"How long have I been asleep?" My voice finally broke the thoughtful silence that had settled between the alpha and myself.

Jason kept his slow pace while he led me through the quiet hall of his little house.

"Like I said before: your healing rate isn't anything I have ever seen. Neither are you of course. But, you slept the whole day and night."

Only a day and a night? I sighed. I couldn't be a vampire, right? Why would the Hunters make me one of their enemies?

"I can't be a vampire," I said aloud, repeating that insane theory. "I can't."

"Sky," Jason tried, but I cut him off: "Seriously. Vampires drink blood, I have never drank blood. I don't need it to survive. So I can't be. Somehow, I must be something else, right?"

Jason looked at me with a face that did not make me feel any better.

"What?" I almost shouted. Tears wouldn't come, I was too trained to keep them from ever falling in the presence of someone else, but that didn't make my eyes burn any less.

"I'm not sure if that is any better." He sighed. His eyes remained on mine and flicked between them, the same way Kate had done only minutes ago. "We were present at the ritual. We felt the air shift and the earth rumble. You becoming a vampire is honestly better than the alternative. But I'm afraid you're right."

He turned around and walked inside the room smelling of porridge. My stomach made a little happy dance. How I could still be hungry after I heard news like this, I would never understand. But my stomach was uncomfortably squeezing in protest. So who was I to deny such wonderful smelling food? After taking three slow breaths in and out, I followed the alpha inside.

Mimi, the graying woman from the day before, was putting plates around the table. Her limp had somehow become more present. She wobbled from one place to the next, the wooden bench always in her way to put the plate down gently. The clattering filled the room, while Jason was putting the giant iron bowl, filled to the brink with porridge, onto the table. How many people were they planning to feed? Thirty?

"My dear, how wonderful to see you awake." Mimi smiled while she wiped her hands on her white apron, now under stains. "Come sit down and enjoy a fresh meal, I made plenty."

Before I had time to follow her and take a place at the enormous oak table, lazy footsteps hit the wooden floor, pulling the attention of everyone. With an outstretched moan, a tall and muscular guy with short dark brown hair, bordering on black, walked into the room. His nose was pulled up in the air and his hands lifted in the same direction. "What a great way to wake up."

"It smells amazing, Mimi."

I hadn't noticed the girl behind him entering the room. But now that she pushed herself around the tall man, their similarities were striking. Both had pitch black eyes that were almost uncomfortable to look at, their hair was the exact same tint of dark brown, only hers was much longer. And just like her brother, or at least I assumed it was her brother going off by their physical similarities and their age, she was tall and lean, with no doubt about the presence of muscles underneath their darker complexion.

They walked up to the woman and kissed each one of her cheeks.

"How are we so lucky to have the best cook in the Lands?"

Mimi smiled shyly. "Oh you are a charmer." She waved in the air before pulling one of the benches back. "Sit my two bunnies."

Bunnies? Really? I would've gone with killer lions or something equally deadly. They didn't really look the bunny kind.

It was only when they sat down that their eyes landed on me. They stared, let their pitch black eyes run over my body before they looked at each other. Something unspoken was happening, and then their eyes were back on me. They were about to open their mouths when Jason cleared his throat.

"Be polite."

They looked at their alpha, who couldn't have been much older then they were. They seemed to consider the option and out of nowhere their lips curled up.

"You look much better than yesterday."

"You are wearing my shirt."

The boy and Jason looked at the girl.

"What? She is." She shrugged.

"Isabelle, please. I know it's unconventional, but she is as much a victim as every other refugee that has stayed here to recover."

"She isn't though." She mumbled. "She's a Hunter. And if I heard Heather correctly, she is even the Hunter."

"Hasn't Kate arrived here yesterday?" The follow-up of the sentence hung in the air, but it was clear everyone understood what Isabelle's brother meant.

Jason groaned in-mouth, but miserably failed, then walked in tired steps to the bench on the other side of the table of the 'two bunnies' and flopped down. His head fell in his hands and he sighed.

"Yes," he grunted against his hands.

"Don't let her get to you. I've told you this before man, she is not one to stay. Way too restless. Can't stand still for a second."

I felt awkward standing there in the room, listening in on personal conversations about relationships I had no right to know about. Then there was the fact that I felt the urge to defend Kate, even though I was officially still mad at her.

Luckily, right that second, the blonde from yesterday, the one with the seemingly terrible headache - the witch, Heather, if I remembered correctly - walked in the dining room. Her eyes landed on the scene, then turned to me. Just like everyone in this house, she gave me a once over. Her right hand ran along her left arm, up and down. Her frown deepened, she looked like she didn't understand something and was trying to figure out what exactly. In the end, she looked away and walked to the table. She sat next to Jason, her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture, while she whispered something in his ear. He looked up and gave her a half smile before he nodded. His huge hand covered her petite one resting on his arm and he squeezed lightly. The girl sat up straighter and almost beamed. She was infatuated with him, like a little puppy. Jason didn't seem to realize it though. While she couldn't seem to keep her eyes off him, Jason's eyes had a distant look in them, probably thinking about someone else.

"Coming through," a much younger voice boomed behind me.

More? How many were there?

An eighteen-year-old looking boy with rusty bronze hair ran through the hall, three kids hanging around his neck and shoulders. It didn't look safe, but it seemed like a whole lot of fun. They screamed and giggled and laughed out loud. The rusty bronze boy slalomed through the hall, made an abrupt stop that almost got the kids thrown off him, before he started again and eventually finished at the table. Every single kid jumped off of him.

"Again! Again!" A young blonde girl jumped up and down on the bench. Her excitement on a level I had never seen before.

"Calm down, Fi." Isabella laughed and patted her legs. "Come sit here and smell the delicious meat that Mimi made for us."

The young girl hopped excitedly and full of energy over Isabella's brother and fell with full weight onto her lap. Isabelle's face scrunched together but she buried it behind a smile when Fi looked up with an innocence only children had.

The two remaining boys, both a bit older than Fi, were already sitting at the table, their legs dangling in the air and their hands holding their cutlery ready to use. They had the same big smiles as Fi did. They also couldn't look any more different than the girl. Where Fi had long straight satin-looking hair the color of gold, the youngest boy had messy dirty-blonde hair that had curls going in every possible direction. The oldest looking boy was almost an image of the bunny siblings, with dark brown hair bordering on black, and jaw equally tense, even as a kid. The only difference was his eyes, which were a light brown. The male bunny ruffled his hair and smiled down with a deep love shining in his eyes. Was that his little brother?

When I couldn't imagine anyone else entering, a young redhead and a dark-skinned boy about the age of 10, walked hand in hand inside. They were quiet, and if it wasn't for the distinctive looks, they would've meshed with the shadows in the room perfectly. And I almost wished they had when my eyes crossed with those of the redhead. She could've murdered me with that look.

Everyone had taken their place on the table, everyone fell in a familiar pattern and I was left standing on the side, feeling out of place more than I ever had. Jason had been nice enough, but I couldn't stay here. This was a home, and I was an intruder. I turned around, towards the hall right behind me and I almost had left if it wasn't for Jason holding my wrist captive.

"I know it's a lot, and we aren't used to Hunter-presence. But we are a group of people that know what it's like to be left alone, to fight for ourselves. It's hard and tiring, even if you have the skills. Stay, get strong and then work out a plan before you go out there again."

"I always learned about wolves being monstrous people, not able to control their kill, just like vampires. I shouldn't be here."

Jason smiled, a little spark glittered in his brown eyes.

"Did you hear that Zach?" He asked, his previous seriousness vanishing with each word.

The dark-skinned boy, with his frizzy hair that reminded me so much of Ura, looked up from his plate. He had seemed almost stoic before, but now his face was spread in a giant smile.

"Story time!" He squealed happily in a clear southern accent.

My heart dropped instead. What had I gotten myself into now?