Emersya Quarles Dawson. I wrote my name on the first page of my mathematics book. I love to do maths and everything humans do. I'm born into a shifter family. My cousin, Jasper Quarles is the Alpha, my stepbrother, Luke is the beta, and my brother Drake is the alpha too. Katherine Dawson and Lancelot Dawson are my parents on paper. They adopted me from my real parents, Carla and Charles. My mother, Carla Quarles baptized me. My father, Daddy C, has one son from his first wedding and my mother has three children from her first wedding. Her middle child, Emersya Nelson Dawson died after breaking the curse. She was a queen. A queen cursed her. Everly, my elder sister told me this. Mother C said I reminded her of her. So, she gave me her name. I was okay with that. If my mother was happy. I was happy too. We weren't alike in any matter. She was a fire queen and a werewolf. When I was five, our house caught fire. My skin burnt, on the inner side of my left arm. The plastic surgery helped me to get rid of scars but there's a line to faded stitches. It's permanent.
"Ember, run with us." I heard my sister.
I shook my head. I was going to high school starting next week. She is a beautiful white strong wolf. Sometimes, she lets me ride her back. We were twins, but only she can shift. Nobody has seen such a case in history. I'm quite popular in the academy. But I am not a student there. It saddened me.
Softly, she nudged my foot with her anklet boot. "I let you ride on my back. You can curl your arms around my neck." She spoke tenderly as she leaned over me.
I giggled and shook my head. "No, you lick me in your wolf form. I hate it." No, I didn't. She just didn't need to know.
"I know you don't hate it. You love me." She spoke near my ear.
I giggled, drawing my head back and I glanced at her. That was true. She's a protective sister. No one could harm me. When something hurts me, she always reaches out to protect me. If she hadn't saved me that day I would have burned with fire in the house. A shiver ran down my spine.
She placed her warm hand on my cheek. "Hi, there's nothing to fear. You'll always be safe with me.'' She flashed her soft smile my way.
We might be alike, but she was more beautiful with her dark brown hair and she colored some strands of her with a silver blonde. Her eyes are amber like mine.
" I know." I nodded. "Tomorrow is your classes starting. I wanna see the academy before..." I trailed off. Mother C would never allow it. She kept me away from all the shifter's things. I have asked her many times, but she never tells me the reasons. The sadness and a strange kind of fear in her eyes deterred me from pushing the topic. But she couldn't hide it all the time.
"You don't need to say, Emersyn. You can come whenever you want. No one will tell Mother." She winked at me, straightening her back. She gestured at her side.
Excitedly, I shot on my feet and scurried forward. "Brother, I missed you. When did you come? Why didn't anyone tell me?" I curled my arms around my brother's neck, shouting excitedly.
He laughed and embraced me, lifting me. My feet weren't touching the ground. He was six feet tall, a bodybuilder, not bulky but very strong and very handsome like my stepbrothers.
" Breath, Muñeca. One question at a time." He placed me down and beamed at me.
"Hye, big brother." Everly waved her hand at him. That meant she had met him. She knew brother was here from Supernatural Academy.
"Hey to yourself. You didn't tell me." I stared at her with creased brows showing my annoyance. It just made them laugh harder.
"It's not her fault. I wanna surprise you." He kissed my head.
"You wouldn't have thought to do it if I were a werewolf." I huffed.
"You're not. Yes. And it doesn't matter. Now don't annoy me with your moods." She smiled. She could scent my emotions. Sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to smell emotions and feelings. That must be amazing. It keeps you one step ahead.
"You can pretend. I'm going with my brother." I wrapped my hands around my brother's arm, pulling him to walk.
Jace laughed again. He tugged me toward his car. "You can come, Everly." He said over his shoulder.
"Did you see fairies? Do you know one? I wanna meet her. Can I touch her wings? I also want wings." I added sadly. I felt vulnerable sometimes. I have seen my brothers, father, uncle, and other shifters. They're strong. And 7Alphas are the strongest wolves. They're the Alphas of the world.
"No, you can't have wings. Yes, but you can come with me to the academy." He smiled at me.
I was reaching his shoulder. All males and females of my family and 7A make me drafted. Even my sister is a few inches taller than me. Thanks to her wolf. Not having wings upset me. But I could go to the academy.
"Really?" I squealed happily.
"Yes, but you have to ask permission from Alpha."
My smile dropped. "Jasper?" I asked. Alpha controlled the pack. He took all the decisions. After the fire incident, my mother didn't want to risk anything. With Uncle's approval, I was allowed to study in the human school. I like it there. I don't have many friends. Indeed, I have no friends.
He nodded his head. "You know the rules, Muñeca." He opened the door for me.
I hopped in. Jasper was a protective Alpha and caring brother. When a boy in my class bullied me. My sister came with Jasper. And he punched him in the face. The boy got several stitches around his neck. No one dared to mess with me after seeing my muscular brother. I had seen many senior girls drooling over them. They even played nice to me to have their attention. I spent my weekends with Daddy L and Mother Katherine. They love me. Indeed, I'm the most loved person of the family. Sometimes, I think they pity me because I'm a human. They consider them vulnerable.
"But brother will deny." It saddened me. I have heard a lot of things from them about the supernatural academy. It's the best one in the entire world. I never got to go there.
"You haven't asked him." He shook his head slightly and closed the door.
Everly shifted into a beautiful white wolf and began to run toward our house.
He jogged around the car and opened the door. It was his favorite car. Blue Mercedes Benz. There are a lot of branded cars in the underground lot. Mostly they are designed by Jasper and his friends, Alessandro and Edward. They are part of 7A. 7A rules the wolves. And Alpha Queen Reina rules them. Everyone has to do what she asks, including me who hasn't ever met her. She's the headmaster of the supernatural academy. The name fits it. The students aren't normal. It's the only academy where all kinds of supernatural creatures come to learn and train. They're wolves, fairies, witches, angels, and some royal members of cold one. It scares me that they drink blood.
I blinked my eyes when the engine roared, breaking the chain of my thoughts.
"Well, Drake has sent something for you."
I twisted in my seat, looking at the back seat. I grabbed the paper bag and peered into it. The smell of earth and papers filled my nostrils, I ran my fingers on it. I wanted to read it for a long time. Mother kept such things away from me. She still considered me a child who was admitted to the hospital bed for months. 'Dark Corazón' I ran my finger on the title. It contained the details of the dead queen and the dead king and their parents.
"Thank you so much for bringing it." I pulled it out of the paper bag. I ran my fingers over the dark brown leather tome. I knew only a little about her, just what I heard from my family and other wolves.
"Mom wouldn't like it." Jace thinned his lips in a straight line.
I chuckled. "That's why I asked Drake to bring it to me instead of you and Alpha."
"It's just a work of fiction like the Reina book." He shook his head.
Reina's book was about Queen Miuccia. It seemed like a sad story. It's the culture that twin heirs have only one mate. It depends on their mate. She would pick one and reject the second one. She was nothing but a foolish woman who couldn't see that Prince Cyril loved her... After Cyril, King Dastien was the most powerful king.
"Then mom won't mind letting me read it." I beamed at it as I opened it. "Johnson Bidan," I murmured while reading the author's name. I think that there is only one writer in the Dark Realm.
"Keep it away from Mother's eyes, Kiddo." His tone turned serious.
Shutting it, I looked at him, annoyed. "I'm not a kid."
"Yes, you are. No argument over this." His lips flattened.
I deflated. "How would I take this to my room?" I asked. My mother was Beta's wife, a strong wolf. But she wanted to keep me away from all this. Particularly from her dead daughter. I haven't seen her pictures. Whenever I demanded to see her and ask questions, they just refused me.
"I'll take care of that. Brother has asked everyone to be in the dining room tonight." He said, circling his hand on the wheel.
"Is there a family meeting?" I asked, because I wasn't invited to the pack's meetings.
Jasper was staying in the supernatural academy for the last five years. He sent me gifts on my birthday. And he always came to my school once a year to make certain I was safe there.
"I don't know. We'll know soon."
My eyes darted out of the window at the sky. The sun was setting down, the burning red glow filled the sky. It was so beautiful. If I were allowed in the meeting it's not about the wolf world.
"Everly and I are going out to shop. Would you like to come with us?" I asked, expecting to spend more time with my brother. My mother was strict and she denied me to do things I liked the most. Like knowing about wolves, and their history, Queen Emersyn and her two mates Darius and Dastien. My mother spoiled the fun. I enjoyed my human life out of her sight. She always looked scared that I would get myself hurt. Perhaps, she misses her dead daughter. Oh, I shouldn't forget her daughter was the queen Emersyn. I could understand but she needed to know I needed space to spread my wings of dreams.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," Jace announced.
My face fell. I was going to get freedom for a while. Mom was less strict with my brothers around me.
"But you can come with me to the party." He ruffled my hair.
"Really? Can non-eighteen come?" I asked out of curiosity, excitedly.
He chuckled and nodded. "Yes, Kiddo. No adult clothes." He added immediately.
I snorted. "That line should be for Everly. I don't do adult clothes." My lips flattened at the choice of my sister's clothes. But she's on the list of beautiful people in my head.
"You have turned seventeen." He said,
"Yes seventeen, not a kid. Still, I'm facing restrictions."
He pulled the car into the parking lot. The number of cars was telling that the dinner hall meeting had already started.
"Everyone is home," Jace said, turning to me in his seat.
"Yeap, I hope they are not marrying me off." I mocked, giggling.
Jace arched his eyebrows at me. "It looks like something serious." More than me he muttered to himself.
"Er..." I opened the door and jumped out, feeling nervous. "I am not getting good vibes," I muttered. Did someone die? I wasn't seriously mocking when I said they would marry me off. Everly was a wolf, a beautiful white one. For a treaty, for peace between two packs they could marry her off.
"Come, kiddo. You're nervous." He said confidently.
I hated it when they smelled my emotions. I frowned at him.
"Aha, You're irked now." He chuckled softly.
"Before it turns into anger. Stop telling me my mood like a weather forecast teller." I paced around the car.
Jace smiled at me and opened his arm. I let him hug me to one side as he tugged me toward the door. He was the gamma of the pack.
"Will you cancel our plan now?" I asked. Being the youngest one has advantages but as well as disadvantages too. My elders tried to control my life, particularly my mother. I'm waiting for the day when I turn eighteen. But I don't have many expectations. Our rules are different from those who stayed beyond the premises of our land.
"No, it can delay but not cancel. Come, they're waiting for us." He sighed.
My eyes drifted on all faces. Uncle Jack and Daddy C were sitting in the chairs around the kitchen island, and Aunt and my mother were standing behind them. Luke was leaning against the wall and smiled at me.
I returned it immediately. My smile broadened and I forwarded my steps. "Brother," I embraced him, squealing happily.
Jasper kissed my head embracing me back. "How are you, my little sister?" He slightly bent his knees so he could look into my eyes.
"I'm good. Are we here to discuss something big?" I asked him in a whisper. They have a good hearing, whispering wouldn't help.
He curled his arm around my shoulder and tugged me toward the island. He pulled the chair out for me. "Take a seat, Em." He never forgot to smile at me as I was a still kid.
I sat in and looked up at him. Something big was coming. "What happened?" I asked.
"Yes, we want to know it, too. I can assume your father knows." Mother C said she wasn't looking happy with it. Definitely, I was part of it.
"Mom, aunt, please take a seat," Jasper said
They acted more human around me. But they weren't. Their ears, nose, and eyes were sensing everything around them. They didn't need to exchange words, they could talk in their heads.
They took the seats next to their mates. Luke and Jace didn't move a step.
Jasper took out an envelope out of his pants pocket. My lips parted in shock seeing the Royal red seal over it. It was issued by Queen Reina. She's the headmaster of all academies, and head of the council of Nine, SevenA which is known as NineA, a team of powerful Alphas. Nine means the most powerful nine Alpha. She's the head of them, like our goddess on the earth. My cousin, Jasper, and Drake are part of Nine. The others are Alessandro, Edward, Daniel, and Carlos. The two spots are waiting for the rightful heirs and The king. I have heard my half-sister Ava saying that King would come and reclaim his position. I never heard and prophecy saying that the king and queen will return. But everyone believes.