“It never ceases to amaze me how vampires are portrayed in movies and books by humans and shifters alike. Take the fact I am walking in the sun same as you right now. Humans would have you believe I cannot, although the truth is I am just not at my fullest strength, and I prefer the night. That’s the ego of humans, though, is it not? Supernatural they call anything that can do things a human cannot—always setting the homo sapiens as the baseline to guide all understanding.”
Lycan laughed. “Well, humans can become shifters and vampires, but vampires and shifters cannot become each other.”
“A good observation, Little Wolf. In the many realms that surround us, this one is often seen as a neutral plane, that’s true. And humans inhabit this realm and no others because they themselves are neutral in a way, as you observed. But, often humans like to show vampires as distant—as if we are cold and somehow restless, bored to tears after years on this Earth with only more years to come.”
“This Earth? Can vampires not travel the realms beyond Earth?”
“We can, just not as easily as the Fae.”
Lycan made an agreeable noise, waiting for Caine to continue. “So you aren’t?” He prodded, “cold, restless, and distant?”
“The truth is, our kind is made to live forever. This is evidenced in our diet, for example. We can survive on the blood of any living being, and never need to kill our host. But, we can also eat food the same as the Fae, humans, shifters. We do not require sleep in the sense that humans think of it. We are notoriously hard to kill.
Humans would have you believe that we are bored by our own existence, having lived long enough to see it all and do it all. It makes sense, as some humans feel this way after only forty or so brief years.”
Lycan laughed at that, and it was delightful. Caine wished Seath could have heard it. But, certainly Lycan and maybe also Seath didn’t appear aware or ready to acknowledge the longing looks he caught between them. The way they shifted their gazes automatically to each other when one entered a room. The universe rearranged itself when they looked at each other, and it was only getting worse.
“Anyway,” Caine said, “none of that is true. Vampires thrive on the long game. It helps, in the long course of a never-ending life, to be easily entertained. You will find my kind suffers from fear of missing out more than from ennui.”
Van snickered and muttered, “Vamp FOMO.”
“Truly?” Lycan asked. “I did have the impression of a certain aloofness, or being removed from the world. Not from you, specifically, but your kind in general.”
“Fucking hardly,” Cain replied. “It is more self-preservation or the fact that time means something different to us. To my kind, we are engaging in intense study, but to everyone else, a decade has passed. We are easily drawn to things. More like magpies, really.”
“And yet your kind can be feared.”
“Rightfully so, I’m afraid. We are strong. Again, hard to kill. A different sort of magic powers us. And, we hold grudges.”
“And you are Pack.”
It was a statement, not a question, and Caine appreciated Lycan’s tact.
“I am. I am useful here, and vampires are usually uncanny judges of character. It can make us seem rash or unmoving, but in reality, we are just confident in what we know. I met Seath when I was a bit unsure about my place. I thought to journey beyond the realms, but he needed me.”
“I don’t understand, didn’t you say it was normal for vampires to journey so?”
“It is normal, common even, but it does have risks. Given our easy fascination with new things, vampires can get . . .lost in the realms, seeking new information. It’s not restlessness or boredom, it’s fascination.”
“And this almost happened to you?”
“It did. Seath actually found me when I had come back to this plane. I only intended to rest here a bit and take care of some business for a friend. That business ended up being with Seath, and once I met this Pack, full of witches and humans and shifters and god knows what species Seath and Greene decided to add today,” Caine paused and Lycan laughed again. A smile twitched up Caine’s face. “Well, you see, my fascination grew. I want to see how this plays out, so here I am.”
“And this causes you to want to buy me a book?”
Caine gave him an enigmatic smile. “It does. You are fascinating, Little Wolf. Full of mystery, which is my favorite thing.”
Chapter eight
Lycan Says “No”
Seathdidn’tsitcomfortably,even though he was only looking over requests to join the pack, an easy job. The truth was Lycan was out of the house, and although he would be safe with Caine, Puck, Trav, and Van, Seath felt unsettled without Lycan near.
The past month had caused them to share plenty of space - the kitchen in the morning, the gym, random meetings in the hallways of the Pack House.
Seath sighed, having no doubt that his free-floating irritation was felt by the other shifters, and likely why they left him alone. They also knew why he had the irritation, Jamie now giving him solitary tasks whenever he knew Lycan would be out of the house.
He didn’t have time to contemplate the reason for it, but his wolf paced, unsettled when Lycan wasn’t near. Then his muscles unbound, and he knew they were back home again.
