Ashton and I had managed to untangle ourselves and get dressed by the time Asher stumbled in. He looked as though he was near death as he plopped down in the recliner and closed his eyes.
"Is the portal ready?" Ashton asked, ignoring the fact that Asher probably just wanted to be left alone for a few minutes.
"Yeah." Asher replied with a yawn. "It is located in the back alley of Goblinaspur."
"Aren’t you worried that someone else is going to find it?" Ashton asked. "It is just there for anyone and everyone to see."
"They won’t be able to." Asher affirmed. "I put a barrier around it and
I woke up extra early the next morning to fix breakfast for Leah and the twins. I owed them this much after everything they had managed to take care of while I was away.Luckily, all the kids were still sleeping when I headed downstairs, allowing me to make my treat a surprise. Later, I needed to go to pack headquarters to discuss our findings, so this was also a kind of apology for that.Moving forward, I opened the blinds on the large bay window in the kitchen, allowing the sun to shine in and illuminate the area. After spending a few days in a place that wasn’t very bright and cheery, this was a welcome sight.I didn’t know why, but I was feeling extremely at pe
I sat silently at the table, watching as my siblings and Andrew ate their breakfast. They seemed to be grudgingly getting along with him, but it wasn’t anything like their reaction to Ashton.Sighing, I sipped my coffee, drawing four sets of eyes towards me. Feeling self-conscious, I blushed while sitting down my cup."What?" I asked, eyeing everyone. "Something on my face?""You seem a bit out of it." Leah said hesitantly. "Are you still tired from your trip?"Tired from my trip… if only Leah understood, but as a normal teen she wouldn’t.
I walked slowly down the driveway of the packhouse. My mind was a mess and I needed to get it clear before I faced the issues at hand. Despite my attempts to tell myself that I couldn’t let Ashton sway me, I knew that he was and would continue to do so."Thia."Tensing, I cursed under my breath. Think of the devil and that bastard would appear.Turning slowly, I tried to place a blank mask on my face to avoid giving away how I truly felt."How long have you been following me?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You should have spoken up sooner."
I sat across from Haidan at a table, waiting as Asher and Antoine got some papers together filled with reports of what we had found out. It was an awkward wait since Ashton sat beside me.From his body, I could feel hostility over my rejection, and it was almost painful to be so close."Can we get this started?" He snapped, his impatience being made clear."Calm it," Antoine snapped, shooting him a glare. "What’s your problem, anyway?""Maybe I just don’t want to be stuck in the same room for long periods with users." Ashton shot back, looking my way.
I moved forward, ready to attack the centaur whose chest was bleeding from where I had ripped it. He circled around me, trying to find an opening, but was coming up short."Come get me, bastard." I growled, flashing my teeth. "Don’t be a little bitch."Bucking up, the centaur kicked out, nearly connecting with my skull, but I managed to jump out of the way."Who is afraid?" The centaur growled, pulling a dagger from his hip."You," I laughed as I lifted my whip and struck.The metal spikes of the whip connected with the
I sat against the wall, staring into oblivion. My neighbor had finally grown quiet after finally realizing that his taunting wasn’t going to do any good. Now, all around me was silence and wails of agony. It was like something from a horror movie."What did you do to cross these guys anyway?" The kitsune asked, conversationally. "I mean, you look like you wouldn’t cause much trouble."Letting out a sigh, I tried to pretend that he wasn’t talking to me. I needed to think, and his prodding wasn’t helping."Gonna ignore me now?" He continued, unbothered. "I can be quite persistent, you know."
I waited for Ian to start to speak, but he remained quiet, his ears perking up and twitching."What is it?" I asked in confusion."Sssshhhhhh." Ian hissed, lifting his finger to his lips. "I think there’s..."He never got to finish his sentence as the wall behind me exploded, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.Jumping forward I covered my head to avoid any serious damage that may be done by the flying bricks."What the hell?" Ian muttered loudly. "Who the hell is stupid enough to bust down a wall like they&rsquo
The feeling of warmth seeping into my very being roused me from my oblivion. My body felt like it had been hit by a bus, and I tried to remember exactly what happened."Poison!" I gasped, my eyes flying open."Woah there." Ashton murmured, tightening his hold on my hand. "Calm down.""What?" I was having trouble processing what exactly was going on right now. Where was I and why was Ashton beside me? "What the hell."I must have passed out. That was the only explanation.
[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.