First Death

"You are not the half breed," said a deep voice, somewhat curiously. I never heard him enter; I remained still, watching as he tilted his head. A hand reached up and pulled down his mask, his narrow nose scented the air. He pushed back his hood, revealing long, dark brown hair pulled back into a thick ponytail. His almost golden eyes appraised me, a half smirk on his lips, "Have you come to kill me?"

I drew in a sharp breath—the Immortal, "No—no I am not here to kill you," I stammered out.

His smile faded; he sighed, "Well, that is a shame." He stepped forward and rounded the couch opposite me. He flopped down, his posture easy and relaxed, "You must not be ready yet. I have waited a long time for you but I can wait more if I must."

I was thoroughly confused, "I'm sorry, what? I thought you wanted to speak to Lily?"

He brought his ankle up and draped it over the opposite knee, "I actually wanted to speak with the half breed. I was told Lilith arrived with two companions and assumed that the wolf was one of them."

I blinked several times, "Evan is dead." The words echoed in my mind, causing a deep, aching mourning within my soul. I brought the bottle to my lips and focused on the cold, thick fluid as it burned down my throat, "It appears that your sources are unreliable."

When he laughed it startled me, "No, they are not. Takeo knows that I appreciate a bit of surprise and intrigue, as there is so little left unknown to me now. It is a shame about Evan, though, I would have liked to see him find his mate and live out his days in peace. Tell me—" He waved his hand through the air, the curiosity in his face at what to call me immediately drew my response.

"Matthew. Matthew Colthorse."

He nodded, "Tell me, Matthew, what happened? Best you start from the beginning, when you first met Lilith."

His easy demeanor surprised me; from what Evan had described, this man was formidable and terrifying, yet he seemed almost casual and comfortable in my presence. I obliged him and told him everything, starting with Teddy's death. When I tried to edit out the parts about fucking Lily, it was almost as if he knew I was leaving something unsaid; his hard stare jarred me into confessing the entire truth, depravity and all. By the time I finished describing last night, there was a swift knock on the door.

He pulled his mask up over his face, his hood over his head and nodded to me to answer it. Tentatively I rose, swift steps carried me to open it; I was stunned to see Alpha Takeo on the other side with a large tray in his hands. I bowed when he did; he did not wait for an invitation but simply walked past me, setting the tray on the table before deeply bowing to the Immortal.

"Takeo," the Immortal said casually, "I should like you to help Matthewsan with his training and acclimation while Lilith is indisposed."

"Of course, Ameersan," Takeo replied before leaving without another word.

Once the door was shut, Ameer slid off of the couch to sit cross legged before the small coffee table; removing his hood and face cover, he opened a steaming bento box and plucked a dumpling out with chopsticks. As he ate, he motioned for me to take the large glass of blood off of the tray.

When my hands wrapped around it, it was still warm. I could smell that it was fresh and it made my mouth salivate; despite having a poor sense of smell otherwise, blood seemed to sing out to me no matter what I did. I was hesitant to drink the liquid but recalled that Takeo forbid murder on his pack lands so I assumed the blood was given willingly. Besides, it was already out of someone's body—to waste it would be a shame. Raising the glass to my lips, the warmth filled my mouth and slid down my throat, quenching the insatiable hunger that dwelled within me since I was reborn.

Ameer's eyes carefully watched me, "How long has it been since you had fresh blood that was not Lilith's?"

I finished draining the large glass, sated as I leaned back into the couch and licked my lips, my tongue grazing the sharp fangs that rested over them. I felt ashamed to admit it, but I did, "This is the first time."

He was shocked, "This, was the first time? You have some major self control for someone so young, Matthew."

I eyed him curiously, "You seem to know a lot about vampires for someone who's a wolf."

A slow smile crept under those golden eyes, "How long do you think it takes a vampire to starve to death, Matthew?"

His question caught me off guard. I honestly had no idea a vampire could starve to death, "I'm not sure."

He pointed towards my empty mixed blood bottle, "Those can keep you mostly alive but unless you have actual, fresh blood, you'll die within a month. Without anything at all, seven days. I was born a wolf but in order to relieve the previous Immortal, I had to embody his essence and drink of him; the easiest way to accomplish that, short of becoming a witch, was to become a vampire."

"That—that makes no sense. You can't be both a wolf and a vampire—" Or, at least I thought so. But then again, a few months ago I didn't think anyone could be either, "You're not a vampire now," I pointed out.

"I also cannot die," he said, chewing a dumpling carefully before continuing, "I did a stint as a hybrid, a vampire wolf...that was definitely an experience. I never took to being a vampire well. Living forever has its drawbacks but being awake every second of the day and night is taxing. Several centuries back I finally had enough of it; I chained myself up and waited. A week later, starved, I died as a vampire but since I was still alive that left me as a wolf."

I stared at the empty glass in my hand, "So if I just don't drink anymore, I'll be human again."

"Uh, no, you will be dead. Don't forget, Matthew, you are not the Immortal yet."

"Yet—you want me to kill you?"

He looked me over incredulously. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes so he could rub his face, "I apologize, it is difficult for me to remember what it is like to not know things. Let me start from the beginning—you know the origin story of the Immortal?"

I nodded, "Yes, the woman who sacrificed herself for her first son was given the blessing of Good, which she passed to her second son."

"Yes, continue."

"The second son became the first Immortal. From there, the partial blessing was passed down to the second son, of the only daughter of the second son." I shrugged, "Beyond that I know nothing, aside from that there is only one Immortal, only an Immortal can kill an Immortal and the blessing can be obtained by drinking of the Immortal under the blood moon, but I have no idea what that does."

Appraising me, he said, "So you fed Lilith under the blood moon but you had no idea what it would do?"

I nodded.

He popped the last dumpling in his mouth and got up, walking to the open window, "Come here, Matthew."

I rose and slowly followed him, keeping clear of the bright sunlight. He sighed, "Come here—you must trust me."

I hesitated and slowly lifted my hand into the sun's rays and waited for the fire to catch on my skin—but it didn't. Confused, he motioned me closer and I carefully eased myself into the sunshine.

"Partially blessed," he said as an explanation, "which means that sun will no longer hurt Lilith either."

I raised my face towards the warmth that shone down, I had forgotten how much I missed it. I closed my eyes, basking in the glow while he talked.

"What the original blessing did was to remove our soul from the game so that neither Good nor Evil could claim it; as a result, we do not die. Death, however, balanced this out—so while our soul remains alive, our mind and our body can pass on once a suitable candidate appears. I am not the first Immortal, I am in fact the third and I have been waiting a long time for you. Once you are ready to claim the title, you will drain my essence, embody all that I am within you and I shall be able to drift away into the cosmos."

I opened my eyes, seeing that he was sitting on the couch now. I moved out of the sunshine and sat opposite him, "But the blood memories—to have that much knowledge—"

He cut me off with a raised hand, "I understand. You will get the hang of reading or ignoring those soon enough, but it is not a concern when it comes to taking my place. As was done for me, so I shall do for you." He tapped his temple, "The essence of the previous Immortal lives within my mind. It was very jarring at first, especially since he was a rather invasive fellow to begin with so I will do my best to stay out of your way and allow you to decide when you want my advice and what you want to know. It will be like having me living in your subconscious; all of the information, all the experiences and knowledge that I have will be yours but not dumped directly into your brain, simply stored and accessed through me as an intermediatary."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I knew that he was well versed in this so I nodded and decided to take his word for it. "How will I know when I'm ready?"

He drew in a deep breath; there was something in his mind but he didn't want to tell me, "You will just know."

Evan was right—they rarely give it to you straight. "So I kill you then just live the rest of my life locked away in Japan under the Ōkami?"

"When you are the Immortal you can do whatever you want, Matthew. I maintain a presence here in Japan simply because the way these wolves operate is drastically different from the rest of the world. They accept me as a powerful creature and respect me as such; not one Ōkami has tried to kill me to gain my power, or demanded answers of the past or assumed I could tell the future. I know you might be a little put off about Takeo fucking your soul mate but they are the oldest pack of wolves in the world and for you they can be a treasure trove of knowledge if you allow them."

I sat there, weighing his words. It was obvious to me that Ōkami stood apart from their brethren and from the way Lily avoided a fight with the wolves it was evident that they were a force to be reckoned with. Watching her submit to Takeo was definitely a bizarre experience—"Wait, soul mate? Lily is my soul mate?"

He raised a dark brow at me, "Yes, I am surprised you did not figure that out sooner. You felt the pull towards her; surprising really, since humans are generally less perceptive towards it but it is undeniable that you two were destined by Fate to be together. It is rather odd, though, with the pair of you being vampires now. Wolves can be downright illogical when it comes to their mates; had you both been wolves when Takeo made that pass you would have tried to kill him in an instant. Even humans would have fought some, but two vampires? For the best, I suppose, that you were able to think before acting. If you would have gotten yourself killed I would be waiting a lot longer for my relief."

I blinked at him, trying to let the information settle into my mind, though I guess I already knew it. I was drawn towards Lily and it was a force beyond my control. The way it felt, the gut wrenching sorrow upon thinking that she didn't want me was pure agony—I can hardly image how awful that would feel as a wolf, "So Takeo doesn't have his mate yet—that's why he asserts his dominance by fucking whatever walks his way."

Ameer huffed, "No, Takeo met his soul mate shortly after he became Alpha. She lives in one of the other packs that is run by a Beta of his."

What the actual fuck, "I thought—well, I guess I have no idea how soul mates work. The way Lily talked about it on the plane, if you lost yours you would die. I can't imagine standing there and watching your mate fuck someone else."

A smirk touched his lips, "Your ignorance is truly refreshing, Matthew—that you have no knowledge of this entire other world is such a breath of fresh air that I feel like I can experience it anew all over again. For wolves, a soul mate is an unbreakable bond—granted, it fully depends on the quality of person they are to begin with, but it is such a connection that in a pack, if a wolf found their mate lying with another they would kill without hesitation. For someone to even look at a wolf's mate with a wandering eye would provoke a fight—but the Ōkami are different. Every single member of the pack submits to the Alpha. When Takeo took over, every male wolf fought him and he forced the submission of each one. Each female wolf in the pack submitted to him, including his sister and mother. When a wolf becomes of age, the males fight and submit and the females lose their maidenhood to him—he is always their first. Every wolf in this pack bears the mark of submission on their shoulder, just as he placed on Lilith, though hers will heal and fade with time."

"Fucking hell," it slipped out before I could stop it, "So you're saying that if Takeo has kids—"

"He does have offspring," Ameer waved his hand as if it was obvious. "His son is almost of age and his daughter will be in a few years. Both will submit to him when the time comes."

"That is...fucked up."

He smirked, "That is the Ōkami tradition, going back thousands of years to when they first became shifters. Granted, their ways might seem taboo, but you have to admire the fact that they never waver. I have traveled the world Matthew and been to many, many packs. Most, frankly, are an insult to the very idea of being a wolf—arrogant, egotistical Alphas who only have their title by means of birthright, men who are greedy and hateful like John and Peter. Though Takeo was also born into his title, every wolf under him knows without a doubt that he is worthy of it."

There was a mix between a grimace and a frown on my face; I knew little about wolves, maybe even less about vampires but Ameer made a good point...though fucking your mom and sister? Your kids? Creepy.

I pushed the depraved thoughts from my mind and I was drawn back to what he said before, "You said

our

soul?"

"We are connected, we share one soul—those of us who were born to the second son, of the only daughter of the second son. Perhaps you felt like you never quite fit in with the rest of your family? Like you were an outsider, a man born into the wrong time?"

I suddenly understood it, how awkward I felt my entire life no matter how hard I tried to ignore it and just fit in, my odd draw to history, to knowledge and my frustrations at never being able to bear witness to it all. It seemed that now, I would get that chance.

Ameer rose from his seat, pulling the cover over the bottom half of his face and the hood up over his head, "Lilith will be gone for a week. Use this time wisely to learn from the Ōkami; I imagine it will not be long before you go after Ian. Please, Matthew, for my sake, don't die again." He walked past me towards the window; pausing for a moment, he turned around, "I cannot order you to do anything but I highly suggest you keep this meeting a secret between us." He swung his legs over the ledge and disappeared.

I stared at the window, much like I had when he first arrived but now it was shadowed in the darkness of night. Somehow, sensing that he was gone, Jinx sauntered out from the bed room before he stretched lazily and yawned. A swift knock at the door startled me and I jumped to my feet before I realized it. When I opened the door, Takeo's dark eyes appraised me for a moment. He held his hand out to the side, gesturing for me to follow him.

I tried not to frown; images of him as a large, lanky wolf rutting into Lily flickered across my mind before I could push them aside and join him in the hallway. We walked in silence down the neutral colored corridor. His rhythmic voice finally spoke when we turned at the end to descend the stairs; even though the words were in Japanese, I understood it as clearly as English.

"I did not know that Lilithsan was your mate," he stated. It seemed an odd thing to say until I realized that perhaps for him, that was a way of offering an apology. He took my silence as acceptance and continued, "Thank you for not fighting my request for her submission. The Immortal would have been very upset if I killed you."

He said it so casually, so off handedly that he felt certain what the outcome would have been. It was unnerving, his confidence—unlike Alpha John, Takeo didn't have a radiant air of arrogance about him, he simply

knew

he would have killed me. I wasn't sure how to respond to that—thanks for fucking my woman? Thanks for letting me watch? I decided to go more neutral, "Thank you for your hospitality."

He found this appropriate and bowed his head, "It is an honor to assist you with your training, Matthewsan. I hope that we can be of great service to you in this life and the time beyond it. At night, you will meet with Hiro. He will assist you with learning to control your new strength and speed. In the morning, you will join my Beta Kaito for a pack run, followed by hand to hand combat training. The afternoon will be used to hone your skills with weapons."

I nodded—good thing I didn't need to sleep. I appreciated the thoroughness of his schedule but part of me was slightly jealous that Max would be locked away somewhere in the estate, fucking horny she wolves until they broke his cock off.

Takeo left me outside of a door in the basement; I knocked and was greeted with a grunt from within. When I opened it, I laid eyes on Hiro; he was buried behind a desk stacked neatly with mounds of papers and I saw several small white ceramic tea cups stained with red, obviously left over from his feedings. When he set the book he was reading on the desk and rose, his red eyes locked on mine, I found him to be the same height as me, even if his build was a bit portly for a vampire. He was older than I expected too, in his mid forties with salt and pepper hair. Fleetingly, he reminded me of Professor Milburn, like if he were reinvented in an anime.

Hiro bowed and I replied in kind; the custom was almost cumbersome, in my opinion, but I stuck to their traditions. I reminded myself that this is what I always wanted—the opportunity to experience new cultures first hand, to learn about their history, their ideals. Welp, here I fucking was, not only thrown to the wolves but handed off to their vampire pack historian.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Matthewsan," he said in English; his accent was so faint, I wouldn't have guessed he was born here.

"And you as well, Hirosan," I replied though when I saw the grin on his face I realize that I spoke it in Japanese. I shrugged, "It is a little unnerving to understand and use a language I never spoke before."

He chuckled, "I am sure it is but you couldn't have picked a better benefactor. Lilithsan is quite formidable, even now. Back when I first met her," he shuddered, "well, I was lucky to stay alive."

I looked at him curiously, "How long ago was that?"

Hiro tisked his finger at me, "First, you learn and practice, then I talk."

"All right," I huffed, "where would you like to begin? I know pretty much nothing about being a vampire."

"Let us start with fleeting," he said.

I nodded, "I did it once but by instinct."

"Good, that will make it easier for you to pick up. Eventually fleeting will become natural but it takes practice to learn when to use it as not every moment calls for it and it can be quite draining. I rarely have reason to use it nowadays, but centuries ago it was a necessity." Hiro pointed across the long room to the opposite wall, "First, know where you want to go. That is your destination. Second, imagine yourself already being there."

I blinked and he had vanished, a few papers on his desk fluttered with the quick movement of air left in his wake; he was already across the room before I could turn my head.

"All right," I mumbled to myself. I looked at where Hiro was and I imagined myself already being there. When I went to take a step, I fleeted across the room and smacked hard into far the wall, leaving a dent with my shoulder before crumpling to the ground, "Fuck, that hurt!"