Chosen One

by Scarlett Dawn

  Smack.

  The One’s head whipped down to the side, but he didn’t stumble as I had hoped he would as I pulled my glowing hand back, chest heaving in the silence that surrounded us, those that had started to creep forward, stilling, waiting, and watching, ready to pounce if they needed to.

  Quietly in the stillness, a tiger’s growl rumbled from his chest…igniting something…odd…precise…deadly…inside me as my fury boiled for a man that I seriously didn’t know how I still found him attractive, but I pushed it down hard, not about to lose any more of my temper, my eyes glowing fiercely on the side of his face covered by white-on-whiter rolls.

  “As I said, I will do anything to protect my people.” My teeth were bared, barely hanging onto a fury boiling through me I didn’t understand. “Which, are fucking dead thanks to Reese, one of your people.”

  The sound cut off inside him, and in the stunned quiet, a soft chuckle sounded, the One’s head, slowly lifting from the side, and he peered at me with slightly glowing silver eyes, a cruel, beautiful smile on his lips, the first time I had ever seen that expression on him, and he murmured quietly through his chuckle, “I almost awakened you, didn’t I?” My jaw stayed clenched in anger, but confused at the question, staying silent, locking my legs when he took a step closer, and closing the gap I had put there. “And I’m right about Reese. Leave him as he is. He will make a mistake and lead us to them. I’ve also had casualties on my side because of his actions, and I won’t have him taken down before he gives us what we need.” Then, he bent, and I held perfectly still as he whispered against my ear, “Awake for me, kitten.”

  And he was suddenly gone, disappearing from the room.

  I jerked anyway, stumbling back from where he had been, bumping into Queen Ruckler, and twisting around her, moving hurriedly to stand in front of a window, grabbing the edge and staring outside as I breathed through the force flowing through me. A new pure killing fury, purely animalistic, twisting right alongside utter and complete confusion, my mind churning, Elder Merrick’s betrayal sparking it and the One’s betrayal fanning it to a nice flame.

  King Collins was the first to break the extended silence behind me, his tone muddle and careful. “What the hell just happened?”

  I watched a bird fly by as I tried to calm myself.

  King Zeller cleared his throat. “Well, if you need the recap. First, the One appeared out of thin air, and the only Shifter who could scent something was wrong was Elder Merrick. Second, the traitor was confirmed as Reese. Third, your Prodigy hit one of the most dangerous men I’ve ever met. Fourth, the One, a spirit Elemental, growled like a tiger.” A pause. “Oh, yes. And fifth, the One seems to believe your Prodigy is…sleeping…or some such, telling her to “awake for him”.” Another clearing of his throat. “That about sums it up.”

  I gripped the sides of the window, chest heaving in rage and fear and confusion, losing it a bit, starting to glow as I scrambled to open the window, searching for a latch, needing air, pushing back the…fury…clawing, rolling inside me. “Air…help me get the fucking window open.” My voice was shaky and breathless as I tried to control myself. “I need air.”

  “It doesn’t open,” King Collins mumbled absently.

  Ah, fuck it. I swiftly pressed my hand to the window, shooting my power out briefly, and it dissolved instantly, afternoon wind rushing inside, ruffling my hair as I sucked in greatly.

  “Does now,” Elder Farrar murmured, sounding mighty amused.

  “Oh, why not?” King Collins muttered in exasperation. “Who cares about a six thousand dollar window at this point, right?”

  It was rhetorical, but still…”Right.”

  King Collins snorted a bit crazily, but calmed after a moment of Queen Cooper talking softly to him, then it sounded like he cracked his knuckles before stating, “Alright, let’s take this one step at a time, and focus on what we have a shot in hell of accomplishing, which would be the traitor. Reese. What the hell do we do about him?”

  “Let him stay,” Elder Jacobs stated instantly. “The One should have told us about him, but he was right. Keep him close until he makes a mistake.”

  “I agree,” Elder Merrick stated brusquely.

  My fingers clamped down, just hearing him fueling the flame.

  Quiet tone from my King. “I also believe that’s the best choice for right now as long as he’s watched.”

  Everyone else agreed, so I mumbled my ascent, knowing he would have multiple eyes on him.

  “Alright,” King Collins cleared his throat, speaking hesitantly, “I’m not sure where to even begin on the tiger bit…anything you can contribute to that, Prodigy?”

  “He’s the One,” I muttered harshly, staring out at the lawn, yanking my hands away from the window to run them through my hair. “That should be enough reasoning for him.”

  More knuckles cracking, then my King stated hesitantly, “So then, it’s not normal.” Knuckles. Cracking. “Is there any chance he’s your mate? Is this a possible,” a pause, “excuse my idiotic floundering, but is it a possible spirit…mating thing? He did say you should have learned more at the Temple…and he’s trying to “awaken you”?”

  My shoulders shook for long moments before I started chuckling quietly, the sound pulled from deep within me, a deep hurt, but at the same time, a glory at having the freedom of choice. “All Mysticals are not created alike.”

  All I heard was silence.

  “Well…I had to ask,” King Collins mumbled, sounding irritated, and maybe, just a bit ticked. “Just once it would be nice to ask a damn question and have it answered.”

  I stated, voice void, “And just once, I would like for you to see the bigger picture when you ask questions you shouldn’t, but I still manage to answer.”

  A deep irate huff. “Caro, I am trying, but dammit,”

  Elder Merrick actually interrupted, his tone curt, and overriding. “King Collins, with everything we know so far of spirit Elementals, I believe it’s easy enough to deduce she means they’re like Coms in reference to mates, so when she says all Mysticals are not created alike, it means spirit Elementals don’t have them.”

  Ticking…booming…silence.

  My own voice was curt, but void, as grass blew in the breeze. “Don’t any of you dare pity me.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I’ve heard enough horror stories of mates to scare anyone off from having one.”

  Elder Farrar cleared his throat. “Yes, I believe Elder Merrick’s late mate would fit that category.”

  “Elder Farrar,” Queen Ruckler demanded in quiet shock, her tone a reprimand.

  Elder Merrick grunted. “There’s no offense taken, Queen Ruckler. She was way before your time, and she also ended way before your time when I put a silver bullet in the bitch’s head.”

  I placed a hand down on the edge of the window as calmly as I could, barely managing to keep my heart rate under control, yanking that white solace down over me, knowing I had buried a man this morning who had killed his own mate, never having asked him if he had found his yet. In the beginning it was because it was “casual”, but later I kept silent for, maybe, fear of the answer…which was only more absurd now with his treachery, but Queen Cooper didn’t manage so well, hearing her gasp, and mutter, “Jesus.”

  He actually chuckled quietly, the sound pure malice. “Lawfully, of course.”

  “If you wouldn’t have done it, I would have even without the Law,” Elder Jacobs mumbled.

  Elder Farrar and Elder Zeller both grunted.

  A beat, then King Collins murmured, “Moving right along,” a pause, “since it doesn’t appear we have any current answers to the “tiger issue”, I’ll do some research on it until Caro gives us some indication she has an answer.” He clapped his hands a few times. “And until then, I’d like to talk with Elder Merrick and my Prodigy alone, so this meeting is adjourned.”

  Oh, for the love of God.

  “I have something I need,” I started to murmur, turning to face
my King, just as Elder Merrick muttered, “Queen Ruckler and I need to,”

  He cut us both off. “It wasn’t a request.” A snapping of his fingers, pointing. “Please sit down.”

  The damn room seemed to clear out fast as I inhaled heavily with defeat, seeing that look in my King’s brown eyes, so I trudged to a red chair, flopping onto it, even as Elder Merrick moved to sit in the farthest seat from me. Both of us stared at each other with barely banked loathing, hardly hearing when King Collins closed and locked the door behind everyone, and Elder Merrick without removing his gaze from mine, instantly stated, “I do not appreciate being ordered to a private meeting like a scolded child, King Collins.”

  “Then don’t act like one,” King Collins immediately retorted, coming to stand to the side of us between our two chairs, his gaze darting back and forth as we continued to silently eye one another with retribution in our gazes. “Now, tell me what really happened in the past, because you are both hiding the truth, and this type of hostility is not healthy when we need everyone working together.”

  My nostrils flared. “He befriended me, gained my trust, all for information he wanted to obtain because he viewed me as a threat.” My teeth bared at him. “And now, I am a fucking threat.”

  His wolf growled quietly. “A dart gun and a little dirt do not constitute a threat.”

  “Yeah?” I smiled sweetly. “How are your balls feeling, Elder Merrick?” His nostrils flared, an angered flush rising on his cheeks, and I beamed. “Any worms crawl into your mouth?”

  Lush, red pouty lips curved the barest bit. “I am going to make you fucking scream, spirit bitch.”

  My mind blanked. Remembering him saying that to me before, but in a different variation, a more intimate one…one where I had thought we connected on a much deeper level. But, instead, he had been fucking me, someone he detested, all for intel. My voice was a mere whisper as I stared at him. “You are such a bastard.”

  His smile was feral. “Yes, I am.”

  Memories rushed in a torrent. Us, together. Our bodies’ hot and sweaty bodies rubbing. Sweet, sensual words whispered breathlessly. Dirty, torrid shouts of sexual demands. Our bodies connecting, becoming one, the most intimate of acts I had ever lived.

  And it had all been a lie, a ruse.

  I swallowed hard, my throat burning fiercely, constricting as excruciating tears filled my eyes, and I choked, “I hate you to the bottom pits of hell.”

  His gaze flicked over my face before returning to my eyes, unflinching and cold, but his own tone was guttural. “The feeling is completely mutual.” We glared at one another, both of our chests heaving a bit in our conviction as I prayed no tears fell, wanting nothing more than to rip his damn heart out…or maybe even mine…until his wolf growled quietly in his chest, and his gaze flicked up…to King Collins who stood still as a statue off to the side where I had completely forgotten about him. Elder Merrick ran a hand over his face, then shoved out of his chair, his shoulder ramming into King Collins as he swiftly moved past him, muttering, “I’m done here.”

  I didn’t flinch when the door opened and slammed shut behind him, only continued to stare at his chair, counting to thirty in my head, then standing, and moving with a grace I wasn’t feeling past King Collins’s quiet form, muttering, “We aren’t going to stop hating each other, so don’t try that again.” And I closed the door calmly behind me.

  Over the next three weeks…I went on a bit of a bender. To the point Sin could barely keep up, and that was saying…enough. It was also safe to say I now had no longer only had sex with one man. Really, I lost count somewhere in my drunken state. One particular high point…or low point…I vaguely remembered King Collins walking into one of the formal living rooms inside the Elemental section—the time of day was undetermined—and ordered/yelled at the group, I believe the rodeo was in town, to get the fuck out before he carried my ass up to my bedroom, dropped me in my bathtub and turned freezing cold water on me, telling Sin’s half staggering self to straighten my ass out before he did so. That…really hadn’t helped much…since that was all in the first week.

  What did wake my ass up was waking up in fucking Japan.

  All without Sin this time.

  Yeah.

  I had managed to outdo Sin somehow.

  I wasn’t even sure how the hell I had gotten there, lying naked in bed with four naked Elemental men, drugs and alcohol surrounding us.

  That was a bit of a wakeup call.

  Or…it was, when I’d had to call King Collins when I had realized I didn’t have any identification on me to get home. He had shouted so many curses he had become hoarse over the phone, and Elder Farrar had yanked the phone from him, asking calmly where I was. After answering, that had produced silence. Then, I swear I had heard King Zeller in the background start yelling, “There had better be no damn videos”. Elder Farrar had cleared his throat, and asked me to ask one of the gentlemen I was with their name, since he couldn’t find me with my protection. I had tried, but none of them spoke English. More cursing had occurred in the background, but after handing over the phone, Elder Farrar had spoken with them, and then told me he would be there in a few minutes.

  Elder Farrar had arrived, took one look around at the self-destruction I had gotten myself into, grabbed me, and taken me back home. We had ended up in the kitchen, where he had apparently left from, and I had held my hand up in front of my eyes from the bright light, still wearing only the button-down man’s shirt I had found on the floor. Everyone was there, including Sin, who sat back, wiping his mouth off and chewing calmly, but staring at me with an expression that didn’t bode well.

  Elder Farrar held up his free hand to King Collins, who started to open his mouth, cutting him off, murmuring quietly, “You really don’t want to know.”

  “How long have I been gone?” I asked Sin after a moment of silence, my voice incredibly hoarse who-knew-what-the-hell-from, running a hand through my tangled hair, pulling something out of it…seeing it was a joint, and placing it with a shaky hand on the table.

  “Depends on what you mean, love,” Sin murmured quietly. “Mentally, around three weeks. Physically, two days.”

  “Ah.” I nodded once, hoarse voice quiet. “It’s probably time to stop.”

  “Probably.” He tilted his head toward the far door. “Why don’t you go shower and I’ll bring up some breakfast.”

  “Alright.” I took my arm out of Elder Farrar’s strangle hold, turning to King Collins, murmuring, “I’m sorry. And I’m done.”

  He only growled…but he still reached out a hand to mine, squeezing it the barest bit as I started to move past him on my walk of shame.

  “You’re not going to say anything?” Elder Merrick growled loudly at King Collins, my ears instantly ringing as I stumbled at his vehemence. “She has been out of commission from alcohol and drugs and whoring for the past,”

  King Collins interrupted him, voice deathly quiet, murmuring on a hiss, “She is my damn Prodigy to do with as I will, so therefore, you need to shut the fuck up and stay out of this, especially, seeing as you, someone she had preconceived notions of trusting, were part of the problem.” As I stared at the side of my King’s face, brown eyes flicked to me, and he tilted his head to the door, his tone lightening immensely. “Go on, Caro. Get cleaned up.”

  “I will,” I murmured, and quickly averted my face as damn tears started to well. “And again, I’m sorry.” I quickly left the room before I completely shamed myself by bawling like a child in front of everyone…because no matter how many men I had been with…talented, to the not so talented…I still couldn’t fucking erase the memory of the one man I would hate even in death.

  Chapter Ten

  I got myself cleaned up in the week to come.

  I didn’t drink. I went to meals. I went to meetings.

  Although, I did tend to ditch my bodyguards, much to their dismay, hating them following me everywhere, even standing outside bathroom doors while I was inside.


  And that was how I came to be alone, and face-to-face, with Elder Merrick late one evening.

  The man I had been avoiding. The man I had been ignoring. The man I had been trying to forget in my sober state.

  Sitting inside the intimate living room of the Elemental section I favored, I lifted my head from the book of Laws I had been trying to memorize, having finally gotten around to perusing it when I heard the door shut and lock. I froze, my finger stalling on the page I was turning. He stood only in a pair of black athletic shorts and worn tennis shoes, his curls half pulled back from his face in a small ponytail, his glistening chest bare, the black curls on his chest damp, muscled arms crossed over his chest, and navy blue eyes glaring directly at me.

  Inhaling shallowly, I closed my book and set it on the small coffee table in front of me, trying to keep my voice steady as I stared at him coldly. “Have you come for retribution?”

  Muscles ticked on the sides of his jaws “I was doing my damn job. I won’t apologize for it.”

  “So you’ve told me,” I murmured harshly, standing and moving toward the door, needing to get out of here before I lashed out. “And you should be proud, since you did it so believably, Cain.” I hoped the use of his name would sting like it did me, my tone like the lash I meant it to be. “I mean, why not go ahead and continue fucking me to gain what you needed. We’d already done it once by mistake. Why not use it after you’d already screwed up?”

  He sidestepped, placing his back against the door handle when I reached for it, and fuck if his heat and smell of a forest before rain didn’t surround me. “You’re right. I manipulated and used you.” He ran a hand over his face, his eyes glowing in his fury as he threw his arms out wide, bending, shouting in my face, “You’re not my fucking kind! I despise any damn mixed-faction relations. I always have. It was how I grew up. And somehow, I got so stupid drunk one night I thought I was fucking a Shifter who was overly friendly with the Prodigies, only to wake up next to a damn Elemental, so yes, I used what I had.”