Desperately, Storm tried to think of what to do to get rid of the malevolent presence. It was not giving up yet. She said another prayer.She didn’t think she could hold onto the wall for long-she could actually feel its strength withering. Could the presence feel it too?Should she try to confront the presence head-on, or should she flee from the room and seek safety elsewhere? But before she could make a decision, she felt the presence begin to dissipate both from her mind and her room, like smoke fading into the night.Relief flooded through her, washing away the fear and uncertainty that had gripped her moments before. But even as the presence faded away, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, that something sinister was lurking just beyond the edges of her perception.For the past few days now, she had felt it, this sense of being observed, of being watched by unseen eyes. It had started out as a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, but it had grown stron
Storm inhaled deeply, and then again, and then again, until it felt as if she was competing with someone in an inhaling duel, until she laughed at herself, at her internal jokes. The air here was so clean. Cleaner than the one in her house. Free from maliciousness.Immediately she had left her house, she had pinged one of the servants whose contact had been left with her incase of emergencies, if she couldn’t prepare food for herself. Yes, her house had come with special food ingredients in the cupboards. She would have loved to try out something, but her mind had been singed with the dream and her findings. She had been too destabilized to cook. And so, she had called for food, and had waited on the veranda until it came. The food had been nice, the servant girl had been human, but Storm knew that she could cook better. After all, she didn’t work in Jess’ restaurant for nothing. After the meal, she had gone to the garden that had made her house the sweetest in the clan, had taken a
Storm didn’t recognize the presence of Avery right beside her. She didn’t even greet, or make an inclination that someone now sat beside her on the bench. She looked ahead, wishing for the first time to be anywhere but here, because of the presence of the woman whom she had seen frolicking with Kaden from her window, the woman that hated her as a result of that. “You weren’t taught to greet your elders?” Storm ignored Avery again. Rather she made do with the tapping of her foot on the soft grass beneath her feet. “I suggest you answer me, human. Unless you want yourself beneath six feet.” So, Kaden hadn’t told Avery then that she was not completely human? Storm wondered, a bit amused at the total annihilation of the woman from her case. Was it that Kaden didn’t trust the woman beside her not to make a fuss? Storm almost chuckled but for the fact that she didn't want her hair being marred by the woman. She could bet her ass off that it would be the first place the woman would t
At Tensel’s Place:“This is a serious matter. I know some of us here would be relieved that Levon has taken his sight away from our compound, from our people, from our women and children most especially, but his plan is still the same-colonize the world. We can’t allow that, because surely if we refuse to find the girl that had gotten his attention, then we are doomed too.” Tensel started, looking into the faces of the entire ancients in his compound. The women were there too, even with the human guards who were already skilled in knowledge about matters like this. “We need to find the girl, whoever she is. We need to stop Levon from wrecking terror in this world. This world might not be the best place considering the amount of corruption and decay I’ve seen in it since birth centuries ago, but it doesn’t deserve to be ruled by a wretched demon.” The men nodded.“That’s true.” Gray, the healer intoned. “Tensel is right. We have to the find the girl. Elina and Elizabeth were the one
Storm crunched on a banana cookie, her legs crossed on each other on top of Kaden’s table as she counted down to the minute, to the second, that Kaden will come here. She had been waiting for thirty minutes already. After Avery had left, she had dallied around in the garden for a while, touching flowers here and there, taking in their diverse scents, making a guess at their names, and when she hadn’t heard Kaden call out to her yet, through his voice or through the phone, she had sighed and sauntered out of the garden, a bit bored. So bored that she had even gone to training grounds to see the place that she would try to convince Kaden to let her train in. It had been empty, but the field was massive, so massive with the training equipment scattered here and there, scattered yet looking somehow orderly as if the training people were divided into groups. After standing there for a while, she had tried Jutul’s phone. It had rang, but he hadn’t answered. She hadn’t been sure if it was
“Storm?” Kaden tried again. Desperately even. Storm sighed. “I think I have been watched by someone.” “Here in the clan?” “Is it the red beast?”Lent and Jiraq questioned simultaneously. Their reaction similar to that of the others in the office. Kaden for one was beside himself with anger. What’s with all these? Will it ever end? Will she ever have a moment of rest? “She will, when the real threat is eradicated.” His Lycan enthused, and Kaden knew that it was right. Until whatever it was had been eradicated, no peace for him and his clan, no peace for Storm either. He had sent his investigators to locate Jess. It would take a while, and he wished he could fasten the whole process. He was sure that the woman would have a lot of answers to their questions. “Yes, in this clan. I am not sure if it’s the red beast or a demon.” There was silence in the room. “Demon… what do you mean by that?” Liam asked, ignoring the shaft of fear that has lodged somewhere in his spine. “Well, if
A thick silence dwelled in Kaden’s office when Storm was done talking. It was broken by a knock on the door, and before Kaden could tell the person to stay out, Avery stepped into the room. Avery balked when she saw the inner circle with Storm, when she instinctively felt the seriousness of the atmosphere, stemming from whatever important discussion that they were having. A discussion they had exempted her from. She, who had abandoned her mate back in the pack? She who had left everything, including family, and had followed them to the ends of the earth? “What’s going on here, Lent?” She asked her cousin, feeling her wolf howl in anger, not at her cousin, but herself. Being free now, her wolf had continued from where it had stopped. Berating her from running away from her mate just to be with the mate of another. But she had learned to silence it, or rather cope with the tantrums. She had just forgotten how tiring it could be. She would have wished for the collar back, but then the
Avery dragged her feet to one of the seats surrounding the table and slumped herself into it. Her reaction was of course expected. Storm watched her stupified state and knew that Lent was done telling his cousin about what exactly was happening and what was at stake here. Had made Avery understand that whatever that was happening here was no longer about herself, but the world at large. The entirety of different species were all in trouble. They couldn’t afford to lose sight of this purpose. She watched as Avery lifted her head and stared at her, as if seeing her for the first time. “I take it that you understand now why I have these five men wrapped around my fingers.” Storm chuckled as she said this, laughing when the guys all snorted as if on cue. But the widening of Avery’s eyes at her statement told her that the former had actually thought that she had the five men around her finger, had actually had the notion in her mind, and was thinking now that Storm had read her mind.
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;