JAKEA shrill scream echoed throughout Elise's family home. I scanned the party for Anna, my stomach tightening when I couldn’t find even a glimpse of her among the many, many dancing figures.“Where the hell is Anna?” I asked Tyler, who sat at the bar, clutching a glass tightly in his head and eyeing the group of demons in the back, who he must’ve really fucking hated. Hell, he hated almost everyone nowadays.“Bathroom.”I glanced over my shoulder at the open bathroom door and growled, snatching his shoulder and lifting him off the freaking barstool. “The bathroom is fucking empty. Where the fuck is Anna?”Tyler snapped his head toward the bathroom, eyes immediately glinting red. After ripping himself out of my grip, he rushed toward the bathroom and lifted his nose to the air, sniffing her scent.While I would’ve done the same thing, there were far too many scents in this room to distinguish any from each other. They were all mixing together, overwhelming my wolf in ways that it sho
When we reached the pack house, I nodded to Jake to dump the vampire on our couch. “Get as much blood from him as you can. Anna will want to use it to make those potions for us in case her father attacks.”“What do you want me to do with her?” Lucas asked, eyeing the pregnant woman who had stopped crying and was clutching her baby bump.“Figure out what the vampire wanted from her, then bring her home. Make sure she has people who will look after her and protect her. If she doesn’t, then she will stay with us. Anna wanted to protect her for a reason.”Once Lucas nodded, I followed Tyler upstairs to the bathroom. Sina was covered in blood, and I doubted that she’d want to wake up like this tomorrow morning while in my bed. Tyler ran a warm bath, then leaned against the bathroom door as I undressed our mate.“You’re right,” he muttered, voice gruff.I laid Anna in the tub and grabbed a soapy sponge to wipe her off. “About what?”Thayer growled, walked over to sit on the edge of the tub,
I tensed because … I was. I had to be.“I’m sorry,” I whispered, dropping my hands from his face and stepping back in fear that I would lose control again.I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt any of them. They didn’t deserve it. They had waited four years for me.Four years, and I’d scarred his face.Tears welled up in my eyes. My knees gave out. I doubled over onto the ground, bending at the hip to curl into a ball. I hated this. I hated this so fucking much. I was nothing but ruined because of Dad. I couldn’t even live my life in peace without him.He had turned me into a monster. He had turned me into a fiend. He had made me so insane that I hurt my own mates, something that he had probably wanted this entire time so he didn’t have to do it himself.ANNAI was a monster.Nobody understood the pain that I had gone through every day for years, how much I had tried to believe that Dad just wanted to use my body for sexual favors and not for … this, how much agony this fuc
About twenty minutes after Ann disappeared into Asher’s room with him, I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes to get some rest for the first time all night. Last night might’ve gone as planned in the beginning, but it had quickly taken a dive into something much worse.None of us knew what Anna really was.And I was terrified that we wouldn’t be able to protect her. That this time, she would be the one protecting us. She didn’t know what she was capable of, and she couldn’t even control herself or that inner demon she had whatever it was.A light knock came on my door, followed by Anna’s sweet scent. " Lucas?”I sat up to lean against the headboard and squinted my eyes in her direction as the sunlight flooded into the room through the open windows. “What’s up, Pretty Bird?”She shuffled into the room and shut the door behind her. “Can I stay with you for a bit?”After I pushed over to give her some of the bed, she crawled in with me and snuggled close to me underneath the blankets. F
“James?” Gregor said. “He’s made big strides to become the next demon leader.”“No fucking shit,” I said through gritted teeth. “He’s also Sina’s ex-boyfriend, and I don’t trust him.”Gregor tensed and swallowed hard. “You shouldn’t. He’s a liar and a cheat. I get that he’s an incubus, but something has never sat right with me about him either. I’ve only seen him in passing, and I have some shit against him that’s my private matter, but … I don’t like the kid.”“Where was he last night? A guy like him wouldn’t have missed a party like that.”?”“South of Bloodmoon.”“That’s funny.” A dry laugh escaped my lips. “Because he fucking told Anna that he was in the north, trying to figure out how many soldiers her father had, that he’d find out as much information for her as possible.”Gregor furrowed his brow. “Last I heard, there’s an army gathering in the south, not the north. It’s a bunch of humans that James was supposed to meet with to try to stop the war against the other species. The
Asher “The perfect beings?”I repeated, brows furrowing. “The Paragon.” “It sounds fucking crazy,” Thayer said, pacing around the prison and running his hands through his hair. He stared at the ground, his wolfish eyes turning a piercing red demon color. “Because it is. How can a species be perfect? Not even gods can reach perfection.” “I’ve read about the Paragon briefly,”Lucas said. “Isn’t it a book in the library? From what I remember, the Paragonian people are a combination of species, almost like you. Multiple species in one.” “The Paragonian people aren’t mutts like me,” Tylersaid. “All the books and lessons we learn during school have been watered down, so as not to cause hysteria, but demon families pass down what they know to be true.” “Then, what are they?” I asked, confused. Still, I couldn’t grasp this reality. Anna had always been human. She had been human four years ago, and she had been human when she escaped her father and returned to Bloodmoon . If she were anyth
Lucas looked at the back French doors. “They’retaking careof a couple of people.”“Like … my father’s people?” I asked.Sighing softly, Lucas nodded. “Look, don’t worry about it because.....” He suddenly stopped and lifted his gaze to the back door.A pregnant human woman stood at the door and waved to us.He jumped up. “I actually want you to meet someone.”I straightened myself, vaguely remembering this woman from last night.She walked into the room and unzipped her light fall jacket. “Hi, you must be Anna.”Nervous for some reason, I stood up and guided her to one of our stools. “Yeah, I’m Anna. How are you feeling? That vampire didn’t hurt you at all last night, did he? I tried to stop him. I’m sorry if I...”“No, he didn’t,” she said, sitting and smiling at me. “I’m Hellana.”“Hellana,” I repeated. “It’s nice to meet you. Well, is there anybody we can call, so we can get you back home? I’m sure you don’t want to stay here with a bunch of werewolves and … whatever the hell I am.”
“No,” I said with a slight head shake. “You won’t.”But still, I wasn’t positive. She had the power to kill me and everyone else here. If Anna wanted to hurt me, she could snap all my fingers and my throat in a millisecond. Paragons weren’t known to play nice when pissed off.“You have to believe me,” I said, drawing her closer. “I know it’s fucking hard. I know you’re scared. But to be honest with you,you’rethe only one who will be able to defeat your father when he comes to take you back.”“He’s ” Anna started, but then cut herself off. She glanced down at her feet and gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “I think I unlocked another memory from my past. If it’s true and real, then my father … isn’t really my father.”“But your mother was, wasn’t she?” I asked. It was all making fucking But your mother was, wasn’t she?” I asked. It was all making fucking sense now.“Yes,” Anna said, voice soft. “She was. How’d you know?”I grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back door. “You’ll s