As the car swerved into the yard, Damon couldn't help but wonder about the nature of the house. It wasn't particularly tall, spanning outwards rather than upwards, and its red brick facade gave it an almost school-like feeling.
However, this was no ordinary school, and he, along with the other Salvatores and Mariella, were prepared for some harsh lessons, hoping for the best. He knew that a magical resolution was unlikely, even after he had a chance to explain himself.
He couldn't recall what Mimi had always told him and the others, the truth that had slipped from their minds: she didn't want explanations, she wanted action. But this was just another detail that didn't occur to them, at least not initially.
The yard was immense and well-maintained, even in late autumn. Piles of leaves suggested that someone had been raking, a simple task that Damon, at some point, felt inclined to do himself. Or, if the females were doing it, he might change his shape and dive into the piles for fun.
Adam then walked out of the building, dressed in a loose tee and faded jeans, which Damon somehow knew Mimi had provided.
Adam regarded them coolly and announced, "Hello, let's take a brief tour. Then, there's a lot of work for you. Things are different now, and our new pack leader has some mandates for pack members, so prepare yourselves."
Damon glanced at Mariella, who simply shrugged. Surely, it couldn't be that bad.
Adam led them to their new house, a miniature version of the Castle of Ireland, which he presented as perfect, or as close to perfect as possible. The walls were adorned with tasteful, yet affordable, art—definitely not stolen from Mimi, but carefully procured. The rugs and mats were exactly to Mariella's liking. While the bedrooms were spacious and inviting, she and the others felt a sense of isolation, perhaps intentionally so.
Damon inquired, "Why can't we stay in the main house? Is there not enough room?"
Adam responded, "Oh, there's plenty of room, but since you usually focus on one thing, and the rest of the pack wants to live without witnessing pornographic films, we figured you'd appreciate your own little 'pornshack,' so the rest of us don't have to be unwilling viewers."
Damon nodded stiffly, knowing that Adam had, once again, struck a nerve with his pointed remark. He couldn't deny the truth, but they could certainly try to change things. Surely, the rest of the pack wasn't celibate; they could find a middle ground, or abstain altogether, if they so chose.
As they finally entered the main house, Damon was surprised to find it was a replica of their original Chicago home. Mariella remained quiet, understanding that Adam had built this house for Mimi, and recognizing the strong bond she must have shared with Charles, Adam, and the others. All the while, Mariella had only managed to bring the Salvatores to herself.
Mariella felt a surge of jealousy, a hot flame licking at her from deep within. She craved Adam's adoration, and Charles's as well. She longed to be at the center of attention. Then, as Charles approached them at the top of the stairs, her jealousy abruptly vanished.
He had used his Alpha power, and his status as pack leader to mercilessly crush her feelings. In that instant, Mariella clearly understood how weak Damon was when it came to controlling her emotions.
Charles looked at Mariella and Salvatore, then stated, "As you are under my roof, you play by my rules. There will be no jealousy. If I notice any, I will shut it down immediately. I will not tolerate it, and the same goes for you, Salvatore: no drama, or you are out. Now, pack life has changed quite a bit. Are you in or out? Are you ready to play in the big boys' league where fucking happens, but it isn't everything?"
Damon swallowed hard. The mere idea of Charles having his way with Mimi made his mouth taste like shit. Yet, he understood that he had made mistakes, and it was time to perhaps get this pack life back in line.
If he could prove himself as a leader, he might get his position back. But then again, he was curious about what kind of pack life Charles had created. He was ready to test it out, learn, and, of course, provide constructive feedback if necessary.
As they walked up from the lobby on the first floor, Colin, Magnum, Wulfe, and, to their surprise, Samuel walked toward them.
Charles nodded briefly, and Samuel said, "Okay, I'll take numbers six through ten to Small Medbay for medical. Colin, you take Mariella downstairs."
Colin nodded and said briefly to Mariella, "Are you coming? It's mandatory, and this will take some time."
She nodded, looking a little sheepish, while Damon didn't comment.
Wulfe said, "You five, to the gym. Mandatory rage release session with me and Magnum. It's easy: two against five, right?"
His voice was deceptively calm. Damon nodded, keeping his expression neutral. He had enough experience to recognize an unspoken challenge, and it meant only one thing: that five against two didn't grant them any upper hand. It was just a simple taunt to make them lose focus or become too cocky.
They walked downstairs, where Colin and Mariella had already gone. Damon wasn't sure what this whole medical thing was about, but in time, he surely would find out. Maybe it was just Charles's way of truly establishing himself as the top dog and showing them how he takes care of his pack. However, the truth, as it would come out, would surprise even Damon and pave the way for a whole new world.
After a hard and humiliating two-hour session in the gym, Damon felt calmer, his rage released as it should have been from the start. This clarity was much needed for the upcoming days, or so he hoped.
However, as he stepped out of the shower and dressed, he had no time to go upstairs because Colin announced, "Come on, time for your medical. I can also show you some new things we've come up with. Not that you can do anything about them, but it's good for you to know. Who knows, maybe you'll see the benefits right from the start. Mariella and the others aren't aware of this; you're the first Salvatore to know. The rest of the pack knows, and they're more or less elated."
Damon frowned, now unsure of what this was all about. Still, he was ready to go with the flow, hoping this would help him move on and perhaps mend things, even a little, with Mimi, although he felt he had no right to hope for it.
As he walked with Colin to the medbay, it felt just like it had in Chicago, albeit upgraded. It was still made for Mimi, for her comfort, and Damon realized that maybe, just maybe, there was nothing wrong with that, as Mimi always was and would be the most difficult patient of them all, so anything that would help would be good for the pack.
Colin then said, "Now, let me show you our new protocol, and then you can ponder it while I conduct my examination, Charles's orders. Everyone who comes in gets a medical first; he doesn't want some latent infection brewing in any of us."
Damon nodded as Colin went to a cabinet, opened it, and took a pile of papers.
He then grabbed a small, wheeled chair, brought it close to Damon, looked at him, shuffled the papers, and asked, "Now, what do you know about the powers that your offspring have, or, say, what kind of children does Mariella make?"
Damon frowned, a little taken aback by the question, but after a few moments, he said, "Usually lustful, magical, not too strong, but more or less energy creatures."
Colin nodded and asked, "Now, does it matter who the father is? Is there a perfect partner for her, so she can make babies as strong as possible, or does she always breed true?"
Again, this wasn't what Damon had expected, and he had actually never pondered this much.
Breeding was breeding, and variety with males was good, and since everyone had his genes, they should all be pretty much the same, so he said, "I think it doesn't matter who the father is, certain traits are inheritable, in any case."
Colin stated, "Actually, it's pretty much the opposite. You see, we've gotten a few upgrades to our system, and our AI has been upgraded as well. As Charles was reading a few articles, he and Adam came up with a hypothesis: Does sire matter? It does, as it constitutes half of what the baby gets, but there's more to it. We've now compiled a genebank, an embryobank actually, from every female's eggs—both kinds of them. These have been fertilized with each male's sperm, resulting in 2000 embryos from every combination. And here's the kicker."
Damon, sounding scruffy, interjected, "Mimi can't gestate others' besides mine and hers, so you have to find surrogates."
Colin smirked, "We're actually planning on finding surrogates for every combo. You see, baby powers are determined by three things: the mom, the dad, and the womb in which it grows. Now, in order for us to get as diverse a population as possible, as strong as possible, we've gathered data."
Damon questioned, "Sure, it matters where a baby grows, but not so much. And is there even that much difference in who the father is?"
Colin nodded and replied, "Let's take Mimi as an example. The first number is what we call the Genetic Suitability Index, meaning how well her and the male's genes come together, how truly she breeds with whom. Next, we look at the Genetic Variety Index, and lastly, the DMI—DNA Morphology Index. These are tools which we can use to assess each combination and decide what kind of gestational carrier is most suitable."
Damon frowned, thinking big words were being used, but did they really matter?
Colin elaborated, "Now, take a look at the first one, Genetic Suitability, meaning how predictable our offspring are, meaning fewer surprises. This number tells us how many unforeseeable powers a number of offspring have, meaning how many out of a thousand are something new. Now, with you and Mimi, this number is 13, meaning 13 offspring from every thousand will have something new that the others don't."
Damon nodded and said, "Well, she is chaos."
Colin smiled, adding, "You two are biological halves, mates, so you're compatible. But here's an assay of Mimi's embryos with Alaric: number 45; with Charles: 33; Wulfe: 89; Tim: 103, etc. So they're not as well-matched with her, meaning more surprises, even if the male's DNA is partially yours. Her powers aren't combining in any predictable way with others."
Damon furrowed his brow, a sign that this information was new to him, but he also recognized the potential avenues it opened.
Colin continued, "You two, along with Mimi, are our truest breeders. Your index is the lowest, meaning you produce strong babies, and we have a good understanding of their potential traits. Next is genetic variety. Again, new combinations mean new genes, especially since, as you know, your DNA, as well as Mimi's, is changing. This change makes your combination volatile with certain males, but with you, it's stabler, not fully, but stable. This stability also allows for a larger variety in terms of power. We might get someone without much 'oomph,' or we might get a true powerhouse when she's combined with someone else. Now, we can try to mitigate the instability with selected gestational carriers to stabilize the selection, but identifying the strongest or weakest embryos isn't easy; it's doable, but not easy."
Damon responded slowly, "I have a few ideas, spells that could help, and we could truly select who gets what. Just think, if I were to impregnate Princess with Mimi's and Wulfe's super-embryos, her powers might add up, maybe even stabilize Mimi's rage with her lust... the possibilities are endless. And then there are the combinations of others. We need more embryos; 2000 per combo will soon be used. We have to ensure we have regular egg harvesting and always have embryos in our bank. We could take the magic house; there are breeding houses with that capability."
Colin smiled, pleased with Damon's excitement, which would ultimately benefit the pack.
He then said, "Okay, let's get on with your physical. Strip."
Damon raised his brow, but Colin was clinical and not easily seduced, so it was time for Damon to be patient once again and let others do the work, while his mind was already racing with combinations, gestational carriers, outcomes, and what they would need.
After a very long and thorough medical examination and donation of fresh sperm, Damon was allowed to leave. He was a little surprised by the sheer number of blood tests, and Colin hadn't yet commented on the results; Charles would probably say something if there was anything to say about his health.
Damon felt he was just fine, but he hadn't considered how much energy it took to make the bump, and Mariella took it all. He hadn't eaten properly or ensured he had all his vitamins and minerals, as he had just focused on other things in his life.
As Damon walked into the kitchen, he was surprised to find the Salvatores sitting in the living room instead of cooking. Tim, Taylor, Wulfe, Adam, and Charles were handling the food preparations. He didn't see Mimi and was unsure how he would greet her when they finally met.
Mariella was also in the living room, conversing with Alaric, when the large doors opened. Elena, Katherine, Mimosa, and Shadow entered, carrying buckets full of berries. They took the berries to the kitchen, where Adam placed them high up in the walk-in fridge, out of Mimi's reach to prevent her from eating them raw.
Damon observed the changes in the kitchen, noticing the different kinds of counters and a huge semi-circular table. He was still processing the information about genetics and pairings. He saw Colin talking with Charles, possibly about his results, though he couldn't be sure.
As Damon walked around the room, Charles approached him and said, "Sit down, let's have a chat, shall we?"
Damon obeyed, sitting on one of the sofas. He hesitated to take a specific chair, unsure if it belonged to Mimi.
Charles addressed them, saying, "You all are now heavy feeding, and first, your bloodwork is terrible. You're all too skinny, and your scans show abnormalities associated with starvation—this applies to the males, but not to you, Mariella. You have excessively high lipids in your organs, indicating you've been overfed, which has thrown off your balance. Your physical fitness is poor, and each of you has unresolved rage that needs to be addressed. You need to eat significantly more—way, way more. Mariella, as for you, no more draining men. You've depleted ten healthy men to the point where Mimi almost got them with her feeding gland. They may not look like skeletons because they're boosted with pure energy as fat under their skin, but medically, it's not good."
Mariella remained quiet, feeling disgusted by the fact that she was overfed and fat, making her greediness so apparent.
Charles, however, remained merciless. "Mimi is still your protector, all ten of you, so she will devise a plan to feed you. We will also prepare food, as you will be too busy exercising, getting fit, and dealing with your rage and other issues."
He continued, "Wulfe has a few magic lessons for you, which are still ongoing. While this won't be as enjoyable as your escapades in the Azores, it is essential if you want to stay fit, healthy, and regain some stamina."
He paused, then added, "The reason sex seems so diluted for you is Mariella; she drains your energy, your bodies, and your stamina. She is trying to obtain something you don't possess, something not for her but for your true love. You lust after her, and she has even given potions to ensure no one else desires Mimi, but these petty plots come at a heavy price for all of you."
He looked sternly at everyone before continuing. "And by the way, no drinking. I've made sure there is no bourbon in the house, so numbers two and four shouldn't even think about it. Now, it's time for you to face the consequences and the loss of the love you once felt for Mimi. It's also time for you to accept your life as Mariella's pussy slaves. And, yes, Mariella," he directed his attention to her, "I am not feeling particularly kindly towards you. Mimi is my priority, and I have had to witness her crawling out of a pit of desperation, a pit of losing the love she yearned for for years, a pit of feeling worthless, all because of you and your greedy cunt. So, do not even think I am someone you can seduce and have your way with."
Damon and the Salvatores were silent, each acutely aware of reality crashing down around them, washing away the illusion that moving on would be easy. It was not. Charles and the rest of the pack were focused on protecting Mimi, healing her, loving her, and making amends.
Even the slightest attempt to patch things up with her felt like an enormous task in Damon's now-confused mind. He had been pack leader, and as such, it had been his responsibility to ensure the females recovered after escaping that awful place. He was supposed to make sure everyone was okay.
But instead, he had focused solely on Mariella, assuming everyone else was occupied. He hadn't spared a thought for Mimi. What had started as a plot, a play, a role, had somehow morphed into reality. Mimi's role, originally intended to irritate and upset her, had been that of "the cunt."
This twisted perception had taken root in Damon's mind, triggering hatred and the feeling that she was beneath him, a mere toy to be used. From there, everything had spiraled downwards. What explanation could he possibly offer, other than Mariella?
It had all been because of Mariella that he had forgotten and broken his promises. He had allowed Mariella to manipulate others into breaking their promises to Mimi as well, which had shattered something within them, just as it had shattered Mimi and her love.
Damon knew the future would be unknown and difficult to face, because something precious to the whole world had been destroyed because of him.