Theon“You're right when you said the ring is shielding her,” Master Tsertinand mutters as he opens his eyes for the umpteenth time after yet another failed attempt at finding the trail that would lead to Callista. “This stupid thing thinks I'm trying to harm her! Who the hell made it? Fucking amateurs!”“Does that mean you can't trace her?” I ask, my hope running low with every passing second. “Come on, Tsertinand, you cannot give up on this,” the Headmistress insists. “A girl's life is in danger.”“Who said anything about giving up?” Master Tsertinand snaps. “You've known me for 500 years, Beadohild, have you seen me give up anything? I just need some more time. I'm starting to figure out the pattern the ring is trying to lead me on, and I need to 'crack the code' as the kids say these days.”“How do you know anything about what the kids say these days? You don't even come out of your cave!” Kiran mutters next to me, and then stammers when Tsertinand gives him a withering glare. “U
TheonFive trucks are filled with prisoners and my own guards. There's a guard for each prisoner, and they sit in the trucks facing each other. I don't think the prisoners will try anything along the way, but we can't be too sure. I get on the truck in the front while Haden takes the one in the back. That way we could cover the whole fleet. Ophelia helps glamor the trucks so they would seem like transportation trucks rather than those holding people, so the humans won't get suspicious. So, I thank her and climb to the passenger seat of the truck, which is driven by Terrel, we start the journey. “So, what's the game plan once we get to the Former Leighwen pack?” Haden asks through the phone.We are engaged in a group call with all the guards except those that drive so we can discuss strategy. I have my phone on speaker so Terrel can listen in.“Find a new name for it, first and foremost,” Terrel mutters. “Saying Former Leighwen all the time is tiring.”“Seconded,” Haden replies.“Fi
TheonI know the layout of the house, so I walk through the hallway that leads to the sitting room where I first met Callista, and boy, doesn't that bring back memories. I could still picture Ruelle stumbling onto me in the hallway and smelling the most amazing, floral scent in the world.Little did I know then that it was only coming from her because Ruelle had met up with Callista earlier so she could dress her.Literally dress her, not help her get dressed. Because they’d drugged my mate to her gills like an animal so she could barely move.I remember how happy I'd felt at finally finding my mate. She was everything I'd expected and everything I thought I wanted; a normal werewolf girl who was kind and good, completely opposite from Valencia. Little did I know that was just a front to hide who she really was. I sit down opposite the chair in which Callista sat a long time ago, making myself at home. Oh, how weak she had been that day, unable to even talk much less move her body,
Theon“Alphahood?!” Sam exclaims, his eyes wide. “You want me to be the Alpha of the Leighwen pack?”“Exactly. But if you take it, it’s not going to be Leighwen pack anymore, as conventions go. It’ll be the Kennedy pack,” I reply, and wait for him to stop gaping at me.Finally, he does and clears his throat, blushing. “Um, sorry about that,” he says. “But can you repeat that again? Is that even legal?”“Look,” I start to clarify. “Because I killed your Alpha in a duel, I'm now the Alpha of both the Rexellen and Leighwen packs, and on top of being the Alpha King as well as dealing with the current situation we’ve found ourselves in, that is far too much responsibility for me. I don’t think I’d be able to do my duty as an Alpha properly, much less a King, if I bite more than I can chew. Even if that wasn’t the case, I do not want this pack under my command. You're the Beta of the pack, and considering how your Alpha was still unmated when he met his unfortunate end, you have every righ
TheonAs soon as I step down from the pedestal, the members of the pack swarm their new Alpha, shouting their questions at him. I let them have their discussions and step away from the crowd. My work here is done, and I don't want to wait a second longer than necessary. The people give me a wide berth as I walk away, still looking at me with fear. They must see me as a ruthless man now, someone who lives up to the rumors about him, despite how I actually showed Leighwen more kindness than he deserved. Oh, well, I could live with that. But before I can escape the town square, I hear a loathsome but familiar voice call out my name. “Theon! Theon, please wait.”I bite back a sigh of frustration and turn in the direction of the scream. Callista's mother comes running towards me, followed by Callista's father. “Yes?” I ask, my voice as calm as I can make it. “What do you want?”They look shocked as I say it as if they weren't expecting me to be like that. “We just want to check on y
TheonI'm flabbergasted by this sudden change of subjects. I take a few moments to collect myself before answering his bizarre question. “I don't know anything, and neither does Callista,” I say. “Why are you asking about them all of a sudden?”Haden tilts his head. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking and I’m well aware that this is a reach, but what if her parents have something to do with her disappearance?”“Huh?” I question, not completely understanding what he's saying. “Look, I can't quite articulate it. It's just a random thought but we know nothing about her parents, and the Leighwen-sorry, Kennedy pack supposedly found her in a forest. And then she turns out to be the stealer, someone from whom the devil wants something from. Doesn't it all sound fishy to you?” he asks. “I just wonder if whatever this is has something to do with her birth family.”I think his words through carefully. Often, children get their special abilities from their parents in the supernatural world. If your
Theon“This is so confusing,” I say, looking between the women. “Why would you lie about her origins? Why did you say she was found in a forest when she wasn’t?”“Because the truth was hard to tell,” Maddy reveals. “Especially to her family, because the way we acquired Callista wasn’t exactly legal.”We were not expecting that kind of a bombshell to be dropped on us.“I think you better start from the beginning,” Haden chimes when I continue having a mini meltdown.“One of our wolves went into the human city for a private matter,” Maddy explains, pulling out a file from the cabinet. “While she was there, she felt the scent of a werewolf within all the humans. At first, she was afraid it was a criminal because it's the criminals and exiles who normally tend to live with humans, but when she traced the scent, it ended up in a human foster home. There, she found a little girl who wasn't older than nine months, who smelled like a werewolf.”“Because it's not safe for wolves to be raised b
CallistaWho the hell was the woman in my dreams? She's familiar to me, but I've never seen her before. Yet I feel like I should know her. I drag my hand down my face with a groan. Goddess, why was this happening to me? Seriously, wasn't one problem at a time enough? I already got that crazy devil Xaveraq to deal with, I don't have time for oddly specific mystery women talking to me in my dreams!I get off the bed and stretch. Goddess, I need to use the toilet so bad. But this damn chain is too short for me to even reach the door that leads to the bathroom.“Xaveraq, you bastard!” I shout out crankily. “I need to use the freaking bathroom! But how am I supposed to use the freaking bathroom when I can't even reach it?!”No answer comes from the ceiling, and that pisses me up more.“Xaveraq!” I yell. “Now you choose to go MIA. Of all the fucking time-”“Geez, I'm here, stop yelling,” Xaveraq's voice comes, and I nearly sigh in relief. “What did I tell you about blood pressure before? I
CallistaTen years later.I stand in front of Lily Lane Pup Daycare after ending my workday at Rexellen University, holding a stack of books in my arms trying to shove them into the backpack I’ve taken with me.It’s three in the evening, and the kids should be out in a few minutes.It’s summer again, the weather is pleasantly warm, and everything brims with life. There are bees flying everywhere, suckling nectar out of the numerous fully blossomed Leanderrs.The Rexellen pack town is as busy as ever, with people bustling around after clocking off from work, going on their errands, and their outings.Everyone seems happy, and they’re open and very friendly.Upon noticing me, everyone who passes greets me with a simple.“Good evening, Luna!”“Good evening to you too!” I always greet back.Some parents stop by near the daycare to collect their children, and we start pleasantly conversing with each other.I’ve been the Luna Queen of the Rexellen pack for ten years now, and honestly, those
CallistaFour weeks later.I walk down the shoveled path with a single lily flower in my hand, a smile on my lips, and my heart overflowing with joy.I’m dressed in an ankle-length, heavy-set gown that accentuates my form as if it had been sewn with me in my mind.It’s a silverish white in color in accordance with tradition, and a million tiny rhinestones create spiraling patterns all over the skirt. The long sleeves and the woolen cloak that accompany them give me warmth on the cold winter night.On my neck, there is a white gold necklace with a diamond as the pendant, the only piece of jewelry I wear, which is a gift from the witches who'd arrived a day before to celebrate the ceremony.The mating ceremony for Theon and me.In the background, a string quartet, comprised of two maids of the Rexellen pack castle and two guards, plays a tune that I can't quite name but can’t help but think is so apt for the situation.On either side of me, my closest friends whom I consider my family s
CallistaA week later.Valencia Everhart was sentenced to life in prison by the Supernatural Council for assisting the devil in his criminal endeavors such as kidnapping and harboring a werewolf, orchestrating a pack takeover on the orders of the devil, attempted killing of two pack members of the Rexellen pack and the biggest crime of them all, assisting the devil in massacring the entire Galdine pack.I thought the last one was a bit harsh because Valencia never really did know about that charge, but as Valencia had confessed in the court, she’d given the devil the location and information regarding her pack.She had been under the impression the devil was going to protect the Galdine pack from Theon’s retaliation against the pack takeover, but she’d been lied to.We attended the court on the same day as Valencia did, and I’m sure that the cries that ravaged her as she learned the horrible fate that befell her pack would never stop haunting my nightmares.I felt sorry for her, and a
CallistaQaetanya and Xaveraq reached the afterlife together.One was willing, the other was not. One sacrificed herself, while the other, well, I had to kill the other.Xaveraq’s soulless body lays in the circular chamber, and I don’t look at it again as we exit the room, both of us still in wolf forms.I feel numb as we stumble out of the temple as soon as possible after I release the devil’s and the deviless’s souls into the gateway.None of us speak, although I could feel everyone except Theon patiently waiting for the right moment. They look stunned as we walk through the doorway. For a moment I’d been afraid the doorway wouldn’t be present because of it being only shown with the blessing of a devil and all, but fortunately, it stands.As soon as we all exit the temple doorway, it starts to shudder. And then the most bizarre thing happens.Numerous high-pitched screams ring through the air, and greyish white mist starts to shoot from all directions towards the doorway, getting su
TheonI can’t process half the things that are happening as I stand outside the little circular room, trying and failing to get in.One moment, Callista is being choked by the devil, and the next moment, in the place of Callista, stands a majestic white wolf! The wolf shimmers as if she were the Moon Goddess herself in wolf form, stepping down from the moon to aid us in our time of need.But when the wolf looks at me for the briefest moment and howls in ecstasy, I realize that this wolf is no Goddess.That’s my mate!After months, no, years, of agonizing, Callista has finally found her wolf.But then she turns towards Xaveraq and leaps towards him with no hesitation.My scream deafens my own ears, wondering what the hell she was doing. I witness the whole scene as if it’s unfolding in slow motion.As Callista nears the devil, whose shadows are closing in on her to consume her, a flash of blinding white light erupts from her, filling the room with a glow akin to the sun.I shield my e
QaetanyaHer wolf is beautiful, reminiscent of the first wolfwoman I met in the forests of Gaul all those years ago.She is larger than most wolves, were-creature or otherwise, and when she stands, she cuts a majestic figure, even in the confines of the squat, circular room. Her coat is a silverish white, and it glistens as if it was created by moonlight, as if the Goddess molded the wolf herself.Her emerald eyes shine as she stares at Xaveraq in confusion, and amazement, stunned to her very core.She can’t still process that after years of hope and dream, she’d finally transformed into her secondary form.I had watched her wolf grow from a pup to an adult within her as I was trapped in her mind ever since she was born. Throughout the three thousand years I’ve been with Callista’s bloodline, I’ve witnessed hundreds of pups being born within the babies, but never have I seen a wolf as beautiful as this one.Even I was in awe when she first appeared, sleeping soundly, growing along wit
CallistaThe very first time I witnessed a werewolf’s first shift I was just five years old.It was at a birthday party, and of course, it was for Ruelle.Naturally, almost everyone from my adoptive parents’ families was invited. I liked my relatives because they didn’t favor Ruelle over me to the extent my parents did. At this time, all I had were Ruelle’s hand-me-downs. Her clothes, her toys, her books…The only thing I had for myself was a pair of shoes because Ruelle’s feet had always been smaller than mine, and there was no way my feet could fit in her shoes.I loved those shoes so much.That didn’t mean I never got gifts. My parents’ relatives would always give me presents of my own when they came to visit. It didn’t matter if it was Ruelle’s birthday or mine.It didn’t matter if it was a special day, a holiday, or even a plain, random visit to see how we were doing: clothes, shoes, toys, and new books; everything a little girl could want.Granted these things would be taken awa
Callista“My, my, Qaetanya, you’re actually stronger than I thought. Here I thought that you wasted it all by giving that werewolf a special scent,” the devil taunts the deviless as he circles us, his eyes set on us as if he’s a predator.“I was blessed by the Goddess,” arrogantly, Qaetanya declares, flexing her digits so the electric sparks flicker around them. “Such a power cannot be hindered by anything, least of all you!”“All except the summer solstice,” Xaveraq grins before hurtling another wave of shadows towards her.Qaetanya ducks them swiftly, and the shadows hit the wall behind us, getting absorbed into the stone. Using her momentum, Qaetanya attacks Xaveraq with a light wave of her own, which Xaveraq detracts by a shield of shadows.“I told you that information because I trusted you,” Qaetanya replies to the jab. “Because I believed the man I loved wouldn’t even think of hurting me with that information. But you did exactly that. You might preach about me manipulating you
TheonA pillar monster falls right in front of me, nearly crushing me, but I jump away just in time. The sheer force of the fall breaks its stone arm in two, and the eerie silverish glow in its eyes subsides. The pillar monster stops moving.“I think he died,” I tell Haden, who is panting on the other side of the fallen monster.This is the only one that we managed to fall, and by the looks of it, kill.“Holy shit, did that actually work?” Kiran screeches.He was the propellent of bringing the monster down. Now, he jumps back to the ground from the shield he’s been standing on and jogs closer to the pillar monster.Tentatively, he reaches out and touches its cracked shoulder, where some of the previously seen symbols are visible. I remember them running all around the pillars before the monsters came into being, glowing.I look at him and nod, trying to confer my thoughts via body movements.Yes, I think it actually worked.“Guys, we managed to bring a monster down!” Kiran yells back