sound of tapping wakes me up from my much needed sleep. It was late by the time I got back last night, with Kade and I spending hours upon hours talking before we eventually headed back home.
Josh reported back that there were no signs of any other rogures in the area once he came across the ones Kade had killed. What was left of them anyway. It’s extremely strange that only three rogures came down from The Deadlands, but I’m thankful regardless that there aren’t anymore.
The tapping continues. Whatever it is making that sound has a death wish, one I am more than happy to fulfill. With a growl, I open an eye and peek toward the window on my left. A small, familiar winged creature stares at me through the glass, its dark eyes never leaving mine, as it continues to tap its beak against the window. I huff and rub my eyes, sighing at the thought of getting out of bed. I pull the covers back, yawning as my feet touch the wood floor.
I shuffle toward the window, grumbling with each step until I reach it. It’s then I notice the moon still high in the night sky, telling me it’s far too early to be getting out of bed. I look back toward the winged creature, and notice the leather strap tied around his neck with a small package attached to the end of it. Unlatching the lock from the bottom of the window, I lift the glass. The cool night breeze caresses my bare skin in the places my night shirt doesn’t cover, causing goosebumps to form across my body. I reach out a hand and stroke Illium on the top of his head and underneath his black beak as he caws at me under my attention.
“Sorry, little guy,” I coo. “I don’t have a midnight snack for you. Why don’t you head down to the gathering on your way out, there might be something there for you,” I tell him as he caws again softly, nuzzling my hand with his head. I reach for the back of his neck and untie the leather strap, scratching there lightly to ease the muscle.
Croneians are small but clever creatures that are extremely loyal to those they have chosen. As dark as night with midnight blue tipped wings, they are easily hidden as they fly through the night sky. Illium has been flying here for years at Edward’s request, sending little packages and messages when he can or when needed. But he’s never sent him here in the middle of the night, usually the start of it.
“Thank you, Illium,” I murmur, giving him another quick stroke before watching him take off to the sky once again, remaining unseen.
I examine the small package in my hand and move to sit on my bed. With a flick of my wrist, lanterns softly light my room in a warm glow as I get comfy and cross my legs. I remove the leather strap around the package and open the cloth material gently. A rolled-up letter falls out along with a lightweight, dark crystal that I haven’t seen before. I pick it up, running my thumb over its smooth edges as it fits in the palm of my hand. A mix of blue and yellow flashes inside the stone, and I feel the gentle thrum of power within it.
Curious as to what Edward has sent me, I undo the string around the letter and roll it open. I recognize Edward’s writing straight away from the curve of certain letters, and I can’t help the small smile that graces my face. It’s been a very long time since I last saw him, and I have missed seeing his face and the stories he tells me about my parents.
Edward is one of the Highers of Vrohkaria, living in Fenrikar at Wolvorn castle with the other Highers. We met each other about two years after I left my pack by accident. I was trying to get food for Josh, Kade, Cassie and I from a little village he visited that day. He saw me browsing the foods they had and noticed I hadn’t bought anything, even though he could probably tell by my thin frame that I wanted to. How could I buy food when I had nothing to buy it with? I wasn’t used to the world, and I didn’t know how things worked.
I decided it was too quiet to try and steal some food and to come back a little later when it was busier. He followed me out of the village and toward some small woods when I rounded on him, dull blade in hand. I needed to get him to move on and stop following me so I could get back to the others. I didn’t know what he wanted, but it wasn’t the first time I had to defend myself against someone who wanted to try their luck with me.
He stared at me for a long time, and I stared right back, refusing to let up until he either went away or I had to make him. He took a deep breath like he was trying to smell me, and his eyes widened and started to water slightly. I was confused by his reaction as I stood there, stunned, watching a tear roll down his tanned face. After a moment, he whispered one name, one name that changed everything and nothing at all. It was then that Edward would tell me about my parents and about Eridian. About how I would be safe, and no one would find me. How he thought I was dead.
I was nervous, he was a stranger and a Higher. How could I trust him? He told me many things I didn’t know, but made some things make sense, explaining why my life was the way it was. By the time he finished talking, we were both sitting on the ground, surrounded by nothing but the trees and the earth beneath us. I thought about everything he had said to me, and I knew I didn’t really have a choice but to trust him. We were starving out here, Josh and I had no home and two kids to take care of. So, I told him. I told him some of my life and who I was with, and he didn’t bat an eye, though his face was solemn. He told me if he had known, he would have come to get me, that I never should have had the life I had lived and that he was sorry he couldn’t protect me.
But it was just words, and it was too late to change the past. He asked me to meet him back where we sat later that night, and he would get us all to Eridian. Feeling like I had no choice, I spoke to Josh, and we came to the same decision to wait for him to return to take us to this Eridian place.
Edward kept his word and ported us to Eridian, where we would live from then on. He couldn’t stay with us, but he said he would help us whenever he could. He had to go back to the castle, and his important day to day duties as a Higher meant he couldn’t be away for long the rare times he did visit. After months of us living in Eridian and trying to make a life for ourselves, Edward started sending people to us who also needed a place to start a new life. It’s been this way ever since.
And I wouldn’t change any of it.
The smile on my face vanishes as I begin to read Edward’s letter, and I sit up straighter, reading through his words again and again. My hands tremble, shaking the paper and making the words blur as my breathing picks up. Pure dread overcomes me, and with a muttered ‘fuck,’ I jump off the bed and head over to my dresser against the wall. I grab some pants and shove my legs into them with one hand, the letter still clutched tightly in the other while I get dressed as fast as I can.
Pants on, I rush out of my bedroom, grabbing the crystal off the bed as I go. My feet slap against the dark wood flooring with my steps, passing Kade’s door before I rush down the stairs, holding the banister as I take two steps at a time. I round the bottom and aim for the back of the cabin to the door on the right. Pushing down the handle and opening the door, I walk around my desk and flop down in my chair, putting the crystal and the letter down on the desk amongst my things.
“I need you in the office. Now,” I rush out down the link, running my hands through my hair, snagging the tangles but not bothered by the slight pain.
I lean back and grip the armrests of my chair as I wait, looking around the room to try and calm my breathing. My office is simple. A dark wood desk and three chairs, two rows of bookcases filled to the brim with books on the walls to my right, stopping at the floor to ceiling window. To my left, there are two seating benches with small homemade cushions and a small table in the middle of them. There are shelves placed around the room, full of keepsakes I have from Kade and pack members.
My walls are light wood, the same as the rest of my cabin, and framed pictures the pups have drawn for me hang on them. I even had some that Kade did when he was younger, losing interest as he grew older. The bookshelf at my back is for the pack. They contain small information folders on each of my pack members. It’s how I keep track of who is here, and what, if any, issues they may have with certain things. It also has details on what females want to go through the heat alone or with help from males, amongst other information about what jobs they would like to do and their skill set. Only a few are allowed access to them, including the pack member. We don’t hide what I have written about them. It’s their information, they are entitled to see it. There are no secrets.
Unless those secrets are dangerous for others to know.
I grab a pen off my desk, twirling it in my hand to try and shift my thoughts and not let panic set in. Sweat beads at the back of my neck, making my hair stick to it, and I feel Runa twitching inside me, sensing my unease.
They can’t find Eridian, they just can’t, and more than that, they can’t find Sarah. She’s been through too much shit to be dragged back to the nightmare she has ran from. No, fuck that. Not happening.
I hear the front door open and close quickly before I hear footsteps rushing my way. In the next second, Josh is standing in the doorway to my office, looking disheveled. His jeans are undone, hanging off his hips, his dark-blond hair is out of his usual man bun, and he’s carrying a black t-shirt in his hand, leaving his defined muscles and tattoos on display. His gray eyes find me in the dark instantly, and he lets out a sigh of relief at seeing me unharmed.
“I’m not dying Josh. You could have at least done your jeans up.” I force a chuckle, but it trails off at the glare on his face.
Now I’m the one sighing as I open the top drawer in my desk and take out a hair tie to put my hair up in a ponytail, tossing him an extra one. I wave my hand and the lanterns around the room come alight as Josh closes the door behind him. I wait until he gets himself reasonably decent before sliding the letter across the desk toward him. He picks it up and flicks his eyes to mine quickly before he takes a seat in one of the chairs across from me.
I sit in silence and watch his reaction to the letter while I pick up the small crystal, tossing it in the air and catching it again. His brows furrow, then his eyes widen and snap up to mine, probably thinking the same as I am. I nod wordlessly. He looks back at the letter and continues reading, his eyes moving rapidly as he reads the words. After a few minutes when I’m sure he has read it multiple times, just like I have, he finally speaks.
“What the fuck,” he mutters. He keeps looking at me and then back to the letter like it might change before he finally puts it back on my desk.
“They cannot take Sarah or find Eridian, Josh. They just can’t,” I stress, looking out my window at the forest that continues on until it reaches the surrounding cliffs. I can just make out the dead trees resting atop of them, never changing, never moving. “We have worked too hard and too long for our home here, to find some sense of peace and safety. If they find it, I don’t know what we will do. We’ve never been in a situation of potentially being discovered.” I bite my lip as I think. “We could fight, but if Edward is correct in that letter, we aren’t strong enough to face who’s coming. We could evacuate, but where would we go? We can’t stay in Eridian if they find us, but this is the safest place for us in Vrohkaria. We can’t even go into another region without a letter of free passage, and the lands are more dangerous to roam than ever. We could be lucky enough that they don’t find us, but what if they come across Solvier in the forest? Would they send more people if there aren’t enough to capture or kill him? They wouldn’t just see him and leave, and they would definitely find us then. It would just be a matter of time.”
I get up and walk toward my window, resting my head on the cool glass and closing my eyes against the onslaught of so many emotions running through me. Fear. Panic. Stress. Worry. Dread. They rush through so quickly that it isn’t until a hand lands on my shoulder from the side that I realize I’m struggling to get air in my lungs.
“Breathe, Rhea,” Josh says calmly. I listen to him taking deep breaths in, and then exhaling slowly. I stay still, focusing on his breathing until I’m mirroring him and getting some much needed air into my lungs.
When my breathing calms, he moves to stand behind me, leaning down to rest his head on my shoulder and look out toward the forest. He takes my left hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back in small circles, comforting me. We’re both silent while I continue to breathe deeply, squeezing his hand in mine as I lift my head off the glass and relax back against him.
“I don’t know what will come or will happen,” he tells me as gently as he can. “We’ll figure it out, we always do, don’t we?” I nod my head. “You won’t let them get to Eridian, and if they do, you will do everything you can to keep the pack safe, no matter what. You won’t roll over, and neither will the rest of us. I know you’re scared about what it would mean if they found this place. So am I. But I will be with you through it all, together like always, as a family,” he vows, giving my cheek a nudge with his, rubbing against it gently. I feel Runa directly at my cheek beneath my skin, feeling the contact for herself. “I follow you by choice, not pack, you know that.”
He brings his right forearm up in front of me from my side, and I look down at the design he has covering his skin there. It’s the same one Kade and I also have on our forearms, with only small differences in the designs that we put there ourselves. We all have a few blank spaces left so we can add to the design when we choose.
I trace his forearm with a finger, following the ancient writing, lines and swirls before moving over the marking of the blood link that rests above the blank center, pressing down slightly on it and feeling the tingle in my mind at the connection. I continue downward until I reach his wrist where the runes of our Gods are, the symbols for Zahariss and Cazier intertwining with each other. One full circle at the bottom, one outlined above, slightly overlapping each other with a crescent moon inside each. The tattoos are a sacred marking of my family, given to those who are deemed worthy of their chosen people. We also have other markings that can be given to those in your inner circle. The differences don’t diminish the value of such marks upon your skin, they just mean different things to different people.
Seeing the markings so clear in front of me, to look upon what I could lose, gives me the determination to calm my panic and clear my thoughts. I have had much fear in my life, and I won’t let it rule me. The cost would be too high.
“We fight,” I tell Josh, with steel in my voice. “Protect the pack at all costs. Protect Kade no matter the cost.”
I feel him hesitate before he nods his agreement as we look out toward the forest, lost in thoughts of what may come. I won’t let our home fall into the hands of the Highers, and I won’t let them take any of my pack members back to where they escaped from. We have a home here, and I won’t let them take it.
Even if the cost is myself.
