Twenty-Four Years Ago

Under the first Full Moon of Winter Solstice and Fae frost, a prophecy comes to life—Lupin Dragona

Three children brought forth by wolf and fire—a Triad.

The first of their kind, with one born to lead them all.

She is the key—the bringer of fire and ice.

Their power unknown, but their story foretold.

With their magical gifts comes great loss.

To save the Unseen and humanity, they must pay—in blood.

Chapter 1

I rarely ask for permission. It’s overrated.

At least, that’s what I told myself upon sneaking out. Again.

I looked down at the ground and jumped from the window.

The heels of my shoes crunched gravel as I landed.

I glanced over my shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time.

Behind me, the front door clicked faintly.

Goddess. I’d never get out of here without them. A twig snapped and feet jogged to catch up to me. An enormous hand grabbed me from behind.

I brushed it away, growled and scowled deeply—the untamed rumble sounded more animal than human.

"Move, Atlas. I won't tell you again," I snapped at my brother. I was in a grim mood, further exacerbated by this detainment.

Earlier, I’d gotten into a heated debate with my father. I suggested an aggressive approach in locating a demon: sending out the guard, having our human agents look into some seedy buildings I’d heard hosted supernaturals and humans. 

My father disagreed, calling me overzealous and stubborn. Apparently, his plan comprised of doing nothing. Now, I had Atlas and Anders on my case, both pestering me to tag along on this investigation. We all knew they’d be a distraction.

"Thea, come on. We’re best when we’re together, you know that! I’m not trying to order you around. Just hear reason." Atlas pleaded.

My brothers were the only two I'd ever permitted to call me Thea. Even if Atlas and Anders were my Betas, they were my brothers first. And because I loved them, I had a tendency to cave when they got to whining like a bunch of pups.

“Lower your voice. I don’t need anyone overhearing and objecting to my little outing,” I whispered. 

"You know he's right,” Anders chimed in, racing to get in front of me. “We’re the Triad. That means three Thea, not one. If trouble shows up, we wanna be there." Another common ploy—ganging up. They always used the two against one bit, pretending it overpowered me.

"I'm tired of this argument," I sighed, my irritation already fading as it always did with them. I pulled out my keys, flipping them into my palm, the metal clinking together. 

Atlas shot me a look from his big, brown eyes, a fake pout on his lips.

            "Fine," I rolled my eyes.

"There, wasn't that so much easier?" Atlas laughed, doing little to stifle his rueful smirk. His wide mouth curved upwards, revealing his too-pointed teeth. He eased his posture, assuming he’d won this quarrel. Perhaps he had, but I wouldn’t to let him know that. I shoved him forward. He turned to look at me, walking backward to the large garage attached to the manor. “You could always try listening the first time.”

A tight pressure grew behind my eyes. I knew the sensation all too well. My eyes glowed, brilliant, fluorescent green.

"You were saying Atlas?" A ball of fire manifested in my hand. I tossed the reddish-orange orb around like a baseball, staring Atlas down, daring him to continue gloating. I swear—if they weren’t mine to protect, I might kill them both.

"Dammit, Thea. Chill, ya show off!" He hollered as he jogged away up our paved driveway back toward the house and Anders. Another step and the security lights would flick on, alerting our guard and family that we were up to something.

Anders clapped his hands together, howling with laughter. "You idiot. Never know when to quit, do you?" 

Atlas pushed Anders in front of him. He ducked down, pretending to use Anders as a shield. All three of us knew my threat didn’t alarm Atlas. If I did—he’d manifest his real shield. One of Atlas’s abilities could release a force field around himself or whoever he chose, as long as they were within so many feet. It proved his greatest defense against my talent with fire. One I made him test often in our frequent rows.

A chuckle of my own slipped out. “Shh.” I put a finger to my lips to quiet them. Tilting my head, I grinned. "Oh, but brother dearest, I'm only helping you train your shield," I quipped, feigning innocence. I put my hand to my chest in a dramatic swing and bowed my body back in a fainting motion.

"Last time we trained with your fire, I left with burns." Atlas gestured to his stomach, lifting his blue shirt as if to show scars. I laughed. He didn’t scar—none of us did, courtesy of supernatural regeneration and Anders.

"Your dramatics are one of a kind, Atlas. Anders healed you literally ten seconds later. And you know I'd never throw enough firepower to really hurt you." I let my fireball evaporate. Smoke seeped and swirled through the cool night air.

"Are you two done? We need to get moving before the guards hear your incessant bickering. You know Mother and Father don't approve of this little excursion," urged Anders—always our peer mediator and voice of reason. He routinely sought to diffuse situations, maybe because he was the middle child, if only by moments. Being younger than me and Anders by minutes offered Atlas the title of ‘the baby,’ and he was all too keen to use his skills in whining or picking to get his way—a prick habit of his, if you asked me.

Anders shrugged out of Atlas’s grip and narrowed his icy blue eyes. He gave Atlas a solid shove toward the large garage and received a sock to the shoulder for his troubles. Most days, those two couldn’t go five minutes without trading joking blows.

"Cut it out, and let's go then,” I scolded as the oversized wood panel door finished opening. I pointed to the jet-black car, sleek and ready.

The sound of pebbles grating together grabbed my attention. Footsteps. Someone was coming.

“Just get in already,” I hissed.

We hopped in my Jeep Grand Cherokee and pulled out of the garage with the headlights off, hoping to further avoid being noticed. It’s not like we weren’t adults or possessed a curfew. Hell, most things that went bump in the night feared us. But—the fresh edge in my father’s voice when he’d told me to ‘drop it’ this morning was a warning I had no intention of heeding. King or no king, I knew I was onto something, and as future Alpha—I took orders from no one.

I hit the gas at the end of the driveway and sped down the winding road towards the Barrier. From the rearview mirror I saw my father’s beta, Logan, and a few members of the guard watching us tear down the driveway.

“Ha-ha. Hasta la vista baby,” Atlas howled out his open window.

Anders scoffed and reached behind him to pull Atlas back in the car. “You’re still quoting The Terminator? Get in the fucking car already.”

I swatted at Anders. “Já chega!” Both brothers settled in their seats.

Before we hit the highway, Logan would likely tell my father we left, and not a single drop of me cared.

I pulled my phone from the console, tapping on the music icon. Music always helped the time pass quicker. We were heading past the Barrier, not for a clean-up or dispatch scenario, but to observe. I intended to research a few rumors, determined to gain as much information and evidence as possible. Perhaps then, my father would listen to me. Either that or I’d make him.

The Barriers kept the human world from the Unseen. To my knowledge, they existed for over a millennium. I wasn’t entirely sure anyone knew how or who created the Barriers, but they allowed us to stay "unseen" from the human world, giving our realm its namesake. It was an all-pervading cloaking spell, keeping humans from passing into our realm while letting us pass freely into theirs.

All citizens or magic folk knew humans existed. Most supernaturals never saw one—let alone interacted with one—while others enjoyed the thrill of mingling with humans or naturals, as we sometimes called them, going back and forth through Barriers. Sometimes passable supernaturals lived full-time outside the Barriers. I didn’t understand it, suppressing our nature. To what? Live with humans? I shook my head. I found humans curious and a touch small-minded. I understood my duty and protected their existence, yet most humans couldn’t bear the idea of supernaturals from their ‘faerie’ tales being real. Still, I wanted to familiarize myself with their complexities and gain a general knowledge of their behaviors.

Humans. My eyes rolled at the thought. Oh, to live in a bubble of ignorant comfort. I chewed my lip. Maybe part of me resented the hiding, but it didn’t matter. I had a job to do, and failure wasn’t an option.

I believed Xercarus, an ancient blood demon, had returned. Whispers of missing humans and supernaturals swirled around the Unseen, but I had no concrete proof to indicate if I was right. Even thinking the demon’s name left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

My hands twisted on the steering wheel. I’d only had the misfortune of reading about the bastard scourge in our record books. The blood baths. So much death. Xercarus and his filthy mutated horde slaughtered millions, ravaging their bodies, consuming them. 

Our tutors forced us to read the human history books. The Plague. Such a poor lie. The fourteenth century was a damning time. Wolves, vampires, fae, elves, humans—they all died by the hundreds over the years as the battle waged on, but one day it came to a halt. My lips pursed as I recalled my favorite part of the literature—when the Fire Warriors joined the cause, rising against Xercarus using their dragon forms. Their fire sent him running back to the hellish portal he crawled from. 

Rotten bastard deserved worse.

As for warriors, they didn’t fare well either. Shifting into dragons cost them their lives. 

They lost their energy in the transformation, leaving them helpless to move or shift back. Over time, they turned to stone. Our people erected a grand temple around their statues out of respect and gratitude for their sacrifice. As children, we often visited their resting place with our parents, leaving offerings. One of those statues was an ancestor of mine, the reason I was both wolf and dragon. I shook my head, wanting out of the memory. Wisps of black hair caught on my lashes, making me bat them. I couldn’t think of my youth or father while I disobeyed him.

Anders and Atlas hadn’t looked up from their phones, both of them mindlessly engrossed in some game about candy. I almost chuckled, but that’d draw their attention, and I needed the quiet of my mind for a while longer. My hands tightened on the leather steering wheel as I sped up the car.

I had my sights set on an underground club, one where humans, vamps, wolves, and other creatures mingled—humans just didn't know it. Besides finding some answers, I had a bigger challenge: corralling my rambunctious brothers. They knew how to find trouble and left me to clean up the messes from their less than graceful human interactions.

I peeked at Atlas in the rearview mirror, and I felt a smirk spread on my lips. Atlas and Anders were, by nature, boisterous—Atlas more so. He lived to make my temper flare with his juvenile commentary and his lack of a sense of urgency over anything. That broody pout and bad-boy exterior were mostly for show, though that did little to make him any less aggravating. My jaw tightened, thinking about the last time Atlas pissed me off.

I glanced over at Anders, still swiping away. He mirrored Atlas, almost twins in appearance. But Anders possessed these amiable blue eyes he’d inherited from our father, along with an equitableness about him Atlas could never muster. Anders always kept a more level head than either Atlas or me. Then again, we rarely left him with much choice.

"Thea?” Ah, dammit. Anders sensed me looking at him, then slid his phone away into the pocket of his jeans and began his questions. “Where are we headed on tonight's human stakeout?"

He shifted his torso to face me as I watched the curving road. He tapped his leg, waiting for me to respond. When I didn’t offer a quick answer, Anders leaned in closer on the leather armrest between us and squinted his blue eyes at me. I pretended not to notice his staring and pushed down on the gas, accelerating the car forward. My shoulders felt tight. I couldn’t put my finger on this impatience bubbling beneath the surface of my skin. It roamed through my pores, and unease coiled in my belly as if I was expecting something. I rolled my head from side to side, my hair tickling my neck.

Atlas spared no time in filling the silence. "Ha! You know she loves to check out those dive places. The darker, the better, I say. Nothing is harder to look at than humans,” he snorted, slapping his hand against his leg from the backseat.

I narrowed my jade eyes, clenching my teeth to keep from grumbling. Anders had gotten in the front seat first, calling shotgun, which left Atlas with only the opportunity to bug me with commentary from behind. A tense smile graced my lips—thank Goddess for small miracles.

Anders laughed, his shoulder shaking up and down. "Brother, you are utterly cruel. You know they can't help how fragile they are, or their smell." He and Atlas twisted in their seats to high-five, thinking they were both such clever comedians.

"Tell me again why I agreed to take you two along?" Annoyance from Atlas's and Anders's flippant remarks tainted my tone, making me sound shrill. Neither of them carried too high of an opinion of humans, and why should they? They were weak, and hard to keep alive. Sometimes, I found it difficult to disagree with those assessments. Humans were capable of so much less than wolves, or supernaturals. Yet since the beginning of time, we’d protected them and let them throw around their power as if they owned the world. I wasn’t sure if I believed humans deserved our unknown protection, but I had it ingrained in me for so long. I never gave it much thought to not guard them as you would helpless children.

Anders exaggeratedly cleared his throat. "Because if something should happen, we’re better together. We know, we know. You're the fastest, the biggest, but as the—"

I swung my palm up, interrupting my brother's well-rehearsed speech. All my life I followed rules. I served the Unseen without complaint, but I couldn’t hear our prophecy one more time—the Triad.

"Anders, stop. You’re a damned broken record. No need to remind me again. The almighty Triad. We've heard it our entire lives, yet here you two are, mocking humans. The people we’re supposed to protect." I paused, giving them time to absorb my words.

I adjusted the rearview mirror, allowing myself to glare at Atlas. "And so help me, if you two don't behave tonight, I'll singe both your hides!" I snarled, curling my lip up to bare my teeth. That ought to drive my point home.

"Whoa. No need to go to Alpha mode, Thea. Damn. Okay, we'll behave.” Atlas bowed his head, appeasing my inner wolf and dragon. And my, oh my, the dragon had a fiery temperament.

"Good. I knew you'd see it my way.” I raised my eyebrow and looked from Anders and again to Atlas in the backseat.

Silence held my brothers’ tongues for a while, giving me time to ruminate. I thought back to the time when my brothers had been on the receiving end of my dragon in full form. It was only once, and it was years ago. We were impulsive youths; they were still trying to get a handle on their abilities. Not me, though. I learned fast to channel my aggression, honing my skills with fire. I pushed myself without hesitation and in time, I’d become a better warrior than anyone expected. Killing became easy. Rogue hell spawns and ogres learned to fear me. I’d become lethal, a dealer of justice and killer of those who wouldn’t fall in line or threatened the Alliance.

Being female, the packs underestimated me at every turn. They clung to an antiquated idea of only a being able to rule, but not my parents. They saw what lurked beneath my exterior, the animal beyond a mere wolf.

Sensing my mood had cleared, Anders tried again. “So, where are we going?”

I fiddled with the radio. “We’re going to Zephyr. It's a newer club. Supposed to host a lot of vampires and wolves.”

"Vamps, humans, and wolves? Nah. Vamps seldom keep their fangs to themselves,” Atlas blurted, shaking his head from side to side. I frowned. He wasn’t altogether incorrect. 

Vampires needed blood to survive, but some enjoyed the thrill of feeding—the hunt. I didn’t understand the appeal, toying with humans or the blood. I hated the metallic, earthy smell. 

Before the Alliance, some vampires killed humans indiscreetly, not caring how many bodies piled in their wake. Over the years, my grandfather, Asher, and then my father had remedied this. They enforced the laws by penalty of death or disembowelment, though to my knowledge, we put very few supernaturals to death. Those that had were mostly before my father’s rule. 

"That's exactly what I'd like to find out. If laws are being broken, it's my responsibility to resolve it." I lifted my head higher and tapped the steering wheel with more force than necessary. I looked from Anders to Atlas. They knew the rules as well as I did.

Anders cleared his throat, interrupting my train of thought as usual. "Our. It’s our responsibility." 

One law stood out from the rest. It was simple: Don’t kill humans without cause.

Which meant vampires and sea nymphs could feed on humans. It was a biological necessity for vampires, but sea nymphs, they did it for amusement. The reasons didn’t matter as long as they left the humans unharmed and unknowing of the event.

Vampires often used their trance. Trance allowed a vampire to lure a human in, to seduce their mind. It also gave them the power to make the memory fade away. I possessed that same lucky ability--well, Anders did.

From what I’d learned, humans often enjoyed the tryst, and by morning all knowledge of what occurred was long gone. Vampires nowadays preferred to go unnoticed, but there was always the loose cannon who’d tear into a human in a social setting. Since bath salts and other hallucinogens entered the recreational drug use scene, media easily explained it away to the human tabloids. ‘Crazed madman high on altered drugs eats woman’s throat.’ Humans bought that trash hook, line, and sinker. Over the years, we’d only taken a handful of irrational Vampires back to the Unseen in silver manacles. And only on one occasion had I given a vampire their true death.

Atlas popped his head between Anders and me. “Why would wolves hang around humans or vampires anyway? I mean, I know why vampires enjoy humans, but wolves?”

I shrugged. “Not sure. That’s what we’re going to find out.” Atlas sighed and sat back in his seat.

He asked a solid question. Wolves didn’t hate vampires per se or vice versa. We just didn’t keep close company. I’d trained with several vampires; they made excellent sparring mates. As for humans… oof. Too breakable for most wolves to befriend.

Wolves had a tendency to be rowdy and prone to finding trouble. Our raucous nature was often hard to stifle. This disruptive behavior resulted in fights, trashing venues, and the occasional hospitalization of humans. Every once in a while, there was a fatality. Goddess, the paperwork and intervention required for that kind of infraction was miles long, and I hated paperwork. Such an unenjoyable experience for all parties, living or deceased. 

The silver lining to group animals like wolves was our nature required us to defer to a higher pack member or Alpha. It was almost too easy.

Wolves—such unruly hotheads, though I was one to talk. 

"I guess we’re off to save the humans from the likes of us again. Ah, an Alpha to the very end. Always looking out for the little guys," Atlas teased, giving a strand of my dark hair a tug like a child would do. 

"Har har." I fake laughed, turning up the music, letting ‘The Reaper’ by The Chainsmokers blare through my Jeep speakers. My head bobbed as I sang along.

I adjusted the rearview mirror as I sang, looking at my green eyes. We were triplets, though my brothers looked far more alike. I was the odd one out with black hair I’d inherited from some relative long gone. Anders had focused blue eyes, the same shade as our father’s. His slender muscles wrapped around every inch of his tall stature. He had light blonde hair, always kept neat for being a little long, either tucked behind his ears with care or tied up. He looked so much like our father, but when you observed him close enough, you saw the cupid’s bow of his lips, which was an exact match for our mother Illiana’s, and his eyelashes were too dark for someone so fair. 

I glanced over my shoulder as I turned the wheel to go around a curve and glimpsed Atlas from the corner of my eye. He looked much the same as Anders but possessed soulful brown eyes plucked straight from Illiana. They could warm you like being in the rising sun… when he wasn’t running his mouth. Even with linked minds and emotion, I often wondered what secrets Atlas tried so hard to hide behind those mysterious depths. His height matched Anders’s, but his build was a touch larger as he fancied lifting weights far more than Anders did. Atlas kept his hair shorter but never out of place or out of style. He often accessorized with a wrist cuff, a ring, and occasionally, an earring if he felt like stabbing himself. For wolves, earring holes healed up once you removed the jewelry.

From the corner of my eye I peeked at Anders, then Atlas. To my relief, they finally abandoned picking at me and focused their attention back on their devices. 

Thank the Goddess. I shook my head and rolled my eyes a little. At least they looked dressed for a club.