All Chapters of True North: Paranormal Reverse Harem: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

53 Chapters

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Chapter Forty-One: VisionsNorth suppressed a shiver that could have come from the cold in the room, or Caius’s harsh glare. Straightening her shoulders and spine, she stood before him and crossed her arms over her chest. “You have to protect Ryland.”Caius focused his gaze on her. “Who do you think opened the portal?”North nodded her acknowledgement, but pressed on. She needed verbal confirmation that Ryland was safe. “We appreciate it, but you can’t let them have Ryland.”Caius nodded just once, and the room warmed marginally. “We have no intention of returning Ryland to his realm.” He turned his gaze to Ryland, who was still clearly suffering the effects of sedation, but seemed to have regained some awareness in the last few minutes. “That means you’ll never be able to return to Nourak without facing a sentence there, Ryland.”Ryland flinched for a moment, and then his expression turned calm. “I’m fine with that. Nourak hasn’t felt like home in decades.” He turned to North, taking
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Chapter Forty-Two: Doe, A DeerAs much as she hated leaving the issue unsettled with Caius, it was difficult to hold on to acrimony when they crossed into Bael. It was picturesque and reminded her strongly of pictures she had seen of Scotland in her books. When she mentioned that to Eamon, he said, “Ireland would be more apt, since our people settled that region when some emigrated from Bael, but the geography is similar. Those Baelic folk used their magic to shape their new realm to resemble Bael.”“Amazing.” As much as she had learned about magic, and how to use it, hearing what it could do still surprised her sometimes. “Where are we heading?” As she asked, the portal closed behind them. For a moment, she feared Caius would leave them there and not reopen it. Realizing that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, she stepped away from it—also knowing he wouldn’t give up the Trueblood he wanted to control.“Ascaya, which is the capitol.” Eamon made a sharp whistling sound with his mouth, but
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Chapter Forty-Three: FireworksThe fireworks show was impressive and mostly a way for the brothers to one-up each other. Eamon was drawn in to it, and North enjoyed it all. Toward the end of the show, Orin stepped forward, and with a grin, unleashed a shining green and gold dragon that whooshed through the sky and exploded in a shower of sparkles. Everyone clapped, and North made the appropriate sounds of appreciation, but she was secretly chilled.The dragon made her think of Pytor, which drew her back into the dark place, where she worried about falling into his hands, or back into her birthparents’ clutches. She didn’t want to be a tool they used to conquer and control others, but she wasn’t confident she had the strength to fight them if they laid hands on her.She was lost in her turmoil, so it took a moment to realize the others had dissipated, leaving just her and her six men on the roof of the castle. She was trying hard to fight back the fear that threatened to steal her joy
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Chapter Forty-Four: Friend or Foe?Bael felt like home perhaps more than any realm had yet, though she’d felt similarly about Tiranog, and North was reluctant to leave it when their stay ended five days later. She’d learned what she could and had tapped fully into her Baelic magic, so there was no reason to linger, other than she wanted to. Part of that might be because she so dreaded her trip to Eli’s realm. Ascensia scared her beyond reason, because it was the place she was most likely to be able to shift. That terrified her, and she tried to pretend she would give it her all, but she was secretly thinking to herself that she didn’t plan to try too hard.After sad partings with Eamon’s father and stepmother, and slightly more offensive partings with his brothers, they stepped through the portal with a wave. As she emerged into the Earth side, North realized she had to face the Council before they would go to Ascensia. All seven of them formed a ring around the portal, and they all l
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Chapter Forty-Five: UntamedThey entered a thickly forested area. This wasn’t the same kind of almost-tamed forest that had been on Bael. It was dark and primeval, with the fecund scent of soil, and everything looked rough around the edges. Even the buildings visible in the distance were on the primitive side.They moved closer to the settlement as they walked carefully through the wild forest. Most huts were clearly fashioned from material provided by the forest, and someone appeared to have carved the bare niche of land forming the space for the buildings from sheer brute force. Everywhere she looked, she could see signs of the forest trying to encroach again and reclaim its territory.The smell of soil gradually faded from her nostrils to be replaced by a less pleasant scent—wet fur and shifter bodies, combined with the unique musk that she had never noticed on Eli, but could only assume emitted from each of the shifters and joined together to create a strange musk.Ryland sneezed
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Chapter Forty-Six: ImpossibleThe next night was a full moon, which meant a gathering for the wolf-shifters. She had the fae fabric become a comfortable outfit, in case they ran. She had no idea what to expect as they all followed Eli to the square of the village. Someone had started a huge bonfire, and there were several naked shifters cavorting around it. Others had already shifted.“Try this.” Eli handed her a glass of something pale purple.She sniffed it. “What is it?”“Pink yarrow wine. It’s good for you.”She took a cautious sip and gasped. “I didn’t expect it to be so strong.”Eli laughed as he handed glasses of the wine to the other men. “It has a kick, but it tastes great.”North wasn’t entirely sure she’d use the word great, but it wasn’t bad. She ended up finishing the glass over the next twenty minutes as they all mingled. She interacted more with Eli’s family and saw her other husbands were getting along with the wolves too. It was important to her that they all get alon
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Chapter Forty-Seven: OpeningThe fighting was brutal, with an overwhelming number of soldiers. If it hadn’t been for Eli’s brethren joining them, they would have been wiped out by the sheer numbers that poured through the portal in the short time it was opened before it closed. Marek fought as hard as the others until all he could see was a pile of fallen and smell the coppery tang of blood in the air.“We have to get back to the Council.” Eli looked wary, but seemed determined to ignore the reality of exhaustion.Marek could relate. It was finally safe, so he returned his fire sword to the scabbard hidden by his wings. “What about all this?” He gestured at the pile of bodies.Eileen approached, looking grim. Blood smeared her face, but it didn’t seem to be her own, since there were no visible injuries. “You go after North. We’ll sort out our dead from theirs for a proper burial and then burn the rest.”“Thanks, Ma.” Eli leaned forward to hug her. “I’m sorry to run.”Eileen nodded. “I
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Chapter Forty-Eight: BetrayedKriss was the one to knock on the Allises’ door, since there was a chance they didn’t know him. He was taking no chances of them recognizing Eli and trying to keep them out. They wouldn’t be denied entry, but he’d like to make things as quick and neat as possible.Carol was the one to open the door, and she left the chain on. “What is it? Do you have any idea what time it is?”“It’s time for you to tell us what you know.” Eli burst past Kriss, ripping the chain from its plate as he collided for the door.So much for subtlety. With a shrug, Kriss entered behind him and closed the door as the sound of bare feet running down the hall reached them. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Jim to join them.Eli held Carol by the back of her shirt, ignoring her ineffectual struggles. When Jim burst into the kitchen, he nodded at Kriss.Kriss moved quickly, intercepting Jim and twisting his arm behind his back before forcing him to stand wi
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Chapter Forty-Nine: Memories (Lack Thereof)North woke with a throbbing headache. It hurt so badly that she couldn’t think clearly. The pain centered in a spot on top of her head, so she lifted a hand to touch it and flinched when she encountered something metallic in nature. She whimpered and started to thrash.“Enough, Nara. You must be calm.” The male voice was authoritative, but it didn’t make her want to listen.Instead, she wanted to run away. Panic filled her as she opened her eyes, unable to see anything. “What’s happening? Who are you? Where am I?” Who am I? That question echoed around in her head. He’d called her Nara, but that didn’t feel right. In fact, it felt wrong on so many levels that she rejected the name immediately.If she wasn’t Nara, who was she? She tried to think, but couldn’t remember anything beyond being certain her name was North.“Calm please.” The soothing female voice had a gentle touch to match. “Let me make some adjustments.”North froze as those hands
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Chapter Fifty: FrenemyTwo weeks. Two miserable weeks had passed, and North was no closer to recovering her memory. Each time she had a flash of something important, Pytor seemed to realize it and ordered Kira to adjust her dose of the “solution.” She still had no idea what that was, but each dose made it harder to think and harder to resist his horrible orders.“Do it.” He raged at her, waving at the body crumpled on the floor. “Kill the yaogui.”She closed her eyes, her body trembling from the torture he’d already forced her to inflict on the small creature huddling on the floor before her. “Why?”“Don’t question. Never question me. You do as I say. Now kill it. Show me the range of your power.” His temples throbbed with the force of his anger.North looked down at the pitiful creature, which had been broken for at least an hour. She wished she could say it was the first time he’d made her use her magic to hurt others, but it wasn’t. This was the first time he’d told her to kill for
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