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
The jaguar roared, drawing Storm’s attention back to the danger closest to her. She forced a careless smile. "You have the taste of my blood in your mouth. And I have the taste of yours. You have information I seek. You tried to kill me and I owe you no quarter." The cat remained motionless, not a muscle moving, eyes focused intently on her. The jaguar people were as elusive and secretive as the great cats, and like their animal part-or because of it they preferred the dense rainforest near streams and riverbanks. They were rarely encountered and, most likely, were stealthy enough and too familiar with the rain forest to ever be seen unless they wished it. The men, like the animal, were heavily built and enormously strong. They had tremendous night vision and excellent hearing. They were good tree climbers and strong swimmers. Little was known of their society, although she knew they had bad tempers when aroused. Before she probed deep into the brain of the jaguar, the hunter took a
Kon opened his memories to Storm and flooded her with as much information as possible. For many years he'd worked to restore the dwindling strength of his species. Too many of their women had left, seeking companionship and love with human males rather than the careless abandonment of their own males. He'd influenced the others to follow the way of the Storm’s kind and mate for life, to provide a home and a family, a reason for women to stay with them. At first, many had gone along with his ideas and had begun to give up their solitary way of life, but recently, they had become divided in their thinking, as a slow, subtle change occurred. Packs of men had begun committing terrible crimes against women. A "new order" of jaguars had begun searching for women of their kind and raping them in an effort to have pureblood children. Kon hadn't known of the horrors, other than unconfirmed rumors, for the first few years, but now more and more men had joined the bands of marauding rebels. H
Storm woke up with a sense of dread churning in the pit of her stomach. She had just had a horrible dream, and the memory of it lingered like a dark cloud over her mind.As she lay in bed, trying to shake off the remnants of the dream, she felt a wave of panic wash over her. Her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe, and she struggled to control the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her.The dream had been vivid and unsettling, filled with images that made no sense to her. She tried to piece together the fragments of the dream, to understand its meaning, but it felt like trying to grasp at smoke. Vampires, demons and what-nots. What was all that? What was the dream trying to convey to her?Her emotions were in turmoil, like a storm raging inside her. Fear, confusion, and a sense of foreboding mingled together, creating a tangled web of emotions that she couldn't untangle. She still remembered the words that she had exchanged with the jaguar man, Kon. For some reason, it w
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;