by Idella Breen
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Other Books
Lover Eternal
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Pack Mentality Teaser
ch 01.1
Patreon
Adventures of Elena the Werewolf
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
End Matters
Patreon
Other Books
Copyright © 2017 Idella Breen
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com
For Linda and Kelsey
Fire& Ice Series
Blood Bound
Soul Awakened
Lover Eternal
Adventures of Elena the Werewolf
Eternal Soul Trilogy
Bone Walker
Novellas
Feeders and Bleeders
Lover Eternal
Chapter 1
“What did you say?” Snow asked again, sure she had heard wrong.
Integra smirked. “I want you to be my right hand on the United Monster’s Council.”
“But, I’m not ready yet. Am I?”
Her mother chuckled. “Your grandmother had me following her around as her shadow when I was about your age.”
“What if I wasn’t planning on taking over your position on the council?”
“But you are, aren’t you? You seem to be taking small steps in that direction.”
Snow frowned but nodded. “I can’t hide much from you, can I.”
“You weren’t really trying.” Integra smiled.
Snow gave a firm nod before squaring her shoulders and meeting her mother’s gaze. “What will you have me do?”
Her mother’s gaze turned predatory. “As part of your training, you will form a three-person squad from members of my guard.”
“And do what?”
“Odd jobs.”
Snow blinked. “Say that again.”
Integra laughed. “You and two other people will go to the different territories and build goodwill as well as important relationships. You’re twenty-four now Snow, but the most the other monster leaders know of you are the rumors of how you and Cait killed Xavier. You’re just a story to them. A whispered name. Basically, you don’t exist. You and your squad will go to the different territories and build relationships with the other monster leaders.”
Integra pulled out a folder and slid it across the desk to her daughter. “This is a list of requests from the different territories listed by importance and difficulty.”
Snow picked up the overflowing folder.
“Two years,” her mother suddenly said, while holding up two fingers.
“What?”
“This will be a two-year mission. Of course, you can come back home from time to time, but you must complete all the requests within the two-year limit or else, I won’t recognize you as my successor.”
Snow looked down at the folder and felt its oppressive weight. “That’s crazy!”
“But not impossible.”
“But — ”
“Snow, if you can’t accomplish this task then you should give up on taking my seat on the council.” Integra was suddenly serious making the brunette pause.
“Why?”
“Do you know why we’re still called monsters and not something more politically correct?”
Snow shook her head. “I never thought about it.”
“Well, you need to start. We are called monsters because that’s what we are. We aren’t human, Snow. Almost all monster species have, at one time or another, preyed on humans either for entertainment or as a food source. We don’t think like humans, not completely. Some of us may have human forms, but underneath it all, we are predators waiting to strike at the first sign of weakness.”
Snow was quiet so her mother continued. “You’re a half-blood, my darling. You are shunned by humans as an abomination, an unnatural thing. You are also seen as prey to monsters, a weak thing. If you want to take my seat on the council you must make them all fear you, you must show your terrifying strength as a half-blood to gain their respect, or you will be eaten alive and I love you too much to watch that happen. So, you must complete all the tasks in that folder and you must use these next two years to strike fear and awe into the leaders of the territories, as well as the humans, or you should give up.”
Snow nodded. “I understand, mother.”
“Do you? Really?”
“I do. And I agree.”
“Good. Now, who do you want to have join your squad?”
Snow smiled. “Cait.”
Integra laughed. “I should have known.”
“She’ll be all I need.”
Her mother tapped her chin as she thought this over. “I trust her, but I would like you to take at least one more person. May I suggest one?”
“Who?”
“Take Beck with you.”
“The tengu?”
“Cait and Beck work well together, due to mutual respect, and he has mentioned a few times that he would like to work with her again in the future. Also, Beck is one of my most trusted guard members. I don’t doubt Cait’s abilities, but a little extra help never hurts.”
Snow nodded. “Fine, I’m okay with that.”
“Good. I’ll take my lovely granddaughter off your hands for the time being then.”
Snow’s brow furrowed. “This wouldn’t be some elaborate plan to get rid of Cait and I so you can spend more time spoiling Elena, would it?”
Integra laughed. “You think so little of me!”
“No, I just know you and how much you and dad love our daughter.”
Snow sighed. “Just make sure she spends time with Gwen, from the Lander Clan. Elena’s wolf has already manifested, and Gwen is keeping it in check.”
Integra frowned. “Isn’t it a little too early for that? I thought that wouldn’t happen until she was a teenager?”
Snow shrugged. “Cait thinks it’s the strength of the Fallon bloodline, hers also manifested when she was still young.”
Her mother nodded. “I promise to not keep her from her surrogate pack then.”
Snow giggled at the irritation on her mother’s face. “Thank you, mother.”
Integra waved absently. “Whatever. Be ready to leave by the end of the week. Some of the tasks are time sensitive. I’ll send Beck your way by tomorrow so the three of you can make plans.”
Snow nodded. “I’ll do my best to not disappoint you.”
She turned to leave but her mother called out, “Dear?”
“Yes?”
“Just make sure you come home from time to time.”
She studied Integra’s face and could see the barely masked fear. Her mother and father had always been protective of her, and something like that wouldn’t disappear just because she was an adult. Once a mother, always a mother. Now that she had Elena, she understood her parents better and even empathized with them easily.
Snow smiled. “I will Mom. I love you. I’ll make sure to drop by whenever I can.”
Integra nodded. “I love you too sweetheart. Now go on, and tell your mate of the plan. I expect she’ll be both excited a
nd worried, especially about Elena.”
Snow laughed. “You’re getting to know her too well.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“No mother, quite the opposite.”
“Kiss the little darling for me.”
“Will do. Good night.”
“Love you, dear.”
The door closed with a click leaving Integra in the study alone. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. After a moment, she pulled out a drawer in the desk and brought out a bottle of whiskey, as well as, a small glass. Pouring a splash, she sipped on it as thoughts buzzed around in her head. After the White Queen, Dian Green took the place as leader of the dark bloods, things had quieted down, but there was something insidious crawling around in the underbrush. Something slimy, and evil, but it hid well in small disputes. This became very apparent when she and her husband had gone through the mission reports. The very ones she had just given to her daughter.
It was her idea to give them to Snow. Her husband had been against it, but what she had said about the strong eating the weak, was the honest truth. Snow needed to become stronger, she needed to see the world as it truly was, to be hardened by it, or else she would be eaten alive on the council. The United Monster’s Council was filled with ancient monsters, as well as cunning ones and malicious ones. Her daughter needed to learn how to discern enemies from allies, and how to treasure those close to her.
Integra swirled the amber liquid around in her glass. She liked the way it burned her throat. It was like her salamander flame in that respect, warm and intoxicating. What her daughter really needed, to grow and gain the necessary life experience, was to go on an adventure. Only by doing so, would she learn what she was truly capable of. And while all Integra wanted to do was lock her little girl away in a high castle, all that would accomplish is to put the final nail in her daughter’s coffin. Like all adventures, the hero might not come back home, but her daughter needed to face such consequences or else she would never grow. Harsh, but true.
“This world we live in bares its fangs like a hungry lion. Will you lift your spear and challenge the odds? Or will you be devoured without a fight? Little Snow, I pray to the gods, you better fucking lift that spear or all may be lost.”
Integra took another sip and massaged the bridge of her nose. Only time could tell how the future would unfold and time was an unmerciful bitch.
Chapter 2
It was late when Snow slipped her key into the lock and opened the door to her apartment. She wasn’t expecting the loud cry that greeted her.
“Mama!”
Suddenly, she had a handful of a dark-haired child in her arms. “Elena?”
Midnight blue eyes locked with her own dark brown and the toothy smile, that was missing two front teeth, made her laugh. “You’re back.”
Snow kissed the five-year-old on the cheek and tucked a strand of long dark hair behind the little girl’s ear. Snow frowned as she did this, and realized that they would need to cut her hair soon as it had already grown to the middle of her back, and the girl was such a rascal that she was always getting her hair caught on things. Snow carried Elena into the living room where she was met with another surprising site. She paused in the hallway. “Cait?”
Her lover and mate was in quite the predicament. Cait laughed pitifully. “Don’t ask. It’s too embarrassing.”
The brunette grinned. “Do you need some help?”
Cait sighed. “I’d appreciate it.”
Placing her daughter down, the little girl slipped her hand into her mother’s and dragged her forward further into the living room.
Elena laughed. “I asked Mom to play but she got stuck!”
Snow held back the laugh that threatened to escape as she kneeled down to where her lover had somehow gotten her head stuck between the bolted in bookshelf and the wall. Snow placed her hand on the wall and let her power trickled out until both the wall and bookshelf were coated with a thin layer of ice. “Go ahead and try pulling out now.”
Cait grunted but jerked around. Suddenly, her head slipped out and she fell back causing the startled Elena to cry out and giggle. “Mom has a big head!”
Snow couldn’t hold it in anymore. “That’s because her ego inflates it all the time.” She burst into laughter as Cait grumbled and rubbed her freezing red ears.
“Yeah, go ahead and laugh it up.”
“Cait, honey. How on earth did you get stuck like that? And how long were you stuck for?”
“Mom’s been stuck for hours upon hours.”
“Baby, I wasn’t stuck for quite that long,” Cait said as she picked up her daughter and rubbed her face into her belly making the little girl cry out in laughter.
“Mom’s gonna eat me!”
Snow frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “By the way, why is Elena still awake? It’s way past her bedtime.”
Cait met her wife’s gaze, and though Snow looked a little disgruntled, her eyes twinkled with laughter. “Snowflake, my head was stuck between a bookshelf and a wall for half an hour,” she said stoically making her wife grin in response.
Snow giggled while shaking her head from side to side. “Cait, what are we going to do with you?”
The werewolf leaned forward. “Give me a kiss, to soothe my battered ego that apparently inflated my head.”
The brunette leaned forward and met warm lips. They were forced to pull apart when Elena bit Cait’s ear, causing the woman to grunt and jerk back. She gave the little girl a stern look and growled deep in her chest. “Elena.”
The little girl was grinning, but at her mom’s stern gaze, realized she had done something wrong. “Sorry, Mom.”
Cait sighed and kissed the girl on the head. “It’s okay. Aunty Gwen will talk to you about it later, but for now, it’s bedtime for the little werewolf.”
“Already?” She huffed.
“Don’t you want to grow into a big and strong werewolf?”
“Like you?”
Cait chuckled. “Just like me.”
“Will I be bigger and stronger than you?”
Cait thought this over while exaggerating her actions when she tapped her chin. “I don’t know. It depends if you go to bed on time.”
Elena growled, but it was more like a puppies growl then the threatening growl that her mother could produce. Cait kissed her head again. “Keep working on that.”
The two left the room and walked down the hall leaving Snow alone. She sighed as she surveyed the damage to the living room, and realized that before Cait had gotten stuck, she and Elena must have been wrestling again. There were claw marks both big and small littering the wood floors from when they had used too much force to jerk forward. Not only that, but the couch had another cushion with fluff coming out of it, and there were all kinds of toys scattered throughout the room along with Elena’s favorite one, a little stuffed husky, affectionately named, Wolfy.
Snow smiled as she picked it up but grimaced as it was once again covered in drool. Holding it between her thumb and finger, she walked down the hallway Cait and her daughter had disappeared down. Pausing at a hall closet, she grabbed a small hand towel and used it to dry off the little stuffed animal as best as she could. Then, she made her way to her daughter’s bedroom. Pausing in the doorway, she watched her lover speak quietly to their daughter. The little girl’s eyes were already closing as she responded in quiet growls to Cait’s deep ones. Cait kissed Elena on the forehead and stood when Snow came into the room, gently tucking Wolfy beneath her daughter’s arm.
Her lover slipped her arm around her, and together they quietly left the room, closing the door behind them. Cait pulled Snow towards their bedroom but the woman shook her head and nodded towards the living room. They ended up in the kitchen as Snow decided she wanted a cup of jasmine tea.
Cait waited until she turned around as the water began to heat. “What’s wrong?”
Snow shrugged, and was quiet for a moment, trying to decide on where to sta
rt. Suddenly, she looked up and met her lover’s gaze. It was best to start with the easiest though far from the simplest topic. “What happened in the living room, with Elena, while we were kissing? Why did she bite you?”
Cait sighed and hunched forward over the kitchen table while folding her hands. “It wasn’t anything serious but it was a werewolf thing.”
“I gathered that much. It looked like you scolded her though.”
Cait nodded. “It was worth that sort of response. She didn’t know why she did it. It was mostly instinct, but unless I responded the way that I did, it would create problems in the future.”
“How so?”
“Werewolves are pack animals. This is your first experience dealing with a young werewolf but Elena’s wolf manifested quite early. When she bit my ear, it was in a way, a reprimand.”
“She was scolding you?”
Cait nodded. “But she didn’t know she was. It might be easier to say that she was challenging my authority, but to her human understanding, she was just playing. Her wolf understood me though and it submitted to its better.”
“Why would her wolf have challenged you then?”
“The best way to explain it would be to say that she challenged me for your attention, for your love and affection.”
“Ah, I see.” Snow nodded.
Cait chuckled. “You’re just too popular in this household.”
Smiling, Snow moved towards the kettle when it began to softly whistle, she turned around and picked it up, filling her mug, before setting it back down on the counter. She stirred the bag, before squeezing it, and joined her wife at the table. They were quiet for another moment before Cait broke it.
“Your mother said something, didn’t she? Something troubling?”
Snow tucked a brunette strand of hair behind her ear. She still had a few strands of white hair that refused to stay dyed. It had been the result of her first brush with death when she was still in high school. Cait loved the splash of white but Snow could get a little self-conscious about it sometimes. She tended to pin them back to keep them out of the way. The brunette nodded to answer her wife’s question. She couldn’t hide anything from her mate even if she wanted too. The woman knew her too well