Twisted (Editing)

Epilogue part 2

Epilogue: Jonah's POV-One year later

"What do you mean by this aggression? You have the council witches working themselves down to the bone making mindwipe so you can wage a war in secret? Why?"

"It won't be secret for much longer. Only until we have a sizable territory under our control." I moved my war figure across the board and knocked the others over. "And then we'll take everything."

"Werewolves haven't had this much land in centuries and they haven't had a country is thousands. Why now?"

'Avenge me.' 'Maybe when you give me a kingdom.' "I'm avenging my father."

"Is that is?"

I sat silently. "My mate once told me that she'd love me if I could give her a kingdom. I know she was trying to hurt me when she said it, but I figure this will bring her out of her hiding place.  Whether she it or not, she'll have her wish."

"That's crazy."

"I don't care. America is responsible for my father's death. It deserves to be destroyed. We've been forced for centuries to hide because of humans and their aggression towards us. It's only fair that the tides turn now." 

"What if you can't find her?"

"I will. I will search every corner of this Earth until I find her. It's only when I do." My queen war piece sat in the corner of the map. "She's far now, but we already have packs searching for her, embedded in airports, embassies, scouring countries. She'll have no place to hide."

'I'll never love you.' The nevers repeated in my head like a terrible song. I'd been foolish to trust her so much--especially when she didn't know what was good for her. I dragged it closer to the piece representing me. Side by side. A queen for a king.

"You've become strong--your father would be proud," my grandfather said. We sat in the kitchen a temporary house as the neighborhood was being demolished to make space for a castle. It would be done within the year.

A year ago thinking these thoughts would've made me crazy. Twisted. But that didn't even cross my mind anymore. This was right, this was good. A holy mission from the moon goddess. She hadn't stricken me dead yet, and to allow me to bend the laws of magic so much...she must want this too.

I was ordained to topple the country. I was meant to be a King.

I put left the table with the war pieces still there and headed to my bedroom. I passed Lara on the way there. "Dad would've hated this."

"What?" I stopped in my tracks. She still wore nothing but black. It was like the color had leached out of her skin. Her face never went back to its natural shade of tan. She was like a ghost in the way she looked and moved--silent and slow like she was floating around the house.

"You can't kill all these people, you can't rip apart families or a nation. We've been living in harmony for years, werewolves and humans. And you're going to end all that for a...for a....for a girl!"

"They killed Dad, this country. They came onto his land and killed him. That's a good enough reason for me."

"Think about how it sounded to them! A girl ripped from her parents, which you did do, restricted from seeing them, which you did you, and forced to become a child bride! I know she's you're mate, but it sounded bad and it was. She hated you from the start and you knew it."

My hands balled up into fists as a familiar rage boiled up in me. Imani didn't hate me. She kissed me out of her own will, she held me....she wanted me too. She just didn't know what was good for her, but I would show her that soon. "She didn't. We're mated and we were destined for each other from the start--it's impossible for her to hate me."

"Whatever you two had between you it wasn't love, that's for sure. She's happy now and if she wasn't she would've come back. Stop this stupidity. Our mother is wasting away, dying from grief and this is only making it worse. See the bigger picture."

"You'd condemn me to live without a mate for the rest of my life, wouldn't you? You won't see how important this is to you."

"Second chance mates aren't unheard of. If you believe that you're such a holy weapon of the moon goddess, start praying for one." Her voice mocked me, her eyes burned me.

"No," I said slowly. The fuse has been lit and those terrible words began to to play in my head again. 'I'll never, I'll never..'

"You're not even the same brother I knew before she came into your life. You're different, you're violent, you're a-" I surged forward, my hands flying towards her, only to stop myself inches before striking her. Her eyes widened and she let the last word fly out from between her lips. "monster."

"I'm sorry."

She shoved past me. "Stay away from me freak." Lara jogged down the hall and shut her door. I heard the click of the lock. I should apologize. I felt guilty, but it didn't last long. My thoughts traveled back to Imani, where she might be, what she might be doing.

And how good she would look with silver on her head and neck. Call it an obsession maybe, but I'll call it love. I looked out the window at my growing castle.

Day by day I grow farther from the boy I used to be. That can't be that bad--I can't be a boy if I'm going to carve a kingdom. Though sometimes I look into the mirror and ask how I could've spiraled so far downwards. 

I think of Imani again. What will she say when I find her? Will she love me? Hug me? Bear my children when it's time?

Or will she spit at me, revile me. Will I disgust her? Will she say I'm broken, twisted beyond repair?

Maybe....maybe.

I walked down the hall to my room, servants shrinking back as I walked past them.

I might be twisted, I might be damaged. 

And to some, I might even be a monster. I looked out the window to the rising buildings and busy streets. I had made that happen. I would turn this city into a great capital of a great nation.

Twisted--isn't everyone?

End Book One

I'll have book two up in a week or more. I just want to take some time to write some chapters and write some plot directions.

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Lots of Love--

                            BurntWitch