**Thea**
Despite the impending threat, I was feeling the happiest I had ever felt in my entire life. Being with Atlas was completely magical. If we didn’t have to prepare the pack for the mage attack, we wouldn’t have left our bedroom. Still, I knew that once this part was over, we’d be able to have more time together.
Yesterday had been the first day of training for the pack. It hadn’t been as productive as we’d hoped, but people were trying to control something they still didn’t truly understand.
It was just after dawn, and my father and I had decided to meet before the rest of the pack came down. I knew I was close to being able to use my mage powers in wolf form, I just hadn’t cracked it yet.
Asher and Bessie were coming with me. I’d grown close to them, although Asher was a bit more of a surprise. When I saw my fat
**Atlas**I followed after Thea. I knew that no matter how angry she was with me at the moment, we had to focus on what was happening right now.Jarin and Viola were waiting in the courtyard for us. It occurred to me that she didn’t have a horse. Vampires were no where near as quick as us, and I mused at how they had managed to arrive together.“Back so soon old friend.” I commented, pulling him into an embrace.“Yes. Had to check up on you of course.” He winked at me.“If you two have finished cuddling up to each other, maybe we should get started on the preparation for this attack.” I blinked at the vampire’s audacity, but Jarin merely gave a shy smile.“I quite agree…Lady Viola is it? It’s good to meet you at last. I’m Thea.” Thea extend
**Thea**“Thea! Thea! You need to wake up!”I blinked against the candle light.“What…what’s…” I began hazily.I could sense Atlas was pulling on his clothes hastily.“Thea we need to go. The mages are on their way!”I didn’t need anymore information. I sprung out of bed looking for my own clothes. They were all loose fitting to make it easier to shift. We hurried to the great hall to meet all of the others. People were coming out of every door along the passages, hurrying to the destination they needed. I briefly saw Bessie ushering a woman and her young children towards the hidden chamber Atlas had shown her yesterday. We shared a quick knowing look and continued on.When we got to the great hall, some of the Alpha’s were al
**Atlas**I became aware of a burning sensation down the entirety of my right-hand side. The pain tore through me and I winced as I tried to focus my mind on what was happening. Then the sound of the battle reached my ears. Everything came rushing back to me, and I immediately looked around for Robert. I could see him a few paces away from me on the ground. I crawled over to him and managed to gauge that he was unconscious but breathing.I began to look around me properly, and noticed that we were no longer attacking our own allies. My eyes snapped to the general who’d been performing the charm, and then I saw her. My Queen. Her attention was completely focused on the general who seemed to be infuriated. He looked as if he was trapped without anything physically trapping him. I watched as Thea stalked towards him slowly, and I realised she was going in for the kill.I made myself move
**Thea**“Get up!” shock tore through my body as the freezing cold water assaulted my skin. I gasped and struggled to move away from the source of the water. I sat back on my hands panting and trying to steady my heart beat. I looked up through my bedraggled hair at Gurtar. She loomed over, with her now empty bucket dripping on the straw covered floor that was my bed. She looked at me with pure hatred “If you make me come and get your lazy arse one more time, I will take you out of the kitchen and make you open your legs for the punters instead!”. She threw the bucket on the floor beside me and turned on her heel towards the inn’s back door.I was furious with myself, why did I keep oversleeping? I knew her comment about forcing me into prostitution wasn’t an idle threat. A few people, patrons of the inn mostly, had pointed out what good money I could make her if she allowed it. H
**Jarin**Had I not been waiting, I would have appreciated the beauty in this meeting place. We had been told by our informant to wait in the ancient forest by the oldest oak tree. It was late summer, and there were already signs of autumn decay. A wet earthy smell permeated the air and I took a great lungful of it in an attempt to calm my nerves. The informant had been a lone wolf who we believed to be mostly trustworthy. But you could never tell with lone wolves as they always had their own agenda.I paced the glade impatiently, gripping my sword so tightly I was sure my fingers were going to go numb. Realizing this wouldn't be any good if I actually had to use the sword, I loosened my grip. Where was this fucking seer? The lone wolf who had arranged the meeting said she would be here before sundown, but the sky was already bleeding from pink to dusky blue. Seers were accurate in their prophecies, but that didn&rs
**Atlas**I woke up groggily. It was instinctive for me to wake up early, as it wasn’t unusual for me to undertake work at this time. I remembered I wasn’t alone. Urgh. Why had I let her stay? It was always worse getting rid of them when I let them stay.I unceremoniously removed the girls’ arm from my chest. This action woke her, and she made a dissatisfied moan. What was her name again? Lana? Anna? I couldn’t remember. She’d been average in bed, but nothing special. She certainly hadn’t been worth the lack of sleep. I decided I wouldn’t want to repeat the experience.“You should go, I have work to do” I said. She rose up on her elbow pulling the sheet around her chest. “But it's so early, the first bell hasn't even been rung” she pouted at me “come back to bed&rdqu
**Atlas**My mother, Agnes, had always been a little different. She had been well liked when she lived amongst the pack, although everyone had thought her ideas were quirky. I remember as a small child she had taken me into the human villages. No one else did this. She told me it was important to respect and understand everyone and everything in our world.The pack had indulged her odd behaviour and strange ideas on how the pack should operate. But the last theory she’d expressed before leaving had caused problems. The other pack members had started to shun her, and my position as Beta was being questioned because she was my mother. Because of this, five years ago she decided to leave the pack and become a lone wolf.There is a difference between a lone wolf and a rouge. Rouge’s are often thrown out of packs for being disloyal or breaking pack rules. Lone wolfs are a lot rarer be
**Thea**I winced as I gently pulled my dress back over my head. I had been cleaning the wounds as best I could with fresh water from the well for the past two days. But I was worried about infection. Especially since I couldn’t see where I was washing. I replayed the scene in my mind. Gurtar bursting through the kitchen door. The man still screaming and calling me every name under the sun. She had taken me by my hair and dragged me outside. After being thrown on the ground, she grabbed a horse bridle and began whipping my back. The pain had been indescribable. My screams had attracted some of the villagers to come and watch. None of them had intervened. I had been shocked when Tess, who had never once come to my defence, had interrupted Gurtar’s violence. Of course, she said it was on the pretence of not wanting Gurtar to cause injury to her arm from the re