Chapter Seven

Duncan’s POV

I turned away from Coral, walking back into the meeting room. We had only taken a short break as we waited for my father to arrive. 

I had stepped out to the foyer, hoping to go say hello to Coral. I knew that she was meeting with Talia and Vivian for dinner. I was not prepared, however, for seeing her talking to Charlie. I wasn’t very familiar with Charlie, but I didn’t like him. Especially after seeing him with Coral.  It didn’t help that I had also seen him sniffing around a few other she-wolves, including my sister.  Charlie had come to the Silver Springs Pack a month ago to add a built in shelf to my office at the packhouse. He had been staying with Samantha and her mate for a few months. Anders and I had talked about him, and we had both agreed that there was no reason for any concern and no safety issues were noted. Of course there was always concern when it came to the red wolf, but nothing stood out. 

But I didn’t fuckin’ like him. I didn’t like the way he looked at Coral. I didn’t like the way that she laughed as she touched his arm. I didn’t like any of it. And I wasn’t really sure I wanted her to keep talking to him. I realized that I had no right to feel that way, but it was how I felt. 

And I hated it. 

“Everything alright?” Anders asked as I walked back into the office. I knew that he had been worried about me. The last few months had been hard on me - much harder than I wanted to admit to anyone, especially myself. 

“I’m fine” I replied, taking a deep breath, taking my seat again at the conference table. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to ground myself. I didn’t like how I was feeling right now. Something just felt off, and I wasn’t sure if it was related to me, Coral, or the threat. 

I moved my head, cracking my neck. I kept my eyes closed for a moment, just trying to recenter myself. I needed to get out of this funk that I was in. I wasn’t good for anyone, either my pack or myself, like this. I could sense my mom walking in and I turned to look at her. 

Because I was without a mate, my mom still maintained many of the Luna duties for the pack. I knew that she was eager to be able to step away from that role, and honestly, I wanted her to be be able to. I knew that my dad would always be involved at the red wolf compound, but that didn’t mean that my mom didn’t deserve a break from the Luna responsibilities. 

My mom approached, placing her hand on my shoulder. “You look tired. Are you sleeping enough?” She asked, looking over as my dad entered. The smile across her face said it all. Even after all these years, they were still very much in love. 

“Never!” I replied back, smiling at her. As Alpha, sleep was a luxury that we often didn’t get to enjoy. Add on to that dealing with all the stress of everything that happened with Audrey and how it has impacted my pack, and sleep had eluded me consistently for the past few months. 

My mom smiled at me, but her look turned serious. “I know that you haven’t been getting enough sleep Duncan. And I understand why. But there is a lot going on right now and you need your rest. Try to go to bed a little bit earlier tonight. For your mom?” 

I rolled my eyes sarcastically, but I knew she was right. “I will try,” I replied as my dad entered with a warlock I had never met before. My mom, sensing the change in the room, turned on Luna mode. 

“I am Luna Maria. This is my son, Alpha Duncan. Welcome to the Red Wolf Compound.” She stated, extending her hand. The warlock took her hand, kissing the top, garnering a growl from my dad. 

“I always forget how possessive wolves are. My name is Luz. Pleasure to meet you.” The warlock stated, taking a step back. If the warlock hadn’t come so highly recommended by Sarah, a witch that our pack have worked with for years, I am sure my dad would have put him in his place for touching my mom. As it was, I could see my dad seething next to Luz. 

Anders stepped forward, clearly wanting to get down to business, although the smile across his face told me that he was enjoying the situation. If the situation was reversed and that was Harley on the other end of the kiss, I knew that he would not be very happy. 

“Sarah said that you have some information that will help us better understand the threats to the red wolf.” Anders motioned towards the table as he spoke. Everyone not already seated took up a seat around the table, including my mom. 

“Straight to business. I like the way you work,” Luz stated, a smirk lining his face. I wasn’t sure how old Luz was, but he appeared young. Warlocks much like wolves, often were much older than they appeared. Luz’s features were dark and his eyes and hair matched. But he also appeared friendly. “Much like Sarah and her late mate, Javy, I am a wanderer. I don’t belong to any group, coven, or anything like that. Despite strained relationships between the species, we have prided ourselves on working well with anyone and everyone. As you can imagine, that means that we are often welcomed into many different places that we would normally not.” 

He looked around the room, his eyes landing on Anders. “I know how important these relationships are. And I know how easy it would be for you to believe that I could not be trusted. But please note, I only engage in these types of conversations when I know that it is for the benefit of all. Sarah is very passionate about the red wolves. I know she helped your mate, Alpha Anders, and we all agree that we must continue to help you now. Especially in light of some new information.” 

“And what have you heard?” I asked, leaning back in my chair, my arms crossed across my chest. 

Luz sighed, running a hand through his long, black hair. “After the attack several weeks ago, I reached out to some connections to see why the vampires were involved. Vampires are finicky when it comes to who they work with, but this is the second time that they seemed to be specifically focused on the red wolf. I wasn’t sure why or what their end goal was, so I started digging around a bit.” He let out a deep breath, but continued.

“The bad blood between the vampires and the wolves goes back a long time. I am sure that is not news to anyone here. What you might now know, however, is how the red wolf is involved.” He paused, looking around the room. “Would it be possible for Raina to join us? I think that it would be really useful for her to be here.” 

Anders nodded, but it was my dad who replied. “Raina is already on her way here. She and Callan had planned on being here for this meeting but were detained questioning a rogue. We have had a lot of random attacks over the last several weeks and Raina wanted to question the few that were captured today. As soon as you arrived, I alerted them of your arrival and they should be here any minute.” 

“Thank you.” Luz replied, looking back over at me. “Sarah spoke very highly of you, Duncan. She got a good read from your aura.” 

I looked at him, questioningly. I had never had anyone say anything about my aura before. Before I had a chance to respond, Callan and Raina entered. 

“Luz, nice to see you again.” Raina stated as he entered. 

“I didn’t know that you knew each other.” Anders stated, looking over at his mother. 

Raina smiled. “We met a couple years ago. Luz was quite helpful in working through some complications we were having at the time with some rogues.” Raina replied, both her and Callan taking a seat at the table. “I understand that you requested that for me to join?” She asked.

Luz smiled. “Yes. I wanted to share some of the connection between the red wolves and the vampires. It is a story from long ago.” He paused, but continued. “The relationship between the vampires and the wolves hasn’t always been bad. Legend has it that although not ‘besties’, the relationship was amicable.” 

I nodded as Luz spoke. I was familiar with this part of the history. I wasn’t certain, however, why the relationship deteriorated. Of all of the stories that I had heard about our history, I had never heard about that part of our story. I recall asking Elder Rosemarie about it one time. She was our historian and knew much about the history of wolves and the red wolves. Even she, however, did not have information on that part of our history. It was as if a period of our wolf history had been lost. 

Luz continued. “In a period about 500 years ago, it was not uncommon for working relationships to exist between wolves and vampires. In fact, as I am sure you all know, there is a pretty extensive history of collaborative relationships existing. But romantic relationships, well, that was taboo. But, as we all know, things like that happen, and when they do, it leads to chaos, especially when different species are involved.” 

“So a wolf and a vampire had a relationship?” I asked, looking between Raina and Luz, the pieces starting to fall together.

“Yes, they did. And from that relationship, Rebekah was born.” Raina gasped as Luz spoke. My own surprise was evident. While I had assumed that the relationship had happened, I did not expect the information to take this turn. 

“The very first red wolf,” Raina stated, her eyes wide with surprise. 

“Right.” Luz replied, sitting back in his seat. Over the years I had learned a lot about the history of the red wolf, and I knew of Rebekah, but I didn’t understand this part of the story. 

“But I am confused about what their motives are. Twenty years ago, they were trying to kill Raina, or at least they seemed to be helping the witches kill her.” Callan spoke, the anger and ire rolling off of him. His history with vampires was very clear; he hated them all. 

“Over the years, this is one of the things that we have been trying to figure out. At first, it seemed like they believed that they needed to get rid of what they described as a ‘tainted’ bloodline. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that appeared to be what was going on. However, it is not that anymore.” Luz appeared nervous as he spoke. I looked at him closely, trying to get a read off of him. Based on Raina’s reaction, I could tell that she believed he was being truthful. 

“So what is it?” I asked, a wave of anxiety running through me. Conan was uneasy - he did not like where this conversation was going. 

“Well, like I said, twenty years ago, the involvement of the vampires was little more than for their own gain and to ‘vanquish’ the red wolf for the tainted relationship from 500 years ago. Now, well, it is different.” Raina shifted in her seat as Luz spoke. Callan looked over at his mate, clearly sensing her unease.  “Fifteen years ago, an elder vampire foretold the future of the vampires, and it was led by the red wolf.” 

“But there are 10 red wolves now. Do they want all of us?  Which one do they want?” I could feel the unease in Raina’s voice as she spoke. Conan was nearly spinning in my head with his pacing. 

“The vampire elder said that it was the last red wolf. And, I know, Talia is technically the last red wolf, but from everything I have been able to find out and in all the conversations I have had, the last red wolf is Coral. She was the last one to the compound and although it shouldn’t matter, it seems relevant. The elder clearly spoke of the last red wolf to arrive at the compound.” Luz paused, looking around the room. “Coral is very powerful, perhaps even more powerful than Raina.” Luz stopped talking and the room was silent.

I clenched my jaw, attempting to keep my wolf at bay. Anders seemed to be doing the same. None of this was good information. It meant that the threat that we were fighting was even greater than we thought. 

“She does not know it yet, but she is going to be very powerful. Part of that power, however, comes from being with the other red wolves. Coral will draw from the strength of all of us. That is probably the most misunderstood and least understood part of the red wolves. We really won’t know the power until Coral develops control of her abilities. And we are a long way out from that.” Raina stated, slouching down in her chair. “I am already more powerful with her being here, but when I am away, I can feel the difference.” Raina shook her head, grabbing Callan’s hand. “If they take her, they aren’t going to get what they think they are getting.” 

“So, the vampires believe that Coral is their future? That they need her to move forward? And what does that mean for wolves?” Anders asked, the questions hanging in the air. The atmosphere felt heavy. 

My wolf was antsy. Unable to sit down any longer, I got up, walking towards the window. 

“It means that the vampires believe that they have the ability to use Coral to bring down all wolves.” I stated, turning to look out the window as Luz nodded in agreement.