The brothers stood heads above everyone else. All of them looked alike and yet were all so different. They were exceptionally beautiful, with olive skin, chiseled jaws, straight perfect noses, and dimples in their cheeks. Yes, the smug bastards had dimples too. But in no way were they cute; they were gorgeous and hard, and you knew they could destroy you if you crossed them the wrong way.
Braxton was a little in front. At six and a half feet he was a massive shifter, which made sense for a dragon. His skin was a few shades darker than his brothers' and his hair was as black as night, contrasting beautifully to his eyes, which were as blue as a flawless spring sky. Tyson, the wizard, had brown hair with that hint of auburn threaded through. He wore it a little longer than his brothers, but still only brushing the bottom of his ears. His eyes were a honeysuckle brown, soft and sweet, except when he was using his magic. Then they turned gold and you knew it was time to haul ass. Jacob, the fey, was a little shorter, and finer than his massive brothers, but was still big. He had green eyes, like a newly-turned leaf in spring, and hair so blond it was pretty much white. Bringing up the rear was Maximus, the vampire, the hugest of the four. His hair was dirty blond, falling into his dark brown eyes. You knew when he was vamped out, fangs descended and his eyes turned black.
Yes, they were all exceptional, but if I had to pick the most exceptional, well, Braxton held a little more of my heart than the other three. He was my absolute best friend.
I'd die or kill for any of them in an instant and I knew they felt the same way. I'd never made friends in my pack. Sure, it was probably because of my sunny personality, but even if I didn't have an attitude problem, being the alpha's daughter inspired fear and respect but not friendship. I was lucky to have the boys.
Jonathon looked calm, but for the first time his wolf was peering out of his eyes. The blue had darkened and yellow threaded around the pupil. "I have to go. Kristoff is calling the council inside."
Ah, that explained the wolf. He hated taking directions from that asshole.
Stratford and Vanguard were ruled by the American Supernatural Council, the very council the boys would take over in a few years. Kristoff Krass was the current head of the magic users, and as I said, an asshole. The tall, thin, and slimy sorcerer was hella powerful and totally in love with his own awesomeness. His daughter, Giselda, was a witch and my BEF, bitch-enemy-forever. We'd thrown down on more than one occasion. Having Tyson in my corner had probably saved me from her sneaky ways. Magic was underhanded, slow moving, and hard to detect. Luckily, wolf senses could detect the stirring of a spell, not to mention lies when they fell from forked tongues.
I stopped my father as he turned to leave. "Wait, what did you have to tell me?"
He fixed me in his gaze again. "Right, sorry, I don't have much time, but I can't have you blindsided, your wolf will lose it."
Great, that sounded promising.
"Your mother has returned," he finished in a rush.
I stared at him blankly, before a burning hot flood of lava started in my chest and blew upwards to my brain. By the time the fury reached my mouth I was ready to explode.
Shouts and curses fell from my lips. "How could you let her come back here? She abandoned us! I don't want to see that bitch ever again!"
She was a wolf, so bitch was literal. Jonathon met my gaze and more of his wolf peeked out. I was alpha enough to challenge him, but I never would. Reluctantly – my emotions screaming for further release – I lowered my gaze.
His hand left my arm and cupped my chin, lifting my face to meet his eyes. He was giving me equal status with him in this fight. "I needed her to return. There is much you don't understand, but she's always your mother."
I was shaking my head violently.
"I have to go, Jess." He dropped a kiss on my cheek and took off for the hall.
My hands were trembling as my wolf fought for control. Just thinking that that woman was close by had me wanting to shift and run far away. I didn't care what Dad said, I had no mother.
"What happened?" Braxton dropped one of his large hands on the bare skin between my shoulder blades. The contact was comforting and my trembles lessened. But I still couldn't answer straight away.
"Lienda has returned," Maximus said. Strike one for vampire hearing.
"Fuck," Braxton growled. "What's Jonathon thinking letting that bitch back into Stratford?"
You needed council permission to enter or leave our town. There were many protections weaved around Stratford and the surrounding forest, mainly to stop humans from entering, but also to prevent any supes from trying to break out their criminal brethren from the prison.
"He said he had to allow her in for a reason." My choked voice was low and growly. "If she's inside, I think I'm going to need some help – don't let me kill her."
Jacob ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, you ruin all of our fun, Jessa babe. We haven't killed anyone for ages."
I punched him once for being a douchebucket. The five of us were relatively non-violent, supernaturals almost never died around us. The occasional rabbit on the other hand … well, that was fair game.
"Come on…" Tyson's voice was relaxed. "We need to find some seats, I feel something of a serious nature is going down tonight."
Wizards found power in nature and from the gods. Tyson heard pieces of information from the universe while he was casting spells. Well, either that or he had an oracle stashed somewhere, because he often produced little gems of inside information.