Chapter 93

**Cortlyn

The air around me was gone, and even though I had no body at the moment I felt faint. There was the head rush that should have been followed by me hitting the ground, only instead of hitting the ground I found myself flying through the air at an incredible speed. It was as if I had been launched into space. Coming to a stumbling halt that had me face first in the wet grass.

I got to my feet as quickly as I could manage. Surprised by the fact that I felt pain from the face plant that I just had. What in the hell just happened and where am I?

“Home, at least for now.” Said a voice that I worried I would never hear again.

I looked up and tears began to run down my cheeks. My brain stopped working. All I could do was look up at the beautiful creature in front of me. A wolf. My wolf and she had grown since I had last been able to lay eyes on her. She was gigantic.

“Seraphina?” I said her name as if it were a question.

“Yes, I have been waiting for you.”

**Shea

“Phoenix, all I know right now is that Lena is missing. The council agreed to allow the new generation to go and look for her, but only to keep them out of the way. I think that members of the Witch Council, and high members at that, are hoping that the Old Coven manage to see this through. What can you tell me that you will help? I am out of options. Jasper and the others have safely made it out of the city, but barely. If I offer any more help to them, I risk everything.” I hoped that Phoenix had something to give me that would help. No one hated the council more than me. I was taken away from my family and kept in a cage until they were certain I wasn't the one to fill the prophecy. Most of the Elder members of the council were pieces of shit. I wanted nothing more than to put a stop to all this and kill as many as I could in this war.

“I can tell you that I expect to see Cortlyn soon. Her wolf as let me know that she has managed to free her phoenix spirit from her body. She is free. It will only be a matter of time before she finds her way here. I have the text that she needs to find the others, as well as the information to find the crystal and remains of the Old Coven souls. She can end this Shea, forever. She will bring you peace. Peace to all of us.” Phoenix spoke to me as if she were the oldest. The one who was the protector. I was meant to play that role to her, but again it had been taken from us. Phoenix cared about things and was able to see things far past the obvious. The detail in which she could describe something as simple as an empty field always amazed me. She was remarkable in every way.

“Okay, what should I do now?” I asked her.

“Relax, breathe, and be patient. The time for vengeance is close. I just hope that you find it as sweet as you are hoping. There is no changing the past sister. Only a beautiful future to look forward to.”

**SOSA Board

“We are here today to make a deciding vote on the position seat of Amara. Those who have had their heads in pots and haven't heard, Amara was murdered. Found dead weeks ago in the lower part of the city. It appears to have happened in the same time frame as the bodies found in Lycan Alpha Jasper Gentry’s office building. No one knows if it is related. The only thing that we are sure of is it was a supernatural who killed him. Given the wounds he received he did not suffer. With that this board needs a leader. Nelly Douglas has been recommended.” Marsha Dupree VP of SOSA said as she stood at the far too fancy podium in a vast room full of people who only half listened to what she was saying. Marsha was in her late twenties and was an avid fighter for the rights of the supernatural's. Neither of these got her favor on the board.

“What of the rumors that she is in business with Jasper? The kind that leads to kidnapping of heirs from other Lycan packs. The murders rage and the most recent burning down of the property as an investigation had begun into this?” An older gentleman from the back stood to ask.

“I see, well what of the same kinds of rumors that Amara was working with witches who are the reason for all those bodies that were found in Jasper Gentry’s building to start with? Or the straight facts that his death is tied to the type of business he was running on the side and using this board to cover up? I, as VP, am not required to ask permission on who I assign as the next president of SOSA. I am doing this as a courtesy to this board. I want to work together and agree on who we assigned as our next president but I will do this without you if I must. Now does anyone have someone that they would like to nominate before we begin the voting process?” Marsha said to the group. It was clear that she wasn't going to entertain the idea that Nelly was the enemy. Nelly had the time put in and the reputation of being able to get the job done. Marsha also just happened to know of Nelly’s gifts and wanted that at the top of SOSA. Nelly was a no-nonsense person and but the work and family first. Something that Amara had once been known for.

With nothing more than murmured whispers it appeared no one would disagree.

“I will make the call to Nelly myself. There is plenty of business that needs to be taken care of and the sooner we can get to work on it the better. In the meantime, I am putting extra agents on the city's streets to see what we can find out on the people of this city going missing.”

**Jasper

We left her was all I could think. No not we, I. I left her. I had argued with myself for days on end about leaving the city. Let everyone convince me that this was the right thing to do and now for all I know it was the greatest mistake yet. Jackson said he felt Cortlyn; that meant that she was free from whoever had taken her and close enough to let Jackson know that she was there.

I could feel the rage building in me, only this time it was rage with my own action. The next thing I remember was hearing a howling cry that shook the entire area we were in. No one but Jinx and his brothers knew exactly where we were so I wasn't sure how vacant the area actually was. It wasn't until I hit my knees that I realized it was me making the howl. It was followed by a growl that rocked Samual backwards. It was my alpha and he had made his way back to the surface for answers.

“How? How could we have missed her?” I growled.

“Now, now Jasper. We don't know that she was anywhere near the house. Jackson, my dear.” Nelly as always trying to be the voice of reason. She turned to Jackson. I was hoping that she was going to give him a beating for not telling us sooner, but instead she calmly asked, “What did you feel?”

“I felt her. There has been nothing since she disappeared from the Gentry house. Nothing. Then just before the portal closed, I felt her. She is alive. Her presence was there, but in a different way. I don't know how else to explain it other than she was there. I don't even know where there is or was.” He said. He was out of breath, like her very breath was his life force and when she came in, she took it with her.

“What does that mean?” I snapped. I was also frustrated that he could sense her and I as her father and Alpha could not.

“I don't know Sir.” It was a simple apologetic answer and it caused me to wain my anger a bit.

“I hate to be a Debbie downer, but can we take a step back here and think about this for a minute.” Mera, of course was looking for a negative, but probable reason for this. “The moment we get out of dodge and out here where we can't be found, the one thing, like the one hundred percent only thing that would bring us back in, happens to make an appearance? I don't know if I buy into this.” valid point. “I’m not saying it wasn't her, but there isn't a better way to bait us. It wasn't anything to go on really. Just enough to cause this.” I both wanted her to be right and wrong. I needed her to be wrong because I wanted my little girl to be ok. I needed her to be right so that I wouldn't have to live with the idea that I left without her