Chapter 1
Emily Jackson stretched her neck as the car slowed down to take the turn that would bring them to the house.
“Is that it, Dad?” Emily asked as she tapped her sister, Sasha, on the shoulder. Sasha was listening to her MP3 player when she was tapped on her shoulder, and Emily pointed to the house they could see in the distant. Sasha and her parents could see the house better than she could for they were all werewolves whereas Emily was human. The Jacksons had adopted Emily when she was only three months old, and Emily always wondered why they would adopt a human child although she was no ordinary human, which they later found out.
“Yes,” their Dad said as he continued driving up the dirt road.
The road was not that long, but once they pulled up to the house even Sasha looked a little intimidated.
“Wow,” she muttered.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Emily muttered back as they got out of the car.
Sasha looked over at her sister, and smiled. Emily was pretty in an old-fashion kind of way; she was comfortable in jeans and sneakers, with her brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and her brown eyes with amber highlights showed wariness. Sasha was the opposite in every way; she was slim with a curvy figure that most girls envied; she had startling baby blue eyes with curly red hair that she inherited from her mom. Sasha and Emily were as close as sisters were even though they were not biological sisters, and Sasha needed Emily for support, as the reason they had arrived at this house was that Sasha was one of four young women considered suitable to be the next Alpha female. Although Sasha felt at home among other werewolves, she did not want her mate chosen in this fashion. They followed their parents up the stairs leading into the house, and Sasha immediately grabbed Emily’s hand. Emily just held on, and said, “I am right here. Do not worry.”
Sasha nodded her head knowing that Emily was probably more scared then she was because to Emily, this was walking into a fire. It had shocked both of them when their father had informed them they were invited to the Moon Star Pack by the Alpha who was a friend of their Dad from when he was younger.
“It’s going to be okay,” their mother said as their father gave them smiles before opening the door.
Sasha and Emily both took deep breaths before they followed them inside.
“Honey,” Cass said looking at her husband who was holding in his temper, and glaring at their oldest son, Jay. Jay glared back at his dad as his brother, Mark, said, “This is not getting us anywhere. Besides, Jay, it is too late now. All of the girls are here now so we might as well go through with it, and if your mate is not here then Dad will have to accept it.”
Jay growled but had to agree that what Mark said made sense.
“Fine,” their Dad growled back turning to walk back to the fireplace as the other families came into the living room. Cass looked over at the families, and she admitted that there were some pretty, young women here. Each one had there eyes on Jay for he was the next-in-line Alpha although Cass knew that he really wanted to relinquish it to Mark, and just accept the second-in-command position. Her husband would not go for that although she believed that it was actually the better solution for Mark was a born leader even though Jay would make a fine leader, he preferred to be in the background helping instead in the foreground, but their father never understood that, or so they thought.
“All right,” her husband said turning around to smile at the others in the room, then frowned. “It seems we are missing a family.” Before he could utter another word, the door opened again. A little girl came running in chasing the kitten that she got for her birthday, and Jay and Mark both smiled when they saw her.
Because all eyes were on the child, nobody paid any attention to the last family who walked in. Sasha and Emily both smiled when they saw the child, and Sasha tugging on Emily’s arm nodded her head to the side. Emily nodded and they silently stepped forward one going one way, the other going the other way.
“Stop,” the little girl cried as the kitten darted away from her again, “Uncle Jay, Uncle Mark.” She stomped her foot, and almost screeched when Sasha said, “The kitten just wants to play. They think its fun for us to run around as if we are trying to catch our tails. Remember, Emily?”
“Do not remind me,” Emily said silently moving around the loveseat, “I ended up locked in the cellar for whole day because I decided to give chase. It was cold down in that cellar.” Sasha laughed as Emily rolled her eyes, then they made eye contact. Emily nodded her head slowly, and Sasha waited as Emily rose her hand counting down before she launched herself at the kitten. The kitten did exactly what they thought, and took off right in Sasha’s direction. Sasha reached down, and snatched the kitten up into her arms.
“Score One for the Jackson sisters,” Sasha said petting the kitten.
“Score zilch for the kitten…this round,” Emily said pushing herself from the floor. She stood up and dusted off her hands.
“How’s…?” Emily began then looked towards the girl with a quizzically look.
“Angel,” the girl replied a little in awe.
Emily held back her laughter although humor danced in her eyes as she looked toward Sasha, “…Angel doing?”
Sasha held back her own laughter for the kitten was inappropriately named, but she was not their kitten.
“I think you scared her,” she responded.
Emily put on a shocked expression, and placed a hand on her chest, “I?” before she started laughing.
Sasha just wagged her finger at her, and said, “Yes, you” before she started laughing herself.
“Girls,” their father said sternly that both Emily and Sasha stopped laughing.
“Yes sir,” they chorused as Sasha handed the kitten to the little girl.
The little girl took the kitten then said hesitantly, “My name is Michaela.”
Sasha smiled and held out her hand, “I am Sasha, and she is Emily.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Michaela, and little Angel too,” Emily, said coming up and shaking her hand before petting the kitten.
“Michaela,” the man by the fireplace said softly but sternly.
She nodded her head, and started to leave the room then she stopped turning back to Sasha and Emily. “Can you play with me later?” Sasha looked a little unsure whereas Emily said simply, “I would love, too, but can it just be me for now? Sasha has some things she is here to do first then she can play with you.”
Michaela nodded her head but then looked at Emily in confusion, “You are not here to compete for Jay?”
Everyone in the room drew in a deep breath, and Sasha paled.
Emily looked at the little girl and said softly, “Out of the mouths of babes” then she walked over to Michaela before she knelt down in front of her. Catching Michaela’s gaze, she held it for a minute before she asked quietly, “What do you see, Michaela?”
Michaela looked at her intently then her eyes widened as she looked quickly at Sasha then back at Emily.
“You are not like us,” she said.
Emily smiled softly, and said, “That is right so I would think that I would be one less worry for him, don’t you think?” Michaela giggled, but looked at Emily intently. Emily did not blink as Michaela stared deep into her eyes, although the little girl had some major power running through her. Unfortunately, Michaela picked the run person to go up against because although Emily was not a werewolf, she was powerful in another area. Michaela blinked first then stumbled back a little. Emily reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her, and Michaela nodded then ran out of the room.
Emily watched her leave th
e room, and then she turned around until her eyes landed on Cass. Emily stared in to eyes so green that they reminded her of a forest, but Emily was looking for something else, and seeing what she was looking for, Emily smiled gently and nodded her head. She went to go to stand then froze.
“Emily,” Sasha whispered, but Emily did not hear her.
Mark frowned and stepped forward to help her when Sasha snapped, “Do not touch her!” that he froze at her tone, and then turned his head to meet her eyes. They both froze as their eyes met then Sasha tore her eyes away to look back at her sister.
“Emily,” her mother said kneeling down, “what are you seeing?”
Emily’s eyes were blank as she responded, “It looks like a forest but it so dark. Where am I? Why am I here?” then her eyes widened. “Who’s there?” She turned around fast, and because she was still on her hunches, she fell on her butt. Her eyes were round in her face then she screamed.
“Emily!” Sasha and her parents cried as Emily screamed and scooted back. Emily stopped screaming but she crawled into a ball, and started rocking back and forward. She hid her face into the crook of her knees as she tried to get herself under control.
“Emily,” her mother said coming over to her and Emily flinched for a moment before she lifted her head. Her mother paled as she saw the terror in her eyes, and then she pulled her into her arms, “Oh, baby.” She hugged her close as Emily sat curled up on the floor.
“What is going on?” the Alpha growled.
Their father walked forward and said, “I am sorry, Alpha, our daughter has…” and he was interrupted as Emily got to her feet.
“I am sorry, sir,” she said strongly although she felt like she was going to collapse, “I did not mean to cause a scene. It has been a long day, and I did not get enough sleep last night.” She looked over at Sasha, and asked, “Sasha, will you be okay?”
Sasha looked at her, and she knew that Emily needed to get out of there. “I will be fine, Emily. Go and get some rest, sis, and we will see you tomorrow.” Emily nodded her head, and she turned around to go out the door when she bumped into a hard body.
Emily muttered “Sorry” stepping around the person heading for the door. She was still in shock from the vision or she would have noticed the way Jay’s eyes narrowed after she bumped into him. Emily did not think about anything but the vision she had as she was led to the room she would be sharing with Sasha. She closed the door behind her, and sat down on the bed. Out of all the visions she has had that one was the weirdest, but it was the only one to give her the deepest feeling of unease and fear. She lay down on the bed and relaxing, she fell asleep a few minutes later.
Downstairs in the living room, the Alpha had taken over after Emily left the room.
“Jacob, I gave you permission to bring Emily with you, but I did not expect her to cause a scene like that. Make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Jacob nodded his head although his mind was on his daughter upstairs.
“Okay,” the Alpha said. “Let me explain why we are here. My son, Jay, is next in line for Alpha but he is having a little trouble finding his mate. The reason we invited you here is that I know each of your parents and I am hoping that one of you is his mate, or my other son Mark, mate. I am not going to force anything on any of you and you are welcomed to stay in our home as our sons and daughters get to know each other.” He laughed as he looked around the room, “I know it is unorthodox, but I figure we could at least try it and see what happens.” The other parents laughed at his attempt of humor, but Cass could see them wondering if their daughter was the one. She sighed for she knew that Mark and Jay would be able to tell who there mates where immediately like all werewolves, but if they wanted to be stubborn about it then nobody would know until they told them. She watched the other young women; the black-haired, Sissy; the blond hair, Krystal, and the brown-haired woman, Susan, but she already knew whom she was pulling for and she turned back to her mate as he smiled over at her.
“I hope Jay takes this opportunity to look for his mate,” Stan whispered in her ear.
She leaned against him and said through their private link “Are you doing this so that he can forget about Victoria?”
“Yes,” was the only thing he replied, and she hoped that it worked.
“Stan,” a voice called and they looked over to see Stacy and Jacob walking over to them with their daughter, Sasha.
“We wanted to apologize for what happened with Emily earlier. We do not know what came over her,” Stacy said with a frown on her face. In retrospect, they understood what happened but why now. Normally, Emily’s visions did not just hit her like that she usually was able to tell when one is coming. It was the first time since she was a child that the vision scared her that badly or knocked her off her feet.
“No problem,” Cass said although Stan frowned.
“Mom, Dad, I am a little tired. May I be excused for the rest of the night?” Sasha said, and they looked at her.
“Yes, but first let me introduce you to my good friend and his mate. Stan and Cass Caine, this is our oldest daughter, Sasha,” Jacob said with pride.
“Nice to meet you,” Sasha said showing her respect with a slight inclination of her head.
Cass smiled as Jay and Mark walked over, “It is a pleasure Sasha, and these are my sons, Jay and Mark.” Sasha turned to them nodding her head meeting the green eyes then the golden eyes. She was able to turn her face away before those eyes could take full affect, and she concealed the shiver that went through her body as her wolf howled, “Mate”.
“I am going to go check on Emily,” she said as she made her way out of the room. Jay watched as his brother’s eyes followed her out of the room and he smiled with satisfaction as the other women came over to them.
”Our mate was scared,” his wolf said to him, but he ignore him for now. He focused on the other two women while the third hung back, and he knew that she really did not want to be there. He sent her a kind smile before the other two forced his attention back on them.
It was going to be a long night, he thought to himself.
Later that evening after the others went to bed, Mark and Jay walked out into the garden where they stood on the patio. Jay could see Mark wanting to say something to him, but he kept quiet until Jay decided to ask him.
“What is it, Mark?” Jay asked as they leaned up against the pillar.
Mark sighed and looked up at the moon, while he said, “Jay, if I told you that one of your perspective mates were my true mate would you be too mad?”
Jay looked over at him, and then he smiled for he already knew, but he asked anyway, “Which one is it?”
Mark looked over at him, and then muttered, “The redhead, Sasha.”
Jay laughed softly as he pictured the redheaded woman who had helped catch Michaela’s kitten. It reminded him of the other one who his wolf immediately recognized especially after she bumped into him when she was leaving the room.
Jay shook his head, and said, “No, I am not upset, but are you sure that she is your mate?”
Mark ran a hand through his hair as he said, “When our eyes met, I felt something, but she glanced away before I could make heads or tails of it.”
Jay nodded his head in understanding as he replied, “I saw you watching her as she left the room. Are you going to take this time to see if you are really mates, or if it is just lust?”
“Yes, I am,” Mark nodded for Jay understood better than most about mistaking lust for finding one’s true mate.
Jay sighed softly to himself as he thought about what happened in the living room. He spoke his thoughts aloud.
“What happened back there?”
Mark frowned, “I do not know but whatever it was they were quick to make excuses.” He glanced at his brother for Mark saw Jay’s reaction when the young woman, Emily, bumped into him.
“You know she is human, Jay” he said quietly, and Jay looked at him quickly.
Mark nodded his head and said, “I also saw your reaction when she bumped into you.”
“I know. We are not suppose to have humans as mates, so why is it that my wolf recognized her as mine?” Jay asked in frustration especially as he still had feelings for another that he thought was his mate.
Mark did not know the answer to that question, so he said, “It seems we both have something to investigate.” Jay just nodded his head as Mark leaned back against the pillar.
Chapter 2
The next morning, Emily and Sasha came down to breakfast laughing at something they heard on the radio as they were getting dressed.
Emily was shaking her head at Sasha as they entered the dining room.
“Emily, dear, are you feeling better?” their mother called from where she was sitting next to Cass. Emily smiled as they walked over to the table, “I am feeling fine, mom. Sorry I worried you last evening.” Sasha sat down but she glanced quickly at Emily before turning her attention back to the plate that was set in front of her. Emily was dreaming last night, and whatever she was dreaming about made her very restless in her sleep.
“Good morning,” a male voice said and Sasha tensed in her seat as Mark and Jay came into the room. Emily noticed Sasha tensing up, and quickly looked to the man who spoke. She looked him over quickly then returned her attention back to her plate. She would talk to Sasha later about it.
“Good morning,” Cass said as they sat down at the table. They had just gotten their plates when Emily and Sasha both scooted back their chairs.
“May we be excused?” Emily asked quietly as Sasha quickly added, “We wanted to go to the mall today. I saw something for Emily’s birthday that I want to buy for her.”
Emily groaned as Sasha said this, “I do not want another dress, Sasha.”
Sasha grinned, “It is not another dress although I think you would look killer if you dressed up every once in a while.”
Marked in a Vision Page 1