AmberAfter everything that happened Amber’s parents treated her like she was made of glass. It was a non stop rotation of her parents and Luke hovering over her while she was in bed. There were even other members of the coven that popped in to check on her. It was heartwarming but unnecessary. She was fine, they had some of the best healers in the country.Despite all the rest and healing Amber she still felt worse than she had in her entire life. Seeing what happened to her cousin nearly broke her. Ellie felt more like a sister than a cousin. Their connection was instant and Amber wanted to protect it at all costs. Part of her even resented her parents for not finding her sooner. She replayed everything in her mind and realized there had to be more to it. There was no way someone as special as Ellie was just born to die. She needed to speak with her parents about it as soon as possible. Or at least she would if it weren’t for Luke. When he was near her it made her mind feel clouded,
Amber“What if he’s right?” Her father’s low calm voice asked.“I’m counting on him to be. She needs to go to her mates if the plan is going to work.” Her mother’s voice was calm as well. Too calm.“Sessy…” her father warned.“Oh stop. It’s a gamble sure. But this is what she was born to do. We just need to do our part. To do that, Elly needs to go to her mates.” Ice flooded Amber’s veins when her parents’ words. Her feet continued to carry her forward until she was standing in front of her parents. Their conversation died down when they noticed her and they each turned their smiling faces toward her.“Hey hon, are you not feeling well? You look pale.” Her mother got up and touched her palms to Amber’s forehead and cheeks. Amber grabbed her by the wrists and lowered her hands away from her. The struggle in her mind between telling her parents about her vision and calling them out for betraying her cousin had her speechless.“Maybe you should go lay back down.” Her father moved from th
Elly The glamour was beginning to hurt. No, not beginning to. It was already excruciating. Or at least it would be for anyone else but at this point, Elly was used to the pain. Glamour shouldn’t be worn constantly. A quick glamour to change your eyes from blue to green. Maybe to change your hair from blonde to black. Witches did these things all the time. Elly looked down into the puddle of rainwater beneath her feet. Her stomach twisted at the old wrinkled face staring back at her. This glamour had been forced on her almost every day since she was six years old. She touched her cheek wondering what her real face looked like now. “Stop touching, you’ll distort it again.” Rebekah slapped Elly’s hand away from her face. “Just stay here and be quiet. Darren stay with Elly.” her eyes moved up and down Elly’s body giving it one last check. Elly could feel her features twist into a scowl. “Get that look off your face.” She stormed across the parking lot back toward her husband. What face?
Rebekah The ride home was long and quiet. Rebekah silenced the conversation for the time being. With all the new information, she needed time to think. Not only that, she needed her husband to focus on driving. The more turns he took the more her fears were confirmed. They were being followed. Thirty minutes later they were going down the winding dirt road to the abandoned church they were squatting in. This was the longest they stayed at any one location but Rebekah knew they couldn’t leave. Not with the girl’s birthday being so close. They pulled up and the girl was the first out of the car. She raced straight into the church and slammed the door. “I’ll get her.” Said Darren as he started after her. “Leave her.” Rebekah grabbed his shoulder. He opened his mouth to protest but she squeezed his shoulder harder. “She’s probably tired from the extra energy you siphoned from her earlier.” His cheeks flushed with color. “How did you know?” He looked down at his feet. He might be over
Elly They couldn’t get back to the church fast enough. Every sharp turn and detour Jonah took made Elly’s body scream with pain. The car was hadn’t come to a full stop before she was out the door and moving toward her room. At the back of the church in a room used for storage, she had just enough room a small bed and a chest of drawers for what few clothes she had. She closed the door behind her. Staring at it for a moment wishing it didn’t lock from the outside. She reached under her pillow and pulled out her family’s grimoire. She had been trying to piece together a plan for years. Everything she needed to know was in that book. Just like everything else in her life, the answers were just out of reach. The book was spelled to only react to Elly’s magic. Magic she could not use. She flipped through the pages hoping for something, anything. The pages remained blank aside from the drawing of herbs and their description of their uses. The only magic anyone could use regardless of how m
Rowan The map on the table was riddled with red x’s. Rowan could feel they were close. He was drawn to that portion of the map. Were it not for the fact that he was immune to magic rowan would have thought a spell or something was forcing him to look in that section of the woods. “Stare any harder and the map will catch fire.” Lucas laughed as he walked into the room. Rowan growled at his beta. He was in no mood for jokes. “If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘the scout has returned’ you’ll be the only thing catching fire.” Lucas sighed as he walked over to Rowan and clapped his hands on his shoulders. “Come on Rowan. You’re my best friend. My alpha. It’s killing me to see you this way.” Rowan’s wolf lurched towards the surface at his words. He grits his teeth at the force of his sudden outburst. Lucas didn’t deserve Eris’ wrath. He was only trying to help. Despite his intentions, he hit a sore spot for the two of them. “What exactly am I the alpha of?” He asked. “Come
Elly The two of them looked like deer in headlights. Elly turned her head away from them. It wasn’t the mud covering her, or the bright red mark on her face from Darren slapping her. The Hughes instilled in her the need to stay away from strangers. If the wrong one found her it would be the death of her. It would especially mean her parents died for no reason. She couldn’t have that. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya. Our coven has land not far from here. We were hoping we could get some supplies from ya.” The man stepped forward making Darren take a few steps in front of Elly blocking her from view. “Head back and get my parents.” He said over his shoulder. The words barely made it out of his mouth before Elly was jogging away, her book clutched tight to her chest. They were witches too. What if they recognized her? Elly’s mind was frantic. Rebekah was right, she wasn’t safe after all these years. As much as she hated the glamour it kept her she needed it. “Shit…they’re never going
Rowan The smell of fear and the sound of a racing heart were two of Rowan’s favorite things. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent. The little witch stared up at him. They all regarded him as a wild card because they couldn’t control him. But she looked at him with more than just fear. It could almost be mistaken for hope. Just the thought made him angry. He was a wild card because of the witches. Forever missing his other half because of them. His pack forever missing their Luna. To think any of them had the audacity to believe Rowan would take one of them as a mate was the biggest insult he could imagine. He let a claw slip out of his finger as he scratched it along the bark of the tree just above Lena’s head. “Alpha Rowan…is there something I can help you with?” Redness colored her cheeks. For a moment Rowan thought he saw her sniff him. Eris recoiled inside him, disgusted by the witch’s blatant attraction to him. “Hope so.” Rowan forced the words out. Despite the forcefulnes
Amber“What if he’s right?” Her father’s low calm voice asked.“I’m counting on him to be. She needs to go to her mates if the plan is going to work.” Her mother’s voice was calm as well. Too calm.“Sessy…” her father warned.“Oh stop. It’s a gamble sure. But this is what she was born to do. We just need to do our part. To do that, Elly needs to go to her mates.” Ice flooded Amber’s veins when her parents’ words. Her feet continued to carry her forward until she was standing in front of her parents. Their conversation died down when they noticed her and they each turned their smiling faces toward her.“Hey hon, are you not feeling well? You look pale.” Her mother got up and touched her palms to Amber’s forehead and cheeks. Amber grabbed her by the wrists and lowered her hands away from her. The struggle in her mind between telling her parents about her vision and calling them out for betraying her cousin had her speechless.“Maybe you should go lay back down.” Her father moved from th
AmberAfter everything that happened Amber’s parents treated her like she was made of glass. It was a non stop rotation of her parents and Luke hovering over her while she was in bed. There were even other members of the coven that popped in to check on her. It was heartwarming but unnecessary. She was fine, they had some of the best healers in the country.Despite all the rest and healing Amber she still felt worse than she had in her entire life. Seeing what happened to her cousin nearly broke her. Ellie felt more like a sister than a cousin. Their connection was instant and Amber wanted to protect it at all costs. Part of her even resented her parents for not finding her sooner. She replayed everything in her mind and realized there had to be more to it. There was no way someone as special as Ellie was just born to die. She needed to speak with her parents about it as soon as possible. Or at least she would if it weren’t for Luke. When he was near her it made her mind feel clouded,
LukeThe murderous gleam in his best friend’s eye was sobering. Seeing the blood of his pack mate dripping from his alpha’s mouth was terrifying. Eris was always a strong-willed wolf. It was a sign of truly strong alpha that their wolf had a mind of their own but the human counterpart could remained in control. It was madness for Luke to challenge him in the first place. Unsure if it was his rapidly approaching death or if whatever was clouding his mind had passed but Luke truly regretted the challenge. More than that he was confused by it. Even his wolf, Solis, was confused. They loved their alpha. He could tell them to jump off a cliff and Luke would happily oblige.“Alpha Rowan, please.” He croaked. The damage to his neck was substantial and healing slowly. The only thing that healed slower than an alpha bite was a wound made with silver. It was rare for him to use official titles with Rowan but he was desperate. “We need to go. There are vampires right there!” The chances of thes
Elly It was unclear if the injection of ice into Elly’s veins was from the clap of thunder that she felt in her bones more than she heard or the ear-shattering growl that somehow managed to be louder and more jarring. Her entire body locked up but she had to look. She needed to see. The massive white wolf that was once a welcome sight seemed off. Even from the distance they were at she could see its majestic fur was coated in blood and mud. It snapped and lunged at other wolves. This was a new fork in her path. Originally, she planned on going with the vampires to get away from her mates. “Planned” was a generous description. Elly was keenly aware that trusting vampires was more insane than trusting werewolves or other witches. The throbbing pain in her stomach was a good reminder that so far the vampires were the best option she had. Even now, with Rowan a scream away. If he hated her before he would despise her now that she was standing with a group of vampires. “How did we run i
“You better be worth the trouble.” Light danced in the vampire’s black eyes as he looked hungrily at Elly. She gulped back her panic not daring to ask what vampires wanted with her. The presence of one of her mates was drawing closer. Her eyes darted to the side where Dale was coming closer to her hiding place.The smile widened revealing the lethal glint of the razor-sharp teeth that were hidden beneath his full lips. He leaned in close to her exposed neck. Elly gulped back her fear.“I am.” Her voice was barely audible. It wasn’t a sentence she truly believed. The only thing that mattered what that everyone else seemed to believe it. The smile froze on the vampire’s face. “I am.” although she forced her voice out stronger, it was barely more than a whisper. He leaned closer and a splash of light fell across his chiseled face. His cold black eyes searched her face as she continued to look between him and her still-approaching mate.All she needed to do was call out and she would be r
Things escalated very quickly. Rain poured over them obscuring the light from the moon. There was no way the challenge could wait until they were back at the pack to do things right and from the look of the people around them, there would be more than one challenge. Just don’t kill them, Eris. Rowan told his wolf before receding to the back of his mind and giving him full control. By the end of his sentence, Lucas was already shifted and Solis was upfront and snarling. Rowan expected the fight of his life. He and Lucas had been training together their entire lives. No one knew his strengths and weaknesses better than his best friend.That’s exactly why Eris didn’t bother holding back. The second Lucas shifted and lunged for Rowan he easily dodged the attack and rounded on him. His attacks were relentless, grabbing him by the hind leg and slamming him into everything from the surrounding trees to the ground before slinging him toward the lake. He skipped across the water as easily as
RowanIt was getting late. Well, later. The full moon loomed over them making it hard to tell what time it was. Its fullness was a constant reminder that time was running out for Rowan to figure out how to save his pack. The thought that he had already failed so many of them, especially his mother, was what was keeping him from sleeping.Things were spiraling out of control and Rowan couldn’t figure out why. His mother had been training him to be Alpha his entire life. When his father died he had taken the mantle at such a young age. Strategizing was one of his strengths. He had to be strategic to avoid being challenged before he and his wolf fully were mature. Now, it’s as if he had never come up with a plan a day in his life. As the moon grew fuller his time to come up with something was running out and it did nothing to help him. Even Eris was completely silent. He was more than just the voice in Rowan’s head. He was his conscience and guide. They ran the pack together. Partners.
Elly“Another ward candle went out!” Rebekah came crashing in the door making Elly scream.“Listen…they can track us too. The three of us can’t hide together. Not with how powerful Elly already is…” It was clear he had a speech prepared, something he had been thinking about for a long time. It didn’t matter. Liv wasn’t hearing it. She pushed her palm against his mouth.“No. No. I’m not leaving my child. Ever. They’ll have to kill me first.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close.“Give me another option Liv. I won’t lose you two. I can’t.” His voice broke. There was an unimaginable hell on its way to their door step and he was powerless to protect his family. Rebekah cleared her throat.“If the problem is her power. Then it’s a problem you already know how to solve.” Liv choked on her tears. “What is she talking about.” Anthony held her back at arm’s length in an attempt to get a better look at her face. Elly held up one of her rubber duckies with a hole in the beak and squ
Elly“That must have been really painful.” A deep gentle voice cooed in Elly’s ear as strong hands lifted her from the ground. “We told you not to attempt this without us. You both could have seriously gotten hurt!.” Elly wiped at the tears in her eyes. Her sniffles drew in the thick smell of smoke. Was something burning? She blinked her irritated eyes at the bright kitchen. Darren was still in his mother’s arms bawling his eyes out as if he were the one that just had his powers siphoned.“What do you mean, Anthony? Someone did get hurt. My boy! His connection is torn worse than before thanks to your little princess!” Rebekah spits the words at them as she cradled her son tighter to her chest. His round face was cherry red from either the crying, the pressure of his mother’s grip, or both.“I think we both know that any fault for your son’s current condition does not lie with my three year old. Perhaps you should take your boy and calm him down while my wife and I take care of things