VICTORIA I showered and changed for bed. I was drying my hair when my phone started pinging like crazy. I hardly ever use my phone except with Oliver and Damon when I am away at school. I placed my finger on the scanner to unlock it, and before I could even read it, I was thrown into a vision. I was standing in the woods, but these woods were not in pack territory. I struggled to catch my breath, my hands resting on my knees. I was covered in blood, a gash on my forehead that wasn't healing. I started wondering through the brush, not knowing where I was going or where I even came from, fear coursing through me like I was going to die. I hear Damon's wolf hunter howling in pain, and I run towards the sound. I would know that sound anywhere. The vision slows in almost slow motion, and I see my sister Hanna's dead body lying in a clearing with all the trainees from the ranked members training camp. Damon was in trouble. He was injured and surrounded by witches and Vampires. I run as fa
VICTORIA I woke up, and I was alone in my room. I looked out the window, and it had to be well after lunch. How come Damon never came to get me for training. I got dressed and made my way down to the kitchen. I was starving. When Hanna came in, I pulled out some lunch meat and cheese to make a sandwich. I don't know what came over me, but I grabbed her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Hey! You are choking me!" She all buts gasps. "Sorry, bad dream." "Wanna tell me about. Once I say it out loud, I feel it doesn't scare me as much anymore.""That is actually great advice coming from a ten-year-old.""I am smart like you." "I had a dream you died. I guess when I saw you, I just wanted to make sure it was only a bad dream." "Yep, just a bad dream! I am not that easy to kill, sis. I am an Alpha!" "You sure are!" I made us some sandwiches, and then we went to find Damon and see if Oliver was still in the pack. Before I fell asleep, he said something about Matice was missing
VICTORIA The light was fading, and I was thrust back to reality—Oliver on my left and Anton on my right. I felt even more powerful knowing they had my back. I shot my hands out, and a beam of light shot from my body, encasing the beast in a light prison. I could hear Esmerelda chanting from somewhere, so I joined whatever spell she was casting, and it was then I saw the beast transform into a man. A man not much older than my father. He lay on the ground breathing slow and hard, unable to stand. For the first time in a long time, I saw Esmerelda shed a tear. Did she know this man? Beast? What was he? Who was he to her? I saw Hunter shift back to Damon, and Damon watched as I walked toward the man. Esmerelda fast to meet me where he was struggling to stand. "Someone get this man to the pack doctor," Damon roared, and a handful of men came running to carry him to the pack hospital. Before I could touch him, Damon grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. "We need to talk, little siste
VICTORIA I don't know how long I stayed in the cabin looking through different books. I moved some werewolf law textbooks and behind them were a lot of small leather-bound journals with leather strings used to wrap around the book. I slowly opened one up, knowing what it was but not who's it was. I looked at the date in the corner at the top of the page, July 2nd, 1985. I have done some terrible things in my life. Anything to stay alive. Today I have done something I can not go back from Ezmerelda will never forgive me. I found Miguel's family and killed them all. My rage will never be forgotten in his village. They will forever fear the DIAZ witches. He will not reject my only sister. He will watch his family die. I cast him into the pits of hell, and there he will stay until he proves his love for my sister. We leave tomorrow to join Blood moon pack. Alpha Thadeous says we can pay with our bodies. I know we will be safe with Blood moon pack. They are large, and no one will suspect
Years later VICTORIA I taped my hands as I waited for the new recruits to arrive for training. Daniel was helping me with this batch. The plan was to scare them enough to know they wanted to be here with a healthy fear with no funny business. I finished wrapping my hands and began stretching. As the new recruits started arriving, I had Daniel run them through the warm-up before we began sparring. "Recruits! Today will test your physical and mental abilities. Some of you have experience with training, and some of you have been selected based on your unique skill set. This does not automatically gain you entry into the program. This program is meant to create warriors. You will have to take a life if you can not handle that. You should leave now." I watched and waited as some of the recruits thought about staying or going. Before I could continue, Daniel spoke up. "Do not be ashamed about leaving. Great strength comes from knowing when something is not meant for you." I watch as th
VICTORIA Damon and Lucy convinced me to check out this new classic club in town; apparently, the food is binge-worthy. So says Lucy, the foodie. Axel and Lanie are meeting us there, and I am actually starting to relax, thinking less and less about my mate. Lucy looks about ready to pop, but she says she is fine. Damon has been watching her like a toddler with a knife. I watch as Lucy waddles to my closest to pick me out an outfit. "Black leather, black leather, black leather…..okay, Tori, we need to discuss your clothing choices. Do you have anything that's not black and has secret dagger compartments?" I laugh, walking over to the closet. "This one is chocolate, so not black." I push a few things aside, and there is a three-quarter-length red dress that shows entirely too much breast but judging by the look on Lucy's face, she likes this one. "Tori, this one! You have to wear this one," she gushes, looking at it. I miss non-hormonal Lucy, practical, reasonable Lucy. I sit at the
VICTORIA I rejected Devon. I did it. I went against every fibre of my being, and I am free. He has no mate bond fog over me, and he can choose me if he wants, or he can move on. I can move on. This is what I wanted. I try to convince myself as we drive back to the packhouse. I watch as the buildings and trees blur by me. Zarina is mad at me that I gave up our mate, but he doesn't even have a wolf; who is she even bonded to? I can feel Lucy's eyes on me even as she talks with Damon. As we cross the border in our pack territory, I ask the driver to stop. "I need to go for a run. I'll meet you back at the packhouse?" "Ya sounds good. I'll put some tea on." Lucy smiles, knowing I need space but offering to be there in case I need her. "No, Macey will make tea. You are going to rest. It was a big long night out." Damon scolds Lucy, and I have to laugh at his overprotective nature already. I can just imagine when he has a daughter. I place my clothes in a neat pile and let Zarina take
VICTORIAI wanted to make it up to Devon. Rejecting him was not my original plan, but I panicked. I really wanted him to love me for me. Not forced by the stupid mate bond. What I didn't expect was to feel so empty after he accepted. I planned a whole romantic date at my secret safe haven. I wanted to be honest. I wanted him to know who I really was, and if he chose to walk away, so be it. But when he reached over and asked me how I felt about never having children, I didn't know how to respond because no one had ever asked me that before. No one really asked me how I felt about anything. Sure they would ask my advice on how to kill someone or hack into a secure facility but how I felt about anything was never something I had faced—that easy task of just shoving it down and not feeling anything. Yet when Devon touched my hand and asked me. I was momentarily stunned before our food arrived. I didn't know what to say. I had them prepare the best seabass and garlic fried rice and vegetabl
LUCY I had a vision of Devon's sister being held captive. I didn't know she was Devon's sister, nor did I understand the significance of the vision. I let it go, but when Damon called to tell me what had happened, I felt sick. I knew this was tied to us somehow. I was just too tired to put it together. This baby was killing me. I was a week overdue. After everyone left, I went to bed. I needed to lie down and put my feet up. I had been having Braxton hicks all week. This baby was coming, and soon. I drifted off to sleep and seemed to wake up when my phone buzzed like crazy. Thirty missed notifications. I opened my phone and called Damon back. "Angel, are you ok?" "yes, I am fine. Why?" "You aren't in any pain?" "I am always in pain, what's going on?" "I felt an awful pain in my back. I worried you had fallen. Ellen and Lanie are on their way to you now. I’ll be back when I can.” I swung my legs over the side and stood up. “Omg,” I think. I peed my pants. “What, Angel? What’s w
VICTORIA I don’t know what possessed me to message Devon. I missed him. Was it this quaint little town with all the families farming together or was the heat getting to my head? I guess I’ll never know. I thought with the rejection, the bond would fizzle out. I still felt incredibly drawn to him. Thinking of him constantly and that little dimple on his face when he tries not to laugh at something I’ve said. I had already completed the first part of my assignment. I was to hack the secure CIA server to find the safe house of one of their witnesses. Witness or not he was still the man who murdered innocent women and children for money. So it was his turn. I wanted to take my time, but Oliver needed it to look like a robbery; like it or not, Oliver out-ranked me. Mostly because he was politically correct and looked great in a suit, I, on the other hand, could not kiss ass to save my life. I said what I thought when I thought it, and I don’t really care if you’re offended. That’s why I
DEVON It had been over a week since my date with Victoria. Besides a few single-worded text messages, she was radio silent. Is she avoiding me? Is she on an assignment? Was the date not as great as I thought it was? I was a mess. Is this how girls felt when guys didn't call right away? No wonder girls were crazy. This feeling makes me crazy! I figured I would burn off some of this frustration with a run and a beer. I changed into some sweats and my Nike cross trainers and hit the trails. My head felt at peace in the trails along the river—nothing quite like birds chirping and the smell of pine in the fall. I made it to the clearing near the cliff's side. My favourite spot to clear my head. I couldn't let my anxiety get too high. Now that I was harnessing all the power from the warlock kingdom, I needed to be in control of my every thought, emotion and feeling. I daydreamed about Victoria for a while. I thought a lot about what she told me, how they removed her ovaries and took away
VICTORIAI wanted to make it up to Devon. Rejecting him was not my original plan, but I panicked. I really wanted him to love me for me. Not forced by the stupid mate bond. What I didn't expect was to feel so empty after he accepted. I planned a whole romantic date at my secret safe haven. I wanted to be honest. I wanted him to know who I really was, and if he chose to walk away, so be it. But when he reached over and asked me how I felt about never having children, I didn't know how to respond because no one had ever asked me that before. No one really asked me how I felt about anything. Sure they would ask my advice on how to kill someone or hack into a secure facility but how I felt about anything was never something I had faced—that easy task of just shoving it down and not feeling anything. Yet when Devon touched my hand and asked me. I was momentarily stunned before our food arrived. I didn't know what to say. I had them prepare the best seabass and garlic fried rice and vegetabl
VICTORIA I rejected Devon. I did it. I went against every fibre of my being, and I am free. He has no mate bond fog over me, and he can choose me if he wants, or he can move on. I can move on. This is what I wanted. I try to convince myself as we drive back to the packhouse. I watch as the buildings and trees blur by me. Zarina is mad at me that I gave up our mate, but he doesn't even have a wolf; who is she even bonded to? I can feel Lucy's eyes on me even as she talks with Damon. As we cross the border in our pack territory, I ask the driver to stop. "I need to go for a run. I'll meet you back at the packhouse?" "Ya sounds good. I'll put some tea on." Lucy smiles, knowing I need space but offering to be there in case I need her. "No, Macey will make tea. You are going to rest. It was a big long night out." Damon scolds Lucy, and I have to laugh at his overprotective nature already. I can just imagine when he has a daughter. I place my clothes in a neat pile and let Zarina take
VICTORIA Damon and Lucy convinced me to check out this new classic club in town; apparently, the food is binge-worthy. So says Lucy, the foodie. Axel and Lanie are meeting us there, and I am actually starting to relax, thinking less and less about my mate. Lucy looks about ready to pop, but she says she is fine. Damon has been watching her like a toddler with a knife. I watch as Lucy waddles to my closest to pick me out an outfit. "Black leather, black leather, black leather…..okay, Tori, we need to discuss your clothing choices. Do you have anything that's not black and has secret dagger compartments?" I laugh, walking over to the closet. "This one is chocolate, so not black." I push a few things aside, and there is a three-quarter-length red dress that shows entirely too much breast but judging by the look on Lucy's face, she likes this one. "Tori, this one! You have to wear this one," she gushes, looking at it. I miss non-hormonal Lucy, practical, reasonable Lucy. I sit at the
Years later VICTORIA I taped my hands as I waited for the new recruits to arrive for training. Daniel was helping me with this batch. The plan was to scare them enough to know they wanted to be here with a healthy fear with no funny business. I finished wrapping my hands and began stretching. As the new recruits started arriving, I had Daniel run them through the warm-up before we began sparring. "Recruits! Today will test your physical and mental abilities. Some of you have experience with training, and some of you have been selected based on your unique skill set. This does not automatically gain you entry into the program. This program is meant to create warriors. You will have to take a life if you can not handle that. You should leave now." I watched and waited as some of the recruits thought about staying or going. Before I could continue, Daniel spoke up. "Do not be ashamed about leaving. Great strength comes from knowing when something is not meant for you." I watch as th
VICTORIA I don't know how long I stayed in the cabin looking through different books. I moved some werewolf law textbooks and behind them were a lot of small leather-bound journals with leather strings used to wrap around the book. I slowly opened one up, knowing what it was but not who's it was. I looked at the date in the corner at the top of the page, July 2nd, 1985. I have done some terrible things in my life. Anything to stay alive. Today I have done something I can not go back from Ezmerelda will never forgive me. I found Miguel's family and killed them all. My rage will never be forgotten in his village. They will forever fear the DIAZ witches. He will not reject my only sister. He will watch his family die. I cast him into the pits of hell, and there he will stay until he proves his love for my sister. We leave tomorrow to join Blood moon pack. Alpha Thadeous says we can pay with our bodies. I know we will be safe with Blood moon pack. They are large, and no one will suspect
VICTORIA The light was fading, and I was thrust back to reality—Oliver on my left and Anton on my right. I felt even more powerful knowing they had my back. I shot my hands out, and a beam of light shot from my body, encasing the beast in a light prison. I could hear Esmerelda chanting from somewhere, so I joined whatever spell she was casting, and it was then I saw the beast transform into a man. A man not much older than my father. He lay on the ground breathing slow and hard, unable to stand. For the first time in a long time, I saw Esmerelda shed a tear. Did she know this man? Beast? What was he? Who was he to her? I saw Hunter shift back to Damon, and Damon watched as I walked toward the man. Esmerelda fast to meet me where he was struggling to stand. "Someone get this man to the pack doctor," Damon roared, and a handful of men came running to carry him to the pack hospital. Before I could touch him, Damon grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. "We need to talk, little siste