My Brother’s Mate
Chapter 61

Emily's POV

After everyone was done with their tea, we got ready to finish our journey. My mom and Liam shift into their wolves and we collect their clothes. Cyran picks me up and we start moving again. After another while we stop at a clearing. "Why have we stopped?" Marcus asks. "Because we are here." Cyran says.

"Where?" I ask. Cyran points to a tree. We walk over and he pulls back the branches.

"Gray brook Manor. Your future home." Cyran says. The light of the setting sun casts an array of reds and golds across the valley and thee glass of the manor. It's actually surprisingly large. "My future home?" I ask.

"Well yes, once you become a vampire. You will be the new leader of the family." He says. I take a deep breath and look back over at the manor. There are three different buildings, but seem to all be connected. It is in the shape of a horseshoe. One large building in the middle with two smaller, but equal to each other behind. I see the top of what I believe is a green house in the back. The large building is covered in green vines, and large trees line a path to the front door.I see a fountain, or what use to be a fountain, in the middle of the path. The buildings definitely look old, with French style inspiration, but they're not as old as I expected them to be.

"How old is the manor?" I ask.

"Well this is actually not the original manor. This one was build about four hundred years ago."

"What happened to the original one?" I asked.

"It was destroyed in a war. Once there was peace, our ancestors rebuilt it." Samson says.

"Where you alive for the war?" I ask Samson

"Actually, that war is how I became a vampire." He says.

We walk toward the house, I can tell they are tired. I feel the chill in the air nipping at my face. The closer we get to the manor, the more I can appreciate the actual size of it. I can see the front door. It's large and maroon in color. The outside isn't kept up as well as it could be the grounds are over grown with tall grasses and bushes and brambles.

"Does no one tend the grounds?" Who am I? Who says tend the grounds?

"No real point to it when you are a bunch of vampires. Only a few can come out in the day to enjoy it." Cyran answers.

"Are there other vampires here?" I can't believe I haven't asked this before. Actually, I guess I can believe it.

"Oh yes. And we have a tunnel that leads directly to the council." He says. I look at him questioningly.

"Vampires are big on tunnels. The whole 'no sunlight' thing." He adds. We keep walking towards the manor. I look over my shoulder to see if my mom and Liam are close, but I don't see them.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon." Marcus says. We walk up to the large building and the maroon door.

"Welcome." Cyran says as he opens the door. We walk into a grand foyer with two large staircase leading to an upstairs balcony. There is a large circular rug with a table in the middle. The room was bright and open. I look around a realize there aren't any windows. But there are lights everywhere. Table lamps, sconces on the walls, and a chandelier from the ceiling.

It's a lot more cozy feeling that I expected. I feel my shoulders relax. I've been pretty on edge since the dragon attack. As soon as I know I'm safe in Gray brook I can feel all my energy drain from me.

"What would you like to see first?" Cyran asks.

"My room, please." I just want to lie down, but I can't until I know my mom and Liam are ok. It has been a physically and emotionally draining few days.

"Right, we are all tired. Ah, here they are." Cyran says. I turn around and see two wolves making their way towards the house. It's my mom and Liam. Now I can really go to sleep. We watch as they run over to us. The sun is almost down and I can already see the

moon.

"Go put their clothes behind those trees so they can change." Cyran says. I put my mom's clothes behind a tall thick tree, while Marcus just throws Liam's clothes behind a short thinning tree. I give Marcus a look of disapproval.

"It's fine, come on, or I'm going to pick the best room in the house." Marcus gently takes my arm and pulls me back inside.

"Which way to the bedrooms?" Marcus asks.

"Upstairs and to the left." Cyran answers.

"Great." Marcus and I go upstairs. The stairs are wide and the railing was gold, I felt very fancy. We reach the top of the stairs and turn left.

"Should we try every door? Or should we go with the first bedroom you open is yours?" He asks.

"First bedroom. Then tomorrow we can look at the rest. I'm just so tired." I say. He gently smiles at me and nods. We walk down the hallway and past a few doors. Marcus stops at one door with a brass handle.

"I'm going to pick this one." He says. I wait for him to open the door. He opens the door to.. a linen closet.

"At least it will be soft." I say.

"Did you just make a joke."

"What? No. I don't make jokes." We both laugh a bit before moving on to the next door. This door had dark wood and gold accents.

"I like this one." I say.

"Give it a shot." Marcus says. I turn the knob and open the door to a beautiful room. There is a huge bed up against the back wall, covered in furry blankets and pillows. The curling is high, with a black chandelier hanging in the middle. There is a circular black fuzzy rug in the middle of the room and black furniture. But I think my favorite thing is the fireplace.

"Oh wow. You picked a good one." Marcus says.

"Picked a good what?" Liam asks from the top of the stairs.

"Room." Marcus says shortly gesturing inside the room. Liam walks over to us and looks in.

"It has a fireplace. I like it." He says.

"Marcus go pick another door." I say. Marcus' eyes scan the hallway. He stops at a dark green door with gold accents and opens it. The room has dark green walls a wood flooring. This room also had a fireplace with a gold mantle. The bed had a dark wood frame. "This is much better than the closet." I say with a smile.

"Thanks." He chuckles.

"Goodnight." I say and walk back to Liam and into our room.

"You're really going to bed? Aren't you hungry?" He asks.

"Honestly. I'm more tired than anything." I say.

I take my shoes off and I feel the fuzzy rug under my feet. I can see Liam wants to say something but he's holding back.

"Babe if you're hungry, go get some food." I say.

"I don't want to leave you." He says.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to sleep. Go." I shoo him out of the room.

"Ok, but I'll be right back." He kisses my forehead and heads down the hallway. I close the door and get undressed. I realize I don't have anything anymore. We left the mountain so fast I didn't have time to grab anything. And I have been wearing the same clothes for three days. Goddess only knows how badly I smell. I don't want to get in the fresh bed smelly. Hopefully one of these doors is a bathroom. I open the first door and it is a closet, empty, but spacious. Ok, here's hoping the next one is a bathroom. I open the second door and it is a bathroom. Nothing too fancy, a shower, a toilet, and a sink, all I need. I replace some soap and some towels. I turn the water on and take a shower. The warm water is nice and it feels so good to be clean. But every time I close my eyes, the image of Marigold getting struck by an arrow haunts me. I get out of the shower and dry off. I dry my hair before getting into bed. The bed is soft and big. I close my eyes and replay the moment I lost Hiroen. I wish I had done more.

Dream

I'm walking through the woods at night, but it's no where I've ever been before. There is a fog everywhere making it hard to see. The trees clear to a large crater. I walk to the edge and look down. The air is cold, almost freezing. I see crystals shining and I bend down to pick one up. It's purple and pink in color. Suddenly I hear movement. The sound of an animal growling right behind me, causes me to jump and turn around. I see a beast with a wolf like body but lean and with teeth like a shark. I have never seen an animal like this before. The animal lunges at me and I wake up.