The Devil's Daughter: A Paranormal Romance

by Shyenna Renee

  Yes, I have Crowley and the rest of my family, but I know what they think of me. I know they fear me. I’ll never have that one person who will look past my mistakes and regrets. That’s why I shall live in exile on my own where no one can find me, not even my mate.

  It’s why I will run to the ends of the earth if I have to; to escape my past and hopefully live peacefully on my own. That’s why I’m saying goodbye to my family, knowing I won’t see them for a while. If they need my help though, I’ll still be there in a heartbeat to save them.

  “It won’t be long before Alpha Roman picks up on our scent,” I say sadly as I look on at my family. “You must leave to safety and have no contact with me unless absolutely necessary. I already have new homes lined up for you all. They’re scattered in different states, and the documents on you will be burned. I can’t give you any information on where I’m headed, but if you need me, call up Cal. He’ll let me know that you need my assistance, and I’ll come.”

  There are a few cries from Sylvia. I’ve known her ever since I was abandoned. Six months into my new life of being a lone wolf, I stumbled into pack territory. The alpha spared me but wouldn’t let me live in his pack. I was a filthy rat compared to them.

  Sylvia saw me get tossed out. I was a lonely pup. She followed me to a little hut of sticks and leaves I had made and took pity. She brought me food every other day and got me clothes. She even let me play with her pups. All the while, she was trying to convince her alpha to let her adopt me.

  About a year into living outside their borders, her pack was attacked. They, of course, won but I had gotten scared and ran off. Sylvia, who felt like I was her child to take care of and protect, thought I was either kidnapped or dead. She ended up blaming her alpha and getting kicked out for disrespecting him.

  She spent months and years searching for me with Warren and her kids. By the time she found me though, my wolf had already taken over. I was thankful that she recognized Sylvia as the woman who took care of us and spared her and her family during our rampage.

  She has been known as my mom ever since.

  “It’s okay, Mama. I’ll try my best to get this sorted out so we can have contact again. For now, I have to do this to protect you and your children. Roman will stop at nothing to find me now that he’s met me, and I mean nothing. He’s ruthless and not above hurting you if you get in his way.” I turn away from my mother to face the rest of my family.

  “We did well to cover our scents on our way here, but that will only buy us a few hours. We have to move now.” Small murmurs of agreement pass through the room as I look towards Crowley. “Crowley, Anne, grab anything that’s important to you and that’s it. We have to get you out of here and burn down the cabin to cover all our scents.”

  They nod in understanding before running off to get photos, clothes, and anything else they consider important.

  “Jack and Jake, get as much lighter fluid as you can.”

  They don’t say anything as they leave the room, and I turn towards Sylvia once again. “Cal and his witch friends will be here soon with cars and directions to our new houses. I want you guys to take my car and leave ahead of us though.”

  “Celeste, no! We can’t leave you!” Sylvia holds on to my arms as she speaks to me.

  “Mama, Austin has the biggest pack in the country. My calculations could be wrong on how long it’ll take for him to find us. He could be thirty minutes away for Christ’s sake. I need you to leave and get to safety now. My car is programmed with your new address, so go.”

  I direct the last sentence to Warren, knowing he’ll listen.

  He grabs his wife gently, leading her away and out of the house. I give him a grateful nod before turning to my brothers and sister. “I guess this is goodbye.” I laugh a humorless laugh before engulfing myself in a bear hug with all of them. “Take care of Mum and Dad, okay?”

  “Of course. Take care of yourself, Celeste, and hurry up with ditching the alpha so you can visit.” Tommy speaks for the three of them.

  Soon, I’m saying my final goodbyes to the Andrews family as they drive off.

  Time to get down to business.

  CHAPTER 3

  |Austin|

  “Someone get the trackers out here! We have to find them!” I call out to my soldiers while picking up the ones my mate took down. “If my mate isn’t found in the next few hours, it’s on your heads,” I growl out before running in the direction Celeste went.

  Celeste Middleton, the most feared rogue, is my mate. It was a shock to me when I realized who she was. I always thought I’d get a submissive pack member who saw the good in everything and could do no evil―the opposite of me.

  Thinking about it, I’m glad I didn’t get one of those she-wolves. They’re overrated.

  The sounds of paws thudding against the cold muddy ground can be heard to my left and right; my trackers.

  “Alpha, we’ve picked up on some scents, but it will be hard to pinpoint where they’re coming from,” my head tracker, William, voices in my head as I run towards him.

  The sweet smell of vanilla invaded my senses, causing my wolf to purr in happiness. This is my mate’s scent.

  “Follow me. I’ve got them.”

  |CELESTE|

  “Goodbye, Crowley. Take care of your family.”

  I turned to the side to give one last hug to the twins before backing away. Everyone else had already left and said their goodbyes but them.

  “Don’t forget to call when you can,” Anne calls out as she climbs into the car.

  I give a small smile to her before turning to Crowley who hasn’t made a move.

  “You know running from him will only make things worse. He won’t stop till he has you. I didn’t.” He looks over at his wife. She nearly rejected him when she found out he was a rogue. Then she learned rogues aren’t all that bad.

  “He has a pack. He’ll give up eventually and settle down with someone else. Now, go. The house is in ashes, and you know how impatient Cal gets.” We peek over our shoulders to see an angry-looking witch glaring holes at us. Letting out a small snicker, Crowley gives me a peck on the forehead before climbing into his car.

  “Celeste.” The not-so-happy voice of a very powerful alpha echoes in the forest clearing.

  Everything is deathly quiet; the only sound being the small crackle and pop of the dying fire coming from the distance. I turn around slowly, hoping I’ve started imagining things. That hope is quickly crushed when I see Austin standing in the forest entry with hundreds of wolves behind him.

  “Celeste?” Crowley, like an idiot, steps out of the car and tries to make his way to me.

  “Go, Crowley,” I call out to him.

  He’s about to protest when I turn towards him, my red eyes glowing in anger as I growl in warning. He stays silent, taking a second to assess the situation before he reluctantly gets in the car and leaves.

  “Hello, Austin,” I reply coldly, giving a slight glance to the right at Cal who’s making his way to me. His striking violet eyes look like they were glowing as the sun caught them. “I was just on my way to see you.” I smile as sweetly as I can.

  “You were?”

  “Of course! We are mates after all. Cal, here, was going to give me a ride. Weren’t you, Cal?”

  “Yes, me and my friends.” He stands next to me, his friends coming up from behind and forming a line on the other side of him.

  “We just have to make a quick stop on the other side of the world.” I drop my smile as the witches around me start to chant silently.

  “Oh, and we won’t be back.” I add after a white glowing mist starts to twirl its way around us.

  “Stop them!” I hear faintly as the mist starts to cover us.

  “Chant faster, Cal. They’re coming!” I shout to him as I hear the pounding of paws.

  “Don’t pressure me or I’ll turn you into a frog,” he snaps as the chanting gets louder and faster.

  “They’re getting closer, Cal!” I
yell once more before it all goes dark.

  CHAPTER 4

  |austin|

  Two hours.

  It took two whole agonizing hours to find my mate, but I did. Her small frame and long raven hair was the first thing I saw. She was laughing with a taller man who gave her a kiss on the forehead before climbing into an SUV. I growled out in jealousy and stepped out of my hiding place in the woods. My pack trackers and warriors followed my lead, standing tall behind me.

  “Celeste,” I call out, causing her to stiffen.

  When she turns around, her surprise turns into anger as she growls at the man my pack had captured before as he tries to step forward. I watch as her red eyes glow menacingly at me.

  “Hello, Austin,” she says coldly. The sound of my name coming out of her lips causes an involuntary shiver to run down my spine.

  “I was just on my way to see you.” She smiles sweetly―too sweetly.

  “You were?” I narrow my eyes at her in suspicion, but my wolf keeps an undertone of excitement coursing through me.

  “Our mate wanted to see us,” he purrs happily.

  Celeste begins to speak, but my attention turns to the short male heading towards her. Is he a threat?

  “Cal was going to give me a ride. Weren’t you, Cal?”

  The male named Cal stops next to my mate with an evil grin on his face.

  “Yes, me and my friends.” A group of four other males come out from the forest behind them and line up next to Cal.

  “We just had to make a quick stop on the other side of the world… Oh, and we won’t be back.” She drops her smile as a white mist begins to glow and wind its way around them.

  “Witches!” I call to my pack and we get into a defensive stance.

  After a few seconds, I realize they’re not attacking but leaving instead. “Get them! They can’t leave with your luna!” We shift and charge ahead. “Stop them!”

  “They’re getting closer, Cal!” I hear my mate’s angelic voice right as I jump at them. I tackle my mate just as the witches disappear into thin air. My wolves who had jumped at them end up getting thrown across the clearing as a result of the spell. I land on top of Celeste and I get covered with the dust and ash that flew up when the spell was complete.

  “Celeste?” I look down at her, pulling on my sweats after I shift back.

  I bend down and pick up her small body.

  “Celeste?”

  Putting my ear close to her chest, I release a breath of relief when I hear the steady beat of her heart. “Someone get a hold of the pack doctor. Tell him to be ready at the pack house.”

  My beta, Aston, gives a curt nod. “He’ll be in the living room when we arrive, Alpha.”

  I then begin the long run back to my pack territory.

  |CELESTE|

  I weave my way through trees, searching for the two people that matter most to me. My tiny feet were being protected by nothing but my dirty and damaged tennis shoes.

  “Mommy… Daddy…” I call through the thick forest. “Come out! I can’t find you!”

  The sun has begun to set as I clutch on my little panda bear, Hoshi.

  Today, mom and dad changed. They spent the whole day with me, doing whatever I wanted. We played tag, ate ice cream, and now we’re playing hide and seek, but I can’t find them.

  “Mommy?” I stop, out of breath and no longer able to run. “Daddy, I’m scared.” The sun isn’t up anymore as I clutch on my pale pink dress, shivering every time the wind blows. “It’s cold, mommy.”

  My teeth begin to chatter as I sit down under a tree. “Moon Goddess, I know you don’t take kindly to rogues, and I know I’ve made a mess of my mommy and daddy’s life, but thank you for giving me the best birthday ever with my parents.”

  I jolt awake, sweat covering my body as I breathe heavily. I remember that day. I fell asleep under that tree. When I woke up the next day, I was scared. I have the same dream once a year; it marks the day my parents abandoned me. My birthday. That’s right. They left me on my birthday, and today marks year fifteen of them being gone.

  I wish I could just skip today.

  I sigh as I sit up in my bed.

  Wait…

  Why am I in a bed? I always sleep in trees or in caves. I go in defensive mode as I jump out of the bed and do a quick scan of my surroundings. A sniff of the air makes me growl as I recognize that citrus smell. His smell.

  “What happened yesterday?” I ask my wolf, the one I could always trust.

  “I don’t know.” She growls out groggily.

  Both of us can’t remember anything, and we hate it. I grow frustrated as I make my way to the bedroom door. Yanking on the handle, I’m not surprised when I find it locked.

  “The windows, Celeste, try the windows.

  I pause at the vulnerability in her voice. What did they do to us?

  Focusing on the task at hand, I go to the windows and pull the drapes open to find silver bars.

  “If I give you some control, can you break down the door?”

  She doesn’t reply as quickly as she usually does which gets me worried.

  “Can’t…too weak,” she mumbles quietly.

  I yell out in frustration, clutching my hair as I pace the room back and forth.

  “I’m trapped. How? I’ve never been trapped. There’s got to be a way. There has to,” I mumble to myself, getting angrier and angrier by the second. Picking up a chair, I throw it at a wall, causing it to break apart right next to the man I despise.

  “You,” I shout when I spot him in the doorway. “What did you do to me?” I walk up to him. I growl when he makes no attempt to answer me.

  “Answer me! Why can’t I hear my wolf? Why is she so weak?” I shove at him as best I can, the feeling of a panic attack coming on. I’ve never been without my wolf. Even through the worst of things, she was there as strong as ever. She’s the only one I’ve ever relied on―the only one I’ve ever needed―and I can’t reach her.

  I feel arms wrap around me when my legs collapse in on me. “Let go of me.” I push him away as soon as his arms touch me. “Why can’t I talk to my wolf?” I ask again, creating some distance between us.

  He takes a deep breath and rub his hand through his hair as the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach begins to grow.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbles quietly as he stares at the floor. “I have to protect my pack.” He then looks at me. “And I can’t let you go.”

  He takes a few steps forward. I match his steps as I walk backwards.

  “What did you do?” I whisper.

  “I had to block you from your wolf.”

  I gasp at the news. I’m a werewolf without her wolf. She is somewhere inside me, but out of reach. And him, he is the man who holds the key to having my wolf again. The man I hate and wish to be away from holds the key to my survival.

  CHAPTER 5

  |celeste|

  “Fix it,” I whisper as I look to the floor.

  “What?” he asks, surprised at the smallness of my voice.

  I swallow hard, clenching my fists as I look up at him. “I said fix it.” I speak as boldly as I can, glaring at him as my anger begins to peak again.

  “I can’t.”

  Looking at his facial expression, it seems like he’s torn between helping his mate and being a responsible alpha.

  “Why not?” I scream at him.

  “I have to protect my pack, and without your wolf, you’re not strong enough do any damage.”

  I scoff at his statement.

  “I don’t need my wolf to do what I’ve always done.” I snarl at him as he stands taller.

  “I don’t believe you.” He chuckles, turning around to leave.

  I grow frustrated, and I raise my right arm to hit him. He, being an alpha, knew what was coming and dodges it, causing my fist to go through the wall. I pull my hand from the crumbling drywall and shake the dust as the small cuts on my knuckles heal before my eyes.

  “I want my wolf now.�
��

  He gasps and I catch a glimpse of my eyes in the mirror next to me. They’ve gone all black with a red ring in them. I take a step back, distracted by my new eye color. Austin uses this distraction to his advantage and pins my arms against the wall, lifting me up in the process. I flail my legs around in anger, trying my best to kick him.

  “Let me go, you stupid son of a…”

  He places his hand over my mouth while I try to kick him.

  “Sorry darling, no cuss words in this house.”

  I bite down on his hand, making him let go of me.

  “Bitch.”

  I smile sarcastically at him before kicking his leg. He stumbles to the ground, giving me the chance to run out of the bedroom door.

  “Celeste,” he calls after me, and after a few seconds, I hear his footsteps trampling from behind me.

  “Stop her!” he hollers as I run down a staircase and into a living room. I come to a stop as I come face to face with two men.

  “Luna, is something wrong?” the tall brunette on the left asks, worry clear in his voice.

  “Grab her, Aston,” Austin calls from the top of the stairs, exhaustion clear in his voice.

  I look up to him and I huff before turning back to the two boys who are getting closer.

  “Luna, please, we don’t want to hurt you,” the blonde next to Aston says.

  I snort a laugh at his statement.

  “Go ahead and try,” I snap before trying to run past them to the door. The blonde grabs me, and I elbow him in the nose and hear the beautiful crunch of it breaking. He yells a few choice words before letting go to hold on to his bleeding nose. I go to claw the brunette when I remember I can’t because my wolf is dormant. Sighing in frustration, I look around me for a weapon.

  “Celeste, I’ve called all my warriors and they have every exit out of this territory covered. You have nowhere to go.” Austin comes to stand a few feet away from me, his hands halfway in the air like I’m some kind of wild animal he’s trying to tame.