HUNTED

Cassius will be making a claim for the throne with you by his side as queen..

Aila stared back at Gabriel like he had lost the plot. But instead of asking all the questions running through her mind, she stayed quiet and waited for him to continue.

"I'll start from the beginning.."

3200 BCE

  Vampires started to roam the earth, but it all began with the four ancients. Gabriel, Cassius, Amelia and Mira.

"Hold on.. What did you say? Aila interrupted. "Amelia.."

"Was a second-generation vampire.." Gabriel didn't give Aila a chance to digest what he said and continued, "Cassius and I were the first to be cast on earth, then Amelia and Mira. Our creator never imagined twin brothers would be born, and so he gave us the girls in the hopes of them being our brides and to reproduce."

Aila brought her knees to her chest on the sofa; she wished she had a hoodie or something to cover up more. What exactly was he saying. She gasped, "Are you telling me that you and Cassius are like my great great-"

"We are not related. Now sit down and listen; otherwise, this will take all night, and I do have other business to attend to.." Gabriel flicked his wrist nonchalantly, grabbed his drink before sliding down onto the sofa across from her and Ajax, letting his ankle cross over his knee as he leaned back. Aila nodded but was still trying to process what he was telling her as quickly as possible.

Amelia Cross was a second-generation vampire. "You said something about a creator and being cast onto earth. Do you mean like God? Or.." She trailed off and saw Gabriel's lips tighten before he brushed away some imaginary dust from his trousers.

"More like the opposite," He muttered, then raised his voice dismissing his words before Aila could ask any more about it. "We don't remember our past lives before we woke up on earth. We were just simply fully grown, exactly how I am before you now. At first, Cassius and I did not realise what we were. We followed what others did, ate regular food, but soon we realised how much stronger, faster, and more powerful we were to others.

"Soon, our thirst for blood started to become evident. The burning and the need to quench our thirst was undeniable. We wiped out the village that took us in, leaving it covered in blood. It was easy. There were no limitations like the sunlight holding us back-"

"You used to hide in the dark parts of the cell? You never went into the daylight.." Aila interrupted again, but this time Gabriel didn't seem to mind her question; in fact, he smirked.

"Why would I give away all my secrets.. You didn't know who I was, and the hunters do not know about all of my powers.. As much as they tried," He spat the last sentence.

"But vampires can't walk in the daylight," Chase added. Aila looked at him and saw how intrigued he was by their conversation. He was leaning forwards as though he could not miss a single sentence.

"Guys, you don't need to stand guard. If Cassius wanted to, he would have been back by now," Aila murmured, surprising Gabriel by her comment. They waited for Chase and Finn to sit down on the couch. Finn sat on the other side of Aila and didn't stop scanning the room with his eyes.

Gabriel sipped his drink and looked as though he was weighing out how much he would tell them. But one look at Aila, and it seemed he made his mind up. "First, second and third-generation vampires are not harmed by the sun. But the next generations cannot stand it and would burn and die," He muttered.

"You said Amelia was a second-generation vampire.. You or Cassius was with Amelia? But we aren't related, yet have the same hair and eyes? How the hell am I a werewolf?" Aila demanded, getting straight to the point.

Gabriel leaned his head back into the sofa and looked up at the ceiling with a sigh, and began telling parts of his, Cassius, Amelia's and Mira's past life.

Amelia and Mira appeared to them. Their features were the same as Gabriel and Cassius. It seemed that the first generation and second generation (which was only Amelia and Mira) were the only ones to have the white hair and startling blue eyes with specks of red in them. Anyone they created after them showed different signs that they were vampires by simply showing a thin red ring around the iris of their eyes.

It was clear from the start what their creator's plan was, and now the twins saw how superior they were to the next generation of vampires were with their much higher levels of power, strength, speed and telepathy. Gabriel and Cassius made the decision, what with the wars between the vampires and werewolves, that a hierarchy should be created.

They were, of course, pureblood vampires and so would ascend the throne. The only issue was that there were two of them. In the beginning, they were as close as anything and took turns ruling over their empire. On and off, the brothers would switch places, one hundred years each, a brother would be on 'vacation' exploring the world, learning new things that would help them stay in power while the other was in charge. 

Nobody dared to make a claim for the throne. They were the ancients, the purebloods. If anyone so much as angered them, then they would meet their end. As for Amelia and Mira, they did not immediately come to Gabriel and Cassius' side. They felt hurt and used that their sole existence was to be by the vampire king and prince's side. Gabriel allowed them to leave, he was sympathetic to their needs, and it wasn't until 200 years later that they returned to them.

It wasn't long until Gabriel and Amelia started having a relationship, leaving Cassius to turn to Mira. Unfortunately, Mira died at the hands of Amelia three years into being by Gabriel's side.

"Wait, why did Amelia kill Mira?" Aila interrupted.

"Stop interrupting storytime," Malia scolded her, but her wolf was also intrigued and quietened immediately.

Gabriel gritted his teeth, and she could see the burning fire behind his startling blue eyes. "Amelia was jealous," He replied simply like he was speaking of the weather.

Aila relaxed her legs and leaned forwards, resting her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands. "I'm sorry, I thought you just told me my ancestor killed someone out of jealousy?" Aila said, looking at Gabriel intently.

He sighed and stood up to stroll towards the right set of the floor-to-ceiling windows. He kept his back to the rest of the room as he gazed outside at the city below. "Aila, the thing about Amelia is.. that she.. was a conniving, manipulative, violent.. and stunning woman. She..was brilliant.. she.." He trailed off, and Aila could see his back stiffen while his hands clenched and unclenched by his sides.

"You loved her.. and she betrayed you?" Aila finished, reading through the blanks of what Gabriel was trying to tell her.

The vampire snapped his head to the side and smirked. She could see a dangerous glint behind his eyes. "We both loved her. And she betrayed us. I was with her, and she.. was with both of us."

Aila gasped. "She.. you.. Cass.." She sputtered, "Wait, did Cassius know? He did this to you?"

Gabriel turned his head back to the view and clasped his hands behind his back, holding each arm by the elbows. He looked like the royalty he was, even though they were above a nightclub.

"Cassius was in love with her from the beginning. But she chose me. I was with her for four hundred years, on and off. Cassius admired her from afar until she killed Mira and 'confessed' to him of her undying love. He was both guilt-ridden but unquestionably in love with her. He couldn't stop seeing her. Amelia was.." He looked at Aila sadly as his eyes wandered over her face, "stunning and everything. Everything to both of us. She was made out to be an angel, but I started to see her in a new light in time. Especially after finding out about my lover and brothers affair."

He was saying it with little to no emotion; his aura was dark and chilling, making Aila wonder if he was over Amelia. He was with her for four hundred years. How long would it take someone to get over their partner of four centuries?

"But I wasn't aware of their affair until after she left me. In the 16th century, Amelia started to get.. bored. She wanted something else to do. She was.. incredibly smart and started to talk about superior beings. She wanted to have the strongest children, but not my children… Amelia met Matthias, and it was almost like fate brought them together because he was a werewolf and ended up being her mate," Gabriel continued, and Aila put two and two together.

"So, you're telling me I am part vampire?" Aila concluded; Gabriel spun around and looked at her. She wondered how he looked at her without hate in his eyes.

"You are not Amelia. You may look the same, but you are nothing alike," Gabriel answered her thoughts first. "You have second-generation vampire blood running through your veins, yes."

Aila parted her lips for the following question on her tongue, but she straightened up after feeling a tug on the bond. "Hold that thought.." She muttered and stood up abruptly. Malia was also alert, and she felt warmer and the bond tugging even more in her stomach.

The far exit door burst open. Aila spun around and caught her breath at the furious Alpha bristling, looking incredibly hot and sexy and drool-worthy-

"Get it together, Aila. But you're right, wooh! So fricken hot, how long have we been away from him?" Malia began rambling, and Aila tuned her out. She started to go towards Alpha Damon, but she stopped after feeling hit with a wave of anger from him, he merely glanced at her, before his eyes were glaring at Gabriel.

Oh shit, he looks fricken scary.

Damon snarled and charged towards Gabriel, but Aila quickly appeared in front of him within seconds, blocking the first blow meant for Gabriel. Her heels skidded against the marble surface, from where their arms were connected from her block.

"Out. Of. The. Way. Aila."

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