"Well are you going to go get her?" Serenity questioned Zavarius. He shrugged his shoulders as he leaned on a pillar off to the side.

"I'm sure the guards will let her in, she's probably climbing down that long ass ladder by now." Zavarius replied in abandon as he peered at the couple.

"You seem kinda off." Amanthy said bluntly to her brother. She was quick to recognize whenever the man was less than himself some days.

"It's like I've been on edge all day— constantly on high alert as if my body or something deeper than that is expecting something."  He replied staring down at the shiny marble floors in thought. Amanthy examined her brothers furrowed brows and disheveled appearance consisting of faded jeans and a button up shirt that was wrinkled. Her intuition told her exactly what this was, but she didn't want to assume.

"You'll be fine." She said as opposed to the many other things she could've said to ease his nerves. If she had to go through it, so did he.

"I'm fucking immortal, of course I'll be fine! I just need these weird ass mood swings to go awa-" Zavarius' complaints died in his throat immediately at the intense scent he picked up.

Every muscle on his body grew rigid as his alert expression instantly put the two women in the room on guard.

"Zavarius?" Serenity questioned quietly as not to alarm the man even more.

"What is this?" He muttered to himself as he completely disregarded anyone else in the room. He felt like his entire nature was being tested right now, as if his very soul wanted to pull him in one sole direction which he resisted for the sake of fear.

Zavarius' behavior further confirmed her assumption as she let out a laugh. Serenity and Zavarius looked at her in question before he spoke.

"This is not fucking funny Amanthy, I don't know what's goin-" Zavarius was abruptly interrupted by the mahogany doors being pushed open.

There stood a women that Serenity hadn't seen in a decade. Serenity's joy was put on hold as she noticed the look on her former friends face.

"Riley?" Serenity questioned as she had with Zavarius.

Riley's head snapped in the direction of a disheveled Zavarius— and just as brown eyes met green, realization struck everyone in the room.

"I-"  Zavarius attempted to speak and failed miserably as his words instantly balled up in his throat.

Serenity held back her laugh as she watched Zavarius struggle to speak.

"You're a vampire." Riley stated clearly towards the man who she assumed was her mate.

The mate bond was the only explanation as to why they instantly felt drawn to each other. Zavarius swallowed the lump in his throat as he prepared to try to form more words.

"Uhm yeah." He muttered with a deep inhale. He had no idea he could possibly get this nervous around a woman. First time for everything right? "And you're a wolf." He stated obviously just as she had.

"Yeah is that a problem?" Riley as with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip. Zavarius studied her every move and realized everything single centimeter she moved was attractive in some way to him. Studying her would most definitely become his new hobby.

"No it's not, is me being a vampire a problem?" He asked sarcastically as he raised an eyebrow in return.

"No it's not."

"Okay then good."

"Good."

"Good."

They both stood there staring at each other defiantly as Serenity and Amanthy took in the situation. The two women slowly turned their heads to look at each other as they struggled not to laugh.

"They are definitely meant for each other." Serenity stated to which her lover agreed.

——

"I came to request resources for my pack, we've been struggling to feed the 300 members we do have and more of our women are conceiving children making it hard for every mouth to be fed."  Riley explained to Serenity and Amanthy the reason for her appearance.

"I completely understand why you would seek help Riley. It has come to my attention that not only the wolves— but the vampire race as well as the covens have been struggling with overpopulation. I have a solution to solve this problem." Serenity replied to her old friend.

The four of them moved to the counsel room to talk more privately about the matters at hand. Zavarius made sure to get a seat as close as he could to Riley, as Amanthy and Serenity instinctively did the same. Zavarius finally understood why the two women always seemed to move almost in sync— he realized they were connected by something much deeper than anything physical, a feeling he was getting acquainted to himself.

"I know your plan involves going public, I've been hearing of the chatter of humans, rumors  going around about how vampire are actually real. But how exactly does this solve the overpopulation issue?" Riley asked as she folded her hands on the table.

"Not enough supernaturals can just fit into society as they please. It's getting harder and harder to act like you're human in this ever-changing world. Once supernaturals have the full undivided attention of the world, I plan to offer a bargain. We help boost their economy and in return they make housing and blood banks available to supernaturals, amongst other things." Serenity explained to the people in the room. Riley pondered her words as she thought carefully.

"And how long could this plan take? There's only so much waiting that can be done before we begin to run out of resources." Riley questions.

"It may take up to a year or a year in a half to be fully coexisted with humans, but this is what I have to offer you. This palace has around 3 years of resources left to provide for the hundreds of thousands who are provided sanctuary here. I will donate three months worth of these resources with you which should last your pack six months to a year. In return for this gratitude I want you to aid me in spreading the word of our existence." Serenity explained as she laid everything out for consideration.

The moment Serenity got word that Riley was coming she knew it couldn't go to waste. She trusted the women who she considered a friend, and her timing proved to mean exactly what she thought. Riley was the the perfect candidate to begin going public considering she had become the alpha to one of the best packs known.

Riley considered her words thoughtfully, analyzing every aspect of her plan. There were a lot of things that could go wrong but then again with the uprising issue none of them truly had much to lose. If worse came to worse and society rejected them and their wishes, it would give them free reign to take it instead. At least that way they could say they tried to take the civilized route.

"Okay." Riley said.

"Just okay?" Amanthy asked.

"Okay, I'll spread the word." Riley further explained.

"Thank you Riley." Serenity said with gratitude.

"Of course Serenity, just make sure you uphold your end of the deal."

—————

A/N: I didn't even proof read this chapter so if it's shit writing, don't come for me.

Anyways y'all can thank that one person on my message board for inspiring me to release this chapter earlier than I expected.

Please interact to get more updates guysss

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