Jordan
Well, that took me by surprise. Damien had just done the thing he was preventing himself from doing. Staking his claim on the mate bond. It is a very big deal indeed. When mates meet, and one does not stake his claim to it, the mate bond will eventually die out. Carter, Seth, and I have all felt the bond starting to die away, which is what I am sure has probably forced her heat. By claiming her, officially, his words vibrated through the entire pack link, who now, officially, know Ember will be the Luna with the four of us.
I could feel Ember’s acceptance of his claim, though she was asleep. It ran through our entire pack line as if a super-charged rush of energy enveloped us, then left. I looked at him with pride. It was time he stopped denying himself of her anyway. I looked back at Ruby, who turned just as red as her name in anger. Her own son just threatened to kill her. I smirked.
” You would as well accept it now, Ruby. Ember belongs to the four of us, as I am sure you just felt, and we are not letting her go. Threaten her again, and the words won’t leave your lips before your blood is pouring down my lips.” I told her in a cold voice. Franklin growled at me but I meant everything I had said. He stood up and took Ruby’s hand, leading her out the room. He paused at the door, turning to Damien and I.
” I will keep Ruby away, but if it comes down to war, and your mate is on the wrong side, I will choose my mate”, he said in a threatening tone. He was always this dark, and we had gotten used to it. His alpha aura spread through the room as if to make his point.
“And we will choose ours” Damien threatened, looking Franklin in the eye. Our hybrid aura was even stronger than his alpha one. We expected no less. He nodded once in acknowledgment before pulling Ruby away. We heard them leave the mansion.
” I will speak with Ruby”, mom said. I could feel her annoyance.
” I am more concerned about her reporting Ember to the council”, I told them.
“She would not dare. It would put the entire pack at risk if she did. ” Ben said.
“She is no longer Luna of the pack. She does not hold any loyalty now except towards dad”, Damien said.
” Mind how you speak about your mother to us. Luna’s loyalty never leaves the pack. She may not like it now, but she will learn to accept it, as we already have”, mom said to us and we nodded. I tossed the book back to dad.
“The four horsemen will be coming for her and her bloodline”, Agatha reminded us.
“What have you seen?”, Damien asked her.
” I have seen two possible sides of this war. One of them is you four, as her protectors, at your strongest, and Ember in front of you, bringing peace on earth.
“The other has been Ember on her knees, surrounded by one man with a shadowy face I cannot make out, surrounding her as her blood flows out of her and trails into him. He seeks her ichor blood to make him stronger. In this vision, ash falls from the sky. The skies are red and filled with the most terrifying creatures I have ever seen. You are all dead, she said grimly. ” Each of the four horsemen will come for her in all her lifetimes as the human goddess, with one coming for her in each generation over the next three hundred years. With Ember’s death, so will your death come. You are all tied to the same fate. The five of your souls will be reincarnated in another life to fight another horseman until all four of those demons are defeated. Selene has blessed it to be this way. You must defeat the horsemen of this lifetime, though. I have no idea who they are. My vision will not allow me to see that far.
” This is just a book though. How are we certain Ember really is this “Goddess of Earth”, Damien said. Agatha was behind him in seconds and touched his head with her fingers on each side.
“Believe”, she said, and her eyes glowed white. Damien’s eyes also glowed white. She was showing him her vision. It was over quickly, and Damien was shaking his head, with his eyes going back to their normal gray.
” I will kill anyone who comes for her”, he growls. He shared the vision he was shown through our twin link, and I growled as well as I saw Ember on the ground, begging for her life as her golden blood was pouring from her body through poked holes in her skin. I linked Agatha.
“Ember said you warned her we were being watched. What are the chances of this conversation being overheard?” I asked her. I knew Damien was listening in as mom and dad talked with each other about Ember.
” The grounds are safe. Selene has put her blessing on this entire pack so that enemies or traitors will not be able to cross into it. They would not be able to listen to anyone speaking on the pack either, even if that person was standing right in front of them. ” Agatha said. We nodded. It was better protection than we had before.
” Now more than ever, it is imperative that you mate Ember. Her blood is the blood of the goddess and will trigger change in you both as it is now doing with Seth and Carter. All five of you will be leading this war. ” Agatha linked us.
“Accepting her as my mate does not mean I will mate her”, I heard Damien’s voice say. Stubborn to the last damn drop.
“Boy, do I need to knock some sense into that thick ass skull of yours? Let me put this as plainly as I fucking can. If you do not mate Ember and receive the power and responsibility that comes with it, we will ALL fucking die. Your claim on her will fade and so will the Mate bond, leaving her open to be claimed by the four horsemen. If you do not do it for yourself, then do it for your family. For your pack. For your fucking future, or you will damn us all”, Agatha’s voice echoed into our bond. She stood up and excused herself before looking in annoyance at Damien and leaving. Damien sighed.
” We have to get going, but we will be back. The council requires this book back in their possession, ” dad said, standing up. We hugged mom and nodded to dad before they left as well. I walked into the kitchen to fix something to eat, and Damien followed. He was silent, and I knew he was lost in thought.
“Surely you can’t still be upset with Ember for being human. She is clearly not just human.” I told him and he sighed again.
“I have accepted she is my human mate already, and that is not what annoys me”, he said, making himself some coffee.
“So, what bothers the great Damien Lightwood?”, I asked.
” I do not want to have to mate Ember, just because the fate of the world depends on it”, he said in a low voice, but I caught it.
” You love her already.” I told him.
” I do not love her. I tolerate her”, Damien replied back annoyed, but he was not fooling me.
“You know I am the one person you cannot lie to, as much as you try. I feel your love for her, and I also feel your fear. Your fear of her rejecting you. The real you”, I told him, and he just growled, but I knew he knew I was right. ” .
” Look, Damien. She was paired with us for a reason. Since you have met her, you have given her nothing but shit to get her to reject you. It is now time to embrace our mate, and fully mate her to protect her. I see the way you long for her when we are with her. I cannot do this without you, and I know deep down, you want this as much as me”, I told him. He sipped his coffee in deep thought before sighing.
“Fine” was all he said before heading upstairs. After I finished cooking lunch, I went upstairs to find him sitting on the couch, staring at Ember. I handed him his plate and went into our room to make some calls. Since they were going to be asleep for a few days, we were in charge of the pack and needed to be here, looking over them. I linked Jax to handle Moonlight. I could not wait for Ember to wake up. Not hearing her voice or looking into her blue eyes was driving me nuts.
Ruby
Ever since that human bitch came into our family, she has been tearing it apart. Human fucking scum. They believed she was some goddess? She will be the end of us. Our ruin. She has everyone wrapped around her finger, including my Damien. I had to get her away from my family, even if that meant doing something that went against everything I ever knew. If the enemy pack of Ryders wanted her, then they would fucking get her. The farther away from our family, the fucking better. I put in a call to a contact of mine in Tallahassee that resided in Ryder’s pack.
“Put me through to your fucking alpha.”