A story by Nixie!

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

Okay guys, here's the thing...I've been working on this story for a little while, and since I haven't had much time to write on it, it is still a work in progress. I'm putting up the first 2 chapters of my story, and I want you all to tell me whether it's any good or not, okay? I want comments, suggestions, advice, etc. Whatever you think I should know, good or bad, just tell me, I can take criticism really well, so I won't get my feelings hurt too badly. -Grins-


Chapter 1: The Taking.

Rain. I hated the rain. And yet here I am, sitting on the ground in the middle of the woods, hardly wearing anything, with the rain streaming down on me. Sitting there on the cold, soggy ground, my blue black hair falling in wet disarray around my shoulders, falling down to the middle of my back, with my knees pulled up to my chin, I felt utterly alone. The rain hid my tears, streaming like an endless waterfall down my pale cheeks.

The coppery taste of blood was in my mouth, and no matter how many times I tried to spit it out, it would simply never come completely out. The taste mad me sick, and I had to force my body to remain calm, and to not throw up. My ribs already hurt enough, and puking violently would not make me feel any better.

Why did dad have to come home early today for? If he would have just stayed at work until his normal time, then everything would have been okay. I thought to myself bitterly. Dad had come home early from work, bottle of tequila in hand. I hated his liquor. It turned my father, a kind, gentle man when he’s sober, into a raging, bellowing lunatic.

Father always came home at 7:30 everyday from work, and he would come home to a clean house with his dinner done and waiting on the table for him. But today he didn’t go into work, and quite unexpectedly showed up at home. Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t quite gotten supper done yet.

Father was in a rage, though I tried to beg him to forgive me, that I hadn’t expected him home so early. I tried to reason with him, to beg him, but it did nothing but make him even more angry. The back of his huge, bear like hand landed on the side of my face once, twice. He was out of his mind, the liquor poisoning him.

Though I was then on the floor, bleeding and whimpering, he continued to hit me. First back handing me, then full out punching me as if I were a man. I refused to cry out though, my pride demanding that I keep my mouth shut, though I never could stop the small whimpers of pain after each terrible blow.

Then, tired of hitting me, he grabbed me by my neck and slammed my back into the wall, my head bouncing off of it repeatedly. Stars danced in front of my eyes, and the edges of my vision grew hazy, as if I was going to pass out.

This has been my life since I was 8 years old, when my mother died. My father blamed me for it, and he took out his anger on me. So every time that my father has gotten mad within the last 10 years, he has taken it out on me. Though I’m 18, I haven’t moved out of his house. I had no where to go, so I was forced to stay with my father, deal with his beatings, until I could come up with enough money to get out of here, and to go far, far away.

I had allowed myself to slip into unconsciousness, so that I could no longer feel the fierce beatings that my father inflicted upon me. When I woke, I was lying on the floor, in a puddle of my own blood, and my father was passed out on the couch, his liquor bottle in hand. Quietly I stood up and, very slowly walked out of the house and into the woods surrounding it. It hurt to move, my entire body bruised and aching; screaming at me for moving. Every step was pure agony, but I had to get away from that house, if only for a little while.

I should have paid more attention as I was coming into the woods. I thought bitterly to myself. I absolutely hated thunder storms, was scared to death of them. But nooo I just had to get out of that house, and into the woods for safety. Yeah, right. Though it wasn’t thundering here, I could hear it off in the distance, and was already shaking violently—not from the cold, but from the dread of the storm that was quickly coming my way.

Despite my desperate fear of the thunder, I couldn’t seem to move. My entire body ached, and horrible, ugly purple bruises were forming up all over my body, and one eye was swollen shut. I tried to pull my legs tighter to my chest, but it was no use, too much pain shot through my body with that simple motion.

Just as I was about to attempt to force my legs into working properly and obeying me, thunder rang throughout the trees and I immediately stopped, placing my hands tightly over my ears as an involuntary scream emerged, echoing in the trees as the last rements of the thunder died down.

I decided to sit there, since it didn’t seem to be possible for me to move anyway. I wrapped my arms around my head, holding onto my ears in hopes that I could drown out the sound of the thunder, my body shaking uncontrollably.

A low growl came from in front of me, and as I looked up, all breath was stolen from me. Standing in front of me, was a large, solid black wolf, his grey eyes staring hard at me. I shivered, those eyes were far too intelligent.

A low sob escaped as tears, hidden by the rain, slid down my face unnoticed. So, this was how I was going to die…At the hands—paws—of a wolf. Well, at least I was accustomed to pain, so the way of my death would be nothing new to me, at least… Perhaps now I can see mother again.

She closed her eyes tightly, waiting on the wolf to pounce, waiting for his teeth to sink into my throat and release me from this life. I waited…And waited. Nothing happened. No pain, no teeth tearing into my skin, and no death. I knew I wasn’t dead because I could still feel my aching body, and the rain steadily pouring down onto me. Warily, I opened my eyes, and there was now no longer a wolf, but a man, crouched down close to my face, examining my wounds.

He was beautiful, his face sinfully handsome. He had high, defined cheekbones and a stubborn set to his jaw, shadowed with small stubble. His silver, steel covered eyes carefully looked over me, assessing my injuries.

“Who did this, ma petite?” His voice was sensually beautiful, haunting. It seemed to wrap me up in silk covers, warming me.

“Wh…What?” My voice was cracked, sounding rough compared to his, harsh. I didn’t completely understand. Where had the wolf gone?

“The wounds, human, who caused them?” He said, his voice growing slightly exasperated, as if he didn’t much enjoy having to explain himself.

“My…My father. He was drunk…and he hit me. A lot.” I said, stating the obvious, but I felt as though I were being compelled to do so. Why? I’d never told anyone that my father beat me, not even my teachers at school. I always gave them the impression that the bruises and cuts that were visible to them were either from my own clumsiness—which was not all the unbelievable, since I was very clumsy—or from a fight that I’d gotten into. And yet, here I was, telling some strange man in the woods all about it.

The man’s eyes flashed dangerously, and he suddenly appeared to be a dangerous predator, and I wondered if I should be afraid, though I wasn’t. “This man, your father, should be taught a lesson on how to treat a woman. You will come with me, little one. Can you walk?”

I blinked up at him, for he had now stood up and waited for a hint as to whether I could walk, or if he would have to carry me. This was happening so fast, my brain couldn’t keep up with it all. “I…I don’t understand…”

The man snarled, white teeth flashing as more thunder clapped through the trees, drowning out the sound. I screamed again, my body going into violent tremors, my pulse racing as I tried to push myself against the tree in which I had been leaning against, trying to make myself as small as possible.

The man smirked slightly, shaking his head. “Hopefully it is blood loss that is making you so dense.” He said, bending down to pick me up, cradling me in his arms as though I weighed no more than a baby. His body was strong and muscular, holding my weight easily, even though my body was weighted down by the water.

“Sleep now, little human.” He said, moving one of his hands to a spot on my neck and applying pressure to it, making me instantly knock out, drifting into the bliss of blackness, into the wonderful land where no pain could touch me…




Chapter 2: The Reveal.

Consciousness slowly came back to me, though everything was in a haze. I began to take in my surroundings without even opening my eyes. There was one thing that I realized with growing alarm: I was not in my room.

The bed was far too soft, and I was stretched out on the mattress. If I’d been on my regular bed, I would have fallen off. Plus, the room smelled of soothing lavender, causing my muscles to relax even as my alarm grew.

What happened? I thought, still unable to open my eyes. I couldn’t seem to remember anything. The only thing I could really notice was how badly I hurt. Even the smallest of movements were agony, sending a sharp, merciless pain through my entire being.

Did dad beat me again? What did I do this time? This was beyond irritating. Why couldn’t I remember anything?! And what time is it, anyway?

Damn you, Amarant, open your eyes! Do it now woman, and pray father doesn’t know you’re not home! I yelled inside my head, determined to get up and have answers, even though my entire body hurt like hell.

Reluctantly, my eyes began to open, and I quickly blinked a few times, bringing the room I was currently in to focus. I’m definitely not in my room… I thought, looking around the room in awe.

The room was at least 3 times bigger than my room at home. The walls were painted a deep, vibrant purple, and the floor had fluffy, soft looking black carpet. The bed was a huge king size with huge pillows and black satin sheets. The large comforter a soft, warm black velvet material.

There was a large window on the other end of the room, with a cushioned seat so someone could sit and look outside. Light streamed in through the window, spilling over the floor.

Slowly, tenderly, I moved to the edge of the bed, placing my feet on the carpet, which was every bit as soft as it looked. Stifling a moan of pain, as I stood, I noticed there were three different doors on different sides of the room. One I knew was the way out, and I assumed the others were a bathroom and a closet.

I opted to try the door directly in front of me, since it would be easiest. The door opened, revealing a large bathroom, my reflexion in the mirror catching my eye. I groaned loudly as I walked closer, getting a better look at myself.

My face was a horrible mixture of black, blue, and purple—not a very good look for me, might I add, but one that I was accustomed to lately. One of my eyes had been blackened, and I could tell it had been swelled shut. My dark blue eyes turned violet as my hands clenched into fists. Why do I allow that bastard to do this to me? I should have left the moment I turned 18. Should have never given him the chance to touch me again. I reached up and fixed my hair a bit before turning and walking out of the bathroom, towards the other door.

This time I came to the exit, and thankfully, there was no way that I could get lost while trying to find my way around. Though this house was huge I was in a room that was directly across from a staircase, leading directly down to the bottom floor. I didn’t hear anyone, but that wasn’t anything major, since this house was so big.

I never realized how badly it would hurt to walk down stairs while beaten up until that moment, but I managed it without even a sound. I was accustomed to pain, and I had learned how to ignore all but the most severe pain. I looked around the house in awe, my mouth hanging open slightly.

This place was beautiful. The tiles were white marble, cool against my bare feet. The main room was big enough to hold a ball from centuries ago. This house screamed elegance from every corner and piece of furniture. Everything was the most expensive, high quality thing on the market. It looked like it had just come out of a novel, I’d never seen anything so big in my life.

“Ah, I see the girl is awake now.” A soft, male voice behind me said, causing me to go completely stiff. Women, I could deal with, but men scared me… Wasn’t there a woman around here that I could demand answers from?

I slowly turned around, facing the man behind me. He was much larger than me, floppy brown hair looking like he’d just woken up. Loose strands fell over his odd golden eyes, flecks of green hidden in their depths. He towered over me, much taller and his shoulders broad, muscular. He looked me over, a small frown coming onto his handsome face.

“Your father really did a number on you, huh?” He said, his golden eyes becoming sympathetic.

I didn’t quite follow him at first. How would he know that my father did this? And how did I end up here?! Instead, I settled for the most polite question that I could ask at the moment, though I had to force out the words. “Who are you? How…How did I get here?” I wasn’t used to talking to men, and especially not ones that were so much bigger than me. My father had instilled a fear of men in me, something that I would most likely never get over.

He gave her a kind smile, flashing his white teeth. “My name is Devin, little one. And my brother, Marcus, he brought you here after he found you in the woods. He said he had to knock you out, because you were so frightened of the storm, he couldn’t carry you.” His eyes scanned over her again, taking in her appearance. “I don’t think you should be up walking around just yet. I know that you have to feel the pain your body is in.”

Suddenly, it all came back to me in violent intensity. Father coming home from work early, the beating because the dinner wasn’t finished, running into the woods after he passed out for a little bit of solace, the storm…The wolf and then the man, showing up out of no where. That was his brother?

I didn’t even realize that I began to shake violently until the man, Devin, placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to not put too much pressure on my bruises. “What is it?”

I could feel myself begin to hyperventilate, and I knew that I was in trouble. All that had happened last night, and I knew that father hadn’t slept all day. There was no way that he wouldn’t know that I’d been missing all night. Oh god, I was going to have one hell of a beating waiting for me when I get home…And with me already bruised and battered…

“You will answer me immediately. I can not help you if you do not tell me what is wrong.” He said, giving me a little shake, causing me to whimper—not out of pain, but fear.

I’d never disobeyed a order from a male, and now I was not planning on starting, especially with this one. So much larger than my father, and obviously capable of inflicting a lot more damage on me should he choose.

“My father, he…won’t be happy about me being gone all night…He’ll punish me for it…” I struggled to breathe, my pulse pounding, beating frantically. What was I going to do? His beatings were always bad, but I couldn’t stand it if he were to beat me again, so soon after his last punishment.

A low growl came from Devin’s throat, shocking me slightly. I didn’t think that human vocal cords could register that low. It sounded like an animal growling, not the cheap imitation that humans attempted when annoyed.

“That…man shall not touch you again. My brothers and I have come to a decision: you shall stay here with us. We can not allow you to go back to that existence, where that pathetic excuse of a man would hit a woman…Especially as viciously as he has you. He should have his throat ripped out for the atrocities that he’s committed. Last night was not the only time that he’s hit you, is it? He’s done it before, and he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. Am I right, young one?”

I tried to step away from him, but I couldn’t get out of his grip. I shook my head quickly in denial. “No, I can’t stay here. I have to go back, my father will be furious. I don’t want to bring anyone else into this with me and him. Please, thank you for letting me stay here last night, I may have had a heart attack if I had been made to stay outside in the thunderstorm, but I have to go back.” She refused to answer his last question, deciding that it was better for her if she didn’t…And she didn’t think that it needed answering, because somehow, she was sure that he already knew the answer to that question.

Devin shook his head sadly, though I somehow knew that he wasn’t going to allow me what I wanted. I knew that posture all too well; it was the same one my father wore when he was determined about something. “I’m sorry, child. Marcus says you saw him change, and we can not allow you to leave either which was it goes. If you weren’t to stay here, even if I could convince the others to let you live, you would never be safe from others of our kind. I am sorry, but I’ve already said too much. The decision has been made, and I can not allow you to leave. I promise you, you will be happy here.”

“Please…” I said, my voice cracking slightly. “I have to go back. My father is a very angry man, and he will not stop looking for me until I come back. Please, don’t do this…” I begged, on the verge of tears. I wasn’t crying because I particularly wanted to go back, but because I didn’t have a choice in the matter. The longer I stayed gone, the angrier my father was going to get…and the more punishment I was going to receive when I finally did go home. I couldn’t do anything other than beg him to allow me to leave; it was the only chance I had. And not to mention that if my father found me here, he would probably kill them all, and I didn’t want that on my hands.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, his gaze penetrating me, seeing more than anyone should ever see. I had to turn my eyes from him, cutting off his exploration of my mind. “Answer me honestly, little one. Do you really want to go back to him? Back to the beatings, the abuse? Is that what you want? Do you have so much love for that man that you would go back to him? Or is there another reason for you wishing to go back?”

I closed my eyes tightly. He had seen too much, I’d looked away too soon. I had no choice but to answer, even though I didn’t want to. “No. I don’t want to go back to him, but I have to…” I said hopelessly, my shoulders slumping as though to protect myself from his gaze.

“Why do you have to?”

My temper boiled to the top like never before. Usually with men I was shy, timid, and tried to make myself small and invisible. But for some reason, something in me snapped, and I blew up. “Because I have to! Don’t you understand?! I will bring nothing but trouble to you and your brothers! If he finds me here, he’s going to be pissed, and he will kill you and anyone else in this big, blasted house! And then I’ll be in even more pain than I am now!” At the reminder of my pain, it suddenly came back to me, smacking me in the face. My ribs hurt from yelling, and I gasped, clutching my midsection in pain, trying not to fall over.

Devin bent down and picked me up, as easily as if he were carrying a doll, and began to walk towards a door leading out of the main room. “Do not fear for us or yourself, frail one. Your father will not be able to find you here. Now tell me, what is your name?”

I buried my face in my hands, wanting to argue with him, but not having the strength to do so. I couldn’t believe that I had gone off on him like that! What the hell was I thinking?! Something was definitely going on with me. “I am so sorry…I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. It was rude, and I’ll not do it again.” I felt the need to apologize to him, not because I was afraid of him, but because I knew I was wrong. Though I knew that he was powerful, and had enough strength to crack open my skull in one punch, I didn’t think that he would hit me. He carried me too gently, his smile was too soft when he looked at me. No, he wouldn’t hit me.

“Do not apologize, young one, you were perfectly within your right to do so. Though, I wouldn’t suggest you doing so with Marcus, that one has a bit of a temper.” He said, a small ghost of a shadow tugging at his lips. “Now, you never answered my question: What is your name?”

“Amarant.” She said, looking around the room that he’d brought her into. It was a kitchen and, like the main room, was filled with the most up-to-date appliances. He set me on the counter and walked to the other end, pulling out a small box. “What’s that?”

“You need to be attended to. We have…certain methods for getting rid of pain and bruises such as yours. But, please, don’t ask any questions about how it happened so quickly until my other brothers come back. They had to run an errand, but they’ll be back soon. Then, we will explain everything, and what your purpose shall be. Agreed?” He asked, stopping a few feet from me.

I nodded softly, anything that he could do to get the pain to go away would be great with me. I didn’t care how he managed it, I wanted it gone.

He stepped closer and, instructing me to lay down and close my eyes, assuring me that he wasn’t going to try to take advantage of me. I rolled my eyes before doing as I was told. A cold, lotion like substance soothed over the bruises on my face, and a soft, tingling sensation began everywhere the lotion touched. Slowly the pain began to ebb away. He didn’t only work on my face, however. He also had me lift my shirt so he could work on my stomach, then roll over so he could work on my back. Since I was already wearing shorts, I was able to leave them on while he gently rubbed the same lotion onto my legs as he had the rest of my body.

By the time that he was done, I couldn’t feel any of the pain that had been there before, only a dull ache, and that was fading fast as well. I opened my eyes, shocked. “What happened? I…don’t feel it anymore.” My voice was airy, filled with awe and thanks.

“Ah, you said you wouldn’t ask questions, remember?” He asked, crossing his arms, looking down on me.

I grinned slightly. “Oh yeah, I forgot. When will they be home?” I asked, tilting my head to one side as I lifted up my leg, testing it’s flexibility without pain. I noticed that the bruises had faded, looking like they were several days old, rather than new. I smiled, this was amazing.

A low roar sounded outside, and Devin shook his head. “That would be them now. Come on, you’ll wait in the library for us to come to you. I have to give them some information first, let them know that you’re staying.” He said, giving me a look that told me that I was not to argue. He then picked me up again—quite unnecessary—and carried me into a huge library with books covering nearly all of the four walls from ceiling to floor and sat me down on a comfy chair. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Not even five minutes later, the door opened again. First was Devin, then a man that I recognized from last night—Marcus—and another that I didn’t recognize. He had cobalt black hair that went down to his shoulders and forest green eyes. He wore a leather jacket, a Jack Daniels black T-shirt, and a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. I took him as the other brother, whose name I still didn’t know.

“Amarant, this is Rafael, and you already know Marcus.” He said, pointing to the other one, who nodded quietly to me before going and sitting down in a chair on the other side of a big, mahogany desk. Marcus stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest and looking extremely bored, while Devin walked to me and stood behind the chair that he had sat me in.

“Amarant, Devin tells me that you’ve decided to take us up on our offer?”

I tried to remain silent, since I didn’t actually decide anything; rather it was decided for me. When Rafael continued to look at me expectantly, I nodded reluctantly.

“Well, then there is one key important thing that you need to know. And don’t act shocked; I know what you truly are. What you’ve hidden from your father.”

My heart began to pound. There was only one thing that I had hidden from my father. The legacy that my mother passed onto me, and told me that I was to never, ever let anyone know…Unless I met one of my own kind. Then and only then would it be safe for them to know. How did he know? I’d not mentioned it, and I know that I didn’t slip up and Change in my sleep…I’d never done it before, so why now?!

“Amarant, Devin, Marcus and I are lycanthropes. You are a shifter as well, are you not?” Rafael said, his green eyes boring into me, demanding an answer.

Lycanthropes?! How in the hell did I manage to get involved with a bunch of wolves?!?! Oh shit, this isn’t good… I immediately became tenser, my eyes darting to the door, which Marcus was now blocking. “Yes, I’m a shifter…Though I don’t think you will want me around now. We’d fight like cats and dogs…Literally.”

I was a shifter, but my form was a black panther. Me being stuck in a house with a bunch of lycans would not be good for my health. “My form is a black panther.” I said, suddenly very aware of the fact that Devin was standing behind me. How had I not seen it? Now that I knew, I couldn’t see how I didn’t realize it. I could smell the wolf on them, I was so stupid!

Marcus smiled, but it was more like a flashing of fangs, in my direction. “We already know what you are, kitty. And we’re willing to accept it…for the moment. Are you?”

I looked from one to the other, immediately deciding that I didn’t like Marcus. I knew that I wasn’t going to get along with him at all, though I wasn’t sure why. Devin I already liked and trusted…But Rafael…I couldn’t quite get a feel of him. I would have to think about him, he seems far more complicated than his brothers. I was not excited about living with a bunch of creatures that nature decided my inner animal should not get along with….

This should be interesting.



If you all like it, I will post chapters three, four, and five as well, but I got to know what you all think of it so far...Like I said, it's a work in progress, so don't make the criticism too hard.

[HIDDEN EVIL]

I rather enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing.

I have one raw comment. And it's the only one.

I do like that you used both First person and third person. When and if you decided to have this published, they will tell you this.

First person is fun to read because it's like the reader is actually doing, feeling what it is the character is. However, you mixed the two, first and third person, and you should watch that as it gets confusing for most people. Especially when you refer to yourself. If you do this, try to seperate the paragraphs, and or mark it with a:

---

Line or stars, something. It acts as a cut off. They will most likely edit it that way, but when you present it, it should be perfect and ready to go. Big publishers handle all of that, but the little ones that you start off by paying to get out there, they will charge you big time.

Anywho, I expect to read more. I enjoyed it.

I'll give you two thumbs now.

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

Ooops...Yeah, I tend to do that sometimes and don't realize it. I usually like to type in first person when doing my stories, but sometimes I'll accidently put it in third person...Like I said, still work in progress.

THANK YOU SEVI, I LOOOOVES YOU!!

And I shall have the other three chapters up soon ^_^

[Katra Maguire]

THAT WAS SO GOOD!!! I LOVED IT NIXIE!!!

MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE!!!

[Ellie]

Hehe, it's nifty ^-^

[*Tristan Maguire]

Chapter 3: Knowledge

Devin placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed slightly. Even though I knew he was being friendly, I couldn’t help but wish he wouldn’t touch me right now. I was having a hard time keeping my panther calm. We’d both been caught off guard, so much so that when I realized what they were, my cat had unsheathed her claws and tried to claw her way to the surface.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down when every instinct I had was screeching at me to shift and run. Fight my way out if necessary, but do anything possible to survive.

A soft, taunting chuckle caught my attention, and my head spun around to look at Marcus; my now violet eyes clashing with his cold steel ones.

“Seems like the little kitten is having more difficulty than we are with this whole situation.” Marcus said, his lips pulling back in an amused smirk, as if he found my reaction funny.

I hissed at him, glaring daggers. “Like you would understand, you’re higher on the food chain. While I could probably take one of you in a fight, I can’t take on all three of you. If you decide you want to try kitty-on-a-stick for dinner, I might as well throw myself in the oven and get it over with.”

“Amarant, calm down; I promise, we’re not going to harm you.” Devin said, his hand patting the top of my head softly. “If we were going to eat you, we would have done it while you were knocked out, when you were an easy meal.”

“I don’t know,” Marcus said, looking intently at me. “We are wolves, after all. We love the chase.” His tongue darted out, licking his lips.

“Enough, Marcus, stop trying to scare the child. She’s already freaked out enough.” Devin said, a small growl to his voice.

“Will you please stop calling me that?” I asked, slightly annoyed and not having the energy to care that I was speaking to a man with such disrespect—something that’s never happened before. All my strength was going toward keeping my inner panther calm. She had quieted some—at least she was no longer fighting me to get to the surface. Now the panther stilled and waited. I knew she was still close to the surface, because I still saw everything through her eyes as she sat and watched, waiting for any sign of danger so she could lunge forward and break the frail chain I held her on.

“Stop calling you what?” Devin asked curiously.

“Stop calling me ‘child’! I’m not a child, I’m 18 years old—a grown woman.”

Devin chuckled, and the other two quickly joined him in their own amusement. I glared at Marcus and Rafael, since they were the only ones I could see. “What’s so funny?”

It was Rafael who answered this time. “By our standards Amarant, you are just a babe. Compared to the three of us, you are a child.” His green eyes flashed with sudden amusement.

Okay…I’m officially confused. I thought to myself, raising an eyebrow at Rafael. “What do you mean ‘compared to us’? The three of you can’t be much older than me. A couple of years, maybe, but that’s it.”

The chuckling immediately died down, leaving behind an uncomfortable, shocked silence.

I looked from one brother to the other, all of whom looked at me like I’d grown a second head. I rolled my eyes, annoyed and frustrated at all three of them.

“What? Would someone like to inform the obviously ignorant cat of why you’re all ogling me? What did I say now?”

A long silence filled the room again, though this time they all looked away from me. They seemed troubled, disturbed. What had I said? I looked back at Devin, feeling most comfortable with him, and deciding that I could get him to tell me. I was really good at reading people, most of the time, and I liked Devin.

“Devin? What’s going on? What did I say?” I asked, tilting my head to one side.

Devin closed his eyes, sighing slightly. “Your mother was the one who gave you the Blood. We know that you lost her early in life, but we figured…We thought that she’d given you more information about the life that you would live than she had… What exactly did she tell you about you being a Shifter?” He asked, walking around to the front of the chair I was in and crouching down to my level.

“The only thing that she told me was that I was never to let anyone know…That if they knew, they would hunt us. Some of us would be killed; others would be taken into labs and be tested on. She told me that whenever I felt the Change coming on, that I would have to get away from people, no matter what, before I gave in. Not even father knew about the two of us. And then, during the full moon, when the moon’s call was strongest, and we had no choice but to Shift, father would be very angry with us for leaving him alone all night…But mama never told him why, no matter the fit he threw.”

Devin nodded, as though he expected to hear that. “Then there is much that you must learn about the life of a Shifter. The first thing that you might as well learn right now, is that, all Weres, no matter the species, are immortal. They grow and age regularly until they reach their 18th birthday, and then they will cease to grow at that rate. It will be more like…every hundred years, you’ll age one year physically until you reach the physical age of 26, and then you shall cease to age at all. So long as nothing terrible happens, something to kill you, then you shall live until you decide to die.” He said, his eyes never leaving mine, keeping me enthralled in the tale that he was weaving.

I looked at him like he was insane. Sure, I knew that it was in every way possible that I could be immortal, but my mind couldn’t quite get around that concept. Despite the fact that I am a Were, for some reason, I couldn’t believe that I was immortal too. I looked from one brother to the other, and saw the same serious, honest expression on the other two as I did on Devin.

“Heh…Somehow, I can’t comprehend that.” I said slowly, blinking a couple of times. But, even though they said I was immortal, that doesn’t mean that I was immune to death…After all, my mother died, right?

“So then, what can kill me? My mother died, but I’m not sure from what. So, what do I have to look out for?” I asked, trying to get as much information out of them now as possible.

“Well, silver we’re allergic to, as I’m sure you already know.” Rafael said, looking at me expectantly. When I nodded, he continued. “You’re immune to most diseases, so you need never worry about getting an STD or cancer or anything. However, you can also die by dismemberment—of course—and if your spinal cord is severed. There are not many things which can kill us. However, if you become to weak, from torture or anything else, then you will need to seek out blood.”

“Isn’t that vampires?” I interrupted, confused. Did the books have it wrong?

“Vampires need to feed on blood to survive period. We, like humans, need regular food and liquids, but when seriously injured, we must seek out blood to replenish that which we’ve lost. We do not drink it on a regular basis.” He explained patiently.

I nodded quietly, taking mental notes as he spoke. I had an excellent memory for things, and my brain was more like a filing cabinet than anything else. Despite my father telling me I was useless and would never amount to anything, I was great in school, in fact, I’d even been advanced two years because I was on a higher level than the school had me in. I’d been offered scholarships to many Ivy League schools, but I never considered going. Father would never have allowed anything like that anyway.

“Can you fight, kitten?” Marcus asked, tilting his head to one side. “Though I don’t know why I’m bothering to ask, because I was the one to find you in such bad shape in the woods. Letting a mortal beat the shit out of you like that, it’s a disgrace to all Weres. But if you had to defend yourself, or someone else, could you fight?”

I glared at him, my normally dark blue eyes violet and slashing at him like the panther inside me wanted to tear at his skin. Something about him just got under my skin, and I couldn’t stand it. I made no attempt to hide my dislike of him from him. No sense in trying to play nice, even if technically he was the one who helped me.

“I can fight, wolf. I let my father hit me like he did because if I would have ever laid a hand on him, he would have wound up in the hospital or worse. And at least with me being a Were, I can heal quicker than humans can, and I can sustain more physical damage. I don’t scar, so I saw no point in every reporting him, since the evidence would be gone within days. But my mother taught me how to fight, and I’m very, very good at it.” I didn’t mean for it to come out like it was a challenge, but that’s how it sounded. And I didn’t bother to correct myself.

Marcus smirked, taking a step closer to him, his movements still infuriatingly lazy. “Seems that the shaking, whimpering little kitten has some spunk after all. Let’s see how much you talk when a thunder storm hits. Its summer kitty, and summer is the season for those types of storms. I hope you have fun.” He said before turning back around and walking out the door, closing it behind him.

I could have almost sworn that steam was coming out of my nose and ears. How I wished that I could get my hands on him, I’d claw that smirk right off his face. Why did he have to be the one who saw my weakness? Why couldn’t it have been Devin who found me in the woods, or hell, even Rafael! I’d never had any idea that one male could be so utterly infuriating. It made me want to throw something at him, make emotion flash in those silver eyes of his just once.

I looked to both Rafael and Devin. “Is he always so full of himself?” I asked, snapping my teeth together in frustration. I wanted to work out, wanted to fight someone. Marcus set me on edge, got under my skin and made my blood boil. That was unacceptable. I’d never allowed anyone to do that to me, and all that he had to do was look at me and he would infuriate me.

Rafael smiled dryly. “That would be Marcus being friendly and hospitable.”

“Great.” I muttered something about him being a filthy mutt and glared at the books as though they had done something to me.

“I take offense to that.” Devin said, raising one eyebrow.

At least I had the grace to look sheepish and somewhat ashamed. “Sorry, I didn’t think about you two being dogs too. Plus, you two don’t act like he does. You’re purebreds, and he’s a filthy, mangy mutt compared to you guys as far as attitude goes.”

Rafael and Devin laughed lightly, shaking their heads. “Well, thank you then.” Devin said, ruffling up my hair. “And I was only picking.”

“Are there any questions you want answered? I’ve some errands to run, so if you have them, now would be a good time to ask me.”

I raked my brain for something that I thought important, but could only find one question on my mind. “What room do I sleep in?”

Devin chuckled, taking a step back so I could stand up. “The room that you woke up in is yours. There’s clothes for you in the closet, and you can take a shower as well, if you wish. The bathroom joining the room is yours only, and we had the maids buy you everything you would need. If you’re hungry, come back down when you get ready, and I’ll find something to fix. I’m quite the chef, if I do say so myself.” He said, grinning pridefully.

I laughed, nodding slightly. As I walked towards the door, I stopped, looking back at the two of them. “Thank you for letting me stay here. I really needed to get away from my father. He would have ended up killing me eventually. You are far too kind, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to repay you. But anything that you need done around here, ask me, I’ll do it.”

Rafael smiled, nodding slightly. “Think nothing of it, Amarant. And there’s no need to do anything around here, we have plenty of maids to take care of things. But, if and when the time comes that we need a favor from you, we’ll ask.”

As I turned to walk out the door, Rafael called out to me again. “Yes?”

“Amarant, whatever you do, don’t go up to the third floor. Things up there aren’t all that friendly.” He said before waving her out, not saying another word.

I furrowed my eyebrows but nodded before walking out of the room and towards the stairs. I was in desperate need of a good, long bath. I needed to think and clear my head. I had to come to terms to living with a bunch of wolves, and I needed to fully calm my panther. This would be harder than I thought...


Chapter 4: Powers

I walked into my new room, astonished that I would ever have been even allowed to stay in a place with such elegance as this. And yet to call this beautiful, spacious room my room…It was great. Like nothing that I’d ever even hoped to dream about. I suddenly felt like I was a princess, and this was my fairy tale. Taken away from the evil father (instead of step-mother) and brought to live in a mansion, never to have to worry about that person again. It seemed…too good to be true.

I walked into the bathroom and smiled as I turned on the water to the tub. I wanted everything to be perfect, calm and relaxing. I rummaged around in one of the drawers and saw what I was looking for: scented bath cubes. I pulled out two of the lavender scented cubes and placed them in the water, watching as they dissolved and the smell perfumed the room. I also lit some vanilla candles before grabbing a towel and washcloth from under the sink.

Inside the tub—which was quickly filling up with steaming hot water—was an assortment of different shampoos and conditioners. There was a brand new razor and shaving cream, and a loumpa. I smiled, cutting off the water and getting in the water. The tub was large enough for me to almost completely lay flat on my back at the bottom, so at the moment my feet weren’t touching the other end of the tub.

A million thoughts whirled through my head, which I tried to quite down. However, I realized that I would have to contemplate some of the questions before my mind would ease, and the panther would trust that I would be okay.

Why did Marcus bring me here in the first place? I know that he smelled the panther in me, so this makes no sense. At least now I know that I wasn’t hallucinating that wolf in the woods. But why would they offer the use of their house to a complete stranger? No one is that nice, they must have another agenda. They couldn’t want me for personal reasons, good god, I’m not even pretty. Father always told me that I would have to burden him forever, because no man would ever want to marry me, I was so plain.

Father…I wonder what he did when he woke up from his liquor induced coma and found me gone? Did he worry about me? Or was he simply angry that he’d lost his own personal slave? Somehow, I don’t think that he worried about me too much…Probably wished that I would have just died a long time ago, saved him the trouble of having to raise me… I thought, somewhat bitterly.

My father, ever since my mother died, has never once showed any worry or care about me. He’s never shown or expressed remorse for the regular beatings that he subjected me too. And they were harsh beatings. Enough to knock a panther Were out cold…And all Weres could take a beating of substantial amount. If I were human, he probably would have killed me a long time ago.

And how was I supposed to live peacefully in a house filled with werewolves? Despite the fact that nature herself dictated that dogs and cats were to not get along—although Devin and I get along okay…Even Rafael seems like he’d be okay once you get to know him. I thought to myself—Marcus set my teeth on edge with him just being in the room. He was arrogant, self-centered, pig headed, and all in all a big pain in my ass.

And he’s also kind of cute.

I snarled at the voice inside of my head. It always entered my thoughts, even if I didn’t want it to. (A.N. When the lettering is in bold, that means that it is Amarant’s other voice. That voice will become important later, but yeah…Right now she just thinks that it’s some annoying part of her subconscious or something.)

No, he is not!

Is too.

IS NOT!

He is too and you know it, so why not just admit it? It’s not like anyone will know that you’ve admitted it, only you. I promise, I won’t tell anyone.

Fine, he is a little good looking. But his attitude just takes those good looks and shreds them into tinny tiny bits! And besides, they’re all kind of good looking.

It was true, they were all extremely good looking, and all with a personality all their own. They could definitely break hearts if that’s what they wanted to do. I could just picture women swooning whenever they walked into a room. It was easy to imagine that women regularly threw themselves at the brothers.

I wonder if that would be a problem for me? After all, with me living here, it would be easy for a jealous woman to get the wrong idea and come after me in revenge.

Taking the coconut scented shampoo, I began to wash my hair, smiling slightly as I took in a lung full of the smell of the room. Muscles that had been tense with fear were now beginning to relax again, and my panther slowly receded, leaving my vision that of a normal person.

After rinsing my hair, I let out the water and, wrapping the towel around myself, walked out of the bathroom. I stopped dead in my tracks, standing like a deer caught in the headlights between the doorway connecting my room to the bathroom. In my room, sitting on my bed, was Marcus, looking at me and smirking slightly.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked, snarling slightly. Damn him, I’d just gotten relaxed, and now he was going to piss me off again. At least my panther was still staying inside her little cage and leaving me to deal with this on my own…Though now, I wasn’t sure as to whether that was a good thing or not.

Marcus smirked, standing up from the bed and walked towards me. I took a step back, but somehow the door shut behind me, before I could retreat into there. I spun around, looking at the door, but there was no one there. I turned back around and rolled my eyes at him, unimpressed. “So, you have telekinesis?”

He nodded, smiling slightly. “You’ve yet to show us the trick you can do, though.” He now stood directly in front of me, looking down at me, his silver eyes burning my skin as his gaze slid across me.

I narrowed my gaze at him, lip pulling back in a snarl of rage. “You really want to know what I can do, wolf? Alright then.” I said, balling my hands up into fists and slamming them into his chest. Before my fists made contact, flames leapt from the skin, the fire making contact with him before my fist did. His yelp of surprise and pain from the flames was cut off as his breath was knocked out of him from the punch.

He clutched his stomach, gasping in pain before I extinguished the flames, and taking away the burn on his stomach, though his shirt was still torn, revealing smooth, flat abs. After I’d extinguished the flames, he glared up at me. “What the hell was that for?” He demanded, his voice a low growl, and I could see the wolf flash in his eyes.

I smiled sweetly, padding around him and walking towards the closet. “You got in my space, wolf. Plus, you wanted to know my power, so I showed you.”

Inherently, all Weres had some sort of psychic ability, varying in type and strength depending on the Were itself. Species had nothing to do with it, but how strong you are, both physically and mentally, that allows your powers to grow. We weren’t entirely sure as to why all Weres had a power of their own, but we did, and that was a simple fact that none of us really questioned. My mother was a telepath, so it also doesn’t run in the blood.

He snarled, walking out the door and slamming it closed behind him.

I snickered to myself before opening the closet door, my mouth once again dropping open. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to be forever stuck like this. This place didn’t seem to have anything normal or boring. The closet was a huge walk-in, and clothes were hung up everywhere! There was even some formal ware towards the back. The floor, under the clothes, was lined with shoes. It looked like an entire clothing store in here. There was a dresser on the right side of the room where bras and underwear were placed.

There was a separator for the pajamas, the pants, skirts, shorts, shirts, etc. And absolutely nothing in here was preppy either! I was in heaven. It was like the guys knew what I would like, and bought it for me once I was here. I would have to remember to thank them repeatedly…Well, Rafael and Devin, anyway. Marcus shouldn’t hold his breath for a thank you from me…Or better yet, maybe he should.

Towel still wrapped securely around me, water dripping from my blue-black hair, I walked towards the left side of the room, grabbing a pair of faded low-rise jeans with holes already cut in the knees and a black, purple, and dark green HIM shirt. I then walked over to the drawer with the underclothes and grabbed a black lacy bra and a pair of matching boy shorts, only cotton.

Locking the door to the closet incase I had anymore unexpected visitors, or Marcus coming back for his revenge—which I was sure he was going to administer—I quickly changed clothes before walking out of the closet and into my room. For the first time, I noticed that the bed was made already. I raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off before quickly crossing to the bathroom to dry my hair and put on a little bit of eyeliner.

Ten minutes later, I was walking towards the kitchen, hungry, though I was used to it. My stomach rumbled slightly, and I placed my hand over it to quite it a bit. It’s not as if my body wasn’t used to not having food anyway. In fact, even though I would fix extravagant meals for father, he would hardly ever allow me to eat the same thing. I would fix ramen or a sandwich or something like that. I caught the scent of food cooking, and I had to fight to keep from drooling.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Devin at the stove, steaks cooking on the eye, nearly done. I licked my lips as I walked towards the counter, allowing the smell of meat to surround me. “Hey.” I said quietly as I stood behind him, leaning against the counter.

Devin turned around and smiled at me, his golden eyes glittering. “Hey there yourself.” He said, looking over my clothes and clean appearance and nodded approvingly. Without warning, he turned around, grabbed me by the waist, and hoisted me up onto the counter. At least now I understood why they acted as though I was weightless. Because, to them, I probably was. All Weres were extremely strong, capable of lifting a car without so much as breaking a sweat.

I cocked my head to one side, looking at the steaks longingly. “Any of those for me?” I asked, almost hopefully.

He nodded, white teeth flashing as he smiled. “Of course, did you really think that I would fix a meal for my brothers and me, and then not fix you any?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

I laughed dryly at that, closing my eyes as I shook my head slightly. “You guys have only known me a couple of hours and you already treat me better than my own father has in the last 10 years. I would fix him something, and unless he allowed me, I wasn’t allowed to make the same meal for myself.”

His golden eyes flashed with anger and his teeth came together in a loud snap. “I would enjoy meeting your father alone in some abandoned ally one day. After what I saw of your body and what he did to you and from what Marcus told me, and now you telling me this…that man is worse than trash. You deserved far better than being stuck with someone as the likes of him.” He said, shaking his head before turning back to the steaks and taking them out, laying them down on a plate. “I hope your like your stakes rare.” He said, looking around for another plate to put the steaks on their own separate ones.

I smiled, nodding excitedly. “I like them where I can still hear them moo.”

Devin chuckled, nodding slightly. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. You are, after all, a predator. Though, it would be better if we actually hunted this. The adrenaline rush isn’t here, but its food and I guarantee it’s good.” He said, handing me a plate with a fork and knife.

I smiled, taking it thankfully before taking it over to the table, grabbing a can of Dr. Pepper on the way. I sat down, opened my pop, and then dug into the steak greedily. It had been too long since I’d had steaks. My eyes rolled in the back of my head dramatically when Devin looked to me for my opinion. He simply rolled his eyes and sat down across from me, wolfing down his food as well. No pun intended.

When we were both finished, he smiled at me. “Glad that you liked it. And what in the hell fire did you do to Marcus? He came downstairs, muttering something about a stupid cat, and stormed outside, in his car, and sped off. I believe that he was sporting a hole in his favorite shirt.” He said, and though he tried to sound severe, there was a hint of humor in his striking golden eyes.

I smiled sheepishly at him, feeling the redness creep up on my cheeks. Now that I was calmed down, I felt sort of foolish. So what if Marcus is an ass? He is, after all, the reason that I was here instead of at home with my drunken, abusive father in the first place.

“He got in my space, and decided he was going to ask me about my Gift, so…I gave him a first hand demonstration. It was stupid and childish…But he made me so angry, I couldn’t see straight. Maybe I should apologize when he gets back.” As soon as I said it, I immediately didn’t like the idea. My stomach clenched in argument, and I suddenly felt like I was on the Drop Zone ride at the carnival. I did not want to apologize to that egotistical shit.

Jesus, what the hell is happening to me? I never had malicious thoughts towards a male, and I sure in the hell never harmed one. And it was only Marcus that I had the desire to do those things to. He just seemed to bring out those violent tendencies in me.

Devin laughed a deep, musical sound. “Don’t bother with apologizing. From what I heard, he deserved it anyway. Besides, in this family, when you apologize and admit that you were in the wrong, you loose your footholds in power around here. And in this house, power is very important.

I winced slightly at what he was saying. I don’t know why, but what he said stung. They had a nice, comfortable way of life here. Then here I come and disrupt their lives, and that bothered me. I would never belong here in this environment, and for some reason, that hurt.

Though it went completely against my nature to want to live with others, of course. I was of panther blood, not wolf. Panthers are solitary animals, they don’t’ live with others for long periods of time. So then, why did I feel so empty when I thought about living out my life as a loner?

“I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” Devin said, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I blinked at him, thoroughly confused. “Uh…What?”

He rolled his eyes. “You shouldn’t think so intensely all the time, you’ll miss out on life, little one. I said, I’ll show you my power, if you show me yours. I’m curious as to what you can do.”

I nodded; glad to have something to take my mind off of my thoughts, which were beginning to really get to me. I raised my hands, and before they were even fully in his view, they erupted into orange and blue flames. I smiled at him, the flames flickering in my eyes. I was glad to see his eyes widen in surprise. Elemental powers were not all that common, but a Fire Wielder was especially hard to find. For some reason, the element that crept up most often was control of the wind.

“And this isn’t all I can do.” I said, smirking mischievously. I was very powerful when I actually chose to use my powers, and I loved flaunting that fact. After all, it all came from my mother. Keeping the flames in one hand, I pointed to a small, dying potted plant on the counter top. Almost immediately, the plant began to look livelier, color coming back into the petals, the green becoming brighter, more vibrant. By the time that I was done, the entire plant looked as if it was currently in the prime of its life.

“I can control two elements of the earth. My mother was the same way, only her powers lay in the elements of wind and water.” However, when my mother was still alive, I only had the power to control fire…She’d been beyond proud of me. “So, what’s your Gift?”

He blinked, still processing this information. It was rare enough to find a pyrokinetic with the skill that she had, but she could also control another element, while sustaining the flames. He had no idea she was that powerful with her gifts. “Heh, seems like Marcus should count himself lucky that you only gave him a little burn.”

“I removed the burn before he stormed out!” I said indignantly. “Now, I showed you my Gift, your turn.” I said, watching him intently.

“I won’t do it to its full extent, because I don’t want it to hurt you…But I will give you a taste. My gift is a bit more…evil than most.” His golden eyes flashed black, his pupils dilating so that even the white was gone. All expression seemed to vanish from his face.

Suddenly, I couldn’t see him anymore—I couldn’t see anything anymore. I immediately began to freak out, my breath moving towards hyperventilation. I was claustrophobic, and I immediately felt like the world had collapsed around me. I began to shake violently, and before I knew it, I knew no more.

“Amarant? Amarant, wake up!” I felt someone shaking me, and my eyes suddenly fluttered open. Both Rafael and Devin stood above me, crouched down towards me. I couldn’t seem to remember what happened. It was Devin who was yelling, shaking me gently. I groaned and felt the back of my head, which hurt like hell. Pulling my fingers back, there was blood on them.

“Damn…What happened, Devin?” I asked, completely bewildered. The last thing that I remember was sitting in the chair—which I’d obviously fallen out of—and waiting on Devin to show me his Gift…When I felt scared…More scared than I can remember being in a long time…But other than that, I don’t remember anything else.

Devin looked rather ashamed of himself, and when Rafael shot him a glare, he cringed slightly. “I’m so sorry Amarant; I didn’t think you’d take it so hard. My power is one that allows me to use your greatest fear against you. I can make it vary in degrees, depending on what I want to do. If I choose, I can make it so bad that you’ll literally be scared to death. But I barely put any power into what I did to you; you shouldn’t have reacted like that! I promise, if I would have known you would react like that, I would never have done it. I had no idea you were claustrophobic, little one.”

It suddenly came back to me: the darkness, the feeling of being trapped, enclosed in a small space. The suffocating fear that over whelmed me. I blushed, embarrassed that I had allowed myself to show them my fear. Then again…they would have known anyway, since Devin could obviously sense those things. I looked to Rafael, wondering what his power was…and wondering even more if I wanted to know it.

Rafael laughed gently, placing his hand on my head and ruffling it up slightly. “My power is the least harmful of both Devin’s and Marcus’s…And yet mine is the most handy.” He said, pointing to my forehead. “I can read people’s minds.” He said simply to my slightly dumbfounded look.

I paled slightly, unsure how I felt about that piece of information. I wasn’t sure how I would like someone poking around inside my head, reading my thoughts.

Rafael shook his head, smirking slightly. “I don’t make it a habit to leave my mind open to wander through others thoughts freely. Gives me a terrible headache, listening to everyone’s thoughts at once, nearly unbearable. When I do choose to open my mind to read others, I am usually alone with them in a room, or the other people in the room know how to guard themselves from me. Most of the time, I’m simply very good at reading facial expressions.”

That made me feel slightly better, but not a whole lot. I would have to make sure that I don’t find myself in a room alone with him too often, and if I do, make sure not to think about any embarrassing things.

“Have you read my mind?” I asked, genuinely curious.

He nodded quickly. “Twice. Once, when you were unconscious after Marcus brought you here, to make sure that you weren’t planted here by any enemies. Good thing for you, I didn’t find any traces of treachery, simply an abused child who’s mind had taken on too much too fast. The second time was when we were all in the library. I read your mind then to make sure that you took to the fact that we were lycans decently well, and that you weren’t thinking about killing any of us in our sleep…though I did find some violent thoughts towards my youngest brother Marcus, I didn’t see too much room for concern. Even though I’ve lived with him all his life, I still want to throttle him sometimes.” He said, flashing his white teeth at this, and I blushed slightly.

“By the way,” I said, trying to tactfully change the subject, “you all are being too kind to me…The room upstairs is bigger than my whole house! And this clothes…” I trailed off as I picked at the shirt quietly. “Like I told Devin, you guys have only known me a couple of hours and you already treat me better than my own father has. Even—as much as I hate to admit it—Marcus has been better to me than him. You shouldn’t do all this, I don’t think that I’ll ever have the money to pay you back for everything.”

Devin and Rafael looked to one another, and Devin smiled before turning back to me. “Amarant, do you realize exactly what we did when we offered for you to stay here?”

My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Of course I knew, do they think I’m dumb? “You offered me a place to stay…A place safe from my father…Right?”

This time it was Rafael who spoke, his voice smooth and kind. “When we offered for you to stay here, we took you under our protection. No one is to harm you, without having to deal with us as consequence. And everyone will know it. Even our pack will have to treat you as one of us. You will be allowed to come to pack meetings, parties, etc. You’ll not be an outcast here, but belong just as much as any of the rest of us. This is your home now. To put it simply, when we extended our home to you, we were also giving you a place in this family. You are part of our family now…Our adopted little sister. It was a great honor that we extended you, especially since you were a stranger to both Devin and Marcus. But not to me, since I had been inside your head. I knew your memories, your thoughts, fears and sorrows. You are my sister now, and I promise you, no one will harm you and live.”

[*Tristan Maguire]

Chapter 5: Family

I stared at Rafael for a long moment, unable to believe what he was saying. I couldn’t seem to comprehend the enormity of what he’d said to me. Part of the family… I hadn’t been part of a true family since I was eight years old…I wasn’t entirely sure that I knew how to belong in a family. And they were wolves, am I the only one that sees all the family problems that would cause?!

And yet…I couldn’t seem to make myself turn him down. I had to fight to not lunge at them both, because I was still debating on which one I wanted to do most: hug them or shake them. I decided—for now—to do neither. I looked up at the both of them, involuntary tears shinning in my eyes, “Thank you both. I now understand exactly what you did for me…But I don’t think your pack mates will like this decision very much. Won’t your alpha refuse to accept me?”

Rafael chuckled, his green eyes flashing slightly as they caught the dim lighting in the kitchen. “Amarant my dear, there is no need to worry about the alphas not accepting you, trust me.”

“Why not? You guys may have decided to…adopt me, but what’s to say that the alphas won’t have a problem with this decision?”

Devin laughed, shaking his head. “Because, little one, we are the alphas. It’s not the usual set up of most werewolf packs, but we are all three equally dominate, and since we didn’t want to fight to the death for it, then we decided to split the duties of pack alpha up amongst us. Rafael deals with the relations with other packs and ours, making sure that we all co-exist peacefully; I am in charge of keeping the members of our pack reasonably happy, dealing with all the bickering that they do; and then Marcus is in charge of pack protection. If a single member of our pack is singled out, and they can’t take care of the threat on their own, then Marcus will take control of the situation, and deal with it accordingly. Honestly, we have a better set up than other alphas do, because since we only deal with a specific aspect of being an alpha, then we get to have more fun. We aren’t as worn out as other alphas that have to do all this on their own are. We’re able to be more aware of everything, too.”

I rolled my eyes slightly—I couldn’t help it—they did absolutely nothing by the book. Not only are they offering a panther to become part of their family, but they are also alphas, who share power! They are definitely an interesting group, that’s for sure.

“So,” Devin said, looking seriously at me, “what do you say? Now that you know the real reason for us offering you a home here, are you still willing to stay here?” Both he and Rafael stayed quite while I thought to myself for a moment only.

I smiled brightly and nodded. “Of course I’ll stay with the three of you…besides, I love picking on Marcus, he’s so easy to annoy, and it’s funny. The best kind of entertainment that I’ve had in months.”

Devin chuckled before reaching down and lifting me up off the floor, holding me against his chest as he stood up. “I wouldn’t test him too much, he’s liable to hurt you on accident, with his temper the way that it is.”

I shrieked, since I wasn’t used to being up that high—after all, all three of the guys were at least 4 inches taller than me!—and clutched him around the neck. “God don’t drop me, Devin!”

Devin chuckled, pretending to drop me before quickly catching me again. However, I don’t think that he would do that again anytime soon…The scream I let out when he did that could have damaged his ear drums.

Rafael shook his head, removing his hands from his ears. “Well, at least we know that we won’t have a problem with losing you anywhere…There’s no way in hell that a crowd of people could drown out that sound. Now Devin, for heavens sake, put that girl down—and slowly—before she decides to scream like that again.”

Devin laughed, but slowly put me down, exaggerating his movements, so as not to make any unexpected movements. I glared at him when he put me down, punching him in the shoulder playfully. His eyes grew wide in mock shock as he clutched his arm, mouth gaping. “How dare you! I shall torture you for that, and you shall regret your actions! Rafael, will you assist me?” He said, glancing to Rafael, and a sudden flash of amusement spread across his face.

I took a step back as the three of them suddenly turned on me; bodies crouched down, a low growl coming from their throats. “Now, boys, that’s not fair. You shouldn’t use your powers against me like that.” But they weren’t listening, and as Devin circled around in front of me, Rafael was working his way behind me, trying to block me in.

I warily kept an eye on both of them as best as I could, but it was hard, since eventually I had to keep moving my head from side to side to keep them in sight. Neither of them relaxed their postures, and I immediately realized that they were essentially in the normal hunting position of a pack of wolves. I raised an eyebrow at them, curious. “Okay, what exactly are you two block heads thinking about?”

I soon got my answer, and I don’t think that I wanted it. They both lunged at me at exactly the same time, giving me little room to counter them. Rafael grabbed me from behind, his strong arms pinning mine down as he—in the same movement—wrapped my legs up in his, so that I couldn’t kick at them either. I struggled to get loose, but it was no use. And then Devin made his move and—huge grin on his face—began to tickle me.

I laughed uncontrollably, trying to protect myself—but it was useless, since they were both stronger than me. I thrashed around, but was held still by Rafael, laughing hysterically, pleading for mercy between gasps for air. I was on the floor, and then they were both tickling me, showing no mercy. My sides began to hurt from laughing so hard, and my cheeks ached. I was having more fun than I’d had in a long, long time.

Devin began to slow on tickling me, allowing me to breathe. I looked up at him helplessly, still laughing. “Do you surrender?”

“Yes!”

“Are you going to hit me again?”

“No! Just stop, I can’t breathe!”

Devin stopped tickling me immediately, laughing like a hyena at me. “Well, at least we know how to get you to agree with us from now on. You’re incredibly ticklish.”

I continued to lie on the ground, panting, trying to catch my breath. When my heart beat returned to normal and I could attempt to breathe normally again, I mock glared at Devin. “Oh no, you big lump, you are not pulling that again. Never again, do you understand me?” To emphasize my point, I turned to look at Rafael, same glare on my face. “That goes for you too. The next time you two pull a stunt like that, you’ll regret it.” I threatened, though it lost some of its fierceness when I couldn’t stop from myself from grinning.

Rafael rolled his eyes, standing up and towering over me. Why the hell did they all have to be so tall?! “Listen up, Amarant, no matter what you try to do, I will always know it before you can act on it.” He said, pointing to my forehead, to remind me of his power.

I scowled, “You said that you don’t read minds all the time! So how would you know what I’m planning to do to get you two back for teaming up on me?”

They looked at each other and laughed. “We don’t use our powers all the time, we just use them when we need the advantage…And while tickling out new sister, that would be considered us needing the advantage.” Devin said, a grin playing across his face.

I simply rolled my eyes and stood up. “That is not fair. You two already used your powers on me…More Rafael than you did, Devin, but still. Rafael read your mind in what you were planning on doing to me, and you both took it to your advantage. That’s not very nice.” I tried to make myself as tall as possible, but that was still nothing compared to their considerable heights.

Devin just laughed at me, ruffling up my hair before walking out of the kitchen. Rafael laughed and followed suit, ruffling my hair and then walking out. I glared at both of them before following the two of them. “By the way, when do you think that Marcus will be back?”

Devin glanced back at me, cocking one eyebrow. “Why, you aren’t going to apologize to him, are you?”

I snorted, shaking my head. “Hell no, I’m not going to willingly make myself an even lower specimen to him, thank you very much. Not if he’s going to be my new big brother, along with the two of you. I was simply wondering how many I would have to fix dinner for.”

Devin shook his head, his hair falling in his face. “You will not cook for all of us, we are not like your father. We have hired maids for stuff like that. You don’t need to do anything around here. And he should be back soon, we have a pack meeting coming up.”

My face paled considerably, I knew this without even having to look. The guys were cool, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with the other members of the pack. They may just flip out and think that they are up for a game of ‘hunt the kitty’ and then I would be royally fucked.

“Uh…pack meeting?”

“Yeah, they should be showing up any minute.” As if they were called, the low roar of a car came from outside, and I felt as my heartbeat began to race. I knew that it wasn’t Marcus showing up…I knew that I wasn’t that lucky.

“Oh god…” I said, trying to resist the urge to run and hide in a closet somewhere.

Devin laughed, throwing one arm over my shoulders. “Aw, come on, Amarant! If you want to be part of this pack, you have to come to pack meetings. Rafael, Marcus and I shall make sure they know you’re off limits. So you might as well get used to them now, if you’re going to belong in this family.”

I didn’t answer him, just looked straight ahead as they led me into the main room. I was trying to control the shaking of my entire body, but it wasn’t working. After all, ever single instinct that I had dictated for me to run up a tree somewhere, far out of the reach of the dogs. But I forced myself to at least appear somewhat calm, and not run away. I was going to over come this…I just didn’t know how I was going to manage that.

The front door opened, and a woman walked through, long brown hair falling over her shoulders, a scar across her left eye the only mar to her physical beauty. I immediately felt self conscience, and floated to the back of the room…And this uncomfortable feeling had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was a feline shifter trapped in a house full of wolves…This was different. This was one that I wasn’t sure that I could bluff my way through.

The woman turned her gray gaze onto me, her lip pulling back in a sneer. “Devin, Rafael, you never informed us that we would be having some fun during this meeting. How nice of you to bring us some entertainment.” She said, taking a step closer to me.

Devin stepped between me and the woman, a low growl letting loose in his throat. “Amarant is not for you, or anyone else in this pack to play with. She is part of the pack now.” His tone left little room for discussion or argument.

Even though Devin was the alpha, the woman looked aghast, and immediately began to protest. “Devin, you can’t be serious! She’s a feline! Why the hell would she be allowed to enter our pack?” She flicked her brown hair behind her, huffing slightly as she looked at me with condescending eyes…As if she thought I was no better than dirt on her boots.

Rafael decided to interfere, his demeanor—though still appropriately aggressive—was much calmer than his younger brother’s. “Rosalie, we’ve adopted Amarant as our little sister. As such, she also has the possibility to become alpha female for this pack. If you don’t like it, then you know where the door is. We will not allow insubordination towards our new, adopted sister. Either you come to like her, or you keep you opinions to yourself. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

The female—Rosalie—glared from Rafael to me for a long moment, before sighing dramatically, crossing her arms over her chest, and nodded. She muttered something under her breath, something that sounded like “Chance to become alpha my ass.” But I ignored it. I didn’t want to become alpha for anything, especially to a pack of wolves…I would just like to survive and not be reduced to the Omega of the pack…Not that with my temper, that was very likely. But still, it could happen, and I wasn’t cut out to just take the shit of the other pack members.

For the next fifteen minutes, more members began arriving, and each of them had different reactions than the rest. Some thought that Devin and Rafael had gone mental, others were indifferent about the decision, and simply accepted it…Only one seemed thrilled about it. His name was Jason, and he was a hyper thing, that’s for sure.

When he walked into the house, he immediately ran up to me and poked me in the forehead. “What’s a kitty doing here?” He asked, grinning slightly as he stared at me curiously, his head cocked to one side.

When Devin explained to him, Jason seemed ecstatic with the idea. He immediately picked me up and hugged me, causing the breath to be forced from my lungs. I still hadn’t said anything up until this point, and when he put me down, I was gasping for breath.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she mute or something?” He asked, poking me in the ribs again.

Devin laughed, coming up and ruffling up my hair. “Nah, she’s not mute, you just shocked her is all. You’re the only one who’s accepted her as part of the family now. She’s probably in shock…And she is probably having trouble breathing after the hug that you just gave her.” He said, shaking his head slightly.

Jason smiled sheepishly. “Oops, sorry Amarant; I have a problem with getting a little too excited…It comes along with being the youngest… Hey, Amarant, how old are you?”

I stared at him for a minute, confused. “Um…18…why?” I asked, raising one eyebrow at him.

Jason immediately ran at me again and caught me up in another bear…wolf hug. He lifted me up off the ground and into his arms, holding me bridal style before Devin and Rafael could warn him not to. I immediately began to freak out, wrapping my arms around his neck and going very, very still. I was NOT fond of their habit of picking me up like I was a toy to play with at their amusement. I could see already that I was going to have to break them of this bad behavior.

“Jason…Jason please, please don’t drop me…Please?” I begged, trying not to look down at the floor. Instead I buried my face into his neck to keep from doing just that, so that she wouldn’t have to think about being at a much higher altitude than usual. “I am a very, VERY short person, and short people are NOT meant to be up this high! You all are freakishly tall, is it just a damned wolf thing?! Are all of you freakishly tall?!”

“No kitty, you’re just annoyingly short is all.”

I hissed, looking around Jason to see Marcus standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, the hole still very much visible on his shirt. I glared at him, just the sound of his voice set my teeth on edge, making me want to shift and lunge at him, to tear into his throat.

“Marcus, if you don’t shut that mouth of yours, I’ll make sure that next time, it won’t only be your shirt that I burn.” I said, glaring at him over Jason’s shoulder.

“Tough talk for a kitty while she’s being held safely by another, instead of right here in front of me. You pull another stunt like the one you pulled earlier today, and I promise you will live to regret it.”

“I’ll show you tough talk.” I growled, trying to get out of Jason’s arms, forgetting for a second that I was up much higher than usual, and was more likely to fall on my butt than to lunge immediately at him. Thankfully, Jason foresaw that and tightened his hold on me, immediately changing from hyper and excited, to protective within the matter of a half second.

“Now Amarant, you can’t go over there and pick a fight with one of the alphas. And even though they may have adopted you, they still hold higher rank than you at the moment. The only way for you to become the female alpha, and free to fight with them publically all you want, is if you fight every single female in this pack and win…And I don’t think that you really want to do that at the moment. The only reason that we don’t have an alpha female is because neither Marcus, Devin, or Rafael have chosen a mate, and none of our females are willing to fight for it. So they’ve simply left it alone.” Jason whispered into my ear, trying to calm me down—not that it was necessary, since his arms held me in an iron grip.

I growled, fighting the cat in me to stay leached and locked up in the iron cage that she usually resided in. I was no longer seeing through human eyes, but eyes of the leopard, a little of balance without whiskers to scan out and “feel” everything around me like a radar. I closed my eyes and took several long, deep breaths, calming myself, calling to the human part of me instead of the cat. I wasn’t in any danger, Marcus may be an ass, but he wouldn’t dare hurt me, not now. Not with Devin and Marcus standing by, not with me under their protection. Slowly but surely, I pushed the cat back, slamming the door to her cage shut, locking her securely within.

“Okay Jason, I’m good now. Now, can you please put me down—slowly, before I freak out. I feel odd being this high up, like I said, short people aren’t meant to be this high up. Unless I’m in my cat form, and I’m up in a tree…But when I’m in this form, I don’t like being up high.

Jason smiled, slowly putting me down, exaggerating his movements so as not to scare me.

“I think that you need to learn your place in this pack, kitten. You need to be taught what happens when you fight with an alpha. Every lycan knows it, and you should learn it too. You treat me with too much disrespect; I won’t allow it to happen again.” Marcus said, standing up to his full height, staring at me with unblinking eyes.

“Well, see Marcus, there’s your problem. You say that every lycan knows their place within their pack, but I’m NOT a lycan, I’m a leopard shifter. We’re solitary creatures, answerable to no one but ourselves. If you weren’t ready to deal with that, then you shouldn’t have brought me back here. You should have left me in the woods where you found me. I would have been fine if you left me right where I was.”

“You know what you insolent little bitch, maybe I should have. No matter, I’ll have you learn your place in this pack one way or another.” Marcus said, taking several threatening steps towards me.

“MARCUS! Enough!” Rafael yelled, stepping between me and his brother. “Amarant has accepted our offer to be in our family, to become our sister, and you shall treat her as such. Do we understand one another?” Rafael stood there, his arms across his broad chest, glaring at his blood brother as he protected his newly adopted sister, showing his devotion to her.

I stared at him for a long minute, shocked that he would do such a thing for me. I could take care of myself, had been for years, I’d never needed anyone to watch out for me…And yet to have Rafael accept me as his sister so completely, without reservation…It made her feel loved and accepted for the first time since her mother died.

Marcus stopped right on the spot, staring hard at his older brother, shocked at his actions. I could tell that Rafael was communicating silently with his brother. After a few minutes of tense silence, Marcus unclenched his fists, and shrugged casually again. “Have it your way Rafael. I’ll try to behave myself.”

“Alright everyone, now that the excitement is over, let’s go. We did bring you here for a reason, and now it’s time that we discuss that reason. Come on.” And without another word, Rafael turned and walked up the stairs and out of sight, everyone following after him. Jason wrapped his arm around my shoulders and tugged me along, keeping me close beside him, but also keeping his body between me and Marcus at all times.

Well, at least I have a friend around here…One who doesn’t want to kill me.

Don’t be silly, honey. You have Devin, Rafael, and you also have Marcus, even though you don’t want to believe it.

What the hell are you talking about? Yeah, I have Rafael and Devin to watch out for me too, but MARCUS?! You’re insane if you think that!...Then again, if I’m arguing with myself, then I’m the insane one…

There was a distinct sound of laughter echoing through my head. You’re not arguing with yourself, sweetie.

Then who AM I arguing with?

There was no answer, so I simply shrugged it off, coming to the conclusion that I may just need to go to the funny farm, because I was certain that I was arguing with myself. I knew it wasn’t Rafael, it was a woman’s voice. And even if it was someone else and not myself that I was arguing with, why would they keep themselves a secret? That voice had been popping up in my head for years! Why would they go all this time without saying who they were, unless it was really something in my brain, and I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was crazy…

I was only sure about one thing: if I continued to think about this voice, trying to rationalize it, then I was DEFINITELY going to drive myself bonkers.


Once again...TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!! This is all that I have so far, so tell me whether I should even bother to continue.