by JK Cooper
“Hey, they’re cute right?” Bubba said, laughing with obvious relief.
“Deshawn,” Gennesaret said, “we will have that discussion I mentioned earlier.”
“The one you talked about when you were naked?”
“We’ll also discuss maturity.”
Bubba’s smile disappeared. “Yes, ma’am. Should I invite my momma?”
“Most assuredly not,” Gennesaret said with a soft smile. “Do not leave until Elias and I return.”
It was then that a hunter, lying slumped in a corner and presumed dead, weakly raised a pistol. Elias saw the motion in his peripheral vision but did not register the danger until he heard the shot. But Gennesaret had seen the action and put herself in front of her husband. The silver bullet struck her back. Gennesaret fell forward into Elias, and he caught her.
“Genn?” Elias felt his throat constrict.
Her eyes blinked wide. Her mouth gasped for breath.
Elias held her, kneeling to the floor as her legs weakened.
“Genn!” Elias roared, calling her name as her husband and as her Alpha.
Her eyelids fluttered, responding to his call. She found her voice. “I’m okay.” She actually smiled with what Elias knew to be nervous relief.
He patted her back, gently, searching for the wound he knew was there. He found it, and felt the warm wetness. The wound was right at the top of her back, right at the spinal cord. His fingers came away bloody.
“You’re not okay,” he said. “You’ve been shot in the spine.”
“It’s just shock,” she said, blinking. “It was just a graze.”
Elias shook his head, the muscles in his forehead contracted with worry. “No, I saw—”
“Bloody Hades,” Sadie said with hoarse amazement. Elias looked up and saw Sadie pointing. The bullet, its tip flattened, hung in the air, spinning.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. C.,” Bubba said with a strained voice. “I couldn’t catch it fast enough. Hope I got it before it did too much damage.”
Sadie turned with utter astonishment to Bubba. Deep lines of concentration formed in his forehead, collecting streams of sweat before it spilled over down his cheeks. His eyes were locked on to the bullet.
“What?” he said, obviously feeling all stares on him, but not breaking his focus. “Y’all ain’t never seen The Matrix?”
“Deshawn,” Gennesaret said, a bit breathless. “You’re a PK.”
“What’s that? A player killer?”
“Psychokinetic.”
The hunter, obviously also stunned, raised his pistol again. Before he could pull the trigger, the bullet zipped through the air and struck him in the forehead. His arm fell limp and the gun clattered on to the ground.
“I don’t know where y’all get off calling me psycho,” Bubba said, wiping the sweat from his face. “Y’all get naked and turn into dogs.”
Gennesaret, still a little shaky, stood. Elias helped her up and felt her back, gingerly. He did indeed discover her wound to be superficial. It had already started healing. He exhaled deep relief as he raised his head, eyes to the ceiling. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“I’m right here, Mr. C.”
Elias chuckled. “Deshawn, how long have you known?”
“About y’all? Not until tonight. I thought I was the only freak in town. I’m starting to wonder if I should call animal protection.”
“No, about your abilities.”
Bubba shrugged. “Ever since my balls dropped and I got fat.”
Gennesaret grimaced. “Yes, we’re definitely going to have that talk still.” Then, she hugged Bubba and held the embrace for several long seconds. “Thank you.”
“Seriously, people, my stomach is rumbling. You know how much of my metabolism it takes to deflect and stop bullets.”
“The hallway,” Sadie said softly. Her eyes took in Bubba, looking him up and down, her mouth slightly opened. “Where . . . did you go?”
Bubba patted his torso and stomach. His Wilfork jersey suddenly appeared three sizes too big. Pulling up the front of his shirt, he knocked a fist against rock hard abs. “Like I said, people, I need to refuel. Takes a lot out of me.” His stomach grumbled loudly. Elias saw Sadie blinking rapidly.
“So,” she said, more breathlessly than she would have probably liked. “You’re a PK?”
Bubba shrugged broad and square shoulders. “Guess so.”
Sadie blinked again. “OMG. That’s . . . so freaking hot.”
Mareus leaped off the bow of the sleek speed boat just before its hull met the Gulf Coast beach, and scanned the vacant shoreline. The familiar sting came as he called upon his wolf’s—Viersin’s—eyes to give him greater sight. He curled his toes as his bare feet sank into the wet sand.
So this is what Texas feels like.
In truth, it was the first time he had ever been to this hemisphere in his centuries of life. Odd, that, but he supposed he felt rooted to the land now called Europe, where he had arrived after fleeing Alsvoira. He had failed to see the Advent to fruition on that world. He would not fail here.
Even past midnight he could still feel the thick humidity in the air. It was like holding a warm cloth over his mouth as he breathed.
Ascension is near. Yes, that higher communion between humans and werewolves could now happen. In one arm, he clutched the Isluxua, now freed from its magical preservation capsule. The ancient book held the secrets of the Immortal Wolves, though translating the ancient language, even with Viersin’s help, had progressed frustratingly slowly.
Still, so much has been revealed . . . He gently rubbed—caressed—the edges of the Isluxua’s brittle pages.
Athena, his daughter, landed next to him on the beach in her seductive human form, followed by Otto. The former German Alpha stood a little too close to her. Tepid waves washed over their ankles, and Mareus felt the sand get pulled away beneath his feet by the undertow. Two other speed boats, each ferrying six Lycans in human form, anchored on the beach.
“Why did we come here, my Alpha Prime?” Otto asked. “We should have joined the rest of the pack invading through Canada.”
“I feel them,” Mareus said. “My . . . parents.”
“Daeglan and Thyra?” Athena asked.
“After a manner.”
“Will Skotha and Eira have forgotten Alsvoira, as you had, Father?” Athena asked.
It was true. Mareus had forgotten his home world as he journeyed here through the crystal portal of Alsvoira. The portal had enshrouded his mind in some kind of veil, stealing his memories. Viersin, his wolf, had not forgotten, but had slumbered for centuries before awakening within him. That also seemed a repercussion of the crystal portal’s usage. For ages, he had been a rogue, a freak that could not die. No family. No understanding of who he was, of his birthright. Oh, grand were the revelations that flooded him when Viersin had awakened! As was the violence.
Mareus felt the longing in his daughter to see where her father had come from, the world of the Immortal Wolves. She would never see it, of course. He had left it no more than a smoldering rock in vengeance.
“No,” Mareus said. “Skotha and Eira will not have forgotten. They have been in a type of discarnate hibernation, waiting for their humans to be reborn. And . . .” Mareus paused. “They have found each other. Their bond beckons to me as their son.”
Daeglan and Thyra had perished long ago, killed by hunters on Earth shortly after their Immortal Wolves had awakened. Their control had been . . . weak. Though reborn, they were not really his parents any longer.
“But their bond is not yet as it once was. It is young. Fragile, still.”
Athena smiled wickedly. “Bonds can be broken.”
THE END OF AWAKENING
The story continues in
BOOK 2 OF THE SUMMER OMEGA SERIES
ASCENSION
Acknowledgments
Many people are a critical part of any story’s creation. To each of these, we extend heartfelt thanks. To our beta re
aders, who helped us shape the story and avoid some pot holes. To Rachel, whose eagle eyes caught even the most minor of typos. To Renee, for anxiously demanding (sometimes under threat of violence) more of the story as it unfolded. To Deranged Doctor Design, for a killer cover. To Kate Reading, for bringing the story to life magnificently in audio form. To September C. Fawkes, editor extraordinaire, for her deep insights into the characters, the plot, and the execution of excellent storytelling. To the folks at Audible Studios, for taking a chance on a new adventure in a new genre for us as authors.
About the Authors
JK Cooper is a husband and wife writing team. They write paranormal romance and romantic urban fantasy. After nearly two decades of marriage and four children, they have plenty to write about. When not writing about werewolves and the end of the world, they enjoy spending time with their family, traveling, reading,
making fun of social media, and outdoor power sports
(and watching Glimore Girls reruns … well, K does).
They live in Utah with their four daughters and two massive Akitas.
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The Summer Omega Series on Twitter?
Shelby Brooks @SummerOmega
Sadie Chandler @redhairbites
Bubba @Bubba_Tubba