Kael’s POV
All of us had breakfast together. It was time to visit the hospital. Though I had told Eira we were taking Raven to the hospital just for normal tests, there was more to it.
With Liam’s help, I wanted to know more about Raven, and what might have been the reason the kid was taken to the hospital so often when he was in the RavenClaw pack. Though I had my guess, I wanted to confirm it with an expert.
Also, I wanted to have a session for Raven with Isla, who might explain more about his psychic condition and what he must have gone through to be this way.
We had already decided who was going to do what. Lucian was going to his duty of security and checking on what was going on in RavenClaw pack, and how close they were to finding the whereabouts of Raven.
Roman, Jason, and I would be going to look after the three patients with us—Eira, Raven, and yes, Rafe.
These days Rafe was getting aggressive with his bloodlust, and I decided to have Liam go through some tests for him to see what else we could do for him.
I could tell the bastard had been up to something lately, despite him trying his best not to let anyone know. He was the most difficult one among us all, and I had to keep watch on him all the time. That led him to become my closest and always by my side, as I never let him off.
So today, each one of us three had to be with one of them all the time. We truly had not just one, but three kids to take care of. Out of them, Raven was well-behaved, while the other two, Eira and Rafe, were highly unpredictable, though they pretended to be calm on the surface.
I hadn’t told Rafe yet that he was a patient today, or he would disappear even before we entered the hospital.
Lucian left for his work, while we headed to the hospital. Jason drove the SUV, Rafe sat in the front passenger seat. I sat in the back seat with Raven between me and Eira, while Roman sat in the last row behind us.
As we left, I turned to look at Roman. He had been quiet since yesterday, and I hadn’t gotten the time to talk with him. His expression was serious, his eyes on his mobile.
"What’s the matter?" I asked.
He turned off the mobile screen after reading whatever message he got and looked at me. "Nothing."
I didn’t insist, but I had known him since we were kids, and I could tell something was not right. I will talk to him once we were done with the hospital visit.
Just then, Rafe, sitting in the front passenger seat, turned back and looked at Eira, who was behind the driver’s seat.
"Hey Caldwell, I forgot to tell you something," he said.
She offered him a questioning gaze.
"You are looking beautiful today," he said. "No longer an unsightly witch. Was it the effect of the kiss..."
"Shut up," she interrupted him, and looked at Raven, who looked back at her.
She held both his hands and put them on his ears. "Whenever he talks anything random, you have to put your hands on your ears."
The little kid simply listened to her, glancing once at Rafe.
Rafe sighed. "Fortunately this little witch is not a vampire. The way she glares at me, I’m sure she would have sucked every drop of my precious blood before killing me."
"I lack taste, but not to that extent to drink your shitty blood," she countered coldly.
Here they started again, and in this car, we had to endure it... but with pleasure. She was talking, and she looked adorable, with the tip of her tiny nose turning red in the anger she was trying to suppress.
Rafe smirked at her wickedly, as if decided to get on her nerves for real. "The way you enjoyed the kiss, doesn’t seem like—"
"Kael, can you kick him out of the car?" she said as she looked at me. "Raven is here."
Damn! Did she just say my name? Well, maybe in front of Raven she was keeping her language and hatred towards me in check.
At the same time it was good to see her acting like responsible mother.
"Rafe, stop it already," I warned in a calm yet cold voice.
Rafe sighed and moved his attention to Raven. "You do know I am a vampire. Do you know what exactly it is?"
Raven offered him a nod.
"Good," he said. "Seeing how you are not scared of me, it seems you do know vampires are not as bad as werewolves explained in their past stories."
At this, Raven lowered his gaze silently and looked away.
Rafe and I both noticed this change in him. I could tell it was his disagreement with what Rafe said.
"Raven, have you met a vampire before, someone other than me?" Rafe asked, and I waited to hear.
It caught Jason and Roman’s attention as well. The normal talk seemed to head somewhere else now.
Raven nodded.
Rafe turned his gaze to look at me, almost entirely turning in his seat to face us.
So RavenClaw pack had a vampire with them? Rafe spoke to the three of us through the mind link.
Seems like it, I replied.
But there’s no record of any pack having a vampire, other than ours, Jason said. Rafe’s presence with us is recorded in council and he is allowed to be with us because he is hybrid.
And as far as I know, there’s none recorded from RavenClaw pack, Roman said. What do you say, Kael?
There is no record of it, I added. That means the vampire they have is a pureblood and they don’t want to reveal him to the world.
Pureblood? Jason said. Lucian and I always suspected something fishy is going on there. We need to get our spies to work deeper.
I hummed, my expression serious. So many things were yet to be uncovered, and my instincts told me a storm was coming soon—we had to prepare for it before it reached us.
Why was it surprising to have a pureblood in werewolf pack?
Well, werewolves and Vampires were mortal enemies in our world. In the past, more of the vampires were killed and what were left were in hiding, or preferred to stay away from the werewolf packs. mostly integrated in among the humans.
No pureblood vampire was ever allowed in the werewolf world, but there were a few like Rafe, hybrids. They were allowed if certain pack was ready to accept them. As they were a part werewolves, and one of us.
But it came under the condition and those hybrids were always under the strict watch of council due to their bloodlust. If caught breaking the rules, they were punished gravely.
I have done my best to Keep Rafe protected, and I will continue to do so.
"Raven, was that vampire a good one like me?" Rafe asked, offering him a smile, not letting him know what we brothers were even talking about.
Raven didn’t respond.
"Let me guess then, a scary one?" Rafe said, offering him an assuring gaze and smile.
Eira had been watching us. Not sure what she understood, but she pulled Raven closer and caressed his head gently. "Raven."
He looked at her, and she asked, meeting his gaze, "Did that bad vampire scare you?"
Raven nodded.
Our hearts skipped a beat as we looked at the kid and then at each other.
What could a vampire possibly do to scare a child like Raven, who reacted to nothing at all? The answer was clear—Raven’s blood, the blood of a pureblood werewolf child.
Were they feeding Raven’s blood to a vampire?
My fists clenched, my expression hardened. They wanted Raven for some reasons, and now we knew at least one of it. Once I found out what they were up to and what they did with Raven, I will make them pay for it.