Chapter 1
Sierra
Dark. Nothing but darkness. I feel...uneasy. Afraid, worried. My feet are carrying themselves as I trudge through the thick forest, trying to go unseen and unheard. I am with people, I can hear their footsteps and whispers, though I cannot make out what is being said, or why we are in this goddess-forsaken wasteland. My heart is heavy. I am with a woman. She is...different. She looks as terrifying as the forest, which I had not feared until that day. Some words are exchanged, though I can't hear them. I can't make out the faces surrounding me. And then...
Pain. Endless, torturous pain. Physical, emotional, every kind of pain you can imagine. I hear screaming in the background, I can feel the adrenaline running through my veins, my lungs burning from running. There had to be a way out, somehow, someway. She was gaining on me. I had to keep moving. But where? This was her world, not mine.
"Sierra?" Edward called to me, pulling me from my vision.
I sat up and gasped for air, my heart racing a mile a minute. Edward had sympathetic eyes, pulling me close to him as I calmed my jumpy nerves.
"Another vision? Or a nightmare?" He asked.
"Vision." I gulped. "Definitly vision."
"They are coming more frequently." He mulled over.
"Our pups are getting older. If the legend is really true..." I said, a tremor in my voice.
And as they got older, my visions came more frequently, though a bit blurry. My coven sisters seem to think it is an emotional response, one my subconscious self made to protect myself from seeing things I really don't want to. Things that could very well affect my pups and leave me broken inside. My gift was both a blessing and a curse.
"Who was it this time?" Edward asked, tucking my disheaved hair behind my ear.
"I-I don't know, it was too blurry this time."
"Tell me about it." He pressed.
"Tomorrow, I need to check on them." I said, scooting out of bed and slipping on a bathrobe and slippers before heading down the hall to our pups rooms.
Edward didn't dare stop me, he knew better than that. After everything that has happened in our lives, after having our pups taken from us, our family taken from us, he knew better. I went from room to room checking that they were all here and safe.
Lorraine, my youngest and biggest surprise, check. I couldn't believe she was seven already. Probably the most cryptic of all my pups too. She had been gifted with the ability to speak to spirits. Nothing creepier than walking in on her having conversations with no one else in the room. No one in the flesh anyway. I guess that's what we get though, when you mix a lycan king with a hybrid such as myself. Werewolf, witch, and vampire, a beautiful and chaotic mix of genetics.
Abby, my second to last, check. Born while I was in captivity, and named after her aunt who sacrificed herself for me. I missed the first year of her life, but have tried to do everything I can to make it up to her, though she wont ever remember that dark year. She was gifted with incredible healing abilities, much to our amusement. Almost as if the moon goddess was trying to redeem Edward's sister Abby by giving our pup the ability to heal.
Hunter, third from the bottom, still awake and playing video games, check. He was gifted with strong spell casting abilities, able to give even the most able witches a run for their money. He was also a total computer geek, and I loved him for it.
"Get to bed soon." I whispered.
He slowly turned his head, his eyes glued to the computer screen for a moment longer before he looked at me and yanked off his headset. "I will, goodnight mom." He smiled. He was always such a good kid. Always ready to lend a hand or just listen.
Stella, my second pregnancy, but third from the top, check. Stella was the most strong willed and feisty of the group, never taking no for an answer. She was gifted with divination. With a simple touch, she could see into someone's past, present or future. She could read people, and know if they were good or bad. Like a walking lie detector.
Levi, my first born, twin A, check. The most responsible of the group, unsurprisingly. He was almost a man now, and carried himself like one too. He was gifted with the ability to control the elements. He could cause a hurricane if he wanted, but had enough self control not to. He was going to make a great king one day.
And finally....Xander. I peered into his room and did not find him in bed. It was past three in the morning. It was past curfew. Where was he?
Xander, my second born, twin B. The most manipulative and cunning of the bunch. He could talk his way into or out of just about anything. He carried himself with confidence and a certain air about him that made women go wild. A shamless flirt, gifted with astral projection, able to separate his soul from his body. The only one of my six pups who received more vampire genes than anyone else. It was a recessive gene, and a complete abnormality that he carried so much of it. So much, in fact, that he occasionally needed blood to drink, and his canines were those of a vampire.
I went looking for him, starting with the usual spots. Kitchen, gameroom, spare bedrooms when he would want to be more promiscuous with someone and not get caught, and no sign of him. That left one place. I went outside into the garden and found him there, sitting on the stone edge of the enormous fountain we had in the center of our garden, staring up at the sky.
"Cant sleep?" I asked, coming up from behind him and taking a seat.
"No." He shook his head, his eyes unmoving from the starlit sky. It was a perfectly clear, crisp winter night. Not a thing to be heard, the fresh snowfall beckoning everything into a peaceful silence.
"Wanna talk about it?" I pressed.
He let out a heavy sigh and hesitated a moment before answering.
"I had a nightmare...of that day." He said softly.
I didn't need to know what day he was referring to, I already knew. The day he and Levi were taken and almost killed by people who feared what they were and what they might become. They were only seven at the time. And though it's been over a decade, it still managed to keep them awake every now and then. I wordlessly rubbed his back. Although he was nearly eighteen, only days away from being deemed a man, he would always be my little boy.
"It never goes away, only becomes more manageable." I said softly. Regret churning within me. I wish I could have better protected him. All of them.
"Do you think this legend is true? That we are the chosen ones?" He half snorted, mocking the idea that he and Levi could be so special.
"I think that no matter what, legend or not, you and your brother are going to make amazing kings one day. I think you will change the world for the better and pave the way for future generations to come."
He sighed in response, not very chatty as it were.
"Have you and Levi discussed the matter?" I asked.
We have been preparing our sons for their entire lives to become kings, but the question still remains if they want to rule together or separate. He and Levi butted heads and didn't always see eye to eye, but, goddess, when they did, they were an unstoppable force. Proven by a dozen or so missions that they went on together.
After Edward asked them to search for Princess Annalise, we realized how much more practical experience they needed, so we made a point to include them on all sorts of missions and even the 'mundane' patrols, as they put it. Even though they hadn't shifted yet, they were probably the most deadly thing out there for miles. I can't imagine how much more powerful they will be in just a few days.
"No." He shook his head.
"Thats alright, you have time." I said reassuringly.
They were given special permission by the council to become the next kings at the age of twenty-five. For all others, it was thirty, unless the former king or queen died and there was no other option. I say special permission, but what I mean is that, like it or not, ready or not, the council demanded that Edward step down as king of the northern and eastern territories and hand them over to Levi and Xander by their twenty-fifth birthday. They wanted each son to fill a position, but we stood firm that if they wanted to rule together, they could. Levi and Xander had such a special bond, it would be cruel to separate them. But we still gave them the choice.
Considering that Edward was also a member of the council, I was surprised that they didn't make the age limit lower than what they had agreed upon. My mate was a very busy man, and not always available to participate in the council's antics. They didn't like that. But there wasn't much they could do about it.
"Have you seen her?" Xander asked quietly. "My mate? Our mate?"
One thing about Xander, although he was a shamless flirt, and would bed just about any willing female, he had a soft spot for his mate. Such a soft spot that he never held a relationship for more than a week. Where Levi, on the other hand, had one long-standing girlfriend who he has been with for over two years now. They were on and off a few times, but Levi was convinced she was his mate. We had no clue if they would share a mate, or if they would each have their own mate. Typically, twins would only have one mate since they shared the same soul at conception, but I think my boys liked to think they would be an exception. They really didn't care to share their toys growing up. Why would they want to share a mate? I have, however, seen images of a woman, several actually, outside our family, though never enough to decide if any of them are a mate to any of my boys.
"No sweetie, I'm sorry."
"Are you just saying that to get me to stop asking or are you telling the truth?" He said with a half smile.
"Truth." I chuckled.
A minute passed before he asked.
"What are you doing up?"
"I had a vision." I admitted. "It was...terrifying. So I had to check on you all." I said, nudging him with my shoulder.
"Oh...sorry." He said, realizing he was probably the hardest to find.
"Dont be. I get it."
"What was your vision about?" He asked. "Or will you not tell me?"
I was very selective about the visions I shared with people and the ones I didnt. Some information was useless, while others had the ability to make people make rash decisions, usually winding up with a different outcome or altering the original vision in some way. Since I didn't know anyone involved, nor did I see anyone running though a creepy mucky-looking forest anytime soon, I divulged the details. Xander listened intently, though his eyes were still set upon the stars.
"That's intense," Xander said when I was finished.
"Yes indeed." I hummed.
"Thanks for always checking on us," he added.
"It's a pleasure." I said, standing up. "Now, why don't you and I go have some hot chocolate?"
Xander nodded and we went inside, quietly searching through the cupboards for all the ingredients to make homemade hot chocolate. Hunter joined us when he heard the rustling in the kitchen and Edward was not far behind. Levi got up too, saying he heard laughter, but opted out and went back to bed. Stella eventually shuffled out of bed, claiming the rest of Hunters' unfinished hot chocolate, never turning down an opportunity to consume chocolate. I think she may have been sleepwalking, indicated by the way she knocked into two walls on her way back to her room. Never a dull moment in our house. And I wouldn't change a thing about it.
"Thanks mom." Xander said, setting his empty cup in the sink before he shuffled off to bed.
That just left Edward and I cleaning up a chocolaty mess at four thirty in the morning. He had to leave at five thirty for morning training, but not before getting in a quick...warm up...with me. Even with six pups, we still managed to find time to connect with each other, to grow our love and make our bond stronger and stronger. After everything that happened, it changed us. We made a point to make time with each other and were always open and honest. Never again did we keep anything from each other.
Our love for each other flourished, greater than I had ever hoped it to be. I pray that our pups are as blessed as we are some day. I pray that no matter what happens in life, they will always find the good, always keep a positive spirit, and always trust their instincts. And I pray that they never have to endure anything like we had all those years ago...even though I already know they will.
