Hey guys - Sorry that this is late. I'm still getting over the flu and bronchitis. I'll have the next chapter up for you in the next 24 hours.
I feel so much better after the run. Letting my wolf out. Hunting down a deer with my packmates. Filling my stomach full of meat and my heart full of the touch and presence of my friends and family. It was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate myself and galvanize me for more of a search in the library. And I hate myself for it. I feel so damn guilty because of it. Why am I allowed this respite when she isn’t? I can only imagine the awful things that are happening to Nyx wherever she is in Lucifer’s care. I know that she isn’t going to be hurt physically, at least not yet. But the emotional toll that this has to be taking on her tortures me every second that I’m awake. I dream about it when I am asleep. I can’t get away from the thoughts of what she’s going through. This library that I’ve holed myself up in? It’s the biggest, most expansive collection of occult knowledge in America. It has to have a way to help me figure out where Nyx is. There HAS to be something.
“Mom, seriously? We can do this together. Or I could get Jaiden or Nora to help me. I doesn’t have to be Nathan. He’s already got enough going on,” I plead with my mother. You would think that at 20, nearly 21, I would be able to stand up for myself without resorting to whining. But when Bella Martin has it in her head that she’s gonna do something, there’s very little that will change it. Including her daughter’s anxiety disorder. “Frey, Nathan is the most powerful witch/wolf combination in existence. He also has powers that are very similar to yours. And it’s not like you don’t know each other. You basically grew up together. By the Maiden’s blood, he’s changed your diaper. You’re basically siblings,” Mom says, arranging the food in the cooler for me to take with me. I groan, not only because I question my mother’s wisdom in letting a seven year old change an infant’s diaper, but also because she has to remind me that Nathan was the one that did it. If it isn’t comple
Nyx has been awake for two days. Her eyes glow every time that she speaks with a dark fire. Her aura is stifling, worse than my father’s and he’s one of the most powerful gods on earth. It’s mostly because she’s not used to her power and she hasn’t been able to calm it down in the presence of others yet. She’s started several hellfires in Hades’s castle, much to his and Persephone’s chagrin and Lucifer’s delight. “She’s even more powerful than I had dreamed,” he’s said several times, an obvious sense of awe in his voice. And any time that Lucifer touches her, because she refuses to touch him voluntarily, her power is magnified. It’s evidence of their matebond. It’s also evidence of how much destruction the two of them could cause. And how powerful any child of theirs could be. It’s fucking scary. And I realize that any chance that I had of leaving the Underworld without Lucifer’s blessing is gone. Because if he so much as touches Nyx, he could level a good portion of
“I just don’t understand why they are coming after us specifically. I mean, yeah, we’re powerful and shit, but in the end, we’re just mortals. Why not wage war against the gods?” Devin asks. “He knows that Nathan is here. That he’ll continue to come after Nyx unless Lucifer deals with him. Plus, coming after you will be a great distraction. The wolves and witches are highly favored by the gods now that you have not only traveled into Tartarus to set them free, but also gotten Valhalla back and defeated a goddess on your own. You guys have made some significant friends,” Hermes says. We’re all sitting in the large conference room that we hold our supernatural meetings in, preparing for an invasion that we had no idea was coming. Aubrey and Meredith are busily working to get as many of the supernatural community here as possible while Bella and JoJo work on getting in touch with Hecate and Selene. We’re going to need their help to come up with something to save our people. Ha
*TRIGGER WARNING - This chapter is full of nonconsensual sex. Please read at your own discretion.* I have no idea what day it is. What time it might be. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s day or night. What the hell does it matter? It’s not like I’ll be able to get away from my “mate.” Even with my ever growing powers, he’s still more powerful than I am. He’s easily able to immobilize me and do whatever the hell he wants. And my fucking body betrays me every damn time. This bond is nothing like the bond with Nathan. With Nathan, he was all I could think about whenever he was around me. And even when he wasn’t there, I wanted him. I longed for him. I counted down the minutes until he came back. With Lucifer, my body responds. Every fucking time my body responds. But my mind doesn’t. I don’t want him anywhere near me. I don’t want him to touch me. The thought actually repulses me and I dread having him come back to the room whenever he’s around. Unfortunately, since
FUCK! I hate this! I hate this! I hate all of it! I hate that I’m not going to be able to protect any of my mates during this battle. Alexander is going to be a part of this battle and I’m not anywhere near him during any of this. I tried to get him to stay away from the main part of the fight, but because of his position as a warrior within his pack and as Selene’s warrior he refused to listen. I understand that he has a duty to his goddess and his people, but I just found him. I can’t stand the idea of losing him already. Josephina and Jacob are going to be helping with anyone that gets injured and I made sure to let them know a good place to set up. One that the battle won’t be going near. It just kills me that I’m not there to help them. To protect them. But I have a part to play. I have to keep Lucifer’s army in a specific area, so everyone else can circle around them. Round them up and take them down. I hate that I could only mark one of my mates. We very qu
“Dad, you’re going to have to order me again,” I tell him, feeling the anxiety building up in me again. It’s like a wave that won’t stop cresting over me. I have no idea how to stop it. Which is honestly making the anxiety spike even faster. I’m standing at the top of the hill overlooking the battle. Normally Dad would be in the thick of things, making sure that our pack members are safe. He’s got one of the coolest abilities, I think. Even with all of his tattoos, artifacts of the life that he lived with Aunt Chloe and Aunt Keisha before he met mom, he can fade into the background like he isn’t even there. You can walk right next to him, sniff the air, and look him dead in the eyes and not see him. He’s completely camouflaged to all were senses. The only one that has ever been able to see him was Gregory, because he could duplicate his skills. I remember stories that Mom and Dad told me about their battles. Dad would camouflage himself and sneak right up to the enemy
“I want to be with my team,” I growl, pacing back and forth. “I’m likely not going to feel anything. Nyx and I aren’t…we’re not…we never marked each other.” My voice faded out at the end of my sentence. “I know, Nate, but we don’t know how this is going to affect you,” Freya says. Bella, Jamal, and my folks thought that it would be best if I stayed with Freya. She’s the next High Priestess of the Maiden Coven. I’m the wolf mate of Lucifer’s mate. We’re prizes to be won. So we were put far away from the fighting. I mean fucking far from the fighting. Two hours away in a cave. Freya continues, “The fact that you two are having your matebond broken forcibly without the two of you rejecting each other is unknown territory. We don’t know what you’ll feel or if you’re going to have trouble focusing.” “Yeah, well this is pissing me off. I’ve got nothing to do!” I nearly shout. “Why don’t we work on my trial magic? That’ll take our minds off of everything, right?” Freya says,