by Tigris Eden
Draven got on both of his knees in front of his littler girl. She wasn’t scared. In fact, she was smiling from ear to ear. The energy in the night air was charged to the fullest. The twins and their mate Belinda were at the ceremony since they had been named guardians over Faith should something happen to him or Jesminda. Cyrian though, had been asked to stay behind.
“You ready Angel?” Draven asked his daughter.
She nodded her head once. Wrapped in the same blanket he’d worn when he’d gone on his spirit walk, Faith looked ready to take on the world.
Jesminda assuming the duties his mother would have officiated, stood next to their daughter and smiled down at her.
“Remember just like Nana Mara taught you, okay honey.”
Faith nodded again.
Draven stood and led them down a darkened path to where the ritual would take place. A light fog had settled low on the ground making everything around them creepy. When they made it to the site everyone from his pack was there. Everyone except Asia. He’d told her to bring the boy by after Faith’s ritual so it could only mean that she would present him with his would be son tomorrow. It bothered him a bit that she would keep something so important from him for so long. It felt planned. Orchestrated in a way that meant someone was lying and he really hoped it was her. He didn’t want his first son to come from a person as conniving as Asia.
Everyone stood in a half circle with the opening at the mouth of the forest. As the three of them entered the circle, Jesminda dropped her daughter’s blanket. Underneath, Faith wore light shorts and a tank top. This had been a compromise since normally when a wolf went on a spirit walk they went in their natural state. Jes had refused to let her daughter be naked in front of the entire pack, so Draven’s mother had assured his mate that it would be fine to wear something light and non-constraining.
Faith stood in the half circle, turning first to her grandparents, and bowing low, presenting her submission. Then she turned to her guardians and did the same. Finally, she turned to her parents and approached Draven first. He presented his wrist to Faith before letting her bit down into his flesh, piercing the skin. She turned and did the same to her mother. The offerings of blood between immortals were sacred and he’d done his best to explain the reason she had to ingest their blood. It was an old custom meant to ensure the link between families never be broken. Jes and Draven took one of Faith’s hand into their own and pricked the tip of her fingers with their teeth drawing blood. His little Angel showed no fear as blood beaded at the tip of her finger. Pride filled him as he peered down into his daughters green eyes.
“Our daughter is here to welcome the night, to heed the calling of her spirit, to journey where it takes her so that she may fully understand her reason for being. Here and now at this place in time. It is in her sentient state that she will be paired with her spirit wolf and together they will walk through life as sisters.”
Jesminda’s voice was loud and everyone in the circle acknowledged her words. Draven watched with pride and love as she walked Faith over to edge of the forest. She bent down face level with their daughter and wished her a good journey. Faith turned to the outcropping of trees and began to walk. It was dark and there was no one to guide her but her wolf. When his mate returned to his side, she sagged against him, her entire body shaking.
“Petal, I promise you, she’ll be fine. More than fine.”
The twins walked over with Belinda and the four of them tried to stop the negative emotions that were spiraling out from Jes’ body.
There was nothing left to do now but wait.
# # #
Faith’s heart jumped funny in her chest at the scene in front of her. The air was thick with a smell that reminded her of how pennies tasted on the tip of her tongue. Her stomach gurgled at the sound of the flesh being torn, and acid bubbled in the back of her throat almost making her throw up, but she swallowed it down. As sweat beaded under her armpits and hands, she tried to stay very still. Faith was not lost. She knew right where she was. Only she didn’t want to be here at this particular place and time. People were fighting. They were dying and if she looked close, it was the people she loved the most. Her daddy, her momma, and her aunt and uncles. Even Mr. Stefan would die. She knew no one could see her, and she was glad. Faith covered her mouth with both hands as her breath sped up, it was loud too loud. Almost louder than the sound of her heart, and no matter how hard she tried to make the sounds coming from her chest stop, they wouldn’t. She and her wolf were hiding in the bushes trying their best to be quiet. To not make a sound.
Faith coughed through her fingers as the cloying scent of something rotten assaulted her senses. The ground beneath her feet was sticky and she quickly averted her eyes, because she’d once saw a scary movie that she wasn’t supposed to watch and didn’t want to know what it was that was clinging to her bare feet. It was warm, wet, and gooey. She could feel it surrounding her foot with its wetness, making her skin tingle and the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stand at attention.
“Faith.” Someone said from behind her. Too scared to turn around and look, Faith huddled closer to the bushes, the voice growing closer and closer. She could hear his bare feet over the sounds of the battle that took place in front of her as his feet crushed the leaves on the forest floor. When she did finally gather the courage to look back there was a man standing behind her with wings dusted in gold.
“You and your wolf need to follow me.”
“I’m not allowed to go with strangers.”
Her wolf, a beautiful silver wolf nudged her forward with its snout. If her wolf was telling her to follow, it had to be okay. Right? She sure hoped so, because her mommy and daddy would be mad if anything bad happened to her again. The last time something bad happened, she hadn’t even left with the strange man. He’d taken her, and like a good little girl she listened. Always listened. She learned to listen for a lot of things. The bad man had taken her to a log cabin locking her in a room. Another man with black wings had entered the room and opened a window to let her through so that she could be with her daddy. Enri, he’d helped her, hadn’t hurt her and Faith had been more than happy to crawl through the window to reach her dad. This man had wings dusted with gold, so he had to be like the man with the black wings. Only the light that surrounded him was gold and the man with the black wings had no light left.
“This way little Angel.”
Her daddy called her his Angel, and her mommy told her she was one too. If this man was calling her that, maybe he knew who her parents were.
“Who are you?”
“Eremiel.”
“Eerie meal?”
“Yes, Eremiel, I’m the angel of the apocalypse.”
“Apoc lisp?”
“Yes dear, now quickly follow me, I’ll show you the way out.”
Faith followed the winged man for what seemed like a long time. Branches slapped at her causing her skin to sting. The ground was cold, but she could no longer feel the sticky stuff between her toes, she could still hear all the bad things happening behind her, but the sound was muffled like she’d put her hand over her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear.
“Why are they all fighting?” She asked Eremiel.
“Some are fighting for justice, others are fighting for death. But this is only one realism that can happen if something is not done to stop the bad man.”
“Who is the bad man?” Her chest started to hurt again at the mention of the bad man. She wanted to know so she could tell her daddy and uncles. They would stop the bad man, that’s what they did. Make everyone safe, and keep everyone smiling.
“Someone close to you child. Someone who will hurt your mommy and daddy.”
“NOOOOO!” Faith screamed. Sweat trickled down the sides of her armpits into the shirt she was wearing, making her skin grow colder as a breeze picked up and whirled around her body whipping her hair in a tangled mess around her face. Faith balled her fists at her sides and tried to stay still to cal
m herself down. But the wind kept coming, soon she was shaking and then she felt something inside her try and rip through her skin. “Back off, back off, back off.” She chanted to herself. Her nana Mara told her if she ever felt like ripping things she should try and calm down, back herself away from the situation. It wasn’t working, her claws were getting longer, and she knew her mommy wouldn’t be happy if she changed even a little bit. Not now, she wasn’t supposed to change now. Her silver wolf growled at the man with the wings now that he’d made her angry. “No. No. No. I don’t want the bad man to hurt my mommy and daddy.” Faith pleaded.
“That’s right child, you don’t want that.”
The temperature grew warmer and little by little Faith could feel her heart slowing down, her claws retracting. Her wolf came to sit next to her whimpering and licking the inside of Faith’s hand which helped calm her further.
“Now, when you come back into the clearing where your family is I want you to tell them to look for the Sahidic. Tell them if they find the Sahidic, they will find the bad man who is trying to harm them. Do you understand?”
“Yes, the Sawheddick.”
“Say it like this, Sawheedick.”
“Sahidic.” Faith repeated.
The winged man pointed to a clearing and Faith could see her momma and daddy clearly. Something heavy on her shoulders lifted at the sight of them and Faith ran as fast as her little feet could carry her, her skin breaking out in a cleansing sweat as relief washed over her, and exhaustion took root. She was tired, bone tired, but had to get out the words before she forgot them.
“We have to find the Sahidic, the winged man said so.”
“Find who?” Her daddy asked.
“Eeerie meal said to say Sahidic.” She repeated more frantically. The words scratching her now dry throat as she tried to get the words out and failed. Before she could finish talking she fell to the ground. She was sleepy, so sleepy.
# # #
“You said nothing bad would happen to my daughter!”
“Our daughter and she’s fine. She’s exhausted. Look at her, she’s breathing perfectly.”
Draven could hear the worry in his mate’s voice. He was worried too, but refused to let her know that. Royce bent down next to Faith and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“She’s good Jes. Sleeping, she’s only sleeping.”
Draven looked out into the foggy night and noticed a silver wolf hidden in the bushes.
“Royce step back. Her walk is not complete.”
“Really? You want me to leave your daughter on the cold ass ground?” The male shook his head but backed away. As he did, the silver wolf walked calmly into the clearing. She was beautiful. Her lustrous fur thick and shiny, her eyes the color of sparkling emeralds. This was Faith’s wolf. She growled as she passed his father, who in turn growled right back. The wolf laid down next to his daughter offering its warmth.
“Even your daughter disrespects her alpha.” Antony said. His father took a step forward and sent up a howl that called to all wolves including him. Simultaneously, pack members began shifting into their wolf form until they were all on their stomachs. Draven didn’t want to shift but was helpless to his father’s call. He did not want to leave his mate and daughter unprotected. Faith was still vulnerable. In his peripheral, he saw his friends and mate take up a protective stance around the silver wolf and his daughter. His last thought before his wolf completely took over, was he needed to get as far away from the compound as soon as possible.
Chapter 12
Draven’s wolf chuffed and growled at the others around him. The silver wolf was still guarding his cub. He was neglecting his duties as a teacher. The silver wolf was disrespectful when she growled at the alpha. Something that could not go unpunished. He knew this. Pack law demanded he be the one to carry it out even if she was his cub.
The black wolf turned in the direction of his alpha and walked toward him. The time would come when he would assume the role of alpha, so he could show no signs of weakness. The alpha sat back on his haunches and howled again, signaling all wolves bow lower than himself. Wolves in the pack sank to their bellies, warming the cold floor. Draven’s wolf also stretched out low on his belly, but in the direction of his mate and cub. He would not take his eyes off them.
His mate’s eyes held defiance and strength. She would allow no one to harm their offspring. Even if she had to protect her from him.
# # #
“Is this normal?” Jes asked unsure. There were dozens of wolves enclosing them in a circle. Royce and Ronin stood on either side of her daughter while she and Bells took the front.
“No. It is not normal. Antony wants to punish Faith’s wolf for growling. Not in an applicable way either. He wants to strip her of her wolf.”
Could he even do that?
On cue, the silver wolf began growling, louder, harsher as if at any minute she would attack.
“She sees Antony as a threat. I can’t get a read on him, he’s blocking me out.”
Faith’s wolf stood and approached Jes. Pushing her snout into Jes’ hand whimpering slightly.
“She’s afraid for you.”
“Why me?”
“Because she knows you will wreck shop on all these motherfuckers if they get anywhere within fighting distance.
Damn straight.
The twins moved closer to Faith, but when Royce bent to pick her up the silver wolf turned and approached him growling. The wolf and Royce were now face to face, each trying to one up the other in a staring contest.
Royce didn’t move. Neither did the wolf.
Jes turned back to Draven when he began growling in their direction. Draven’s wolf and Royce didn’t get along as much as Draven liked to believe, but his wolf was right. Royce needed to back away from their daughter.
Jes looked closer at her mate and she could see that he was struggling to get out of whatever hold his father had on him. Another wolf in dark mahogany fur and a graying snout scooted closer to Draven blocking her view. Something was going on but she didn’t know what. The black wolf whined and that was her cue to get her daughter to safety.
“Get Faith out of here now.” Jes snarled. She didn’t hesitate to jump into action. She saw out of the corner of her eyes that the silver wolf allowed Ronin to pick up Faith but not Royce. He started backing away with Faith in his arms, when he turned to make his escape Cyrian was there.
“Hand her to me.”
“Jes, you okay with him taking her?”
They didn’t have time for conversation. The other wolves were closing in on them, saliva dripping from their teeth.
“It’s fine. Take her.”
Jes was ready, prepared to take on the whole damn pack if needed.
“Draven?”
She eyed the black wolf.
“Draven, you in there?” She shouted.
The wolf tried to rise, but was still down on the ground. Held against his will by invisible bonds. She realized he was submitting to his father, or being forced to.
“Me and you against the world? Right? We’re family, doesn’t matter what anyone else says. At the end of the day I got your back Draven, and you’ve got mine.”
Jes took a step forward, but stopped short when the other wolves started growling.
“I think they mean to attack.” Bells shared at her side.
“Draven won’t let them hurt us.” She was confident. Believed it with all her heart.
“Cyrian has Faith.”
“Get her out of here Cy.” Jes warned.
She turned just in time to see Cyrian’s large midnight wings appear. He had both child and wolf in each arm as he took flight. One minute he was there, the next he wasn’t.
“Do you even know where he’s taking her?” Jes asked Ronin.
He nodded and pointed to his head.
But she didn’t get the chance to respond back with a thank you, before the brown and black wolf pounced. Taking her down to the ground in a flurry of paws
and claws.
# # #
There were a couple of things Ronin noticed before Antony attacked Jesminda. The first thing was all though the wolves were at the ready to attack. They didn’t. Antony was acting alone in his outrage. The others were trying to hold their ground, but the alpha lost control. He lost control of himself and his pack. Antony’s loss was all Draven’s wolf needed to gain the upper hand.
“What the fuck!” Ronin was pissed when Draven didn’t leap into the fray with Jesminda, but it seemed she was holding her own against his father. Natural instinct made him react, before thinking, but Jes didn’t seem to need anyone’s help. She’d even shifted into a cinnamon color wolf, clawing and snarling at her attacker. The fur on the back of her neck was raised, thick tufts of hair stood on end as she circled her would be assailant. He’d never get use to her being able to turn into whatever she wanted. There were some wolves growling, other’s like Draven refused to join the alpha in his tyrannical temper tantrum. The ground rumbled with echoes of other’s fighting but Ronin couldn’t let his guard down or take his eyes off of what was going on in front of him. Adrenaline surged through his veins in a raw powerful shot of energy that had him vibrating at the bones. Draven had split from the pack. A line had been drawn between. Ones who followed his father and others who now followed Draven. The taste of blood was heavy in the air ramping Ronin up to a level of euphoria that was dangerous to any who’d dare to approach him.
Alliances had been made and bonds were now broken. Draven’s wolf stood on all four, at his full height he was the same size as an SUV. Plumes of breath exited in rapid succession as the wolf prepared for attack. Chaos erupted at that point wolves were fighting wolves and Jesminda was fighting Antony. Ronin couldn’t get a read on the alpha wolf, and normally he’d chalk it up to having a bad day but he knew that was not the case this time. There was something wrong. He just couldn’t put his finger on it yet. Knew it was staring him in the face, and the moment it broke wide open, he would realize there had been signs all around.