The Mate of Two: The Ruby Wolf Series
Chapter 26

"I just took Ariel to her mothers house. Are you really letting her be there unguarded and alone? You know Damien will take this opportunity to get to her." Jeb said as he came barging into my office.

I stayed silent. I knew sending her away was a bad idea, I don't know why I did it.

'She isn't strong enough for us.' The same voice continuing to slam into my mind. Driving me crazy.

"She's a liability."

"She is our rightful Luna. She will need training and we have two women who can help her. Your grandmother could even help her. I don't know what your problem is, but you need to pull your head out of your ass. You are going to cause a storm of problems with the choice you just made. If anything happens to her, if Damien gets to her. We are all screwed."

So many voices pierced my mind, causing me to wince.

"You need to take a break from Alpha duties and go get your mind cleared. Ever since the dinner you have slowly been acting different. I don't know what Damien said to you, but it fucked something up inside you. You need to go to your mate and make amends. She isn't safe Blake. You know that."

I felt Jax stir within me. He had been silent for a while. Probably angry with me.

"Blake, You need to get whatever Damien did out of your system. Before it's too late."

"I am going to go to my cabin. I will be there until my head clears. There are too many voices in my head." I said, getting up and heading for the door.

"I will be sending for her. I am bringing her back to the pack." Jeb said as I walked out of the room.

Jeb's POV

"I will be sending for her. I am bringing her back to the pack." I said as he walked out.

'Our Alpha is going to be out of contact for a while. I am in charge, any issues relay them to me.' I said, mind linking every pack member.

I headed for the garage. I didn't trust the guards to bring Ariel back. I knew she would get them to leave without her.

I sped towards the town. Trying to get to her before Damien. I knew he had the place watched, knew she wasn't safe.

Three hour drive.... But I planned to make it in one.

He knew she was in danger. What the hell was wrong with him? Sending her away?

I tried her cell, please answer.

"Hello, Jeb?"

"Pack up Luna, I'm coming to get you."

"You just dropped me off. I'm going through my mothers stuff. I found more information about the Ruby Wolf. Turns out my mother knew about who I really was.

"She has more books?" I asked, shocked. Her mother never smelled like a wolf to any of us when we met her.

"She has three boxes worth of information on them. Its books and written papers and pictures. From the first ever Ruby to the next one to be born. We are all of the same blood. We are all related. With the little bit I have read, It is in my blood line. My mother was a wolf too. She just never ended up with one. That's how the Ruby is born. In our bloodline, the one who breeds the Ruby is considered very special. You want to be born with no wolf, It means you will breed a Ruby. But it's very rare. You know if you birthed a Ruby if there is a crest shaped mark on their left palm. It fades until we turn one, then it's just gone. My mother knew who I would be. But why didn't she tell me? Prepare me?" I could hear the shuffling of papers as she dug through them.

"I don't know. That isn't something I can answer. But what I can say is that if Damien gets ahold of you and all that information then we are all dead."

"Jeb, There's one problem....." She was quiet as she mumbled, reading whatever papers she found.

"What is the problem?" I asked after it went silent.

"I.... Um.... According to this.... I have to go with Damien. I need his blood in my veins...."

"WHAT!!!??" I pushed down on the gas further. Still being in our territory, I didn't have to worry about any cops pulling me over.

"It says here, that the Ruby wolf must live a year of a vampire. The Knight King must change the Ruby in order to awaken the true form within. A year on the blood of the Knight Clan. I'd have to become a vampire, Damien will have to turn me and then I will have to feed off of the other vampires. I wouldn't be feeding off of humans. I will have to feed off of Damien and the other Knights."

"Blake won't allow that."

"Well according to this, there isn't anything he can do. One way or another, I will end up a vampire. I will end up being with Damien for a year or more. It says the longer I am a vampire the more powerful I will be."

"That bastard isn't going to give you up after a year anyway, Ariel."

"Blake knew about this didn't he? He had to of. Why else would he be acting like that and sent me here. He knew I needed to replace this alone. Knew I wouldn't go on my own."

"I don't think he knew. But it does make sense. With the way he was acting.... It might have been the making of the Goddess. She probably set it into effect. To push you towards your destiny."

"So I'm suppose to go to him. In order to become the Ruby."

"No. At least not right now. We need a plan for that."

"But if Blake ends up saying no then the goddess will end up doing something to get me to Damien anyway."

I sighed, I knew my friend and Alpha. I knew no matter what the prophecy for her said, he would never allow her to be with Damien. "Blake will never allow you to be with him. We both know that. There is no getting away from that. You and I would need to make a plan for that. We would need a way for you to be safe. You will only be there to fulfill the part of the prophecy."

"I won't let him bed me. I know that would be the one thing that Blake would be worried about."

"We will have to cross that path when we get to it. There are two ways we can do this. I am halfway there. I just left our territory, now I have to worry about cops with my speed. New cops won't know our plates. So hopefully if I end up passing any cops, they will be the ones who know who we are."

"Does the police stop you all from speeding?"

"No. Not normally. We have an agreement with the government. We allow them to have access to part of our territory and they look the other way with issues concerning us and anything we do."

"Oh."

"I want to see all the stuff that you found."

"I am up in the attic. I was putting some stuff away up here. That's when I found all this stuff."

"I will be there in 10 minutes."

"That fast?"

"Back roads Luna. They are magic."

She laughed in the back ground as I heard a box thud to the ground.

"I'm going to let you go. I will be there soon. I have a key so don't worry about watching for me."

"Okay. See you soon." She said, then the line went dead.

I shook my head. I knew Blake was going to flip out when he found out about all of this. But right now I needed to get to her and see what she was saying.

When I pulled up to the house I saw the vampires step deeper into the forest around. Still watching, still waiting. I knew he knew she was here. I was just hoping in the ten minutes it took me to get here after hanging up that she was still here.

"Ariel, I'm here." I called out as I stepped into the house.

"I heard you pull in so I came down." She said as she came walking down the stairs.

I let out a sigh of relief. I was glad I got here in time. "Lets get the boxes and get going. They are waiting outside in the woods. We need to go before Damien shows up or they decide to attack. I can't protect you alone. In my haste to get to you, I forgot to have others with me."

"I brought the boxes down from the attic. There are three boxes. I also didn't unpack my bag I brought with me. My mom has a little chest inside her bedroom closet. I want to see what is in it. My bag is in the living room. We should be able to make one trip. I also have all the books that Blake gave me in another bag next to my clothing bag."

"Okay. Lets go get everything together. Go get the chest while I bring everything down to the entry way. We will be leaving together."

"Okay."

We got everything together and headed for the car. "Just get in with your stuff. You can get it put in the back seat when you are inside the car. I want them to have as little access to you as possible."

"Will do."

She did as I said as I stuck the boxes in the back seat. I could feel them moving towards us as I swung in the back seat slamming the door shut as one slammed against the car. "Lock the doors."

The locks clicked into place as soon as they tried the doors. Luckily I was already in the driver seat hauling ass out of the driveway as more came rushing to the car.

"He tried. But failed again." She said as she pulled her phone out.

"Lets get home."

"I'm going to try to call Blake."

"Okay."

I was surprised when I heard his voice, surprised he even answered.

"Are you back to normal?" She asked.

"Are you safe?" He said, avoiding the question. I knew why he didn't answer, but I knew she was hoping he would.

"Barely, we got out of here just in time." I said. She put the phone on speaker so I could hear him better.

"Jeb? I thought you were sending guards." He said.

"I was, but I felt that I needed to go. I felt as though they'd have come back without her. Which I was right. I barely got here in time. They attacked us right when we were leaving. I hadn't even been here for 20 minutes yet. If I would have sent the guards, they would have been too late."

"I'm glad you went then."

"I found items in the attic. My mom knew about me. She knew what I was, what I would become. I have so much information about my bloodline. It's not just a prophecy or whatever you guys called it. Its my bloodline. This stuff talks about everything that has to do with my family. About where I come from."

"Blake, there's more to the Ruby wolf than what we thought. It isn't just her turning 21 to become the Ruby. She has to live as a vampire for a year before she can become the Ruby."

"The year before I turn 21. I have to be a vampire."

"So we have to have someone turn you? That shouldn't be too bad.... I mean as much as I don't want you becoming a vampire, we can at least deal with a few years of it."

"Its not that easy Blake." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"She has to be turned by the Knight King. She must feed on the Knight Clan. She doesn't feed on humans, she feeds on the Knights, on the vampires. That's why she will be stronger the longer she is a vampire. Its not that she will be stronger being a vampire, its that she will be stronger the longer she feeds on the Knights."

He was silent for a bit before he sighed and very calmly said, "So she must become a vampire.... But she has to be changed by that sadistic bastard. As well as having to feed off of the devil as well."

"Yes. I haven't really been able to read much. Everything she has read and told me. When I got here there were a lot of vampires around in the woods. When we get back we can go through all of the books and papers. I think using her study is smart. We would have to put everything away in your office or mine. It would be easier to keep everything there. We could lock up the study."

"I like the way you are thinking. But yes lets do that. How far away are you?" He asked as I swerved around a few vehicles.

"We are still 2 hours away. But at the speed I am going we will be there within the hour."

"Don't get into an accident. If she gets hurt..."

"I am aware. We are safe enough...."

"If they hit the car at the right angle then they could flip you."

"But they wouldn't do that. She would die and Damien would murder them all."

"I don't want to take that risk."

"Blake, they wouldn't risk her life at the speed I am going. They would attack the car if I slowed down."

"He is right, Blake." She said. "They won't attack at this speed. We are taking back roads right now. We are half way back."

"I am going to get some guards and head to the boarder. We will meet you there."

"We will be at the boarder in 30 minutes. maybe sooner if I get up to 150."

"How fucking fast are you going now?" He snapped.

"100."

"God Damn it Jeb. Slow down!"

"Sorry Alpha, but I can not do that. With the Luna in the car the number one priority is getting her to safety."

"I comman-" His voice cut off, indicating that she hung up.

"Why did you hang up?"

"He was going to command you. If he made you slow down, they would have attacked. I'm not stupid I know they are following us through the woods. You got to me in time and we got out of there in time."

"Luna, when we get to the boarder they will try to attack. I will be slowing down just enough to draw them in. As soon as they get close enough I will be slamming on the brakes. It will disorient them, they will be thrown off. We will have 2 seconds before the second group will attack. By that time we will already be crossing the boarder where Blake and our men will take care of them. We will run over some bodies. They won't expect to have no vehicle to collide with."

"I understand. I can't be scared, Jeb. If I screw up, I can get hundreds maybe even thousands killed. I am going to be the Luna of the new Alpha King. I can't be weak."

"I never said you were weak."

"You implied it with telling me about running over bodies."

"I didn't want you to scream."

"I wouldn't have."

"Okay. But prepare yourself." I said as we approached the boarder. Sure enough five Vampires emerged from the trees and came for the car.

I slammed on the brakes and swerved to keep from running off the road. Eight more emerged as I slammed on the gas. Within seconds we were already heading over the boarder with them right on us. Three had jumped onto the car, trying to get inside. As soon as we were within the line of defense, I slammed on the brakes, sending the three flying. Their demise came right after as Hunter took them down.

I swung out of the vehicle, leaving Hunter to protect our Luna and headed for Blake. "Get your Mate out of here. I will take over."

"What the hell are you doing? Leaving her alone!" He yelled as he ripped the head off the bloodsucker who tried lunging for me.

"Hunter is with her. You take her out of here. I will take over."

"Be careful." He said before he took off towards the car.

I turned and caught the vampire by the throat as it came for me. Smirking as it flopped around and cried out, trying to release the hold I had on it. Three more came for me as I took down the first. I found it amusing, them thinking they could win. We were stronger, faster. More superior to them.

Ariel's POV

I watched as Jeb swung out and headed for Blake, a minute later Blake got in and had us speeding down the road again.

"They will hold them off."

"Why did Jeb switch?"

"He probably wanted the action. Last time we had to get you out of a situation he was the one taking you. He didn't get to fight."

"Oh makes sense."

"I'm sorry I sent you away. I don't know why I acted like I did." He said, reaching over and taking my hand.

"Its okay I understand. I'm okay now."

"What else did you read in the books?"

"Just what you already know. I didn't get to read much more. I put everything away to bring down to the kitchen. I didn't realize we would leave right away. But I am glad we did."

"So am I. When we get back to the house we can take everything to the study."

"Okay. Sounds good..."

The rest of the way was silent. I couldn't get over the fact that my mother never told me any of this. I guess she thought she was protecting me. "Did my mother know what you were? Who you were?" I asked him as we passed through the gates.

"No. At least I don't think she did. But I wouldn't be surprised if she knew. Cremor is a wide known name through out the entire werewolf world. Honestly its known by every species. The humans just don't know what we are."

"Oh okay. Yea. Blake if there is any of my family that is alive... would you want to contact them?"

"I mean, yes and no. On one side yes it would be smart to contact them. Because they can help you with understanding this world and all the changes. On the other side though it could be dangerous. Maybe there was a reason for your mother to not tell you. To hide it from you. She did marry a human. She bred with a human. So maybe she was hoping you being hidden from it would help. What if there was something that happened with the last one or maybe they went crazy and so she ran. There is a lot of different problems that could have happened. Different issues that could have arose. We don't know. So I am not sure what we should do at this moment other than studying the information in those books and papers."

He pulled in and shut off the car. "Let me get out and make sure its safe."

I nodded as he swung out and let the door shut behind him. He stood in the middle of the large space listening to any movement, any noise.

"We are good. Grab what you can I will take the rest." He opened my door and held out his hand.

I nodded and got out. After grabbing my bags and the chest, he grabbed the boxes and we headed for the door.

"Let's get them in your study, then I need to change. We can wait for Jeb they are cleaning up the bodies right now." He said as he held the door open for me.

"Sounds good." I said as we headed for the stairs.

He set the boxes down to open the door. When I stepped inside I was surprised to see the flowers in vases scattering the tops of the desk and tables.

"I thought you could use some color in here besides your pillows and blankets that are on the window seat." He said, bringing the boxes inside.

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"I guess you can just set them down on the table we will be pulling everything out anyway."

He nodded and set them down as I set the bag of books down next to them. The chest I was bringing back to my room.

"Come on."

We headed for our room in silence.

As soon as we stepped in and the door shut he was stripping out of his bloodied clothing.

"I'm going to shower. You can put away your clothing if you'd like."

I nodded watching him head into the bathroom. It felt different for some reason, I couldn't place why. Why did it feel so different with him?

The only thing I wanted to do at this moment was see what was inside her chest. She never let me see what was inside. It stayed inside her room untouched and locked.

I looked at the lock. Cursing myself. I never looked for the key. Never made sure I actually had the key.

Though the more I examined the lock the more I realized that the lock wasn't a key. I stood and went to my jewelry box. The locket she gave me, there was a pendant inside. I walked back over and placed the small heart against the matching place on top of the chest. Sure enough it opened right up.

I choked on a sob as I opened it and my mothers face was there. A picture of us together. I felt sick as I looked at the pictures on top. All of us together, happy, before my father left. I moved the pictures off to the side and began pulling out the other items within. Small pendants, Necklaces and rings. At the bottom was a black box. When I picked it up an envelope fell out, landing at my feet.

The letter was addressed to me, with a red wax seal.

'My lovely Luna. If you are reading this, then that means I am no longer there. I am so sorry. I meant to tell you, about your life. I know now that that was a mistake. I should have told you sooner. Should have made sure you knew everything. I thought that keeping you away would be safe. That running from that world was smart. I thought that being with a human, would mean I wouldn't be able to conceive you, the beautiful Ruby. I found that it was easy to hide you. Until you became older. It got harder and harder. I didn't think that they would replace us, my family. When they did I was terrified. I knew they would take you away. Train you like all the others before you. Unfortunately, I had to tell your father everything. Who I was where I came from. Everything, He was so angry. So disgusted. That's why he left. He couldn't accept us. He couldn't accept our world. I hoped that you would be spared. But then, you met him. Blake Cremor, the Alpha of the Cremor pack. I knew then that I couldn't keep you away for that part of our blood anymore. Then when Knight King came to me, to collect you, I was frightened. You were never told, you were so in love with Blake. I didn't want you going to that vampire. I knew how old he was, how dangerous he is. I couldn't let you be taken by him. I read everything on the Ruby. I am sure you have found everything if you are reading this. I took everything I could from my family. Everything that they would leave me that is. They have the rest. But so does that Vampire. He has everything. There was only two copies of all of the books made. We have the original and all of the other information we needed. He has the others. He only knows what the books tell him. The only book he does not have is the original history of the Rubies. You must not let him have that. He must never get it. If he gets that book the entire existence of all species but vampire will be lost. We will be their slaves. Please, keep that book safe. Its the only one that tells you about what being a true Ruby is. It's the only one that tells you how you become the Ruby. Please darling, make the right choice. Please choose Blake. Now there is one other thing you must do. In order to help you with the change, in order to be prepared. You must get in touch with my family, our family. You need their help, their guidance. I know all of this must be scary and hard to comprehend, but they can help you with everything, Preparing you for becoming the Ruby and helping you with being the Cremor packs Luna. Everything you will need to be able to replace them is inside this chest. When you are ready to use it, all you need to do is place it upon your head and they will come, they will replace you. I love you very much my darling and I am very sorry for not preparing you like I should have. Please watch over your brother. He will need you with me not there. I love you both very much. Please be safe, live a happy life. Make the right choice in who you decide to be with for the rest of your life.'

I slowly lowered the letter, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked as he came out of the closet fully clothed.

"My mother, she left this letter. She said we need to replace her family. They hold the answers. There's an item that she said I place on my head and they will replace me." I said as he kneeled down in front of me.

He picked up the black box and opened the lid. "This must be what she meant." He said as he pulled out a Blood red Ruby crown.

"Must be," I said. "There's one more thing too. We can't let Damien get the Book of Ruby. If he does it can bring destruction."

"Well then, I guess we have one more precious thing to keep away from him."

"One more?"

"Yes, my lovely, You are number 1 of precious things to keep from that monster." He said placing a soft kiss on my lips.

I wanted to cry. No matter what... one way or another, I had to end up a Knight vampire, turned by the King devil himself.