The Seer (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11

 

“Hey, you look um different,” Mercedes said when Sarah sat down. They were having lunch together; it was the first time Sarah had been out since she was attacked.

“Oh I borrowed this from Mackenzie, I guess I should ask Tyson to get me some clothes from home,” she said.

Though she and Mackenzie were not remotely the same size, these clothes fit her oddly. The tank top was a little tight even though Mackenzie was more gifted in the breast department than she was and it showed a few too many inches of her stomach. And the blue jean skirt was long but it was a little tight around her behind, another thing Mackenzie had more of. It wasn’t that the clothes looked bad on her, they actually looked really good, but she usually didn’t wear anything that showed any of her body. Lynn and Mackenzie had insisted on this outfit which probably meant they cast a spell to mess with her. This magic stuff was almost becoming normal to her; two weeks in the Alpha wolf’s house did that to you.

“Mackenzie? Why would you borrow clothes from her?” Mercedes asked.

“Oh I’ve been staying with her, I guess what happened wouldn’t make the news,” she sighed. She felt shaky being out here where anything could happen.

“Hey,” she heard Tyson’s voice. His hands were on her shoulders and suddenly she didn’t feel so afraid anymore.

“Who are you?” Mercedes asked not even bothering to hide her ogling.

“Mercedes this is Tyson, he and I have been seeing each other. Tyson my sister Mercedes,” she said.

“Nice to formally meet you, we’ve seen each other before,” Tyson said. He took a seat beside me.

“Oh right the guy that follows Mackenzie around, what are you her nanny or something? Her man on the side?” Mercedes asked, Sarah wanted to slap her.

“No, I am not a nanny or in a relationship with a married woman. Mackenzie and I are just good friends,” he shrugged. “Besides that, I am in love with your sister so it would be difficult to be with someone else at the same time. And I value my life a lot more than to ever do something like that.”

“Sarah what’s going on with you? I went by your place, it’s a mess and you haven’t taken any of my calls or calls from Mom or anybody. I was so desperate I went to knock on the pedophile’s door to find Lynn and nobody answered there either. And now you show up with some random guy? Talk to me, we never keep secrets,” she said.

“I was attacked in my apartment, and I guess I left my phone there, I don’t really know what happened after it happened,” Sarah told her. Thinking about it brought it all back again, just when she thought she was fine.

“It’s ok, I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again,” Tyson whispered squeezing her hand. The trouble was that she knew he meant that and she hated feeling safe with him.

“I’m ok,” she said and he kissed her cheek.

“Explain this, how were you attacked? Oh my, were you raped? Who did it?” Mercedes predictably fired off questions.

“Well Lynn and Sebastian were babysitting Noah and Mena, and Mackenzie came to talk to me on her way to get the kids. When she and Javier were going down to get in the car it exploded or something. Anyway when all that happened I guess I left my door unlocked while I was over with Lynn, Mackenzie and the kids. I went back to my apartment and someone was there and the next thing I knew I was at Mackenzie’s house,” Sarah said.

Mercedes was of course shocked speechless, but a waiter came to take their orders so she was distracted a moment. Putting this whole nightmare behind her was going to be the hardest thing she ever did. If it wasn’t for Mackenzie and her family and Tyson, there would be no recovering. Tyson was being amazing; he was with her every second of the day. Everybody kept telling her that she was his mate, but he never said that. He told her he loved her, a lot, but she was still unsure about him. Even as they sat there with him gently squeezing her thigh, women were looking at him, her sister was sneaking looks. This man was just too good looking to be with her. Why would he be with a woman that never wore make-up, had paint stains on most of her clothes and didn’t ever dress to impress?

“My God Sarah, was the man that attacked you caught?” Mercedes asked.

“He’s dead,” Tyson said in a bored tone.

“Wow,” Mercedes said with her eyes wide. “Why have you been at Mackenzie’s house? You should have come to stay with me or Mom or something. I don’t trust that husband she has he’s violent and he had the test changed.”

“No he didn’t do that and he’s actually really nice and he worships the ground she walks on. I really just feel safer there, they have guards and big dogs,” Sarah said.

“Just because he’s pretending to be nice doesn’t mean he isn’t beating on her in private,” Mercedes the stubborn said.

“That is honestly the funniest thing I’ve ever heard,” Tyson laughed. “If Javier ever laid a hand on Mackenzie her father would kill him, it’s just that simple. You just have to face the truth that Mackenzie isn’t related to you and that her husband is a good man that loves her. While you’re at it you can get over you’re jealousy of your little sister and be happy for her.”

“I don’t even know you, how can you speak to me like that?” Mercedes was pissed off as she often was.

“Because it’s true, you have to stop this and you need to make up with Lynn. She needs her sisters right now, I shouldn’t tell you this but she’s pregnant and she had a huge fight with Mom and she’s getting married in three weeks,” Sarah told her sister.

“Pregnant? So that’s why she’s marrying him? This is why she shouldn’t have let that pervert trick her,” Mercedes shook her head.

“Sebastian loves her, I was skeptical at first too, but if you saw the way he looks at her you would know. They are getting married now before she starts to show and because after the twins come they won’t have much free time.”

“Twins? Leave it to Lynn to do something crazy, so what is she fighting with Mom about? That kind of explains her mood lately.”

“Mom told Lynn that she had an affair and Lynn has a different father. The guy was our neighbor, I remember Brice, he was always nice to us,” Sarah said with a heavy heart. It never occurred to her younger self that her mother was up to no good with the nice man next door. That did explain why he was always buying them stuff.

“Are you serious? Mom cheated? I didn’t think our parents kept secrets, they always told us it was a sin,” Mercedes said in shock.

“Yeah well Dad had secrets too, he never told Mom that one of their babies died and he replaced her with Mackenzie. Her mother was 16 and she couldn’t take care of her so she gave her to our father who never told anyone the truth. So Mackenzie is the sister we remember she just isn’t blood related to us and she was never legally adopted. After she was kidnapped from our house her real mother searched for her and wasn’t able to get her home till she was 16. That is the truth, none of it is the way you were thinking,” Sarah told her. Maybe now her sister could act at least halfway sane?

“I gotta take this call,” Tyson said looking at his phone. “Excuse me ladies.” He kissed Sarah’s forehead then walked away talking in his demon language.

“I can’t believe all of this or the fact that you are dating Mr. Tall Dark and Sexy. That isn’t you’re usual type, how did you get him?”

“Oh I don’t know we just start talking and went out a few times and stayed in a lot of times. Tyson is an amazing and sweet,” Sarah said happily. For once she had a boyfriend that every woman was envious of and it felt good.

“He looks like he stepped off the pages of a magazine, is he a model? What do you mean you stayed in a lot? Are you having sex with him? Sarah, we’ve talked about this it’s why your relationships don’t work,” Mercedes shook her head.

“We’ve never had sex; don’t say anything but he’s a virgin. It’s so crazy how perfect he is, he’s never done anything in fact you’ve done more than he has. We just spend time together; he’s been with me taking care of me since I was attacked. It was him and Sebastian that came to save me,” Sarah told her sister.

“Why is he always hanging around Mackenzie? They must have something going on,” Mercedes said. She never was one to believe things easily.

“Mackenzie has only ever been with her husband in everyway imaginable. Tyson is just close to her family and because she’s been kidnapped before both her father and Javier have her guarded. That’s what Tyson does, he’s like her body guard,” Sarah explained. “Stop with your paranoia, its driving me crazy.”

“Sorry, ok so are you really ok? Is there something you aren’t telling me about what happened to you?” There were actually a million things she couldn’t tell Mercedes.

“I just haven’t been out since it happened, so I’m kind of like clinging to having Tyson with me. Thankfully the guy didn’t rape me or anything; I just don’t feel very safe. And I finally had to quit my job, so I’m kind of screwed,” she sighed

The food came so she distracted herself eating while Mercedes talked. If she didn’t do something soon, Sarah was going to be homeless. She couldn’t stay with Mackenzie forever they had a houseful already. Maybe it was time for her to go home and find a new job so she could go back to being independent. Too bad that just the thought of being alone had her shaking, why did this have to happened to her?  Sarah looked up to see if she could spot Tyson anywhere, he wasn’t on the phone anymore. A woman was talking to him, no doubt hitting on him. Maybe she really needed to break up with him; it wasn’t worth it to go out with him. At this point in her life Sarah didn’t want people staring at her wondering why a guy like that would want her. It was more or less becoming an obsession and she was desperate for her sanity. When he came back Tyson kissed her cheek and studied her face like he could tell what she was thinking.

After lunch Sarah promised Mercedes that she would call to check in with her again and that she would call their mother. She walked back to Tyson’s car holding his hand, once again people were staring. Tyson didn’t seem to notice, but she couldn’t help being aware of the rest of the world. This was truly driving her crazy and she hated feeling like this. It had been a long time since she felt this insecure.

“Sarah, is something wrong?” Tyson asked refusing to let her get into his car.

“I’m just tired and it’s weird to be out,” she only half lied.

“You know I’ve been alive for a long time and I know a lie when I see one. I could feel your waves of emotion, they are quiet strong,” he said. “At first I thought it was because you were afraid but now I see that it’s something different.”

“Please just drop it, I think I’ve been humiliated enough for a life time, I just want to go to bed and figure out my life. I can’t afford my apartment anymore I need a new job and I just have to get over this,” she said. He lifted her chin to make her look in his eyes; it was so embarrassing that her eyes were watering.

“Sarah you don’t have to worry about anything, I’ll take care of you. If you don’t want to stay in your apartment you can move in with me,” he paused. “And please stop worrying about if women look at me, I only see you. There is no one else and I’m fairly certain there never will be, even if you leave me. If you don’t stop this you’re going to just make us both miserable.”

“Tyson why are you with me? Nobody can believe this, not even my own sister,” she said.

“Well maybe you were talking to the wrong sister? I would never tell you I love you if I didn’t mean it and I don’t care what others think. If you don’t want to be with me then just say it because I just can’t keep going back and fourth with you,” he said. There was this serious look in his eyes, this was too hard.

“I’m sorry my life is just in shambles and I barely know up from down,” she sighed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

“Sarah I would marry you right this second if I thought it was the right thing, I will never be with another woman. Only you, I waited so long for you I can’t lose you,” he told her.

“How come I’ve never been to your place?” She asked feeling the need for a change in subject.

“I’m rarely there, but I think we should go over for a bit now. Then I can find a way to persuade you to meet my family,” he said.

“Excuse me? You want me to meet your family where is that coming from?”

“It was my mother that called me, she says she could sense a change in me and wanted to know what it was. I told her before I was seeing somebody and so now they want to meet you. If you aren’t up to it that is fine,” he said.

“Ya know I think it would be very interesting to meet your family,” she said.

“You say that now but you might not think so once you do,” he said. “I’ve never brought home a woman to meet my family so they will ask a lot of questions.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to answer them,” she shrugged. He pulled her closer with his hands on her behind and kissed her passionately. When Sarah opened her eyes again they were in a bedroom, dating a demon seemed to have serious perks.

 

 

“Mackenzie, I don’t have much time,” someone whispered.

I sat up in bed looking around the room. There was a magical charge in the air and I knew I was going to project. Why this had to sneak up on me I don’t know but once again it did. Some days I wished I could be a normal witch and not one prophesized to be the most powerful. Since the day I met Sierra she told me I would be the one to put Gypsy Witches at the top of the food chain. None of that mattered to me, I just wanted to live a semi-normal life and a good nights sleep. Unfortunately my husband was very busy these days and happened to not be in bed with me. I wasn’t sure who would be calling me to project myself, but this time I did hear a voice. The pull was getting stronger so I yelled for Javier, but it was too late.

This place was pretty dark and dirty, but it wasn’t dungeons in my father’s castle. No this was a warehouse and I assume they don’t have modern warehouses in my father’s homeland. My Aunt Lilly always told me they were very out of date there and practically medieval and she says she refuses to go home until there is electricity. Looking around I saw that there was someone on the ground not too far from me, another person chained. This one was a woman and as I neared her and she looked up at me I gasped.

Zara laid there on the floor with her hands and feet bound, she’d been beaten and she was dirty. I ran to her and she smiled a weak Zara-like smile, her chocolate skin looked pale. She was in bad shape like she’d been tortured. This really was like going to see my uncles only she hadn’t been beaten anywhere near as much as they had. I kneeled on the floor and laid her head in my lap trying to really get a lot at her injuries.

“Kenz, don’t try to free me, he doesn’t need to know what you’re capable of and it will mess with fate,” Zara said hoarsely. “But please conjure me a glass of water.”

“Sure,” I said and I did. I helped her to drink it too. “Want fries with that?”

“That’s my girl,” she laughed. “Bet Jared is pissed at me, for once I felt like I found the one and he’ll never speak to me again. Guess that’s what I get for going after the tortured and scarred one. You were just so happy married to Javi and everybody else was getting hitched, silly me.”

“Zara, clearly you didn’t do this to yourself so hush, Jared won’t be mad. Tell me what happened and where the heck we are,” I said.

“Well we’re in a warehouse, it’s abandoned and from what I can guess it’s outside of town somewhere I’m not quite sure. Anyway it was Zkar that snatched me and I knew it would happen I just didn’t think I wouldn’t be able to get free. That b*****d has been forcing me to tell him visions, guess he’s just like his brother. Foul beasts will get what they deserve I swear I’ll see to it.”

“Ok, how did you know I could come here?”

“Sweetie, you were made to do amazing things and defy all logic, I knew you would be able to project. It was the only way you could come without leaving a trail. This SOB has a few wolves and some traitorous b***h witches working for him. They intend to make moves on the whole family, he has to rely on tricks and magic to hide him because he knows he can’t take on the pack. Javier would slaughter him, so he thought to try to get rid of him. I knew you weren’t in the car when it happened but I was so afraid for Lynn, I heard him tell his goon to go take her. For the most part I don’t tell my visions that’s why I’m so banged up but it’s whatever, I just need you to stay safe Kenz. If he were to get his hands on you the world as we know it would cease to exist. You have some serious power in you girl, and if he could control you nothing would stop him,” Zara told me.

“I don’t get why he would even want to hurt Lynn,” I said shaking my head.

“His girlfriend has some issue with Lynn I heard him on the phone, she has something against the whole family. She calls him like a thousand times a day complaining about stuff, I sadly don’t know who she is. But I like Lynn and she nor her sister deserve to get dragged into this.”

“Zara, how can I get you out of here? I can’t in good faith leave here without you, not to mention Jared would choke me. Then Javi would have to go against everything to kill his brother and then we’d all be miserable,” I said and she laughed.

“Don’t worry I will return home, Jared will come for me, he would never leave his mate in danger. He asked me to marry him, that’s why he thinks I ran off. I want to marry Jared, even though I swore to never tie myself to one man and its beyond weird since his father kidnapped me. Then again you married the son of your kidnapper and bore him an amazing son,” she shrugged. Her eyes closed, she looked so tired.

“Only you would be able to get the king of celibacy to marry after all these years. I’m so happy for you; if it gets any worse here you will call me right? I’ll get Javi moving on finding this place, I swear it,” I vowed to my old friend.

When I was first brought to Zenis’ house Zara was his seer so she helped me to control my abilities. She too had been kidnapped, and she went through a lot in the many years she was trapped in that house. Unlike with me, Zenis actually did attempt to take her as his mistress. As I hear it she spelled the hell out of him the first time he climbed into her bed and he never did it again. Zara happened to be the most rebellious free spirit I know, you would think she was born a gypsy witch but she actually was born to a prominent respectful high class high priestess of a well known coven. Basically her type of witch is royalty while mine is shunned, but Zara isn’t snobby. After she was released she went home to her mother, but ended up moving back into town because she was bored of being proper and she wanted to be free. Her coven vowed that they would one day avenge her kidnapping.

“Just tell Jared he has my heart,” she said.

“I’m being pulled back Zara, but I will get help,” I assured her.

“I know, tell the little ones Auntie Zara is sorry she missed the party.”

“Be safe Zar, I love you like a sister and I can’t afford to lose any family.”

“Love you too baby girl,” she said. I laid her head gently on the floor before I was pulled back into my body and my bedroom. My heart ached for Zara, but I would help her, she is part of our family and that means a lot around here.

 

I came awake to the sound of my husband calling my name. He was looking down at me with concern in his eyes. Ironically Jared was standing in the door way. Like always when I come back from projecting I was exhausted, not as exhausted as when I met my uncle, I suppose traveling to another dimension would take more energy. Poppy was also in the room, looking concerned and it took a lot to worry my sister. If I was honest, I hated this whole astro projection thing. Why did all the strangest things have to happen to me? I really didn’t care to be a powerful witch, being a mediocre one would be just fine with me. Especially since I didn’t even use magic as much as some witches did and a lot of low level witches use magic as apposed to doing things themselves. Guess I’m just an oddball amongst witches.

“Mackenzie, are you ok?” Javier asked me.

“More or less,” I replied. It was taking me a bit to get my brain to cooperate.

“Should I sound the alarm?” Poppy asked.

“No,” I said. “Jared I saw Zara.”

“What?” He asked, he had this look in his eyes and I ached for him. Jared never showed much emotion, not until Zara had decided to pursue him. It didn’t surprise me that she was his and he never said a word about it to anyone that was how he was.

“She was the reason I projected again, she kind of called me,” I explained. “But she wanted me to make sure you knew she didn’t just leave, Zkar took her.”

“He did what?” Jared growled, he never lost control but I could see wolf in his eyes. “I never went to look for her because I figured she ran off because I was stupid enough to ask her to marry me. I could have done something for her but I just let this happen to her, again.”

“She doesn’t blame you, she told me to tell you that you have her heart,” I said. But I knew it wasn’t much help, he had the look in his eyes that I knew from my husband, he wanted blood.

“Do you know where she is?” Javier asked me drawing the attention away from his brother.

“An abandoned warehouse, but she wasn’t sure where it was other than outside of town,” I said. Jared was pacing, not a good sign.

I told them everything that happened with Zara even though it wasn’t really much. Afterwards my husband decided a family meeting needed to happen the next evening. Then he had to go calm Jared down while Poppy and I talked a bit. By the time he came back I was already about to go to sleep, projecting takes a lot of me.

 

 

The next day I stood on my porch greeting my family members, having all the Alonsos in one house was asking for trouble. I hadn’t expected to see Amanda walking up my driveway. Of course I loved Warren’s niece just like I loved all of my nieces. Amanda didn’t really act like a 15 year old and she liked to hang around with her aunties. Since I was the youngest growing up in Zenis’ house I understood her wanting to spend time with grown ups. She hugged me when she came up the steps, she’s a joy to have but we were about to have an important meeting.

“Amanda, sweetie, what are you doing here?” I asked and she smiled a sweet innocent smile.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she said.

“Honey, we’re about to have a meeting. Does your mother know where you are?”

“Not exactly, but it’s really important,” she said pouting.

“Ok, talk to me and I’ll take you home later,” I told her.

“Since you’re the Alpha’s wife I thought you would know what’s going to happen with my Uncle Jake,” she said staring at her shoes.

“Well he’s still being held, don’t worry he’s not going to hurt you,” I assured her.

“Good, my mom and grandma can’t handle having him back here, they’ve both been so sad. And I feel bad because Uncle Warren and Aunt Stella are fighting all the time now,” she sighed. This was a familiar thing for me, a young girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“Stop worrying and blaming yourself, what happened to you isn’t your fault and neither is what goes on in Stella and Warren’s marriage. I’ll kill him myself if he comes near you,” I told her. She reminded me of myself as a teenager.

“I feel kind of stupid but I’m just afraid he’s going to come kill me,” she confessed. “Is he going to be set free like at all?”

“No probably not, he’s been involved in other serious crimes, but I don’t know exactly what will happen.”

“Thank you for talking to me,” she said and I pulled her into a hug.

“That’s why I’m here,” I said. While hugging her I got a vision of wolves fighting in front of her, but they were young wolves. Obviously they were fighting for her attention and affection.

“You saw something, what was it?” She asked anxiously.

“Male wolves fighting over you be careful Miss Amanda don’t have the boys killing each other for you,” I said and she smiled.

“Amanda? What are you doing here?” Warren asked when he and Stella arrived.

“She’s helping Poppy with the kids,” I answered. “Call your mom and tell her I’ll bring you home later Amanda.”

“I’m on it,” she said heading inside. “Thanks Auntie Mackenzie.”

“Why is she really here?” Warren asked once Amanda had gone upstairs.

“She’s a bit concerned about your brother,” I said.

“What did you tell her?”

“That he won’t be able to hurt her anymore,” I replied. He nodded then went inside the house. Stella stayed behind.

“I’m losing him,” she sighed.

“Fight for him then, Stella if you love him you fight and you do what you have to. Why are you so against children?” I asked, that was one thing she never did fully explain.

“Mom was just dad’s baby factory; he never loved her or any of his mistresses. I like to have fun and you can’t have fun pregnant. Warren told me I’m selfish and need to grow up, well at least then he spoke to me. Now he says no more than 10 words a day to me and won’t even sleep in the same bed as me. I’m just waiting for him to cheat, that’s what they do,” she looked like she might cry. Stella never cried so I knew she was really struggling, but I couldn’t in good faith offer the future as a band aid for her marriage.

“Stella, you do need to grow up, you can’t be a party girl forever. Warren loves you and everybody knows he wants a family, you will be happy with children. A man can only take so much and you’ve taken away the thing he wants most in the world. Think about it and I mean really think about it, he’s not using you. Your father uses everybody but Warren isn’t like that and you know it,” I told her. My job as Alpha female and sister is never ever done.

“You’re right,” she sighed. We went inside arm in arm; I said a silent prayer that everything would be good with them again soon.

 

 

Having all of his siblings in the same room was never a good idea, there was always a fight. But this had to be done, even if Javier was very tempted to just leave. He looked around his living room which was packed with his 18 siblings and their mates plus Phineas, Tyson and Sarah. Most of the kids were no doubt destroying the third floor play room. Times like this he was glad he almost never had to meet with the whole pack, which could only be done at temple. Sometimes he wished he was an only child or at least not one of 30 to 50 children. Only 20 had been dumb enough to stick around here and some of the others had died a long time ago, Zenis loved to procreate.

“Why do we care what happens to that w***e?” Kiviann asked, Mack of course said nothing since he cheated on his wife.

“Watch your mouth little girl,” Jared growled. Since last night he was barely hanging on to his human half.

“This is why nobody listens to her,” Loraine said. “Zara is family and she’s Jared mate, if you were kidnapped Kiviann I doubt anyone would care.”

“Not even Mack would care,” Auri said.

“You let them talk to me like this? I should have listened to my mother about you,” Kiviann grumbled at her husband.

“Don’t acknowledge them, Loraine is with a demon and Aurielle is with that filth,” Mack said glaring at Vince.

“If you have a problem with me then we can go outside, old man,” Vince said.

 “Gladly,” Mack replied.

“Enough,” Javier said. That got everyone in the room to be quiet, perfect time for his wife to gasp in mid-trance.

“Kenz are you ok?” Auri leaned over to ask.

“Yes,” Mackenzie said then stood to whisper in Javier’s ear.

“Damn,” he shook his head. “Warren, Orion, take Stella and Loraine to Moon Magic there’s been a break in. The police haven’t arrived there yet.”

“Oh my Goddess,” Loraine hissed.

“David, please go home with Mack and Kiviann, their house is on fire,” he said.

“My house is on fire!?” Kiviann shrieked.

“Yes, so I would suggest you leave now the fire department are on their way,” Javier said.

Without much more conversation they left to their destinations. Worried conversations broke out amongst his remaining family members. Zkar was really starting to piss him off and he needed to be caught and dealt with. This made him look bad, and he didn’t feel like being challenged again, it had been a long time since the last one. The trouble was that Mackenzie was the only one who really could break through the magic but she was mostly out of commission. It would be wrong of him to ask her and from what she said Sierra was losing her powers. He needed to keep his calm and keep control of his family most of all. The pack he could deal with it was his family that was a pain.

“Uncle do you have what I asked?” He asked his Uncle Zypher who nodded.

“I’ll take care of it,” his mother said taking the photo in his hand.

“If you would all shut up, I have something to show you,” he told them. Surprisingly they actually complied without argument. “Mother you can proceed.”

“Of course,” Ana said. The lights went out and the photo she held in her hands appeared as a hologram in the middle of the room.

“This is what Zkar looks like so if you see him anywhere near you either call me or do the world a favor and put him out of his misery,” he told them.

“Good Goddess,” his wife said. She got up and examined the very old photo better. “I’ve seen him in a vision.”

“He’s Mercedes’ boyfriend,” Sarah said joining her. That got a rise out of the others in the room.

“Now it makes sense that he knew how to find me,” Mackenzie said. “Werewolf P.I. how inventive.”

“He was near you?” Javier asked her, she shook her head.

“Not exactly, he was in the mall with Mercedes when we were there but he never came near me. This explains what Zara said, of course Mercedes would be complaining about our family,” she said. Then she looked at him, he knew exactly what he was thinking.

“But why would she send them after me?” Sarah asked, that was something he was afraid of.

“Must have just been a mistake,” he told her.

“She didn’t, did she Javier?” Lynn asked. “She loves Sarah and hates me, that’s it isn’t it?” This girl was too smart for her own good.

“You didn’t think I should know this?” Sebastian growled at him.

“No, I sure didn’t, my job is to protect this family and that includes you. What would telling you have done? Tyson killed him so it’s done,” Javier told his brother.

“What else are you hiding?” Sebastian asked this wasn’t good.

“Sebastian, why don’t you take Lynn upstairs to lie down? She shouldn’t be stressed out, think of the babies,” Ana said.

“Fine, but this isn’t over Javier,” he said. They went upstairs only because Lynn pulled him away. The truth had to come out eventually.

After the thing with Sebastian the meeting was pretty much done, he just told them they had to all be careful. Giovanni, Roberto, Theo, Patrick, Leo and Alex all went out on patrol. His uncle and aunt excused themselves, Tyson and Phineas went to check security around the house. This left the women to chatter and gossip like they did best. Javier did not want to go tell his brother what everybody had been keeping from him for years, but he couldn’t explain this to him alone. So his mother, Jared, Mackenzie and Vince followed him upstairs. Sebastian was lying in bed with his head in Lynn’s lap, she was trying to calm him but it definitely wasn’t working. Javier was really hoping that he wouldn’t need to restrain his little brother.

“Please don’t be angry at your brother, I modified your memory,” Ana said.

“Why?” Sebastian growled, there was no easy way to do this.

“Did you ever wonder why you don’t remember anything in between going wolf and coming back home after Zenis killed your girlfriend?” Jared asked.

“Honestly, I don’t really think about it,” he replied looking suspicious.

“Look there’s no easy way to tell you that the 3 of us came to find you and you had attacked some campers,” Vince said. “And then once Javier dragged your a*s out of the woods and got you home you damn near killed Zenis.”

“Thank you for being so blunt Vincent,” Ana said and glared at him. “Sebastian, your father and I decided it would be best if I helped you to forget what happened to you. There was just so much rage in you and only Javier was able to keep you calm.”

“So you all messed with my head and my life?” Sebastian asked, his eyes showed how betrayed he felt.

“What good would it have done you to remember any of that? You already had enough issues at that time and you sure as hell don’t need them now. I made the call not to tell you about Lynn because it’s in everybody’s best interest that you don’t flip out. Lynn needs you to stay level headed right now,” Javier told him.

“I can’t stay in this house with people who lie to me,” Sebastian said.

“Please Sebastian think about the babies, it’s safer for you to stay here,” Mackenzie said.

“I can protect them myself,” he growled.

“Let me talk to him alone,” Javier said. Silently they all complied with his request.

“How long was I in the woods?” Sebastian asked when they were alone.

“As far as I can tell you were alone for around 6 months before we could find you. I don’t know what set you off but you did attack some people, that was actually how we found you. So you know the people weren’t hurt too bad and you didn’t touch the kids. Anyway you fought off both Vince and Jared so you and I fought and after that we took you home. You wouldn’t change back for a while and then one night you attacked Zenis and would have killed him had I not dragged you off of him. Don’t know why the hell I did that but yeah I saved dear old dad. Pretty much we knew you were too powerful and for a few months you mostly stayed in the woods behind the house. Once you changed back you had terrible nightmares and you screamed most of the night, so mom and Shoshanna spelled you so you wouldn’t remember.

“You were never supposed to know about any of this, you’ve been through enough. Back then you were in so much pain, mom wanted to protect you. She searched for you after you left home; she was so worried about what would happen to you. When she found out you were with Oliver and Finola she didn’t tell Zenis. And since we’re telling secrets she also helped your birth mother to get far away from here before Zenis found her again. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Lynn, but I didn’t want to set you off and something bad happen. I know if something happened to Lynn or your children you would never forgive yourself. And I wouldn’t forgive myself if I let anything happen,” Javier told his brother.

The one thing that his father ever taught him that was useful was that family always came first. Because of Zenis their family made up more than half of the pack. The Alonso family controlled this town and they always had. Javier watched his brother who was obviously trying to make sense of all this. Suddenly he looked up and stared at Javier, so he knew his brother figured out the truth. Not only was Sebastian a loose cannon at times but it was painfully obvious that Zenis feared him. All Sebastian wanted was normal, so he tried to control his life. Never would it occur to Sebastian that he was stronger than their father. He wasn’t the type that liked power so he never tried for it; he only fought when he didn’t have a choice.

“I’ve been having strange dreams lately I guess this explains everything,” Sebastian said. “Memories can’t stay buried forever.”

“No they can’t,” Javier agreed.

“Zenis knew years ago that you would be the one to undo him, didn’t he? If he couldn’t control my rage and I almost killed him, he had to know you could take him. Why the hell didn’t he do something? He’s never just laid down and excepted fate.”

“I wondered about that, I mean he did fight hard against me but he knew his time was up. Besides had I failed there was you and no amount of magic can kill your instincts. You have to be strong for your family; it’s not going to be easy once those babies come, hell it won’t be easy with her pregnant.”

“When has my life ever been easy? Especially since Lynn is convinced she’s a vampire,” Sebastian sighed.

“About that I did a little digging on her father and it’s actually very possible that he’s half vampire. So I guess being a quarter vampire makes her able to walk in the sun. Nobody around here knows much about vampires and the things they do know makes them out to be vicious bloodsuckers. I’ll let you know once we find him,” he paused. “If you want to meet your mother I can arrange that, I can find people.”

 “No, I don’t want to know her, it’s been too long and I’m sure she doesn’t want to be reminded of her rape. None of this distracts me from the fact that you lied to me and kept secrets,” Sebastian said.

“Of course not, but I also now have to deal with your girl’s sister unknowingly being apart of the problem. We all got s**t to deal with,” he shrugged.

This wasn’t the way he expected this conversation to go down but Lynn had changed his brother a lot, even if Sebastian didn’t know it yet. Now he had to find Zara to keep Jared from losing it and kill somebody. No matter what he did he couldn’t get away from having to kill somebody. The Alpha’s job was never done.

 

 

“Honey, I’m home,” Vince called when he dragged himself in the house. After days of patrolling they still couldn’t find Zkar or where he had Zara. He was exhausted from the effort, but on the bright side nothing else happened, yet.

“Hey,” Auri said when she came downstairs.

“Still nothing and Mercedes is being watched, guess Zkar too busy plotting,” he sighed and threw himself down on the couch.

“Yeah nothing on the witchy end either, Mackenzie can’t recharge her batteries, too many visions,” Auri told him. She sat down on his lap and he kissed her. How he loved coming home to her everyday.

“So I wanted to talk to you about something, since ya know if we intend to get married I’m fairly certain we should discuss some things,” he said.

“Ok Mr. Vague, start talking,” she replied.

“Do you want to have children? I spent the day with Warren and the man is kind of pitiful with what your sister is doing to him,” he shook his head. Once Warren had been a whole different person now he just seemed so hurt and bitter, all because of the woman he loved.

“Um right now, hell no, in the future maybe. Nothing crazy I just like the idea of maybe two, a boy and a girl. What are your views on children?”

“Same, good thing we’re on the same page, he’s really bad. So do you want to stay here or would you prefer for me to buy a new house that you can pick?”

“We’re good here, no worries sweetie. But I mean if you would take your annoying neighbor’s key away then I’m all for it,” she said. With that smile of hers he usually gave her whatever she wanted.

“Diana isn’t going to come over without calling first, so there’s no need. I think the two of you need to get better acquainted, she’s the 2^nd most important woman.”

“And who would the first be?” Auri asked watching him closely, just as he expected she would.

“You,” he said simply. She kissed him and actually seemed to look relieved.

“Have you thought any about when our wedding should be?” He asked, he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible so that she couldn’t change her mind.

“Kind of but since I’ve been helping with Lynn and Sebastian’s wedding so I didn’t really think too much about a date. Do you think I’m going to change my mind?”

“Maybe,” he said. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No, I told you I’m yours and I am. I just want Lynn to have her moment first and then we can get married. But I guess it would have to be before the whole demon war thing since Javier is leaving and you will be in charge,” she said thoughtfully.

If he was honest with himself Vince didn’t want to be in charge of anything or anyone. For the most part the pack was pretty peaceful for a pack of wolves. He’d heard some packs were pretty hard and vicious, but this pack was more family oriented. The truth was that Jared should be doing this, but he didn’t want to be second and he swore he would never fight Vince for it. And there was the fact that Jared wanted to go off to fight and stand by his little brother. With Sebastian here Vince could quickly squash any little rebellions that might pop up. Sebastian was almost as strong as Javier and Vince knew it, in his opinion he didn’t really deserve his position, even though he’d fought hard for it.

All day he had been thinking of Auri and marrying her. He’d never intended to make such a commitment and never thought he would be with just one woman. It amused him that seeing her with another man was what forced him to commit. But now he was grateful to that pitiful human, he helped Vince to grow up. For a long time he wasn’t satisfied being with a different woman every night. Now that he was with just Auri in some way he felt complete, that terrified him. And it didn’t help that lately there was so much temptation from the she-wolves. Since they knew he was with Auri and was no longer available the bolder ones still persuaded him. Apparently there just weren’t enough males in this town, so they tried to take the ones that were already taken. Vince had no intentions to cheat, it wasn’t worth and no one could replace Auri in his heart.

“Let’s go make dinner,” she said drawing him away from his thoughts. She’d been giving him cooking lessons almost every night.

“Why do I need to know how to cook again?”

“Because maybe your wife would like you to make her dinner sometime and I think you’re too old not to know how.”

“But I am a pro at ordering in,” he said and she laughed. “Whatever will make you happy, mi Amor.”

He followed her into the kitchen but instead of letting her take anything out to cook, he made out with her. Since that generally was very distracting so he really wasn’t paying attention to much else. That was why he didn’t hear the door. But he did however hear the gasp from the doorway of the kitchen. Both he and Auri turned to see his mother standing there looking at them. It had been almost a year since he’d seen his mother, yet here she stood. Bolia Rivers wasn’t what you would call friendly; she wore a permanent disapproving expression on her face, especially where he was concerned. Her grey streaked blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun and long high waist skirt looked like it had been starched to death. She gave off the impression of a no nonsense attitude which was pretty true about her, she came from a long line of noble witches and acted like it. When she was young she married Harrison Rivers and tried to bring a sense of nobility to her family and the pack.

“I must be a horrible mother for my only son not to tell me he found his mate,” his mother said.

“Mother, I wasn’t aware you were in town,” Vince said.

“I just got in; your sisters have told me that you were parading Aurielle around as yours at temple, so I thought that I would come see for myself. And here you are together,” she said shaking her head. “Aurielle how is your mother?”

“She’s well, how have you been?” Auri asked.

“I have been good, thank you. So tell me have you set a date yet.”

“Not yet, my brother Sebastian is getting married in like two weeks and his fiancé is pregnant so there’s been a lot going on in our family,” Auri told her.

“Mother, are you staying in town long?” Vince asked, there was a reason he hadn’t told her anything.

“I can’t very well leave before you are married; it took all this time I can’t afford to let you screw this up. My bags are in the car dear, could you go get them?” This was what he was afraid of, she was moving in.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said because he had no choice.

“Bolia, we were about to make dinner but since you’re here we could go out,” Auri said pleasantly.

“That would be lovely,” she replied. It was a good thing his mother was good friends with Ana, so she would be nice to Auri. But she never approved of him or his lifestyle so this would be difficult. Now he really needed to marry Auri as soon as possible so he could send his mother back to her coven.

 

 

Lynn giggled when she saw the very skimpy lingerie Stella bought her. Most of her bridal shower gifts were lingerie; it seemed to be the Alonso sisters’ favorite things to buy. Though she wasn’t exactly going to be able to wear any of it much longer, she was already starting to show a bit. It was nice to just relax and have fun for once since life was crazy lately. In just a week she would be marrying Sebastian and she was so nervous. The fact that none of her family would be attending aside from Sarah actually hurt but she trying not to let it get to her. She had to focus on getting married, staying sane and getting things ready for her new house. Only 2 days ago Sebastian had purchased them a house of their own.

“I can’t even really wear all this,” Lynn said holding up a particularly skimpy top.

“What you think a belly is going to stop him from wanting to have sex with you?” Erora asked her, the others laughed. “Trust me when I say it definitely won’t.”

“Just don’t go out in mini skirts while you’re pregnant,” Brianna said making a face at Erora.

“That was only like twice,” Erora said dismissively.

“I wonder what type of baby I’m going to have,” Loraine said. She and Orion had just announced that they too were expecting. Apparently they had been hiding that from their families.

“A baby Kenzie,” Auri offered. “Lynn is definitely going to have wolves.”

“How do you know? Are you a psychic now?” Regina asked.

“No, but it would make things interesting,” Auri said.

“When are you and Vince going to get started on babies?” Brianna asked.

“Not for a long time, he’s not thinking about that anyway since his mom is staying with us,” she shrugged.

“That must be fun,” Loraine shook her head. “Lynn wait till you meet Bolia, she is the snobbiest most stuck up witch there is.”

“She’s actually being very nice to me, but definitely not to Vince,” Auri said.

“So Stel, when are you going to quit tormenting your poor husband?” Regina asked. Poor Stella had been mostly silent and looked pale and stressed out.

“Don’t start with me, today is about Lynn,” Stella growled.

“You really need to get it together before he leaves you,” Regina went on.

“He can’t leave me,” Stella replied.

“That’s not true,” Brianna said. “You think just because wolves mate for life that he can’t leave? He can get another woman pregnant and have a relationship while married to you. Have you never met our father?”

“Leave her alone, telling her the truth isn’t ever going to help,” Auri said.

“Poor Warren, we love you Stel, but what you’re doing is wrong and selfish,” Erora told her.

“Stella and Warren have to deal with this themselves,” Mackenzie said. She too had been mostly silent but it appeared that she was coming in and out of trances every few minutes.

“Thank you,” Stella said. It looked like she was going to cry.

“So Sarah have you deflowered our favorite demon yet?” Loraine asked drawing the attention away.

“Does everybody know he’s a virgin?” Sarah asked with her cheeks burning red.

“I’m married to his brother sweetie, of course he told me. But we all basically knew, Tyson went out with us all the time but never talked to a single woman,” she replied.

“We haven’t had sex yet,” Sarah admitted.

“Not that you don’t want to,” Lynn added.

“How could anybody not want to throw down that demon?” Erora asked.

“It’s complicated,” Sarah said.

“Anything can be complicated, just don’t let it be,” Brianna said.

“You’ve accepted that he is a demon, why don’t you accept that you are his mate?” Auri asked.

“We don’t really talk about that,” Sarah said in almost a whisper.

“You still don’t think you’re his mate,” Lynn said. Her sister didn’t look happy to be talking about this but maybe she needed to.

“But you’re coming to his parents’ house to meet the family; it’s a really big step for Tyson. He loves you trust me he talks about you all the time,” Loraine said.

“Plenty of men introduce women they aren’t marrying to their families,” Sarah said. “I’m not his mate, he’s just bored, guys like that don’t marry girls like me.”

“Oh Sarah, you just don’t see how much he loves you,” Mackenzie said. “Speaking as someone who has met Tyson’s parents, he would never take you to meet them if he wasn’t serious about you. Face it Sarah you are his mate and you will be our very first human mate.”

“Unless mommy dearest has more secrets,” Lynn added bitterly.

“What does being a mate even mean?” Sarah asked, it was obvious to everybody in the room that she was giving in.

“Same as being a wife, only there is no divorce it’s a forever thing,” Regina explained. “Wolves and demons are similar in their mating, he’ll mark you so other males will know who you belong to and that’s it basically.”

“Don’t worry the whole marking thing isn’t painful and unless you’re one of us you won’t exactly see it,” Brianna said.

“And all of you are marked as a man’s possession?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, but it’s not how you make it sound. We belong to each other,” Loraine said.

“Sarah, if you don’t want to be his mate you don’t have to humans aren’t bond by the same rules as we our. Just say no and even if he marks you as long as you aren’t with another demon its no big deal. It’s your life choose your own path,” Stella said.

“You would say that having been married three times,” Regina said. “And since you’re on the verge of losing another husband.”

“Today is supposed to be a happy day, remember?” Mackenzie said.

For a moment everyone was silent. This definitely wasn’t the shower Lynn was expecting, but both Sarah and Stella were obviously emotional wrecks. Though Sarah had always taught her to think highly of herself and never let anyone make her feel unworthy, Sarah was insecure. Maybe that was why she’d always drilled that into Lynn’s head, because she didn’t feel good enough. Tyson loved Sarah, everybody knew that but Sarah was so insecure about their relationship. At first Lynn was a little self conscious spending all the time that she did with the Alonso women because they were unnaturally beautiful. Eventually she got over it, but it seemed to be near impossible for her sister to.

For Lynn accepting the whole wolves, demons and witches thing had been easy once Sebastian explained it. The mating thing wasn’t a big deal either, maybe that was because she herself wasn’t exactly completely human. But Sarah was having a difficult time, not to mention her life was very uncertain right now anyway. Her apartment was now gone, most of her things were in storage and she couldn’t stand to be alone. With the full moon coming up Sarah was terrified that she would change, and Mackenzie couldn’t get a read on if she would or wouldn’t. Lynn was very concerned for her sister and how stressed out she was lately; she wanted to take care of Sarah like Sarah took care of her. Two more days to the full moon and it was possible that everything was going to change completely. She wasn’t sure Sarah could handle being a werewolf.