Getting Ready

Nemia was up before the sun ever even attempted to rise. Having the same reoccurring nightmare every night for ten years does that to someone after all. But by now she'd accepted it, just deciding to start her day whenever she wakes up during the fit. Not like she could go back to sleep anyways, she never could.

By this point she was cleaning off the cluttered desk in the corner and reorganizing it, because of not wanting to go galavanting throughout the apartment and accidentally waking Julia up. Julia wouldn't mind, she knew that. But she had always been that way. She'd stay locked in her room until she could hear Julia, awake and moving about whenever she stayed here.

Again, Julia wouldn't mind being woken up one bit. Nemia just seen it as disrespectful and couldn't bring herself to do it. The only time she'd leave her room before Julia woke up was if either the building was on fire, or she was on a time schedule for work. So she just sat there and cleaned the desk after cleaning everything else already, waiting for Julia to wake up.

Nemia grabbed her phone off the nightstand by the bed after she finished cleaning the desk. Opening it to see the time.

'7:08am.'

She tuned her hearing in to listen for Julia but was only met with the sound of even, deep breaths. Signifying that Julia was still asleep and there was nothing left to clean or organize in her room. After a moment of thought, Nemia opened her cell once again and found Milli's cell phone number in her contacts. After a few rings, Milli picked up.

"Hello?" The other woman's voice crackles through with a groggy tone.

"Hey Milli, Nemia again. I'm sorry if I woke you." Nemia apologized in advance.

"Oh no, you're fine Nemia. If you're calling for an update though I'm not at my desk so I can't tell you much more than what you already know... other than we did find the possible target and we have him well protected." Milli explained slowly, clearly still trying to wake up and remain coherent.

Nemia shook her head then, as if Milli could see her. "That's fine, thank you for telling me though. I was actually just calling to ask that when you do get in to your desk and see Mr. Donovan, tell him to expect a call from me around lunchtime... Or if he could just call me if he has a free moment before then."

Milli was silent on the other end of the line for a moment before her voice finally crackled through a short response. "Sure thing, I'll let him know. Anything else?"

"No just that and a call for when you get more information on that siren."

"Okay, will do. Bye now." Milli responded and Nemia was quickly met with the distinct click of the other line disconnecting.

She pulled her phone away from her face and stared at it with a bemused expression. "Hmph.. Guess she's not a chipper early bird after all." She snickered to herself with a small laugh.

She sat back down at the freshly cleaned desk, pulling a notebook to her that she had left on the desk from earlier. It was everything she had on Malcolm, both from what little she had managed to get from the council and Donovan, as well as what she has learned on her own.

She flipped open the notebook, the page opening to a sketch of the face of the scarred wolf pulled from her only memory of him. Its lips curled back in a snarl and staring straight at her. An oddly familiar gleam in his eyes.

'He's so close... I can feel it...' The thought ricocheted throughout her mind.

***************************

Somewhere deep in the mountainous forests of Romania.

Malcolm's boots thudded against the beaten earth in his camp. He was pacing again. A grimace on his rough and scarred face. He was pissed, again. This was all too common though. It had been for the last ten years.

He growled low at the thought.

Ten years he's waited. The council stopped his pursuit of the blasted girl last time. Granted he didn't know who the girl was when he was sent to destroy the pack so many years ago. He was just told by Donovan that the Council wanted the girl, Nemia Bohdan, to be the only survivor of the attack so she'd run straight to the them. Desperate and ready for action with the promise that he'd never be brought to justice.

But the moment he had made eye contact with the girl as she fled from the grim scene he centered in, he knew instantly that she was his sister. She looked every single bit like their mother had. So much so that, for a moment, he questioned himself on if it was his mother. But the youth in her face gave her away.

She was alive.

He couldn't believe it at first. That his sister was alive. Last he had heard at that time about his family was that his mother had died during a complicated birth with his sister. No one had ever told him if the child had lived, but he had assumed it hadn't. Or rather just hoped the child didn't survive. But seeing the ghost of his mother in the face of the girls, he knew she lived.

Had it not been for the fact that he dared not intervene with the council and their plans, he refrained from chasing after Nemia that night. Rather unfortunately for him however, he hadn't been able to get close to her again.

Malcolm absentmindedly rubbed at the end of the scar that crossed over his left eye as he paced back and forth. he'd gotten the scar the day he was banished from the family. Not even allowed to keep the family name, Trugheta. Which would also be Nemia's given birth name.

He had gotten banished from the family when he had found out his mother had been blessed with another child after decades of nothing. He had been filled with an instant, envious rage and before he knew it, he had attacked his mother. He could still hear himself screaming at her. Telling her that if the child had the mark of Sol Invictus, he'd make sure the thing would never get to learn what it meant. Much less let the child achieve its greater goods it would be meant for.

No, he wanted to stop it from happening before the chance was even possible. But instead, his mother fought back viciously and won. Giving him the scar to remember her by and the look of hurt and despair she had given him when she denounced him from the family in that very moment and banished him.

Now...

Now he was camped up in the mountainous forest a few miles off from Brasov. Staying near the city as close as he could without giving himself away. The council was good about telling him when Nemia was given any progress and they had made it appear recently like he had disappeared suddenly. But he had been doing his own studying of his sister, and that had proven to be a challenge all on its own.

He had noticed over the years that she was constantly on the move. Never staying in one place. It was hard to keep tabs on her outside of what information Donovan would give him. Which was hardly ever anything. Considering it's been ten years nearly and he still didn't even know why the council wanted Nemia. Which only made him believe that she had the chosen mark more. Why else would the council want to have her in their grasps if she didn't have something that was overly peculiar about her?

Though he supposed that didn't matter too much any more. He'd find out soon enough. He was pacing and pissed because he'd just gotten off the phone with Donovan. Which had informed him that Donovan was under the suspicion that Nemia was on to them as a whole and Malcolm knew he was running out of time to put a plan into action while he could still have the element of surprise.

A devilish smile streaked across his rough and ragged face and slightly demented laugh escaped his lips. He knew just what he was going to do. He may not have the mark of destiny that was woven into his families bloodline millenniums ago. But he was going to instill his own great destiny as he decided to kill two birds with one stone tomorrow at the formal.

He turned on his heel suddenly and started to walk away from where he'd been pacing in front of his tent. Heading away from his camp altogether and down a semi worn path that would eventually run through a small village that was just outside Brasov.

The village was nothing special. Just a few local homes, a meat hut rather than market, a small trinket stand for tourists, a small in house bakery, a pottery stand, and an herbalist shop.

As he entered the threshold of the small village, he made a b-line for the herbalist shop. Not wasting any time to swing the door open and stroll straight to the service desk that the older man, the owner, was standing behind with a tiredness that could only be caused from age clinging to the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes.

"Morning Fred." Malcolm greeted the man gruffly and gave a stiff nod.

"Morning Cole, what can I get for you today?" The man replied in a weathered tone. Using the alias Malcolm had given the old man years ago when he had started to frequent the shop after stumbling upon it while passing through a couple of years ago. Knowing it was better to not give him his real name when the old man had insisted on knowing what his name was.

Honestly, it probably would have been better to just stop coming to this same herbalist shop time after time. But he couldn't deny that he had grown a soft spot for the old man and when he should have put distance between them, he instead gave him a fake name and continued coming back. Maybe it was because he seen his grandfather in the old man and since he was banished from his family, he had latched on to that lonely feeling and kept the man around.

"Always business." Malcolm remarked with light sarcasm before giving the old man his order. "Two Nightshade, a sleeve of Castor Beans, and a pack of Nerium Oleander and Water Hemlock."

Fred's bushy, greyed brows pulled themselves together at his request. "That's quite the order there..." He rose his hands up defensively then as Malcolm started to open his mouth to speak. "I know, no questions. Doesn't mean I still can't express concern though."

"It's for work." Malcolm rushed with the white lie. But he could tell that still didn't ease Fred any, though thankfully Fred seemed to catch the hint.

"Odd work you're in, let me see if I have it all in the back." He gave Malcolm one last grief filled look then turned to hobble into the backroom non accessable to customers.

After Fred disappeared into the back, Malcolm stuffed his hand into his jeans and pulled out a small flip phone. He flipped it open and slipped to the contacts. Only three contacts were there. One was a rogue werebear he affiliated himself with, Bryson Grosu. Another was Veera Daines, a siren he had managed to get on his side. Which was, by his knowledge, on her way to cause a scene in the city if she wasn't already there.

He had made the mental note in his head to give her a call a bit later before his thumb pressed the name alphabetized to sit between the other two contacts.

A few rings later, Donovan's slithery voice crackles in from the other end of the line. "Yes?"

"Donovan, I was just calling to inform you I'll be crossing through the city later tonight." Malcolm responded and he could almost hear Donovan stiffen on the other end.

"Have you lost your mind completely? it's bad enough we have a siren in the city, we can't have you passing through too so close to the first formal event of the year OUR KING will be at and in town for." Donovan started, his slippery voice slightly startled but seeping with suspicion.

Malcolm couldn't help but grin in Donovan's blindness though when he spoke, it would still sound just as plain and cold as per his usual. "I care nothing about any of those things. I just need passing clearance. No one will ever know I put a single toe in the city."

"Of course you don't." Donovan hissed and Malcolm could almost hear the eye roll. "Fine, in and out."

"In and out." Malcolm repeated to ensure Donovan with his own lie. A smirk had settled into his face. Though he was slightly surprised Donovan hadn't asked him to lure the siren out with him and couldn't help but "offer" his help in the matter. "But you said you had a siren problem? Need me to lure it out while I'm passing through?"

Donovan's voice cleared after a moment of silence. "No, a certain someone is already working on it and already has leads... you'd be risking getting caught by her if you do."

Malcolm's brow rose in mock surprise, that was fast. "If you say so, you sure she can handle a siren on her own though? What if you lose your little prize?" He couldn't help but ask the question so bitterly. But was surprised by the barking laugh that rang out from the other end of the line from Donovan. To the point he had pulled his phone from his ear to stare at it for a moment as if making sure he was hearing right.

"My little prize isn't going to fall to some siren. To be honest, she's more than proven herself and would most definitely come out victorious in a one on one against any member of the council. That's not excluding our own king either. She's... built different."

This time it was Malcolm's turn to stiffen on the line. His teeth gritted together. "What do you mean, built different?" He pressed, losing his control for a moment.

"It's hard to explain, she's just... not like any of the other hybrids I've met.. and there's somethings else too.. something I can smell in her blood... she's different and if all goes to plan, after the formal we should know what that difference is." Donovan had started off sounding amazed by Nemia but by the end, there was something sinister in his voice.

"What, do you plan to bleed her or something for the king?" Malcolm asked jokingly.

"Oh no, not for the king. She's mine." Donovan hissed out the words and Malcolm had to swallow his growl of disapproval.

"If she's as powerful as you say, then be careful..." Just then he heard Fred shuffling back up from the back. Time to end this phone call now. "I've got to go. Remember, I'll be passing through tonight."

Malcolm ended the call quickly and stuffed his phone back into his jeans. He was fuming now and could feel his wolf clawing its way to the surface. He took a deep breath and focused on appearing calm as Fred finally hobbled through the back doorway with a wooden box tucked under his left arm while his right was occupied with the cane he was leaning onto.

"You're in luck, I had it all back there. But it's the last of the Oleander and Castor Beans." Fred set the wooden box down onto the counter and slid it across towards Malcolm.

Malcolm waved his hand as if to wave away the words just spoken and shook his head. "That's fine, I won't be taking a job like this again. Too many questions comes with it." He mocked a laugh and reached for his wallet. "How much?"

"I'd say so." Fred responded with his own gruff laugh that turned into a fit of coughs quickly. He held a finger to signify to give him a moment but Malcolm could hear the sinister rattle in the old man's chest and he felt a small twinge of discomfort in his chest for a moment but stayed silent and waited per Fred's request. And a few coughs and hacks later, Fred cleared his throat and nodded his head. "Okay, there we go." He mumbled to himself before looking back to Malcolm. "That'd be fifty lei."

Malcolm nodded and pulled out the money, handing it over then slid the wooden box into his left arm. "Pleasure doing business with you." He responded and gave a small nod of his head before giving him a serious look. "Go get the cough checked on Fred. It doesn't sound good at all."

Fred shrugged and gave him that look only an old, defiant man could give someone. "It's not killed me yet and it's not that bad."

Malcolm knew that Fred didn't actually believe that but with one look, Malcolm understood. Fred was tired. Malcolm shook his head and half laughed. "If you say so, take care."

"You too Cole." Fred responded with a hint of sentiment.

Malcolm dint say anything else, just turned and walked back out of the shop and headed right back to his camp to put the wooden box away for the time being and finally let his wolf take control.

***************************

On the other side of Brasov, up in the peaks of the low lying mountainous forest sat Bran Castle. Inside, in the ballroom, was a mass of different maids and stylists. Cleaners and movers too was all congealed and moving through barely missing each other as they moved to finish tasks at hand. The smell of baked goods clung to the air as the aroma from the kitchens spilled out and coated nearly every inch of the castle in its mouthwatering scent.

Everyone here in the castle seemed to be overly busy while preparing for the formal gathering that was to be hosted tomorrow. Everyone aside from one person. Down in the west wing of the castle, farthest from the mass of workers. Dorian could be found sitting at the desk in his study.

He was working, just not like the others. Right now he was reading over the reports turned in from all council members. For the past few years, there had been some discrepancies, missing installments. Various things have went missing from the vault. He was trying to find inaccuracies in the reports, knowing at least one of the council members was behind all of this.

But whoever it was that was doing this was damn good at what they were doing because by Gods he can't find a single thing wrong with any of these damned reports. Frustrated, he grabbed the reports and stuffed them into one of the dividing folders in the filing cabinet styled drawer that was hanging open on his desk.

He slammed the drawer closed and stood, causing his desk chair to be pushed back and bounce into the wall with a leathery sounding thud. He moved around the desk then only to pace back and forth in in the empty middle of the room. His arms crossed over his broad chest, causing the muscles in his arms to budge and stretch the flimsy fabric on the arms of his grey t-shirt.

His thoughts were interrupted however when a knock sounded on his office door. Granted, he wasn't given time to allow any sort of admittance before the office door swung open and Dorian's best friend and second in command filled his doorway. "Nikolaus." Dorian greeted in the lightest tone he could manage at the time given his irritation with from the lack of a lead.

"Dorian, you're needed in the ballroom. That bar owner, Delano, is here and requests you speak with her. Apparently she had a siren in her bar the other night?" Nik responded with a hint of a question in his tone. showing he knew nothing about a siren being in town and was indirectly asking if he had know himself.

Dorian shook his head slightly and sighed. "Why are we just now finding out?"

Nik shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. But let's go find out what she knows. She wouldn't talk to just me, actually she demanded you hear about it yourself."

Dorian slumped his shoulders ever so slightly and just looked at Nik with a bit of shock. Someone demanded his presence? Ha! That's rich. "Then let's not keep her waiting." Dorian replied with a toothy grin and waved Nik out of the doorway.

They both fell into step heading down the hall in unison. "Any info on the bar owner that you know before we get there?"

Nik shrugged again. "Other than that her name is Alexandria Delano and she owns Delano's Nightclub in the city... She's a vampire. That's it, that's all I know." Nik looked over at Dorian then and procured a mischievous grin. "Oh, and her body is...." He pinched his fingers together on his right hand and brought it to his lips, kissing his fingertips before pulling it away and dropping his hand. "... chef kiss, magnificent." He chuckled.

Dorian shook his head but felt the corners of his mouth raise into a small smirk. "For you, any female with two legs is.." He mimicked Nik. "... chef kiss." He chuckled and Nik lightly punched his shoulder with a mocked look of hurt followed shortly with a chuckle of his own.

"Well, I guess you're not completely wrong." Nik managed through a laugh while raising his hands in the essence of defeat before dropping them back down to his sides. "But on a serious note, what would a siren be doing here of all places?"

Dorian shook his head, the grin falling from his face as his brows furrowed in thought. "Unclear, but maybe this Delano woman can shed a bit of light on the grey areas." He mumbled gruffly.

Dorian's demeanor shifted from relaxed to business as they rounded the corner at the end of the hall. The busy ballroom just ahead of them, though they didn't quite enter the ballroom. Instead, they turned in to a office just before the ballroom on the right. A woman was already perched in one of the leather chairs facing away from the door, though she stood and turned to greet them the moment they entered.

She wore a plump, red lipped smiled and sleek long black hair. Her thin black dress wrapped around her as if it we made of latex though by sight he knew it wasn't. Dorian now understood Nik's comment about Alexandria's body. Though he still wasn't interested. She wasn't his mate, the beast inside of him didn't give any sort of reaction to her presence. So, it was only natural for him to not seemingly ogle at the woman unlike his beta Nik, who was practically drooling.

Dorian has never taken to any females that's came through. Though that wasn't because he wasn't attracted to any of them. It's because he made a vow to himself at a young age that he would never touch a female that wasn't his mate. Granted, he didn't know at the time that his vow of celibacy would mean to last for 500 plus years and still counting. Which was why about 200 years ago he started only coming to formals every ten years but made it mandatory for all others to come. Dorian had done this to keep his unmated aggression out of the public eye, only showing his face every decade just to see if his mate would finally show up at one of the formals. So far though, no luck. Just more rage bubbling inside due to being mateless.

Dorian gave the woman a small nod in greetings. "Good morning Miss Delano. Nik here tells me you had a siren in your club recently?" No need to waste time on full on pleasantries. He meandered over to the plush leather chair opposite the desk and Delano and sat down, folding his arms over the desk as his eyes drilled into the woman's as if prying their own information out.

Alexandria Delano gave a small nod of her own and sat back down into the chair. She blinked at his straightforwardness and looked between him and Nik. Her eyes slightly wide with shock. "I uhm.. yeah, yes. Yes, three night ago a siren showed up in my nightclub and targeted a small group of local human males. One of them being a regular of mine." She stumbled over her words at first, feeling somehow uncomfortably exposed under Dorian's drilling stare.

"I'm assuming you have names?" Dorian asked, one eyebrow raising with his question. "Those humans will need some security if a siren truly did mark them."

Delano gave a small nervous laugh and slightly shook her head. "I only know the name of my regular. But a girl, one of the best from what I hear, got the name last night when she came in to ask about the siren voicing the same warning for the humans. I got a call from, what I assume would her secretary or something just a few hours ago. All the humans are already protected but no siren caught yet."

Dorian's brows furrowed slightly and he sat back into the chair. "Female detective?"

"Yeah, she never gave me her name though. Kept saying that it wasn't important." Delano said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I just know she works for the C.J.L.S. and doesn't like nightclubs. But the secretary that called me was a girl named Milli." She added in the hopes that would help cover his confusion.

"Milli... Mr Donovan's human secretary, right Nik?" Dorian asked glancing over at Nik who was taking space up in the doorway. He nodded his confirmation and Dorian looked back at Delano. "Alright, well.. thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Though if Donovan sent someone to look into it already then he should have already told me instead of me finding out from you."

Delano nodded her head. "Just doing my duties, my king." She mumbled and stood, bowing her head once again in Dorian's direction.

He held up a hand in order to stop her from bowing. "There is no need in that formality right now. Is that all you wished to discuss?"

Delano stood back up straight. "I think the siren in town is Veera Daines." She admitted.

Dorian and Nik both locked eyes at the mention of Veera. Dorian pulled his eyes away first and gave Delano a tight lipped smile. "Thank you, have a good day."

Nik stepped out of the doorway and into the hall, giving Delano a clear exit that she took in quick succession with just a quick. "You too."

Dorian followed closely behind her and stopped in the hall next to Nik. The two of them waited till she disappeared in the ballroom before they turned to look at one another again.

Nik spoke first however. "Veera.."

"Fucking Veera." Dorian reiterated.

"Of course it is." Nik gritted. "She can never leave well enough alone, can she?"

"Apparently not. But it's been over 100 years. Maybe she's changed?" Dorian suggested.

Nik shrugged and sighed, bring his hand up to scratch the back of his head in his thoughts. "Maybe.. she did say days ago and the humans were still alive when mystery girl got to them... so maybe.. but I doubt it."

This time it was Dorian's turn to shrug. "Who knows." He stated before his brows furrowed. "Though the question at hand now is who is this mystery detective? Donovan hasn't mention anything about new recruits to me, has he to you?"

Nik shook his head. "Not a word."

Dorian's brows didn't waiver from their furrowed state. "I'll make Donovan point her out to me tomorrow at the formal. After I talk to him about the siren issue and the fact he has a new recruit without my knowledge or approval."

Nik raised an eyebrow and began to chuckle. "I think this is the first formal event you have ever anticipated or wanted to go to. And all because of a siren and a mystery girl."

Dorian chuckled of his own accord, seeing the irony in his anticipation. But before long, the two of them were walking back down the hall. Discussing all matters at hand as they headed back to the office Dorian was in initially.