Here you go, lovelies. I wanted to give you a little sneak peek since Kalen's story will follow after the close of this book. Any ideas on what her test might focus on?
IMEELA (Ten Years Later) “Here you go, sweetheart,” I told my son, handing him the sippy cup, and situating him on my hip. Cyrus was just over a year old now. He was the spitting image of his father when it came to his brown hair, emerald eyes, and facial features. However, his skin tone took after me. He was already proving to be a sweetheart like his father though. He scrunched up his little nose as he flashed me one of those smiles that always made my heart swell with love. It was the smile that our other two children had perfected as well. “Sissy is with Daddy, so let’s go find your brother.” His little head bobbed as if in total agreement with the plan. It would be interesting to watch him grow up because he seemed to be following in his siblings’ footsteps. Both of them had developed beyond their ages. You would swear that they were older than they actually were. Vampire children often advanced quickly. It had always been believed to be that way as a survival instinct that
JACKSONSo much change occurred over the years. It was the difference between night and day in some respects.It was not easy for Imeela and I to make the changes that needed to occur. However, we were both really fucking stubborn, refusing to give up. One of the biggest deterrents that we had in place was the prison that nobody wanted to be thrown into. It made them consider whether or not it was really worth the risk because proved that we would do everything in our power to seek out those breaking the laws that were clearly set in place.We were able to reinstate the Royal Guard, those whose job it was to ensure that the laws were being followed. It was their duty to verify if accusations were truth and apprehend them if that was the case.We built additional housing on the estate for those in the coven who would prefer living outside of the palace but still within the safety of our borders. So, our coven boomed to over six hundred with all of the children added into it.For those w
IMEELA Being rulers was not all that it was cracked up to be. Many people thought that the title of King or Queen would be cool to have, but they had probably never considered all that it entailed. Our roles required us to transverse the precarious minefield of politics. It required balancing cause and effect, what our people needed versus what they wanted, and the short-term impact versus long-term impact of everything. We had a rough time in the beginning because we had to establish ourselves and fight against the assholes who shared Andrei’s ideals. However, we never let that phase us. There was still a long way to go, but I felt that we were doing a decent job. The King and Queen were the figureheads and faces of the Precoza coven. However, we had a very collaborative team that made everything possible. Jackson and I headed to our office outside of the courtroom. Today would be a long ass day because it was one of the scheduled court days. There would be cases presented that ne
JACKSONMy mind blanked when I saw a face from the past. The face that had been attached to a body that I had ripped apart piece by bloody fucking piece.I was not certain how this was even possible, but I did not care about the how or the why of it. All I cared about was the fact the turmoil that was rushing down the bond from my mate as well as my own.The fucker’s lip twitched in amusement, eyes filling with a sharp edge that I could not quite place. It was almost manic though.“GET DOWN!” Noah shouted.I threw myself over Imeela, pulling her down to the floor. There was a loud crash against the wall, sounding like something had shattered. The sounds of a struggle sounded far away. I trusted our team to take care of it because my focus was elsewhere.My heart hammered in my chest as I checked my mate over. Her eyes were filled with tears and were also unfocused. She was stuck inside of herself, somewhere beyond this room. Her mental walls were down, so I knew exactly where that was
JACKSON Aldan, Alpha of the Silver Creek pack, was someone that we had all dealt with over the years. I would not say that I was as close to him as Dante or Kade were because they had more direct contact with him than I did. We all knew the origin of how their fates had become entwined. Aldan’s wolf, Grant, was originally the wolf counterpart of the Alpha heir in Elle’s original pack. He was a sadistic piece of shit. Turned out that the Goddess fated Elle and the piece of shit together, but it was simply to set things in motion that brought Coverstone Council in and made it possible to protect all of the innocents of that pack. He rejected Elle, which in turn hurt his wolf. Grant chose to die to punish the piece of shit for everything he had done to Elle and others. Elle, however, asked the Goddess to give Grant a second chance with a powerful future Alpha so that he could have the life he was destined to. That way, he could also have a mate like he deserved. The mate bit was why
JACKSON He set his drink on the table and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “That was not exactly easy to explain.” He shook his head. “Luna Elle said that I could share whatever I felt would help regarding her story.” Kade flicked a ball of paper at him, landing directly between his eyes. Score! “Elle, Kade, Dante, Ziyah, Jackson, Imeela. We’ve known each other long enough that you’ve earned the dropping our titles bit. You’re an Alpha, Aldan, and an honorable one at that. So, please, for the love of everything on this planet, use our fucking names.” Aldan cracked his neck to relieve the tension there. He nodded slowly. I got it and understood it. He was a pup when he met Elle and Kade, so the titles were ingrained within him. However, he was certainly close to us all and should feel free to drop the formalities. “Anyways, I tried explaining, but I was making a mess of things, so Grant took over. He explained how shitty Eric was and how he hated him with every fiber
IMEELA This was not our first rodeo or even twentieth. There was a method to the madness. First, our adorable Hellhounds would flash around the room, collecting the innocents and moving them into a safe space. A couple of our guards would protect them at all costs. Second, we would disarm and apprehend the assholes. They would be brought to submission one way or another. Our people were more than happy to force that submission painfully if need be. Third, they would be taken to Carceris Doloris and booked. That included a very painful booking process that stripped them of all connections from the outside world while they were being detained for trial. The room had erupted in chaos, but we did not have to worry about anyone trying to escape because we had a perimeter blocker in place. It worked just like Brynn’s tether did to Loki back in the day. It made it so that he could not escape that room. They could not escape here even if it was through a gift or portal. Jackson and I wor
JACKSON When I was a teenager, my father had told me something that stuck with me all of these years. ‘There is nothing that I wouldn’t do to protect your mother. If I failed to protect her then there was nothing that I wouldn’t do to ensure that it didn’t happen again.’ Often times, I thought how foretelling it was that I met Imeela in the midst of a fight for survival. She was brave, strong, and fierce. Those three qualities never diminished at all but did become even more defined as the years flew by. There had been nine different attempts on her life, which included this one as well. Each time, however, filled me with even more fury. My mate was the kindest person you would ever meet. She genuinely cared for everyone who was not a fucking douchebag. She wanted nothing more than to see people thrive. Her enemies felt that was the weakness that they could exploit. How very wrong they were. On the contrary, the care that she exhibited towards others was what would make her fight u