After his first meal for the day, Derek strolled out to the pack's training ground, watching silently as his pack members trained like their lives depended on it, which actually is true, bowing their heads to him intermittently as soon as they had noticed his presence. For some reason, his eyes went tro and fro searching for the guy who Anthony had mentioned was Lent's brother, or was it friend? He wasn't sure again. When he didn't find the guy, he called unto Shane. The latter left the new recruit whom he was drilling and ran down to the shade where Derek was standing under. The sun was quite hot."Hey...thought you would be in a meeting with your father.." Shane stated as soon as he got to Derek, biting his tongue consciously to keep himself from calling Derek, Alpha. After the brief meeting they had had in the kitchen, Derek had informed them in the close knit family to always call him by his name, except it was in a public meeting. According to him, it was strange already being an
Earlier, when Derek had brought up the issue that he had wanted to talk about, Shane had thought that it was concerning Emma and how they would work together to bring her back to the pack, so that she could take up her rightful position which was now vacant, or would be in the next few hours. During their meeting in the kitchen, Curtis had told Derek about Claire being his mate, and the fact that she had rejected him so that she could be Luna of their pack. Melvina had been aghast, but not up to Derek who was suddenly so angry at the matter that he had almost stomped out of the kitchen to accost Claire but for Melvina and Anthony who calmed him down. It was one of the reasons Derek wanted to meet his father for. He didn't want to take any drastic harsh decision like he had done last night. Already then, he had concluded on banishing Claire from the pack. The only funny thing in the whole situation was that Claire hadn't known who Curtis was. Perhaps, if she had, she wouldn't have rej
Derek watched skeptically, the creases on Shane's face deepen as the latter's eyes found and stayed on something. He followed the eyesight and felt his forehead scrunch up when he saw Leo walking out of the prison house with two flasks, a food flask and a water flask. Who did Leo visit in prison and feed? He wondered."What is Leo doing?" Shane asked, echoing his thoughts."I'm not sure." Derek replied. "But we will know if we ask him." He added, walking hurriedly to accost Leo who hasn't seen them yet. The latter was strolling towards the other side of the pack, another angle which led to the entrance of the pack."Leo!" Shane called out dramatically, seeing that the latter would out-walk them since Derek has refused to reach out to him either through their mind link or out loudly.Leo stopped in his movements immediately, taking in a deep breath to calm his already bristling nerves, so as not to give away even a tiny bit of how he was feeling at the moment, or the fact that being ca
"Our kind rarely dreams. And if we do, it surely means something important. Either that or the dark influence of a mage." Dobah stated, after Kane had talked on how he had known the name of his lifemate, Lucille."I'm sure it is not a mage's influence. I feel that it is a warning of some sorts, especially with the presence of the jaguars. They were tainted. It was so real, Dobah, so real. It couldn't be a mage's influence." Kane cited."Okay, if you believe so. But it seems that we have to be on the go now. We can talk as we move. Blenda is done packing. And besides, congratulations on finding your lifemate. You have no idea how relieved I am." Dobah mentioned with a smile, and Kane nodded, his eyes darting to the ring on his finger, even as his mind was consumed with thoughts about his lifemate, Lucille.Because of her, he had seen colors in the dream. He couldn't wait to find her. But first, they had to locate his stubborn nephew and his best friend, Freya. "So, about the jaguars..
Kane took a deep breath and pulled his gaze away from the blood-colored water, and let his air out, breathing away everything but the task at hand. He had to let go of his physical body, making himself incredibly vulnerable to a potential enemy already occupied by the vampire. It was much more difficult than he expected, now that he could feel emotion and it mattered that he stayed alive. The dark spot in the jaguar-man's brain recoiled, minute wormlike creatures writhing as his spirit entered the other man, bathing the brain in white-hot energy. He heard the jaguar roar and the man hiss out a warning. He hesitated, afraid of injuring the warrior. "Do it. I do not want that thing inside of me."Kane attacked the stain, breaching the outer rings and burning them clean with healing light. The tiny parasites tried to dig deeper into the brain in an effort to escape. As they scattered, he could see to the core of the jaguar-man. The parasites tried to keep the light out of the jaguar-man
Lefa nodded in agreement. "I knew something was wrong, but the hatred toward your kind festered. The vampire must have planted the seeds among us. Your males stealing our women. I don't remember ever encountering a vampire, or one who said such a thing, but I have known for some time that I was not thinking correctly." "He underestimated your strength. He must have chosen you because you're a leader." Kane said."At one time I was. Not so much anymore. The men are scattered, running in packs now, looking for women of our blood." Lefa frowned, rubbed at his temples as he tried to recall what they'd been told. "I believe the vampire wants a specific woman, one of pure blood who can shift every bit as quickly as a man, fight as hard, as tirelessly. He was insistent that if we find her, that she be brought to him." He sighed. "At the time he made it all seem sensible, but now it makes none at all." The leaves rustled and both men spun toward the sound. The jaguar-man slipped, toward Kan
Close to him, the jaguar-man stirred, bringing Kane's attention snapping back to him. Feeling vulnerable, not knowing what was real and what was illusion, he forced his body to his feet once again, facing the man. "Let me aid you," Lefa offered, frowning as he observed the sheen on Kane's skin. He kept his voice low and friendly, seeing the sudden flare of heat in the vampire hunter's eyes. "Are your wounds so terrible?" Kane shook his head. He could not afford to go drifting between worlds. Not when he didn't know friend from enemy. That only put him in more danger than ever, yet he couldn't seem to stop it. One moment the forest would be vivid with brilliant colors and the familiar, comforting night sounds, and the next, it would be a dull version, the colors muted and hazy, the shadows alive with something not alive, yet not dead. He made an effort to force his mind back to the situation, to extract as much information as possible when he had the opportunity. "Do you know wh
"Perhaps, the younger woman is with her. The one she had taken back from your men some years ago." Kane suggested."Not my men. I can't control them. I had hoped to find her before the others." "And what would you have done with her?" Kane demanded, his black eyes glittering dangerously. Lefa shook his head. "I don't know. I thought I came to talk, but then I scented you, and I became very confused." He rubbed his forehead. "I began to think you were here to take our women and I wanted you dead." "You came to the island in control, but then something happened. You had to have encountered him here," Kane said in alarm. That meant the master vampire was close, somewhere on the island, and no one knew. They were all in trouble. "Who did you meet?" He asked. "Not a vampire. An old friend. He had taken shelter here and was leaving because he realized the house was occupied by the Paltfic family." Lefa replied.Kane kept his expression blank, but his heart jumped and pounded. Fear
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