Wow! I can’t believe that I haven’t put anything up here for some time.
Updates: I finished my first draft for the 8th Rare Wolf book. This one will finish this series. It will, though, leave open the option to write another series or two in this world, if I want to. But for now, I need time to get away from it, once this one is published.
I put the first chapter up on Ream, but I can put it up here as well. Well, it’s not the full first chapter, but enough to give you some idea of what two of Holden’s three children can do.
The formatting doesn’t come out well, but you can get the general idea of the story. Yes, it needs to be edited. Yes, there probably will be changes. But here’s the general idea.
Chapter 1
Maggie
“Okay, girls, don’t get into any, troub—” I watched as two of the Holden’s three triplets take off into the store, giggling. They were definitely not listening to me.
I turned to Betta, with a beseeching look on my face. “Betta?” I wasn’t proud, but there was a whine in my voice.
The young woman laughed and waved me off, turning to follow the two urchins. “I’ll watch over them, Maggie. The biggest issue right now is they are running like hoodlums. Then again, how much damage can they do?”
Shuddering, I replied. “I hope you didn’t just jinx yourself.”
She laughed, rushing to find her cousins in the store.
Luckily, there weren’t many people here on a Tuesday morning.
We rarely had to come into the store, but the alphas had called a meeting with everyone at Alemos, and we didn’t have any of the preferred snacks. Yes, the house could have ordered them for us, but the girls needed to get out of there.
The lone triplet, Hope, had stayed there—well, she wasn’t technically at the house. She had gone with her Aunt Belesh and Uncle Tamerin to Belesh’s laboratory this morning, chattering away to them in the Universa language.
Holden actually had a moment to breathe once we had grabbed the other two.
I was in the produce area when Betta reached out to me via our bond link.
Ummm…Maggie? I think you need to come here.
I sighed, turning away from the avocados. None of them were ripe enough to make guacamole, anyway. Coming.
That was when a voice came over the loudspeaker. “We are evacuating the store. Please calmly leave through the front doors until we can determine when it is safe for you to return.”
The message repeated.
What the fuck?
I rushed down the main aisle, looking for the girls.
I slowed, as almost every cross-aisle had someone laying on the floor. Some were leaning up against the shelves, holding their heads. Others were out cold. Those seemed to have a store employee beside them, watching over them.
What was going on here? Was there a gas leak or something?
Finally, I found Betta near the far end of the store. She was holding Lauren’s hand and glaring down the length of the corridor at Roxy, who was standing by a man who was out cold on the floor.
“Betta! What happened?”
She whipped her head around and before pointing at the other girl further away. “Grab her! Let’s get out of here. Then I will tell you what these urchins were doing.” She marched Lauren to the end of the aisle towards the front doors.
As they passed, I glanced down at her face. Lauren looked uneasy, not meeting my eyes.
Oh, damn! Betta was implying this was all about them.
I rushed down the aisle towards Roxy, who turned and ran away.
“Roxy! Stop right there! We have to leave the store!”
She didn’t. Of course, she didn’t. In fact, she just ran faster.
Well, there was one way to handle this.
I switched my sight and reached out to grab her soul strands, tugging on the lycanthrope one gently.
Roxy stopped, her back to me, her little body trembling.
“There you are.” I swooped her up and carried her out of the store, not looking at the firefighters who were now standing near the door, making sure everyone got out.
“Are you okay? Not feeling dizzy or anything?” An EMT asked me as we passed by.
I shook my head. “No, we are okay. It just took me a while to catch this run-away.”
The man nodded, already looking towards the door and the first man that was being escorted out, an oxygen mask over his face.
I looked around for Betta, heading towards our car.
I had parked near the back, which was a great idea, given what had happened.
Betta was there, the back door open, Lauren sitting on the seat, her feet swinging between them.
“Okay, what happened in there?” I opened the front door and plunked Roxy down, pointing at her. “Stay there.”
Betta handed me a juice box, which I gave to the girl. She started slurping down the juice instantly, finishing it in a minute.
“I’m hungry.” She whined.
Betta mumbled to herself, “I bet you are.” She handed the girl an energy bar and she took a large bite, chewing it enthusiastically.
I turned back to Betta. “Any idea what happened?”
Betta, squatting in front of Lauren, sighed, holding up another energy bar. When she shook her head no, the young woman sat back on her heels and looked up at me.
“It appears these two have a new favorite game. Lauren is…”she paused before continuing, “A bit like you. She can see soul strands or something? I don’t quite understand…”
I stepped forward and gazed down at her, my look intense. “You see soul strands? What color are Betta’s?”
Lauren gave me a tentative smile. “Blue and green, but not like Dad’s. Her’s are more shimmering.”
I nodded, looking around before pointing at a woman standing not too far from us. “And hers?”
“Blue.” was her instant response.
Noticing a man standing in the shade. “Him?”
Lauren hesitated before looking up at me, her brows squished together. “Blue. But he has the black spots on it. Those were the ones we were getting rid of. Roxy can do that. She goes by them and then the person ends up just blue.”
Ends up just what?
I turned to Roxy, who was finishing her energy bar.
“What do you do, Roxy?” I whispered.
“I clean them.” She replied, licking her fingers.
Distracted, I grabbed a paper towel and shoved it at her. “Don’t lick your fingers. Use this.”
She took it and wiped them quickly.
I pushed further. “What does cleaning them mean?”
Roxy cocked her head, looking up at me, those green eyes bright with intelligence. “I get rid of the black spots. I just rip them off as I pass by them and they are gone. Poof!”
I quickly checked the girl with my sight. No black spots were on her.
“And you know they are there because Lauren tells you?”
She nodded, looking around. “I can’t see them, but she tells me they’re there and I get rid of them. She lets me know if they’re gone.” She paused, looking up at me. “I’m still hungry.”
Betta shushed her. “In a minute. This is important, Rox”
I inhaled, holding it before letting it out. “How did you discover out you could do that?”
Roxy giggled, turning to her sister. “Lauren told me. She said the people had the spots before I ran by and then afterwards they didn’t.”
I closed my eyes. Getting information from five-year-olds was difficult. “One more question for you, please. Do you do anything when you run by them?”
Roxy frowned, thinking. “I just moved my hand like this.” She made a swiping motion, raising her right hand above her head and then swiping it down and towards her left side. She then shook her hand, raising them so that her palms were facing up. She stared back at me as if to say, “Duh.”
O-kay.
This (complete) chapter is also up on Ream for free for followers. https://reamstories.com/kjcarr
KJ