Falling For Storm
Chapter 28

Amara

Clarity was the first thing I felt when the tightness in my chest subsided. My memories as a child hit me like a shockwave, completely immobilizing me. Faces, places, and events rushed back to me all at once while I felt excruciating pain. I couldn’t keep up at first, but then I suddenly remembered what my parents looked like and how they were. I remembered how I’d always clung to Eric whenever he would visit, almost every week. I remembered how he would laugh whenever I told him that I’d soon be as old as he was, thinking that when tomorrow came, I’d be 200 years old as well. He looks the same way he did back then: never aging, commanding, breathtaking, and confident. To us, it didn’t matter if we came from different fathers. Our souls were connected, no matter what. I had him wrapped around my fingers from the day I was born, and he has had my complete trust since the day I started walking.

He didn’t have a normal upbringing; quite frankly, none of us did. He was born into a royal vampire family, one of which he was going to lead, regardless of when a war between covenants happened. That was when he lost his father, which made him the heir to the throne sooner. Many years later, my parents met, and it shocked them both when they found out that they were mates. Mates, I didn’t know any of these things when I first met Storm, but now I understand them more than I was led to believe. I was feeling a lot of emotions all at once. I felt happy that my vampire brother was okay, and at the same time, I felt heartbroken knowing that we were in this situation because of me. My parents died protecting me. All the commotion was because some greedy wolves wanted my blood. They wanted my blood so they could make themselves hybrids.

The funny thing was that vampires cannot give birth, but I guess our mother was special. We didn’t know how she was able to conceive twice because vampires are unable to reproduce as humans and wolves do. It was a one-in-a-million shot to have a vampire and wolf parent, which was why having a hybrid child was one-in-a-billion. I was told as a child that I possessed tremendous power and that I was more powerful than a wolf and a vampire, but as a child, I was easier to capture and manipulate. Many have attempted, and if it wasn’t for Eric and my father’s pack, I would have been drained of blood to the point of death years ago. My parents begged Eric to take me away while I begged them to come with us. I watched in horror from afar how they were killed. I fought to break free from my brother’s arms just so I could go back, but he held me tighter and ran faster. To this day, and now that my memories are back, I can still say that it was the most painful experience I have ever felt. I remember crying for days and begging my brother to let me see them, but he never listened. He only told me that it was for the best.

We fled from Transylvania as quickly as we could, and once we landed in America, he took me to a small cottage in the middle of a certain forest where a beautiful young woman lived. A few days later, Eric took me to my adoptive family’s home and made me drink a potion. That was also where he imprinted a make-believe memory, and that was the last time I saw him. When he approached me in class one time, I found his presence disturbing. It was just funny how I suspected something odd about him, but I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. He just felt familiar, but he also had an eerie feeling about him. He felt dangerous, and I was right about him being dangerous, but only to those who dare to challenge him or me.

Storm kept quiet the whole time I was telling them about what I was able to remember. I know how shocking this must have been for him. Well, I guess it was my turn to surprise the living lights out of him. He kept staring at me the whole time we were filling them in or bringing them up to speed, and I knew for a fact that it wasn’t contempt that was showing in his eyes. It was awe, and that made my heart surge. I was afraid that he’d see me differently because I wasn’t what he expected. It was one thing to have a human mate, but to have a half-wolf, half-vampire as a mate must be a hell of a lot to digest for anyone. My kind was rare after all.

“So, the ones attacking my pack are the same pack that had been looking for Amara all these years?” Storm asked Eric.

“Yes, only now, they make arrangements or hire rogues, promising them a place in the pack and a hybrid’s blood if they can get a hold of her,” he replied, and the thought alone made Storm growl in anger.

“The question is, how are they able to enter the pack-land without us knowing until it’s already too late?” Hunter questioned.

Eric shook his head in disappointment before answering, “It makes me believe that they have used a certain potion to mask their scents, just like I did. You will only be able to smell them when they are in their wolf form. I’m also trying to uncover the fact of how these rogues have gone stronger.”

Everyone in the room kept quiet to contemplate this, as it wasn’t an easy thing to decode.

“So, our suspicions were right. The question now is how and where to replace them,” Wyatt announced, and everyone put their thinking hats back on.

“What did I mi-” Dakota burst in, stopping in her tracks as soon as she saw Eric.

Storm and I glanced at each other, wondering why she was looking at my brother in a strange way when she’d seen him a couple of times before. I was assuming that she found out everything there was to know about him while I was unconscious. Was she shocked that he was actually here in their packland, knowing that he was a vampire?

“I, uh, what’s uh?” she continued, clearing her throat before sitting down beside Wyatt on the couch without saying another word, which was again really weird.

Dakota wasn’t the type to run out of words or opinions. She was outspoken to the core, so I wasn’t sure what it was about my brother that made her act this way.

“We’re talking about the recent attacks and how they’re related to me,” I answered.

“Oh, cool. I mean, not cool that you’re, I’m assuming, what they’re after. Well, you know what I mean, right?” She babbled, and everyone just looked at her with raised brows.

“Okay, just. You guys talk; I’ll shut up,” she mumbled.

After a moment of holding our laughter, the guys kept her up to speed, and her eyes grew wider by the second. The more she heard about my past and present predicaments, the more she looked like she was binge-watching an interesting series. The only thing that was missing was popcorn in her hands. I glanced over at my brother just so I could silently ask him if he was doing okay, but it seemed that his gaze was fixed on Dakota and no one else.

I couldn’t understand their reaction towards each other, but I was not going to sit around and ignore this because, obviously, there was something strange going on there. Like I said, this wasn’t the first time they met, so what gives? I could also hear Dakota’s heartbeat, and it had marginally increased since she entered, and I was sure as hell it was not my family’s story that was causing it. She was also acting really stiff. Dakota can be a lot of things, but prim and proper are not part of those things. With that said, I was banking on the idea that her actions had something to do with my brother. The only question was, why?