| Fantasy Fiction posted March 27, 2017 | Chapters: |
-Prologue- 1... 
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A Novel of the Breedline Series
A chapter in the book Unleashed Chaos
Unleashed Chaos
by scongrove
Prologue
Berkeley California, thirty-six years ago…
Lisa Wellington drew the blanket snuggly around the tiny infant and cradled it close, huddling in the dark. In the middle of a wooded field, she hid behind a thick pine. Looking up, she stared at the cloudless and star-filled sky. The night air was chilly, wiping away the warm sunny afternoon.
Her escape had been a miracle. An explosion had damaged the cell where she’d been held captive. She’d managed to get out before the guards could find her through all the wreckage. Severely weakened by all she’d been forced to endure, Lisa had also just given birth to twins only a week ago.
After it had been leaked out about her special gift of healing, an underground group of government military officials comprised of unethical scientist’s, took Lisa against her will. Treated like some magic wand they waved at a wound or an illness, they expected her to make it all disappear. The most ghastly experiment she’d undergone was when the German scientist, Dr. Hans Autenburg forced her to heal a patient with mental illness. For days Lisa had known what it truly was to be insane. She even thought of killing herself, but her pregnancy kept her from going through with the act. And then a ruthless physician named Dr. Hubert Crane, who served as her pediatrician, wanted to experiment on her babies after they were born. Dr. Crane was without humanity—the kind of monster that would skin an animal alive just to see how much pain it could endure before its death. He oddly resembled the evil leader of the German Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. He even shared the same trademark hairstyle, mustache, and stern mannerism.
She hated them for using other’s that had similar unique gifts as they’d used her. Not only did they kidnap humans, but they took Breedline against their will, forcing them to change into their wolf. They endured painful cellular modifications, mutated into a hybrid species. To them, they were just objects to provide them with knowledge and power. But now Lisa had run out of options. She was lucky to have been able to get out alive with her baby girl, regretting having to leave her son behind. When she escaped, she managed to get to the nursery only to find Tessa. Someone had taken her little boy, Steven.
Closing her eyes, she was exhausted by the weight of responsibility, sorrow, and regret. Trying to figure out her next plan of action was proving difficult. How was she going to provide for a baby alone at seventeen? She couldn’t go back home to her family. That would put them in danger. She knew her abductors were probably already searching for her, and she had no other choice but to stay on the run. That was no life for a child.
She missed her sister, Wanda. She was eight years older and took on the role of a mother for Lisa after their parents had passed away. And then her thoughts drifted to her beloved Kenneth, the father of her twins. After Lisa’s abduction, she severed the telepathic link between them to keep him safe. Her worst fear was that it was permanent, and she’d never get it back. Not having Kenneth was like living forever in the freezing cold without the sun.
In a way, she supposed it was for the best. If she tried to go back to her loved ones, they’d never be able to live a normal life, and she was determined to keep them out of harm’s way.
The sound of a soft coo brought her back to reality. As she looked down into her daughter’s angelic face, silent tears slid down Lisa’s cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, refusing to fall apart. Lisa was stronger than this, and she’d be strong again. She just needed to find a safe place for her daughter.
Lisa froze when she heard a distant noise. She went so still that even her breath sounded like an echo drifting in the silence. Quietly, Lisa snuggled the baby against her chest and gently rocked, trying to keep her soothed. She would never be able to live with herself if they took Tessa away.
As she waited in silence, ghosts invaded her mind. Lisa wondered if her sanity had been sacrificed, and worried she’d suffered through one too many experiments. Then she heard another sound, getting closer and closer. There was a man nearby, speaking in low tones. Fear was her first instinct because she could barely hear his voice.
“Lisa… where are you?” The voice was quiet in the dark, barely above a whisper.
He moved closer, and when he did, she could see his face. It was David, one of the guards that brought meals to her every day. As time had passed during her captivity, they’d secretly become friends. He’d promised he would find a way to get her and her babies away from her confinement and to a safe place.
She inhaled through her nose and then whispered back, “I’m over here.”
As David followed her voice and got closer, she noticed he held an automatic rifle, and though he shifted, so he was standing next to her, his gaze was still trained on the distance, watching, never once looking down at her.
“Lisa, we need to get out of here now,” he murmured. “Guards are everywhere looking for you, and they’re not far away. Are you strong enough to walk?”
With all her strength, she fought through the ghosts battling for control and got to her feet. Holding onto Tessa, she looked at him, her eyes filled with despair and said, “Where’s Steven?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lisa,” he said quietly, placing his hand on her arm. “I couldn’t get to him. Dr. Autenburg’s men had got to him before I did. I don’t know where they took him.”
“After I get Tessa to a safe place, promise me you’ll bring me back… to get my son.” There was a fierce edge to her voice that reflected strength her body didn’t have. But with determination, she would find it. She would take the risk of getting captured again if that’s what it took to reunite with her son. She had to make sure Steven had a chance for a normal life and not one filled with endless, painful experiments.
David nodded. “Then we need to leave now. I’ve got a vehicle hidden not far from here,” he explained. “Where do you want to go?”
She glanced down at Tessa, and a burst of hope warmed her insides. This young in her arms was a miracle... a precious living, breathing gift from God. Lisa didn’t want to let her go, but she knew she had to do what was best for her daughter. If she stayed in her life, it would be one on the run and Tessa deserved a chance to have a normal childhood, away from danger lurking in the shadows.
“Take me to Midway, Kentucky… to my sister, Wanda.”
He nodded with his lips in a thin line, worry edged in his expression. “Let’s go,” he said in a quiet, firm voice.
Ten yards away, David helped Lisa get to a jeep he had hidden behind an old barn. Opening the door for her, Lisa noticed two car seats in the back and a bag sitting beside it, apparently full of baby things. When she turned toward him, his grayish-lavender eyes softened, mesmerizing for the odd shade. “I’m sorry…” he paused, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to Steven in time.”
She looked down at Tessa as sadness crept through her chest. Lifting her chin back up, she said, “It’s not your fault, David. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
As they drove away, he was on edge, keeping a constant look out the rearview mirror until his neck ached from all the back and forth. Focusing on the backseat, he was relieved Tessa was sound asleep, happily snuggled in the car seat appearing content. Looking away, he glanced at Lisa and said, “Is Wanda your twin sister?”
Lisa stiffened against the seat belt. When she thought about his question, it brought back memories of her childhood. Her twin sister had died in childbirth, leaving Lisa feeling empty and hollow on the inside as she grew up without her. Breedline twins were born with an unbreakable bond. She let out a deep breath, and her shoulders drooped from fatigue and weariness. “No. She’s my older sister,” she replied, turning in David’s direction. “My twin sister died at birth.”
His eyes softened, and his lips tightened. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”
“Thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Wanda practically raised me after our parents passed away.”
David frowned. “What happened to your parents?”
Lisa looked down and shrugged. “They died in a car accident, but I don’t think it was accidental,” she said, raising haunted eyes to his, hurt brimming in her liquid gaze. “I think their death had something to do with the people who took me.”
David blew out his breath. It went against his grain to ever put a woman or child in danger. Guilt swamped his eyes as he thought of being part of the monsters that had taken Lisa. Hired as a guard, David he had no idea this organization was involved in illegal activity.
He opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent. His gaze riveted to Lisa as she looked away and stared out the window. Her demeanor told him she was holding back tears. Feeling her pain, he changed the topic and said, “How did you hide your abilities from others?”
Lisa shifted her stare from the window at the passing scenery and directed it toward David again. “I just didn’t use them,” she said. “My parents drummed into me from as early as I can remember to keep it a secret. No one outside our family was ever to know.”
David’s brow arched. “That shows remarkable restraint. Does… Tessa and Steven’s father know?”
Lisa shook her head. “No. I thought it would be best if he didn’t know.” She stopped and hesitated briefly. “Kenneth’s mother was human, and she became very ill, and there was a chance she wouldn’t survive. Her illness completely devastated him. So I secretly healed her… for him.”
David smiled. “You’re special, Lisa. And I don’t mean because of your abilities. I think you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. You deserve a happy life.”
“Thank you, David.” She smiled a little. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
She said nothing more because if she did, she would break down and fall apart. Just for the moment, she didn’t want to think of a future—an impossible future—she couldn’t have.
After three days on the road, they finally arrived in Midway, Kentucky. Lisa must have dozed off because she awoke when David gently nudged her shoulder.
“We’re here Lisa. You’ll need to give me directions to your sister’s place. How much farther is it?”
She sat up, wiping her tired eyes, and then studied the roadway in front of them.
“Not far,” she said, yawning, “just a few more miles.”
He nodded. “Okay. Do you think your sister will be home?”
Her chest tightened, constricting her airway. Her hands trembled, and she willed herself not to freak out. Deep breaths, she thought. Take deep breaths. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep her response calm and focused so David wouldn’t know she was apprehensive.
“I hope so,” she said, releasing a sigh.
After giving him directions, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer Wanda would be home when they arrived.
A half hour later, Lisa’s pulse raced out of control until she could feel it at her temples as they drove down a long country road that led to her sister’s farmhouse.
David noticed her nervousness and put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing,” he said, his eyes expressing sympathy.
Gradually the anxiety drifted away, and Lisa found her focus. It was if her mind was a knotted rope that was uncoiling and loosening and finding its way free. She brought back the image of her sister’s face to the center of her focus and let everything else fall away. Subconsciously, she could hear Wanda’s soft voice, and how it always made her feel safe and loved. Her sister’s husband John was a gentle and kindhearted man. She had no doubt he would be an excellent father figure for Tessa.
The road leading down to her sister’s farm was narrow and dusty. The moon shimmered as Lisa looked at the dark sky, reminding her of home. In other circumstances, she’d be thrilled to be home, but this was not the occasion to be happy. She had no other choice but to ask her sister and John to raise Tessa.
As they parked in front of a beautiful two-story house, Lisa sat in silence and stared out the car window. After a long moment of building up the courage, she turned to meet David’s gaze. “Please wait here,” she said, her voice laced with tears. “I won’t be long.”
David quickly got out, reached in the back seat for Tessa and handed her to Lisa. With Tessa in her arms, she slowly walked to the front door, her heart pounding in her chest. Before Lisa reached up to knock, she looked down at her daughter, knowing this might be the last time she’d see her again and whispered, “Never forget… Mommy will always love you.” She kissed Tessa on the cheek as tears streamed down her face.
Thirty minutes later, David saw Lisa come out of the house alone. She’d been forced to do the unthinkable… give up her own flesh and blood. When Lisa got into the jeep, she sat staring ahead in silence, completely broken. Lisa and her babies were innocent in all this. David understood the sacrifice she’d made. Her children deserved a chance to grow up in a traditional home without the fears of being kept in a cage like a lab rat.
Keeping her eyes forward, she wiped her tears and muttered, “Let’s go find my son.” Her voice cracked as emotion and pain knotted her throat.
David reached for Lisa’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He waited a moment as though to allow her to gather her emotions and then turned on the ignition. “I promise I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you—and your son—safe.”
She stared up at him in awe, so shocked by his reassuring words that she couldn’t even begin to know how to respond. What could she say to that? It comforted her that he was so resolute and that he now included Steven in his vow to protect. But he was just one man, and this was not his fight. And yet she needed him. He was the only person she would allow herself to trust.
As they drove through the night, fog hovered low to the ground, making the visibility impossible on the road ahead. When David and Lisa arrived back to the compound to search for her son, the trap had already sprung. Dread filled Lisa’s stomach and rose to her throat, tightening until it was hard to breathe as the jeep came to a screeching halt. Dr. Autenburg and Dr. Crane’s men had blocked the front entrance with weapons aimed in their direction.
David kept his hands on the steering wheel, and Lisa flinched when several guards approached her door. At the same time, David’s door flew open and more guards surrounded their vehicle, motioning for them to get out. When Lisa looked at David, he whispered, “Don’t run, Lisa. Just do what they say.”
In surrender with their hands up, they slowly stepped out of the jeep. Lisa screamed when a shot fired, and David dropped to the ground. When she tried to run for him, strong fingers curled around her wrist and jerked her back. Lisa twisted free from the tight grip and flew to David, throwing herself over his body.
“No, David!” she said, her voice pleading as she shook his shoulders. “Please!”
But he wasn’t moving. David’s glassy eyes stared out with an empty gaze. Lisa could see a thick trickle of blood down the side of his face.
“Get up!” a seething voice came from behind her.
Recognizing the hateful tone, laced with a German accent, Lisa froze. When she felt a tight grip on her arm, she flinched, snapping back to reality. With all her strength, she tried to pry herself free. There was a distinct sound of ripping fabric as Lisa felt herself being yanked backward—as Dr. Crane’s sleeve came off in her hand. And in that heart-stopping instant, she saw something else. On his forearm, he had a tattoo of a snake and a sword. She suddenly realized—even as she felt trapped in a strong embrace and fought to get free—the design on his skin was perfectly clear. It was a snake with its tail in its mouth, coiled around a long dagger. Staring up at him in horror, she was vaguely aware of a sharp stick piercing her arm.
Lisa was narcotized and smuggled out of California to a prison laboratory near Munich, Germany, where all the horrific experimentations began.
Subjected to endless and painful tests, Lisa suffered years of isolation. Refusing was not an option. Dr. Crane used her son as a threat. If Lisa refused to comply with their physical torture, they systematically tormented her with insinuations of Steven’s death. In the end, Lisa was bound to an operating table and mutated into a new specimen they called Lilith. Even though her heart froze, never to beat again, and most of her memories erased, she was still alive, her age froze in time. They transformed Lisa into something which went against the laws of nature... an abomination created by power and greed.
A glow seemed to emanate from her skin making it transparent, no longer a solid figure, but instead a glowing ghost. Her eyes were glimmering lights, like two brilliant, sparkling diamonds. But all the memories of her endless torture still burned in her mind like a blazing fire.
Blinded by their scientific craving, Dr. Hubert Crane had made a fatal mistake. He’d created his worst nightmare. Already born with the gift to heal, Lilith’s abilities developed and grew, changing with each experiment.
With the power to manipulate the mind, Lilith used her new skills on all of Dr. Crane’s men. One by one, they slaughtered each other, including some of the scientists except for Dr. Hubert Crane and Dr. Hans Autenburg, who managed to escape with Steven.
In a heated rage of fury, Lilith burnt the laboratory to the ground and cursed her revenge. As she watched everything burn, a clear memory of the past went through her like a knife. Lilith caught a vague remembrance of two babies lying side by side in a crib, each with emerald green eyes. In her subconscious, she heard the words to a lullaby. Hearing the melody in her head, she gasped as it all shifted into a nightmare. Helplessness and frustration swamped her as cries from a baby rang deep into her conscious. As images of two infants torn from their mother’s arms came to her in a flash, Lilith covered her face with both hands and dropped to her knees.
“Please...” the words painfully broke from her throat, “don’t take my babies!”
Overwhelmed by raw emotions, Lilith slowly lowered her hands and looked up at the sky, ready to surrender the last threads of her sanity. None of this made sense. Why did she scream out just a moment ago? Was she losing her mind? Were the images real or not?
Lilith closed her eyes, unable to bear the memory no more. It was more than she could withstand. All of it seemed like a dream, moments drawn out of real life as if they belonged to someone else. And then they were gone. Scrubbed from her memory, Tessa and Steven faded into nothing, leaving behind a blank slate. It was if the images had never existed at all. Opening her eyes, she took a quick, shallow breath and watched everything around her turn to ash.
****
Both physicians went quiet for years, as though they disappeared from the face of the earth. Years later, police discovered Dr. Autenburg’s mutilated body back in Berkeley, California.
Dr. Hubert Crane sought new backing, billionaire clients with a hunger for research, and hired more men to hunt down Steven—who was now an adult—after he managed to escape his colleague, Dr. Hans Autenburg.
To be continued...
Prologue
Berkeley California, thirty-six years ago…
Lisa Wellington drew the blanket snuggly around the tiny infant and cradled it close, huddling in the dark. In the middle of a wooded field, she hid behind a thick pine. Looking up, she stared at the cloudless and star-filled sky. The night air was chilly, wiping away the warm sunny afternoon.
Her escape had been a miracle. An explosion had damaged the cell where she’d been held captive. She’d managed to get out before the guards could find her through all the wreckage. Severely weakened by all she’d been forced to endure, Lisa had also just given birth to twins only a week ago.
After it had been leaked out about her special gift of healing, an underground group of government military officials comprised of unethical scientist’s, took Lisa against her will. Treated like some magic wand they waved at a wound or an illness, they expected her to make it all disappear. The most ghastly experiment she’d undergone was when the German scientist, Dr. Hans Autenburg forced her to heal a patient with mental illness. For days Lisa had known what it truly was to be insane. She even thought of killing herself, but her pregnancy kept her from going through with the act. And then a ruthless physician named Dr. Hubert Crane, who served as her pediatrician, wanted to experiment on her babies after they were born. Dr. Crane was without humanity—the kind of monster that would skin an animal alive just to see how much pain it could endure before its death. He oddly resembled the evil leader of the German Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. He even shared the same trademark hairstyle, mustache, and stern mannerism.
She hated them for using other’s that had similar unique gifts as they’d used her. Not only did they kidnap humans, but they took Breedline against their will, forcing them to change into their wolf. They endured painful cellular modifications, mutated into a hybrid species. To them, they were just objects to provide them with knowledge and power. But now Lisa had run out of options. She was lucky to have been able to get out alive with her baby girl, regretting having to leave her son behind. When she escaped, she managed to get to the nursery only to find Tessa. Someone had taken her little boy, Steven.
Closing her eyes, she was exhausted by the weight of responsibility, sorrow, and regret. Trying to figure out her next plan of action was proving difficult. How was she going to provide for a baby alone at seventeen? She couldn’t go back home to her family. That would put them in danger. She knew her abductors were probably already searching for her, and she had no other choice but to stay on the run. That was no life for a child.
She missed her sister, Wanda. She was eight years older and took on the role of a mother for Lisa after their parents had passed away. And then her thoughts drifted to her beloved Kenneth, the father of her twins. After Lisa’s abduction, she severed the telepathic link between them to keep him safe. Her worst fear was that it was permanent, and she’d never get it back. Not having Kenneth was like living forever in the freezing cold without the sun.
In a way, she supposed it was for the best. If she tried to go back to her loved ones, they’d never be able to live a normal life, and she was determined to keep them out of harm’s way.
The sound of a soft coo brought her back to reality. As she looked down into her daughter’s angelic face, silent tears slid down Lisa’s cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, refusing to fall apart. Lisa was stronger than this, and she’d be strong again. She just needed to find a safe place for her daughter.
Lisa froze when she heard a distant noise. She went so still that even her breath sounded like an echo drifting in the silence. Quietly, Lisa snuggled the baby against her chest and gently rocked, trying to keep her soothed. She would never be able to live with herself if they took Tessa away.
As she waited in silence, ghosts invaded her mind. Lisa wondered if her sanity had been sacrificed, and worried she’d suffered through one too many experiments. Then she heard another sound, getting closer and closer. There was a man nearby, speaking in low tones. Fear was her first instinct because she could barely hear his voice.
“Lisa… where are you?” The voice was quiet in the dark, barely above a whisper.
He moved closer, and when he did, she could see his face. It was David, one of the guards that brought meals to her every day. As time had passed during her captivity, they’d secretly become friends. He’d promised he would find a way to get her and her babies away from her confinement and to a safe place.
She inhaled through her nose and then whispered back, “I’m over here.”
As David followed her voice and got closer, she noticed he held an automatic rifle, and though he shifted, so he was standing next to her, his gaze was still trained on the distance, watching, never once looking down at her.
“Lisa, we need to get out of here now,” he murmured. “Guards are everywhere looking for you, and they’re not far away. Are you strong enough to walk?”
With all her strength, she fought through the ghosts battling for control and got to her feet. Holding onto Tessa, she looked at him, her eyes filled with despair and said, “Where’s Steven?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lisa,” he said quietly, placing his hand on her arm. “I couldn’t get to him. Dr. Autenburg’s men had got to him before I did. I don’t know where they took him.”
“After I get Tessa to a safe place, promise me you’ll bring me back… to get my son.” There was a fierce edge to her voice that reflected strength her body didn’t have. But with determination, she would find it. She would take the risk of getting captured again if that’s what it took to reunite with her son. She had to make sure Steven had a chance for a normal life and not one filled with endless, painful experiments.
David nodded. “Then we need to leave now. I’ve got a vehicle hidden not far from here,” he explained. “Where do you want to go?”
She glanced down at Tessa, and a burst of hope warmed her insides. This young in her arms was a miracle... a precious living, breathing gift from God. Lisa didn’t want to let her go, but she knew she had to do what was best for her daughter. If she stayed in her life, it would be one on the run and Tessa deserved a chance to have a normal childhood, away from danger lurking in the shadows.
“Take me to Midway, Kentucky… to my sister, Wanda.”
He nodded with his lips in a thin line, worry edged in his expression. “Let’s go,” he said in a quiet, firm voice.
Ten yards away, David helped Lisa get to a jeep he had hidden behind an old barn. Opening the door for her, Lisa noticed two car seats in the back and a bag sitting beside it, apparently full of baby things. When she turned toward him, his grayish-lavender eyes softened, mesmerizing for the odd shade. “I’m sorry…” he paused, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to Steven in time.”
She looked down at Tessa as sadness crept through her chest. Lifting her chin back up, she said, “It’s not your fault, David. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
As they drove away, he was on edge, keeping a constant look out the rearview mirror until his neck ached from all the back and forth. Focusing on the backseat, he was relieved Tessa was sound asleep, happily snuggled in the car seat appearing content. Looking away, he glanced at Lisa and said, “Is Wanda your twin sister?”
Lisa stiffened against the seat belt. When she thought about his question, it brought back memories of her childhood. Her twin sister had died in childbirth, leaving Lisa feeling empty and hollow on the inside as she grew up without her. Breedline twins were born with an unbreakable bond. She let out a deep breath, and her shoulders drooped from fatigue and weariness. “No. She’s my older sister,” she replied, turning in David’s direction. “My twin sister died at birth.”
His eyes softened, and his lips tightened. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”
“Thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Wanda practically raised me after our parents passed away.”
David frowned. “What happened to your parents?”
Lisa looked down and shrugged. “They died in a car accident, but I don’t think it was accidental,” she said, raising haunted eyes to his, hurt brimming in her liquid gaze. “I think their death had something to do with the people who took me.”
David blew out his breath. It went against his grain to ever put a woman or child in danger. Guilt swamped his eyes as he thought of being part of the monsters that had taken Lisa. Hired as a guard, David he had no idea this organization was involved in illegal activity.
He opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent. His gaze riveted to Lisa as she looked away and stared out the window. Her demeanor told him she was holding back tears. Feeling her pain, he changed the topic and said, “How did you hide your abilities from others?”
Lisa shifted her stare from the window at the passing scenery and directed it toward David again. “I just didn’t use them,” she said. “My parents drummed into me from as early as I can remember to keep it a secret. No one outside our family was ever to know.”
David’s brow arched. “That shows remarkable restraint. Does… Tessa and Steven’s father know?”
Lisa shook her head. “No. I thought it would be best if he didn’t know.” She stopped and hesitated briefly. “Kenneth’s mother was human, and she became very ill, and there was a chance she wouldn’t survive. Her illness completely devastated him. So I secretly healed her… for him.”
David smiled. “You’re special, Lisa. And I don’t mean because of your abilities. I think you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. You deserve a happy life.”
“Thank you, David.” She smiled a little. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
She said nothing more because if she did, she would break down and fall apart. Just for the moment, she didn’t want to think of a future—an impossible future—she couldn’t have.
After three days on the road, they finally arrived in Midway, Kentucky. Lisa must have dozed off because she awoke when David gently nudged her shoulder.
“We’re here Lisa. You’ll need to give me directions to your sister’s place. How much farther is it?”
She sat up, wiping her tired eyes, and then studied the roadway in front of them.
“Not far,” she said, yawning, “just a few more miles.”
He nodded. “Okay. Do you think your sister will be home?”
Her chest tightened, constricting her airway. Her hands trembled, and she willed herself not to freak out. Deep breaths, she thought. Take deep breaths. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep her response calm and focused so David wouldn’t know she was apprehensive.
“I hope so,” she said, releasing a sigh.
After giving him directions, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer Wanda would be home when they arrived.
A half hour later, Lisa’s pulse raced out of control until she could feel it at her temples as they drove down a long country road that led to her sister’s farmhouse.
David noticed her nervousness and put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing,” he said, his eyes expressing sympathy.
Gradually the anxiety drifted away, and Lisa found her focus. It was if her mind was a knotted rope that was uncoiling and loosening and finding its way free. She brought back the image of her sister’s face to the center of her focus and let everything else fall away. Subconsciously, she could hear Wanda’s soft voice, and how it always made her feel safe and loved. Her sister’s husband John was a gentle and kindhearted man. She had no doubt he would be an excellent father figure for Tessa.
The road leading down to her sister’s farm was narrow and dusty. The moon shimmered as Lisa looked at the dark sky, reminding her of home. In other circumstances, she’d be thrilled to be home, but this was not the occasion to be happy. She had no other choice but to ask her sister and John to raise Tessa.
As they parked in front of a beautiful two-story house, Lisa sat in silence and stared out the car window. After a long moment of building up the courage, she turned to meet David’s gaze. “Please wait here,” she said, her voice laced with tears. “I won’t be long.”
David quickly got out, reached in the back seat for Tessa and handed her to Lisa. With Tessa in her arms, she slowly walked to the front door, her heart pounding in her chest. Before Lisa reached up to knock, she looked down at her daughter, knowing this might be the last time she’d see her again and whispered, “Never forget… Mommy will always love you.” She kissed Tessa on the cheek as tears streamed down her face.
Thirty minutes later, David saw Lisa come out of the house alone. She’d been forced to do the unthinkable… give up her own flesh and blood. When Lisa got into the jeep, she sat staring ahead in silence, completely broken. Lisa and her babies were innocent in all this. David understood the sacrifice she’d made. Her children deserved a chance to grow up in a traditional home without the fears of being kept in a cage like a lab rat.
Keeping her eyes forward, she wiped her tears and muttered, “Let’s go find my son.” Her voice cracked as emotion and pain knotted her throat.
David reached for Lisa’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He waited a moment as though to allow her to gather her emotions and then turned on the ignition. “I promise I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you—and your son—safe.”
She stared up at him in awe, so shocked by his reassuring words that she couldn’t even begin to know how to respond. What could she say to that? It comforted her that he was so resolute and that he now included Steven in his vow to protect. But he was just one man, and this was not his fight. And yet she needed him. He was the only person she would allow herself to trust.
As they drove through the night, fog hovered low to the ground, making the visibility impossible on the road ahead. When David and Lisa arrived back to the compound to search for her son, the trap had already sprung. Dread filled Lisa’s stomach and rose to her throat, tightening until it was hard to breathe as the jeep came to a screeching halt. Dr. Autenburg and Dr. Crane’s men had blocked the front entrance with weapons aimed in their direction.
David kept his hands on the steering wheel, and Lisa flinched when several guards approached her door. At the same time, David’s door flew open and more guards surrounded their vehicle, motioning for them to get out. When Lisa looked at David, he whispered, “Don’t run, Lisa. Just do what they say.”
In surrender with their hands up, they slowly stepped out of the jeep. Lisa screamed when a shot fired, and David dropped to the ground. When she tried to run for him, strong fingers curled around her wrist and jerked her back. Lisa twisted free from the tight grip and flew to David, throwing herself over his body.
“No, David!” she said, her voice pleading as she shook his shoulders. “Please!”
But he wasn’t moving. David’s glassy eyes stared out with an empty gaze. Lisa could see a thick trickle of blood down the side of his face.
“Get up!” a seething voice came from behind her.
Recognizing the hateful tone, laced with a German accent, Lisa froze. When she felt a tight grip on her arm, she flinched, snapping back to reality. With all her strength, she tried to pry herself free. There was a distinct sound of ripping fabric as Lisa felt herself being yanked backward—as Dr. Crane’s sleeve came off in her hand. And in that heart-stopping instant, she saw something else. On his forearm, he had a tattoo of a snake and a sword. She suddenly realized—even as she felt trapped in a strong embrace and fought to get free—the design on his skin was perfectly clear. It was a snake with its tail in its mouth, coiled around a long dagger. Staring up at him in horror, she was vaguely aware of a sharp stick piercing her arm.
Lisa was narcotized and smuggled out of California to a prison laboratory near Munich, Germany, where all the horrific experimentations began.
Subjected to endless and painful tests, Lisa suffered years of isolation. Refusing was not an option. Dr. Crane used her son as a threat. If Lisa refused to comply with their physical torture, they systematically tormented her with insinuations of Steven’s death. In the end, Lisa was bound to an operating table and mutated into a new specimen they called Lilith. Even though her heart froze, never to beat again, and most of her memories erased, she was still alive, her age froze in time. They transformed Lisa into something which went against the laws of nature... an abomination created by power and greed.
A glow seemed to emanate from her skin making it transparent, no longer a solid figure, but instead a glowing ghost. Her eyes were glimmering lights, like two brilliant, sparkling diamonds. But all the memories of her endless torture still burned in her mind like a blazing fire.
Blinded by their scientific craving, Dr. Hubert Crane had made a fatal mistake. He’d created his worst nightmare. Already born with the gift to heal, Lilith’s abilities developed and grew, changing with each experiment.
With the power to manipulate the mind, Lilith used her new skills on all of Dr. Crane’s men. One by one, they slaughtered each other, including some of the scientists except for Dr. Hubert Crane and Dr. Hans Autenburg, who managed to escape with Steven.
In a heated rage of fury, Lilith burnt the laboratory to the ground and cursed her revenge. As she watched everything burn, a clear memory of the past went through her like a knife. Lilith caught a vague remembrance of two babies lying side by side in a crib, each with emerald green eyes. In her subconscious, she heard the words to a lullaby. Hearing the melody in her head, she gasped as it all shifted into a nightmare. Helplessness and frustration swamped her as cries from a baby rang deep into her conscious. As images of two infants torn from their mother’s arms came to her in a flash, Lilith covered her face with both hands and dropped to her knees.
“Please...” the words painfully broke from her throat, “don’t take my babies!”
Overwhelmed by raw emotions, Lilith slowly lowered her hands and looked up at the sky, ready to surrender the last threads of her sanity. None of this made sense. Why did she scream out just a moment ago? Was she losing her mind? Were the images real or not?
Lilith closed her eyes, unable to bear the memory no more. It was more than she could withstand. All of it seemed like a dream, moments drawn out of real life as if they belonged to someone else. And then they were gone. Scrubbed from her memory, Tessa and Steven faded into nothing, leaving behind a blank slate. It was if the images had never existed at all. Opening her eyes, she took a quick, shallow breath and watched everything around her turn to ash.
****
Both physicians went quiet for years, as though they disappeared from the face of the earth. Years later, police discovered Dr. Autenburg’s mutilated body back in Berkeley, California.
Dr. Hubert Crane sought new backing, billionaire clients with a hunger for research, and hired more men to hunt down Steven—who was now an adult—after he managed to escape his colleague, Dr. Hans Autenburg.
To be continued...
Berkeley California, thirty-six years ago…
Lisa Wellington drew the blanket snuggly around the tiny infant and cradled it close, huddling in the dark. In the middle of a wooded field, she hid behind a thick pine. Looking up, she stared at the cloudless and star-filled sky. The night air was chilly, wiping away the warm sunny afternoon.
Her escape had been a miracle. An explosion had damaged the cell where she’d been held captive. She’d managed to get out before the guards could find her through all the wreckage. Severely weakened by all she’d been forced to endure, Lisa had also just given birth to twins only a week ago.
After it had been leaked out about her special gift of healing, an underground group of government military officials comprised of unethical scientist’s, took Lisa against her will. Treated like some magic wand they waved at a wound or an illness, they expected her to make it all disappear. The most ghastly experiment she’d undergone was when the German scientist, Dr. Hans Autenburg forced her to heal a patient with mental illness. For days Lisa had known what it truly was to be insane. She even thought of killing herself, but her pregnancy kept her from going through with the act. And then a ruthless physician named Dr. Hubert Crane, who served as her pediatrician, wanted to experiment on her babies after they were born. Dr. Crane was without humanity—the kind of monster that would skin an animal alive just to see how much pain it could endure before its death. He oddly resembled the evil leader of the German Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler. He even shared the same trademark hairstyle, mustache, and stern mannerism.
She hated them for using other’s that had similar unique gifts as they’d used her. Not only did they kidnap humans, but they took Breedline against their will, forcing them to change into their wolf. They endured painful cellular modifications, mutated into a hybrid species. To them, they were just objects to provide them with knowledge and power. But now Lisa had run out of options. She was lucky to have been able to get out alive with her baby girl, regretting having to leave her son behind. When she escaped, she managed to get to the nursery only to find Tessa. Someone had taken her little boy, Steven.
Closing her eyes, she was exhausted by the weight of responsibility, sorrow, and regret. Trying to figure out her next plan of action was proving difficult. How was she going to provide for a baby alone at seventeen? She couldn’t go back home to her family. That would put them in danger. She knew her abductors were probably already searching for her, and she had no other choice but to stay on the run. That was no life for a child.
She missed her sister, Wanda. She was eight years older and took on the role of a mother for Lisa after their parents had passed away. And then her thoughts drifted to her beloved Kenneth, the father of her twins. After Lisa’s abduction, she severed the telepathic link between them to keep him safe. Her worst fear was that it was permanent, and she’d never get it back. Not having Kenneth was like living forever in the freezing cold without the sun.
In a way, she supposed it was for the best. If she tried to go back to her loved ones, they’d never be able to live a normal life, and she was determined to keep them out of harm’s way.
The sound of a soft coo brought her back to reality. As she looked down into her daughter’s angelic face, silent tears slid down Lisa’s cheeks. She reached up and wiped them away, refusing to fall apart. Lisa was stronger than this, and she’d be strong again. She just needed to find a safe place for her daughter.
Lisa froze when she heard a distant noise. She went so still that even her breath sounded like an echo drifting in the silence. Quietly, Lisa snuggled the baby against her chest and gently rocked, trying to keep her soothed. She would never be able to live with herself if they took Tessa away.
As she waited in silence, ghosts invaded her mind. Lisa wondered if her sanity had been sacrificed, and worried she’d suffered through one too many experiments. Then she heard another sound, getting closer and closer. There was a man nearby, speaking in low tones. Fear was her first instinct because she could barely hear his voice.
“Lisa… where are you?” The voice was quiet in the dark, barely above a whisper.
He moved closer, and when he did, she could see his face. It was David, one of the guards that brought meals to her every day. As time had passed during her captivity, they’d secretly become friends. He’d promised he would find a way to get her and her babies away from her confinement and to a safe place.
She inhaled through her nose and then whispered back, “I’m over here.”
As David followed her voice and got closer, she noticed he held an automatic rifle, and though he shifted, so he was standing next to her, his gaze was still trained on the distance, watching, never once looking down at her.
“Lisa, we need to get out of here now,” he murmured. “Guards are everywhere looking for you, and they’re not far away. Are you strong enough to walk?”
With all her strength, she fought through the ghosts battling for control and got to her feet. Holding onto Tessa, she looked at him, her eyes filled with despair and said, “Where’s Steven?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lisa,” he said quietly, placing his hand on her arm. “I couldn’t get to him. Dr. Autenburg’s men had got to him before I did. I don’t know where they took him.”
“After I get Tessa to a safe place, promise me you’ll bring me back… to get my son.” There was a fierce edge to her voice that reflected strength her body didn’t have. But with determination, she would find it. She would take the risk of getting captured again if that’s what it took to reunite with her son. She had to make sure Steven had a chance for a normal life and not one filled with endless, painful experiments.
David nodded. “Then we need to leave now. I’ve got a vehicle hidden not far from here,” he explained. “Where do you want to go?”
She glanced down at Tessa, and a burst of hope warmed her insides. This young in her arms was a miracle... a precious living, breathing gift from God. Lisa didn’t want to let her go, but she knew she had to do what was best for her daughter. If she stayed in her life, it would be one on the run and Tessa deserved a chance to have a normal childhood, away from danger lurking in the shadows.
“Take me to Midway, Kentucky… to my sister, Wanda.”
He nodded with his lips in a thin line, worry edged in his expression. “Let’s go,” he said in a quiet, firm voice.
Ten yards away, David helped Lisa get to a jeep he had hidden behind an old barn. Opening the door for her, Lisa noticed two car seats in the back and a bag sitting beside it, apparently full of baby things. When she turned toward him, his grayish-lavender eyes softened, mesmerizing for the odd shade. “I’m sorry…” he paused, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to Steven in time.”
She looked down at Tessa as sadness crept through her chest. Lifting her chin back up, she said, “It’s not your fault, David. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
As they drove away, he was on edge, keeping a constant look out the rearview mirror until his neck ached from all the back and forth. Focusing on the backseat, he was relieved Tessa was sound asleep, happily snuggled in the car seat appearing content. Looking away, he glanced at Lisa and said, “Is Wanda your twin sister?”
Lisa stiffened against the seat belt. When she thought about his question, it brought back memories of her childhood. Her twin sister had died in childbirth, leaving Lisa feeling empty and hollow on the inside as she grew up without her. Breedline twins were born with an unbreakable bond. She let out a deep breath, and her shoulders drooped from fatigue and weariness. “No. She’s my older sister,” she replied, turning in David’s direction. “My twin sister died at birth.”
His eyes softened, and his lips tightened. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”
“Thanks,” she said, swallowing hard. “Wanda practically raised me after our parents passed away.”
David frowned. “What happened to your parents?”
Lisa looked down and shrugged. “They died in a car accident, but I don’t think it was accidental,” she said, raising haunted eyes to his, hurt brimming in her liquid gaze. “I think their death had something to do with the people who took me.”
David blew out his breath. It went against his grain to ever put a woman or child in danger. Guilt swamped his eyes as he thought of being part of the monsters that had taken Lisa. Hired as a guard, David he had no idea this organization was involved in illegal activity.
He opened his mouth to speak but then fell silent. His gaze riveted to Lisa as she looked away and stared out the window. Her demeanor told him she was holding back tears. Feeling her pain, he changed the topic and said, “How did you hide your abilities from others?”
Lisa shifted her stare from the window at the passing scenery and directed it toward David again. “I just didn’t use them,” she said. “My parents drummed into me from as early as I can remember to keep it a secret. No one outside our family was ever to know.”
David’s brow arched. “That shows remarkable restraint. Does… Tessa and Steven’s father know?”
Lisa shook her head. “No. I thought it would be best if he didn’t know.” She stopped and hesitated briefly. “Kenneth’s mother was human, and she became very ill, and there was a chance she wouldn’t survive. Her illness completely devastated him. So I secretly healed her… for him.”
David smiled. “You’re special, Lisa. And I don’t mean because of your abilities. I think you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met. You deserve a happy life.”
“Thank you, David.” She smiled a little. “Thank you for being so kind to me.”
She said nothing more because if she did, she would break down and fall apart. Just for the moment, she didn’t want to think of a future—an impossible future—she couldn’t have.
After three days on the road, they finally arrived in Midway, Kentucky. Lisa must have dozed off because she awoke when David gently nudged her shoulder.
“We’re here Lisa. You’ll need to give me directions to your sister’s place. How much farther is it?”
She sat up, wiping her tired eyes, and then studied the roadway in front of them.
“Not far,” she said, yawning, “just a few more miles.”
He nodded. “Okay. Do you think your sister will be home?”
Her chest tightened, constricting her airway. Her hands trembled, and she willed herself not to freak out. Deep breaths, she thought. Take deep breaths. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep her response calm and focused so David wouldn’t know she was apprehensive.
“I hope so,” she said, releasing a sigh.
After giving him directions, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer Wanda would be home when they arrived.
A half hour later, Lisa’s pulse raced out of control until she could feel it at her temples as they drove down a long country road that led to her sister’s farmhouse.
David noticed her nervousness and put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing,” he said, his eyes expressing sympathy.
Gradually the anxiety drifted away, and Lisa found her focus. It was if her mind was a knotted rope that was uncoiling and loosening and finding its way free. She brought back the image of her sister’s face to the center of her focus and let everything else fall away. Subconsciously, she could hear Wanda’s soft voice, and how it always made her feel safe and loved. Her sister’s husband John was a gentle and kindhearted man. She had no doubt he would be an excellent father figure for Tessa.
The road leading down to her sister’s farm was narrow and dusty. The moon shimmered as Lisa looked at the dark sky, reminding her of home. In other circumstances, she’d be thrilled to be home, but this was not the occasion to be happy. She had no other choice but to ask her sister and John to raise Tessa.
As they parked in front of a beautiful two-story house, Lisa sat in silence and stared out the car window. After a long moment of building up the courage, she turned to meet David’s gaze. “Please wait here,” she said, her voice laced with tears. “I won’t be long.”
David quickly got out, reached in the back seat for Tessa and handed her to Lisa. With Tessa in her arms, she slowly walked to the front door, her heart pounding in her chest. Before Lisa reached up to knock, she looked down at her daughter, knowing this might be the last time she’d see her again and whispered, “Never forget… Mommy will always love you.” She kissed Tessa on the cheek as tears streamed down her face.
Thirty minutes later, David saw Lisa come out of the house alone. She’d been forced to do the unthinkable… give up her own flesh and blood. When Lisa got into the jeep, she sat staring ahead in silence, completely broken. Lisa and her babies were innocent in all this. David understood the sacrifice she’d made. Her children deserved a chance to grow up in a traditional home without the fears of being kept in a cage like a lab rat.
Keeping her eyes forward, she wiped her tears and muttered, “Let’s go find my son.” Her voice cracked as emotion and pain knotted her throat.
David reached for Lisa’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He waited a moment as though to allow her to gather her emotions and then turned on the ignition. “I promise I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you—and your son—safe.”
She stared up at him in awe, so shocked by his reassuring words that she couldn’t even begin to know how to respond. What could she say to that? It comforted her that he was so resolute and that he now included Steven in his vow to protect. But he was just one man, and this was not his fight. And yet she needed him. He was the only person she would allow herself to trust.
As they drove through the night, fog hovered low to the ground, making the visibility impossible on the road ahead. When David and Lisa arrived back to the compound to search for her son, the trap had already sprung. Dread filled Lisa’s stomach and rose to her throat, tightening until it was hard to breathe as the jeep came to a screeching halt. Dr. Autenburg and Dr. Crane’s men had blocked the front entrance with weapons aimed in their direction.
David kept his hands on the steering wheel, and Lisa flinched when several guards approached her door. At the same time, David’s door flew open and more guards surrounded their vehicle, motioning for them to get out. When Lisa looked at David, he whispered, “Don’t run, Lisa. Just do what they say.”
In surrender with their hands up, they slowly stepped out of the jeep. Lisa screamed when a shot fired, and David dropped to the ground. When she tried to run for him, strong fingers curled around her wrist and jerked her back. Lisa twisted free from the tight grip and flew to David, throwing herself over his body.
“No, David!” she said, her voice pleading as she shook his shoulders. “Please!”
But he wasn’t moving. David’s glassy eyes stared out with an empty gaze. Lisa could see a thick trickle of blood down the side of his face.
“Get up!” a seething voice came from behind her.
Recognizing the hateful tone, laced with a German accent, Lisa froze. When she felt a tight grip on her arm, she flinched, snapping back to reality. With all her strength, she tried to pry herself free. There was a distinct sound of ripping fabric as Lisa felt herself being yanked backward—as Dr. Crane’s sleeve came off in her hand. And in that heart-stopping instant, she saw something else. On his forearm, he had a tattoo of a snake and a sword. She suddenly realized—even as she felt trapped in a strong embrace and fought to get free—the design on his skin was perfectly clear. It was a snake with its tail in its mouth, coiled around a long dagger. Staring up at him in horror, she was vaguely aware of a sharp stick piercing her arm.
Lisa was narcotized and smuggled out of California to a prison laboratory near Munich, Germany, where all the horrific experimentations began.
Subjected to endless and painful tests, Lisa suffered years of isolation. Refusing was not an option. Dr. Crane used her son as a threat. If Lisa refused to comply with their physical torture, they systematically tormented her with insinuations of Steven’s death. In the end, Lisa was bound to an operating table and mutated into a new specimen they called Lilith. Even though her heart froze, never to beat again, and most of her memories erased, she was still alive, her age froze in time. They transformed Lisa into something which went against the laws of nature... an abomination created by power and greed.
A glow seemed to emanate from her skin making it transparent, no longer a solid figure, but instead a glowing ghost. Her eyes were glimmering lights, like two brilliant, sparkling diamonds. But all the memories of her endless torture still burned in her mind like a blazing fire.
Blinded by their scientific craving, Dr. Hubert Crane had made a fatal mistake. He’d created his worst nightmare. Already born with the gift to heal, Lilith’s abilities developed and grew, changing with each experiment.
With the power to manipulate the mind, Lilith used her new skills on all of Dr. Crane’s men. One by one, they slaughtered each other, including some of the scientists except for Dr. Hubert Crane and Dr. Hans Autenburg, who managed to escape with Steven.
In a heated rage of fury, Lilith burnt the laboratory to the ground and cursed her revenge. As she watched everything burn, a clear memory of the past went through her like a knife. Lilith caught a vague remembrance of two babies lying side by side in a crib, each with emerald green eyes. In her subconscious, she heard the words to a lullaby. Hearing the melody in her head, she gasped as it all shifted into a nightmare. Helplessness and frustration swamped her as cries from a baby rang deep into her conscious. As images of two infants torn from their mother’s arms came to her in a flash, Lilith covered her face with both hands and dropped to her knees.
“Please...” the words painfully broke from her throat, “don’t take my babies!”
Overwhelmed by raw emotions, Lilith slowly lowered her hands and looked up at the sky, ready to surrender the last threads of her sanity. None of this made sense. Why did she scream out just a moment ago? Was she losing her mind? Were the images real or not?
Lilith closed her eyes, unable to bear the memory no more. It was more than she could withstand. All of it seemed like a dream, moments drawn out of real life as if they belonged to someone else. And then they were gone. Scrubbed from her memory, Tessa and Steven faded into nothing, leaving behind a blank slate. It was if the images had never existed at all. Opening her eyes, she took a quick, shallow breath and watched everything around her turn to ash.
****
Both physicians went quiet for years, as though they disappeared from the face of the earth. Years later, police discovered Dr. Autenburg’s mutilated body back in Berkeley, California.
Dr. Hubert Crane sought new backing, billionaire clients with a hunger for research, and hired more men to hunt down Steven—who was now an adult—after he managed to escape his colleague, Dr. Hans Autenburg.
To be continued...
The journey so far...
Identical twins, Jace and Jem Chamberlain, born of the Breedline species - a race of humans that have special powers and the gift to change into wolf form - finds their life changed forever after their mother's murderer, the Chiang-shih demon... is finally destroyed freeing their evil half-brother, Sebastian Crow of his possession.
As Sebastian moves on with his new life, searching for Eve - his bonded mate - he discovers he has a twin brother who has knowledge of Eve's whereabouts and introduces him to someone far more dangerous than the Chiang-shih demon... and her name is Lilith.
With the new knowledge of Tessa's pregnancy of twin boys, Jace is drawn to protect them from his reoccurring nightmares he suspects are visions.
After Jace proposes to Tessa, she realizes he still bears the scars from his tortured past and his thirst for vengeance against Sebastian Crow. As Tessa helps Jace overcome his unquenchable fury before the Beast in him unleashes, someone from her past unexpectedly appears.
Now that there is a bit of peace in the Breedline Covenant, Jem looks forward to marrying his beloved, Mia. Unprepared for Eve's pregnancy - Mia's twin sister - they must come to terms that Sebastian or the demon might have spawned her unborn children. Either way, they may bring a whole new set of destruction and evil into the world.
Meanwhile, Dr. Helen Carrington continues with her research to find the cure for the Breedline aging process as romance blossoms between her and Alexander Crest.
As promised, Drakon Hexus returns back into Cassie's arms after helping the others destroy the demon, and hopefully, he will give her what she desires... to finally consummate their bond, bringing forth her first change into her Breedline wolf.
Tim Ross, the head council of the Breedline must face the decision he's agreed... welcoming Eve's children into the Breedline Covenant, and another mysterious guest, formally known as SPECIMEN ONE.
Kyle and Celina continue to see where their new relationship takes them, as she faces the heartache that she may not ever walk again. Kyle's cousin, Casey Barton, returns after mourning the death of his mother and finds a new romance himself. But he has secrets, and if it gets out to the Covenant, his life may change forever.
NOTE: This is not part of the chapter. A reference for terms and characters:
BREEDLINE - A species of humans that have the ability to change from human form into a wolf. They are not like the old legend of the Lycanthropy myth. Breedline species can shift into their wolf at will. The moon has no power over them. They do not pass their ability to other humans with a bite or scratch like the Lycanthropy myth.
The Breedline gene is passed down to offspring that are born identical twins. Although they live amongst human, their species must be kept secret.
In wolf form, they have super strength, speed, and heightened senses. Their lifespan is the same as a normal human, but they are immune to illness and disease. Only a silver bullet to the brain will kill them. All males change into their wolf at the age of eighteen. Females do not go through the change until they make love to their Breedline bonded mate.
BREEDLINE TWINS - Identical twins that are born from either one or both parents of the Breedline species. They have a strong, unbreakable bond from birth, are born with telepathic abilities, and have the power to sense the other's emotions or injuries. In some cases, the bond between twins are so strong, if one dies, the other twin may pass on, especially if they don't have a mate.
BREEDLINE BONDING - The male Breedline spends their life in search of their bonded mate. When the male comes in contact with her, he instantly feels a simultaneous, desirable attraction and she becomes the most important thing in his life. He is there to love, protect, and cherish her until death. Once they are mated, they bond for life. It is possible for them to have more than one mate in their lifespan.
BELOVED - A word used by a Breedline to express the bond to their mate.
DOUBLE BONDED - In some cases, male Breedline twins bond with the same female; but one will carry a stronger bond. Usually one of them must sacrifice for the other twin.
BREEDLINE COVENANT - The Breedline species must live within the boundaries of a Covenant, which is only formed with their species. The Covenant is governed and ruled by a head council. The council keeps their laws in order and oversees the species population.
THE BREEDLINE QUEEN - Over centuries the Breedline Covenant is ruled by a true Queen. If there is no Queen living, the Covenants are governed by an appointed head council until another Queen is born. A Breedline Queen is born once every one hundred years. Her massive stature, black fur, and red eyes are the Queen's trademarks. Her alpha wolf has twice the strength, speed, and size of any Breedline. The Queen is expected to rule over all the Breedline Covenants where she will be respected and obeyed by all Breedline. This is their absolute True Law.
THE QUEENS RING - This ring has been passed down to all Breedline Queens for generations. When the new Queen places the ring on, it instantly shifts in size to fit her finger.
TRUE LAW - All Breedline Covenants have an ancient book of laws. If either sex disobeys the Breedline laws, they can be shunned, or no longer protected by their Covenant. If a Breedline takes another life out of revenge, or evil - other than protecting their life, and the life of another - they will never have the ability to shift back human and cast out as a rogue wolf.
ROGUE WOLF - A Breedline shunned by their Covenant for taking another life out of revenge or evil and forced to live as a wolf until death without the ability to change human again. Some rogue wolves form into packs, which can be dangerous for other Breedline species.
RED (BLOOD) MOON - When the full moon passes through the amber shadow of the earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad, a series of four consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals. This incredible light beams into the heart of earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the moon into a great red orb. During this time, all Breedline species that are mated have a strong desire to create offspring. This is also a time when Breedline females are more fertile for the conception of twins.
CHIANG-SHIH DEMON (Kiang shi, a.k.a Ramael Arminius) - An ancient demon that inhabits the body of a Breedline fetus before it's born, or during a Breedline's death. It continues to take the soul over the natural lifespan of the child, or the deceased Breedline. When the demon possesses a fetus, it breaks the bonding and telepathic abilities of their twin when they are born. If the demon possesses a deceased Breedline's body, it must do so before the soul passes on. If the soul is not intact, the body will soon die.
In most cases, the Chiang-shih demon will take the life of the other twin, even before their birth. The twin that is born with the demon will bring only evil to whomever they encounter. Their sole purpose is to gain full control of another soul and seek world domination.
There are two ways the demon is cast from the soul it possesses: By its firstborn son, and the Angel of Mercy, Zadkiel. The Beast is the only one who can kill a Chiang-shih demon.
THE BEAST - He is the second born son of the Chiang-shih demon. When provoked into a rage, he will shift into his Beast instead of his Breedline wolf. The Beast is an enormous, dangerous two-footed creature that has wolf-like features. One bite has enough venom to kill the Chiang-shih demon and leave the soul of the person the demon possessed unharmed.
SHADOW WALKER (a.k.a Shadow Figure, or Black Mass) - The perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly interpreted by the Breedline as the presence of a malevolent entity. When a Breedline species dies and does not pass on to the other side, they are left to roam the earth as a shadow of themselves, a ghost. They will not pass on until they have settled unfinished business before their death.
ZADKIEL (Tzadqiel, a.k.a "Righteousness of God") - The Archangel of freedom, benevolence, and mercy, and the Patron Angel of all who forgives. Breedline species tradition considers him to be the Angel of Mercy.
SUCCUBUS (a.k.a CREEPERS) - Creatures that search for, and feeds off the blood of the Breedline species. Creepers are skilled at extreme sexual pleasure, and the ecstasy they create is exceedingly intense and highly addictive. They cast off a scent that hypnotizes Breedlines into overwhelming sexual urges. They use their human-like bodies and beautiful features to control and influence their thoughts.
They have the ability to reach into the Breedline's mind during sleep, casting a spell of dreams about sexual contact, or intercourse. And one much less obvious manifestation of Creepers is nightmares - realistic, graphic, terrifying nightmares that rob the Breedline of sleep. Over a period, it can lead to severe fatigue and depression, leaving them emotionally and spiritually drained. Death can occur if they completely take over the Breedline's body.
HALF-BREED - This species is born with the genes from both Breedline and succubus. They can bond with either a full-blood Breedline or another half-breed. They do not have the ability to change into the Breedline wolf, but they do need blood from them to survive. With the power to hypnotize, most Breedlines have minimal respect and credence toward the half-breed species.
WICCA (or Wise One) - According to the Breedline species, a Wicca is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, and necromancy. A Wicca is also considered to be a demonic spirit. It is unclear to the Breedline if they act under the orders of the devil, or they are simply not understood and treated as outcasts. They have the ability to do white magic (good) or dark (evil).
KATAKO (a.k.a Lucas, or Dark Shadow) - He is the Chiang-shih demon's offspring that is born both Breedline and Wiccan. After one year, the Katako develops into an adult with the mind of a child, without reaching full maturity. It has the power to appear translucent, or become completely invisible. Being born half Breedline, it can shift into a wolf and transform, or mimic another creature with the power to instantly travel from one place to another. Their true purpose of creation is to bring forth the souls stuck in purgatory by using one drop of its blood. The Breedline Queen's bite is the only way to destroy it.
GOLEMS (a.k.a The Death Army) - Evil creatures created by dark Wiccans with the power of necromancy. By releasing the souls of demons stuck in purgatory, the Wicca can give them the ability to shape into a creature that is made from earth. These creatures have various qualities, such as mass strength, enormous stature, and the power to consume their victims by saturating them with mud.
GUARDIANS (a.k.a Spirits of the Forest) - They originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wicca. They have the ability to stay invisible with the power to move through any barrier and over any distance instantly.
THERIOMORPH - This species is born with the genes of a Breedline, but do not have the ability to change into a Breedline wolf. They shape shift into an enormous black panther. They possess powers of mind manipulation and random visions of the future. They must use the drug dopamine to suppress their urges. Their eye color shifts into a glowing lavender when their Theriomorph nature takes over. The Breedline see them as a threat to their species.
Jace Chamberlain - He is a Breedline species which later discovers his birth father - who is possessed by the Chiang-shih demon - murdered his mother when he and his twin brother were four years old. Raised by their new foster family and their uncle Jacks, he later discovers he was born with a curse of the Beast. With the help of his twin brother Jem, and his bonded mate Tessa, they help him cope with his rage to keep the Beast at bay. He's an IT engineer and is the lead singer and plays acoustic guitar in the band Chaos.
Jem Chamberlain - He is a Breedline species and Jace's twin brother. He carries the gene of the Chiang-shih demon that gives him the power to create a portal, and a force of electric energy used as a weapon, and other powers he discovers later. His bonded mate is Mia Blackwood, and he's an IT engineer and the drummer in the band Chaos.
Tessa Fairchild - She was born into the human world and later discovers she's a Breedline. Abandoned by her parents, she was raised by her Aunt and Uncle without the knowledge of being born a twin. After she meets Jace, they become bonded mates. During her first change into her Breedline wolf, she is the new Breedline Queen. She is an inspiring artist.
Dr. John and Sarah Chamberlain - They are Jace, Jem and Cassie's adopted human parents. They are physicians in a children's unit, and also donate their time to the emergency center.
Chester and Amelia Ewan - They are called Guardians - a species originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wiccan.
Jackson Gray - He is Jace and Jem's biological uncle, Katlyn Gray's older brother. Although he carries the gene of the Breedline, he does not shift into a wolf. Only Breedline's born with an identical twin have the ability to change into their wolf. He's a medical supply pilot.
Mia Blackwood - She is a half-breed and Jem's bonded mate. Abandoned at birth and raised in human foster care, she later finds her twin sister, Eve.
EVE - She is a half-breed and Sebastian's bonded mate. Growing up in human foster care, she spent her entire childhood abused until Sebastian saves her. Scorned from her past, she lashes out in anger, living a life of crime later to discover her twin sister, Mia Blackwood. After realizing the Chiang-shih demon possesses Sebastian, Eve clings to the past in hopes of reuniting with her beloved. Now that Sebastian is finally free of the demon, she has trust issues, worried he has an alternative plan for their sons.
Sebastian Crow - He is a half-breed, and Eve's bonded mate. After he had been killed by Jace in self- defense, he was possessed by the Chiang-shih demon after the Angel of Mercy cast him out of Alexander's body. As he tried to portray Sebastian's life, Eve finally figured out his secret. Keeping her captive only to survive on her blood, he later develops feelings for her. The demon creates a death army, determined to dominate the world and unleash his wrath amongst humans and the Breedline. Now free from the demon, he is determined to reunite with his beloved Eve who is kept prisoner by the Breedline Covenant awaiting trial for her past crimes against them.
Alexander Crest - He is a Breedline who was possessed by the Chiang-shih demon before birth. Murdering his family, Alexander kidnapped his twin's bonded mate, Katlyn Gray. Keeping her prisoner against her will, she becomes pregnant with his twins. As she managed to escape before she gave birth, Alexander eventually kills her in a fit of rage. Returning for his chosen son twenty-two years later, he is determined to convince him to join his army. After the battle between the Breedline, the demon is finally cast out of Alexander setting his soul free. For the demon's past crimes, Alexander is pardoned and must reside in the Breedline Covenant. Praying for forgiveness, he reunites with his twin sons, Jace and Jem. As he fights to keep his new family safe, romance blossoms with Dr. Helen Carrington.
Tim Ross - He is a Breedline species and head council of the California Covenant. Angel, his bonded mate - who is a half-breed - has Tim's daughter they named Natalie, after her sister.
Angel - She is a half-breed and Tim's bonded mate.
Natalie - She is a half-breed and Tim and Angel's daughter.
Kyle Jones - He is a Breedline species that resides in the California Covenant. Having lost his family to a house fire at childhood, his uncle Tim Ross has raised him since. Celina Baldolf is his bonded mate. He's a mechanic and also Jace and Jem's close friend, and plays bass in the rock band Chaos.
Casey Barton - He was born of the Breedline species, and lives in the California Covenant. He was adopted by Tim Ross's brother and carries a deep dark secret, afraid to reveal to the Breedline. He is a clothing model and plays backup bass and keyboards in the band Chaos.
Dr. Helen Carrington - She is a Breedline species and a physician at the California Bates hospital for both Breedlines and humans. Later, she discovers Jace and Jem carry a gene, possibly used for a cure to stop the aging process in her species. After Alexander's demon is banished, he is pardoned for all past crimes and welcomed into the Breedline Covenant. When he meets Helen, they become bonded mates.
Drakon Hexus - He is a Breedline species. At a young age, his first bonded mate was killed by her father. In a rage, he hunts and kills her murderer, breaking the Breedline's True Law. Shunned by his Covenant and forced to live as a rogue wolf, he's promised his humanity back if he joins the Chiang-shih demon's army. After Drakon discovers the demon's plans to destroy all humans and half-breeds, he betrays him and joins forces with the Breedline. As time passes, he bonds with another mate, Cassie Chamberlain.
Cassie Chamberlain - Adopted at age two by Jace and Jem'?s adopted parents after her mother abandons her. Later, she discovers she is a Breedline species and bonds with the handsome Drakon Hexus. She is a nurse practitioner, specializing in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Malachi O'Conner - He was born a Breedline species, and shunned by the Breedline Covenant after breaking their True Law. Alexander Crest's demon later forced him into joining his army of rogue wolves. After he had tried to escape, he endured cruel torture from the Alexander's Chiang-shih demon. He was later rescued by the Breedline and pardoned for his past crimes.
Celina Baldolf - She is a Breedline species with the power of a Wiccan, but only practices white witchcraft. Her twin sister Taliah, a dark Wicca, murdered their parents when they were twelve years old. Dr. Helen Carrington is their aunt, and Kyle Jones is Celina's Breedline bonded mate. She is an editor for a local publishing company.
Taliah Baldolf - She is a Breedline species and the mother of the Katako. Using her powers as a dark Wiccan, she joins forces with the Chiang-shih demon to create his death army. After she threatens to kill the Breedline Queen, the Beast overpowers her and sends her to her death.
Samuel Mercier - He is a Breedline and a council member from France that has secretly turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon. He and his other Breedline traitors go into hiding after the Breedline destroy the demon, desperate to seek revenge against the Covenant.
Fredrick Mercier - He is a Breedline and Samuel Mercier's identical twin. Also, he's a council member from France that has secretly turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon.
Corbin Azzo - He is a Breedline and another council member that has turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon.
Pays
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and 2 member cents. Identical twins, Jace and Jem Chamberlain, born of the Breedline species - a race of humans that have special powers and the gift to change into wolf form - finds their life changed forever after their mother's murderer, the Chiang-shih demon... is finally destroyed freeing their evil half-brother, Sebastian Crow of his possession.
As Sebastian moves on with his new life, searching for Eve - his bonded mate - he discovers he has a twin brother who has knowledge of Eve's whereabouts and introduces him to someone far more dangerous than the Chiang-shih demon... and her name is Lilith.
With the new knowledge of Tessa's pregnancy of twin boys, Jace is drawn to protect them from his reoccurring nightmares he suspects are visions.
After Jace proposes to Tessa, she realizes he still bears the scars from his tortured past and his thirst for vengeance against Sebastian Crow. As Tessa helps Jace overcome his unquenchable fury before the Beast in him unleashes, someone from her past unexpectedly appears.
Now that there is a bit of peace in the Breedline Covenant, Jem looks forward to marrying his beloved, Mia. Unprepared for Eve's pregnancy - Mia's twin sister - they must come to terms that Sebastian or the demon might have spawned her unborn children. Either way, they may bring a whole new set of destruction and evil into the world.
Meanwhile, Dr. Helen Carrington continues with her research to find the cure for the Breedline aging process as romance blossoms between her and Alexander Crest.
As promised, Drakon Hexus returns back into Cassie's arms after helping the others destroy the demon, and hopefully, he will give her what she desires... to finally consummate their bond, bringing forth her first change into her Breedline wolf.
Tim Ross, the head council of the Breedline must face the decision he's agreed... welcoming Eve's children into the Breedline Covenant, and another mysterious guest, formally known as SPECIMEN ONE.
Kyle and Celina continue to see where their new relationship takes them, as she faces the heartache that she may not ever walk again. Kyle's cousin, Casey Barton, returns after mourning the death of his mother and finds a new romance himself. But he has secrets, and if it gets out to the Covenant, his life may change forever.
NOTE: This is not part of the chapter. A reference for terms and characters:
BREEDLINE - A species of humans that have the ability to change from human form into a wolf. They are not like the old legend of the Lycanthropy myth. Breedline species can shift into their wolf at will. The moon has no power over them. They do not pass their ability to other humans with a bite or scratch like the Lycanthropy myth.
The Breedline gene is passed down to offspring that are born identical twins. Although they live amongst human, their species must be kept secret.
In wolf form, they have super strength, speed, and heightened senses. Their lifespan is the same as a normal human, but they are immune to illness and disease. Only a silver bullet to the brain will kill them. All males change into their wolf at the age of eighteen. Females do not go through the change until they make love to their Breedline bonded mate.
BREEDLINE TWINS - Identical twins that are born from either one or both parents of the Breedline species. They have a strong, unbreakable bond from birth, are born with telepathic abilities, and have the power to sense the other's emotions or injuries. In some cases, the bond between twins are so strong, if one dies, the other twin may pass on, especially if they don't have a mate.
BREEDLINE BONDING - The male Breedline spends their life in search of their bonded mate. When the male comes in contact with her, he instantly feels a simultaneous, desirable attraction and she becomes the most important thing in his life. He is there to love, protect, and cherish her until death. Once they are mated, they bond for life. It is possible for them to have more than one mate in their lifespan.
BELOVED - A word used by a Breedline to express the bond to their mate.
DOUBLE BONDED - In some cases, male Breedline twins bond with the same female; but one will carry a stronger bond. Usually one of them must sacrifice for the other twin.
BREEDLINE COVENANT - The Breedline species must live within the boundaries of a Covenant, which is only formed with their species. The Covenant is governed and ruled by a head council. The council keeps their laws in order and oversees the species population.
THE BREEDLINE QUEEN - Over centuries the Breedline Covenant is ruled by a true Queen. If there is no Queen living, the Covenants are governed by an appointed head council until another Queen is born. A Breedline Queen is born once every one hundred years. Her massive stature, black fur, and red eyes are the Queen's trademarks. Her alpha wolf has twice the strength, speed, and size of any Breedline. The Queen is expected to rule over all the Breedline Covenants where she will be respected and obeyed by all Breedline. This is their absolute True Law.
THE QUEENS RING - This ring has been passed down to all Breedline Queens for generations. When the new Queen places the ring on, it instantly shifts in size to fit her finger.
TRUE LAW - All Breedline Covenants have an ancient book of laws. If either sex disobeys the Breedline laws, they can be shunned, or no longer protected by their Covenant. If a Breedline takes another life out of revenge, or evil - other than protecting their life, and the life of another - they will never have the ability to shift back human and cast out as a rogue wolf.
ROGUE WOLF - A Breedline shunned by their Covenant for taking another life out of revenge or evil and forced to live as a wolf until death without the ability to change human again. Some rogue wolves form into packs, which can be dangerous for other Breedline species.
RED (BLOOD) MOON - When the full moon passes through the amber shadow of the earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad, a series of four consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals. This incredible light beams into the heart of earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the moon into a great red orb. During this time, all Breedline species that are mated have a strong desire to create offspring. This is also a time when Breedline females are more fertile for the conception of twins.
CHIANG-SHIH DEMON (Kiang shi, a.k.a Ramael Arminius) - An ancient demon that inhabits the body of a Breedline fetus before it's born, or during a Breedline's death. It continues to take the soul over the natural lifespan of the child, or the deceased Breedline. When the demon possesses a fetus, it breaks the bonding and telepathic abilities of their twin when they are born. If the demon possesses a deceased Breedline's body, it must do so before the soul passes on. If the soul is not intact, the body will soon die.
In most cases, the Chiang-shih demon will take the life of the other twin, even before their birth. The twin that is born with the demon will bring only evil to whomever they encounter. Their sole purpose is to gain full control of another soul and seek world domination.
There are two ways the demon is cast from the soul it possesses: By its firstborn son, and the Angel of Mercy, Zadkiel. The Beast is the only one who can kill a Chiang-shih demon.
THE BEAST - He is the second born son of the Chiang-shih demon. When provoked into a rage, he will shift into his Beast instead of his Breedline wolf. The Beast is an enormous, dangerous two-footed creature that has wolf-like features. One bite has enough venom to kill the Chiang-shih demon and leave the soul of the person the demon possessed unharmed.
SHADOW WALKER (a.k.a Shadow Figure, or Black Mass) - The perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly interpreted by the Breedline as the presence of a malevolent entity. When a Breedline species dies and does not pass on to the other side, they are left to roam the earth as a shadow of themselves, a ghost. They will not pass on until they have settled unfinished business before their death.
ZADKIEL (Tzadqiel, a.k.a "Righteousness of God") - The Archangel of freedom, benevolence, and mercy, and the Patron Angel of all who forgives. Breedline species tradition considers him to be the Angel of Mercy.
SUCCUBUS (a.k.a CREEPERS) - Creatures that search for, and feeds off the blood of the Breedline species. Creepers are skilled at extreme sexual pleasure, and the ecstasy they create is exceedingly intense and highly addictive. They cast off a scent that hypnotizes Breedlines into overwhelming sexual urges. They use their human-like bodies and beautiful features to control and influence their thoughts.
They have the ability to reach into the Breedline's mind during sleep, casting a spell of dreams about sexual contact, or intercourse. And one much less obvious manifestation of Creepers is nightmares - realistic, graphic, terrifying nightmares that rob the Breedline of sleep. Over a period, it can lead to severe fatigue and depression, leaving them emotionally and spiritually drained. Death can occur if they completely take over the Breedline's body.
HALF-BREED - This species is born with the genes from both Breedline and succubus. They can bond with either a full-blood Breedline or another half-breed. They do not have the ability to change into the Breedline wolf, but they do need blood from them to survive. With the power to hypnotize, most Breedlines have minimal respect and credence toward the half-breed species.
WICCA (or Wise One) - According to the Breedline species, a Wicca is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, and necromancy. A Wicca is also considered to be a demonic spirit. It is unclear to the Breedline if they act under the orders of the devil, or they are simply not understood and treated as outcasts. They have the ability to do white magic (good) or dark (evil).
KATAKO (a.k.a Lucas, or Dark Shadow) - He is the Chiang-shih demon's offspring that is born both Breedline and Wiccan. After one year, the Katako develops into an adult with the mind of a child, without reaching full maturity. It has the power to appear translucent, or become completely invisible. Being born half Breedline, it can shift into a wolf and transform, or mimic another creature with the power to instantly travel from one place to another. Their true purpose of creation is to bring forth the souls stuck in purgatory by using one drop of its blood. The Breedline Queen's bite is the only way to destroy it.
GOLEMS (a.k.a The Death Army) - Evil creatures created by dark Wiccans with the power of necromancy. By releasing the souls of demons stuck in purgatory, the Wicca can give them the ability to shape into a creature that is made from earth. These creatures have various qualities, such as mass strength, enormous stature, and the power to consume their victims by saturating them with mud.
GUARDIANS (a.k.a Spirits of the Forest) - They originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wicca. They have the ability to stay invisible with the power to move through any barrier and over any distance instantly.
THERIOMORPH - This species is born with the genes of a Breedline, but do not have the ability to change into a Breedline wolf. They shape shift into an enormous black panther. They possess powers of mind manipulation and random visions of the future. They must use the drug dopamine to suppress their urges. Their eye color shifts into a glowing lavender when their Theriomorph nature takes over. The Breedline see them as a threat to their species.
Jace Chamberlain - He is a Breedline species which later discovers his birth father - who is possessed by the Chiang-shih demon - murdered his mother when he and his twin brother were four years old. Raised by their new foster family and their uncle Jacks, he later discovers he was born with a curse of the Beast. With the help of his twin brother Jem, and his bonded mate Tessa, they help him cope with his rage to keep the Beast at bay. He's an IT engineer and is the lead singer and plays acoustic guitar in the band Chaos.
Jem Chamberlain - He is a Breedline species and Jace's twin brother. He carries the gene of the Chiang-shih demon that gives him the power to create a portal, and a force of electric energy used as a weapon, and other powers he discovers later. His bonded mate is Mia Blackwood, and he's an IT engineer and the drummer in the band Chaos.
Tessa Fairchild - She was born into the human world and later discovers she's a Breedline. Abandoned by her parents, she was raised by her Aunt and Uncle without the knowledge of being born a twin. After she meets Jace, they become bonded mates. During her first change into her Breedline wolf, she is the new Breedline Queen. She is an inspiring artist.
Dr. John and Sarah Chamberlain - They are Jace, Jem and Cassie's adopted human parents. They are physicians in a children's unit, and also donate their time to the emergency center.
Chester and Amelia Ewan - They are called Guardians - a species originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wiccan.
Jackson Gray - He is Jace and Jem's biological uncle, Katlyn Gray's older brother. Although he carries the gene of the Breedline, he does not shift into a wolf. Only Breedline's born with an identical twin have the ability to change into their wolf. He's a medical supply pilot.
Mia Blackwood - She is a half-breed and Jem's bonded mate. Abandoned at birth and raised in human foster care, she later finds her twin sister, Eve.
EVE - She is a half-breed and Sebastian's bonded mate. Growing up in human foster care, she spent her entire childhood abused until Sebastian saves her. Scorned from her past, she lashes out in anger, living a life of crime later to discover her twin sister, Mia Blackwood. After realizing the Chiang-shih demon possesses Sebastian, Eve clings to the past in hopes of reuniting with her beloved. Now that Sebastian is finally free of the demon, she has trust issues, worried he has an alternative plan for their sons.
Sebastian Crow - He is a half-breed, and Eve's bonded mate. After he had been killed by Jace in self- defense, he was possessed by the Chiang-shih demon after the Angel of Mercy cast him out of Alexander's body. As he tried to portray Sebastian's life, Eve finally figured out his secret. Keeping her captive only to survive on her blood, he later develops feelings for her. The demon creates a death army, determined to dominate the world and unleash his wrath amongst humans and the Breedline. Now free from the demon, he is determined to reunite with his beloved Eve who is kept prisoner by the Breedline Covenant awaiting trial for her past crimes against them.
Alexander Crest - He is a Breedline who was possessed by the Chiang-shih demon before birth. Murdering his family, Alexander kidnapped his twin's bonded mate, Katlyn Gray. Keeping her prisoner against her will, she becomes pregnant with his twins. As she managed to escape before she gave birth, Alexander eventually kills her in a fit of rage. Returning for his chosen son twenty-two years later, he is determined to convince him to join his army. After the battle between the Breedline, the demon is finally cast out of Alexander setting his soul free. For the demon's past crimes, Alexander is pardoned and must reside in the Breedline Covenant. Praying for forgiveness, he reunites with his twin sons, Jace and Jem. As he fights to keep his new family safe, romance blossoms with Dr. Helen Carrington.
Tim Ross - He is a Breedline species and head council of the California Covenant. Angel, his bonded mate - who is a half-breed - has Tim's daughter they named Natalie, after her sister.
Angel - She is a half-breed and Tim's bonded mate.
Natalie - She is a half-breed and Tim and Angel's daughter.
Kyle Jones - He is a Breedline species that resides in the California Covenant. Having lost his family to a house fire at childhood, his uncle Tim Ross has raised him since. Celina Baldolf is his bonded mate. He's a mechanic and also Jace and Jem's close friend, and plays bass in the rock band Chaos.
Casey Barton - He was born of the Breedline species, and lives in the California Covenant. He was adopted by Tim Ross's brother and carries a deep dark secret, afraid to reveal to the Breedline. He is a clothing model and plays backup bass and keyboards in the band Chaos.
Dr. Helen Carrington - She is a Breedline species and a physician at the California Bates hospital for both Breedlines and humans. Later, she discovers Jace and Jem carry a gene, possibly used for a cure to stop the aging process in her species. After Alexander's demon is banished, he is pardoned for all past crimes and welcomed into the Breedline Covenant. When he meets Helen, they become bonded mates.
Drakon Hexus - He is a Breedline species. At a young age, his first bonded mate was killed by her father. In a rage, he hunts and kills her murderer, breaking the Breedline's True Law. Shunned by his Covenant and forced to live as a rogue wolf, he's promised his humanity back if he joins the Chiang-shih demon's army. After Drakon discovers the demon's plans to destroy all humans and half-breeds, he betrays him and joins forces with the Breedline. As time passes, he bonds with another mate, Cassie Chamberlain.
Cassie Chamberlain - Adopted at age two by Jace and Jem'?s adopted parents after her mother abandons her. Later, she discovers she is a Breedline species and bonds with the handsome Drakon Hexus. She is a nurse practitioner, specializing in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Malachi O'Conner - He was born a Breedline species, and shunned by the Breedline Covenant after breaking their True Law. Alexander Crest's demon later forced him into joining his army of rogue wolves. After he had tried to escape, he endured cruel torture from the Alexander's Chiang-shih demon. He was later rescued by the Breedline and pardoned for his past crimes.
Celina Baldolf - She is a Breedline species with the power of a Wiccan, but only practices white witchcraft. Her twin sister Taliah, a dark Wicca, murdered their parents when they were twelve years old. Dr. Helen Carrington is their aunt, and Kyle Jones is Celina's Breedline bonded mate. She is an editor for a local publishing company.
Taliah Baldolf - She is a Breedline species and the mother of the Katako. Using her powers as a dark Wiccan, she joins forces with the Chiang-shih demon to create his death army. After she threatens to kill the Breedline Queen, the Beast overpowers her and sends her to her death.
Samuel Mercier - He is a Breedline and a council member from France that has secretly turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon. He and his other Breedline traitors go into hiding after the Breedline destroy the demon, desperate to seek revenge against the Covenant.
Fredrick Mercier - He is a Breedline and Samuel Mercier's identical twin. Also, he's a council member from France that has secretly turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon.
Corbin Azzo - He is a Breedline and another council member that has turned against his own Covenant to help the Chiang-shih demon.
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