To Claim A Crown Book Two: The Winter Harbinger (Complete)

Chapter Forty-One: Good Evening

Sarah pulls open the door to the balcony and steps outside. She glances over her shoulder at Jackson who is unpacking their shopping bags along the floor.

"Come on out here," Sarah urges, rubbing her hands together.

Jackson chuckles and shakes his head. "It's freezing out there. I don't know why you're insisting that we do this now."

"I have my reasons."

Jackson stands up, carrying a long narrow plant pot. He steps onto the balcony and into a harsh gust of wind. He shivers and sets the tray down on the ground at the edge of the balcony.

Sarah follows after him with a bag of soil sitting in her arms. She sets the bag down with a huff.

"Let me get the seeds, can you open the soil?" Sarah does not wait for Jackson to respond before she walks back inside.

Across the hall Stellan settles into his bed. Delilah rubs cream into her face and she turns to face her aeturnum.

"I can't believe we've finally found each other."

Stellan nods with a soft lazy smile. "You're so beautiful. I'm so lucky to have you...will you stay with me tonight?"

"Of course I will. I think I've moved past the withdrawals. Thank you for looking after me with that...it's quite embarrassing really."

Stellan taps the bed beside him and Delilah walks to the bed. She slips into the bed, curling her knees.

"It's not embarrassing. Is it because of your sister's death?"

Delilah inhales deeply and she nods. "I found them, you know...I had a dream that night. I'm not sure what it was now. A lot of my memories are just whispers. But I found them when I drove there in the middle of the night. I smelt the blood from the driveway. I knew something was wrong."

Delilah swallows down. Stellan rests a hand on her knee and encourages "we don't have to talk about this."

Delilah shakes her head. "No we do. It's about Naomi and my family. Our history. I know you want to look into it so let me tell you what I know.

Stellan tugs Delilah against him.

"I rushed into the house and found them both lying in bed. Naomi was born early but she was a healthy baby. She had a separate room across the hall and by stroke of luck the door was closed. My sister...she had been stabbed in the stomach and her throat was slit. Her husband...his neck was snapped...his head was..."

Stellan holds Delilah tighter and he kisses her temple. "It's okay Dee. That's okay for tonight. Tell me, where is your family from?"

"Olimvik is as far back as I'm aware. Her father came from a prominent family. But they became sympathisers over time. Her parents chose to not meet the true death and become vampires. I made a different decision. I've always resented that. Had they been like us maybe they would have...still be here. Holland's is an abbreviation of her actual surname. It's Hollandson."

Stellan shifts upright with a serious frown tugging at his brows.

"Hollandson? From Olimvik? You're sure about this?"

Delilah nods.

Naomi pulls the curtain closed. She treads into the bathroom where Raurlin is in the shower. She lifts her toothbrush and wipes a hand across the mirror above the sink. She leans forward slightly despite the haziness in the bathroom and examines her teeth and gums.

"You okay?" Raurlin calls out above the running water.

"I was thinking...how are you able to make your claws well claw?"

Raurlin laughs. "I don't know. It's just something I've always been able to do. It's linked to my emotions, usually when I'm losing control the claws claw." There's more laughter. "Why do you ask?"

"Today I was able to make mine come out. What does it feel like? Your wolf side?"

The water turns off and Naomi hands Raurlin a towel. He wraps it around his waist. He steps beside Naomi, watching her in the mirror.

"It feels like a different side to me. I am a whole of two halves. One half is cold and dark and demanding. Hungry. The other half is warm and territorial and sometimes very angry. And it is sometimes difficult to get a balance between the two. But the sweet spot is power. Unbelievable, unattainable power. It's the strength of both."

Naomi muses over the response. "And what about on the full moon?"

Raurlin lifts his toothbrush and squeezes a minty fragrant toothpaste onto the bristles."The first time it felt like this other side of me suddenly woke up. It's like when an energy drink hits except that drink is seeping into every fibre of your being and it wants to take over your senses. It's as if you're falling within yourself. At first it was scary, trying to fight it but once you give in you know that it's a part of you that you can trust. So you give in and let this other side of you take the lead for a bit."

Raurlin begins brushing his teeth with a look of question at Naomi.

"For me it feels like a thing inside me that's alive. It's breathing and moving and sometimes it gets too close to the surface, just under my skin. Does that sound normal?"

"I don't know. I don't think it's concerning from my understanding every lycan has a different experience with their wolf side. Some give the wolf a different name and that's okay. We'll ask Mikain when he comes here?"

Naomi nods as she squirts toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"I'd like that. I think that it's been overall a good evening."