The beast gritted his teeth, pounding voraciously at the walls of the red transparent ball that covered the entirety of him, especially as he saw the squirrel smirking at him, his arms folded tightly across his chest."Thanks Prescott." Emma said, glad enough that the beast was in a cage at the moment, unable to escape anytime soon. She would think of a way to put the necklace around his neck later."You're welcome, Emma." The squirrel replied, and Freya let out an audible gasp which attracted the attention of the other still stunned people in the hall, for she had just heard Prescott speak with Emma.A talking animal? She shook her head, wondering if she had heard wrong, googling at Prescott who was now looking at her."It's exciting to see another person who can hear me talk." Prescott muttered, before waving at Freya. Emma snorted."How is that possible? Who are you?" Emma asked, letting her gaze rest on Freya."I don't know why I can hear him talk. I guess it's another gift of my
Melvina walked towards her mate, a bit worried. She knew that he was unwell, but she had been surprised when he had gone for the fortitude of a seat, after standing for barely fifteen minutes. It meant that his system was weakening. She blinked back the tears which were threatening to spill from her eyes(for she didn't want to lose him anytime soon), and quickened her steps, all the while, cursing that fateful day which he had been poisoned.The day had been sometime in August, three years ago. There had been a conference meeting which had involved her mate, his brother and the Alphas of some neighboring packs. The conference hadn't taken place in the pack, but at one of the other packs.And that had been where he had been poisoned.She hadn't known how it had happened, or who had been behind it, but her mate had been brought back by the Alpha of the Fauger's pack and one other pack, in a crippling situation on the night of the same day.She still remembered that fateful night like it
Lucille shouted when the sound of the gun shot resonated across the sitting room. Her eyes had been shut too.And perhaps that had been the reason for her astounded gasp the next minute when she opened her eyes and saw that the woman, Sheila, was still standing, her right hand at a ninety degree angle with her body, her palm fisted like she was holding something, and her eyes, oh, they were blazing with fury.More astonishingly, she wasn't bleeding.Lucille darted her gaze from Sheila to her stepfather. He was as astonished as she was, especially when Sheila opened her hand, and let the bullet fall from it. There was not a mark there.Yes, he was surprised, just like Maryanne too, but not daunted.For the next minute, he raised the gun to shoot again.But this time, Sheila was faster.She zapped past Lucille who watched with mouth agape, and knocked off both the man and the gun.She stepped her right foot, which was confined in a chunky boot, on the gun, not fazed at all, her eyes not
They were sitting down on the sofas.Silence reigned in the room.On the floor, beside the door that led to the passageway was Tyler. He was asleep.Lucille, alone on the smallest couch, still couldn't get out of her head how simple the woman had made it look.Immediately she had given her consent, the woman had squatted to Tyler's level, and for some reason which she knew had been part of the woman's doing, her stepfather hadn't been able to move or talk, not even when the woman had placed her palms at each side of his head, her fingers(the index especially) deep-seated on it.She had watched her mutter some intangible words for five minutes at most, before standing up.Tyler had fallen by the side, and had been asleep ever since.The woman had also assured them he would wake up, not knowing who he was.She would have had a hard time believing it, but for the gun incident. The woman wasn't normal. She thought. A witch perhaps."Thank you." Maryanne croaked out.She believed the woman
There was dead silence in the room. Emma sighed. Of course. No one knew the answers to their questions.That was left to her to find.And that was alright. She would do so, immediately the party ended.For now, she should get back to Derek.Turning around from the group ahead of her, she sized up the beast. It was still pounding on the walls of the red ball in all fury.Doesn't he get tired? She wondered, aware that Prescott was still right beside her."What should we do now? How do we get the necklace around his neck?" Prescott asked out aloud, knowing that none of the audience could hear him, apart from Freya.Emma thought, and thought.Nothing was forthcoming.She stared hard at the red ball, as if hoping for the magic feature to breathe some ideas into her head, but there was none.She whisked around sharply, feeling a presence behind her.Freya.What did she want?She thought, piquing her eyebrows at Freya who had been approaching her steadily, but had paused at Emma's sharp swi
Emma watched with wide eyes, in anticipation, as the beast surrendered to the power of the necklace, after some minutes of fighting it, and swiftly shifted to a tired and gasping Derek. Surprisingly, he was still in his suit.Emma didn't want to think on how he had managed that. She was just happy that he was okay.Quickly, she told the squirrel to remove the bonds.Prescott obliged of course, and Derek fell to the floor, terribly worn out.Before Emma could take more steps toward him, Melvina zapped past her and knelt before her son, holding to himself and muttering comforting words.Emma understood. She was sure that the woman was crying. She would cry if she was the one too.So, she waited.Watching as Derek stood up, watching as Melvina smoothed his suit from creases, still watching until their gazes met.Time stood still.She didn't know which of them started the run first. But all she knew was that they were in each other's arms, before she could say 'Jack'.Inhaling in his deep
Emma gulped in nothing, her head bent so low, as Derek broke the kiss. She sighed in gratefulness, when he hugged her to himself, preventing her from being so embarrassed if she should turn around to face the others.What was wrong with her? She thought, biting her lips, pressing her forehead more tighter on his chest, as if to sink the entirety of herself into him. What was it about Derek that made her a sex maniac, a female animal on heat, whenever she came close to him? Worse, it had been enhanced by the fact that they hadn't seen each other for a long time. Even right now, nestled and safe within his arms, her breasts still ached for want of his touch and lips, and her wetness throbbed. She was not satisfied.'Emma, stop behaving like you are on heat!' She cautioned herself but to no avail, rather she found her hands circling Derek's waist, her right hand stealthily and slowly slipping into his suit from the back. Feeling him stiffen as her hand found the smooth and hard plains o
Emma's silence at Melvina's question almost gave Derek a heart attack. He panicked, although not visible on his exterior features, thinking that his little witch wouldn't want a life with him, after finding out about his true nature. He wasn't even sure he would be able to let her go if she rejected him."Emma, they are waiting for your answers." Prescott told a quiet Emma telepathically, and she nodded, signifying that she knew.She was actually thinking about her family, about Amelia. She hasn't spoken to her sister in like forever, and now she was leaving her to be a luna in some pack. Would Amelia even believe her? What of her parents? Even if there was the possibility that they weren't her real parents, they had still trained her well, at least she hadn't lacked the basic comfort, or slaved away as a housemaid. They had the chance to do that, and they hadn't. For that, she was grateful.So, how could she leave them?"Babe, don't you want to stay with me?" She heard Derek ask her,
Emma’s eyes were as active as anything active as she watched the elders slowly walk into the hall reserved for judging cases, like Annabel’s. As she watched them, her feet kept dancing on the floor in a funny unsteady motion; she was unsteady. One, one. Then two, two. Then one two. Once, Amelia had looked at her, with a piqued eyebrow. ‘What is that?’ Her eyes seemed to ask, but Emma had given no answer. What is it? It should be what are they?! When they were hurrying over to the hall, after convincing the guards that they would be around for the trial too, her sister had whispered that the cabin, her parent’s cabin, had been burnt by the master, Slediv. It had brought Emma up short, making her stagger on her feet for two reasons. That Slediv had really traced them, even without her then, and that the cabin was burnt; the loss it meant for her parents. Would they regret helping her then? Prescott didn’t think so. But Emma was still worried about it, just like her mind had tried
One week later:Emma had run to the clinic, immediately Adah had burst into her apartment with the news that Annabel and Amelia were awake. Over the couple of days in class, they had bonded over gossip, and training, seeing as the latter was the only one that had been sincerely interested in her. Emma had run with Prescott in her hands, and Adah right behind her. And when she arrived at the room she had frequented daily with prayers, and saw her sister and her friend chatting tiredly, she let out a scream of happiness and hurried over to them. “Amelia! Annabel!” She called gaily, garnering the attention of the two females sitting cross-legged on the same bed. Before they could let out a shout or smile of their own, Emma’s hands were already around them. “Oh my goodness, I am so happy for both of you…” she paused. “but give me a heartache again, and I will skin you both alive..” Annabel and Amelia divulged bouts of laughter, with the nurses. Prescott and Adah weren’t left behind,
Caden sighed in relief at his mate’s words, wanting to believe at all costs that the years he had spent with her, that the love they had shared, hadn’t been in vain. He didn’t know what he would have done otherwise. Cry, brood? Neither was acceptable in these times. And so, he wasn’t moved when his son piqued an eyebrow at his mate’s words, or when his daughter’s lips turned up—in disgust or curiosity, he wasn’t sure. But he didn’t care. He just hung on to the thread that his mate was spinning with. “I didn’t cheat on my mate, I’m sure he would have found out if I had done so, considering the mate bond and all that…” There was a pause, where relief sunk its foothold the more in Caden and his children. “So, if that’s what you are thinking, Caden… if that’s what you all are thinking, cut it out. I was surprised too when Claire had met me with the news at first, and I didn’t tell you, Caden, because I wasn’t sure how to explain the phenomena to you. I knew you held the lineage of you
Chyra didn’t know what Clem was talking about—the end of the world, and all that—but she knew that she was to blame for Claire rejecting her mate considering what she had soaked into her daughter’s mind about the alpha’s family, about how the Luna seat was her birthright. She also knew that she shouldn’t be working with Arnold. But she was too proud to concede to that, to concede to anyone, and so she shrugged her shoulders to Clem’s question. In the next second, she saw why that had been a wrong play on her part. When she saw Clem fume in anger, when she saw Claire glare at her stinkingly, when she saw her mate watch her like she was foolish, she knew that she had made a mistake. It would have been best if she had kept quiet, than giving off that nonchalant attitude. But her pride held her back from apologizing. Why should she apologize for being a mother caring to give her daughter the best? “Mother, are you so daft that…” Clem was saying when his father shouted him down. Caden
At this point, Clem didn’t know what to think about his sister, Claire. He had thought that their parents had been her motivator to reject Curtis, to follow Curtis up and down, to join the meetings that prince Nathan held with the others, but from the thick astounded silence that dwelled in the room, it could be safe to say that his sister had been acting on her own, without any external influence. He didn’t know what to think of that. He looked at his mother; she looked more shocked out of her shoes and mind than his father, quite expected since the mother and daughter duo were quite close, since his sister had no mind of hers, except put into place by his mother. As much as he was not happy with his twin, he was happy that for once his mother had no part to play in her recent escapades. “What do you mean…Claire?” Caden asked, pushing himself ahead, his elbow resting on his knees. “What do you mean when you say that Curtis is your mate? When did that happen? When did you find out?
What Claire saw first when she stepped into her father’s room was her parents sitting in the living room, with Clem, their backs hunched, the air filled with pregnant silence, waiting. They were waiting for her. She knew it from the moment she had dropped a note in Clem’s mind that she was on her way home. That he hadn’t bothered with a response, should have been enough to let her know that her twin was still angry with her. But she had held out hope, until she had reached the borders of the pack and he hadn’t been waiting for her. This was very different from the times they had quarrels. She knew, however, that this quarrel was different. She had denied her mate, because of the throne; had gone ahead to push Emma away from the pack; and when Derek still hadn’t chosen her, she had returned to Curtis because he was an Alpha. Would she have returned to him if he wasn’t that? She didn’t know. That was the truth. She didn’t know. She might have gone back to Curtis, even if he wasn’t a
At Wind Winders Pack.“Dad, what is this? What was Zoe doing in my room so early in the morning?” Curtis questioned, a second after he rushed into the dining room where his parents were having breakfast. He had slept in obviously, but he didn’t care. Yesterday’s training had been rigorous after all. He darted his eyes between his mother and father; his mother’s widened eyes told him that she had no idea what he was talking about; quite expected since this turn of event hadn’t been part of their plans. Hence, he trained his eyes on his father; the old man just continued eating his breakfast like he hadn’t spoken. Curtis thought of repeating himself, but thought better of it. He walked up to his father, and took away his plate of food; an act that he wouldn’t have been able to try before; an act that might have spelt his death; but considering his father’s few options of allies, he knew that he had a chance to live. And so, when his father glared at him heatedly, he didn’t quake in hi
“Hey…how are you feeling?” Emma whispered, touching Prescott’s head softly, as she watched him open his eyes for the second time. The first time, she had screamed and had called for the nurse in charge of his treatment, not minding that Adah was with her. Nothing could have dampened her joy. She had just checked on Annabel and Amelia, who although their vitals were stable, was still asleep, yet out of coma. According to the chief nurse, a week was enough for them to wake up now. Then she had checked on Prescott, and only touching him with fondness had elicited the response of his eyes opening. Emma had been overjoyed. “Prescott, can you hear me?” She asked softly, dragging a seat to herself, whilst Adah watched on, not understanding the communication method of the squirrel and Emma. Like the people in the community, she had never seen a talking animal, or rather an animal that communicates as Emma had painted Prescott to be. Her friend who was in the upper echelons of the community
No professor spoke to her, and Emma couldn’t help but wonder why. Had Prince Shiloh ask them to avoid her? Or had professor Brooks’ defeat scared them away from her? Well, if that was the matter, then she believed it was for the greater good. She had no interest in making affiliations after all, so long as they taught her what she wanted to know, and treated her fairly. “So, do you think you can cope?” She heard Adah ask, and turned aside to see her new seat mate. The mischievous glint in the latter’s eyes made her smile, howbeit small. “I believe I can.” She answered, before getting on her feet. She took her bag which Gira had provided that morning and slung the straps across her shoulder. It was time to go home, or rather check on her friends. Classes were done for the day. “Where are you going?” Adah asked her, getting to her feet. As they walked toward the door, a couple of the students swiftly moved, and stood before the door, causing Emma to furrow her eyebrows. But she chose