Epilogue Part Three
SLADE
After the events of the last few weeks, it was hard for me to be away from Emmeline. Eventually, as life returned to normal, we all started to resume our regular life and duties, so I relied more on our bond, cameras, and her tracking necklace.
During training today, my phone remained open on the page with her location and the camera that was in her vicinity, watching her play in the pool with my twin.
Safe at home. Safely out of the hands of any who would think of harming or touching her.
Every night I relived the endless hours we spent flying toward Golden Claw, not knowing if Jewels had destroyed my reason for existence. It had been a day which fundamentally changed me, and it was only on the nights she slept in my arms that I was able to relax enough to even sleep.
The sole reason I was even at training today was that Talon was with her, throwing her across the pool as she shrieked in laughter.
Emme was generally very good at not keeping me out of our bond, but she was holding it tighter today, and I couldn’t bring myself to force my way in.
Leaving me to rely on Talon and the video feed.
The flashes of her in a red bikini had me really fucking distracted, and for the first time my enforcers almost kicked my obsessed ass.
When we were done for the day, my muscles burned in the way that let me know I’d pushed my limits. On the feed, Emme was lounging by the pool, so I did a quick flick through the cameras to scan the perimeter. My alarms hadn’t triggered, but I no longer relied on just one source of detection.
The street looked fine, the guard hut functioning as per usual, the front and back of the house unremarkable. Then I checked room by room.
In the main living room, I paused as a flicker of a shadow in the corner caught my eye.
When I adjusted my view, there was nothing there, and I shook my head, worried that my paranoia had finally reached its pinnacle.
Moving through the various room feeds, I found those shadows in almost every single one.
What the hell?
When I dialed Hunter, his phone rang out, and I left a short voicemail to call me.
Next, I tried the rest of my pack brothers, but with the same results.
Tapping into the bond didn’t help either, with my twin telling me there was nothing his dragon could sense, and Emme was still safe with him by the pool.
Unease settled in my gut as I raced through the training facility, ignoring alphas as they called out goodbyes. When I slid into my car, I flicked through the cameras again, pausing when a grotesque face briefly appeared in a shadow before disappearing just as quickly.
The SVJ took off in a squeal of tires, and I risked everyone’s lives as I zoomed in on the cameras while flying along the street, only to find there was no longer a white-faced and red-lipped visage in the shadows.
Emme! I pushed against her wolf in the bond, and when her beast startled, I cursed my roughness. Sorry, Snow. But I need you to stay out of the house. There’s something weird happening inside. I’ll be home in ten minutes. Don’t leave Talon’s side until then.
Her beast shuddered. I wasn’t the only one who held fresh memories of our last attack. What’s wrong, Scary? We’re by the pool. Talon just did a quick sweep of the area, and there’s nothing amiss here. My wolf can’t sense anything either.
Fucking hell!
It might be magic again. I can’t be sure. Just don’t move from that spot. I’m only five away now.
I pushed my car to its absolute limits, harder than even on the racetrack. When I screeched to a halt out front, I opened the cameras to find that every room in the house was filled with shadows now, though at least none of them had that fucked up face in them.
Crashing through the front door, I examined the front entrance, which looked normal and shadowless. Stalking farther inside, I expanded my senses, but couldn’t pick up on any intruders either.
There was no sign of anything amiss as I headed for the pool area, finding Talon crouched protectively over Emme’s lounger. “Brother,” I called, and he took a step toward me. “We need to search the house.”
Emme scrambled up to follow and my gaze slid over her curves. If this situation wasn’t so dire, I’d be stripping the red bikini right off her perfect body. “Did you find someone inside?” she asked, her eyes widening as her scent flooded the area.
She tried to race by me, but I gently caught her around the center, lifting her off her feet. There was no struggle from her as she slumped against me, the damp swimsuit soaking into my clothes. “I’m scared, Slade,” she whispered, and I wanted to just fucking kill them all.
It was my job to ensure she never felt fear, and I was failing her again. “If anyone is stupid enough to attack us at home, they will be destroyed.”
My dragon rumbled his appreciation as she hugged around me. “What did you see in the cameras?”
Trying to explain it didn’t work as expected. “The house is filled with shadows, but only on the cameras, and when I zoomed in…” A bead of sweat dripped from my temple. “I-I saw a clown.”
Emme blinked, and parted her lips, before her brow furrowed. “Like… a circus clown? A clown clown? I don’t understand.”
Yeah, burning the house down was an excellent option right now. “I’ve never liked clowns,” I reluctantly revealed a fear that no one knew about, except maybe Hunter. There’d been an incident with the television during a particularly fucked-up movie when we were young.
Talon looked so confused, like he couldn’t understand the words coming out of my mouth. Emme pressed her lips together, her eyes flat-out laughing at me. “Did you perhaps watch a movie with a clown and red balloon when you were young?”
Muttering a curse, I glanced over my shoulder and returned her to her feet. “I’m going to check out the house. You wait here with Talon.”
In typical omega fashion, she completely ignored me and stayed right on my ass as I re-entered the house.
At least Talon was keeping her ass protected by bringing up the rear.
As we stepped into the hallway, I caught a glimpse of red, but when I took off toward the theatre room, there was no sign of anyone.
The only scents in here were my pack’s, and the only heartbeats were Emme’s and Talon’s.
Worry built in my chest as I explored the house room by room, finding nothing out of place and no shadows. “Are you sure you saw something?” Emme asked gently. “Show me the cameras.”
Pulling out my phone, I flipped through the rooms again, only to find nothing on the screen now. “Let’s check upstairs,” I said, shaking my head. “My system is more thorough up there and I have recordings.”
Emme remained closer as we ascended to the third floor, when I reached my room, I headed right for my stalker wall as Emme dubbed it.
I hadn’t really needed it recently, having my mate up close and personal instead.
But when I pulled the curtains open, everything was exactly as I left it.
I scanned the multiple screens, and a rage filled growl spilled from my lips as I caught sight of a shadowy clown standing right in the living room.
As I stared, it lifted a long, shiny blade, and waved at the camera, like the motherfucker knew we watched.
Emme and Talon moved to stand on either side of me. “Do you see it?” I demanded, staring at the soon to be dead clown, who was taunting me with a wide, red smile.
Emme peered closely at every different frame of security, until I pointed toward the living room one. When I met her gaze, she looked more confused than ever. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing.”
I jabbed right at the footage, only to find there was no sign of the clown again.
No shadows either. “Did your father find any witches left except for you two?” I asked her, trying to piece together what was happening.
This was not a normal situation, so either I was being fucked with, or magic was involved.
She shook her head. “Nope. He’s still searching, but from what he can tell, America is all but witch free these days. You think magic is involved with your little clown problem?”
She lifted her hands, and for the first time I could scent magic. “I can’t sense anything,” she said, and I caught the concerned expression she shot Talon’s way.
My mate and brother thought I’d lost my dragon mind, and maybe they were right.
Turning from the security, I faced my wall of Emme, squinting at each picture to find a clown sticker across it. Tearing one down, I shoved it under their faces. “Surely you see the clowns on Emme’s face? Someone is fucking with us.”
They both stared at the image, and Emme reached out and grasped it, bringing it so close it almost touched her nose. She returned it to me with a frown. “It’s just a picture of me when I was twelve.”
Right then, in that moment, she tightened up the bond again… completely giving herself away. I was being fucked with, but it wasn’t by an enemy. My little brat was pranking me.
Talon glanced over as well. “Where is the clown? Is this like that game Emme tried to play on Kellan’s phone and lost?”
Ah, she had the whole pack in on it.
My dragon calmed right around the time our omega pouted. “Look, no one could find that weird little human in every image. His stripy shirt blended in perfectly to the background.”
I glanced at the monitors to find the knife-wielding clown front and center, giving me the creepiest smile. Oh yeah. Whichever of my brothers was under that mask was getting his ass kicked.
Playing along, I snarled. “That’s it. I’m burning this house down.”
Emme gasped and called after me as I raced down to the living room, only to find it completely empty. The fucker was fast, which made me think it might be Kellan.
Scales rippled across my skin as I played their game. I’d barely hidden my smirk as the clown appeared, wrapping its arms around her. Excited for the beatdown about to happen, I launched myself at them, right as Emme spun in its arms and planted a kiss straight on red painted lips.
Halting, I raised one eyebrow and Emme examined my face before she sighed. “Ah, dammit. You knew.”
Kellan cracked up, his outside finally reflecting the clown within. “Such a hard shifter to prank.”
“You better shut up or I will kill you,” I warned him, though my focus remained on the disappointed omega in front of me.
“You did have me for a while there,” I admitted, and that got her perking right up.
“I did?”
Hunter and Finley spilled into the room, and I knew why there’d been no real sign of their involvement until now. Their scents were everywhere anyway, but more than that, they all wore devices around their necks that were designed to hide heartbeats when hunting.
In truth, I was impressed. “You gave it away by pretending not to see the clowns on the photos. Other than that, this was a solid prank.”
Emme sighed. “Yeah, I thought I was a touch too clever, didn’t I? But that was for your stupid list of names on your wall. Which I defaced and destroyed.”
I already knew she’d scribbled all over it, but I had a copy stored on my computer for when I had a spare minute or two for a murder rampage. “I can’t wait for your next attempt, Snow.”
Hunter gave me a little shove, and I scowled at him for real while debating if I should break his pretty face. “Let me guess where she learned I had a tiny issue with clowns.”
The entire room burst into laughter, and for once it didn’t piss me off.
In truth, I’d missed these stupid prank wars.
Talon released a genuine laugh as he said, “This was fun. I never knew alphas were allowed to have fun.”
Well, fuck, if a few clowns and me looking like an idiot amused them, I’d take this sort of prank any day.
“You know you’re in big trouble, Snow,” I warned her, already calculating all the possible future pranks I could rain down on her.
“You started Prank Wars 2.0. in a big way. It can only go bigger from here.
She showed no fear as she popped up on her toes, her boobs dangerously close to spilling from her bikini, which distracted me enough that I barely heard her reply.
“Bring it on, bestie,” she trilled. “Nothing can top the look on your face when you saw those clown faces on my photos.”
The part that had given her away was both disturbing and clever.
As another burst of laughter hit her, she overbalanced and fell into me. With my arms full of curves and soft skin, I had to acknowledge that while clowns might be my nemesis, this tiny slip of a female was the only one who could take me out. She was salvation and destruction in one omega package.