Rina looked around the pack house, the last time she had been here was at Rita's mating ceremony three years ago.
What was she going to do? According to Rita, Rafaele woke up by six am to do the morning rounds with the pack sentries and from there he went to his office. Maybe she should prepare breakfast and his lunch, she thought to herself. She went to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. Rina loved cooking, it always calmed her down and right now she needed to calm down. She didn't want to give anyone room to suspect her. "What are you doing?" she heard someone ask. She startled as she spun around only to be caught by someone. Rina looked up, it was Rafaele. "Hi, good morning" she said nervously. "What are you doing?" he asked her again. She freed herself of his arms and went back to her cooking. "preparing breakfast, what does it look like?" she asked him. "since when do you prepare breakfast?" he asked. Rina felt her heart drop, didn't Rita prepare breakfast. "I don't prepare breakfast?" she asked him. "No, you have never entered the kitchen to cook since the day I brought you home. I am surprised you know where the ingredients and utensils are." he replied. "well it's not rocket science to know where the utensils are. Anyone could have known that." Rina retorted. "so why are you preparing breakfast?" "well I learnt a new recipe I want to try out." Rina replied defensively. "well I hope it's edible." he said with a wink as he sat down at the table. "what's going on here? I heard voices" Rafaele's mother, Luna Rosa walked into the kitchen. Rina groaned inwardly. Great! More people. "Rita made breakfast" Rafaele announced grandly. "You! You entered the kitchen to cook?" Luna Rosa asked. "Yes, mother. I learnt a new recipe" Rina answered. "You called me mother?" What the hell! What kind of relationship did Rita have with them that everything shocked them, Rina thought to herself. "Yes, mother! What else am I supposed to call you?" "You usually call her Luna Rosa" Rafaele helpfully chimed in. "oh! Would you prefer if I called you that." "No, no dear. Mother is fine." "Please sit down mother, breakfast is ready." "oh! You made breakfast for me. Today must be a very special day." Luna Rosa remarked as she sat down. Rina groaned inwardly, it wasn't even up to an hour yet and she already made them suspicious. When Rita came back, hopefully she would be able to explain everything as a personality change or something. She served the breakfast for them and sat down to join them. "This food is so delicious Rita, you cook so well, why have you been hiding your talent, my dear?" Luna Rosa complimented her. "well I just learnt how to do this." Rina replied, she hoped her answer sounded convincing enough. "Well we look forward to see more of what you have learnt," Rafaele told her, a smile on his face. Rina could only nod half heartedly. That would be Rita's problem to take care of. All she had to was avoid any further action that would lead to suspicion. "Whats all the noise for?" a gangly young man on the verge of adulthood asked as he sauntered into the kitchen. "well, Rita made breakfast." Rafaele willingly supplied the answer. "and Y'all ate it? What if she poisoned it?" he asked. This was Rain, Rafaele younger's brother. The last time Rina had seen him, he was an adorable fifteen year old with a bubbling personality. What had happened to make him look this sullen? "Rain, manners. Rita here took the time to make breakfast for all of us today after learning a recipe. Why would you accuse her of poisoning?" Luna Rosa scolded him. "Maybe, because she has never bothered to enter the kitchen since she came here." Rain pointed out. Once again, Rina cursed Rita inwardly. Couldn't she have been bothered to tell her that she had never stepped a day in the kitchen. "who poisoned who?" a new person asked as he walked into the kitchen. Great! More people. She was so going to wrangle Rita's neck when she came back. "Rain thinks Rita poisoned the breakfast she prepared." Rafaele answered. "Rita cooked?" the new comer asked. This was Jax, Rafaele's Beta. "You all don't need to act surprised okay, I cooked, it's not a big deal. And I didn't poison it." Rina defended herself. "well, let's have a taste of the food, since you are eating it, it's definitely not poisoned." Jax said as he sat down at the table as well. Rain grabbed a plate and served himself. "I thought you said it was poisoned?" Rafaele asked in a teasing tone. "well, you are all eating it, I don't want to be left alone when you guys die." he answered with a shrug. Jax choked on his laughter. Rain turned around to leave with his plate. "Are you leaving little one?" Jax asked. Rain glared at him. "don't call me that." "sorry, force of habit" Jax apologized. Rain rolled his eyes and walked out. Rina looked at Jax in confusion. When she had come here for Rita's mating ceremony, Rain had been very clingy to Jax, even declaring Jax his favorite brother. What had happened? She would ask Rita when she came back. Breakfast ended and Rafaele stood up. "well thanks for the breakfast Rita, I should be heading to work now." Rina nodded. She had packed him lunch before, but now, in light of what she had just witnessed, if her sister had never entered the kitchen, then it was of a certainty that she had never packed lunch for Rafaele. "what's this?" Rafaele asked as he picked up the food container. Rina's heart sank, he had seen it. "uhm, ehm, it's....uhm" Rina stuttered as she tried to come up with a response. "You made me lunch Rita?" he sounded so excited. "Yes I did." "wow! Whatever has come over you today Rita, I hope it stays for a long time." Rafaele told her. Rina could only smile nervously in return.The moment Evena arrived, Rina started explaining what had happened. His eyes narrowed when she explained, but he did not argue. “Take me to them,” he said simply.Rina led him into the safe room. Stefan lay stretched out, pale as death itself. Rita rose to her feet at once, her hands clasped tightly together, hope and fear battling in her eyes.Evena bent over Stefan, his fingers brushing lightly across the vampire’s cold skin. His brow furrowed. “This is no ordinary sickness,” he muttered. “It is poison. Dark, deliberate, and strong. I do not know if even I can heal him.”Rita’s voice broke as she sank to her knees beside the stretcher. “Please,” she begged. “You must try. I don’t care what it costs, please just save him.”For a long moment, Evena studied her, his eyes unreadable. Then he straightened. “Very well. But I will need more than what I carry.” He turned to Rina and spoke briskly, listing herbs and roots that grew in the forest, things that would burn and bind the poison.
Rita had not slept. All through the night she had sat by Stefan’s side, watching him, her heart tightening each time he bled from his nose or mouth. The poison was eating away at him faster than she had expected. By morning, his skin was almost translucent, lips drained of color. She knew then that waiting was death. If she did nothing, he would slip away before the next sunset. Her chest burned with fear, but beneath it grew a harder fire resolve. She would not let him die. Not like this.Her limbs ached as she rose, but she forced herself forward. At the pond nearby, she cupped water in her palms, splashing her face until the weariness dulled. She combed her fingers through her hair, tugging the tangles into order. If she was to face her sister, she could not arrive looking a mess.With a grunt of effort, she lifted Stefan again, dragging his weight onto the horse’s back. He slumped against her, heavy as stone, his head pressed against her shoulder. She whispered through gritted
Rita’s arms trembled as she clutched the reins of the horse tighter, the night wind cutting against her face. The horse beneath her galloped fast. Behind them, the towers of Salvatore faded into the dark horizon. She dared not look back.Stefan’s body was heavy against her. His head lolled against her shoulder, his skin cold as marble, drained of all the arrogance and fire she had first seen in him. His breath came shallow and irregular. She had never seen a vampire this weak before. A part of her feared she was carrying a corpse, not Stefan anymore.At last, when the forest thickened and Salvatore was far behind her, she pulled the horse to a halt. Her legs shook as she slid down, half dragging, half cradling Stefan to the ground. His weight nearly crushed her small frame, but she laid him gently on the grass.“Stefan…” she whispered, pressing her fingers to his cheek. It was like touching ice. No warmth or life.Her hands hovered over his chest, uncertain. She didn’t know how to
Teresa left with her, "what is it?" she asked.With a loud voice, Rina told her while walking away. "Stefan needs you to help me out, I need to get something in town" she told her.Teresa suspected Rita was up to something and dutifully followed her.Rita led her to the bedroom, she sighed in relief when she saw Stefan was still on the bed. However, his condition was now dire.He looked even more pale than he usually looked. She touched his skin, it was icy cold."What happened to him?" Teresa asked.With a low voice, Rita told her everything."We have to take him out of the city and get help. Only a powerful witch can help him" Teresa said."But where are we going to see a powerful witch and how will we leave the city?" she asked.Teresa looked up for a minute, she was thinking hard, her mind was running through a thousand scenarios.Rita was panicking, if truly Damon was behind this, he would be here soon to check on them."Just wrap him up in blankets and get ready to carry him, I
"Evena, what's going on?" Rina asked.Evena looked at her, "I don't know, the information I have about Stefan makes him out to be a cold blooded killer. Why is he saving people? And why is he sending them specifically to moonlight pack""are you saying we could be in danger?" Rina asked."I don't know but to be on the safe side, I will reinforce the pack boundaries""Thank you Evena" Rina said gratefully......SALVATORE....Rita walked back to the room, she had just had dinner, Stefan had something to do and had told her to go back to the room and wait for him.She was a bit worried about him but he had assured her he wasn't going to kill anyone innocent again.She wondered what was happening with the people they had sent to Salvatore. She knew Rina would take care of them.Her sister had a good heart, she would always do the right thing.Maybe if they escaped Salvatore, she would be able to send a message apologizing to Rina for everything she did.She entered the room, she was just
Rina looked at Evena, she was confused, what did he mean by the 'truth'.Evelyn and Monday looked at each other. "we are saying the truth"Evena stood up and paced the room, he glanced at them."There are obvious holes in your story. Same thing happened with Kaia's story. She is a little girl so I didn't grill her much. But you two are adults, I will get the sentries to hold you down while I force a truth serum down your throat if you don't say the truth" he threatened."Are you saying they are lying? Wait! You also suspected Kaia wasn't telling the whole truth, why didn't you say anything?" she asked him in an accusatory tone."That's because she wasn't a threat but hearing these two account made me realize something was wrong" he answered.He turned to look at them, "are you going to say the truth or not?"Evelyn touched Monday's hand, "let's just say the truth" she told him."But we promised him..." Monday protested."But we don't have a choice now, do we?" she asked him.Monday to