Blood Ties

5

Darkness dawning
~
Accalia
~

Throughout Accalia's twenty years of existence, candour would always wage way through the Larren family and if it didn't, you would receive it anyway.

Her first truth wasn't lycans, how could it be? When blankets of rough and thick fur painted the wooden floor for carpet? Their canines are to be used as necklaces for a hunter's triumph. And the stories that would weep around the fire for everyone to hear.

Accalia's first taste of honesty was death. Her father, William Larren informed her one night of her mother's passing, a tear trickled down his face and he left the room.

Weeks later, the display of her aunty and her family's deaths painted her eyes with a certain verity that would never leave her.

A masterpiece, four bodies were laid out in the Larren house for all to see and Cadence was the first one to walk in on it.

It wasn't hushed up, it wasn't denied, it was righted with truth and frankness.

"Go find Cadence, Accalia, and make sure she doesn't wander off."

William ordered her daughter moments after finding the corpses. Her cousin had taken off after her screams ignited the family into tearful cries.

Accalia didn't refuse, wanting to get away from the stench and bloodiness.

From that day on, the remainder Larren family members couldn't find who killed Katerina, Henry and their two children, so the hunters hunted anything they could find, deeming that enough.

But never has Accalia been caught up in a web of lies and bare-faced deceit.

Lycus and Gabriel are both different but alike. One, the inhalation of the moon and the other the damned curse of it all. Two sides of one coin.

Accalia wanted someone to answer, flip the coin and see who it lands on.

"Rexton is our younger brother," Gabriel began, closing his eyes at saying his name and Lycus shot him a malicious glare.

"How old is he?" Accalia questioned curiously.

"We locked him away just after he turned nineteen," Gabriel responded as Accalia knew Lycus wouldn't.

"A kid!" Nina bellowed to Gabriel. "Cadence is eighteen, that huntress over there hardly looks twenty. You locked a kid away?" Her brown face reddened and she covered her mouth to keep silent.

"We were trying to protect him," Gabriel murmured to Nina. "Rexton was much different than the rest of us. He's a hybrid, a combination of lycan and vampire. That's why he bit you, Cadence, he hadn't fed in a century ... his vampiric side could be unhinged."

Accalia needed to sit down. She swore she saw the world before her spin and flip upon hearing that statement.

"I don't understand, you two are purebred lycans, one of the firsts, how is he different?" Accalia questioned.

The brothers exchanged subtle glances and Accalia instantly knew the pool of secrets wouldn't be unveiled.

"He was born that way ... our father resented our mother and began to resent Rexton because of it." Gabriel admitted, clenching his jaw in discomfort from revealing so much.

"He was a threat to both vampires and lycans. So, we faked his death and killed anyone that knew about him. And now, he is free ... no thanks to little huntress over here." Lycus muttered bitterly.

"I didn't know what was in the coffin, Alexene made a point of making sure I knew very little, but now I hope this hybrid freak comes after you, Lycus." Cadence explained with an iciness in her tone.