Crystal stood staring at the glowing entrance of the cave. After 'borrowing' a witch from the old witch's coven, who could move anything with telepathy, Crystal ordered Kai to get rid of any and all human or other bystanders around the vicinity. When the witch moved the boulder, she did not need spectators or casualties to whatever may occur once that fire was allowed to escape. Holding the carved wooden box in her hand, she let her fingers caress it once before she ordered," Open it, witch." The crown on her own head glittered, reflecting the deep red of the fire. As the sweat started to bead on the witch's head, the big stone started to roll over. But it had barely moved when the fire inside seemed to roar to life, billowing outwards. The witch keeled over, having lost the strength to move anymore. Crystal looked at the witch with concern and as she would have contacted Juan, a voice sounded," The daughter of Selene. Welcome." Stiffening at the mocking voice, Crystal clenched her
"Interesting that you think you can give me, A Goddess, something. But we'll get to that later. First, tell me, do you love the man and wolf or do you love the shell? Do you want me to return his soul to you or just the body or both?" "I want both?" "Uh-huh. Think carefully. Ace and Doyen have loved you for two years, supported you and done their best to lay the world at your feet. But a part of Doyen has been tainted within the confines of my son's mind. So, if you get him back whole, will you be able to live with the hate that Doyen and Ace will feel for you? Not just hate, he may even do his beat to destroy you? But, I can return him to you with only a body and a new untainted soul. You can teach him to be like your Ace. He will be in this body so you won't even be able to tell the difference. I have studied Ace over the past month. I can assure you, I can create a beautiful soul just like his. Think well, daughter of Selene." Crystal raised her chin and spoke without a second th
"Luna Crystal! Please tell me what deal you struck with Goddess Indiva to get her to return Alpha Ace?" Finally, irritated with the man's whining who seemed to have caught this topic between his teeth, she spoke," I gave her the ancient crown, did I not?" "No! Goddess Indiva would never let go of a soul for a piece of metal! She thrives on collecting powerful souls!" "It doesn't matter what I promised her! What matters is that I have no intention of fulfilling the promise! And she will not be able to do anything about it! So you better concentrate on getting Ace all well again instead of being a worry worm!" Juan sighed deeply and rubbed his head. He still firmly supported that offering asylum to Crystal Snowheart, was the biggest foolishness his alpha had done. In fact, she should be named Crystal Troublemaker! "I have already given him what he needs and the rest will be done by Doyen. But I will not let this bit go, Luna Crystal. I have to know what it is that she wants. Haven't
Crystal would not have been more shocked if Juan had come and punched her in the face! Her hands cradled her stomach and asked," What did you say?" That reaction was enough to let him know that she was indeed unaware she was pregnant! Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. So much had been happening, and with her youth, Goddess Indiva had succeeded in pulling one over her. "You are five weeks pregnant, Luna Crystal. Your scent has changed and Indiva must have recognized that. I think her initial motive must have been to get you but then you were pregnant so she went after the prize. Selene is pure and serene. A child would be the same and from you, it would carry the essence to open the box and more. The purity would only multiply the power inside that box, feeding it with life energy and opening the box as well!" But Crystal not paying attention anymore as she held her stomach protectively. There was a life inside her. A life that she and Ace had made. No! She would have to ch
"Would you like me to pretend to be dead?" asked an acidic voice. Juan and Crystal both jumped apart at the voice, turning in sync to look at the man laying there. Crystal was the first to react as her hand covered her mouth and with a cry of sheer happiness, she raced to her mate. Holding his face, she pressed a kiss to his dry lips and buried her face in his chest. Soon after, it was Juan who reacted as he respectfully greeted him," Alpha Ace!" before moving to check his vitals over the many special machines he had been connected to. But instead of holding her, or even comforting her, Ace tried to push Crystal, ordering coldly," You need to step back." That cold voice suddenly chilled her to the bone. It was a tone that he had never used before with her. She had of course heard him use it on the other warriors and their enemies. Stepping back, she looked at his face searchingly. She did not know what she was searching for. Recognition or maybe the same indulgent look that he a
Despite her smile and warning to Ace, nothing could stop the hurt of the words that Ace had just caused her. It had felt as if she had lost her mate all over again. Until now, she had been told herself repeatedly that nothing could hurt her but now she knew that a few words from him could crumble the walls she had built to defend herself.Once outside, she let go of Erin whom she had kept confined in the recesses of her mind after losing Ace. Th white wolf blinked at the surroundings as she raced towards the small river bank which held most of her memories with Ace.A few minutes later, she felt the presence of her beta who had followed her. She knew he was not too sure of his reception but when she did not growl at him, he assumed that she allowed his presence. Once at the bank, Nate stood at a distance as Erin slumed on the sand. Her head on her paw, the wolf did not understand why her mate was not coming to her and why he seemed to hate her. Even as the many things tried to claim
As she moved back after force-feeding the soup, Ace wiped his mouth, glaring at the woman who had 'molested', bit out, "That is the most disgusting bit of soup that I have ever had! Do not touch me again!" In return, Crystal licked her lips and grinned wickedly," Well, I must say that this is the best way that I have fed soup to someone." "My beta is not drinking his soup outside! Would you like to go feed him the same way?" Ace bit out. Crystal shook her head and started to unpack the clothes that she had brought along and spoke," You are really lucky that I don't get angry easily. Or with the words vomit that you have been spewing, that soup would have ended up on your head." Ace narrowed his eyes at that. Did she just threaten to throw the soup on him? His eyes followed her movements as she puttered about taking out various things from his bag... were those his boxer shorts? While he was focused on her, he licked his lips and started sipping the soup, seemingly unaware of what
To Doyen, that simple touch had been enough to almost unravel him, making him almost forget that this mate of his did not shy away from touching other men and even flirting with them. But as he felt a hot tear against his back, it seemed to remind him that he did not like her. Stepping towards the bath, he bit out, "Are you going to keep touching me without my permission? Do not tell me that when you thought me dead, you had no other partners." Narrowing her eyes with anger at the cheap shot, she reminded herself that this was not her Ace. At least not totally. All his negative traits had been multiplied by thousands maybe. But really, this Doyen was going to learn to keep his mouth shut if he did not know how to speak nicely. She would teach him! Seeing that her wonderful mate had stepped into the bath and was not slowly sinking into it with difficulty, she let out a wicked smile. She turned back and waited for him to let down his guard. And he did exactly that. Well, poor him, he