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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Made a couple small edits and added a little bit more to the story. Aiming for 500+ words a day.

Prologue

My feet dashed over the wet slippery grass, the giggles escaping from my throat as I dashed across the park, heedless of the fact it had once again started raining. My friend was right behind me, only slightly taller and could keep up with my short stubby legs regardless of how fast I tried to run. When I lost my balance and tumbled to the ground, I collapsed into a heap of giggles. When I finally shoved the wet hair from my eyes, his worried face melted back into a scowl. He really was adorable, all chubby cheeks puffed by the fact he was trying so hard to look scary. Blonde hair, wet now from the rain, stood up in tufts and spikes, and curling against his cheeks. We were both barely past five, and I knew, with only the certainty that a child could have, that I loved this boy and would grow up and marry him one day. He scowled harder when I informed him of such, blue eyes going a hint of gold. They did that sometimes, change from blue to gold, and I swear sometimes I heard him growl when I really annoyed him in preschool. We had escaped out the little fence during recess, and knowing our teachers, we wouldn't be missed for a bit yet. Long as we came back before school was over, the teachers never really noticed or cared.

So we escaped to the little forested area, Malakai and I. Me in my overalls, muddy now, socks rolled up, and a dirty white tee shirt with matching dirty white sneakers. I hated wearing shoes, they always pinched my toes. Mama had gone away to Heaven, and Papa had left me with his parents, my grandparents, to go away to school. And they were funny, sometimes they called me weird names, if they noticed I existed, names that belonged to other people. Othertimes they would talk funny, especially when it got dark outside. Still, the afternoons spent with Mal more than made up for the fact that no one at home talked to me much anymore.

I brushed my hair out of my eyes once more, mostly managing to just smear mud on my face rather than anything, tugging on the red curls. I hated my red hair, all the other kids liked to make fun of my crimson red hair, calling me names and laughing at my green eyes so pale as to sometimes appear colorless. And the freckles, so many freckles, all over my body and coating my face. I was a freak, all the other kids assured me. But Mal, he just took my hand and led me away from bullies and their taunts, and told me I was pretty. It was mumbled, and he refused to look at me when he said it because Mal liked to pretend he was big and tough and mean. All the other kids were afraid of him, because he towered over them in size and height and he had a mean temper. You were dumb enough to pick a fight with Mal, he would come after you fists flying and he had a tendency to bite. The teachers had given up trying to suspend him, he always seemed to come back the next day as if nothing had happened and now just told the kids that they shouldn't pick a fight with Mal. And if they did, well, they learned their lesson.

But Mal for some reason, when he saw me, he didn't bully me like the other kids. He just walked up to me, grabbed my hand and told me firmly, "You belong to me now." I had stared at him, mouth open, watching in disbelief as he bent down and picked up the books the other girl had just managed to knock out of my hands. I loved books. I couldn't read, but I loved picture books, and looking at the bright colorful pictures and the happy families in them. And then, Mal kept holding my hand. He kept picking fights with anyone who tried to be mean to me when he was around.

Mal was my savior, my hero, my defense against the world. And so, in this rainy afternoon, when I told him that we needed to grow up and be married, he just scoffed and nudged me with one sneakered foot. He always dressed so nice, his parents had to be really rich. "Why do we have to wait until we grow up? We can just be married now." Delighted with the idea, I jumped to my feet, and then unable to resist, promptly jumped into the mud puddle next to me. Mal scowled at me again, he tried so hard to be mean and tough to me, but I saw his ooey gooey marshmallow side. Stomping out of the puddle as Mal grumbled about getting mud on his clothes and something about why he was stuck with a mate who was so rowdy, whatever that meant. I ignored his grumblings as I always did and instead marched off across the field.

"What are you doing now?" Mal groused, even as he stomped after me. I paused in the middle of collecting the pretty white roses that grew on Miss Lily's fence. Miss Lily was always kind to me, would let me come into her house and she would share snacks with me on the days that Papa forgot to pick me up from school. She would wait until her friend came home from work and she would give the other lady a kiss, and then she would walk me home. Sometimes I got tired, and sometimes.. sometimes I only pretended to be tired, just so Miss Lily's friend, Miss Jessie would carry me home. She was so big and strong, tall like a mountain, and I always felt so safe wrapped in her arms.

Now though, I had a wedding to enact. Recess was surely over by now, and we had a short time before school would be letting out. No time for a proper wedding. So I gathered up the roses in my arm and then scowled. "We need a priest."

"A what?" Mal stared at me blankly, clearly confused enough to forget to be snarly. "You know." I explained patiently, even as I looked around. "Someone to be official and marry us." Mal blinked, looking even more confused, before he finally scooped up one of Miss Lilly's fat white rabbits. We had both wandered into her yard, for she never locked her gate, though Mal was careful to shut the gate behind him. No letting the rabbits escape. They had a big fancy house, though I forgot what Miss Lily had called it. Something with an H. I had a hard time remembering things, especially on the days I was hungry. Mal set the bunny down on the special house, on one of the ramps, and pointed at it. The rabbit simply twitched its nose, not seeming to care about the rain that was steadily coming down, soaking all of us. Though, the garden certainly looked happy in the rain, all the pretty flowers and lots of pretty colorful plants growing in neat lines.

"Fine, Asparagus can be the priest." I giggled at the name. Miss Lily always gave her rabbits silly names. I could never tell them apart, but somehow Mal always could. Still, I clutched at my flowers and pretended to listen to the rabbit, as he twitched his pink nose and his long floppy ears twitched. Solemnly I repeated the words I heard in all the romance movies that Miss Lily let me watch with her sometimes. Though she tended to fast forward a lot with the remote, blushing as she mumbled about forgetting about this part. Whatever that meant. I always liked the endings, the way they always looked so happy to be married and live happily ever after. "I Arianna Suiat, take you, Malakai Winters, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." I had practiced those words over and over again, always imagining myself in the big fluffy white dress and veil and Mal all grown up and standing beside me. But this was good practice too, I decided as I turned an expectant look upon Mal who only scowled darkly at me.

"What?" He demanded.

"Say the words," I explained patiently. He huffed a breath and then turned to the rabbit. However, the words he spoke, they weren't the right ones. They weren't even in English. Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed out a breath, fighting back tears. He wasn't playing right! This wasn't right! I stomped one foot. However, instead of being mad, he looked scared for some reason as he saw my tears, mixing in with the now pouring rain. Promptly he grabbed my hands with one of his, the other scrubbing at me face as he mumbled, "Don't cry, kier, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make it real."

I sniffed, asking, "Make what real?"

"The mating ceremony." He told me, then peered anxiously at my eyes. "I'll say your words if you say mine." I bit my lip, but well, I was easily mollified by him, always so. So I sniffed again, staring at Mal until he finally repeated the words I had spoken, only barely managing to swap husband with wife with a little stumble. And so, I did my best to repeat his words, in that weird language. By that time, the rain was letting up, and well, I knew I wasn't going back to school all soaking wet. I would just get scolded. So I sat in Miss Lily's garden with Mal, until Miss Jesse came home. She sighed, ran her fingers through her short hair, and tsked with her tongue. Leaning down, she scooped first me and then Mal, who had fallen asleep against the rabbits' home. He didn't even stir, even as she carried us both inside to wrap us up in towels. He woke, wrapped in a thick fluffy towel, when a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup was placed in front of him, realizing he had been set on the couch and the bowl set on the table in front. I had eagerly scarfed down my bowl and was in the process of my second one. And so when I put a noodle on my upper lip and crossed my eyes at my now pretend husband, he just rolled his own eyes and set to eating. And I knew in that moment, I would never be happier, as Miss Lily walked by, ruffled my hair and then pressed a kiss to Miss Jesse's cheek as she passed by to the kitchen.

Present Day - 30 Years Later.

"Ari!" I flinched at the strident voice, swallowing down my knee jerk reaction to apologize. Speaking without permission given was just asking for another beating. Instead I gathered up the folded laundry, and hurried up the stairs to see what Janette, Papa's wife and my step-mother, wanted this time. Laundry clutched my chest, I kept my eyes lowered and waited quietly. Jan turned to face me, her expression as always one of cool contempt. Papa had married for money this time, having managed to clean himself up from his drinking when I was almost twenty. Cleaned up and sober, he was a strikingly handsome man, who had gallant charm and a witty if dry sense of humor. Papa had worked his charm, and had quickly won over the CEO of the business he worked for. His daughter, a woman twice Papa's age, had decided to pursue him, and they had married within a year of marriage. Papa and Mama had had me young, barely past sixteen themselves. I hadn't learned until I was much older and Jan's daughter, Sabrina, had thrown it into my face - that Mama had died giving birth to me. Papa may be a terrible father, but at least he never made me grow up with the knowledge I had killed my own mother. We had moved into a house specifically bought for them by her father, and Papa was on the fast track of taking over for the CEO who was planning to retire this year, after a decade of grooming Papa for that specific position.

I had done everything in my power these last few years to make sure everything ran smoothly. Papa needed this position, he needed to make sure we were taken care of. We'd had many a long talks when he was detoxing and needed to lean on my strength to clean himself up first, and then later when he was to be married, and he stressed to me the absolute importance of being good and proper and behave and obey my new mother. I refused to call her Mama, and well, Jan didn't want me to anyway. It was just "Yes Ma'am, no Ma'am" for her.

Papa had finished high school, while his parents mostly raised me, and he had left me with my grandparents when he went away to college for business school. He had only taken me back when his father had passed away from a heart attack. Like a fool at fifteen years old, I had promised Mal I would run away with him to his home, certain I would run away from home and everything would be fine. And then grandfather had a heart attack and I had called an ambulance, because grandmother's dementia was too far gone to be aware enough to do so herself. So I had gone with him to the hospital, held his hand while the machines beeped. Papa had shown up then, and without warning, had grabbed my arm and dragged me away to his car. I had no phone, they didn't have cell phones in the early two thousands, at least not for poor kids like me, and I wasn't even sure he had a house phone. His family, whenever he talked about them, seemed the hippie, commune with nature type. I had wanted to say goodbye to him, even more wanted to run away with him. But I wasn't a fighter, not like Mal. So I had submissively gone with Papa, let him drag me far away, in his beat up pickup truck, to California of all places. It seemed to be the end of the world, even if it wasn't that far from Montana in reality.

Somehow he had landed the job, and I went from working myself to the bone, to being able to work only one, sometimes two jobs. I had taken over finances, and to be able to use his paycheck to pay both electric and water instead of trying to decide what I could survive without that month had been a godsend. His parents had left the house to him in the will, but the house was old and falling apart and needed more repairs than it could ever be worth. The place was only worth selling so it could be torn down and the land used for whatever building. And when Papa had met Jan, and they had decided to marry, I had thought it was a sign from the gods that things were finally looking upwards.

Realizing that I had drifted mentally off in my thoughts, I clutched the folded laundry tight to my chest and focused my attention to the left of her shoulder, not comfortable with eye contact even though she was always scolding at me to "look her in the eye like an adult, you lazy, good-for-nothing freeloader." I couldn't help the fact I was so different from her and her daughters, that I struggled with social anxiety, that loud noises upset me, that I was even still afraid of thunderstorms. There was something fundamentally broken within me and I had simply accepted it as such and did my best to work around it. Jan had set me up in her business, mostly as a errand girl. I ran around and fetched drinks, ran notes to and from other departments, and was responsible for coffee and pastries for meetings, along with whatever else needed to be done that day. It was a physically demanding job, demeaning most days, but it was enough.

Five years I had bitten my tongue, been polite and respectful, and obedient. Five years Papa had been climbing the ladder and had been promised this CEO position now that Jan's father was finally ready to retire. I kept promising myself, as soon as Papa had been promoted, the paperwork signed and cleared, that I would run away. Where? I didn't know. It didn't matter. Maybe I would try to find Mal again. It was the year 2022, technology had developed in leaps and bounds after all. I still didn't have a cell phone, but I could work the library computers just fine. Surely I could find him on the internet. Somehow.

"-And that's why I've decided that you should be married." My brain tuned back in on that comment, and I blinked, nearly dropping the folded laundry in my shock. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, could you please repeat your words?" I asked, tone apologetic. The look I got was scathing, and the tittering of my step sisters did nothing to help the situation. I hadn't even noticed that they had wandered into Jan's study in the last few minutes.

#cinderella AU #Ari Mal

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Cinderella Twist

Present Day - 30 Years Later.

I had dropped out of school as soon as I could legally without the state noticing or caring I was gone, a day after my sixteenth birthday. Papa had been deep in the bottle by that point, barely able to roll out of the bed most days. Someone had to work, someone had to pay the bills and keep the roof over our head and food on the table. I had juggled three, sometimes four jobs, with as many side jobs paid in cash as I could manage. When Papa had finally dragged himself from the bottle, I still didn't know what possessed him, but I was grateful for it everyday, and I had spent hours each day applying for jobs for him. Papa had finished high school, while his parents mostly raised me, and he had left me with my grandparents when he went away to college for business school. He had only taken me back when his father had passed away from a heart attack, and the state had found other grandmother had too far advanced Alzheimer's to be deemed a fit caregiver. And at fifteen, I was too young to just run away and live on the streets, not that I was brave enough to do that anyway. He had cleaned himself up for the interview, with me doing most of the work, and walking with him on the bus personally and then to the entrance of the building, just to ensure he actually went to his interview.

#cinderella remix #Ari Mal

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Cinderella Twist

Prologue

So we escaped to the little forested area, Malakai and I. Me in my overalls, muddy now, socks rolled up, and a dirty white tee shirt with matching dirty white sneakers. I hated wearing shoes, they always pinched my toes. But ever since Mama went away, Papa just sat around the house and drank that funny smelling juice that made his voice go all weird and he tended to sleep more than be awake. Still, the afternoons spent with Mal more than made up for the fact that no one at home talked to me anymore.

"What?" He demanded.

I sniffed, asking, "Make what real?"

Present Day - 30 Years Later.

#cinderella #supernatural #Ari Mal

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Rambling Ideas about Main Story and other plot ideas

Tired.. too tired to write. But I'm just gonna decide to write out ideas? I want to start from the very beginning. Like, very beginning with Simon and Jewel and everyone else, right before the First War. Back when the Elders still walked amongst their creations. Write how Imara decided to try and conquer the universe. Remember, before the First War, the universe was whole and complete. It was only after the First War that it shattered into fragments and the Space Mages have been trying to put the pieces back together. Before the First War, there were no need for Arch Mages, because the Elders did not return and actually create the Veil to protect their universe from the 'Siders and go back to beyond home until the First War. So after the First War, then the need for the Summoning every thousand years happened. The Second War was the worst, not sure what caused it yet, but it was horrible and lasted long enough that they almost missed the Summoning. It was only the Summoning that caused the War to end. Now the Third War happened LONG after the Second War. Like, they missed a Summoning, and it weakened the Veil but it didn't falter and fall. Second time they missed a Summoning, the veil shattered, and the 'Siders came to destroy the universe. Nearly wiped out the entire universe and the still fragmented pieces, but somehow the good guys prevailed. The problem was that after almost two thousand years, no one believed in the Summoning, thought it was fake, a fairy tale like King Author and whatnot.

Back to the Main Story, mostly I need to focus on setting up what. Will it be on one planet? Or many planets? I'm leaning on many it would make more sense. But I really want to write a story that's set on one planet and they go sailing on a ship and go on adventures. Wouldn't that be fun? Maybe I'll set aside another project folder for something like that. Create a brand new world and slowly populate it. Actually on second thought, that sounds really fun.

Create a ship, and a motley crew and write random adventures that they go on, kind of like my own DND traveling party? Hmm not sure. this website is acting a little glitchy.. here we go. Cheating a little, just to catch myself up on quests. Don't judge.

I'm not adding the extra words to my word count at least. Not really counting it in my book either.. can I add musing to my word count if I'm talking about the actual story I want to write? I really want to start over from the beginnng. With the Arch Mages and Thirteen .. the Mother and the Father and the Eleven. The Mother and Father are the Ancients. There are nine Elders, hence Nine Arch Mages. The Chosen are the ones chosen for the roles of Father and Mother. And the Lokarians are the Keepers, the Gatestone and Keystone Keepers.

Like I have so much backstory and I just.. don't know where to start. I want to write, I do. But I want to write this random fluff piece about traveling this random world on a ship. And another part of me wants to write the Cinderella knock off. And another wants to work on my romance novels. And yet, I get nothing done but sitting here, writing out misc ideas. At least I'm trying? I have so much I WANT to do, and yet, I'm afraid to start. Maybe once I get my laptop, things will be easier? I'll have more motivations. At least it will be easier to type on, this keyboard is SO small. My hands keep falling off, and I have little hands. I ... I want to write. I miss writing. I'm trying. It's so hard not to give up. But I'm trying, I swear I am.

#random thoughts

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Sinclair Musings

No new writings, sorry, just musings. I need to find the perfect Mate for Sinclair I have decided. Sam’s best friend. And I need to name Miguel’s identical twin brother. Something with an M.

I have.. a handful of other stories that eventually I need to weave together. I do have a vague idea of who goes in what order, if that helps?

Lief and Kristopher are first

Second is Lyddie and Amir

Third is Sam and Nico and Miguel

Fourth is Riley and Ash

Fifth is Ella and Naim

But .. I really love Sinclair. They are just amazing. And I really want them to find happiness. Side note to self, its them because Sin and her bonded are two seperate people. Sinclair sees herself as female, but some duals see themselves as male, and some don't see themselves as either or just fluid.

But who to pair Sinclair with? Someone who deserves her. She's rude, abrasive and wary of the world. A former prostitute, at least until Miguel found out she lived in squaller and dragged her under his protection of money and being all proper and stuff. I don't know if I'm gonna write anything today or just make notes. Making notes is okay too, at least I'm making progress?

I need to build myself a timeline. And put the pieces I do have written into proper order. I really need to order Scriviner. But.. do I want them to be the ones saved.. or the ones needing saved? I do have this idea for a character and do a sort of cinderella themed, but the girl is deaf, and this poor thing is treated terribly. Would she match well with Sinclair? Or maybe one of Kristopher's friends? Maybe the Alpha of the Shuuheran pack, Miguel's brother? Miguel is an Alpha too, but he didn't want to rule the pack, but his twin brother did. So Miguel stepped aside, even though he is the older by two minutes, and helps his brother out sometimes in pack meetings and decisions but mostly just lives on pack lands and tends to his .. what is his job? I really need to fill out character sheets for everyone. I have books and stuff, just need to sit down and focus.

Okay, so Riin for .. whats his face Alpha Shuuheran. That can be book seven.

Back to Sinclair. I want someone patient and kind and gentle for her. She's so abrasive and angry at the world, I need someone who can take her sharp, deadly, angry edges and smooth them out, round them, and be the one who teaches her the world doesn't have to be cold and cruel, that there's gentleness and kindness and love in the world too. I'm kind of excited to see this storyline grow. I eventually want to self publish on Kindle. Doubt anyone would read them, but just the idea of writing enough to be actually FINISH a book would be incredible. I don't want to share my characters in an actual publishing format, or make money. I just want to write to enjoy myself. But.. I think if I get Scrivinar and actually put together character sheets and timelines, I can write fluffy, plotless, romance fiction. Or maybe it would have a plot running through it. Who knows. I mostly just want to write fluffy, happy, HEA paranormal romance. Just fluff pieces of people falling in love and being happy with each other.

#paranormal romance #Sinclair #Riin

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Ella rescues Naim, but doesn’t know its him

Ella didn't expect to bring home a dog today. She really didn't. What would she do with a dog anyway? Ella stared down at the massive creature that looked so pathetic, limping around holding its bandaged leg up with what Ella would share was drama worthy of a toddler. Well, her brother's niece was nothing if not dramatic and he often called her raised by wolves, especially when she was on a tear and throwing a tantrum. What did Jessup call her, oh yeah. Threenager. It certainly fit, she had the attitude of a teenager, with the emotional control typical of a toddler. Thankfully she was super cute and easily distracted. Even if children were brutally honest and terrible for your self - esteem, they still could melt your heart when they randomly blurted out things like, "I love you aunt E!"

Realizing her thoughts were drifting again, Ella just sighed and fumbled her keys before managing to push open the door to her apartment, gesturing grandly to the dog. Which, now that she looked closer, the danged thing looked more like a massive timber wolf than any dog she'd ever seen. Not that she knew anything about dogs, she'd never been allowed to have a pet growing up. Still she followed after the massive beast, noting briefly that the damn thing went all the way up her hip when he sat down next to her. Luckily, he'd been nothing but gentle, if pathetic and clingy for attention.

The silly thing had been darting down the street, almost as if trying to escape something, and had managed to get hit by a car. The driver of the car hadn't even slowed down once, just sped up and left the poor creature on the side of the road. And Ella, she had always been a soft touch. She had pulled over without thinking, grabbing a blanket from her backseat, and approached the dog with soft soothing sounds. Surprisingly, the creature had only growled once, before laying still and letting her look him over. He had been bleeding pretty badly, and Ella had hoped it was just because dogs bleed alot easily and not that it was anything too terrible. She had managed to coax the creature into her car, clearly he was someone's pet, he was too pretty and well-fed, with a glossy coat, and not afraid of humans at all.

The dog had balked at the vet visit, and he was too massive to lift herself into her arms or drag into the vet office. Luckily, after she had sat on the ground, close to crying and

#paranormal romance #Ella Naim

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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More Ella

"Mornings suck," Ella told her companion, who sat on her foot and woofed at her. Ella couldn't help the laugh, even as she gingerly extracted her foot from the massive wolf's weight. She had never met a danged dog who's head reached her hip, as she was well over six feet tall, but well, the wolf she had rescued two nights ago definitely did that. Ella had half a suspicion that the wolf was actually a Shifter and was just messing with her. Or maybe just too injured to shift back, the poor thing had clearly been in a fight, looking half dead, chewed on, and with a broken leg. The vet she had taken him to had been one of those non-believers, that despite the Supernatural community .. was it almost forty years ago now? Coming forward with their existence. And so the vet had reset the bone, and wrapped it in a cast. The sedation must have worked, or maybe the wolf had just been too injured to protest the helping. Already after three days he was already up and walking around, if limping due to his casted back leg.

He was clingy though, following her into the bathroom and watching her intently as she tended to her morning absolutions each day, massive pink tongue lolling out as if laughing at her. Lightly, Ella flicked his nose, grinning as he promptly licked it in offense before she headed towards the kitchen. She wasn't exactly ultra-feminine like the others, preferring just jeans and the company shirt with the cafe's logo printed on the side. Sliding her feet into her beat up converse, Ella tossed a steak, raw of course, at her new companion. He snapped it up with one bite, then sat there and licked his chops, as if asking for another. Ella snorted, but dug out another steak, thankful she had set two to thaw in the fridge last night. "Only because you are still healing." The wolf woofed at her again, and Ella just laughed and ruffled the fur on that massive head. "Time for work buddy. You ready to go?"

Rising to his paws in answer, the wolf moved to the front door and waited patiently. Ella lived within walking distance of the cafe, and often did such. Though lately, others from her college had taken to harassing her, especially after dark when she was done with her second job. What hell.. some people never grew up from high school. Ella was nearly thirty years old, not some scared fifteen year old. They really needed to grow up, she thought for a moment before she heard the low rumble of the most deadly sounding growl ever. The hell? Did that sound come from her wolf?

Glancing up, Ella realized they had arrived at the cafe. "Got a new pet loser?" Ella snorted at the insult, reaching out to gently pat the wolf's head. She really did need to name him if she was going to keep him. "Easy buddy, this one is a friend. He's been on vacation or I would have introduced you earlier." As if he understood her, the hint of teeth the wolf had been showing disappeared and he sat down firmly on her foot, as if to claim his Human. Ella grimaced, reminded herself to be more careful, luckily the wolf hadn't stepped on her yet in anything more tender than her chest, but he did have a bad habit of drooling on her when he placed his head on her lap. Pure solid muscle, even if he looked underweight and still injured, the damn thing had to be closer to two hundred pounds. And with the size of ears and paws, he was probably only half grown. It would be interesting to see how large he would grow to be, or how tall.

Realizing she had gotten distracted in her thoughts, Ella belatedly answered, "More like he found me. But yes." Her coworker, the prettiest thing she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, and the most adorable thing in existence, narrowed his gaze at the wolf before letting out a low whistle. "That's a Shuuheran War Wolf," He told her, the admiration clear in his voice. "They are super rare, and very carefully bred. He looks young though, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say maybe sixteen or seventeen. They don't stop growing until they hit about fifty years old" he added as an aside. Ella blinked. She knew the Shifters had long lives, but to hit full grown at fifty was impressive. Before she could comment, the little thing was still talking. "How did you find one? They are supposed to be Guardians of the Alphas, his protectors.

"Jaines! Kietos! Get your asses in here before I fire you!" Ella grinned, unpeturbed by the threat, and reached out, tugging on one white blonde curl. "Come on little fairy, you heard Boss." Lief rolled his eyes, but he headed inside the cafe shop anyway after her. Business would pick up soon as the store officially opened at five thirty am and wouldn't slow down until close to closing time. They were a morning only cafe, open from five thirty to one pm, serving coffee, tea, and the most amazing pastries that absolutely melted in your mouth. Ella had been working at the cafe since she was sixteen, back when she was still James Jaines.. her parents were strange. Thinking of her parents gave her a slight twinge, and Ella pushed it firmly aside to focus on tying her apron around her waist and heading towards the door where already a line had formed, as usual it did most days.

"Where hell did that kid go now?" Ella muttered to herself, grumbling as she retied her apron on after a quick ten minute break that ended up being closer to three as she was incapable of telling the customers she was off the clock and had ended up helping them for a couple minutes. Spying her friend, she strode over, about to give him a piece of her mind. Only to realize he was leaning on the table, blatantly flirting with the prettiest man Ella was certain she had ever met. Eyes the color of midnight lifted to meet hers, that stunning rich purple-black, ringed with a lighter shade of purple, that milk-pale skin where blue veins could easily be seen and traced, and a waterfall of perfectly blank tendrils tied loosely at the nape of his neck and braided neatly until she would guess about midback. Something held her spellbound, an eerie sense of danger, broken only by Lief realizing she was nearby and cheerfully waving to her. When he rose to greet her, Ella realized abruptly he was tall, easily close to half past six feet, with a lean swimmer's build. His accent, when he spoke, was unfamiliar, but somehow vaguely French, if seeming much older than that. When the absolutely gorgeous stranger turned his attention to Lief, who was tugging on a cashmere sweater that probably cost more than Ella's year of rent, that look of gentle patience took her breath away. So this was Christofer, the man that Lief talked about endlessly. The man that Lief absolutely refused to admit he was completely in love with, and really, Ella was certain they were both blind, but any fool with eyes could see the man clearly loved the little fairy. So this was what a Leirth looked, Ella realized after a moment, spying the deadly looking fangs when he spoke gently to Lief, that subtle flashing of pure white. She had never seen one before outside of magazines or television, they tended to be very insolated people.

Before Ella could come over and fuss at Lief for abandoning his post as cashier, the Leirth gently brushed back a platinium blonde curl, a soft scold in his voice in whatever language that was. Lief huffed, a pout on his pretty face, but he turned to face Ella, mumbling, "Sorry bout that." As he moved past her, a pat on her arm as Lief was naturally touchy-feely

#paranormal #Ella Naim

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Naim and Ella

I don’t have much experience writing trans, but I promise when I do write this story, to do a bunch of research and make it proper and respectful, with my supernatural twist on things of course.

"So let me get this straight.. you are an activist, trying to stop the oiling drilling... in the middle of bumfuck nowhere Kansas?" Naim leaned his head slightly to the side, wondering what the hell was wrong with the woman before him. She sighed deeply, ran one hand through strawberry blonde curls that desperately needed a wash. Although, watching her scuffle with the police as they tried to subdue her and her various signs, the others in her party cheering and egging her on instead of actually helping.. well it had been kind of hot actually. She wasn't exactly pretty, too skinny and too tall, but she was intriguing, Naim had to give her that. The woman, he hadn't caught her name yet, just sighed and dropped her hands, grumbling under her breath for a moment. "So what did you get locked up for?" Naim growled at that, glancing away but somehow he felt answered to answer her, rather than be his usual asshole self. Lief would call that progress and do some kind of obnoxiously genuine encouragement. Damn fairy. Naim stretched out his legs and admitted after a moment, "Trying to steal the crystal core powering the obelisk." The woman blinked and slowly nodded. She was clearly Human and even though the Supernatural were known as existing, most Humans weren't exactly up to date with all things Supernatural. She clearly had no idea what a crystal core was or how extremely valuable one was, even a slightly cracked one that was out of commission, unused but no one cared enough to actually fetch it. Naim had genuinely thought no one would notice if he stole it. But the damn Humans had been distracted by the people protesting, and well, he had been assumed to be part of that party. Probably better to be seen as a political activist causing trouble than a thief, Naim figured and hadn't protested the charges when he was arrested along with the twenty something other people. The Humans, in an odd movement, had separated the females and males into different cells. Why? Were Humans unable to stop themselves from .. what? Behaving amongst mixed company? What an odd concept. Aside from the Leirth and Sirens who were so matriartical society it was scary.. and Shuuherians who weren't much better in a patriarchal society, most other species considered the men and women pretty equal. But then again, Humans had such tiny short lives. Maybe they didn't really evolve as a species as they should be. "What are you thinking so hard about?" The woman leaned over to glance at Naim, and wow, her smile really was pretty. "Wondering why they put you in this cell with me and this guy," Naim jerked a thumb at the man who was dozing in the corner, clearly drunk off his ass. Well, Naim never claimed to be a gentleman and anyone who got made at his vulgar mouth usually ended up with a bloody nose or worse. Maybe he was a bit too violent. At the question, the woman's face made an odd sort of expression, and she asked warily, "What do you mean?" Naim eyed the woman again, then motioned towards her in a broad movement. "Well, I mean, you clearly are a woman. I figure the Reapers made a mistake in putting you in a physical body, but hell, that happens sometimes. Everyone has to start somewhere and there's always newbie Reapers still starting out. Don't usually see a mistake in Humans, but then again, I've never really bothered to talk to your kind so maybe." Naim shut his mouth, wondering why he was babbling. He never rambled. The woman was still staring at him with that same odd look on her voice and there was an equally odd note in her voice when she spoke next. "You see me as a woman." Naim narrowed his gaze, wondering what the fuck this Human was playing at. "Yeah.. your soul is female. I don't get it. What the hell is your problem?" For some reason, instead of being offended at his vulgar mouth, she just sniffed and smiled so wide at him. "Yeah, I am. The name's Ellora." Naim shrugged one shoulder. "Didn't fucking ask and do I look like I remotely care?" He arched one golden brow at her, and again that woman just smiled at him, laughing as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I think you care," She assured him. "Yeah, whatever," Naim muttered, glancing away. When she fell silent, he sighed and reached out, fixing out her wild curls so they lay a bit neater. When she smiled at him again, Naim shook his head, turning his attention to the bars and the police pointedly ignoring them. "Stupid woman," He muttered to himself, ignoring the way she just smiled at him again. Humans were such strange creatures.

Speaking of strange creatures, Jonah came striding up to her, that dimpled smile catching her attention more. He wasn't her mate, no, but he was gentle and kind and the exact opposite of his brother.

#paranormal romance #trans #Ella Naim

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Lyddie, introducing Naim and Ella

After coming into contact with that man, I always feel like I have to wash my hands" Lyddie muttered, doing exactly that and scrubbing her hands once more with the heavy lye soap. Only the best for the help, she thought bitterly, before shaking her head and scrubbing at her face. She should be grateful for the chance to have a job after all. In this economy, especially as a Supernatural in a world that had only recently accepted and acknowledged that other species existed. The laws were better for sure, and the government had made an effort to protect them from Humans, though granted it had been a good thirty years ago since the K'Na'Gra Empire had decided to come out of seclusion and admit their existence. Long before Lyddie's time, at a mere nineteen years of age, but still short enough time that most of the Elders, be they Human or Supernatural, were still wary and still could remember the days of hiding and seclusion. Still, Lyddie sighed, shoved her hands into her apron and reapplied her chapstick, watching her reflection in the cracked mirror. Seven years of bad luck for you, asshole, she thought with a kind of grim amusement. She'd seen him punch the mirror just last week, when the girl he'd been aiming for had been just a little bit too fast. Still, Lyddie sighed and pushed herself up, taking her wild curls, a riot of gold and orange and crimson, a dead give away to her Catalyn species, as if the eyes and the pointed ears didn't give it away already. She'd only been employed by the Humans for a little less than three months, but some days she really wondered if it was worth it. Granted, the K'Na'Gran Empire wasn't much better, and she knew she could always go to a Sanctuary city. They would take ones like her, even a dual -shifter.And things were getting better, the younger generation tended to be more accepting about differences. But Lyddie for some unfathomable reason to herself, had wanted to make it in the Human world. Lyddie took one more look in the mirror, shoved her chapstick into her apron pocket and turned resolutely out the bathroom door and returned to work. The Human's mansion wouldn't' clean itself after all. At that, Lyddie gave a snort, dodging the hands that reached for her, smacking playfully at Lief's grip when he reached for her, trying to steal her hair ribbon. "Knock it off fairy."

Before Lief could protest, Jonah came striding up to her, that dimpled smile catching her attention more. He wasn't her mate, no, but he was gentle and kind and the exact opposite of his brother. The second born, he wasn't the heir to the company and was expected to make his own way by building up his business. The man was smart as a tack and Lyddie well.. she could see a future with him. He had the money, drive, and determination to build his fledgling startup company into a powerhouse and she was certain he would make a very good CEO. They had been dating for a little over six months now, another check mark in the very same reason why she hadn't wanted to return home. Her wolf whined at the thought of home, and Lyddie firmly squashed the thought. Her brother's mate had made it abundantly clear she wasn't welcome there any longer. And well, her brother was away dealing with pack alliances and other such business so he hadn't been there to protect her. Not that she was really certain he would, he'd been different every since Dad had died. Mom had passed away unexpectedly, and the doctors had later said it was an undiagnosed illness, similar to the Human's version of cancer. As her parents were pair-bonded, her father had passed away within the twenty-four hour mark as usual. Bryce had taken up the mantle of Alpha well enough, but he'd been different and distant instead of her usual caring brother. He had mated with the next pack over's female to in order to secure a proper alliance with the other pack. The woman was a witch though, and poor Bryce took every opportunity to be away and deal with proper pack business instead of dealing with his new wife. Unfortunately, that left Lyddie alone with the witch in the sprawling house, as most of the pack members who also lived in the house had decided to move out.. mostly because the woman was impossible to live with. When the woman had moved in her sleezy friend, seriously the man gave her the creeps, Lyddie had decided to simply leave. She hadn't left the pack, not officially, but she had left the packlands, way back in Montana. Somehow she had ended up here, on the other side of the States, in a bustling city in the middle of New York of all places. There was also a wolf pack nearby, but Lyddie had laid low, not wanting to seek them out. She knew she was technically disrespecting the pack, not seeking out the Alpha's permission to be upon his territory. But well, this city she was in was absolutely bursting with people, and surely they would never notice her. So far, they hadn't, in the year she had been away. And well, either her brother hadn't noticed or cared she was gone.

Maybe that was why, when later that night, after she had bid Lief goodbye, and was driven back to the little apartment they shared, and had a lovely little dinner, when the Human had knelt beside her, opening a box, a little diamond ring shown inside, she had cried and said yes. If only she had known what she knew now, that he had been disowned. Maybe if she had known that she would end up working two, sometimes three jobs while Jonah struggled to get the company off the ground, maybe she would have said no. And there was no maybe about it.. she would have said no, if she had known she would be standing in front of their gorgeous house, when his company had finally taken off nearly three years after starting, and was a booming business, staring at signed divorce papers that his lawyer had personally handed to her. Seven years down the drain, seven long miserable years of scrimping, saving, and doing absolutely everything to help the man she loved. Lyddie had held her composure until the lawyer had left, and then called up her best friend, though wasn't able to really speak due to the mix of tears and struggling to control her wolf's howls of agony. Why did their mate want to leave them? Her wolf snarled and paced in circles and begged her to seek him out. Lyddie reminded herself fiercely that he wasn't her mate, that he had just been a man that she had fallen completely in love with, and had wanted to make a future with. And so, when Lief pushed open the door, holding ice cream, a sack full of the really expensive steaks, wine, and enough wolfsbane to knock an elephant out, Lyddie had been reminded just why she loved the little fairy. He was a brat most days, but he was a genuinely good friend, him and Naim, who he had apparently recruited to help carry the wine. Naim and her weren't close, his attitude and coldness kind of intimated her. She hadn't even known he actually liked her until he wrapped her up in his absolutely massive arms, hugging her tight enough that if she wasn't Carlyn, she'd probably struggle for breath. Letting her go, he ruffled her hair gently and said, in that impossibly deep voice of his, "You'll find your mate. He wasn't the right one." And that, somehow, made Lyddie feel better.

Three hours later, all three of them were terribly drunk. Lyddie wasn't a lightweight, being just under six feet, rather short of a Carlyn, or werewolf as humans called her species, solidly built with dark auburn tendrils, dark chocolate eyes, and rich mocha skin the color of "milk-drenched coffee", as Jonah had always called her. The thought of him threatened to sober her up, and she turned her attention back to finishing the bottle in her hand, and studied Lief, who was cheerfully slurring and talking about Christofer. The little fairy was absolutely beautiful, in the way only the ethereal creatures could be. From the white-blonde curls that bounced around his delicate little features, big blue eyes, and skin so pale you could see the blue veins, an equally delicately built body that depending on his mood was either male or female - Lief had unfortunately been born a dual-shifter. Though, Lyddie liked his wings best, shimmery fluttery things that were mostly translucent. He had dressed in a simple pair of jeans and tee shirt, same as the other two, and had ditched his boots by the door the same as the others, although Lief had ditched his socks as well, leaving the fact his pretty toes were painted a rather vivid shade of red. Christofer was Lief's love, had been in love with the man since the first time he'd tried to pickpocket him nearly six years ago. Unfortunately, the Leirth, or vampire as known by humans, was completely oblivious to the boy's attention and regard. Naim thought it was absolutely hilarious, that Lief had ended up working for the man, who had offered the fairy a job. Lyddie just thought it was sad that he both couldn't tell the man he loved that he was both A) the prince of the faeries who had run away from home and had been dragged back a week after Lyddie had been proposed to, and only allowed to leave the Fae homeland if he promised to stay in constant touch. And B) that he was desperately in love with the stoic, serious man who ran a multimillion dollar business. Lyddie wasn't sure what he did, something to do with Synthwyne - fake blood for the Leirth who didn't like feeding on live people.

Lyddie turned her attention to Naim, the massive giant of a man, with his crimson fire red beard, and shoulder length wavy hair, an odd mix of blonde, different shades of red, and even a bit of orange. Somehow it looked good on him, with his tanned skin, the copper-red of his scales barely visible just under his skin, the most visible where the skin was delicate, throat and wrists , ankles she was sure even though she'd never seen them. He had to be easily seven feet tall, and was barrel-chested, with thighs like tree trunks, and hands that were calloused from years of hard work. In the faded flannel over white tee he wore and the faded to white blue jeans, he looked like a mix of thundergod and farmer. To be fair, Lyddie had no idea what job he did. Considering the way the muscles clearly rippled under his shirt, probably something physically demanding. One didn't get that body in a gym. Maybe he worked for the Queen or something, the Draconian queen that was.

Naim caught her staring at him, and arched one dark crimson brow at her. Too drunk to care, she sighed and surprising herself and him, flopped dramatically across both the men, as they were seated on the couch all together. Lief squawked as he was squished, until Naim leaned over and just effortlessly pulled the other free, setting the fairy on one massive knee instead. Lyddie was certain he would shove her off, but he just sighed, collected her and tucked her against his side. And wow, he made her feel petite and feminine, and a part of her wished desperately that he was her mate for a brief moment. But she knew better, this time she would never settle for anything but her actual mate, even if the man somehow made her feel safe. Pity he was a massive asshole on normal days. One solid hand landed on Lief's head, ruffling the curls, and Lyddie was distracted by the sheer size difference between the two, Naim's hand completely covered Lief's head, the fingers covering baby blues for a brief moment before Naim let go.

Lief gave a little squawk and promptly tried to fix the curls so they weren't so messy, glaring at the other man who simply smirked back. Huffing, Lief turned his attention to Lyddie. "Did butthead over here tell you about his latest adventure?" Lyddie blinked while Naim barked out laughter. "Butthead? What the hell. Hey Lief, the nineties called, they want their insults back." Promptly Lief stuck out his tongue, giggling when Naim pretended to bite it. Still though, Naim turned his attention down to Lyddie. Luckily he made no move to dislodge her from position, a spot that Lyddie had to admit was very comfortable. As a Carlyn, she ran hot like a furnace, but as a dragon, Nim was cool and comfortable and somehow even though he was a solid brick wall and Dracona did not have secondary genders like the animal shifters did, he still felt enough like Alpha to her that it was enough to settle and soothe her wolf for the moment.

"Last week," His deep voice rumbled and Lyddie closed her eyes to listen and better feel the vibrations. "I was in Kansas, working on a project. And well, I saw an opportunity for a little extra. Unfortunately, I did not count on nature activists -Humans at that, deciding to protest an oil pipeline being developed. Something about destroying old history, I wasn't really paying attention to the details. However, I ended up being lumped with the protesters and arrested with them."

Lyddie frowned, about to sit up, but really, she was too comfortable, and Lief looked amused rather than worried so she settled down and asked only, "Did you have fun in jail?" Naim snorted. "I was only there for a couple hours, and that's just because my boss thought I needed a time out - his exact words." Lief snickered at that. "Serves you right for doing extracurricular activities." Naim made a rude motion with fingers, at least she assumed it was, considering Lief's mock offended look. She wasn't completely up to date with the Supernatural community anymore, having lived as a Human for the last several years. Gods, but she missed her pack, missed her brother.. missed being a wolf and running in the full moons with other wolves beside her. She couldn't even remember the last time she actually shifted - Jonah had slowly worn her down, convincing her to abandon her wolf side and live as a Human over the years until she was pretty certain she had completely lost herself along the way. It was a sobering thought. Still, she tuned in, listening to Naim speak.

"So he made a friend." Lief offered helpfully. At that, Naim frowned lightly and shrugged one massive shoulder. "She was kind." He allowed. "She had a pretty smile." Lyddie didn't know Naim that well, but the way Lief was watching the other man, she had a feeling that was really high praise for him. "Petty she didn't have much to smile about, being stuck in the cell with me." Lyddie snorted at that, nestling into his side. "I'm guessing she was trans, considering they don't usually lock up opposite sex in the same jail cell."

When two pairs of eyes landed on her in confusion, Lyddie yawned and explained, "Reapers accidentally put the wrong soul in the wrong sex body." At that, Lief nodded. "Oh right, that happens sometimes. Not usually often for the Supernatural, but we usually have a Soul-Walker to help us when we are dying. I don't think Humans have that. And they don't have the magic to change their appearance." At that, Naim furrowed his brows. "What do they do?" Lyddie shrugged. "Suffer? No seriously," She continued at his look of annoyance. "It's pretty taboo to be trans. Most Humans don't believe in Reapers, so they think that the body you are born in is supposed to be the right one. They think that those who are trans are sick in the head or defective in some way. It's really kind of sad."

Lief had a thoughtful look on his face, and leaned forward slightly, asking, "Do they see trans like the Supernatural community sees duals?" At that, Lyddie looked confused. "What? No, no one cares you can shift between male and female bodies." At that, Lief blew out a breath of air and ruffled one still out of place curl. "Yeah, I know. It's because we bond with 'Siders instead of the "right" Lokarians." He made the air quotes with his fingers, which somehow didn't look completely silly. "But, I mean, are they treated the same way? Minus the whole "drowned at birth" thing of course." At the question, Lyddie grimaced. It had been a legitimate law, repealed in the late eighties, but still some old fashioned, deeply religious people still followed it, along with other outdated practices. "I- Yeah." Lyddie said slowly. "Humans have a variety of religions instead of just one like us, but yeah. Most of the religions treat those who aren't completely their version of normal pretty badly."

Lief frowned, clearly chewing on the idea. Naim sighed, a movement that moved Lyddie with it, and then shook his head. "Well, I will probably never see her again, so the point is moot anyway." Lyddie nodded slowly at that.

Little did he know, he would run into the same woman just tomorrow morning, hungover and snarly and biting the heads off of anyone who dared to speak to him.

#paranormal romance #Lyddie Amir

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Another piece

We were waiting until Spring to plant the flowers, Lyddie thought with quiet despair, staring at the dandelions that poked resolutely up through the sidewalk. Her mother had always loved to walk past and use her shoe to de-head them. She never understood why her mom took such an odd pleasure in killing off innocent plants. Maybe if she'd been more like that, she wouldn't be in her predicament now.

Lyddie stared down at her phone, shoved it back into her pocket and then pushed her duffel bag over her shoulder, determined to keep moving. She had just enough money for a bus fare, having spent half of it on a really.. really sleazy motel. The guy at the counter had even asked her if she was planning to stay hourly, and had only grunted when she asked for a night. Lyddie sighed. She missed her music, missed listening to podcasts on Alexa, missed having the technology she'd become addicted to. Hell, she missed her smartphone and always being connected to the internet.

Dragging herself from her melancholy thoughts, Lyddie resolutely stepped over the dandelions, leaving them growing stubborn and wild in the sidewalk and kept moving. The bus would be there soon, and Lyddie was not going to miss it. She wasn't sure where the Greyhound bus was exactly going, but really did it matter? Wasn't like she had anywhere to be. Certain not that a random prince charming would appear out of nowhere and come running up to her, declaring his love dramatically and begging her to give her one more chance. Dammit, she had sworn she wouldn't think about Josh anymore. And so Lyddie dragged herself to sit on the bench, leg shaking in that way that had always driven her ex-fi- No. Ex-boyfriend. Bitch Barbie had worn the massive diamond, not her.

Blinking back tears, Lyddie ran her fingers through her messy hair, pulled the strands down to fall and brush against her shoulders, and quickly redid her messy ponytail. Spying the bus pulling up, Maddie double checked she had her paper ticket, grateful that they still did them instead of only on smart phones.. she would never again take for granted being able to do everyone on a phone - and glanced once more behind her. Stupid, to think Josh would show up. He probably didn't even care that she had left without even a note. Was probably grateful she was gone.

"It's been over 24 hours." The man at the police station leaned over, the worry on his gaze clearly visible despite the fact he was wearing shades. "Surely I can file a missing person's report now?" A hand on the man's shoulder had him turning, a scowl on his lips. "Don't worry about her Joshie. She's a full grown adult, I'm sure she's fine." Josh narrowed his gaze at the woman next to her, then sighed and shook his head. "Look, Lyddie is a solid, sensible woman. She wouldn't run off in a huff. She would ask me what was going on, would make an informed decision, and then figure out a plan of action. She wouldn't just run off in a huff like this. Look, even though we broke up, I still care about her, alright? Something must have happened to her."

Josh turned back to the policeman, who had already pulled a notebook over and began describing the last time he'd seen his ex-girlfriend, what she was wearing and the make model of her car. The woman beside him just huffed and turned around, playing with her ring and waiting with ill-hidden impatience for him to be done.

#paranormal romance #series #Lyddie Amir

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Lyddie and Amir

Yes, these are all set in the same universe, just one after another. And Kyrin was changed to Kristopher, just need to edit it later.

Lyddie wasn't sure what she was doing. Something had simply compelled her to open her car door, in the middle of a busy intersection, in a traffic jam that after two hours still hadn't moved and probably wouldn't either. The world was coming to an end, so what did it matter if she left her car anyway? Lyddie sighed, grabbed her duffel bag stuffed with all her valuables, and tossed it over one slim shoulder. Well, maybe the real world wasn't going to end, maybe just her own. It didn't matter. Homeless now, with a meager hundred dollars to her name, a duffel bag with clothes, her old laptop, charging cables, and a cell phone that relied on minutes bought at a dollar general, the world really was going to end for her. A glance once back at her car, before she sighed and patted the hood of the faithful vehicle, before she turned and headed away. It needed more repairs than she could ever hope to afford and she was fairly certain there wasn't enough gas to even make it the next mile. As a courtesy she left the keys inside the ignition anyway, just a little "good luck" to whoever wanted to steal her old junker of a car. Wasn't like it was registered in her name anyway. It belonged, she was pretty sure, to her ex. That good for nothing that had thrown her out in the cold, when she was so certain that the ring she'd found in the sock drawer was for her. Six years down the drain. Six years of supporting him through med school, through all the times he didn't work and only studied. Sometimes working two, three years. None of mattered, because he had found the perfect trophy wife, one who wasn't slightly overweight, with mousey brown hair, plan brown eyes, and skin that wasn't flawless and perfect, who only burned instead of tanned like miss perfect beach blonde that she had seen hanging off his arm two days ago. The way that woman had looked at her with such pity, the way she had been working on her third job, fourth if one counted the free lance writing she was sneaking on breaks, as a waitress. To Josh's credit, he had looked surprised at seeing her, as if he'd not realized she'd been working there for the last three months, that asshole. But it was Barbie Bitch who had looked smug, as if she had orchestrated the whole thing, just to prove to Lyddie that her man belonged to her instead of Lyddie. And Lyddie, who like a dumbass she berated herself later, had plastered on a professional smile and her bubbly customer service with a hint of flirt that always earned her tips if unwanted numbers and had treated the two of them with courtesy and politeness. He didn't even have the courtesy to come home that night, driving the point home more than a harsh argument could ever do. And Lyddie, well, she had looked at the tiny cramped apartment, realizing that the money that he had been promising her they had been saving, well it clearly was never going to be hers. That damn blinding rock on Barbie Bitch's finger had to cost the entire year's rent, if not two of this place. And so Lyddie had done something potentially very stupid. Oh screw that, it had been very stupid. But she had been hurting and angry and well, Josh was an irredeemable jerk. So Lyddie gathered herself, wondering even as she did such, what the hell she was thinking. Last week, a total stranger had approached her, had started to speak to her in an accent she had barely understood. He had been polite and respectful and Lyddie well. .she wasn't blind. The man had been so gorgeous and charming and he spoke to her like she was pretty and her bruised ego after spending the entire day waiting hand and foot on people in a restaurant she could never afford, she had actually agreed to speak to him for a few minutes. He had been a perfect gentleman, walking with her to the nearest place, which happened to be a Starbucks of all things. When he had offered to buy her a drink, she had been just tired and flattered enough by the way his gaze lingered on her, then that adorable blush as he looked away when she caught him looking. No one had ever made her feel pretty like that, even Josh complained and tried to convince her to go on diets. She wasn't even like the other curvy girls, with a body like an hourglass or something. No, she was just small boobed, with too much fat on her bottom, thighs and hips, and stomach. Hair tied into a messy bun, glasses in a desperate need of wash, and she was fairly certain her skin was threatening to break out again from stress, which at thirty nine was ridiculous but that was life for you. But he had smiled at her, with that gentle warmth, had paid for her obnoxious, ridiculous drink, and even reminded the barista gently to use oatmilk, which Lyddie if she hadn't been so tired, would have been on top of that ball. For some reason, the baristas never believed her when she requested no dairy. It wasn't like she was rude or anything, to make them think they were getting back at her or something. At least.. she didn't think she was rude. Sometimes she was so tired, she could barely grunt out her order and tack on a belated, please and thank you for the interactions. He had been gracious when she told him that she was soon to be married.. well at the time Lyddie had been certain that the ring was for her. He had simply nodded, and handed over an elegant business card. "I would like to be friends if you are not to be my Alpha's mate," He had told her in that burr of an accent and Lyddie had wondered just what the hell the man was talking about. Mates? Who spoke like that, this wasn't her cheesy romance novels she looked and Josh always made fun of her about. Firmly placing thoughts of Josh out of her head, Lyddie dialed the number from the card she'd pulled from her pocket, hoping she had enough minutes to actually have a conversation. Pressing the phone to her ear, she swallowed hard at that rough, sleepy sounding voice, even as it spoke in a language she couldn't understand. Gathering her courage, she spoke " Hey, this is Lydiana, we spoke last week?"

Well.. I didn't make an hour. But I got a solid twenty minutes in. Maybe I can add to it and make it to an hour that way? Sorta cheating, but I'm just not at the level to write solid for an hour, even if its meant to be bad. At least I wrote something?

Changed one sentence, but still going. I'm combining time since I can't seem to write an hour straight. I will finish this danged prompt.

Before Lyddie could hear the answer, her phone promptly informed her she was out of minutes and needed to buy more. Lyddie sighed deeply, shoved her phone into her pocket, and shook her head, hitching her duffel bag over her shoulder more firmly. It had been a stupid idea to call anyway.

Chapter 2

"Who was that?" The soft sleepy burr of Amir caught Julian's attention and he frowned deeply at the cell phone in his hand. He hated the damn things, the technology made no sense. Then again, he was an eight hundred year old Leirth, or vampire as the Humans tended to call his species. Maybe he really was just old and grumpy as Amir often teased him about. Looking up, from where his Alpha stood in the doorway, one shoulder propped on the archway, the door having long been taking off its hinges for some reason or another. Julian couldn't remember exactly why at this moment, not that it really mattered. Instead he set the phone down on the mahagony table beside him, shaking his head lightly. "The girl called me." At that, Amir straightened, all traces of his sleepy gone, dark golden eyes alight. He hadn't met this girl that Julian had mentioned but when the Leirth had mentioned to her, describing that she smelled like the Alpha - an odd trait that he had noticed enough to actually mention to his Alpha. And of course, Amir had immediately asked him to seek the girl out again. Julian had done such, seeking the girl out and having a simple conversation with her. She had been adorable, bashful and shy and terrible with social interaction though it was obvious she had been trying for him. However, at the mention of her being married, he had firmly placed her in the category of not available. Shame, he was fairly certain that she was the Alpha's mate, not that Julian would ever tell Amir that without absolute proof. His Alpha was warm, easy-going but he was the same as Shuuherians were, territorial and possessive and bull-headed when they wanted something. If Amir had any inkling that the girl could possibly be his mate, the poor thing would be thrown over a shoulder - probably literally knowing Amir - and dragged back to his home. He wouldn't do anything further, but well, Stockholm Syndrome and all that jazz. That had been interesting to observe, Humans were rather unique. Julian glanced up when another strode into the room, tilted his head just long enough for Amir to barely have enough time to reach out and stroke his throat, before he growled and threw himself across the wing-backed chair. Thankfully distracted from the mention of the girl, Amir had turned his attention to Kyrin, though there was no sympathy in his gaze, just dancing amusement. "Is your pretty Faerie being difficult again?" Kyrin sighed deeply, running his hands through the silvery blonde locks, just barely long enough to brush against his ears, then shook his head. "He's driving me crazy."

#paranormal romance #Lyddie Amir

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Lief and Kristopher

Humans really were easy, Lief mused as he slipped past yet another unsuspecting mortal, a light little grin touching the edges of his lips as he examined the pocket watch he had managed to snag. Granted, he wasn't up the level of the others, able to steal a watch right off a person's hand.. danged Alice and her level of ability. No, Lief was just an ordinary thief, just a little nobody who no one ever pay attention to. Humans, because well, they didn't pay attention to someone who was clearly just another homeless nobody and they hated to be faced with the fact of their failures in providing for their own species. Well, at least the K'Na'Gra.. the Supernatural government, had that going for them. They were still shitty, all governments were, but they didn't let their people starve on the streets. Rather they were sold as rikos, but sometimes Lief really wondered if starving to death was a better alternative, seeing how some of the rikos were treated, despite all the laws that now protected them. Pity, that the laws for duals was still so far behind. Granted, it was better than when his mom was a baby, apparently there had been an actual law that said the baby had to be drowned at birth, instead of just being Naim's favorite insult to him. Lief didn't take it personally, Naim thought everyone should have been drowned. He was just an asshole and thus he was Lief's favorite person ever. Lief hummed softly under his breath, pulled his newsboy cap further over his head to hide his features, a dead give away to anyone Supernatural that he was of Faerie blood and thus remotely interesting - and headed after his next target. This one looked like a really boring FEO.. or was it KEO... CEO.. something like that. Lief didn't really pay attention to human titles. All it mean to Lief was that the man had lots of pretty shinies. And well, what self respecting Faerie didn't collect shinies? Even Naim agreed with him. Now, granted Naim was a Dracona, and dragons were the masters of collecting and hoarding shinies. Naim wasn't very big at his dragon form, maybe the size of one of those four legged creatures that humans liked to ride.. what were they called again? Cats? No, that wasn't right. Naim would know. Naim knew everything.

Lief was pulled from his rambling thoughts at the feel of something gripping his wrist, and Lief frowned, tugging but realizing.. he was stuck. Slowly, he looked up and up, and his lips parted in a soft oh, at the look of calm disapproval on the look of the Human's face. Oh, he was pretty, no, that wasn't the right word either. He was handsome, so very handsome, and Lief could feel J'ra stirring in the back of his mind, curious to see what had caught her host's attention so thoroughly. Belatedly realizing that he was captured, and should probably try to talk his way out of this mess he'd 'found himself, Lief affected a smile and offered hopefully, "It's not what it looks like."

#paranormal romance #gay #Lief Krisopher

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ryland-rambles · 2 years

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Riley and Ash so far

"I'm sorry, I just don't think this job is a good fit for you." Riley swallowed hard, but didn't cry. She was proud of herself for that. Thirty two years old, and still being fired from menial jobs. It wasn't even her fault, someone had groped her behind and she had reacted without thinking, yelling out loud and demanding, just like those classes in self defense had told her. Draw attention to the potential threat and people would look over and remember in case she went missing. Granted her mind probably went too far with that thought, she was in a grocery store for heaven's sake and it was just some pervy middle aged man who had grown up believing he owned the world. In the twenty first century, 2023 to be exact, things were thankfully changing. But still, not fast enough as Riley was concerned. Realizing she had drifted off in thought, she forced herself to meet her now former boss's gaze and nodded seriously. "Thank you for the opportunity." The boss looked relieved she wasn't throwing a scene. Or at least, Riley assumed he did, she wasn't very good at reading body language.

At her locker, a friendly fellow-former she corrected herself- associate came up with sympathetic gaze. Riley didn't have friends, not for lack of trying, but really. All the people her age were married and had kids and didn't still share an apartment with a couple of strangers just to split the rent money like a bunch of college students. Thinking about college always made her sad, so she pushed that thought firmly away and turned her attention to the other, discretely checking the name tag to remind herself the name of the one talking to her. "It's okay Sam." She always tried to use people's names, even if it was difficult sometimes, interpersonal communication just sucked. "I'm sure I'll find another job soon enough." Sam wrinkled her nose, looking concerned for some reason still. She was really was pretty, all petite and delicate, with inky black hair, almond shaped chocolate eyes, pert little nose and little rosebud lips. So, maybe RIley read a bit too much romance novels but really, Sam looked like the perfect little Japanese doll that in her books some burly Yakuza would swoop in and steal for his mafia or something. Riley blinked at her train of thought. Wow, she really needed some sleep. She had been up all night trying to study for an exam that unfortunately she probably wouldn't be able to afford the payment on next week and so was probably pointless to concern herself with.

Shaking off that melancholy thought, Riley realized Sam was talking to her. Shaking her head, she pulled her earbud out of her ear, mostly to blame that on the fact she hadn't been listening and pretend she just couldn't hear over the non-existent music playing. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sam was normally sarcastic, bordering on abrasive and rude, but for some reason, she had always been kind to her. Riley had a suspicion Sam assumed the other girl was mentally deficient in some way, others had assumed that alot. Riley had been diagnosed with Autism at age six, when a concerned teacher had pointed it out and went above and beyond to try and get Riley help. First grade had been the only time Riley had actually done well, the years after that were a total bust. Her mother had been too interested in chasing after her newest boyfriend to care if the schools actually followed the IEP plan set up for her. She had barely graduated school and had thought college beyond her reach. Until she hit thirty, realized she had done nothing with her life and had applied to college anyway. It was a simple community college that worked with older students but Riley had thought she was doing pretty well. Not that it mattered at this point.

Sam grinned at her, clearly amused by Riley's wandering thoughts, instead of annoyed like everyone else would and had been. "I was saying, you should stay with me and Sin for a bit. Instead of rent, you can cook for us." Riley blinked, stunned by the generous offer. She actually did love to cook and the weirdo in her loved to clean. Riley had only met Sinclair once before, but the woman was absolutely stunning in the old school vintage model type - all lush curves in a perfect hourglass Riley had thought had to be done by a corset, it looked so impossible. The woman had been absolutely stunning, vivid red lipstick, skin so pale she could see the blue veins and Riley had only caught a glimpse of her eyes, before looking away, but they had to be contacts. No one's eyes were that shade of vivid purple. Raven black hair, somehow messy but artfully done, half chignon and half tumbling to her waist, and Riley figured she dyed it, because it had shades of blue in the strands that were a rich midnight but still.. blue. She figured the other woman stood easily at six feet, the heeled boots she had worn had been pretty modest, but really, no one was that pretty without money.

Realizing she had been distracted, Riley leaned against the locker, clutching at her worn backpack. "I have a dog." She said, tone uncertain. Well, more like the dog owned her. Ashanti had shown up one day in front of her, badly injured, and whining softly. Riley didn't drive, but she had found a car rideshare that allowed pets, had wrapped the massive dog into blankets and rode to the nearest emergency vet. The poor dog had leaned heavily on her, barely able to walk, mostly dragging her back leg. The vets had looked confused and a bit wary but when the dog hadn't even growled when they reached for her, they had immediately taken the dog back, though Riley was pretty certain she had heard one mutter, "Pretty sure this thing is a dire wolf." Riley had looked up dire wolves on the library computer later that week, the dog waiting patiently outside, leash loosely wrapped around one pole. Riley had blinked, leaned over to see the dog all wrapped in bandages and poor shaved fur, and stitches and then back to the picture. Wow. The vet hadn't been kidding. The dog.. wolf .. thing, the shoulder's came to Riley's hips and head pressed into her stomach. Pure rippling muscle, and gorgeous shades of brown and grey, tufted triangle ears and fluffy tail, well, it had been now it was sadly shaved and stitched but the dog had thumped it anyway when Riley came back after her time had ended and the computer warned her it would be logging her off shortly. Riley had knelt, gently patted the wolf on the head and received a lick against her wrist in welcome. Well, dog.. dire wolf, whatever. She was a creature who for some reason had sought out Riley for help. And so Riley had emptied out her savings without thinking to the vets.

Now, six months later, the wolf followed her wherever she went, always patiently waited outside whenever Riley went to work or to the grocery store, sometimes the library, all within walking distances from her little apartment. She very rarely went inside the apartment ,not after her roommate, Josh, had about had a heart attack when he first saw the massive creature. Riley wasn't sure who owned the beauty of a wolf, she only knew the name because the collar had a tag on it. A name, a number, but no address. Riley had tried to call the number, but no one had answered, and it had gone straight to voicemail each time. Riley had left three messages, then given up and hoped for the best. The wolf usually slept on the porch at night, since she lived on the first floor, and her neighbors hadn't yet complained to the landlord.. too much anyway. Most days, since it was summer and warm and the wolf ran hot like a furnace, Riley usually slept outside, using the massive wolf as a pillow.

Sam snorted for some reason when Riley said that, waving one hand, voice still filled with mirth as she answered, "Yeah, the Carlyn, I know. If I was her, I wouldn't leave either. I know you spoil her rotten." At that, Riley smiled wryly. It was true, she did spoil her pet terribly so, always sharing her lunches, the wolf taking the snacks from her fingers so gently, and she always brushed her fur before bed, the routine soothed both of them.

Ashanti tended to be a bit over protective, but Riley didn't mind. Whenever someone came up and tried to talk to her, and Riley was too awkward to find a way out, the wolf would simply muscle the other guy out of the way, plop herself down and very deliberately show her teeth but no growl. Most just made an excuse and fled. Only once had one done something different, he had looked annoyed, muttered something about "Damn Alphas," and pretended to growl back at the wolf.

Surprisingly, the wolf had made a chuffing noise, almost like a laugh. The other had introduced himself then, an easy going smile as he explained, "I'm Nicolai. And you are friends with Saimrel, so I wanted introduce myself." One brow arched at the wolf, "If that's okay with you." Ashanti looked away, regal bearing, and Nicolai had snorted in amusement and turned her beautiful attention back to Riley. He pronounced her name as Sigh Ahm Rye Ale. Riley was sufficiently distracted by that and the thought that Sam really only knew beautiful people. The man looked as if he could step off the magazine of GQ, that dark bronze skin, dark eyes, and tousled black hair, he looked like a Spanish pirate turned twenty first century in Gucci and whatnot.. Riley wasn't really up to date with rich people clothes. Riley had belatedly introduced herself and Ashanti, but the man just gave her a sweet smile, clearly not judging her at all despite Riley's terrible awkwardness. No one that pretty was allowed to be that nice but he had fallen into step beside her, chatting easily and not seeming at all to mind she didn't want to actually carry a conversation but content to listen to him and that accent that Riley couldn't quite place but it was just heavy enough to make her have to pay attention or fail to comprehend what he said.

He had paused, and Riley had realized they had reached her apartment without her realizing. Reaching into his coat breast pocket, he had offered her a card, a gentle smile at her again. "You are a good friend for our Sam," He had declared, though his voice was oddly sad. "She doesn't .. want to be with Micheal and I anymore, but I still want to watch out for her." Riley had accepted the card, clutching at the card, then had dared to offer, "Sam has been really sad lately, maybe she changed her mind?" The man had looked so hopeful then, giving Riley a devastating smile, all white teeth shining against that dark skin. "Perhaps so cub," He had given an odd little bow to Ashanti, then laughed and dodged her nip after patting Riley's shoulder. Laughing, that rich sound that sent shivers down Riley's back, he had strode away. The wolf huffed, and Riley was pretty sure if a wolf could look pouty, Ashanti managed to. Gently ruffling the wolf's head, she had offered, "No one is home, wanna come upstairs and stare like like your usual pervy self as a shower?" It always amused her that the wolf would whine pathetically at the door whenever Riley took a shower when the roommates weren't home and had shut the bathroom door. The wolf looked away at the question, as if denying the words but had followed Riley anyway upstairs.

Now, Riley stared at her friend, belatedly realizing that she looked happier than she had for the last few weeks. Maybe she had worked out things with her guys after all. Riley wasn’t sure what arrangement they had, Sam had an Ace flag pin on her backpack, but still they had something going on. Maybe they were just friends and they had temporarily broken up the friendship. She did say her and Sinclair so she didn’t live with the other guy. Shaking her head at her runaway thoughts Riley straightened and nodded. “Yes. Please. That would be wonderful.”

Sam grinned at her, and then reached out and firmly grabbed her arm, leading Riley away. Riley had a moment to wonder how Sam knew how to touch her, that she needed to be gripped firmly because gentle touching made her skin feel like ants crawling and the strong deep pressure was best. It was why she loved with her wolf laid on her, like a warm living weighted blanket that she’d always wanted to buy but couldn’t afford. 200 dollars for a blanket just wasn’t in the budget. As she was lead away, Riley hitched her backpack over her shoulder and let Sam lead her to the Jeep. The doors had been put back on and for that Riley was grateful. Buckling herself in, she settled her bag by her feet, and pointed as she directed Sam where to go. It was a good thirty minute walk from work to her home, longer if she had to wait on traffic that didn’t obey the lights and crossing signs. Hitching a ride wasn’t too bad, she reasoned. She would just find a different way to exercise tonight. Her wolf tended to growl whenever Riley’s stomach growled but she was tired of being overweight and since she couldn’t afford healthy food.. it was just better to skip meals and add more exercise.

When they arrived at her apartment Riley left her bag in the Jeep, peeking her head in and offering “I won’t be long but you can come in if you want. Fair warning Josh is home with his girlfriend and she’s kinda loud.” Riley tried to take Ashanti for walks when that happened, because the wolf liked to compete in loudness by howling. Some days it was a tie. Sam blinked and then crinkled her nose in clear disgust. “Yeah. I’ll wait here. Gather your stuff and your hellhound you call a pet.” She paused and then looked dubiously at her backseat.” I think she should fit.” Riley couldn’t help the soft giggle. The wolf had to be easily over 200 pounds of pure solid muscle now, maybe closer to 270 if Riley had to guess after a bit of research on the library computers.

Ashanti growled at Sam, but Riley knew it was merely for show for she promptly sat on Sam's foot, looking as smug as a wolf could be when Sam promptly cursed in what Riley assumed was her native language and tried to pull her foot free. Mostly complaining about her rather expensive boots and threatening to use the wolf's fur as lining for her next pair. Riley darted up the stairs, a soft humming under her breath, only to frown as she realized as she reached the top, that her apartment door was open. Frowning slowly, she carefully pushed open the door, calling out, "Josh? Sarah? Brandon?" Hearing nothing, she frowned harder and carefully stepped inside. Inside, the place was absolutely trashed. Riley swallowed hard, a glance to her side, seeing as always the faint flickering of an outline. If she looked closely, she could almost see the usual ghost that tended to haunt the apartment. Riley had learned at an early age to not tell anyone she saw spirits, it just was bad news. And most of them were just bored and lonely, content to talk to her and share stories. Riley had figured out being a ghost had to really suck, mostly in terms of being lonely and bored. Sometimes that meant that the ghosts who figured out she could see them would often pull pranks or do something silly, just to make her laugh, especially when she was supposed to be paying attention in class.

The ghost now, a young girl dressed in traditional victorian servants garb, wrung her hands, her soft lilting voice apologetic. "I'm so sorry Milady, I tried to scare them but they were so very strong. I'm not sure what they took, but they left really mad, so maybe they didn't find what they were looking for?" Riley nodded, stepping again carefully into the apartment. She knew the pretty maid would have warned her if there were any danger left. "It's okay Astoria, you did your best and thank you for that." If a ghost could blush, Riley was sure the girl would have, the cute way she ducked her head and looked shy. Riley wasn't sure how the girl died, most ghosts couldn't remember why they died or when or how but Riley figured it had to be a sickness that came suddenly and without warning, probably some kind of plague. The girl held no real lingering resentment or anger, the way those who were murdered tended to be.

Sighing deeply, Riley stepped into her bedroom, wondering how much she cared to actually call the police and stay for the report and the fingerprinting. She lived in the rather.. poor. section of town and the cops would just make a note, promise to look into and then promptly do nothing. No one cared about the poor people, they were only a step above the homeless that everyone liked to pretended didn't exist. Kinda like the divergent in that one really popular series a few years ago. Riley shook her head, picking up her books one by one, and lamenting a torn cover here and there. What shocked her was the fact that even though the baseboard in her closet had been pulled up, the little ceramic piggy bank had been left completely alone. Whoever had done this, they weren't druggies looking for quick cash. Picking up her little piggy bank, a gift from her grandmother when she was a child, she carefully pulled the stopper and then pulled out a couple bills just to be sure. A twenty, two fifties, and a lone single hundred dollar bill, the rest singles. Yes, everything was there, her rainy day fund. Definitely not druggies then. The hell..

"Riley?" She turned at the sound of her name, only to pause at the odd expression on Sam's face. The low growling from Ash caught Riley off guard, it sounded far more dangerous than she had ever heard the wolf sound. The little maid gave a soft eep and promptly hid behind the bookcase, leaning sideways against the window preciously. Ash tracked the wolf with her gaze, which didn't surprise Riley , animals always could see spirits, but Sam frowned over in the direction where Ash looked for a moment, then shook her head as if dismissing the spirit as a threat. Riley glanced down when Ash leaned heavily against her side, nearly losing her balance but catching herself against the bed. Even her perfectly made bed had been rumpled and tossed. They were looking for something clearly. "I think you need to tell her the truth Ashanti." Sam's voice was calm, almost eerily so. When the wolf growled, Sam glanced down at her, one brow arched. "Do you want them to come back again, and steal your mate next time?" At the deep, viscous growl that provoked, Riley couldn't help the soft shiver and involuntary step forward, wanting to soothe whatever upset the wolf. Sam motioned towards Riley as if to say, "see?" and Ash sighed deeply. She moved to jump onto the bed, and before Riley could blink, with a quick sound of bones crushing and shifting, it sounded horribly painful if it wasn't done so fluidly and quickly, there on her bed was the prettiest woman RIley had ever seen. Dark caramel skin, the same deep chocolate eyes, tumbling locks of dark black with hints of red and brown, over a body that well, Riley was a bit jealous of the solid muscles. Riley was too well insulated to be anything but soft curves.. kinda like an apple. Realizing her gaze was lingering and that the wolf.. now woman.. was watching her with a bit of unease, Riley blurted out in her typical fashion, "That is the fucking coolest thing I've ever seen. So you're a werewolf? Do you change in the moonlight? Are you bound by the moon's cycles? Do you have a knot? Can you control the shift? Can you smell as well in your human form as your wolf form?" When she paused for a second for a breath, Sam in the doorway laughing, Ash looking absolutely dumbfounded, Riley realized she had been rambling and blushed. "Sorry," She muttered, moving to pick up her stuff again. "I know I'm weird."

She paused when those strong arms wrapped around her, gently taking what she finally realized was a bra, and wow, that strength and power in the embrace and oh yes, the Alpha was naked, her libido finally helpfully reminded her. Batting away her attention with a stick, Riley nearly swallowed her tongue as Ash leaned over, her warm voice heavy with accent, a rolling burr as she spoke, "You aren't weird love, you are yourself and that's perfect for me." Riley stared blankly at the wall for a moment, her brain doing a literal blue screen.. error 404 brain not found. Swallowing hard, Riley pulled free, belatedly shoving a cardigan she picked up nearby hanging on the lamp at Ash. "Did you pull that out of a romance novel? Cause I'm pretty sure I read that part outloud to you last week, when I was reading you the really good parts .." A pause. "Only good parts of the book. Seriously, people need to learn to invent in an editor, especially when they plan to self publish." Riley waited until Ash took the cardigan with a bemused look. "It smells like me right? I wore it yesterday." The garment was brought to a nose and sniffed, then a slow nod. Riley grinned. "Right. You wear it, smell like me, and we'll be good right? You gotta smell like your mate right?" Another slow blink, a helpless glance to Sam, who just laughed harder. "Dude," She said, "You are the one who's lived with her for the last six months. I've just worked with her for the last two. I would think living would show more of a person rather than work."

Ash's mouth opened, shut and then she turned at Riley's question. "Do you have fangs? Like Sam?" Sam blinked, one hand clasping over her mouth. "I figured you were some kind of vampire a long time," Riley admitted, shrugging as she continued shoving random clothing into a duffle bag. She didn't own that much, it was just scattered everywhere. "Demon actually," Sam said slowly. "Leirth. Vampires are native to Earth. We aren't. But we both drink blood, Leirth just feed on soul energy as well." At that, Riley frowned, then turned sharply around. "Wait? You mean you're an alien? That's even more cool." Sam snorted, amused despite her clear upset about being found out, and shrugged. "Not me personally, but I think my great grandmother was. And we don't come through spaceships or whatnot..there's a portal between our two realms." Riley slowly nodded. "Yeah, Patrick, he's the ghost who lives in the park a short distance away, told me about that. He said he wanted to return home, cause the Reapers don't usually take his kind home on this side of the portal, but he hasn't' found a way yet."

Sam blinked, but it was Ash who answered, "Shadowyn. She talks to the Shadowyn." At that, Sam's face cleared up. "Oh yea, The Second War really was horrible. Just stay away from the really bad ones, most Shadowyn are harmless victims." Riley was about to ask another question but Ash stood in front of her and crossed her arms,. Riley did her best not to stare at the other woman's breasts but dang, it was hard. They were so perky, and Riley was once again envious. And well, maybe a little turned on. It wasn't everyday a stunning woman stood in front of her naked and looked all growly and Alpha and all dominating and grr, obey me, and Riley realized she had completely zoned out when Ash barked out a laugh. "The Mother does not make a mistake." Ash told Riley, who simply blinked in confused. The.. who? God? Was that what they called God? Riley really wasn't religious. She believed in God, she believed in Jesus, and angels, but the rest.. meh. Her hair, tied into a loose braid, was tugged, and then Riley glanced over, realizing that Ash had tossed on a pair of leggings, since her butt didn't fit in most jeans Riley almost always wore jeans or sometimes dresses if she ran out of clean clothes and didn't have the coins for the laundromat. With a tank top under the cardigan now, and her feet shoved into socks.. no shoes of Riley were going to fit the feet of a woman who Riley had to guess, stood over six feet tall. Riley had the sudden thought that the Alpha could hold her up against the wall easily, despite all her extra weight, with those muscles. Riley tore her gaze away from where the leggings stretched over Ash's thighs and up into a very amused looking face. "I will let you look your fill later pup, its only fair after all." She grinned then, and sadly there were no fangs, but that smile was rather wicked. "For now though, to answer your questions, no, I'm not a werewolf. Those are native to this planet as well. I'm Carlyn. Similar species, both wolves, just slightly different. Kinda like how tigers and leopards are both still cats." Riley blinked, then nodded. Oh that made total sense. "I'm not a male wolf, so therefore I don't have a penis and thus no knot." Her smile turned a bit wicked. "But I do have very fun toys, and a couple of them have those if you were interested." Riley couldn't help the sudden deep blush on her cheeks, she hadn't realized that had slipped out, and she turned sharply away, pretending to double check her bag. Taking pity on her, knowing Riley tended to get overstimulated easily, Ash backed off and just tugged gently on the braid, before letting go and answering, "As to what happened here? They were looking for me. They being the rival pack. When you found me, and rescued me, I had been badly injured. There's a rival pack that's trying to overthrow my brother and they are resorting to underhanded tactics. They tried to kidnap our youngest sister, a little Omega who's barely past cub, and far too young to be mated off." Her expression went dark and stormy at that, but it cleared quickly. "I fought them off, and she's safely hidden in Kristopher's palace of a home," Sam snorted at that. "His home makes Micheal and Nick's look like a cute little cottage. Granted, he's the Queen's Consort, but still. She has like six of them." A pause. "Four. It's four now. I forgot two of them found their mates." At Riley's confused look, Sam shrugged. "Leirth are a matriarchal society, but the Queen is benevolent. If you find your mate, she won't make you stay." Riley frowned, but hefted her duffel bag, nodding seriously. "I'm glad your Queen is awesome then. So what now? We go back to your home and kick the butt of this evil pack?" Ash shook her head, tugging once more on Riley's braid, her smile impossibly fond. "Home is in Lousiana cub, are you sure you want to travel that far?" Riley frowned at that, then belatedly picked up a pair of panties she almost missed and shoved them into her pillowcase, then tucked her pillow between her back and the duffel she had shoved onto her shoulder to keep it there. "Your accent isn't Southern though. It kinda sounds more like Greek or something." A pause. "You kinda look like a Greek goddess, like one of those bronze statues?" Ash blinked, looked down at herself, but Riley was already barreling on, moving towards the door. "And its not like I have anything tying me down to this place after all, anyway. I kinda got fired today." At that, Ash growled, and Riley blinked. "Wow. Why is that hot? Like, a little scary, but in the good kind of scary?" Waving one hand dismissively, Riley turned around before Ash could answer, marching out the door. "I mean, you are stuck with me. You called me mate after all, right?" A trace of insecurity hit Riley then, a sudden deep seated fear. She knew she was weird, intensely so, she had no filter, and never shut up talking. Combine that with a body that most made fun of rather than looking at her with lust, and well. Her thoughts abruptly derailed when she felt a hand slip under her company shirt, which woops, she forgot to switch into a normal shirt and give back the stupid thing to her former work. And- all thought rushed out of her body when her nipple was tweaked through her sturdy, boring, over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder of a bra. "Such a shame," The voice purred in her ear, and Riley felt her knees go weak. "To be stuck with a mate such as yourself." The other hand slid down over her belly, and Riley tried to suck it in, and couldn't help the sudden jerk when the touch tried to slip under her jeans. "Sorry," A soft rumbling sound, the hands slipping free to firmly squeeze Riley's arm, rather than abruptly letting go and stepping back as most would have. "I'll go slow I promise. It's just hard to keep my hands off such a beautiful creature." Riley turned slowly, aware she was scowling, but Ash had nothing but absolute sincerity in her gaze. "You think I'm pretty?" At that, Ash drew in a breath, and nodded seriously. "You'll see when we go home, but we like our women to be just like you. I'm an Alpha, yes but I'm also a warrior, meant to serve and protect our pack's High Alpha, my brother and our siblings. Trust me cub, if Sam wasn't here, I would gladly push you onto this bed and wipe out any thoughts except of me." Gentle lips brushed against Riley's while Sam snorted in the background. "Ugh gross. Go do your sex stuff somewhere -away- from me. It's bad enough that Nick likes to come over and brag about his exploits with his mate." Still grumbling, Sam stalked off down the stairs. Riley belatedly accepted the hand offered to her, and followed after Ash after a moment, tugged along gently. She hadn't even realized her duffel had been removed from her grasp until she saw it over the other woman's shoulder. One last glance over her shoulder, and then Riley turned resolutely and let herself be lead to her new life.. in apparently Louisiana

Ash settled herself down against the seat, gaze moving towards the window. Adam had lent his private plane for them, a side bonus of his best friend being her brother's mate she supposed. Sure beat driving from New York all the way to Louisiana, and she tended to get growly around too many people.. there is no way she would have been able to fly, even first class, amongst so many strangers. Her gaze moved towards her mate, who had promptly passed out in the plane after assuring her that she always slept in cars airplanes were totally different! And yet, the soft creature had shifted, laid her head on Ash's shoulder and was breathing with these soft snuffling noises that almost could be snores. Ash still couldn't believe how well she had taken the truth, the transformation, and well, just everything. Although, her naming of the Shadowyn had be the best part. The shades didn't remember their names, so Riley had given them new ones. Astoria from the apartment.. Patrick from the park.. Susie from the supermarket.. and so forth. She was a strange creature, but as the wave of possessive heat rolled through her, the itch of her gums as the need to claim her mate tried to consume her, well, Ash found she was perfectly content with the strange creature. She was so soft so very soft, with such soft skin. Ash vowed to buy her all the pretty unscented of course, lotions that RIley could want, since she so lamented about her dry elbows and had tried to make the little bottle of lotions last each day. Ash had so wanted to help her, to soothe her, to take her into her arms and promise her that she never had to worry about money again, but she'd been trapped in her wolf form. Helpless, silent, and just waiting until she finally healed. Which had been a mere three days ago, and well, Ash had planned originally on just disappearing on Riley and going home. No need to drag her rather human mate into her affairs. But she'd found her mate wandering the streets late at night, barely wrapped in a coat, unzipped and in pajamas of all things, searching the streets at two am. The thought of something happening to her had made her blood run cold. It wasn't until another wolf had sought her out, head tilted, neck bared, even though she was the intruder in the pack lands and explained he had scared off anyone who would have harmed her. Riley had been grateful and when assured that his Alpha did not mind her prescence, for he knew that she had shown up gravely injured, well, it had been only common sense to give the wolf her brother's information and private number in case the Alpha's wanted to ally or even just meet. Her brother had sent someone the very next day, which had been the one who met the three of them outside Sam's car. Riley had stared at the man, turned to Ash, and then asked, "Is he a werewolf too? Cause no one human is built like that. Not unless he was abusing steroids or something." Ash hadn't been able to help the laugh at the look on the man's face. Carlyn easily reached seven feet tall, at just barely six she was considered rather short for her people. And they were leaner than their Shuuherian counterparts, but still, they were often powerfully built, the men huge and imposing and the women solid and steady. No delicate wildflowers in her people, well aside from Marionette, her brother's wife, but she was mostly Siren and Ash had long figured that she didn't count. Which brought up the question.. most Carlyn had a wolf mate, even if the wolf was only a quarter like Netta. Yet, Riley smelled and looked completely human. Well, maybe with Terran blood, with the whole Soul Acolyte thing, but still. She couldn't catch a wiff of wolf on the girl. Not that it mattered, anyway, in the long run. The other wolves would grumble, but her brother would accept her mate with open arms and the rest of the pack would hold their tongue out of respect for their Alpha's choice of actions.

Now, she sat in the private airplane, miles above land, watching the different views of the planet below and the clouds, with plenty of space to stretch out, and wondered what she was going to do next. Obviously, she knew what she wanted to do, grab her mate, and toss the girl into the bed and have her wicked way until she was dazed and promptly bitten and Marked as Mate. But Ash knew that Riley deserved flowers and courting and wooing and taking things slow and careful. She was pretty sure Riley hadn't even been kissed before, not properly anyway, by the way she had held so still when Ash had barely kissed her earlier. The thought of being her first made Ash shift, biting back the whine that would wake up Sam at least, even if Riley tended to sleep like the dead. Sam had shifted to her full demoness form, too nervous on airplanes to feel comfortable unless her wings and tail were pulled from .. Ash didn't get it, but it was kinda like the 4th dimension? Still attached to their bodies, always attached as arms and legs were, but yet not in the same physical plane of existence so they weren't visible or able to affect reality unless the demon shifted. Ash didn't get it, but whatever worked for the demons, she had no problems with them. And really, it made sense. If one could fly, of course you'd feel weird about something else flying you instead.

Ash glanced over at her mate, at the soft lush curves that Riley so hated and lamented over, and couldn't help trailing her fingers carefully down where the shirt had ridden up, exposing her belly. Riley hated it, but Ash rather liked the curve of it, the way it spilled a little over her too tight jeans, the only pair she owned and had forgotten until the mess from the apartment had unearthed them. For some reason, she had refused to wear leggings on the trip home. Strange little cub.. Ash would of course dress Riley in whatever clothes she wanted, be it jeans or skirts or dresses, clothing specifically tailored to fit her. And if she wanted to lose weight for her own self, not because society said she would, then well, Ash knew a few good personal trainers that would like the challenge of helping a human and all the limits that came with it and working around their lack of well.. everything. Ash was pretty sure the only reason Humans thrived was because they were too dumb to give up and they bred like rabbits.

Carefully Ash slipped a finger under the waistband, then frowned at the feel of skin indented there. Shaking her head, she carefully unsnapped then unzipped the jeans, rubbing gently at the marks the pants left. Silly girl, no one would judge her for wearing comfortable clothes.. they'd judge her for being human and not wolf. Giving up on that pursuit, she carefully let her fingers slide upwards this time, reaching the sturdy bra, and then up and just barely into one cup, stroking against the soft breast there. Ash was absolutely certain her hands couldn't contain the treasure there and the flesh would spill over. Ash couldn't wait to see, to feel, to grope to fondle.. the urge to bite her mate, to leave hickeys and marks and signs of possession tried to control her and she swallowed hard and tried to fight it away. Only to glance down and see chocolate eyes staring back up at her, glasses askew, and a little bemused smile on those full bee stung lips. "What are you doing?"

Ash glanced down at her hand, then shrugged and shoved it completely inside the bra, just to barely touch against one nipple. She watched in satisfaction as Riley drew in a sharp breath, biting her bottom lip and squirming. So very responsive. "You belong to me." Ash shrugged at that, then deliberately pulled Riley's shirt slightly, just to see better. At that, Riley snorted. "Alright, big bad Alpha. Does that mean I get to play helpless damsel in distress while going oh no, don't and yet making no effort to escape?" Ash couldn't help the soft laugh, even as she pulled her hand free, and tweaked RIley's nose instead, amused at her cross eyed look in response. "No, it just means that I can't keep my hands off you." A sudden, serious gaze and Riley did her best to meet it. "But its your body, and your consent. You don't want me to touch, I won't be offended. I know some days are bad sensory days, and I won't ever hold that against you." Ash couldn't help the sudden wicked smile. "Long as you hold me against you on the good days, okay?"

Riley stared at her so long, Ash wasn't sure what she had done wrong. Silence on her bubbly mate was a rare occasion. Finally Riley nodded, glanced over at their companion, who was far enough away in the plane that even if she woke up, she'd just roll her eyes and go back to sleep without seeing anything they were doing. Sam had strong opinions about sex.. namely that you did it away from her.

Ash let her be, knowing sometimes Riley needed time to process her thoughts and work through emotions, especially unexpected ones. She'd learned a lot living with her mate these past few months, but mostly it was because her youngest nephew was also the same. Riley wasn't as severe as Maliean, but still. Patience was the key here, and Ash found herself rewarded with a sudden unexpected hug, a face buried into her neck, which made her wolf growl in primal satisfaction of her mate taking comfort in her, and a tear laden voice saying, "Thank you for understanding." Leaning back, Riley wiped at her eyes and offered Ash her brilliant smile, unashamedly for once not hiding her crooked teeth as she always did. Ash couldn't help the sudden gleam of satisfaction of her mate trusting her, even as her two legged side was still ultimately baffled at how easily Riley had taken everything. She'd have to send Donnec to check on her later, to make sure she was alright. The girl wasn't wolf, but her brother was a gentle, kind soul that put everyone who met him at peace. It was why the Alpha pack had tried to attack, they thought him weak. Granted, they had waited until he was out of town on business to make their move like the cowards they were, but Ash knew had her brother been there, he would have easily dealt with all of them by himself. He may be most days a gentle teddy bear, but he still had his claws and could best even the best of their fighters in combat. Aside from maybe Rudra or Sasha, but they were dragon and bear, kinda wasn't a fair fight.

"Of course," Ash agreed easily, then laughed when Riley added bravely, "Once we are alone, I'll hold you against me." Shaking her head when Riley's face fell, she leaned over and brushed her lips against the other's. "Not laughing at you pet. Laughing at my wolf pouting about how we have to be alone which probably won't happen until next week or so. I have so many pack duties that I have neglected being gone, and Netta is going to want to spoil you rotten." At Riley's crinkled brow, Ash explained. "Marionette. She's the High Alpha's Mate. Most of the pack call her simply Alpha-Mate, but since she's my family, I'm allowed to call her by the nick name." Riley nodded, thinking this over, then glanced once more at Sam, who pointedly curled her tail over her face in response. The demoness rarely actually slept, simply rested quietly in most situations. Ash wasn't sure she even slept when with her two boyfriends, and their on again, off again relationship. Ash knew, as Micheal was part of her pack, that he wanted to claim Sam as Mate as well, even though he had already had Nicolai. It wasn't completely unheard of, a triad but it was still rare enough Micheal had sought out Donnec earlier this year and asked permission. Now the hard part was convincing Sam to agree to it.

Ash settled down after that, content to have Riley in her arms. She would just have to be patient to claim her mate is all. The airplane ride was smooth and easy and they landed with no fanfare or fuss. Of course, the airport was a distance away from where she actually lived, but that was the way of small towns. Miles away from civilization. Her pack lived in Riverstone, a half hour walk through the swamps from Willow Springs. However, Riverstone was completely owned by the pack, and only other Carlyn and a few Shuuherian of the pack lived in the little town. Willow Springs on the other hand, was something called a Sanctuary Town, which meant they accepted any and all who came within their borders - provided they followed the laws of course. The town had very strict laws, namely because the most of the people who drifted in were either hiding from the Hunters or else were simply not good people. There were the occasional down on their luck people who just needed some time to pull themselves together, and a handful of dual shifters who were escaping family or places that didn't acknowledge the laws about them had changed a mere twenty years ago.

Tossing the single duffel Riley had brought over her shoulder, her feet now clad in boots thankfully since the wolf that had been sent to find her had brought her a complete outfit in case she'd been trapped as a wolf. It happened more often than you would think. One hand settled possessively against Riley's back, the other reached for the one in front of her and squeezed the arm of the man who simply rolled his eyes and arched one dark brow. "Really, Ash? You disappear for months without a single word of contact and you bring home .. this?" He swept a gaze over Riley, who flushed and looked down. Ash snorted, shoved her oldest brother hard against his chest, not that it remotely moved him. The man towered over her, well over seven feet and built like a battering ram, barrel chested, tree trunk thighs and arms that bulged with muscle.

"Be nice. She's not used to your particular brand of asshole Daimon." Daimon grunted, but answered instead. "Least you found someone pretty, even if she's human. Can't imagine why she picked you, out of all the people probably fawning over her." Ash snorted, then grinned at Riley's look of complete confusion, one hand motioning towards herself as if to say, "Me? He thinks I'm pretty?" Ash was pretty sure she was mouthing the words to herself at least in sheer bafflement. Ash patted Riley gently on the back, amused still by Daimon who didn't even bother to attempt to take the duffel from Ash, both because he was indeed an asshole and because he knew Ash would be possessive about her mate's things, much as he was about Jalen. Instead she tossed one arm over Riley's shoulder, enjoying emmensely the fact that she immediately snuggled into the embrace and followed after her oldest brother.

The problem with living so far from civilization was that it took an hour to reach her home from the next city, and since the territory was owned by her High Alpha legally through the K'na'Gran Empire, the miles and acres surrounding her little town was nothing but forest and swamplands with no one allowed to build on it. Many humans had tried, but somehow had never managed to obtain the proper permits. The Human government was absolutely aware of Shifters and their own government, but the two somehow co-existed peacefully. Maybe because Shifters had been such a vital reason that World War Two had ended with the Allies winning, or for the Americans, the fact that the Shifters had mostly sided with the North. Mostly because the North had promised the Shifters an alliance and not hunt them further if they helped. And so far, the Human government had upheld their side of the bargain. It also didn't hurt that as the years progressed, the laws stopping Shifters from sharing their technology, especially from beyond the portal, lessened and the Human military rather liked the toys they slowly were being allowed to play with and the Human medicine progressed. Even if sadly it only benefited the rich and powerful with the technology slowly trickling down to the less fortunate as more and better technology was introduced to the one percent.

Ash didn't get it. The K'Na'Gra had their issues granted, but they would never leave their people to live in poverty and homeless and helpless, abandoned and forgotten. You were either a productive member of society or else sometimes, if your body was just too damaged, then the Soul Walkers would carefully escort your soul to the Reapers and thus ensuring your soul would be reborn into a better body and better life. Suicide was absolutely anathema to Shifters, if your life was absolutely that horrible then speak to the Hunters and they would help you. Sometimes it was just the fact that meds were needed because your brain wasn't wired correctly, or physical assistance such as needing help beating an addiction.

Usually though, most who couldn't survive as a Free and wanted to die, ended up submitting as a riko. And most thrived and blossomed. Owners took extreme pride in tending to their rikos, they were beloved possessions and were usually were spoiled rotten. Alot of Shifters, who struggled, especially those with mental illnesses, ended up as rikos. And then the choices were taken from them. Don't want to take your meds today? Too bad, you have to. Don't want to take a shower because your depression is too strong? Too bad, you'll be dragged into a warm shower, scrubbed down in your favorite scent, and then briskly dressed in soft warm comfy clothes and plopped down at the table and ordered firmly to eat. Ash had done that a couple times to one of her rikos, who had sighed deeply and ate the warm, filling broth anyway, after of course pouting and being spoon fed the few few bites in response. And then later had been allowed to curl up on the couch with a well read romance book and heavy weighted blanket and snuggled while Ash did paperwork on her computer. Maybe that's why the Shifters had been so on the side of the North - rikos were beloved slaves, meant to taken care of and tended to, much as Humans spoiled their pets, especially the cat owners. And to see the Humans abuse their slaves, To treat all of them as ricón, which were slaves that had been tossed away by their owners and left to fend for themselves on the streets. No one cared if a ricon was absused, or punished for no one reason, or just sold without warning. It was absolutely illegal to turn a riko into a ricon, but it still happened. And unfortunately most of the poor souls didn't realize they had legal right to seek out a Hunter and ask for sanctuary, for help. The Omigadoi usually just paid off the legal owner, and then settled the ricon into a program meant to rehabilitate them into being sold again as a proper riko. Some though, were too badly damaged and could never survive again with a normal Owner. That's where Ash into play, she fostered those rikos, the ones battered, the abused, the abandoned, the ones who had been thrown away. Some were violent, some were simply sad and lost, and others were belligerent and angry but ultimately harmless. Either way, Ash kept them until they were ready to return back to the Omigadoi or else, if she decided, they would be given to the Soul Walkers and granted peace. Only twice had Ash had to do that, once because the poor riko had been so badly abused she was blind, missing an arm, and in a month, had only sat there listlessly, rocking back and forth and never once responded to any sort of outside stimulation. The other had been because the riko had been simply too dangerous, a kyriiko, the ones trained as fighters and meant t protect, had been captured by his Sienter, his female Owner's, enemies and tortured before she had been killed before him. And unfortunately, Ash couldn't hold her own against a kyrriko, they were often ex-military who's PTSD were so bad they had turned to being kyriiko rather attempting to survive life outside the service as a Free. She had simply told the Hunter who offered her the chance to foster that riko to grant him peace and to ask the Reapers to make sure he and his Sienter were born once again close to each other so they could find each other once more. Currently Ash had two rikos at home, and hopefully her brothers had been taking care of them. Luckily they were both pretty mild cases and one was pretty close to returning to the Omigadoi so she wouldn't be surprised to come home to only one after six months away. Ash hadn't yet bought one of the fosters but she'd come close a handful of times.

Before she realized it, Ash looked up to see that their hour long drive had come to an end and they were pulling into the sprawling mansion her brother called home. Riley stirred from where she had been sleeping against Ash's shoulder and her mouth fell open. "Please tell me more than old couple live in this place." Ash couldn't help the soft laugh at that. "Plenty of people live in this place cub. My third oldest brother and his mate and their children, my second oldest brother and his revolving door of women," At that Damion snorted as he parked smoothly in front of the ten car garage. "And mostly the rest of our family comes and goes often. Moma and Popi live there as well, but they travel alot more since Donnec took over the pack from Popi."

Riley nodded slowly, clearly thinking that over and then sat up and grinned at Daimon when he opened the door for her, somehow not afraid of him despite the fact that everyone who saw him tended to be. He stood easily close to seven feet tall, with the traditional Carlyn dark skin, only a few shades darker than Ash's own, but she knew Humans tended to be uneasy around those of darker skin tone for some reason. Plus the dark scowl, the jagged scar that bisected his eyebrow, over his milky white eye, and curled his lip into a permanent snarl. Add in the fact he looked about the size and width of a tree, and the personality of a thunderstorm, most were rightly afraid of him. But Riley, she just reached up without thinking, pushed the shoulder-length inky black strands away from his face and smiled warmly at him. "You shouldn't hide behind your hair. Scars tell a story, and that one looks like one to be proud of, yes?" Damion simply stared at her, black eyes staring at her, slitted pupils narrowed, before he turned to Ash and growled, that deep rumbling tone of his voice as he declared to her in their native language, "Hurt her, and I'll break your kneecaps." At that, Ash snorted, watching as Riley hummed under her breath, half swaying, lost in her own world as usual, and wandered around the car, talking to absolutely no one as she commented on the house. Or well, maybe she was talking to someone, maybe there were ghosts at this place, not like Ash had any hint of Soul Mage ability after all. Instead she matched Daimon's stare and remarked seriously, "I'll stand still and let you." Damion nodded, apparently satisfied by that answer, the implicit promise and turned his attention back when he heard a yell.

Immediately a tiny bundle of gold landed in his arms, which he had already held out without thinking. Ash waved away the gold dust explosion, and grimaced at the fact she was now coated in glitter. Jalen had a tendency to want to create, which while his art turned out beautiful, glitter was still the herpes of crafting. It just never went away. She was pretty sure she was gonna be finding glitter two days from now on her person. Jalen for his part paused in peppering kisses over Daimon's face, who stood still longsufferingly, as if he simply tolerated the affection. Ash knew though that he looked forward every time he was away to Jalen's open, messy affection, unbridled and enthusiastic. Jalen leaned way back, trusting Damion to hold onto him and then waved with bright energy towards Riley who promptly grinned at him and bounded over. "Wow, she's pretty," Jalen declared to his mate, then cocked his head curiously, "Where's your wings?" He fluttered his, the gold and crimson paper thin wings catching the sunlight and seeming to glow. They looked like the fragile little wings of a butterfly, but Ash knew they were simply manifestation of pure energy and couldn't actually be harmed, at least not in this realm. Jalen had commented once that he mostly existed in the Faerie realm, as pure energy as all Fae were, but he took a good portion of his lifeforce permanently into a Mortal body to spend Daimon's life with him.

Riley blinked, then laughed and reached out without thinking to brush against Jalen's wings, who promptly shivered at the touch but reached out and patted Riley's shoulder in sympathy. "Did you lose them? It's okay, I'll help you find them." Riley peered behind herself, as if genuinely looking for wings, then back to Jalen. Ash tended to forget he was so tiny, barely over four feet tall, because he had such a vibrant personality. Porcelain pale skin, so pale to see the blue veins running underneath, with big pale blue eyes, a tiny pert nose and little cupid's bow lips, with a head full of white blonde curls, he looked like a dandelion just wanting for someone to come by and make a wish before blowing the fluff away on the wind.

Ash snorted and gently pressed one hand behind Riley's back, gently guiding her towards the house. "She's Human little Faerie, she doesn't have wings." Jalen looked supremely doubtful by that, but simply wrapped his arms around Damion's neck, content to be carried back to the house.

Once inside, it was a cacophony of noise and excitement, with Derrick striding towards Ash, picking her up in a bear hug and then setting her down and ruffling her hair, before peering intently at Riley, turned to Ash and asked, "May I?" In answer, Ash turned to Riley, who said, "Um. Okay?" Only to squeak as after Ash nodded her permission, as she was promptly lifted into massive arms and hugged tightly, her giving a little squeak. Once set down, she looked a bit dazed, saying without thinking, "No one's been able to lift me before. I'm too -" Her words were cut off when she was suddenly engulfed into a cloud of billowing silk, as Marianette tossed arm around Riley and hugged her tightly before promptly sticking out her tongue at Ash who pretended to pout in response. Riley turned slightly, surprised at the open affection, and maybe by the wings that wrapped around her as well, gorgeous things that looked like deep crimson bat wings, with sharp spikes on the top and curved on the bottom, which was a good thing since otherwise the incredibly sharp and equally strong tips would absolutely leave craters in the wood floor. Marianette was half Siren and half Carlyn, and a tad shorter than Riley at maybe five six, while Riley stood easily about five eight in socked feet. Marianette let go of Riley then, her wings folding behind her, huge enough to lift over her shoulders and brush against the floor, and strong enough to fly her faster than Ash could run in her wolf form. They'd had fun racing each other a few times when she needed a break from her newborn and find her sanity from her overprotective Mate and later clingy toddlers.

#paranormal romance #lesbians #Riley Ash

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