Hope you're enjoying it! Life is starting to get back to normal for me, slowly but surely. I appreciate all of the support!
Lucy:The last thing I remember was feeling weak and my eyelids being too heavy to hold up before I collapsed.All that I can hear now is the faint sound of beeping."She needs rest, Alpha. We don't know enough about Fae to treat her properly," I hear a familiar voice.Jonie, I tell myself. I try to call out for her, but my voice is too weak."Why isn't her wolf healing her?" I hear Leander ask.I want to tell him she is gone, but my body isn't cooperating with me.'Nia?' I call out again, desperately hoping she will give me a sign that she is still there.Nothing. The beeping grows faster as the realization that I may have genuinely lost Nia starts hitting me full force."What's happening!?" That's Liam's panicked voice.I can't open my eyes; they're too heavy. Everything feels too heavy."Alpha, you need to get your boys out of here." That's not Jonie but a man.Dr. Solfere, perhaps?"I'm not leaving her!" I hear Leon; his hand grips my arm.I can feel his grip. No sparks. Does he fe
Tricia:The phone held its silence as I grasped what my mom asked."Tricia... I just thought it was better for you not to get your hopes up when I saw what I had," Mom explains."I guess mine and Enya's decision affected more than I had realized," she sighed as I stood there frozen.My heart feels like it is being crushed, knowing that in some version of my life, I may never have met Saul.I look over at Saul, who is doing his best not to intrude on my phone conversation, but I know he has been listening in enough to hear what I did.I hang up. I don't know what to say or how I'm supposed to act. I knew she had kept something from me."Has Liam or Leon ever saved your life?" I ask Saul directly.He looks at me, baffled but clearly deep in thought about my question."Why do you ask?" he questions me, his eyebrows furrowed and his arms now crossed below his chest.It's clear he remembered something, and the connection is making him question further why I'm asking this question myself.He
Lucy:I open my eyes and no longer feel so heavy. In fact, my entire being feels lighter somehow. The damp, soft feeling of grass beneath my body soothes me as I take a deep breath.My eyes adjust to the light of a full moon as I sit up.The moon cascades a glow across unfamiliar territory. A soft neon glow illuminates off of the foreign bushes surrounding me.'Nia?' I ask instinctively, as the clouds in my mind start to dissipate and the memories begin flooding back in.No answer.Smoothing out the pants I'm wearing with the palms of my hands, I look around for anything familiar.I can hear the rush of water and whispering in the distance, pulling me forward.I walk cautiously through the terrain, following the sounds in the distance that are luring me to them.As I turn the corner of the rocky hillside, the brightness of the light that hits my eyes makes me fall back on my butt.I use my arm to shield my eyes, instinctively shifting them to their white phase before opening them back
Tricia:Saul pulls me into his grip as everyone stares at me. He doesn't like everyone's eyes on me.I thought I'd hate the possessiveness of a werewolf, but I find it oddly comforting."Why don't we all get settled in and relax?" Jason suggests, resting his hand on my Mom's shoulder.Should I find this odd? I thought to myself."Right," my Mom says, gently removing his hand."I'll grab some drinks. It seems as though we all may need one," Jason adds, quickly moving from the entryway to the kitchen.I sit on the couch, or rather, on Saul's lap. My Mom sits in one of the chairs, and Theo sits in the other chair."Why would you think she could read minds?" Theo asks before my Mom can even open her mouth."I wasn't sure if she really could. She asked if Aunt Enya could read minds, but all three of her mates admitted that she could hear their thoughts, so I think she can," I explain, biting my lip.'Three?' Saul's voice comes through my mind.You can barely hear the growl coming from his t
Lucy:I could feel myself starting to fade within the existence that I was in."Yes, Lucy. I know all of my creations, but your mother was very special to me," she says with a smile that hides the pain she feels behind the statement."What do you mean? I ... feel like I barely knew who she was." I want to know her now more than I ever have before.Hecate frowns before putting her hand above my heart."She is here. You'll understand more when you get the rest of your magic, my dear," she responds."You keep saying the rest of my magic. What is that supposed to mean? Is that why..." I trail off, thinking about how so many pieces of me were empty when I looked at myself through the dragon's eyes."Yes, that's exactly why you see yourself that way," she smiles at my recognition.I wondered if it was similar to how I could hear Seth or my mates."Yes, just like you can with your mates," she says, making me roll my eyes."Now you're just showing off," I laugh.Nia is trotting around, likely
Seth: At some point, I fell asleep. Lucy's heart rate had finally calmed down, and I felt at ease myself from this peace of mind.No one had gotten much rest since everything happened at the challenge. I felt terrible for Leon and Liam, being forced at the pack house while Lucy healed.'How is she doing?' Leander linked.He is likely asking not just for himself but on behalf of his son's as well.'She seems to be doing better, I guess. What is better? She isn't awake if that's what you mean,' I say, clarifying Lucy's state at the moment.I checked the clock and realized I had been asleep for hours.A part of me loved that I was the one who was able to keep her in a calmer state of mind, aside from Trish; I just wished that it had been in different circumstances.'Has Jodie or anyone had any updates? I told her to link me if there were any updates, but if you could ask her about Savina's blood tests and get back to me, I would appreciate it,' Leander links back.'Of course,' I say back
Trish: The environment in the cabin became rigid when talking about Lucy being connected with Nia again. My main focus was simply to get her to wake up. We could worry about the rest later.I pull out my phone, Saul grabs it from my hand before I can do anything."You have a phone?" he asks, surprised."Yes, mate, we can get you one, too. In fact, I think Leon got extras," I say, grabbing it back from his hand.I text Seth, just hoping he has his phone on him. None of us were used to having phones yet, so we often left our phones around instead of keeping them on us.Me: I have an idea to wake Lucy up. Please meet us at the hospital.I feel a flood of relief as I see the bubbles pop up, letting me know he is responding. Seth: I'm at Liam's quarters right now. Should I have him and Leon join us?I would have just called him, but I needed this conversation to be private in the event that he was with Leon and/or Liam, so I was glad that I chose to text him.Seth: Both of them have agre
Lucy:After the darkness fades away, I see a light. It's faint and far away. I want to turn around and run back to my mom, but I know that I can't.Could I just stay here? In the nothingness? Without Nia, I feel nothingness to my core. Was it really that easy to let the darkness in? How was I strong enough before?Nia. It was always Nia. She was the stronger half of me, I decided.I stand there in my nothingness for a time. Contemplating what the three Goddesses had spoken to me.The light shines brighter like the sun itself was pulling me into its rays. Calling for me to come forward and serve my purpose and burning through my soul with the truth of what I needed to do.I take a deep breath and step forward when the darkness wraps its tentacles around me, pulling me back.Looking at my ankles, I try to break free but it owns me now. Its grip tightens despite my attempts at prying it off of me. It needs me to continue to feed what it wants. My doubt and my hatred for myself after N
Lucy:Leander said yes, of course. I knew that he would.Rosie was over the moon with excitement, and while I think we were all still shaken up about the crazy driver situation, this was a silver lining."Of course, Tallie and Maddel will have to agree. After all, they did adopt Rosie, and she is not an adult yet," Leander states.I couldn't tell what it was, but I didn't care too much for Rosie's adoptive mother, and I hadn't met her adoptive father yet."You're like a magnet for danger!" That's Trish.About time she shows up.Oh no. She doesn't have Saul.It's getting late. We've been here for longer, or the entire crash and chaos took more time than I had thought."Trishy, where is your mate?" I ask, staring at the cottage in hopes that Saul will come around the corner, but he doesn't.He went with Seth.Of course, he did. It makes sense, but I still can't help but feel bad. I keep feeling like everything is my fault. Anyone around me is put in danger left and right."Stop," Seth
Lucy:A gentle hum vibrated from my connection with Rosie before everything went black.Am I the only one who can hear her this way?"Hello?" I ask into the darkness.A blue light illuminates the darkness. I shield my eyes with my arm momentarily until the light dims, and I'm left sitting on a garden bench."You're okay," I hear Liam's voice.I jump, startled by his presence in my space.My space? Where am I?"What? How?" I ask, turning my body to face him fully now.Liam just smiles at me and pulls me onto his lap to straddle him."This doesn't-" I'm cut off by Liam's lips softly pressing against mine.He gently wraps his arms around me, pulling my body closer to his in the process. For a brief moment, I let myself go, bringing myself into this moment with Liam."Wait!" I pull away."This isn't real. You aren't real!" I say, tearing up again.I had a horrible feeling about Liam going on that mission.How do I get out of here? I need to find Liam. Real Liam.Dammit, Rosie, what did
Seth:'What do we do?' Leon links me.Lucy has been crying in his lap for at least five minutes now as we drive to Rosie's.Goddess, why did she have to live so far out of the way? A large spot on his shirt was soaked with her tears. He's been doing a great job soothing her, the best anyone could, but she's not being receptive like she normally is.I can tell even Leander is getting nervous. Lucy's mood seemed to sway anyone within 20 feet of her.'Maybe it's a good thing we're going to Rosies,' I link back.Honestly, I have no idea. I had never seen Lucy act this way.Liam's leaving broke her into pieces. At least a million of them."Lucy!" Leander speaks up before clearing his throat.I watch as she hiccups and clears her throat, wiping her tears as they continue to flow steadily down her cheeks."Liam has been on a lot of scouting missions. This is his specialty. He managed to make it to Kragen's facility, find you, and come home in one piece. He will be okay," Leander states, s
Lucy:'Lucy! Wait for us!' Liam links me, but Nia isn't listening.Neither am I.I gave Nia complete control; she needed this. We should have gone for a run first thing this morning.We're gaining on him. I can feel the strength running through our blood, supplying us with more energy.The sound of his heartbeat sounds like rocks beating relentlessly against a drum.He's scared.Good.'There he is!' I say, even though I know she can see him too.The sound of paws is now beating heavily against the dirt ground, echoing off the solid oak and maple tree trunks. Of course, he had headed straight towards the forest. Anyone trying to get away would run in this direction but an unanswered question pops into my head.Where is he running to?'Wait! Nia! Let him get away!' I shout as loud as I can.I feel her growl vibrate through our entire presence as she leaps over a fallen oak log, our paws nearly brushing against the bark.I force myself forward, shifting mid-air against her will. My body
Lucy:"We'll have to take a car to Rosie's," Seth says as we head out the front doors of the pack house.For the most part, everyone understood what I had explained to them earlier about the connections, but if there was one thing I was holding very close to me, it was Hecate telling me to trust my gut.I had a third sense for things. It wasn't my core gift, but it acted very close to it.At some point, I needed to get Seth alone to help me plan for my other mate's birthday.While the ceremony would be on their actual birthday, I had a small idea of what I wanted to do for them as my gift, and it wouldn't be able to be on their actual birthday.The typical black SUV pulled around with a driver I hadn't seen before. It wasn't their usual guy."Can I take the passenger seat?" I ask, feeling oddly uncomfortable with this new driver for some reason unknown to me at this moment.While it may seem odd to take the passenger seat with how I'm feeling, it's really not. The closer I am to this d
Savina:"What took you so long?" I hiss.They left me for dead; I just know it.My throat feels like sandpaper as I sit up in the cot I had been in for the last several days."Be thankful we came back for you at all," Kash says.I have no clue where we are. The room is dark, and they haven't let me leave since I got here.They lied to me. Lucy wasn't supposed to have her magic. It was supposed to be an easy task.Although my plan was never to take her out in a challenge, I was improvising.The goal was to separate her from her mate's bond so that if her magic ever came to fruition, she would not gain her full strength.Kash never told me why we were doing it. Some might think I was a fool for following his orders blindly, but I trusted him.I loved him.I never wanted Leon the way that I had made it seem. It was a means to an end."How could you say that, Kash?! I did what you asked of me!" I defend.His comment nearly shattered my heart into a million pieces."You are a fool, Savina!
Lucy:We had lunch and revisited the plan we had made with Zeak after getting blood samples. There were still many things to do at this point, and I wasn't sure which direction to take next.We decided to have lunch at the pack house cafeteria. I told my mates we needed to start being more present in the pack."This doesn't mean that Savina is a demi, does it?" Liam asks."No, there weren't enough markers. She was given a gift somehow. That means we're working against magic that we hardly know anything about," Theo explains.Nadia looks worried, even though she is trying to pretend otherwise."Are you not going to explain to me why you want my blood tested?" I ask Nadia for what has felt like the millionth time.I know she isn't being completely honest, but what I had said to Seth was true.I want to build her trust and guidance, but I don't want to push for answers because I know sometimes we just don't know what the answer really is.I gave Theo another sample of blood—a fresh one.
Lucy:"How did you think of that?" Seth asks as we walk to the city building.The air was cool, fresh, and crisp. The combined scent of pine and lilac lingered about the pack as it always had, but today, it was different.The rain the prior night had wafted the earthy scents further into civilization. I couldn't breathe in enough of it, and it relaxed my soul."Think of what, mate?" I asked. His question was random, as we had been walking for a few minutes now in silence."Doing a reverse Luna ceremony," he explains as if I should already know.I stop in my spot and look over at him, trying to gauge his emotions fully and independently.I hadn't considered that there was typically a Beta female, too, and being mated with Seth made it all the more complicated.He never mentioned me being a Luna or a Beta female, and I hadn't thought to ask either."It just made sense to ensure the pack is connected to me and has their full strength. This way, I'm not a Luna or a Beta female. I'm just m
Lucy:"Her position is next to us!" Seth speaks up.He's protective in a way that's different from my other mates. He knows I'm insecure about my place amongst others.Or... at least I was. I'm not anymore.My mom knew I was going to have power that was bordering on unimaginable and most certainly unreasonable.No one needed the kind of power I had, yet here I am.She knew I would gain strength one day, so that I wouldn't be able to be so easily cracked. I was starting to understand how the Fae functioned and understood themselves with their magic.It was different. I wasn't the same, and I would never be the same again.I didn't want to be."Calm down, that wasn't what I was saying," Leander starts.The longer he takes to explain whatever's on his mind, the more the room feels like it's losing oxygen. I'm having a hard time controlling my feelings, sitting here waiting."I need you all to start considering what the pack's impression will be when Lucy has marked both the Alpha's of thi