“Yes. Yes. I understand!”, Nicole cries.
“I want to make it known here and now that Nicole has forfeited this fight and that my release of power is in no way a challenge to the alpha or anyone else here.” I let go of the power and calm my breathing. As Nicole is attempting to gain her footing I hear a raucous laugh coming from the crowd that includes clapping.
…….. ……………………………………………………………..
“Very good my sweet girl. Thank you for the distraction. I do so appreciate it. Adeline, take care of your cousin for me.” Senior Hayworth says striding forward.
Adeline comes forward as well and with a swift move she snaps Nicole’s neck. I cringe. I didn’t want the girl dead necessarily.
“Will I have what I was promised now sir?” she asks wide eyed looking directly at Trent.
“In due time love. I now have you all in one place. Thank you Reegan for finding your parents for me. Now I can finish what I started seventeen years ago.” Senior says, facing me.
“Esme, you look just as beautiful as you did back then. You know you should have been mine. The weaver child should have been of my blood but that’s neither here nor there now. I’ll just have to take her as a mate.”
“Yeah, that’s never going to happen. You can’t force a bond, you egotistical piece of shit.” I sneer. “I would kill myself before I mated you anyway.”
"You really are magnificent young Reegan. I look forward to beating that snark right out of you.”
“Like I said before. Over my dead body or yours. I’ll never be your mate. I’ll never give you an heir.”
“It’s a shame you feel that way. I guess I’ll have to kill everyone that means anything to you then. You think you’re so strong don’t you? You can and will break.” He sneers.
“You’d actually kill your own son.” I state already knowing he would.
“My son? Ah. You never figured it out. Sophia didn’t let you in on that little secret. Asher isn’t my son. He’s a bastard from his mother’s infidelity. The only reason I didn’t kill him in the womb is because of who his true father is. He’s very powerful and I know I could use Asher to my gain.”
“How did you know my parents were still alive?” I ask.
“Richard’s elders aren’t very loyal. Other than to pussy. And I just so happen to know a woman with a very magical one.” He laughs.
“You’re disgusting!” I yell at him.
He starts to stalk toward me and I take a step back. My guys all come forward to flank me and I notice that even my parents and Bentley’s parents have stepped forward as well. Senior looks around and a huge smile blooms on his lips when he sees Bentley’s dad.
“My old friend Bender. It truly is good to see you alive. Nasty business, that killing you and your wife seventeen years ago. I am sorry for that but your wife wouldn’t give up the prophecy and the location of the girl.”
Bender grunts as his fists open and close at his sides. He’s a massive man. He’s at least 6’7” and he is all muscle. He also has horns on his demon head. That means he spent time in Hell at some point and the fact that he isn’t hiding them tells me he’s livid.
“Enough of the reunion. Reegan, you will come with me. You are the only thing standing in the way of everything and everyone you hold dear being destroyed.”
“The girl goes nowhere dragon.” Bender hisses.
“Very well. Remember you had a chance to change this.” Senior says looking directly at me.
The next thing I know, creatures come barreling out of the woods toward us. I turn to my dad, “You and mom get out of here. Now!”
I can see him wanting to argue but he thinks better of it when a creature goes for Mom. He grabs her and throws fire toward the creature. It takes the creature out giving him time to drag my mom away. Bentley’s mom follows closely behind.
His dad on the other hand is fighting by his side with a massive sword. Where the hell did that come from? He slices through every creature coming his way. He and Bent both are covered in blood. I look around for my other guys seeing them all in battles of their own. I feel someone grab my hair from behind. I twist away from their hold and come face to face with Adeline. “I told you that you’d regret ever coming to the academy.” She shrieks.
“The only thing I regret is not kicking the shit out of you the first day we met.”
She doesn’t wait for me to say anything else. She just shifts into her form. I never could tell what she was but now I see she’s a black panther. She may be a bitch but her panther form is beautiful. I would stop and admire her if it weren’t for the fact that I know she wants to rip my throat out.
She lunges for me and I roll out of the way. As I get back up she tackles me back to the ground snapping. I pull on my powers and use a push of air to throw her off. I move quickly to get up. She charges again. I lock my hands around her neck and dig them into her fur. I pull on my powers and release my claws. I feel them sink into her skin as she howls.
She thrashes her body around and knocks me off. I land with an ooomf, the breath knocked out of me. She takes advantage and comes at me again. This time, I pull on all my powers and concentrate hard. Wings shoot out of my back and Adeline stumbles a little but keeps coming in. I grab her around her middle and start to flap my wings.
As we lift into the air I can hear my guys yelling at me. I use my dragon strength to hold her. Senior is distracted looking at me so he doesn’t see the attack until it’s too late. With a scream, Asher takes his head. Adeline stops moving but I keep going higher.
“Do you think this fall will kill you or just break you irreparably? I goad. “Let’s find out.” I drop her.
She hits the ground with a sickening crunch. She doesn’t move. If she isn’t dead she will be forever crippled. Her bones will never heal normally after being shattered. I pull my wings in tight around me and zoom down to the ground.
With Senior dead, the creatures have started to retreat. There are several bodies scattered on the ground. I can see Jaymes looking around and then when his gaze stops, I look to where he is. Laying on the ground is his father. He isn’t moving. I rush over to him and kneel beside him.
“Richard?” I whisper.
“Take care of my son.” He says and then he takes his last breath.
All the wolf shifters howl in unison. It’s the cry of a broken pack. Gentle hands lift me from where I’m kneeling. All of a sudden everything goes silent. I look around and coming up the drive is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.
“You.” I say quietly.
“You know who I am?” she asks.
“I know you have been wreaking havoc all over my world and I plan to stop it.”
“How can you do that when you don’t even know who you’re going up against? I’ll give you a hint, I’m going to end this world and all the others and then I’m going to rule over it all.”
“Lilith. That’s not possible. You couldn’t have been released yet.”
“Oh you really are naïve. I never left. I’m the mother of supernaturals. How easy do you think it would be for me to create a doppelganger?” she laughs. “While I’ve been here setting plans in motion, she’s been there creating creatures that only show up in nightmares.”
“You won’t get away with any of this.” I say vehemently.
“You can’t stop me. But it will be fun when you try. There’s only one creature that could and they’re no longer on this Earth. Now I tire of this conversation. You killed my lover.” She directs to Asher.
“I have something special in mind for you but not yet. We need to follow the prophecy after all.”
She walks up to me and when she gets directly beside me she whispers in my ear. “I’d suggest you read that prophecy. See it actually states that you will help me end this world and bring the darkness through to hold dominion. It’s a shame really.” She runs a finger down the side of my face. With that she disappears.
As I make my way over to my guys, my legs give out and a severe pain radiates from my head all throughout my body as if I’m being electrocuted. The guys run to me. Jaymeson makes it to me first but he can’t stop me from falling to the ground. Everything goes black.
Chapter 27: Asher
What is it with Reegan and passing out? The only reason I’m not freaking out is because I know she’s still alive. It looked like she was being electrocuted out there. What did that blonde bitch do to her? Reegan on a battlefield was a sight to behold. She took on creature after creature, her powers quickly taking out all her adversaries. They didn’t stand a chance. She is a force.
When Adeline shifted, I felt a twinge of fear for Reegan. She’d never taken on a shifter but she handled it amazingly. I saw the look of shock on my father’s face when Reegan sprouted wings and then it morphed into a look of possession. He had every intention of taking her from us at any cost.
The cost was his death. Part of me want to break down and grieve for the loss of my father but he said I wasn’t even his. Was he telling the truth or was that just something he said to get to me? I needed to go to my mother. I couldn’t leave this to anyone else. They’d been married for too many years. And I need answers.
As I look around at the cots set up to deal with the injured my heart pangs for an entirely different reason. Jaymeson lost his dad tonight. His dad was trying to get to us to help when he was attacked from behind. Jaymeson now has to step up as alpha a lot sooner than any of us expected.
I have to step up to the council seat. There’s no one else that can do it. I look around my eyes automatically seeking out the cot where Reegan lies, resting peacefully. She’s surrounded by the guys and her parents. Bent’s mom and dad stand not far away to the side. I want to go to her but there’s something holding me back. If what Senior said is true, I am an interloper. The council seat doesn’t truly belong to me and I can’t help but feel like I don’t deserve to be anywhere near the guys that have become my brothers over the many years we’ve been together.
Bentley must see the hesitation in my eyes because he gets up and comes over to me. “Get your ass over there with the rest of us. She needs you too.”
“I can’t.” I whisper feeling ashamed.
“You can and you will. Senior was a prick. Don’t take anything he said to heart.” He responds.
“What If he was telling the truth?” I voice.
“Then we’ll find out but right now, we need you with us. Jaymeson is a wreck. Reegan is knocked out again. I need you man. I can’t go through all this shit without my brother by my side.” He pats me on the back and squeezes my shoulder. I walk over to where Reegan lays and stand with my family.
Family. I realize that this word truly encompasses what we have going on. We may be a bunch of fucking misfits, but we’re in this shit together. Each of made stronger by this beautiful woman that loves each of us. None of deserve it. None of us deserve her. She’s too good for us and this world yet she opened her heart to Bent when they were just children. She opened her heart to me when we were teenagers and only a dream and then she gave me another chance after I treated her like shit. She overlooked Trent’s past and offered him a future. She brought Jaymeson out of his shell and I’m sure Kalan would say she’s been a huge influence on him as well.
“Has anyone contacted Marcus? Alita and Dain?” I find myself asking.
“Yeah. They’re on their way. They crossed to portal an hour ago so they should be here anytime. Aldair and Maddie are on their way too.” Jaymeson says quietly.
“So that was Lilith?” Trent sneers. “I thought she was locked in the void or some shit.”
“Apparently not.” Kalan snorts.” What do we know about her?”
“Bentley, have you read the prophecy?” Mr. Morley interjects. “It’s all in there.”
“No, I haven’t. After you and mom, I just couldn’t read any of your journals. I have them hidden somewhere safe but I never fully looked at them.”
“We need those journals.” Mr. Morley says.
“When Reegan wakes up I’ll make my way back to Gatlinburg and get them.” Bentley responds.
“We’ll all head back.” Jaymeson states.
“You can’t Jaymes. You have to be here to take your place as alpha.” Kalan points out.
“No. Todd can cover for me for a bit. Reegan isn’t safe here and I won’t leave you all to deal with this without me.” Jaymes responds.
“You make a good point about Reegan’s safety. Esme and Max I’m sure you’ll be joining us?” I ask.
“Of course. I think it’s time we came out of hiding.”
Esme responds.
“We’ll be coming as well.” Mr. Morley adds.
A small smile graces Bentley’s lips at his dad’s declaration. I’m happy for him and for Reegan. And I’ll take all the help we can get. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.
“Where is she?” a booming voice sounds from the entrance. We all turn to see Marcus barrel in with Alita and Dain on his heels. When he takes in the room, he freezes. Alita runs into his back but it doesn’t seem to faze him as his eyes find Esme. It would be comical if the situation weren’t so dire.
“Baby girl.” He calls in awe.
“Daddy.” Esme says with tears in her eyes.
She runs to him and he grabs her up, wrapping his arms around her. I don’t think I’ve ever seen emotion on his face except for when he looks at Reegan but to see him now, you’d think he wears his heart on his sleeve. Tears stream down both their faces as they hold each other after being separated for so many years.
I look away to give them some modicum of privacy and I see something that makes me heart soar. Reegan is awake. Her eyes are locked on her grandfather and mom. She has a huge smile on her face and her tears are coming in sheets down her beautiful face. Her family is finally complete. I scoot over to her and place a kiss on her lips.
“Hey baby. I’m glad you’re ok.” I whisper.
No one else has been paying attention to the fact that she’s awake so I help her up to her feet. She doesn’t say a word as she gets her bearings and then runs into the fray of her grandfather and mom hugging. Max sees her at the moment she gets close and he turns gripping her in a massive hug. Marcus and Esme see her and they both join in the family reunion.
“Come on guys. Let’s give them a minute.” I say and we all leave the room.
It doesn’t take long for Aldair and Maddie to make it to us and we all sit around discussing our plan. We all agree that it’s safer on the Winthrope estate and we prepare ourselves to head back there. Marcus has already called for the jet that will take us home.
“Baby you ready to go?” I ask Reegan as we place our bags by the front door of the main estate.
“Yeah. I’m looking forward to being home. Tonight has been insane and I just want my bed and a pastry from Martha’s kitchen.” She sighs.
“Mom and dad will be there with coffee and pastries when we arrive Beauty.” Trent tells her placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Aldair is Calista ok?” Reegan asks. He hated leaving her, we can tell but he didn’t want to put her in danger bring her here.
“Yeah. She’s at the estate with Rodriq.” He answers.
“I bet he’s just loving that. He hates babysitting duties.” Reegan laughs.
“You’ve met your uncle?” Esme asks
. “My uncle? Rodriq is my tutor and one of the professors at the academy.” Reegan answers her confusedly.
Esme glares at Marcus and he has the good grace to look sheepish. “Actually.” He says.
“Wait, seriously. I’ve had an uncle with me my whole life and I didn’t know. Why?”
“To keep you safe.” Is all he explains.
Reegan looks a little surprised, a little pissed but a lot excited by the prospect of having another family member.
“Alright Winnie, let’s get you home.” I say as I take her hand kissing her fingers and leading her
toward the future.
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much for reading this second installment in Reegan’s story. I truly hope you enjoyed it. Book 3 is available for preorder now. Grab your copy here:
Thank you to Todd and Benny for putting up with my crazy while I create and for being my biggest supporters. I love you guys so much and everything I do is for you.
Thank you to my girls, Rebecca, Rose, Elizabeth and Joyce for having my back as I delve into the writing world. You will never know how much I appreciate you all.
About the Author
Angie is a native West Virginian and lives with her husband, son and seven fur-babies. She loves all things literature and you can usually find her lost in a book. When she isn’t reading or writing, she enjoys cooking and baking. She loves all things purple and truly believes sweet tea is life. She is also a huge supporter of homeschooling.
Want to know more about Angie and her future books, join her reader group:
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Sapphire Danger: The Weaver Chronicles Book 2 Page 16