I felt myself tense at who was at the other side of the door and silently thanked the Goddess I hadn’t opened that can of worms. I motioned to Lorenzo to get the door.
“It’s for you. We can continue this later,” I told him and he raised an eyebrow before opening the door revealing Caroline.
“Hey love! How did you know where I was? Where this office was..?” He asked, clearly confused and no doubt concerned about the idea she had been wandering trying to follow his scent and lost in the packhouse for who knows how long. Little did he know that she knew damn well where this office was.
“I-I asked a pack member and they directed me up here. I wanted to check on you. You’ve been gone awhile and I was worried the meeting had…. gotten, serious,” she said. I heard my wolf chuckle in my mind. She was worried I had told him. Well, little did she know I was going to soon.
{ Raine }I sucked in a breathe as I heard Car speak the four words I had been afraid of hearing since this whole thing began. I looked to Alex who was instantly in Alpha mode.“You stay here, you monitor what you can and please, please don’t leave the house,” he asked me. I was grateful he wasn’t telling me outright but I also knew this wasn’t a request.“Of course, I will work from here. If you need eyes in the sky or… I don’t know… a storm, let me know,” I told him seriously. He nodded and swept in for a kiss before my heart walked out the door to war.I took deep breaths while Anna came over and held my hand.“What now?” She asked me, as she slowly pushed me to the war table to look at it.I focused on my emotions and centered myself on my sadness to have full access to my abilities
{ Alexander } I watched her breathe in and then out more times than i could handle and she still hadn't spoken. Her hand had made its way to her stomach unconsciously. She sat there staring at the photo and rubbing her fingers over her bump. I watched as she closed her eyes and I was being tortured with her emotions that were washing over me one by one as they hit her. From shock, to pain, to grieving, to guilt. It was when the guilt hit me that I made my move to finally say something to her. "Baby, You have nothing to feel guilty about. Nothing. This is all on her, her choice to join her mate, her choice to allow this and be apart of it. You couldn't stop her or change this, even if you had known," I told her softly. She just shook her head and closed her eyes. I saw one tear fall and I heard the rain on the windows shortly after. I glanced over and saw that both Nel and Car had wide eyes so I reassured them it wo
{ Raine }He watched me for a moment before he said anything in response.“And by us…” he said finally, drawing out the end and raising an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes in return at his question and turned to my dad without even responding. The only issue was that he was looking at me the same way that my mate was.“Excuse me gentleman, but the last time I checked I was the Luna Queen, the reason this entire war even is happening, and the only elemental werewolf in the world. I was born for this, so yes, I was including myself in the ‘us’ that need to go to America,” I said standing up and eyeing them both. I felt my power leaking out however It didn’t effect either of the men present. Neither of their faces faultered so I added at the end to make them feel better, “I am aware that I am also much more, including a daughter, mate and mother to be, and I assure you I have
“Nelson, could you please come take your nephew,” Abuela said, gesturing to the sleeping toddler in my arms. “I will need Raine to have free movement for this.” Without hesitation he came and took Cooper from me, settling him into his arms so he could continue sleeping. We were all surprised when he didn’t wake up, but turned our attention back to Abuela. “The Queen Luna and Alpha King who reigned during the last great war did not belong to a pack when they ruled. Their pack had been annihilated, while their connection remained with the previous members, no leaders existed when they took their oaths and became the King and Queen from the Goddess. That being said, while they chose to denounce their titles and remain as average wolves the rest of their existence, the Luna Queen kept two things for her future bloodline. It would seem, that she knew, that there would once again be a need for a Luna Queen again one day,” she said softly but p
{ Caroline }Fuck NO. Fuck fuck fuck.I had never, been this angry. Fine, his pack was strong. Fine, he had built it up and they had more land. Fine, maybe they were even the biggest and strongest in Europe. That was a simple thing to change. Fine, he wasn’t weak and wallowing, crushed by the way he didn’t have me anymore.But I REFUSED to submit to him happily as the damn Alpha King. My wolf sputtered and spewed as she felt their auras work over the crowd, work over us. She tried and tried to deny it, to fight the order and authority but she couldn’t. We were only Beta by blood and couldn’t even overpower a regular Alpha aura, let alone a royal one.Royalty…- my wolf spit the word out with more venom than I had ever felt work through her.There is no way, there HAS to be a mistake- I told her back.I even allowed her to speak o
{ Alexander }I watched my children dance on the screen, holding hands and kicking as hard as they could when they came in contact with each other. My mate grunted as their small kicks collided with her organs and it made me chuckle.“They are so sweet,” I told her.“And strong,” she said as she rubbed the side of her stomach. This made both Carmen and I chuckle as Carmen continued to check on their growth.It was the morning now, and tonight we were leaving for America. Before we left, Carmen wanted to check on the babies. She was coming with us, if for no other reason, to keep an eye on and be there for Raine in case she or the babies needed her. Once Anthony told her about everything, I guess she went upstairs, packed a bag, and asked when we were leaving. She was these babies grandmother after all, and she felt a personal responsibility and attachment to Raine and these ba
Once we were settled it was a long flight. We stopped in for gas on the East Coast of America briefly and I mindlinked Jason for an update. All our warriors ahead of us had now arrived and they were settled in. Jason was an impressive Alpha, and if pressed I would say that I would trust him to run all of America for me if needed. He was organized, thoughtful, merciful when necessary, and while I hate the word, obedient. He didn’t fight me near as much as the other Alphas still did. He had damn near everything ready for us when we arrived and I thanked him for it.A quick gas up and we were on our way. Raine and Cooper were asleep in the bed in the back of the plane, but I couldn’t sleep. I was mind linking Car and working through maps for tomorrow. It was the middle of the night now thanks to how long we had to fly, it would damn near be morning once we arrived. I wouldn’t have long to get everything in order to attack.I h
“They need to know Raine is here, they need to know you want to end this war, and where to meet. I don’t see them backing down from the challenge, they don’t know you have thousands of extra warriors here from our packs the local ones. This should be enough, but bottom line, you say what you need to to get them there,” Alex told him sternly. Jason, to his credit, held Alex’s gaze despite his growing and demanding aura the more he spoke.“Yes Your Highness,” he said with a bowed head. We pulled a phone over to the table and he tried the first number. It rang a few times, but then we got to a generic voicemail. He dialed the second number and after three rings, someone answered.“What?”I sucked in a breathe as my mother’s voice filled the other end of the line. This was it, this was the finally slap of reality. Any piece of me that had still hoped she wasn&
9 years later.{ Raine }“MAMAAAAAAA!!”I released a deep sigh as her loud voice echoed through the house. What now for the love of the Goddess above, I muttered to myself.“Yes mija?” I called out.“Cooper stole my ice cream again!” Isabella, my youngest screeched..“Ok mija, where is he?”“Across the field, by the training house,” she called out and sniffled. She was my baby, at only 7.5 years old. And while her brother was the sweetest and gentlest with her of his siblings, there were extenuating circumstances sometimes, and in this particular one, it wasn’t actually about his sister at all.I walked out to the front door and peered over. Sure enough, there he was. Cooper was 12 now, and standing there by the field building with him was Catalina, the only girl he had eyes for. This was the third time he had taken something from his sister to give to her. It was always the same, Catalina’s favorite ice cream was also Bellas favorite. But I Wasn’t having this at all.I mindlinked the
The thought occurs to me as I watch the breeze continue while Alex tickles Cooper and his sweet giggles float across the wind and make me smile and so I voice it.“Wait, what is the emotion that affects Air?”In all the time I had known and trained with Gus he never once mentioned what his emotion was like my dad and Tellus had. Happiness, Anger, Sadness… what was the mystical fourth one?The softest and smallest smile crossed Tellus’ face as he looked to me and then to my son and finally to my dad who shared the same smile as him.“I didn’t realize you had never asked Gus, I wish you would have. He always had the best explanation for it, the best way to describe it.” Dad said.“It’s love,” Tellus said to me.Love…“Oh,” I said more to myself. Love. I was havi
As we walked away I felt the heartache begin to fade. I stopped in my tracks and I watched as my father and Tellus did the same. “That was fast,” Tellus said more to himself. “Yeah,” my dad breathed out. They both looked at me and noticed my confusion that mirrored theirs, except I didn’t have the answer that they clearly did. “What just happened?” I asked when neither off them offered it up. “What do you mean?” Alex responded with worry etched on his faced. He glanced at me and looked me over from top to toe. I noticed him shift between his feet and then glance toward the direction of the battle, then back to me. “Another was already chosen,” Tellus tells us. “Another Air,” my dad adds as he looks at both of us to make sure we understand. “What? Already?” I asked, shocked. “Wow,
{ Raine }I watched as Alex took off to Rick where I had landed him. That burst of water had been the perfect way to allow Alex the opening he needed to safely approach and challenge Rick. Once Alex and Rick were both shifted and circling each other, I moved my focus to the rest of the fight.I couldn’t help the smirk that formed on my face when I took in the chaos that my fellow elementals were causing. Wolves were literally on fire despite my heavy rains, those tornados from Gus were perfectly placed and Tell was a beast with his powers. I never would have guessed that his abilites could be so effective in a war. Himself and mine seem to be the least deadly, but we were proving otherwise.I heard a growl from the left of me and turned to see a rogue sneaking up on me. I quickly formed a puddle underneath him that go deeper and deeper. It was only a distraction though, and it worked perfectly. He moved his paws un
“You should not have come here.”“You are my daughter, you don’t belong here.” Nora yelled at her. Her voice cracked a bit but she recovered quickly and put up her front.“I belong with my pack,” Raine said with conviction.Nora sneered at her now, “Oh really? And with your… mate?”The disgust in her voice as she mentioned me seemed to make Raine angry.“There is no one and no where I would rather be than with him.” She held her chin up high as she addressed her mother while also keeping a side eye on her mother’s mate who seemed to be tense and uncomfortable.“Fool, they have told you such things. Packs are unforgiving and toxic. Have you forgotten what they did to me? To us?” Nora screamed at Raine.I saw Raine smack her tongue against the front o
{ Raine }I felt a rough hand grab mine as I counted down to 0 along with Alex. I knew from the feeling of fire burning up my arm it was my father. 5 seconds.“No more rogues are moving, over a hundred backed down, but they still have an impressive army. I don’t know what Alex said, but it really pissed off Nora and Rick, I can feel the anger coming off them in waves, even sensing them from here,” I told the room.It was myself, the other 3 elementals, and 5 of the warriors from our pack. We were in a house that was on the packlands, but separate from the packhouse and main area. If they did search for me at the main packlands they wouldn’t find me. This was a small cabin in the woods that Abuelo and Jason’s grandfather had built as a bit of a safe house if needed, but it was mostly used by the Luna and Mona of the packs over the years when they needed some peace. To make it the prime spot t
{ Alexander }I snaked my arm around Raine in an attempt to push back this bristled feeling that was growing every minute that we grew closer to the fight and she wasn’t hidden somewhere. I glanced at my watch for 6thtime this minute.39 minutes.I needed her safe. I needed her gone from here. I have no doubt the rogues will send out spys to see if we are here and if they see Raine they may attack early or worse, follow her to her hiding spot.“Baby,” I said for the umpteenth time. She put her hand on my hand that was on her waist to acknowledge me but didn’t respond to me as she was directing warriors to their positions. She was glorious right now, I took another moment to appreciate her in this role before I sent her away. Her stretegy was flawless, her insight was priceless and I did feel a touch bad that she wasn’t going to be able to be here closer
“They need to know Raine is here, they need to know you want to end this war, and where to meet. I don’t see them backing down from the challenge, they don’t know you have thousands of extra warriors here from our packs the local ones. This should be enough, but bottom line, you say what you need to to get them there,” Alex told him sternly. Jason, to his credit, held Alex’s gaze despite his growing and demanding aura the more he spoke.“Yes Your Highness,” he said with a bowed head. We pulled a phone over to the table and he tried the first number. It rang a few times, but then we got to a generic voicemail. He dialed the second number and after three rings, someone answered.“What?”I sucked in a breathe as my mother’s voice filled the other end of the line. This was it, this was the finally slap of reality. Any piece of me that had still hoped she wasn&
Once we were settled it was a long flight. We stopped in for gas on the East Coast of America briefly and I mindlinked Jason for an update. All our warriors ahead of us had now arrived and they were settled in. Jason was an impressive Alpha, and if pressed I would say that I would trust him to run all of America for me if needed. He was organized, thoughtful, merciful when necessary, and while I hate the word, obedient. He didn’t fight me near as much as the other Alphas still did. He had damn near everything ready for us when we arrived and I thanked him for it.A quick gas up and we were on our way. Raine and Cooper were asleep in the bed in the back of the plane, but I couldn’t sleep. I was mind linking Car and working through maps for tomorrow. It was the middle of the night now thanks to how long we had to fly, it would damn near be morning once we arrived. I wouldn’t have long to get everything in order to attack.I h