The Seer (Chapter 14)

Chapter 14

 

            “You have to come, I will not take no for an answer,” Lynn told Mackenzie.

            “I can’t be there, he has to he’s Sebastian’s brother and the Alpha,” Mackenzie said. “Don’t worry about me I know I have to do what’s best for the pack and this is it. He has to be there it’s an unofficial rule, but I can see it later on video.”

            “I don’t want him there at all, especially not in my wedding,” Lynn said. They’d been arguing about this all day and Mackenzie wouldn’t budge.

            “Ana has agreed to run the rehearsal and after you’ll have dinner at that new Italian place. We’re meeting her today so I can go through everything with her and you can see if you can stomach the food,” she said all business like.

            “This isn’t right and you know it,” Lynn protested. She wanted her sister at her wedding not her sister’s abusive husband. “Sebastian doesn’t even really want him there, he won’t say it but it’s true. He’s only over there because he feels like he should be.”

            “Please don’t start this again Lynn, I made him the thing so he could teleport and do what he has to. And so he can be there when you need him to,” she said.

            “You’re my sister and you planned this whole wedding, you should be there,” Lynn insisted. “Besides what will people say anyway? Nobody knows what happened between you two, not really so they will ask why you aren’t there.”

            “Why do you have to be so difficult? I liked you better as a baby,” she sighed and got up from the bed. They’d been going over things all morning in Mackenzie’s bedroom.

            “Ok fine we’ll talk about something else, but I’m not going to rest until you agree to be my matron of honor.”

            “Let Sarah do it, she’s been with you longer than I have,” Mackenzie said.

            “But she agrees that you deserve it after all you’ve done for me and especially how you took charge of this wedding.”

            “Anyway, I was thinking that we all need to blow off some steam so us ladies can do something together.”

            “Lilly said something about a hen party? What is that?”

            “Oh like a bachelorette party, only when she gave me a party it was wild crazy and we all got very dunk. Imagine your mother and aunts getting drunk with you, it was hilarious and beyond dysfunctional but very fun,” Mackenzie said smiling for the first time that day.

            “It sucks I can’t get drunk,” Lynn pouted.

            “I think you could have like one glass of wine, not that it makes up for a night of hard partying. But I could get drunk enough for the both of us and for Loraine and my mom too,” she said.

            “Yeah well you need it and so does Stella and let’s not get started on Sarah. If she doesn’t just go ahead and jump on top of Tyson I’m going to scream,” Lynn said and they both laughed.

            “I know right, they drive me crazy too,” Mackenzie said. Then she got this look in her eyes, a sad look that was no doubt associated with Javier.

            “What are you going to do Kenzie? I know I shouldn’t ask but you are hurting and you are miserable,” Lynn said. She was really concerned for her sister after what happened just 3 short days ago.

            “I don’t know, I mean how do you forgive the man you love for trying to rape you? How can I still love him after this? The sad thing is I do love him and I know he was under the influence of magic, but those were his own thoughts. He didn’t trust me when I’ve never done anything to deserve this; I never wanted to be with another man. I loved him since I was 5 years old and Zenis tossed me at him and told him to make me shut up. No matter how many times I try to think of it from his point of view I can’t, I can’t understand how he could think I would betray him,” she said. Once again she looked like she might cry.

            “Maybe you just need time apart to figure things out,” Lynn said.

            “My dad won’t forgive him, he trusted that Javier would never hurt me and he upset me so much I changed. I’ve never gone demonic before, it was an odd experience. But see when Javier asked my dad if he could marry me he swore that he would keep me safe and happy and that’s not hardly what happened,” she paused. “The reason I was given away was because my mother didn’t trust my father, he got physical with her when she told him she was pregnant. As Aunt Vanessa says he threw her into the walk and held her by her throat and when he threw her her arm broke. She led him to believe that she miscarried and never told him I existed. He was terrified that I would get hurt like her; she’s never really gotten over what happened all those years ago.

            “Wolves and demons both are outdated and don’t really see women as their equals. Until my mother started a women’s rights movement they believed it was acceptable to beat women who were disobedient and beating their wives was perfectly normal. My father never believed it was ok to hit a woman no matter what the reason and when in a fit of grief and anger he did something he will always regret. So you can see why he’s so upset with Javier, he put his trust in someone who he believed would never make the mistake he did. If it wasn’t for that one little thing I would have grown up with my parents here and everything would be different. Fate works like that one little change and everything would be drastically altered. Even if I could forgive Javi, my father can’t and it would just make things harder. I can’t break my father’s heart by siding with Javi over him,” she sighed.

            “But if he’s more or less been down this road before wouldn’t he understand how some things happen in the heat of the moment?”

            “No, he’s a stubborn old demon that can hold a grudge. He can’t accept that someone would hurt his daughter. Besides I don’t know if I could forgive him myself,” she sighed looking exhausted. “I’ve looked at it from every possible angle and I still don’t know a thing. But he’s left me half a million voice mails, text messages and emails all begging for me to forgive him or at least talk to him.”

            “Well if you don’t want to be with him then divorce him,” Lynn suggested and she laughed.

            “There is no divorce, mating is a one way ticket to literal ‘death do you part’. Didn’t Sebastian ever mention that we don’t divorce? Well I’m telling you that there is no out clause once you marry him in just 4 days, it’s a life thing.”

            “He did conveniently leave that out, but I want to be with him on a forever basis.”

            “And I wanted to be with Javi forever,” Mackenzie said with tears in her eyes. “Sorry, I’m being a downer, you will be with Sebastian forever because he is a sweet and kind soul, and he’d never hurt you. You are everything he’s ever dreamed of and you are giving him more than he could have hoped for.” She rubbed Lynn’s stomach and smiled at her.

            “Ya know I can’t believe I wasn’t really taking my pills for so long, I guess with school and my stressful ex-family and Sebastian I was too distracted. He even came to my graduation even though my family was there. It was so sweet he pulled me aside and kissed me and told me to come over that night, he bought me flowers and made me dinner. That was a very enjoyable night if ya know what I mean,” Lynn said thoughtfully.

            “Sounds like something he would do,” she said. “Now let’s get dressed so we can meet Ana and Sebastian.”

            Lynn liked staying at the farm it was a lot different from her parents’ house. There was a full time cook that seemed to be determined to stuff her full of food. Mackenzie told her that Ellia always did that to pregnant women that stayed in the house. Everybody was friendly and it amazed her that all these demons lived right here and nobody knew. Truthfully the demons seemed more peaceful than the wolves but she was wise enough not to voice that. She hated that right before what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life everybody was so stressed out because of Mackenzie and Javier. The last few days she barely got to see Sebastian because he was taking care of his brother who was apparently at the brink of insanity. Right now she hated Javier for hurting Mackenzie and for keeping Sebastian from her. It was probably wrong but she couldn’t help feeling that way.

 

            Instead of driving back to town Mackenzie teleported them inside Sebastian’s car while he was driving. He didn’t even flinch, which led Lynn to believe this wasn’t the first time it happened. Everybody said the food at this new Italian place was pretty good, but these days Lynn’s tastes were different. Some of her favorite foods repulsed her and foods she hated she now craved. But this was what happened when you were pregnant and it made her unsure if she wanted to be pregnant again.

            “Hi Bastian,” Lynn said. “I missed you last night.”

            “I know, I’m sorry I will make it up to you, I promise,” he said.

            “Ya know Lynn; I think I know of a place for us to go. There’s this total dive bar near the farm, very country like and it’s like the only hang out in that town,” Mackenzie told her.

            “Sounds good, it’s not like I get to drink anyway. Isn’t there a spell you could use on me so I can get drunk and it not affect the babies?”

            “Maybe but Sebastian would kill me,” she laughed.

            “Yeah I would, you’re going out? Since when?” He asked eyeing them suspiciously in the rearview mirror.

            “Since we need to get out and have fun,” Lynn replied.

            “Don’t worry it’s a completely human bar and I’ve been there a few times in the past. We’ll just dance and have fun and forget all the craziness around here and then we’ll go back to focusing on your wedding,” Mackenzie said.

            “Do I need to send a chaperone?”

            “She’s already pregnant what trouble can she get in?”

            “I could change my mind about this wedding and run off with another man,” Lynn suggested and they all laughed.

            “You sure wouldn’t after I paid all this money and bought you a house,” he said.

            They laughed and joked until they got to the restaurant. Ana was inside but she wasn’t alone. The man she was with kept looking nervously at the door and then he spotted them. Or more like he spotted Lynn. She knew she’d never seen him before, but he seemed familiar. He stood as they approached, he was tall and pale with shoulder length blond hair. This was an attractive man, but she hadn’t been aware that Ana was dating. It was unnerving how he kept his eyes fixed on her. Who was this guy? And why did both Sebastian and Mackenzie give each other a strange look? Sebastian took a protective stance and stood between them and the man.

            “Calm yourself Sebastian, he means you no harm,” Ana said calmly. “This is my new friend Brice.”

            “Mother what have you done?” Sebastian asked looking pretty angry.

            “Lynn wanted to know her father so I delivered him as an early wedding gift. Don’t get angry with me boy, every girl wants her daddy to walk her down the aisle on her wedding day,” she said.

            “I apologize Evalinda; I guess this wasn’t the best way to go about meeting you. But I must say that I was anxious once Ana told me that I had a daughter,” Brice said.

            “Please don’t call me Evalinda, I go by Lynn.”

            “Alright,” he nodded.

            “Sit down all of you,” Ana ordered. Silently everyone complied. “Now Brice this is my son Sebastian and my daughter-in-law Mackenzie.”

            “It’s nice to meet you,” Mackenzie said pleasantly.

            “You as well,” Brice replied.

            “How did you find him?” Lynn asked Ana, she was still in a mild shock.

            “Well it was actually Javier that did it and I never know how my sons do things,” Ana said. “Poor Brice had absolutely no idea you existed.”

            “Lynn, I assure you had I known about you I would never have left. When your mother declined my offer of marriage her father and brothers came to pay me a visit. They told me I was ruining her marriage and her family, so I just left to spare anyone else anymore pain. I suppose it’s a curse for me to always go after what I want, I did love her but she made her choice. I only wish she’d told me I fathered a child, I assumed that it wasn’t possible but here you are. And you are expecting,” Brice said.

            “Why didn’t you think you could have kids?” Sebastian asked, obviously curiosity was getting the best of him.

            “Well I’m a half breed and it’s hard for vampires to conceive children, so I thought since I never got anyone pregnant that I just couldn’t. Besides I never had many serious relationships, nobody really wanted to spend their lives married to a vampire. Even if I’m one of the few that can tolerate the sun, well mostly I go out in overcast but modern medicine is amazing.”

            “This is too much,” Lynn whispered to herself. Her head was spinning; he talked about being a vampire like it was normal. Maybe to him it was but she had always thought she was human and now this was definitely real.

            “Breathe,” Mackenzie told her.

            “Baby do you want to go home?” Sebastian asked with concern in his voice.

            “No, I’m just a little in shock,” she admitted. “I don’t know anything about vampires and a few months ago I was blissfully ignorant about wolves and witches too.”

            “I am truly sorry, sometimes I forget myself. With you marrying a wolf and all I assumed you knew about all this, but I guess that’s why I need to quit assuming things,” Brice sighed. “This is difficult for me I don’t know what to say to you.”

            “Neither do I, Rose only just told me about you and I never expected to meet you,” Lynn told him.

            “Please tell me about your life growing up,” he said.

            “Not much to tell really, Rose and Richard didn’t like that I wasn’t a mindless robot like most of their other children. So they treated me like I was a plague on their family and then I moved out to live with my sister Sarah. Which is actually how I met Bastian so it worked out in the end,” she shrugged. But he didn’t look happy at all.

            “They mistreated you? Rose I guess really isn’t the woman I thought she was,” he grumbled.

            “How did you end up with Rose?” Mackenzie asked.

            “We were neighbors and her husband was away often, I thought she had a beautiful smile and I loved children,” he said thoughtfully. “Being neighborly I had them all over for dinner and I found that she intrigued me, here was a woman who was dying to be free and I wanted to help her. She started dropping by when the kids were in school and I fell for her, it was a long time before we actually slept together. We were together for almost 3 years and I grew tired of the secret so I told her if she left than I would take care of her and the children and everything else. But she was too weak and when her family came to chase me off I didn’t argue because there was no point to it.”

            They all ordered lunch after he spoke and fell into silence again after, her mother had an affair and this was the man she had an affair with. It lasted for three years and she was all that was left of a loving relationship that her pathetic mother threw away. Lynn did not understand how Rose could not only stay with Richard but to give him two more children after all that. And then a thought occurred to her, if they had been together for three years it must have been while her mother was pregnant with the baby Mackenzie replaced. Or it was shortly after Mackenzie was born, that was very interesting.

            “Where you with her when she was pregnant?” Lynn asked, the question obviously took him by surprise.

            “We became friendly around that time and well she needed a friend when she was home with 6 kids and a new baby,” he admitted.

            “You took us swimming,” Mackenzie said and he stared at her. “I was the baby then, I remember you now, of course that was 19 years ago.”

            “Wait, you’re sister and you’re with brothers?”

            “We technically aren’t blood related, I was a replacement and we did not grow up together,” Mackenzie explained. “But fate brought us together again and put us in the same family.”

            “Well then that explains why I smelled magic on you and you looked different from the other children,” he nodded. “I couldn’t forget you of all those children, I always wondered about you but I kept my suspicions to myself.”

            “The real baby died and Richard never told my mother the truth about that,” Lynn said. Oh how she hated her parents right now, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about Brice.

            “Seems like something he would do, he despised the fact that his children liked me more than they did him. It was not my intention but I was just there and I helped with homework, taught them to swim and how to ride bikes and bought them new clothes and shoes because he couldn’t afford it. We took trips to the zoo and museums and amusement parks and restaurants and all that, I was a father to them for 3 years,” he said bitterly. “Yet I’ve never been allowed to be a father to my own daughter.”

            “Kenzie,” Lynn whispered. “We have so much in common.”

It was true they were both raised by men that didn’t want them and never knew their real fathers until they were older. And ironically the men they were with were both 12 years older than them. If she didn’t believe in fate after finding her sister again, right now would be the moment she believed. There were so many similarities between her and Mackenzie it was actually scary. And now here was her father, a man she never knew existed. Brice the vampire was her father and he came here to meet her.

“So what brought you here Mr. Wakefield?” Lynn asked and he considered the question for a moment.

“My daughter is getting married and there is no place on earth I would rather be right now,” he said. “That is of course if you actually want me here, I understand if you don’t. Richard has been your father all your life so it would not offend me if you don’t want me here.”

“He has never been my father,” she replied bitterly. “I want you here.”

When he smiled she could see a hint of fangs. Interesting, that meant this was really true. She didn’t feel any different now that she knew she was what Mackenzie called a ‘day-walker’ vampire. But she did feel different because she had a father that was no Richard that wanted her as his daughter. Meeting Sebastian was obviously the best thing that ever happened to her. Through him she found the family she was meant to have and the love she was denied most of her life.

 

 

“Mackenzie,” I heard him call and I turned to see Javier. Somehow it didn’t surprise me that he was here in the bathroom at the restaurant.

“What are you doing here?” I asked while trying to figure out the best escape route. No vision was needed to tell me that this wasn’t going to end well.

“We need to talk and this was the only time you left Daddy’s house,” he said. Slowly he was coming closer, why was he doing that? It drove me crazy that our marriage had come to this; we use to be so happy.

“If I wanted to talk to you I would have called, but since I didn’t go away,” I said firmly. I was going to hold my ground even if killed me, I couldn’t show the fear that made my heart ache. How could I be afraid of my husband?

“Kenzie, don’t be like this I’m sorry. Somebody spelled me and I didn’t mean for it to happen or even realize it had until awhile later. You know I would never hurt you intentionally,” he said. So what if I did know that, it wasn’t the point.

“Ok you were spelled, so what? That makes this ok? Those thoughts were yours and it was you that didn’t trust me. A spell can’t plant ideas in your head, if there is such a spell I’ve never heard of it. You Javier already thought I was cheating on you otherwise the spell would never have worked. Don’t act all innocent, maybe things got more out of control then you could handle, but you caused this. It was your suspicions and paranoia; I never gave you any reason to think those thinks. My life my heart my soul they were yours and you hurt me,” I told him.

“I’ve been stressed out lately, ok? And you do spend a lot of time alone with me and I guess I let others get into my head. I am really and truly sorry for what I’ve done and what was in my head,” he said.

He was so close to me, I was leaning against the sink and he was as close as he could get without touching me, his hands resting on either side of me. Of course he knew how to keep me for teleporting. If I were to try with him so close and with the reflexes he had, I would have to take him too. The trouble was that he sounded sincere and I could see how messed up he was over this. And apparently my body couldn’t resist him being so close to me without us touching. Some how I needed to find away to ignore his sincerity and lust and replace them with a strong emotion, and anger would do just fine.

“The only reason I’m around men so much because both you and my father send them to baby-sit me. If I had my way I wouldn’t have guards but you kept insisting. How dare you make accusations based on something I never even wanted! You need to stay away from me Javier and stop with all the damn messages. If I didn’t answer after the first thousand then stop,” I paused to take a breath. “Our marriage is basically over so please just leave me alone.”

“I can’t accept that,” he said. “There has to be a way for us to get pass this.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if there is,” I whispered. “How can I ever trust you?”

“Mackenzie, maybe if you came home we can work on this. I love you and I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you. Maybe after the wedding you and the kids can come back.”

“No, and I’m not even going to the wedding,” I replied. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t go to my own sister’s wedding but I had to do what was best for everybody.

“You would miss your sister’s wedding that you planned just to spite me?”

“Javier, I’m not going to smile pretty for pictures and act like nothing is wrong. We are not together but if I came I would have to deal with you and being near you repulses me.” Maybe that wasn’t 100% true, but if he thought it was then I was getting my point across.

“What should I tell people? They will ask why you aren’t there,” he challenged.

“Tell them that I didn’t feel well or something,” I shrugged. “Or you could tell them that you tried to rape me and I left you.”

“That was a mistake and you weren’t even hurt,” he growled. Oh I had struck a nerve there, good, he deserved it.

“Well physically I guess not, but you tried to rape me Javier. That isn’t something I can just get over. And let’s not forget the accusations you made and repeatedly calling me a w***e. To top it all off you asked me if Noah was really your son, how could you ever ask me that? I’ll never forgive you for that. So me and my son want nothing to do with you,” I told him as calmly as I could. When I tried to move away from him, he grabbed my wrists so I couldn’t.

“What will it take?” He asked while obviously trying to hold in his anger.

“If you could erase what happened then we could be together. Since you can’t and since I can’t forget it no matter how hard I try, it’s over,” I paused knowing I should stop. “Javier, you don’t trust me and I don’t understand that. You always had all of me; I never lied to you or did anything to hurt you. Maybe I’ve done things you don’t like, but I told you the truth even if you got pissed at me. I never betrayed you or even thought of being with another man in the seventeen years that I’ve known you. What you did hurt me down to my soul and just being near you is too hard. I’ve had to be strong all my life to survive in a place I never wanted to be. I trusted you and you hurt me.”

“Mackenzie, I’m so sorry. I was insecure that’s true. But I don’t even know why I thought any of that. There is no excuse but Zenis got in my head about how I can’t trust anybody and how Maddox would prefer it if you were married to one of his demons. That actually is true and we both know it. The cop that came by asking questions about you asked me why I let you sit at home with me all the time. And Sierra said someone was going to betray me,” he sighed. “Sometimes you dress inappropriately considering who we have in the house. The day you surprised me with dinner you were alone with Tyson and had basically nothing on. Don’t take this the wrong way but your clothes are tight and revealing and men look at you. It drives me crazy and makes me want to kill somebody. That women in the picture looked a lot like you.

“I’ll do anything to get you back Kenzie, even step down as Alpha. No more pack drama, no more family drama, just us and the kids. We can leave here and go anywhere in the world you want to,” he pleaded. He was desperate and he was sorry, I could see it in his eyes but it couldn’t do it.

“Please Javi; stop this I can’t even think straight with your constant harassment. If you actually gave me time then maybe I could consider it, but not right now. I need to focus on Lynn and her wedding and not my failed marriage,” I said with tears streaming from my eyes.

“At least let me see the kids,” he said.

“No, I don’t trust you right now I don’t want you near them,” I told him. That was when he got angry, I could see the change in his eyes, see the wolf. Of course the wolf didn’t like being told what to do, especially when it came to his children and his mate.

“You will bring them to me,” he ordered. I think he thought if he could sway them to his side then I’d have to come home, but he was just pissing me off.

“How do I know I can trust you? I can not let you go crazy do the Goddess knows what to them,” I replied.

“I’m just being nice by letting you leave for a few days, you belong to me and so do the kids. Your father knows that, he can’t keep me from my family; you aren’t his little girl anymore. He gave up his rights to you when we got married; if I come take you he can’t stop me. There are rules,” he said seriously. Since my husband didn’t lie to me, I believed him even now. Of course there would be more to things then they saw fit to tell me, it was annoying but not really of my concern.

“Keep pushing me Javier and I will take the children and go somewhere you will never find us,” I said. “I’m leaving now.” I pushed him away but he grabbed me.

“Get away from her right now,” Ana called to her son. “I raised you better than this Javier. You do not get your wife to forgive you by assaulting her in a public restroom. And if I’m not mistaken you were taught that your business is to be dealt with in private, not out in public places. The Alpha does not behave like this.”

“Mind your business Mother, this is between me and my wife,” he growled.

“Boy, don’t take that tone with me,” she said staring him down.

“You want to tell me how the Alpha should behave? Should I behave let your husband and have sex with everything that moves and murder my children?” He asked her, I wasn’t sure which of them was angrier.

“Be just like him Javier, that is exactly where you are headed,” she replied coolly. “Mackenzie, I think it’s time for you to return to the table.”

“I agree,” I said slipping away from Javier. He was pissed and probably closer to changing then he could handle, for that reason I should have stayed. But I didn’t have to worry about Ana; she knew how to deal with wolves, especially her sons.

“What happened?” Sebastian asked when I came out.

“Your crazy brother locked me in the bathroom with him,” I said. Pretty much at that point I was pissed and upset and my emotions were going haywire. If I didn’t control them I might start doing involuntary magic.

“Did he hurt you?” He asked looking slightly murderous.

“No, just annoyed me,” I told him. “Can you please tell Lynn I’m sorry and I kind of need some alone time? Javier has been making my brain hurt.”  

“Go ahead and rest, I’ll get Lynn back. And I will go deal with my idiot brother,” he said. It surprised me when he hugged me, Sebastian use to never be touchy; we all changed a lot lately.

“Thanks,” I said and leaned against the wall and disappeared.

Back in my room at my parents’ house I paced, I had no idea what to do. Sooner or later I would have to go back, despite what I said I had no choice. There were certain responsibilities I had to my family and the pack. I had to go back, but I did not have to like it. And I didn’t have to get back with Javier just because I had to go home. My life was never about my own choices and it really was starting to bother me. I chose to marry Javier I didn’t choose everything else.

“Kenni?” Someone called drawing my attention to the door. Bella was entering the room holding hands with Noah.

“Hello my little ones,” I said and pulled them into a hug. My children were my whole reason for living.

“Mama,” Noah said happily.

“Kenni, are we going to live here forever?” Bella asked, at 8 years old she was wise beyond her years.

The girls came to live with us to have safety and stability. Right now there was no stability and I hated that. They couldn’t live with their grandparents because of what they were daughters of a wolf and Sam had changed over. I’d been a mother figure for these girls for almost 3 years and I was currently failing as a mother. School would be starting soon; they needed to focus on having fun during the last few days of summer. They didn’t need to worry about if everything in their lives was going to fall apart, again. If for no other reason, I had to go back for my children.  

“No sweetie, your uncle and I had a fight that’s all. We needed a little space,” I told her.

“Julia said you don’t love him anymore,” Bella said staring at her shoes. “She thinks we are never going home and we have to go to a new school. But I like our house and our school.”

“We all really need to sit down and talk,” I said. “Your sisters are misinformed, I still love Javi we just needed time apart.”

“Like how sometimes Sam doesn’t want to play with us?”

“Something like that,” I said feeling very guilty.

“I can’t wait for the wedding, Karen is excited too I talked to her,” she said smiling.

Once again I lost my choice, I had to go to the wedding, it wasn’t fair to the kids for me not to. And I didn’t trust that Javier not to kidnap them. I hated him so much for what he was doing to our family and I hated that I couldn’t trust him. The kids didn’t deserve to pay for his issues.

“You are going to be the prettiest flower girl ever,” I told her. Sometimes I wished I didn’t have to be a responsible adult, I was only 22 and I never really got to live and be young. But I loved my children too much to really regret too much.

 

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Sebastian asked glaring at him with the wolf’s eyes, not a good thing.

“My wife and children need to be home, where they belong,” Javier growled.

“I didn’t tell you were we were going so that you could come harass her, I said I would watch out for her,” Sebastian said.

“What else am I supposed to do? If I step foot on that farm again trigger happy Maddox would shoot me. Of course he wouldn’t shoot to kill but have you ever been shot? It hurts like hell and he enjoys it too,” he grumbled.

“Stay away from the farm then, why is that so hard for you?”

“Could you stay away from Lynn?”

“I have been away from her because I have to make sure you stay out of trouble,” Sebastian growled. That time he could hear the wolf in his voice, it was getting worse. “Chasing Mackenzie like this is only going to push her further away.”

“She’s not safe Sebastian, think about it a second. I hate to admit it but I could have killed her. Or we could have both been killed in that car,” he paused a second letting it sink in. “And you can’t say a word but Zenis is missing.”

“Should I call off the wedding?”

“No, you and Lynn deserve to have your day. I just need to convince Kenzie to go so I can keep an eye on her, even at a distance. Little Brother, I need to be able to protect my family. And if she goes then I can see the kids,” he sighed. His house felt wrong without his family in it and that was driving him crazy, so was the guilt.

“Tomorrow the females are going to some bar out by the farm,” Sebastian sighed. The wolf was out of his eyes now, good that meant he was calmer. “Lynn is going to kill me for telling you.”

“Brother, do you think I wouldn’t have tracked them anyway? Besides she can’t get mad, I’m doing this to protect my wife who is her sister.”

“Whatever you say, just don’t tell them I told you anything. I sure as hell don’t need her holding out on our honeymoon, then I will kick your a*s,” Sebastian said.

“Yeah yeah, get back to your meal with the vampire,” Javier said.

He’d come outside to talk with Sebastian after their mother screeched at him. They were both right that he needed to give his wife some time but he couldn’t do it. And because of him Sebastian couldn’t spend time with Lynn because she was staying at the farm. When he was turning to leave he froze, a woman nervously crossing the parking lot caught his eye.

It had been about thirty years since he’d last seen her, but he never forgot a face. The woman walked right pass him and Sebastian without stopping, she seemed to be forcing herself to keep moving. Of course she wouldn’t recognize them now anyway; it had been a long time. Sebastian was saying something, completely oblivious to the fact that his whole life was about to change. Now Javier couldn’t possibly leave, he had a million things to do since he was finally out of his magic craze. And since Vince was a hair away from going on a murderous rampage, he had to hold it together for everybody else. He couldn’t allow himself to be broken up over his family leaving; he had others to think about. At the moment his fragile minded little brother needed him to be there for him, there was a great chance he would need someone to help him control himself. So he put aside his own issues with his wife and the pack, because there would definitely be fireworks.

“You know I think I should probably apologize to Lynn, I did ruin her meeting with her father,” he said.

“What’s this? Is my real brother back? And he comes with manners? It’s been a long time since you’ve acted normal. Maybe this will help with Mackenzie, if Lynn doesn’t hate you too much then maybe your wife won’t,” Sebastian said.

“Sebastian, you know how mom likes to meddle in our lives and over steps?” He asked while they were going back into the restaurant.

“Yeah, do I want to know what she’s done now? Besides tricking us into lunch with a vampire,” Sebastian shook his head.

“Brace yourself; she’s really out done herself this time,” he said. They both looked over at the woman that was now occupying the seat that had belonged to Mackenzie.

“Mother, who is your new guest?” Sebastian asked, now he was eying the woman suspiciously. No doubt he was seeing similarities between her and himself.

“That’s him?” The woman asked Ana before she could make the proper introductions. “He calls you ‘mother’? Does he not know that he is not your child?”

“Sebastian, this is Amara Cruz,” Ana said calmly. “Do you remember I told you about Amara Davis, when you were younger?”

“You had something to do with this?” Sebastian asked Javier, the wolf was once again in his eyes.

“Hell no,” he replied catching a look from his mother.

“Annalia, you did not tell him I was coming?” Amara asked looking confused.

“No I did not because he would have killed me and he never would have come,” she said. “Sebastian, sweetie, I thought it would be a nice wedding present for both you and Lynn to meet your missing parents.”

“Sit down little brother, and calm yourself,” Javier whispered in his ear. Gently he guided his brother to his chair beside Lynn.

“Amara, this is my son Javier,” Ana said.

“I remember you, from when I was little,” Javier told her. He took a seat in between his mother and brother.

“Sorry there were so many children I don’t-”Amara paused staring at him hard. “You were there when Sebastian was born.”

“He was the only four year old I ever heard of wanting to assist in a child birth,” Ana said proudly. “That was when he decided he wanted to become a doctor.”

“Wow Javier, you are so weird,” Lynn said though she actually looked impressed. It was a nice change from the glaring hatefully at him.

“You never told me that,” Sebastian said looking at him with an odd expression.

“Well you had other things going on,” Javier shrugged. He was doing his best to send calming vibes to his brother so he wouldn’t do anything crazy.

“Sebastian,” Amara said in almost a whisper. “I am sorry that I could not keep you, I wanted to so bad. Even after what your father did to me, I wanted you, but he threw me out. I um wrote letters to you, did you ever get them?”

She had tears in her eyes while she watched her son hopefully. This woman did not look like she could have a 30 year old son. Petite with caramel colored skin and wavy black hair, Amara Cruz looked like she was in her thirties herself. Sebastian did resemble her a lot now that Javier saw them together, same almond shaped eyes, same nose, and they had the same wavy hair. But while she looked happy to see the son she never got to know, he just looked pissed off. This was exactly why Annalia Alonso needed to learn how to mind her own business instead of her children’s.

“Yeah I did,” Sebastian answered. “Why are you here now?”

“I’ve been dreaming of meeting you for the last 30 years! For some reason I thought you would want to meet me too. But I guess since you have a mother you have no use for me,” Amara said wiping her eyes.

“No I don’t have any use for you, maybe when I was a kid but not now. You had bad luck meeting Zenis, sorry, but at least you got to move on with your life. While you were free to do whatever the hell you wanted to, I was stuck here and even when I got away I was forced to come back,” Sebastian growled. Years of pent up anger, resentment and a lot of hurt were tearing him apart. For years he longed for his real mother, even Javier knew that it was the reason he ran away.

Since the day Sebastian was born Javier watched over him. It was odd that he had wanted to assist in his brother’s birth, but he had been a very curious boy. Only a year after that Javier changed for the first time, which wasn’t supposed to happen. Because of that he got into a lot of fights growing up. And so did Sebastian the odd quiet one. But Javier took most of the damage out of those fights and he taught his little brother how to fight and take care of himself.

When Sebastian left it nearly killed him, he feared for his brother’s life. And it was obvious that he was right to do so, even if the breakdown happened years later then he expected it to. It took a long time before he could get Sebastian back into some form of a normal life. And here was everything falling apart again once Sebastian was stable and found out the truth about the past. After all he’d been through it wasn’t a surprise that Sebastian had started to resent Amara. Now was just not the time for her to pop up.

“Bastian,” Lynn said slowly. “You told me that you wanted to meet your birth mother.” Of course she sensed that he was in trouble of changing.

“That was a child’s dream,” Sebastian grumbled. “Have a nice life Mrs. Cruz, you’ve seen I’m alive, be happy.”

“I knew this was a mistake,” Amara shook her head. “I risk my life to come here to see you! Do you even know that the only reason you are alive is because your father raped me?”

“Yes I do and what I don’t understand is why you would want me after that,” he said. “I am not a child anymore praying to the moon for his mother or listening to Ana read me your letters before bed. If you truly wanted to know me you would have.”

“How could I? He told me he would kill me if I ever came near you! I even thought about trying to kidnap you weren’t you were old enough for school. What could I have done differently? I lived my life waiting for him to come kill me and I never stopped thinking of you,” she said. “And she told me that you would be taken care of.” The poor woman was nearly hysterical and Sebastian was just angry.

“Sebastian Alonso, I did not raise you to behave like this. You of all people know very well what your father is capable of, she had no choice. I did my best to protect you and so did Javier, no one was there to protect her. Before now she couldn’t come to you because of your father. With him away for awhile she can finally see you,” Ana told him.

“Sometimes Mother you should mind your own damn business,” Sebastian said.

“Bastian,” Lynn said grabbing his arm when he got up.

“Let him go Lynn,” Javier said calmly. “Go outside Sebastian, I will handle this.” It was surprising his brother actually went without argument.

“Give him some time,” Brice said to his daughter. “You and I never knew about each other so it’s different. His emotions are confusing because he always knew he had another mother out there.”

“Mother can you please take Lynn back to the farm? I think Sebastian needs to go for a good long run so that maybe he won’t kill anybody,” Javier said.

“Yes I can do that,” his mother said.

“Mrs. Cruz, I would appreciate it if you didn’t leave town. I promise no harm will come to you while you’re here. But I think once he cools down Sebastian will want to talk to you,” he told her.

“Are you sure about that? He doesn’t seem to want to be near me,” she said sadly.

“I’ll give you a call and let you know what he decides, I know my brother.”

“How would you even know my number?”

“Because I know everything in this town,” he shrugged. “Lynn I am sorry for what happened earlier, it was inappropriate of me. Well I hope all of you have a good day.” At that he went to find his brother, he needed a good run too.

What Javier was realizing was that Zkar was a genius; he was distracting all the top members of his family. I was becoming apparent that this was no longer just about revenge on Zenis. It obviously started that way but something changed. This was even more of an incentive to focus on things more important than his personal problems. He had to be the one to hold everybody together; he didn’t have Vince, Jared and Sebastian at the moment. It was amusing to him that his mother was the one to take Sebastian out of commission, but it was the worse possible time. If it killed him he was going to make sure this wedding happened without any more issues, he owed that much to Sebastian. He was going to fight for his family, if there was one thing he could do it was fight.

 

 

“Am I a bad person?” Auri asked while throwing herself down on Mackenzie’s bed.

“It’s not your fault, you weren’t even there,” Mackenzie told her.

“Could be worse, you could have for out that the father of your children is part elf,” Lynn said.

“There is nothing wrong with being a mixed species, it keeps things interesting. Besides the babies could just be human, you never know,” Mackenzie said.

“Neither of you is helping me,” Auri grumbled. “I’d take pointy ear babies over this mess any day.”

“You aren’t a bad person Auntie,” Bella said.

“Thank you sweetie,” Auri said leaning over the bed. Bella was sitting on the floor with Noah and Mena.

“Ok Kenni,” Sam said when she came out of the closet. “Wear this tonight.” She handed Mackenzie a halter top that was practically a bra and a blue jean mini skirt.

“Oh yeah Kenni, wear that and Javier really will blow up this time,” Auri shook her head.

“It’s not his business what I wear; besides he’s not going to see me. He is busy holding Jared, Vince and Sebastian together and he hasn’t bothered me since I saw him. The pack comes first,” she replied.

“Why can’t we just be normal people? All this pack stuff has been getting on my nerves lately. If we were human then our lives would be simple,” Auri sighed.

“Would it really be easier?” Sam asked. “Everybody has problems, maybe not exactly an almost 200 year old homicidal uncle, but still problems. Not even being un-human saved my parents, so it wouldn’t really make things better or easier.”

“How old are you?” Auri asked shaking her head at her niece.

“Kenni always says I’m 14 going on 40,” she replied.

“Which is so true,” Mackenzie said wrapping her arms around Sam. “She’s right though, life wouldn’t necessarily be better or easier, just different. And who’s to say we would all be together if not for the magical and mystical.”

“It just seems like there is a dark cloud hanging over this family and anybody associated with us. Diana is a pest, but all she did was be nice to Vince and look where it got her, she didn’t deserve that. And poor Sarah didn’t even know she was dating a demon or about any of us but she got dragged down too. Zara, is barely hang on, Warren and Stella are a mess and poor Amanda, Erora’s kids are afraid to be in their own home. Nobody is safe anymore,” Auri sighed.

Nothing made sense anymore, everybody was a target. And there were too many innocent bystanders who didn’t even know what they’d gotten themselves into. Zkar was playing with their lives and didn’t care who got hurt. Zara was in a coma; Diana was still in the hospital. And who knew who would be next or what Zkar had planned.

Going out tonight to blow off steam so that everybody could focus on Lynn’s wedding was a good idea. Lynn deserved to have her day especially after everything that was going on. But Auri was still worried because at this point anything could happen. She was so tempted to have Mackenzie read the future for her, but she couldn’t. If she knew anything that was going to happen she wouldn’t be able to restrain herself from interfering, especially if it involved Vince. Even though she wasn’t a high level witch, she could sense that something terrible was going to happen. And she didn’t envy her sister-in-law and her ability to see the future at all.

“You feel it now too,” Jeana said watching her.

“How did you know?” Auri asked, these days Jeana didn’t speak too much.

“I just know things sometimes,” Jeana shrugged. Auri looked at Mackenzie who was staring at Jeana too.

Yolanda, there girls’ mother wasn’t exactly a witch. Her mother was a non-practicing witch and so neither was she it was the way her parents raised her. Nobody ever expected any of the girls to be a witch. After a witch doesn’t practice magic for a long time and suppressed it, the magic began to fade. As far as anybody knew Yolanda never practiced any kind of magic and it was a surprise that she married Max. So far only Sam had made the transformation to wolf, the twins were getting to that age and Bella had awhile yet. But maybe Yolanda didn’t fully suppress her gift and if that was true then maybe she passed on some magic to Jeana.

“Is he going to kill us?” Julia asked, until then she’d been silently staring out at the rain. It was pouring out.

“Nobody is going to hurt any of you, I’ll make sure of that,” Mackenzie promised.

Suddenly Auri had the feeling that Mackenzie knew something nobody else did. And she knew that Mackenzie would break all her own rules and going against fate to protect her children. Everybody knew that Mackenzie was more of a mother to them then Yolanda had ever been. She would give her life for those girls and do whatever was necessary to protect them. The thing about Mackenzie was that she was fiercely protective of her family and fate should very well know not to mess with her.

“Maybe we should stay in tonight,” Lynn said.

“No, it would be good for us girls to get out,” Auri said. “Besides who the hell would even come all the way out here?”

“Nobody with a brain with such a large demon population,” Mackenzie answered.

“GG is going to watch a movie with us tonight,” Bella said. The girls called Isadora “GG” for great-grandmother.

“She does love to have all of you around,” Mackenzie said smiling.

“Sammie-pie, pick me out something to wear from Kenni’s s****y clothes. I feel like being different tonight,” Auri said.

“Great,” Sam said running back into the closet.

“I’ll help,” Julia said following her sister.

“Different? Aurielle you are such a s**t, some of those clothes are yours,” Mackenzie said.

“Maybe I was but now I’m devoted to making my relationship with Vince work,” she shrugged. “So Lynn, are you ready to get hitched?”

“I’m wondering if it’s weird that my estranged vampire father is coming to my wedding but not my human family,” Lynn said thoughtfully.

“Think it’s weird that you refer to them as humans but not yourself anymore?” Auri asked her.

“Probably, but I’ve never been fully human. And in their eyes I was the devil’s child anyway, so it’s not that big of a deal,” Lynn shrugged.

“You’re rosemary’s baby,” Mackenzie said and they all laughed.

“It isn’t weird that he’s coming, he’ll fit in with the rest of us,” Auri assured her.

“You know it’s not too late to invite your mother and siblings,” Mackenzie said.

“I think it was too late the day I was born,” Lynn sighed. “At least Brice wants to love me for me and doesn’t think anything is wrong with me. They spent so much time trying to change me that they never cared to know me. Well Virginia was ok, we went to school together, but she couldn’t come without her parents knowing. And it’s just frustrating that all of you accepted me right away and my own family never has even tried.” There was a sadness in her voice and eyes that she couldn’t quite hide. 

“Don’t worry little sister, you’ll never truly be an oddball in this family,” Mackenzie said. “That’s Auri’s job.”

“Excuse me Princess Mackenzie the all powerful one of a kind dual being, I think you, Noah and Javier are the weird ones. I’ve never in my life heard of a five year old changing to a wolf,” Auri said.

“Can’t help the way you are born,” Mackenzie replied.

“Don’t I know it,” Auri agreed.

She would never be human or have a normal human life. But now she was really starting to accept that. Her family was crazy and sometimes made no sense, but she loved them all and she loved Vince. Now if only she could make it to her own wedding day without too much insanity.

 

 

“I apologize for maybe being a little unkind,” Sebastian said. He didn’t know why he let Javier talk him into this, but he was having coffee with Amara.

“I don’t understand why you were so angry if you knew the truth,” Amara said.

“Right now is a bad time for you to show up here, there is a lot going on with my family. It was wrong of me to be angry with you,” he told her.

“Sebastian I wanted to be a mother to you, I really did. Even if you came from an unwanted encounter, I loved you. I never stopped loving you and hoping that one day I could know you and see you,” she said.

“I wanted that too for a long time and even left home to find you when I was 16. So as you see I never found you and Zenis told me you were dead,” he explained.

Right now this was the last thing he needed was this. Amara was a distraction and if Ana hadn’t been the one to bring her to him, he’d have thought she was a plot of Zkar’s. His family and the pack were all falling apart and he needed to focus on helping Javier hold everything together. After the last few days he wasn’t sure his brother would recover from what happened between him and Mackenzie, but Javier was now more focused and determined than he’d been in a very long time. And there was the fact that he was getting married the day after tomorrow. Everything was stressful right now and he needed to make sure that Lynn wasn’t stressed out. He could barely see her because he was doing his best to be responsible. This was exactly why he didn’t want to have a rank in the pack, especially not towards the top.

“Were you treated well growing up?” Amara asked looking concerned.

“As well as can be expected with Zenis for a father,” he shrugged. He hated talking about the past but she did deserve to know. “Ana was a good mother and she took care of all of us even we weren’t her child by birth. You weren’t the first or last mistress by a long shot and I wasn’t the only one to come from a mistress. To Ana we were all her children and she loved us all the same. Sometimes when I was young she was extra nice to me because I was quiet and shy and a loner, they thought I was weird. I was picked on a lot and got into a lot of fights, but for the most part Javier would fight in my place or defend me, we’ve always been pretty close. He was Zenis’ favorite, even though he didn’t want to be, but no matter what he stuck by me.”

“Ana mentioned that you left home for a long time, why was that?”

“Because I didn’t want to be what I am, I just wanted to be human and normal. At 16 I left to stay with siblings of mine that were in hiding from Zenis. You would be surprised at how many siblings I actually have. Anyway I tested out of school and I worked to pay my own way through college. Oliver and Finola became my family and they looked out for me,” he paused. He needed to remain as calm as possible, he could not fall apart right now. “I was 24 when Javier found me in the woods somewhere as a wolf, he brought me back home. Most of the year after that is still fuzzy for me, a lot happened while I was away and it took me almost 5 years to have somewhat of a normal life. The end of last year I met Lynn and we’ve been together since then.”

“How old is she?” Amara predictably asked.

“She is 18 and before you ask I was with her when she was 17, though I didn’t know it when I met her. Age means nothing to me,” he said feeling edgy.

“I just was curious because she seems young, she is a very pretty young lady,” she paused looking at him. “What happened to you when you left home?”

“A lot of things happened and none of them good. Let’s just say that I learned how un-human I am and innocent people died because they made the mistake of caring too much about the person I pretended to be. But it is in both of our best interests in I do not elaborate further,” he said. Changing in public was the last thing the pack needed right now.

“Alright, so what happened to your ears?”

“Oh Javier told me that he’d forgotten that mom-I mean Ana had them removed when I was a baby. She thought that it would make things easier for me not to be physically different from the other kids. I never knew about them I thought you were human,” he shrugged.

If he hadn’t had had a conversation about the pointed ears he was born with, then he would have been confused about her question. Nobody ever told him that his mother was an elf, but through Javier’s contacts he was able to find out a lot about his birth mother. He was actually glad that Ana had his ears fixed; it would have just been another complication in his overly complicated life.

“Your fiancée, Lynn, how is it that she walks in the sun if her father is a vampire?”

“He says his family are all day walking half vampires, she just met him that day I met you. She’s only ¼ vampire so she doesn’t have too much of a problem with the sun, she just wears medicated sun block. Lynn doesn’t drink blood or anything,” he told her.

“Well I never heard of day-walker vampires, that type of thing is supposed to be impossible, but I guess not. So how far in her pregnancy is she?”

“About 15 weeks, we’re having twins,” he said relaxing a bit. This almost felt normal, and nothing had been normal for a long time.

“That is exciting, I’m happy for you,” she paused staring into her cup. “Are you marrying her because she got pregnant?”

“No, why the hell would you ask that?” So much for normal now he was annoyed.

“I love her that’s why I’m marrying her, I asked her to marry me before I knew she was pregnant,” he growled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, I was just curious. I truly am happy for you and for her. And I understand if you do not want me in your life. You are a grown man starting a family of your own and you already have a mother,” she said. “Ana was good to me when I lived in her house, I never could understand why. I was living in her home having her husband’s baby. But she was always nice to me and she even kept him from coming into my room at night to use me for his pleasure.”

“Where have you been all these years?” He asked because curiosity often got the best of him.

 “When I met your father I was 18 and a freshmen in college and I was away from home for the first time. One thing about Zenis is that he is a charmer, or he was. I liked having attention from an older man and we went out a few times. Of course I had no idea he was married and had children older than me or just how old he really was. At first it was nice being courted by him, and then when I told him I didn’t want to have sex with him he changed. He then raped me and I didn’t see him again after that, he threatened to hurt me if I reported him. I was young and scared so I didn’t tell anyone, I found out I was pregnant a few months later. Though I told no one that I was pregnant he somehow found out. One day I came back from class and my things had been moved out of my room, I was withdrawn from my classes and his men took me.

“Meanwhile my parents were worried out of their minds about me. A rumor passed around the school that I ran off with an older man. My parents couldn’t find me but reported me missing and never gave up hope. I was of course at your father’s house locked in my room only allowed around only to be seen by a doctor. All that time I had to myself was when I started to fall in love with the idea of having a child of my own, even though I was really young. And then you were born and I didn’t care about anything else, not even how you were conceived because you were mine.

“Well when you were about three weeks old your father threw me out of his house. I begged and pleaded with him for you, but he still threw me out. He told me that if I ever contacted you or him or any of his family or if I went to the police, he would kill me. His other threat was to expose me to the world so that the world would know about the existence of my people. Anyway about a month later Ana found me at a shelter, I was too ashamed to call me parents. She gave me money and put me on a plane home to my family. I was pretty much out of options and I couldn’t continue to live like I was. So I went home.

“Once I was back home my parents welcomed me back and swore they would avenge me. That was until they found out exactly who Zenis was and my father had to be talked out of going after him. They did vow that none of their other children would ever leave home like I did, I became a cautionary tale that everyone told their kids about so they would stay close to home. My siblings sort of resent me because I am the reason they can’t have lives away from our parents. Who moved us away from elves to live human lives so that we could avoid any and all supernatural type creatures. It took a long time for me to recover from losing you. I use to plot ways to get you back. If I knew you left home, I would have found you and protected you from him,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“Then he would have killed you,” Sebastian said. “He wanted me back pretty bad and he would have slaughtered your whole family without a second thought.”

“Is he really that cruel?” She asked and he laughed a hollow humorless laugh.

“Ask my four orphaned nieces, he killed my brother Max and his wife. So yeah I think he is pretty cruel, and he’s kidnapped a 5 year old little girl before.”

“Why did he want you so badly? He has so many other children.”

“Because I guess I’m a lot like Javier,” he shrugged. “Zenis knew he couldn’t be Alpha forever so he needed to make sure the power stayed in his family and Javier was his natural choice. Javier isn’t like any other wolf, he changed at a very young age and he he’s stronger and more determined than all other wolves. The only other wolf that comes close enough to match Javier is me. However I never knew that I had almost killed Zenis once, it’s a long story but I went through a dark period in my life. Ana and a few others thought it was best to hide that from me. Javier feared that I would loose control again and hurt somebody one day and he would have to kill me.”

“Your own brother would kill you?” Amara asked horrified.

“Yes, if I was a danger to myself and others and the pack,” he explained. “Exposing myself and the rest of my family would be wrong. And especially if I hurt someone, I trust that Javier would do what was necessary. So far I’ve stayed out of trouble so there isn’t much of a need to worry about that.”

“How can you speak as if you don’t care?”

“Because I couldn’t live with myself if I was a danger to others, especially Lynn or my children. You don’t understand the way it is in the pack, most people don’t they think it’s brutal and barbaric. This town is for the most part a pack town, Zenis is most of the reason the town has thrived. The humans know to mind their own business so our secrets are safe. Of course you understand the need for secrecy.”

“I don’t know much about your people actually, my parents taught us just to avoid your kind. So of course that only reinforced their teachings when I came home,” she sighed looking weary.

“We weren’t exactly taught about other being either. Zenis said we were predators and no one could take us out. Any lesser beings were too unimportant to him for him to tell us about them. He just said to avoid demons at all costs,” he said.

He had to laugh at that, the one thing Zenis feared was what brought him down. If he’d left Mackenzie alone instead of kidnapping her then Javier wouldn’t have had to overthrow Zenis to bring her back. Fate was very amusing sometimes. Even though nobody had known she was not only a demon but a princess, she was his downfall.

“What is so funny? Do you not fear demons?” Amara asked staring at him.

“No reason to, Javier married one. Well technically she’s only half,” he said.

“Your brother married a demon?” She asked shocked.

“Yup, well he didn’t know she was a demon when he fell for her and she had no idea growing up. Their marriage gives us an alliance with her demon clan. I mean I only know one type of demon but they are pretty normal regular people,” he shrugged.

“Well I never would have expected you pack to have demons, witches and vampires,” she shook her head.

“Pretty much the pack is mostly made up of my family, we are the power family. At least for all of Zenis’ greedy selfish power hungriness he did some good things for our family, we are on top. Nobody would dare mess with our pack, it would be suicide,” he said. That really got him thinking about Zkar.

“So have you decided if you want me in your life or not?” Amara asked.

“Ask me again after my wedding,” he said. For right now he wasn’t sure.