(Katelyn's POV)Ryder's hand lingered on my stomach for a moment, but then he sighed and dropped it."So... What do we do now? I mean, I guess this thing is happening. Do we have to start picking names and shit?" he asked, his eyes filled with fear and uncertainty.I shook my head. "I don't really know. Can't say this has ever happened to me before. I don't even know how far along I am... I kinda freaked out and left the doctor's office before she got to tell me..." I admitted."Well, you should probably find out," Tyler suggested, slipping his hand into mine and giving it a squeeze. "A timeline might be helpful here."I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll try get hold of the doctor's office tomorrow to see if she can give me more details. She said something about an OBGYN. I think she gave me a referral or something. Maybe Jen knows more of the details. My brain was all over the place," I explained, feeling a little stupid for not paying more attention to something so fucking
(Katelyn's POV)The next day started off like any other, but with the new weight and responsibility of pregnancy pressing down on me. I'd made a call to Dr Connors's offices to try and get a better idea of how far along I was and we managed to gauge that I was about three weeks in. She said they would be able to confirm by checking measurements and all that stuff at my first scan, but for now, I was three weeks in. Three out of forty. It somehow felt like too much and not enough at the same time.Shortly after the call, Alpha David's voice called from upstairs. My blood went cold and the twins and I exchanged worried glances."Jesus, do you think he overheard that?" I asked, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights.Tyler shook his head. "I doubt it..." but still, he looked as concerned as I felt.The fact that David had bothered to call us upstairs personally, rather than sending Tyler a message like he usually did, didn’t escape me. This time, he’d taken the effort to personally
(Katelyn's POV)The airplane’s engines droned softly as I stared out the window, the world below reduced to quilted patches of green and brown earth divided by winding roads.New Haven, Connecticut... The Council Headquarters. We were still a few hours away, but the gravity of what awaited me felt like a noose around my neck.I adjusted my seatbelt for what felt like the hundredth time and closed my eyes, leaning back into my seat and letting my thoughts drift back over the last two days at home. The two days I’d spent trying, and failing, to harness my telekinesis. The two days that had left me feeling more exhausted, more frustrated, and more anxious than before.I’d wanted so badly to figure it all out before I faced The Council. I’d tried everything I could think of. At first, I tried to recreate the conditions of those emotional surges, thinking maybe I could trick my mind into somehow flipping that internal switch. I thought about arguments. About fear. About sadness. But nothin
(Katelyn's POV)"You're okay," Tyler whispered over and over again, but I wasn't sure whether he was talking to me or to himself.“What the fuck was that, Kate?!” Ryder's voice demanded.I shook my head, against Tyler's chest, still trying to come to terms with where I was and what was going on here."I... I just..." I tried to reply, but my voice was weak and hoarse.Tyler kissed the top of my head, his own breathing uneven as he gently stroked my hair, still holding me against him in a death grip. "Sshhh... Sshhh..." he hushed me, shaking his head as he rocked me back and forth."Never again. Never a-fucking-gain. Okay? You're never doing that again, Katelyn," Ryder's voice was sharp and firm, leaving no room for argument or debate. "Never again..." he repeated, sounding more exhausted now.It took a few minutes for me to regain my bearings as Tyler continued to whisper soft reassurances in my ear, rocking me back and forth against his chest like a child.I heard the sound of footst
(Katelyn's POV)The cab pulled up outside a weathered, ivy-clad building on a quiet street in New Haven, Connecticut. From the outside, it looked like an old academic institute. Just the type of place someone might come to pore over dusty manuscripts or discuss obscure theories with professors who wore tweed jackets. But I knew better.This was The Council’s headquarters, masquerading as the “Institute for Cultural Anthropology” to the human world. I'd heard about it, but I never thought I would actually get to see it in the flesh.My stomach churned as I stepped out onto the sidewalk. The air was crisp, carrying a hint of autumn even though it wasn’t quite the season yet.Behind me, Tyler and Ryder followed closely, their postures tense and alert, flanking me like a pair of protective bodyguards. It was an odd comfort, knowing I wasn’t walking into this alone. But the weight of what lay ahead pressed down on me like a lead blanket.“Looks normal enough,” Ryder muttered, eyeing the st
(Katelyn's POV)The doors swung open with a soft thud, revealing an amphitheater-style room with rows and rows of older men and women watching us from elevated seats.They were all Elders, each face lined with years of experience... decades, maybe even fucking centuries for all I knew. Here they sat, their faces stern and composed.It was almost surreal. There were about fifty of them, I might guess. Fifty people who were basically going to determine my future on my behalf.Can't say I liked the sound of that at all.Tyler, Ryder, and I stood at the center of the space, where a single wooden chair awaited me. Just one. Obviously they hadn't anticipated that I'd be bringing an entourage.My heart clenched in my chest and I swallowed hard, hoping I wouldn’t choke on my own nerves.In the front row, I spotted Helen, Roderick, and, much to my disappointment, Simon. Helen nodded and gave me a small smile in greeting, while Roderick kept his expression neutral, though I could see his eyes s
(Katelyn's POV)I felt a little more confident once I knew that not every single person in this enormous room was out to get me. A man's voice, rough with age, spoke next from somewhere in the second row. I had to tip my head a bit to pinpoint him because of the angle and the unusual acoustics. He was tall and lean, with silvery hair pulled into a low ponytail, and when he lifted his hand to speak, his knuckles stood out like ridges. “Your powers, Kate...” He paused, as if to confirm I wouldn’t mind the nickname. “May I call you Kate?” But he didn’t actually wait for an answer. “Your powers are obviously unusual. Have you met any others with abilities similar to your own?”I hesitated. It felt like a trick question. Was I supposed to know about Helen? Or was her existence and her tie to The Council supposed to be some kind of secret?Without thinking, my gaze briefly flicked toward her, but she said nothing and her face remained completely neutral.Obviously that didn't help at all,
(Katelyn's POV)We stepped out of the council chamber and into the hallway, the doors clicking shut behind us. My head felt dizzy, like I'd been spinning around and around in circles and now that I'd come to a stop, the world didn't seem to get the memo and continued to turn beneath my feet.An attendant, who’d been waiting nearby, nodded her head respectfully and began walking without a word, clearly intending for us to follow her.The place was surprisingly quiet for being so large. There was no echo of footsteps against the polished floors, no hum of distant chatter. I guessed it was the thick curtains and the huge framed paintings that were to blame. Absorbing all the sounds and swallowing them whole, leaving the space dead.Ryder and Tyler flanked me just the same as before, but the tension in their shoulders seemed to have eased somewhat. Still, they were silent as we walked, as if any sound we made might disturb the hush that hung low and oppressive over our heads.We followed
I adjusted my grip on the tiny, squirming bundle in my arms and smiled as a chorus of laughter echoed through the Valentine house."Could you hold her for a sec?" I asked Ryder, shifting Ava into a more comfortable position. "I forgot my phone downstairs.""Absolutely," he replied, his face lighting up as he took her from me.I had to admit, Ryder had surprised me. I’d always known Tyler would step up to fatherhood like it was his destiny, but Ryder… I thought he might need a little more coaxing along the way.To my relief, and, I'll be honest, surprise, that hadn’t been the case at all.Ryder had embraced fatherhood like a natural. Late-night feeds? He was right there with me. Diapers? No problem. Making sure I ate? He was relentless. And the way he loved our daughter, with every fiber of his being... God, it melted my heart daily.Tyler, on the other hand, was exactly the dad I’d known he’d be. He was steady, dependable, and endlessly patient. Where Ryder brought the energy and fun,
(Katelyn's POV)I nodded slowly, processing it all as I tried to picture it in my mind's eye."Oh! And get this!" Ryder piped up with an excited grin. "Michael, the guy you wrapped around the pillar? He's Simon's cousin!""What?! How do you know that?" I asked, confused.Tyler replied this time, "Well, when we were leaving, we bumped into Simon in one of those long, winding corridors. He started going off at us asking where we were going and if we had permission to leave, blah blah blah... But Helen shut him down. She told him that the decision had been made and instead of giving us a hard time he should probably go and check on his cousin because the last time she saw him, he didn't look so good.""You should have seen his face," Ryder smirked, chuckling to himself. "He just stood there for a moment, still blocking our path, but then I think something clicked in his head. He probably saw that we were all covered in blood and shit and realized that something was wrong and he practicall
(Katelyn's POV)The first thing I registered was the sound of hushed voices and the faint smell of lavender.My eyelids felt like they’d been superglued shut, but after what felt like an Olympic-level effort, I finally managed to pry them open.My vision swam, the room around me looking like a watercolor painting that someone had left out in the rain.Where was I? WHO was I? It felt like I had been asleep for a hundred years.I blinked repeatedly, willing my vision to focus, but when it finally did, nothing seemed familiar.It was dark, from what I could tell, and the only light was coming from a lamp somewhere on the other side of the room.I shifted onto my elbow, trying to sit up, but I instantly regretted it. Pain throbbed in my skull, my head spinning like I’d spent hours on some rotating carnival ride. A groan escaped me, and the low murmurs nearby stopped immediately.“Kate?” A voice cut through the haze... Familiar, warm, desperate.My gaze darted toward the sound, and there t
(Katelyn's POV)She was furious, but not with me. I could feel her... like a storm raging inside me, raw and untamed. I waited in the quiet shelter of my own mind, nothing more than an observer as I watched her wrath unfold. It was like witnessing a hurricane from the safety of a bunker, awe and terror warring inside me."We... We didn't know!" the iron-haired woman’s voice quivered, her arms raised defensively, as if they could shield her from the Goddess's divine fury."You didn't know?! You didn't know that you were exploiting them? Or you didn't know that I would care?" the Moon Goddes spoke through my lips, her words flowing like liquid thunder."I... We..." the woman stammered, her eyes darting around desperately, searching for someone, ANYONE, to come to her rescue. But no one did. No one dared to move. They were all frozen like statues in the face of the storm."You will—" the words spilled from my mouth, but I somehow managed to cut them off abruptly when I heard Tyler's angu
(Tyler's POV)"I don't know what to do," Kate whispered, her voice filled with helplessness as she looked up at me while I struggled against the attendants who held me in place."Let him go," she ordered, authority resonating through her voice in a way I'd never heard before.When they hesitated, she glanced toward the man she'd just sent flying through the air like a puppet as some kind of silent warning of her power.That seemed like enough for them to release me.The second I was free, I fell down beside her, desperate to stop the blood that was pouring from Ryder's neck. It was coming out so fast it was clear that they must have gotten an artery, the blood pulsating out of the wound in steady throbs."What do we do?" she whispered, looking to me for answers I didn't have.I reached out, holding my hand over hers in some futile attempt to stop the bleeding, but it was like trying to hold back a flood with a fucking paper towel.His neck was a mangled wreck. The flesh was torn open t
(Katelyn's POV)Tyler’s hand trembled as he held it in place over mine, trying desperately to stop the blood that continued to pulse out, albeit at a much slower pace now.His voice was a whisper and it wavered with desperation. "You’re going to be okay, Ryder. You hear me? Just hang on. Just—" he broke off, choking back a sob as his other hand found its way to Ryder’s blood-matted fur as he rubbed him affectionately.He looked at me, his face pale and his eyes swimming with tears that he tried uselessly to blink away.“Kate...” His voice cracked, barely audible above the rapid, shallow breaths of his brother. “The bleeding... it’s too much. He’s not healing fast enough.”His words struck me like a dagger to the chest. I'd thought it, but hearing him say it out loud made it real.“What are you saying?!” I cried, my voice raw and broken as I gripped Ryder’s limp paw, shaking it in hopes of some kind of reaction. My vision blurred as I let the tears spill down my cheeks. “Is he going to
(Katelyn's POV)Through a blur of tears, I found myself face to face with the broad-shouldered Elder, Michael."You're an abomination!" he snarled, his hands gripping my arms with a ferocity that promised bruises. "You're a curse! A witch! A temptress! Do you know how my family has suffered because of you?!" he spat as he shook me violently, his eyes filled with absolute rage."But... I..." I stammered, trying to form words into sentences, but my brain couldn't do it.All I could do was stare at him, still reeling from the fact that one second I had been kneeling beside Ryder, trying to help him, and the next, I was being violently shaken by a man who seemed to have gone full psycho."Katelyn?!" Tyler called out, realizing I was no longer at his side.Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him struggling against about three or four attendants who tried to hold him back.Suddenly, pain shot through my cheek and the world around me fell into a darkness that seemed to ebb and flow like the t
(Katelyn's POV)For a moment, the entire room froze and my ears rang with the word exterminated."We're leaving," Tyler said, his voice low as he snatched me by the wrist and tugged me toward the door.The attendants remained though, none of them making any move to unblock our path. Instead, they all looked toward the iron-haired woman as if waiting for her to give them some instruction."Move," Tyler demanded sharply as Ryder appeared on my other side."We aren't finished here," the iron-haired woman called out as three more attendants appeared to block our exit."She wants to leave," Ryder replied, his voice filled with venom as he turned to address her."We aren't finished," she repeated, her voice cold and sharp as steel."I thought you said this was a hearing," I shot back, glaring at her. "Was there some line in the invitation about being held against my will? Because if there was, I must’ve missed that part," I spat, trying to hide my growing fear with sarcasm.The room fell si
(Katelyn's POV)The iron-haired woman watched me, her grip on her notes tightening once more. Her restraint was evident as she took a deep breath before finally replying. “You have already been told, Miss Grey, that this meeting is for us to ascertain—”I cut her off, my own patience now unraveling fast. “God, you can’t even give me a straight answer! What are the potential outcomes here?!” I demanded. "Even criminals on trial know what potential penalties they'll be facing! Why can't I be afforded the same courtesy?! Are you going to impose some kind of limitations on me and my abilities? Or do you plan to lock me in a prison cell? Or maybe a tower in the middle of nowhere? Are you going to kill me? Seriously, what options are on the table here?!" I pressed, annoyed by how fucking evasive she was being.It felt like they had already made up their minds here. While a few of them did seem to be on my side, it's clear that many of them were not. And those who sat on the fence would likel