“We are going to give you today to reflect,” Drago said, and I looked at him with surprise. “You need to clear your mind so we can have a proper conversation. It's obvious you weren't planning to meet us, at least not now. So have a break, and tomorrow we'll talk about the importance of the prophecy. You are the chosen one, but the prophecy goes beyond you; it involves all of us.”
Aris nodded seriously and released me carefully, then Connor looked at me doubtfully.
“You told us what you want, but now I really doubt that's what you want,” Connor said with the drawing in his hand. “A person doesn't draw someone this way if they don't have feelings, and I have a feeling it was years before you were able to perfect these drawings.”
I swallowed saliva, and Aris watched me with a frown.
“Whatever you do with empathy, don't do it with me,” I asked, and the vampire smiled sadly.
“I'm sorry to tell you that I can't please you,” Aris said, and I frowned. “My empathy is something that is always there, that can't be turned off; it became a second skin. I can teach you how to block it, but I will once you explain to me what's going on.”
Drago looked at Aris with a smile, and I realized how smart the vampire was.
“I'll talk to you tomorrow, after I get my mind right,” I told them all. “I can't... I can't tell you everything.”
All three raised their eyebrows, and then Connor made an easy deduction.
“Does it have to do with your mom?” the wolf asked, and I clenched my hands. “I'm not asking this to disrespect you, but your reaction to Biel was violent, even though he deserved it. I'm just trying to fit the pieces of what's going on.”
I owed them nothing, but they deserved to understand part of the situation; however, my hands were tied and my mouth was sealed due to fear.
“She will tell us tomorrow what she has to say,” Aris said, understanding that I was feeling overwhelmed.
Lion entered the room again, but there was no sign of Biel.
“Is everything okay over here?” The high priest asked hesitantly, and Drago nodded.
“Nadine has to get her thoughts together, so we'll talk tomorrow; can you tell us which rooms are available for us?” I asked Drago, and I loved that he was the mediator because I felt I was going to have a horrendous time handling the situation.
Lion pointed to the door for them, then Aris nodded with a smile and walked out of the room. Connor followed him, giving me a calming look, and Drago went after them without even looking at me. Lion followed them, and I sighed due to the tension I had in my body.
It wasn't easy for me to see them.
So I sat down and couldn't stop the tears.
I didn't realize that one of the felines, the one who tackled me, came into the room until he handed me a handkerchief. I looked at him in surprise, and the man smiled sheepishly at me.
“I'm sorry for how I treated you,” the feline said. “You didn't know who you are or how important you are; I was just following orders. My name is John, so if you need anything, tell me.”
“Thank you, John,” I replied as I took the handkerchief. “I want my things and for you not to say you found me like this.”
The feline nodded.
“The captain is usually an unforgiving man and has a very strong temper, but once you get to know him well, you know he's a great person,” John said, and I frowned. “He's a little upset because he didn't expect to find his mate.”
I sighed I understand what the feline was trying to do.
“I'm not crying about how Biel treated me; let's just say it's a natural response to what I said to him,” I admitted sheepishly. “It's just that what he wants and expects is not what I'm supposed to do.”
John sat down, as if I had invited him to talk to me.
“The captain lost faith in the soulmate test after many years; he always thought his mate wouldn't show up and that maybe he would in another life when he reincarnated,” John said, and that surprised me. “That you came along was a shock to what he had assumed. So I wouldn't be surprised if he was afraid. I was too when my mate showed up after years of waiting.”
“Why were you afraid?” I asked curiously.
“Because she didn't want mates; she had gone through a very strong trauma and wanted to become a priestess,” John said sadly. “But once we met, the pieces fell into place. So all I can say is that when you two have a chance to get to know each other, the situation will sort itself out until you have the need to bond and believe me when I tell you that's coming.”
“It's not going to happen,” I said, and John smiled.
“It will happen; fate always knocks on our door, and it already knocked on yours,” John said. “I'll take you to your room. Your things are in there.”
“Thank you, John.”
I went back to my room and was aware of the shortcuts.
I didn't know how I had entered the temple, but I knew that my room was on a third floor and looked out onto a large garden that abutted the perimeter of the street. I had to find a way to escape without being noticed, so I waited patiently for the rounds to change and spent the whole day glued to the window to see what the surveillance system in the garden looked like.
By early morning, I tied up several sheets and pulled them out the window, so I put on my backpack and left the linens behind. By the time I started downstairs, I waited to see if there were any security cameras catching me, and seeing that no one appeared, I kept going down until I hit the ground and pulled the sheets down to hide them in the bushes below.
I looked all around and took a deep breath until I crawled across the garden through the grass. When I reached the large metal wall, I began to climb it quickly, and as I stepped over the top of the wall just outside, all I could do was jump. The impact against the ground knocked the wind out of me, but it was worth it, and I started running away from the temple, so far until I found a bus stop.
I took a deep breath and sat down at the bus stop; however, I was not alone for long. A hooded man approached, and as I was about to start running, he grabbed my hand and revealed his face. My mouth dropped open as I realized it was Drago.
“Biel said you would try to escape,” the dragon said, and his blue eyes turned obsidian, a sign that his beast was under his skin. “I told her you wouldn't, that you'd explain everything to us, but now I know she was right.”
“I told you she'd bolt at the first opportunity,” Biel said, stepping out of the shadows.
“You can't keep me,” I said, very annoyed. “It's an outrage that—”
“You're an anchor, Nadine; I'm not going to leave you alone without protection,” Drago said, annoyed. “I know you think you should run away, escape, and hide like you always have, but you have four mates who can help you with—”
“No!” I shouted angrily and wriggled out of his grip. “They can't help me; staying with me is much more dangerous.”
“Why is it, belle?” asked Aris, who came out from behind some trees.
Connor came out behind Aris, and I realized that they set me up, which made me annoyed.
As I was about to send them to hell, I felt the breeze get really cold, and then the fog started to descend towards us.
“Shit, they're here,” I said in dread.
Biel turned and raised his hand to clear the mist, then I watched as Alister, the man who had killed my mother, smiled with amusement. Behind him was a small legion of hunters.
“At last I have found you, little beast,” Alister said humorously, and Biel created a dome of air above us.
Aris peeked out, and Alister saw him with surprise, as if he recognized him.
I didn't like that at all.
“It can't be,” Aris said as if he'd been beaten.
Alister started drawing a rune in the air, and I knew I had to do something, but Drago stepped forward, came out of the dome, and attacked the hunters with blue fire. That made them back off a bit.
“I don't care that two of you are millennials,” Alister said. “You're no more powerful than I am.”
Alister wasn't lying; I knew that if I didn't do something, he could easily kill them, so I had to defend them. That's why I walked up to Biel and took his hand. That made the captain look at me with an arched eyebrow.
“I need you to take a protection rune from me,” I asked, and Biel frowned.
“What are you talking about, Nadine?” asked Connor.
That moment Aris went to help Drago, I saw him throw normal fire from his bare hands. I knew that would upset Alister, who was still drawing runes in the air.
“I have no time to waste,” I said and opened my shirt, revealing my chest. “Remove the protection rune that seals me, or that man is going to kill them.”
Biel saw me and, realizing I was serious, put his hand on the center of my chest. He began to recite some unintelligible words, and the seal of the rune broke. I immediately felt power building up inside me, and they gasped.
I came out of the bubble, and Drago immediately saw me. I could tell by his expression that he knew very well the kind of power I wielded. So I wasted no time; I raised my hands and sent a blast of energy that pushed the hunters and Alister a few feet away.
“What was that?” asked Connor, who approached with golden eyes and nails turned into claws.
“That's me giving us time to flee,” I said and sent a blast of energy at the hunters again. “Biel, if you know of any runes to turn us invisible, it is just this moment that you must summon them so we can lose the hunters.”
The wizard looked at me with a frown as he heard my request, but he did it. He drew a rune on each of us. At that moment I felt a sudden pain in my head, and my response was to send another surge of energy, a strong one that made the earth shake.
“Holy shit,” Connor said.
“Let's get out of here,” Drago said, and he transformed into a large, dark dragon.
“Come up, Nadine,” Aris requested, and I did so with difficulty, crawling up the dragon's scales.
Connor, Aris, and Biel did the same, then Drago took flight, and after five minutes in the sky, I felt an excruciating burning in my stigma that made me scream.
I fainted from the pain.
They all went up and then a lacerating pain in the stigma drove me into unconsciousness.
Part II. First TestDragoLeaving the room had cost me a lot because I knew very well how upset Nadine was. My beast wanted to take her, to take her away from the temple and protect her at any cost.I had learned to be much calmer and more analytical over the years; my dragon sent that to hell when he felt his mate. She was capable of awakening all impulses.After being a loveless millennial being, knowing she existed was a miracle in itself.“Your rooms are close to Nadine's,” Lion said, and that gave me some reassurance. “I don't know if you know all about the mate bond, but once you meet for the first time, the force of attraction will be much stronger, and it will be uncomfortable for you to be away from her.”Connor, the young wolf, looked confused, and Aris put his arm on his shoulder, a clear sign of the trust and intimacy they had for each other. It was strange to see a werewolf and a vampire being friends, but it turned out to be interesting.“It'll be fine; we'll adjust to t
NadineI woke up with my racing heart.I felt the power coursing through my veins, and terror flooded me as I realized that what I had experienced in the last 24 hours had been very real. However, I could not remember what had caused such an alteration, although I knew very well that it was a nightmare.When I opened my eyes, I wished I wasn't standing on a hill with all my mates watching me with a frown.“Since when do you have night terrors?” I asked Aris with red eyes, and I knew he was too upset. “I'm going to kill them, Nadine. Every single one of them that hurt you.”I frowned, not understanding what was going on, then something in my mind clicked Aris' power, and I looked at him in horror. I couldn't believe it.“Tell me you didn't get inside my head,” I said in fear. “Tell me you didn't see anything.”“I had to do that to keep you from staying upset; I had a hard time feeling your terror,” Aris said unapologetically. “I had to wake you up right away or you were capable of send
ConnorWatching my mate suffer was not in my life plans.Just before I felt the call of the temple, I was drinking with Aris and told him about the problem I was having in my pack: the council was pressuring me to accept an alliance with another powerful pack through marriage.The fact that the Elders were putting an ancient practice on the table so that at last my pack would have a Luna was insulting, but for them to entertain the possibility that I would never have a mate was humiliating.“Do they really want to marry you off like that?” asked Aris in horror.The old vampire had been a friend of my family for centuries and saved my great-grandfather in the last supernatural war, so he forged a strong bond with my family that was nearly broken by my father but which I regained. If there was anyone who could help me see things right, it was Aris. Somehow, he went from being my secret advisor to being one of my best friends.“Yeah, they say I have enough years without a match in the so
NadineWake up!My she-wolf's voice made me groan with exhaustion.Becca had an annoying voice; she was very grumpy and demanding. The fact that I had a hard time controlling her from taking over and going to claim my mates spoke volumes about the level of energy I had to expend with her.You sealed me for many years, so don't expect me to treat you right, Becca said in my mind, and I opened my eyes immediately.I did it to take care of everyone, and that includes you, even if you don't want to accept it. Now tell me what you want, I replied annoyed.Pay attention to your surroundings and test your senses, silly girl. Becca's recommendation made me frown, and when I was aware that I wasn't alone in the room, I immediately sat up and saw an old woman sitting by the window, watching me curiously. She reminded me of someone, but my mind was dulled with all the sensations of change.“Who are you and where am I?” I asked, and she smiled.“I am your grandmother,” she said, and my eyebrows
ArisI was always grateful to be one of the few empathic telepaths left in the world.It was a wonderful power that I had vowed to use wisely and I did so for a long time until I decided to live my own life, one that had been calm until I met Nadine. She was not a typical woman; she was distrustful, insecure, and fearful, but she hid it under a wall of indifference and rebellion.Thinking of ways to make her fall in love had awakened all my senses and feelings.However, nothing had prepared me for feeling Nadine's horror and seeing what she had seen: what appeared to be her own death.Drago immediately got up to help her and Connor went to find something to clean up the mess with; however, Biel and the high priest focused on me.“What did you see, Nadine?” asked Lion and I swallowed hard.“We need to talk about that in private,” Biel said.Then Jackson led the others away and Rose nodded.When Connor returned, Biel created an air bubble for privacy.“I hate this shit,” Nadine said bef
NadineHearing the priest's words made me laugh very loudly until I realized that he was serious.“You're not kidding?” I asked as I saw that everyone looked at me very seriously.“No,” the high priest said and pulled an envelope from inside his robe. “I'm supposed to give this to you at the end of training. It's an edict from the Equilibrium Order that talks about what I say.”I looked at the envelope as if it were a pest.I took the envelope hesitantly as the high priest held it out, but I had the sense to open it in front of them and as I prepared to read, the sheet came to life with magic and a mechanical voice came out of it.“Miss Nadine Gabrielle Griffin, you have been formally appointed as a provisional agent of the Order Equilibrium. This appointment is given in substitution of a fatal penalty due to your character as an anchor of destiny. Your mission is sealed and consists of investigating, hunting down, and killing the top leaders of the Anarkhia Order. Completing the miss
NadineHaving mates was complete madness.There was no better graphic description than that.My four mates looked at me with annoyance. Even Aris, who was to be the most careful and understanding with me, had not shied away from showing me his disappointed expression.“You are a beautiful woman, a goddess on earth, but you are very reckless,” Aris said and that made Biel get up in courage and walk away from me.Connor went to calm him down and Drago denied it before walking away in the opposite direction.“I didn't say anything wrong; the truth is your lives can't be changed or modified at all by me,” I said sincerely. “You all have responsibilities, more important things to do than avoiding my imminent death.”Aris eyed me sadly.“You insult the bond of soulmates. I understand your reaction is due to how sad your life has been and the fact that you can't trust people, but what you said was very cruel to us, especially Connor,” Aris said sincerely. “The wolf was forced to live up to a
NadineNadine had a strong character.It was easy for me to empathize with what she went through as a child.I had lost my parents in a tragic way, so I knew how she felt about her mother's death, and after discovering why the Anarkhia Order was hunting her, I understood her reluctance, yet I was very confused by her signals.It was only until I saw her face, Biel, that I understood what was going on.Nadine was struggling to be indifferent to us, but her walls were coming down without her realizing it. A clear sign of that process was that she was excited to argue with Biel.It was easy for her to direct her anger at the one who had hurt her first.I didn't know if it would be a pattern, but I could tell she was feeling tense and frustrated because of the conversation we had, and she redirected that tension toward Biel once she found a reason to do so.The problem was that her smell was killing me.She smells delicious, said my wolf Will.It took all my self-control to calm down and
NadineWe let more than five hours go by until the fucker in the interrogation room started screaming. That was like music to my ears, and then I got up from the waiting room we were sitting in and Aris grabbed my hand.“Let him scream for another hour; its desperation will make him talk from the door,” the vampire said and I smiled at him. “If he really has people kidnapped as he says, he will scream very loudly.”I nodded, and to my surprise, Biel entered the room where I was waiting with my other mates. He walked with difficulty, as if the magical blow still really hurt him.“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked him annoyed.Biel's relief at seeing me jolted me, but I kept my stance fixed and unwavering.Seconds later, Samir ran up to where we were standing swearing.“I told him he shouldn't come here; he has to lie down right away; he's not fit to walk yet,” Samir said and I crossed my arms.Biel looked at him with annoyance, as if hearing him say those words was a damn prob
NadineI kept the men trapped in the shadows, but it wasn't me they really feared after the initial shock of knowing my power; their fear really lay in Aris, who suddenly rolled his eyes and started doing something I couldn't understand.The men started screaming all at once, as if they were being hurt badly and then I realized that what Aris was doing had to do with his telepathic powers.Connor returned to his human form, and so did the wolves around us.A couple of pack guards appeared wearing handcuffs with power-annulling runes, but these particular ones were made of moonstone and from what I could smell, they had aconite essence.The guardians were looking for all the ways to restrict the rogues' powers in a hurry.When Connor nodded, I released the shadows and the guards proceeded to seize all the rogues in a hurry. Whatever Aris was doing was helping them, then the men fell unconscious on the floor and I looked at my mate with many doubts about his powers.Aris was no simple e
ArisNadine felt too much.Her feelings used to be a balm for me, but that moment when she felt overwhelmed, I could do nothing but act to make the uneasiness she felt much less.What I did not imagine was that, when I kissed her, I was going to feel like an anxious child.I had to facilitate a couple of important talks with our linked group to respect not only Nadine's time but our own time. What Biel had done was just an explosion of his desperation; however, he had overstepped any boundaries.I heard the door open and Rose said something to Nadine; then she walked into the kitchen and saw me with a frown on her face.The woman adored me; she just liked to pick on me because it was fun.“What did you do to her?” asked Rose and I smiled at her.“She's like this because of what I didn't do to her,” I said loosely and Rose patted me on the shoulder.“You're incorrigible,” she said and sighed. “I need advice on something, but I don't want you to tell Connor yet; I need to address it bef
NadineI watched as the shadows enveloped my mates and pushed them away from me because I was turning into darkness. My body was ceasing to exist, my mind had turned to butter and Alister's eerie laughter was the backdrop to my madness.I took a deep breath and then Aris shook me, which made me react.“What did you see to make you so upset?” the vampire asked and I started to deny; however, Drago squeezed my hand calmly to give me comfort.“It was bad or you weren't crying; tears of joy are easy to identify,” the dragon said and his words shook me.I was going to respond, but Rose came in with a large tray of food.“I hope you eat, Nadine; my grandson and these fools have been clawing at the walls on the verge of a nervous breakdown that I don't want to deal with,” Rose said. “Inna had to calm them down after beating the crap out of them, so please eat as much as you can and pull yourself together.”I looked at Aris and Drago, surprised to learn that surprising fact.“They fought with
Part III. The siege of the shadowsNadineI was terrified to see the amount of blood that Biel was coughing up, but when I saw him fade away, terror gnawed at me. What he had just experienced with Drago did not compare to seeing death stalking the captain of the guard; it was a thousand times worse.We landed near the northern mountain range, right on the spot where I had first shifted.“This place is too cold for Biel!” I said quickly, and Drago placed him on the ground, then Aris and Connor carried him while Drago turned dragon.“Wait here; I'll come get you,” Connor said, and Lion denied."I apologize, but due to the captain's injuries, I—"“This isn't about the temple or the Equilibrium Order,” Aris said annoyed. “This is about saving Biel's life.”“Don't take him to shelter,” Samir said earnestly. “The captain doesn't have that much time; he needs medical attention immediately and for Nadine to activate the link to him; otherwise, he's going to die.”Hearing Samir drove me crazy,
BielThe moment we landed at the entrance to the magic trail, I knew that betrayal had overtaken us in a terrifying way.I thought that somehow Nadine had been tracked to the Fairy Wasteland, but seeing Taina's torn body a few meters away, hidden in some bushes, and seeing Samir wounded made me understand that someone from our group had been the traitor.We had fallen away from the entrance, so we had a clear view of the panorama, something Aris didn't seem to see, so Drago roared, and Aris turned to see us, so I nodded, and we crept up to Nadine, who seemed to be furious.I didn't want to imagine her reaction when she saw Taina's throat slit; that was when Aris approached me subtly, once we were close.“Is anyone dead?” the vampire asked in a whisper, and I nodded, “I smell blood very strongly, but I know Samir is fine, wounded, but unconscious.”“It's the elf,” I replied in a whisper. “Someone killed her.”Aris looked at me in surprise, then Drago roared again, and I knew he had sur
NadineThe magical creatures continued to kneel before me, and I did not feel good.I didn't like how that action made me feel, so I told them to get up immediately.“There is no need to kneel,” I told the creatures. “I did this out of a sense of justice; you don't owe me anything; you don't need to do anything else. You already gave so much during the years you were cursed. You would make me happy if you would just live your lives, guard the wasteland, and protect the magic.”What appeared to be the leader of the elves and the leader of the fairies looked at me in surprise.“You do not seek the sacred magic of this place?” asked the leader of the elves, and I denied.“No, I seek this grimoire because it is necessary to complete a mission,” I said calmly. “The moment I can, I will return it to this place.”The fairy leader smiled, and suddenly her wings unfolded, and she flew close to me.That startled me, and Biel took my hand immediately.“I am Alis,” the fairy said. “And that grimo
NadineThe ghouls began to surround me and Drago in a hurry.They were all spewing a lot of black slime from their mouths and when I realized what the slime was doing to the floor, I knew I was in big trouble. That slime was capable of burning anything, possibly containing some kind of acid and I couldn't let them near Drago in his human form.I will die before they hurt my mate.One of them started spitting loudly, and the others took his example, so the shadows created a dome to surround Drago and me. That upset the ghouls because they started spitting at the same time and with the same force. It was obvious that they were trying to gain access to us, so I felt stressed.Wake Drago up, my she-wolf Becca ordered.I can't; it's not right. Do it, call him through the bond, Becca said.“I hope this works,” I said and placed my hands on Drago's chest.I pulled on the bond that held us, the golden thread that connected us, and then my mate opened his eyes. Drago was disoriented, but he c
Nadine“What's wrong with Nadine?” asked Biel.He had walked quietly into the cave, and I looked at him sadly.There was no right or concrete way I could express what I was feeling; the dismay of knowing what had happened on the moor had me sick.The event was appalling.“The curse... The ghouls are creatures of the forest, innocent creatures that were cursed,” I said painfully. “How are we going to kill them? How can I kill those creatures that were once holy?”Aris and Biel met each other's eyes in surprise.I wasn't usually this emotional and empathetic; I used to be explosive, but the scenes I had seen had overtaken me. Maybe it was the water that was causing me to feel outrage over creatures that couldn't free themselves.“What did you see?” asked Aris after gently taking me by the chin in a vain attempt to calm me down.Biel denied it, and as he was about to move towards the water, both Aris and I shouted, “No!”“Why can't I drink from this water?” asked Biel with a frown. “It l