Deja Vu

‘December 17th, 2017’

‘Lumen’

Eve

I woke up in the middle of the night.

The room was dark.

I looked around.

It wasn’t my room.

My eyes scanned the room.

That was when I noticed the clothes on the floor, both mine and Raphael’s.

~Right.~

I was in Raphael’s room.

Only I was here alone.

~Where was he?~

The last time I’d been left alone in a bed—in his bed—had been centuries ago. The deja vu hit me.

I had thought he was my mate then, too. Only I was just a girl. I thought any man that gave me any attention could be my mate.

This time I knew for certain that Raphael was my mate. He knew it too. And still, he’d left me alone, hours after we’d finished fucking.

I felt the rage start to bubble inside me. I would not be left alone in a bed by that man, not again!

I was older now, centuries older, and stronger! So much stronger. I just had a scythe thrust into him, for fuck’s sake!

I clambered into the hallway, crazed and foggy. “RAPHAEL!” I thundered, not caring who heard.

That was when I saw a shaggy-haired boy emerge from a bedroom. “Eve?” he called out.

It was Reyna’s crush. Jed.

“Where’s Raphael?” I demanded.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, walking closer to me. “What’s wrong, Eve?”

“Where ~is he!~” I seethed, my whole body shaking. Jed was right in front of me.

“Raffe? He’s in Texas.”

“TEXAS?!”

“Yeah. Texas. He went with Zachary and Shade, left about an hour ago.”

“WHY THE FUCK IS HE IN TEXAS?!” I thundered, not caring that it was the middle of the night or that I barely knew the guy I was screaming at.

I was on my last nerve, and I didn’t appreciate not being given information.

“Maybe you should calm down,” Jed said softly.

A smile crept onto my face. This boy did not know who he had just told to calm down.

“If you don’t start giving me answers ~right now, I will tear your face off of your body.”

“He went to Texas because the Divine Hunters are there!”

“The Divine Hunters?”

“Yeah, the humans who hunt werewolves.”

“I know what the Divine Hunters are,” I snapped. “I thought you guys took care of them years ago.”

“We did. But a new group of them just surfaced, and they’re enthusiastic. The Texas Pack asked for help.”

“Why didn’t Raphael mention it to me?”

Jed looked at me. “We literally just got the call an hour ago.”

“Huh. Thanks,” I said, turning to walk back to Raphael’s room.

“Wait!” I heard him call out.

“Yeah?” I said, turning back to him.

“Reyna told me what you did for her. How you rescued her… again. I just wanted to say thank you.”

“What do you have to thank me for?”

He walked closer to me for the second time, pausing when he was a few steps away.

He looked at his feet, pushing his hands into his pockets. Then he looked up at me again. “I like her. She’s a good girl. I’m just glad that nothing happened to her.”

I nodded. “Well. Good.”

“And I’m sorry,” he offered.

“You’re… sorry?”

“Yeah. When we first saw you… you and Raphael, the way you interacted...it weirded us out. All the Millennium Wolves, we didn’t know what to make of you. But we’ve seen you protect the Morgans, and now… it’s clearer. What’s going on is clearer.”

I squinted my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”

“Well before, we thought you and Raffe were enemies. You know, that you were trying to kill him or something.” Jed chuckled.

I couldn’t help it. I let out a laugh too.

“Crazy theory,” I said.

“Yeah. But now I can see the truth.”

“And what would that be?”

“You don’t hate him. You just… you love him.”

I looked at the innocent face of the Millennium Wolf standing in front of me, and immediately my smile disappeared.

A snarl replaced it. And then I turned on my heel and walked into Raphael’s room, slamming the door in Jed’s face.

As soon as I was back in bed, I pulled out my phone.

Jed said Raphael and some of the other wolves had gone to Texas to track down the Divine Hunters, but they wouldn’t have gone unless there was a real emergency.

I needed information. So I texted Killian.

Eve

Killian, I need everything you have on the Divine Hunters.

Eve

STAT.

Eve

You copy?

I waited for my phone to light up with a response, but it didn’t.

Minutes passed. Then more minutes. And still, nothing.

I sighed, tossing my phone aside and resting my head on the pillow. It was the middle of the night. I’d give him until morning.

But when I woke up in the morning, there was still nothing.

It wasn’t that this was atypical. Killian was no stranger to going off the grid when he was on a mission.

But I hadn’t given him a mission. Not since the Morgans. And the pit in my stomach, it was telling me that something was wrong. So I called Kimbringe.

“Hello?” he answered on the second ring.

“Kim, it’s me,” I said quickly. “Have you seen Killian?”

“Not since the Academy got out last week,” he answered. “Why?”

Kimbringe was one of the founders of the Dengen Academy, an Academy that trained young people with extraordinary talents. And by talents, they meant magic capabilities.

Killian had been training at the Academy since he was ten.

“He’s not answering his phone.”

“He’s likely off the grid, Eve,” Kimbringe reassured me.

“I sense something. Something bad.”

I heard Kimbringe sigh. “Give it a few days. I’m sure he’s fine. Just doing your dirty work.”

“I haven’t given him a new mission.”

“Relax, Eve. He’s strong.”

“You’re not getting any of your all-powerful Deity senses ringing?”

Kimbringe laughed. “No, no ringing yet.”

~Well, that was at least a good sign.~

“Okay. Thanks, Kim,” I said, and then I clicked off.

I tried to rid my head of the bad thoughts, the ones that imagined Killian in danger.

I felt responsible for him. He was my ward, and it was my job to keep him safe. I didn’t know if I could take another kid under my protection getting hurt.

~Knock knock knock.~

I turned to the door. “Come in,” I called.

The door swung open, and Reyna stood there. “Hi,” she said, looking at me.

“You’re gonna just stand there?”

She smiled and walked into the room, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. “I just wanted to say thank you. Jed told me he saw you last night… that he talked to you… and I just… I want to apologize to you too.”

I looked at the teenager. She was way more mature than her seventeen years, that much I knew. “It’s okay, Reyna.”

“No, it’s not. We were bitches to you, and all you were trying to do was protect us. Even after the first time you saved us, we still were just… were assholes.”

I smiled. “You were assholes. But it’s okay. I’m used to being surrounded by assholes.”

“But they’re all… they’re all gone now, right? All the vampires after us.”

I nodded at her. “The Whitethorns are gone. But that doesn’t mean there’s no one after you, Reyna, so don’t get cocky.”

But she interrupted me, lunging at me, her arms wrapping me up in a hug.

“Uh…” I got out, surprised, but then I sighed, hugging her back. After a moment, I pulled away. That was enough embracing for today.

“Do you wanna come to lunch? Jed said Zavier made mac and cheese.”

I smiled at her. “Sure. Let’s go eat.”

***

We were all sitting around the dining table, digging into our plates, when I felt someone’s eyes on me.

I looked up and saw Gabriel staring. Raphael and the other Millennium Wolves weren’t back yet, so Gabriel had no one here to keep his manners in check.

“How’s the planning for the Yule Ball coming?” I asked him, to make sure he knew I wasn’t intimidated by his stare.

If he had something to say to me, or a question to ask me, he could spit it out. But if not, I wasn’t going to be glared at while I was trying to stuff my face with dairy.

He nodded at me. “It’s coming. We’re trying to focus, even with all the craziness going on right now.”

“The Divine Hunters, they’re no joke,” Zavier added.

“Divine Hunters?” Anya asked, looking at him. “What is that?”

“They’re humans who don’t like werewolves. Who don’t like the power we’ve accumulated,” Jed answered.

“They’re picking apart our brothers in the Texas Pack,” Gabriel explained to Anya, whose eyes went wide with fear.

“They’re dangerous, and we’re trying to stop them before they become a bigger problem. That’s where Raphael and his team are,” Gabriel continued, but I didn’t hear the rest of his explanation.

Because at the sound of Raphael’s name, heat exploded inside me. But not like before. This time, I could actually feel the fire burning between my legs.

It was hotter, more urgent, more frenzied. I squeezed my legs together, hoping that would cause the heat to subside, but it had the opposite effect. The fire burned stronger.

I felt my heartbeat race, my palms sweat, my nipples stiffen. Everything was happening to me at once. My whole body became a battlefield, my senses waging war against my desire.

But more than the sexual hunger, more than the ~need~, I was ecstatic.

Happiness coursed through my body like an endless succession of waves, each hitting me harder than the last. I was filled with a glee I’d never known before.

My mind was racing.

~Did someone slip something into my drink?~

But no, I was unaffected by alcohol, by drugs. I was too powerful for a substance to make me like this. And then it dawned on me.

The mating season.

It was here.

I looked around the table, trying to restrain myself from giving in to the desire, from rubbing myself right here until I exploded. But nobody else seemed to be hit. Everyone was still talking, still seated.

But I couldn’t stay seated.

My knuckles turned white from how hard I was gripping the sides of my chair, but if I let go, I knew I’d start to touch myself. Or dance, my joy consuming me. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

The fact that the haze hit me first didn’t surprise me. Not really, anyway.

I was the most powerful being here, which meant I’d be able to sense it before they could.

“The Season’s coming! The haze is here!” I shouted out, unable to hold myself back any longer. All eyes turned to me.

I jumped out of my chair and stepped around the table, my arms wide open. I had so much energy I just had to ~move~.

“It’s coming!” I repeated.

“What is she talking about?” Reyna asked.

“The haze,” Jed replied, watching me intently.

“Just what we need,” Gabriel murmured. “More chaos.”

“Chin up, Alpha,” Zavier laughed. “A little sex does the brain good.”

I passed Jed’s and Reyna’s chairs, saw them exchange glances and then blush. My smile got even bigger. They were ~adorable!~

I couldn’t take being inside anymore. I needed fresh air, sunshine, open spaces! I needed to dance with nature!

I ran out of the dining room, out of the Pack House, and then I was in the courtyard, spinning myself around and around.

I was dancing with the trees, weaving through them, letting myself go in a way I hadn’t before, not even in the hundreds of other Seasons I’d lived through.

This Season was stronger. It was hitting me more intensely, it was bringing me more joy than ever before. More joy and more desire.

I was turned on.

More than turned on.

Feeling the cool breeze hit me, tease my skin with its gentle touch, it was like I was being tormented by nature.

I needed a release.

I closed my eyes, spinning around and around, and Raphael’s face filled my mind.

~Oh, how I need him. Deep inside me, moving, thrusting.~

I could practically feel him, practically taste him. Practically smell him.

That boyish smell, a mix of clean laundry and burned wood. Warm and inviting, manly and strong, all at once.

But then I felt arms wrap around me.

Strong arms. Huge muscles.

The skin-on-skin contact made me moan with pleasure, even before I knew whether the arms were trying to bring me pleasure or pain.

I couldn’t fight in this state. I was too consumed. There was too much joy, too much desire, racing through every cell inside me.

“I’m back.” I heard a growl behind my neck, deep in my hair.