My Rock Forever

by Carmalisa Ford

  “Jay and Cassie can take you to the mall so you can pick out everything you need. Don’t worry about the pricing. Put it all on our tab at the store.”

  We all load up into Jay’s car as we head to the nearest mall now, like most women. I do not mind all the shopping and browsing at the store for what I want and need. Or just to window shop, but I draw the line when my boyfriend is bouncing down the store isles on big bouncy ball things. Or pushing every button on all the try-me Christmas toys.

  He is more of a child in a grown man’s body with this kind of stuff. We got all the trimmings needed for the Christmas dinner and decorations, so I could deck the packhouse with a blue and silver theme for this year’s holiday. If I am to be a part of this family and pack, this will become a tradition to be done every year, maybe a different color theme but a tradition all the same.

  Besides, who would not enjoy decorating, making the house look pretty and festive. While the fragrance of pine and peppermint fill the house. But one thing for sure I am saying no to is a turkey: I will not have turkey cooked in my house for any holiday. It is too dry and nasty. I prefer a ham glazed with honey and brown sugar. Damn, that sounds good.

  I have a surprise for Jay to give to him either Christmas morning or save it and tell him when the ball drops as we bring in the new year together. In the stories, you hear growing up that werewolves and Vampires cannot produce children together. But hey, who said they do not celebrate Christmas either? Where there is a will, there is a way. As my grandfather once told me, you can do anything once you set your mind to it. All it takes is the strength and know-how to get your goal in progress.

  You can already see all the warm smiles on the kids’ faces as we pick out all the decorations that they like. And let us not forget the snacks that will get devoured during the Christmas Night marathon. That I plan to talk to Jay’s parents about having just so we can entertain the kids.

  I kept getting the feeling of someone staring at me while sitting with the kids at one table in the food court. I look around the crowd to see if I notice anyone following us. All I see is my mother sitting with a strange man and some other people. What the hell does she want now?

  Jay soon joins us, carrying the food that he had ordered for all of us. Who knew that the kids could eat so much? Yes, they are growing kids’ plus with the added wolf or 2 in the mix, we would consider the amount of food they inhale artery clogging.

  “Shana, what’s wrong?” one kid had asked me. I can’t shake the feeling that something monstrous was about to happen. And right as I go to answer, a voice interrupts me.

  “Excuse me, but my mother sent me over here to see if you could take a bit of time out of your day to come and talk to her?” Asked the man who stood beside me.

  “Who exactly is your mother?” I asked.

  The strange man looks over at the woman sitting in the booth not too far from our table. “You can go tell your mother she can go drop off a cliff and plummet to her death. I have nothing to say to her now or ever.”

  “Why are you being so harsh to her? What did she ever do to you?”

  “Really, you’re going to ask me that?” I asked the man as I stood up and marched over to our mother’s table. Stopping in front of her table, I cleared my throat, causing her to look up at me. “What do you want?” I asked her as the friend sitting with her told me not to be rude to her.

  “I’ll be as rude as I want towards her. She should count her blessings that I even came over here. Because, to be honest, I wasn’t planning on it. You didn’t tell them, did you? Who I actually am, and why do you want to bug the hell out of me suddenly? “

  “Yeah, so let me be the one to clear things up and tell them for you: I am her deep dark secret that she hid away in another country. You understand the meaning of the words coming out of my mouth. I am her daughter, dumbass. Now I have said the secret word that shall never get exposed to anyone. So once again, I am going to ask you what the hell do you want from me?”

  “I just wanted to see you. Is that too much to ask?” The woman had told me.

  “If I had actually believed you and wanted to see you, then I guess not. But I don’t want to see or even talk to you. I just came to clear up some misleading and forgotten information that you neglected to tell your little friends.”

  The more I stood there talking to her, the more irritated I got. I seriously need to get away from her and leave this store.

  “Shana, I never realized that what I did would hurt you so much.”

  “Look you didn’t hurt me by giving me up. If it would have been to give me a better life, because you were young and felt you couldn’t raise me. And gave me to someone else I would have understood. What hurt me is the fact that you choose power over me. What the hell did you expect? That I would come running in your open arms? Never going to happen in this lifetime or the next. Live with the family and the choice you made, and I will do the same for myself.”

  With that, I turned around and walked back to the table where I left Jay and his little brother and sister.

  “Jay, you need to get me the hell out of here. Before I go back over there and rip her head off her shoulders.”

  He knew I was not lying, so we left just in time for me to calm my beast down, who was already lurking just under the surface.

  The more I think about it, most of my outburst gets attributed to my hormones now. I may be more like a month along but can’t be sure. This is a whole new area that was never uncovered yet.

  It is time I have a talk with Jay’s mother on this subject before I even think about telling him. The thought of having a little Jay running or mini-me is already pulling at my heartstrings. I wonder what he will say when he finds out? I hope he will be just as happy as I will be.

  Chapter 22 –More Than A Vampire

  We got up, threw away all of our trash, and headed back out to the car. Jay put all the bags into the trunk, started the car soon after we were driving back down the road, heading back to the packhouse.

  “Shana, what was going on back at the food court in the mall?” he asked me.”

  “Oh, that my so-called mother, wanting to reunite or try to. I went over to set some things straight with her. She failed to tell her new family who I was and why I didn’t want to have anything to do with her.”

  I know they taught us, growing up, we need to respect our parents as we only have one set. But that’s not the case with all the kids who grew up without the love of natural parents. These children grow up resenting the birth parents. That was how they raised us in the human world.

  But I am not a human. I am a supernatural being; we can care less about respecting individuals who did us dirty. In the mythical world, we are more animalistic and known to kill people who mistreat and break our trust.

  After parking the car in front of the packhouse, I handed all the bags except for one. To Jay and the kids to take in the house, this last bag was a secret. And I didn’t need Jay to look at yet. I already know how nosy he can be. When I made it back inside the house, I snuck upstairs with no one knowing and hid the bag in the far back of the bathroom closet where I know he won’t find it.

  I heard Jay’s mom calling for me, so I headed back downstairs to see what she wanted. They threw all the bags that had Christmas decorations all over the floor. Something tells me the kids got a little too excited. I know what we are going to be doing over the next 3 days.

  I watched Jay string the lights up on the tree while the kids dug through the decorations, looking for their favorites among the newfound collection. Stepping into the kitchen, I searched through the cupboards for the hot chocolate, marshmallows, and enough cups for everyone. Filled bowls up with hot buttered popcorn. Along with the goody bags that I had made up for the kids when we got back from the store, this was my way to say thank you for them accepting so much. Going back into the living room, I saw they had the tree all done except for the star, but no one was in there. I wonder where everyone went as I yelled for
Jay.

  Loud voices coming from the porch sent me in search of the culprits whom I had found on the terrace, a girl I did not know, was outside talking to Casey. Stepping out the front door at the tail end of the conversation, I overheard the girl asking Casey about me. It kind of surprised me when Casey told her to mind her own damn business. “Ana, you’re not a part of this family, so who Jay brings home to meet us isn’t any of your business.”

  “Yes, it is as a member of this pack I have a right to know who she is.”

  “Ana, yes, when Jay is ready to tell everyone who she is, then everyone will know. Now leave just because you warmed his bed a time or two doesn’t give you the right to be all up in the mix.”

  “Come on, Casey, for all you know, the girl could be a gold-digging, power-seeking leech.”

  “Ana, you’re a fine one to talk. You’ve warmed every bed in this pack. I don’t want Shana to meet you on her own. This is something Jay needs to handle with you two. You weren’t in any kind of relationship with him. All you ever did was to relieve the pent-up sexual frustration he had. I don’t know what you did in that room and don’t want to know. But one thing you will not do is come over here and ruin that girl’s happiness. Now leave before my mom sees you here. She has already forbidden you from stepping foot on our porch.”

  “I know you don’t want to end up in one of the underground cells all because you can’t follow your Luna direct order. All members are to be at the field for training. Why aren’t you there, anyway? Don’t even say you were worried because that is a brazen lie you were hoping to catch my brother by himself.”

  After hearing everything, I stepped outside. “Did I not just hear Casey tell you to leave? Then why are you still standing here? Be on your way before I get mad and throw you out of here myself.”

  “Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?” Ana asked, sneering at me. This girl is pissing me off.

  “Casey, where is your brother anyway? Better yet, where is your mom? I need to talk to her.”

  “Shana, you can find her over by the lake with the kids. They all wanted to go play for a little while.”

  Heading to the lake, I stopped taking in the scenery as I enjoyed the feeling of cool crisp air flowing through my hair and touching my cheeks like a baby’s kiss. It smelled so good. Hearing a slight shaking in the bushes just ahead of me made me stop and strain my ears harder, trying to see where it came from. A brown wolf with yellow eyes came charging at me. Using my power, I sent a few fireballs at the wolf, causing it to growl louder.

  The loud growling was a signal for other wolves to come running over to the fight. A massive red wolf ran at me. I felt a surge of power coming off the red wolf. Whoever he was must have been of high rank. It was the only one omitting the authoritative force of strength. Before he could attack me, an even grander Black wolf with White streaks came busting in the middle, turned to attack the red wolf. The black wolf’s eyes had changed as they fogged over, seeming to be in the middle of mind linking.

  Because the red wolf just stopped mid-attack and sat on his mind legs. Going behind a tree on four paws, the black wolf changed back into human form and pissed off Jay as he walked over to me, turned around and told all the wolves to shift back to human form. Waiting for them to change back, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his chest, brushing his lips against my forehead, “Are you ok, Shana?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s a good thing you got here as soon as you did; I didn’t want to send your men to the depths of hell.”

  “Alpha, why did you stop us from attacking this vampire? She attacked one of our members.”

  “You will not be attacking this woman now or ever. And she isn’t a vampire; she is a lot more than that. She is the Royal Heiress to the throne, making her your queen and my mate.”

  Excited whispers surrounded us as many of the females came up. Offering their respect and apologize for their part in the attack.

  “Jay, can you grab the wolf that started this all attack, to begin with?”

  “Jessie, do you know which one it was?”

  “Yes, Alpha, it was Ana. She was the one that sent a howl for backup. We didn’t know she had attacked Luna first.”

  “Put her in the deepest cell we have for two weeks. That shall be her punishment for attacking my Wife.”

  It’s a good thing she didn’t break any skin on me or hurt the baby. I'm pretty sure once Jay finds out about the baby, he will change the punishment to include death.

  We all went back to the house, and I went to find Jay’s mother while the rest went off to other parts of the house. Some watch T.V in the game room and others back to their bedrooms.

  “Linda, can we talk somewhere quiet? There’s something that I need to tell you.”

  “What is it?” She asked me as I gave her a gift-wrapped box.

  “Linda, this is an early Christmas present for you to open; I hope you like it.”

  When I gave the box to Linda, she started crying. “Shana, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

  “Linda, just open the box. You’re going to love it.”

  Chapter 23 Inside Job

  “I have a question, Linda. What do you think about hosting a Christmas party for the kids? I know most packs do not celebrate Christmas after all. It is a human holiday, but this is something that both my brother Nick and I did growing up. It might be a good thing to do for the kids, you know? To get their minds off of the recent attacks and the other missing children. Even if it is only for a few hours, it will still bring a bit of joy and excitement for them.”

  “We can do a PJ party for the kids with hot chocolate, mini Christmas Rice Crispy treats, and different trail mix for the children. Have some adults go buy random toys, wrap and hand them out to the children. Now for all the pack members, I was thinking we can do a secret Santa exchange. And one massive holiday dinner everybody can take part in.”

  “Shana, this sounds like a great idea for everyone to do something unit. We usually ended up always doing things only with the immediate family. You could say we have forgotten that packs work best as a family dynamic. If the member of the pack always relies on each other during battle. Shouldn’t everybody come together when there’s not a battle? We can run it by Jay when he gets back in here from training with the rest of the warriors. I have no clue why I never thought of starting a wonderful family tradition. One that will get taught from wolf to wolf offspring as they get older. Teach them something good for once and not all negative stuff about being wolves.”

  While waiting for Jay to come back from training the warriors, I spent some time putting the finishing touches of the decorations up. Making the house look and feel like Christmas in my way. All Jay and his siblings had done was the tree. I had placed snowflake peel and stickers on the windows.

  And wrapped blue and gold garland on the banister and strung blue lights up on all the windows. Adding to the finishing touches were the Christmas teddy bears. With the names of all, Jay’s family, sitting on top of the fireplace.

  “Shana, this looks excellent. The children will absolutely love it when they come in from school and see all the work you did. Making this place look really festive and comfortable for all of them.”

  “Do you think they will like everything, Jackson?”

  “Yes, I am sure of sweetheart, this is the first time they have ever been able to enjoy something like this. To be honest, they need this for the last month we have been fighting constant attacks in the middle of the night. They take children out of their beds when our warriors are out fighting.”

  “There has to be an inside mole leaking when the warriors are out training and away from the house. How else would they know when the fighters and Alpha are away? To enter and take the kids without setting off an alarm. It’s not just our offspring being taken. Children belonging to vampires are being taken as well. And no one has a clue how or why this is happening.” I told him.

  “Maybe I can talk
to Margaret. She is the lead vampire of Bloodlust Clan and should know something. As a leader, one always needs an idea about what is going on with their members. If no one tells me on their own, then I’ll make them spill every bit of information out their blood-soaked mouth.”

  “Does Jay know? About your plan to go talk with this Margret person on your own,” he asked me while my brain was already trying to come up with ideas to get these children.

  “Not yet, there has been no time to talk to Jay about everything. Ever since we returned, he has been busy training the fighter in the pack. He shouldn’t get too mad though he has met her before. It’s not like she is a stranger.”

  “That is true, but they have proven that our kind does not mix well with them.”

  “Jackson, what has Jay told you about me after he told everyone that he found his mate,” I asked him.

  “Nothing really just that he found you after you woke up from a coma.”

  “That much is true, but I am the messing granddaughter of the former werewolf queen and the daughter of the current vampire king.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “You ask me to tell you the truth, one even I do not understand it. The story goes, my grandmother, the current wolf queen who is part witch, met my grandfather, a middle-ranking vampire. The two are mates and had my mother with the combination of their DNA. She was born a hybrid, and I am none of that. I was born a pureblood vampire through my father, the King of vampires. I am the future queen of both species, does hearing all this stuff change your mind about what you heard?”

  I have a funny feeling, once Jay finds out that I carry the future ruler of the next generation, he will not be letting me out of his eyesight soon. Let alone let me take part in the next attack. Soon there will be a lot of fresh faces hanging around my door acting on his behalf. A loud bang had us running outside, looking around to see what was going on, thick clouds of acidic black smoke rose from across the clearing.