On Thursday we had a Council meeting that I hoped would be cancelled since Alexis would not be able to attend as our Elder. But no, it didn't work like that.Ferris was sent to fill in for Alexis. Ferris and Alexis were the closest things to friends as Elders could become, so none of us got amped up at the prospect of being in the presence of someone who hated us the way Malarias had. Ferris wore the customary white robe, which was the attire of the Elders convening over a Council meeting, although they had their own individual designs. Ferris' design had intricate gold stitching around the neckline. He was blonde and attractive despite the black eyes and corpse-like skin.It was nice to attend the weekly meeting without having to look at Monica or to see Alexis. And with Malarias off somewhere being punished for sabotaging his own Council, it was a downright good time.Ran was already there. For the most part the meetings were only supposed to be attended by the Council members and
I was surprised to see Paul when I got home. My Succubus was not the only one that needed sex. Paul's Wolf demanded that we mate regularly, especially as the full moon approached.Paul was standing in the dark right where I would appear. I heard a growl full of sexual need, and when I reached up to touch him, I found him completely nude with a stiff cock.He was in hybrid form and used one long talon to slice my pants open from crotch to ass. Then he hefted me up roughly, and I called my Succubus when he lined up his cock and rammed it inside of me.It turned out to be one of those nights when Sam would surely need to wear her earplugs.When I rose the next evening, I saw Paul was getting dressed."Hi, honey," he said while looking at me through the reflection in the mirror. His expression seemed oddly tense. He didn't jump into bed and lathe me with kisses as he normally would."Hi." I fluffed my hair, running my fingers through a few tangles. When I looked at the clock on the n
He caught me with a happy laugh. "I wanted to surprise you. I want you here as much as possible, babe. I promise that I will do better…with everything."We kissed until Sam cleared her throat."I'm going to get BJ settled." Sam had BJ propped up on her hip, and BJ was happy to follow her "Mimi" to whatever adventure the new house was sure to hold.Tyler and Jason excused themselves to finish getting the lodge prepared for the ceremony.I wasn't exactly sure what would happen, but Paul assured me that becoming Lupa was like becoming mated and our beasts would take over.I had hoped that Paul and I would break in the new bedroom since I knew the approaching full moon made him horny, but he said we would save that for after the ceremony.I couldn't wait!After the ceremony, I would change and run with the Pack, and our beasts would fuck in a way that no humans could.It always involved blood, claws, and teeth.~*~Tyler and Jason were already at the lodge orchestrating the f
Sasha stopped in front of the raised stand and placed her hands on her hips. Long black hair ran down her back in inky black curls. She was barefoot and dressed in a simple dress that accentuated her curves. Her dark eyes flashed with determination as she stared at Paul."She's not Pack," Sasha said. "She can never be Pack because she represents all that we fight against. She is one of them!"The noise of the crowd grew. Jason and Tyler moved forward, but Paul raised his hand to stop them. His eyes never left Sasha, and neither did mine. I stiffened, barely registering the Wolfpack or Paul as I focused on Sasha. She had danced naked with my husband, had grabbed him and kept him from saying goodbye to me during Ran's ceremony. She now seemed intent on stopping the ceremony. What was really going on here?"Kim is not our enemy," Paul said. "She is nothing like the Neratomay. She doesn't have their memories, and she's not led by their instincts.""You are blind because you are mat
I narrowed my eyes. "Bitch, I don't give a fuck about any of that. I'm here about you and Paul." My eyes began to burn. This didn't seem possible. "I want answers."Sasha smirked. "You want to know how good it was? Well, like I said, Paul came back for seconds."My teeth dropped and I balled my hands into fists.Tyler gripped one of my wrists. "Kim…"I looked past Tyler but didn't move forward. "How long has this been going on?" My voice that sounded nothing like my own but that of all of my demons.Sasha didn't flinch. Her golden eyes and shaggy hair let me know that she was close to changing. "It just started. But I don't intend for it to end. Paul and I belong! We match in ways that you will never be able to.""You trifling, bitch!" I charged forward, but Tobias, Jason, and Tyler held me back.Tyler leaned in toward my ear. "Kim, it's not worth it. If you start, it won't end!""Did you know?" I asked Tyler."I'm sorry," Tyler said, "but I didn't know. I swear I didn't know.
No one bothered me for the next few days. Ran handled our meetings, and beyond him and the Ladies I kept myself blocked from everyone but Sam and BJ.Despite my anger, the bond I shared with Paul made it difficult not to feel the pain of our separation. Bonds were made to keep cold-ass Vampires from killing each other. It worked the same for a husband and wife working through infidelity.I had always been a judgmental, opinionated person. I criticized women for taking back their cheating, abusive husbands. I cat-called the television set when a woman cried over a man whom I didn't think deserved mercy. I thought women who couldn't make the hard decisions were weak. Wasn't there strength in denying yourself the pleasure of being with a man that you desired?I thought I was strong, but the pain of losing someone so integral to your life was something that knocked me to my knees. I had a hole in my soul that Paul was supposed to fill, and it was everything warm and calm and loving. All
After the feeding, I returned home to the house that Paul and I had made into a home. I had sent BJ and Sam ahead of me, and they were in the family room playing. BJ ran to me and flung herself against my legs as if sensing that things might never be the same again.I picked her up, held her in my arms, and kissed her all over her face until she begged to be put down. I looked at Sam who seemed happy to be back home but still sad about what I was trying to deal with."I'm going to call him," I said.Sam nodded. "I think it's a good idea." She hadn't asked permission to throw in her two cents and had flat out stated, on a number of occasions, that she was disappointed in Paul and his inability to keep his penis in his pants. It hadn't helped that I wanted to defend him. I wasn't much different from him and he had forgiven me time and time again.I went out to the backyard so that I could open our link and speak to him privately, but BJ wanted to come with me. I allowed it, but then
"God no. The loser will be required to do whatever the winner asks. You can have her join the Omegas in Europe.""You're that sure that I will win?""Yes. Absolutely. You have the Vampire's strength and speed as well as the creature's ability to hybrid.""And what if they won't allow me to use my Vampire powers?"His mouth formed a grim line. "Your powers are an asset to your role as Lupa. They can't deny any of your abilities.""Are we truly mated?" I wasn't referring to our Vampire bond. I was talking about the Werewolf mating. I could still feel the bite on the back of my neck. I felt my connection to Paul through it. It didn't hurt, but it was a tangible thing. Nerves had clustered there, and Paul had explained that other Werewolves could smell our mating because of it.He put his hand on my shoulders, and this time I didn't pull back. "Never doubt our mating. It is real. I don't understand why the hybrid reached out to hers, but we are husband and wife and my Wolf has mated
"Are you ready, my love?" Alexis asked."I'm not sure," I said. "She's still so little."Alexis kissed the dark curls at the top of our daughter's head. "Tiye is strong enough to travel back to our realm. We've been here a year. Don't you miss home?""Yeah, but a year here is only like five minutes in the Above," I said."More like a few weeks," Alexis said. "The Ladies are anxious to meet their new niece."He gently lifted his sleeping daughter, tucking her blanket carefully around her body. She had just turned three months old and was as round and plump as a melon. Her thick, curly hair was sure to be as wild as mine was when I wasn't wearing the plaits that Oni put them in. She looked like us—my brown skin with Alexis' nose and Mona Lisa smile.Alexis had named her after an ancient Egyptian Queen who was the deity of light. Leave it to him to name his daughter after an angel and a queen.He carried her outside and stood on the porch staring out at a vast sea made by his own h
Paul smiled and relaxed. I led him to the study where Alexis was waiting. Alexis nodded in greeting."Alexis, thanks for agreeing to this meeting," Paul said.Alexis gestured to a throne. "Please, have a seat."Paul looked at the throne and sat. "Mmm, comfy."Alexis moved the other two thrones to form a triangle, and we sat."We saw the gathering video," Paul said. "We didn't know we were being filmed," I said."I figured as much," Paul said. "But you made a good point when you said that one supernatural group cannot rule over another. My Werewolf Council has been meeting for the last few days. We don't want a war with the Neratomay.""And we do not want a war with the Werewolves," Alexis said.Paul nodded. "We have been in discussions with the Alliance of the Supernaturals, and I expressed King's beliefs that if we do not work together then we will all fall together.""That's right," I said."After a lot of negotiation, the Alliance would like to extend an offer for you to
Ran continued. "We asked the Wolves to coordinate their attacks with ours, and that is all they agreed to do.""But what about the carnage that occurred in Epic Cu?" The Councilmember asked."Are you for real?" I asked in irritation. "There were hundreds of Rectors at that gathering! All it would have taken was for one of those Rectors to snap Alexis' neck before he could summon King to close the portal to the Underworld. We had to take out the Rectors and luckily the Alpha aided us or—well we wouldn't be here and you'd still be kissing the ass of your demon master!"Alexis put his hand on mine but Ignacio smiled in amusement. Will you be quiet! Cyrene snapped silently in my head.When has that ever happened? I snapped back.Ladies, Alexis interrupted. Now is not the time. My love, try to be more…diplomatic.Fine, I replied."We won that war by any means necessary," Alexis said, his voice annoyed. "We don't appreciate your line of questioning. Do you want to go back to the way
The Neratomay flashed themselves away once they were outside of Epic Cut. The Supernaturals carried away their dead and injured, and what was left inside of Epic Cu was blood, gore, and ash. Paul left with his pack, and Ran, King, Alexis, and I flashed back to our villa where King fell in an exhausted asleep.Alexis and I watched him with pride. "It could have gone so much different," I whispered."No." Alexis continued to gaze at King's small sleeping form. "Not if we understand King's true potential—this is the way it was meant to be."It was time discover the fallout so we turned on the radio and television. Many countries were in a state of emergency based on what had happened over the last several hours. News outlets and radio stations made announcements that people should stay indoors because there were reports of wild, strange beast attacks. Videos of humans turning into Vampires and using impossible speed to attack the beasts clogged the Internet. Supposed experts in the s
I moved from zombie to Wraith, pushing them through the portal and trying not to think about those they had possessed.The Wraiths will take you…Oni had said.I saw Alexis keeping King in the light flowing from the portal, but the portal had grown smaller.It was working!King was closing the portal to the Collective!As I zapped zombies and Wraiths, I noticed with surprise that the Supernaturals were fighting with the Neratomay to kill the zombies! When they ganged up and killed a zombie and the wraith left the zombie's body, I was able to zap the Wraith and send it back where it belonged."Aleawdat 'iilaa alealam alsuflii!" I chanted loudly along with King. Although I didn't understand the words, I could repeat them exactly.Then Ran, who still stood sentry beside me, began repeating the words. Alexis joined our chant, and that portal began shrinking even more.The larger Wraiths became bottlenecked trying to squeeze up and out of the shrinking portal. They were so freaking g
I stared at the center of the pentagram where so much power was streaming through to seek out vessels, as if that power was a thinking, conniving being. It infused its targets with power so they could fight for it. And Alexis thought that my son should face that? My little boy?"Alexis, he's just a baby!""He is a demon!" he said sternly. "He only pretends to be a baby because that's what you need, Kim. You have to know that it has been many years since our son was a baby."The way King talked to the Wolf Council, the way he seemed to understood so much and so easily, the way he commanded attention whenever he spoke. I didn't want my child to fight this battle, but Alexis and King both knew this was what King was meant to do.Alexis released me and turned toward the pentagram. He raised his hand and began pulling power from the portal in the center, pulling so much that he glowed with the unnatural light that the energy emanated.Paul squinted and stepped in front of me, preventin
Alexis raised his hand. "We learned the truth, secrets that have enslaved us all!" Alexis' nose began to bleed. He stumbled and swiped at the blood angrily and then raised it to show everyone. "Secrets that prevent me from speaking these truths. But you see! You see!"Ran glared out at the group. "We know, even if we can't speak it. But if you can read it in our heads, you will know this secret, too!"The pain was so sudden that I could not have taken a step. I couldn't even see! Buzzing filled my brain as instead of a dozen bees, hundreds of them seemed to fill my head. I had expected it and thought I was prepared, but there is no way to be prepared when someone is inside of you filling your brain to bursting!"Kim!" Paul shook me.I tried to open my eyes then realized they were open. I couldn't see!"Build your wall!" Paul shouted. "Build it now!"I tried to imagine the bricks—white bricks. White…but I could only see black vapors!Then Alexis was inside my head cutting through
I smelled Alexis and Ran, but so had Paul. He was already heading toward them. When we finally met up, I dropped Paul's clothes on the ground before him. He changed quickly back to a man while I stared up at the castle where more Neratomay than ever attempted to enter Epic Cu."Once we're inside we cannot flash ourselves out," I said.Paul narrowed his eyes. "You'll be trapped inside?"Alexis frowned, but Ran and I nodded.Paul slipped his shirt over his head and peered at the castle. "We can blow this bitch up.""Blowing up Neratomay won't kill us," Alexis said. "Not unless our heads are severed or our hearts pierced.""Why does this castle remind me of Hogwarts?" Paul asked.I smiled. "That's what I thought!""How do we enter?" Paul asked. "That entrance is a hopeless bottleneck." "You could enter through the front door once we're inside," Alexis said, pointing at the opening four stories up. "That's how we exited."Paul licked his lips. "I can make that jump.""Not as a
"You're behind this, aren't you? Somehow—"His head exploded. I flinched at the spray of gore. When it turned to ash, I brushed it off me."Which one of you did that?" I asked."He searched my head," Alexis replied."Well, warn a sister next time," I said.Then I felt a loud buzz in my head, and across the room another Elder's head exploded.This created more bedlam and screaming from Council members who flashed themselves away or who sought the aid of another Elder."Do you feel that?" Ran asked."I don't feel anything because these people are screaming and hollering so loudly," I said.They were the most cowardly individuals I had ever seen. These powerful Vampires sat here crying like wusses! The very Council members and Elders who had tortured and murdered other lower level Neratomay could only hide and cry when they met a foe they couldn't overpower. They were the very definition of bullies!Ran turned to me. "It's Paul.""Paul? How…?""I can still hear him from my tim