The Black Alder Series (Books 1-3)

Serene Pov I’m worried about the twins. I can feel something inside of them. Real scary power, and I can see it pushing out of them. Losing Kayla is doing a number on them, but my biggest concern is Lauren. Lauren has been strange ever since we came back from the Firelands. She was adopted by my aunt when we were young, but I didn’t know her background. She never told us as we grew up. Before I was given to my old alpha’s pack, I made a promise to her that I would always try to be there for her, but after I was put into servitude, I couldn’t reach her anymore.

She told me she had been sent away to Alpha Derek not long after me and had been there ever since, training to become a pac doctor. I sense something in Lauren. Something’s also trying to claw its way out, but every time I try to channel her, it’s like I can’t get through. Something is blocking her from me. Something powerful. I’m positive Lauren is a half-witch. Otherwise, she couldn’t know certain things. Like a prophecy for one. She recited it like she had known it for years.

Whatever is here has been getting stronger, and I kind of fear her, though I’d never tell her that. Currently, I’m back in the kitchen. We all just said goodbye to the pack members who lost their lives during the attack. I walked back to the house with Nate.

“Serene,” Elena’s voice called. She was walking with Roland.

“Have you had any visions lately?” Elena asked me as I hugged her. I shook my head.

“We need to figure out how to get Kayla back. I can feel my boys’ dark Lycan chains rattling,” Elena says.

“Dark Lycans?” I asked her.

“All of us Lycans have a dark side that we keep mentally chained to our heads. My boys don’t know about theirs, but their lycans do. Once their dark Lycans are awakened, the chains will snap, and they will fully be able to channel the full power of their wolf, but it will make them unstable and uncontrollable. Snow tells me that losing Kayla has started to rattle the dark lycans, but they are still asleep for now. I feel if Kayla remains lost for long, they will snap, and anyone in their way will be killed,” Elena explained.

It sent a chill through me, as I couldn’t imagine my sweet nephews turning into something so monstrous.

“Mom, Alpha,” I heard the boys say, walking towards us with Solem behind them. It looks like they are coming from the dungeons.

“My babies,” Elena said, grabbing them both in hugs. They pulled back instantly, their faces expressionless.

“We know who took Kayla,” Solem said.

“Who?” Elena asked, just as Lauren ran to us coming out of the packhouse.

“It’s Lord Alverez,” she says. “He has Elena, and he isn’t the only one,” she says.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“I have something to show you,” she says, touching my head. I’m thrown into some sort of vision she had. After her vision is over, I’m brought back to the present. Everyone is staring at me.

“Kayla is being held hostage by my old pack,” Lauren explains. “Lord Alverez is also there, but he was knocked out by Liam.” “Liam has Kayla locked back up in the room she grew up in.”

The twins growled, and my wolf cowered. I could feel the negative energy from them.

‘Where did he take Lord Alverez?’ Solemn demands. Lauren gives him a funny expression.

“I’m not sure,” she says. That’s a lie, though. We both heard he was in the dungeons. I’ll ask her about it later.

“Well, we need to pull out our resources and go get her,” I tell them.

I will not tell the boys this after what you just told me about their lycans, but in Laurens’ vision, the alpha Liam told Lord Alverez that someone else had captured Kayla. They would have had to have been our pack members to slip through pack lines undetected. It would mean one of our members is a traitor. I linked to Elena.

You and Lauren try to see if you can find out. Roland and I will take the boys to make a plan. I believe this prophecy is playing out, and I need to call on our allies for help. I feel I am close to losing my boys. She links back, and I nod.

I grabbed Lauren’s hand, and we walked back to the packhouse. As we were walking, I was thinking about what Elena said.

I believe this prophecy is playing out.

I think back to the vision Lauren shared with me. She was back in the Firelands. Someone who looked just like her was talking to a hefty man who I believe was a king. Most likely, Kayla’s dad. She was in the Firelands in spirit form.

Holy Shit

I look at Lauren, who seems lost in thought, as the realization hits me.

“Of course,” I said out loud, making Lauren stop walking and look at me.

“What?” she says.

I pulled her into my room and sealed the door with a spell, making sure no one could overhear us.

“Lauren, have you ever astral projected before?” I asked her, and she looked confused.

“Only one time with Elena. Why do you ask?” she says.

“You have a block in your mind,” I told her. “I believe your powers have been limited by the block, and that’s why you can only do certain things. I think before the block, you traveled out of your body. In your vision, I saw a much younger version of yourself. I feel great power inside of you, like it’s trapped.” I told her. She seems to ponder what I say.

“Well, that would explain some things,” she says, rubbing her temples.

“What do you mean?” I asked her as she sat on the bed.

“When I went to the Firelands for the first time, it felt familiar to me and my vision. I thought it was a dream. The first part of it I knew to be the present, but the second part felt more like a memory, and before I woke up, something or someone told me I needed to remember, but I didn’t know what to remember, and then the prophecy. I knew the prophecy before Solem even told me, like I had known it forever.” She explains.

“Lauren, why didn’t you tell Solem about Lord Alverez being in the dungeons?” I asked her. She frowns

“I don’t know; I felt like I couldn’t. Something prevented me. I tried, though.” She speaks. “All I know is that Lord Alverez wants Kayla. He may kill Liam before anyone can get there, but if he hasn’t, I don’t know why, but something is telling me I need to speak with him. Like I know him. Maybe I do know him.”

“We need to get this block removed. If you are who I think you are, Lauren, I think you may be the key to saving everyone,” I told her.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask her, and she makes a face.

“BAND TOGETHER, FAMILY AND FRIENDS OR EVIL WILL SUCCEED

THE SEER HOLDS THE KEY TO WHAT YOU NEED.”

“Lauren, YOU ARE THE SEER!”