Everyone at the table froze. Rick leaned in. “What the hell are you talking about? You don’t have a pup.”“Oh I know.” I sighed. “My bloodline is blessed by the goddess. By two goddesses, I should say. I am descended from the first family. My wolf-”Don’t mention having the both of us. I trust them, but the less they know, the better. Nix shook her head. They are all under the vow. I shot back. But Megan settled next to Nix. I agree with Nix. Don’t overload them. Just stick with the magic for now. “My wolf is descended from the goddess. And my witch heritage is blessed by the three faced goddess. And with the blessing comes a gift.” I took a drink. “A gift?” Alannah finished her steak. “What kind of gift?”“My father’s line has a second chance.” I twirled my knife.“A second chance?” Rick pushed his empty plate away and I nodded.“I have lived my life before, you see. I was twenty-four when my mate strapped me to a gurney. He strapped me to a bed, and he had our doctor cut me open
Rick’s breathing turned heavy. “An elixir?”I nodded. “A tiny tonic that renews the hex, but also extends the life of the victim. The hex eats away at the victim. If the person doesn’t have the cure or the elixir, they die. If the elixir is taken too many times, the victim dies.”Rick grabbed my hand. “How many times is too many times?”I bit my lip. “I don’t know. It changes person to person.”Rick nearly collapsed. “How do I find out if it’s the withering or whatever this hex is?”“There would be a symbol on her. It fades the closer to the elixir time. After the elixir, the marking becomes darker. It’s can be small or big, any way to confuse other people.” I grabbed a napkin and pulled a pen from my purse. “What are you doing?” Ternen leaned close. I looked up. “Rick doesn’t know who or what to believe. His child’s life hangs in the balance and so does his mate.” I turned to him. “I didn’t say any of this to confuse or worry you. I just want you to have all the facts. When you fir
Everyone froze. Rick recovered first. “How is that even possible?”“I won’t tell you beforehand, but I promise I will use to whisk all of you away at the same time, and no one will know where you disappeared to. I can promise once everything is out in the open, and war is on the horizon, you will have a house, jobs, and a place in a pack that celebrates people. No matter their rank.” I looked at Rick. “You’ll move us to you father’s pack?” I nodded. “I will.”“But Vince won’t release us.” Ternen shook his head. “Vince won’t ever let us go.”I grinned. “It won’t matter. By the time he notices you are all gone, it will be too late.” I could see Alannah perk up. “Are you being honest, Amy?” She turned to me with hope in her eyes. “If you’re not, I need you to tell me now.”I wrapped my arm around her. “Of course I’m being serious. Why are you so-” My hand rested against her side, and I felt it. A tiny flutter under the skin. I gasped as she turned to me. “You’re pregnant.”Alannah’s e
Alannah shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No Ternen.”But I rubbed her side and slid the phone over to him. “He’s right Alannah. He would be the first person to notice if you disappeared. You are tied and your wolves would feel it. He needs to know so that he can come find me, or Rick.”She shook her head again as he grabbed the phone. Her hand shot out, and she begged. “Please don’t think less of me.”I growled softly. “Never say that again.”She turned to me with confusion in her eyes. “What?”“Never, ever act like something done to you lessens you.” I nodded to the phone. “What is there is vile. So vile that it made me want to vomit.” Another tear fell, and I wiped it off and a growl slipped from Tern. “If, and goddess forbid, it actually happened to you, but if it happened. It would not lessen you. You would be a victim and that disgusting act would have no bearing on your worth as a woman, as a mate, as a mother.”Rick nodded. “We would help you heal, protect you, a
When we got back to the office, Ternen turned with a smile, taking the gift bags from around Alannah’s desk. “I’ll be back at the end of the day.” He kissed her and then left us to finish our day. I settled into my office and started working on another firewall when Rick came in. “Hey are you ready for your next challenge?”I smiled. “What did you have in mind?”“I want to see how well you know our systems.” I leaned in, excitement on my face. “I’m going to hide again, but this time, it’s going to be deeper.”“Okay.” I turned my chair to face him. “What’s the catch?” He smiled. “This is a training exercise for you to recognize the flaws in your own designs.” I twirled my hands around each other. “What does that even mean?”He cackled. “It means you can’t trip the firewall. If you do, you have to start over.”“Are you insane?” I stood hunched over my computer. “How is that even possible?” I pretended to be upset, but inside I was dancing. He was teaching me how to get around the sys
I sighed and slammed my head back against my chair, then I groaned. “Fuck.” I put everything away into my purse, then stood. I walked out and smiled. “Hey. I had a question.”“Sure.” Ternen smiled at me but I could see the tension below the surface.“My mom wants me to invite you all to dinner.” I checked my phone. “Has Rick left yet?”Alannah shook her head. “No.” She smiled as she put her things in her purse. “And we would love to join you at dinner.”I nodded and then walked to Rick’s office door. I knocked and swung the door open. I froze when I saw Vince holding Rick by the throat. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I spun in a circle, facing away from them. Vince grunted, and I heard Rick take a deep breath in. “Amy, what are you doing in here?”“I see that.” I coughed. “My mom called me and asked me to invite Rick and Alannah to dinner.”“Well, he’s busy.” I turned around and grimaced. “While I appreciate that, this is my mom.” I forced an awkward smile to my face.
I pulled into the driveway and watched Ternen and Alannah park. Rick took off to grab his wife and daughter and said he would be here in five minutes. I got out as my mom walked out and we waited in the drive while the two got out of the car. I snapped a barrier around us and waited for the pair to join us next to my car before I asked my mom. “How did you know I needed an excuse to get them to come over?”My mom chuckled. “Nix is smarter than you give her credit for. She came to tell me when you all were at lunch, but I waited a bit when I knew I could maximize the effect.” I turned to her. But before I could say anything, she turned to Alannah and Ternen. “Hi. I’m Ainsley, Amy’s mom. You must be Alannah and Ternen.”They nodded. “We are.” Alannah bowed, but my mom stopped her. “Sweet girl. I haven’t been a luna for years now, and even when I was, absolutely no one had to bow to me.”Alannah straightened and looked between my mom and me. “Our luna demands it.”My mom scoffed. “That
My mom ushered us all inside and we sat down in the living room. She went around and asked about drinks, then she looked at me. “Hey sweetheart? Why don’t you give everyone a tour? I’m sure Abby will love to see your bedroom. You have that small closet full of all your old teddy bears.” She smiled. “I just have a few things to finish up in the kitchen and by the time you come down, dinner will be ready.” With that, she was gone behind the wall and I turned. “Tour it is.” I brought them around the bottom floor, but I could tell Abby was being impatient. “Amy?” Her soft voice had me turning.“Yeah, sweetheart?” I crouched as she came up to me.“Your house is really nice…”“But?” I winked at her.“Can we go see your room?” She sounded a little hopeful.“Of course.” I looked up at Rick. “It’s upstairs.” My eyes flicked to Abby, and he nodded. “Come here, baby.” He swooped down and picked her up. “Stairs are still a little hard for us, aren’t they, baby?”Abby nodded. “I get tired.” “M
We all stood, and I turned to Shelly. “Are you ready to take the vow?”She took a breath and then nodded. “I am.” “Good. Repeat after me.” I walked her through the vow. “Are you ready?”She nodded. “I, Shelly Clark, vow to keep your words from everyone excerpt the goddess. I swear that nothing you say that could be used against you to cause harm will leave my mouth. Only the goddess will know our secrets and I beg her to keep them for us.” We all watched as her eyes widened. She turned to Rick. “That’s what you meant.” I lifted a brow. But she just laughed. “When he came home, he said that when you were out for lunch, you had a moment that filled him with an amazing sense of belonging.” She blushed as she rubbed her chest. “I was a little jealous, as I thought he meant you, but he meant the vow, the acceptance from the goddess.”Rick smiled and nodded. “Amy is great, but nothing came close to that feeling.” He turned to Shelly. “Except the day I mated you.” Then he turned to Abby. “A
A pin could drop. That’s how quiet the room was when I looked at Shelly. But she just stood there, hand hanging loosely by her side, staring down at me. “What did you say?”I took a deep breath. “Sit down and listen to the full story. I will ignore the fact you hit me because you are emotional and worried about your child. But make no mistake. I am an alpha wolf and I will not suffer disrespect so easily.”She stumbled back a step and sank down. Rick grabbing her hands and flashing me an awkward, apologetic smile. “What were you saying?” Shelly looked at him with a tiny bit of hurt in her eyes, but Rick just kissed her. “Let her speak. This isn’t her fault, babe.”Abby sighed and pushed up to her knees. She was face to face with her mom. “I now your worried, and you don’t understand, but Amy is the only reason I’m still alive.”Shelly stared down at her daughter and a tear slipped out. “I’m sorry.” Her eyes flicked up to me. “I’m so sorry. I just…” “I know, and it’s okay. Protecting
I had finally pushed enough power into the pup for it to lift her head. “Hello there sweet heart.” I brought her up to snuggle and then put her on her feet. “Nix.” I nodded, and she was already inching closer. She put her snout right against the pup and we waited. She was feeling her strength, trying to gauge how much time I bought them. She pushed closer, and the pup shuffled over and curled up on her front paws. She rolled over, showing her belly, and Nix nuzzled in, breathing in her scent. “A week.” Her words were soft. “We bought them a week.”I looked down at the two girls. “Can we do this every week?” I sat back on my heels. “Will this keep working?”Nix huffed out a breath as she settled with the pup. “I don’t know, but it means we will have to keep track until we can remove the hex.”Abby wiped her face. “We won’t die?”I pulled her into my arms and stood. “Not today.” I walked away, but stopped. “Are you staying here?”She placed her head down on to Nala. “For a bit, I want
My heart broke as I watched Abby comfort her wolf. “Nala?” I leaned over the three so I could see her face. Abby nodded. “I don’t know how, but as soon as I touched her, I knew her name.” She rubbed her face against the patchy, dull fur. “She is sick, like me, isn’t she?”I just nodded. “Yeah baby girl, she is.” She snuggled in closer.“Why is she so small?” She cracked open an eye and hugged her wolf pup closer. “Shouldn’t she be bigger? I should have met her soon, right?”I looked at Nix and remembered that I started talking to her when I was about five or six. She had always been there, strong, steady, and my best friend. My heart ached for the pair in front of us. “Yeah, she should be bigger, but so should you. The sickness ate away at you strength, at your power, and it stunted you.”She looked at me with sad eyes. “It’s okay, you know.”“What is?”“That I have to die.” She closed her eye as her puppy whined and rolled over into her arms. The tiny wolf cracked an eye and used a
“Okay.” I stood up. “I can grab the things I need from the kitchen after dinner. We will do it then. Okay?” Everyone nodded. “There is a reason I brought you here, other than the fact that we can speak freely.”Alannah looked around. “What is it?”“I need your blood.” I grimaced. I looked around and saw that once again my mom was ahead of me. In the bathroom on the counter, there were five plastic cups, a small knife, and one bandage. I nodded over to the bathroom and waited for everyone to walk in. I sat down on the toilet and gestured to the tiny cups. “It’s not a lot. But where I am going to take you, you need to be added to a spell so that you can’t be traced.”They just looked at each other before they nodded. Every one grabbed their cup except Abby, she walked over to me. “Could you help me?” She swallowed loudly. “I’m not supposed to get hurt cause it will make my sickness worse.” She was scared, but I pulled her close. “Can I tell you a secret?” She nodded. “When I was your a
Every one froze, but Shelly dropped down and pulled Abby to her. “Baby…” But she trailed off, because what do you say to a child who is too observant to be kept in the dark?“It’s okay, momma. I’ve known for a while now.” She reached up and cupped her face. “I just wanted to spend the best year with you and daddy so I didn’t tell you I heard you and the doctor talking about me.” Rick dropped down next to them and hugged them both to his chest.“It’s going to be alright.” He whispered to them, but I could tell it was to himself. He looked up at me, so ready to believe, and I nodded. “I can’t fix it today.” I held out my hand. “But I swear I will fix it.” Shelly looked at me. “How can you be so sure?”“Magic.” I winked, but she shook her head. I crouched. “I can’t tell you. Not before you are away from here. You can take a vow, Shelly, but Abby can’t.”“I won’t tell anyone. I swear.” She looked at me with slightly wounded eyes.“Oh sweet pea, I never thought you would tell on us. But
My mom ushered us all inside and we sat down in the living room. She went around and asked about drinks, then she looked at me. “Hey sweetheart? Why don’t you give everyone a tour? I’m sure Abby will love to see your bedroom. You have that small closet full of all your old teddy bears.” She smiled. “I just have a few things to finish up in the kitchen and by the time you come down, dinner will be ready.” With that, she was gone behind the wall and I turned. “Tour it is.” I brought them around the bottom floor, but I could tell Abby was being impatient. “Amy?” Her soft voice had me turning.“Yeah, sweetheart?” I crouched as she came up to me.“Your house is really nice…”“But?” I winked at her.“Can we go see your room?” She sounded a little hopeful.“Of course.” I looked up at Rick. “It’s upstairs.” My eyes flicked to Abby, and he nodded. “Come here, baby.” He swooped down and picked her up. “Stairs are still a little hard for us, aren’t they, baby?”Abby nodded. “I get tired.” “M
I pulled into the driveway and watched Ternen and Alannah park. Rick took off to grab his wife and daughter and said he would be here in five minutes. I got out as my mom walked out and we waited in the drive while the two got out of the car. I snapped a barrier around us and waited for the pair to join us next to my car before I asked my mom. “How did you know I needed an excuse to get them to come over?”My mom chuckled. “Nix is smarter than you give her credit for. She came to tell me when you all were at lunch, but I waited a bit when I knew I could maximize the effect.” I turned to her. But before I could say anything, she turned to Alannah and Ternen. “Hi. I’m Ainsley, Amy’s mom. You must be Alannah and Ternen.”They nodded. “We are.” Alannah bowed, but my mom stopped her. “Sweet girl. I haven’t been a luna for years now, and even when I was, absolutely no one had to bow to me.”Alannah straightened and looked between my mom and me. “Our luna demands it.”My mom scoffed. “That
I sighed and slammed my head back against my chair, then I groaned. “Fuck.” I put everything away into my purse, then stood. I walked out and smiled. “Hey. I had a question.”“Sure.” Ternen smiled at me but I could see the tension below the surface.“My mom wants me to invite you all to dinner.” I checked my phone. “Has Rick left yet?”Alannah shook her head. “No.” She smiled as she put her things in her purse. “And we would love to join you at dinner.”I nodded and then walked to Rick’s office door. I knocked and swung the door open. I froze when I saw Vince holding Rick by the throat. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I spun in a circle, facing away from them. Vince grunted, and I heard Rick take a deep breath in. “Amy, what are you doing in here?”“I see that.” I coughed. “My mom called me and asked me to invite Rick and Alannah to dinner.”“Well, he’s busy.” I turned around and grimaced. “While I appreciate that, this is my mom.” I forced an awkward smile to my face.