Finding Shadow BOOK ONE
Submission

Ethan shot off his bed, monitors screaming in protest as he tore the wires from his body. The female sitting by his bedside jerked from her sleep at the same time, and as they looked into each other's eyes, they knew something horrible was happening...MIKHAIL!

Ethan didn't have time to wonder at his newfound strength or question the differences in his body, Mikhail was in unbearable agony, and he had to find him. The woman grabbed his arm, spreading tingles through his body as her voice permeated his panic mode, "Ethan, we'll get to him faster if you hold onto me. I'm an Elemental, I can locate him and get us there in minutes, but you need to trust me."

Wordlessly he held out his calloused hands to the silver-haired beauty, understanding instinctively that there wasn't time for questions, and she clasped them tightly, eyes rolling into the back of her head, and Ethan found himself in the eye of a tornado, barreling down the corridor and out into the night, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

It was the strangest feeling riding on the wind with his female mate. Ethan could feel the pull of the mate bond to her as well, which was just plain weird, as he had always been gay and perfectly fine with his sexuality.

They flew through the quarter, other pack members stopping in their tracks to gape at the supernatural force tearing past them, and Ethan found himself grinning, feeling almost drunk off their reactions, completely different to the scorn he was used to seeing on their faces. Take that bitches!

As they entered the forest, Ethan witnessed storm clouds forming above them. Dark swirling masses of water trapped and waiting to let loose their fury upon the hapless beings unlucky enough to be caught in the Elementals storm. But it only served to make Ethan feel stronger.

This right here, this is what he was born for, to ride in the fury of a storm, and he loved every second of it!

They touched down near a well-disguised entrance to somewhere, and Ethan could smell the coppery stench of arterial blood coming from within. There were several other scents, Mikhail's and an unknown female were the strongest, and they were still inside, but two other smells, one belonging to Mikhail's bed buddy, grew fainter by the minute, confirming they'd already left the area.

"Ethan, I don't know what we'll find in there, I hear two heartbeats though, one strong and one faint, but in case things go wrong, I just want to let you know I'm sorry for marking you without your consent, I'm one of your mates, my name is Elena, and our other mate is Mikhail, we are what's referred to as a Tri-bred pairing."

Ethan nodded, taking things in, in his own way, realizing that Elena had many questions to answer once this was all over, and squaring his shoulders, he lead the way into the unknown.

NARELLE

She could feel the shift in energy as the Royal Lycan prince pulled Beta power from Mikhail's frozen form. Listening to his tortured screams as the enforcer meted out the brutal punishment almost undid her, but despite the pain latching onto her as well, Narelle remained seated with Mikhail's head in her lap, stroking his forehead with shaking hands.

She could do this for the young werewolf, he would know he wasn't alone in this torture, and Narelle would be there to return him to his family afterward. It was the least she could do.

The animalistic howl tearing from his vocal cords as Mikhail and his wolf were stripped of their ranking was heartbreaking. They never even had the chance to mature fully, and bond with each other before Tibarn revoked their status, branding them by Royal blood rites to a life of servitude, rendering Mikhail's wolf unable to shift.

For all intents and purposes, Mikhail was little more than a human now.

After it was over, and he lay still in her arms, deathly gray and breathing shallowly, Prince Tibarn leaned over Mikhail's prone form, a smirk on his handsome face as he spoke to the injured Omega.

"Let this be a lesson to you pup, don't challenge a Royal claiming his mate, ever, we are Gods compare to your puny subspecies, and a God will always win."

Mikhail opened his eyes, pain clear in his gaze, "You are no God of mine, just a man- and all men fall eventually." He managed, coughing up blood.

Tibarn straightened, barely controlling his rage, "Be thankful I am a man of my word, you useless prick. Otherwise you would be dead now for your insolence."

He grabbed Colette's hand, "Come, mate, we have a long way to travel, and my patience is at its end." He snarled, dragging her along, and Narelle felt sorry for the gentle wolf, clearly traumatized as she allowed herself to be pulled along like a ragdoll, forbidden from even looking at Mikhail as she left his life forever.

MIKHAIL

"Just leave me alone."

Mikhail whispered brokenly. His life was over.

The future he mapped out for himself was no longer an option. Who would want to follow his command now? What Alpha could willingly accept a lowly omega in any position of power? Mikhail was useless, and Colette, the woman he tried to rescue, chose this life for him, knowing he would rather be dead.

And yet Narelle-someone he barely knew-chose to stay by his side, dimming the pain as best as she could with her Alpha power, while his own was ruthlessly stripped from him, he hated Tibarn.

What was her deal anyway? How come she always seemed to be rescuing him from his foolish decisions?

Mikhail turned his battered face away, "Just leave, please."

"Are you done?" Narelle asked instead, staying right where she was.

"I am asking if you are done feeling sorry for yourself?" She repeated harshly, and when Mikhail risked a glance upwards, he could see the tiny muscle frantically pulsing in her jaw, her teeth clenched so hard Mikhail held fears that she may actually break them if she didn't calm down. Why was Narelle so pissed anyway?"

As if she read his mind, she answered, "You ignored my advice, after I specifically told you Colette's mate was a Royal prince, an ENFORCER at that, and you barrelled on in there all gung ho, interrupting his mating claim, yet you are still alive you testosterone filled moron! You challenged A ROYAL ENFORCER for HIS MATE!! Are you touched in the head, or were you dropped at birth? Colette sacrificed her own freedom to save your stupid arse, and here you are wallowing in a self-pity party!"

Narelle took a deep breath, tawny eyes blazing, and Mikhail mistakingly thought she was finished.

"And another thing, why do you have such a low opinion of Omega wolves? They are the backbone of our packs, working behind the scenes to make sure we are all fed, live in clean spaces, have utilities and medical facilities. Without Omega wolves, we would all be screwed, and I don't know how your pack views Omegas, but in our pack, we truly value them. We acknowledge the work that they do with gratitude and ensure that they are paid well for their time, you are still a wolf Mikhail! The only difference now is that you will get to work alongside your pack members instead of above them. How you handle that is up to you."

Mikhail had the bizarre urge to laugh. The irony of being on death's door, spending his last moments being berated by an irate woman was not lost on him.

If he wasn't in such poor shape, he'd probably be rolling around in the dirt laughing at her insults right now. What the heck did 'touched in the head' even mean?

His leg was growing cold and numb, and a violent shudder consumed him. When did it get so chilly in here?

He was finding it harder to breathe now, and sleep was beckoning. Maybe it might help if he just closed his eyes for a moment, to conserve energy...

NARELLE

She heard the moment his heartbeat stilled, and Mikhail's body temperature plummeted. OH CRAP!

"No no, no no no!" Narelle cried, knowing the pack hospital was too far away, and she didn't have access to the pack link to call for medical help. Mikhail was going to die here!

There was a commotion at the entrance, and a handsome man ran through, followed by a powerful looking young woman. Both frantically searching for something, and then their eyes fell upon Mikhails still form, cradled in her arms.

"NOOOOO!"

They were at her side in seconds and then on their knees, checking for a pulse Narelle knew wasn't there, "He's dead." She whispered dully.

The silver-haired woman glared at her, "Like hell he is!" She roared, and Narelle felt her power humming through the air, enveloping Mikhail's body in soft white light. His leg slowly started to heal, flesh knitting together as Elena furrowed her brow shaking with effort.

"Ethan, he needs his mate's blood to help him heal. Something has happened to his wolf!" "Take what you need, Elena." Came his quick response, and Narelle watched on in morbid fascination as the elemental took Ethan's hand, quickly nicking an artery with one perfectly transformed claw. It hit her then, who this woman must be, Elena Carmichael the Elemental Alpha.

Blood danced through the air, controlled by magic as old as time, and was quickly absorbed through Mikhail's skin, but she could see Elena's brow furrow and she muttered "It's not enough, we'll need to mark him."

Narelle could only stare, as a silent look passed between Ethan and Elena, it was obvious that they were both Mikhail's mates, and as an Alpha born, Narelle learned about tribred bonds, and how unique and special they were, but to see one happening right in front of her was simply indescribable.

Mikhail was still not of mating age, so there was no telling what this would do to him or his wolf but they were simply out of options.

Together the mates lay their entwined hands on Mikhail's cold corpse, the white light intensifying until it was blinding and in unison, they lowered their heads on either side of Mikhail's neck, canines elongating, sinking deeply into his skin, and the light turned all the colors of the rainbow, tossing Narelle away from the trio.

"I Ethan Chase Fletcher, accept you Mikhail Dominic Romano and you Elena Svetlanka Carmichael as my fated mates, forsaking all others, I willingly bind my soul to yours forever."

"I Elena Svetlanka Carmicheal accept you Mikhail Dominic Romano and you Ethan Chase Fletcher as my fated mates, forsaking all others, I willingly bind my soul to yours forever."

Mikhail's body rose into the air, cushioned by an invisible hand as the light reached it's blinding peak, thunder clapped and the heavens opened up outside unleashing its fury as the mating bonds wrapped themselves around the trio, twirling and entwining like a snake around the three of them, and out of the sky a single lightning bolt shot, drilling through the dirt to the hidden spring below as it crashed into Mikhail's chest, sparks flying like fireworks around the entranced wolves, and Mikhail's body slowly lowered to the ground, into the waiting arms of his mates.

Narelle kept perfectly still, knowing she was witnessing a once in a lifetime miracle, and then she heard it; the starting of a heartbeat...

Grey eyes opened, and a husky voice whispered "I Mikhail Dominic Romano, accept you Elena Svetlana Carmichael, and you Ethan Chase Fletcher as my fated mates, forsaking all others, I willingly bind my soul to yours forever."

And as quietly as she could, Narelle left the hidden springs, giving the new mates some privacy as she made her way back to her allocated quarters. After so much drama, she couldn't wait to go home.

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