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NINETY-TWO | THE MOUNTAIN LION TRIBE (PART 2)
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2020-07-30 01:00:34My bed didn’t feel very comfortable. I frowned. I couldn’t feel Samyak there, either, and I missed his warmth. I wanted to wriggle back against him, and for his arms to wrap around me. There was a light breeze, and as it rippled over me I wanted to tug the duvet tighter.
But there was no duvet. I blinked and sat up suddenly. My vision spun, but it cleared quickly.
Li Wei was crouched down in front of me, his face still blank. “Arienne, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” I said, pulling myself up straighter. “I’m fine now.”
“You took quite a tumble,” said Ryker, and I realised that he was sat cross-legged on my left hand side. “You’re going to be pretty bruised, but you should otherwise be okay.”
“Thanks,” I said, offering him a quick smile. I still felt dazed, but I pulled myself toge
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My head span as I clambered to my feet. I was looking forward to going home to our little cabin later that evening. Knowing that I still had the most important trial to come was somewhat daunting, but I knew that, no matter what, by the end of the day I’d be tucked up in bed with the man I loved.The man who was keeping secrets from me. I shook myself. That wasn’t true. It was more likely than not that Samyak had simply forgotten to fill me in on one tiny, probably insignificant piece of information. He’d probably frozen initially when Violet had been taken, and then jumped into the fray and been injured then.My head injuries were making me think irrationally; I was sure of it. I forced my thoughts of Samyak, even the nice ones of us eating dinner together in our cosy kitchen, to the back of my mind. I had to focus.I’d found the dandelions, and by some stroke of luck it seemed that my fall
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My vision blurred as I followed the flickering of the candle’s flame. Then I felt as though I was being pulled forwards, and I let myself tumble into the darkness.I felt myself roll over, and then I scrabbled with claw-like hands to right myself. I stumbled onto my feet, and stared into oblivion. There was nothing for me to catch sight of; there was no way for me to orient myself. It was just… black.I span around, searching desperately for anything. The emptiness was vast, and then my vision began to blur once more. I felt compelled to sit down, and I crossed my legs as I had done before. I let my hands come to rest in my lap, and I stared forwards. There was a sound. It was like the beating of a heart, growing gradually louder with each breath that I took. I didn’t know where it was coming from, and then I realised: it was coming from within me.My eyes flickered, and the candle was back. The Candle Dragon had disappeared, and the rest of the space was still black. I rocked forward
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“Wait! No, no, no,” Samyak chanted. My arm froze in mid-air, ready to push the kitchen door open fully.“What?” I frowned. I couldn’t smell anything; I’d assumed he was cooking us dinner, but the usual scent of fried onion and garlic wasn’t seeping through the air as it so often did.“Wait there. Sorry,” he added, poking his head through the crack in the doorway. He smiled dopily at me, and I cocked my head at him with a smile.“I thought you were calling me because it was ready?”“I was. But I just need you to grab me something from the bedroom. Then stand outside, right by the front door. Okay?”“Okay,” I nodded, the bridge of my nose crinkling with confusion. “What do you need me to get?”“Could you get me something warm – a big jumper will do
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The Beta's Daughter 122 | EPILOGUE
I tugged nervously at my dress. Nami and Rosa were behind me, weaving flowers and plaits into my long, brown hair. It waved neatly, having been blow dried and oiled by my entourage. “Are you sure you don’t want any lipstick?” Rosa asked, fiddling with a daisy. She glanced at me in the mirror, her sharply plucked eyebrows raised.“I’m sure,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. They sparkled in the bright light, wide beneath the swathe of brown and gold eye shadow on my lids.“I think you look good without it, anyway,” Nami shrugged. She wound a small, black band around the end of the braid she’d woven into my hair, and then stepped back. “You’re all done, Ari.”“Thanks,” I smiled, turning from side to side to admire myself in the mirror. The dress was simple: I was draped in gold, tightly fitting and hugging the curve of my waist. It had a squared off sweetheart neckline, and I wore a shimmer of glittering highlight across my collarbones. My sun necklace, given to me by my parents, so very
The Beta's Daughter 121 | AIRINI
“It seems,” Alpha Gedeon smirked, “that an accord will have to be negotiated. Young Jacob is to be Alpha of your pack one day, if I am not mistaken. Airini will make a fine Luna; of that, I am sure.”But nobody was paying Gedeon so much as an ounce of attention, not even the wolves of his own pack. All eyes were fixed on Jacob and Airini.She, like Jacob, was covered in the mud and gore of battle. There was a deep, purple bruise blossoming along the side of her face, which stood out starkly against her white skin. Her hair was fine, golden gossamer that floated down to her shoulders. She was easily as tall as he was, but lightly boned and lithely muscled. She looked delicate, but sharp, like an ivory blade.I grabbed Samyak’s hand excitedly, and in that moment I knew that Jacob and I had never been meant to be. My love for Jacob poured out of me now, an expression of friendship and joy for h
The Beta's Daughter 120 | NIGHT
Death was easy. There was no pain in darkness, no anguish. There was no regret, no suffering. But there was no joy either; no elation, no sense of wonder. The darkness was all consuming, but it was not fulfilling. There was something missing, something niggling at the very farthest point of my mind.Then the darkness began to lift, and, though my bleary eyes stayed shut, a bright, golden light shone upon my face. I wondered if I would be opening my eyes into the afterlife, this first blurry vision of gold my eternal resting place.“Arienne?” Samyak murmured. “Arienne – please, open your eyes.” Then I heard him turn, shuffling despairingly to someone, anyone for help. “Why won’t it work?” He asked, his voice heartbroken, confused, like that of a child.This didn’t seem like death. Death was a painless, eternal nothingness. Samyak was crying, and I could see him w
The Beta's Daughter 119 | BATTLE
Alpha Brius was shadowed on either side by his family. His hair, red as blazing fire, stood out even in the darkness. The glow of the sun shone on it, blood dousing flame, and it rippled like water as he stepped forward beside his mate. I could just make out Luna Lucille’s classical features in the dim morning light, though her hair, darker than Brius’s, was obscured.“We said we would stand beside you,” he called. “No matter the task. You saved our son, and the White Elm pack is in your debt, Lapis Moon. We have come to fight at your side.”Luna Carla beamed, and walked down the slope to greet them, Alpha Felix at her side. “You came,” she breathed.“We did, Luna,” said Alpha Brius, bowing his head to her. It was a gesture of respect, and one that was not necessary under such circumstances. “You called, so we came.”I beamed dow
The Beta's Daughter 118 | THE DARKNESS OF THE DAWN
The sun was rising, the first glimpses of orange light tickling the purple sky of the dawn. I stared straight ahead, my flask of coffee going cold between my hands.They were coming, and we were ready.We’d been sent to bed halfway through the night. I’d struggled to sleep, but had fallen into its warmth an hour before I had to wake up again. The broken pattern of napping had made me more tired than I had been before, but my steely focus and determination was keeping me awake now.Samyak had excitedly filled his parents in on his gift, but when they had asked me about mine I’d had very little to say. Ryna’s aura, if that was what it had been, gave me hardly anything to go on. Samyak’s gift was real, palpable; we had both witnessed its effects first-hand. Seeing one maybe-aura was not much to brag about; besides, even if it had been real, I didn’t know what it meant.&nb
The Beta's Daughter 117 | AURAS
I felt my face pale. I clung to Samyak, my hands scrabbling at him like the terrified claws of a prey animal. The moon’s light glittered in my eyes, spinning slowly like a distorted, monocolour kaleidoscope.“Arienne?” Samyak asked, his voice whipping like static against my ears. “What is it? What’s wrong?”Black spots pulsed through my vision, but I shook myself, determined to find out more.Gedeon? What time tomorrow? I sent back, my mind scrambling to find his. But no reply came, and I felt myself falling.Before I hit the bottom, however, I yanked myself back up to the surface. The tidal wave was coming, but we had time. We were prepared, and we could be ready. We would be ready.I pulled back, and my gaze met Samyak’s. He looked soft, his lips plump and his eyes tender. They furrowed in confusion when he saw my own exp
The Beta's Daughter 116 | ORB
The next few days passed us by quickly, running together and blurring into one. Rosa and the other warrior wolves arrived, and we spent her first evening sat together in her family’s guest cabin, catching up and gossiping about Joshua, Jacob, and Samyak.The sunlight had slanted in through the window, warming the sides of our faces as we’d grinned. I’d caught sight of Ryna stalking past outside, and had watched her disappear into the woods with a grim feeling settling in my chest.Though I wanted to talk to Samyak, I found the days were slipping by without a moment for us to be alone together. The only part of the day we had to ourselves was at night, as we climbed into bed, and we were both so exhausted from the days of training that we fell asleep quickly, with little more than a hurried “Goodnight,” and a chaste, sleepy kiss.Our days were filled with training, both mental and physical. A
The Beta's Daughter 115 | BLOOD
“Blood?” Samyak frowned, a crinkle appearing between his eyebrows. “How will blood help us?”“It’s all in here,” I said, gesturing to the small, purple book.Luna Carla’s eyes widened, and she cocked her head to one side. We were upstairs in the pack house; all of the highest ranking wolves from both the Lapis Moon and Silver Crescent packs were in attendance, cramped together in the seating area by Alpha Felix and Luna Carla’s offices. The last vestiges of the sun’s rays were slanting through the windows, burnished gold warming our faces and brushing highlights into our hair. Speckles of dust span through the light, floating upwards and spinning slowly as they rose.“What’s this old book going to tell us?” Ryna asked, sliding one hand onto her hip. Her slim, blonde eyebrows raised slightly, and I sighed.&ld
The Beta's Daughter 114 | SILVER CRESCENT
“Mum! Dad!” I shouted, a wide grin spreading across my face. Then I was wrapped in their arms, and I was finally home. I felt complete; whole, though I hadn’t realised that I’d been missing anything until now. They towered over my head, and I felt safe, secure.Then they released me, and another set of arms tackled me from the side. I pulled back, and stared up into familiar, warm sea-blue eyes. His short dark hair was tousled, more so than usual, and stood up at irregular angles, falling in waves across his forehead.“Jake,” I breathed, smiling. I felt dizzy, overwhelmed, as he pulled me flush against his toned body.“Ari,” he whispered, and the hole inside me filled a little more. I’d missed him; not the person he’d been when I’d last visited Silver Crescent, but the best friend that I’d known for years, before mates and relationships and sto
