“Though to be fair… Robert the Vampire had the name first…. I’m pretty sure I could get him to be upset that Robert the Werewolf is a bad person and tainting the name… odds are he’d go all Butcher about that… but that’s a side plan and not the point. The point was this pack likes Vampires.”
Elise countered, “Vampires that King Arthur knows, yes.” I shrugged, “Then Charles shouldn’t be a problem for anyone. Considering… he and King Arthur have known each other for a long time. Centuries even… and they are friends. King Arthur is one of the people that Charles will actually name as a friend.”
Elise sighed, “Charles really shouldn’t come for by Christmas.” What? Why? Freya said, “You know, I could explain it, but to be honest they are wrong. Charles is important to you and saved you from the guilt of trying to harm yourself. Iapprove of the Vampire, we just need to work on his attitude with mate.”
Ray spit out his drink asking, “You invited Charles, a Vampire, over for Christmas, Ladybug?” KJ called, “She did, I heard it.” Chason offered, “Us too. We are coming shopping with you next time.” Ray snorted, “You want to go shopping, Chason? You hate shopping.” Fowler offered, “You missed the big accident and attack that went down.”
Ray grumbled, “You go out of town for a few days, and everything descends into pure chaos. About this Vampire, Ladybug, tell me more.” I frowned explaining, “I invited Charles because he’s in town. He tends to come in and out of town… and I want to see him since he’s here. He won’t be here long unless… well that’s… a whole other thing.”
I did think Amabella, Susanna and Robert’s daughter, would be cute with Charles. I just didn’t know if they would meet while he was here. Elise groaned, “Why?” I waved, “It’s just that… no… it’s fine.” Sierra replied, “I can assure you, it’s fine.” Sierra would know that meant I thought Charles would be cute with someone.
Buttercup asked me, “Do you really not see why Alexander would be upset about a Vampire who has had your blood being here?” Ray yelled, “WHAT? Hold on. Everyone back up. Ladybug, you gave a Vampire your blood?”
I said, “Well, I’ve given a few my blood… and Charles is one of them, yes. I don’t know what that has to do with his presence at Christmas or Xander’s feelings about it.” Ray and KJ shouted simultaneously, “ONE OF THEM?!” Fowler groaned, “I didn’t hear that. I’ve gone temporarily deaf and cannot report what I don’t hear.” Chason admitted, “I’ve got the same problem. How odd.”
Elise waved her hands, “Wait, one of them?” I frowned, “I’m not sure what’s confusing about the word one… but yes one of them. There are members of the Resistance that are Vampires.I kept Charles alive, along with two others, using my blood. They were hurt… so I helped them. It’s really not a big deal… and it was very practical and logical in the moment. Xander understands field decisions.”
Ray said, “I mean that is better than the normal way blood gets shared. I’ll give you that one. You are mated to an Alpha though, Ladybug.” I countered, “Yes, and he’s mated to someone with Beta blood. What of it?” Freya laughed in my head.
Elise sighed, “Charles…” I interrupted, “Is my mentor and friend… who made me feel normal…. And enjoyed my company when few did.” I heard Sierra’s sharp intake, but it was true. Aside from them and a handful of people, Charles actually liked being around me.
Elise pushed, “Yes, and you spent a lot of time with him.” I asked my wolf, “Is there a point in this discussion?” Freya sighed, “Not that’s being made well, no.” Ok.. good.. we were on the same page about this making no sense. Out loud I asked, “So… what?” Elise sighed, “He’s a male.” And?”
I pointed out, “Xander spends lots of time with women. I’m not expecting him to stop doing that… because that would illogical. My mate doesn’t even care about those women nearly as much as I care about Charles.” Elise winced, “That doesn’t help the situation, Ladybug. You like Charles.”
Irritation sprung up within me. I replied dryly, “I like a lot of people… the odd part is when they like me back.” Elise sighed, “People like you, Mel.” They had not liked me… for quite some time. Ray snorted, “You have no poker face, Ladybug.”
I replied, “I know that… but Elise is wrong. People don’t like me.” Valetina reasoned, “Openly bad people don’t like you.” I shot a glance at Sierra. My friend reasoned, “I understand your point, the thing is we just happened to be around a lot of those very bad people.” Abigail offered, “My brother likes you and so do his Alpha and Beta.”
I replied, “Exactly… and no one is mad at them….but I trained them… so it’s respect… and I was helping them… so I mean, them liking me wasn’t really a choice… I was their only option to freedom.” Abigail reasoned, “That’s not why they liked you. You’re a good person.”
Elise gently said, “Ladybug, Charles likes you.” I nodded, “Of course he does. He wouldn’t have trained me or took me under his wing if he didn’t. He’s an older Vampire, who by reputation alone is a recluse and stingy about who he spends time with. The only logical conclusion was he found me interesting enough to mentor.”
Elise growled, “He wanted to turn you.” I acknowledged, “Xander said that, but honestly… that’s not overly surprising. Charles is a Vampire…. and I definitely should’ve considered that side of it. As old as he is, if you find someone you find interesting… you turn them.”
Elise gasped, “You’re not upset about that?” I shrugged, “No. It’s natural to Charles… and he didn’t turn me. He encouraged me to come see Xander almost every time I saw him.” Buttercup said, “Because if Alexander rejected you, he was going to turn you.”
I tilted my head, “Logically speaking, Charles would’ve learned all he could about Xander. My mentor knew as much as he could that Xander wouldn’t reject me.” Elise asked, “HOW does that not piss you off that Charles knew that and didn’t tell you?”
I shrugged, “I wouldn’t have believed him even if he did. Besides, why do you think he didn’t tell me that? He did… a lot of people did. Several are sitting here with us. Charles told me quite often he didn’t believe Xander would reject me.”
Elise rubbed her forehead. Jane asked, “Did you ever see your dad around men who liked your mom?” I answered, “Of course I did. We were always with the Alpha and Gamma families.”Sierra jumped in, “They mean flirting with your mom. I can’t help here because my parents hated each other.”
I pointed out, “Your dad hid your mom from everyone because she’s attractive…. and he’s a jerk.” Sierra hummed, “Exactly. I can’t jump in on this topic.” Abigail offered, “Same. I got nada.” I replied, “My dad let my mom have male friends… and Alpha Peter let Luna Chelsea do the same.”
Elise flinched when I called them that. Ray made a face and rubbed the back of his head. I asked Freya, “What?” Freya said, “It hurts them because they know how you used to be with Alpha Peter and Luna Chelsea.”
Elise changed tactics, “You kept Charles from us.” I blew out my breath. I argued, “No, I didn’t…. like, at all. Charles being my mentor and friend isn’t a secret. Charles doesn’t like to be a topic of discussion… so did I bring him up? No. He’s a private person… and I respect that.”
“When it was brought up, he wasn’t relevant to the conversation at hand. The last time… if you recall I was about to tell Xander who he was when Micah cut me off to say they found Yuri. This is NOT a big deal…. at all.”
“I get why Si, Valentina, Paige, Hendrick, Addison, Mason, Dax, and Caine had to warm up to Charles. They weren’t raised in packs to be tolerant of other Supernatural’s. This one was though… and so was our home pack, Elise.”
“I don’t know why anyone is making this a big deal. It’s not. I’m allowed to have friends. Mom hugged Alpha Peter all the time and still does to this day. Once I even saw him hold her while she cried until dad got there. No one was mad… because there was nothing to be upset about! Xander acted like a jerk from the moment Charles showed up.”
Elise sighed, “You hugged Charles and jumped into his arms.” I said, “I’ve hugged Dalton in Xander’s presence too. He didn’t care.” Buttercup interjected, “You broke Claire’s back.”I snorted, “Those two situations have nothing to do with the other.”
Elise asked, “Don’t they?” I answered, “No, Xander and Claire… weren’t friends. My mate had told me that she forced her lips onto his when he was drunk. She’s LUCKY all I did was break her back with that knowledge alone.”
