Twenty-nineNora Connolly Ares was stubborn. Just like his namesake. “True love?” Ares said, looking at Nora incredulously. The three of them were standing in Nora’s room, where Winter had been placed. “True love isn’t something that just happens, Connolly.” “So Roman said, and I don’t believe either of you.” Both Ares and Roman sighed heavily at her response. “Look, all of the stories say that true love is instant!” Nora said. “Please, just give it a try. She’s the only one that can answer my questions.” Ares sighed, and looked at the statue of Winter. “She didn’t exactly have the best reaction to finding out she was my mate.” “You pinned her up against the wall,” Nora reminded him. “There are other things I could be doing. Like finding the warlock that’s been keeping you away from Roman. In fact, I think I’ll go and do that right now---” “Ares,” Roman hissed, “Nora thinks this
ThirtyRoman EliotHe was relieved that he had finally shown her his journey to find her. He hadn’t known how she would react. But now that they had finally slept together, he felt solid with her. And that she was willing to have Ares help Winter had also convinced him that Nora was ready to see the journey that he had been on to find her. Then---then she had said that she was “horny with gratitude” and wanted to know where his room was.Which was how they found themselves in one of the many guest rooms of The Stellarum, with Nora completely naked, ready to be fucked once again. People didn’t like to admit that mates had their difficulties. And as much as he had wanted them to be one of those couples that instantly knew they were supposed to be together, he felt glad that they weren’t. Nora had been through something dark as a young woman.He had earned her trust.That was important to him. Because once he was Alpha, they would have to lead the pack together. And it wouldn’t work if t
Thirty-one:Nora Connolly Nora wished that she could say that she had disappeared on purpose. However, she was not powerful enough to do that yet. The lightening and the thunder she had definitely felt course through her. Rage, Merrick had told her, could activate her powers. When Roman had argued with her, she had definitely felt that. Nora had heard of werewolf mates being stubbornly protective. But she had never thought that it would be a problem with Roman since he knew she was a witch. The fight was only further proof that they didn’t know anything about each other. How stupid had she been to think that one rescue and sex could fix everything? She had fallen for the mate magic, and Roman’s charm. She’d let herself get caught up in the idea that she had found a home. But really, she was still the girl that didn’t know where she belonged. Quite literally. Because she had vanished from the room and she had been in only to arrive some p
Thirty-two:Roman Eliot The Powerists had come to The Stellarum. The witches, the warlocks, the vampires, the fae, the ghosts…all of the magical beings the universe could have thought of. They had gathered in the dining hall. His father and mother sat at the head of the table, looking out over all of them, and he sat right by his father’s side. “I didn’t think this many people would be angry,” said Roman. Elaine glanced at him. “You underestimate the power of ignorance, son.” Remington put a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll talk to them. I’m sure we’ll be able to calm them down.” “What if that isn’t all that it takes, dad?” Roman asked. He had even spotted Glinda off in the far corner. She hadn’t made eye-contact with him. Glinda had always helped the pack before. They’d been good friends for ages. He had never imagined that his mate would come between them like that. But Glinda insisted that Nora played a big part in her fu
Thirty-three:Nora Connolly It was wrong. She shouldn’t have been learning her powers from Merrick. But Glinda had specifically said that she couldn’t help her. And the only way that she was going to get back to Roman was if she could get away from Merrick. Which she couldn’t do without her powers. Which was why she found herself alone, in a room, with the muscled warlock that Roman didn’t like one bit. “You’ve got to focus,” Merrick repeated for the millionth time. Nora opened up her eyes. “I have been focusing. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to be doing.” He sighed. “You’re trying to make lightening without being angry. You can’t rely on rage all of the time, you know? You’ve got to have control over your powers. Not let your powers control you.” She took a deep breath. “It’s a little hard to focus when you don’t know if the warlock holding you hostage is going to let you return back to your mate or not.”
Thirty-four:Roman Eliot “How do we even begin to find them?” Roman asked. “Well, that’s the trouble,” said Glinda, “no one really knows how. The Night Coven live in a magical community that moves whenever the group feels threatened. Merrick is the high priest of it, and he’s incredibly paranoid.” The two of them were in Roman’s study. The rest of the Powerists had gone, waiting for Roman to call on them when they were needed. Roman played with his hair anxiously. “Can’t you, I don’t know, seduce him here?” Glinda shook her head. “No, I can’t do that. If I were to do something like that, it could alter my future. I’m not even sure how much damage I’ve done by telling you our children are going to be mates.” “How do you know for sure that Merrick is who you’re going to end up with?” Roman asked. “I’ve been having visions. Actually, I had one on the day that Nora showed up. That was part of why I was acting so stran
Thirty-five:Nora Connolly Nora didn’t know how long she was in the room by herself. What she did know was that she was starving. And weak. And she had tried connecting to Roman using that mate connection thing but she hadn’t gotten a single answer. Maybe she wasn’t even doing it right. Roman, she chanted in her mind, Roman, Roman, ROMAN…. Or maybe their connection wasn’t as strong as Roman had thought. Or he was ignoring her because she’d left. How stupid had she been? But he had promised that he’d help her get what she wanted. Revenge on the person that had killed her parents. And then, just as suddenly, he didn’t want anything to do with her doing that. “Roman, please….” She was crying out to no one. Merrick had trapped her. There was no getting out. He wanted to force her to marry him. Wanted a claim on powers that she didn’t even understand. If only her parents hadn’t died. If only her mom had told her that she was a witch. There w
Thirty-six:Roman Eliot “You are annoying.” This came from Ares. Roman glowered at him, then punched the punching bag that Ares was holding in place as they worked out in the gym. It had been days and they hadn’t heard back from Glinda yet. They couldn’t do anything about finding Nora or Winter because they had no idea where The Night Coven was yet. “You’re being annoying too,” Roman said, “you’re radiating anxiety like me.” “Yes, well,” Ares pulled away from the punching bag, “you’re bothering me about it. It’s not only your mate that was taken. And at least your mate actually acknowledges you as your mate. Mine refuses to have anything to do with me. Anyway, The Night Coven can’t be more powerful than your connection with Nora. Why can’t you use that to find them?” Roman pulled away from the punching bag. “I’ve tried. She’s not answering me. She told me Merrick was muscled…” Ares chuckled. “Are you jealous?”
Forty-six:Roman Eliot "Just, for the record, I hate high heels," Nora told him, "And don't get used to me going to fancy events." Roman smirked at her. "This is for your cousin." "I know." She smiled a little. "Are you comfortable with this?" "I should be asking you that. Your family were the ones that were originally in charge of this coven. You're the one that's giving up something." "I'm fine," Nora said, "I've still got my magic. I've got you. Winter's going to make a great High Priestess. We just need to work together to make sure that Merrick doesn't come back and try to take over again." "You don't feel like running?" Roman asked. It had been a little over a month since they had managed to make Merrick disappear. He hadn't heard from Glinda, but he suspected that she was doing everything she could to try to save him from himself. That was what you did when you were in love with someone. It was
Forty-five:Nora Connolly Nora didn’t listen well. When you spent your time fending for yourself, listening to what others wanted was usually the last thing on your mind. Roman dressed hurriedly and was running down the stairs. Nora, who was becoming more comfortable with her magic, snapped her fingers and was dressed within seconds. She ran down the stairs with him. “Nora!” someone was screaming her name. It took her a second to register that it was Winter. And that was only because she saw her being levitated up in the air against her will. “Traitor!” this was shouted by Merrick. He was dressed all in black, his long coat swirling around him as wind filled the house, rattling it to its core. “Did you really think you could steal my power?” “Merrick!” a voice from behind him called. Nora turned and was startled to see Glinda standing there, a look of desperation in her eyes. “Merrick, stop this. This is not your destiny!” Me
Forty-fourRoman Eliot Potions took a long time to make. Which meant that there was at least two days for them to wait as it simmered. No one knew they were there yet so it was time to take an opportunity for them to lay low and figure out a plan. It also gave Roman a chance to connect with Nora again. “Are you still feeling good about this?” Roman asked. The two of them had found one of the rooms, and were staying in there. There were even some old clothes that they’d changed into. “Yes,” said Nora, “I think making Winter the High Priestess makes a lot of sense. She knows The Coven. I don’t. And I think…I think it will give her and Ares a chance to work through some things.” He smiled at her. “It’s nice to see you understanding how important mates are now.” She smiled back. “Well, it helps that I’ve got a pretty great one that comes calling whenever I’m in trouble.” The two of them had crawled into bed. The room they were in
Forty-threeNora Connolly She was going to help Winter take back The Night Coven. There was still a lot about magic that she didn’t understand. But she liked the idea of helping her cousin get what was rightfully hers. The Night Coven wasn’t her world. She’d stumbled into it by accident. Even though her family had been part of it, they had run from it. And she had to think that there was a reason for that. Still, she would do whatever it took to help get it back from Merrick. Nora stood in front of the grimoire, staring at it. It was an old book. With pages that had been weathered from time. The name Connolly was emblazoned on it in silver, with stars that surrounded it. She reached her hand out and let it hover over the top of it. “Are you okay?” Roman asked. Nora bit her lip. “I’m fine.” He was holding her right hand, and stroked it lightly. “You don’t sound fine.” “After everything that happened with my parents
Forty-twoRoman Eliot Roman stared. He knew ghosts existed but he had never seen one up close. Werewolves were more about keeping magic in line. Less about using it. Although since he was part warlock, he wasn’t entirely sure now if that were the case. What did a werewolf with magic do? More importantly, could a coven and a pack exist together? The idea of humans knowing about the Powerists was that it should have made life easier for people. Not bring more conflict to them. “Is that even possible?” Roman asked. “Witches and werewolves working together? I always thought we were supposed to keep them in line.” The old woman shook her head. “The idea was, when we revealed ourselves to the humans, that there was safety in numbers. If we could help each other, then there was less chance that they would try and hurt us. And by presenting a united front, together we could actually make progress happened. A lot of this stemmed from your mom, Roman. Elaine
Forty-one:Nora Connolly “I’m sorry, you want to what?” Winter looked at her completely baffled. “Swap my powers with you.” Winter tilted her head to the side. “You don’t want magic?” Nora shrugged. “What am I going to do with it? I mean, I barely know how to use it and I’m a werewolf’s mate. There’s no reason for me to have magic.” She was surprised when Winter looked at her with rage. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Nora raised an eyebrow. “I figured this would make you happy. I don’t want to be with Merrick, you don’t want to be with Ares. I’ll give you my power. This fixes everything.” She shook her head. “No. That power was given to you for a reason, Nora. You can’t just give it up. I know that you don’t want to be with Merrick, but being with the High Priest is an honorable thing. The Goddess wants you to work with Merrick to help the world.” “Then why was I mated to Rom
Forty:Roman Eliot Even though Roman was a werewolf, magic was something that he had never truly understood. Werewolves were about nature and instinct. Some aspects of their life were magic---like Endymion, the god of the moon that gave them their powers. But using magic itself wasn’t something that Roman had any clue about. That was why he went to Glinda. She was the one that could find lost things, or make a potion to cure a common cold, or enchant someone who was annoying him to get turned into a garden gnome or something else equally annoying. What he didn’t realize was how much weirdness went into it. At the moment, he was sitting in an empty room of The Stellarum. His mom was currently lighting candles, and smudging the room and there was some kind of circle of herbs around him like he was a chicken about to be cooked. After she had explained that Roman was part warlock, and related to The Night Coven, he had been dragged to the empty room by her. Then, t
Thirty-nine:Nora Connolly Nora didn’t know what she expected when she was at her grandmother’s house. Especially considering that she hadn’t known that there was a family home to begin with. Her memories of being a kid involved moving from city to city whenever something went wrong in her parent’s life. Although now that she thought of it, she couldn’t remember what it was that had gone wrong. “Ready to go in?” Winter asked. “This place has been vacant for years, and it only opens with blood magic from a direct descendant.” She looked up at the house again. It towered over them, a large, Victorian thing that was pink and black with rainbow glass windows. She didn’t think she would ever be ready when it came to facing her past. But there was no point in running from it. She was standing right in front of it. Even as she stood there, the houses magic made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Come in, come in, it seemed to whispe
Thirty-eight:Roman Eliot He tried to remember what he knew of his mom’s past. He knew that when she first found out she was his dad’s mate, she hadn’t bene happy about it. She’d been in love with someone else. He also knew that she came from some place in upstate New York and that her family hadn’t approved of the whole thing which was why they hadn’t seen them in ages. He knew his mother. But at the same time, he realized, he didn’t know his mother. He knew Elaine Eliot, the pack Luna. He couldn’t say anything about Elaine Eliot, the girl, or Elaine Eliot, the young woman. She had always been this fearsome force that he knew better than to make angry. “Are you going to knock?” Aion asked. He turned to glare at his friend. “Yes, I’m going to knock.” “Okay, because you haven’t done it. And you know that she’s the one that has the clue to finding Nora. Do you not want to find her?” “Of course, I want to find her!” he snarled.