* * * Max’s POV * * * Those obsidian eyes are blinking rapidly as they watch me. Flickering from vacant to alert and intense.“Alpha Charles, you are to submit for questioning,” I tell him.“Alpha Charles can’t come forth,” Alpha Charles says with a raspy voice. His eyebrows crease as an intense look of concentration crosses his face.“Who are you?” I ask, trying to broach this from a different angle. “I am David... NOOO... sorry, control is difficult. He’s strong. I am his wolf,” the voice called David says.‘Jason, I need you to bring me Dorothy.’ I speak through the mind-link to my pack. “David, I know someone who may be able to help. Will you talk if we can help? Can you keep control?” I ask him.He begins rubbing his forehead and occasionally shakes his head. After a while, he speaks. “Yes, I can keep control. I will tell you what you need to know,” he says, grimacing as though it is truly exhausting.Dorothy comes jogging out of the tree line, slowing to a cautious walk, when
* * * Damian’s POV * * * The first of my senses to return is my hearing. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. ‘Piss off, it’s definitely not time to get up,’ I grumble to myself. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. ‘Fuck off’. The second of my senses to return is the sense of smell. The sanitary smell of cleaning disinfectant and lemon bleach – the air is pungent with it. Wherever I am, it’s silent, only the sound is the beep, beep, beep that’s already slowly driving me insane. And the sound of my own breathing. I listen closely for any other sounds and smell the air around me. There’s a lingering scent of jasmine and lemon grass that makes my heart rate pick up. My mate has been here. The beep, beep, beep sound increases to the same rhythm of my heart. It’s a heart rate monitor, which means I’m in a Hospital. I open my eyes slowly, in an attempt to sharpen the blurred images before me, and to also shield myself from the blinding light. I glance around and looked at the scarcely furnished room, which ha
* * * Eve’s POV * * *Racing back to the Nights Watch has been tedious and feels as though time has slowed down. One day, I’ll stroll through this land, taking my time to appreciate its beauty. However, the slow and tedious, soon change when we arrive. The next events happen so quickly I barely have any time to process them. We have run to where the sound of snarling wolves is coming from. As we exit from the tree line, there’s a tall man with a hulking physique, facing a smaller man lying on the floor. Whatever’s happening, Jake isn’t happy. He lets out a ferocious growl and then charges towards the man, repeatedly glancing at the man on the ground. It’s then that I notice Alpha Charles standing in the clearing, without a care in the world. He’s brought a small army with him, to get me. All my years of mistreatment, the beatings, being locked away in the institution and finding out that he murdered my parents, they fuel my anger and I charge towards Alpha Charles. The enormous man
* * * Eve’s POV * * *“Come with me” he tells me, standing from his Hospital bed. He holds out his hand towards me. He’s very tall, much taller than I had thought, but then most of the time I’ve seen him he’s been lying down. I place my petite hand within his, my hand fully enclosed by his large warm hand, and let him lead me. Together we walk through the Nights Watch. He seems to know where he’s going, I’ll have to ask him about that. It feels as though we have walked the entire length of the Nights Watch, when we come upon a spiral staircase made of stone. He never lets go of my hand as we walk up the winding staircase. He seems to feel when I get tired, and we pause briefly so that I can catch my breath. I really need to sleep soon. I nod to him, signalling that I’m ready to make the rest of the climb. There are occasional doors attached to the stairs, but we continue to climb until we reach the top. The staircase ends at a door. He opens the door and leads me to a windowless ho
* * * Eve’s POV * * *The sunrise over the bay and Max’s words were incredibly beautiful. Something out of a fairy-tale. I only wish that we had met under normal circumstances and that the moment could have lasted longer. My emotions are mixed, spiralling and making me feel nauseous as we descend the dark spiral staircase hand in hand. A part of me is on cloud nine to have found my mate and for him to be such a gentle and loving man. Everything about him screams that he will be my safe place, with the cherry on top being how handsome he is and how he sets my soul alight just looking at me. The other part of me carries a nervous energy. Will David give me the answers I need? Will his answers help me to understand my past? And can I find peace, once I hear what he has to say? And when I had gazed into my mate's eyes, I had remembered why he’d seemed so familiar to me. He’s the boy from my dreams, the one at the pool who had given me a flower. He had called to me then, before his fathe
* * * Max’s POV * * *I hadn’t expected the words that came out of David’s mouth. Eve’s mother is alive? I can’t help but wonder how and what physical and mental state she will be in. What has Alpha Charles done to her, these past 10 years?My shock is short-lived as Eve gasps and then falls to the side, her body limp and falling from her chair. Instinct has me jumping from my chair, breaking her fall and taking her limp and tiny frame in my arms. Once I have Eve safely in my arms, cradled against my chest, I’m able to process what he has said, “What do you mean her mother isn’t dead? And what do you mean her fate is worse than that?” I ask him, wondering if we can save her mother. Can I give my mate her mother back? A mother’s love can heal even the deepest of wounds. I should know, I’ve longed for it since I was eight years old, nothing has soothed my pain, like a hug from my mother had. “He knew of her gift, he ... ahhh... took her. He has his own private ... no ... prison within
* * * Eve’s POV * * *I can’t believe it; I had seen what I thought was the emaciated and dead body of my mother laid on the cot within the cell. And then, she’s not dead. I stand immobile, completely shocked, staring at the scene before me. I’m certain that my mouth is gaping open, my jaw dropped and staring like a deer in the headlights. Before me, Alpha Reece has my mama in his arms, rocking her, stroking her hair, and thanking the Moon Goddess for blessing him. What has seriously just happened? Alpha Reece is my mama’s second chance mate, and she is his fated mate. The shock of hearing her quiet whisper of “My mate”.Then seeing Alpha Reece run into the room, responding with his own, “My mate. The Moon Goddess blesses me, I can’t believe I’ve found my mate. Thank you, mighty Selene, I will cherish her and care for her as she deserves,” he speaks gently and the way he moves her hair from her face so tenderly. I haven’t had time to process it. Never mind my shock at finding out tha
* * * Eve’s POV * * *I’m still in shock that Max has put the fate of his pack in my hands. But it doesn’t sit right for me. After living in the Mountain View pack and seeing how Charles had run the pack, I don’t believe in a dictatorship. Not for something like this, this will affect so many people’s lives. I tell him that it should be the New Moon pack that should decide and that we should have a pack meeting and put it to a vote. And now here we are, awaiting his pack to arrive. There will be the remaining 38 members arriving within the next two hours. What impresses me is the fact that he doesn’t order them to come. He and Damian simply put out a group message informing them that a lot has happened, and they need an urgent pack meeting, here at the Mountain View pack. All his pack had responded that they will drop what they are doing, some will be here within the hour. Others within two hours. His pack respects him, and I’m fascinated that he’s never had to use an Alpha command,
* * * Nellie’s POV * * *From the punch to the erosion of self-esteem over time, domestic abuse can either come fast or act as a dimmer switch. Nellie was ashamed that she had never gotten out of her situation. It had almost killed her on several occasions. She was an emotionally dependent sort and had never been on her own before. But once you have kids, they are your priority. They have to be. You try to get out and make a new life, a better one, and become their role model. If you don't want your kids to put up with the same... neither can you... otherwise they most likely will... because people often subconsciously seek what they grew up with, even if it's harmful. That is why she had tried to escape over the years and that is why she had written for help from her parents. There were nights when she knew Max would lie in his bed listening to the sound of fighting. Her, his mother would shout and cry, begging to be released from this living hell, his father would begin laying int
* * * Max Aged Three * * * If Nellie was a house, it was built out of love, and the floor is her faith in who she is. Robert’s cynicism ate away at the walls and hit the floor until one day it cracked. The perfect house everyone knew and loved, fell completely. Recovery was the biggest challenge she had ever achieved, and only possible because she loved her son, the community and nature. She worked to rebuild her house, a brick at a time; she put in new floors and polished them to a homely brown. There are times she still finds that there is a brick missing here and there, or perhaps the floor needs bringing back to a shine, but she made it. She was determined to make it for her son.She had tried reaching out to her family and to Harrison. But to no avail, so far. But she wouldn’t give up. Once Max was down for his nap, she found her writing journal and began writing again.‘Mama and Papa,It’s been just over three years since I last saw your faces, and almost three years since I’v
* * * Nellie Aged 13 * * * “But Dad, what if I get bullied at the new school too? Please keep me home. Teach me here.” Nellie whined. “Sweetheart, you have to go to school. King Arthur promised that the teachers would look out for you here,” her father reassured her. “But what if they do bully me?” she fretted. “Then we go to speak to the King; it will be fine, I promise,” her father soothed her. It was her first day at the Lycan High School that resided within the Lycan kingdom. She had spent all night tossing and turning, wondering if the Lycans there would accept her. The last two years at her previous school had been miserable. The school was mixed with humans and Lycans. The humans were unaware that creatures of fantasy existed and shared their classrooms and halls. She had not bonded with the humans, and the Lycans had ridiculed her and kept calling her a dog, which was their way of insulting werewolves. It hadn’t bothered her to be called a dog; what bothered her was that
* * * Eve’s POV * * ** * * One Month Later * * * The final decision has been made. Max and I will accept the offer of the Gods and transcend into Demigods. We will live as immortals for an eternity, setting up the academy and keeping the peace. We’ve travelled with the gifted; Cherokee and Isla, Joe, Jasper and Sarah and little Theia, who will be approved to transcend. Our ceremony will be held in a few weeks. We will transcend and become Demigods. After that, we will only be able to visit our loved ones during the solstice. Otherwise, the only entry to Earth permitted is on a peacekeeping mission. I find myself thankful that the Moon Goddess had delayed us having children. I wouldn’t be able to accept this path if it meant only seeing my blood twice a year. It’s been a peaceful car journey and has only taken us an hour. The Gods will meet us within the castle to show us how the portal works. As we approach, the castle looks to be in ruins. Magnificent. But ruins all the same. The
* * * Eve’s POV * * * Zeus walks away from me to turn his attention to the hunters. “You humans will listen to me. I didn’t create your lives, to be disrespected by you. You will stop your violence and hunting and learn to live in peace,” his voice bellows across the battleground. Half of the humans drop their weapons and kneel before the God who granted them life. This is an historical day, and I’m certain it’ll be spoken about for generations to come. “And if we chose not to?” A hunter challenges.“Amos Clark, I would have predicted a life of peace for you after your upbringing. Seeing daily violence from the customers of your crackhead mother. Your life changed for the better when your mother was fated to be the second chance mate of Beta Thomas of the Blue Ridge pack. He helped her to be free of the drugs and to become the mother you needed. He gave you a home, an education and a family, and yet here you are openly killing the kind that saved you,” Zeus says knowingly.“That fi
* * * Eve’s POV * * ** * * The Final Decision * * *My heart shatters, my soul is crumbling, and I feel empty while floating in the abyss. There’s a hole in my chest, and I want to die. I want to end my existence so that I can reunite with him again. It was never meant to be him; the Moon Goddess said we would have lots of babies. She lied. The biochemical impact and bodily stress of heartache is an actual injury that one never truly recovers from. I will never recover from this injury and loss. “My child, I did not lie to you,” a voice filled with sadness rings out around the darkness. “You said we would have children. YOU LIED,” I cry. I know she’s the almighty and our object of worship, but right now, I hate her. She chose Max’s fate; she planned to cause me this pain.“No. Max deviated from his predestined path. That’s something I’ve never seen before. He was never meant to die.”“Please just kill me. I don’t want to live in a world without him.”“My dear, you don’t need to liv
* * * Eve’s POV * * * * * * Six Months Later * * * We’ve spent a month up in Scotland at Alpha Darius’s pack. The hunters have been picking off lone wolves, wolves who have wandered beyond the boundary line and any wolves or vampires they come across. Their weapons are designed for one purpose only, to kill. They have been uninterested in peace talks, despite the prime minister and local authorities being involved too. There is very little the human world can do to help. These hunters live off the grid and are funded by businessmen and women with very deep pockets. Occasionally, we have been able to find evidence of those rich people funding the hunts and the government has stepped in to arrest them. The trouble is they seem to multiply, for every head we cut off, two more will take its place. We’ve had several battles with these hunters, we’ve managed to avoid losing lives but there have been a few close calls and injuries sustained. They have remembered which of us have gifts an
* * * Eve’s POV * * * * * * 12 Months Later * * *“Tea, please,” I call through to the kitchen, after Max has asked me what I’d like to drink. He’s been my rock over the last year, I don’t think I could have survived and done it without him. Well, I could have, but it would’ve been harder. And truthfully, I don’t want to be apart from him. “Some things are only true if you believe they are. Take for example the trojan horse in Greek mythology. Those who believe that others of different ethnicities or faiths are as the Trojans in the wooden horse, waiting for their time to take over society in a bloody massacre, treating those others with suspicion, contempt and prejudice. As that group (or groups) increasingly have less to lose, they form groups for social protection and to challenge the order that suppresses and abuses them. Thus the fear and cold hearted emotional indifference causes the problem. After this point there is continuing consolidation of groups who arm themselves for c
* * * Eve’s POV * * * Horror—the crisis is here. The Beta has created and unleashed rabid wolves within the pack. We all hold a defensive position—half-crouched, our arms extended slightly. They are coming for us. ‘Why?’ I think to myself, wondering why he would do this. The words come through my mind in a snarl that’s louder than I expected. Too loud. ‘I’ve got him. He’s in the armoury,’ Cora growls as she passes this information on to me and the group I’m with. ‘It means that it’s far too late to sneak around now. Most of us need to take on the wolves, and a small group needs to stop the Beta before it’s too late,’ Alpha Paul growls as he assesses the movements of the rabid wolf. Alpha Paul’s body shifts, only infinitesimally, but it tells me where to look. I stare at the black shadows of the Hospital doorway. It’s like having my nightmares walk forward to greet me. Six wolves emerge, eyeing up their prey. My heart beats furiously, loudly, as if to make their target more obvio