DANTE
“Father.”
“Hello, son. It's late, what's wrong?”
“I believe I have found her.”
“The princess.”
“Yes, sir. However, it’s hard to tell with the limited information we have gotten. She is unaware of who or what she is. She cannot bond with her wolf. Despite that, I put her under a hypnotic trance and Titan linked with her wolf, Larissa.”
“Hum. Good job, son. You must bring her to me as soon as possible. You are not strong enough to help her. She's doomed if her wolf fails to manifest soon. Her human nature will oppose being three entities in one. I hope we are not too late.”
“I apologize, sir. I gave it my best shot. As you said, I'm not powerful enough. An ancient Alpha like yourself is the only person who could assist her. “
“Bring her to me promptly. There’s no time to waste.”
“That might be hard for me to accomplish. One entity within her took over tonight, and she attacked the Alpha’s son. I have no knowledge of his condition, but he didn't appear to be in good shape when I was leaving. I also messed up by shifting so I wouldn’t be late getting her back. Amongst other things I wish not to disclose.”
He regards me, and I can feel the tug of him breaking into my subconscious. Memories of home prevent him from pushing into my thoughts. He grunted and broke the tether.
“Be careful, son. You mustn’t grow attached. If she is the princess, she is promised to another.”
“And what of her wolf, Father? Is Larissa not destined to have a mate?”
“I am unaware of what shall happen. A mate for her would bring war. She must reject her mate to keep the peace.”
“Then I would be mateless. I cannot rule without a mate and an heir.”
“She isn’t your mate, son. You have forgotten why we are here. To locate the princess and return with her."
“I’ll do as you wish and stay away from her for the time being. However, if she is my mate, I will not reject her.”
“We’ll deal with that situation if it arrives. We’re done here. Rest up. We have a long day ahead.”
“Yes, sir.”
XILLON
“Would you want me to come inside with you?”
Annalise regards me, smiles, and shakes her head.
“I should be fine on my own, Xillon. You overlook that I'm usually by myself.”
“I plan on changing that. It’s time everyone accepts you for who you are, Annalise.”
“It's possible that rejection and solitude are my fate.”
Pain shoots through my chest from her sad sky-blue eyes looking up at me.
“Bullshit. You deserve to be cared for, just like everyone else. The goddess wouldn't have placed you here otherwise."
“Yeah, well. Selene turned away from me from the time I was born. She bore me into a freak. Look at me Xillon.”
I reach out and caress her lupin lobes and smile.
“I am. You are gorgeous as you are. To be honest, I have always thought you were beautiful, Annalise. I’ve been immature and stupid. I am aware of that now. Once more, I apologize. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“We'll see about that. I should go.”
“I understand, but first.”
Pulling her toward me, I brush my lips to hers, and she stiffens. She shoves me aside, shakes her head, and smacks me. Damn, that stung. Rubbing the pain away, I shake my head and groan.
“Please forgive me. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No, you had no right to have. Goodnight, Xillon,” she says and turns her back on me.
As I watched her go, I tried to reconstruct everything that had transpired between Annalise and me tonight. How an entity that is not of her wolf shone through. The slightest brush of my lips to hers that sent an electric charge coursing through my system. Did she feel what I felt? Or am I alone in this?
ANNALISE
The nerve of him trying to kiss me. What the hell was he thinking? That he could apologize for a moment and it would be alright for him to lay a hand on me afterwards.
I must admit the spark that surged through my body was nice, but he doesn’t have the right to touch me. No one does. Except for Dante, of course. Even with him, I ought to keep a suitable distance between us. Selene, you suck.
***
“Trex. If you are in there and are able to hear me. I need you to assist Jarek. I'm not capable of mind linking with you like Cadance, but I'm hoping that I will still be able to connect with you. Jarek needs your cooperation. I know you are upset with him. The last couple of days have been rough, as far as his treatment of me. We had a breakthrough this afternoon, though. You were present for that. Please Trex, he needs you.”
Upon my arrival, Cadance disclosed Jarek’s condition. Which has worsened in the last few hours. She performed a tracheostomy due to my shattering his trachea as I had feared. He has a tube in his throat to help him breathe and I kicked him so hard in the temple that if Trex didn’t come to the rescue, he could die. There are tubes and wires all over the place.
“I need to go get mom and dad. They would want to be here for this.”
“I mind linked with the Alpha, they are on their way.”
“Right. Of course.”
I clutched Jarek’s hand and laid my head above his heart and sobbed.
“Trex, please! I feel terrible, Jarek. I don’t know what happened. How could I have hurt you? I'm only human, whereas you have superhuman strength with your wolf. I just…. Trex, if he dies, you die too. Come to his aid!”
Mom and father arrived and after a failed attempt to reach Trex through the mind link from father, they decided Jarek would need to be transported to the pack hospital where Cadance could perform brain surgery and repair Jarek’s trachea.
****
“Selene. I do not know if you take notice of my existence, since I have called out to you numerous times in my life, unanswered. If ever a time for you to hear me, it would be now. I’m left here with my thoughts, with no one to console me. Alpha and Luna demanded I stay home. They are upset with me. I understand, but Jarek needs your help. Trex won't come to his aid. So that leaves you. I wish there were more I could do. Please, Goddess Selene, heal Jarek. Don’t let him die.”
I sobbed for who knows how long, pleading to the moon goddess Selene to save my brother. Until I fell into a deep slumber.
***
“Trex?”
“Without a doubt, my sweet.”
“I’m dreaming?”
“If you would like to call it that, certainly.”
“Jarek needs you. You must go to him.”
“I have the thought of completely abandoning him, as a mere human. He does not act as an Alpha. He isn’t worthy of my power, what the moon goddess has blessed him with.”
“Trex, I beg you not to abandon him. I love him. Beyond all the messed up crap he has done to me in my life. He is my brother. He will change his ways. I know he certainly will. Plus, I love you. If you abandoned him, you would abandon me, too. Don’t leave me Trex. Help him, ok?”
I'm plunged into the night, with no input from Trex.
***
“Annalise. Rise and shine, baby. We are home.”
I'm startled awake by the sound of my mother’s voice as she jostles my shoulder to wake me.
I feel as if I have been drugged. My head’s pounding and it's hard to open my eyes.
“Sweetheart, you are burning up. I’ll fetch Cadance once she has arrived to drop off Jarek.”
“He’s okay?” I ask, not opening my eyes because the effort is too much to bear.
"It will take some time for him to recuperate completely, even with Trex’s healing. But yes, he is well enough to come home and relax in his bed. Trex came to his rescue just in time. Before Cadance began the surgeries to repair his brain and trachea."
“I had a dream where Trex materialized. I pleaded with him to go to Jarek and help him. Before that, I prayed to Selene. I don’t think she acknowledges my existence, though.”
“The moon goddess heard your plea and sent Trex to you.”
An overwhelming urge to throw up took over me. I shot from the bed and sprinted towards my ensuite bathroom. Barely making it to the toilet before purging.
“Oh, my goddess baby.” Mom cried as she ran into the bathroom to help me.
“I don’t feel so goo…”
My vision blurred and all I can remember is my head banging against the toilet as I crashed to the ground before darkness overtook me.
ZANEI said it before and I'll repeat it; Silver will be the Pack’s downfall. Our future alpha will remain confined to bed for a while because of her. It’s my job to get rid of the problem. If it weren’t for her, Jarek would have brothers and sisters to strengthen his line of succession. Like me, I have seven siblings, and Xillon has five. Silver came along and Luna Celestia became barren.Jarek has always pussy footed around the fact that we should torture her, so when she turns eighteen she’ll leave on her own. Now I’m leaning towards removing her in the present. Two years is much too long. I’ll be head over military tactics and guard. Protecting the Pack is in my blood, and that I will do. Disposing of Silver is of the utmost priority.‘You are insane. If you think for a second, I would let you touch her.’‘You’ve stayed loyal for the past twelve months. What’s changed now?’‘If you want to call not healing broken bones and not coming to your aid when a human virus attacks you, sta
XILLONI’m struggling to make sense of the little information I have. But I’m baffled by what I know so far. Selene’s daughter dwells inside Annalise’s subconscious. Jarek’s dream he had seemed to unfold before our very eyes. Just not in the way he described. Honestly, I’m afraid of what we are about to uncover once Gabriel and I tear down the walls that have her bound in darkness.“Annalise?” I yell into the dark abyss of Annalise’s mind. I can’t sense her, or anything, within the darkness.“She’s no longer here. Her soul has left her body. Quickly, we must go back,” Gabriel commands, and suddenly we are transported back to our bodies.ANNALISEFloating aimlessly above the scene unfolding before me, I feel a sense of peace and serenity. Which is something I’ve never felt from the day I was born. I would rather remain here than return to a life where I have been tortured and never loved. Not by whom I hoped to be loved by, anyway.I watch as Xillon and Gabriel fuss over my body. I hea
ANNALISE“You, my child, are the daughter born of my father, creator of all things, and my mother, creator of shifters. At one time, put in human terms, they knew you as the goddess Aphrodite. In time, you will recollect where your soul originates from. You hold the power of three powerful beings in one. Which is why my twin sister Zadrial inhabited you. You were the only one who could withstand her power and not perish before she could carry out her plan to seek her Twin Flame. I must go back and let mother know where Zadrial is located. I could only tap into her via our twin bond. Being inside her consciousness, I can see and feel everything she has planned.”“So what am I exactly? Has Zadrial always been inside me? Is that why I was born as a freak? My life has been hell because of her. I haven’t been able to manifest my wolf Larrisa because of her meddling with my life. And what exactly is a Twin Flame?”“No. Zadrial inhabited you just before you came of age to shift into your wol
XILLONStriding to the vacant space adjoining Annalise’s, I draw my mobile phone from my back pocket and send a brief message to Alpha Maxamillian. He and Luna Celestia are in meetings with the neighboring pack-leaders, so I know better than to call.I send a mind link to Jarek and Zane, then walk back to Annalise’s room. ‘Annalise is awake.’Upon arriving at Annalise’s room, I see Cadance was gone and Annalise appears to have fallen asleep once again. Sitting down, I caress her cheek and grip her hand in mine, hoping she would wake, but she didn’t.“Did you contact the Alpha?” Cadance asked as she walked into the room.“Yeah, but it appears Annalise has drifted off. Should I contact him and tell him it was a false alarm?”“Let me check her vitals and pupils first.”Cadance goes about her usual routine of checking Annalise’s vitals and gasps sadly when she looks into her eyes.“Her eyes are glazed over and her pupils are dilated. Message the Alpha and tell him she appears to have slip
JAREK“Everyone shift and fight for your lives,” Alpha Gabriel commands as he transforms into a massive midnight black wolf with grey streaks. I’ve never seen a werewolf so huge in my life. My father is an alpha, but still pales compared to Alpha Gabriel’s wolf. What the hell?‘Shift, damn it! Don’t just stand there!’ Alpha Gabriel commands me, his superior alpha tone making me shift on the spot without hesitation.The massive being from my dream has manifested itself into reality and is standing tall and proud before me. She’s yanking wolves up and throwing them around as if they were rag dolls. No one can get close to her.Sending a mind link to Alpha Gabriel, Trex and I round up children, elderly and other pack members who can’t fight and start escorting them to the emergency bunker. ‘This won’t do. We need to call in the heavy artillery. Xillon, take the alpha to the weapons shed.’I transform back into human skin so I can converse with Zane. “Get these people to the bunker. Guard
ANNALISE“Rise and shine, sweetheart. Today marks your sixteenth birthday and you know what that means.”“That I should be able to stay in bed for once, so I can conserve my energy for my transformation into my wolf.” I grumble.“It’s almost noon. We have much to do to get you ready for your party.”“News flash mom, I don’t have many friends, so it won't be a big gathering. On my end, anyway.”Groaning, I clutch my pillow and bury my head underneath it. Hoping my mother would leave me alone.“You aren’t the only one expected to shift tonight, sweetheart. Several families are coming to celebrate their children’s first shift. It is of the utmost importance that you assist me in prepareing for tonight.”“Jarek didn’t help you get ready for his, Xillon’s and Zane’s shift. In fact, they all disappeared until the moment arrived for them to shift. So why should my transformation party be any different?”“You caught me red-handed. You’re my daughter. I have already prepared everything. I want
JAREK‘Oh, hell no, Trex. There’s no way. I don’t feel the mate pull or scent her like you’re supposed to when you are in proximity to your mate. I’m not to connect with my mate for two years. If what you are saying is true, I’ll reject her. I’m not mating with a damn dragon-wolf shifter.’‘She is our mate, dumbass, and she’s not a dragon. Her wings are more of a bird than scaly like a dragon. If you reject her, I’ll see that you stay mateless, so you cannot rule over the pack. She’s the most exquisite being I’ve ever seen. Selene has blessed us beyond measure. We’re going to shift and hunt with her.’Silver’s wolf is flawed, just as she is. Her fur is the tone of her natural eye color; sky-blue. She’s huge for a shifter wolf and has silver wings that span out a couple of yards in each direction. A silver crescent moon shines brightly on her forehead between her orbs, which hold all three hues-blue, silver and gold.‘Even her wolf is an ugly freak of nature! Stand down, damn it! She’s
ANNALISE‘Oh wow! You are gorgeous, Larrisa. I never would have guessed. Thank you for bringing me here.’‘Annalise, you are beautiful. We are one and together we are extremely powerful. As you have already figured out; we can read minds. Our speed is superior to that of a normal werewolf, and we possess the power to heal. Amongst many other qualities that you, including in your human skin, can access. Keep watching the water. I would like to show you something.’Suddenly our wings disappear, our fur becomes black, with grey and brunette undertones. My orbs, however, are the only things on my person beyond the silver crescent moon on my forehead that haven’t changed, as they stay all three hues - silver, gold and sky-blue.‘So I can be normal, like everybody else. Don’t get me wrong, Larrisa, I love our wolf. I’m just tired of being considered a freak. You heard what everyone was saying back there. Not so much Xillon, but Zane and Jarek were the worst. How do they not recognize us as