Authors: Ambrielle Kirk
Tristan chuckled darkly. “A little sibling rivalry.” He slid the badges off Nathan’s Belt and let them fall to the floor, and then he tugged each end of the Belt sharply. The leather snapped loudly in the air.
Nathan removed his shirt and threw it next to his badges.
“Eleven lashes for your crew, plus six more for your sister,” Tristan declared.
“No!” The protest rushed from Naomi’s mouth.
“Zip it shut, Sister.”
“I’m capable of taking my own punishment!” she cried.
“Assume your position like your leader says, or he’ll receive more lashes for not being able to control his crew members,” Tristan ordered and held the Belt high in the air above Nathan’s back.
Naomi turned, refusing to witness her brother being punished. She couldn’t prevent the sound of thick leather connecting with the skin and muscle. She bit into her lip, drawing blood as Tristan struck her brother again. And again.
It seemed an eternity passed before the punishment ceased. Still, she couldn’t bear to look.
“You have a disobedient but courageous leader.” Tristan’s voice sent chilly jolts up her spine. “For one month you are all under suspension and strict watch. Don’t leave the Compound under any circumstances. That is an order. Should you disobey, it will be the last order you receive as an E2.”
Someone shuffled their feet and another gave a muted growl.
Tristan’s eyes widened and his lips tightened. “Did I hear an objection?”
Complete silence fell over the room.
“You’ve handled yourselves like fucking dogs in the public eye.” He turned on Nathan. “And you, do I need to appoint someone else to lead Crew thirty-eight?”
Nathan’s shoulders stiffened. He held his lips taut because of the pain of the Belt punishment. “No, Alpha.” He shuddered.
“Re-claim your Belt and get out of my sight immediately. All of you!”
Without hesitation, they filed out of the room in an unorderly fashion.
“Naomi!” Her name rang out from across the room. The call came from Tristan, who had taken his seat on the throne.
She turned to face her Alpha, her eyes brimming with tears she refused to spill.
“Send my regards to your father.” Although his lips, which were set in a grim line, and his face, which was expressionless, showed no signs of it, she clearly made out the teasing sparkle around his irises.
Bastard.
Naomi didn’t utter a word as she followed her crew out of the estate. It wouldn’t be long before Senior Valentine learned she’d turned down an offer that, true to Tristan’s word, only came once in a lifetime.
There comes a time in a man’s life when he must accept defeat. He must do so shamelessly and with honor because a single defeat does not equal total failure. Every being has a purpose on this earth, and that purpose extends beyond life. There is no greater reward than knowing those you have mentored will pick up your torch and claim a victory.
Roman closed his journal and placed his fountain pen in its holder. He got up and lit the last candle sitting on the fireplace mantle. He rested his cane against the hearth and made his way to the other end of the cabin. A small table was there with a setting of tea for two. He picked up the small teapot and poured piping hot water over the dried leaves and potions. The steam floated toward his lips, and the warm herbal elixir greeted him. He experienced a rush of tranquility.
A swift wind picked up outside and gushed past the shutters of the open windows. As he expected, he had a guest. And he smelled her anger. Her treachery and deceit. As the oldest Seer in the village, Roman had the gift of foresight. He knew why she’d come tonight. He’d known for decades what would happen.
As her footsteps neared Roman, he sat calmly in the chair and tipped the teacup to his lips and drank the hot concoction.
The door to his cabin slammed open and the hinges nearly broke off the frame, but he didn’t flinch. This guest didn’t deserve the benefit of a pleasant greeting.
She had grown old. All of her youthful life had wasted away with time. Although Roman had been blind since the day he was born, he used touch, scent and energy above other things to make his assessments.
“Where is my daughter?” Faydra, Roman’s distant ex-lover, bellowed.
“Where are your manners?” he asked calmly, setting the cup on its saucer.
Some vases smashed to the floor, but Roman figured the hag had done this on purpose. “Where? Where is my daughter?”
“It’s been six years. Did you really think she would like to reunite with you in your drunken stupor?”
He smelled the whiskey surrounding her, even from where she stood in his doorway. She came inside and pushed his belongings to the floor as she passed them. “And you, Roman, you’re still a measly servant. Haven’t you grown tired of wasting your precious talents?”
“My talents haven’t been wasted.” Roman held the edges of the table for support. “I can’t say the same about yours since you never had talents at all.”
Faydra scoffed and inched closer. “You’re still as blind as a bat, but you haven’t aged as quickly as the rest of those Elders. Tell me where I can find her. I’ve searched throughout the village.”
“How did you get past the guards along the perimeters? You’re no longer Caedmon.”
“I’m not but my sister is. I can’t believe she chooses to live among dogs. She’s even mated to one.” She chuckled. “But not for long…”
“Did you harm her?” Roman demanded.
“No,” she said sweetly. “I would never do that to my little sister.”
“The Caedmon Spirit left you—”
“Ha! Is that what you think? That it left me?”
“You’ve betrayed us!”
Faydra placed a hand to his chest. “You and I could’ve been good together, don’t you know that? We could’ve ruled this Pack. You knew the last Alpha would grow sick. You knew there would be no suitable heirs. You had the power to break the cycle. But no, you chose to stand by your whoremongering Alpha and mentor that bastard Devin Caedmon.” She poked his chest. “You subdue your powers, but you know you’re stronger than them. You’re stronger than all of them.”
“Enough!” His anger grew red hot, and the glass in the windows shattered but didn’t fall.
“You descended from the original Caedmon line, yet you remained behind the scenes, doing their bidding while they enjoy the fruits of your labor—of your gift.”
“Don’t challenge my purpose, woman!”
“You were the son your father scorned. He didn’t want you.” Faydra laughed. “That’s why you pity Devin so much, isn’t it? You pitied him so much you let him rise to the Alpha position. You understand how it feels to be a lowly servant and cast out by your flesh and blood. Still you stand there and accept your measly life of servitude.”
“Stop it!” The chairs and tables turned over on their sides.
Her evil laughter rang throughout his small home. “Ever since the day you were born, your father shunned you. You had the gift of foresight but he didn’t give a shit. All he saw was a potential blind Alpha. One who wasn’t strong enough to lead a Pack.” She slid her fingers across his jawline and beard. “He tried for decades, but your fragile mother couldn’t conceive another. That old stubborn fool didn’t want his brother to rise when he died, so he took a whore and Daniel Caedmon was the result of that affair. That means your last Alpha—your brother—was a bastard.” She clucked her tongue. “They’re all bastards and don’t even know it. Your parents kept it a secret. Your father kept taking whores until your mother ended it all. Suicide, wasn’t it? She jumped to her death off a mountain. He took the easy way out and followed her to the grave.”
The amount of information Faydra produced shocked Roman to the core. “How did you—”
“Doesn’t look as though your talents helped you that much? You can see bits and pieces of the future. Isn’t that right?”
Roman swallowed hard. Everything she recounted was the truth. He loved this woman once.
Once.
He’d bedded her dozens of times long ago. Back then, his hopes were high for a companion, even in the absence of a mate. But when Daniel Caedmon marked Faydra to please him in bed, Roman knew their relationship would never be the same. No woman would refuse to be the Alpha’s mistress. Not back then when the practice was customary and considered an honor. When Faydra had accepted, Roman felt betrayed.
“How can you know so much?” he demanded, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
“Use your good sense,” she said. “I became pregnant with Daniel Caedmon’s offspring. That’s when the visions started. At first I thought someone cursed me. It took me months to figure out what I was seeing while I carried her. Glimpses and images of the past. It seemed like nonsense to me, then. But now, everything makes sense. At the moment of conception, Daniel’s child had the gift.” Her breath came in pants. “Elisa. She has the gift of hindsight, doesn’t she?”
Roman gasped.
“You kept this information from me. You kept my daughter from me. You did. Daniel did. You’re a pack of bastards. You’ve deceived the Caedmon people. All bastards should be banished of the Spirit.”
“You tried to kill your child, Faydra!” Roman shouted. “You made several attempts in her nursery. We had to keep you from her. Daniel didn’t want you around her or in the village. You were a threat to her life and you were a threat to him. Daniel and I agreed to protect the Caedmon Pack as it stood.”
“I wanted Daniel to pay for what he did to me. He promised me a lifetime of happiness but he didn’t deliver. All he used me for were sexual favors. I gave her life and that’s why I can take it. Where is she?”
“No, you can’t!”
“She’s been taunting me. I see her in my dreams. They stalk me day and night. Putting visions in my head. Visions of my past. Things I don’t want to remember. Things no one can know about me.”
“She’s just a child,” he declared. A vicious wind picked up outside, causing the tree branches to beat the top of the roof.
“A devil child! And she’ll destroy both of us if she’s not dealt with.”
Roman felt the ends of her dress brush against his pants as she turned hastily. Without hesitation he called his powers silently and sent a strong force toward the door. It slammed shut before Faydra could exit.
“It ends here, Faydra.” His anger consumed him. “You won’t taint or destroy our legacy.”
She turned, laughing hysterically. “It’s too late.”
“What have you done?”
“I went to the Ellises. They know everything. It’s time for me to do what I should’ve done years ago. Jonathan Ellis is right. That witch child never should have been born.”
“You won’t harm her,” Roman warned.
He heard the click of a blade, felt a sharp pressure to his gut, and then blood gushed from his side. He felt no pain, only immense pressure. A series of vivid images flitted
through his mind. He’d witnessed this scene before. It was like having déjà vu. He’d predicted his death many times. The how and where always came to him in blurred visions. But the when and who hadn’t been clear until tonight when a weird premonition seized him and then Faydra showed up on his doorstep. As for the why, he always knew other’s would lead to his death.
Roman didn’t plan on fighting this because in order for those he mentored to succeed, he’d have to fall. He couldn’t wield the powers like he used to anymore, but there was one who could. And she would.
Each time Faydra’s evil laughter rang, his pulse grew weak. Blood trickled down the side of his body, and his life-force began to flow with it. Roman called the powers within him as a last resort.
A blaze from the fireplace burst into the room like a cannon-shot. The curtains and upholstery caught fire. Streaks of red and orange sparked bright before him as he telepathically bolted the locks on the door and windows.
“No!” Faydra screamed. She banged on the door and then on the windows in an attempt to escape.
“Would you die for your leader? The one who sent you here?”
Her breathing came in short huffs as smoke filled the room. “Let me out.”
Roman laughed. “You should never have come back.”
She jumped on him and tackled him to the ground. “Let me out now!” She coughed and dry-heaved as the thick, hot smoke flooded the room.
Roman fought to catch his own breath amid the thick smoke. Although the woman was small, she managed to knock the air out of him. He grabbed her by the throat and hurled her. There was a thud on the opposite wall and then a scream. Moments later the smell of burnt hair and charred flesh filled the room. A bloodcurdling scream moved closer and closer to him and she knocked his stuff to the floor.
Faydra slammed a knife into his chest. In the same instance, a blunt force broke the door down. Roman stumbled backward, the blade embedded in his chest. He couldn’t breathe now as the pain disbursed through him like a fast moving disease. When he opened his eyes again, he saw clearly. He saw everything.
Vividly.
In wolf form, Dawson Caedmon hurled himself into the air and slammed Faydra to the ground. The animal that had taken control of the man and couldn’t be subdued. It only saw danger and marked Faydra as a threat. His large canines descended and ripped into Faydra’s throat. She didn’t have a chance and her body went limp instantly.
Almost thirteen decades Roman De’Santo Caedmon had lived, but for the first time, he could see. If it weren’t for the fire and black smoke clouding the room, the view would have been perfect. His body slumped to the ground, and his heart fluttered.
Voices echoed around him. Familiar voices. Music to his ears. He tried to reach for them.
Immense pain.
His vision was fading fast. His fingers met fur. He held tight onto a wolf.
Smoke rushed up his nostrils. He nearly choked on the smoldering heat. Water splashed his face and he swallowed some of it.
His chest burned. Painfully. End it. Now.
Someone with strong arms lifted him. He knew the scent. The scent of the Alpha. His nephew. Devin Caedmon.