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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 15

Dante opens the door to the office, hearing the hinges as I stare at the desk in front of me. Dante acknowledges Mercury and says, "This way."

Hearing footfalls of both Dante and Mercury have my heart rate quickly picking up speed. He walks around the chair next to me, seeing his boots out of the corner of my eye. Lowering himself into the chair, Dante remains standing behind the two of us...

"Mercury," mom's tone is the same as when she just spoke with me, "you're here of your freewill offering up your blood memories willingly."

Mercury responds with an even tone, "That's correct."

Mom glances at dad before asking, "You're aware of what we're looking for and what you're being accused of?"

"Cormac was sparse on the details," Mercury tells mom before he finishes with, "though, I already knew about this when it first came up," my heart drops, and I feel sick to my stomach when he says, "Ciarán informed me."

Mom arches a brow and asks, "Do you have any questions?"

"No," Mercury is short and to the point, "I don't have anything to hide."

What...?

I...I don't understand...

...his confidence is unwavering.

Dad moves away from the side of the desk, coming to stand directly in front of the two of us. Mercury shifts beside me, seeing the slight raise of his arm while pulling back away the long sleeve covering his skin.

I'm quiet, just waiting...

...minutes pass by, though it seems like an eternity.

When dad moves from in front of us to stand next to the desk once more, I can hear the grip Dante has on the chairs we're sitting it crack slightly. My mind is buzzing...is he mad?

Did dad finally see what happened and communicated with mom and Dante?

Yes...

...he comminuted...but my world shatters around me in the next few seconds.

"Acacia," mom's voice startles me, and I slowly bring my gaze up from the desk to look into her eyes. There's a slight difference though, seeing her wolf coming through, though it's in a battle of morals with her as she continues, "You've been found guilty of lying, accusing Mercury of crimes he did not commit. Your consent was given."

The blood rushes to my ears, pounding hard as it becomes even harder to hear her next words, "You will leave for Elysium with Dante in just a few minutes."

"Whoa, there's no need for that type of harsh punishment," Mercury comes surprisingly to my defense. Mom is quiet as he continues, "I think this is something Acacia and I can work out on our own with open communication."

Mom narrows her eyes at him and asks, "You're not at all angry that you were accused of sexually assaulting and abusing my daughter?"

"She's still young, and if she did something she wasn't ready for, that's something we need to talk about together," Mercury continues to tell her, my heart skipping a beat when he says, "we could spend more time together and work this out instead of sending her off to that godawful max security prison."

No...

...he wants to take his revenge out directly on me for what I've done.

When I glance up further, my eyes flicker to briefly meet with dad's, my face paling...though I lose complete focus of my surrounds and only see my dad's eyes.

It's in that moment, noticing the way his features alter drastically...he says, "No."

Mom glances at him and asks, "You'd rather her fulfill the punishment at Elysium?"

Dad looks right at me hard and says, "Yes, send her to Elysium."

I don't want to go...but even it must be better than Mercury...

I lose all sense of everything happening around me. Mom and Mercury are talking back and forth across the desk as I slowly rise to my feet subconsciously. I can somewhat feel a hand on my shoulder, leading me to the chair as the picture of mom, dad and Mercury fade away behind me. I know it's Dante helping guide me as he opens the door to the office, the long walk down the hallway seemingly taking mere seconds as opposed to regular.

Everything's moving so slow within my mind, but I know very well that I'm walking down the marble staircase. Dante's grip on my shoulder tightens when we reach the bottom landing, but my eyes have remained fixated on the floor in front of me.

Someone is standing just inside the entryway...

...the voice hardly breaks through the blood pounding in my ears, but I see Grandpa Keir lingering while Marcus runs around him.

Their playfulness immediately ends, Grandpa Keir's eyes catching my own. I've never seen his irises switch so quickly...his wolf taking precedence while his lips part. He's saying something to Dante, but I don't hear it...a fog encases my body, the cold and numbness returning as I realize now...

...I'm shutting everything down, shutting it off and away.

Grandpa Keir takes a step forward, harsh anger contorting his features in a way much fiercer than when my brother rejected Ridge. I can see the half-shift taking place, teeth sharpening while nails slowly alter into razor claws.

Marcus is in tears, the redness in his cheeks matching the whites of his eyes. He's crying out toward me, but I hardly bat an eye when I feel a slight nudge...casting my gaze once again to the floor. I'm walking right past Grandpa Keir...Marcus...

...my mind blanks with a flash of white light, no pain accompanying it.

When it subsides, I see my hands resting on my thighs. Lifting my gaze slowly, I glance right out the front of Dante's car. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see his lips are moving...like he's talking to me, but no sound emits from them.

Hours.

An eternity...

...the memories of why I'm now being taken to Elysium flood like a river of chaos.

I'm not entirely sure when Dante turned the car off, but I feel the sunlight touching my arm and a light breeze. Glancing to my right, Dante has the car door open for me...he even helps me from my seat before I rise to my full height. While he shuts the car door, my eyes are drawn to the enormous fortress carved from the rock and mountain itself it resides beside and within.

The structure looms before me, casting a dark shadow and blocking out the sunlight the closer Dante leads me to its foreboding entrance. Doors caste from multiple materials stand before the two of us, runes and writing in languages I'm unfamiliar with can be seen near the corners. When we come to a halt, it's only a few minutes before the doors open on their own, a shiver traveling down my spine when they swallow us wholly into the cool building.

My gaze once again falls...this time it's a stone floor as oppose to Castle Valentine's exquisite marble. Dante leads me through the hallways, not wanting to glance around me, afraid of what I might witness within this place. Distant sounds bring back some focus, as I can hear tongues spewing angrily at Dante while we walk by what I now see are different types of cells.

A couple of loud calls force Dante down another hallway with me in tow, my heart beating fast as I avert my eyes from gazes I unfortunately capture. When he comes to a halt near the end of a "T" intersection hallway, he turns to the cell on his right. As he unlocks this cell with a key, someone finally says something in the tongue I understand...

"Dante! Whatcha got a human in here for?" I glance out of the corner of my eye at the figures that have also come to a halt at the "T" intersection. The one who says this...

...is this a true born hybrid?

She appears to be in her early teens...pitch black hair spirals down to her lower back, electric blue highlights peeking out as she tilts her head to the side. She attempts to observe me with those reddish-orange eyes, seeing the way they don't shift even as moments pass by where Dante says nothing in return.

The taller woman standing beside her looks about to be in her early twenties; a fiery red pixie cut suits her well while her clear blue eyes look at me with skepticism. Briefly, those eyes flicker to a golden hue, reflecting her wolf...

...a werewolf?

No...

...I'm mistaken when she parts her lips to speak, and I see fangs glint with the lighting from the walls. She curiously asks, "What did a human do to end up here?"

Dante opens the door and nods for me to move past the barred entryway. I fight back all the emotions that suddenly lurch forward as the coldness in my heart melts away, coming to terms with what's happening...

Footsteps approach and I see it's the two curious strangers that come in for a better look. After getting a quick survey of my new living quarters for the next twenty-four hours, I notice a toilet in the corner, a cot on the left side and a barred window at the back that's too high for me to see out of.

The sound of the door locking into place behind me has me turning on my heels.

"Dant-"

"Brilite," Dante cuts her right off, "this matter does not concern members of the Vindicator Wardens Pack."

"Touchy," the one he addresses rolls her eyes, her highlights displacing once again beneath the darkness of her hair.

Dante turns to the older woman and states, "Glofish, tell your alpha we've received a tip about possible misconduct from a coven to the south. It borders just on the outskirts of two territorial packs...though the alphas of these packs were quick to inform scouts about possible human slavery within the coven walls."

Glofish...?

Brilite...?

What type of names are these?

Nicknames perhaps?

...so this is them...the ones my friends spoke about...the Vindicator Wardens Pack.

Brilite rubs her hands together, her dark leather gear shifting slightly on her body when she says, "It'll be our pleasure," she nods at me and asks, "come on...who is-"

"Acacia Arin-Valentine," Dante's quick to cut her off once again...though both Glofish and Brilite's eyes immediately widen with pure shock.

Glofish is the first to compose herself before she asks cautiously, "Dare I ask why you have royal blood trapped within walls that harbor the worse offenders in the entire world?"

"Nonetheless...your daughter," Brilite also throws her two cents in a while still staring at me with haunting eyes.

Dante clears his throat, and his words become a final resting place for the conversation, "A family matter where an extreme lesson must be taught...this is what needs to be done."

There are no more words that slip past either of their lips. Instead, they both nod at Dante respectfully before they turn on their heels and head toward the "T" intersection. I can hear the end of Glofish muttering out, "...Loki and attack."

When the sounds of their footsteps have all but disappeared, Dante remains standing before me, though his eyes now rest solely on me. He tilts his head to the side before releasing a sigh, seeing the way his irises flicker when his wolf desperately wants to come forward.

"Hopefully, you'll learn a lesson over the next twenty-four hours," he finally speaks, breaking the silence between us.

"That lesson definitely won't be about lying..." my voice trails off, watching the way his features alter when I finish, "...because I told you nothing but the truth and now I'm being punished for it."

Dante's frustration comes back full force when he states, "No...Acacia, you're being punished for trying to out Mercury for something he didn't do. Whether or not you see it lying in your eyes...that's entirely up to you," he pauses a moment to shake his head and continue, "then again, lying just comes so naturally for you it's hard to pick the rough edges before finding the truth however, you can't through blood memories, no matter how desperately you want to believe you can."

I take a few steps forward, angry tears forming in my eyes before I spit out, "I will never be seen as an equal in your eyes..."

"There is nothing wrong with who you are!" Dante finally snaps, those irises shifting to reddish orange and setting their sights hard on me.

"Yes, there is!" I snarl right back, the tears falling down my cheeks. I hadn't noticed I'd gripped the bars to the cell hard, but I continue to fight, "You all prefer Ciarán over me...he's your golden child who can do no wrong in your eyes."

Dante throws his arms up into the air and scoffs, "I'm not getting into this with you right here and now, Acacia."

"Talking? You've all never really been good at communicating before," I roll my eyes and halfheartedly laugh, "so why bother starting now?"

"Watch your tone young lady," Dante's features change once again and I can see even in his full hybrid state, his wolf is fighting him hard.

Why?

Why is it their wolves...all of them...regard me so differently!?

Why can't they be just like their wolves?!

"Why? Apparently, I'm the criminal now," I shrug my shoulders and take a few steps back and away from the cell door. The tears stain my red cheeks as I sniffle slightly, all my anger rushing forward as I snap, "So fuck you! I hate you all!"

Dante's nostrils flare, the palms of his hands slamming against the cell door bars before he turns away from me and walks down the hallway we'd come from.

My heart is beating erratically, moving toward the small cot and sitting on the edge of it. Staring at the wall opposite of me, I slowly step back onto the cot, leaning my back against the stone wall. I feel the coldness seep into my flesh, every fiber of my being allowing everything to sink it. Goosebumps break out across my skin when the adrenaline rush drops, bringing me down from the enraged high I'd been wrapped up in.

I don't know how long I sit staring at the wall...

...perhaps a few minutes or a few hours, but one thing for sure is...I hear a soft voice coming from across the jail cell from mine.

"You don't play this game very well, now do you Arin?" It's soft and inviting, yet the words wrap around me like a cloak. Glancing to my right, I see movement from the back of the cell, watching as a figure moves forward.

I can't stop the gasp from surpassing my lips as she comes entirely into the light. Her eyes are what first captured my attention; yellow irises with vertical black pupils stare at me as if looking directly into my soul. Her hair is as white as snow during winter, but what throws me off is the ears that almost blend in with the long wavy strands cascading down to the back of her knees.

She tilts her head to the side, a light giggle leaving her lips at my reaction. Tilting her head back the other direction, she states, "Then again...you're playing an entirely wrong game."

"Wh-Who are you?" Curiosity gets the best of me and ignoring my better judgment, knowing exactly where I am right now, I willingly engage with this being I've never seen before.

"Vexy," her voice is like silk, her once erect ears turn outward from her skull.

What is she...?

💫--To Be Continued--💫

Vexy

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