Secrets of Heat to Innocence

Chapter 24

Carmen

"Careful!" A woman with long tawny blonde hair and tawny eyes said. My  eyes grew round. I had to be dreaming This had to be another one of my visions. She was looking at me from head to toe as if she was searching for any injuries. The look in her eyes was that of someone that had known and loved me forever.  This felt different though, this was not a dream or something that I was imagining. This was real.  It was the woman. The woman in my visions. The woman that was always protecting me and hugging me. 

This woman was my mother. My real mother and I could touch her. I scented her. I had smelled that scent before. A scent that I had held onto all of my life. She was my mother.  I looked up to see eyes like my own, looking down at me with concern. Oh my goodness, it can't be. "No matter what you do, do not scream." He said to me. I was too shocked to scream.   He had my hair, he had my nose. I reached up and touched his nose. He smiled down at me. Other wolves came  shifting into their human form, all having a striking resemblance to the older wolves and to myself. "They are all gone ." the man that looked mostly like my mother said. My father looked at them, "Was he with them?" He asked. They nodded "Then we must go, before he gets away again." My father said standing up and helping me up with them.

"Wait" I screamed at him. "Don't leave! Tell me who you are." In my heart, I knew who they were. I had to hear them say it. I had so many questions, but mostly I want to hear them say that they were my family. I scanned them with tears flowing. My mother walked up to me and took me in her arms, "You know who we are without speaking the words, I am your mother Elena, This is your father Malachi. These are your brothers Andrew, James and William. " She said. I looked at them without moving, "Why would you leave so soon after only just finding me." They all exchanged troubled glances.  "Tell me, I deserve to know why you are deserting me again." I said with a broken voice.

My father, took me by the waist. He was huge. " My daughter, we located you two weeks ago. We are here to protect you. We are dealing with a wolf with no conscience. He denies his wolf and help humans kill us by the hundreds. We recently came across a powerful Luna that said she knew the family well and directed us here. His main objective is to kill you Carmen, He wants your blood. He has attempted to kill all of us, but was never strong enough. He feels that you would be easier. to kill. He said. My mind was swarming. I felt my anger rising, "Is this wolf named Stephen? Is the Luna, Princess Leona?" I asked

That immediately grabbed their attention. "How do you know that?" Elena asked. "Stephen is my adopted brother, I have always been suspicious of him, but I can't get the family to listen to my concerns. That is why I was out  tonight." I told them.

For a few minutes, they were very quiet. "We had tracked him to here. He and other wolves went in and took a lady and left." My father said. I felt a chill run down my spine when I noticed that they were looking toward my home, I could scarcely catch my breath. I knew that Silas and Ahrayna was away on holiday. The only lady that they could have possibly taken was Maddie. I fell to my knees, "Oh no."

All concerned looks were on me. I could not speak, "Where is my husband, did they take him as well. Is he okay," Before they could respond I was shifting to my wolf heading to my husband. The main doors were wide open. . My foot struck something and I realized that it was one of the guards unconscious on the floor,

I kept reminding myself how powerful my husband's wolf was.  I started walking toward our bedroom when my father grabbed my arm and signaled me to be still. As soon as I did I sensed the witch, My mother signaled me to stop moving and went ahead of me, no sooner than she stepped ahead of us. The witch came barreling out of nowhere. My mother immediately began to quick shift, but her movements were so fluid that it looked graceful and beautiful. Her movements were so quick that she appeared to vanish for a moment then she was coming down  on the witch's head and ripping her to shreds. I still sensed her spell, when I got to the room, I saw Malcolm laying on the floor motionless. I could not see him breathing at all. A pain like I had never experienced awoke a part of me that I never knew existed,

I felt white hot rage in every part of my body. A long powerful, painful howl erupted from me followed by an ear shattering war cry of a fairy. Andrew looked up at me "Carmen, he is not dead, he is under the witch's spell. Since mom killed it, it will take a little while before the spell to completely break." He assured me. In that moment, I knew two things. One was that my mate was okay and that Maddie was in a lot of trouble.  I looked at Andrew, "Stay with my husband."  I said in a voice so angry that I did not even recognize it as my own.  "Where are you going?!" My father asked me. "I am going to get Maddie and kill that bastard Stephen. You stay back and guard the castle. Don't try to stop me"

My father gave me a small smile, " I was not going to stop you, but your brothers and myself will be going with you. Don't try to stop us. We know more about this wolf than anyone else" They insisted "I will watch your mate and your home, don't worry." Elena said. Within seconds, we were in our wolves. I would not rest until I made that bastard Stephen pay for all the hurt he had caused.