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41: Bloodlines
Last Updated:
2023-01-06 01:35:00Related chapters
Rite of Power 42: Lab Rats
They’d awoken Sophie and refreshed themselves a little by the time that I was ready to go. “Does Isabel know to expect us? Or should I let her know now?” I pulled my hair up into a messy bun to keep it out of the way while I got poked and prodded for however long this was going to take. “She’s expecting us,” Dmitri circled his arms around me from behind. “It’s not going to be as bad as you think it’ll be,” he tried to whisper reassurances in my ear. I shrugged, “Easy for you to say, you’re probably not going to become a human pin cushion after this.” I leaned into his embrace briefly, taking what little comfort I could before volunteering for torture. I couldn’t say that I could blame her for looking surprised. A request to be ready for the four of us, during the time of day I usually trained, I probably would’ve expected to see someone in need of medical attention as well. “Should we start with your concerns or see if I can break her
Last Updated : 2023-01-07Rite of Power 43: The Ruse
I couldn’t help but wonder if all this was my fault. If I’d just listened to her when she’d insisted that she didn’t need the recognition or the formalities, would we still have to go through any of this? Would Ulf have even found out about her if we hadn’t stuck to tradition and invited him? Candice may have still been a thorn in our side at some point. Be she wouldn’t have been given the chance to create this much trouble. I was sure of that much. She would’ve been killed on sight the moment she’d stepped a foot into our territory. It was just the way that she’d been posed and done up to look like Selene that had saved her life. And now she’d been allowed to get under all of our skin. Without letting Selene rip her mind to shreds there was no way of knowing what information that she’d given to Ulf. We could only assume that she’d divulged every intimate detail that she knew about all of us in her attempt to be his ally. I never should’ve let her stay
Last Updated : 2023-01-10Rite of Power 44: Unwelcome Home
It wasn’t as though I had been expecting a warm welcome home or anything like that, but seeing Sophie standing at the top of the stairs outside waiting for me all alone reminded me how broken things still were. She waved and smiled like the Cheshire cat as we pulled up to the entrance and waited until the motor died before waving out a few of the maid staff to come collect our guests’ baggage. She followed them down the stairs, practically bouncing with excitement as we stepped out of the vehicle. “Luna Jeanette, and Delta Anthony, it’s so wonderful to see you again!” Sophie’s smile widened as Jeanette blushed. “Lu-Beta Sophia, it’s so kind of you to come oversee our arrival personally,” Jeanette stepped towards Sophie and pulled her into an awkward hug. It was interesting to see that I wasn’t the only one that hadn’t quite adjusted to Sophie’s new title and place within the pack. “I wouldn’t hear of anyone else greeting you,” Sophie r
Last Updated : 2023-01-12Rite of Power 45: Blood Oath
“I’ve never faltered in my original oath as your Beta or my loyalties to you or the pack,” I growled angrily, dropping my bag and stepping towards him to meet whatever challenge he wanted to lay before me. “I’m not going to risk the life of my mate on a paltry oath of empty words made when we were children,” Dmitri growled back, staring at me through the obsidian orbs of his wolf’s eyes. “I’ve never told a soul the truth of your relationship,” my own wolf pushed to the surface and growled back. “My oath was neither empty words nor meaningless to me. I will carry that secret to my grave.” He chuckled bitterly, “You’ve always been a defiant and foolish whelp.” “And you’re a stubborn impulsive hot head!” “Wolves back in their cages,” Selene hissed at both of us, having moved undetected yet again. I felt like all the air was sucked out of my lungs, and staggered back as my wolf retreated,
Last Updated : 2023-01-14Rite of Power 46: The Decision
Watching Nathan process the truth reminded me of when I’d first told Dmitri. He was just sitting there and stared at me as if I’d grown another head and 3 sets of arms with monstrous claws at each end. I was beginning to wish that I could see what was going on inside his head. At the very least, I should’ve taken Isabel’s suggestion and done this where all his vitals could’ve been monitored during the process. But, I felt I owed him his privacy instead. “Maybe we should go ahead with Blake taking over things for tonight,” Dmitri sounded smug, happy to see that finally he hadn’t been the only one with difficulty coming to terms with my existence. “I can still do my job,” Nathan’s voice sounded a little robotic and detached. “It doesn’t really look like you can do much of anything right now,” Sophie quipped from her seat. She was also enjoying Nathan’s struggle, but more like how a sister enjoys her siblings’ misery. “I
Last Updated : 2023-01-18Rite of Power 47: Delphinios
Sophie and I must’ve covered ever inch of hallway through the pack house before dinner. The meal was tasteless in my mouth as I made small talk with our visiting Luna, though Kelly and Sophie handled most of the conversation with talk about the baby shower. I should’ve tried to enjoy it more. It was the last meal I’d have before we turned the whole world on its side for everyone. With Caleb distracted by the proximity of his mate and the full moon just a few days away, neither of our guests seemed to notice when the five of us wondering off together. The closer we got to the secure medical wing, the more anxious I felt. It was one thing to tell someone who I was. It was something completely different to share my blood and then try to call and transfer a wolf spirit while being recorded by any number of medical devices and with an audience. Dr Martinez practically gave Kelly a complete physical before we could proceed with anything. “Are you performing
Last Updated : 2023-01-20Rite of Power 48: Prisoner
For once, Nathan had impeccable timing. He showed up just as Isabel started talking about wanting to set up a series of tests to prove a hunch she had. Blake and Kelly had already agreed to stay overnight for observation, and I had no intention of joining them. Sophie stayed behind, to keep Kelly company and compare notes on what it was like to share a body with one of the Menae, while the rest of us headed off to deal with Candice. We stood as a group, outside of her cell, while Dr Martinez gave Candice a quick examination to make sure that she was healthy enough to be moved without needing any medical attention. I would never know if Isabel was just really fast, too distracted by Kelly’s situation, or if I’d actually put enough thought into her care to keep her healthy, because it didn’t take long for Isabel to join us and report that she didn’t need any further medical care. Dmitri grabbed my wrist and pulled me against him as I tried to enter the l
Last Updated : 2023-01-21Rite of Power 49: Empath
While the energy wasn’t nearly as bad as when I’d brought Bo over from the Aether, I still felt sluggish and drained in the morning. Part of that could’ve been attributed to the fact that I’d only closed my eyes a few hours ago. As promised, Dmitri hadn’t cared what time it was when we found ourselves alone together. Not that I was complaining. I couldn’t even pretend to be upset that he’d let me sleep through my normal training routine. Both of the people who I trained with had had full days themselves and probably needed the morning off just as much as I had. The thought reminded me that Kelly had spent the whole night in the hospital instead of her own comfortable bed. I nudged Dmitri awake and forced myself to move through our suite to get ready for the day. If Isabel hadn’t already checked on Kelly I could knock that out and make a quick visit to my aunt before breakfast. With Nathan back, I could let him deal with Candice and just fill me in on t
Last Updated : 2023-01-24
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If you've made it all the way to end of this chapter in Selene's journey, then I hope that you've enjoyed the ride thus far. The next and final chapter of her life "Rite of War" should start posting around December of 2023. If you feel like being encouraging, and you have a minute or two to spare, please add a book review/comment. I don't know if it helps boost the story, but I do know that they boost my mood
Rite of Power 120: The Alpha of Alphas
I didn’t know how long I stood there, just staring at the lump in my hand as the thumping slowed to a stop. But I could still feel its pulse in my fingertips. Not fingers exactly, something more akin to monster hands. I found myself wondering if they’d be as pristinely white as the short velvety fur coving my arm if they weren’t coated in blood. “Selene…” Someone said my name, but they sounded too far away for me to recognize the voice. The dead lump rolled off my fingertips, falling to the ground with a wet thud. I didn’t feel anything now that it wasn’t pulping in my hand. I was numb and hollowed out, just like the lifeless husk at my feet.&nb
Rite of Power 119: A Final Breath
The sky was completely free of even the barest wisp of a cloud. It was as if the gods were watching, and had declared that nothing obstruct their view of the fight they’d been promised. There weren’t even any birds singing in the forest around our little meadow in the middle of the woods. Someone was going to die here today. Sophie had done well. A ten foot circle was clearly marked in the center of the grass with a larger circle marked around it another ten feet out. Beyond that, two white tents stood up on opposite sides of each other. I was supposed to do all of this, but the goddess wouldn’t settle for anything less than a full twenty-four hours. I had to kill someone today. I knew that I was physically capable of doing it. I was just a little iffy on if I had the conviction to kill her in such a gruesome way. It would’ve been much easier to just order her to stop breathing. But blood had to be spilt. I’d be rem
Rite of Power 118: Death March
I felt a little guilty for leaving Blake to deal with Selene’s possession all night. Now I owed him, Kelly and Sophie big. I just couldn’t risk that she’d find a way to seduce me if we were alone together. She curled up beside Blake on the sofa, under a throw blanket with her head on his lap. At least he’d managed to get her to sleep before she was set to fight to death in a couple hours. Blake looked exhausted himself, like he hadn’t slept a wink and brought his finger to his lips in a shushing motion when he saw me. ‘How much trouble did she give you?’ His shrug
Rite of Power 117: A Long Day
It wasn’t too hard to babysit a goddess once I started approaching the situation like I was taking care of my own little sister when she much younger. Aside from having a filthy vocabulary and an overwhelming sense of entitlement, it was just like taking care of a ten year old girl. She played in the water like she was a nymph, basked in the sun until it got too warm, preferred sweets and junk food over veggies, playing dress up with the plethora of clothes in the closet, and sitting on the floor in front of me while I brushed and braided her long, unruly curly locks for her. “She chose well with you,” she sighed contentedly as she watched me clean up our dinner dishes.
Rite of Power 116: Tick-Tick-Tick
“I don’t understand, what is going on?” Alex stared at me as I watched Dmitri storm down the hall. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her out of the hall, “I don’t know yet either, but I’ll let you know what I can when I find out. Ok love?” She frowned at me, “Meaning you have to leave early this morning.” “You know I don’t want too,” I brushed the hair out of her face, “and in just one more day, almost all of this craziness will be done and over. Then I can ask Dimi and Selene to let us have a few days out at the cabin.&rdq
Rite of Power 115: Babystitting
Nathan ran back to spend his day with Candice, some kind of last day with her mate bullshit. Dmitri had shifted back into his wolf to carry the goddess in Selene’s body out to their hideaway cabin, since she was deadlocked in human form. I was tasked with grabbing a motorbike for Dmitri to ride back on, since I’d be staying out there with Selene. ‘There’s been a change of plans,’ I linked to Kelly as soon as I was close enough. ‘Did you guys find Selene?’ ‘Yes, but she’s not herself today, so we’re spending the day out at the cabin,’ I expl
Rite of Power 114: Dark Deals
It wasn’t hard to see that everyone had picked up on Selene’s complete lack of interest in everything around her. But just like everyone else, I said nothing. After the report Nathan gave me of the test run he’d put together for her, she seemed broken in a way that none of us knew how to heal. I couldn’t help but feel that things were only going to get worse. If ‘killing’ a statue had this effect on her, what was going to happen when she actually took a life? I cursed myself for letting her set the terms to all or nothing. Someone had to die, and I was starting to worry that she’d let it be her instead of having to take a life herself. Traditions and laws be d
Rite of Power 113: Erie Calm
There was definitely something off about Selene tonight, but no one seemed to want to voice anything about it. I was willing to bet that the only person that would’ve spoken up, was Blake, but she’d ordered him to stay with his mate for the rest of the day and even arranged to have their diner brought up to them so that Kelly wouldn’t have to tax herself any further by dealing with more people. She kept staring off into space throughout the meal. Clearly her mind was somewhere else. But she still managed to fake a smile, and nod at the appropriate times as the conversations prompted. She didn’t even lean into Dmitri’s touch, which struck me as more odd than her lack of banter.&
