"Hello! You must be Etienne. I'm Melissa. A pleasure."

A woman who looked around fifty with golden blond hair and a warm smile shook Etienne's hand. I never knew older humans also got turned, but it seemed I was wrong.

From the get-go, Melissa was entirely different from Clarence and his crew. The only thing giving her away as a vampire was her lack of pulse and scent. She wasn't extremely pale like Clarence or Etienne, nor regarding any of us like we were a turd under her boot.

After greeting Etienne, Melissa turned to Ivana and me.

"Thank you for having me in Pinewood, Ivana, and Boris. Especially after the... unpleasant experiences you've had with one of our other communities the past few days. I have to apologise for castle Logoria and Clarence's actions."

Ivana shook her head. "You have nothing to apologise for. And thank you for being here so soon, too, Melissa."

"Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we'd had to deal with the messes left by castle Logoria." Melissa shot Etienne an apologetic smile. "No offence."

"None taken," Etienne replied. "I'm not exactly part of castle Logoria anymore now."

Melissa nodded. "I loathe to speak ill of our other communities, but you're much better off for it. We should never condone turning humans who don't know exactly what they're getting into. And you can't know unless you've been around vampires as a human. Few would make the choice to become one of us after that, trust me."

"And what makes your vampire community better than castle Logoria?" I asked.

I didn't intend to sound hostile or rude, but I couldn't help it. To me, Melissa was someone who was only here to convince Etienne to leave. Of course Etienne had the right to choose, and I didn't get a say in where he wanted to live. I'd be worse than Clarence if I tried to influence him now. I bit back worse and let Melissa answer.

Thankfully, the vampire didn't seem offended. "That's a good question," she said. "For one, we don't hold on to the tradition that the eldest vampires are always in charge of all decisions and revered without question. Every vampire has a voice in our community, and nobody is a servant. We all work together to provide for ourselves and tasks rotate. Second, we live secluded and do not ever seek contact with humans to turn them or feed on them. We solely live off of animal blood."

"Visitors are never welcome?" Etienne asked in a small voice.

Melissa offered him a sympathetic smile. "I understand it sounds strangely strict for a community that wants to be as open as ours. But, no. We keep others out and don't allow anyone from the outside into our home. Not even vampires who aren't part of our community. But, it's not a prison, of course. You can call or text people whenever you want. And you would be allowed to leave and travel to the fey woods or elsewhere whenever you please. Just know that we have strict rules about drinking human blood. If we catch anyone feeding off of people, inside or outside of our home, they are banished permanently. This is how we protect ourselves from blood corruption and ensure peace within our walls." 

"I see." Etienne glanced at me, perhaps to see what I thought. But I did my best to keep my expression neutral to not influence his decision.

The silence lasted a few seconds, and Melissa seemed to catch her cue to step out of the conversation. "I'll leave you to think about it, Etienne," she said. "If you have any questions, you have my number and you know where to find me. If my home sounds good to you, we can set up an appointment for you to meet the others and make a decision."

With a last smile and nod, Melissa greeted us and left the room.

Ivana cleared her throat to fill the silence. "On paper, it's a perfect deal," she said when Etienne didn't speak up. "The vampires will be appeased and Etienne would be safe. This entire diplomatic mess would be solved."

Etienne looked like was about to puke, but he made himself smile. "Yes," he said. "It would be a perfect solution. Nobody angry, and everyone with their own people."

"Exactly."

"Mind if we speak in private for a sec, Ivana?" I nodded at Etienne.

Ivana raised a brow, but gave me a hand gesture as to saying 'go ahead.'

"Thank you."

I took Etienne outside of the building and didn't stop walking until I was certain we were no longer in earshot of any werewolves hanging around.

"And what do you really think of Melissa and her offer?" I asked.

"She seems kind." Etienne frowned. "But there isn't really a choice anyway, is there? I can't stay with you in Pinewood. Not after what castle Logoria did. What I did. Not even the other supernaturals would accept it because they know I bit you."

"I volunteered my blood," I reminded him. "Both times. And that's not what I asked. I asked what you think of Melissa's offer."

Etienne still hesitated. "I don't want to cause any trouble for you or Ivana."

"That's also not what I asked."

Etienne looked down at the grass. "Fine. I... don't want to leave you. Not so soon. I'm not ready to live with other vampires again either, but I don't think I have a choice. I can't stay here. And outsiders aren't welcome in Melissa's community, so what can I do?"

"Melissa's isn't the only vampire community," I pointed out. "She's only the first to find you. Pinewood isn't the only werewolf community, either. If you don't want to go there and we can't stay here, then we can leave and find another place."

Etienne swallowed thickly and raised his eyes to meet mine. "You would really leave Pinewood? I can't ask that of you. Your home is here."

"I haven't exactly been making myself popular with the other werewolves either over the past few days." I shrugged. "Besides, my sister would be thrilled if I was finally out of her hair."

I made a joke of it. But I knew Ivana definitely wouldn't be happy with me if I left Pinewood.

Still, it wasn't like I was leaving her in a bind, either. Aquila was ready to live in Pinewood with Xavier. He had grown so much in the past few months. The next generation deserved a chance, and Aquila had always been destined to lead the pack. Becoming the official protector of the human town was a great first step on that path. I would miss the pups, and I knew they'd miss me. Damn, I'd miss the people of Pinewood as well. But I knew I could always visit. Unlike Melissa's community, Pinewood didn't shun all outsiders, especially not if they were werewolves.

"You shouldn't go to Melissa's community if you're not truly and one-hundred percent willing to go. And that's all," I said.

A brief smile flitted across Etienne's face. Then he frowned. "But where would we go? If we went somewhere together."

"I don't know either," I admitted. "But Ivana isn't the only one who can make phone calls. The winter fey said we were free to stay for the time being. We can search from our little honeymoon suite in the woods and leave once we found a place that will have us both."

"I would..." Etienne trailed off. "I would really like that. But are you really sure? You have everyone here."

"Yes. Because werewolves visit each other all the time unlike the vampires. I wouldn't be gone from  Pinewood for good."

I took Etienne's hand and gave it a little encouraging squeeze. Finally, Etienne dared to show me a smile when he seemed to realise I was serious about coming with him.

"In fact," I went on. "I'm so sure we're going back to Ivana now to tell her our plan."