Fated for Forever(14)

mate.

“You did that math in your head?” Daniel asked putting his fingers down. David rolled his eyes.

“Probably before then. There are others who have been with him longer. He’s the one who turned us all.

We’re the only coven made of nearly all turned members. In vampire society turned vampires aren’t exactly

looked down upon, but you can tell the difference in the way people treat you. Our coven members are

treated better since we were all turned by the prince himself. After he created the council he started to enjoy

his freedom and moved all over the world. It’s almost like he collected us. He saw something he valued and

didn’t want to see die, so he made us the offer, and here we are,” Baptista explained.

“David and I were riding the Pony Express in California when he found us. I was handing off to David

and this gang showed up out of nowhere, shot us both and left us to die. Gabriel heard the shots and said

we were too full of life to die quite yet. We both said yes and stayed with him until he dropped us off with

the others at the coven he had established for his turned children outside of Chicago,” Daniel explained and

David shuddered.

“God I hated that city,” David said and Baptista nodded.

“I never liked it there either. I remember when you two first joined us, I thought our prince had brought

home two puppies, you were all over the place. Mikhail nearly killed you both that first week,” Baptista said

chuckling. Daniel and David winced.

“Who is Mikhail?” Ashby asked.

“He is Prince Gabriel’s true second-in-command. He is out on assignment right now trying to track

down the origins of that drug,” Baptista explained.

“He’s a meanie,” Daniel said.

“He’s scary,” David said at the same time.

“Scarier than Gabriel?” Ashby asked, curious. Both nodded rapidly.

“Gabriel will kill you if you mess up or displease him. But he’s very reasonable with his expectations

and is consistent. He doesn’t play favorites. Mikhail will kill you if you breathe wrong,” Daniel explained,

eyes wide.

“We try not to breathe around him,” David said.

“Is that why you two keep fainting around him? I thought it was because he scared you silly,” Baptista

said, smiling.

“He is serial-killer scary,” Daniel said.

“He is clown scary.” David added. Daniel looked at David thoughtfully and nodded.

“Touché,” Daniel agreed.

“We don’t have anyone like that in Arkadia,” Ashby said as they walked into the large industrial kitchen.

“What’s Arkadia like? It’s like vampire legend since no vampire has ever set foot in Arkadia,” Daniel

said, sitting on one of the barstools that had been pushed up next to the island.

“Well, it’s kinda small, just a couple streets, but we’re growing more and more. There’s the diner where

everyone hangs out. It’s run by Ma…”

“Ma who?” David asked.

“Ma Arkadion, she is the old Alpha Mother. Rebecca is the new Alpha Mother. We’ve bonded,” Ashby

said proudly. “Nic, Kate and I have all bonded with her to help her run the town. Nic and I run shops so we

see a lot of the townspeople. I run an ice cream parlor called Sweet Nothings and Nic runs a coffee shop

called The Grind. Kate is the Alpha Female of the Arkadian wolf pack and she keeps Rebecca updated with

how the pack is doing.”

“Then there are the lions. Before Rebecca came to town, Nic and I thought they were kinda scary since

they were male predators, and we shift into small animals. But once Rebecca came to town and we all

started to hang out, we learned that they are just a bunch of softies, especially Rian and Damian. They’re a

blast to hang out with,” Ashby said and realized he was rambling. “Sorry, I guess I got excited.”

“Don’t be, they sound like a lot of fun. I wonder if we can invite them to the club one night.” Daniel

asked. Ashby winced.

“That may be a while. Aleks is still upset that Rebecca was kidnapped from here. The hyenas wanted to

drain Arkadia of blood for that vampire drug ring. I got kidnapped too since I was with her when she was

taken.” Ashby explained.

“Is she OK?” David asked. Both twins look concerned.

“Yup, she’s doing great. She’s pregnant and expecting their first child soon. She said she wanted me to

be the godfather,” Ashby said, beaming.

“Prince Gabriel is going to be the godfather to the next Arkadion Alpha?” Baptista asked and then began

to laugh.

“Does he know this?” He asked between bouts of laughter.