Origins *Book 3 Of The Hunted Series*

Chapter 20: Memories

I don't own any of the Twilight characters or events

*Before Thesia brings them to Olympus*

With a sigh, I step through the portal, squinting my eyes at the bright Italian sun.

Apollo can tone it down a bit, but I know he's busy.

"What now, ma?"

Alex looks down at me and shrugs, looking around.

"We follow the trail until they decide to come out." She says, pointing to a trail down the hill.

With a nod, we follow her, keeping our senses open.

We come to this open road, trees on each side. I tilt my head, and a low growl leaves my chest, alerting the others.

"What? What do you hear?" Alex questions, looking around.

I point, and a group of vampires appear in front of us, blocking our path.

"You have nerve coming here." The red-haired girl says, growling.

"And you are?" Alex questions, arching an eyebrow.

"Nessa. Who are you?" Nessa says, sniffing my mom's scent, eyes slightly widening.

"You're Alexis Langston. The Alexis Langston." Nessa says, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

"Sure. Nice to meet you." Alex says, slightly bowing.

The group bows, and I scratch my cheek.

"Where's your boss?" Ma questions, looking the small group over.

Nessa looks up and narrows her eyes.

"How do you know I'm not the boss?" She questions, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You're young. Plus, if you were the boss, you'd be able to look me in my eye." Ma says, smirking at the group as they keep their eyes down.

She chuckles but never meets ma's eyes.

"What do you want?" Comes a hard voice, shoes crushing rocks as she steps in front of Nessa.

I bow in respect before meeting the bright green eyes of the female vampire.

"Answers." Ma says, tilting her head at our bowed forms.

She looks ma over, moving her mahogany colored hair out of her face and into a messy bun.

"Answers about what?" She questions, glancing at the lycans and wolves.

"My life." Ma says, waving at us to stand.

She narrows her eyes and blurs to ma, looking her over.

"Your Ambrogio's vampire." She states, sniffing my space.

"My space, back out of it, but yes, I'm his first borns, first born." Ma grunts, growling under her breath.

"Name's Aspen, leader of the Italian vampire coven. Come, I might have the answers you seek." She turns and motions for us to follow her to her mansion.

Vampires and humans stand around, watching as we walk through across the threshold, hissing as the lycans pass.

"Calm down." Kira grunts, rolling her eyes.

They grunt and growl at her statement, falling in line behind us.

"Lord Ambrogio spoke highly of you when we met him. He said that he was deeply saddened when he discovered you were missing." Aspen says, walking up the steps of a large mansion.