Everett and I decided it would be best to have Kiran back home before Jason's pack arrives. We don't know how Jason's pack is and I don't need Kiran getting into a fight with a strange wolf. I'm already too on edge not to murder anyone that hurts him. Can't have this alliance falling apart during its first meeting. I was taking a stolen moment with Kiran before either of us had to leave. He and I were walking together around Everett's pack land as he handled business. Tate hung back with Ivan at the training grounds. "Teach me to fight." Kiran's voice cut our comfortable silence. His words surprised the hell out of me. "Are you sure about that? I'm pretty ruthless." I teased, but he just nodded his head. "You're the strongest person I know. Teach me, Zerena." His voice was seductive like he was asking me to sleep with him not pummel him."Only if you promise not to hate me after." I smirked at him. I was curious to see how strong he was. "I promise." The corners of his lips pulle
"Tate she wasn't even serious with you. She didn't use her shadows once on you. I promise you she's stronger than what she just showed you." Everett laid it out plainly for Tate. Everett then turned to the crowd. "Tate is still the strongest, under me, in this pack. Do not make the mistake of thinking he isn't. It just so happens this woman here is on another level than most. She did beat 3 alphas within 10 minutes." If he didn't address the pack they would believe Tate to be weak. That's not a good thing as it could throw things off balance for them. The pack all looked at me in disbelief. "Alpha, there's no way." One of them retorted. He was tall and lanky, and lacked muscles of any sort."Zerena." He motioned for me to show them an example of my power and I smiled. I used my new strength and training to control all the shadows in the room at once. I contorted everyone's shadows to wrap around their bodies, snaking up and around their necks. No one could move as I began to squeez
Barlowe. I kept repeating the name until my body ran cold. 'His name is Zion Barlowe' Kiran's voice ran through my head. No, nope, Nuh uh. There's just no fucking way. No, I refuse to believe that of all the people on this planet I managed to somehow kidnap Kiran's father and bring him to this hell. There's no way. He can't be. I swallowed hard as the realization was hitting my gut with a fury of guilt. "Zion, do you have a son?" I asked him, wanting to be sure. "I do. Although I don't know where he is now. We don't talk. I haven't been in his life for the past few years." He hung his head in shame. Fuck me, man. I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes for this next part. Will it ease my guilt if I don't look at him when he answers my question?"Is his name Kiran, by chance?" I peeked at his face as he stayed silent a while longer. "You can't kidnap him too. He doesn't even know this world exists. He isn't a phoenix like me. Leave him alone." Zion now stared at me the
Kellan sat back down, looking at me all kinds of confused. He furrowed his brows meeting my eyes with his electric blue ones. He had very beautiful eyes, but I could never stare at them for long. Sirens hold most of their power in their eyes, and their songs. Stare in his eyes too long and he could snare me in his siren spell. "Do you remember the pearl mission? The one Emerson got in trouble for?" They all nodded, and I realized that the only person that knows about Kiran is Percy. I'm sharing my truth to them all right now. "Do you remember the gas station we went to after?" "Yeah, the one we got shot in." Tally added."Yeah that one." "Yeah I remember." Kellan said, uncertain where I was going with this. "Do you remember the guy behind the register?""Not really, didn't he run away?" Kellan's brows were so furrowed they were almost meeting in the center of his face. "He didn't run away, I hid him. He's my intertwined, my destined one, my mate. Whatever you want to call it he'
Kiran's P.O.V.A phoenix. I'm a fucking Phoenix. My dad is a fucking Phoenix, the rarest of supernatural and instead of being elated by the news, I'm feeling the need to scream and punch. My dad is stuck with that sadistic psychopath of a scientist that Zerena is trapped with as well. She took my dad there. She imprisoned him to that hell alongside her. She could have pretended to fail the mission or she could have hidden my dad. She could have even tried to kill Alester, but instead she's sitting and waiting because he may have experimented on himself. So what if he did? I am sure Zerena could take him. He's not some all powerful being. He's not a fucking god. I punched the wall, my fist stuck inside it now as the drywall caved around it. I grunted in further frustration as I pulled my hand out of the wreckage. What has Alester been doing to my dad? What is he doing to him now? Yeah my dad may have left me without a word but no one deserves the sick twisted things that Alester doe
Zerena's P.O.V."I fu.cking knew it! Look right here." I held the phone to Everett's face, showing him the picture of the file I was reading. "Once he saw how the healing ability affected each of us, he injected himself with it. He logs his healing process here. It seems he heals better than even I. That son of b*tch. He not only injects himself with things that have worked from his experiments, making them even better before giving it to himself." I let my forehead hit the table in frustration, rolling it against the polished cold wood. So I can't kill him, but perhaps I can decommission him the way he threatens to do to us. I'd love to keep his head in a jar and let him watch me live a happy life without his cruelty. "We expected that. We hoped that wasn't the case, but we expected it. We'll just imprison him. We can hand him off to the council or even the shadow weaver infantry you told us about." Everett tried to comfort me. "No, I don't really trust those elders. I plan on bur
"Zerena, come quickly!" I heard Tate's excited voice from inside the convenience store. I pushed away from Jason but he didn't let go. Instead he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "I'll look first then I'll let you see if it's okay to look." He bossed like I would listen. "Let me? fu.ck off, you don't get to tell me what to do. I don't need your permission to look. If I want to look then I will look." I said firmly, pushing against his shoulder so I could get down. He didn't let go, instead he entered the convenience store with me slung over his shoulder. I was on the verge of using my shadows to force him to let me go when he suddenly put me down and turned me around. I watched as Kiran's body burned brightly until it was nothing but ash and then within seconds Kiran emerged from the ashes with a large gasp of air. I ran to him with tears in my eyes, tackling him by accident with the force of my hug. "Don't do that to me again." I lightly scolded him, with my face pres
"What is that?" Tally asked, pointing to my hand where the mark laid. "Did you get a tattoo?" "No, it's not a tattoo. It's how shadow weavers mark their intertwined. I saw Kiran this evening and after some shi.t went down, I marked him." I wasn't going to get into details with them. They didn't need to know everything. "That's really amazing, Zerena." Emerson smiled warmly at me. I think he really was happy for me. "Emerson, we need to tell you something." I looked at Percy and he nodded, finally giving me the okay. "You were sold by bounty seekers to Alester. They took you from your family and it took your brother years to figure out where you were. He's been trying to get to you for the past 10 years." I started. Emerson's face mixed with a million emotions, serious, sad, shocked, paled, hardened. His expressions changed all at once; it was hard to keep up. "Who is my brother?" He clutched onto the table so hard it started to crack under his grip. "Alpha Everett." Percy answer
I traveled to the spot in the yard, not believing my eyes from that distance. I approached the figure in the moonlight cautiously. He turned when he heard me step on a twig. That long black hair and dark eyes met mine. He smiled widely at me, swooning my heart the way he use to. “Percy?” I cried. “Hey, Zae.” “You as.shole.” I went to punch him but my hand went right through him. He laughed at me. “I figured you’d try to hit me. Sorry I don’t have a body anymore to hit.” He shook his head at me. “I’m sorry, Zae.” “You should be. You have no idea how much this has hurt. Damit Perc, you should have told me. I would have stopped it!” I yelled at him, tears flowing out of me like a waterfall. “You couldn’t have. Trust me, I didn’t want to leave our Ares, but it was the only way.” He sighed. His transparent hand reached for my face. I could feel him the same way I feel the air across my cheek. “Our Ares could really use a visit from you.” I told him. “I only have one more of
8 years later“Happy birthday Ares!” We all yelled, trying to surprise him, but who were we kidding he already knew.“I knew you wouldn’t forget.” He smiled at us all. “Auggie said everyone had forgotten about my birthday and that’s why no one had said it to me yet.”“Augustus Daimen Barlowe! Did you really tell your brother that?” Kiran scolded him.“I thought if he believed it he would actually be surprised.” Augustus explained.“I’ll talk to him, keep the party going.” Kiran told me, kissing my temple, before pointing to the door to let Augusutus know to walk out.I hugged Ares, holding him tightly for a long moment before he complained.“Mom.”“Sorry
Topher had already finished here. He was wrapping the elders up. We don’t plan on killing them or imprisoning them. They just won’t be in power anymore. I know they won’t like it, but with only a few elders they won’t be able to go against a whole army. We’ll be changing a lot around here, starting with the parties and classist shi.t. Obviously the higher class will hate it, but since they are few, I’m not worried about it. “Everything go well in the North?” Topher asked me, wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my temple. “Easy as pie.” I assured him. “Yeah, especially after she went all devil on us.” Isaiah smirked. “You did?” Topher asked, obviously not liking the fact. He didn’t like me using that side of myself much. “Yes, just for a little while. I’m fine, don’t worry.” I assured him. He looked at me for a while, assessing me, before nodding his head. He kissed my forehead now, letting his lips linger there. He let his arm wrap around me further, until his hand
2 months later.“It’s gotta be simultaneous.” I told them all, through a mass shadow message. I stared down the elder’s building with group 1 at my side. I decided to take down the north elders, while Topher led the west rebellion group. We had a good amount of people with us in each colony.Our civil war begins. Only it won’t be a war, it’ll be one battle, and we will come out victorious.‘We’re ready in the south.’ Felix, the leader of the south, responded with his own shadow message.‘Say the word and we’ll attack.’ Helena from the East sounded ready to b
It’s been a month now since the battle with Alester. Percy’s funeral hit me hard, breaking me further. I almost couldn’t bring myself to go. Kiran and Topher dragged my as.s there, not giving me a choice in the matter. I saw Allie, her beautiful innocent eyes were puffy from all the crying. She admitted to me that she knew what was going to happen. She told me Percy had asked her not to tell anyone, and that he had set things up for Ares. Apparently Electra had been helping him see into the future. She admitted that she would be joining him soon too. It was almost poetic…almost. It’s so damn heart breaking. I am not sure there is a heart left in me. It feels so hollow in my chest, like it’s run away, unable to take the pain anymore. The only times I felt a remnant of it, were when I was with August or Ares, or when I’d look at Jesse’s ultrasound. She’s not shadow kissed like Augustus. She’s like Ares, in my normal womb. Topher and Kiran did their best at trying to cheer me up, or a
Zerena’s P.O.V.No! God No!Percy’s lifeless body laid at Alester’s feet, his eyes open, staring at Ares. I kept waiting to see him heal. Kept waiting to see him move, to get back up and pummel Alester before him. I watched him for a while, completely dumbfounded. This isn’t real, this isn’t happening. I haven’t lost Kiran and Percy just now. Kiran will come back with his Phoenix, and Percy will heal. They have to. They can’t leave me.A thick sadness was beginning to envelope me. I felt the cold seeping into my bones, as the darkness began to over take me, feeding on my depression. I felt it turning all the heartache in me into an unbridled rage. I looked at Alester now, who had Percy’s heart still in his hand, burning it to Ash befo
Percy's P.O.V. Zae had made her announcement to everyone. I thought it was sweet of her to go along with Topher's plan to have an announcement party. This is how it should have gone. A baby with only the person she chose and not because some crazy bastard gave her a sea witch's potion. I watched as everyone congratulated her. She actually accepted the hugs. God, I hope she continues to open up after I'm gone. I wrote her a letter too. I put it where I knew she'd find it after my funeral. I hope she takes the advice I wrote for her. Everyone was having fun. I watched as Zae's people all intermingled. It was like watching the many parts of Zea's life come together beautifully. Eventually, the party had started to whine down. The first to leave was group 1, followed by Zea's parents, and then Tate and Alara with her twin, Alexis, plus Maple left. Kellan had decided to stay a while longer to talk to Dex about water portalling. Rain and her mate, Nate, left as well. The only ones he
Zerena’s P.O.V.“How does this look?” Kiran asked, when he finished the icing on the cake.“Looks great!” I smiled at him, kissing his cheek. “Thank you, Kiran.”I was actually excited for today. I never thought I would be a big announcement kind of gal, but I think that I am. I really like the idea of surprising everyone today. Topher and I have been over the moon about our baby girl. I can’t wait to share the news with everyone. I am so very lucky to have Percy. I don’t think I would have noticed I was pregnant for at least another month. I am also so grateful that he has saved me time with naming all these children. Already knowing their names and their genders has been very convenient.
Percy’s P.O.V.Dearest Ares,I know you’re going through a hard time right now. It’s hard to be in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way as you. I felt this way about your mother for the longest time. I know it is difficult, especially to watch them be happy with someone else. I promise you, it will get better. You will find your mate soon, and the pain you are feeling will be a distant memory.Stay by her side, fight through the pain, my son. She will need you when your brother inevitably breaks her heart. It will hurt, but you’ll have to help fix them in order to find your own happiness. I know you have a great heart. I can already see how morally grounded you are. You will make the right decision. I have faith in you.&nb