Page 19 of Eternal

“I… I don’t know exactly. But he had said he waited a millennium for the opportunity to get his vengeance on me. But he thought I was Isidora Graves, the witch. Who is he?”

“His name is Brogan.”

“How far intoThe OriginStory did you get?”

“I’m at the point where Wulfric took the potion and was able to shift into a man so he could protect Elissa.”

“Brogan was Wulfric’s older brother,” Amanda said. “According to the legend that is. After Isidora had captured Wulfric, Brogan had tried to save his brother from what he believed were the witch’s sacrilegious clutches. He fought the witch for his brother’s freedom, but she was stronger and had magical powers he couldn’t stand up against.

“After disfiguring him, Isidora cast a spell on him that condemned him to the forest where he would live forever, without a mate unless he was able to win one. But even then, he was cursed that no one would love him and any female he touched would die soon afterward.”

Tears started to sparkle in her eye. Could she be any more over-emotional? She remembered the sorrow she had seen in his gaze. What a horrible person Isidora Graves had turned out to be.

“Brogan is a thousand years old, little mistress. I would think his memory has started to play tricks on him,” Amanda said with her usual confidence. “He probably calls all the offerings he comes across Isidora Graves. A thousand years to harbor vengeance must surely be hell on his brain.”

“So then he was just confused?”

“Stands to reason.”

While she was still sad about Brogan’s story, there was nothing she could do about it, she also experienced such a sharp spike of relief, she burst out laughing.

“And you find that funny, why?”

“Not Brogan’s story. But my own,” she said through her laughter. She didn’t know what she had been thinking, but she had clearly made a mountainous situation out of nothing. A case of silliness. He had called her witch because his mind was playing tricks on him. She also quickly brushed aside the inkling of the thought that there were secrets about herself she didn’t know and stopped herself quickly. She squashed that idea and decided she was going to stop looking for things that maybe didn’t even exist. Why couldn’t she just be happy? Or rather, accept that she was happy.

Never mind the shifter stuff, a war with vampires getting closer every day, and her being an omega, she was luckier than almost every other normal woman out there. Well as normal as it could get times two. She was in love with two amazingly strong, possessive, and protective men. And they loved her. She was well taken care of and wanted for nothing.

She had a career she loved and knew she could offer up so much more, and that was her plan. And soon she would be pregnant, and they would be welcoming brand-new babies to their family. Everything was perfect. As it should be.

Chapter Eight

Farren sat engrossed while she completed the rest ofTheOmega Origin.

She picked up where she had left off before. Wulfric, in his attempt to save Elissa, had drunk the potions the witch had prepared to save the little boy children of the village. Wulfric wanted to protect Elissa, whose father had put a mark on her head when he discovered she had somehow played a role in thwarting his plans to grow his own army with soldiers that he would raise harshly and cruelly when the boys were still very young.

Still slung over his shoulder as he carried her further and further away, Elissa, the fair princess of Goian tried to make sense of the events that had happened.Had she been the person she was a few sunsets ago; she would have never believed her eyes. But since then, she had seen Isidora turn little boys into wolves. So, it shouldn’t be hard for her to believe a wolf had transformed into a man.

He carried her to a cave when rain as heavy as stones pelted down on them.

Still very much afraid of him, Elissa took to the far end of the cave and watched in terror as the man started to shift into a beast once more. The howling agony with which he changed had her blocking her ears. She wanted to help him but had no idea if he would eat her alive.

Finally, dripping with blood, he leaped out of the cave, in his wolf form, deserting her. She rushed to the entrance and realized on her human feet she would never be able to scale the mountain as easily as he had and the fear of falling to her death sent her back into the cave.

Hugging herself, she wondered if she would be left there alone to die. But soon she heard the growl of the wolf and scooted as far back as she could. In his mouth, he carried a basket and Elissa recognized the basket as one belonging to the baker who sold his bread on the street. The wolf laid it at her feet and the aroma of fresh-baked bread filled her nostrils.

Tentatively she took a piece. Then offered him a piece too. He didn’t take it.

Days passed and each time he went out he would bring her more stuff. Fruit and treats and even wood to make a fire. He brought her a blanket and socks. She spent her time sitting in the cave. And he spent his time watching over the entrance.

“I want to see you as a man again,” she whispered. The wolf growled and roared and sneered at her when he turned around, but she held her ground and didn’t back away. Instead, she turned away from him and stayed that way for what had felt like an eternity.

Eventually, he started to shift, and Elissa closed her eyes. From his growls, she knew it was a tortuous transformation. But she needed to see the man again.

She turned slowly and rose to her feet. The cave was just about high enough for him to stand, even though he had to crouch his shoulders a bit. She looked at him without reserve.

In the fire-lite cave, she recognized the man. She had seen him before, the one birthed from the form of a wolf. She had seen him in her dreams. At first, it had only been his body. Hulking, strong, layered with muscle. In her dreams, he had loomed over her and she, nothing but a frightened maiden, had shrunk back in fear until he disappeared from her dream.

But with every piece of slumber she took, and they were short but often, the fatigue of giving blood was a tiring endeavor, Elissa grew more and more curious. At first, she would send him away out of fear. But then she started to wait a little longer. Seeing what he would do. Each time she let him he came closer and each time he came closer his features became clearer in her mind until he became a fully-fledged man, who loomed over her naked body.

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