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
BielWhen Nadine decided not to come down for dinner, I knew she didn't feel like dealing with us.I didn't know if it was good to have her away, although a part of me was begging to look for her.Because of our arrangement, we were comfortable with the fact that our rooms were close to Nadine's room, but I didn't trust her for a second. Nadine was daring, so she could find enough daring to run away.She wasn't fooling me.It was just a matter of Nadine looking for the magic barrier and destroying it with the snap of her fingers so she could get out of the place. And if she was as good an escape artist as she was before, she would have a certain head start on us that would make hunting her down a bit complex.“Are you okay?” asked Lion, pulling me out of my thoughts.The old man was not my favorite person at the moment.I really was annoyed with him; I couldn't believe he was part of a whole scheme to set Nadine up.I'm fine,” I said and finished eating. “I'll go to sleep.”“We need t
NadineI hated dreams, but I hated visions even more.There were times when I couldn't figure out what was a dream and what was a vision because they were so easily confused. It felt like being inside the dream of a dream and many times I had to calm myself down to come back to reality.It was the first time I woke up with my four gourds near me and mistook them as part of a dream. Unconsciously, I had to show them how I felt about them, something I had learned to hide.I had only known them for days, but I was sure that if anyone dared to touch them inappropriately, I would spontaneously combust in a disastrous way.The worst part was realizing that I had hugged Biel and that he had kissed me on the head.The gesture alone disarmed me, but the meaning of it was driving me crazy.“It's okay, Nadine,” Aris said from the other side of the bathroom door. “Come and sleep again.”I laughed.“You think it's all as easy as that,” I said, annoyed.“No, I think it's too much more complicated t
NadineSurprise turned to concern instantly.The expressions of my four mates were different, but they said the same thing.Aris tried to approach me, but I raised my hand to stop him from doing so.I knew very well that I could lose the battle with his touch; I didn't have to be a scholar to realize what was going to happen.“I don't want to be approached unless strictly necessary,” I said with determination. “I don't trust my she-wolf or myself. Right now, I'm feeling very vulnerable; that's a catastrophic situation to admit and one I must struggle with.”I was as honest as I could be and looked back at Connor.“Whatever you need to teach me so I can be friends with my she-wolf and she doesn't hate me when I control her, do it right now,” I asked in a soft voice and Connor sighed.You're a fool. I did you a favor so you could connect with your mates, but you refused out of fear. News flash alert: It doesn't matter if you're not bonded with your mates; the bastards who seek your powe
NadineI fell asleep very quickly.The problem with that was that I didn't notice when Aris came in or out of my room, so I got up a little embarrassed. I had fiddled with him; it felt like a safe thing to do; I just didn't foresee a simple joke turning into something momentous.I understood the bond we shared very well, perhaps I understood it better than they felt and that's exactly why I ran away for years, to keep them safe.You shouldn't fight the bond; you should enjoy something as beautiful as that and accept in good faith the help they are giving you. It's terrible that fear always wins, my wolf Becca said firmly.The beast was right. The problem was that I had witnessed many more things than I would have liked to know. I knew all too well what the Anarkhia Order was capable of, not to say that the Equilibrium Order was riddled with imbeciles and people like Biel believed them completely.An anchor would always be synonymous with chaos.That was why I didn't completely trust
NadineConnor made the formal request to the Lunarius council to set a definite date: in three days, Ophelia would die under Rose's hands.After that, we would leave to search for the next divine object.Drago and Aris, due to their knowledge of the language of the gods, were the only ones to help me hold the grimoire while Lion, along with Ale and Rex, pulled clues from the books we had read.“I haven't found anything else,” Rex said with a frown as I carefully turned the pages of the grimoire. “It's hard to do this if we can't touch the book.”Aris and Drago locked eyes for a split second.“Magic is conscious, so we must not tempt it,” Drago said seriously. “We just have to be perceptive with the facts and legends. The key is that.”I looked at my dragon mate with a sad smile and then saw the number in the palm of my hand.I had been so focused on other things that I hadn't realized that time was running mercilessly, and if I got careless, things were going to get out of hand.Aris
NadineDrago's kiss was gentle.It was exquisite and delicious.Drago was everything I needed at that moment.His lips were touching me as if he was afraid, as if testing the ground to know it properly and not overstep my boundaries, which was the best stimulant of all. That, somehow, seemed very tender to me, and so I indulged myself in extending the exploration.There was nothing to interrupt us, and I simply gave myself over to passion.Drago's mouth was a treasure for me; his lips were the chest, and his feelings were the crown jewel I wanted to touch. I had a compelling need to know everything Drago felt because of all that he was transmitting to me in each slow movement of our intertwined tongues.I knew he adored me, but with the bond, that love would settle in forever.I moved closer to Drago, promising to take this to another point, and that's how I ended up sitting on his legs as we extended a kiss that meant everything to both of us.He was giving every ounce of love he fel
NadineI looked at Aris without understanding what was going on and watched as he raised his eyebrows, surprised by the decision Connor had made. I didn't understand exactly if he was telling me to show my power in front of all these people or what exactly was going to happen.It's nothing like that, Aris said.I squeezed Connor's hand, and his response was to put his arm around my shoulders protectively, as if to get his point across.The worst part was seeing Ophelia's terrified expression.She was a beautiful and stunning woman, a woman who could have had a steady partner very well despite not having a mate. However, I could understand her frustration and suffering. The reality was that I would not know what I would be capable of if one of my mates died; however, harming others at the cost of that was well within my limits.I hoped not to challenge my limits in that way.“Condemnation granted,” said the council leader. “It will be enforced on such terms as the affected family sees
ConnorThe evidence against Ophelia was heartbreaking.The bears sent to the herd everything they collected from her hideout, which turned out to date back years, many more years than I would have guessed. It was amazing what this woman was hiding. It felt like Pandora's box had been opened and a storm was about to break.And that was a minimal description, from a human story, to simplify the shit that had to be studied from that evidence. Every bit of power used in each of the objects she hid had to be analyzed, but the confirming evidence of my family's death was videos of the failed spells she tried to cast.That left me bad, so bad that my grandmother went to see what was wrong with me, and it was Nadine, as beautiful as she could be, who helped me confront the situation.I had no choice but to sit my grandmother down gently to break the news to her.“What's wrong, Connor?” My grandmother asked with a frown, as if she knew what was going to happen.Nadine at that point squeezed my
Nadine“Nadine, wake up!” exclaimed Biel in a hurry.I awoke to find my shadows filling the room like a cocoon of protection to the point of completely isolating us from the rest of the world. I frowned and then saw Biel standing beside me, looking in the direction of the door.His worried expression set me on edge.“What's going on?” I asked him.“There are strangers who have tried to enter the house,” Biel said and I looked at him sleepily, not quite understanding the situation. “More people have come to Raptart, and these ones are indeed well trained, unlike the rogues you caught. I guess your shadows sensed the danger and that's why they have isolated us, but we must help the wolves in the pack and Drago. It smells of dark magic.”Biel's words set me on edge.Please, shadows, show me what's going on outside, I whispered patiently.Biel watched as the shadows retreated, leaving only a small, almost transparent gray layer that let everything into the hallway. Inna was fighting like
ConnorI didn't like to get away from Nadine.I would take a trip south of Lunarius, right on the border with the Chozora Forest, original home of the bear shifters. They weren't our best friends, but they were decent neighbors who didn't get involved in anyone else's business.That's why I was surprised that Ophelia had enough connections to take refuge in that forest.“We have the meeting in a few minutes,” Drago said. “I've known the lead generation of family bears for millennia. They all deal directly with me when they go to Dragis.”“Do you think they will cooperate?” I asked, and Drago nodded.“They will,” said the high priest.Lion had decided to come with us as the authority of the Equilibrium Order, along with Jackson, who was the highest-ranking guardian after Biel.While the order did not act directly in the cooperation policies of the autonomous territories, it could intervene if it created conflict in the region or suspected alliances of anarchists.Soon the bears arrived
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