I awoke on the edge of the lake. Sitting up, I looked to my side, and sure enough, Kai was sitting next to me. This was our other dreamland. The lake was so beautiful and calm. It was my favorite place to be, surrounded by trees and mountains. Knowing Kai is now a real person and not a figment of my imagination, I felt shy and unsure. “Where are we?” I asked. “At Lake William, mi amor.” “I got that part, Kai; I mean is this place even real?” “Yes.” “Are you going to tell me where this place is located?” “You can find Lake William hidden in the mountains in Alaska. I found this place many years ago, with my brothers.” I was determined to find Lake William now. I didn’t want to waste any more time talk

We finally arrived at the cabin. I was too exhausted to worry about answers to my questions. I decided to get a good night’s rest and drill the others in the morning. With a final bid goodnight to my sister and cousins, I retired to my room. After a quick shower, I slipped into a pair of sleep shorts and an old T-shirt. I climb into bed with a heavy feeling on my chest. When I wake up tomorrow, more shit in my life was going to change. I decided right there, at that moment, that I was not going to throw myself a pity party any longer. I was free from my mother and her abuse. I may not have gotten to see my father before he passed, but none of that would hold me back any longer. I was stronger than that. Come tomorrow, I would take whatever came at me and demand the answers I needed to make sense of my life. I hated not having control of things in my life. I lived too long with no control, and I would never, never have that taken from me again. I was a grown-ass woman

He was growling, and his eyes were changing color. They weren’t chocolate brown anymore—they were yellow. Holy shit, I think Jax might be changing into a wolf right in front of me. “You son of a bitch. She’s right, isn’t she? That fucker was trying to con us by using your gifts to get us to agree!” he roared. Tyler put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder to calm him, but he just shook it off. Kai stood and leaned over the table so he and Jackson were nearly nose to nose. “I have to follow orders and what my king wants, whether I think it’s wrong or not. I must do as he asks.” Okay, that’s a bit weird. So Kai didn’t like doing what Randall wanted all the time? That’s good to know. “Bullshit, Melakai. The enforcer is back in full swing now, ladies and gentlemen. You would have tried to kill us last night if we didn’t agree, wouldn’t you? That’s why all those guards were nearby—in case all hell broke loose when you tried to tak

“WE ARE NOT HUMAN, BOY!” the king shouted, rising to his feet.“Watch your tone and how you speak to my cousin, king,” I sneered, coming to Chase’s defense. How dare he yell at my cousin, the old prick! King or not, he would not speak to my cousin like that.“You should not speak of matters you know nothing about, little witch. Be seen, not heard,” he shot back. I stood, fists balled at my sides, ready to give him a piece of my mind when I felt Kai place his hand on my shoulder as if to sit me down. The king had a smile on his face like he thought Melakai could settle me. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder with a vicious twitch.“Don’t fucking touch me, douche bag. You’re on my shit-list at the moment.” A look of hurt passed over his face, but he quickly gathered himself and masked it. I pointed my finger at the smirking king.

After the king had won the battle against the queen’s people and banished them to their lands, he went in search of the child once again only to finally find the child and realize that the child had no powers of any kind. She was as human as they came, and the king went about his business, confident that she would live and die, as all weak humans did, not knowing that this human would pass on the power she inherited through her children. And so it came to pass that the queen’s daughter gave birth to twin girls, but only one child could receive the power of both fae and witch: the child with the purest heart received those powers.” I had been listening carefully to his tale, making sure I had the details straight, and so after he finished I sat there quietly, trying to piece together the story. Then it suddenly hit me. I jumped to my feet.“Wait—so you’re telling me that my mother is the