"What did you say?" Zeke asked, disbelief clearly written on his face. "Juliette is my mate""That's impossible", Zeke said, shaking his head.  "Right here, assholes, I'm right here", Juliette weakly waved her hand in the air, from where she was encircled in Sébastien's arms. "Shhhh......", Sébastien responded, pulling her tighter against him, "I'm a hybrid Zeke, an anomaly that isn't even supposed to exist. Everything about me is impossible""Wait. Did you just shush me?", she tried to push him away but her knees buckled and she quickly grabbed onto him while swaying unsteadily on her feet. "Put Merlin in the ambulance and get her to the training grounds, we can perform the ritual there", Sébastien ordered as he lifted Juliette into his arms and strode out of the theater. *****************************Some time later, in the training grounds, Zeke and Dr Lesley, wheeled M

This time when she opened her eyes, she was back in Onika's cabin in the bayou, sitting at the rickety old table across from the voodoo witch. Onika's face shone under the light from the lamp and a faint smile danced across her lips.  "Tek yuh lang enuff pickney (took you long enough child)", she greeted Merlin.  "Why am I here?", Merlin asked.  "Hush now an listen.  Yuh muss return now an decide eff yuh will pop up di trace buh kno dat eff yuh duh yuh sacrifice will bi criss (Hush now and listen. You must return now and decide if you will break the curse but know that if you do, your sacrifice will be great)" "How great?" "Enuh (You know)" Merlin bit her lip and looked away, staring out the grimy windows at the dark forest outside, her mind drifting to Zeke. The memories of the short time that they had spent together flooded her mind, all the times he had saved her and been there for her. She could smell his scent

The day passed quickly after the sun had come up, the Alpha's mansion had been damaged by a fire on the ground floor and the restoration took most of the day, while the rest of the mansion was treated to a thorough cleaning. Everyone pitched in to help, with Dr Lesley kept busy overseeing the infirmary and treating all those who had been injured while arranging funerals for those who didn't survive.  Zeke spent the day visiting the families of those who had lost their lives during the night, including Jake and Lacy, whose son, Logan, had perished for real this time. The guilt of his actions during his transformation, weighed heavily in his heart, and he spent the rest of the afternoon alone in his office. His former Beta, Abel, had been found dead, just outside the mansion but his mate, Sandrine, was nowhere to be found.  That evening, Sébastien found Zeke sitting alone in his office, his face pale and drawn. Making himself

The room felt hot and stifling, and the light from the red candles burning on the altar, did nothing to illuminate the dark shadows lurking in the corners. The pungent aroma of burning incense was suffocating and left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. The altar was crowded with strange and grotesque statuettes, and pieces of bones, hair and various other paraphernalia associated with voodoo. Nervous, she looked around, hoping but also dreading that there might be someone else in the room. Faint movement in a far corner of the room caught her eye and she immediately turned, while wishing that her heartbeat didn't sound so loud in the quiet room. She strained her eyes, peering into the shadows, trying to see if there was anyone there, but it was no use, she couldn't see anything in the dim light. From somewhere outside, she heard voices chanting and something told her that this room was their destination. She glanced around the room, looking for a place to hi

The walls of Zeke’s study fell away and Sébastien found himself standing in the middle of the city at night. Bright lights were strung high above the streets, extended between the balconies of the buildings on either side. Jazz music blared from a club across the road, as patrons milled around in front of the doors, sipping alcohol from large plastic cups. There were people everywhere, talking in loud and excited voices, as they strolled across the pavement, before disappearing into one of the many nightclubs and shops in the street.  Sébastien moved cautiously through the crowd, his eyes searching for Merlin, while wondering where she could be. He had almost reached the end of the street, when he saw an artist painting a mural, that stood propped up against a brick wall. Looking closer, he spotted Merlin, standing in front of the mural, gazing at the unfolding images with keen interest. He went to stand beside her, watching the artist d