The Bone Chapel

Meet the Family

On the top floor of the Alpha's manor were two small bedrooms -- which were occupied by Luc and myself, a shared bathroom, and the Alpha's master suite, which included a sizable closet and en suite bathroom.

We made our way down to the middle floor, which included three small bedrooms that belonged to various members of Everett's family, a shared bathroom, and a suite that was much smaller than the master, but larger than any of the single bedrooms. I glanced down the hall to the suite's door. I knew no one was inside it, the resident always left early for work, but I still shivered. Disgust, anger, sympathy? I wasn't sure what the emotion was that raised the hairs on my arms and itched deep beneath my skin. Perhaps if I managed to face Claire again, I could better define my feelings towards her and the progeny developing inside her womb.

Not wanting to spend more time than necessary on that floor, I made my way down to the bottom level.

The stairs landed in the foyer, which opened up to a sturdy door with thick metal locks. I'd been assured that, in modern times, there had been no need for the extra security as the wolf packs in the area are at peace with one another. The wolves, however, tend to ignore the historical footnote that was the Zombie Massacre. From what I could tell, that was true for most of the residents in Whisper Valley.

For a town whose majority was either immortal or near immortal beings, a hundred years ago should be a fresh memory. The battle to subdue the zombies driven senseless with hunger should be at the forefront of their minds. After all, a significant portion of the wolves, vampires, and mages sacrificed themselves for the good of the town. Not to mention, the zombie clan being wiped out entirely.

It was a dark mark in Whisper Valley's generally picturesque history. I couldn't blame them for wanting that memory to disappear. However, considering the events only a few months prior when another zombie outbreak threatened the peace of town, perhaps choosing to forget recent history wasn't the best choice of actions.

And the wolves did love their history. To the left of the foyer was a library, which in turn lead to the lounge. During the precious few times the house was actually vacant and I allowed myself to do some wandering, I discovered the lounge to be the real source of knowledge in the household, while the library was simply a showpiece.

In the lounge was an assortment of pack history, including registers upon registers of pack members. I'd heard from Luc that they were in the very lengthy process of digitizing all of the older records, but even with the move to a digital world, the lineage of the pack was still kept on paper in a thick tome for all to review — including the children of Titus.

Titus, the previous Alpha that had gone rogue after the death of his bonded mate, had twelve children before he disappeared. First, he sired Everett through the same ritual in which Everett mated with Claire. Everett's mother was named Roslind and belonged to the Burnt Hills pack. At some point, Titus found his soul mate, or bonded mate as the wolves like to say. This wolf was named Willow and she bore his remaining children before her untimely murder.

Samson, the second born, was sent away to a neighboring pack just like Everett's mother and Claire had been. Fortunately for Samson, he actually bonded with the Alpha of the Sol del Mar pack and lives with them. The third child was Lucinda, who became Everett's beta. Then there was Vera, who apparently went rogue — the ledger didn't say more than that. Hayden was next and he found love outside the pack and lives with his mate. Lucas was the sixth. He also went rogue and also has surprisingly few details about him. Sadie is seventh and one of the manor's inhabitants, as well as an officer under Everett's command. The next was Octavia who is still with the pack, but does not live at the manor. Octavia bonded with a Whisper Valley wolf and since she has pups of her own now, she lives outside of the manor home. Ambrose is not at home, but isn't rogue. From what I gathered, he is doing a tour that is traditional of wolves his age. He will spend the year exploring other packs in search of his bonded mate. Wren is the tenth and lives at the manor, waiting with great anticipation for her time to tour for her mate. Jacob is eleventh, but only by a few minutes. He is also at the manor and appears to be more interested in serving Everett as an officer than taking a tour in another year or two. Then, there was Damien.