Into the Vampire's Lair Ch. 04

"Just drive straight up to that house over there. From here you just make a turn at the front and drive uphill towards the Alpha's house," instructed Amber, leaning in between the front two seats.

After they dropped her off, the brothers headed off to Fiona's place so that Draven could take a look at Erika's condition. As soon as they made the turn and were out of sight from Amber's house, Alaron stopped the car.

"Why are we stopping?"

"Switch shirts with me," said Alaron, watching his brother stare opened mouth at him.

"Why?"

"That way we'll both smell like we slept with her."

"What! No." For the first time in his life, Draven really wanted to smack his brother across the face. Amber wasn't a sex toy for them to share! She was... she was...

"She's what?" asked Alaron impatiently. "There better not be an answer to that. Now take your damn shirt off!" He tugged his own off and threw it on Draven's lap. However, before Draven could put it on, Alaron pulled his shirt back and started driving.

"You still smell like her. This won't do," he muttered, driving past Eian's house towards the lake where Dominic and Sydney had held their wedding reception. He parked a distance away from their home and got out of the car.

"Take a dip right now and get that reek off your body."

"She doesn't reek!" protested Draven. "For god sake Alaron, why are you so adamant that I not smell of her?"

Alaron stopped for a moment, staring at his brother with an incredulous look on his face.

"Has sex loosened the screws in your head? We are going to Eian's house; her Alpha! Do you want him finding out that you're rolling around with his kind? What do you think he'll do huh?"

Draven stared blankly at his brother. He knew the answer and wasn't looking forward to the words that were about to come out from his brother's mouth.

"We can't afford another situation right now... we messed up enough Draven and the only reason Eian's helping us is because he's only protecting his mate. He knows what the council will do to you especially and that would break Fiona's heart. But we can't expect him to keep bending the rules for us..."

Draven knew that Alaron was right. Slowly, he unbuckled his jeans and splashed water on his body, feeling the sudden coldness shocking his system back to life.

"Here," said Alaron, handing him a towel.

"Thank you... for looking out for me," he said gently, watching the way Alaron tried to shy away from his gaze.

"You did raise me..." he replied softly, before walking away to the car. "I don't think I could live either if anything were to happen to you."

Draven heard Alaron's soft mutterings but chose not to comment and instead smiled secretly to himself.

***

Fiona opened the door, her face lit up in a bright smile at the sight of the two men. She tiptoed to kiss Draven lightly on the cheek before frowning.

"When did you take off the cast?" she interrogated.

"Err... it was getting in the way, princess. Plus it's healed. See?" He took her hand and urged her to touch his arm, making sure that she felt the bone.

"That doesn't mean there aren't cracks. So no heavy duty for you and most importantly, no more fighting," she said sternly, looking at the two of them to make sure they understood. When they nodded, she cheered up and ushered them in.

"Erika should be down soon and Eian's still in the shower. He's not going to work today so we can discuss the next course of action together," she said, walking towards the kitchen. "Do you guys want anything? I'm feeling hungry and I don't know why. Maybe I'll make some scrambled eggs and bacon."

The news that she was eating real food didn't seem to alarm her but Alaron and Draven were. However, they kept quiet, watching the way she went about preparing breakfast for herself, Eian and Erika as though it was the most natural thing for a Vampire to do.

We'll talk about this later. Don't bring it up until after we're finished with the Erika problem

I agree.

The two brothers sat quietly at the dining table, watching Fiona scooping out food into three portions and laying them on the table.

A while later, Erika entered the kitchen and stared at the two male Vampires with a confused and fearful look on her face but Fiona must have been controlling her for she soon sat demurely and didn't say much as she started eating.

"She's been slipping in and out more frequently lately. Especially at night when I'm sleeping. It's like I'm unable to control her anymore. It's... tiring."

"Yes it is... so I hope we can resolve this matter as soon as possible," said Eian, walking into the kitchen with a towel in his hand. The brothers watched as he took a seat beside Fiona and helped himself to the food. He too didn't seem disturbed by the fact that his wife was eating and that was really starting to bug the two Vampires.

Draven in particular was wondering if perhaps Fiona's body was adjusting because she now had the wolf gene in her. But whatever it is, that bacon sure looked delicious...

"Would you like some, Draven?" asked Eian, unconsciously responding to Draven's thought. He was almost not aware of what just happened until Fiona pointed out to him that Vampires don't eat and that he was being unfair for only inviting one brother to eat while ignoring the other.

At that moment, Eian looked up, concentrating first on Fiona and her mouthful of food and then at Draven. The look he gave Fiona was gentle and somewhat of understanding but then it turned cold and almost murderous when it landed on Draven.

Nod if you can hear me. I will know if you're lying.

The Vampire suddenly felt afraid of the Werewolf sitting opposite him. Draven tried his best not to show his fear and instead kept a straight face as he casually nodded. He saw the fury flash across Eian's eyes but the Alpha simply sat in his place and continued eating. It was obvious that he did not want to drag Fiona into it.

We'll talk about this later

"Sweetheart? Is everything alright?" Fiona asked, patting his arm gently. "Is no body listening to me except Alaron? Can the two of you stop staring at each other?" she frowned as she looked at Eian and Draven.

"I'm sorry... What were you saying Sweetheart?" asked Eian, his voice turning gentle and his eyes softening as he turned to look at her.

Her lips were pursed. It was obvious that it was uncommon for him not to pay her any attention. "I was saying that maybe I should stop controlling her now and let her decide for herself which option she would prefer." Fiona looked at Eian desperately. "I know what it's like to have choices forced upon you... and I don't want the same thing to happen to my friend."

Eian's eyes softened further upon hearing her words. His hands automatically reached out to caress her cheek before he nodded. How could anyone deny such a sweet, loving creature her few requests? With that said, maybe they could try out the baby making thing again... or a few times later tonight.

"Let's ask her shall we?" Everyone knew that his question and his smile were meant for Fiona.

A second later, Erika seemed to snap out of her daze and began staring at every one of them; Fiona to Eian to Alaron and Draven, then back again to Fiona.

"Am I on today's menu?" she asked despite knowing how inappropriate it was to be such a smart mouth in front of such... carnivores.

Fiona looked expectantly at the men seated around her before speaking. "Umm, Erika, do you remember everything that happened at your bookstore the other day?"

"Bits and pieces mostly but most importantly I know I'm the only human in this room."

I can bury that memory away. You only seemed to have numbed her mind for awhile.

Fiona looked at Draven, considering his suggestion.

"Erika... I and everyone else here do not want to lie to you anymore but we want to make things as easy and as comfortable for you as possible. I'm not sure if you remember but my relatives here have destroyed your bookstore," she glared at Draven and Alaron for a second before continuing. "While we plan to help you restore it, we would like to know if you'd like your old store back... or would you like to build a new one? Preferably in a safer neighborhood?"

Fiona was trying her best not to push her suggestion into Erika's head and let her decide on her own. At the moment, the petite woman was leaning back in her chair, looking at every one of them intently as she thought her options through.

"Is it safe for me to be walking around with knowledge of your existence?" she asked. "I already have a feeling that I'm not here on my own accord right? I mean I don't remember why I'm even here."

"I'm sorry..." said Fiona but Alaron cut into her sentence.

"It all boils down to whether you'd like to keep your memory of us or have them taken away. If our existence disturbs you then you have all the right to have us removed from your life completely and return to your original bookstore, fully furnished as you remember it."

"There's a but isn't there? I can hear it," said Erika.

"No buts. Truth is, we would have made that decision for you but Fiona wanted to give you a chance to choose your own future first. So technically you should be grateful instead of sitting there being a smart mouth. Just tell us what you want," snapped Alaron.

"Alaron..." warned Draven before turning to look at Erika. "It is not safe for you to know about our existence. We have had too many of our young killed because of humans exposing our secret. Alaron here and Fiona are still considered younglings and they are the ones in great danger should you choose to use your knowledge to turn against them."

Everyone watched as Erika's eyes widened at that piece of information.

"Him I don't mind, but Fiona's been... kind to me. And she's a friend... so no, I do not want her to get hurt," she paused and looked at Fiona briefly. "I still want to be a kind of Aunt to your baby when you have it... wait is that even possible Fiona? Half Werewolf and half Vampire?"

"It is," assured Draven, watching Erika's frown turn into a smile. "So what's your decision Erika?"

"Let's rebuild the shop together," she said, smiling at Fiona. "I'll let you choose the location but make sure that there's space for a studio apartment on the second floor. I like knowing I can wake up late for work and still be on time," she said grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Oh Erika!" Fiona was beaming, moving over to hug her friend. "I'm so happy!"

"Is there any other demands? You better let us know now," said Draven, obviously reading the mortal's mind.

"Yes, I have one request... could you please take away the memory of that fight between the three of you in my bookstore? As much as possible, I want to keep my knowledge of all of you at its peak- the wedding." Erika put a hand up as Fiona was about to protest.

"Okay," said Draven. "Give me your hand."

The moment he touched her, he saw the memory of the fight and slowly pushed it as deep down into her subconscious as he could; burying it deep enough so that no trigger could awaken that memory... for now. Besides, he had read her and saw that she was of no threat to them. Her feelings for Fiona were genuine and if anything, Fiona would act as a protector to this human...

"How are you feeling?" asked Fiona once Erika's eyes returned normal.

"Just a little faint... I think I should lie down." Fiona nodded and tried to help but Alaron was already on his feet and carrying her in his arms, despite her protests.

"Show me the way Fi," he said gently and together the three of them left the room, leaving Eian to speak to Draven alone.

When he was sure that they were not within earshot of the others, Eian looked at Draven; his eyes filled with shock, anger and just a hint of weariness.

"Do you know why I can hear your thoughts?" he asked kindly, dropping his furious demeanor.

"Yes," said Draven slowly, his head bowed down.

Eian didn't prompt but waited for the Vampire to look up and tell him the words that he dreaded.

"Because you're my Alpha now."

***