In the following second, the whole building with the dungeons is shaking as if there was some kind of earthquake. James splits down from above, hanging on a rope from one of our escape helicopters. Holding two guns in both his hands, he steadily jumps directly into the dungeon. He doesn’t waste time as he walks up to my cell and shoots my cell door open. Setting me free. I am free. I am free. I recite that in my head, but my body and mind don’t seem to agree. My body and mind still do not agree and they can’t seem to agree at thinking this is possible. I watch as James walks into the cell. And I am still frozen in place. I still can’t believe it is real. I pull myself to run up to him, and there is still something that is pushing me back. The idea of the energy surrounding the cell gate. I am expecting to feel the force that has always pushed me off the cell doors, but as I take steps closer, I do not feel it. Realizing that, I burst off running to him. I am already in tears w
Maria is James’s mate! My brother has finally found the ‘one’. I turn my eyes to James, expecting to see him excited. He always wanted this. He always wished to meet a woman that would love him. A woman for him to love and have a family with. And she is finally here. And by James’s reaction, I don’t think he understands this. I don’t think he is getting this or the magnitude of the announcement or the word ‘mate’ from a werewolf. James is pushing Maria off his body by force and shouting at her angrily. “Who is your mate? Do you see a monster in me that looks like you? What the fuck is wrong with her?” Maria still holds on tightly to James as James continues shouting. “Get away from me.” He pushes her away with all the force he can gather, and she stumbles a step back. He then for the second time points a gun at her again. “Did you play a part in kidnapping him, too? Did you play a part in hurting him again?” Instead of getting mad or angry or frightened, Maria is still smiling
“I do not want to hurt you. But you are forcing my hand.” James continues to shout angrily at Maria, who still doesn’t move an inch. It is as if she is frozen in place. When I take a deep closer look at her. It gets to me. It’s not her doing. Her wolf has taken over. I remember the first time Fenrir met Keirah. I have experienced firsthand what Maria must be going through. The feeling I cannot explain how it feels after the wolf in Werewolves meets their mate for the first time. It’s not her mind working now. She won’t be able to move even if she wants to. She must do the impossible to fight her wolf. If not, her wolf won’t let James stay an inch away from her. “Do you need a bullet penetrating your skull to make you understand what I am saying to you?” Maria nods, smiling broadly. I climb off the rope and walk right up to James to explain to him the situation at hand. But before I can say anything to him, James interrupts me. “What is her deal? “What is with those smiles and no
“No….” I shout out and close my eyes, unable to allow myself to see my brother bleeding to death and taking his last breath. Tears roll in my eyes. I feel so much pain. Pain I cannot explain. I feel disappointed in myself, and guilt eats me up. It is all my fault. I am lost in pain with tears rolling down my face when I hear Coal shouting. Coal’s voice, shouting in anger, brings me back and makes me open my eyes abruptly. “WHY…WHY DID YOU PROTECT THIS MURDERER THAT TRIED TO KILL ME? WHY .... WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” I open my eyes to see Maria in her wolf form, lying on top of James. I take in a deep long breath I did not know I was holding. Not believing what is in front of me. Maria is bleeding a lot, with a lot of bullet holes all over her body. She has taken the bullets for James! Maria shifts back into her human form. Her whole body is strained with blood. And still, with no type of mercy or compassion, Coal is dragging her human body off James, who lies unharmed, frozen on th
“Okay, we need to move now before he gets up again,” I shout at James. I run up to the rope still hanging on the escape helicopter again to climb up. And I turn back to see James still sitting beside Maria. And this time around, he has covered her naked body with his shirt, and he is holding her hand in his. Soothing her. Maria’s breathing is shallow, no energy is left in her. And by the sound of her cries. She is in too much pain. “What about her? We can’t leave her in here like this.” I smile and walk back. I then help him carry her off the ground. We carry her off and try to tie her to the rope to be the first to climb up to the escape helicopter. But then Maria holds tightly to my hand. She is trying to tell us something. But her voice is coming out like a whisper. I bring my ear to her mouth. “You…. Shouldn’t… take… me… out of here. When the sun…. is up. Everyone…… will read my mind…… and know where…. you will be hiding.” “We will worry about that later. After we get you ou
“Luciano, shoot him and let’s go. She is in too much pain we need to help her.” James shouts at me. But his words do not make it through the anger consuming me. “You lied to me. So it was all a lie. It was not Aero. You are in it too! You are all my uncle's puppets. Kill me to have access to the powers?!” I turn my eyes wondering, studying Maria’s face. Maria is no longer in James’s hold or tied to the rope of the helicopter. She is fighting with all her might to stay human and she is standing right in front of James. One look at her and I can tell. The fear in her eyes tells me whatever Coal said is all true. They are truly planning to kill me. “But you said they could not kill me even if they wanted to… unless…unless they have Keirah already?” Keirah.... they have Keirah. And that triggers the danger and fear in me, not for my life but for Keirah. “Coal, where is Keirah? Do you have her in here?! WHERE IS SHE?” I shout, walking back to him. He mocks me as he speaks. “You are o
Coal looks at me with the eyes that say he pities me. And that angers me more. “You were not my enemy. But unfortunately, you have changed that…. “You are changing it now more by the look in your eyes. You changed that once you tried to kill my brother. And just that action, even if it was not successful, you are my enemy now. “And now that you have Keirah. And you are trying to use her to kill me. I will not spare any of you…I am going to kill all of you. “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, AND ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND EVERYONE IN YOUR PACK,” I shout out in anger. “No, you are not....” A familiar calm and in-control kind of voice gets to my ears. The voice is coming from behind me. And I turn to see Doom speaking as he walks up to me. “You are killing no one. “We are the ones that are going to kill you. We are going to bury you alive. Right where you are standing now. We are burying you alive for eternity, letting nature take its course. “I told you about it and now I am standing here t
All the councilor members continue to chant in the ancient language, making it too irritable in my ears, and unexpectedly, out of nowhere, all of them at once shout at me in a language I understand. With voices that sound like thunder in my ears. “YOU WHO REJECTED US AND DEFIED THE ANCIENT LAW TO RULE OVER US. WE ARE OFFERING YOU, LUCIANO... TO BELONG TO THE NATURAL ORDER TO RULE OVER YOU. “AND WE ARE ASKING FOR THE NATURAL ORDER TO CONTINUE TO GUIDE AND RULE OVER US. YOU WHO SOUGHT TO EVADE THE CYCLES AND BREAK THE LAW. NOW YOU SHALL FIND YOUR ETERNAL REST IN THE EARTH'S EMBRACE.” In a split second, the very ground beneath me trembles, cracks forming in the soil like wells running into the main river. Roots out of nowhere slice the earth beneath me, reaching out to replace the chains and enslave my limbs. It is as if I am in the forest and the forest itself conspired with the council members to help them get me in place and make sure I do not move. In the next second, the earth
James quickly stands up. And his eyes travel to the doorway hoping to see his brother and there is no one there.Then his eyes travel to Maria, but Maria has not moved an inch she is lying down in the same place that she was in, and she is still hissing in pain.He runs over to help her off the ground onto a sofa beside Baby Lana’s crib. As he helps her off the floor, she is looking at him with questioning eyes wondering. ”It was not me!”“Then who is it?”“It’s me!” A weak voice from behind them makes them turn around to see Keirah holding Don Mauro’s tablet in her hands.She raises the tablet in the air for Don Mauro to see it. And she is wearing an angry weak smile but a savage one. “I made the biochips. I know a way or two to undo them. A few codes and I have sent enough shock to shut their minds out. Did you think me stupid to show you everything?”She tries to get out of bed, but it becomes hard, and Maria motions for James to help her. James puts down Maria dashing to her side
Don Mauro’s whole body is shaking with fear. That he can’t even hold the tablet in his hand anymore. And the tablet drops off his hands falling back on Keirah’s bed.He quickly takes the baby out of Dr. Patel’s hand. Readying himself to run. “You are coming with me.” He threatens Dr. Patel.As soon as Don Mauro and Dr. Patel start moving. Dr. Fred, who has been for a while standing too close to the monitor, senses something.There is a flicker of movement that appears on the monitor. A faint but unmistakable rhythm emerges on the monitor.And just like Dr. Fred, everyone, including Don Mauro, James , Erede and Dr. Patel turn their concentration and are all looking at the monitor.It then becomes so loud something that everyone, including Maria who had lost consciousness, opens her eyes wide to the monitor.The room is in silent as their eyes widen in disbelief. Keirah’s heart begins to beat once more, and her vital signs start stabilizing.Tears of joy are on Dr. Fred, but they are al
The happy celebratory noise erupts through the tablet from the werewolves at the pack and from Erede beside James. This makes James quickly to bring back his eyes to Don Mauro’s tablet screen and he joins Erede in making the happy noise after observing how happy everyone is from Luciano’s win. To James’s surprises Don Mauro is smiling too. From the look on his face, he wanted Luciano to win. As if remembering something. His face changes into a serious murderous one. As he quickly gulps in his remaining whiskey on his bottle and throws the remaining piece of cigar on the floor putting himself together as he announces to his goons. “Time to go. We are done here. Kill everyone in here....everyone including that sleeping baby in her crib. And that unconscious woman Maria too. “I don’t want anyone in here to walk out alive. And lock the room after you are done. We need to move fast. Our job here is done. “ I need to prepare myself for my coronation speech. I don’t want to have it broa
The sound of Dr. Fred stumbling backward makes Don Mauro turn his full attention to him and by the look on Dr. Fred’s face, everyone in the room can tell.That whatever Dr. Fred is going to say is not going to be good news. There is so much panic surrounding him, and his fingers still holding Keirah’s hand that he just used to check for her pulse and any sign of breathing on her nose are trembling slightly.He swallows hard with fear written all over his face as he tries to speak, “She is dead,” he whispers, his voice barely above a hoarse murmur. “Keirah is dead.”There are painful tears on everyone all over the room except Don Mauro and his goons who all look unbothered. “That is bad. You ....” Don Mauro speaks as he motions for Dr. Patel. “Get Luciano’s dead bastard out. I want to see what the fuck that thing looks like.“It had a fight in it. What a disappointment. I thought we had a future together, I thought it had the Solana genes dominating it. And giving up was not an option.
“Yes…ME! I am going to rule over everyone from now on. Not just humans, but werewolves, too. Imagine being me.” Don Mauro laughs so hard that happy tears threaten his eyes. “See….take a look.” He raises his tablet in his hands and takes it around, showing what he is watching to everyone in the room. He is smiling happily. “I have eyes in the pack. Although I can’t get in physically. I can now see everything and use my army inside the pack. One word and I can flash out the whole pack in a blink.” On the screen of the tablet, that Don Mauro is taking around. There is a live feed of Luciano fighting with another man in a combat fight. Luciano is no longer in his white porcelain skin, and he is back to the human Luciano he has always been. Covered in his original tattoos as he fights another man. Luciano is fighting with all his might and so is the other man. When Don Mauro gets closer to his son, Erede. Erede questions him. “Who is Luciano fighting? Is that the famous Water?” “No...
James struggles to see the horror unfolding in front of him. As the pack leading doctor crumples to the ground, lifeless and betrayed. And the very loud beeping noise continues to make it to all his ears. This was not his plan. The plan was to save her. James’s fight crumbles like a fragile wall battered by an unstoppable storm. He stops moving. He stops fighting. He stops everything and stands like a statue in the goon hold. As the monitors continue beeping urgently. Informing everyone that this is the end road for Keirah. Erede, on the other hand, grips his chest, tears falling out of his eyes. “NO.. KEIRAH …NO.” He watches in disbelief, his mind struggling to comprehend the nightmare before his eyes. The scene puts him in more shock, and he is frozen in place, his senses overwhelming him. But this does not affect his father. With a cold, calculating gaze, Don Mauro surveys the room, scanning one person after the other. As if daring anyone to try him again. In his eyes, everyone
Maria’s mind is already racing. As she steps out of the room, she is in an alert mood and ready for anything coming her way. Her fight instincts from her experiences in the attacks that happened in the pack are full on. By looking at the dead bodies, she has just realized that things have taken a wrong turn and that the fate that awaits her and everyone she loves is not promising. The man that shows up in front of her ready to attack her tells Maria who the culprit behind this is. This person she is fighting is not a new face to her. She knows who he is. She knows him too well. He was once a person she called her people. And his way of fighting is primitive to what she can do. She tries to go easy on him. With full knowledge, he has no control over himself, but it looks like her good heart cannot be applied now. This man and the one now already holding her mate captive. They are not going easy like her. That makes her realize it is war. Kill or get killed. Especially because sh
“I am so sorry Maria...I don't think my father will be of any help in our situation. His obsession with winning is beyond what any of us can do to make him turn a blind eye and be of help. “And he also thinks Luciano is the biggest threat there is to him. And to protect himself from Luciano. He has been doing the impossible to assure himself of that. “And I believe he has succeeded that through Keirah. He knew just like Salvatore and Luciano’s mother, there was no way Luciano would harm him if he had Keirah. “He knows Luciano would put his life online to save her. That’s how he has control. It is not only Luciano, even with me. And I see it is all of you, too. You would all do anything for her. “ By having her in this like this. He has control over us. Keirah is the key to it all. She was also the reason I fell out with him. And the reason he had a better way to control me. “His jealous son was not ready to let Keirah go. After I found out about her relationship with Luciano. I co
“What did Doom want? ”“When Doom reached out to him for the first time, he asked my father if he could help him locate Luciano. My father did not trust Doom. And he refused to help. “He did not refuse only because he did not trust Doom, but because my father also did not know where Luciano was.” “When was that?” “That was when Luciano and all of you had successfully escaped my father from Casablanca.” “That is weird. Doom lied. Everyone in the pack knew where Luciano was. Everyone in the pack had seen through my mind link about his whereabouts because I had followed him. To the forest house. Doom’s only task was to bring Luciano to the pack.” “My father thought he was lying back then, too. He had trust issues with anyone from the pack. You had disappointed him. He thought you were working for Aero. And he thought just like you, Doom was also working for Aero, too.” “Me? ....Working for Aero?” “He thought you were working for Aero because you had bombarded Casablanca. He thought