“I was just saying that they’ve changed a lot already and they’re only fourteen hours old. Based on how werewolves grow, I’d say there is a chance they are growing at that rate. We will know for sure over time. Full werewolves reach the age of eighteen between seven and ten years; they grow and mature quicker than anyone else.” Zander explains, his head shaking as he realises. “Typically, it doesn’t happen often. Let’s say you were just a witch, or just Olivia. Had you had Cayson’s baby it wouldn’t have been a full werewolf so the pregnancy would have been nine months, the growth the same as any human. But because Serliciaus’ plan somehow made you a werewolf, it meant the babies are full werewolves, and that means they’ll grow quicker.”
“Why, though? I’ve never heard of werewolves growing quicker than people. Why do they?”
“Because of our blood, and the fact we can phase at any age. If they wanted to they could phase now but it takes time to learn. It’d be cute as hell but yeah, anyway, I’m getting off topic.” Cayson laughs, shaking his head. “We have the werewolf gene in us, as well as the blood. Every day we grow at the same rate wolves and such would, or close to, at least. So while half werewolves don’t, full werewolves do. We were born to protect, so we grow at a faster rate to get us there.” Aileen nods, understanding Cayson’s explanation.
“Let’s be honest, that would be cute, the twins as little wolf cubs.” Azalea laughs slightly as she continues to feed Arini.
“Cute but mayhem, they’re too young. Give it until they are around six and then they should, which will be in about three years. What’s your plan for tonight, Azalea?” Cayson looks at her, turning to face him she smiles.
“Staying here, of course. You can sleep Cayson, Aileen and I will feed the babies tonight.” Aileen laughs a little too loudly at Azalea.
“You realise she’s the mum and I’m the dad right?” Cayson says amusedly. “You need sleep as well, you might do work at home instead of school, but you need sleep. You have to do your school work, homework, whatever you want to call it. Then by all means you can cuddle them. You sleep at night.” Azalea looks at Cayson shocked.
“I agree. You have to keep doing your work Azalea, as well as practicing magic. If you commit to doing all your work in-between then you can spend all day here with the babies, but you have to sleep at night.”
“Guess I’ll agree,” She shrugs, “She starts tomorrow though right?” She smiles at them hopefully.
“I suppose so,” Aileen sighs. “Finish feeding Arini and put her down so she can sleep. We will sort out when you can come over, Zander will be in charge of making sure one of the other witches is watching you and ensuring you do what’s needed before you come here. If you stay here at night, you can bring your stuff here and do your work, then you can hold the girls.” Cayson smiles at her as she nods in agreement.
The day passes by, Aileen glancing around herself. She can’t just sit around and do nothing, things need to be sorted and while she would rather pretend she is human and none of this is real she can’t. Getting the twins settled she sits on the sofa, Cayson walking down and sitting with her and Zander.
“Okay, I’m ready.” They turn and look at her confused. “Do the spell, Zander, see what Cayson did, and if there’s any more stuff that he didn’t see. You try and see what he did and make sense of it, and then we make the plan to move forward.” No more hiding her head in the sand pretending this isn’t real, even if she does feel like this is a dream and at any minute she will wake up.
“Okay, unlock everything Aileen, don’t hold back. Accept you will let me see, feel and hear everything.” Aileen nods, Zander sitting next to her. “So am I doing it the pain free way, that a little effective? Or painful but very effective.” He looks at her waiting.
“Painful, I know what it involves, but let’s get this sorted.” Aileen sits up and closes her eyes obediently, Cayson looking at them both confused. Zander looks at Aileen apologetically, his hands grasping her head. Aileen’s body tenses under the pain, her jaw tightening to stop the screams. Zander watches as images flow through him, each one different, his mind confused as he watches Aileen shift to a werewolf before standing ahead of them and speaking. Cayson watches as time passes by, wondering what’s happening. Soon after, Zander steps back.
“So, that was interesting.” Aileen nods. This time she saw it.
“Okay, what did you see? Was it the same as I did?” Zander shrugs his shoulders at Cayson’s question.
“I can’t say I saw exactly what you did, but from how you told it I imagine it was pretty close. I saw the werewolves coming together, a lot of packs, Cayson, I don’t know why but it was like they were ready for a war. Aileen walked out, told them she could understand them and hear them, then she shifted. She stood there and every werewolf realised that in a way she’s their Alpha, not just of one pack Cayson but of all of them. It wasn’t just the werewolves, the Ceprimora were there too; it was like the three worlds had come for a damn war.” Zander shakes his head.
“When, Zander? When does this happen?” Cayson looks at him worried, if she needs to shift to stop this war how can she without practicing?
“I don’t know, I got booted out. Aileen, try and unlock the hold Serliciaus has on you. Only you can, Aileen, I could feel it. Everything is locked until you are ready, so be ready, make it known that you are.” Aileen nods, maybe her accepting this is the way to unlock everything like it had been before when she accepted her birth name. Sitting she closes her eyes, trying to concentrate on the magic that seems to have been put there by Serliciaus to hide the memories. Her body trembles as she feels it lift, her head shaking. Zander looks at her, his hands grasping hers, noticing her body trembling, everything once again flooding through them. This time though, there are no gaps. They see everything.
Aileen watches worried, a few minutes passing by as they keep going.
“The twins, it’s the twins.” Aileen glances to Cayson who he looks towards her confused.
“They don’t believe they’re safe, do they?” Cayson looks at her worried.
“Not that, it’s that somehow they discover everything. Well not everything, but that I turned and the twins are somehow all three species at once. They aren’t worried, but somehow, somewhere, someone sees them and notices, and rumours start getting spread. They come for me and the twins because of the power; whoever holds us has the power to rule the other sides.” Aileen looks at him. They don’t want to hurt her or the girls but they want to use them for power, not realising that she will overrule them as rulers.
“No, because the werewolves can’t do anything like that without me. I’m Alpha, or I was.” Cayson shakes his head.
“You’re with Aileen, so they overtake you, Cayson. You yourself can’t force the wolves to obey anymore, she has to.” Cayson nods slightly.
“So when does this person see the twins and feel the power? When do they meet and where?” He needs to know, they need to plan.
“Three months, in three months, in that field we found Aileen in, the three worlds will come together. The issue is Cayson, the Monventla will be ready. That’s the perfect time for them to strike and wipe out so many of each kind. When does someone notice the twins? I don’t know, but Aileen needs to be the one who steps forward. She’s the only one with the power to remove a witch’s magic. She is the only one right now who can make all of the werewolves follow orders. Aileen is also the only one who can kill vampires without touching them, with a simple spell.” Cayson nods. So everything is on Aileen?
“Where are the twins going to be when this happens?” Cayson glances between them.
“There, with us. If we leave them with any witch or werewolf covered by any spell they will get them. The twins stay with me, Cayson, no matter what.” She won’t leave them with anyone else; she won’t risk the witches joining together to take down any spell protecting the twins.
“So we plan. Aileen, you learn to shift, Gwenael can help with that. Sure I have done it fo
r longer, but he’ll be better at helping you. I’ll watch the girls with Zander while you do, so if anyone tries anything before then we’re covered.” Aileen nods, why did it take this long to see everything? She could have been more prepared if she’d known everything beforehand. If she’d known she was going to be turned it would have meant she wouldn’t have been so worried and freaked out when it happened. She looks around herself; something else she noticed, her head shakes slightly.
“I was waiting to see if you noticed.” Aileen nods and laughs at Zander’s words.
“I did, how could I not? We’re not meant to be here. This house was a mistake.” Cayson looks at her, shocked. “Okay, not a mistake, but something must happen because apparently we end up living at the witches’ house, and so do the werewolves.” Cayson laughs at her words.
“No way would Gwenael and the others agree to live with the witches.” He can’t see that happening.
“Well it happens, when or how I don’t know, but we were all living in that house together. We won’t do it, Cayson, not until there’s something that forces us to. And then, only then, we will. Doing it too soon might change the course of the future and then everything will change.” Aileen glances around herself; she’d grown to like this place. She enjoys the space away from everyone else; the fact it’s just her and Cayson; sometimes Azalea as well but it’s like their own abode.
“Then I guess we will find out when it happens. Now what?” Cayson looks at them both, their eyes glancing between each other.
“We wait. She trains, not just from a werewolf stand but from a witch’s view as well. She trains so that when it does happen, if they don’t listen she has the power to stand in the middle and stop them attacking her. Otherwise we’re all dead.” Zander’s words grow quiet towards the end. They know the reality: if Aileen fails, they’re dead, and whoever wins the battle on the field will take the girls and destroy the other two worlds for their own greed.
“It’s a worry that it’s you who does it, Aileen. You haven’t known you were a witch for long, and now you only have a few months to get a grip on your werewolf and vampire side. I don’t know if it will be possible.” Zander’s voice is sombre; he knows it can take years for werewolves to learn to shift effortlessly. She has merely months, and she can’t concentrate on just that but on magic as well. If she fails, everything ends. As everyone knows Monventla will be the ones to win, and then what? They will control the witches and werewolves, and every mortal will be turned as a way to keep control and gain more power. Then it is the end of the world, or may as well be. Cayson shakes his head considering it, they need a plan. They need to make sure that when this happens, Aileen will win, even if the odds of her winning are low.
THE END – BOOK TWO COMING SOON!
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This is my first ever attempt at fantasy! Please let me know your thoughts. Book two will be here soon. In the meantime don’t forget to follow me on social media for updates about the next book and others.
This book took a lot of time to write, I didn’t want to rush so in total it took two years to write and edit but I think it was worth it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Indie author of Hot Fiction. Billiejo Priestley lives in Leeds, UK and is a mum. She focuses primarily on writing and publishing work than other career aspects.
Billiejo writes books that are often taboo, dark and forbidden romance varieties. Subjects that many steer away from through fear of others views. Her books are not for the faint of heart. Most feature aspects of BDSM, Polyamory, and often life issues, including mental health, addiction and abuse.
She writes things that can be seen as triggers, but her books also give lessons, teach people the signs of bad relationships.
Reading is something that should broaden our horizons and open our minds. Reading was never intended to easy, straightforward and reflect our own lives. Reading was intended to teach us things. Show us an insight into others lives, even if fictional, so when the day comes, we meet someone like the characters, we can relate. This is why many of Billiejo’s book features taboo subjects.
Books In This Series
Night Shadows Saga
Immortal Sins
TEMPORARY COVER.
With danger coming, Aileen fights to learn what is needed, but is the pressure too much? When someone threatens them all, just how will she handle it?
When the downfall seems possible, Aileen's grasp on reality continues to slip as she fights to save everyone. Only when another secret from Serlicious is revealed, a much more deadly, devastating secret. How will Cayson cope? Will he forgive Aileen for what she needs to do next?
Night Shadows Page 29
