Immortal Becoming
Wendy S. Hales
The Enlightened Species Book One
AMAZON KINDLE EDITION
PUBLISHED BY
Wendy S. Hales
www.wendyshales.com
Immortal Becoming © 2012 Wendy S. Hales
All rights reserved
Amazon Kindle Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. The ebook contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, or stored in or introduced into an information storage and retrieval system in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This ebook is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Ronnell Porter
Editing by Alisa Carter, The Professional Editing Edge
Second Edition editing by Patty Esch
Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting
Table of Contents
Title Page
About the Book: Immortal Becoming
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Start
Epilogue
Glossary of Terms
Thank You
Excerpt from Shadow Revealed
About the Book: Immortal Becoming
Shane Einar is a five hundred year old Volaticus Elven warrior, sworn to duty and honor. His species has inhabited the earth since the beginning of time. The sources of vampire, elves and fairy myths, Volaticus are in reality something altogether different. He never expected to meet Jess Reed. A female living amongst humanity completely unaware that she is Hulven, a human/Elven hybrid race of Volaticus, or that she is on the cusp of Becoming into her Elven traits. Shane should turn Jess over to the Symbiosis of Species Counsel, SOSC. His attraction to her along with her ability to enrapture him with a smile bars him from it. He rightly suspects that this female is his bloodmate.
Jess had always been psychic, a painful and confusing fact of her life. With Shane’s loving support she learns to control her abilities and discovers the psychically enlightened species that share this world.
Together they sacrifice the power of their bloodmating in the battle to save females from breeding cages under the control of an Elven rogue.
Dedication
For Larraine, my personal angel:
you made my dreams possible
Acknowledgments
With overwhelming gratitude to the Enlightened Species Readers
A huge thank you to: my mother, Lacey, Shavaughn, Kim, and Adrienne for loving the characters as much as I do and for allowing me to run off at the mouth for hours when I need to clear out the mental cobwebs and get to work.
To my husband who loves my quirks, you’re the best.
To my children who make sure I never forget how to laugh.
I am so proud to be your mother.
To my sister whose support is immeasurable, unwavering and true.
None of this would be possible without my friends and family who stick by me always.
Chapter One
This is going to hurt. Pulling into the parking lot of the academy, Jess could feel her mental barriers being pounded by densely populated emotions. She’d be lucky if she didn’t end up in a seizure after being exposed to this much psychic stimuli.
After two anti anxiety pills and twenty minutes of breathing meditation in the parking lot, Jess was ready to give it a shot. “How’d I let Eric talk me into this?” she grumbled to herself for the thousandth time since last night, when she had finally caved to her foster brother’s incessant hounding. He had taught this class himself numerous times before he actually joined the police academy. Why couldn’t he teach it now that he was in the academy? Seemed to her that this entire group of cadets should already be black belts with Eric in their ranks.
Speak of the devil. “Jess, you made it. Only fifteen minutes late.” Eric ran up to meet her. “I didn’t mention to my instructors that I saw you pull into the lot twenty minutes ago.”
“I can leave if I’ve missed the class,” she said sarcastically, half turning back toward her Jeep. She would give anything to be able to jump in that beautiful new Jeep. Her first splurge ever, a reward for working her ass off and living on Ramen noodles for the last five years. She had been able to pay off the small business loan she’d taken out to buy her half interest in The Ryu, so she deserved it. Even if it meant another year of Ramen and working morning till, well, morning to pay for it. At least she was accustomed to that life, or lack of life, depending on your perspective.
“Oh hell no, you are not getting out of this. You promised.” Eric pointed at her, adding a pout guaranteed to always make her cave. “Besides, I can’t wait to see all those instructors in there bitching about you being late and getting their asses handed to them, not to mention the fact that you can help me impress one of the lady cadets. She may be off limits now, but after graduation, I am so going for that. The girl is hawt.”
Eric had come along way from the scrawny, freckled faced, red-headed dork he had been when his mother had taken Jess in as a foster kid. He was overconfident, with big blue eyes and perfectly placed freckles on skin that could somehow still tan. At six foot two and a lean one-ninety-five, he had his pick of girls. They’d hovered around him non-stop since high school. The only thing remaining of that eleven-year-old kid was the red hair, currently cut military short for the academy, making him look more youthful than twenty-one.
Whatever had possessed Ellen Reed to bring a teenage girl straight out of juvie into her single-parent home, Jess still couldn’t understand. Her love and loyalty to both Ellen and Eric were fierce. They were two of only four people in the world for whom Jess would go into a public setting, ever. This class was a testament to that. She could already feel the effects of all of the emotions of the people at the academy. In through the nose, out through the mouth, she reminded herself, breathing slowly.
“There are only twelve cadets and three instructors, Jess. Is it too many people?” Eric asked. His blue eyes reflected genuine concern as he watched her practice her breathing exercises.
She shook her head without pausing from the rhythmic breathing. She didn’t bother telling him that the class did not adequately account for the full number of emotions and psychic stimuli that were attacking her. Her range of sensitivity was expanding and becoming more acute lately, another thing she’d kept to herself. She had no intention of worrying Eric or Ellen any more than they already were about her anomalies.
She could still see the horrified look on Ellen’s face during Eric’s high school graduation, when Jess had been overwhelmed. The psychic overload of an auditorium full of people created a squeezing pressure in her head. She thought it would explode. Instead she’d dropped into a seizure. Ellen had insisted that they take her to the hospital.
Once there the continued psychic bombardment had made matters worse. The doctors ran test after test. X-rays, MRIs, EEGs, everything they could think of with no results and
no lessening of the pain. Jess cried in agony. Ellen and Eric cried with her in fear. Finally the doctors shrugged and sent her home with a sedative and an anti-anxiety prescription. They diagnosed her with complicated migraines, which she figured was the medical equivalent of saying they had no F-ing clue. Turned out that the anti-anxiety meds did help her manage some of the symptoms. Go fig.
That day had bonded the three of them even tighter as a family. Ellen and Eric had always known that Jess hated to be around a lot of people, but that day Jess finally confided in them about how much pain she endured and how she had learned to block herself from most of the effects when small numbers of people were around her. No matter what she did, too many people overwhelmed her defenses. Even Ellen and Eric could cause her some discomfort when their emotions ran high. That was rare and a pain that she would gladly accept to be a part of their lives.
Today she had agreed to face the pain and teach this class simply for the opportunity to see the happiness and pride shining out of her brother’s eyes. To marvel at the knowledge that his pride was in her.
“So is there a particular instructor you would like me to single out for this ass-handing you mentioned?” She forced a small grin for her brother’s benefit and was rewarded with a glint of mischief in Eric’s eyes. He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, eliciting a snorted laugh from Jess.
“Officer Denbow,” he said. “He got the better of me in one of the classes I taught last year. Now that he’s my instructor, he gloats over me like a conquering Viking. I don’t think he wanted me to teach this class as his cadet. Deep down the dick knows he got lucky and doesn’t want to be spanked by me.”
Jess’s very first student had been Eric. She hadn’t even realized at the time that she was teaching him. She only remembered him coming home after school crying. The kids were teasing him about his freckles and red hair. Jess had hugged him until he had cried himself out, and then she took him into the back yard and started teaching him the first martial arts techniques she had learned when she had been a few years younger than he had been.
She was ten when she’d begun watching through the window of the Ryu at the classes being taught inside. Then she would race home and secretly practice everything she saw until she could do it perfectly. Those early moves were the first she’d shared with Eric.
Entering the gym, Jess braced herself against the psychic onslaught, wincing against a wave that didn’t come.
Amazing. Maybe the drugs worked better today, she thought.
“Shield yourself, female.” A deep male voice resonated against her mind.
Jess gasped and looked around. Everyone in the room seemed to be intently listening to the police officer in the front of the class teaching about the proper use of pepper spray.
“Who are you?” Jess asked. She had not spoken telepathically to anyone since her mother’s death. After fifteen years it felt clumsy. She sought the direction of the link the way she had with her mother when they had gotten separated in any way.
“Are you asking me specifically? Or anyone within hearing distance of your shotgun telepathy?” The deep rich timbres of his voice created shivers in her.
Jess identified the mental link to the sole man seated on the top row of bleachers overlooking the gymnasium. He was leaning forward on his seat, resting his forearms on his thighs, his fingers interlocked. He looked to be completely relaxed in faded jeans and a dark blue T-shirt, intently listening to the “pepper spray is not to be played with” monotone lecture going on in the front of the class. Stunned, she stared at the image of male perfection. He glanced over at her, giving her just a brief acknowledgment.
“Would you like me to shield your thoughts for you? It’s Jess, right? I am not sure my protégé needs to hear how ‘hot’ you think I am.” There was a hint of laughter in his voice. He was right. She did think he was pretty hot. Think? Hell, he was hot, really hot, change-her-panties kinda hot.
Protégé? His comment sunk in slowly. Jess looked over the room again, noticing one of the women in Eric’s class looking her right in the eye with a smirk on her face. The woman winked.
“Oh my god, she can hear what I am thinking too?” Jess’s hand went to her mouth in wonder and embarrassment. Good thing they were both adults. She could probably go to jail for youth corruption, with the mouth-watering thoughts Bleacher Boy elicited in her.
“Beauty, everyone within your telepathic sound waves can hear what you’re thinking.” He was openly laughing at her now. Beneath his laugh she could hear the soft mental giggle of the girl seated with her class in front of the instructor.
Changing the subject before her brain could do a “fantasy take one” starring Bleacher Boy (and choosing to ignore the humor at her expense), she asked about her other pressing curiosity. “Are you the reason I’m not feeling the effects of all these people this close to me?”
“I am not quite shielding you. I simply turned down your volume, muffling a little. You were broadcasting your discomfort and fear all the way from the parking lot. Anyone with even rudimentary empathic function would have been curled in a ball weeping before you even entered the room.” His tone seemed apologetic and somewhat defensive at having buffered her from the pain she usually endured. All Jess felt was relieved appreciation. She really didn’t like the idea that these two strangers were reading her mind, however. “Jess, we aren’t reading your thoughts. You are broadcasting them.”
“Well, whatever the reason, you are helping me with the muffling. It’s making this less … difficult. I appreciate it. If you are still willing to help me, then yes, I would like it very much if you would shield me.” Annoyed and not sure why she felt she needed to let him off the guilt hook he seemed to be swinging from, she accepted his offer.
The girl in the class snapped her head around and stared at her in shock. What? Accepting help was a sin now? Geez, Jess’s family thought she was too stubborn and independent for her own good.
“Seriously? Most would consider what I have already done rude, boorish, and socially unacceptable. Why am I only sensing grudging appreciation from you? Well, that and … hmmmmm.” Jess rolled her eyes. Like he didn’t already know he was gorgeous.
“I will shield you on one condition: Before you leave, you explain why you are unwilling or unable to do this for yourself and how you have survived without this knowledge.” All humor and wonder had left his voice. He sounded almost angry or fearful. Not at her necessarily, more like on her behalf.
“Deal.” She agreed without hesitation. Instantly silence and peace descended on her mind, which relaxed against the constant bombardment for the first time she could remember since childhood. All those years she had thought she was blocking most of it out, not realizing how little relief she was able to obtain.
“Oh God, this is better then chocolate-chip cookie-dough ice cream,” she sent him in gratitude. A half-smile graced his perfect features, the first and only indication he’d given of the conversation that had been happening between them.
“The rest of the afternoon will be dedicated to learning self defense and the basics of martial arts. I am aware that some of you have experience in both. I have been assured that your instructor for this section of training is able to keep it challenging for every level.” The look monotone-man gave her over the heads of the cadets was highly skeptical. In comparison, the “you just friggin wait, jackass” grin on Eric’s face more than made up for any offense she might have felt at the officer’s obvious lack of faith in her ability. “Please welcome Sensei Jess Reed.”
All eyes turned to Jess. Eric whooped, whistled, and clapped like an idiot, making Jess laugh. She rose to her full, imposing five foot two inches and strode her one hundred and ten pound body to the front of the class, her waist-length, rod-straight blond hair swinging from a high ponytail with each step. She knew she looked about as threatening as a piñata in a batting cage.
Reaching the front of the class, she squared her shoulders and released a deep, centering
breath. She felt rather than heard the sharp intake of breath from Bleacher Boy when she mentally/spiritually reached within. Feeling her inner self awaken, she turned to face the class. One by one she made direct eye contact with each student before her. One by one the students began to squirm under the pressure of her gold-shot green eyes. Even Eric, who had been under her tutelage for a decade and knew what to expect, couldn’t help but feel the pressure of Jess when she took control of whatever it is she put her mind to. Today it was these cadets, and that included Eric. The only one who seemed resistant to her visual sweep was the protégé-girl. She grinned, giving Jess a nod of respect. Once she was sure she had the attention of every cadet, Jess smiled, looking forward to this class more than she could have ever imagined, thanks to whatever the Bleacher Boy was doing to “shield” her.
“Before we begin, I would like to demonstrate some of the techniques that you will need to be able to perform for completion of this portion of your academy training.” She motioned to the three officers leaning on the wall, watching her. “If one of you seasoned officers could join me for this.” As expected, the one who came off the wall and strode toward her had the name Denbow on his T-shirt. Confident, six feet tall, and solid, Officer Denbow was the perfect candidate to gain the class’s respect. He was already disregarding her abilities due to her physical presence. One of her greatest advantages was her ability to seem non-threatening to her opponent.
“Thank you Officer Denbow.” She motioned to his shirt as her name reference. He nodded. “Shall we begin with a full frontal attack?” This time he smirked and nodded.
They faced each other. Jess gave him a full low bow of respect, despite it being unearned by Denbow at this point. He humored her with a half bow, almost mocking.
Immortal Becoming Page 1
