by Amanda Carol
Bennett sips his whiskey, and I can almost see the gears turning in his head.
“You think this has something to do with the gods?” he asks after a few moments.
I shrug. “I’m not ruling anything out at this point. But it’s very possible. I just can’t think straight right now, man.”
I down the rest of my drink and slam the glass down on the table, almost breaking it.
“I know. I’ll go tell the gang what you just told me, and we will figure this out.” He gets up and sets his glass in the sink, then walks over to stand in front of me. “In the meantime, you just focus on Aria right now. We got your back.” He claps a hand on my shoulder, and I nod. “Alright, I’m out of here. Text me if you need me.”
He throws up the piece sign, leaving the kitchen. I hear my front door open and close seconds later. I put my glass in the sink next to Bennett’s and put the whiskey back in the cabinet. He’s right. I need to focus on Aria. She’s the only thing I seem to be capable of focusing on right now. I grab our bags and make my way back to the barn.
Declan and Abby are still with Aria when I return to the barn, so I go to cafeteria to grab a burger. I also decide to grab some snacks to hold me over until the morning. I’m not too hungry at the moment, but at least I’ll have something to eat later if I want it. I’m putting things in my duffle when Declan emerges from the medical room. He spots me and saunters over.
“Abby, Luna, and Kora are cleaning her up and re-bandaging her. They kicked me out.” He sits down at a table.
I drop our stuff down on the floor and take the seat opposite him.
“How is she? Were you able to heal her?” I ask him.
“No. I tried, but for some reason I couldn’t. Luna seems to think it has something to do with our healing abilities as demigods. Since Aria can heal herself, my powers are basically useless.” He shrugs.
Well, damn.
“She’s still unconscious. Kora is hopeful it’ll only be a day or so, but she doesn’t know Aria like I do.” He chuckles, but seems to be lost in thought.
The door opens and my mother, Luna, and Abby walk out. Abby spots us and heads in our direction while my mom and Luna seem to be in deep conversation and leave the barn.
“Hey, guys, we’re all done. Hunter, you’re free to visit her now. I’m going to Kat’s to help out,” Abby explains.
I nod.
“I’ll come with you. I need to be useful.” Declan gets up and pushes his chair in. “If there are any changes, text me.”
I nod again and they leave the barn together. I grab our things and head for the medical wing, walking past the beds filled with witches and wolves who are being treated for their injuries. I finally reach Aria’s door, but before I even turn the handle, I freeze. I hear my name, but it isn’t out loud. And it isn’t a voice I could forget.
Aria.
I can feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest as I grip the handle on the door and walk into her room. I frown when I see that she isn’t awake. How in the hell did I just hear her voice, then? I know I drank a little bit, but I don’t even have a buzz going right now. And I thought I heard it earlier, too.
I set my bag on the chair by the door and walk over to the bed. I stayed in these rooms a lot when I was younger, and I know firsthand how comfortable these beds are. I used to come here a lot when my father and I would argue.
I gently sit on the edge of the bed and look at her. The cuts and bruises on her face seem to be healing nicely. Dark lashes fan her cheeks, which is a nice contrast to her beautiful green eyes.
Eyes that I so desperately want to open.
I brush a piece of her blonde hair out of her face and tuck it back behind her ear. I lightly run my finger along her jawline and stop when I get to her lips.
“I'm so sorry,” I whisper to her.
She stirs in her sleep but doesn’t wake up. I let out a breath, wishing that I could pull her into my arms and hold her until she wakes up. But, not knowing how badly she was hurt, I resign myself to sleeping on the couch. I’m about to make myself comfortable when I hear a soft knock on the door. It opens before I even get a chance to answer.
“Hey, honey.” My mom’s voice is just above a whisper.
She walks further into the room and I see that she has extra blankets and pillows. Well, shit. I was in such a rush to get over here that I didn’t even think about that.
“I figured you would be needing these,” she says.
I chuckle softly as she sets the blankets and pillows on the edge of the bed before she pulls me into a brief hug.
“Thanks, Mom.” I murmur as she releases me.
She gives me a small smile before she turns her head to look at Aria. “She’s a beautiful girl.”
“She’s more than that.”
“I know, sweetheart.” She turns and faces me again. “Your father really is sorry about this. You know it was the only way.”
“Yeah.” I clench my jaw. “I know.”
I turn my gaze away from my mom and onto the wall behind her.
“Hunter, I know you don’t believe it, but your father really does care about you. You are his Beta—”
“And next in line to be Alpha. Yes, I know,” I cut her off, speaking through clenched teeth.
I don’t want to be the Alpha. There are much better shifters who would make a better Alpha than me. My vote goes to Knox, but my father won’t listen to me. My mom also knows how badly I don’t want to be Alpha, but she doesn’t support my fight against it. I’m just glad she doesn’t press the issue any further.
“Alright, I’m heading back home. Kora has gotten everything under control here. Call me if you need anything.” My mom sighs as she turns to leave the room. “Oh, I was able to get them a cabin. Luna and Abby have been helping me get it ready. We made a special room for Aria. Luna told me she likes to paint.”
She smiles, then leaves the room. Aria never mentioned that she paints, but then again, I’ve never really pressed her for information. She always tells me what she wants to when she’s ready.
I stand there for a few moments, then grab the blankets and make myself a bed on the couch. I grab my duffle from the chair and go into the bathroom, changing into sweats and t-shirt and, when I'm finished getting ready for bed, I walk out back over to Aria. She hasn’t moved an inch. I bend over and press my lips to her forehead. Which reminds me…
I grab my phone from my bag and sit down on the couch to text Bennett.
Me: Hey
Bennett: Sup bruh?
Me: U still with every1?
Bennett: Yea man. Working hard. ;-)
Me: Ha. Rly? Knowing u, it’s probably more like hardly working lol.
Bennett: Ha. Ha. Very Funny. What do u want?
Me: When I got here, I could have sworn Aria said my name, but I heard it in my head. Like she somehow used the link.
Bennett: Whoa. Weird dude. We’ve been reading about Greek mythology but haven’t come across anything useful yet.
Bennett: Yo bro, have you heard about Satyrs?
Me: Umm…those half man, half goat creatures?
Bennett: YEEESSS! So fuckin weird dude. Like, how do they fuck? Do they have man dicks or goat dicks?
Me: Idk? Benny, focus!
Bennett: Right…sorry lol.
Me: Focus on Artemis. What is her history?
Bennett: That’s what we started with but we haven’t had much luck yet.
Me: Damn it.
Bennett: Don’t worry. We will find it. Just take care of ur girl.
Me: She’s not my girl.
Bennett: Yet. Nite nite Romeo. Call u when we find sumthin.
I set my phone down on the floor and lay down on the couch. I let my thoughts drift to Aria, and eventually I fall into a restless sleep.
I feel someone shaking me awake. I open one eye and see Abby hovering over me.
Abby crosses her arms over her chest. “Good, you’re awake. I was just about to toss some cold water on you
.”
“Good morning to you too, sunshine.” I groan and sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I look over at Aria, who is still out.
“Get dressed and come to Knox and Grace’s cabin. We think we found something,” Abby commands as she walks over to my bag and throws it at me.
I catch it before it hits me in the face.
“Nice reflexes. Now, hurry up!” She turns to leave the room, but stops just before she closes the door. “Oh, and don’t worry about leaving Aria alone. My mom is on her way over to sit with her.” And with that she closes the door.
I’m excited to know what they found, but I seriously had no plans to leave this room. I let out a breath and quickly change into jeans and a t-shirt in the bathroom. By the time I’m finished, Luna is already in the room.
“Sorry. I did knock,” she says from the couch, where the blankets are already neatly folded and set off to one side. “Don’t worry. I’ll call you if she wakes up while you’re gone.”
She winks and goes back to reading her book. I let out a low chuckle and quietly leave the room, making my way over to Knox and Grace’s cabin. I guess they took the research party there. I knock, but don’t wait for an answer and walk inside. Bennett is fast asleep on the couch, so I walk over and kick his foot. He jumps awake and hops to his feet like a ninja.
“God damn it, Hunt! I could have killed you!” he all but shouts when he recognizes that it’s me.
I take in his ninja pose and start laughing.
“Yeah, okay. Where is everyone?” I ask, looking around the otherwise empty room.
“In the kitchen. Grace is cooking us some breakfast,” Bennett says, and leads the way into the kitchen.
Everyone is sitting at the table except for Grace and Knox, who is leaning against the counter next to the stove where Grace is cooking bacon. She smacks his hand as he reaches for a piece.
“Will you stop taking pieces of bacon? I’m trying to cook enough for everyone….SHIT!” she shouts as the grease pops onto her hand.
Knox tries and fails to hide his laughter. She smacks his chest. He laughs as he rubs his chest and leans in to kiss her on the cheek.
“They are so disgustingly cute,” Kat remarks from the table.
They all look exhausted, and books are scattered all over the place.
“You guys were up all night?” I ask.
They all nod.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say. Now I feel guilty.
“Don’t be silly, Hunter. We wanted to. Declan and Aria are family now,” Zayne adds.
“Thanks, Z.” Declan claps his hand on Zayne’s shoulder.
“Yeah. He’s right. We don’t have to have the same blood to be a family.” Kat stands and places a hand on my arm. “So yeah, we stayed up all night.” She smiles, then heads straight for the coffee pot.
“Alright. So, what do you guys have?” I ask.
“Well, we did as you said and started reading up on Artemis, but came up with just about nothing but her family history. That is until we thought about what Bennett had said the night that Declan had healed Ciera. So, we thought outside the box. What if using the bow and arrow weren’t all the powers that Aria had gotten?” Kat explains as she sips her coffee.
“Incoming!” Grace blurts as she starts placing food and utensils on the table with Knox’s help.
Everyone mumbles their thanks and starts fixing up their plates. I’m too stressed and exhausted to be hungry, but I wait as patiently as I can until everyone is situated.
“So that’s when we changed tactics and started looking into the powers of the gods. They all have immortality and can control the elements, which we already knew. But each god had a specific power to them. Zeus has lightning, Poseidon has the sea, and Hades has the touch of death. I mean, the three brothers have more, but that’s a conversation for a different time,” Kat says in between mouthfuls of food.
“So, on to Artemis. Her skill was archery, which Aria seems to have inherited, but it was also the ability to hunt and she was the mother of all creatures,” Ciera adds on so Kat can finish eating. “Our theory is that Aria is developing another power.”
“Which is?” I ask.
Everyone at the table glances around at each other.
“We don’t know yet, but we wanted to tell you what we came up with so far,” Bennett answers before taking a bite of his bacon.
Okay, which is a whole lot of nothing. Part of me is annoyed that they made me leave Aria for this, but they had stayed up all night trying to help.
“So, what does this mean?” I inquire, running a hand through my hair and trying not to let my impatience get the best of me.
“Whatever it is, it’s a start. I mean, since Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, now it makes sense why Aria is able to track vampires better than I can,” Declan remarks, getting up and setting his empty plate in the sink. He laughs but I can tell there’s no humor behind it, and he’s frowning when he turns around. “I’m going to go get some air.”
He brushes past me and I hear the front door close behind him. Ciera starts to get up to go after him, but Bennett tells her that he’ll go. I can tell she’s about to protest, but then she apparently thinks better of it and sits back down. I look at Zayne and Knox and motion for them to follow me outside. Zayne places his empty plate in the sink on top of Declan’s as Knox places a kiss on Grace’s head, and then we leave the girls sitting at the kitchen table. Bennett and Declan turn around as we come out onto the porch.
“You alright, man?” I ask, knowing damn well he isn’t alright.
“I’m as alright as I’m ever going to be.” Declan sighs as he sits down on the step. “When we were growing up, my dad always told me to watch out for her. To make sure nothing bad ever happened to her.” His voice breaks as he turns away from us.
“Aria will be fine. She’ll wake up soon,” Knox says optimistically. “We have a starting place now. Besides, if there is anyone who will figure this out, it’s your girl.” He smirks, and that gets a small smile from Declan.
“Hells yeah! Ciera is a badass research ninja. I mean, all the girls are, and if anyone is going to figure this out, it’s them.” Bennett smirks, leaping off the porch.
“You mean everyone except you, pretty boy.” Knox rolls his eyes.
Bennett glares at him. “Hey! I was the one who figured out that my boy Declan here got that nifty healing ability from Apollo!”
“That is true,” Zayne chimes in.
He’s not wrong; Bennett did figure that out.
Bennett points a finger at Zayne. “See! I told you I'm not just a pretty face.”
Bennett has always been smarter than he lets people believe. He says that being smart gets him responsibilities like Knox, and he’s fine with being a grunt at the Compound.
Suddenly, the girls burst out the front door. Ciera’s wide eyes land on each of us in turn.
“We think we may have figured it out,” she announces.
I feel something cold and wet touch my cheek, nudging me awake. I slowly open my eyes and jump back, not recognizing the wolf that’s in front of me. It’s larger than any shifter I’ve ever seen. Not that I’ve seen many. I’m not afraid, though. No, it’s something different, like familiarity. I trust this wolf, but I don’t know why. It has white fur and violet eyes, and it’s sitting there staring at me. I glance down and notice that I’m not wearing what I was wearing on the night of the attack. I’m in a white gown with lace sleeves reaching all the way down my arms. There’s a long slit in the gown on one side that stops just below my hip.
Well, that gives me plenty of room to run.
Glancing around, I vaguely recognize this place to be the woods that surround the Compound. I stand and turn, seeing nothing but trees until something catches my eye. I inch forward and notice a silver bow with a case of arrows sitting next to it by a tree. I walk up to it and kneel down, running my fingers along the case.
Its intricate design is beautiful. It’s a
light royal blue, with a gold tree stretching up the center. The arrows are silver. The white wolf saunters over to me and sits down. I hear some rustling off in the distance and I quickly scan the area, but don’t see anything. But I know the wolf and I aren’t the only ones out here. I grab the bow and case of arrows, tossing it on my back and glance down at the wolf.
“We need to go,” I tell it.
I start walking in the general direction of where I think the Compound is. I need to make sure everyone is alright, but the longer I walk, the farther away I seem to be getting. After a while, something doesn’t feel right, so I stop walking and sit down against a tree. The white wolf sits down next to me, then gently lays its head in my lap. I start to stroke its fur.
Nothing is adding up. I wake up in the middle of the never-ending woods wearing…not my clothes. There’s only me, this white wolf, and whatever the hell else is out there. I try to think of what happened before I woke up here.
I remember training in the woods with Zayne and Knox, then I spotted Ronan, the vampire who killed my parents. He had orchestrated an attack on the Compound. All to get me alone to see if I had gotten my powers yet. Then Zayne had thrown some fireballs at him and we were making an escape when what felt like a thousand knives punctured my skull.
Then lights out.
I gasp and the wolf sits up, meeting my gaze.
“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” I ask.
The wolf nods. Well, that explains the wardrobe change and the never-ending woods. I hear sticks cracking to my left, so I turn my head in that direction. Whoever, or whatever, is following us, and it’s getting closer. My heart is beating hard in my chest. I’ve had dreams before, but none of them were like this. This feels so real.
I stand up and turn slowly in a circle, scanning the trees for any movement. Then something rushes past me, too quick for my eyes to follow, and knocks me onto the ground. It’s gone by the time I push myself up. Whatever this thing is, it’s extremely fast. I hear something to my right, so I grab my bow and the case of arrows and take off running after it, trying not to trip on tree roots, or my own two feet. The white wolf starts running alongside me.
