by Jaimi Wilson
"Honestly, I got some news about my birthright lately that might explain it. But don't worry, I don't intend to ever make anyone bow to me."
He cocks his head, looking perplexed but drops the matter when he sees the guys herding me out the door. I shuffle forward and wave back to him. "Thank you again," I call over my shoulder as I'm forced outside by Liam’s looming form behind me.
The moment I'm free from the doorway, I stomp away from the four of them and begin making my way back towards the pack house, content to let them suffer a little.
About halfway between the clinic and the pack house, a prickling sensation races up my spine. I freeze and all four of my mates stop, sensing the change in me. They go on guard around me, searching for whatever threat I sense. I look around, suddenly noticing that none of the other wolves are out and about, which in itself is unusual. Most of them get up at the crack of dawn to start performing whatever tasks need to be done and there were plenty of people about on our way to the doctor’s cabin, as early as it was then.
"What is it, Jasmine?" Jenkins asks, moving in front of me protectively. Liam comes to stand at my right, with Josh to my left and Benji behind me. They are making sure I’m covered from every angle because they can tell I sense something is off.
"Something's wrong," I mumble, trying to figure out what it is I’m feeling. I open myself to my magic and the earth begins to rumble beneath my feet, the sky turning dark as I call the clouds to me. That, combined with the booming sound of thunder overhead serves as a warning to whatever threat is out there as to what they are messing with.
"I don't know who you are, or what your purpose is here, but you picked the wrong pack to mess with," I call out to whatever is out there waiting. Lightning strikes the ground in front of us, my magic giving the unknown threat one final warning.
I cock my head, a low whistle-like sound registering just before I feel a sharp pinch in my neck. "What the fuck?" I reach up and pull the offending object out, realizing it’s a dart of some kind. All of my mates growl angrily and start looking for the shooter. That’s when the vampire energy flares within in me, recognizing others with the same energy, seconds before they begin to swarm from the forest. But their energy is not the only kind I sense.
"Watch out!" I scream at Josh, just as a vampire lunges for him with its fangs bared. Thankfully, my magic is quick to react and lighting shoots from my hands, throwing the vampire back.
I drop to my knees, my head feeling fuzzy. Then I feel another sting, this time in my back. Time seems to slow as I watch my mates try their best to protect me, but it looks hopeless. There are hundreds of vampires. How the fuck are there so many of them? And what the hell have they drugged me with?
I struggle to stand, swaying slightly as I fight against the drugs. I try desperately to call my magic. Only a small trickle comes up, but it’s not enough to do any harm. I watch on in horror as all of my mates are overwhelmed by vampires. No matter how much of a fight they put up, there are just too many for them.
A short dark-haired man emerges from the crowd of vampires, holding a dart gun and wearing a cocky smirk. I can tell by the way the vampires back off, this is the one in charge of them.
When he gets within a few feet of me, he fires a third dart. I lift my hand sluggishly to defend myself, but that only serves to make the dart hit my hand, instead of my body. The drugs are quick to take effect regardless and I begin to sway.
Before I can fall, though, the stranger catches me. "Sorry, lovely, for all of this. It was just the only way to get close to you so we could talk."
The small amount of magic I can still access searches out, trying to recognize what kind of supe he is. When the answer registers in my mind, I gasp in shock. The last thing I think before the drugs knock me out is, How the hell is a human leading an army of vampires?
Twenty
I wake and before my eyes even open, I can sense that there are vampires and humans in the room, but no sign of my mates.
Memories of what happened come rushing back and I leap up from the bed I’m lying on. I assume a defensive position, trying to prepare for whatever might happen next.
The walls start to shake with my rage, proof that my system has purged whatever drugs they shot me full of, giving me back my full magic. I will make all of them pay for taking what's mine.
I glare at the man hovering near the door, recognizing him as one who caught me when I fell. "Where are my mates?" I seethe, the walls begin to shake harder with my growing fury.
He smirks with false bravado, trying to hide his fear but I see it anyway. "Your men are being restrained while we talk."
I laugh loudly into the room and it echoes off the sterile white walls. They think they can use my mates as leverage to force me to talk? Wrong fucking move, assholes.
After a moment, I stop laughing and level the man with a steady glare, a small smirk on my lips. "I don't know who you think you are, but the only thing that is going to happen is your death." I take a step forward menacingly, the level of fear in the room rising quickly. It brings me a small amount of joy to see them all afraid of me. Maybe this will be a lesson to them. "You came to my home, attacked me and my mates and then drugged me!” If anything happened to my baby because of their actions, I am going to do more than show them my power. They will all suffer at my hands.
"We had no choice!" A vampire to the right of the human speaks up.
My gaze snaps to him and I narrow my eyes. "Really? You had no choice? How about picking up a phone, or walking up to me and saying, ‘Hey, do you mind if we take just a minute of your time?' I guarantee if you had, I would have been more willing to talk than I am right now. The question is, do I have to kill you to get out of here or are you going to be smart and take me to my mates?"
"Maybe we should just kill her?" I hear whispered from behind me.
I spin, raising my hands as I do. Then, before anyone can move, I use my magic to grab everyone’s weapons, pulling them from their holsters. With a loud clatter, they all land at my feet in a pile. Some are dart guns while others are real firearms.
I stare intently at the man who suggested they kill me as I use my magic to burn the weapons into a pile of twisted metal and plastic. I keep a shield around it as I do, just on the off chance one of the bullets goes off in the intense heat.
In less than minute, their weapons are nothing but a puddle at my feet. I look up at them, smiling broadly. "Right, now that that's taken care of, anyone still wanting to kill me?"
The human in charge looks at me in disbelief a minute longer before turning to the door, as if to leave. He turns the handle a few times, then pulls on it with all his strength. I smile in satisfaction when it doesn't budge. Did he really think I would let them leave without knowing where my mates were?
He whips back around, leveling a glare on me. "You trapped us."
I lift one shoulder, giving a small shrug. "You did it first."
The vampire moves to stand in front of the human, trying to take my attention off his colleague. I begrudgingly meet his gaze. "Please, Gaia, we need you to stop this madness. You will destroy us all if you keep going the way you are."
Gaia? He thinks I'm my mother? I guess we look similar, but I just never thought I'd be mistaken for her.
I open my mouth to answer, but before I can say anything, the human pulls a gun from a hidden pocket and fires. I watch, helpless to stop the bullet that flies straight at my stomach. But before it can make contact, gold light explodes out of me, throwing the bullet and all of the people in the room back as my baby defends himself.
I crack my neck and stalk over to the human. Using my magic to grasp him around the throat, I lift him up off the ground and against the wall, his lengths dangling in the air. "You just tried to kill my child. For that you will suffer."
I'm feeling suddenly hungry from all the magic use and figure feeding on him would be both an adequate punishment and a good way to show them all what I'm capable of. I hold his body c
ompletely still with my magic so he can’t fight back. Then I pull his wrist to my mouth. Before I go further, I lock my gaze on the vampire a few feet away, who’s slowly getting to his feet. He has a questioning look on his face, unsure of what I’m doing. Then I strike, and gasps fill the room.
I ignore them all as I feed, using my magic to keep me shielded from any potential attacks, just in case the humans or vampires decide to get brave while I feed from their leader. The feeding isn't intimate like I imagine it would be with my mates. No, this is meant to inflict pain.
Once I’m full, I release the man’s wrist and step away, letting his body fall to the ground. He's pale as the moon herself as he looks up at me, wide eyed and uncomprehending. "What are you?"
I smirk, bending down to stare directly into his eyes. "I am the daughter of the earth, granddaughter of the sun and moon. The person who could either save you all or reign destruction on the world. So know this. If you ever, and I mean fucking ever, touch me or mine again, you will be gone from this world before you can even blink."
Then I straighten and turn to the vampire. "I am not my mother. My name is Jasmine. Gaia has lost the fucking plot but my mates and I are going to take care of her. I suggest if you still want to talk that you sort shit out with your men and then come meet me at my pack." With that, I turn and walk away, heading straight to the door. I open it to reveal a long dark corridor.
"Where are you going?" the vampire calls out after me. Then when I don’t answer, he hurries after me as I start making my way down the corridor. He sticks close to me but I don't sense any threat from him.
"I am going to find my mates." As I say that, I turn the corner and feel a pull in their direction. I follow that feeling, beginning to move faster out of a desire to see my mates.
We walk in silence for a few minutes, the vampire still following. I come to a t-junction and turn right, trusting the connection I have with my mates. I walk past many rooms, all of which look like observation rooms. Each has a window made of thick glass so you can see into them and a metal door with a fingerprint scanner.
I walk along the hall slowly, peering in each window until I come upon a room larger than the others. Inside are my mates, all of them looking worse for wear, sporting bruises and dried blood.
Son of a motherfucking bitch. Rage pours through me, and with it comes the crackle of lightning, which strikes the building. The vampire beside me jumps away, his eyes filled with horror. I channel the lightning within me and use it to blast the wall apart because I don't know whose handprint I would need to open the door and I’m not willing to take the time to find out.
The wall explodes inward, sending dust and pieces of the wall flying everywhere. My mates jump to their feet, but the moment the dust clears, they see it’s me. They all relax and rush over, swarming me. The vampire who followed me is just out of sight, and my guys have yet to notice his presence.
"You, okay Jazzy? How about the baby?"
I smile at Benji, who pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. "We're fine," I tell him.
My words seem to reassure him and Benji hands me to Jenkins, who hugs me a little more delicately. He doesn't speak, but he doesn't have to. I can feel his worry as if it were my own. "Hey, I'm here. I'm safe," I soothe, before pulling back to give him a kiss. It starts out gentle, but as he relaxes it grows heated.
After a long moment, Josh snatches me away from Jenkins, pulling me into his arms. He smiles down at me and I know he means for it to come across as playful, but I can see the concern in his eyes. "You are not allowed to faint ever again. Do you hear me?"
"I didn't faint. They tranquilized me. I think they underestimated how fast the drugs would leave my system, though."
"I hope you killed them all," he growls out angrily.
"Nah, I didn't, but only because they thought I was my mother. That’s why they kidnapped us and did what they did. One of the vampires wanted to kill me, though, so naturally I took their weapons from them and destroyed them. Of course a human got cocky and had a hidden weapon. After he tried to shoot me, and the bullet went straight for the baby, well let’s just say I got a little ragey. They should consider themselves very lucky that this little guy in here has his own magic, because if he had been hurt, none of them would be alive right now.”
Josh doesn't get a chance to respond because upon hearing that, Liam shifts, surprising all of us. The vampire, who until now had been staying quiet and out of view, moves just enough to catch Liam’s attention and that's all the encouragement his wolf needs.
His wolf takes off down the hall, chasing after the vampire who followed me, with the intention of ripping the man apart.
I have to stop him. I know they kidnapped us and tried to kill me, but only because they thought I was Gaia. We share a goal, though, and if we can find a way to work together, maybe we can stop my mother once and for all. But if Liam kills them, then we’ll be down possible allies, so I can’t let that happen.
I race out of the room after Liam, but then suddenly freeze when something clicks in my mind. He must be the baby’s father. That’s why he's been so quick to anger when it comes to anything concerning me or the baby, and he is being more protective of us. How the hell didn't I pick up on this sooner? And if I’ve figured it out, then I’m sure the other three have too. But does Liam know? Or is he just as much of a slave to his instincts as I am when it comes to the baby?
"Liam, help me," I call down the hallway before he has a chance to turn down the corner. I pretend to fall into a faint, my legs crumbling underneath me. With his protective instincts riding him as hard as they are, I know nothing will override them except for me getting hurt.
I stay on the floor and keep my eyes closed, thankful when I hear him rushing back to me. He shifts back to human form and scoops me up carefully in his arms.
I open my eyes and grin up at him, revealing that I’m perfectly fine. He stares down at me, gaping in disbelief. I think for a second he actually considered dropping me on my ass, but then decided against it, unsure if the fall would hurt me or not.
"Sorry, but I needed my Alpha back. You were acting like a complete animal, all ‘must kill,’ so I tricked you. But I really do need you. I'm tired and I need my mate."
He lets out a heavy sigh and holds me tighter, before kissing me softly. When we part, he looks at me with a worried smile. "You are never allowed to get taken again, understand? I think that took ten years off my life."
"I won't. They took us by surprise, but it won't ever happen again." Then I look over my shoulder at the sound of my other three mates approaching. "Now how about we go back and check to make sure the pack is okay? I have no idea what happened to the wolves when we were taken, but I'm worried."
They all nod in agreement, and Josh, Jenkins and Benji reach out to touch me so I can teleport us back to the pack. Lightning flashes and we reappear in the same spot we were attacked, which at first glance, appears to be packed with wolves. I have to admit, it’s pretty cool having magic that creates such a theatrical entrance.
When I take in the scene before me, though, my anger begins to rise. Beside the pack house, my sister and father are each tied to a metal pole. I gasp when I see Liam’s Beta, Mick, pull back a fist, intending to punch my sister in the face. Before it can connect, I attack with a bolt of lightning, which sends him flying.
I stride angrily forward and everyone parts to give me a wide berth. Liam is at my side, his gaze fixed on Mick, who looks pissed as he climbs to his feet.
"What the hell was that for?" he demands angrily, getting up in my face.
Wow, it’s like this guy has a death wish. You'd think after that small display of power he would realize he stood no chance against me, but he has an arrogance about him, something that I noticed when I first met him.
Liam growls low in his throat, stepping right up into his Beta's face. "What the fuck were you doing? Do you know who that girl is to my mate?" he demands, pointing in my sister’s direction. Mick remain
s quiet dropping his head in shame, his Alpha’s words seeming to sink in. "She is my mate’s sister. And that man you have strung to the other pole is her father, who also happens to be the man in charge of the Soldiers! What the fuck are you playing at?!”
"Well what the hell was I supposed to think? We saw what they did yesterday. And then all of a sudden we were attacked and you got taken. I was only doing my job as Beta."
Liam growls even louder, getting angry on my behalf. I place a soothing hand on his arm. "He’s right, Liam. He was just trying to protect the pack with you gone, which was well within his rights." Then I turn to the Beta in question, narrowing my eyes. "That being said, no one touches my sister or father, except for me. If they are truly a threat, then it will be me that deals with them. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Alpha," he says, bowing his head slightly to me.
"Good. Now, I need you to get your best fighters ready. We're about to have some visitors," I explain, taking charge. Then I make my way over to my sister. While we’re not exactly close, having just met, I really feel for her. She was raised similarly to me, only she was used by our mother as a pawn. Gaia purposefully pitted her against me because of the power I was born with. I have no idea why Delilah doesn't have the same power I do, considering we've got the same parents, but I plan to ask Selene and Helios if I ever see them again.
"Are you okay?" I ask Delilah, undoing her bindings and helping her stand. She has a large bruise on her face, which makes me frown. I cup her cheek, pushing healing energy towards her.
She sighs gratefully, looking at me in awe like she's never been shown kindness before. The sight of it breaks my heart.
"I will be okay,” she says quietly. “Thank you."
I let go of her cheek and move over to my father. He looks a little worse for wear but gives no sign of pain as I untie and heal him. Once he is fully healed, he gets up and starts to walk away from me, but I stop him, grabbing his arm firmly. "We need to talk."
