His Blue Moon Princess
Chapter 44

Since I refused to shift back to my human form while we were still on the fighting ground (no way I'm getting n***d in front of a bunch of people again), I won some extra time to think about an explanation to give to the Brothers. Of course, Liam kept mind-linking me all the way to the apartment. Though we kept talking telepathically all the way back, we both acted like nothing happened. Damian, however, seemed too busy himself to notice. He stayed silent, but I could tell from his frowning that he was mind-linking other people, too. Maybe Nathaniel, since he didn't come with us. Aside from all of Liam's restless questioning, I was more worried about what to tell his eldest brother. I know Elena asked me to keep what she had found about us secret for now, and honestly, as long as it wasn't confirmed, I didn't want to talk about it either. What was the point in bringing to light what is nothing but a hypothesis for now?

But still, everyone heard me call for help, even all the way to the White Moon's Clan Northern territory. How do I explain this...?

Once we reach the apartment, before anything, Liam and Damian go to the apartment downstairs to take a shower and change. Bobo, Tonia, and I aim to do the same in mine. We ruined the cars with all that vampire blood, and truthfully, it's one of the worst smells I ever experienced. I use lots of shampoo to take it off my hair and cleanse my wound, too. Once in my human form, I realize it's not that terrible: just a clean, five- or six-centimeters long cut. It's not too deep either, and the bleeding even stopped already. But silver does sting...

Since it's late already, I change into my sleeveless pajama top and a dark legging and go back to the main room. Tonia is already there, in a bathrobe, inspecting her wounds. I join her on the couch. She's not really in good shape, though she won't show it. She has a black eye, a cut on her lower lip, several ecchymoses, a sprained ankle, and I would guess a couple of broken ribs. I quickly fetch the first aid kit from my bathroom and come back to help her take care of it.

"This is pathetic," she growls as I put some cream around her eye.

"It would have been better if you hadn't insisted on stepping between me and them," I scold her.

"For the reminder, protecting you is my job, baby girl."

I roll my eyes, but don't argue back. I don't feel like getting into this endless discussion now. Bobo comes back from his sister's room, too, wearing jeans. I'm glad he's back to his human form. He has a few bruises, like his sister, but overall, he looks fine. He joins us and looks at Tonia, frowning.

"It's been a while since you've been in such a bad-"

"Don't say it," growls Tonia. "It's embarrassing enough as it is."

Bobo sighs and takes a seat on one of the kitchen stools. He looks exhausted, with his dreadlocks in a mess. He rests his arms on the bar and closes his eyes. Right, it's past midnight now. I hear something vibrating, and he raises his head to take out his phone. He reads a text and smiles. Tonia sees it, too.

"I really want to smash you right now. Stop smiling. You do know the boss is going to kill you, right?"

"Apparently it was worth it," he whispers with an enigmatic smile.

"You left Nora alone, you selfish brat!"

"It's okay, Tonia, I really don't mind. I did fine by myself, and Bobo did protect me afterward."

"No, he was supposed to protect you, not that blondie!"

Bobo ignores her and so do I. I know Tonia, this can go on for a while. So, I just take care of her wounds while Bobo closes his eyes and rests next to us. I honestly don't mind, though I am a bit curious to know what happened back there. But then again, I trust him. He probably had his own reasons.

A few minutes later, I'm done treating Tonia as much as I can, though I still think she should go to the hospital. A couple of X-rays may be useful, but she doesn't want to, saying she will be healed in a few hours. So instead, I'm cooking some late dinner, since the fight basically left everyone tired and famished. I grabbed whatever I found in the fridge to make up a pile of sandwiches.

Liam warns me through the mind-link that he and Damian are coming up.

What about Nathaniel?

He's still there, taking care of the aftermath. I think it's more about his girl, though. Who knows?

...Elena? Yeah.

The door to the apartment opens, and Damian enters followed by Liam. The two of them picked black t-shirts and jeans and, as Liam predicted, they both look perfectly unharmed and fine. Liam runs straight to the table to grab some sandwiches and starts eating right away before he even sits up. I can't blame him; I'm starving, too, and I'm not sure the twenty sandwiches I made are going to be enough to feed all the wolves in the room. Even Damian picks one before coming to sit next to me.

I was a bit afraid of getting into another argument with him, but he gives me a quick kiss on the forehead and sighs. "Sorry for earlier. I was a bit on edge... You did great, Nora."

"Hell yeah, she did. She couldn't even shapeshift one month ago and now she's fighting vampires like a warrior," adds Liam, his mouth full.

I smile. Indeed, I'm quite surprised with myself, in a good way. Seems like my instincts did their job tonight...

For a few minutes, everyone enjoys the silence and my sandwiches. It's been a crazy night, for sure. First, my birthday surprise, then an attack on the harbor, and now I'm having a tuna sandwich at 1 am. I think about the things that I left on the boat. I hope I can retrieve those later, I left my necklace and earrings there... "There was something weird about this attack," suddenly says Tonia.

Damian nods. "It's like they just wanted to get inside the city no matter what. And I've never seen such a big group of vampires. There are a few Clans, but never that big."

"Could it be they had a commander?" Mutters Bobo.

"You're thinking about the witch?" I ask.

"Maybe. It's not the first time a witch would have taken control of vampires. They do partner up sometimes," says his sister, taking a new bite of her sandwich.

"...I think they were targeting Nora."

All eyes turn to Liam. He stopped eating, his eyes far off. He takes a new sandwich and starts talking again. "When I arrived, one of them said they needed to take her alive. Isn't that weird? Why do they care who they kill or not? And there were a lot of them after you, too. If you were their aim from the start, that explains why they went straight to the harbor."

All eyes turn to me. I hesitate for a while, but eventually, I can't hide things forever. I turn to Damian, who is staring at me. "Liam's right. I'm not sure about being their target, but one of them did say they wanted to capture me."

My mate frowns. "Why would they want you...?"

"I think... It might have to do with my lineage."

"Your lineage? I thought you didn't know who's your birth mother?" Asks Tonia with a confused look.

"I still don't. But... I think she might have been a... a Royal," I confess, looking at Damian straight in the eye.

As soon as I drop that last word, they look at me with shocked expressions, except for Bobo and Damian. I wish I knew what he is thinking of this news, but as always, his silver eyes are indecipherable.

"....A Royal?" He murmurs.

I nod, waiting for his reaction. But he stays silent, looking at me like he's deep thinking. After a while, I shift my eyes to Bobo, silently asking for help.

He sighs. "Someone from the Opal Clan mentioned it today. A family of Royals got killed in the North about eighteen years ago. And Nora has... well, white fur and blue eyes, so..."

I hope Elena won't resent me for this...

"You think your last name is a Clan's name?" Asks Tonia.

"I'm just saying it could be."

"...That would explain a lot of things..."

I turn to Liam, who is scratching his chin, thinking. He points out his fingers one by one in his free hand, the other one still holding a sandwich. "Clan-like last name. The white fur and blue eyes combination thing. Your dad taking you away from your unknown mom. Your Alpha genes and obviously good fighting instincts. Your altered abilities, like no fast-healing but large-scale mind-linking."

"Yeah, what was that by the way? Even I heard you!" Says Tonia.

I still don't really know what I did! I just panicked and unconsciously asked for help. I didn't think that would result in me sending out a large distress signal to all the werewolf population of Silver City! Damian finally turns to me, reacting to Tonia's words. "Did you know you could do that?"

"No, not at all. I just discovered tonight I could reach out to other Alphas, too. It's like a door opened in my mind. As long as she has seen him eye-to-eye, my Wolf can talk to any Alpha, I think."

Can you talk to me?

I can. See? Easy.

That's interesting...

Damian smiles, but Liam catches us.

"Hey, no mind-flirting now, you two! We are still in the room."

Damian playfully growls at his brother, but I just chuckle. He is one to talk, we spoke like that for the whole trip to here!

Tonia, too, wants to go back to the serious topic.

"Okay, so now Nora can mind-link any Alpha. That's an Alpha ability anyway, right? But she mind-linked us, too, tonight. And to be honest, baby girl, it was more like a big siren ringing in my head than a nice talk." "Yeah, same for me. Felt like all I could focus on was your voice, it was loud and... mesmerizing," says Bobo.

"It sounded normal for us Alphas, right brother?"

Damian nods. I remember Elena did advise not to make use of the mind-linking too lightly. What did she say again? Her pack members found it annoying. Maybe that's what she meant if our voice sounds like what the Mura siblings described. "I don't think I could do it again now, anyway."

"Well, don't try. I already have a headache. Let's keep the testing for another time, baby girl," grumbles Tonia.

"But that's good to know. Now even if Nora is in trouble, she can ask for help by herself as easily as that." Liam winks at me and grabs his fifth sandwich.

He's right, now not only we confirmed that I can fight for myself, but I can even warn Liam or Damian if I'm in trouble. Even Damian nods. He seems content about this news. Can I hope he is not going to be as overprotective as before, now? "There is still that whole Royal theory we need to confirm," says Bobo.

We exchange a look. I know. Elena wasn't sure of anything, but if we could somehow replace a way to confirm it...

"...What about a blood test?"

All eyes turn to Tonia.

Damian frowns. "You think you could check this with a blood test?"

"Wait, you're telling us the girl spent a month in a hospital and you never checked her blood?" Says Liam.

"Because we didn't think of checking her DNA! We were busy trying to keep her alive, for the record. And analyzing the werewolf gene is a really specific analysis. But yeah, it's worth trying. If Nora is a Royal, we..."

"A Royal's child," I correct.

"Right, but even as Royal's child, your werewolf genes should light up like a Christmas tree once we check your stats. I can ask Nana to help, I'm sure she would know."

Damian nods, but to be honest, there is something else I would like to check. My eyes turn to Bobo, and he knows right away what I am thinking about. If we can do blood testing, I can even see how closely related Elena and I are! Hey, Nora?

I turn to Liam. Why is he using the mind-link now? I don't think anybody notices; Damian is discussing the blood-testing idea with Tonia, and Bobo is busy texting again.

What is it?

Could I get some of your blood, too? Don't tell the others, but I think I know someone who could help you replace more about your mother...

I agree, but this is a bit surprising. Who is Liam thinking about, and how could that person replace more than Granny Ariadna will in the hospital? And more importantly, why is he keeping this a secret from everyone else...?