SAMUEL
The days and years following when Emma was taken from us were even worse than when my parents were trying to work out how to find the balance between them. I know my fathers blame themselves for not protecting her, but they are not to blame. How would they have known that she would have turned against them?
My fathers took it in turns to look and search for Emma, but with the number of rogues that ambushed us that day, she just disappeared. A week after Emma was taken, my fathers started my Alpha training. I think a lot of it was to take my mind off of the fact that half of me had vanished without a trace.
Marcus was originally going to be Alpha by my side but not long into the training we discussed it between us as only 10-year-olds could and we agreed that Samantha Auntie Katie and Uncle Max's daughter would be my Beta and he would be my Gamma, Claire loved to fight so she was training with Alexander and Greta's daughter Maya to be my Delta's and Head Warriors. No one crossed them when they were in a fighting mood.
Due to what happened to Emma I shifted at the age of 8, my fathers couldn't understand why as it is very rare and practically unheard of but my wolf Waylen explained that even though my connection with Emma wasn't broken the fact that I could no longer see and talk to her even over our twin link, meant that I needed him sooner than most and together we have only gotten stronger.
Some call me a fool for believing, but I know Emma is still alive as I occasionally feel her sadness and loneliness pull at my heart, especially around our birthday when I wake up from the nightmare of her being stolen from us.
After I turned 10, I made a trip to my mother's uncle's pack to see how things were run in a different pack, a different territory and under a different king and kingdom. Now it had been 4 years since Uncle Christopher attacked, killing my unborn brother and sister and nearly killing both my mother and father. As both my mother and Uncle James were the only living relatives, the Alpha King Liam gave the pack to them.
They discussed it between them to work out what the best thing to do with the pack would be. They decided that Beta George would keep his Beta title and watch over the pack when James or Skyler or one of my fathers couldn't be there. It wasn't until after my visit with Greta as my escort at the age of 12 that he showed his true colours and tried to attack our pack once again as a ruse to take Greta from Alexander.
He used his position as Beta to get the information he needed over the years... It was only then that we realised as he had covered it well, that he was similar in his mindset to Uncle Christopher, and that was that females were only there to see to any male's needs and nothing else, no matter if they belong to someone else or not.
After Alexander killed him, Uncle James and my mother went and had a meeting with King Liam of that kingdom and they decided that with the influence of Christopher and then George, the pack was better off disbanded, and split between the closest 4 packs equally.
As soon as I turned 15, much to my mother's argument, I started my own search for Emma and the female we thought we could trust and treated like family. After what happened with Greta, I buckled down on my training, passing even my father's special elite programs, I proved myself to King Noah and he gave me a permanent pass to enter any pack lands or territories I needed to check and travel through.
Unfortunately, over the years, I have visited nearly every pack and territory, even going through some of the rogue camps. I smile to myself as I have heard a rumour lately or maybe it's more of a warning to keep clear of me and the Royal Blood Moon pack or face the consequences and if you knew anything about the possible location of Alpha Emma or the female that took her that day then you're better off telling me rather than me making you.
After returning from another dead-end lead to find Emma, I caught a rogue just outside our territory yesterday and I am just heading down to where I have him in the cells to see what he knows. I meet up with Marcus on the stairs and he falls into step next to me,
"So, do you reckon he has any useful information for us?"
"It's hard to say, but by the time I am finished with him, he will have told me everything he knows..."
Waylen, my wolf, tries to push to the front. I pause on the stairs so I don't fall and speak to him.
"Patience, you will get your turn!"
He huffs at me but backs off. I turn my attention back to Marcus and start walking down the stairs again. The guard standing outside the cell bows and unlocks the door. I walk into the cell and smile as I find the big tough rogue I fought yesterday cowering in the corner. I stop in the centre of the room and Waylen growl,
"Where is my sister?"
"I don't know!" He growls in return,
"Where is the whereabouts of the female that took her?"
As soon as I ask this question, his demeanour changes and he straightens against the wall instead of cowering against it. He then says calmly,
"There are rumours going around the rogue camps. They are not to help her and that she has been spotted up in the mountains. They say she is in hiding as there is a very large bounty on her head and not just from the Royal Blood Moon pack, but from the Rogue King Ezekiel himself."
I knew the cowering was just a ruse, but Waylen backs off at this information, allowing me control to continue the interrogation.
"Really, how did she make an enemy of the Rogue King Ezekiel?"
"He put a bounty out on her once he learned the reason behind why you were raiding our camps. Apparently, he never sanctioned the massive attack she used to take the young Alpha female, even though he is still trying to find the rogue responsible for authorising such an outright invitation of war between your King and ours..."
This seems a little too good to be true. He doesn't seem to be the rogue that put up a fight yesterday. Could this just be a trap to get me out of the territory again? I then ask,
"Why the sudden willingness to share this information?"
He moves slowly and gets to his feet and then leans on the wall as he says,
"I was sent by the Rogue King Ezekiel. He believes that by giving you the information you seek, he believes you will back off on your raids of our camps. I was sent to help you find her and to do my own investigation into who helped her within our camps..."
"And why would I need your help?"
"I am a rogue and I have spent a few years up in the very mountains she is now hiding in. I can show you where a lot of the good places to hide are... I also know some of them, some of the more permanent rogues that live on the mountain, and I would have more luck than you to get the information needed from them..."
"How do I trust that you will pass on the right information?"
"I am under King Ezekiel's orders to cooperate with you under the surrender of my life if I don't, and on the contrary to what you think of us. Most of us do still follow certain rules. They may not be as complex as yours, but most of us do still have a little bit of honour."
"If! And I mean IF we do this together, who gets to punish her?"
"The Rogue King Ezekiel has asked that you can beat the information out of her that you and we need but when it comes to her actual punishment, he would like it to be done on Neutral territory under a 3-day truce to discuss what is to happen..."
I turn and exit the cell. It is not what I expected, and it is something that I will have to discuss with my fathers before making any sort of deal with the Rogue King Ezekiel. Marcus follows me out, and the guard closes and locks the door behind him. Marcus then says as we walk back up the stairs,
"Do you believe any of that?"
"I don't know, I think we need to go and talk to our fathers..."
He nods and we continue to ascend the stairs and head to the Alpha's office. Ever since my mother told me about how Elijah, Nathan and Cole are all her mates, but Cole is my actual father and after Emma started calling him Daddy, I call him Dad and I call Elijah and Nathan Father. I knock on the door and wait until I hear one of my father's voices,
"Enter!"
I open the door, and we enter. I close it behind us and walk to the centre of the room. I stop and stand with my hands clasped behind my back as I face father Elijah's desk. He looks up at me from the paperwork he is doing and says,
"Samuel, welcome home." He nods to Marcus and continues. "What can I do for you?"
I look around and notice that my other 2 fathers are not in the office; I return my eyes back to Father Elijah and say,
"I need to talk to all 3 of you. That rogue I picked up yesterday says he was sent by the Rogue King Ezekiel and has put an offer of truce on the table..."
JEREMIAH I pace my room as I finish getting dressed. I hate that I have to attend these stupid celebrations that my mother sets up for me. I know she is only trying to help. She wants me to find my beloved but more she wants me to choose a suitable Chosen to stand by my side, preferably one of her choosing. I, however, don't want one of those title-seeking vampiresses drooling all over me. They don't care if they are actually my beloved or not; they don't care about me, they just want the title and power that go with it.My name is Prince Jeremiah and I am the heir to the Vampire Royal throne, my father was killed by a werewolf he thought he could trust. My mother then turned bitterly towards everyone but me. Due to that bitterness, she no longer allows werewolves into our kingdom or anywhere nearby. She removed all normal werewolf slaves from the castle as she saw these as threats unless they were heavily chained in silver and secured.The only werewolves allowed now were the ones c
JEREMIAH I smile a little as she jumps when I place my fingertips on the skin of her neck, now normally I would wrap my arms around her and sink my fangs into her neck but I know she wouldn't have the blood volume to support me and her without passing out and I need her conscious.So I just run my fingers down her neck, over her shoulders and down her arms. I don't miss the shiver that passes through her body and flows into mine, something that has never happened before. I lean in close to her ear and whisper,"I want you to go and shower. There will be a dress laying on the bed and food on the small table. Dress and have something to eat. I will return in an hour..."I then step back from her and leave the room. I go to where my mother is waiting and do her little inspection of the vampiresses she thinks would be a suitable substitute for my true beloved. I shake my head and face my mother and say,"I will entertain you tonight and dance with a couple of these females, but I will no
JEREMIAH I straighten and smile as her eyes snap to mine, full of fear. I keep them locked with mine as I then say, "That got your attention, didn't it?" "Master..." She whispers, still with that fear in her voice, "For tonight, Emma, I have to change one of my other rules. I will need you to keep your head up and your eyes at shoulder level. You don't look anyone in the eyes but you make it seem as if you are, you will enter the room on your own, my mother isn't announcing everyone, so that is fine but once you are inside, you are to make your way around the room until I approach you. You still only speak when spoken to, but keep your answers short with no real information. Do you understand?" "Yes, Master!" "Oh, while we are inside you address me as Your Highness, not Master..." She nods her head, and I sigh as I say, "Emma, I need to hear you say it." "Yes, Your Highness." When those soft words leave her lips for some reason; I feel drawn to kiss her. I fight the feeling
JEREMIAH I make my way further up the trail and find my bike exactly where Ali said it would be. I help Emma get on and then climb on behind her. I know this is not the way to ride, but I want my arms around her and I want to make sure she doesn't get scared and try to jump off. I start the bike and take off down the trail, heading for my private cabin.It doesn't take us long to get there with how fast I was pushing my bike, and the best thing about my private cabin is that it is far enough into the woods away from the castle that no one there can hear Emma scream and she will be safe as she goes through her first shift but it is still within our kingdom's borders. I pull up out the front, get off and help Emma off as I lift her up and set her back on her feet. I say,"Move onto the porch and wait there..."She nods and does as she is told and walks up and onto the porch. As I get back on the bike I look at her flush face and actually like the tin
SAMUEL I then exit the room behind her, as I walk back down to the pack kitchen, thinking about when I first met Malissa. Mother made me attend the high school that we now share with some of the other packs around the kingdom. Malissa was the Beta's daughter from Uncle James's pack... Mother's old pack, so she comes and goes between the two packs whenever she wants. Unfortunately, she is that female that sleeps with any male that is willing to take her to their bed. My brothers and I were never one of those males. I chuckle to myself that she would believe that laying herself out on my bed would actually get me to do anything with her. I am brought out of my head as I am knocked to the floor by Diego, Tyler and Penelope, all jumping on me. Penelope puts her hands on my cheeks, making me look at her as she laughs. "Sammy, when did you get home?" "Late last night..." She looks at the duffle on my shoulder and whines, "A
EMMA I know not to disobey the Master when it comes to some things. I learned that lesson the hard way and very quickly. He would lock me in my dark and cold cell for days at a time or he would sink his fangs into my neck, drink, take a few short pulls, and then remove them before moving to another area and sinking them in again. He would drink again, taking a few short pulls before removing his fangs and moving to yet another area. He would do this again and again until I was either screaming and begging him to stop or until I passed out in his arms.I open my mouth and he slides the slice of orange in. I slowly suck the juice out of it and then chew the rest. When I have finished that piece, he has another different slice of fruit waiting for me to open my mouth so he can put it in. I don't know how he knows, but when I am full; he stops feeding me the fruit and passes me the glass of cold water I was drinking.I hesitantly raise my shaky han
EMMA **Flashback Cont***I open it slowly and quietly, sticking my head out carefully and looking both ways down the hall before slipping from the room. I look one way and then the other before choosing to go to the left.I smile to myself as I find a winding staircase at the end of the hall. I start slowly and carefully down until I hear some voices coming up. I look around me and see a small alcove that has some curtains hanging in front of it.I move as quickly and quietly as I can into that alcove. I smile at the orange striped cat sitting on the ledge. I then place my hand over my mouth and practically hold my breath as two male guards walk past, chatting and laughing. Just as they pass, I step back a little further and hit my back on the extremely cold wall, the small sound that escapes from behind my hand makin
EMMA"Come on, that prince used you, your body and your blood until he became tired of you and then threw you to his servants...""Why do you think I got out of there as quickly as I could... But I know that one of these days I will become a queen and looking at that hunk of a princely vampire, I plan for it to be his...""And how do you intend to do that?""If I can get him to wear this amulet, then all he will see is me..." She places her hand on an amulet hanging around her neck."Lexis!... Messing with witches will only get you killed..."I must warn the Master. I look back up to him as he just finishes the dance and then leads the Queen over to the large throne chairs at the other end of the room. He had told me to make my way around the room. I try my best to blend in but stay as close to the wall as I can. I have never been amongst so many people since I woke up in that dark and cold cell. When I can't stay near the w