"So what's wrong, Grandmother? What couldn't you talk to us about in front of Eri?" Stacey asked as the three women all took seats around a small table in Rowena's bedroom.
"Before I explain, I need to confirm one thing," Rowena replied before asking in a serious tone, "Does Lorelie know about your… special relationship with Adam?"
"Are you talking about how her feeding on him alters her appearance?" Lorelie asked.
"So you're aware," Rowena replied.
"It's kind of hard not to be when I witnessed it firsthand."
"You were careless, granddaughter," Rowena admonished.
"I know, I'm sorry, I just got lost in the moment again," Stacey replied apologetically.
Rowena sighed before saying, "You need to be more careful, you were almost caught since Aphrodite thought she saw your wings grow, but luckily she concluded that she must have been seeing things. It's Adam's life you're risking, you know that, right?"
"I know," Stacey said with her head lowered.
"What do you mean by Adam's life?" Lorelie asked with a serious expression.
"The progenitor hid Adam's pureblood for a reason," Rowena began to explain, "It is supposed to be impossible for a mature pure brood to grow stronger; however, pureblood does just that, not to mention the fact that it seems to turn part brood like Stacey into full brood. Do I even need to explain how much people of my race would desire what his blood can give them?"
"No, you don't," Lorelie replied as she understood what her friend meant.
"It's not an exaggeration to say that if Adam's pureblood becomes public knowledge, my race could enter a civil war for the first time since the progenitor gave us life over ownership of it and him," Rowena added as if to make sure Lorelie understood the seriousness of this.
"I think she gets it, Grandmother. So, can you finally tell us how you managed to save my life back then?" Stacey asked again.
Rowena sighed before saying, "By giving you Adam's blood."
"That explains it. His blood must have healed my wound," Stacey replied happily as she thought that her love had been helping her even years before she knew him.
"How did she manage that? People can't swallow when they're unconscious," Lorelie asked curiously, causing Stacey to realise that she had missed that point.
"I fed it to her," Rowena replied.
"Fed it to her?" Lorelie asked as she and Stacey wore surprised looks before adding, "As in mouth-to-mouth?"
"Yes," Rowena confirmed with a slightly guilty expression.
"But that would mean…" Stacey began in surprise, only for Rowena to finish her sentence.
"That I have tasted Adam's blood and I'm now addicted to it."
"But you said you never would because you were afraid of this exact thing happening," Stacey replied as she looked at her grandmother with a mixture of emotions.
"I know, but it was either that or let you die," Rowena replied before adding, "The blood of others naturally increases our bodies' healing and recovery rate; however, Adam's works faster than anyone I have ever encountered."
"So you're now addicted to his blood?" Stacey asked with concern, since she understood what that meant.
"Yes," Rowena replied before adding, "I'm sorry, Stacey. I know he's your mate, but I had no choice but to save you."
"It's fine. I understand why you did it and I'm grateful that you did. I prefer it this way over the alternative of you changing the timeline so that I would never get stabbed by that bitch because that might lead to me never meeting Adam."
"Thank you," Rowena replied gratefully as tears formed in her eyes.
"Sorry, but what do you mean by, you're addicted to Adam's blood? Is this like other addictions where you can't stop consuming something?" Lorelie asked.
"It's exactly like that. Since my body has experienced Adam's blood, it won't even consider accepting any other, if I even think about feeding on you." As Rowena finished speaking, both Lorelie and Stacey saw her shiver as if in disgust.
"Wow, thanks," Lorelie remarked sarcastically.
"Sorry," Rowena apologised before explaining, "I don't mean to say your blood is disgusting; I'm sure it's delicious. Unfortunately, my body will now only accept Adam's blood. I expect that if I tried to force myself to feed on another, my body would just end up regurgitating it."
"That doesn't exactly make it sound better," Lorelie replied with a playful smirk.
"Well, regardless, the fact remains that without Adam's blood, I will die within a year," Rowena remarked casually as if not concerned about her impending death.
"And this doesn't concern you?" Lorelie asked with concern of her own.
"Well, chances are I would lose myself to madness before that even happens and the progenitor would be forced to send other brood to kill me," Rowena replied in a nonchalant tone.
"And that's better? Why aren't you concerned about this?" Lorelie asked as her concern and panic started to build.
"Calm down, Lorelie," Stacey said before continuing, "you know as well as I do that our boyfriend would never let such a thing happen to someone who is special to us both. I'm guessing that Adam has agreed to let grandmother feed from him."
"Right you are, granddaughter, well done," Rowena replied.
"And you didn't think to tell us that?" Lorelie admonished after sighing.
"I thought it was kind of obvious. I mean, I wouldn't just let anyone sleep on my lap," Rowena replied.
"So you fed on him just before that?" Lorelie asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes," Rowena replied while nodding.
"Did it affect you in the same way as the brood in the past you told me about?" Stacey asked.
"Yes and no," Rowena replied before explaining, "it not only tasted far nicer than normal blood and filled me with strength and vitality as the records say, but in addition, it also turned my hair white."
"White!" Stacey asked in shock.
"A brood with white hair?" Lorelie asked in amazement.
"How's that even possible? The only brood that doesn't have red hair is the progenitor. I have never even heard of a white-haired brood," Stacey remarked.
"Neither had I until it happened as I fed you the blood and then again after feeding on Adam," Rowena replied.
"Is it still white now? Are you using that earring to make your hair appear natural?" Lorelie asked.
"No, the effect only seems to last around ten minutes before disappearing," Rowena replied, since she had purposefully timed how long it lasted after she finished feeding on Adam last time and laid his head gently on her lap before she began to run her fingers through his hair.
She had, of course, neglected to mention any of that to him or anyone, however.
"Is this okay, though? Brood never normally feed from another brood's mate or familiar. Can Adam handle us both feeding on him?" Stacey asked.
"It should be fine as long as we don't feed on him directly after one another. Adam's body seems to be capable of reviving its blood far faster than most. The time he took to awaken after I fed on him is proof of that," Rowena replied.
"That's fine then," Stacey said in understanding.
"Now that's out of the way, let's talk about you joining the harem," Lorelie said happily, causing Stacey to roll her eyes and Rowena's to widen in surprise.
"Join the harem?" Rowena repeated.
She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it, and in fact, she even hoped that one day she might be able to join. It's just she knew that Stacey was against the idea and she also wasn't sure how she felt about sharing the same lover as her granddaughter.
"Well, you need to spend the rest of your life with Adam now that you're addicted to his blood, don't you?" Lorelie asked with bright, excited eyes.
"Why do you seem so excited about this?" Rowena asked suspiciously.
"Why wouldn't I want my friend to be happy?" Lorelie replied.
"And you think sharing Adam with the two of you will make me happy?" Rowena asked, and although her tone sounded rather direct, both Lorelie and Stacey noticed the hope and desire flash briefly in her eyes.
"You yourself should be able to answer that, just look at how much fun you had when you both travelled back in time," Lorelie replied.
"Me thinks that your fake marriage wasn't completely fake, grandmother," Stacey added in an accusatory tone.
"Ok, ok, fine. I admit that I have considered what it would be like to join you both in his harem," Rowena conceded.
"Why did you even bother trying to deny it? That's not like you," Lorelie asked curiously.
"Why do you think? Because Stacey is already dating Adam," Rowena replied before continuing, "group relationships or harems, as we are now calling them, might be fairly common in the universe, but hardly any of them have more than one brood for reasons already explained and those rare exceptions that do, don't have two brood which are related.
I have never heard of a brood grandmother and granddaughter sharing the same mate."