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Part Forty-Two
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2024-11-21 12:45:31Related chapters
Fire Prologue
Regret. It always comes too late, right? In my case, my regret was something I felt immensely guilty about, but I also felt shame. I’ve made so many mistakes over the years. The road I’ve walked hasn’t been an easy one. Some days I wondered if this was it. Was this how I would finally come to meet the gods?Choices. What would you choose if you were me? How do you choose between two children? The first, Kai, he’s taken over my whole world. I love him more than I love myself. The second, a daughter, one I knew nothing about. I love her though, because she’s a part of me, my child as well. How do you ultimately choose between life and death?Obligation. It’s the one thing that’s been instilled in me from birth. We all have our obligations to fulfill and as a wolf, you never shirk from your responsibilities. No matter what. As an Alpha, that responsibility was even worse for me. I had to be the example, the leader, the protector, the shoulder everyone leaned on. I had to be everything.F
Fire Part One
“Kai…” I managed out a whisper. Death touched my soul and I blinked.Three women sat beside a well. I didn’t recognize this place, but it was breathtakingly beautiful. The women had no faces, yet I felt like I knew them. I had to prove myself for them to reveal their faces to me.“These are the Norns, they can either bless you or curse you. To change Kai’s fate, you have to honor each of them and perhaps they will reveal to you what you seek most.” Death’s voice was low.“Where are we?” I asked him, looking around.“We’re beneath Yggdrasil in Asgard. You have a choice to make, give them what they ask, and they will reveal the past, the present and the future to you. Refuse them and be cursed.”I walked up to the three women and I bowed before them. In this place, I had no standing, Alpha or not, and to offend them would have consequences. Urdr, Verdandi and Skuld each placed a hand on my head, and I was taken back to the past. I saw Karani, I could feel her, hear her and the pain tore
Fire Part Two
“Death visited me earlier. He took me to a place where I saw three old women, they’re known as the Norns. They see the past, the present and the future. If you’re worthy, they will show you and give you a chance to change your fate.”“Who’s fate? Yours?”“I have a daughter.” Her eyes were wide with anger, but she controlled her voice.“How old?” I knew this was the make-or-break moment.“She was born the day after Kai.”Adara slapped me harder than I thought she could and stood up. She grabbed the first thing she could find on my desk and threw it at my head. The solid steel wolf statuette connected and cut my cheek open. She wasn’t looking at me, she was crying as she grabbed whatever she could find, and I had to turn my back to her.“Adara! Enough!” I yelled at her as she slumped to the floor and sobbed. I bent down in front of her and just held her.“Let me just tell the story. This is as big a shock to me as it is to you. I never cheated.” She didn’t lift her head and I continued
Fire Part Three
I emptied half a bottle of Scotch in the time it took James to arrive at the house. I was exhausted and I was scared. I wouldn’t admit that to anyone, but I was. I had no idea what awaited me because I hadn’t even known witches existed.James and I finished the bottle as I told him my story. His eyes held disbelief and the expression on his face was one of utter shock. I left nothing out, I told him everything. He didn’t interrupt me once and for that I was glad. It was hard enough to tell the story twice in one day.I hadn’t slept yet and I knew my eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep. I had spent the night looking at Christian and Kai as they slept in our bed next to Adara. Christian saw it as having a sleepover and he loved it.“I don’t know what to say. Witches…shit”“Tell me about it.” I rubbed a hand over my face and sighed.“And Jessica and Malachi? I didn’t see that one coming.” I smiled at the way he said it, the slight frown making it more comical than it was. “What are y
Fire Part Four
I gave the pack a moment to settle down, to digest everything I’d told them and let them come to terms with what they’d seen from Jessica. It was a lot to take in and a lot to understand. Once I did that spell, there was no going back, I’d be a half breed.“Dezrael will be coming for Kai because he is my first-born.” I had yet to tell them that I was a half breed.“Why is she coming after Kai?” Frank asked.“Okay, guys, now I’m going to tell you another secret that I only recently found out and then if it’s your choice, I’ll step down as Alpha if that’s what you want.” They all looked at me and I could see the confusion in their eyes.“This sounds worse than a witch coming after your son.”“Karani was a half witch and that makes me a half witch too. She chose her wolf life over that of a witch. Dezrael’s fear is that Kai will draw on Karani’s power one day. She wants Karani’s power for herself and she will try to claim it through my daughter which she thinks is my first-born.”There w
Fire Part Five
Malachi glanced at Jessica every so often as he drove towards her house. It had been a long day and the time was creeping closer to midnight. She’d been quiet ever since they left the house and he wished she’d say something.“Jess.”Jessica knew exactly what he wanted to say. Malachi was loyal to a fault, always pushing and putting everyone else first. “No, I’m not going to do it.”“Why not?” The tension in the car was thick and Malachi exhaled slowly as he felt the familiar rise of irritation that could and would turn to anger in the blink of an eye.“You have no idea what you’re doing, he has no idea. That spell I mentioned, I’ve never done it and I don’t know of any witch that has successfully completed the spell.”Malachi remained quiet as he pulled into the garage and Jessica climbed out of the car and pulled the side door open. Malachi gritted his teeth when he noticed that she had yet again failed to lock her doors.“Jess…don’t walk away from me.” Malachi put his keys down on t
Fire Part Six
Malachi halted in the doorway as Jessica lay motionless on the bed, the cups falling from his hands as his breath hitched in his throat. She wasn’t breathing and she had no beating heart. Malachi swore under his breath as he looked at her, wanting to touch her but not being able to.It reminded him too much of Karani’s lifeless body and it physically hurt, deep in his soul because he had no idea what to do. He hated feeling powerless and clueless and it didn’t happen often that he did.Malachi could feel his emotions tumbling about, his heart rate slowing, his skin growing cold as fear gripped him. He couldn’t lose her, not like this, not for something he asked her to do, something she hadn’t wanted to do.Malachi stood rooted to the spot, a low buzzing sound in his ears. Jessica was his second chance at life. He’d realized it soon after that first night he’d spent at her house, even with no imprinting bond keeping him to her, he loved her completely.Jessica gasped and her eyes snapp
Fire Part Seven
James had begrudgingly taken over for me both with the pack and at the hotel. We still had a manager that reported to him while James took over command. It freed up my time to do what I had to do to keep Kai safe.I spent my days in the den going through every single lupiary that we possessed, but not one of them mentioned witches. I wanted to know everything I could. Knowledge was power but my knowledge at that stage was extremely limited and that’s when I phoned Jessica to join me.“What?” I smiled at the way Jessica answered her phone. Diplomacy was obviously not her forte.“I need help.”“Of course you do, Superstar. Where are you?”“At the den. Our lupiaries have nothing about witches.”“Duh. Give me ten.” She ended the call as abruptly as she had answered it and I sat back on the sofa.Jessica arrived exactly ten minutes later, a frown on her forehead and not looking happy at all. She fell down on the sofa and emptied my glass of Scotch before looking at me.“Help with what exac
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Fire Part Forty-Two
Malachi watched me but made no move to meet me halfway. His face was void of emotion and I had a hard time reading his aura. I pushed harder against the mental wall and his aura appeared and his guilt showed.“Sorry, I know you wanted to discuss this but I kind of had my hands full,” he said to me and I smiled. “It’s okay,” I replied.“But you did well on your own, there’s nothing I would have done differently,” he said to me and slapped me on the back.I was about to say something more but kept quiet as our pack members started leaving the den and shook our hands. Carl and Frank stopped in front of us and I smiled. I knew Carl’s mind was working overtime already.“If it comes to it, we go with you and we kill Vincent.”Frank nodded his head. “And whoever else we need to.”“Yeah. You’re not going down for this shit, Kiran,” Carl said.“It’ll be fine. Vincent has to prove his claims and a truth seeker will know, so I doubt there’ll be a tribunal.”Carl smiled and slapped me on the bac
Fire Part Forty-One
James and I stood outside, near the front door of the den. I had called another pack meeting so we could discuss and vote on the Mauritius situation. I had learned early on in my life that if I wanted to keep the pack’s respect, I needed to be honest with them.Robert was angry because I had denied him access to the meeting. Although we considered him family, he wasn’t a wolf. I wasn’t about to change hundreds of years of tradition just because I liked him.More cars pulled into the space in front of the den and I greeted my pack members warmly. Malachi was the last to arrive, smiling to himself as he walked towards us. ‘Only Jessica can be responsible for that smile,’ I thought to myself as Malachi grinned at me.I closed the den’s door behind me as the rest found seats. I walked to the front with James trailing behind me and hit the gavel once on the table behind me. “This meeting is now called to order.”The men settled down with low whispers as I leaned back against the table and
Fire Part Forty
I was furious as I sat there behind my desk. Did the African Council not investigate my statement at all? Why was there no mention of that? John was right about one thing, I had approved the wedding and I wouldn’t be able to lie about it. John himself was a truth seeker and he would only have to ask me once to know what I did.I didn’t care much about the consequences at that point. I was too enraged and now I was more determined than ever to end this thing without having to send Malika back to Mauritius.I looked at my watch and typed my reply to him. Why waste the time when I knew that I wouldn’t change my mind? No matter how much I thought about it, I wouldn’t do it.“Dear John,I will not send Malika back to Mauritius. She is a free human, to go and do as she pleases. She also doesn’t want to return to Mauritius. If Vincent Pierre wants her so badly, he can come and get her himself, but he will have me to deal with if he sets foot in my territory and that goes for any other wolf t
Fire Part Thirty-Nine
I pushed the emails from John to the back of my mind, but it kept creeping up on me and I knew that at some point I’d have to make an effort to squash this thing before it became bigger. We hadn’t done anything wrong and I believed Malika when she said she never signed allegiance to Vincent.I sat down at my desk and opened the laptop. I only had one day left to answer John Whitcombe. I didn’t really have the diplomacy that Malachi had and I acted on my emotions much more than he did. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing, making emotional decisions often led to more trouble.I thought about how to correctly get my message across without being too forward about it. I hit the reply button on John’s email and started typing.“To Head Alpha John Whitcombe,I regret to inform you that Malika Luximon is not being harbored by me, unlawful or not, or the pack of Southern Alaska. Vincent Pierre is an idiotic, blubbering …”I laughed suddenly and hit the delete button. I couldn’t send that to Joh
Fire Part Thirty-Eight
“What now?” James looked quizzically at me. I had just told him my ideas about the email from John.“I’ll reply within five days, not that I see the point. I met Vincent and there’s no doubt in my mind that if Malika is sent back, he’ll kill her.”I sent a text to Robert and told him that they both needed to come to the house on urgent business. James and I walked back to the kitchen where Malachi stood near the counter tapping on his phone.“Everything okay?” I nodded at Adara and sat down at the table.“What did John want?” Malachi turned his attention to me and sat down across from me at the table.“A claim was lodged against me.”Malachi sat up straighter. “What claim?”“The new Alpha of Mauritius claims that I aided Malika in running from her Alpha and that I’ve been harboring her ever since.”“We should discuss this in detail. Do you want me to speak to John?” The look of worry in Malachi’s eyes worried me, but I wouldn’t back down.“No, Dad. Vincent doesn’t have a foot to stand
Fire Part Thirty-Seven
James lay on the ground and I had my legs around his neck. I squeezed slightly and James started tapping on the ground. I let go of him as he rolled to his knees and coughed twice. I saw Malachi by the tree line as I stood up. He was watching us.Malachi had an odd look on his face but I didn’t question him, he’d talk when and if he wanted to. I’d learned early on not to push Malachi. He was a very private person, even though we shared a lot, some things had to remain private.James was on his feet again fast and as I looked back at him from Malachi, I was too slow in blocking his kick. I spit the blood from my mouth and grinned at him where he danced like a boxer on his feet, laughing at me.He turned his head and looked at Malachi. “Do you want to cut in?”Malachi nodded, took his shirt off, and walked closer to me. He lifted his arms and I went into a boxing stance. I blinked as I lay flat on my back with James laughing so hard he struggled to breathe. Malachi’s face appeared above
Fire Part Thirty-Six
“Hello, Malachi.” Adara’s voice was clear and she sounded happy even.“Jessica’s been vomiting the whole morning.”“Is she pregnant?” Malachi heard amusement in Adara’s voice but he ignored it.“She says it’s food poisoning.” Pregnancy was the first thing that had popped into his head when she threw up the first time.“I’ll phone her, don’t worry, Malachi.”Malachi parked his car in front of the court building and he pushed everything out of his mind and switched his phone off. He took his seat and opened his briefcase as his client joined him at the table. He breezed through the next few hours and finally got his client a settlement that he was happy with.Malachi sat in his car and switched his phone on again, surprised that Jessica hadn’t tried to contact him at all. An eerie feeling settled in his gut, a feeling he didn’t like at all. He opened his messages and started typing.Malachi: Are you okay?Jessica: Never better, stop worrying and stop frowning.Malachi laughed as he read
Fire Part Thirty-Five
The conversation between Kiran and Malachi had kept replaying itself in his head. On one side he was relieved that Kiran accepted his relationship with Jessica because she was important to him but on the other side their age difference made him feel like an asshole.Malachi lay in her bed and watched her sleep. He smiled as he looked at her. A strong surge of love spread through him, so intense that it actually frightened him. He missed her every minute they were apart. He could never grow tired of her, but did she feel it as intensely as he did?Malachi knew that Jessica loved him but what kept him awake in the early morning hours was if she loved him enough to spend the rest of her life with him, to marry him and make a life with him.“You know that’s creepy, right?” Jessica’s voice was soft and her eyes were still closed.Malachi smiled. “What is?”Her eyes opened and softened as she looked at Malachi. “Watching me sleep.”“I made you coffee.” Jessica shifted and sat up straight, t
Fire Part Thirty-Four
I woke up four hours later as the front door slammed shut and I jumped up. Both babies were still asleep, and I went downstairs yawning as I did so. I was still tired. Adara was placing bags on the counter.“The rest is in the car.” She didn’t look at me and started unpacking the two bags she had brought in.I went out to her car and opened the boot. My breath froze in my lungs as I stared at half a baby store crammed inside. It took me six trips to unload everything and the kitchen now looked like she had bought the whole store.“Did you empty our account?” I asked her jokingly and she smiled at me. At least I got a smile from her. She walked up to me and hugged me, and my arms closed around her.“I’m sorry. You’re right, she deserves parents that love her. I never had that and if I weren’t here I’d want someone else to love Kai completely.” I hugged her tighter because this was the woman I loved.“Thank you but you’re not going anywhere.” She let go of me and turned back to her shop
