by J. K. Snow
The woman stared at her with a look of empathy, then stood from her chair and walked to the kitchen area, ignoring her questions. She put the kettle on the stove, then turned on the burner and walked back to the chair to sit once again.
Jordan was growing impatient as she studied the woman. She looked to be at least eighty or ninety. She had long white, grey hair that was full of waves and followed the contour of each side of her face. Her eyes were large and dark chocolate like her own. The woman’s face was weathered and a caramel color with deep crow’s feet at the edge of her eyes. She had deep wrinkles in her cheeks and around her mouth, but you could see that she was still very beautiful for her age and must have been in her younger days.
Jordan thought she would try to approach the woman differently. In her softest voice she asked again, “Where am I?”
She watched the old woman smile and then say, “Where you belong child.” The woman took a breath and placed her hands on her lap. “You have been missing for so many years.” She said in the most softest voice that crackled in the slightest way.
Jordan shook her head not understanding her words. “Missing? Who are you?” She asked giving the woman a confused frown.
The woman leaned into Jordan and took her hands into her own. They were old, weathered and fragile. She finally looked up into Jordan’s eyes and said, “I’m Mama Crone, your maternal grandmother.”
Jordan pulled her hands away from the woman abruptly and shook her head. She could feel herself become enraged at the woman’s words. “You are not my maternal grandmother. My family was slaughtered by the Kodiaks when I was a child. You are a Kodiak.” Jordan hissed the words at the woman.
The woman’s smile turned somber and she said, “Enlighten an old woman would you?” She smiled again and said, “Lift up your shirt please so I can see the left area beside your belly button.”
“What! No!” Jordan retorted.
“We both know what is there child.”
“You could of looked while I was sleeping.” Jordan said arching an eyebrow.
“I don’t have to look honey, I know it’s there because I have one just like you.” The woman pulled up her shirt revealing her stomach.
Jordan’s eyes were wide like saucers when she looked at the raised scars of four small claw marks that were colored pink just like her mark. She raised her head looking at the woman confused again. Jordan finally pulled up her shirt and looked down at her mark and then again at the woman’s. “I don’t understand. How is that possible?” Jordan asked.
“That my dear is the sign of the Kodiak.” The woman smiled again like she had just won a chess game. “A true Kodiak is always born with the mark.”
Jordan raked her hand through her hair again and shook her head. None of this made sense to her and she was becoming extremely agitated. She stood and started pacing the floor and then turned to the woman. “I was not born with this mark. It only just appeared a few months ago.” Jordan barked. “Are you trying to say I’m a Kodiak?”
The woman stood and walked to where Jordan was standing. She grabbed her hands in her own and said, “Yes, you are of royal blood child. The top of the Kodiak pack. Only Kodiak bloodlines carry the mark.” The woman’s hand came up and cupped the side of Jordan’s cheek. “I understand your confused. You have been gone for 14 years. We are not going to hurt you. I want you to know the truth, all of it. You need to understand what truly happened that day.” She said and then paused. “Give us a chance and if you still don’t believe us, if you truly believe you are not a Kodiak, I will have Asher bring you back to Anchorage.” The woman said raising an eyebrow. “Does that sound fair?”
Jordan’s head was spinning and so many thoughts were racing through her head. Nothing made sense and she didn’t know who to trust or what was the truth. She had no explanation as to why the woman wore the same mark on her body as she did. Jordan looked into the woman’s eyes, trying to find any deception within their depths, but all she saw was sincerity, sadness and love. She saw nothing that indicated the woman wanted to harm her, besides, the men that had taken her would have done that already if that is what they’re intentions were.
“Alright. I will stay and then I want to be brought back to Anchorage in the morning.” She whispered, almost doubting her decision.
She watched the woman close her eyes and smile. When she opened them again she said, “Come...sit down, there is much to tell.
Chapter 2
Jordan sat at the small kitchen table and watched the old woman make her a cup of tea. She took the cup and thanked her for it and then watched her grab a photo from the little hutch that was against the wall in the small living room. The woman handed it to Jordan. “Look at this photo. Does anything look familiar to you?”
Jordan laid her tea cup down on the table and took the picture from her. She looked at it carefully, studying the people within the picture. Her eyes fell on a woman with long blond hair, medium build with the most beautiful chocolate doe shaped eyes she had ever seen. Her eyes shifted to the two young girls that were hugging the woman’s waist. They looked so small beside her, with their long blond locks and cute little smiles. Then at last her eyes went to the large man that stood next to the woman. He had to have been well over six foot with dark brown hair. He was a very large man with wide shoulders, but his face looked wise, his smile friendly, inviting and his eyes were a crystal blue with some green in them like her sister’s.
Jordan looked up at the old woman and another sharp pain shot through her head. The picture fell from her hand and she grabbed her head and closed her eyes, and everything went dark.
Too many visions were flooding her memory. Jordan could see the events play out like she was there and it was happening now.
Two blond girls playing tag and people all around them, then a voice.
“Come here girls, they want to take a picture to add to our heritage album.”
“But mom, we’re suppose to meet the boys and play!”
“Jordan, no buts! Now come here. You too Sonja.” The woman said smiling.
Her eyes flipped open, her body was trembling and she looked down at the picture on the floor that now had a crack in the glass. She picked up the frame and looked at the woman in the picture with tears welling up in her eyes. She had so many emotions running through her that she didn’t know what to say. She went to open her mouth but nothing came out. She finally said, “This is my family isn’t it?”
“Yes it is.”
“They were so beautiful and they looked so happy. I really could never remember what they looked like. Only in my dreams, that horrible day.” Jordan said with a blank expression. She finally looked at the old woman and said, “This doesn’t prove anything. You could have taken this picture after my family was slaughtered.” She whispered, wiping a tear away from her cheek.
The woman sat straight up in her chair and thought for a moment. “Jordan, why don’t you tell me what you remember, these dreams you speak of. Maybe I can fill in the missing pieces for you.”
She laid the picture down on the table and stood. She walked over to a window and looked out. “They’re not happy memories. I was around 7 years old I think. Me and my sister were sent to gather firewood. It was cold...winter time. We heard the screams coming from the main village and when we ran back everything was on fire...everyone was dead.” She said in a ragged voice.
“That’s all you remember? That can’t be it. It’s impossible.”
“I remember calling to mama and papa, but also calling them Alpha and then finding their bodies.”
“You have no earlier memories of your childhood? With your parents, your sister or friends? Asher or Declan?” The woman asked in a puzzled voice.
Jordan turned around looking at the woman. “I did have a vision a little over a week ago when I was to be mated with Jude. I watched as two young girls shifted into beautiful white wolves...then two older boys that came into the clearing, they shifted into black panthers and we
all ran off to play.”
The old woman stood and walked over to Jordan. “Honey, that vision was an old memory of you and Sonja. You both took after your mother’s dominate animal which is a white wolf. The boys, those are Asher and Declan and there dominate species are black panthers. The four of you used to play in the forest together almost every day. You were all inseparable.” She smiled squeezing Jordan’s arm and then said, “Come, sit with me.”
Jordan followed her to the tattered brown couch and sat down beside her.
“Let me tell you a story. We Kodiaks have lived on Kodiak Island for centuries. Most wolves are afraid of us because of all the urban legends. They say we want complete control, to wipe out all other wolves leaving only the Kodiaks. We are capable of doing that, if that is what we chose to do, however it’s not. Our abilities are not only being able to shift into any form, but to speak to one another telepathically and to suppress other shifters. Meaning we could have them either stay in their human form or animal form...locking them up forever in either body.” She paused and took a breath. “Your father, my first born son, Atticus Raven was a great man. A very wise leader and Alpha of the Kodiak pack for decades. He was the Alpha of Alaska. We thrived and lived in harmony. Your father didn’t have an ounce of hatred that ran through his veins. He did what was necessary when it was necessary, but only when needed. Lennox Warren was his second in command for the Anchorage territory. Lennox would often come to Kodiak Island begging your father to arrange for you and Sonja to mate with his two sons when the time came. Your father instantly refused. It was never done before. It broke all Kodiak laws.”
Jordan frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Our heritage... Kodiak heritage forbids anyone of us to mate with other shifters that do not carry the Kodiak bloodline. It would be considered tainted. There are many reasons, many that I won’t go into right now, but it has never been done.” The woman stood and started pacing the floor. “When Atticus refused for the last time, Lennox became enraged, he wanted his bloodline to have our powers, our abilities because they are not our equals. He wanted control. Lennox has a dark side to him, one that my son, your father later learned about.” She said.
“After the last argument between them, Lennox hadn’t returned to Kodiak Island for almost 2 years. You are correct. You were 7 years old when it happened.” She whispered. Jordan watched the woman’s hand go to her mouth like she was suddenly frightened. “The day before the slaughter, 40 or 50 of our pack members went into Anchorage for the night to gather supplies. They always did that once every few months and it gave them a little vacation away from Kodiak, the seclusion of the island. Cyprus, his boys and many others were already gone out on a fishing excursion. There had to have been five or six boats that were gone for about four days before they returned.” She said now facing Jordan.
Jordan watched her sit in a chair across from her. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she started to finish the story. “When Lennox and his pack arrived early in the morning, they disabled many that lived on the edges of the Island in order to get to the heart of Kodiak. They used Yellow Wolfsbane to disable us...paralyze many of us. It was their only way to defeat us. I watched them slaughter hundreds of us... Lennox slaughter my son, your mother!” She yelled. “When I woke hours later, it was Cyprus that found me on the edge of Kodiak Island. By then most had perished, everything burnt to the ground and what still stood, was still burning. We looked everywhere for you two, but you were gone. Soon after we sent men to try and find you and your sister, but we still couldn’t find you. So we focused on rebuilding what little we had left. Out of almost a thousand, we were left with a little over a hundred Kodiaks.”
Jordan sat staring at the woman wide eyed. “No...It can’t be.” Jordan whispered. Her heart raced and her hands started to shake. “Why? Why would Lennox do that?”
“To steal the two most powerful Kodiaks. You and Sonja.” She whispered.
Chapter 3
The room was silent for a long time and Jordan sat there on the couch trying to connect the dots. She had been told her entire life that Lennox was the Alpha and that her father, Atticus Raven was the second in command for the Anchorage, Alaska territory. If this was the truth, that meant that she and her sister have been living with the enemy for over 14 years. Panic consumed her instantly and she could feel her body start to shake.
“Jesus Christ! If what your telling me is true then that means Sonja is in danger!” Jordan stood up and paced the floor. There were so many things that she still couldn’t understand and probably wouldn’t for a long time. She raked a hand through her long blond hair and turned to the woman that claimed to be her grandmother. “I have to go back. I have to leave now!”
“They won’t hurt Sonja. They didn’t keep the two of you this long to hurt you. Don’t you see child. They kept you and your sister to breed you with Lennox sons! To mix our bloodline with theirs!” She said with assurance.
“But why can’t I remember you, or my parents? I can’t remember anything other than the few dreams I have.”
“Who is your guardian now? Who have you lived with all this time? Lennox?”
“No. Mama Sable. She is the one that found us that day and raised us in Palmer, Alaska and then Willow.”
The old woman’s brows shot up. “Sable Creed?”
“Yes. Why?”
“She’s a witch Jordan! Didn’t you know that? She comes from a very long line of black magic, her being the oldest, the wisest.” The woman said in a panic.
“So. She would never hurt us. She loves us, has cared for us all these years.” Jordan said in a defensive tone. She watched the old woman stand rooted in her spot, thinking hard and tapping her finger against her lip when she finally turned and said, “Omg...it all makes sense now.” She took two long strides to where Jordan was standing, grabbing her shoulders and said, “You don’t understand child. She has you and your sister under some kind of spell. She must have suppressed your memories, your inner animal.”
“Why would she possibly do that. What benefit would she get out of it?”
“I don’t know. But it is the only logical explanation. Kodiaks have the ability to shift into most forms, however we all have our dominate animal inside of us which is our chosen form. The ones we were born with. When was the last time you and your sister shifted?”
Jordan looked at the woman with anger and said, “I can’t shift.”
“Of course you can dear. You have been shifting since a child.” The woman said in a tone of assurance.
“I can’t shift.” Jordan said again. Embarrassment washed over her face. “I was told my entire life that Lennox was the Alpha of Anchorage and that my father was his second in command. That the Kodiaks were the ones that killed our pack and most of the Warren pack. I have no memories but only the stories you have told me now.” She watched the woman walk away and Jordan could see she was extremely frustrated. “I don’t know what to say... Or who to believe.”
The woman whipped around in a heated tone, “You are a Kodiak! My granddaughter and that man will never be Alpha! They have you and your sister brainwashed! Lennox and his pack slaughtered our family and he will pay dearly for it when the time comes.”
Suddenly the front door opened and a large man walked in. Jordan’s head turned and took in his full frame when panic instantly gripped her. She watched him close the door behind him and take a step closer. Jordan jumped and backed into a corner. This man scared her to death even though he looked like he held no malice. It was the man that took her, the one that clawed Jude’s face. Jordan was finally able to open her mouth, but her words only came out as a whisper. “Who are you?”
She watched him take another step forward. “Stop! Don’t come any closer! Who are you god dammit!” She screamed at him.
“Asher Slater, son of Cyprus.” His voice was deep, smooth and calm.
“That means nothing to me.”
He looked at the old woman with a confused
look and said, “Haven’t you told her?”
“Yes, not everything but most. She may have had her memories along with her animal suppressed.”
Asher’s brows furrowed together as anger tore through his face. In a low growl he said, “Who?”
“Sable Creed.”
“Do you want me to bring her here?”
“No. I need to figure this out first. I still don’t know exactly what she has done to the girls.”
Jordan screamed at the top of her lungs. “What the fuck is going on! Stop talking like I’m not even here. I want to go back to Anchorage now. I will figure things out there on my own.”
She watched as both of them looked at her with surprise. Jordan’s eyes fell on Asher with an intense stare. His build was incredible, well over six feet. His neck was so thick and her eyes landed on the word ‘KODIAK’ that was tattooed in dark ink there. Her eyes fell to his forearms that were threaded with muscles and his large hands. He was built like a god or a statue and the way he held himself with assurance and command exuded in his confidence.
“You agreed to spend the night Jordan. Please give us a chance. I will have Asher take you home tomorrow.” The old woman pleaded.
Jordan felt like a trapped animal. Her eyes went from the old woman and then back to the beautiful man that was now standing only a few feet away from her. She jerked her head to Asher when she saw him take two long strides towards her and grab her arms. She couldn’t move; she was rooted where she stood and she looked up into his crystal blue eyes that suddenly consumed her. She felt herself go weak in the knees, her vision started to blur and everything went black.
Chapter 4
“You can’t catch me!” The young blond girl yelled running into the forest laughing.
The older boy with dark hair laughed. “Watch me.”
The girl ran fast weaving in and out of trees and jumping over rocks and brush when she turned and looked over her shoulder. The boy was gone and in his place was a beautiful black panther racing through the forest.