A familiar male?
Clem woke first. He stirred, while allowing his eyes and mind to recall his surroundings.He jerked up immediately, sitting up instantly, not minding the sharp pain that assailed his hips and hands, as he took an inventory of his memories.He remembered that he had been flung away so weightlessly by the wind; some kind of controlled wind rather.Where had the force that had thrown him away come from?Who had wielded it?He turned around him sharply as he remembered the redhead, his friend's mate, and their soon to be Luna.He should be protecting her.But his eyes didn't locate her anywhere, rather it stayed on another heap by the other side of the road.Shane.Shane! He called through their mind link, getting up frantically, a bit scared, a bit worried.He hasn't seen the redhead yet.He rushed to Shane, bending down and holding him by the arm as the latter tried to sit up erect, wincing in pain as a sharp pain shot through his thighs. He was feeling disoriented, and a bit sick."Wh
They were sitting on the sofas in the sitting room; Melvina, Anthony and Esther. Esther's head was buried in her palms. After they had managed to translate and interpret the strange writing on the piece of paper, it was like their energy had left them. They seemed tired. Melvina was confused, even as she drew her head back on the sofa, reclining deeply into the lush furniture. The same people that had taken her friend, the same people that had kept the dead animal in the redhead's refrigerator, were the same people that had taken Margo. She had thought that Margo was an enemy, when rather, the latter had been protecting Emma in her own way. Esther had told them about her aunt's travels and secret movements. She had told them about her resilience in protecting the human. And in return she had told the girl about the threats the human had received, in paper and in deeds. Who were these people? She was already suspecting that Leonarya was behind it. That queen was never up to no g
Anthony rubbed his forehead slowly and steadily as he assimilated the situation. His brother's mate has been taken. This was beyond bad. His brother would go bonkers. He looked at the two guys and felt like strangling them. They were supposed to be watching the human for crying out loud! And they failed at that one simple task. "Anthony, let them come in." He heard Melvina say, and sighed. Ever the merciful. He thought. He hoped that his junior brother would be able to draw from that well, although he highly doubted it. "Come in." He said to them distastefully, before leaving the door open, and moving back to the sofa he had been sitting on. Clem and Shane walked into the sitting room with their faces still crestfallen. If Anthony's reaction was this way, how would Derek's be? They were really doomed. They only hoped that their Luna would soften their punishments. "Sit down." Melvina said, gesturing at an empty sofa by the door. They obliged, and sat down, almost robotically.
Melvina shuddered as she felt Anthony tap her on the arm three times, hurriedly, as if in fear.She had been lost while trying to process why her son's essence was cold, and so must have looked still to them all.She looked at him, and then the others, who were staring at her apprehensively.She noticed that Esther was back with a big brown book in her hand which smelt of dust and wood. The witch was looking at her two, her eyebrows raised as if she couldn't understand the display in front of her "I have called you for more two times. You seemed...not present." Anthony said, gazing into her eyes, worry tangible in his eyes and expression."Did anything happen?" He asked."Derek...we need to find Derek." She said rather, shaking off his hand from her shoulder as she turned to walk into the passage way.Anthony followed her immediately, but not without calling unto Shane and Clem through the mind link to follow them too.Esther watching the duo walk after Anthony, kept the book on the
Useless.Worthless.Fake.Esther almost slapped her head to stop it from accusing her.Ever since her war of words with her own version of bully when they had been staying in the witches' community, few years before her Aunt had decided that they should relocate, she had been dealing with a low self esteem.Some kids who had thought that she was nothing because of her timid nature then had trampled on her in every way possible. And when she had moved with her Aunt here, she had vowed that she wouldn't be the same.She had read more spells, had accumulated more knowledge, had dyed her hair to look like a badass, had formed her own clique, and had also successfully built her own feared reputation.But it all came crashing down, as she stared at the library.She couldn't do anything. She was useless. She could feel herself tearing up, as she bent her head down. Not that she cared a tooth about the alpha boy, but she cared a lot about her reputation. She had spent a lot building it. But
Anthony dropped Derek gently on the sofa. His brother was still very pale, and cold.He watched as his Luna stepped in beside him, and caressed the face of her son.He was already sure that Alpha Peter would be on his way here. The latter must have felt the sorrowful state of his mate.He only hoped that his Alpha wouldn't have to face the shadow warriors. He still didn't understand the concept of those beings."Thank you, Anthony." He heard Melvina say, and nodded. He looked away from her too, not wanting to behold the sheen of tears in her eyes. He was struggling to hold down his emotions too. He had almost lost his brother. He didn't want to think what would have happened if he had lost him. He would be crazy. He was sure.He loved his brother as himself.And seeing him so pale was making him so sad, so so sad.He looked away from Derek's body too, and his gaze landed on Esther. The witch was staring at him. He didn't know if it was out of her feelings, or out of what had happened
When Esther and Anthony came back into the house, they saw Alpha Peter sitting on the sofa, hugging Melvina to himself, while Clem and Shane sat on the other sofa, their faces crestfallen. The atmosphere was scented by sorrow."Good evening Father." Anthony greeted, and Alpha Peter raised his head and nodded at him."Did you get all that you needed?" Alpha Peter asked him through the mind link, referring actually to the witch that was standing beside him. "Yes." He replied through the same communication path, before turning aside to Esther."You can get on with the healing process." He said. "If you need any help, you can call me." He stated, gesturing with his hands towards Derek, inferring that she should start her work.Esther nodded at him, before stepping around him and walking toward Derek.She felt his pulse as she bent down and touched him by the neck. It was barely there. She knew she had to hurry.Quickly, she asked Anthony to get her two bowls from the kitchen, while she s
Thirty minutes later… (that is, one hour, and thirty minutes later after Derek had been given the medicinal herb) "We can't wait here all day. It's night already. We should take Derek home, to our pack's doctor." Alpha Peter said to Esther when he observed no change in his son's condition. He had been in a meeting with his council, and the Alpha of a neighboring pack, which had tended some complaints to him. According to the Alpha, his brother had invited his pack members to Curtis' birthday party to have them slaughtered. He didn't believe the tale, had been about to send out a messenger to his brother when he had had the distress call from his mate. He had stilled in his actions until she had been done narrating what had been the cause of her distress. At the same time, his beta had also conveyed a message from his daughter.Shadow warriors.He had been shocked, wondering what business those dead creatures had with his pack.He had been running around, giving instructions to his p
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