Chapter 1

Fire pulsed around him, nipping at his sides, flowing over his arms, but whereas everyone else burned, he stood standing; unscarred, unharmed, but not unfeeling.  He could feel their pain, could feel their agony, and no matter how hard he tried pushing it back onto them, it scalded his body.  He could fight no more, couldn't handle the pain, but he had to.  This was his mess, his darkness, and if he didn't stop to let it hit him, he'd never remember the mistakes he made, never remember why he had to leave.

Barron jerked awake, but the images still flew through his mind.  Sweat drenched his body, a welcome feeling after having the flames lick at his skin.  He swung his feet to the ground, happy to see that the room didn't sway around him.  More than the room had swayed when he first had that particular dream, but now, it was such a familiar sight that he had come to expect it each night.

Every night for two weeks, the same dream plagued him.  Every night for two weeks, he'd wake up in the middle of the night, not being able to fall back asleep.  He pushed the dream to the back of his mind, knowing that it was better off there.  He would remember, that was never a question, but he wouldn't dwell on it. He wouldn't try to change things in the past, not when the future would be just as dark.

Standing from his bed, he stretched his back and winced when something popped.  When the dreams had started, other things had begun too, like training.  They all knew something was coming for them, something darker than anything they had faced before.  What?  They didn't have a clue.  Why?  Barron often wondered, often felt as if he knew, but he wouldn't voice his opinions, not until he knew, without a doubt, that he was right.

His feet padded against the floor, the sound so quiet that only shifters walking by his room would be able to hear.  Soon, he was standing over the sink in his bathroom.  Already knowing what he'd see once he glanced into the mirror, he didn't bother looking up.  Cold water ran through the faucet, and Barron knew that once he let that water run down his face, the last of the flames would be gone. 

He reached blindly for the small hand towel by his sink, and as he brushed the water from his face, he couldn't help but look up.  Red eyes stared back at him, mocking him with his past.  No matter what he had tried at the beginning, Barron could never rid himself of those eyes.  At first, it had been a hardship, seeing what he once was in the past, but now, he reveled in it, reveled in the fact that he had changed.

He stared at himself, forcing himself to remember what he had done, to remember what he had gone through to become the person he was now.  He stood there, watching as the red slowly diminished before turning into the light blue everyone else knew so well, and before he could remember too much, he let out a small chuckle.

The past was a dark image that flashed through his mind at night, but it no longer ruled him.  It taught him, made him into who he was today, but it also gave him an advantage.  It made him familiar with what was coming, what was stalking them at this exact moment, taunting them with its power, but never showing itself.

Barron stretched once more as he cleared his mind.  In the early morning, he was one of the very few people who would be awake, but thanks to recent events, he wasn't the only person.  There were others, some who felt what was in the air, some who just woke up at four in the morning for the fun of it, but Barron knew that there'd be others awake in this overly large compound Ally liked to call a cabin. 

Before, the thought of others being awake would have kept him in his room, would have left him lying in bed, thinking of ways he could do his duty without making contact with any of them, but now, he actually looked forward to the reminder that there was still life out there, that there were still people fighting for what they believed in.

"Open the door," a voice commanded, interrupting his thoughts.

Barron froze.  Without his permission, his feet took two steps towards the door before he could gain control over his actions once more.  With a laugh, he jogged the rest of the way towards his door.  Flinging it open, he stared down at the woman on the other side.  "Two steps this time."

"Damn," Ally mumbled while shaking her head.  "I thought it was better than last time."

"It was harder to fight," he offered, making a smile pull up the corner of her lips. 

Four days ago, nobody could get a smile out of her.  When the pain had been too much, she hadn't even been able to move, but now, she was back to her normal self.  With Adam and Sloan now mated, Ally no longer had to fight to keep Adam alive, she no longer had to be his only life source.

Ally shifted on her feet, and in her arms, Noah made a noise before snuggling deeper.  "We'll have to practice more."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," he said as he leaned against the doorframe.  "I haven't met anyone who could fight passed my walls."

"So humble," she muttered while rolling her eyes at him.  "Barron," she began, and he could hear the worry in her voice, the worry she only let a few people close to her hear.  "I don't know if I'll be able to fight this thing." She waved her hand around, making Noah's eyes pop open.  She paused, the little boy looked up at her as if making sure she was still there, and then just as quickly as he woke up, he fell back to sleep.  Ally sighed.

Barron chuckled at Noah's actions, making Ally narrow her eyes at him.  He quickly shut the noise up, but couldn't fight back the grin on his face.  "Is he still being protective?"

"If I go more than ten feet away from him, he just crawls after me," she mumbled in frustration.  "When he's sleeping, if I don't hold him, he wakes up his sisters and they all start crying."

Holding his hands out, he motioned for Ally to hand him the boy.  She stared at him with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and handing him over.  As soon as Noah left Ally's arms, his eyes popped open.  Seeing Barron, Noah hissed before wiggling around.  "Look, Momma's Boy."  Noah growled.  "She's right here."  He held Noah up, allowing him to see his mom.   "And as long as your dad and I are around her, no one else can touch her."

Barron let a little bit of power pulse through the air, showing the kid how exactly he would protect Ally.  An answering power pulse almost made Barron drop Noah in surprise, but soon, the little boy was snuggling in Barron's arm as if the exchange had never happened. 

He glanced up at Ally, who had a disbelieving look on her face.  "Did you feel that?" he asked.

She nodded, but didn't comment further, looking more interested in how Barron had gotten Noah to go to someone else besides her.  "How did you do that?"

"My mom," he explained with a shrug.

Her eyes snapped away from Noah to stare at Barron.  She studied the expression on his face, seeing more than anyone else around here could ever see.  "You've spoken to her?"

"Not since I left," he said with a smile, trying to ease Ally's sad look.  "I was the same as Noah when I was a kid.  My mom used to tell me that I drove her up the wall.  I'd follow her around, making sure that I took care of the person who took care of me.  I'd growl at people who I didn't trust, throw magic at a couple more.  After a while, it was starting to drive my dad insane too.  So, he started showing me that there were other people who took care of my mom."  Barron shrugged.  "It worked."

"Did you ever grow out of it?" she asked in slight hope.

Barron laughed.  "Nope.  It only got worse as I grew older.  Although, once I realized my sister needed me more, she was on the receiving end of most of my protective tendencies.  Give Noah a year or so and he'll start to realize that you have more than enough power to take care of yourself."

"Good."  She paused as a teasing grin fell onto her face.  "I'm starving."

He growled at her, the sound fierce to everyone else, but Ally just laughed in his face.  "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Hell no," a different voice answered as an arm was slung around Ally's shoulder.  "That's the best food I've ever eaten."

Barron glared at Sebastian, but like his mate, Sebastian didn't look worried at all.  "I could stop cooking all of you breakfast."

"And have us starve?" Ally said with wide eyes.

He wasn't fooled.  "Where are Jesse and Zoë?"

"Nice subject change," Seb complimented, before motioning behind him, towards the room the family shared.  "Thank God we have two normal ones.  They're both sleeping, and will continue to do so as long as Noah doesn't try to wake them up."

Barron let out a sigh of annoyance, which neither of them seemed to believe, before nodding towards the hall.  "Come on.  I'll cook something before everyone else wakes up."  He paused for a moment.  "You know, I never got Ned back for blurting out my secret."

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Sebastian said with a laugh.  He turned towards the hall, taking Ally with him, but before they went too far, Sebastian glanced over his shoulder in slight disbelief.  "He's holding Noah."

"And he's quite good at it," Ally teased as she pulled Seb further down the hall.  Before she could get too far, Barron called out to her.   She glanced over her shoulder with a questioning look, one that he returned with a confident smile.

"You don't have to fight it on your own," he whispered, answering her question from earlier.  "We're all here, and no matter what, we'll stay together until the end.  Believe me; this thing coming may be able to overpower a couple of us, but all of us?"  He shook his head.  "It has no chance."

She nodded along with his words, believing them as much as he himself did.  He couldn't fool her, couldn't fool himself, but he could try.  He could try to give them hope that all wasn't lost, he could try to make her see that they would be okay one day, because all they had at the moment was hope.  If they didn't have hope, they really wouldn't have a fighting chance.

***Huge congratulations to PerfectlyWicked for winning the book cover competition!***