Tempest

15 : Who Are You Now?

Being in his arms felt like being home.
The feeling of peace that Tempest felt was almost alien to her. She had not felt it since the last time she had been with her mother and father. The nostalgia that gripped her almost had her panicking. She felt his heart beating against hers as they danced. When the song finished and he brought his lips towards her, she knew she would not deny him. She could not believe how much she was anticipating the feel of his lips on hers and she raised hers to meet his. Just as he brushed his lips against hers, the scent hit her and her knees almost buckled.

It couldn’t be. Could it?

She looked around her frantically and when she saw him her breath caught in her throat.

“He’s here!” She knew it was her voice but it didn’t sound like hers. It was breathless and scratchy and sounded strange to her ears.

“Who is here?” Galan asked. She almost didn’t see him move closer because she was focused on the one man she had spent decades wishing she could see again. “Who is it, Tempest?” Galan asked again.

Her heart seemed to drop to her feet as she looked at the man who stood watching her. His brown eyes were confused and she felt a strange sense of dejá vu. Why? Her best screamed inside of her. Every time. Every time she got close to being with him, every time she had the opportunity to find happiness with him, something like this happened. It felt like she was being forced to choose between her family and her mate again and the choice almost tore her apart.

 “My father,” she told him.

“Your father?” he asked, a small frown on his face. She nodded. She felt she had to explain.

“I thought he was dead. I need -” 

She felt like she was choosing her family over him again.

She felt that she had no choice. She would lose him just when she felt like they possibly stood a chance. What she had not expected was the hug that he pulled her into, his strong arms wrapping briefly around her in comfort.

“Go to him. I’m right behind you.”

Her heart soared and her lips stretched into a grateful smile. He understood and he supported her. She wanted to tell him how much that meant to her but the words failed her. 

She turned and sped off to the large man who stared down at her. He hadn’t changed a bit, a small part of her mind registered. Within moments she stood a few meters away from him.

“Father,” she called out softly, as though she would scare him away by speaking louder.

He gave her a warning growl and she froze. She hadn’t felt such power in a really long time and her were acknowledged that and wanted to bare her neck to him. But she would not.

She growled back at him and he seemed taken aback for a moment before he bared his teeth in a warning. She watched the large man in front of her, the man who rivaled Papa Sam in size. His large frame seemed even larger than the last time she had seen him and she felt tears well up in her eyes. It had been so long since she had seen him. 

“Father,” she called out again. “Where is mother?”

Something seemed to shift in his eyes and it was only then that she realised how blank they looked, like he was there but he wasn’t. As though he was in a locked room looking out. For a moment it looked like he was about to open the door of that room before it seemed to shut back in place and a sly smile appeared on his broad face. He cocked his head and grinned at her. 

Suddenly, without warning he attacked her. Tempest twirled to the side quickly and managed to get out of his way before his partially withdrawn claws could draw blood. She moved slowly away from him, hoping he wouldn’t attack her again. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she didn’t know who this man before her was. Her father would never attack her.

He turned to face her appraisingly, his blue eyes which were the exact shade as hers, sizing her up. Tempest knew she could not take him on by herself but she sure as hell wouldn’t go down without a fight. She crouched down slightly, preparing herself for another attack. Instead, her father looked towards the villa, where she knew Galan was coming. 

“He won’t get here in time to save you,” Kian, her father, said. 

“Where. Is. Mother?” Tempest demanded, her voice hard.

Despite being ready for his attack, when Kian moved, she couldn’t get out of his way fast enough this time. She felt his fist punch into her side and she went flying to the side, landing on her ass on the ground. She knew something was broken but she couldn’t stay down. She got swiftly to her feet and turned to face him. She saw his next blow and blocked it, but it pushed her back.

He kept coming after her, however, and she knew it would not be long before he had her down permanently. Moving quickly away she ran behind him and kicked him from behind. He stumbled forward but did not fall. They traded blow after blow but despite holding out she knew it was just a matter of time. Drawing back her arm, she drew back for a punch which, when it landed, cracked something within Kian.
 
It also infuriated him. With a loud roar he sped towards her and transformed just as he smashed into her. His large werebeast ground her into the earth and then bit into her shoulder ripping into her flesh. Unable to get up, Tempest screamed. Kian’s claws dug into her arms, effectively holding her down as his teeth pierced her flesh. She knew she could die. She knew he could kill her.

But he didn’t.

Releasing her, he staggered back, reverting to his human form.

“Tempest?” He spoke directly through the link that had been broken for so long. When she looked into his eyes she saw that he had broken out of the house he had been locked in.

“Father!” she responded. She felt her wounds start to close up but she had lost a lot of blood and she could feel weakness set into her body. 

Then, image after image seemed to burst into her mind. The unexpected impact of it on her brain felt like a sledgehammer being brought down repeatedly into her head. She screamed again as she felt as though her brain would explode. 

She saw her mother.

She saw other weres in a huge holding pen.
There were people around them, wesring white clothes, watching over them.

There was a large sterile room with weres hooked up to all sorts of machines, blood being drawn from them, tests being done on it.

She saw her father with a silver collar around his neck, roaring in pain as those people in white did unspeakable things to him. Needles. Drugs. Guns. 

She saw tattoos on the arms of the people in white.

Weres from her tribe were tied up and being beaten with silver chains with spikes on them.

She saw werebears, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures being held captive. 

Her brain felt like it was splitting from the inside out, like her life force was being squeezed out. Just as suddenly as the images had started they stopped and at the same time it looked like her father was locked back in that room again.

She heard a loud roar and knew it was her mate coming for her .

“Galan,” she whispered just before she passed out

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15 October 2020
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An early update just because it's a very special day. My daughter turns 21 today. Happy birthday, darling. 🥰