The Gift.

20

The king sits back in his seat after all the stories have been told. He needs a bit of time to absorb it all. This Esmeralda is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Even when she was a human. He can't wait to find out what she will be able to do now that she is a vampire.

The king feels a smile slide onto his face at the thought of the chaos that she would cause.

He comes back to himself only to find that the room had gone silent and all eyes had turned on him.

"I'm sorry, did someone say something? I'm afraid I was lost in my thoughts as I was taking in all that was told to me this night." The king says and would be blushing if it was possible. Something that hasn't happened to him in longer than Jesse has been alive.

"I was just telling you that Esme and I need to get some sleep." Jesse tells his father with barely concealed impatience.

"Of course, forgive me. It has been a long day for most if not all of us. Please, feel free to retire if you wish." The king says then stands up as they all move towards the door. "Jesse, a moment of your time, if you would. I promise, I won't keep you long."

Jesse stops and returns to the king's side but he brings Esme with him and the other vampires don't continue onward. Instead they stop where they are and just move out of the way of the wolves.

The king sighs, "I hadn't meant to have you all hear, but I guess it's inevitable any way. Jesse the reason I was pushing you to find a female is because I am ready to retire and I want you to take the throne.

"Now that I've met your lovely mate, I am more than happy to have you take the throne. I have no doubt that she will help you reign. Please, think about it?" The king says before once more allowing them to leave.

It's only as they all move into Jesse's room. His bed being the only one big enough to fit them all that Esme voices her thoughts, "Is he for real?"

Jesse makes sure that the wolves aren't there as he shuts and locks the door before turning to face his mate. "Yeah, he's ready to step down. He was heavily hinting at it every time he was pushing a new female my way. It was almost enough for me to tell him to take the throne and shove it up his ass."

Then the four vampires made sure that Esme was too occupied to think about the king and what he wanted from Jesse.

The next day they gathered once more. The king wants to see just how much of a newborn Esme acts like. He suspects that she will be more like Jesse was as a newborn.

"Love, are you ready to feed yet?" Jesse asks after they seat themselves at the table.

"I'd like that, Jesse."

The king watches as Jesse goes to her and has her bite him. "You aren't going to eat from a human?"

"Most of the slaves are people from her village. She doesn't like the idea of feeding from them. They made her childhood hell. She prefers to stay far away from them." Carlo explains as Esme finishes eating from Jesse and prepares for her to feed from him.

The king watches as Esme just takes a few swallows from each of the brothers. Then he watches as they do the same to her.

"You are going to just feed from each other?"

The others smile at his incredulous tone of voice. "No, father, my brothers and I will find a slave to feed from later. But for now this will hold us over. We can go the whole day if we need to. We only feed from the humans when we need new blood nutrients. With Esme taking them as well we might need to increase how much we take, but I don't see that increasing by much either." Jesse explains even as he is lost in thoughts of the night before and the makeup sex they had enjoyed before any of them got any sleep.

The king shakes his head at the feeding habits of his son and his family. He turns to the servant that is at his side and drinks from her being careful to not take too much from her.

Once the humans leave the room he looks at the werewolves that remain. Esme tells him, "They will remain, if you have anything to say then you will say it in front of them. They are not just friends they are my guards."

The king nods his head to her to show his understanding. "Have you given any thought to what I told you last night?"

The five look at each other then at the king. "Father, I have known for centuries that you wanted me to take your throne in time. That this is the time was no great secret as you pushed the females at me." Jesse stops trying to put into words what he's feeling.

"What he's trying to say is, why the hell now?" Esme says getting tired of all the beating around the bushes Jesse is giving the king. He's just wasting time and she's too tired to deal with it this morning.

Far from taking offense like her mates feared the king starts laughing. "You will have your hands full with Esmeralda as your mate. She will make a wonderful queen. Please, I've been on the throne for more than a thousand years. I'm more than ready to give the headache to someone else. With Esmeralda as your queen and Carlo as your adviser I have full faith in your abilities as being the best king to ever rule. I'm not sure, just how the other two brothers will fit in with you ruling, but I have no doubt you've already made places for them. I have never seen such a tight knit group of vampires.

"I know I made a mistake when I ordered you to kill Carlo. I ask you both for your forgiveness at this time. Although, I regret, bitterly making that order, I don't regret the results." The king rushes to explain before Jesse explodes. He is thankful to see Esme holding Jesse back to hear the explanation.

"I regret forcing him to kill someone that he loved so much. I don't regret that he defied my intentions by turning you. I feel strongly that you are the best or were the best decision he made up until he decided to take Esmeralda as his mate." The king pauses to gather his thoughts once more. He has all eyes on him as he begins once more.

"I was angry and jealous at the time I ordered Jesse to kill you. Here I was more than a thousand years old and still jealous that the one I chose to turn is closer to his human brother than he was to me.

"I knew that Jesse was destined for greatness when he was able to control the near maddening desire for blood so easily. When I found he had not only managed to defy my orders and turn you but manage to control your blood lust as well as his own it only confirmed that he would be a force to be reckoned with.

"I gave him the twins bond so that I could gauge just how strong he was. Even an old vampire would have a hard time control three newborns fighting blood lust. Yet, he did so with apparent ease while still a new born himself.

"So, I thought to give you an additional test. I ordered you to take this land, a territory well known for the wars and supernatural creatures and ordered you to tame it. Which you did with very little help from the vampires I gave you to help you maintain order. In less time than it would have taken me, you brought peace to both the humans and the supernaturals. Not just bring peace, but you found a way to benefit them all with the arrangement you created. Gaining not just their respect but also their loyalty.

"All of this just proves to me that you are by far the potentially strongest king that we have ever had. You will make this land, our people, the other supernatural people and the humans prosper. It is time for you to take the throne, Jesse. Please."