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 at me. I saw the truth of what I was in her eyes and it blinded me with shock.

Verdandi showed me the present and I smiled briefly. Adara, Kai, Christian, Malachi, James. The people I loved most in this world. I saw her then, angelic, beautiful and I knew that I loved her too, in that moment I wanted to protect her. ‘How did this happen?’ I wondered and Urdr took me back and I could hardly believe what I saw.

Skuld gripped my head and I tasted fear, my own fear. She showed me the future and I couldn’t prevent the tears from rolling down my cheeks. This wasn’t too far ahead in the future, Kai was still a baby, crawling and laughing. I saw the dreadful things that awaited me if I didn’t get their blessing. I saw Kai in the clearing, Adara unable to take his heart from his chest with me and I couldn’t breathe.

I started choking and I was back in my office, gulping for air. Death sat down in front of me, and my hands were shaking. I couldn’t speak and I tried to swallow and comprehend everything I’d just seen.

“I don’t understand,” I said to him and he smiled sadly at me.

“The choice is now yours. You can change his fate by changing yours, give what the Norns ask of you and you will succeed. Now, I have somewhere to be, I do have a full-time job, you know.” Death laughed at his own joke. He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

“Holy shit.” I realized that facing Adara would be worse than what the future had in store for me if I couldn’t get her to believe me. I picked up my phone and I called her.

“Where are you?” I asked her when she picked up.

“I was just about to head back home. I forgot my laptop.” I heard annoyance in her voice.

“I’ll see you there in a few minutes.” I grabbed my keys and headed out of the hotel and drove home. My heart was beating so fast that it drowned out all the other noises and my nerves overtook me. I parked in front of the garage and saw that the front door was open.

I walked inside slowly and smelled Malachi, then I got the other shock of my life. A woman was sitting on the kitchen counter. Malachi had no shirt on, and they were kissing. “Take it upstairs, Dad.” Malachi instantly looked up and he looked somewhat guilty, she turned her head towards me and I got another shock.

“Oh, hey, Superstar,” Jessica said to me and I had a million questions that I couldn’t ask now. I had bigger problems than my best friend making out with my father. I shook my head to try and erase that image from my mind.

“Adara’s on her way home. Either get dressed or take it upstairs.” I opened the sliding doors and stood on the patio. After a few minutes Malachi joined me, his shirt on now.

“Are you okay? I know this is a shock, I was planning on telling you about Jess…” The look on my face had his words falter.

“I don’t care, Dad. I have bigger problems. I’ll speak to you after I’ve told Adara.” Her car came up the driveway and I walked around the outside of the house and opened the door for her.

She smiled at me and I wondered briefly how long that smile would last. I took Kai from his car seat and we went inside. I stopped just before we reached the front door.

“I just found Jessica and Malachi making out in the kitchen. You might want to bleach all the counters.” Adara started laughing at me. I loved her laugh.

“Making out? Like teenagers?”

“He was already shirtless, thank the gods she had all her clothes on.” Adara laughed again and walked ahead. I gave Kai to Malachi and told him we needed a minute as I took Adara into the study, the only place in the house where we couldn’t be overheard.

I took a deep breath and started the conversation. “I have to tell you something, a few things, actually.”

“Okay, this doesn’t sound like a good conversation.” She still had a tentative smile on her lips, one that would disappear soon.

“Adara, just know that I love you. I would never intentionally hurt you. I really need you to keep an open mind and believe me.”

The smile on her lips disappeared and she didn’t answer me but sat down on the couch instead. I sat down next to her and took her hand and then I started telling her everything I knew. I should have switched my emotions off, but I wouldn’t let her feel these emotions alone.