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Part One Hundred and Twenty-Three
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๋ฐ์ดํธ:
2025-02-14 13:53:28
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Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Four
As Sunday lunch turned into late afternoon, we all sat in the living room. Adara, Shoran and Norah were upstairs with the kids, bathing and getting them ready to go to sleep. It was a peaceful evening with my family. Things had started to click into place for me. The dreams, Deathโs message and everything else made sense now. I wanted to spend as much time with my family as I could.โAre you guys moving to Montana now?โ James asked Malachi suddenly and I laughed.โAre we?โ Jessica asked him, looking very worried.โJust think about it, we could buy a ranch with horses and cattle, you can have chickens and a vegetable garden, and bake bread every day,โ Malachi said seriously and looked at her. I couldnโt control it anymore and burst out laughing. The look on Jessicaโs face said it all.โThatโs really mean, bake bread every day, like seriously, dude, I love you but thereโs no chance,โ Jessica said to him. Malachi laughed as he looked at me.โBut Jess, just think about it. You could wake
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-15Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Five
Everyone was quiet for a long time. Jessica looked worried and that made me worry. Adara looked afraid, James too. Malachi, though, he looked determined and I knew what he was thinking.โWhatโs your plan?โ Malachi asked me and I smiled at him.โDad ...โโI know you have a plan and donโt even think of telling us to back off and that you donโt want us involved,โ he said to me.โHeโs right, Kiran. Youโre going to need all the help you can get, you canโt take on a whole coven by yourself,โ Jessica said.โDonโt you have a coven or something,โ James asked her.โDude, seriously, donโt you know anything? A witch canโt be in a coven if sheโs married to a wolf, so no, I donโt have a coven anymore,โ Jessica said to him.โBut you had all those witches at your wedding,โ he said to her and she laughed.โDude, I still have friends,โ she said. โBut friends are just friends, I canโt ask them to help here.โโWhy not?โ Adara asked her and I smiled at her. None of them would understand it. This wasnโt so
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-17Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Six
James and I stood outside the den as the members arrived and their moods were relaxed. I felt bad that I was about to ruin it, but being a good Alpha meant you admitted when you were wrong, when you needed help. Most importantly, it meant you were honest with your pack, no matter what.Richard was the last member to arrive and I smiled when he bowed his head at me and nodded at James. I turned around and walked inside and the rest of the pack started taking their seats. I waited until everyone had found a seat.โWelcome members,โ I said and hit the wolf gavel on the table. I stood in front of the table and James stood next to me with his arms folded across his chest. I leaned back on the table and took a deep breath.โTonight we have two things to discuss, I wonโt be calling for a vote on either subject. The decisions are final and I wonโt answer any questions about vetoing the vote system,โ I said to them and I saw Richard look at Malachi.โFirstly, it is with sadness that I announce
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-18Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Seven
โI could try to exclude Carl and Frank but theyโll just interfere with my plans and therefore Iโll ask if you are willing to stand with me,โ I looked at them. They both smiled and fist bumped each other.โYou know our answer, Kiran, weโre with you,โ Carl said and Frank agreed. You couldnโt separate those two even if you tried.โJames, I want to exclude you as well,โ I said to him and he turned to me.โI go where you go, youโve excluded me too many times before but this time I refuse,โ he said to me and I nodded.I knew it was useless to try and change his mind. Even Shoran had told James that he needed to be with me and I didnโt understand why she had said that. Their twins were still babies and James was a good father and he could lead the pack if something ever happened to me.โMalachi,โ I said and looked at him and he stood up.โDonโt even try it. Youโre my son, you should know better,โ he said to me as Carl and Frank laughed.I laid out the plan to them, but only the plan at the d
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-19Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Eight
When the first blossoms appear in the forest, thatโs when theyโll come for me. It would be a Tuesday and I knew they would surround me in the clearing, the place I held dear and where I had dominated my magic.They would try to draw my magic and my life force from me and take it for themselves as revenge for Dezrael. They felt cheated by me and their anger was guiding them now, guiding them to me.โWe are stronger together in number.โ Those were Adaraโs words to me once. I knew this to be the truth, but I still didnโt want any of them involved. Nobody else should die because of me.Christianโs death was the ultimate loss, and it nearly broke all of us. That was the one pain that took me back to that place on Wolf Peak where the emotions engulfed me and slowly choked the life out of me.I sensed my time was running out and that they would soon be here. I had spoken to Malachi, James, Carl, and Frank numerous times. We had gone over the plan so many times that it was embedded into our v
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-20Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Twenty-Nine
She grabbed her head in pain and sank to the ground. Instantly the other witches joined and chanted with her. The pain in her head lessened as they all attacked me at once. They were very powerful together and their voices became one.I could feel my grip lessening and I left her mind. I concentrated instead on myself, on Saga, on Kai and I saw the Norns again. I had done everything they had asked, and Kai and Saga were safe at last.There was no greater gift than love and I had paid their price. I hadnโt known what that price would be in the beginning, but Death had given it away. โWhat is the ultimate sacrifice?โMe. I was the sacrifice, my life for their lives. I had entered this clearing knowing that I would die today and I had made my peace, to die for my children and my family. That was my sacrifice.I ignored the Norns watching me and I was back on Wolf Peak, taking the energy from all the wolves who had died there. They offered it to me freely and I focused on the twelve witch
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-21Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Thirty
โAdara,โ I said as I felt the darkness surrounding me.I opened my eyes and I saw Death sitting in his armchair. I was back in Helheim. I knew it was coming. I had tried to hold out as long as possible and not to use death magic, but in the end I had no choice, it was me or her. My choices hadnโt been black and white, theyโd been riddled with fear and the unknown, but that was only half true. Not all of it was unknown, Iโd known I would end up here again. I had made peace with it.Death sat patiently tapping his fingers against the leather of the chair. He smiled when he saw my eyes open and stood up. He was dressed in a black suit with a red handkerchief folded into his breast pocket. If this had been anyone other than Death, I would have said he looked sharp.โOh Kiran, back again so soon,โ he said to me and I stood up.โI tried, believe me, this is not where I want to be. But it was a choice between me and my family and her, I chose them,โ I said to him and he stopped inches from m
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-22Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Thirty-One
Some days Death showed me my children, other days he let me burn for hours on end. On rare occasions I was with Adara or Malachi or James. He wanted me to witness their grief and their pain and feel it deep in my soul. It was the worst punishment Iโd ever suffered through.He took such pleasure in my pain that I stopped reacting to whatever they felt and turned my emotions off. He let me burn extra-long when I did that and I donโt know what hurt more, their pain or mine. I felt numb to it all, even their emotions because I was beginning to feel like I had when Iโd taken Malachiโs pain, before going to Wolf Peak. I felt weak.Finally one day he let me sit down and said we should talk, man to man, and I laughed at him. I had clearly lost my mind and I had no idea how long Iโd been there with him because there was no measure of time. There was only pain.โYouโre not a man,โ I said to him and he looked hurt.โDonโt be so mean, here I can be whatever I want,โ he said and I just looked at h
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๋ฐ์ดํธ : 2025-02-23
์ต์ ์ฑํฐ
Fireย ย ย Epilogue
I sat down behind the desk and moved the mouse. The laptop came to life and I looked at it. I read the letter that I had written to Adara ten months earlier. Wow, I really did love her. I looked down and a huge wooden chest stood behind the desk. I wondered what was inside. I opened a drawer and there were cables and stationery, normal stuff you would find in a drawer.I tried the next one and it was locked. I looked at it and then felt beneath the desk where I sat, a few inches forward and took the key down from the magnet that was fastened there. How did I know that? I just knew there would be a key for this drawer. I unlocked it and pulled it open.It was full of A5 diaries, in numerical order, starting from 1994. I opened the first one and it was filled with my handwriting. I began to read it. It began when I was fifteen years old and it described my first teenage relationship. I skipped forward and read the last few pages. It was filled with wolf laws, training with Malachi, stor
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Eight
Malachi and I finished our coffee and sat staring at each other. It felt oddly comfortable to be sitting there with him. I could tell that he loved me fiercely because his eyes and his aura, that I could see, were soft.โLetโs take a walk,โ Malachi said.I went upstairs and got dressed in my own jeans, boots, and a t-shirt. I grabbed a sweater that Adara had given me the night before and pulled it over my head. I went back downstairs and Malachi stood in front of the open sliding doors.I followed him outside and across the garden right into the forest. I looked around me, this was beautiful. We walked in silence until Malachi stopped in a clearing, it felt kind of magical and I felt silly for thinking that.โThis is sacred ground to us. Ten months ago you fought against twelve witches right here,โ Malachi walked over to another spot and knelt down on one knee. โRight here, this is where you disappeared right in front of our eyes. Your cloak transported you somewhere and we had no ide
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Seven
Adara walked back down the hallway and into the living room. There were pictures all over the walls and I stood in front of it and looked at them. I was in many of the photos and it was hard to look at them and not know when they were taken. I smiled a lot and I guessed I was happy with my previous life.โCute kids,โ I said as I looked at a canvas array of two babies.โTheyโre also yours,โ Adara said to me and I looked at her in shock.โI have kids?โ I asked her, stunned. She smiled as she walked forward.โThis one is Kai, you chose his name, and this one here is Saga,โ she said and I could see that she loved them very much.โHow old are they?โ I asked her.โOne and a half, they could only crawl the last time you saw them,โ she said and I didnโt know what to say. I didnโt remember them.โI think I should show you to a room and then tomorrow when Malachi comes back we can talk, Iโm sure you have a hundred questions,โ she said and I smiled at her. I followed her upstairs, my wife, mothe
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Six
The jet landed and I opened my eyes. I felt better although I could still sleep. Everything felt like an awkward dream where you didnโt know you were dreaming. I kicked Joshโs leg and he woke up.โWhatโs up man, did we crash?โ he asked and I laughed at him.โI think weโre in Seward,โ I said to him as I looked out of the window.Malachi, Jessica and James had walked down the stairs and two cars stood waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Malachiโs Zeta, Quentin, was loading our duffel bags into the first SUV.โThese guys travel in style,โ Josh said and grinned at me. We walked off the jet and got into one of the SUVโs Malachi showed us. We were driving with James. Malachi and Jessica followed behind us.โSo this is Seward, where I live?โ I asked James and he nodded.โAll our lives weโve lived here, went to Seward High, graduated, then we went to college,โ James said and Josh laughed.โShould have known your ass was educated,โ he said as he looked out of the window. Malachiโs car overtoo
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Five
I looked intently at Josh. Everything he said was true and a sudden idea occurred to me. I wasnโt going anywhere with these people alone.โCome with me then, help me figure this out. You have no pack, but you have me and I have a pack, a family, a home. I would never just leave you,โ I said to him and he nodded at me.โFine, letโs go ice-skating or shit,โ he said and smiled at me.โIโll go with you on one condition,โ I said to Malachi.โYes?โ Malachi didnโt seem worried about my condition, he only wanted me to leave with them.โJosh goes with me, Iโm not leaving him behind,โ I said to Malachi and he nodded.โOf course. Gather whatever you want to take. Our flight back leaves in three hours,โ he said.He walked towards the door holding Jessicaโs hand. James turned to look at me and I could tell that he was sad. I could feel it deep within myself.โDo you feel that?โ he asked me and I looked at him.โI feel your sadness,โ I answered him.โThatโs one of the things you can do. You can fee
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Four
โWe donโt care what you selling, bargaining or want. We ainโt interested,โ Josh said as he closed the door behind me and stood next to me. I had an uneasy feeling about this and I was glad that I wasnโt alone.The older man looked at me with curiosity and I wondered what he wanted from me. His gray eyes seemed to search for something in mine and I couldnโt look away. It was almost like he was trying to read my mind.โHe doesnโt recognize us,โ the older man said to the younger man and woman with him.โAm I supposed to know who you are?โ I asked the older man.The younger man stepped forward. His eyes held sadness and he looked intently into mine. He put both of his hands on my shoulders and squeezed lightly. It all felt too surreal like I was supposed to know him.โMy nameโs James,โ he said and then he hugged me tightly. I just stood there with my arms by my sides not knowing what to do. He let go of me after a while, sighed deeply and then looked away.โI think you might have me confu
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Three
It felt like I got tunnel vision until I could only see him, moving in the ring. I was focused and I saw the plan forming in his mind. He was going to move me until he had me on the ropes and then deliver his killer punch. I saw it happen in slow motion.โHeโs going to come from the right and then the left, the punch to your jaw will be a right hook,โ the voice said clearly in my head and I dropped my hands as I stood up right in shock. I couldnโt move my head as Georgeโs fist hit me so hard I felt my jaw dislocate.I was on my back, coughing up blood and the crowd was going wild. Josh was right there by my head. โWhat the hell happened, whyโd you drop your arms man?โ He was yelling at me and the announcer bent over me.โTen count then the fight continues, unless you tap out.โ I shook my head and started to get up.I pushed my jawbone back into place and I felt it start to heal. I looked up at the Council members sitting there and somehow I knew that the older man was speaking to me i
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-Two
I stood in that back room and wondered about the Council memberโs presence. Everything that Josh had told me about them was terrible. They were rich old men using the system to their advantage, getting rid of packs that irritated them and executing people as they saw fit.He wanted nothing to do with them and neither did I. I had enough things on my plate to worry about their presence. Josh and I werenโt interested in becoming Council Zetas, no matter what they offered us.I shook my head and I took my shirt and shoes off. I had to get my head in the game. Tonightโs fight would probably be the hardest one by the look of my opponent. He was ready for me. I closed my eyes and centered my energy.I saw the fight play off in my head, in slow motion, punch for punch, kick for kick. This guy was a street brawler, I decided. His punches would hurt and he could get a knockout on the jawline.He wasnโt fast but he was strong and usually won his fight after a few punches, where he would then sn
Fireย ย ย Part One Hundred and Fifty-One
Malachi walked down the hall, hoping that John wasnโt sending him another tribunal email. He was tired and he wanted to spend time at home. The kids were changing so much and every time he came back from a trip it felt like heโd missed something new they were doing.Adara was doing her best and she really was a terrific mother. Those two kids wanted for nothing. She read bedtime stories to them, told them stories about Kiran, they were healthy and well looked after.He could hear them all laughing in the sitting room as he closed the door to his study and switched the laptop on. He waited for it to switch on and then accessed his Council encrypted email and typed in his password.The email was from John with a video attached.โMalachi,I hope youโre sitting down while reading this. I received this video from a California Alpha, he always sends me these when new talent steps onto the scene for consideration as Council Zetas.Good luck,Johnโ.Malachi frowned at first. They didnโt need
