He believed that she had heard enough? Storm huffed. Who was he to speak for her? When had she spoken that she had heard enough? The guy was always so uptight, a party pooper. Was it because he was the leader or what? She watched as Jiraq raised up his two hands as if in surrender, and kept shut. “I never said that I have heard enough.” She finally voiced her thoughts, not someone to keep a lid over her words. “And I don't know why you think that you have the power to make my choices for me..” Casper whistled, reclining deeper in his chair, his arms folded across his chest as if he was ready to watch an unfolding drama. Lent and Liam followed suit, although Liam was sporting a smirk on his lips. They found this funny. Storm didn’t find any of them funny. “I am not trying to, Storm. I just think it is too soon to bore you with old tales.” Kaden pointed out, meeting her unmasked glare. Storm shook her head, about to continue the tirade, when Kaden raised up his hand, indica
“You remember the drill right? After lectures, you will find me at my faculty. I will be waiting there.” Jutul was speaking, stopping when Storm shook her head. They had just arrived at campus, and Jutul thought it wise to revise their motions after school today. “What is the problem? What don’t you agree with” “It’s weird if I keep coming to your faculty to seek for you. It would create the impression that I am a desperate bitch. So, for the good of our reputation, we will meet at the parking lot. Or someplace…I don't know. But once you are done, just text me, or once I am done with the lectures and all there is, I will text you. We will find out how and when to meet each other. I think that is better.” Storm surmised, grabbing her backpack.Jutul nodded. Not like he had a choice, but he could see the sense in what she was saying. “Alright then. Have a nice day.” “Thank you. Have a nice day too.” Storm responded with a smile before getting out of the car, and heading in the dire
Storm took in deep breaths, in and out as she stood at the door that would take her into her class. She needed to calm her nerves, but so far that was not helping. The only thing that made her smile as she heard the lecturer talk on the bones in the human body was that finally she was here, against all odds, despite what her step mother had done, despite what her family had made her go through. She had survived. She was here. She was in school. That bubbly feeling pushed her to open the door, pushed her chin up, and pushed her feet to walk into the class with all the confidence that she could muster; a confidence that didn’t even waver when the lecturer stopped speaking and turned to see the intruder. “You are a member of this class?” The old man with a white halo on his head asked, as he picked a register on the table probably to check her name. “What’s your name?” Storm inhaled deeply before giving her answer. “Storm Jackson.” She watched breathlessly as the man decked his
Storm was dreaming.A woman’s despairing cry echoed in her soul, tearing at her, reprimanding her, drawing her back from the edge of a great precipice. And she was starving. Every cell in her body craved food and something else, something she couldn’t lay her finger on. She was somewhere underground. The hunger raked at her with merciless claws until a red haze covered her sight and her pulse hammered with the need for immediate sustenance. Desperate, she scanned the area above her resting place for the presence of enemies and, finding none, burst through the rich layers of soil, into the air, her heart thundering in her ears, her mind screaming. She landed in a crouch in the midst of dense shrubbery and thick vegetation, and took a slow, careful look around her, not in the least concerned about how she could jump out from the ground.For a moment, everything was wrong-monkeys shrieking, birds calling out a warning, the cough of a larger predator, even the brush of lizards through
Storm pushed hard to clear away the debris and focus on what she knew of her past. Fire burned through her insides, spreading rapidly as something like poison worked its way through her system. Blood ran in rivers and light faded quickly. She heard voices calling, chanting, and felt someone reaching for her to try to hold her to earth. She found herself in a shadowy realm, banshees wailing, shadows flickering and reaching. Skeletons. Dark spiked teeth. Talons. Spiders and cockroaches. Snakes hissing. The skeletons are drawing closer and closer until…She closed her mind to her surroundings, to all shared pathways, so there was no chance anyone could be feeding her own fears. It had to be a hallucination brought on by a mage. No matter that she had stopped anything from entering her brain-something malicious was already present. Fire ringed her, crackling flames reaching greedily toward the sky and stretching like obscene tongues toward her. Out of the conflagration, handsome men
Storm shuddered as voices in her head once again grew louder, drowning out the sounds of the jungle. Little flashes of pain grew behind her eyes, burning and burning until she felt her eyes boiling. Where was Kaden? Had he deserted her? The questions crowded in fast and loud, mixing with the voices until she wanted to hit her head against the nearest tree trunk. The inside of her brain seemed on fire, as did every organ in her body. Her heart nearly burst in her chest, and she sank down into the fertile soil where she had lain, trying to sort out what was real and what was hallucination. When she closed her eyes, she was in a pit, shadows surrounded her and red eyes stared hungrily. Perhaps it was all an illusion. Everything. Where she was. The vivid colors. The shadows. Perhaps her wish for a mate was so strong she had created one in her mind. Or worse-a witch had created one for her. "Storm. You have risen early. You were to remain in the ground a few more weeks. The Master sa
A trick. Storm was certain. She knew in her heart her life was over. There were too many to kill-but she would take as many with her as possible to rid the world of such dangerous and immoral creatures. The mage must have found a way to resurrect the dead. She whispered the information in her head, needing her friend to send a warning to the prince that armies of the dead would be once again rising against them."You are certain of this?""I have killed these in centuries long past, yet they surround me with their accusing eyes, beckoning to me as if I am one of them." She replied.From a great distance away, Lucy gasped, and for the first time sounded like her best friend. "You cannot choose to give your soul to them. We are so close, so close. I have found my mate. It is only a matter of time for you. You must hold out. I am coming to you."Storm snarled, throwing her head back to roar with rage."Imposter. You are not my best friend.""Storm! What are you saying? Of course I am
His cry of terror echoed through her mind, replacing hunger and confusion with a focus she might not otherwise have found.She saw him reaching for the cat, trying to aid her. Not wanting to risk his life, she broke the telepathic connection between them and dissolved. Her body turned to vapor, streaming up and around the cat to reshape into that of a male jaguar with a broad, heavy head and a larger, stockier body the color of the darker shadows. Droplets of blood fell like mist, spattering the leaves and roots as she took the form of a rare black jaguar. She snarled a challenge and leapt. The two cats crashed heavily together, rolling across roots and boughs, the sounds of battle disturbing the night. Many cats used strangulation to kill, but the jaguar, with its exceptionally powerful jaw, would bite directly through the skull between the temporal bones, killing prey instantly. Jaguars were extraordinarily strong, with compact, muscular bodies and broad heads. Stealthy and ne
Storm could feel her heart pounding hard, but it was more out of excitement than fear. She should be afraid, the bird was a true raptor, but it was magnificent. It had black eyes! Round, shiny, very intelligent black eyes. She stared at it for two full minutes. That wasn't normal, she was certain. Very slowly, so she wouldn't startle the creature, she backed across the room to the desk where she kept her phone. Still looking at the bird, she googled the images of the bird, biting her lips intermittently as she waited.Strangely, the bird was observing her just as intently, an intelligence in its gaze as it watched the phone beep occasionally. When the page opened, Storm glanced at the image of the harpy eagle. The eyes were round and shining with intelligence, but they were not black. The eyes in the picture were a bright amber with a black pupil. She let out her breath slowly. Something was wrong with her bird.‘You aren't blind, though, are you?’ She sent the words, not even kno
After Storm was done eating, she thanked Kaden, and let him have the plates when he stretched his hands to collect them. To hold herself from jumping on him, and demanding that he put her out of her sexual misery, she stood up from the bed and sauntered to the window to look at the forest, and clear her immoral thoughts. He had joined her to eat, and for each time his mouth had closed over a morsel of food, she had jerked subtly, as if the mouth was closing over her twin orbs. In a large oak tree, plenty feet away from her, a bird flapped its mighty wings, drawing her attention. A smile swept past her lips when she became aware that she could sight its distinctive features. She was not the same Storm of a month ago. She was different now, considering the amount of trainings she had submitted too.The bird had a round facial disk with a very pronounced ruff. It wasn't an owl but it was large. Very large. The unusual bird could easily weigh at least twenty pounds. She stared at it
Storm walked into Kaden's treehouse and was immediately struck by how it seemed larger than usual. The wooden walls, which should be plain and simple, were adorned with colorful murals and hand-painted designs. One wall even showcased a sprawling mural of a sunset over a peaceful lake, with vivid oranges and pinks blending into each other. And another wall had a charming depiction of a forest, complete with playful animals like squirrels and birds, all brought to life with bright, cheerful colors.The room was filled with natural light that filtered through the large windows, which had been decorated with flowing curtains in soft, earthy tones. The curtains swayed gently in the breeze, adding a sense of movement to the scene. The wooden floor was covered with cozy rugs that added warmth and comfort to the space.A large, comfy bean bag was positioned in one corner, surrounded by soft pillows. Next to it was a small bookshelf brimming with colorful books, their spines lined up neatly
Storm’s mind kept conjuring up provocative images, as she and Kaden walked hand in hand around the clan. The kiss they had shared in her room still tingled on her lips, still kept heat in her blood, still made her hunger for more. She inhaled sharply when Kaden turned and stared at her, his eyes brimming with the emotions that she was sure was playing out in her own mind. For a second, she feared that he might have peeked into her dirty mind, but then she remembered that they were not bonded yet, not in that sense. It brought her swift relief which came with a coating of abashed-ness seen in the coloring of her cheeks and necks, something that wasn’t lost on Kaden who was battling to hold on to his honor. He cussed at himself for closing her lips with his earlier, knowing what could happen from there. But she had been speaking, and her luscious mouth had been like water in a desert land; he had been parched so much that he couldn’t have been able to help himself. And now, the stirr
All through the week, Storm only concentrated on the books Kaden had given her, or rather on the first book she had collected from the pile. Jutul had done the same, concentrating on the second book he had picked. Both had only taken breaks when they wanted to eat or when they wanted to train with Casper for an hour. To assuage Kaden’s caveman jealousy, all the reading had been in the dining downstairs, and yet they weren’t close enough to whatever the books were on about. They weren’t close to the end either, and the transcribers were doing a poor job, despite Jiraq’s input sometimes. It was then that Storm had learnt that Jiraq wasn’t done with the book either. ‘What are you doing with one of the hardest books in the pile?” had been his first question when she had solicited for his help. He had gone ahead to pick up a smaller book, written in English, for her and Jutul to start with, but she had declined—she had grown attached to the old book. And she had vowed to bring it to a fi
Storm groaned tiredly; under the full weight of the knowledge she had been absorbing for the past four hours. Kaden had been true to his word, and with the help of Jiraq, had bundled more than thirty books which smelt of oldness into her room this morning, just before she dressed for school. “For those written in old language, Jiraq was kind enough to let you have his transcriber, so that you can better understand it. You can check them out after classes today.” Kaden had said, when he had stepped into her room with a fellow whom she knew went by the name, Micheal, Liam’s younger brother. She had found out right after Liam’s recuperation weeks ago, about the wicked action on the young fellow who didn’t look a year older than her. The first book on the pile had gotten her attention after the duo had left the room, and picking it up, she had decided to peek at a page, then return to her preparation for school. But a page had turned to two pages, and then five pages, until school was
Storm was chatting with Lucy and Justin, in their phone group , around a time when she should be sleeping, when she heard her name being droned in her ears. “S-t-o-r-m” She furrowed her eyebrows, and looked around the room she shared with Kaden sometimes. There was no one. The voice sounded familiar, and until she felt the eeriness in the room, she didn’t know who it was. The vampire.She got up from the empty bed, and sauntered toward the door, needing to get to Kaden as soon as possible, but the door wouldn’t budge. She stamped her foot on the floor out of frustration, as fear suddenly took root in her mind and body. Where was he when she needed him? Why hadn’t he spent the night with her? She wondered, never minding that she had been one to ask they sleep on separate beds tonight, after he had returned from his meeting with his people, after she had returned from seeing her friends off with Lent. The voice called for her name again, and she shuddered before she could help it, h
There was a stark naked silence in the room after Jutul’s declaration. So stark was it, that Storm felt her ears ringing with deep silence, deep silence and an unclothed unbelief. They were lying? If she didn’t know of Jutul’s gifts, she would have berated him for speaking against her friends. But she knew. She knew he was telling the truth—there wasn’t a need to lie. And she still was finding it hard to believe. Lucy and Justin had planned a lie, and had come to convince them of it? All for what? To gain information on what was going on in the clan? Was their school even on break? Then, the silence was broken by Kaden’s voice which had descended to a certain chillness that informed Storm that her mate was angry, very angry, at being made a fool of. “Lent, place a call to the school’s authorities, and find out if the school is really on break…” Lucy’s dark laughter interrupted his statement, and brought Storm’s attention to her. “So y’all would rather believe Storm’s newest friend
Of course they wouldn’t. Storm thought, looking at Lucy squarely for the first time since she had entered the room. Her friend was still bubbling in age-old anger, and was still carrying a grudge against her.And since, Storm knew she couldn’t do much about it—because what Lucy was demanding was unattainable—she let the latter think that she wasn’t bothered by it. It would help with them leaving earlier. Having seen what exactly was at play here, what evil forces were at play here, she wasn’t about to risk the lives of her friends. She wasn’t about to have their blood on her head, because she wanted them to be included in every facet of her life. It was better they thought she was against them; it was better they believed that she didn’t value their friendship.“So, why are you here, Lucy?” She schooled her face to a cold aloofness, unfazed when Justin let out a cuss word, whilst darting a glance between Lucy and her. There was a minute silence, where Lucy scanned Storm’s features;