Atlanta, here we come! Who should accompany them?
ZIYAH Dante handed me a coffee before taking a seat next to me. Then he pushed a muffin my way as well. I appreciated it because I had not eaten this morning, and I would need my energy. It was six in the morning, and we would be leaving after this meeting. The five-hour drive to Atlanta was not too bad. We were not certain how long we would be gone, so it was imperative to have the vehicles. I watched everyone trudge into the conference room. It was very apparent that not many of them were morning people, but it was something that I could fully empathize with since I was the same way. “Thanks for coming in this morning. Take a seat because we have a lot to go over,” Dante said. I did not know anyone here except Chris, Nate, Dante’s parents, and Xylern. My brother came without needing to be told the reason. He did not ask any questions because that was how he had always been whenever someone he loved needed help. He would drop everything to lend a hand if he was able to. “As you
ZIYAH I was stuck in my thoughts as we made our way over to her workshop. It was imperative that we got her to help us or else we would end up failing. Hopefully, I would be able to make her listen. There was no telling what life had been like for her. She had been here on her own since she was sixteen. It would have been too dangerous for her mother to check up on her. So, her mother had to live without being a part of her daughter’s life just to keep her safe. ‘Ready, Little Fae?’ Byron asked me. I looked up at my mate’s face, looking for something, some answer to that question. I just nodded even though I was not. Dante held the door open for me. He dropped a kiss on the crown of my head as I passed through. The two of us were the only ones coming in. Xylern was hidden outside, and the rest of our people were at the diner across the street. We did not want to freak her out and suffocate her. “I’ll be right with you,” a voice called out from the back. I was extremely impressed
DANTE We decided to stay the night in Atlanta since we talked until about two in the morning. There had been no expectations going into our trip because it was a nearly impossible task of finding the one person that we needed to. However, it all worked out better than we had anticipated. It seemed that Astrid was purposefully kept out of the loop and sent away on assignment when Blantay decided to dip into the Darkies pool. Astrid was understandably furious that Blantay decided to work with them because the bitch was putting everyone at risk. There was no doubt that the coven would be very different if it was led by Astrid once again. There were bound to be some who followed Blantay, but Astrid knew that not all of them were corrupted. The source of the poison was the fucking bitch herself. Slice the head off the snake and then it was like the problem was solved. Well, for the most part. Astrid’s assignment was supposed to last another month, so she was in the clear to move about.
ZIYAH I was incredibly proud to be mated to someone as incredible as Dante. His life had not been an easy one, but it made him even stronger. He relentlessly searched for his missing sister for thirteen years despite never finding any clues to her whereabouts. Then you could add in having such a difficult gift. Completing our bond gave him a much-appreciated switch that he could flip to turn it on or off. I could not imagine having his gift that would have always been on no matter what you were doing or who you were with. His struggles did not ruin him though. They did not make him heartless or cold. It was the opposite actually. He learned to love deeply when he did love. Similarly, he learned to give his all to those who needed it. Byron was the same exact way too. Hearing that a pack member’s daughter made something for me…I was speechless. It did not matter what it was because the thought that the child chose to make something for me warmed my heart and made me smile. Was I re
DANTE “So, I was curious about something. Shifters go into heat a week to a month after being marked. How does that work with Fae?” I asked Ziyah as we drove to Nightshade. This was a question that I should have asked long before now, but it had honestly not even crossed my mind until one of our warriors commented about his new mate’s heat. She flipped the visor mirror down, looking at the mark on her neck, and smiling. The mark fit her perfectly. It was a lotus flower backed by a full moon. A lotus symbolized rebirth and strength. The full moon symbolized completion. Those two symbols combined to showcase who my mate was. She was a fucking phoenix that rose from the ashes to complete this new and stronger Ziyah. She put her sexy legs up on the dashboard. My eyes greedily raked over them. This was the first time I saw her wear shorts in public. She hated her scars, but she was beginning to realize that they did not define her. It might have also helped when a little girl saw some w
ZIYAH Nerves wracked throughout my body as we approached Nightshade’s pack hospital. Elle called me last night to let me know that Dr. Parsons had an appointment available this morning if I wanted it. I immediately accepted it because this was something that I needed to do for myself. Nightshade was a large pack, which continued to grow as they took in more people who needed sanctuary. Apparently, our pack had taken in quite a bit as well. Originally, they had just over a hundred pack members. Now, it was easily five times that. One thing that I loved about our pack was that it had not been fully developed yet. It was still in the process of being built. How exciting was that? Imagine what it would be like when our children had their own children. Imagine generation after generation. It was wonderful to consider. “How can I help you?” a woman at the front desk asked us when we approached. “Ziyah Rosenthall. I have an appointment at ten with Dr. Parsons,” I told her, thankful that
DANTE ‘Alpha, there’s a woman at the border. She refused to give her name but told me to reach out to you and tell you Phoenix Rising,’ one of the patrollers linked. The clock on my wall said it was almost dinner time. Ziyah was working with the other witches in Janina’s magic room that she had set up when the pack was being built. She had a matching one in Nightshade as well so that she could work on shit that she needed done. She did not live here, but it helped to have somewhere to work that had everything she needed when she did shit for us or needed us to run interference for her. ‘We were expecting her. You can bring her to the packhouse.’ ‘Right away, Alpha,’ he replied before cutting the link. I went to get Ziyah so that we could greet Astrid together. She had been understandably excited that things were working out the way that they had been so far. It gave her hope that we would succeed with this mission. It was one that hit home because of the pain caused to Janina, Ast
ZIYAH It was truly amazing to see how interconnected everyone was without anyone realizing it. I never imagined that my past and present would converge as much as it did. Viktor, Astrid, Janina, and Hesthes. I personally believed the reality was that the gods knew the dangers that we would face and put us together with the right team in order to overcome it all. “I just need to add your blood to the boundary so that you can pass through at will,” I told her. “I can’t wait for you to explain what you did with this boundary. Never had I come across something so impenetrable before,” Hesthes praised me. Her words made me internally preen because that was a serious honor coming from her. Hesthes had been extremely powerful before I was captured, and I could guarantee that it had only grown since then. It made me wonder how Dante got involved with her. There had to be an interesting story on that front. I handed her a pocketknife and cup so that I could get her blood for the boundary