Malachi lowered his head. He had wanted them to bend the knee, to just accept his fate and move on. Each one of us would die for him, would gladly take his place in that inner circle, and be judged. After ten minutes, I could see the anger rising in Alexander before he managed to block me out.“Malachi Sinclair … your pack has spoken. You will now enter into a fight of dominance.”Malachi walked to where I stood and took off his shirt, handing it to me. “You should have bent the knee. They would’ve followed you.” His voice was barely a whisper.“We never bend the knee against our own.” I clenched my jaw tightly, knowing that he didn’t want to hear that.Malachi’s smile was filled with sadness and he placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m very proud of you, Kiran.” That was the precise moment I knew that Malachi wasn’t going to fight. He wanted to die in that circle. My biggest fear was becoming a reality.Alexander had also taken off his shirt and I noticed that he was unmarked. Frankli
I handed James the keys to my Jeep to get the women from Robert’s house. We needed Adara. I drove home slowly in Malachi’s Navigator, the dirt road feeling bumpier than usual.Malachi looked at me through his bloodied face and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Why did you do that?”I braked hard and turned to look at him. “Because I love you. I knew you weren’t going to fight him. I knew there was a chance they’d kill me with you but it was a chance I was willing to take.”We arrived at the house first and I helped Malachi out of the car and into the house. I eased him down on the couch and bent down beside him. “Why didn’t you fight?”“I’m not Franklin. I won’t kill my children, not even him.”Malachi winced in pain and I took out my phone to call James. As it started ringing I saw headlights in the driveway and disconnected the call. It wasn’t James though. I stood at the front door looking at George Haynes and his Beta.“Good evening. May we come in?”“Of course, Alpha George.” I op
Malachi was near the stairs but he turned back to face her. He was too shocked to string a sentence together. “Adara, I…”“I don’t care what you want. He was prepared to die with you tonight, if nothing else matters to you anymore, that should! I suggest you take some time to stop feeling sorry for yourself and start acting like the father you should now be to all of us!” Adara turned on her heel and headed towards the stairs.I stood there for a few seconds, shocked. I hadn’t expected that from her. Malachi started laughing and then I joined him. We laughed until tears ran down our cheeks and we had to stop to catch our breath.She hadn’t left as we thought, and she stood there glaring at us. I wiped the tears from my eyes, and she started walking towards me. Anger radiated from her aura and I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from my lips.“What the hell is so funny?” She demanded to know.“You.” I started laughing again. Malachi composed himself first and cleared his throat.“
Depression. It’s a word that everybody knows, yet people rarely discuss it. The word depression is like leprosy. If you don’t have it, you have no idea what it feels like to be in that deep, dark hole.The best part of that deep, dark hole is the loneliness. You might find it odd that I say ‘the best part’ but it happens to be true. The loneliness is an escape in itself and that’s what makes it so dangerous.Getting yourself out of that hole is one of the hardest things you’ll probably ever have to do in your lifetime. It’s worse than losing a loved one. Yes, it is. You might wake up and feel fine, nothing happens and suddenly you’re there.That sinking feeling you can’t describe; nobody understands the extreme highs you feel and the extreme lows you sink to. It’s like a light switch. Nothing specific targets you, it’s just something that happens.Wanting to die is not a new feeling when you’re in that hole. Wanting to end your suffering and be done with everybody and everything; it’s
Adrian Peters sat in his car and looked at the house. He knew that Jeff Smith was inside. Jeff’s wife had died two years earlier, leaving him to care for their six-year-old twin daughters, China and India, by himself. They were identical twins and they reminded Adrian of little porcelain dolls.Jeff spent most of his time at home, writing books for children. Adrian prided himself on his abilities to be, firstly, a real man, and secondly, to gather information. Jeff seemed to lead a fairly boring life, just like the others he had preyed on. Jeff Smith had a live-in nanny that took care of his daughters while he wasted his time writing books.The look on Adrian’s face was one of utter disgust. Couldn’t he find a real job? He looked down on weak people and he refused to tolerate that weakness, especially within himself.Jeff went jogging at five thirty pm every evening with Travis Michaels, another pack member. Travis would drive to Jeff’s house and they would jog together.Travis lived
Adrian quickly put a smile on his face and displayed his badge. “Good afternoon, Sir.”“Yes?” Jeff was almost rude as he looked at Adrian. He was a big man but Adrian still felt sure that he could subdue him with the gun if he could only manage to gain entry into the house.“I’m going house to house to ask if any of the residents have noticed any suspicious activity in the area…” Adrian began to talk but Jeff interrupted him.“Like you, Officer? You’ve been sitting in your car for a week now, watching my house. I think I should call Chief McKenzie, who I play poker with once a month and inform him of the suspicious acts of one of his officers.” Jeff’s gaze bored into Adrian.“I apologize, Sir, my intention wasn’t to ruffle any feathers. I’m working overtime and watching certain areas every week on my days off.” Adrian tried to save the situation. He could feel that he was losing this argument with Jeff Smith.“Stop watching my house or I will report you!” Jeff said and slammed the doo
Dezrael opened her eyes and looked at the flickering light of the candle in front of her, smiling triumphantly. She was beautiful, like you would expect a movie star to be. She had long blue-black hair that came down to her mid-back with full lips and soft green eyes. In a way, she reminded you of a gypsy, with her olive skin and exotic cheek bones.She had finally found him; he was in Seward, Alaska, of all places. She sighed audibly. She would have to move, again. The half-breed Seiomaor was no longer a boy and the time was right. She wondered what he might look like and if he resembled his half-breed mother, Karani.She closed her eyes briefly and thanked her ancestral spirits for taking Karani’s spirit, hopefully to Muspelheim. She also sent up a quick prayer to her mother, asking for guidance in what she had to do next.Before today she’d been unable to find Kiran Sinclair, due to the cloaking spell Karani had placed around him from the moment of his birth. Dezrael had grown up w
“Hi, I booked a cabin,” she said to the woman working in the vegetable garden. She smiled at the woman who was completely gray and her face showed kindness.“Oh, hello dear, what’s your name?” The old woman looked like a grandmother with her garden gloves on her hands and her hair trimmed short. She had wrinkles but Dezrael could see that she had been pretty in her younger days.“Dezrael Danielsson,” she answered and looked towards the beach. The view was breathtakingly beautiful and for a moment she forgot the cold as she got lost in the thundering waves that broke onto the beach.“What a beautiful name! You can call me Addie. Let’s go get you settled in. Where are you from, dear?” Dezrael liked this older woman and hoped that she could be a source of information for her.“I’m from Sweden, on a retreat as I write my thesis. I’m studying Environmental Psychology.” Dezrael lied easily and she could see that the woman was confused.“What’s that, dear?” Addie asked her.“It’s the study o