Imeela definitely deserved a break from everything. I hope you enjoyed!
IMEELA Our date night had been absolutely perfect. It showed how thoughtful and romantic Jackson was. We thoroughly enjoyed the Middle Eastern food. It was so delicious. I had not eaten that cuisine since I was a child. It definitely did not disappoint. Another special part of the night was when gave me the bracelet. It was gorgeous and would end up telling our story together. I could not wait to see what other charms we would add to it over the years. I even taught him the meaning of some Arabic words. Habibi meant ‘my love’ and was used that way when speaking to males. Marhaban meant ‘welcome’, which was responded to ‘Marhaban biki’ when speaking to a female. ‘Shukran’ meant thanks. Replying ‘afwan’ meant you are welcome. Each word practice made me smile because he was learning for me. He did not have roots in that, but I did. Therefore, he wanted to learn so that he could share in this part of my life and understand my heritage. “I had an incredible time, habibi. It was a perf
IMEELA Today was a big day for first impressions. I was going to a brand-new place as Jackson’s mate. These people knew him and were important to him. Therefore, I wanted to appear as a confident mate even if that was not what I felt like right now. “You look positively beautiful, love,” Jackson whispered into the shell of my ear. My body relaxed underneath his influence. The muscles that had been coiled tightly were slowly releasing their vice grip. “Thank you, habibi.” I smiled at him, leaning against his side while we walked to the conference room. He stopped us while the others continued walking. He turned us so that the wall was against my back. The love in his eyes melted me until I felt like a pile of goo. ‘I want you to know that every single person that’ll be in that room is trustworthy with any information that they hear. It’s a group where our secrets can be laid bare without fear of betrayal,’ he shared with me. I let out a measured breath, feeling so much better. I
JACKSON Imeela and I were working on hand-to-hand maneuvers with training this morning. She started off at my speed and slowly increased it so that my reflexes would learn to react faster. Was I getting my ass handed to me? Yes. Were there bruises forming? Also, yes. Was I going to give up? FUCK NO. Brynn was an amazing opponent to fight against because she had an innate ability to observe, move, and countermove. It was just like how chess pros could visualize like ten moves ahead. I knew that Imeela would be able to get me as close to that point as I could be. If I could hold my own against her, then I would be able to hold my own against others. There was clapping when we ended our session. Dante stood beside Ziyah, arms crossed over his chest, and was smirking at me. I did not miss the way his eyes tallied my multiple bruises. “I have to say that I’m impressed because you kept up with her moves better than most could. She’ll have you at assassin level in no time. We were actu
IMEELA ‘Being a leader is about more than the title. It is about seeing the silent struggles of your people and finding a way to lift some of their burdens. It is about what you are willing to sacrifice for their safety and prosperity. It is also about the lengths at which you would go in order to protect them.’ Those were words that my mother had once spoken to me when I was afraid of being Queen one day. My mother had been adamant that I would be the ruler instead of my siblings who had more of a claim to the throne than I did. She never explained why she felt that way, but she told me that I had to keep it to myself. All would be revealed in time, and I supposed that it had been. My mind was still reeling with what we learned from Dante and Ziyah yesterday. First of all, I was incredibly happy for Byron. He would be able to experience new things every full moon like holding his children on his own and playing with them. He would also be able to be with Ziyah in her natural form
JACKSON I was trying my hardest to push away the memory of how delicious her blood was. I could totally get behind that. Not to mention that I could feel that invigorating rush of strength and power that she had mentioned. ‘It’d also help us if we ever needed to protect her. Between dealing with the Dark Fae, the fucker responsible for the massacre, and getting everything in order there, we would need to be at the top of our game at all times,’ Zeus added. Those were all very good points indeed. I did not see any downsides to this. We made our way down to the cells. The interrogation room was all set up and ready for her, but Dickless Dexy would be brought in once Imeela was ready. It looked like he would be strapped down to the table. There were two trays filled with fun tools. There were a few beakers with different colored liquids in them. Next to them were syringes. On the other tray there were some painful-looking blades and long wires. Color me curious. I leaned my head dow
JACKSON There was an immediate surge of anger and pain down the bond. Then guilt and shame were added on top of that. I did not have to hear her confirmation to know where her mind had gone. Imeela was the next in line. She was the only remaining Precoza. While her people suffered greatly, she was a world away trying to remain hidden. I understood where those types of thoughts came from, and what spurred them on, because I was a leader as well. That would be where my emotions would be placed. Hers were misplaced because she was only ten when her father forced her and Emilio to flee. Those two fought and survived, barely at times, for all those years. They were not living a life of luxury on a private island. Their lives were worse than typical nomads because they were actively evading bounty hunters at every turn. I did not even want to imagine what the lowest points in her past would be. “How many chose each option?” she asked him, pushing aside her emotions. A hiss escaped him be
JACKSON Brynn had shared the Goddess’ message with us. It hit Imeela really hard, especially after everything she had just heard. That was what prompted the night run into the mountains so that she could focus on something besides the crushing emotions. Zeus took her up a somewhat challenging trail. It was amazing to feel her absolute elation at the freedom of letting go and giving herself over to this. Zeus felt the same way about running. Imeela and I shared the same way about sparring. It showed just how perfect she was for the both of us. My wolf collapsed against the ground once they made it to the top, and our mate collapsed nearly on top of him. She let out a deep laugh as she caught her breath. ‘We’re here for you if you want to talk, beautiful,’ Zeus told her, nuzzling her neck. Her fingers ran through his fur while her body curled into his, seeking his comfort. ‘Guilt is threatening to drown me. I can’t do anything right now while all of those innocent people are being
IMEELA ‘Hey, love. Dahlia said that she’s ready whenever we are. I’m just finishing up my session with Theo,’ Jackson’s voice filtered into my mind. ‘Be there shortly,’ I told him. I would honestly say that I had no idea what I had done right in life to be given two amazing mates. Jackson comforted me when I had my slight breakdown after learning what my coven had been going through and then was told that we had to wait. When I felt like I was being crushed underneath the harsh reality of what waiting meant, Jackson was able to grab hold of me and pull me back to the top. He gave me something to focus on besides that guilt and shame. He made me realize how much needed to be done, and preparing for that was something that I could do now. First thing first, we had enlisted Dahlia’s help with hacking into whatever she could. It would help us strategize. We knew nothing about our enemies right now, and that was unacceptable. It would be fantastic if we could find out all of their weak