THE FUTURE IS NOT BRIGHT
“I DON’T HAVE time to deal with your mental health issues. I’m dealing with my own stuff right now!” I yelled as I hobbled across the yard, clinging to Aran’s arm.
“Cover up!” Cobra alpha-barked, and I fought the instinctual urge to obey him.
Sometimes, it was annoying as hell that I was the least dominant; by “sometimes,” I meant “all the freakin’ time.”
Physically, I was not well.
My chest hurt from where a dagger had been stabbed through it, my heart hurt because Cobra was probably disgusted by my scars, and my brain hurt because a creepy voice was attacking us with poems.
I also remembered the alphas’ agreement not to have sex with me, and my head throbbed with the beginning of a tension headache.
Cobra’s warm hand grabbed at my shoulder, and I whirled around. “Don’t touch me!”
A part of me knew I was being dramatic because I was freaked out by the blood prophecy.
“I will touch you. I own you, Kitten. Or do you not remember?” Cobra sneered.
Nope, I was not being dramatic at all. I was going to murder Cobra slowly and painfully.
The man was unreal.
“All I remember is you interrupting Jax and me like a possessive ass.” I pursed my lips like I was definitely not having a flashback to the closet.
Cobra stepped forward until his pale face and sparkly jewels overwhelmed my vision.
He was so unnaturally gorgeous that it just wasn’t fair.
Out of nowhere, I thought about the fact that the little snake would have been so happy about his proximity. My heart twisted with sadness.
“You don’t remember what happened in the closet?” Cobra asked, his voice silky steel as he clenched his sharp jaw.
His body practically trembled with rage. “Nope, not a thing.”
“You don’t remember my mouth on your pussy?” A low rattling hiss vibrated in his throat.
I inspected my cuticles like I’d seen Aran do and cocked my gown-clad hip. “Not particularly. Must not have been memorable.”
“You don’t remember my fingers in your ass?” “Can’t recall.”
“You don’t remember coming all over my face as you cried my name?”
“Nope,” I said and popped the p aggressively.
“You don’t recall when you agreed that I owned you?
That you were my property? My possession?”
My vision glazed red with rage, and I fisted my hands at my side to control my anger.
I tried to picture something calm, like climbing to the top of a pine tree with Lucinda and relaxing under the red sun.
It didn’t work.
“Go fuck yourself. I obviously didn’t mean it. I just wanted to cum!” I shouted as I slammed my fist as hard as I could at his perfectly gorgeous, annoying fucking face.
There was a loud crack, and his nose burst.
Blood sprayed and dripped down his face.
I winced as my knuckles throbbed with pain. I’d hit him hard.
Instead of Cobra yelling or getting angry, the biggest grin split across his face, and his jewels sparkled across his cheekbones.
His red tongue snaked out, and he licked the red blood off his mouth like it was delicious.
After I’d aggressively broken his nose in a fit of rage, Cobra thought it was appropriate to give me sex eyes.
“Anytime you want to spar, Kitten, let me know.” He continued to lick the blood off his lips, and I continued to wonder how I’d gotten into this situation.
“Is your hand okay?” Jax asked and gingerly grabbed my arm. He tsked with disapproval as he inspected my already swelling knuckles.
The warmth of Jax’s callused fingers caressing my bloody hand made goose bumps erupt across my body.
I was just as messed up as Cobra.
My face heated with warmth, as I realized Cobra and I had an audience.
Ascher, Xerxes, and Aran all stared at us like we were on the news, and the broadcaster had just announced the shifter realm had been taken over by the fae.
Jax was the only one who didn’t seem surprised.
“Well, I think the prophecy just came true,” Aran said dryly as blood dripped down Cobra’s face and he kept licking it like a freak.
A manic chuckle bubbled up my throat. That would be
too easy.
“Princess, what is she talking about?” Ascher’s tattoos bunched as he clenched his jaw and cracked his knuckles. His amber eyes burned with anger.
I showed him my teeth and let him see the violence in my eyes. “I don’t really think you’re in a position to demand anything. Also, don’t call me Princess.”
He could fight alongside me, cushion my fall, be my little bitch for all I cared.
But no matter what he did, he was the reason we were stuck in this realm, fighting for our lives.
He wasn’t forgiven.
Ascher didn’t respond, and his amber eyes stared back at me, expressionless; however, his onyx horns (a full horn and the broken horn) grew larger on his head.
It was his tell that he was pissed.
Ascher might have been exaggerating his hotheaded persona before, but you couldn’t fake anger. I would bet my life that inside, he was churning with rage.
He was just a good actor.
Suddenly, I was overcome with the irrational urge to rile him up.
I wanted to poke at him until he broke, until he screamed in my face and showed his true colors.
“Got nothing to say? Just gonna stand there and let me boss you around?” I pushed my chest against his.
My own chest smarted, but I ignored the pain. It was the least of my problems. Anger from Cobra’s words, and the sex pact, coursed through my veins.
“Settle down, little alpha,” Jax said as he grabbed me and pulled me away from Ascher.
What could I say? Getting skewered had really given me a new perspective on life.
I smirked patronizingly at Ascher. “Going to let everyone else fight your battles? You want more information so you can betray us again?”
Satisfaction spiked through my gut as the muscle in Ascher’s temple twitched.
Finally, his amber eyes flashed with anger, and his large onyx horns straightened further on his head.
Tattoos rippling, Ascher stalked toward me.
A warning growl rumbled through Jax’s chest. I stepped to the side as Jax tried to block my view of Ascher.
Unfortunately, Xerxes grabbed Ascher’s arm and held the alpha back.
Ascher stilled unnaturally as he looked over at the omega, and for a long second, I thought he was going to attack.
He breathed deeply and closed his amber eyes.
Then, in a complete turnaround, his broad shoulders relaxed, and the fire disappeared from his eyes.
He looked at Xerxes gratefully, and I knew the omega’s cinnamon-sugar scent had calmed Ascher’s rage.
“Well, this has been extremely entertaining, but we need to get Sadie covered and in a bed. She’s going to drop from exertion,” Aran said with a dramatic eye roll.
At the mention of my half-nude state, Ascher pulled his black hoodie off.
I was so stunned by his exposed deep V lines and the colorful tattoos that covered every inch of his muscles that I forgot to fight as he yanked his soft sweatshirt over my head.
The man was a living work of art.
His black hoodie fell to my knees in a warm hug, and I tried to not make it obvious that I was sniffing his delicious pine scent.
Warm conifers and pine wafted through my nose, and reminded me of the towering mountains and sprawling forests of the shifter realm.
Ascher turned toward Aran. “What prophecy were you talking about?”
I opened my mouth to tell him that my friend would share nothing with his betraying ass.
Aran tugged at her aqua hair anxiously and said, “Another fae prophecy just took over our doctor and read itself to me and Sadie. This one said a lot about blood and sounded pretty dark.”
I gave her the stink eye, but she avoided my gaze.
“Another one?” Jax asked, and the rumble in his chest grew louder. His gray eyes glowed, and his gold jewelry tinkled as he shifted forward.
Aran gulped, moved backward a little, and said nothing. When Jax became angry, it was terrifying.
I decided to save my friend.
“Auntie got possessed at the compound during one of our therapy sessions and also read us a prophecy. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” I spoke quickly and tried to act casual about it.
Jax roared loudly.
The grass beneath my feet shook slightly at the deep tenor sound.
“Fae prophecies are not to be messed with.” Xerxes arched a golden eyebrow at me like I was a dumbass.
Jax’s, Cobra’s, and Ascher’s eyes glowed, and their chests heaved with anger.
“Okay, but Aran is the fae princess, and she says we’re fine. It was probably just a random fluke. No big deal.”
Everyone was being so dramatic.
Aran spoke softly, “Um, I thought the first time was a fluke. But two prophecies reading themselves to us, across two different realms, is a big deal.”
“It’s just a poem,” I said forcefully.
Clearly, I was the only rational one in the group.
Xerxes shook his head. “Fae poems that take over a person and read themselves are no joke. Rumor has it’s a long-lost species of fae speaking. A species that possessed the ability to control others.”
His jaw was clenched tight, and his long blond hair billowed around his large body. His purple eyes were piercing.
My jaw dropped.
“A long-lost species of fae?” I squeaked. “Like what?” Xerxes rubbed his hands across his face. “No one knows.
Rumor is, the fae possessed a banned element—an element
of death that was too dangerous to wield. And for some reason, one of them is interested in the two of you.”
I suffered a mini aneurysm and dropped to the ground, quaking. At least, in my mind, I pretended I did.
In reality, my eyeball twitched, and I passed gas.
Ever had a dangerous species of fae possess someone’s body and talk to you? Same.
“What did it say exactly?” Jax asked. “Um, I think—”
Jax cut me off. “I was asking Aran.”
My eyebrows rose at his audacity. He didn’t have to be so rude.
“One line said, ‘Blood creates pain, it kills the weak- spined.’” Aran’s voice lilted as she mimicked the timbre of the creepy voice.
Ascher ran his tattooed knuckles over his horns with frustration. “What do those words mean?”
Aran opened her mouth to respond, and I cut her off.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “It was pretty self- explanatory. Blood creates pain and kills the weak.”
“What?” Ascher stared at me funny.
Everyone was staring at me funny, even Cobra, who had blood still dripping down his face.
“How did you know that?” Xerxes asked. “How, little alpha?” Jax alpha-barked at me.
The three alphas and Xerxes stepped closer until they blocked the fluorescent lights from the ceiling high above and crowded my space.
I looked around and wondered if I’d entered a portal to a different realm.
Was I talking gibberish?
Had I died in the battle and this was the afterworld? “Know what? She just said it?” As much as I loved this
little interrogation moment, I really wanted to find a hot tub of water and soak in it for twenty-four hours.
Cobra said softly, “She just spoke in ancient druid, a fae language.”
He licked his bloody lips and stared at me with a burning intensity, like he wanted to rip me open and pick apart my brain.
Everyone gaped at me.
Xerxes narrowed his purple eyes at me. “Only fae are born with the ability to understand the language.”
A prickling sensation crawled up the back of my neck. “Um, no, she spoke normally? It was definitely not in a
different language. I think I would know.”
“No, it was in the ancient fae language.” Aran gaped at me like I was a freak.
My stomach dropped.
“But I talked to you about it last time?” I asked, with confusion.
Aran pulled at her teal-blue hair, her eyes unnaturally wide as she stared at me. “I must have been so surprised that I didn’t realize. It talked about a throne, and you didn’t know I was a princess. I was freaking out and definitely in shock.”
I talked quickly. “So say I believe you and I can speak fae. You speak it? It’s not a big deal.”
With a sharp tug, I pulled Ascher’s black hoodie up over my head and tied the strings tight, like somehow the big sweatshirt could protect me from the universe’s bullshit.
Aran spoke slowly, and carefully, like every word held importance. “We’re taught from a young age that only fae can understand the language.”
I shrugged. “I’ve always had a knack for languages. Back in school, I picked up the dialects of the barren northern lands quickly.”
Aran ignored my comment. “When you were younger, did you ever shoot fire from your hands? Control the air? Make the earth move? Create an ice weapon? If fae have powers, they manifest early.” Her voice softened, and her gaze became distant.
“No, no, no, and no,” I snapped back.
Considering Dick’s abuse throughout my childhood, an elemental power would have been incredibly useful. I was certain I didn’t possess any.
“Are you sure?” Aran asked, her tone laced with disbelief. I was 100 percent sure.
When I thought of my childhood, I only remembered Dick’s belt slamming against my flesh, the blood pooling around me.
A fae air ability would have been handy while climbing high trees. I burned my fingers working over the open flame in the kitchen. I lived in a snowy land and never made a single ice weapon. I shoveled the frozen ground for hours with no help.
I knew deep down—I wasn’t a fae.
So why can you understand their language?
I limped briskly away from the group. If everyone else wanted to panic, that was their problem.
I was a cool, collected cucumber with excellent mental health and a core of unwavering strength.
I made my way toward the village, with the five others trailing behind me.
Nobody spoke.
Back in the gleaming halls of the massive village compound, I hurried to a single-use bathroom.
With trembling hands, I threw myself into the small room. What was happening?
Every day felt like I understood less.
Like a mature, independent woman, I slid to the ground and hyperventilated.
