In the sprawling city of Los Angeles a young man made his way through the bustling city streets, his shoulder length black hair was neatly tied in a ponytail. He wore a hoodie and dark blue jeans, with a pair of steel toe boots. His emerald eyes had a hint of primal ferocity in them, which he desperately tried to hide behind a smile.
The past year had been good too him, he no longer looked scrawny and weak. But he was not exactly strong either, he was still suffering from the effects of severing his bond although he was 2,796 miles away. He could no longer shift fully and his eyes were now stuck in his wolf form, his wolf no longer spoke to him. And at the moment he was stuck between a wolf and a human, his senses were now always in a heightened state. But except for his hair, eyes and senses nothing else changed that would hinder him from interacting with the humans.
He was currently living with Malcolm and her boyfriend Sai, the two had welcomed him into their home and had went as far as creating a new Identity for him. He currently went by the name Nigel Watson, and he worked at the IPB construction company responsible for the city's infrastructure development.
He got the job thanks to Sai, the project manager owed him a favor and when he came to collect on it the man gladly obliged.
Nigel made sure not to get too attached to anyone including Malcolm and Sai, it was only a matter of time before he had to disappear without saying a word and he had already done it once with Annabelle it pained him to know that he had to disappear once again.
But that was the cost of his freedom, and he knew the pack that was situated near Los Angeles.
Pack Crimson dawn was the one overseeing Los Angeles, it was a pack belonging to the only female alpha in the United States.
The leader of the pack was a friend of his father and she had a history of violence, Nigel made sure he was always in the city and he also stirred clear of any potential business or place that might have the scent and mark of the Crimson Dawn.
If he stumbled into wolves territory they would be able to catch his scent from a mile away, back when he was still part of Blodhaven he had two different scents his human scent and his wolf scent. Now the two scents were mixed and he also bore the mark of forsaken which meant that his scent was peculiar and it attracted were-kind to him.
But he was not too worried about that since he had already planned his exit, and came up with many contingencies just in case the unforeseen happens. His leisurely walk home was suddenly interrupted when a hand grabbed his shoulders, due to his heightened senses he had already caught the scent of the owner of the hand that is why he did not evade the hand.
"Hey man," Sai's voice drifted into his ears, he turned around with a smile "Hey, what's up?"he responded
Sai was half Japanese half white but his Asian side was the more dominant one, the only thing that did not scream Asian about him were his deep ocean eyes that he said had inherited from his mother. He was tall almost as tall as he was, being 6ft while he was 6ft2. When he first met him his hair was dyed purple now it was red, same went for Malcolm.
"Nothing much,"he shrugged.
Nigel stole one last glance at Sai before turning back to the bustling street, the sidewalk was filled with tons of people all going on about their business. Nigel had questions regarding the couple, at first it was because he had promised Malcolm money which he had stolen in the form of bank cards but then when they offered him a place to stay in their apartment in Los Angeles that is when he began having suspicions about their motives and goals.
Nonetheless he was grateful for all that they had done for him, that is why he had prepared some money for them as a farewell gift. The rest of the walk home was in silence, reaching their apartment building in no time.
They entered the building and then they split, Nigel took the stairs as usual while Sai took the elevator. The reason for taking the elevator was for him to give Sai time to enter the apartment first and alert Malcolm that he was on his way up. But the real reason he preferred the stairs over an elevator was because the stairs allowed him to get the whole layout of the building in case they came looking for him here. Since he regularly took the stairs he had a few acquaintances, so along the way he ran into a few of them and they exchanged brief greetings.
And just when he was about to begin his last ascent, he caught a scent neither human nor wolf. The scent was sweet but it had another component in it, blood. The smell was enticing like age red wine, he followed the scent up the stairs and there he saw a young woman possibly in her early twenties standing atop the flight of stairs staring down at him with her deep crimson eyes. Her golden hair cascaded down her back like golden waterfall, she bit the inside of her small bright red lips. Her alabaster skin glowing faintly in the dim stairway, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on but sadly she had the scent of a vampire. She wore a flowing deep red dress and heel of the same color, and she wore no jewelry.
He had already stopped his advance, his eyes glued to the Vampire standing atop the flight of stairs. It appears as though the Sanguine Court had already sent agents after him. He knew he was screwed, there was a reason why Omegas were not allowed out of pack grounds. In their human form they were weak and in their wolf form they were weaker than Gammas but stronger than their human form.
But when it came to the Night walkers it was a different issue, the vampire hierarchy was different from theirs. Unlike them who could evolve naturally vampires could not so their ranks hardly changed except for a few rare exceptions, at the top is the vampire king and queen below them are the pure bloods vampire nobles whom are considered the highest class and below them are the common class and the Turned.
The Turned are the weakest but they are still stronger than an Omega, so for him to run into a vampire right away was much more terrifying than running into his kind after all Night walkers and Wildborns were natural enemies.
"Are you Lincoln King?" the night walker spoke disturbing his thoughts.
Lincoln shook his head with a confused expression hoping to buy himself time, observing the night walker's calm demeanor he deduced that it had to be either a common Night walker or a pure blood. Newly turned night walkers were overly confident and had more of a bloody scent than the older night walkers, he knew he had to be cautious otherwise he would die or worse he would be taken.
"I am afraid you have the wrong man, my name is Nigel Watson." he responded calmly.
The night remained quiet for a moment before she began slowly descending the stairs, her descent was slow and unhurried her eyes never once leaving him. He knew she could hear his heartbeat so he tried by all means to keep it stable, that was wildborn 101 learning to control your heartbeat so that you can shift on command. He had lost his ability to shift but the education stayed, as much as he was afraid he was also quite thankful that only wildborns were able to smell the mark of the forsaken on him.
And he looked totally different now, it would take a member of his family to recognize him. The night walker now stood a step away from, her sweet scent engulfing him whole.
"Why do you feel the need to lie to someone more powerful than you?" she sighed looking at him with expressionless eyes, he trembled realizing that he had overlooked a single detail.
"I can compel you into answering me truthfully but I would hate to use such drastic measures so I ask you again, are you Lincoln King?" her words made him shudder, he had forgotten that night walkers had a strange ability that allowed them to hypnotize their victims and the older the night walker the stronger it was.
Well he could tell her the truth and find out her motive, if she is tasked with capturing him he might use that to his advantage and plot an escape other than that there were no possible moves to make.
Sighing softly he nodded; "That is correct."
Answering the question and not asking her a question in return destroyed any advantages she had, which meant that she would be forced to reveal why sh was looking for him all on her own. Hearing his answer she nodded and gestured for him to follow. He followed her up the stairs and into the hallway, she stopped at their apartment and looked at him expectantly.
Sighing he went to open the door and moved aside to let her enter first then he followed closing the door behind him. Once inside they went to the living room, it was small and tidy with a sectional sofa, storage ottomans, a foldable desk and wall mounted shelves filled to the brim with books and other miscellaneous items. Sai and Malcolm sat on the sofa looking at the laptop in Sai's lap, when they heard them enter the living room they turned to them with expactant eyes.
Seeing their reaction Nigel frowned, he stood next to the foldable desk with a raised brow. The night walker went sit beside Sai and Malcolm, his mind began racing. Did malcolm and Sai betray him? But looking at their faces that was unlikely, so what was happening?
After a minute of silence Malcom spoke; "Lin, trust me i know how it looks but if you could let Sai explain im pretty sure you will understand."
Sai turned to Malcolm with a burning gaze, the young woman with red hair and tattoos covering almost every inch of her body except for her face smiled innocently. Her dark eyes appeared innocent as always, she was beautiful but next to the night walker she appeared average. She wore a cropt top and denim shorts her hair tieed into a messy bun, Nigel's gaze turned to Sai.
"Why do the both of you still behave like you are children, you are over two hundred years old so start acting like it." the night walker's indifferent reprimand made Nigel shudder.
Malcom and Sai were over two hundred years? But their scent was that of a human, could they have used some type of artifact to changetheir scent? If not, then what are they? His horrified expression earned him a laughter from Sai,
"Well, how about Lin you were nopt the only one with a secret." Sai spoke proudly.
Nigel took a deep breath and his expression returned to normal, he scratched the back of his head with a smile and asked; "What the hell are you two?"
Sai's expression turned serious even the innocent looking Malcolm had suddenly flippped, her eyes turning cold almost immediately.
"Even if we told you wouldnt believe us." Malcolm spoke in an eeriely calm voice
Surprised by the sudden change in mood but deciding to not show it he answered bvbldly; "Try me."
Sai grinned darkly, "Very well then." in unison, "We are the Inkbound guardians born to serve aand protect the Archive Keeper of Midnight."