Reaper's Lily

6

Kaiden's P.O.V:

I sat at the head of the dining room table, Nate was sitting in the chair to my left and Jace to my right. We were in a zoom council meeting with our father and the rest of the council. As they talked through the formalities, I thought of Lily and wondered where she was. I didn't understand why my father had yelled at me to wear a button up dress shirt, but I wondered if Lily would've found me attractive. I kept thinking of her when I head Nate cough twice. I fixed my shirt, sitting up a bit, and looked at the werewolf I called my brother as he adjusted his tie for the sixth time in a row.

My father started off the meeting by asking me, "Hunter Alcantara, have you reached the end of your hunt yet?"

"There's no sign of the vampire but I won't leave until it's dead, Elder," I said coldly.

Nate only cleared his throat, and added, "Elders, we are having some of the local werewolf packs here helping us track the vampire."

"Wolves do not help unless it benefits them," one of the elders said.

Jace bit back a growl as he grunted out, "That's why I'm here, sir. I help my brothers by being a bridge for the wolves."

"And what of the human girl that was recovered by your team?" Another elder asked, and I fought my urge to glare daggers at him.

They had been on my case about the idea of bringing Lily to Texas so they could question her themselves, but with the files Nate recovered from hacking into her medical records for me, I knew it was going to be next to impossible to even get her to admit it at all. I thought about it as both of my brothers looked at me, waiting for my answer to the elders. If I were to lie, it would buy me more time, but my father would've seen it in my face. If I were to be honest and say she was my soulmate, then I'd have no choice but to bring her in and myself along with my family would be part of the interrogation.

"Hunter Alcantara?" One of the elders called my name, snapping me out of my head.

I looked at the screen, seeing all the council staring at me and waiting on my answer. I wanted to tell them about Lily being my soulmate, I really did, but I would never do this to her. I'd never expose her to this world forcefully. Her mental state was fragile, and I didn't want to lose her in any since of the word.

"The girl...is my soulmate. I will bring her in when I feel she is ready, elders." I had to come clean about the soulmate bond, but I knew my boundaries were to, hopefully, be respected.

"You have a soulmate?" My father beamed with joy as I gave a nod.

Another elder said, "Hunter Alcantara, this human girl is your soulmate, and you know that she will have to be questioned with you present. When can we expect your arrival? The sooner she comes, the sooner you will get the all clear to hunt this vampire down to every corner of the Earth if needed."

"When she is ready, we will arrive. It will not be a minute sooner, elder." I have to keep her sanity in mind. She wasn't exactly in the best state to be interrogated by a council of hunters.

"Son, you have to understand—"

"Dad," Nate spoke up, and we all looked at him. Nate reminded our father, "Y'all allowed me to bring my soulmate in when we went after that coven when she was ready. I have befriended Kaiden's soulmate and her mental state from her year of captivity hasn't done well to her health."

"We looked at her medical records and she will have a mental breakdown if this isn't done delicately. Elders, we three ask that you let Kaiden use his judgement on when she's ready." Jace stood up for my soulmate and it made me happy that he was my brother.

The elders were whispering, then the head elder, my grandmother, said in a sweet tone, "Then it is settled under one condition, Kaiden."

"That is?" I wondered what her old mind was up to.

She smiled, "You bring her here to meet us as soon as you land whenever you arrive."

"Yes ma'am," I smirked at her.

The elders started to go back over formalities of how to interrogate Lily whenever I brought her there. It was deemed that I'd be the one to do it, since they had allowed Nate to interrogate Gia when we had to bring her in. We hunters were very protective of our soulmates that it only seemed fair for us to question ours or at least be present for all of it. Even the council often had hunters use the bond to tell if it was getting too stressful or not. They were implementing that rule after a few hunters had their human soulmates passing out due to the stress and being hospitalized.

After the formalities were over once again, I heard my father saying, "When the girl is brought here, I think it is best that we keep any vampires away from her. Wouldn't you agree, Hunter Alcantara?"

I nodded as Nate requested, "I would like to request that my soulmate, Gia, is present. She's a very powerful witch skilled at making a potion that can help calm Kaiden's soulmate down if the stress is too much."

"We will review your request upon the day of the arrival with the girl in question. Hunter Larsen and Alpha Hale, if your brother suddenly refuses to bring her in then it is protocol for you both to bring the two soulmates in yourselves. Hunter Alcantara, you will have to bring her in within two weeks of the reveal of your identity and of this world or we will have to force your brothers to follow protocol. Is there any questions, comments, or concerns on this?" My grandmother asked.

"No ma'am," I shook my head, and heard Jace exhale a heavy sigh.

The zoom meeting ended soon after, and I got up from the table. I leaned on the table, slamming the laptop lid shut, then walked out the dining room. I headed up to my room after looking at the time on my phone. It was an hour before I had to get ready for my shift. Where I would have to report everything back to Liam. Great.

My grandmother was gracious in giving me two weeks after revealing everything to Lily, even if it didn't seem like. Majority of hunters or other supernatural had to bring them to the hunters' council within the first forty-eight hours. It was rare when the hunters' council took pity and allowed someone this much of a grace period. Poor Nate had to bring Gia in after five days of revealing to her they were soulmates but even then, my grandmother was chopping at the bit to have her come in so she would be able to meet her future granddaughter-in-law. I wondered how long they were going to give Jace once he told them about Aimee.

I really hoped that everything was going to go well at work. I had been lucky in keeping the council at bay. Now it was going to be a challenge to get her out of here after finding a way to tell Lily everything without causing any damage to her health.

Oh, this was going to be better than shooting fish in a fucked-up barrel.