~Aida~The bond with my sister is the strongest it’s been in a long time. I never thought I’d feel this bond again, and that thought broke my heart. I shift against my mate; the pain is still present but not as strong as it was in the beginning. “She’s a lot closer. We should go meet her.”Ivan stands up and reaches his hand out to me. I grab onto this hand tightly, not trusting my own body at this point. He swiftly pulls me up, and I let my body mold onto his. “Tell her there’s a clearing; we will be waiting there.”Sister…..sister…..can you hear me?Aida?Yes, I’ll be waiting for you in the clearing. What clearing, where?I’ll be waiting. Truth be told, I have no idea what clearing or where it would be. Ivan knows this area better than me, so I will trust him to guide us. I can’t wait to see my sister and feel her arms wrapped around me.I look up at Ivan, who’s been watching me. He gives me a small smile, and I wrap my arm around his neck tighter. “I’m ready when you are.” He kiss
~Aida~I lean on Ivan as we walk through a forest. I know we’re heading to a clearing and should meet Adela there. I don’t remember any of this. Then again, I was running for my life when I stumbled upon Ivan.My legs feel like jelly, and I’m pretty dizzy. I swear I could pass out at any time. Ivan says this is normal when going through the change. He says that I will need to feed soon. I know that’s important, but I can’t imagine feeding off of anyone. To feed means to drain someone’s blood from their body. How can I justify killing someone just for my own survival? Not that I’m in a life or death situation, but just for me to make it from day to day.When we get to the clearing, Ivan sits me on a huge rock and stands behind me. I lean back against him, letting my head rest on his stomach. Ivan is doing everything he can to keep me calm and taken care of. I really couldn’t ask him to do more.Ivan rubs my shoulders and upper arms while I try to stay alert. I feel my sister’s presence
~Adela~Aida with red eyes and pale skin. This isn’t what I thought I’d come across, but how can I complain? I finally have my sister next to me; there’s nothing better than that. Hopefully, her mate isn’t like most vampires, and we can get along. I will have to include him in our plans, but as long as I have my sister, it doesn’t matter.Aida looks sick, almost like she’s about to throw up. Aida pulls me in close, and her face is back in the crook of my neck. I wrap my arms around her body, memories flooding back to me. We are twins, and twins are close. We are close, having shared everything with one another. I’ve missed her so much since she was gone. It felt like I had a limb missing.Aida runs her nose along my neck, and I become ticklish. “Stop Aida.” Her arms tighten around my body, and I reciprocate. I feel Aida’s lips graze my neck, and I shake my head. She used to do this when we were kids, and I can’t believe that she remembered.I try to move my neck, but Aida follows me.
~Lynn~The walk back to the pack was somber. No one really said anything; I guess there wasn’t much to say. I know I’m still reeling from everything that just happened. I still can’t believe what happened happened.We enter packlands through the back; the warriors are handling the body. I had them link everyone to meet us behind the packhouse. I want to get this over with as soon as possible. I don’t know how to say what I need to say, but I hope it will come to me when the time arises.Tia is the first face I see, followed by her mates. I notice her parents and Alpha Paul. Everyone is seated on the patio, just waiting for us to arrive. I feel sparks on my lower back, and I know my mates are trying to lend me all the strength they have to break this news.Tia stands up and runs down the steps toward me. “Where are they? Did you get them?” I stop walking, and Tia stops in front of me. I take a deep breath, not knowing how this will play out. I watch everyone stand up and look toward me
~Nikki~“Baby?” I’m startled at the sound of his voice. I look around the dark room, wondering how long I’ve been sitting here. I swear the sun was shining when I sat down, but now it’s pitch black. Sparks erupt on my shoulder, and I lean into the feeling.“How long have I been sitting here?” I feel his heat on the side of my body as he sits next to me on the couch. We are in the family room, which we don’t use very often, but it’s a quiet room and exactly what I needed.“It’s been a few hours, baby, but that doesn’t matter.”“Why doesn’t it matter?” Paul turns my body towards his. I adjust my eyes so I can see him in the dark. He has a look of pure sorrow on his face, and it compounds my pain. I don’t want him to feel bad because I feel bad.“Baby, you just lost a child, and I have no idea how that feels. I couldn’t imagine losing one of the boys.” Paul is rubbing my lower back, and it’s beyond soothing. It got Aluma to stop whimpering in my mind. She lost a pup just as much as I lost
~Paul~When Nikki said she needed to get some air, I had a feeling she would end up at her former home. She’s been taking the news pretty hard, and I get it. I don’t know what I would do if one of my boys ended up gone. The devastation is something I don’t even want to think about, let alone feel.As soon as the sun shone through the window, I popped up and checked the bed. Nikki’s side was cold, and she wasn’t there. I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on to go find her. Now I’m standing in the doorway, watching Nikki and Stuart asleep. The moment Nikki senses me, her eyes pop open and land on me. She sits up quickly and detaches her hand from Stuart’s. Goddess! I’m so sor- This isn’t what it looks like. I….I just….Nikki, stop. Do you honestly think that I would read anything into this? We are fated mates, so I would have felt that if you had been unfaithful. You and Stuart have children together, and you have lost one. I don’t fault you in finding comfort in him.But I should
~Mark~I know that being a ranked member is a lot of work, but I never considered how disruptive being an Alpha can be. Here I am, trying to seduce my pregnant mate, and I’m being called away. I don’t regret coming here or tying my life with Jenna; it can just be a lot of work sometimes. I understand why she didn’t want the role, even though she’d be an amazing Alpha. I imagine I could be a good Luna and wouldn’t have an issue in that role.I run out the back of the pack house, and the minute my feet hit the ground, I shift into my wolf. We bound through the forest, heading to the Western border. When I get there, I have three warriors waiting for me. I shift back and walk up to the group. They nod to me, and I nod back. “What’s going on here?”“Sir, we found Jimmy out here. He was on the border. It looks like he’s had his blood drained.” I walk toward the body and see how pale it is. There’s a message written on his body.“What’s that say?” The warriors look at each other before look
~Lynn~Mark fills me in on what he found on his lands. I ask the usual questions: who are their enemies, and what new Alphas are trying to prove themselves? When he had no valuable information to contribute, there was only one thing that popped into my mind, but I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone.“Well, that was an enlightening conversation, I think.” I put my phone down and lean back on the bed. I haven’t spoken to my brother in a while, and I feel bad about that. We both just got caught up in our lives, and checking in wasn’t the top priority.The bathroom door opens, and a shiver runs through my body. “Who was that, babe?” I want to answer, but my mouth is suddenly dry. Devonte is standing in the doorway with just a towel hanging low on his body. There are drops of water running down his chest as he rubs his hands together. Just remembering what those hands do to me regularly has me leaking all over myself. “Uh, babe?” I shake my h