Chapter 28

Anna

I stretched out my delightfully sore muscles with a grin on my face. Last night had been eye opening in more than one way. I had never pictured myself doing anything like that before, but I was more than ready to do it again. There had been a second encore performance that had been even better than the first. I might have done something ‘bad’, but OMG did it feel good. I felt closer to the twins than ever and I was pretty sure that I was completely in love. Not that I was ready to admit that to them just yet.

The twins had let me sleep in while they got dressed and went off to school. They had showered me in kisses of affection before they reluctantly left. I felt like we had broken past the last barrier that had held us apart; I no longer cared what anyone else thought about us. I wanted to be with them, they wanted to be with me, and we were happy together.

I rolled out of bed and padded to the bathroom to take a shower. I had pushed off dealing with a lot yesterday. It was time to steel myself to what I had to face. The smile on my face slowly faded as the events of that night came vividly back.

I don’t think I could ever forget the crack of the gun a moment before watching the contents of Ben’s head splatter the charred ground. Nausea rose up inside me and I tried to swallow it back. I was strong, I could handle this.

I focused on scrubbing all of the hairspray from last night out of my hair. My curls had looked pretty, but it had taken an entire can of hairspray to hold them in place. I took my time showering until I realized that I was just delaying the inevitable. I shut the water off and stepped out to dry my hair with a towel.

I needed to talk to James and I needed to talk to Austin. They were both there that night and I know they would have done everything they could to try and figure out what was wrong with me while I was passed out. They might have some answers for me.

I quickly dressed in jeans and a sweater before making my way downstairs. I was going to head straight for James, but my tummy growled, letting me know I was running on empty. I hesitated. Kitchen or office? I forced myself to ignore the gnawing hunger inside my belly and went to go look for James.

I didn’t find him in his office or in the war room, so I headed to Austin’s office with a frown. I hesitated at the door, but didn’t hear anything so I knocked. I was surprised when James opened the door, but instead of greeting me, he nudged me out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

I gave him a glare. What was he trying to hide in there? James tried to herd me down the hall, but I stayed in place and crossed my arms over my chest. I arched an eyebrow and simply waited for an explanation.

He looked exasperated. “Just cooperate.”

“No.” I answered simply, holding his gaze firmly.

The door opened behind him and a tall blond man strode in to the hall. James turned to face him, but kept his body in front of mine. I looked up at the visitor curiously as Austin came out behind him.

“Anna!” The blond man boomed with a broad grin. “I knew I sensed you out here.”

I looked at him warily and shot Austin a questioning glance. Just what was going on here? “Have we met?” I asked cautiously.

“Not officially. I’m your father.” He said warmly.

My jaw almost hit the floor and I staggered back a step. I looked at Austin for confirmation, but Austin didn’t look away from our guest. “We haven’t established that as a fact yet.”

The man laughed. “Of course she’s my daughter, I can feel my magic coursing through her blood.”

I perked my ears up at that. This man had magic like mine? I took a small step closer, but James held out an arm to keep me back. I gave a frustrated sigh but stayed where I was. If James considered this man a threat then I could be cautious, but James was crazy if he thought he could keep me away.

I inhaled, trying to pick up on as much of this man’s scent as I could from a couple meters away. He didn’t smell human, but he didn’t smell like a wolf, either. I opened up my newer senses to get a feel for his magic.

Where Austin felt like the warm sun, this man radiated cold. He reminded me of a fresh breeze on a cold winter day when the ground was covered in snow and the world was frozen. That wasn’t a bad thing, there was nothing I loved more than bounding out into a field freshly covered in snow and plowing my way through.

The man smiled at me affectionately and I could feel his magic reach out and brush up against mine. It felt familiar in a way I couldn’t describe, but I was still uncomfortable with it because I didn’t quite understand what was happening. Honestly, I didn’t really trust anyone but my guys.

“Perhaps we should talk?” He suggested, glancing at Austin.

Austin gave a brief nod and gestured for the man to precede us back into the office. “Stay close.” He murmured to me.

He and James kept me in between them as we walked back into the office and had a seat at the small meeting table across from my alleged father. I leaned forward eagerly. “Why are you here now?” I asked bluntly. “And who are you?”

He laughed. “In the human world I go by Froston, but you can call me Father.”

“Froston is fine for now.” I said firmly. “But why did you suddenly appear today? Where did you come from? How did you find me?” I pressed.

“I do owe you an explanation.” Froston told me with a smile. He didn’t appear to be bothered at all by my barrage of questions. “I’m here because I felt your magic release through the barrier I placed on you. That was quite impressive by the way.”

“What!” I stood up in anger. “The barrier you placed on me?” Was he the reason I had problems connecting with my wolf side all of these years?

“Let me explain.” He said soothingly. I reluctantly took my seat again, this had better be a good explanation. Austin reached for my hand under the table and gave my hand a comforting squeeze.

“Your mother was banished from her pack shortly after you were born and they realized you weren’t a pure wolf. They gave her a choice, either kill you or leave the pack.”

I gasped. “Why would they do that?”

He shrugged. “The wolves have strict rules about associating with my kind. They believe we’re dangerous.”

I just looked at him. “What…” I swallowed nervously. “What are you?”

He smiled. “The best term for us would be fae.”

I sat back in my chair, shocked to my core. “So, I’m not really a wolf? I’m something else?”

Froston gave me a warm smile. “Are you familiar with ligers?”

I blinked at the rapid change of subject. “Um, I guess.”

“They are half tiger, half lion, but the way that their genetics combine makes them larger than either a lion or a tiger. It’s the same with you, your unique mix of genetics made you more powerful than either a wolf or a fae.”

“Huh.” I said contemplatively. “Then what happened to my mother? Why was I put up for adoption?”

Froston got a sad look on his face. “Your mother was unable to join me in my world. We were in the middle of a messy regime change and the two of you would have been killed in the fighting. She thought she could go back to her pack, announce that she had killed you, then retreat in solitude in her grief. Once she had set herself up, out of reach of the pack, she was going to send for you. I was going to join you both once I was free of the commitment I made to our future king.”

“So, what happened?” I said softly.

Grief was etched on his face. “She went back and was killed. I never should have let her go back there, but she wanted to make closure and ensure no one would come looking for you later.”

I felt tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. It was final; I would never meet my mother. I hadn’t realized how much hope I had been holding on to all these years until now. I felt crushed.

“You put the barrier on me to keep me hidden?” I asked with a frown, trying to swallow back my tears.

He nodded. “Yes. Your magic is like a beacon to others of my kind, they could easily find you if they tried. It was best to make sure they never learned of you.”

“And now that it’s gone you were able to find me?”

He frowned. “No, now that’s it’s gone, others will be able to find you. I was just going to put it back on, but you are old enough now to learn how to use your magic. Besides, that shield was my best work. If you could get through that, then you could get through anything.”

I didn’t miss that he had kind of evaded my question. “Then how did you find me?”

He gave me a slow smile. “You’re clever, that’s good. It will help you where we are going.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“That was a nice story.” James interjected. “But how do we know any of it is true?”

“Fae don’t lie.” Froston said simply.

James scowled. “We don’t know much about fae.” Austin said. “What you told us might be true, and I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for now. But we will be looking much further into this before Anna goes anywhere with you.”

Froston sighed. “Well, that’s going to be a problem.” He stood up and Austin and James followed suit. I stayed seated because I was not ready for this conversation to be over, I still had a ton of questions I needed answered. Mainly, why was he here now and how had he found me?

“I need my daughter now.” Froston said with a smile. “Anna, dear, come here.”

I stayed seated and just glared at him. I did not like the way this conversation was headed.

“I don’t think so.” Austin said firmly but politely. “Anna is going to stay here for now.”

I nodded in agreement. “This is my pack, I’m not going anywhere.”

The smile never faded from Froston’s face, he simply shrugged. “Have it your way.”

He waved a hand and James was knocked back forcefully. Froston was at my side and pulling me by the arm before I could even blink. My chair crashed to the floor as I was dragged backwards. As soon as I got my feet under me I tried to pull away from him, but his hand was like a steel band around my arm.

“Let her go.” Austin growled, poised to attack. James regained his feet and was circling to get at Froston’s back. I heard banging on the door, Austin must have called for our other pack-mates.

“You’re not getting her out of this room.” James warned.

Froston laughed in response and swirled a hand around. Magic was so thick in the air I could feel my skin buzzing from the charge. My eyes almost bugged out of my heard when I saw what looked like a portal start to open in front of us. This was so not happening right now.

In a panic I stomped on Froston’s foot and tried to knee him in the balls, but he deftly avoided my efforts and looped an arm around my ribs, holding my back tightly to his chest. He was holding my arms to my side, so I did everything I could to kick him and squirm away. I started panicking even more when I saw that James and Austin were being held back as we moved to the portal.

In a panic, I reached down inside of myself to where my magic was. I struggled to try and use it the way I had before, but I felt like I was trying to grab ahold of sand, it just kept slipping through my fingers. As a last resort I triggered my change.

I felt my clothes tear as magic exploded around me and I formed into my wolf. I felt a surge of victory when Froston released me and flung me forward.

To my dismay, my paws landed on snow. I was no longer in Austin’s office, but I could still see the way back. I charged forward and leapt as Froston stepped out of the portal and flung me back into the snow. I skidded a meter but was back on my feet almost immediately.

The portal was closed and Froston was looking at me triumphantly. I let out a growl and lunged for him, intending to sink my teeth into his flesh. He easily brushed me aside with the same magic he had used on James and Austin. I wasn’t giving up; I circled him, growling and searching for a weakness.

Several other men emerged from the snow to watch me. “This is her?” One of them asked.

“It is.” Froston said affectionately. What was wrong with this guy? I was trying to attack him, and he was acting like I was asking for a hug. He crouched down and held out a hand to me. “Now, Anna.” He said in a patronizing voice. “You’re in the middle of an Arctic tundra. There’s no way out of here unless you come with us.”

I just growled at him again. Was he forgetting that I was an Arctic Wolf? I was made for this kind of environment. I started to trot away from him, making my point but never taking my eyes off them.

“I don’t think she cares.” One of the men said with a laugh.

Froston sighed and got to his feet. “Morpheus, do your thing.”

A dark-haired man stepped forward and I braced myself for an attack. I felt magic release towards me and I tried to spring away from it, but it was too late. My vision started to go black and my last thought was completely random. How were those men not dressed for Arctic weather, shouldn’t they be freezing to death?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Finding the Power Within (Book 3) will be out in May/June 2018!