Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

Shawn     

~~     

We dressed, piled into one of the SUVs that were at the castle, big enough to fit the six of us, and headed into the village that was nearby. This was the village of Gründer Hollow, or Founders Hollow. It used to have a different name a long time ago, but it had been changed a little more than a century ago. And this was the village that Dietrich had helped to found all those years in the past.     

Dietrich was the founder that the name spoke of. It was him that had brought the people together here long ago, but he had done so behind the scenes, so that no one truly knew that it was him. He had done a lot for these people, even before he had joined with Alaric to rid the world of evil doers.     

"This gate here," Dietrich was pointing at the large archway that would close off the village that was completely walled in with a high stone fence, "this used to be the only protection that the village had from outsiders that meant to do them harm. It was constructed in the fifteen hundreds."     

"Wow, that is cool." Luther rubbed his hand over the stone pillar of the gate. "And it's still the original gate, even now?"     

"Yes, it is." Dietrich told him as they walked around the area a little more. We had parked here at the beginning of the village to start the history lesson.      

I called it a village, but it was actually a city. The original part of the village was still encompassed by that fence, but the area had grown around it. The land had been cleared away, and now there was a thriving and bustling city that operated here. It was a bit of a tourist trap, people would come here for the history that this place had.     

We decided that we would leave the car at the gate, there was a lot to see while we were walking around, and it was a nice day out at the moment. I didn't mind enjoying the shining sun and the fresh air. Not to mention, there was a cute little ice cream parlor up ahead, and I had a feeling that Ember would just adore it.     

We stepped inside of the parlor, grabbed some dessert in some delicious waffle cone bowls, and stepped out into the day again. As we ate the ice cream, we walked around the village square and saw some of the original buildings that had been built centuries before hand.     

"They have been updated, of course, and I am sure that the repairs included many structural concerns, but the aesthetics are all the same. They look almost the same as they did when they were originally made. Well, the glass is different, but the quality of that has improved by leaps and bounds as well, so that is to be expected." He looked so happy as he was giving us a guided tour.     

I didn't know if the happiness on my husband's face was because we were pregnant again, or if it was because he was back here in Germany. I actually had a feeling that it was a bit of both, to be honest. There didn't seem to be anything that was capable of bringing down his mood at the moment.     

"Dietrich?" I heard someone call out to him. "My goodness, Dietrich, is that really you?" A man that I knew instantly to be a Vampire called out to him.      

"Ahh, if it isn't Reinhold." Dietrich returned the smile when he turned to face the man. "Children, this is the mayor of this village. I have known him for a very long time."     

"It is nice to meet you." The kids all spoke at the same time.      

"It's nice to meet you, Reinhold." I nodded at him as well.     

"Dietrich, are you here because you heard the news? How did you get here so quickly?"     

"News?" Dietrich looked perplexed, as did I. "What news? We came here for a family vacation. These are our youngest four children. My mate Shawn and I have eight in all." He winked at me as he spoke, only the two of us knew that it was about to be ten.      

"That is wonderful, King Dietrich. I am so happy for the two of you." Reinhold truly did look happy for a moment, but then his face fell. It was as if he wasn't sure what he was going to do about something that was bothering him.     

"Reinhold, is something the matter?" I asked him, worried about the news that he had mentioned before. "Ahh, King Shawn, there was an incident." He looked pale now, more pale than he had a moment ago. "A man and his mate were attacked. They were a mixed race couple, and there were some visitors in town that didn't take kindly to them."     

"What happened, Reinhold?" Dietrich was suddenly serious now. "Are they alright?"     

"The man was a vampire. His name was Arten, and he died in the assault. He was protecting his wife. She is still human, or partially. She is at the subjugate state, but she was gravely injured. What makes matters worse, King Dietrich, is that they had their children with them when they were attacked. I am just thankful that the monsters didn't attack the children."     

"Do you think that the mother will make it?" I asked him, worried about the children's future.     

"I do not know. I was about to go and see them now. I have been working with the authorities since last evening when the attack took place."     

"We will come with you then." Fauna spoke up. "My dads need to be there, as the leaders of your community."     

"That is thoughtful of you, Princess, but we cannot interrupt your vacation." Reinhold looked saddened, he clearly didn't want to let the chance of having us there go, but he also didn't want to interrupt our time with the kids.     

"Nonsense, we need to be there. My Papa needs to be there." Bret, only twelve and yet so mature, spoke up confidently.     

"Yes, we will go. Daddy and Papa will help make things all better." Ember piped up.      

"Are you sure?" Reinhold asked.      

"The children have given their approval, so it will be fine. We will look in on the woman and see how she is doing. Perhaps she can be saved and care for the children. I assume that she remained human because they were not sure if she could conceive as a vampire? I know that births among our people are rare, but they do happen. We have proof of that."     

"Yes, I assume that was the reason. She has lived a long time with him, she would be nearly sixty, but she still appears to be in her twenties. She stayed human with him for so long."     

"That is some dedication." I felt a pang in my chest, the loss she must be feeling right now had to be almost unbearable. She had been separated from her mate, and now she needed to move on without him. I couldn't do that. At least, I don't think that I could. Dietrich was my soul, and without him, I would be unable to live.     

We hurried back toward the gate, to the SUV that we left parked down there. Thankfully, we hadn't walked very far yet, so it didn't take us long. Not that we moved anywhere near a normal human speed. We were taking advantage of our advanced speed to get there much sooner.     

Not even ten minutes later we were at the hospital that was on the south side of the city. It wasn't a large hospital, but it served the community well. When we entered, Reinhold was waiting for us. He led us over to the elevator and up to the third floor. The woman was in the ICU, hanging on by a thread.     

There were two things that I noticed when we entered the woman's room. There was a nurse that was sitting there with two little boys that were perhaps a year and a half old. And there was a woman that looked like she had been beaten on every inch of her body. Her entire face was swollen and there was a tube that was breathing for her.     

"My word." I put a hand over my mouth as I looked at her. I started to walk to the woman's side with Dietrich, to be there with him when he needed me the most. However, I was stopped when I heard something else.     

"M..m..mama." One of the little boys moaned and cried out for his mother.     

"Mama." The other did the same as they reached for her. The nurse was barely able to hold them back, to stop them from going to their mother while she was in that state.     

"Those poor boys." I turned and started to walk across the room to them while Dietrich went to the mother. At the moment, I felt like that was where I needed to be. This was the reason that I was in this place at this moment. I was the God of all hybrids, and those little boys were hybrids, just like me. They were my people. Even more than they were Dietrich's people, they were mine. And they needed me now more than ever. I was not about to let them down. I would do my best for them and all my people whenever I was able to.