina asked.

“There is no way you can beat them. They are immortal and have amassed a rogue army that will do their bidding,” Cleatus told her.

“They are not immortal; they have everlasting life. It’s a big difference,” Sean growled.

Cleatus laughed, but it sounded tired to Sean.

“As alpha of the White Rose pack, I sentence you to death in front of these witnesses. You have betrayed the vows you gave to my ancestors and me,” Adina said, and Sean readied himself to execute her commands.

A stake dipped in silver appeared inches from Cleatus’ chest. It was silently floating in the air. Adina made a small gesture, and the stake drove into the chest of Cleatus. He made a surprised sound and started to slowly sag in the restrictions.

Before them, he turned paler until his skin was almost translucid, and then a light started shining from under his skin, and his body slowly disintegrated in front of them. They all watched in silence until it was done.

“I will clean up the mess,” Cernack said, the first to speak.

“Thank you. Then we will need to organise a meeting whit the pack. I’m sorry that we will head out to war,” Adina said.

“I’ll set up a conference call,” Cernack nodded.

“Thank you, no later than tomorrow evening,” Adina said.

“Yes, my Lady,” Cernack nodded.

“And one more thing,” Adina told him.

“Yes?”

“I’m pregnant,” she said.

Sean watched how the biggest smile appeared on Cernack’s face. It was rare to see such open and honest emotion from him.

“Congratulations,” Cernack smiled.

“Thank you. We’ll speak tomorrow,” Adina said as she turned around and walked out.