by Jana Leigh
Sabrina grinned, her friend was powerful, and a little crazy, but Sabrina ignored that because she was so loveable. Like a crazy viper, unpredictable. Trina was going to be the historian, she literally had notebooks full of each of the Chosen and their families. This was her release though, sparring, a faint memory tried to push through. She was sparring with… Trina hit her in the shoulder, the memory snapped away and Sabrina laughed as Trina moved faster, punching and jabbing constantly. The only thing Sabrina could do was block and move, attempting to get a good jab in every few hits.
They were both panting, Sabrina was a bear, her ancestors were Kira, Blaine, and Dalton, but instead of being a Seer, she had been given the strength and the ability to see weaknesses in any opponent. Most shifters and magical beings were stronger than humans, but Sabrina was so much more. With every day she was able to train the members of the Drekinn Pack, she was able to become sharper, faster, hell, just more. It felt good, finally she was doing what she needed to do in order to help the pack. Sabrina suddenly felt uneasy, something wasn’t right, then once again her train of thought was interrupted as she focused again on the fight.
Sabrina grinned at Trina who was getting weaker, she was slowing down, getting tired. Sabrina saw her chance and she took it. Moving fast, she swung, hitting Trina right across the jaw and then she dropped and swept her feet. Trina went down and Sabrina popped back up.
“Bitch,” Trina laughed and flung her arms over her head. “You beat me, I am done.”
Sabrina laughed and bent over puffing and held out her hand to help her friend up. “Come on, you can have a protein shake.”
Trina groaned and said, “Yuk, seriously? You are gonna make me drink one of those, can’t I just run into town and grab a milkshake.”
Sabrina laughed. “No way, protein shakes are better for you right now. We are training so much, and actually working more. We need to make sure we get our protein, unless you wanna shift and hunt?”
Trina sighed loudly. “I don’t have time for that, although I really wish I did. Right now, the deer are down low, over the hill there is a huge group of them. I was watching out my window when I was actually organizing my books.”
“Okkkay?” Sabrina said and laughed loudly. “You know you aren’t going to find your mates while you just sit in the main house library and your home all the time, right? I mean, you are going to have to—”
“I am trying to organize the clues; I don’t need mates right now. Finding everyone’s childhood book that has been either destroyed or damaged has been hard as shit. They are only giving us parts of sentences. I swear, it is driving me nuts trying to figure out what they are trying to say,” Trina said and Sabrina nodded.
“I don’t know, it would be cool to actually to have someone to bounce shit off of,” she said, looking across the training field. She had all of them scheduled, all of them. The Enforcers, the council, everyone. When the Prentiss comes they were going to be prepared and kick some ass. Right now, she had the newest members of the Drekinn. The shifters who had shown up when they were leaving. Calli and Kade had been insistent on bringing them immediately. The Prentiss had found their compound, and so they had left it, no one left behind, no one.
“I think we need a break, you know. Maybe go into town, see if they have someplace we can hang out for a while,” Sabrina suggested.
Trina nodded. “This town is small, and paranoid. They have the diner, the hotel, the city buildings, a small grocery store, and a clothing store. Everything you needed to survive in a small town, but not much entertainment.”
Sabrina laughed. “There is a bar apparently, it is farther up the road, maybe a half mile, we hadn’t gone up that way yet. Maybe we should, see if some of the others wanna go. I mean, we can’t stay cooped up here all the time.”
Trina laughed and nodded. “Cutting loose sounds like a lot of fun!”
Rayne and Storm watched the woman they thought was their mate intently. Their cats were frustrated with them, wanting to get to their mate, if it was her, especially since she was fighting. They recognized the training field for what it was, but their cats didn’t give a shit, they didn’t want their mate hurt. When she had dropped the woman she had been fighting, their cats had growled in approval. She was fast, and she was good, but Rayne wasn’t sure. He felt something, but he wasn’t sure it was a mating pull.
They watched the others as they trained, and the woman watched and helped, she was good. They were both silent as they watched, then Storm said, “She is fast.”
“She is smart,” Rayne agreed and then they continued to watch, every once in awhile making a comment about her training skills. They could find no fault in them at all.
“We would be lucky,” Storm said and then looked around. “Are you sure we should wait? The others are getting restless, maybe we should figure out this stuff quickly.”
Rayne nodded and said, “I get that, but right now the Prentiss are trying to capture us, we need to make sure this is who we think it is.”
“The Drekinn Pack is supposed to be coming or here. I’m not sure if this is who it is,” Storm said and leaned forward. “If we could get on the grounds we would be able to tell.”
“There is too much magic around this place. I’m not sure who we can trust, none of it feels familiar,” Rayne said and Storm nodded.
“Although we know our brother is there, we still don’t know who he is aligned with. They said Kade and Syd. That was it, we don’t know anyone else’s name right now,” Storm said.
“Okay,” Rayne said. “We need to talk to the others, and then we will have to go back into town. Maybe we can hear something about this group who has shown up.”
Storm nodded. “Until then, we need to make sure no one can get into town.”
Rayne looked at his twin and nodded. “You first.”
Storm closed his eyes and the clouds began rolling slowly in, making it darker. It took a few minutes and then they felt the first flake.
“Okay,” Storm said and then Rayne nodded and moved his arms and the wind kicked up. He continued until they were bracing themselves on the cliff making sure they didn’t get blown away as well.
Soon the snow began falling heavier, and the wind whipped it around. The two waited for a minute, watched their possible mate as she and the others began leaving the training field. They grinned and nodded, turning to go back to the area where they had already made camp in some abandoned cabins. Their group was small, however, they were also quite powerful in their own right. The witch who was in their small group already put a spell around the buildings. No one was getting into their camp, but the spell around the compound they were watching, was stronger. They could get close, but not close enough to actually enter.
Chapter Two
Rebekka ran her hands down her hair as she prepared for the meeting that would change her life. This was important. She needed to establish once and for all their power so there would be no question who was in charge. Making sure Stephan was under lock and key was the first task they had already completed. Now, it was up to her to finish it.
All this planning had taken years; no one knew the shit she had to put up with in order to make this happen. She grimaced at herself in the mirror. She had a frown wrinkle, and it pissed her off, all this shit gave her wrinkles around her mouth making her look like she sucked on lemons. Unacceptable, she was going to need to go back down to the lab for a touch-up.
She stepped out from behind her personal bathroom and grinned at the man who was sprawled on her bed, unconscious and completely unaware of what him missing this meeting meant. He was absolutely gorgeous, and when all was said and done, he would have no choice but to mate with her, especially if it meant losing his family business.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and as she went to answer it, she could only think that by the end of the day, she would be the most power female in the world. Everything she had planned and worked for was finally coming to an end, no one woul
d ever question her again.
“They are ready for you,” her assistant said after she opened the door. Rebekka nodded and then pointed over her shoulder to the man. Rebekka had little choice at this point, dammit, her assistant would have to deal with it.
“Good, make sure he doesn’t wake up, if he does, give him another dose, I can’t have him getting up and causing problems.”
Her assistant nodded but looked warily at the man chained to the bed. “We, um, have had some calls about him already. The news picked up the story, it is making headlines everywhere. I’m not sure how we can keep this a secret for long, I mean, he is not really missing, right? He is hung-over or something?”
She turned and glared at her assistant. “I don’t pay you to ask questions. This is where you realize what we are doing here, we are not messing around, this is for keeps. Humans need to take back their control, and they will, with my help. Then you better make sure it stays buried in the press.”
Her assistant frowned. “Wait, um.”
Rebekka stopped and her eyes narrowed, “What now?” She knew when she brought the mousey little girl here to work for her she was asking for trouble. But she didn’t have a choice, whether she knew it or not, she was actually a huge part of this equation, and she needed to be kept directly under Rebekka’s thumb.
“Well…”
“No there is no well about it. Do what you are told or I will have to get Damen to remind you of…” Rebekka snapped and her assistant paled, yeah, she already knew she didn’t want a visit from Damen again, the dumbass learned her lesson.
“No,” the girl said quickly and then Rebekka turned back around and walked out the room, wondering if it would be obvious if she came to the meeting covered in blood. She needed to make sure the mouse stayed in the trap, the bitch could ruin everything.
She walked into the room slowly, she hated her boss, hated everything about her and there was not one damn thing she could do about it. Sadie shook her head, getting rid of the painful memories. The man on the bed groaned and Sadie frowned and looked around, on the counter was a vial and syringes. She wanted to laugh. How many people can put on their resume they had been trained in injecting drugs, into herself, into others, do not go there, she thought and then sucked in a deep breath.
Sadie paused, what the hell? Ignoring the vial, she walked closer to the bed, his scent, something called to her magical side, and even though they had tried to suppress it, Sadie still knew she was magical, just not how yet, but she would find out.
“What the fuck?” Stephan murmured. Gevaudan, that was his last name, Sadie thought as she stared down at him. She had never been this close to him before. Shit, she was supposed to keep him drugged or Damen would visit. Sadie turned quickly and began to walk away when he caught her hand. “Who are you?” he whispered and Sadie shivered.
“Um, who I am doesn’t matter, well I mean, I don’t matter,” Sadie whispered, trying to pull her hand away.
“What?” he said confused and she pulled harder.
“No one,” Sadie said again.
“I know you,” he whispered, shit, she thought, no he didn’t, well, she didn’t think he did. “I haven’t felt this in a long time,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes and then shook her head, no, she couldn’t deal with this. She felt some connection, it was there, tangible but it shouldn’t be. She had never met him, he wasn’t her mate that was sure, but there was something.
“No,” she whispered.
“Seriously, what is your name?” Stephan said and she almost came out of her skin. Something was wrong, she frowned and turned back to him and stared into his eyes. What the hell was going on? she thought as she stared at the man intently, like he was doing to her. Familiar, she thought, then closed her eyes to think, things in her head getting messed up. Memories of her childhood in an orphanage, but then not in an orphanage, but with a loud laughing loving group, all teasing and talking. Who were they? She focused with a frown.
“Sadie, come on,” Stephan yelled and grinned at her. “Hurry, Marcus is counting, you can hide with me.”
Sadie grinned and grabbed the boy’s hand and ran with him. He was her bestest friend, no matter what her brother said, she could have a boy for a best friend. He always listened to her and when the others teased her, Stephan took up for her.
“Wait,” she said excitedly. “In here, Aunt Cami won’t care.”
Stephan paused and grinned, his mom’s office. Sadie was right, she wouldn’t care. “Okay, under the desk.”
The two children ran to the desk and scooted in. They giggled and shushed each other when they heard Marcus yell, “Ready or not, here I come.”
Then they heard the grownups, they were walking down the hallway. Oh no, Aunt Cami was gonna give them away when she found them, not on purpose of course, just because she would laugh so loud.
“Jo, make the reservations, we need a night out.” Aunt Cami laughed.
“Fine,” Aunt Jo snapped. “But if you don’t like where I pick, you can suck it up.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Aunt Cami said.
Stephan put a hand to his lips and she nodded, because she heard Marcus yelling, coming closer. “You can’t hide from me.”
Aunt Cami chuckled and said as Marcus ran by her door. “Hey, big boy, what are you all doing?”
“Playing hide-and-seek. This time I am gonna find them too, and Mom, no hiding anyone,” Marcus warned.
“Come here and give me some love and I won’t,” Aunt Cami said and Sadie almost groaned, oh no she wasn’t gonna hide them, but Stephan winked at her and grinned while they listen to Aunt Cami send Marcus off to find them, they heard the click of the door and the Aunt Cami said, “Come on out you two.” Sadie’s eyes widened, how had she known? Stephan went out first, then helped her up and out. She sighed and stood and looked at Aunt Cami who was grinning and shaking her head.
“Two peas in a pod. You two, I swear where there is one, there is the other.” Aunt Cami laughed.
“Mom,” Stephan growled. “Shhhhhhh.”
Aunt Cami frowned, “Oh I know you did not just shush your mom.”
“Mom,” Stephan said and rolled his eyes. “Come on, you know Dads always say they only need to listen when they want to find you, your voice kinda is loud.”
Aunt Cami grinned and shook her head. “Yeah well whatever, now come here.”
The duo went closer and she bent down, Sadie smiled at her and she winked. “Okay, if you sneak up the backstairs here in my office to the second floor, your dads are gone for the day at meetings, their office is open, hide there. No one will find you.”
The two kids grinned and Stephan leaned in and kissed her on one cheek, while Sadie kissed the other side and Aunt Cami laughed. “Also, your dads hide their treats in the upper left hand corner of their desks, don’t eat all of them.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Stephan said and Sadie giggled. She loved her Aunt Cami, she loved all of her aunts and uncles, all of them, even though she knew they weren’t blood. One of her daddies said that he grew up not knowing his real family, but her Gma and Gpa didn’t care, he was theirs from the moment she saw him. Just like all of the Chosen, they were family.
“Thank me when you are older and have a good job, I want a nice nursing home.”
“You got it,” Stephan said and they ran.
“You felt it,” Stephan whispered. Her eyes snapped open and she frown but nodded slowly. “Hide-and-seek?”
Sadie shivered a little, had they shared a memory? What was going on? Aunt Cami?
“What is going on?” she whispered.
“You know…” Stephan whispered back and she frowned again.
“Know what?” she asked.
“Who you are?” Stephan said.
“Sadie,” she answered.
“Your last name?” Stephan said.
“Olsen.”
“No,” Stephan said.
“Yes it is,” Sadie said, feeling the panic begi
n to rise, what the hell was going on. She didn’t want to be here.
“No,” Stephan said and then his eyes narrowed. “You need to go there now!”
Sadie shook her head, “I don’t know what you are talking about, but my boss left me with strict instructions, if I don’t do what she said…”
Stephan frowned and looked around the office and he groaned, “Fuck, Rebekka.”
“Um yes, I am sorry,” Sadie whispered.
Stephan shook his head sadly and said to Sadie, “No, doll, I am.”
Huh? Sadie thought before she turned around only to see Stephan standing behind her. He smiled at her, then quickly grabbed her and whispered into her ear, “Scaoilfeadh glas ar an draíocht.”
Sadie gasped and her back arched as she felt like she was going to come apart. Shit, it hurt. She screamed silently in her head as she lost focus, it was too much, all of it, too much.
Sadie felt like she was drifting, floating outside her body, and then suddenly everything came down with a crash.
“Sadie?” Stephan whispered. “Shit, come on, doll, wake up. I promise I will get you a treat like we used to if you wake up and tell me where the hell you took us.”
She moaned and frown, huh? She tried to force her eyes open.
“That’s it, doll, wake up for me,” Stephan said.
Sadie tried harder and she felt the crack of her eye lids. Ouch, everything hurt. “Is it snowing?”
Chapter Three
Sabrina finished getting ready. She looked in the mirror one last time and shrugged, well that was about as good as it was gonna get, she thought. Her hair was long and kinda a golden brown, her eyes were brown, and she was tall and thin. Basically, she was the girl next door who you ignored because she was so plain looking. Seriously, you could picture any woman on the street that you passed and ignored because they were not your ‘gorgeous supermodel’, which the rest of the Drekinn apparently was. So Sabrina had long since known in this pack, she was the quirky dorky girl who did what she was told, nothing special. Hell, when Kade said she was gonna be the training specialist, Sabrina had thrown herself into that until she had a nice schedule, and the pack seemed to be responding well.
