The World After

Chapter 4 – White Wolf

“So, you want to what, show us some land?” I asked, causing Grayson to roll his eyes.

“This is our future home, the place where training will start, where our family will get raised, where we will grow old together.” I tilted my head for a second as I thought over his words.

“Start training? How can we start training if there’s only land there?” We bounced along the road in the truck he had, his grin huge on his face. I twisted my lip and glanced back at the kids who were full of smiles. “You two know something as well, don’t know?”

“Nope, mama,” Rosemina said, and I narrowed my eyes.

“Grayson, what are you talking about? You told me you had the land secured, nothing more. How can we be ready to even start training when I haven’t seen a plan to approve anything.” He took my hand in his and squeezed it.

“You’re a queen to rule others, however, I am still your mate and don’t have to run everything by you. I know you and your tastes well enough, even if you think I don’t.” I let out a huff as I glanced out the window, seeing the mountainside. It was a gorgeous backdrop, sure, but what could Grayson really know about me to start breaking ground on something? And it was evident the kids were in on it. Sure, we had a lot going on, and we knew we were fated to be together, but that doesn’t mean that we knew everything about each other. s**t, our relationship was still new, still coming to terms with everything.

“Don’t get such a high horse, there Grayson,” I told him, ready to start a whole speech, but as we crossed around the bend and I glanced over the spot, I fell in love instantly. The mountain was a perfect safe haven at our backs, the woods on either side were good spots for the wolves to run free and for guards to check, the open space was a grand area for witches to practice their arts, and the openness and yet closeness of it all felt more like a home for any vampire.

Yes, if there was ever a perfect spot to start the foundation of our kingdom, this was it. Beyond just this, the road stopped at what would be the very entrance of our gates. And if you travel, even more, you landed straight into the forest, and by my guess, end up finally going off a cliff. So, there wasn’t any spot that I could see that would be safer than right here. And it took one hell of a king to envision such a spot.

“I like the look in your eye,” Grayson whispered, and I turned to him.

“You have the mindset to lead, Grayson. You saw what I just saw, didn’t you?”

“It’s the safest place? Yes,” he said, climbing out of the truck and getting the kids out, who ran to the start of the structure. And when I climbed out, even I could see the very fortress he was building and really had no objections. In this case, maybe he knew more than I did.

“Wow,” was all I could say, and he grinned.

“I don’t know when it will be ready, but I do have the plans, and you can see them. The ground is done, so you can’t change that, but something tells me you wouldn’t want to.” He walked over to me and pulled me in his arms, pointing to a spot on the side that led into the woods. “That’s the training area. It’s set away from the house because I want all of us to be able to practice there and I don’t need some spell going horribly wrong.” I lightly jabbed his side. “Hey, sometimes those witches can misjudge something you know.”

“You thought of everything.”

“No, not really. I just thought about what would be good for this family, for our kingdom. Yes, this is our home, but it’s our ground spot for our kingdom. Our home is actually in the other back corner; separate from the other living areas. I want a base, if you will, to be open to anyone, but our home is our home, off limits to others. I don’t even want meetings in our home, that’s what this front area is all for, for our kingdom.” I turned my head and looked at him, seeing so much in his eyes. Grayson was an alpha, so his mind was already working on how to protect everyone, so why I would be surprised is quite funny. Sure, I had quite a few years on him, but still, I’m not sure I would have thought of something like this, not to this capacity. My leadership skills were different, my thoughts were different, and I was stronger in other ways, and this we all knew.

“You’re a great man, Grayson; a good alpha, and a strong king.” His head turned and he smiled down at me.

“A strong king is nothing without his strong queen.” With that, his lips crashed against mine. I moaned into the kiss, clinging to him tightly, and all the feelings and needs I had this morning skyrocketed, causing him to push against me. He groaned as his hands ran along my back and down to cup my ass, hauling me even tighter into his embrace. This was heaven to me and f**k if I didn’t wish I could be someplace else right now, not standing out here. Actually, I wished our house was done so I could go taint our new bedroom. To actually make love to him in a place that was ours where little ears couldn’t hear.

I rubbed against him, feeling his hardness, and I fought the pain in my fangs. I wanted so badly to bite down on these plush lips, seeking just a bit of a taste, but I couldn’t. That would only add fuel to this fire, and we couldn’t afford that. I ran my hand over his shoulders and slide my fingers into his hair, only stopping as I heard a whimper.

“What was that?” I asked, breaking the kiss and looking around. We both turned and saw Rosemina on her hands and knees, her eyes wide, the whimpers still coming from her lips. “What’s going on?”

“She’s turning,” Grayson said, slowly walking over to her.

“She’s too young, I thought wolves didn’t change till you were in your teens?” Grayson gave me a pointed look and then looked at Rayne.

“And I thought your fangs couldn’t drop unless you were older,” he told me.

“Point taken.” I had to remind myself, yet again, that I didn’t know what was going on with these two. “Rosemina,” I whispered softly but Grayson shook his head.

“Don’t try to reach her, she’s shifting for a reason.” With that, his head lifted, and he looked around for a few seconds before dropping to his knees next to his daughter. “I’m here with you.” I heard the change in his voice and smiled at the sound of Midnight. “It’s okay, daughter.”

“Ever so formal,” I mumbled to myself. Rayne walked over and slipped his hand into mine.

“Is she going to be okay, mommy?”

“She will be. Daddy is with her hon; he won’t let anything happen to her.” But like him, I was curious about what could have caused that. I sensed nothing, nor picked up on anything, so what was that set her off? It was something only she could sense, for neither Grayson nor I could get anything. I watched with fascination as she whimpered while her bones shifted. I hadn’t seen a change before and though it killed me to see my daughter in pain, it was still amazing to see the shift. Rayne’s hand clutched mine a little tighter and I squeezed it, giving him reassurance it would be okay, and I did believe it would be. We might be walking roads we know nothing about, but I firmly believed we’d figure things out.

I heard the sharp intake of breath from Midnight and then stepped around, seeing a smaller white wolf before him. My eyes opened wide as I took in her gorgeous coat with just a tinge of black spots on all four of her paws. She whined, her head moving between both Grayson and me and I reached my hand out to her, running it through the soft fur.

“Grayson, I have never seen a white wolf, is this possible?”

“The only white wolf I know of has ever been Lunella.” My head snapped to stare at him as he stared back. Sure, just another slap that these kids are just so very special.

“She’s absolutely beautiful,” I said, smiling down at her. Her tongue peeked out and licked my hand, but she just as quickly turned around and growled. I looked around, confused once more. I even felt Rayne get into a position, his fangs extended. “What are we missing?” I asked Grayson who merely shrugged.

“I’m not sure. Should I shift?” he asked and I shook my head, not quite knowing what to do.

“I don’t know, I have no clue what’s going on.” I glanced down at the kids and then over at Grayson’s phone as it started to ring.

“Hey Tessa,” he answered once he picked it up.

“Hey, are you guys at the field?” she asked.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Put me on speakerphone.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and pushed the button.

“You’re on, Tessa.”

“Get out of there guys. I felt a huge shift in the magic world just a few moments ago, and from what both Jonnah and I can gather, Erica is putting some type of cloak on the area so she can spy, but we can’t track her. You need to get out of there now, especially if you have the kids.”

“Can’t we attack her?” I question.

“Not if you can’t see her, Fire. Her power is strong, but it’s draining her, like any witch’s power. But you can’t fight her, not like that, but she sure as f**k can see you.” I glanced at Grayson and then at the kids; now the truth was out.