Chapter Four

Moira Turner

Her hands shook as she struggled to push back the malevolence and hatred that brewed within her, it had been dormant for years, why the fuck did it choose to resurface now.

She called it Mnemon, after the Titan of memories, because the other people always forgot, their eyes clouded by the truth and the monstrosity within her retreating into the depths of their ignorance.

The shaking did not stop, it grew worse though as she drew nearer to school, Brett would suffer the consequences and she would go unscathed, go unpunished, sure the freak deserved it, but she wasn't clear, she'd hurt him, he deserved to know at least.

Her breath hitched in her throat, as she passed by the gossip girls and the words flew past her ears

"Did you hear?!" Antoinette said in an all too loud voice "Brett's been badly injured, apparently he drank too much last night and broke several ribs in a car accident."

Damnit!, As if she needed to feel any more guilt, car accident!, was that the best the fucking universe could come up with, God, she want to curl into a ball and scream but she kept it together, she practically races through the hallways to her locker, avoiding stating at anyone, she was positive they could see her guilt in her eyes.

She scrambled with her lock desperate to get it open, her books were within arm's reach when a carefully tucked in pitch black envelope caught her eye, it was stamped with some kind of strange insignia and it took quite awhile to pry it off.

A small note was embedded inside and despite her instincts wailing trouble, she unfolded the paper, she paled and her hands began to tremble as she read it's simple contents, again and again and again

'I KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" it'd said

it would seem that the universe wasn't letting her off the hook so easily this time

Her first instinct was to crumple the paper and toss it as far as she could, as if that'd solve her issues, a faint scent wafting from it stopped her, it was strangely intoxicating and yet so familiar, it remembered her of a place, the name rested just on the tip of her tongue, and still it seemed so hard to say, the pull of the scent was strong and strangely she could hear a faint whisper behind it

"Come find me" it seemed to say giving her one last caress just before the sound of the bell jolted her back to reality

The words etched into her core instantly and reverberated through the walls of her mind, driving her absolutely nuts. One thing was certain though Moira Turner was totally fucked and there was not a thing she could do about it

†

Dalia Grey

Of course he'd do this, how could not have foresaw this outcome, it shouldn't have surprised her that Michael 'Shitbag' Gordon would do this, not after the cherry facade he and his arsehole sons had been putting up, but of all the effing schools though, Why one on the damned edge of town where nothing fucking happened.

"Get Down!" He'd ordered as soon as they were in the clear of her mother

"Where am I getting down to"she asked, venom literally rolling off her words

"Listen you little She-scamp'' He all but roared at her "You don't get to ask questions around here, remember whose roof you're under, when I say out you get out!"

Putting on a nasty face but not willing to test her step father's patience Dalia quickly alighted the sleek black corvette, but not before discreetly scratching the sides with her bracelet, he'd be positively blowing up later but for now what he didn't know didn't kill him

"Here" He said tossing a crumpled piece of paper to her "That's the address of your new school, you should make it in time for first period if you take the bus."

"What the Duck!" she yelled "that way at the fricking edge of town, that's like four damn buses, you filthy bohemian!"

"Then I'd guess you better start moving those legs, Don't want to be psycho and late on your first day" he said while tossing a wad of loose change at her

Her loathing for him seemed to swell like a bubble, hell if murder weren't a crime, there'd be one dead Micheal Gordon in the driveway beaten to death with his own tyres.

Sucking it up, she turned on her heels and proceeded to stomp off, muttering and mumbling curses that'd make even the dead toss and turn in their graves

''And don't you be using my damn last name, you trouble child" he called after her "use your own rotting last name I ain't fathering no crazy here!"

The words stung, he'd unknowingly struck a chord, shrugging it off though, she turned and stormed up giving him nothing but her middle finger as a fatherly goodbye

In the end it'd turned out to be a good thing that he'd hadn't given her a lift at all, she'd had two episodes, one of which had led to her almost poking someone's eye out, thankfully no one was badly hurt except for the old man who'd she'd given a damn black eye, she'd hoped no one who knew who she was had boarded the same bus, it'd be quite brutal for her to see the gleam in His eyes, if he had so much as a whiff of confirmation that she was unfit for society.

She pulled it off though, arriving just in time for the second period bell to begin, Gods was she hopelessly late and on her first day too, what joy awaited her at McKade's High, who the hell named the stuff in this town anyway, Who calls a town New Fall, Did Fall get old and what the hell was a Mckade High, if this were to be a novel she'd have kicked the author right in the damn nuts as karmic revenge

"Hmmm Hmmm" Someone cleared their throat behind her "Can we save your 'nut-kicking for later on?, after all you are an hour late"

She spun on her heels to face a woman quite well into her fifties, brunette hair with grey streaks was packed tightly into a bun and by God she had a face that seemed to had not smiled in years, those thin lips and framed glasses would be the death of her, it would seem that Micheal might have done quite the research ona place befitting her 'status'

"Holy Crap!" She groaned " Just how much of that was out loud!"

†

Shay Morrigan

The preparations were complete, and at any moment they were to begin their descent into the mortal world, much to the displeasure of most of the pack, her remark that night might have triggered the Lupines, they'd gone from plain looks of detest to full on defensive hatred, always watching, always snarling whenever she came close, she was nothing short of a monster to them

She'd begun staying in the outer edges of the packlands when she'd received a 'visit' from the former High queen's mercenaries and they had been quite quaint in their discussion, she'd come out the victor of course with just a few poisoned scratches but they'd passed on the message, she was overstaying her welcome.

Despite Luciano's adamant refusal, she moved to the edge of the packs, hunted with the forbidden and made a kin out of them, they were clearly shocked as she strolled into the outworld clearing flanked on either sides by the rustic ancient Avians who had come to see her depart the plane

"You mingle with our rivals" A panther shifter snarled his eyes turning a distinct yellow shade "How do we trust you with our king?!"

She recongized this voice far better than any other, it was the spoilt Beta Adam Kyle, he was one to talk, how she wished she could rip his tongue out, but for now words would have to do, violence could cause harm to her peaceful friends

"We shall leave if we cause trouble!" Ka-esh the Avian warrior said, concern glinting in his eyes

"Brothers let us-"

"No!" She snarled "You are not to leave, these people can if they want to, they send mercenaries against a Member of the Conjugate and shun me to the farthest reaches of their lands, they are hostile and not so smart, they would do well not to insult my benefactors!" She growled

"Benefactors?!" Adam growled out "Watch your fucking mouth woman!"

"or what?!" She growled "it seems you have a death wish, Adam Kyle, anyone who goes against them, goes against me and thereby breaches the laws of the Conjugate and trust me the consequences would be worse than a few broken ribs!."

"You're just a bitch with no bite!" He snarled,his features becoming more animalistic by the second "I bet I can take you, I bet any runt here can take you, weak spineless brat!"

"tell that to your broken ribs Silent Knight" She said her eyes twinkling with danger

The taunt was the last thing to send him over the edge, with a roar he launched his half shifted form at her

"Enough!" Luciano's deep Baritone echoed through the gathering

Luciano Montel

Her hands caressed down his sides as she whispered sweet nothings into his ears, her scent was nothing shy of intoxicating, his pants felt uncomfortably tight

"My liege" She called in a wanting tone

The effects were splendorous on him, His gums hurt as his canines threatened to burst forth

"My liege!" The voice came, more masculine and urgent than ever

His eyes sprung forth and the urgency in Jordan's eyes caused him to spring forth out of the tent just in time to stop the brewing feud between that Stupid arsehole Adam and a positively furious Shay Morrigan

"Enough!" He found himself yelling into the crowd

But her ferocity could have moved mountains and her stormy blue eyes turned towards him blazing with anger

"keep your fucking pets in tow or so help I will tear it apart, and don't you ever use that tone around me again, talk to your animals how you wish, but not to me, I am not some spineless weakling who'd follow your every command"

"Do not pick a fight with your dn employer get yourself in tow!*

"First you try to assassinate me, then you'd talk my companions like they are nothing and now you'd tell me what to do" she growled " let's get this over with already you're making me sick already!"

She growled like an actual animal for a second and muttered curses in ancient shifter tongue, things were not going his way at all, he'd wanted her to have smoother relationships with the pack

"it's not too late to get another accompaniment for you" Adam whispered into his ear

He growled low, resisting the urge to rip out his damn throat and toss it at the Avians feet, The frigidity of the relationship between them had grown worse, due to the fact that they were Incomplete shifters, always retaining some of their Avian Characteristics even when they returned to their humanoid form.

"Take care of her" the Avian'svoice rang clearly in his head "be patient, she is yours already, give her time to know it!"

With a single bow, they spread their wings and took off, much to Adam's displeasure who kept on groaning about torn wings, if only the hierarchy were up to him, he'd placed the bastard so low on the food chain

"Ready the portal" His voice boomed "We depart in an hour"

"Who's in charge while you're away?" Adam's eyes glinted with enthusiasm

Man the bugger didn't know just when to fuck off, if only just if only

"My mother" Luciano's reply came through gritted teeth "to be assisted by Jordan"

Without waiting to hear his further complaints, he'd stormed off, looking to placate his future mate.

*****

Glossary

Avian- Winged Shifter species

Lupine- Land based shifter species mainly Wolvish in nature