The others fell silent when Aiden entered his home. Janet smiling tentatively, pressed a protective hand to the child lying in her womb. "Is she all right, Aiden?" She asked.He nodded abruptly, curiously grateful for her concern. No one would question him, yet his behavior was completely out of character for him. He got right to the point. "How did the assassins find her unprotected?"The others looked at one another. Aiden was among the few that always found time to drill it into them never to forget the smallest details guarding their safety, but over the years it was so easy to forget, to slip up."Noami had her baby only two months ago. She was so tired all the time." Janet tried to excuse the slip."And Jared? Where was he? Why did he leave his exhausted wife unprotected while she slept?" Aiden asked softly, dangerously.Byran, the man who had been in such trouble earlier(wanting to touch Freya), stirred uncomfortably. "You know how Jared is. Always after the women. He took
Aiden felt the weight of his responsibility for Noami's death. He had been her favorite.He had known of Jared's weakness for women. He had objected to the union, but he hadn't forbidden it, as he should have. Jared was not Naomi's true lifemate. Chemistry would never allow a true mate to cheat on his woman. Noami, his beautiful sister, so young and vibrant, lost to them forever. A tear promised to slip away from the confines of his left eye.She had been headstrong, wanting Jared because he was handsome, not because her soul called to his. They had lied, but he had known they were lying. Ultimately it had been his responsibility that Jared continued to try to find emotion by being with other women, and Naomi had grown into a bitter, dangerous woman. She must have died instantly or He would have felt it, even deep in his sleep. Jared should never have had the care of one of their women.Aiden had thought that, in time, each would find their true lifemate, but Naomi only grew more dan
"Let's drop here. I don't think anybody is around or watching." Freya pointed out, tapping Yodah on his wings.They were way above a cluster of huge trees and shrubs.Immediately, Yodah zapped down like lightening, and immediately Freya's feet touched the dark soil, he shimmered into his physical self. He had flown in the nature of a huge golden eagle, the only type seen in movies."Which way then?" She asked, straightening the creases on her trousers whilst looking around the green environment."This way." Yodah replied, holding hands with her, walking tentatively through the forest, throwing glances here and there to make sure that they hadn't been seen or followed.They had walked for twenty minutes or more when the path broke out to a pathway."This should be it then." Freya said, taking note of the voices she was hearing from that distance. She was feeling better now, although there was a slight pain at the area where Aiden had bitten her. He had taken her blood. She knew what it
"What professor?" Freya and Yodah asked at the same time, looking at each other.Aiden's silence in her mind should have given her an idea of whomsoever the werewolf was talking about but she was more concerned about hearing it from the werewolf's mouth."Professor Aiden Perkins. He is a history professor at the University nearby. He had brought Emma home at one time, causing a ruckus in the Pack. What do you both want? Why would you say we are in trouble? What are y'all planning?" The werewolf questioned, his eyes twitching between green and indigo. He was gearing up his wolf incase a fight broke out."Calm down." Freya said, noticing the slight changes going on within the depths of the werewolf's eyes. It was true that this was the first time she would be speaking with a werewolf, it was true that she was a bit nervous too, but she couldn't risk getting into a fight now. She hadn't fought for so long a time."I am calm." The werewolf said."Tell me all you know."And so Freya starte
The same time, Someplace at USA:It was 1100.The village was far too small to stand against the army advancing so quickly toward them. Nothing had slowed the Ottoman Turks. Everything in their path had been destroyed, everyone murdered, cruelly murdered. Bodies were impaled on crude stakes and left for the scavengers to finish off. Blood ran in rivers. No one was spared, not even the youngest child or the oldest elder. The invaders burned and tortured and mutilated, leaving behind only rats and fire and death. The village was eerily silent; not even a child dared to cry. The people could only look at one another in despair and hopelessness. There would be no help, no way to stop the massacre. They would fall as had all the villages before them in the wake of that terrible enemy. They were too few and had only their peasant weapons to fight off the advancing hordes. They were helpless. And then the two warriors came striding out of the fog-filled night. They moved as one unit, in pe
Twelve years ago; someplace at Mexico. "Look at me, Uncle Tyler," A little girl called proudly, waving from the top of the high wooden tower she had just climbed. "You're crazy,John." An older man said and shook his head, shading his eyes against the sun as he stared up at the replica of the high platform used for training Navy SEALS recruits. "Lucille could break her neck if she fell." He glanced away toward the fragile woman lying on the chaise lounge, cuddling her newborn son. "What about it, Maryanne? Lucille isn't even five yet, and John has her training for Special Forces," He said. Maryanne smiled absently and looked up at her husband as if asking his opinion. "Lucille's great," John said immediately, reaching to capture his wife's hand and bringing her knuckles to his lips. "She loves this stuff. She was doing it practically before she could walk." Tyler waved to the tiny girl calling to him. "I don't know, John. Maybe Luke is right. She's so small. She takes afte
Lucille's eyes lit up. "Move in with us? How?" She asked. "I could marry your mother and be your father. Not like John, of course, but as your stepfather. I think it would help your mother, and I'd sure like to be here for you and little Mathew. But only if you want me, honey. Otherwise, I won't even talk to Maryanne about it." Lucille smiled at him. "That's why you brought the flowers, isn't it? Do you think she'll really do it? Is there a chance?" She inquired, biting her lips worriedly. "I think I can persuade her. The only time you get a break around here is when I have you on our training course. You're getting to be quite a marksman, too." Tyler replied."Marks person, Uncle Tyler," Lucille corrected with a sudden teasing grin. "And the other night in karate class I kicked Don's butt." The only time she found herself laughing anymore was when Uncle Tyler took her off to the Special Forces training area and they played soldier. Female or not, Lucille was becoming someone
Outskirts of Blue moon's pack,4:30pm..Freya opened her mouth, then shut it as she tried to process the information that the werewolf had just given out.Her mother had captured Emma? She shook her head, not believing it. What was her mother's business with Amelia's sister?Besides her, Yodah was battling with confusion too. Already, he was asking Aiden telepathically for tiny bits of how the Emma was. It seemed the latter wasn't an ordinary human, if the werewolf was in search for her, and believed that Leonarya had taken her.Aiden, ridden with shock too, got himself fast enough to relay telepathically his whole blueprint on his entire dealings with Emma, excluding the night he had compulsed her to want him greatly. He didn't think Freya would want to know that. She would be hurt, even though it hadn't been entirely his fault. He had thought she was the one. He had seen colors with her around, even though limitedly. And now she was missing? Could that be why he had been feeling a
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