Chapter One – Found You I shuttered in the cold corner of the dark closet, fear bubbling up into my chest as my heart beat so fast that I was sure it would stop from pure exhaustion. I was attempting to keep as quiet as I could, and making myself as small as possible, as my hands shook and nausea rolled through me. The king’s men had finally come for me, and I listened helpless as they tore through the house brick by brick in their search. My Father had just barely managed to push me into the small pantry closet seconds before they burst through the door, and covered me quickly with a coat in a feeble attempt to keep his only child out of the hands of a ruthless King. I could hear him denying every question shot at him by the guards, attempting to distract them away from my hiding place. I tried to keep my breathing even as I heard them slamming open doors, and crashing through my father’s workshop. No doubt destroying his pristine woodwork, and his en
Chapter 2- Forbidden Magic “Found You” The soldier wrapped his dirty hand around my wrist and ripped me from my hiding spot. Too terrified to fight back, I tried feebly to pull myself from his firm grip, pulling against him as we drug me towards the front door. When that didn’t work; I dropped all of my weight to the floor, hoping to slow him down, but he continued to pull me across the dirt floor. I couldn’t hear my father yelling anymore, and I lifted my head and looked around wildly for him, quickly spotting his mess of blonde hair in the opposing corner. Something was wrong though, as he laid on the ground unmoving, and for a second time fear gripped my heart as I saw a second soldier standing over him with an evil smirk. The smell of iron hit my nose before I saw the large pool of blood that was slowly seeping across the floor where my father lay unconscious. “No!” I screamed, despair sinking into my bones. Fig
Chapter 3 – Iron Safe. That is the only word that comes to my mind. Like being wrapped in the softest blanket, and drifting along on the biggest cloud. Protected like all the worldly troubles I had, just slid away like sand through an hourglass. I was drifting through an empty space, but was not at all frightened. ‘This must be the after-life’ I thought to myself. It was not at all what I expected, but truly no one knew what awaited you after your final rest. I was always taught that the after-life was just another journey, and not just the end, but lying here in the darkness makes me think maybe everyone had it wrong. If I could remember how to smile, I think one would be playing on my lips at the humor of it all. I felt paralyzed, and couldn’t move a muscle if I tried, but was so relaxed that I wasn’t sure I would want to. I couldn’t see anything, and couldn’t touch anything, but instead of fear I just felt a very calming peace. “Aspen.” My father’s voice r
Chapter 4 – For She Was the Most Beautiful Thing*Devins POV*I stomped through the dungeon with only one goal in mind, to kill the faerie that dared to kill one of my men. Alphonso was one of my most loyal men; hard headed for sure, but strong and trustworthy. He was one of the few that rallied for me when I took over the as General of our military. One of our most brave soldiers, he was undefeated in battle, and was known to crush opponents in a matter of seconds. Only to be dragged to his death by some faerie whore. I saw his body when they brought it back to the castle, and immediately lost my dinner. His body was twisted and deformed in every direction possible, and the skin pulled taunt against his muscles. Deep red and purple wounds were everywhere branching across his body; almost like he had been struck by a hundred lightning bolts at once. Alphonso was so b
CHAPTER 5 – Until Tomorrow “Until Tomorrow.” The Prince turned his multi-colored eyes away from me, and stormed off. My father let out a hefty sigh before turning to look at me. “That sounded like a warning. This is not good Aspen, who knows what his plans are.” My Fathers voice shook, and he lowered his head to hold back his tears. The threat of death was inching closer and closer to our little family, and there was nothing we could do about it. We were rabbits waiting for the slaughter, and not an escape route to be found. “Death is not the worst punishment.” I said quietly, and my father whipped his head back up to look at me. He opened his mouth to
Chapter 6 – Until the Moon Shatters Those duel-colored eyes stared back into mine. The fury in them like a fire raging out of control, but this time it seemed to not be aimed at me. The Prince held the chains in front of him in a tight grasp, and he looked down to examine my bloody and red wrists, his long blond hair falling to the front of his face. I watched as a flash of sympathy flew across his face, so fast I almost didn’t believe it happened, and then his features quickly turned to stone again. I could hear grunting behind the Prince, and my eyes flicked over to the thick form that was struggling to stand on his wobbly legs. The guard had obviously had the wind knocked out of him when he was thrown across the cell, and onto the floor. The guard finally stood tall and started for us. I flinched back, trying to pull the chains against my wrists that were held tight
Chapter 7 – Emerald and Gold*Prince Devin's POV* I walked down through the hall of the dungeon, my boots splashing in the small puddles of the muddy floors. I had sent my men down here to get the prisoners, and bring them to me for a trial. That was all, and for some god forsaken reason, they were still down here. I was growing impatient waiting for them, and decided to check on it myself, only to find a sight more disgusting than the faerie herself. One of my men was sitting on the ground and leaning against the stone wall, holding his face as his nose bled through his fingers. Another guard was standing over the older faerie, who looked unconscious as he laid still on the dirt floor of the cell. An obvious tussle between the three parties where my men came out on top, but th
Chapter 8 – Tomato SoupThe first thing I felt was pain. Like a white-hot searing poker was being pressed into my temple; ripping the skin from my head. I could feel my heart beating in my chest as the pressure built behind my forehead. I groaned, feeling too weak to do anything else, and slowly opened my eyes. A bright white light entered my vision, making me flinch at the sudden intrusion to my senses, and making my searing headache all the more sensitive. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the stark contrast of my dark eyelids, and felt my eyes water.‘Where am I?’ I thought to myself. As my eyes adjusted, I slowly took in my surroundings. I was lying in a bed, and not a comfortable one at that. A silver tray with big stainless medical equipment sat on a table to my left, and a large monitor to my right. A steady beeping coming from the machine as I watched spiked likes dance across the screen. I was definitely in a hospital r
Chapter 56“Witches have been gone for over a hundred years Fern.” Terran spoke first, breaking the tension in the silent room. “They were killed in the wars so many years ago.”“How did they obtain their magic Terran?” My mother challenged, “I know you have some history books in this den of yours.” Terran let out an annoyed growl at her, and shook his head like a dog shaking water out of his fur. The action almost funny if it wasn’t for the seriousness of the situation.“They were normal humans that were gifted magic by the moon. From what I understand, there was no rhyme or reason to it, and sometimes it wasn’t even passed through bloodlines if the child was deemed unworthy.” Callum said, cocking his head to the side in thought.“This is nonsense.” I added, looking between the three of them. “I’ve never done a damn witchy thing in my life. What do witches even do anyway, cast curses at people who glare at them?” I waggled my fingers at Callum, and he jumped back as if I was throwing
Chapter 55 I let out a war cry as I lunged for the women standing in the entryway of the Alpha’s office. Throwing my earth magic out in a quick blast around me, I formed deep trenches between everyone else in the room and the devil I set my sites on. No one was going to get in my way. I heard someone yelling my name, but let it skitter through my brain as I closed in on the brunette. Fingers flying out and wrapping tightly around her thin neck, before slamming her against the wall. She was taller than I was, but I pressed into her just the same, forcing her into the plaster hard enough to send pieces scattering in our wake. It was almost surprising that I didn’t push both of us through the wall with the sheer force I hit her with. I tightened my hand in a bruising grip around her soft skin, snarling like a beast close to her face. Sparks were flying around my fingertips, dancing against the milky color of her neck and I held back the urge to fry her completely. “How dare you.” The
Chapter 54 The Alpha called an emergency meeting with all of us, as well as his closest and most trusted wolves. We met in the safe conference room as the day before, and I tried my best not to think about how Simon and I had defiled was seemed like almost every inch of this room. The thoughts still circling my mind even as the Alpha, and his two men pinned us with fierce glares from across the table. “Do they have any weaknesses? Did they give you a timeline to when they would be here? How many are there?” Terran shot in rapid fire at me, and I tried to answer to the best of my ability, but to be honest, I knew little about the Children except for the short time in their cave, and the couple of visits they so graciously paid me. “Iron is a weakness, just like all Faerie.” I started, and thought about the chilling time Moira had just barely saved my life from the herd of them in the cave. “I was able to kill one with my magic, but I had used ev
Chapter 53 I woke wrapped in Simons body, so entwined that I didn’t know where he started and I ended. We had ended our little encounter in the office three orgasms later, and only after Keagan had awkwardly knocked on the door and told us to find a different room. We had ended up in Simon’s room shortly after, where he tucked me tightly into his body, and we both fell asleep in an exhausted and naked heap. His breath was even and warm against the skin of my neck, as he continued to sleep. He had chosen to leave the following week to meet Marcus at the gate with the two wolves of the Gold Moon Pack, and he needed as much peace as he could get before they began tracking down Moira in the absolute pits of hell. My heart squeezed uncomfortably at the thought of him going into danger without me, the thought of losing another person in my life scratching at the back of my mind. If he failed, I not only lost him, but Marcus and Moira as well. Everything about this was absolutely fucked,
Chapter 52 “We cannot send my pack into a vampire den with absolutely no information, or even knowing if your friend is still alive at this point. I understand that she is your family Keagan, but my hands are tied right now. My top priority is protecting this pack from Ben Avon, and that has proven to be much harder than any of us anticipated.” Terran said firmly, but not without sympathy. We had been at the Gold Moon pack for a week now; gathering strength and speaking to the Alpha about our plans for rescuing our sweet Moira from Alaric and his Night Walker clan. It had been a whirlwind of meetings, greeting the pack members, and finding time to curl up in one of the very large beds that Terran had offered to each of us in his personal home. Everything had come to a head when Marcus was able to get past Devin and Ben Avons’ defenses to send word that he had located the den of the vampires, and was going to begin preparations to move that way. Knowing that he would be going alone
Chapter 51 “Aspen.” His voice was rough, husky. The deep tones scraping against my head like a metal rake. Goosebumps chasing the magic that was wrapping and warping itself around my arms; rearing its head in protection against the monster in front of me. My fight or flight kicked in, and I began to struggle furiously against his arms that were holding me tight to his chest. I could hear my name being screamed repeatedly from behind me, but it was a dull noise as I struggled to get away. “Aspen Stop!” Devin’s voice came out in a strangled order, as I slammed my foot into the ground, forcing my magic down my leg and into the ground. Dust flew out from under my foot, and a booming crack sounded from underneath us. Then we were falling. My entire body pitched forward, and Devin’s arms loosening from around my waist. I pushed his chest away from me, putting distance between us before landing to the ground with a hard thump. My shoulder taking the brunt of the impact, as I landed on my
Chapter 50 – The GateWe travelled in a tight group through the darkening woods; Terran’s pack spread out around us in a defensive circle. Most of their wolves choosing to stick with their fur and teeth, rather than walk on two legs next to us. The few of them that had changed stood close to Terran, surveying every move we made as we walked closely behind the Alpha. Terran had paid them no mind though, and had kept Keagan next to him, speaking in quiet hushed whispers, as if their very presence would disturb the forest itself.“The pack village is only about a mile from here. Normally it’s much faster on four legs.” Terran spared us a glance, and small tilt of his lips. “We should be there in about ten minutes.”I nodded back at him, and he turned towards Keagan, keeping on the conversation that was too quiet for my ears to pick up. “Well,” I started, and looked up towards Simon’s face; his sapphire eyes glancing quickly to mine. “We aren’t dead yet.”I had meant it as a joke, but wa
Chapter 49 – Meet the AlphaWe were surrounded before Keagan’s words had sunk in. Six wolves of varying colors, each one larger than the next one, had moved in to block any chance of escaping.“Thanks for the heads-up” Simon said under his breath. He had pushed me behind him in an effort to place himself between me and the wolves, but failing as two wolves moved in behind me.“I tried, but I was racing wolves who have been allowed to run much longer than I have.” Keagan snapped back at Simon, the irritation in his voice obvious at he back into the two of us to tighten our small circle.“Now is not the time you two.” I growled at both of them. The wolves were tightening their circle, teeth snapping and hair raised as they moved on silent paws towards us.A gray wolf with blue eyes moved in almost close enough to touch my arm, its hot breath fanning across my skin, and causing goosebumps to rise on the base flesh. I flinched back away from it, nerves fluttering through my belly, and my
Chapter 48 – Not an ApologyDarkness has come upon us quickly. We had made it to the line of the Gold Moon pack an hour before sundown, and Simon suggested we wait until morning to go an speak with the Alpha. Not wanting to agree with anything he said, I opposed, but Keagan had agreed with him. Thus, leaving me the odd man out in the decision.We walked about a mile back from line, and tucked ourselves under a thick section of pine trees that had long and spindly branches that brushed against the soft ground. It wasn’t a bed or a hot shower, but it provided some semblance of shelter and coverage from anyone who may happen to be hiking through. I had pushed myself as far from Simon as I could go, placing as much space as I could between us in the small area. Curling myself into a small ball against one of the sappy trunks, and covering myself with a sweatshirt that Keagan had pulled from his backpack. We weren’t able to light a fire, as to not attract the unwanted attention, but I co