Wow! So much to unpack! The visions. Ally and Jake knowing about each other's identities. Poor Jake, horrible news about his parents.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE: Rachel~ We got home after our trip to the snow and I sighed contentedly as I flopped back onto my bed. It was so nice to go on a trip, but home is where my bed is. My sister threw her bag on her bed and went back out to the living room, likely to fire up our gaming system. I didn’t even need to get up to know my mom was already unpacking. After a few beats I got up to do the same. While I was putting things back in the bathroom I picked up the bottle of pain medicine I had packed. I hadn’t used any of it on the trip. Oddly, I hadn’t had a single migraine out there. Good news. Maybe that trip really did help me in all kinds of ways. I tossed my clothing in my laundry hamper to be dealt with tomorrow (most likely), and went to put my book on my nightstand. I’d almost finished it but since it was the last book in the series I was slowing down my pace. It has always been hard for me to let go of a world I’ve gotten so attached to. After putting my duffle bag ba
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX Ally~ “Yeah, I guess I do,” Rachel responded. We waited a moment but she didn’t explain, so I pushed, “Who, Rachel?” She seemed to weigh her options before I reached across to grab her hand again. “It’s me. It’s us,” I said, gesturing between Kyle and I. “You can tell us. I know we kept this secret from you. That I had kept this secret from you. But we love you and want to help.” Rachel nodded and then said, “Sean. He told me he’s a warlock. Like the last day of school before the break. He showed me some of his powers. And then he said- he said that I was his soulmate?” I exhaled and Kyle swore under his breath. “Well, I guess that explains the weird vibes I’d been picking up from him… But I don’t know if I believe all of that…” I said, thinking aloud. “I don’t,” Kyle said defunctly. We looked up at him. “Come on, like you don’t get some undercover Malfoy vibes from him?” he asked me, eyes bulging with meaning. “I mean, yes, there’s something
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN: Rachel~ What. A. Day. This was all just so much. My head was starting to pound. Another migraine, great.I should’ve known when all that was happening with Vance that he was otherworldly, that other beings existed. It’s like this whole time my mind was trying to protect me by keeping these separated in my thoughts, like how people straight-up black out traumatic childhood memories. But I was nearing adulthood, and this was such a stupid thing for my brain to do. Maybe if I had connected it all earlier, I would have been able to protect myself more. Maybe. That question will plague me, I know it. I was halfway home after leaving Kyle and Ally at the park, they said they were going to take care of something magic related. So I had started walking home. The walk really did help me clear my thoughts. Something shifted. I stopped, the hair on the back of my neck standing up like I was walking through an electric storm. “Rachel,” a voice said. I turned to see S
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT: Rachel~ I opened my eyes to a field surrounded by redwood trees. The sun was setting and a lovely scent, honeysuckle, wafted through the air. A flock of birds flew overhead and I continued to look around. I was in a sitting position, my legs crossed, like I had been meditating. “Rachel, good. You’re awake,” I heard a light melodic voice say from somewhere behind me. I turned to see a lovely middle-aged woman with long auburn hair and intense violet eyes. She was beckoning me to stand. “I’m sorry - do I know you?” I asked her as I pushed up off from the grass. She shook her head, “No, not really. But I know you.” That made me raise my brow. What did that mean? “I don’t mean to startle you..” she said, brushing imaginary dirt off the skirt of her dress. “I’ll introduce myself. I am the Archangel, Aurora.” Huge white wings unfurled behind her as if in emphasis. I gasped. My jaw hung there, open. And then it hit me, one thing at a time. Vance.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE: Ally~I froze in my tracks. “I- Nick,” I searched for words that didn’t seem to come. I just looked at him, the car, the guys and Rachel - and - the head. I turned to the side, seeing it again and feeling sick. “Hold on,” he said calmly. I kept my eyes fixated on a tree and heard his footsteps retreat. After a few moments he started walking back. I looked up at him again. The sight of him walking toward me made my breath hitch. He smiled. That made me all warm again. I could feel my cheeks flaming. I breathed in deeply. It was him. “It’s you - you smell like…” I started then hit the brakes. I might just die here of embarrassment. “What? Tell me?” his eyes brightened and he stepped even closer. How does one breathe again? I’ve forgotten. “I can tell you what you smell like to me?” his eyebrows went up a bit. “Like freshly baked cinnamon rolls.” “How?” I squeaked. He turned his head to the side and scratched the back of his head as he thought. A breeze
CHAPTER NINETY: Kyle~ This morning, I had thought that the hardest thing about today would be how Rachel would take the news about magic and all things supernatural. Fae Goddess above, was I wrong. “Can you check again?” Ally asked from the bench next to me where she held Rachel up. It had been about ten minutes since ‘the big bad wolves’ left us. Ally’s mom was now with us, waiting for any progress. I couldn’t quite describe the state she was in, but I could feel in my bones how dangerous it would be to try to pull her out of wherever she was. “Sure,” I said, lifting my hand to reach for hers. I let some of my magic flow to her, testing the connection, and then I tried pulling it (and more) back into me. This time was different. “I think it’s time,” I said aloud, focusing on slowly taking away these layers of unconsciousness. One by one they came undone and I felt her starting to wake. Before going all the way I stopped, giving her time to get out of the last one on her own.
CHAPTER NINETY-ONE: Nick~ We have the smartest, most amazing mate, Asher said in my mind after I finally hung up my call with Ally. We really do, I said back. And I meant it. Her abilities were out of this world. Her emotional intelligence when she was coaxing Jake into letting Rachel go - just all of her. Absolutely amazing.I couldn’t just sit there gushing about her forever and driving myself nuts by not running over to her house this instant - I need to get everyone up to speed.I linked my dad, Jake, Evan, and his dad to meet me in the Alpha’s office.About an hour later I had caught everyone up on everything from earlier today and all the things Ally was able to tell me. And as much as I wanted to proudly scream from the mountaintop that my beautiful, amazing mate is the Witchling we were getting all this intel from, one look at my dad and Evan’s dad set me straight. Our parents would lose it if we started telling them about mates across species.I set aside Asher’s sadness
CHAPTER 92 Jake~ In horrible situations, even if you tell yourself that you’re prepared for the worst possible outcome - you're just not. At least I wasn’t. The hollow feeling that kept taking over my body just to get through the things that needed to be done - my duties as an Alpha - was a reprieve. Most of the time I struggled to manage it all. I was supposed to have so much more time to train under my father, and more time on top of that to assume the role I now found myself in. Losing our warriors when my parents had been taken was one thing, I had something to focus on - to focus on looking for them. But now I found myself suddenly orphaned and with too much on my plate. I had always pitched in as much as I could, but this - this was something else entirely. Part of me was forever broken. I wasn’t anyone’s son anymore. I wasn’t going to have any more time to just ‘be a kid’ like Mitchell’s mom had always pushed me to be. It was too late for that now. My parents had been rippe