by Sarah Louise
“Thank you. For caring and wanting to make a difference. That means more to me than you could ever know.”
“I’ll have a good response for that when I get blood flow back to my brain,” he murmured as he stood up and adjusted himself moving back to sit upon the bed.
“Now, you said you had never heard the ancient prophecy before?” he asked me.
“That’s correct, I have not,” I replied.
“Let me recite it for you,” he cleared his throat, “In a time where we’ve forgotten, and man runs the wilds rotten;
Animals and Humans no longer meet, for secret runs through forest fleet;
The Goddess looks upon her children, with eyes full of woe;
The scrimp and simper and fight between all;
While they bicker amongst themselves, they’ve taken their eyes off the true foe.
When all hope is lost, one true Alpha will rise, upon her awakening Selene’s children will return from the skies;
Five of the strongest, gifted and true will mate for life with the one meant to rule.”
“Well fuck, that’s some heavy fucking shit. Meant to rule what? Who is the real foe? I’ve never heard of someone having five fucking mates before. I don’t have enough holes for that many dicks.” I was rambling at this point, my mind trying to make sense of the prophecy and what it meant for my life going forward. Out of habit I reached for that spark of magic in myself, where I could retreat to and find peace. I touched it with my mind finding the well much larger than it had ever been, I also felt another magic sitting alongside my earth magic. When I reached out to it my blood turned to ice and I promptly lost consciousness.
*** Anakin ***
I’d just finished reciting the prophecy to her. My raven-haired mate was all in knots over the change destiny had wrought upon her life. She was rambling about nonsense trying to make sense of it all. Next thing I know she had the look of utmost concentration on her face. Cupid’s bow lips pouted in concentration, eyes closed, a determined set of her chin. I wondered what she could possibly be doing. I stared at her as she was concentrating on something inside of herself. I thought of using my shadow magic to take a peek at what was going on but decided against it when, BAM, a huge rush of moon and earth magic shot out of Aylin. She slumped forward in her chair, I rushed up to grab her and keep her from falling, a spike of magic that powerful was sure to draw my remaining four brothers who were to also mate her. It was also going to draw the eye of many other nasties that would want to use Aylin for their own evil purposes. We needed to get out of here and fast.
Chapter 6
I woke up to Anakin weaving what looked like shadows across the door and window of the hotel room. My head felt like it was going to explode and I was completely drained of energy. I reached out to Tala who responded with just a whimper, even my wolf spirit was tuckered out.
“What happened?” I asked Anakin.
“You let out a burst of Earth and Moon magic. It was pretty massive for someone who hasn’t used and grown their magic before.” He gave me a knowing look.
“I’ve always been able to do small amounts of Earth magic, I’ve never heard of moon magic before.”
“It’s extremely rare, only those blessed by Selene can wield it. You are going to be in even more demand once that knowledge gets out.”
“Well we just won’t tell anyone,” I replied primly.
“It’s not that easy Aylin. That burst you let off will have attracted the attention of every Alpha in the world. You’re the ultimate connection to our Goddess and they would have felt the Moon magic being used. It’s going to have also attracted some of the nastier supernaturals who feed off of shifter magic.”
“So whatever magic you were manipulating I’m guessing was meant as a layer of protection?” I asked.
“Yes, I was weaving shadows around the door and window to prevent being spied on by both physical and magical means,” he said.
“Shadow magic is rare, if I hadn’t seen you using it, I would assume you were lying.”
“I am the only one left who can use Shadow magic.” He looked sad as he spoke. “All my descendants who inherited it from me were killed for their powers. After my last grandchild was killed I vowed to not procreate again until I met my mate for fear of not being able to protect my loved ones.”
“Grandchild? Um, how old are you exactly?” I was internally freaking out. I knew the originals were immortal but being faced with that was also mildly terrifying. Anakin smirked at me.
“Don’t worry I haven’t had children in several lifetimes. I am thousands of years old, to be honest I don’t know the exact amount. Some of the centuries blur together.”
I’m pretty sure I looked like a fish gasping for air. The history he and my other mates had lived through was incomprehensible.
“Don’t worry though Aylin, you will be immortal too as soon as we complete our mating.”
“I need water, or vodka. Yes, vodka would be very good right about now.”
“How about we get vodka after we move to a more secure location. Now that you’re awake we can leave this hotel room. I know you want to make your way to the council. I would suggest we head to my pack first. They can help guard us so we can complete our mating and I can pass control of the pack to my Beta and apprise my pack of the atrocities going on in the Knob Creek Pack. Does this plan of action work for you?”
“Yes, it does. I think I need some time to regroup too.”
“Then let’s not waste time. What all do you need to pack?”
“Um, it’s all in the backpack there. My gun and my knife are already on me.”
“That’s really all you packed?”
“It’s not like I was allowed to own a lot of things.”
Anakin got that soft look in his eyes, pulling me into a tight hug.
“I swear you will never want for anything again.”
“I think as long as I have my mates, I’ll be just fine.”
I could feel one of my mates drawing closer to us. I expected him to show in the next hour or so. The others were at a further distance but moving steadily closer. I could feel the bonds that had begun upon my change stretching out to touch each of them.
“You feel them coming? Don’t you?” Anakin asked.
“Yes, one will be here relatively soon. If things weren’t so dire I’d say we should wait him out. But I feel something dark creeping close to us and the darkness is closer than my mate.”
“I feel the darkness as well. It feels Fae in nature and they are experts at hiding. We need to move quickly.”
Anakin began to unweave the shadow across the door. He cracked it open scenting the air and feeling the atmosphere. I tried to reach for Tala but I was still too drained.
“Alright, I think we are good to g—" Out of nowhere a tranquilizer dart shot into Anakin’s neck. He looked at me in terror. “Run. Please.” He dropped to his knees as the drug worked quickly through his system. I ripped the motel door open and took off in a dead run towards the woods. I heard the howl of a coyote and I knew it was James’ lackeys coming to collect their prize. I pushed and pushed myself to run though I could feel the hunters closing in on me. As drained as I was, I was easy prey for the pack. I felt the tranquilizer dart hit me in my shoulder. Right in the middle where I couldn’t reach to pull it out. I screamed for my mates, Tala howled in my mind for our men, for anyone. We knew we were caught. I reached for the knife, to try and slice my throat before they could bring me back to James but the sedative had already shut off my motor skills and I dropped to the ground unable to move. The last thing I saw before I went under was the shadows of the hunters closing in around me, binding me in silver. I knew I had failed.
Chapter 7
I woke up in agonizing pain. I was covered in silver chains burning through my skin. The chains were looped around my neck, down my chest, and around my waist forcing me into a kneeling position. I moaned as I tried to force my eyes open. At first all I could see
was white. Bright lights blinding my already abused eyes.
“I see my newest whore is awake,” James spoke. I shivered recognizing the violence in his tone of voice.
“Shivering in anticipation I see. You should have never run from me Aylin. You could have been the newest mother of my children, given me a son to rival the council, and cemented my rule in the pack. But instead you ran like the bitch you are, sneaking off with that inferior Silver Moon Alpha.”
“He is more of a man than you’ll ever be,” I croaked out. His eyes filled with anger as he backhanded me across my face. I could smell the ozone from the impact of his hand on my face. Tala began to wake at the violence, fighting against the silver subduing her. I could feel two of my mates close by. One was Anakin, the other unknown. I could feel Anakin awake now and frantically searching for me, I couldn’t send him anything because the bond wasn’t complete, and the silver was hindering what bond we did share. I knew they were close and together. I just had to make it through this and try to survive. My mates would find me, I was sure of it.
“I can see the hope in your eyes. I’m going to fuck it right out of you. By the time your mates find you, you will be nothing more than a broken doll no one wants to play with anymore.”
I refused to answer him. I knew from past experience anything I said would further enrage him and I refused to give him anymore power over me.
“Don’t want to answer me bitch, that’s fine. I have a better use for that mouth of yours.” He reached around to something behind me and came back with an O ring in his hand. “Let’s get this in nice and tight.” He forced the ring into my mouth, opening my jaw as wide as he possibly could. The ring itself was made of silver and burnt my mouth and tongue on contact. It made sense why he was wearing gloves now. I wondered how he thought he was going to stick his dick in my mouth when the silver would burn him, though I knew if he took the ring out, I would bite it off.
James walked back around in front of me, naked now. I tried not to gag looking at his pathetic excuse for a cock. It was underwhelming to say the least. I couldn’t help but laugh through my gag. Here was this big bad alpha reduced to having to rape a pack member with his three-inch cock. The irony of it all had me rolling with laughter. I think it was my brain’s way of coping with everything that was happening and dissociating from the situation.
“Why the fuck are you laughing bitch? You won’t be laughing when I have this monster down your throat until you’re gagging.” This just made me laugh harder which angered James even more causing him to deflate.
“You fucking whore! I’ll fucking kill you!” he growled. He moved in and began punching me in my stomach and then on my kidneys. The pain was excruciating, I held back as long as I could, but after another kick to my liver I couldn’t help but scream in agony.
BOOM! The door to the room went flying across the room as Anakin and another male rushed into the room. Anakin made a beeline towards me, uncaring of the flesh burning off his hands as he unwrapped the silver from around my body. I heard the other male snap James’ neck and then I smelled burning flesh. I wonder how he started to burn the body so quickly. I collapsed into Anakin’s arms once I was free of all my bonds. I knew after finding me like this our bond would forever be changed. I couldn’t see how he would ever want me after this, how any of my mates would want me now. I threw up in Anakin’s lap just thinking of how close I had been to being assaulted. I could feel unconsciousness creeping in, I looked into his eyes and whispered, “Just kill me, please,” before closing my eyes and letting my mind and body shut down to heal.
***Anakin***
“Just kill me, please,” Aylin whispered to me right before she slipped into a regenerative sleep in my arms. I looked towards my brother, Nicolae, another of Aylin’s mates. His eyes were hard with anger and regret. Anger at what had been done to her and regret for not getting to her quick enough.
“We will help her through this. I will not allow her to fade away. Not after waiting for her for so long.”
Nicolae was the world’s only dragon shifter. He was considered a myth even among his own people. He had spent his entire life in hiding and isolated, waiting for the day the prophecy would be fulfilled. He had waited millennia for Aylin to come into his life, we all had.
“She will think we don’t want her after how we found her. Regardless of what happened, she will blame herself. We will have to work extra hard to prove how much she is wanted no matter what,” Nicolae said.
“I don’t smell sex in here, I don’t think he raped her. It seems like we made it before the worst could have been done,” I replied.
“It doesn’t matter. The what could have happened can sometimes be just as bad as what actually happened. She is strong though, our mate. We will make her stronger.”
“Let’s get her out of here and to a place where she can heal safely. Both in mind and spirit. We were originally heading towards my pack.”
“We should keep with those plans then. Your pack will help guard her while she heals, and we wait for the rest of our brothers to join us.”
“I know Jacobi was back in Egypt and Gunnar barely ever leaves northern Canada anymore. I can never keep up with Liam.”
“How do you know those are the brothers she will mate with?”
“When we started the bonding process and she let out that burst of magic I could feel each of your energies filtered through her.”
“I’ll reach out to each of them with the mind link, see if we can give them some direction. Though it’s been centuries since I used it, I don’t know how effective it will be.”
“You would want them to try if the situation was reversed.”
“I know.”
***Nicolae***
I couldn’t believe I had finally found her. After the centuries of waiting and hiding I finally felt her Wolf call my Dragon forth as she changed for the first time, then a second time when she reached for her magic. When I found Anakin laid out from a tranq in a seedy motel room, I almost lost control of my shift for the first time in my life. I used my healing gift to burn away the rest of the drug in his body and get the story from him. We tracked the low-lives from her pack who originally caught her and forced them to give us the location of the bunker hidden away outside of her previous pack’s lands. You could tell that sad excuse for a shifter had long been using that area for his sick games. The smell of various stages of decay and a lingering scent of terror clung to the area, unable to fully be cleansed because it was still continually used, and often. I was going out of my mind with worry for the mate I had yet to meet. When Anakin and I busted into that hellhole of a room I had to fight the urge to burn everything to the ground. Anakin moved the quickest heading straight to our mate. Even tied and tortured as she was, she had this defiant look in her eye that let you know she hadn’t given up her fight. I rushed her captor, snapping his neck in all of two seconds. A much quicker death than he deserved. I let myself give loose to a stream of fire burning his body so he couldn’t receive a proper burial. I’d burn the whole place down and cleanse the earth of its foulness as soon as we got Aylin out of here. I saw the moment she realized two of her mates had seen her almost be abused and that fight she had in her eyes dimmed. She whispered, “Just kill me, please.” I knew those words would haunt me for the rest of my life.
Chapter 8
I know I had been checked out for some time now. Logically I recognized that I was conscious, but I didn’t have the mental energy or availability to interact with anyone other than Tala. From the moment I “woke” up after the regenerative sleep I had not spoken a word or made a voluntary move. I knew that my other four mates had arrived, it was the only time Tala showed any interest in hurrying up our mental and emotional healing. She was always telling me how well my mates were taking care of me. How they kept me clean, took me outside for fresh air. There was always one of them with me, each rotating so I got to spend time with everyone. I couldn’t remember their names or faces just yet, j
ust the way they made me feel safe. I could tell the differences between their magical signatures which came across stronger and stronger through the mental mate bonds that were developing due to us all being near each other.
Tala, I feel like I’m awake for the first time since I was captured.
I think you’ve finally healed enough mentally to start interacting with our mates and the world around you. I’m grateful, it has been too long without your full presence. Your mates are losing hope and you have a destiny to fulfill.
Ugh, I don’t even want to think about destiny right now.
Sometimes we don’t get a choice little one. You are strong, and what James did will not break you. Anakin is sitting with you at the moment so now is as good as ever.
Don’t leave me?
I’m always with you, just as I always have been.
I rolled over in the bed to look at Anakin asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. I took a moment to take in my surroundings. The room I was staying in was very well put together. All dark wood with hunter green and gray accents. It smelled like Anakin. I wondered if this was his bedroom and if he had taken me to his pack while I recovered. That would have been the most logical thing to do. The curtains were closed but I could see early morning sunlight peeking through. I swung my legs over the bed testing to see if I was strong enough to take the few steps to open the curtains and watch the sunrise.
“You’re awake,” Anakin said. Startled, I turned to look over my shoulder at him. He was still wiping the sleep from his eyes; dark circles haunted his face and the lower half of it was covered in beard stubble. His hair was pulled up in a haphazard bun with fly-away’s sticking out in every direction.
