Chapter 35
If Cole was fire, I was getting burned. I spent the next two days in the library scoring through books about past royalty. Cole was always right there next to me. He read or listened to me talk out loud. He would bring me lunch and dinner. We sat in silence, mainly as I worked. Multiple times I asked if he had better things to do and he always responded only if I would let him take me out. That was always a resounding no. I grew comfortable with his presence. It isn't like the sparks that fly between me and Vincent, but he wasn't a horrible as I first thought. He would do silly things on occasion to break my concentration and get me to laugh.
Eric was making great progress with the Royals. He had demonstrated his superb fighting skills when he bested their lead warrior in a training session. Cora was even more in love with him but would not let him mark her until her parents agreed.
I had promised the king and queen a training session both in magic form and in wolf form. That was to be today. I got up from bed, went for my run and changed into fighting clothes.
I guess I needed a break. I had not seen much of Katie and had learned very little to help me through my current situation. The two things I had gathered were twice in the Royal lines had a new line appeared. Both times it was due to the Royals losing the moon goddess's favor. This could benefit me as I had a direct line to Selene through Sasha.
The other thing I found curious but not exactly helpful is that Cash was not in the Royal book. All the other family members had their names written on them, but not Cash. I was curious but would put that aside as it didn't have any import as of today. This morning we planned the demonstration/training, but the afternoon was to be dedicated to Kaite and me time. I was looking forward to this. The evening after I put her to bed and there would be more studying.
First I was to demonstrate all the powers I knew I had. After, I would shift, and Sasha would introduce herself. Sasha was so excited about training. Even though we went running on the property every morning, I knew she missed training with Vincent just as much as I did.
I jogged to the training facility, meeting Cole half way there.
He nudged me and said, "Are you ready for this? I am excited to see what you can do. You have never asked my power."
"I assumed it was flirting," I joked.
He smiled and said "Close. Watch." With that, he touched a weed from the ground and transformed it into a rose and handed it out for me.
"Very impressive green thumb." I said, accepting the rose.
"I can make any plant lie grow or die. It is a skill I don't use often but I could kill a whole village crop or make a tree grow in the middle of a battle." He explained.
"That is great. I don't think I have that one." I said, opening the door to the facility.
He looked at me sideways. "Have you tried?"
He was right. I hadn't ever needed to use it. I did have many other skills, so there was no knowing what I could do. I bowed to the king and queen when I entered the arena. They were seated on the second floor. There were many elements placed around the arena. Some which I had already used and others which I had not.
I started easily as my eyes went over to Violet. I said hello to the 60 or so people that surrounded me. They all looked around. I let go of the link as it was draining. "As you are now aware, I can enter your mind. I can force you to do several things, including stopping your heart. That is how we beat back a large group of Rogues. This, however, takes a lot of strength and could cost me the connection to my wolf Sasha, who you will see in a moment."
I used the fire and created a giant dragon. I took the water and made it extinguish the dragon into a storm cloud and it rained. The wind picked up in the room and I used it to levitate myself. That was all the skills I knew I had.
I slowly went down, breathing hard. And sat on the chair that was provided. Cole ran over and gave me something to drink and held my hand until I had some strength back.
"I see the power only drains you." The king said, smiling. "Though the power was very impressive."
Everyone in the audience clapped at this. Cole took my side and said "Are you ok?"
I shook my head, yes. "I think it is time to shift." I said to the audience. Sasha, are you there? "Yes, I am but tired. Shifting will help."
"Go right ahead and have fun." With that, I went behind a screen to change out of my clothes. I folded them all neatly and stepped out. I quickly shifted into Sasha white wolf with gold and silver fur. "Sasha, you are absolutely beautiful!"
A lot of awed expressions were seen. Sasha jumped onto the obstacle course and quickly ran through. Cole also shifted. He was a large brown wolf with a white belly. Sasha was beating his wolf and having a blast doing so. They ran around for an hour and most of the spectators had left.
The king finally tired of us playing and yelled, "Now you will fight."
This stopped Sasha and Cole's wolf Owen. Owen looked at Sasha and lunged. Sasha was quick but not stronger than Owen. The fight took 20 minutes before Owen pinned Sasha and the King and Queen applauded. Sasha had a large gash in our side, which is why she had surrendered.
Cole shifted, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to claw you. I thought you were going to move back when I lunged."
Sasha had me shift back. "It is ok, I will heal. I would like to go to the doctor's." Cole picked me up forgetting that we were both naked. "Maybe we should put clothes on first," I recommended. He looked down.
"I think we look good like this." He laughed as he started to run to the pack hospital. I hit the back of his head. "Ow what was that for?" "You are too much. Just get me there without the whole pack seeing me naked please." I said, shaking my head.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
It took only a few minutes to bandage me up. I was already healing fast. Katie came to the hospital so we could go to lunch from there. "Mom! Are you ok?" She asked.
"I am fine, I will just need a day to heal. I said, giving her a hug. "How about we take our lunch to my room and watch a movie?"
"That is a good idea." She agreed. "I want to tell you about Corey and Cash. You have been spending a lot of time with Cole. Do you think we will stay?"
I looked at her as we began to walk to the pack house. "Would you like to stay?" I asked. She looked up at me. She started to push calm feelings over me. "Katie. I don't need you to use magic. I will accept what you want."
"I would like to learn more about royalty incase I become one. I just don't want to leave you, but if you stayed, I could have both." She said, looking at me with remorse.
"I guess you like Corey and Cash?" She nodded.
"And Cole." She added. "He is always so nice to us."
I smiled at her. "Let's talk about this later. Today is movie day and we will have fun." She agreed and raced ahead to get the lunch ready in my room.
"Sasha, what do you feel about Cole?" I asked.
"I like him but don't feel like I feel towards Vincent. If you chose to stay and be with Cole once he, marks you, those feelings would change." Sasha responded, sounding certain but like she was hiding something.
Cole decided to ambush our movie night with Cash and Coery. It was a blast, all five of us goofing around and watching the movie. I invited Amy and Amelia to join, which they did but sat by the door and only ate when we were finished.
Cole didn't object to them being there, but I could tell it was not a comfortable thing for him. Dinner was also served in my room, where we decided to watch another movie before bed. Corey and Cash were great kids and Cole seemed to be a loving brother to his siblings, wrestling with them and teasing them lovingly.
Maybe I could stay. I felt like that maybe best for Katie, but was it best for me?
After we put the kids in their rooms, I went to the library for a couple of hours before bed. Cole accompanied me. Picking a book to read from the shelf. When I scored over the history of wolves.
Suddenly, I felt a pain in my stomach and a burning all through my skin. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my stomach and a burning all through my skin.
"Filli, you must run. Find a boat, go to the middle of the water, you are in heat." Sasha said.
I looked over at Cole, who had been studying next to me. His eyes turned dark. He lunged at me. He grabbed my shoulders, and his touch burned my skin even more. I quickly used my powers to throw him across the room.
"I am sorry. I must go." I told him. "Sasha, I must get Katie."
"There is no time. If a wolf without restraint finds you he will mate and mark you." Sasha said. That was restraint, I thought. I hated the idea of leaving her, but I had to go. I started to run. I linked Eric to tell him to get Cora to get me a boat. But as I hit the main pack floor, I saw him. His eyes had turned dark as well. He and five other males all started to run at me.
I used the library exit to get to the gardens. When a large wave of heat and pain rolled through me. I screamed out. I linked Katie and told her I was going on a little trip but would be back. To be nice to the Royals. She knew something was wrong but agreed. I used my magic to put males to sleep as I came across them.
I linked the queen and told her I was in heat and needed to get off the island. He told me there was a boat named Isla that would have the keys in it. I thanked her and ran towards the docs. The heat and using my magic were weighing on me and I began to slow. I linked Millie, who was shocked by what was taking place but said she would get the king's guard to help slow the unmated males. Even some of the mated males were shifting looking for the scent. I thanked her and closed the link. "Sasha, what should we do? Should I shift?" I asked.
"No. The scent will be stronger and the pain more intense if you shift the magic side of you is all that is keeping us from stopping." She replied.
"Sasha, I don't want to split from you by using magic."
"Just get to that boat." She responded as another wave of heat and pain came over me. I couldn't imagine this being any worse I felt like they were burning me from the inside. I wanted to remove all the clothes I had on.
I reached the docs only to see 12 men in front of me. I used my powers to knock them all out. They will be fine in an hour and hopefully I will be in the middle of the water. I found the boat Isla, jumped in, and started it. I worked my way to the back to release the rope and pull the anchor when I heard it. Someone had entered the boat.
Within seconds I could see it was Eric. "Eric please." I begged. "Think of Cora, think of Vincent." I didn't want to use my powers on him. He came over quickly and pinned me to the wall, smashing his lips into mine. Mine felt like acid was being poured down my throat. He ripped my shirt off.
I knew he wouldn't be able to stop. "I'm sorry Eric." I used my powers to knock him out and, with a great effort, threw him into the dock. I hit the throttle and off the boat went. I hope Eric will be ok. I am sure he made it to the dock. I couldn't worry about that because the worst of the pain had set in.
This round coupled with the magic use had me very tired. I put the throttle on slower and headed toward the bathroom. I turned the water on and added ice from the fridge. I sunk into the bathtub with only some relief. As I drifted off to sleep, I called to Sasha. "How do we make this stop?"
"You must mate and be marked or last the next week. This will last for five days." Sasha got out I could tell she was tired and distant. How will I mate and be marked. Everyone's touch burned me more? I dreamed of Vincent in the cold tub. How I wished he was here. I tried to reach out to him in my dream but he didn't respond.
I was woken by the sound of another boat. This could not be good. I was too exhausted to fight anyone off. I prayed that they were just passing, but I never had any luck. I heard the shoes hit the deck and run towards me. The bathroom door flew open. "Filli," he said.