"Arabella, honey, wake up," a soft voice spoke.

Groaning, I pulled the covers further over my head, trying to ignore my dearest friend. Why couldn't she just let me sleep in? 

"I said wake up," Elizabeth said as she yanked the covers off of me.

Sitting up, I pushed the tangled mess that is my hair out of my face, glaring at Elizabeth, as she smiled sweetly at me. I had met Elizabeth the day of her wedding, the day that she married Daryl. 

"Elizabeth, when did you get back?" I groggily asked, as Elizabeth walked over to me with my hairbrush in her hand. 

Elizabeth has been gone for over a year now, meeting up with other kingdoms, clans, and packs, really anyone who wanted to join us. As of right now, we were in the top five of some of the most powerful kingdoms within the tri-state area, but even with that information, the hunters were still getting stronger. More and more humans were joining their side, hunting us down just to get their cheap little rewards.

"This morning, so what's this I hear about Oliver being back?" she asked as she continued to brush out my tangled hair for me.

"He showed up out of nowhere last night, some of Michael's men found him unconscious while they were doing their rounds," I said, I know that I saw him with my own eyes last night, but it just doesn't feel real. 

"So it's true then? He's really returned home after all of these years?" Elizabeth asked.

"You should see how he looks Liz, he's so skinny, looks like he hasn't eaten anything in months."

"Well, Daryl told me when I saw him this morning that the doctor has basically been letting Oliver gorge himself on blood. She's trying to get him to where he can at least walk on his own."

"Probably the best way for her to go. He'll heal faster that way," I said, standing up from the bed. I reached over, grabbing my robe, putting it on before stretching my stiff muscles.

I walked over to the wardrobe, opening the door, before pulling out one of my floral gowns, along with my petticoat.

"I'll be right back," I told Elizabeth as I entered my bathroom, closing the door behind me.

I walked further into the bathroom, placing my clothing on the bench that stood next to the porcelain tub. I quickly relieved myself before stripping myself from my robe and nightgown, dressing in my petticoat. Before stepping into my gown, I reached my arms behind me, fastening the buttons until I could no longer reach them.

I walked over to my vanity, pulling the chair out, taking a seat as I began putting my hair up in a bun. Once I had finished, I took a minute to examine myself in the mirror. My face still looked like I was in my twenties, but in reality, I'm in my forties.

I had quit aging when I was twenty-four. We vampires may quit aging, but the whole thing about us being immortal was a myth. At some point in life we will die, we just live a little longer than normal humans do. We don't just survive off of blood, we do eat human food as well. For the most part, that is normally what we survive off of, but now and then we do need to drink blood.

Sighing, I stood from my seat, walking over to the door, opening it as I walked back into my bedroom, where Elizabeth was waiting for me.

"Do you mind buttoning me the rest of the way up?" I asked as I closed the bathroom door behind me.

"Sure," she said as she walked over to where I was at.

Turning around, I stood there waiting as she finished buttoning my gown up.

"All done."

"Would you like to go down to the infirmary with me?" I asked as I turned towards her.

"Of course."

We exited my room, as we made our way to the Infirmary in comfortable silence. When we reached the door to the infirmary, I opened it, walking in to be met face to face with Dr. Colburn. 

"Good morning Arabella," Dr. Colburn said as we entered the room.

"Good morning. I'm here to see Oliver. Do you, by any chance, know if he's awake?" I asked.

"Daryl came by a few minutes ago, said that he was taking him outside for some fresh air." 

"I see. Thank you," I said as we left the infirmary.

"I wonder where they went?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh good, there you are," Michael said as he walked over to where we were. 

"Yes?"

"Daryl sent me to come get you. He said that Oliver wanted you to join them in the garden, also Daryl has some information for you."

"Why am I not surprised he went to the garden?" I said, as a small smile made its way to my lips.

When Oliver was still here, he practically lived in that garden, especially in the spring time when all the flowers were fully bloomed.

"Thank you for telling me, Michael," I said. Michael turned to leave, but I stopped him before he left.

"I need to speak with you later if you have time."

"What time?" he asked.

"Eight."

Michael gave me a small nod, signaling that he would be there. Elizabeth and I exited the castle, heading straight towards the garden. 

"Good, you're here," Daryl said with a smile as we entered the garden. 

Elizabeth's and Daryl's daughter Chelsea were sitting beside Oliver. They were having a quiet conversation with one another, not even noticing that we had arrived.

"Hey Aunt Arabella," Chelsea shyly said, finally noticing that we were here.

"Hello sweetie," I said to her as she looked over at Oliver, who was staring at me.

Oliver doesn't really remember me, but he can remember my scent, so we're having to rebuild our relationship from scratch.

"Good morning honey," I said, walking over to where Oliver was at, carefully taking a seat next to him.

Everyone was having to be careful around him. He was quite jumpy. It was like he was scared of all of us.

"M-Morning," he said, as he hesitantly leaned over, giving me a hug.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close to me as I could hear him taking in deep breaths of my scent. He started pulling away from me, but I stopped him as I cupped his cheeks in my hands, examining him closely.

"You look better than you did last night," I stated, as he nodded at me.

"I feel a little better. I can walk now, but I can't go too far without becoming extremely exhausted," he said, moving away from me as I let go of his face.

"That's good, sweetie," I said, as Daryl tapped me on the shoulder, signaling that he needed to speak with me privately.

"I'll be right back. Stay with Chelsea and Elizabeth, ok," I said as Oliver gave me a quick nod. 

I stood up from the snowy bench, following Daryl so that we could talk. 

"So?" I asked.

"I was able to get Oliver to talk to me this morning."

"Really? What did he tell you?"

"He can't remember who took him, but he said something earlier that caught my attention."

"And what would that be?"

"He said a man saved him."

"A man?" 

"That's what he said, but the wolves did smell another being there, other than Oliver that night, so whoever it is, isn't one of our kind."

"Is that all he told you?" I asked.

"Pretty much. Any time I would ask about where he had been, he would shut himself off from me," Daryl said as we began to make our way back to where the others were at.

"Oh, and one more thing."

"What is it?"

"An unknown source sent us some valuable information last night."

"Unknown source?"

"Bradley went out for a run and found some documents on the front step of the pack house. He took them to Michael, then Michael brought them to me this morning."

"Why did they go to the pack house instead of the castle?"

"I'm guessing because Michael was the one who had found Oliver and, judging from what Bradley said, it was the same scent they had smelled when they found Oliver."

"So the person who rescued my son is also helping us. So does that mean he's on their side?"

"No idea we haven't gotten that far yet, but whoever this person is, they know where our territory ends and begins," Michael answered for Daryl as he walked over to us.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"Bradley has eyes on a man who is, as we speak, by the territory line. He hasn't crossed onto our land yet, but-"

Michael zoned out, which meant he was using his pack link.

"Bradley just confirmed it's the same scent we had found on Oliver, but he can't get a good enough visual on him," Michael said. 

"Daryl and I will go to where Bradley is, have some of the wolves keep an eye on Oliver while we're gone," I said as Daryl and I started in the direction where Bradley was at.

This was one moment where us being vampires and having inhuman speed really came in handy. It didn't take us long until we were standing in front of Bradley's brownish-black Beta wolf.

"Is he still here?" I asked, only to have Bradley shake his head no.

"Do you think we ran him off?" Daryl asked.

"Possibly," I sighed out.

"Bradley, I want you to go back to the pack house and tell the Warriors to check this area more. I would definitely step up security at night. If you see this man or you smell his scent don't hurt him, don't try to stop him either just let him do what he's been doing," I said as he bowed his head and ran off in the direction of the pack house. 

"Daryl, I want those documents you told me about." 

"Of course," he said as we started to walk back to the castle.