Lenora watched from the shadows as Santos went about his business with the baby strapped to his back. Every so often the little girl would chuckle and grab fistfuls of the old man's hair, earning a growl from her Grandpa as he tried to dislodge her chubby fingers. It was quite unnerving to stare into her eyes as Lenora found out moments after she'd snatched her right under the Luna's nose. She was almost at the edge of the Howling Warrior boundary before she heard the first tortured screams wrenching their way out of Isabella and Lenora had smiled. Who knew how long her father suffered through the torture that the trimates had wrought upon him before his spirit finally flew free. It was only fair that the woman responsible for it all shared in some of that pain. By the time she was finished with Isabella, she would be begging for death. Lenora promised the spirit of her father that she would avenge him, and what better way to achieve that than to prey on the love a mother has for he
Deep down Bella went, into the place where everything was dark, and nothing could touch her. Back in the real world, something bad had happened, but it wouldn't hurt her here, this was her safe place, and no one could enter. The intruders had stopped knocking awhile ago, the young woman with the yellow glow surrounding her, sitting astride a magnificent moon wolf, and the strapping young man that anchored the glowing girl to the physical world. She should know their names, but for now, it simply escaped her. In her dreamlike state, Bella smiled, she could just stay here forever, and no one would make her feel pain unless she wanted to. If only she could silence that nagging voice in her head..."Bella, you have to face this!" The voice pleaded, and Bella could feel a scratching sensation in her brain, trying to wrench her back to the sad place. "Bella, our baby needs us!"It tried again, but Bella continued smiling as she floated away into nothingness,
The table would have been an intimidating sight on its own, with the long list of all those that had gone before them, but now, when every seat bar one was taken, and the wolves who filled them stared grimly at each other, the air itself was filled with danger as the war council waited for their Alpha. For the first time in fifty years, she-wolves were also present wearing the warrior colors. The Omegas were represented by Meryl in her mate's stead, and Lucy sat in as the Luna's delegate. When the door finally opened, there was a gasp as Shadow walked in, and behind him, with her head held high, and fire in her eyes, strode Isabella.Shadow took his seat at the head of the table, and Lucy made to get out of Bella's chair, but the Luna shook her head, deciding instead to stand behind her mate. Her fiery hair was braided in rows, and the traditional barbed wire of the warrior woman snaked its way through each braid, tapering off down her back. Black coal rimmed her violet eyes
"Do you have an update from the war council yet?"Murphy's face peered through the glass at Lucien, and he nodded before opening the cell door, quickly closing it behind him. Lucien pointed to the seat in the corner, "Sit down." And Murphy felt his wolf scurrying to do as the Alpha asked. As far as Alpha's went, Lucien wasn't too bad. They all had that hereditary arrogance that they were born with, but he managed to keep it in check, and Murphy was glad of that. It was a shock to receive a werewolf prisoner, especially one as high up in the international gang circles as Lucien Stalker, but as long as he was treated with respect, he treated everyone else the same. But get on his bad side, and there would be hell to pay. The top dog had only lasted forty-eight hours after Lucien was transferred in before his body was found in the toilet. Of course, no one saw anything; no one ever did. But the next day, Lucien was the top dog and had stayed at the top of the f
Maria wasn't a regular pup, nor was she a typical witchling. And as such, it struck her as funny that Grandpa spoke to her in baby voices as he carried her around the camp. Unfortunately, her physical form wasn't as advanced as her intellectual mind, so she couldn't articulate herself well. And being reduced to gibberish and dribble was somewhat demeaning. Maria shared her body with Lisbeth, the first Ravenclaw Coven High Priestess, and her moon wolf Selene though, so she was never short of a conversation when she needed one. Today Grandpa had her seated in a baby bouncer, watching the vampires, Dhampirs, and ancient ones train against him. Lisbeth was running a very unflattering conversation on his technique, and Selene was sleeping, so Maria was largely alone with her thoughts. ' I wonder if Mommy still cries for me? Did Uncle Valenar understand the image Lisbeth forced into his mind? I miss sleeping with my brother and sisters, it's so cold out here, and I can feel Dadd
Lucy held one of the sleeping Quins in her arms, as she listened to Morgana and her mates report on what they had discovered during their flight over the neutral lands. The Alpha and Luna each held one of their precious babies, with the fourth one safely cuddled up to Raeann who was representing Ravenclaw so Valenar could catch up on some much-needed sleep. The war room looked more like a daycare than a strategy space, with punnets of half-eaten baby food decorating the war table nicely, but Lucy wouldn't change a thing. The people in this room were like family to her, and she only hoped that one day, when the time was right, she would find her fated mate and they could start a family of their own. She marveled at the knowledge that the next Alpha lay peacefully sleeping on her lap, his rusty hair as bright as the sun, clashing beautifully with his red onesie, and the fiery lashes that lay gently against his cheeks fluttering as he slumbered, blissfully unaware that they were prepar
It was much later, after Maeve had finally settled down and everyone else left that Onyx began to get a little stir crazy. It was clear that Isabella and Shadow had a good relationship. There were photos of the two of them scattered around their home in every nook and cranny. There were individual shots of their children too, and when he went over to the mantlepiece, two photographs, in particular, caught his attention. The first was an old one, with three kids posing for the camera. The red-headed girl seemed sad, but the other two, one boy and another girl, were pulling bunny ears above each other's heads when the photo was taken. It was almost like looking at one of his own childhood photos, and Onyx realized that this must be Isabella, Mikhail, and Raeann when they were younger. The other picture was also of three people, this time two males and a beautiful woman nestled snugly between them. Mikhail and his mates Elena and Ethan stared back at him with cheeky smiles, and he felt
"How long before he claims her?" Valenar asked as he and Raeann strolled down the pathway back to the Academy. His little mate giggled and her cheeks bloomed red as she shrugged her shoulders. Then Raeann shocked him by saying, " I hope he waits until after we've mated, we have been together longer." Valenars mouth dropped open and he stalled to a stop, his hand curling itself around her arm to keep her there while his reptilian eyes searched her deep purple ones."Rae, do you know what you're asking? You have just turned eighteen. Once we are mated your life won't be your own anymore. Are you prepared for that? If I die during battle, you'll be a Queen to a whole different realm, responsible for all the witches, wizards and supernaturals that reside there. There wont be anyone from your family close enough to share the burden with you either?" Valenar finished in frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair again, when she just stood before him quietly, not knowing what e
Caroline stuck to the shadows as she looked grimly at her scrying map. The red marker shone brighter the closer she got to her mark and for a moment she was tempted to send for the elder council. But the abundance of bad leads made the high priestess pause, and reconsider her position, loathing to rouse them from their beds on a chance that this time her locator had worked. Stepping nimbly through the brambles with a grace that belies her age, Caroline gave a sigh of relief as she exited the forest and gazed upon the violet field. The gates to the pack pyres were open on the far end and she squinted her eyes in confusion, "They should be shut," She murmured and muttered " El gatus closeth" a simple spell to close doors, but nothing happened. 'Well that's odd.' Caroline thought, moving closer to the pyre field. "I have had to visit this place far too often lately." She grumbled, as, once again the pain of Caroline's losses threatened to overcome her. She was almost at the entra