I could hear the centaurs' hooves slamming into the ground as they closed the distance between themselves and me. I had to give these guys one thing: they were fast. Very fast. At this point, I could only hope that I made it to the ambush before I was caught.
The trees blurred past as I ran for all that I was worth. My lungs screamed for air as I exerted myself more than I ever had in my life. Which was saying something given the fact that I was a trained warrior.
"You might as well stop running!" Kellan called from much too close behind me.
As his words hit, I felt the wind whip across the back of my head. I knew that my time was up and that they had managed to catch me from that feeling al
Night fell rather quickly after the crazy ordeal that I had experienced during the day. How had a simple picnic turned into such a disaster?The twins were both pretty shaken when we arrived home, and Leah was also not quite her normal self.I felt bad that they had to experience that, but in a way, they would have to at some point or another. In our world, things weren't all sunshine and roses. Most of our kind begin training at a young age, but I was adamant about letting my siblings be normal, even if just for a while."Are you leaving?" Leah asked as I pulled my leather jacket from the coat rack beside the front door."Yeah." I responded, giving an apologetic smile. "I have to take
I looked down to see a look of amusement on Ashton’s face. Just the sight of it alone took my breath away. This was probably the first time that we had managed to get along, and I wanted to freeze time so it continued.However, time continued, and before I could say anything else, there was the sound of rustling bushes just below."Ssshhh." Ashton hissed, placing a finger to his lips as if I didn’t know that.Nodding I looked down and waited to see who or what was there. For a few minutes, nothing happened, and I began to wonder if maybe it was a night creature, when the bushes rustled again and someone dressed in a robe carrying a large rucksack appeared on the trail below.
"You’re a trouble magnet. Did you know that?" Ashton huffed as we ran through the forest.Limbs snagged at our skin and clothes, while roots threatened to trip us. Behind I could still hear the dark mages giving chase. Whatever it was that they were doing, they really didn’t want it to get out."I told you if we got caught, it was on you." I reminded him in annoyance. "And is now really the time to insult me?""I may not get another chance to say this." Ashton responded while picking up his pace. His eyes flashed as he looked behind us and spotted the dark mages that were quickly closing the distance between us. "We are going to need to shift. We are quicker in our wolf forms."
Haidan stared at me with eyes so wide that I was sure that they would pop out of their sockets. Out of all the things she expected me to say, this most certainly wasn’t one of them."Are you sure it was a wolf?" She asked slowly, trying to contain her emotions."Yeah."There was no way that I would mistake a wolf's smell for a human's. That was definitely a wolf, and there was no knowing just how many more they had on top of those that were accounted for."What could they possibly be doing?" Haidan murmured more to herself than to me. "Sacrificing wolves... Why?"
Andrew smiled at me as I tried to wrap my head around what he had said. It was clear that he was amused with my reactions, and I had to fight the urge to hit him."You’ve got a smooth tongue." I pointed out with a laugh."Only in the presence of a beautiful woman." Andrew responded. "Now, what will it be, m’lady?""I’ll have what you’re having." I said, deciding that I didn’t really know what I wanted anyway. "Surprise me."Nodding, Andrew lifted a hand and flagged down the waitress who was making her way towards the back. Smiling, she made her way to us, turning her back entirely on me and putting all
I pulled into the driveway of the packhouse to find Ashton standing by his car smoking a cigarette. His gaze seemed pensive as he stared into space, and I couldn’t help but wonder exactly what it was he was thinking of.Putting my car in park, I pushed away my curiosity. Anything to do with him had nothing to do with me, and I needed to stop allowing myself to be drawn towards him.Instead, I needed to better ignore him and stop running into him like this.It felt as though this was the universe's doing, with us constantly arriving at places at the same time and constantly having run-ins. How else would it be possible? It wasn’t like he was keeping track of my every move, right?Givin
"I couldn’t agree more." Antoine beamed. "Haidan and I have already been briefed by Asher, but I would like for you and Ashton to hear him out too.""Sure." I nodded, looking around the room until my eyes rested on Asher, who was sitting against the far wall looking uncomfortable. "Get your ass over here and take charge, dude." I commanded with a smirk.At first, Asher remained in place, looking very uncomfortable, but in the end, he let out a breath and got up, making his way to the front of the room, where he was overlooking everyone.His lips were pressed into a thin line, and you could tell just by looking at him that he was exhausted, but he seemed to have regained some of his strengt
Work was much more busy than usual, giving me the perfect opportunity to keep myself distracted. The day had been long; hell, the past couple of days had been long. In a way, I felt that I truly needed this."Thia, I need six beers for the muscle heads at the end of the bar." Audrey called."On it."Bending down, I began to pull out the bottles one by one and pushed them towards Audrey, who gave me a smile as thanks.Turning, I found myself face-to-face with Andrew, who had managed to sneak up to the counter without being det
[Leah's POV]I looked around the table at all the smiling faces who were here to celebrate my 21st birthday. Even though I insisted that I didn't want to celebrate because I needed to study for Ian's herbal medicine quiz the next day, Thia insisted. After all, according to her, that was the day that I became a true adult."Auntie Leah," Serenity murmured, fixing her large blue gaze on mine. "Why do you look so unhappy?"For only five, she most certainly was perceptive. However, how could I possibly say that I wasn't happy because the one person I hoped to see here wasn't present?"I'm okay." I murmured, jostling her dark wavy hair that was the exact color of Haidan's. "I'm just tired.""You're lying, auntie." My nephew, Devlin, huffed."Leave your poor auntie alone." Thia snapped, shooting a glare towards her son. "Today is to celebrate, not to interrogate.""But...""No buts, young man." Ashton warned, making his way to the table from the kitchen.As he took his seat beside Thia, I s
[Thia's POV]I stood on the stage, staring out into the crowd of familiar faces and strangers. Today was the day of my ceremony to become luna of Ashton's pack, and I still found myself unable to believe that this was happening. After recovering from Lord Santos' attack and saving the world as we knew it, you would think that I would be happy to be going through something like this. However, it was nerve-wracking and my heart was hammering in my chest.Sweeping my eyes across the crowd of onlookers, I found my siblings standing in the center, smiling. The twins were thrilled that their older sister was being made a 'queen' and Leah was happy to be getting more involved with pack life.Letting out a breath, I looked at Ashton as he made his way towards me. A brilliant smile played on his lips and his eyes were ablaze with delight as he reached out and took my hands for all to see."Don't be nervous. Otherwise you'll stress out Devlin. " Ashton murmured, leaning in close to my ear.As
[Ashton's POV]My heart pounded in my chest as we raced towards the portal that would take us back to our world. For some reason, I had a bad feeling that something was happening there and didn't want Thia to be put in any more danger.When we arrived at the portal, Haidan and Antoine were the first to go through, followed by Asher, leaving only Thia and I."Go!" I called as Thia eyed it. "I'll be right behind you.""But…""What a cute scene."Shit, shifting my gaze from Thia, I looked to where a large man with glowing red eyes and long black hair was making his way towards us."You," Thia growled, seeming to recognize him. "Seems you discovered my escape quicker than I thought.""Go!" I called, grabbing Thia and jumping through the portal.Light swirled around us as wind tore at our skin before we tumbled onto the ground of our hideout in the inbetween."Why did you do that?" Thia hissed, quickly getting to her feet."What's wrong?" Haidan asked Antoine, drawing our attention."Brail
[Thia's POV]I watched with wide eyes as Andrew and Ashton rolled around on the ground. I was having a hard time believing what was directly in front of me and couldn't help but wonder if it was a dream.'Get out of here, Haidan and Antoine are waiting by the window.' Ashton huffed as I remained in place.'I'm not leaving you.'How could he possibly expect me to just up and leave while he was fighting a powerful vampire?Looking around, I tried to find something that could be used as a weapon. When I spotted a torch sitting against the wall, I began to move.I weaved in and out of the bodies that were locked in battle until I reached what I was after. I could only hope it wouldn't be too hard to dislodge without my lycan strength. Reaching up, I wrapped my hands around the smooth wood and began to pull. After a few tugs, it began to move, and then, with a loud crack, it snapped, giving me the perfect edge to do what I had in mind.Turning, I quickly ran back to where I left Andrew an
[Leah's POV]"Have you heard anything yet?" I snapped, stopping in the middle of the room I was currently waiting in with Ian and Dion."Not yet." Dion huffed in annoyance. "Are you going to ask that same question every five minutes?"It had already been almost a day since Asher and the others left to seek the help of the necromancers to help Thia. Initially, I tried to go with them, but the irritating kitsune brothers held me back."I wouldn't have to bother you if you hadn't trapped me." I growled, shooting a glare at Dion. "Blame yourself.""You would have been no help to them." Ian sighed, fixing me with his stoic gaze. "Their mission is dangerous and you aren't even trained to fight."I bit back my response to Ian's dig. Even though I wanted to argue, I knew that he was right. I didn't know the first thing about self-defense after being protected by Thia up until now. Even though I knew, that didn't stop me from wanting to help."Anyway, please take a seat." Ian continued. "You'r
[Ashton's POV]I looked around at the hellish scene in front of me, trying to determine which direction we should go. "We need to wait for the collector." Asher announced as if reading my thoughts."Collector? What the hell is that? " I asked, narrowing my gaze."The one that takes the damned to the demon lord." Asher responded matter-of-factly.Nodding, I turned to the tengu that remained on the ground shaking. It looked like even in death, his soul was still affected by the poison we dosed him."How long do you think til that collector arrives?"Now that we made it into the underworld, I had no interest in wasting time. I didn't know how Thia was and couldn't relax until I saw her."Any minute now.""Over there!" Haidan announced, pointing towards the horizon.Turning, I fixed my gaze on where she pointed and found two cloaked men making their way towards us with a rolling cage."Are we actually going to let them put us in that?" I asked Asher. "How the hell are we supposed to get
I peered around the corner of the building we were currently hiding behind. According to those damn necromancers, our target should be leaving the bar around this time.As much as I hated doing someone's dirty work, I reminded myself that this was for Thia and that I needed to get it done as quickly as possible."If you remain so tense, we will be sensed." Antoine snapped from behind me. "I get you're terrible at being patient, but if we fuck this up, we won't be able to rescue Thia.""I know," I growled, pulling in my aura that I didn't realize was trickling out.Letting out a huff of frustration, I turned away from Antoine and fixed my gaze on the same door we had been watching for the past hour.So far, only overly drunk kitsunes and mages had exited, not the guy we needed to kidnap.Finally, after what felt like eternity, the door opened and out stepped our man.Keeping my gaze ahead, I watched as he looked around while pulling out a cigarette. When he was sure he was alone, he li
[Thia’s POV]I stood in front of a large mirror, taking myself as Martha stood behind me looking smug. She had spent the last hour doing my hair and makeup, and now all that was left was to get dressed.Peering over, I noticed the blood red sequin gown hanging on the wall, as well as the corset perched on a chair beside it."I don’t think that is a good idea." I murmured, pointing to the corset. "It isn’t safe for a pregnant woman, correct?"For a moment, Martha remained quiet, considering my words.
[Ashton's POV]"Don't be such a hostile wolf." The man chuckled, holding his arms out innocently. "See, I am but an old geezer with no motives.""Sorry, Fred." Asher sighed. "He is a little on edge since losing his mate.""Is she the one you need our help locating?" Fred asked, furrowing his thick brows. "Could you tell me what it was she did to offend the lord of the underworld?""It wasn't her." I growled. "Watch your damn mouth!""Ashton!" Haidan hissed, shooting me a look of disapproval.