Wolves of Enchantment

Chapter Three: Dandelions

Anton’s Point of View

I could feel the anxiety rolling off of my son in waves. Looking over at Seraphina, the familiar nodded at me discreetly. Axel was trying not to worry his mother again, which was sweet but made her worry even more.

“Why don’t you go for a swim, and I’ll hide some of the muffins for you. You have about an hour before your brothers, sister, River, and Phoenix crawl out of bed. Go, it’ll settle your mind, son,” I encouraged.

My son was drawn to water and fire. Both elements seemed to calm his old soul. These dreams Axel kept having were important, but the one person who could help him discern would not come until later in the day. I just had to ensure Axel spent the time with his grandfather to discuss it.

Axel looked at me cautiously, then at the muffin container, and back at me with a furrowed brow. In fairness, Sage put lots of love into her baking and the muffins were delicious. He was right to be concerned there wouldn’t be any left.

“I promise, I’ll hide two for you right now and make a fresh pot of coffee for when you get out. Go, get out of your head for a bit. Swimming will help,” I urged my son.

“I’ll make sure no one sees them,” my beautiful mate grinned and hid the two muffins on a plate, much like her mother had often done with her.

“Awesome,” Axel grinned and bounded out the door with Seraphina.

“She’ll watch over him, love, don’t worry,” I assured Sage as she anxiously watched them race down the dock and Axel jump into the water.

“What if it’s Jade’s daughter he is dreaming about?” Sage asked nervously, worry etched all over her beautiful face.

“What if it is? She is not Jade or her grandmother. Axel is a beautiful soul filled with a strength that surpasses understanding. Even the Moon Goddess has commented on that. Whoever becomes our son's mate will be blessed because he will love them with all his heart,” I assured Sage.

“He loves so fiercely, I don’t want Axel to get hurt,” Sage admitted. “I want him to find what we have.”

“I think what we have is unique, and it wouldn’t be fair to wish that on our kids. We can encourage them to remember to be kind, faithful and honest with their partners and to expect the same things for themselves in return,” I smiled.

"I swear, these pregnancy hormones are turning my brain into mush. I can't even think straight without my daily dose of caffeine. Decaf is the devil's brew," Sage complained while I tried to contain my laughter and failed miserably.

“But you are right, you usually are,” Sage smiled and kissed me. I deepened the kiss, and she wrapped her arms around me, melting into my embrace.

“I think we need to take advantage of everyone still sleeping,” I groaned and scooped up my beautiful mate, heading to one of the spare rooms on the main floor to let our desires run wild.

Axel’s Point of View

I felt an immense sense of peace when my body hit the water. Something about methodically moving in the water, swimming towards the dock, soothed my soul. I don’t know what it was about being in water or near fire, but it healed me somehow. Maybe it was related to my powers or heritage, or perhaps it was just me. Maybe I was just drawn to it like Jax was with his motorcycle or Jackson with his music.

I turned 18 this year and will be able to sense my mate. I didn’t lack attention from girls, I attracted it whether I wanted it or not. My mother often said affectionately that I came across as a tortured soul they wanted to fix or that the bad boy persona lured them in. I just wanted someone to love me for me - not my powers, family, or what I could give them. Maybe the girl was that person.

I swam around the lake until I finally felt settled and came back in. Seraphina was waiting for me, curled up on the dock, eyes fixed on me as I dried off.

“Better?” my familiar purred.

“Yeah, thanks for watching over me while I worked through the thoughts in my head,” I answered, looking at Seraphina with gratitude.

My familiar nodded and began to walk back towards our house while I quickly put my shirt back on. It looked quiet and still in the house, and I groaned. Knowing my parents, they were going at it again in one of the spare rooms. I hoped I’d be able to find where my mother had hidden those muffins and that my father actually had made that fresh pot of coffee.

Eve’s Point of View

“Mom, will you leave me alone? You are always at me!” I screamed and slammed the door.

I put my headphones on and turned up the music so I didn’t have to listen to her lecture me yet again on the other side of the door. I pulled my long dark hair back in a messy bun, so it was out of my hair and proceeded to throw darts at the dartboard I had on the back of the bedroom door. Did I know it would piss my mother off more? Yes. Did I care? No, I did not.

I never wanted to move here. It was a smaller pack, and although welcoming and wealthy, it wasn’t home. My parents thought I was ‘out of control’ and ‘rebellious’ just because I didn’t conform to their image of me. I wasn’t almost draining the life out of anyone or hexing anyone at the moment, so I didn’t understand the big deal. I was calm… ish. As much as I could be given that I felt trapped in a cage of sorts here.

Mom was the worst of the two. She watched me carefully, always afraid I was ‘going to go too far.’ Whatever that meant. I guess my grandmother had been a powerful vampire with dark magic. But no one would ever tell me the complete truth. I only caught bits and pieces through covert eavesdropping as a child. They always refused to answer my questions, hiding dark secrets beneath their whispered conversations.

From what I could gather, my Grandma Liz was fixated on arranging a marriage between one of her daughters and the Foster family. It ended up being the cause of her downfall. I couldn't understand what could be so special about this family that my all-powerful grandmother would risk everything for it to happen. It was absurd to me, almost comical, considering the only Fosters I knew of were the ones with River Foster, the pretentious rock star, as if I would ever cross paths with him or his arrogant sons in this small, insignificant town!