Lark awakening, page 24
Jeff leans toward the girl. His shaking hand outstretched.
Queen. Queen. Queen. The word chants inside my mind. Marnie said she was going to be a queen. Is that what the blue light was for, to make her a queen?
No! She mustn't be allowed to do that! Something screams in my mind. Something feral and wild. Holy smokes, Batman. What was that?
Think, Lark, think!
A name sits on the end of my tongue but I can't quite remember it.
E. Eeeee.
The two boys argue loudly but I drown them out. I need to remember. Gotta remember.
Eeel.
No, that's not right.
I blink and am greeted by stark blue eyes. Like the Caribbean ocean. Crystal clear and stunningly beautiful.
Eli…
Elijah!
My brain screams in agony as all my memories flood back to me.
Elijah's first day at school, the way his eyes made me feel naked, protected and wanted all at the same time. His shy affection. The way he smiles at me. I grab hold of the memory of him above me, the look of pure love in his eyes.
"I love you, Lark."
Fire courses through my veins electrifying my senses. I roar as I push forward, pulling the spikes out of the wood. They clunk to the ground. I pull my feet free next, the boys, who I now recognise as Jeff and one of the hockey team, Steve and Trent, stare at me with wide eyes as the soles of my feet slap against the concrete. A blue light encases me as I rise up into the air. It spins around and around but not like it did with Marnie. This time, I feel its pure and utter joy. The remaining light in the jar next to the unconscious Marnie rushes towards me, breaks in two and wraps around my bleeding hands. I watch as the skin stitches itself back together. Once all traces of injury fade away, the light slides to my hair and picks up the short ends. It tickles as the blue light makes it grow to its normal length.
This is so cool!
The hockey guy screams, not unlike a girl and then runs for the door. It won't open. I slip my eyes closed and feel the heavy cloak over the building we are in. That won't do. I concentrate and feel the barrier snap and fall away. I smile. Oh, this feels good. After hours locked up and defenceless, I feel empowered. It flows through me as the blue light sinks into my skin.
"That's better," I look at Jeff and Trent, the other boy dashes out of the door so fast, his pants tear on a stray nail, cutting his leg. I breathe deeply.
Snake.
That boy is a Slither. I clench my fist closed and pull. The boy is dragged back into the room and deposited on the ground next to Marnie. He starts to shift, his skin rippling as scales break out over it. "Nah, ah, no you don't." I say softly in a tone I don't recognise as mine.
I like it.
Steve stops shifting midway and just lays there, half boy, half snake, hissing.
Ew. That is one gross looking tongue.
"How?" Jeff yells, catching my attention. Bad move.
"You, what are you? You smell," I drag air into my lungs. "Change." I order and almost immediately dark brown fur bursts from his skin. "Well blow me over, you're a freaking bear!"
"That's right," he roars as claws spring from his fingers, "I'll kill you for everything you put me through!" He falls to his knees, gasping.
"You should be dying," Trent says quietly while staring at me. "Steve bit you, I've seen girls half your size die in less than an hour."
"Don't you know?" I ask with a smile and land on my feet. "I'm a freaking queen!" I lift my hand and raise my eyebrow as a stream of blue light zooms towards him. His nose looks messed up, I remember the hammer bouncing back at him and giggle. The beam of light hits him in the chest, throwing him back onto the tables. They break under his weight and he crashes to the floor. Ha, awesome. He growls as his skin ripples. Jeff's transformation is complete and when I look up at him, he's at least seven feet tall, five hundred pounds, he's charging towards me.
Naughty bear.
I flick my wrist but lightly, not wanting to kill him. His paws lift and before I know it, he's hanging upside down. A battle cry leaves his thin lips as he hangs there. The snake boy hisses some more as a dark figure steps out of the shadows near the door.
"Magnificent." The pale man walks towards me, seemingly unafraid.
"Who are you?" I ask, not willing to attack without first finding out what role he has played in all this.
"The name's Mingus, my queen, I am at your service." He bows deeply. A memory surfaces at the back of my mind. Hmm. Mingus. Did Marnie not say she hired him to help kidnap the students? That he was using them as walking blood bags?
"No thanks." I lift him into the air too and then will his mouth shut as he starts to curse me.
Marnie lifts her head.
"What's - what's happening?" She shakes her head as if to clear it. I stride over to her and tut.
"You're a bad human, Marnie, You had those kids stolen so you could steal my powers." She snarls at me.
"You don't deserve it!" She screams as the door behind us slams open and two men rush in. I spin, ready to hang them upside too but then the breath leaves my lungs.
"Elijah." I breathe, barely believing my eyes. He strides to me and wraps his arms around me.
"Lark, oh, god, Lark."
"Shh, it's ok, I'm ok."
"We've been searching for you. We couldn't find you, the witches couldn't see you, Shelly,"
"Hey," I pull back and take his face in my hands. "It's ok. They had a ward around the building." Ward? Is that the right word? Yeah, I'm sure of it. "You couldn't find me because of that. But now you have," I look over his shoulder to see his dad staring up at the two people hanging upside down, mumbling behind magically closed mouths. "About that," I begin but my words are cut off when Harrison launches himself at us and wraps his massive arms around the both of us.
"Disgusting!" Marnie screeches. "You're fucking the dad and the son? Yuck!" I spin around and point my finger in her face.
"Elijah is my mate, understand?" I straighten up and tap my chin, "King? Do you become a king if I'm queen?" He chuckles and wraps his arms around my waist. Harrison moves towards Steve.
"Ugh! This isn't fair! I was supposed to be the Queen, you're not even worthy, you're poor!" Marnie complains as she tries to escape the straps on her wrists and ankles.
"Wow, Marnie. Being queen goes way deeper than that."
"Exactly." Elijah agrees, "now you know why you weren't the Queen."
"Why did they choose you? What do you have that I don't?"
"Heart," someone says. We all freeze and look around for the disembodied voice. I look around Harrison to Jeff the bear and Mingus the vampire. Their mouths are still sealed shut. Overpowering bright white light floods the room. I cover my eyes with my arm and Elijah and everyone else does the same. Well, the bear and vampire just slam their eyes closed and Steve hisses.
"Who are you?" Elijah tries to push me behind him as a man appears from literally nowhere. I frown and step in front of him.
"I am Fenrir, god of wolves." The man replies in a deep rumbling voice. Harrison drops to his knees, closely followed by Elijah. I look around at everyone else, then do the same. "Not-'' Fenrir sighs, "not you." He waves his hand, indicating I should get up. I do it with a shy smile. "Ah, my sister. You are young." He observes in a less scary voice.
"Ha, yeah," is all I can think to say. Sister? Huh?
"You have awakened before your time but it matters naught, you make a fine high alpha and queen."
"Thanks?" He shakes his head and smiles kindly.
"So young and full of life, I dare say our brothers and sisters will like you." He chuckles and reaches out his hand. I look at it then back to his face. He's not much older than me, if I had to guess. Maybe twenty? Yet, his full beard is a mix of dark brown and grey. His very long, very shaggy hair is dark, too, but has no signs of ageing. He's tall, like, crazy tall, at least seven feet. My neck hurts to look up at him as I take a step forward.
"Lark," Elijah looks up as I pass, "don't." I shake my head.
"Why?"
"Because he knows what will happen if you take my hand, sister." Fenrir says quietly.
"A handshake? A hug? What are we talking about here, buddy?" I smile down at Elijah and wish he would get up. This new fella isn't that scary. Tall and dressed in a toga that definitely doesn't look like it's made from a bedsheet. But not scary.
"You are to be a goddess." He announces as if it's obvious.
Nah. That's so not happening.
"Thanks for the offer, Fen, but I kinda have a prom to go to." He laughs and shakes his head like I'm a small child playing a game. I guess I kinda am.
"Ok, another couple of years,"
I reach down and take Elijah's hand. "My whole life."
"Maybe ten?"
"Indefinitely." I pull Elijah to his feet and squeeze his hand. He smiles back at me, that same smile that brought me back from the brink of death.
"You might change your mind once the others visit." He counters.
I turn to face him, my face made of stone. "Not gonna happen." The giant of a man chuckles deeply.
"Oh, the havoc you will wrought." He replies. "Rise, children, swear your allegiance to the new queen, for she shall be the last."
"The best." Elijah adds.
"The one who changes everything." Harrison nods then walks into the back where I presume the prisoners are.
"The one who's freaking starving." I add with a smile.
The prom
Soft music plays around us as I stare up at the moon. She's huge and full, the flaws in her surface only add to her beauty. A light breeze picks up my hair as I look around me.
"Here we go, two nasty tasting cups of punch." Elijah hands me a plastic cup with what looks like dishwater inside.
"Yummy." I salute him with it and then toss the contents over my shoulder onto the grass. He grins back at me, the stars reflecting in their depths. He puts his cup of nasty down and grins.
"You're so beautiful, Lark, you rival the moon in all her glory." He whispers as he wraps his arms around my waist.
"You're just saying that so I don't put your butt in shifter jail." Fenrir, god of wolves, took Jeff, Mingus, Trent and Steve with him when he left for 'the god realm' with the promise they'd get a fair trial.
Apparently, Marnie and her parents ploughed a lot of her dad's company money into hiring people in order to steal my 'powers' so she could be the high alpha despite her being a - get this - a rat shifter! Can you believe it? I can. Truly. Hilarious. She's being dealt with on the lower plane by Kadence, the minor shifter goddess.
The kidnapped kids didn't remember anything of their ordeal, apparently, the vampire wiped their memories after he saw my powers reject Marnie. They're all recovering from hangovers. But they're healthy, safe. Thanks to the extra gift I've been given. Which turns out, is freaking amazing. The poison from Steve the snake should have killed me dead. Like, dead dead, no matter if I'm the queen or a wolf, but it turns out, I can't be killed. At all. So there's that.
"I wouldn't mind," Elijah spins me around and dips me low to the grass, "if you want to handcuff me and lock me away in your room for a few weeks, I'm game." He kisses me, softly at first but harder as I lift us into the air. He pulls back and wobbles a bit, unused to flying. "That's high, yep, oh, boy."
I belly laugh at his reaction. He's completely adorable, of course. Mine.
"What happens now?" He asks as I grab his hand and pull him to me. He smooths his hands down my light pink silk dress, stopping just above my butt.
"Now? Hmm. Now you sing happy birthday to me." I reply quietly. He frowns and looks down at the ground. I follow his eyes to find my friends, my family below me. Harrison, my dad and Silva, Jenna and Tanner, Shelly and Derek, almost everyone from the Rez standing below me.
"One step ahead of you, love." Tears spring to my eyes as the crowd below cheer and clap. "Happy birthday, Lark. I love you."
* * *
The End.
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Dear readers
Thank you SO much for reading Lark awakening. This will be my first published book in this category, my first wolf shifter book, my first clean romance. Please, if you have time, I would greatly appreciate you leaving me a review. They fuel my soul, they drive me to continue writing. Thank you,
Lisa XoXo
The Event
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The Tribe - book one
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The wall
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The Tribe - book two
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The Elder wars
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***
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L.K. Beal, Lark awakening
