My hope is diminished as she speaks, and I slump against the back of her couch.
“I’m sorry, Celeste. We need to take you back to Austin,” Cal says hesitantly.
“Why? I’ll find a different way to get my wolf back.”
“Celeste, I don’t like it either, but we need him to give your wolf back or I can’t tell you what’s going on with the family.” He stands up, hovering above me as he looks like he’s about to scold me.
“Why not? They’re my family too, and if they’re in trouble, then I want to know.”
“You can’t. If I tell you, you’ll try and help. If you try to help, you’ll get yourself killed. Celeste, don’t argue with me. I know you’re tough and can take care of yourself, but without your wolf, you’re only human. If you’re human, you’re vulnerable.” -His tense voice slowly turns soft at the end.
“Cal, they’re my family; our family. I need to know what’s going on.”
He rubs his forehead in frustration as he paces around the floor. “If I tell you, then you have to swear to call Austin and explain to him why you need your wolf. If he won’t give her back, then I guess you won’t need to return to his pack. I’ll just keep you safe, but you can’t try anything when it comes to helping the family,” he tells my sternly, shaking his pointer finger at me as he speaks.
Now I feel like the child in this friendship.
“Okay, I swear I’ll do whatever you want.” I hold my hands up in surrender as he stops pacing and stands in front of me.
“Okay. Well, about eight hours after Austin got you, me and my friends each headed to the houses to gather the family together again to rescue you, but when we arrived at each house, they were all empty.”
He takes a second to assess my reaction. After he finds nothing, he continues.
“I figured maybe they got sidetracked or were just running late since some of the houses were pretty far away. So I tracked the cars through a spell. We found all the cars, but they were all wrecked and everyone was just…gone. I couldn’t even use a body-searching spell to find them, except one. I found Jack in a field less than a yard away from his and Jake’s car wreck.”
This has me sitting up straight. Maybe Jack knows where everyone is.
“Have you spoken to him?” I ask hopefully, but Cal shakes his head no with a look of dread taking over his features.
“He was thrown out of the windshield when the car rolled. He was injured pretty badly, but with our help, we got him out of there. He’s still in a coma though. We don’t know what happened. From the crash, we can tell the cars were tampered with and flipped on purpose. We think someone took them; one of your enemies.”
“Well, that’s not very helpful, Cal! I have like a gazillion enemies. Anyone from three countries could’ve gotten them. That’s how many people I’ve pissed off.” I grip my hair tight as I begin to make a list of all my enemies that are still alive. I even think about all the relatives of the people I have killed that have probably been searching for me to take revenge.
“I know, C. That’s why you need your wolf, and, you know, now that I think about it, having the strongest and biggest pack in all of the country on our side wouldn’t be too bad either!” He shouts as we both pace and circle around the couch.
“You want me to drag Austin and his pack into this? The long list of people who want me dead is one of the main reasons I don’t want a mate. If word gets out that I have a weak spot, they’ll use it against me.”
He gives me that really bitch? look as he crosses his arms and comes to a stop.
“People have obviously already figured out you have a weak spot if they’re going around snatching up your family!” He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he speaks again. “Look, we need help, and I seriously think Austin is our only shot. His trackers alone could probably find evidence to point us to someone,” he yells, exhausted and ready to hit something.
“But how? I’ve told no one about them, and when I travel for visits, I do two laps around the state surrounding my family’s homes to see if anyone is following me. I’m cautious, damn it!” I start to squeeze my knuckles shut so tight they begin to turn white.
“Okay, darling, I know you’re upset and all, but if you punch a hole in my wall, I’ll call Austin myself,” Eve says from behind a magazine that just magically appears.
I let out a low growl before stomping out of the house―the door slamming against the wall as I throw it open―and head for the nearest tree. I give it three swift punches, all hard enough to split the bark which causes it to fall slightly to the left.
My knuckles are split open and bleeding as I fall to the ground and rest my back against the now-tilted tree. My chest heaves up and down as my breathing stays uneven.
“It’s time to call him, C.” Cal stands above me, his phone stretched out to me as I watch my damaged knuckles heal.
“Where’s Jack? I need to speak to him when he wakes up.” I stare up at him, my eyes squinting as the sun hits them.
“He’s in the next town over with my friends. When he’s healed, I’ll tell you.”
I give him a nod of appreciation before standing and gently taking the phone from him.
“I had Eve enter his personal number for you. You just need to hit enter.” With that, he leaves me outside by myself to call the man I just escaped from.
Inhaling a deep breath, I hit the little green button and hold the phone to my ear as it rings.
After the fifth ring, I’m about to just hang up when the gruff voice of my mate filters through the speaker and my nerves spike.
“Hello?” he asks, his anger coming through, but there is also an undertone of hope and worry.
“We need to talk,” I say breathlessly as I sit back down on the grass, my back leaning against the broken tree once again―the broken tree that seems to resemble my life perfectly.
CHAPTER 10
|austin|
“We need to talk.” Her sweet and melodic voice filters through the speaker of my smart phone. Is it really her?
“Celeste?” It comes out in a whisper, disbelief flooding my system. This is a trick, a cruel trick.
“Yes, Austin, it’s me.”
I breathe a sigh of relief and close my eyes, my name sounding heavenly coming from her lips, as I rest my head against the tree behind me. It’s been over an hour of searching, and I have been taking a break to calm my nerves.
“Come home to me, Celeste. I’m sorry for getting angry.” I look around the seemingly endless forest in the hopes to see her there. “Vance told me what happened with your uncle.” My hand subconsciously tightens its hold on the phone as I think of the torture she had to suffer. Eventually, a crack forms on the screen. “I won’t get mad anymore. I’ll shut up when you’re telling me your stories. I’ll do anything.”
The sound of my voice sounding desperate is new to my ears, but I think nothing of it as my only thoughts are about getting my mate back.
“Something has come up, and I prefer to handle this problem myself, but there’s one thing I need from you first,” she replies tiredly.
“What is it? I’ll give you whatever you want.” I answer quickly to which she chuckles lightly. It’s music to my ears as a smile tugs at the corner of my lips.
“You’re not going to like it.” Her answer comes out softly; so softly I almost missed it.
“I don’t care if it means you’ll come home.”
An annoyed huff leaves her lips, and I can just picture her blood-red eyes squinting into a glare. “Don’t call it that. It’s your home, not mine.”
“You’re my luna. Of course, it’s your home too. Everything of mine is yours.” I graze my hand across the blades of grass next to me, pulling out pieces along the way.
“No, Austin. It’s not my home because I’m not a pack wolf; I’m a rogue. I don’t belong in a place where people despise the way I was raised and the way I live.”
“No one in my pack despises you. They jus
t want their luna. Please, just tell me what you need. We’ll make a trade: I give you what you want, and you’ll give being my luna a shot. Deal?”
It takes seconds of horrible silence for her to think before she finally speaks.
“Okay, deal.”
|celeste|
He breathes a sigh of relief when I agree to his terms before speaking. “So, what do you need?”
Anxiety begins to fill every inch of my body as I take a few calming breaths. “I need my wolf back, Austin.”
I can feel his hesitation―the need to protect his pack and the need for his mate colliding together once again.
“Look, before you disagree, there’s something you need to know; I’m only coming back if you give me my wolf. If you disagree, then, well, I’m leaving with Cal. He’s agreed to help me find a way to get her back if you won’t help me.”
A low growl comes from the speaker of the phone, and that has me tensing up. The sound of something snapping makes me shoot up to my feet, my guard on high alert.
“Austin?” My voice shakes a little. I don’t know if it’s from fear of him being hurt or fear of something or someone after me. Maybe it’s both.
“You are not leaving, Celeste Middleton.” His voice is dark as his anger seeps through every word. “I can’t give you her. I have to protect my pack. You know that.”
“Well, I have to protect my family!” I yell, frustrated, pulling my hair as I begin to pace. “I have a duty to protect my family just like you have to protect your pack, and I won’t let you stand in my way. So give her back!”
A low animalistic growl emits from my chest between each word, and I step back in surprise. That shouldn’t have happened.
“Celeste, you need to calm down. All this stress is going to force a shift.”
I’m frozen in my place as I register his words.
“A forced shift,” I mumble softly to myself as an idea begins to form.
“Celeste, I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. You know just as well as me that if you force a shift while your wolf is restrained, you’ll die.”
“There’s still a slim chance of survival.” I start thinking about all the people who have wronged me; the people who have hurt the ones I love. I need to make myself mad. I need to feel the need to survive.
“The chances are a million to one. don’t do it Celeste!” Austin pleads.
“You’ve left me no choice, Austin. Goodbye.” With that, I hang up on my mate as he calls out my name.
“Cal, get out here,” I shout and he quickly complies.
“Did he agree?”
I shake my head no and a look of defeat claims his chubby baby face.
“I can get her back though. All you have to do is hit me,” I say with confidence.
“Are you crazy? I’m not hitting you.” He scoffs, causing me to roll my eyes.
“I need to force a shift, like I did when I was younger. You need to hit me. Use your powers. Do anything to make her mad; to make her want to survive.”
“A forced shift will kill you! You’re lucky you lived when you were little. I’m not doing it.” He goes to turn away, but being the impatient person that I am, I hit him. I punch him right in the cheek. His head snaps to the right, and he just stands there frozen. A glob of blood comes out from his mouth before he turns to look at me slowly, his violet eyes shining with fury. Lucky me, he’s a multi-faced witch with a really short temper.
My dear friend, Cal, is two-faced. A multi-faced witch has two sides: a dark side and a light side.
“Hit me,” I say again to which a sickly-sweet smile makes its way across his face.
“Gladly,” he whispers before I’m tackled.
He wastes no time throwing punches and kicks. He uses his spells of healing to close up the wounds I inflict back.
After one final hit to the side of my head, my knees buckle as black spots cloud my vision. That feeling of nothing inside as I welcome the darkness surrounds me. Then, a new anger sparks inside of me; something I haven’t felt in years. It flares up, spreading light through the darkness that is consuming me. It leaves no corner of my body in the dark and then the pain starts.
It’s like a fire burning my soul. It consumes me. A scream rips from my throat as my body jolts up. My eyes open to see Cal standing above me, eyes wide as he calls out my name. He tries to grab hold of me, but his touch is like hot iron being held against my flesh―like branding on my skin.
I scoot away from him and rest against the broken tree.
“Don’t,” I mumble and he backs away, hands up in surrender.
Another wave of pain hits me twice as hard as another ear-piercing scream rips its way from my burning throat. I can feel my canines elongate as my nails fall out and get replaced by claws.
My skin starts to stretch to the point where it wants to break, but it won’t.
“Celeste…” Her voice is a faint echo in my head, and despite the pain coursing through my veins, I smile.
“C-Cat?”
My wolf’s name sounds so foreign in my head. It’s been years since I actually said her name. I was so angry at her for all the things she had done, I could barely speak to her without anger lacing my words.
“What have you done, Celeste?” Her voice seems to be getting farther away as darkness once again consumes me, my eyes barely staying open.
“He took you. I needed you, and he took you away from me. He wouldn’t give you back.” I can feel tears threaten to spill as my body becomes numb to the pain surrounding me.
“Shh, what do I always say, Celeste? Chin up, eyes open. No tears shed and no hearts broken.”
I smile at the little rhyme she created when I was seven. That was the first time I ever really cried.
“You’ve done something bad, Celeste. If I was any other wolf, you’d be dead. Now our mate is here. It’s your job to make him let us go so we can save our family. They’re in pain. Their wolves are calling out to me to help them.”
At the mention of Austin, my eyes crack open, and sure enough, there he is, running towards us.
He runs up to Cal first whom he yells at. If only I could hear them, but all I can hear right now is the sound of my heart. It’s so low, like a whisper.
“Austin…” I lose my train of thought as my words drift off quietly into the crisp autumn air. He still hears me though. He’s at my side in the blink of an eye, hauling me into his lap. My head rests on his thigh as he strokes my hair.
He’s saying something, but I can’t hear him. My eyes scrunch in confusion when I see a single tear make its way down his cheek. Using all my strength, I lift my hand, wincing slightly from the movement, and brush my thumb across his stubbly cheek, wiping away his tear.
“Shhh, Austin. Chin up, eyes open. No tears shed and no hearts broken.” My voice sounds so weak, so frail as I speak, but before I can dwell on that fact, the darkness eats me alive as I fall into an eternal, blissful sleep.
CHAPTER 11
|austin|
Fear.
It’s a feeling no one wants to feel. That unsettling, gut-wrenching feeling that just won’t leave you alone, that’s fear. That’s what I feel as I run through the forest with the autumn air rushing through my hair. Celeste is all I think about as I dodge trees and jump over logs. An ear-piercing scream echoes through the air, causing birds to squawk and fly off.
I freeze in place as I recognize it as Celeste’s. She actually did it. A few seconds later, my phone goes off, snapping me out of my trance.
“What?” I snap angrily into the speaker.
“Austin, it’s going to kill her!” The panicked voice of Eve resonates in my ears as she yells.
“I don’t have time for this, Eve.” I am about to hang up when she says something that stops me. “It’s Celeste, she’s here and she’s going to die.”
My heartbeat seems to slow down as I drop the phone and bolt through the forest. I’m quick to shed my clothes, and I collect them before I run to Eve’s house.
As I run, different questions fill my mind.
She went to Eve?
Do they know each other?
Why didn’t Eve call me earlier?
I stop my thoughts from running wild and I hear yet another scream. This one is worse than the last. I push my legs to move faster as the cozy little cabin comes into view. I only stop to shift and put on my clothes.
I start to slow down as Celeste comes into my line of sight. She looks so broken resting up against the tree. Her breathing is shallow as her eyes struggle to remain open. Next, my eyes land on the witch from before; the one who tried to take my mate.
“You!” I snap at him, low growls emitting from my chest. “What did you do?”
As I make my way closer to the fear-filled witch, his scent makes its way to my nose. The mysterious smell sends off warning bells in my head. It’s a smell I recognize very well.
“You’re the one who took her. Yours is the second scent we picked up while tracking.”
He takes a step back, his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “I was only doing what she would’ve done for me. Besides, I needed to talk to her, and you never would’ve let me near her.”
He stays calm while I seethe in rage in front of him. “You’re a filthy witch who tried to take her away. Of course, I wouldn’t want you near her.”
A whistle sounds from behind me then a soft yet angry voice speaks up.
“Uh, hello? That filthy witch is my cousin, so be nice or kiss my protection spells goodbye.”
I look around and I see Eve glaring harshly at me.
“Austin.” The sound of Celeste’s fragile voice snaps me back to the situation at hand.
I make my way past Cal and to Celeste’s side, pulling her into my lap as I sit on the ground.
“Celeste, darling? Stay awake for me,” I whisper as her eyes flutter shut then open again. Her red eyes look dull and lifeless as black rings engulf them. Her usually perfectly tan skin is ghostly pale. “Celeste, my pack is on their way with the doctor. Just stay awake for me.”
The Devil's Daughter: A Paranormal Romance Page 5