“Noah, did father tell you that I will be joining you to go to college next week?” Diana queried her brother, taking one of the stools in the one room cabin that served as his studio.
He was currently painting. Diana didn’t understand what the painting was all about-it was yet to take shape-but it had a lot of red on it, just like all the recent artworks he has been working on.
Diana wondered if it was his new favorite color.
“Why? What changed your mind? I thought you mentioned that school was for lesser mortals. Why are you descending to our level, oh our royal majesty?”
Diana chuckled. Noah was the only in the family that she resonated with, probably because he was her twin.
“Well, because my mate attends there…and there’s no way to meet him unless I attend college.”
Diana loved the expression on Noah’s face when the painting brush sweeping across the canvas fell from his hand to the ground, and he turned aside, giving her the full attention she had wanted since she had bounced into his work room five minutes ago.
“Your mate? How? When did you discover the person? And how come I’m just finding out about this now?” Noah queried, getting up from his work chair.
He headed over to the sink first, and washed his hands. Knowing his sister, she would keep on stringing him along, and taking her time with it.
When he was done cleaning himself a bit up, he joined her on the sofa. She handed him a plate of cookies, which he gladly took. He hadn’t noted that he was hungry. That was what painting did to him.
“So tell me, sister, how did this stroke of luck locate you?”
“Well, at Derek’s party. You know the one that you had almost fought with at school on your second day over a redhead? Now that I think of it, is she the reason why you have never lost sight of red in all your drawings? You won’t even let me see the finished works.” Diana said, whining at the end.
Noah soughed.
“What about him? Is he your mate?”
Diana scoffed at him for not answering her last question.
“Well, no at all. My mate is his beta. A handsome fellow, I have to admit. But he couldn’t recognise me.”
“And why’s that?”
Noah chewed on a cookie, whilst wondering on the possibility of the union, and why the dude hadn’t recognized his sister. Mates recognise each other. It was the normal sequence of things.
“Do you remember that potion that Dad gave me a couple of weeks ago?”
Noah nodded, then stopped short, understanding lightening up his eyes.
When Diana saw the understanding on Noah’s face begin to be replaced by anger and hot fury. She quickly added.
“But it’s temporary. Dad promised that it was temporary. The effect would be cooled off the more I see the beta’s son, and maybe try to talk with him.”
She held Noah’s arm as she spoke, knowing that her brother’s anger issues were on a higher scale than hers. Leaving him, he might accost his father for his stupid act. But she had forgiven her old man, knowing that the stupid act was for the greater good.
“Tell me all that happened at the party, Diana. Was the redhead there? What about Curtis? What is to be done about him, since you’ve found your mate?” Noah inquired, wishing now that he had attended the party with his sister when she had asked him to be her escort.
“Well, get your ears set then. The story is quite long.”
Noah kept the cookies aside after his sister’s words, and folded his arms across his chest. “Go on.”
Diana inhaled deeply before spilling the juicy tale. She told him about the party, and about the attack that had been started by their second brother. She told him about the beings that could shapeshift into anything, even dragons, that had swooped in and saved the day.
She told him about the second redhead which turned out to be Emma’s sister, of her abilities which of course translated that Emma wasn’t a mere human. And would explain why their father and the witch were after the girl.
She told him of Derek’s rejection and the tainting of Emma’s reputation, and how she had left the hall with the beings, never returning again. Emma had accepted the rejection.
“Do you know where she is now? Can you find out?”
Diana sighed in frustration at her brother’s question.
“Like seriously, Noah? That’s all you care about? Some girl that they had claimed was special yet I didn’t even see that divine nature in her. The only interesting thing is that they had found out late that she wasn’t human.”
Diana clucked her tongue, obviously unimpressed about Emma, before going on.
“Did you know that our brother, Eli, was captured. Not that I actually care, but he is family still. We should be thinking on how to free him from that place. And worse, I saw Leo..”
Noah furrowed his eyebrows. “Leo, the brother that left those years ago, for reasons I still can’t explain, only that he had a slight issue with dad.”
“Yes, and guess what, he didn’t recognize me either. I was with him the whole time, you know whilst with Curtis at their pack, and he didn’t recognize him. I am not sure what happened.”
“Do you think that he was pretending?” Noah picked up the plate of cookies.
“I don’t think so. He must have lost his memory or something. I don’t understand why he would be working in the Blue Moon’s pack, when he is actually the heir here.” Diana sighed, taking a cookie from the plate.
“I thought you just mentioned that he was in Curtis’ pack…”
“Well, yes. He had been transferred there. But he is actually the chief of the warriors in Derek’s pack, and he was the one that had dragged Eli to prison. I don’t think he remembered Eli either.” Diana pointed out, biting her lips.
“Who told you so?”
Diana and Noah turned to the door, their mouths falling open in surprise, when they saw Eli standing by the door post.
“You should be in prison!” Diana shouted, pointing at him in unbelief.
“Yes sister, but Leo saved my ass. I held him to the blood pact we had made some years ago, and he had freed me.” Eli answered, a mischievous smile on his face, not moving from the relaxed position.
“Where is he then?” Noah inquired, aware of the balling of Diana’s fist. His sister was angry that Leo had ignored her the whole time, Leo who she had taken as a big brother, and who had shielded them from their father’s rage while growing up.
“Well, I don’t know. He took me outside the pack, and took off in the opposite direction, without so much as a word. I’m sure the pack would be looking for him, the traitor.” Eli finished with a laugh, a laugh that dried up when he noticed the others glaring at him.