Chapter 9

The woman smiled at us. “Before I do, I think you should get your brother.”

“Brother? Nomad?”

She nodded toward Nalani. “He might be the mongoose we need right now.”

Merlot rolled his eyes at her lame joke before linking his brother to come to the office. As soon as he entered, Nomad rushed across the room to reach for Nalani. His hand sizzled as he touched her. He pulled back, hissing, before glaring at Merlot.

“What did you do to her?”

Merlot raised an eyebrow. “She’s a Cobra Wolf?”

“A Cobra Wolf?” he repeated in awe.

He licked his hand, and it healed before their eyes. He held it out to her.

“All better. I’m Nomad.”

Nalani bared her teeth at him. Margo eyed Nomad.

“Is she your mate?” He nodded. “Nali, he won’t hurt you. They are good people.”

She eyed Nomad curiously. “Are you sure?”

Margo nodded. “Merlot is my mate, and Joyce is Jenna’s mate.”

“Okay.”

Nomad sat on the floor next to her before gently tugging her onto his lap. Everyone felt the small surge of energy Nomad exuded, making Nalani nuzzle close to his side. Within seconds, she was asleep. Merlot pulled Margo up into his arms.

“Tonight, all of you need to sleep. It takes a lot of energy to fight to stay alive,” he told her.

“It takes even more when you are forced to go through a shift when you were only human a few weeks ago.”

Everyone turned to look at the woman.

“What do you mean? They are shifters.”

She sighed. “No. They weren’t. The people who took them injected them with shifter DNA. They weren’t the first or the only ones, either. There were close to a hundred children taken before they figured out the pattern of which people to take.”

“Impossible. We would have heard about it.”

“You probably did, but because the people that were taken are humans, I don’t think you would have paid attention.”

Merlot sat in the chair behind the desk, taking his shirt off before carefully lifting Margo’s up to hide her breasts from the others. She leaned against him, and the tendrils immediately latched onto him before he looked at the woman.

“Why are they making shifters? Mating and marking give us the chance to change our mates.”

She sat in the chair in front of the desk.

“The shifters they have created, as far as I know, are a Flora and a Cobra Wolf. They are both extinct species. My gut tells me that Jenna will also be an extinct species. What she will be, I am not sure. And as for why they are being created, there are people in the world who wish to overthrow the current apex predators. My bet is that they are hoping to control the extinct species and use them to wage a war. Floras, as I’m sure you know, are highly toxic if they wish to be. Cobra Wolves spit venom, which, by the way, how’s your wing?”

“Healed.” He looked down at Margo. “I think she healed me.”

“Not surprised. Floras can be just as beneficial as they are destructive. Cobra Wolves were the first breed of werewolves. They were the family that ruled the species.”

“Why humans? Why them? Why are they taking shifter children now?”

“They are no longer taking just any humans they come across. They are after a very specific family of humans. The Diablo family descendents come from hell. The Goddess had a mate once who was a demon from Hell. When they were blessed with a child, humans kidnapped it before murdering it. The Goddess’ demon mate swore vengeance and tore through so many countries, searching for their child’s murderer. The Goddess banished him to Hell giving him their child to hold. When the child came back to Earth as an adult, his mother gave him a mate, and the Diablo line was born. Due to their heritage, they were not allowed to be shifters, vampires, or witches unless they found their mates. The people who took these three have located the family and are using them to recreate species that died out. They are taking shifter children now to use as training tools for the newly shifted. A lot of the species that were extinct were cannibals. They will eat shifters, humans, and anything else they can get their hands on. I am trying to find them all so I can save them from a horrible existence.”

Merlot eyed her. “Let me make sure I’m understanding what you’re telling us. Margo, Jenna, and Nalani are related to the Goddess?”

“Yes.”

He looked down at his mate, who was oblivious to what a big deal the woman’s claims were.

“How is it that me and two of my siblings are related to the triplets? Usually siblings aren’t mated to the same family.”

She laughed as her eyes twinkled mischievously. “It seems that your family has found favor with the Goddess.”

Merlot studied her for a moment before leaning back in his chair. “Who are you?”

She smirked. “A shadow.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, Shadow. How do you know all of this?”

“Because the Goddess sent me to save them.”

Joyce groaned. “Let me just kill her.”

Rose burst out laughing, making them all look at her. “Oh, Goddess, this is great! I can answer this.” She pointed at the woman. “She won’t tell you her name, because she doesn’t want anybody to have the power to summon her.” She inched closer with a huge smile on her face. “This is incredible. I didn’t really believe that the rumors were true.”

“What rumors?”

“That she had another daughter.”

“Who?”

“Her. The big Her.” She looked around at them, beaming. “This is your Great Aunt, your Grandmother’s sister.”

“Great Grandma had another daughter? Why weren’t we told?”

“Because she’s not Lonna’s.”

“Grandma’s biological parents didn’t have any other children.”

Rose slapped her forehead. “Oi, for an Alpha and Beta, you guys are so stupid. Shadow here is the Goddess’ daughter.”

All eyes went back to the woman. “Are you serious?”

Rose crossed her arms over her chest, smirking. “Go on. Confirm it.”

The woman met Rose’s eyes. “Mother said to watch out for you.”

Rose fist pumped the air. “Fuck yes! Have you met Aunt Lily yet?”

“No, but I want to.”

Merlot cleared his throat. “Can we get back on topic? How many other members of the Diablo family line are missing?”

“10.”

Merlot groaned. “There’s ten of us left unmated.”

He looked around at his siblings in the room, his eyes lingering on Keith, whose jaw was being clenched repeatedly.

“If my mate is out there in harm’s way, I want them found.”

Shadow sighed. “I can’t tell you where they are yet. My abilities are very limited.”

Keith glared at her. “Fine! I’ll get answers myself.”

He stormed out of the room, and Rose immediately followed him. Merlot sighed as he gently detached the tendrils on his skin. He stood up before putting Margo down on the chair. He kissed her softly.

“Stay with Joyce, baby.”

“Where are you going?”

He rolled his shoulders back. “To make sure Keith doesn’t kill our only leads before we get answers.”