~~

Falena

~~

Following my date with Shane things for him got really busy. He was being taken to France to train with his Luna, the new Queen of shifters, and of course his Alpha, the new King. It was quite awkward to think that I was mated to a man that was so important. I mean, he was one of the Queen's personal guards. That was some major shit.

Could I really handle a life like this though? Him being taken away on a whim like this? It hurt that he wasn't going to be here with me. It was hard having to say goodbye to him for an unknown amount of time.

I didn't want to be without Shane. I wanted to have him with me. We hadn't spent much time together, not enough for me to feel this way. Still, I knew that I was already head over heels in love with him. He was the mate that fate chose for me. We got along perfectly. And he was a fucking god when it came to sex. I couldn't ever imagine being with someone else.

While he was gone, I was preparing things for the future, for the possible day that I might eventually move in with him and maybe marry him. I was sorting through my things and deciding what I wanted to keep and what to get rid of.

On top of sorting all my stuff I was also looking for a place in Colorado Springs. I know I was just outside the city and it wasn't that hard to drive over to see him. But what would we do when we moved in together? We both had apartments, not a house. Neither of us would want to start a family in a place like that would we?

Then there was the fact that the Alpha King was having a community built for new residents that were shifters. It was on the land he owned next to his current pack compound and there were already several houses nearing completion.

I asked to tour one of them and saw that they were being done so nicely. They were like luxury homes even though they were just the size of a normal family home. I fell in love with the house immediately and signed the papers the same day. I wanted a home for me and Shane if that was what it came down to. I hoped I wasn't wrong with my feelings and that he wanted the same thing that I wanted.

The house took until the beginning of May to fully finish with the interior design. The housing offered by Reece's pack was quite affordable and worked with you to furnish them. It was actually a really pleasant experience.

I had been living in the house for a little over a month by the time I got word that Shane was coming back, but there was to be an immediate fight following his return. Even my pack was joining the fight, every able bodied fighter. The non fighters were sent to another wolf's pack for their safety.

That battle was crazy. There were a number of monsters that showed up out of the blue and they were extremely hard to take down. I was fighting alongside my mate, doing my best to protect myself and him.

This battle was the first time that I had seen Shane use his Goddess given powers. He was wielding a sword made out of lightning as well as causing bolts of lightning to flash down and strike the enemies. He was amazing and I found the sight of him fighting to be so sexy.

Following the battle, though, we learned that Shane's brother had been badly injured.

~~

Shane

~~

We had rushed home for a fight that we were not fully prepared for. We had sent a rush call to all the Alphas that were around our area and put in a request for them to fight alongside us. We had bear, feline, bird, and wolf shifters on our side. We had the vampires that Dietrich had called in for help. And of course there were the warlocks that Crawford had summoned. We would have had more but we simply didn't have the time to summon them all. Edmond was already on his way.

The battle was hard, that was for certain. The monsters that looked almost the same as the last ones had been strengthened by magic. They were much harder to destroy than the last two times we had fought them.

Then, there was the new type of monster that Edmond had created. Those strange looking spider beasts were formed from the twisted and molded bodies of people. What kind of person could do that to people? What kind of sick fucking freak could possibly do that?

I fought alongside Falena during the battle. It was the first time I had seen her since the day that I left, and I had ran to her side and kissed her right there in the field before the battle started. I had missed her so much and I never wanted to be apart from her again. This was the woman I wanted to marry, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The woman that fate said was mine.

Once the monsters were finally destroyed, but what looked like Trinity's arrows, we Goddess Guards were all summoned to the field that Trinity and Reece had been fighting at. I learned that Trinity had single handedly killed Edmond. Well, mostly single handedly, the ghosts of her dead siblings had helped her to destroy the man. She had even returned with his head and I will admit, that I shamelessly asked if I could kick it.

Not long after that though, I learned that Shawn had been hurt. I hadn't immediately run to his side like Dietrich did. No, I wasn't able to. I felt like I couldn't move. I felt like there was a part of me that was dying when I heard that Shawn might be dying.

How could I have not known? How did I not know he was hurt? We're twins for crying out loud, wasn't there supposed to be some telepathy thing that told me when my brother was in mortal danger? What kind of brother was I for not knowing that he was hurt?

I was on my knees in the field, the place I had learned what had happened to my brother, when Falena came to my side and put her arms around me.

"He will make it through this, Shane. I know he will."

I had of course introduced my mate to my entire family before I left for France. She loved how close my family was, and how even though I rag on my brother he knows that I love him. It was the way things had always been between us and neither of us were ever willing to change it. My family loved her and she loved them. She didn't even have a problem with Shawn and Dietrich, which made me happy.

Right now though, I was sitting here about to cry with worry over my brother. I was regretting all the times I had made fun of him. And I was telling myself that I should have been nicer to him this entire time.

"Come on, Shane, let's get home and wait for news on Shawn." Lena was pulling me to my feet.

"No, I have to go to the estate. I need to wait for the news there. I need to see him. I have to make sure he will be OK." I could hear the desperation in my voice as I spoke these words.

"Alright, come on, let's go to the estate with the others."

It seemed that a lot of people were going to the estate so I rode in the same car as David. David's mate, Rawlynne, hadn't been part of the battle and he was anxious to get back soon as well so he wanted to rush back as quickly as I did.

When we got to the estate we were all made to wait in the main sitting room on the first floor. I felt like I was falling apart, like something pivotal to my existence was missing and I would soon cease to exist.

I didn't think something like this would ever happen. Nor did I think that it would affect me this bad if it did happen. Lena tried to get me to sit with her but all I could was pace the room until I heard that I could finally go see my brother.

I admit that I didn't wait for anyone to come with me. When I was told I could go into Dietrich's room to see Shawn I ran toward the stairs and was already gone before I could think of anyone or anything else.

I ran into the room and to my brother's side. The first thing that I noticed was that there was a massive scar along the side of his face. I felt the tears I had been fighting back this entire time begin to spill over and stream down my cheeks.

"Shawn." I called his name as I fell into the chair next to the bed.

I took his hand in mine and started to talk to him then. The emotions were making my voice thick and hard to understand.

"I'm so sorry Shawn. I'm sorry that I didn't know you were hurt. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you, to protect you, to save you. I'm so sorry." I let my head drop as the emotions overwhelmed me. "I'm such a horrible brother."

"You're a wonderful brother." I heard Dietrich's voice from right behind me as he put a hand on my shoulder. "Your brother knows you love him, and he loves you too."

"I wasn't there for him." I cried even harder.

"Neither was I bruder, it's not either of our faults. This is just how life happens sometimes."

"Will he be OK? Is he going to live?" I lifted my head and tried to look at Dietrich through my blurry, tear filled eyes.

"Yes, he will live. But he will be different."

"Different?" I asked him, wondering what he meant. "Are you talking about the scar? Is that permanent?"

"Yes, I believe it is, because of the beast's poison. But I am referring to something else."

"How else will he be different?"

Dietrich then told me that Shawn was going to be a hybrid, he was now part vampire as well as wolf. This made him different from me again.

"I'm losing him." I cried out. "He is going to move on without me."

"He will not leave you, bruder. Shawn and I are staying right here so he can be with his family."

"But we're not the same anymore. We're not twins anymore."

"You are, you're just twins that have grown into different people. Do not worry, Bruder."

I stayed by Shawn's side for a while, but it was clear he would be asleep for a while longer. That was why I decided to leave and head home.