Daciana’s POVHe had warned me to behave myself tonight, my feistiness and love to fight is know amongst our own people. My intention hadn’t been to pull Keeva into a full-on scrap, but her nasty little mouth pissed me off. The way she spoke about Zev released my wolf instantly, the need to protect our mate is the strongest emotion I have ever felt. I couldn’t stop myself, I was out of control, and I liked the feeling. In hindsight, if I had known what a huge and strong wolf laid inside her, I might not have been so quick to thrown the first paw. ‘What is the meaning of this?’ My father’s wolf comes closer to me and he sniffs at my back where I have been slashed open. Hid anger is incensed from the sight of me injured on the floor. He turns with a huge snarl and faces Keeva and Alpha Channon. ‘Back down. Now.’ Channon commands him as he releases Keeva from his firm hold on the floor. ‘I demand that wolf be punished. How dare she hurt my daughter.’ It’s her maniacal lau
Celeste’s POVI never thought Channon would ask me for advice or help. When we arrived back from the disastrous attempt to infiltrate my coven from the inside out, I thought I would be heading straight into a hard time. Nikita is quick to retake her claim on the big, upstairs bedroom in what was Alpha Julius’s home The thought of sleeping where he used to fuck my girlfriend makes me uneasy. Nikita is a law unto herself and kicks the couple out that had just started moving in only that morning. Her answer to the was to ‘take it up with Keeva, you know my best friend and Alpha Channon’s mate.’ There was obviously to quarrel to follow and I’m glad she didn’t hear the horrible things they said about her as they left. Or if she did hear she chose to rise above it. It’s late evening when we are called out to the gardens behind the old Alpha and Beta houses. Huge fires send smoke into the sky and the spicy aromas of African cooking fill the air. My stomach rumbles loudly, the
Nikita’s POVHer entire body trembles in my arms and heaves heavily with as her hot tears soak through the thin material of my top. I don’t know what to say or do, I’m well out of my depth here. Magic and all things witchy are still very new to me. Maybe her friends from the coven are in a better position to offer her some advice and comfort. I glance back at the drawing on the table with fear in my heart. The big, dark eyes of a werewolf look out from the page, which in itself isn’t something to cause concern, it’s the writing around it that appears to have knocked Celeste towards hysteria. ‘What does it say?’ I move her hair from the side of her face and it sticks in sweaty clumps to her temple. ‘It’s a warning. I need to talk to Channon.’ She manages to say between huge sobs, Well, fuck me, what the heck is going on now. I nod hesitantly and she simmers down to a soft blubbering mess. ‘Alpha. Celeste says she needs to talk to you.’ ‘Should we pack this stuff away?’
Keeva’s POVThe cool night air rustles my thick silver fur and I scan Channon. He shows no threat to me right now and even backs of slightly. ‘Think about things Selina. Keeva, I’ll be waiting for you at home.’ I breath a sigh of relief when we are alone at last and shift back into my human form. Luck would have it there is a safe box at the lakes edge. I locate it quickly and throw on a pair of shorts and an oversized jumper. It’s not the best look ever but at least I’m not naked. The lake is still except for a few ripples on it’s almost black surface. I choose the most comfortable rock along the shoreline and sit down. It’s time to have the conversation Selina and I have avoided for too long. We must confront her inner demons before it is too late. ‘Selina.’ I close my eyes and go into our shared consciousness, almost like a trance like state. The world falls away from me and I’m face to face with her wolf form in my mind. She paces restlessly, her emotions already r
Alessia’s POVDeep within the depths of the Coven and far from the light and fresh air above ground is where I wait for the high Council to convene. The fires have finally been extinguished and the door to the street expertly fixed with magic from Celeste’s brazen escape. The protection and concealment spells have been recast over the entire Coven so we are once again safe in sanctuary. Once they have all arrived we stand in a large circle facing one another, everyone here with the same determination and twisted sense of purpose. The silence in the underground shrine is absolute. The smell of earth fills my nostrils, the air is damp and moist. I cast my eyes around the circle and address the High Council. ‘My sisters and brothers the time has come for us to rise up and claim what is rightfully ours. For far too long the werewolf packs have ruled and claimed large territories for themselves, expecting all who dares enter them be answerable to them and live under their l
Keeva’s POVThe first rays of dawn paint the sky with hues of fiery orange as I look out the small window that looks over the lake. The silence and peace in my mind doesn’t last long. ‘Help.’ I freeze. It isn’t just one wolf calling for help. No. At least ten different voices all ping around my head at once. Channon sits bolt upright, the deep slumber he was in vanishes without a trace. His face is blank, he is talking to someone through the mind link. ‘We need to go.’ His loud voice pulls me from my seat at the window and I’m next to him on the stairs in the blink of an eye. ‘The witches have broken through our Southern border and the have a large pack of enslaved wolves with them.’ My bare feet hit the stairs hard as we race down them. I can already hear the unmistakable sound outside as large numbers of people shift into their wolves. We are only just outside the confines of our home when we both shift mid leap, into our own wolves. I look at Channon in awe. Since l
Channon’s POVI stand atop the ruins of the place I once called home and a heavy burden weighs upon my already aching heart. The enslaved werewolves are imprisoned in the old cells below my feet. Each one of their bodies are scarred and broken, the signs of the torment and abuse they have suffered at the hands of the witches is clear to see. I have called Celeste to the ruins in the slightest hope that her knowledge and power as a witch can be used to help save my brethren from their enslavement. Jonas looks at me from his station at the top of the stair and I feel his anger in my mind. How could this have happened and we not know anything about it. I had never questioned the lack of rogue attacks as the years went by. I just assumed that with a new age of Alpha less and less werewolves were choosing a life of solitude over the community of pack life. Never in my wildest dreams would I have though that they were being snatched and tortured into slavery. Celeste’s arriv
Celeste’s POVNikita watches from the living room door. There is nothing she can do to help me and I know it hurts that I have Jermiah and Jake with me, but they are seriously powerful and know what it is we are looking for. The old scrolls lay open on the floor and we pour over them with intense interest. They are yellow and brittle with age. Hundreds if not thousands of years old. Jermiah is the only one of us who is fluent enough in the old tongue to read the information out load. ‘It says here that the first witches to enslave a werewolf did so with an ancient artifact that held immense moon power and magic.’ His eyes dart backwards and forwards over the page and he mumbles annoyingly under his breath as he reads. He just syphons out the information that is of relevance to tell me and Jake, so we wait with bated breath for him to talk again. Nikita huffs and leaves again, going back to the kitchen in a strop. I haven’t got time to deal with her over emotional need
Channon’s POVThe air is so much fresher up here, in the mountains. Keeva snuggles into me as we watch the newest pack of the North put on a show of ancient tribal dances. Their face are painted white and red, their eyes glow yellow form the wolves that lay just below the surface. I made a commitment to them all, all those years ago. I would like to think I have fulfilled my promise to help them build a pack, far away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation where they can be safe and heal from the wounds of their past. A fire rages in the middle of the dances, who leap and spin around it in a big, moving circle. I laugh and clap along with the music, content to just sit and watch the display. Keeva, as usual, has other ideas. She jumps up and grabs my hands, pulling me reluctantly to my feet. ‘Keeva, no..’ I try and plop back down on my bum but she pulls harder and before I can protest anymore I’m in the throng of dancers. I feel silly and the burn of redness slowly
ALMOST TEN YEARS LATER Nikita’s POV The years have passed quickly since the great battle. I watch Finn and Freya play together in the long, green grass, care free and happy. Celeste chases after them and they whoop and scream in delight. She is their Mom, not in blood but in every other way possible. Her promise to keep the legend of White Claw alive has stayed with her every day since. We have a yearly festival to commemorate all those that gave their lives that day. The packs who joined us to defeat the evil that wanted to destroy us all come and pay tribute too. Their whole packs descend upon us, overrunning the huge pack house and surrounding smaller houses. Celeste looks up at me and her eyes meet mine. Finn wriggles on the floor beneath her hand as she tickles his tummy. Huge shrieks of laughter fill the air. ‘You ok love?’ Her voice sounds a bit older and wiser now than it did back then. She has learned more about pack life and the hierarchy that defines out p
Nikita’s POVFinn and Freya sleep soundly in their cot, unaware of the battle that has raged on for hours outside. When I see Celeste again she is in big trouble. I can’t believe she sealed us in here. I know she would have done it to protect us, but I’m quite capable of looking after myself. I feel her pain and exhaustion increase minute my minute through our bind to the point I can’t walk and my whole-body aches. ‘Celeste. Come home.’ I finally decide to call out to her, my silence was supposed to have been a punishment for her act of love, but all it has done is punish me. What if something had happened to her and she thought for even a moment that I didn’t love her. Tears spring to my heavy eyes and pour down my cheeks. I don’t know when I fell asleep but morning is starting to break when the door to the kitchen is flung wide open. Celeste burst into the room. She looks awful. Covered in blood and mud, her hair is a mess and her clothes half gone. I don’t care. I r
Ebony’s POVI see him on the floor and towering over him is a tall, thin woman. She sends a bolt of dark magic straight into his chest from her hand. The pain that rips through me takes my breath away and I crumple to the floor, smashing into a tree from the speed I was going. ‘Don’t stop Blake, save him.’ I whimper through the pain. My vision has blurred from the lack of oxygen to my brain. The pain is so intense it makes me want to die, just so I can’t feel it anymore. She is too engrossed in torturing our mate to even notice Blake's huge wolf streaking towards her. My vision clears just enough to see Blake pounce on her. Her scream bounces from tree to tree and fills this part of the forest with the sound of death. He mauls at her and when her head pops off and rolls along the floor the pain completely vanishes. The wicked witch is dead. I can finally breath properly again. Blake leaves her mangled bloody body on the floor and goes to Bleiz. I stagger to my four leg
Keeva’s POV‘Celeste we are going under here. There are too many of them. Please, help us.’ There are too many of them. My silver fur is soaked through with the dark, stinking blood of vampires and the earthy copper red blood of werewolves. The Witches hide in the tress like the coward they are. Sending their pets into do the hard work. ‘Ebony, Blake, Bleiz. Get into the trees near the river and start taking out the witches. We need to break down their command. ‘Go, now.’ Supreme Alpha seconds my command instantly. I know he thinks Selina is control but the truth is it’s all me. Keeva. Selina has shut down and hidden away in the deep darkness of my mind. The next wave of vampires joins the fray. The frenzied ferocity of which they attack takes me by surprise. They are starved and the scent of blood has them crazed beyond my comprehension and understanding. High pitched screeches pierce the battle field, the blood lust of the undead being sated from the corpses that lit
Celeste’s POV My hands are clamped over my ears to try to block out the horrendous sounds of battle from consuming me. Grief pulls me to the floor and I sob into the cold earth. Even from here the floor shakes beneath me from the pounds paws and feet of the battle and bodies being slammed in to the ground. Barks of anger still pierce through my hands, the pain of hundreds of souls is palpable in the air. My skin crawls with the feeling of being watched and I don’t dare move from my curled-up position on the floor. Surely if It was Keeva or someone from the pack who knows me they would have announced their arrival. ‘Who’s there?’ I’m ashamed of how small and meek my voice is betraying the gut-wrenching fear inside of me. ‘Why do you care so deeply for them?’ This is the first time I have heard his deep, rumbling voice. I look up and am shocked to find White Claw sat just inside the clearing watching me. ‘What do you mean?’ His eyes follow me as I stand up and regain so
Celeste’s POVI can feel it in the air as the witching hour approaches. ‘Nikita, I need to go to my alter to perform the ritual and try to break the curse. It is the place with the strongest concentration of elemental magic.’ Her hands are soft and warm in mine and her tears make my soul weep. I would give anything not to leave her and our babies, but if I don’t do this and succeed then we are all doomed. Finn and Freya sleep peacefully in their cot next to the bed and I look down on them. The love I have for these little guys is more than I thought capable of ever feeling. It’s for them that I go out tonight and fight for our survival. ‘Celeste, please don’t go.’ Nikita pleads with me, her eyes are full of tears and desperation in her voice. ‘Let one of the other witches do it.’ She doesn’t understand and none of my reasons will ever be good enough for her. ‘I am the strongest witch here. If I can’t do it then we have no one on our side that can.’ The bond between us
Alessia’s POVEach step takes me past the long, tooth filled snout of a chained werewolf. Their snarls and growls fill the air along with the crack of whips that send whimpering howls in to the darkening sky. I smile and observe the scent around me. All the werewolves, held under the High Councils control have been brough from all corners of the land to us here. They are the muscles behind the vision of destroying or controlling these beasts, once and for all. I finish moving through the stinking area where they are being kept. My shoes are covered in their excrement that I try and wipe off on the grass in disgust. I feel bile rise in my throat but manage to hold it back. The last rays of sunlight dip behind the trees and the tents around me stir with the occupants that start to rise. I quicken my pace and my heart rate picks up as vampires start to emerge from their sleeping quarters. As I reach the biggest tent in the centre of their camp I’m greeted by Admis himself
Keeva’s POV‘You smell funny.’ I move in closer to Channon and sniff him all over, up and down. ‘Have you wet yourself?’ I blurt out and he steps back. I wrinkle my nose at the pungent odour and feel a bit sick. ‘He stinks of fear.’ Selina moves forwards and our consciousness combines, I feel her sense of smell over take my own. It’s not just his fear he reeks of, it’s the other Alpha’s fear scent that has stuck to him too. Selina moves back in to my mind and curls up, absorbed in her own thoughts on the situation. ‘Why are you all so scared?’ He looks at me and I can see his is genuinely worried. ‘The vampires have joined forces with the witches Keeva, I don’t know how we are going to win this thing.’ His eyes fill and her turns away. ‘I’m going for a shower.’ I let him go. At least he can get rid of the awful smells that cling to him and then I will go help relieve him of some of his frustration and anger. ‘Keeva.’ I turn to the door and see Ebony. She looks so tired