Stryker-“Who?” Mathew shoved himself up against the window to get a better view.“Nea.” I breathed out as relief filled me.Before I could stop myself, my body reacted. Racing out of my office, I ran towards the front door, only to stop as my hand covered the door handle. Realization settled over me as I considered what would happen if I ran out to her right now.She has been gone for five years; I couldn’t run her off right away. Now that I knew she wasn’t dead, she must have had her reasons for staying gone for so long. I needed to play this by ear and find a way to make sure she doesn’t run off again.Taking a deep breath, I calmly opened the door and stepped out. It was difficult to keep my wolf in check as Nea came to stand in front of me. For a brief moment, I saw a flicker of recognition on her face before it was completely masked by indifference.“Hello, Alpha Stryker, I am Alpha Zach, and this is Slayer.” The unfamiliar male spoke while motioning towards Neaera.I did my bes
Neaera-Standing inside my old room, I was overwhelmed with many various emotions. Returning had proved to be more challenging than I had expected. From the moment I saw Stryker, to the moment I locked myself in my old room, I had nearly succumbed to the same girl I had once been.If there was one thing, I was good at doing, it was hiding what I was feeling, even though it was nothing more than a façade. I had thought I would be okay when I arrived, but that thought quickly vanished when I saw Stryker. Just like myself, he has changed a lot over the years, losing his boyish charm and becoming more rugged.I wasn’t sure what to feel regarding him. On one hand, he looked like the brother I once knew, while at the same time he didn’t. The only thing I knew was that my feelings for him weren’t simple. Hopefully, I can complete this mission before I have a chance to figure it out.Pulling out my phone, I looked at the screen to check the time. In about two hours the sun will be down. Once
Neaera-Having decided not to let it worry me about if I was found out or not, I returned to my room to get a few hours of sleep. When I woke up, I was surprised to find an array of dishes on the dining room table. All my old favorite foods were scattered around the table, as well as some other types.Stryker was sitting at the head of the table, where our father used to sit. I had to remind myself that it was Stryker’s father and not mine. Expecting that his parents would be joining us for breakfast, I felt a moment of panic.Since I arrived, I haven’t run into them, even though I knew it would be a matter of time before I did. I was tempted to turn around and wait until later to come downstairs. Taking a step back I thought I could get away without being spotted.Before I could take another step, Stryker looked up and a smile spread across his face. Oddly, I felt strange with the way he was looking at me. An image of him from when he was younger flashed in my head, and I nearly forg
Neaera-Arriving at the school, I had mixed feelings about going inside. The school was my biggest regret and held the most memories. Pausing just outside the glass double doors, which would take us inside the school, I couldn’t stop myself from remembering everything I went through.Stryker turned towards me and for a moment I thought he was going to find out the truth about who I was. I couldn’t think of a good enough excuse as to why I was standing here, afraid to go inside. Without looking at him, I could tell he was watching me closely.“This is where all the kids in the pack attend school. Everyone from preschool, all the way up to high school. I know it doesn’t look like much, but this is also where we do most of our training and pack meetings.” Stryker explained, although I already knew why we were at the school.I was just thankful that he didn’t see through my hesitation. Unlike other packs, this one focused more on training and education. Therefore, there wasn’t a large pac
Stryker-Hearing Chloe question Neaera had both my wolf and me wanting to lash out at her. From the way Chloe was staring her down, I could tell she was trying to show dominance toward Neaera. Taking a step forward, I was about to force her to submit to me, but I stopped when Neaera started speaking.“I suppose you want me to prove myself to you?”A smirk appeared on Chloe’s face as she folded her arms over her chest. At this point, I wasn’t sure what to do. My first instinct was to protect my mate, just as I always have. As I looked over at Neaera though, I realized she wasn’t the same as she once was.Other than her eyes and the knowledge she was my mate, there wasn’t anything I knew about her. In the five years that I missed out on, it was obvious that so much has changed. There was a powerful aura around her that was hard to miss.“That is exactly what I am saying.” Chloe said with a show of arrogance written all over her features, from her head all the way down to her toes.“Name
Neaera-I had no intention of letting the fight drag out. Even if I had to play my trump card, I was going to put Chloe in her place once and for all. It was a pity that she didn’t know who I was, but I knew who she was, and I remembered all the things she had done to me.Watching her strip out of her clothes, I did feel a little envious of her. Although I was part werewolf, I couldn’t connect with my wolf in the same way she could. I could connect to my wolf side, but I lacked the bond a werewolf has with their wolf after they undergo their first phase.While I had been human, I had dreamed of being a werewolf and being able to shift with the others. Every time I watched the pack go out for their pack runs, I had been left alone to observe from afar. Still, it was a dream I would never achieve since my vampire side prevented me from being able to fully connect.Being one-half of two worlds would always put me at odds. Some days I had even wished I was human, just so I could belong so
Neaera-Over the next few days, I managed to avoid Stryker as much as possible. I could feel his eyes on me every time we were around each other but to my relief, he didn’t bother me. It was obvious that he was suspicious of me, which I hoped would go away as long as I didn’t let myself slip up again.There had been a few times he attempted small talk with me, but I managed to make up an excuse that I had something else to do. It wasn’t a complete lie, considering I have been busy trying to find a connection with all the vampire attacks. I have been here for nearly a week and still, there hasn’t been another attack.As bad as it sounded, I kind of wished they would attack. The longer I was here, the more I felt that my secret was going to be revealed. Keeping up with false pretenses for extended periods of time was difficult.It wasn’t just about hiding that I was a Hybrid, it was about hiding that I was once his adopted sister. I no longer viewed him as my brother, yet we did have a
Neaera-With the grace that rivaled that of a vampire, I landed on the ground. Since I didn’t know what direction the vampires were coming from, nor how many, I didn’t have time to worry about revealing that I was a hybrid. Digging my toes in the wet soil beneath me, I pushed forward and started running as fast as I could.I knew Zach and the others could handle themselves, yet from the sound of things, I was going to need to use every ability that I possessed. Forcing all thoughts and feelings away, I allowed my bloodlust to take over. If I had any chance of finding the vampires before they found anyone in this pack, I needed to tap into my vampire side.Having come to terms that I was part vampire, regardless of whether I liked it or not, it was the only thing I had that gave me the upper hand. A burning desire to kill flowed through me. Dropping my mental block, I prepared myself to be bombarded with emotions.Concentrating solely on the emotions that I recognized from the bloodlus
Neaera-Once everyone left, it was just Stryker and me, alone. I could feel his eyes on me, but he didn’t utter a word. Avoiding eye contact, I moved past him to go upstairs. It felt good to be back home and what I really wanted to do was take a long hot shower.Entering the bedroom I shared with Stryker, I went directly into the bathroom. I was about to close the door, but Stryker flattened his hand against the door, stopping it from closing. I guess I had been so focused on avoiding him, that I failed to notice he was following me.“Don’t think you are getting off the hook that easy. Things have settled down with everyone and everything else, but you and I still have something to discuss.” His deep voice sounded far too serious for my liking, almost causing me to cower in fear.“I know what you are going to say, and I am sorry. I won’t ever do what I did again.”“Do you know though? I don’t think you do. If you did, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”“I do.” I whispered,
Neaera-Slowly I lowered Stryker to the ground, away from Dimitri’s corpse. Cradling him on my lap, I pressed my hand against the gaping hole in his chest. He was alive, but barely. With all the blood that was seeping out of his wound, I wasn’t sure for how long.I could hear his heartbeat getting slower with each beat. His werewolf healing wouldn’t be fast enough, and we were too far away from anyone to help. Tears welled up in my eyes. I was at a loss for what to do.“You can’t leave me.” I sobbed, not caring that I was full fledge crying right now. “I should have been faster.” I added with another sob.A smile spread over his face, and it looked serene. I wanted to yell at him for smiling, but I was only glad to be able to see his smile, even if it was going to be the last time. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.Leaning forward, I wondered if he had said something, but I hadn’t heard him. I swear if he says some snarky comment, I was going to yell at him. I felt
Neaera-Dimitri went back and forth, each one gaining the upper hand and then losing it. If this kept up, I wasn’t sure how I would manage to keep going. I was throwing everything I had into trying to take him down.There needed to be a change and it needed to happen soon. With no other choice, I focused on blocking and dodging his attacks, so I could reach out to Leo. He hasn’t mentioned any weakness Dimitri has yet, so I doubt I would be able to get any new information.“Leo, please tell me you have something that will help me win against Dimitri.” I connected with him.It was still weird that I could connect with him, even though we were no longer in the same pack. When I decided to the Luna ceremony in Alaska, there had been so much going on that I spaced about losing my connection to Leo. To my surprise, I was still able to connect with him.The Alpha King mentioned that it was possible that even if he hadn’t been a part of the ceremony, our bond was strong enough to carry over.
Neaera-“Why did you want me to meet you here?” I asked Dimitri, after a few seconds.I had no reason to respond to his last statement. I would much rather get down to the bottom of what had changed his mind about meeting with me to talk. I felt like he had alternative motives though, although, I did as well.“What? You don’t like this place? I thought it would add a bit of charm to our meeting.” He looked around with a look of nostalgia on his face.Narrowing my eyes at him, I tried to get a sense of what he was planning. He seemed far too calm and chill for someone who had made it clear that they wanted me to die. I wondered if Leo had gotten into his head at all.That was the only thing I could think of. Of all the hybrids Dimitri had in his possession, Leo was the best at mind games. I talked to Leo this morning, so I didn’t think I needed to worry about him. He hadn’t mentioned anything out of the ordinary.I was tempted to open my link to him, but to do that, I would need to let
Stryker-Now that everyone was gathered near the front entrance, the only one left was Neaera. Glancing at my watch, I frowned at the time. I thought she would have been the first one at the entrance, due to it taking a bit longer than normal to get everyone off.I attempted to link with her, but I felt her mental block in place. The only reason for her to do that is if she was trying to keep me or anyone from connecting with her. I knew instantly that she was either in danger or about to be.“Stubborn woman.” I growled, not realizing until it was too late that I had spoken out loud.“What is it?” Zach asked, who was standing next to me.“Nothing.” I said in a rush.Until I knew what was going on, I didn’t want to alarm anyone. If something was going on, it was probably better to keep it lowkey for now. Knowing her the way I did; she was probably doing this to protect everyone.That in itself was reason enough to not involve anyone. I just wish I knew where to start looking for her. S
Neaera-“What do you want?” I bit off with venom in my voice.“That is no way to talk to your father.” Dimitri laughed and the way he said father seemed as if he had a challenging time choking that word out.“You have never been that to me and you never will. I will ask again, what do you want?”“I just figured we could have a little chat.” Dimitri sighed.“What do we have to talk about? I have heard everything I needed to hear from you.” I tried to keep my voice low just in case someone was walking by. I didn’t want anyone to overhear who I was talking to.“I haven’t told you about your mother or how you were conceived.”That got my attention and as much as I wished I didn’t want to know, I did. Since knowing I was adopted and finding out I was a hybrid, as well as who my father was, I have wanted to know. I still hadn’t heard from Zach whether his test results returned, but I suspected I was his niece.With everything going on, I haven’t had a chance to learn anything about my mothe
Neaera-We spent another couple of days at the resort, enjoying our time while we could. Everything remained relatively calm. The Alpha King stayed just an extra day, but then he had to return to his duties. We didn’t have any more surprise attacks, which was a good thing.Things were starting to fall into place, which was great for everyone. Zach was becoming eager by the minute though. He mentioned how when everything was over, he planned to take a long vacation and spend some quality time with his mate.I didn’t blame him because he was overdue for it. I didn’t understand how he managed to stay away from his mate for so long. Since becoming Stryker’s mate, I couldn’t imagine spending so much time away from him.“Hey.” Speaking of Stryker, he popped his head around the corner, from the bathroom, where he was packing up our stuff while I packed our clothes.“You about done?” I asked, giving him a teasing smile.“I am, but I was going to see if you wanted to take a quick shower with m
Neaera-“What brings you here?” I asked the Alpha King the moment we were seated in the living area of the room that Stryker and I shared.“I had hoped to get here in time before anything happened, but I am sorry I hadn’t been fast enough. I am glad that you are okay though. When I found out that Benson escaped, I decided to follow him to Alaska and deal with him personally.” He was looking at me as he spoke until his attention moved to Stryker.“I am not surprised that you were able to take him out on your own. It just goes to show that some were born to be true Alpha.” The Alpha King added.“I can’t really take the credit. Nea had the situation handled before I got there, I just finished the job.” Stryker turned to smile at me as he reached over and grabbed my hand. “She is the true leader in all of this.”Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes at the pride in his voice. I could give a poor man food and he would think I solved world hunger. I did like how he admired me, but I was embarra
Neaera-It took two days to get everything ready for the ceremony. I was nervous, but I wasn’t at the same time. It was helpful that I had a large support system around me. To think that before everything changed five years ago, I only had my brother to depend on and a few others.Now, I have them and so much more. A part of me wished that Stryker’s parents could be here because I would have loved to show them the woman I have become. I knew they had loved me like their own daughter and for the first time since learning of their death, it hurt knowing that they weren’t here anymore.“Are you ready?” The Alpha King asked through the door.I was in the room I shared with Stryker, but he was already downstairs, making sure everything was ready. The Alpha King was stepping in to make the Luna Ceremony official since we were uniquely going about this. It made me think of a wedding ceremony, that I have seen in movies.I was wearing a white dress, minus the veil, with a tiara covered in dia