Rafe flopped back in his chair and groaned. “No! I didn’t even think of it. I was so shocked that he was going on about his boyfriend’s penis and how they should all be called Richard.”
Heat rushed to Bel’s cheeks, and he closed his eyes. He’d really been hoping his darling brothers would forget about that. Even now, it was all a little blurry. A warm, blurry memory.
“I got it,” Ethan said.
Bel’s head snapped up to see Ethan pull out his phone. A couple of seconds later, Bel’s slurred voice could be heard as he endlessly repeated the word “penis” while his brothers laughed and argued.
“Send that to me! I need to make that the new ringtone on my phone,” Rafe said when he could finally stop laughing.
“You’re all bastards,” Bel muttered.
“You were adorable,” Wyatt said in his ear.
“So very cute,” River added.
Okay, so that helped a little.
Marcus cleared his throat, and some of the laughing died off. “So, what we have is that vampire blood makes werewolves savage, and wolf blood makes vampires drunk.” His attention was directed back to Aiden, who was looking more than a little uncomfortable in his chair.
“Yes, I know more than I’ve let on,” Aiden started slowly. He placed his plate on the table and twisted his fingers together. His handsome brow was furrowed, and a deep frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I am quite a bit older than I’ve let on over the years. I was afraid to tell you when you were human because the idea of vampires was difficult enough to deal with. You didn’t need to know that I was already several centuries old.”
“What?” Bel gasped. He knew there was a lot about his father he didn’t know, but all those years before Julianna seemed unimportant at the time when compared to the problems that Julianna presented.
“Why haven’t you told us since then?” Marcus demanded. “We’ve been vampires damn near two centuries. That’s plenty of time.”
“Because until Julianna’s death, all of that paled in comparison to what we were dealing with each night.” Aiden sighed and shook his head. “I only bring it up now because my long years have allowed me to know several werewolves during that time. I’ve also seen firsthand the violent wars that were fought by both creatures, aided by our blood.”
Picking up the glass of blood, Aiden tossed back the contents and placed the glass down again. He pushed to his feet, shoved his hands into the pockets of his navy slacks, and started to pace. “The reaction to the blood is more complicated than what we’ve seen. Yes, Bel appeared to be drunk on the alpha blood, but take a good look at him now. Rafe and Marcus clearly saw his injuries earlier today. Should he be as healed as he is now?”
“No,” Rafe said slowly. Bel tried not to shy away from the searching gaze of his brothers, but it wasn’t easy to be under such a microscope.
“Even if he’d fed from a dozen humans, it would take at least another day or two of rest to get to this point,” Marcus added.
“Blood from a shifter speeds up healing, particularly if the blood is from an alpha. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Bel can go at least three or four months before he needs to feed again.” Aiden looked over at River. “If Bel feeds from River when he’s uninjured, he will be able to go at least two, maybe three months between hunts.”
“But I thought there was only one alpha to a pack,” Winter said. “How is Wyatt an alpha?”
“What you’re thinking of is the Alpha, big ‘A,’ ” Wyatt said with a smile at the youngest Varik. “That’s simply the leader of the pack. Usually the strongest wolf, but not necessarily. He could be just the smartest or the most respected. The alpha Aiden is referring to is little ‘a’ and it’s a genetic development. Those alphas are born bigger, stronger, and faster. We tend to heal fast among our own kind. We are the warriors for a pack, while the betas like River fill in the structure and care of the pack. It would suggest that those alpha qualities are what intoxicated Bel this afternoon.”
“And for the wolves?” Philippe asked softly. There was a quality of horror to his words it seemed they were all feeling.
“Wolves who drink or are injected with vampire blood are immediately lost to a type of violent blood lust. They will attack anything that moves. Even their own pack members. It is blind and relentless. It continues until the poor creature is killed or he wears himself out.” Aiden even looked a little pale as he continued. “I’ve seen them used as a type of berserker-style fighter, launched against an enemy. They aren’t expected to survive, but the hope is that they will break the enemy.”
“But River…” Bel started but couldn’t bring himself to finish the horrific thought.
“River was badly injured. The blood lust wore itself out quickly as River’s body focused most of its energy on healing,” Aiden explained.
“Both wolves and vampires were kidnapped, tortured even, so these wars could be fought,” Winter said, filling in the blank spaces with the next logical steps in such fights.
Aiden nodded. “Vampire clan against vampire clan. Pack against pack. Vampires against shifters. The killing was endless. We were close to wiping each other out completely.”
“So, the truce was created,” Bel said.
“It was the only way to save our peoples. They formed the truce in the belief that if vampires and shifters forgot about each other, they’d also forget about how each other could be used. They wanted shifters and vampires to never meet again.”
River reached over and grabbed Bel’s knee while Wyatt’s arm tightened around Bel’s waist. He was in a cocoon of warmth, but also fear. “What does that mean for us?”
“Are they going to separate us?” Bel demanded. “I’m not giving them up. Never giving them up.”
Aiden held up both hands. “No one is asking you to give up Wyatt and River.”
“Not yet,” Winter grumbled.
Aiden didn’t correct Winter. “We’re not giving up Wyatt and River. The truce was an act of desperation. Shifters and vampires can live together peacefully. Our blood can be used to heal on both sides, if proper precautions are taken.”
Rafe sat up and stared at the two wolves for a moment. Bel couldn’t feel any specific emotions through their twin bond, but Rafe’s look didn’t put Bel at ease. “Can the wolves do anything else for vampires?” Rafe said slowly.
“What are you talking about?” Aiden asked.
“In October, I was looking into the disappearance of an Arsenault clan member with my Philippe. We were near a nursing home.”
A feeling of unease and dread prickled through his link with Wyatt and River, but he couldn’t be sure who the emotions were coming from. Possibly both of them.
“I briefly picked up the feeling of another vampire in the area, but then the vamp disappeared. Seconds later, we were being shot at. Was that you?”
Bel opened his mouth to argue, but the words were caught in his throat when he saw both River and Wyatt lower their heads.
“We were there,” Wyatt admitted. “Brett MacPherson was watching you. River and I were with him in wolf form. We heard rumors that other vampires couldn’t sense him when we were close to him as wolves, but you’re the first to confirm it.”