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Evgeny opened the door after we knocked, giving us only a fraction of a second to react before he all but bodyslammed into Stark like freight train barreling into a car on it's tracks. I was sure that Stark was dead for a full two seconds until Stark sent Evgeny flying back into the house from the steps, pulling himself up.

"What the actual fuck? You have a Reaper for a butler?" he growled, pulling himself back up.

"You've mentioned that before, when he first attacked you- the you with the memories." I elaborated. "What's a Reaper?"

As Evgeny adjusted his bow tie, Stark answered me. "They're like Grim Reapers, watching over the Royal family... probably meant to harvest their souls after they die. Only the most prestigious of the royal families have Reapers. After all, risking someone using your soul is deadly. Goddess knows what people like Kaleesi would do if she had her hands on a Royal's soul."

"What do you mean by harvest?" I blinked.

Evgeny cleared his throat. "It means I devour your soul before another can get their hands on it."

My stomach turned. "What?"

"Of course, that's only for Royals. Werewolves, of course, never truly die. Their souls become embodied in the Moon Goddess' wolf pack. But Royals...they endure a different fate."

My voice hardened. "You mean suffer a different fate. This just ruined my entire mood. Seriously? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? I shouldn't have come back- there's no way I'm going to be devoured by you!"

"It's not as violent as you think. Your soul departs, and I consume it before an individual snatches it for their own purposes. Fortunately your father did not suffer the same fate as Anya. I was able to consume his soul. However Anya did not have a Reaper to harvest her soul and her's was stolen for malicious purposes."

I followed Evgeny into the living room, which matched what a Victorian living room straight out of a designer's catalog would look like- full of a maroons and burgundy colors.

Stark seemed to be extremely wary of Evgeny as we sat on the dark red love seat.

"Where's everyone?" I grabbed a biscuit from the tray that Evgeny brought.

He sighed heavily. "Out, searching for you once more. They haven't stopped. They should be returning shortly."

I snorted, getting to the jam part of the biscuit. "That's because this idiot decided to kidnap me for my own good."

Stark frowned, snatching my biscuit before I could finish it. "I had your best interests in mind. Kaleesi, Orion and My King wanted me to hand you over to them."

"Stop referring to Erebus as your king, he's just a stupid vampire who probably sparkles in the sunlight."

He shifted uncomfortably, the hand leisurely laid along the couch tightening into a fist as he popped the remaining of the biscuit in his mouth. "This habit of calling him My King is a very difficult one to cease."

Evgeny looked miffed. "What a shame, here I believed Lycans to be loyal to only the Moon Goddess."

Stark's upper lip curled into a snarl, but before he could say anything probably crude and disrespectful, the brass knuckles were slammed on the door repeatedly.

Evgeny answered the door and was nearly trampled down by Iris as she launched herself at me.

"KATYA!"

I fell to the floor with her weight, my head hitting the coffee table's legs.

"Of course, Iris once again tries to kill people important to our survival." I heard Castor snort. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's my job to do that!?"

I pushed myself up by my elbows as Iris wailed into my Buc-ee's sweatshirt. "Real funny. It's good to be back."

"And you brought company!" Alric grinned, "Stark! Glad to see that you aren't torn up. Did you at least get a good punch on Orion."

Stark looked extremely uncomfortable, sending obvious signals to me. I quickly pulled Iris and myself up.

"Actually, Stark...he doesn't have any of his memories."

The crestfallen look on everyone's face made me think of what my face would've looked liked when I found out.

"Wait, seriously?" Castor crossed his arms. "You don't remember anything?"

Alric frowned when Stark shook his head. "What about Sicily? Kaleesi using her Siren affinity and killing nearly half the male population with her song?"

He shook his head once more. "I can't remember anything. Only facts and important dates. I have no episodic memories."

Iris teared up. "Oh my Goddess, that's horrible." she threw herself onto Stark, hugging him tightly.

I smiled sadly, "Good news though, he's no longer playing for the wrong team. In fact, he kidnapped me because he wanted to protect me from Kaleesi, Erebus and Orion when he found out they ordered him to kill me."

Castor blinked, zeroing in on Stark's face. "Whoa. Major change. Why are your eyes gold?"

"Must be the effect of the amnesia spell." his voice wavered with uncertainty. He pried Iris off him. "Please refrain from touching me. I'm with Katya."

"Relax, Iris is like your little sister. Alric and Castor are your friends too, Castor is the one who made you into a werewolf." I explained. "There's also Lorena, she's the oldest, Iris's mom. You were raised by her with Alric, Castor and Iris but she's not here. Jazz and Draver aren't here either."

Castor filled me in. "They should be coming back soon."

"Where's Mother?" I turned and asked Evgeny.

"The Madam is out looking for you as well, with the young masters."

The brass knuckled slammed against the door once more- probably Jazz and Draver. Before I was introduced into a round of welcome backs, I decided to freshen up.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to my room. I definitely need a change of clothes."

As I left Stark and half of the gang by themselves, I couldn't help but have the feeling that someone was watching me. It wasn't a warm feeling, the kind I felt when I knew Stark or the Moon Goddess was looking out for me. This was a dangerous, the kind that made people mad with paranoia.

I pushed down the fears of someone watching me from the shadows and entered my room, heading straight for the closet.

Wait, all monsters came from the closet.

No. No. I'm not five. I'm a twenty two year old grown woman.

I glanced down at my B-cup breasts.

Okay. Not fully grown. But I was definitely past the age of worrying about monsters in the closet. Therefore, I held nothing back as I opened the closet to be greeted with my regular clothes. Releasing a sigh of relief, I grabbed a pair of black sweatpants and a navy low cut T-shirt, changing quickly.

"Nice clothes."

"Thanks-" I froze as I came out of the closet. I didn't know the voice that said that.

My gaze was drawn to the billowing curtains of the balcony where a dark shadow stood. It moved forward, tilting it's body at the right angle.

"Who are you?" I gasped, pressing my back into the wall.

The person was wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, but it didn't make him look any less intimidating.

"We haven't seen you in a long time, Katya Michaelis."

My jaw flexed, a habit picked up after seeing Stark doing it a billion times. "It's Anosova. Now answer my question- who are you?"

He pouted, taking several steps closer to me. It was then I noticed his huge build- he was almost as tall as Draver and more well-endowed that Alric.

"I'm hurt. How can you not remember us? After we dragged you kicking and screaming from your home and brought you to the Michaelis family?"

My heart rate accelerated. "How did you know that?"

"We were the ones who did you a favor by killing Maryse and Oliver Michaelis so you could become Luna- if it wasn't for us then you would've never met him. You would've never been able to meet Stark, your mate. You should be grateful to me- to us."

"Stay back." I raised my voice an octave, but the hand of the dark shadow slammed against my mouth.

The shadow slowly solidified into a being as my eyes widened. The sunglasses were removed and I saw mismatched eyes- one gold, one silver.

"What?" I gasped as I took in the face of the perpetrator.

The dark shadow blurred away to the edge of the balcony. "It's been fun, this meeting of ours. The winter solstice is coming soon, Katya, and I have found our true vessel- I've cleansed this body and mind of his. Oh how he loves the bloodshed- he's already killed his mate and her pack... he screams on the inside, but he isn't strong enough to push us out. If you want to save your old pack, you'll come and we shall finish this war. If you don't show, know that your entire pack will be slaughtered in his name." he paused. "You have a favorite, don't you? What's her name again? Madam Missus Milady Marie? What an annoying endearment. She will be the first to die."

Then he dispersed into the shadows.

I clutched my chest and slid to the floor, a thousand thoughts flooding my mind. 

The vessel was Mikhail.

_____________________________________________________

I told you that shit's about to get real.

Before you find fault in Mikhail being the vessel, think long and hard about his back story and revisit the chapter where Artemis discussed with Katya about how Mikhail came to be. He might be the vessel, he might not be. You never know. Just don't jump to conclusions ;) All will be revealed at the end, trust me.