"The future?!" Four sets of eyes blinked in utter confusion.

"Blythe." Juniper turned to the guy. "You'll meet your mate sooner than you think... in this century, for definite."

"Huh?!"

"That's what my vision was about."

"I don't believe you." Blythe scowled, folding his arms. "You manipulate people, and I don't want you manipulating me."

"Believe what you will." Juniper mumbled, jumping down from her hospital bed. "Only the future will tell you the truth." She said, wandering out of the door without another word, heading towards the kitchen, enjoying the odd freedom she seemed to have in Stonewall Castle. It was far more than she seemed to get at her home, even if she had a few Elders dogging her every move.

Grey eyes observed her from a nearby door, silvery grey hair falling in front of a young face that was angled in her direction. Elder Gray.

"Can I help you?" She asked, turning to face the man.

"Shouldn't Blythe be accompanying you around?"

"I don't need a babysitter." Juniper sighed. "I'm a fully-grown woman, despite this tiny body of mine, and trust me when I say that what I lack in size, I certainly make up for with sass."

"I gathered that, doll." Gray said, smiling slightly, his grey eyes sparkling with humour that didn't seem to match up with all the tales she'd heard about this particular immortal werewolf. "Where you heading?"

"The kitchen." She smiled. "I'd love a nice cup of tea."

"Aye." He nodded. "I could use one myself."

"Gray!" A silvery-haired woman strode towards them. "Wait up."

"Serena." He greeted his mate, wrapping his arms around her, their lips locking together, neither of them spotting the gagging faces Juniper was making.

Blythe, however, did. "You'll be doing that with your mate soon enough."

"So will you." She said, scowling as the child harness made a reappearance. "Seriously?!"

"I don't want you running off again." He folded his arms, tugging on the lead, dragging her behind him. "Leopold ordered me to keep an eye on you, so I will."

"And you're a stickler for the rules, aren't you?"

"Yep." He nodded. "Though apparently I'm not the biggest stickler anymore. Alpha Blu has taken that title away from me."

"Well, you're one of the ones who raised him." Juniper said. "And I'd like a nice cup of tea before you drag me back to your lair."

"What am I?" Dark blue eyes rolled. "Some sort of evil supervillain?!"

"In my eyes, yes."

"I walked right into that one." Shoulders sunk as they arrived in the kitchen, Blythe quickly whipping her up a mug of hot chocolate.

"I wanted tea."

"You'll be going to bed in a minute." He said, pointing at the black sky illuminated by a single white moon.

"Who are you? My mother?" She asked, staring at him in utter confusion as she begrudgingly sipped the hot frothy chocolatey beverage. The man made a good cup of hot chocolate, but she didn't have to listen to him. After all, she had a policy. No bribes. "I can stay up as long as I want." Her empty mug slammed into the countertop, remnants of the delicious drink left around her mouth as she glared at the black-haired fiend.

"Tch." A hand wrapped around her waist, slinging her over his shoulder as he strode out of the kitchen and back to Juniper's bedroom. "Bedtime for you, brat."

***

"Juniper!" Her mother's voice rang out through the garden, dark blue eyes finding her own as she stood in the middle of the field, dirt streaked across her tawny beige skin. "A Seer from the Pack has arrived... along with two Alphas."

"A Seer?"

"Someone who can see the future." She explained, smoothing back the little girl's brown hair. "We need to greet them in your father's absence."

"Oh." She pouted. "Can't I stay here?! You always say Alphas are bad."

"Hush." Her mother pressed a finger to her lips. "Don't say things like that to their face, Junebug."

"But I can say it behind their faces?" She tilted her head, innocence written across her face as her mother ruffled her hair.

"Of course." Her mother grabbed her by the hand, leading her down the garden path. "Let's go and get you changed..." She said, staring at the muddy hem of her skirt, her eyes narrowing on the hastily done up buttons. "What on earth have you been-?" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes narrowing on the six men walking towards them. "Get behind me, Junebug."

"Queen Gwendolyn." The blonde with the grey eyes nodded.

"Alpha Fenrir." Juniper's mother scowled. "This isn't a friendly visit, is it?"

"Unfortunately not." The blue-eyed blonde next to him sighed. "We need you to surrender Ishgard over, one way or another."

"Go to hell, Nixon." Gwen hissed. "Ishgard won't be Pack Territory. Not under my watch."

"Rogues are coming to attack you, and trust me, unlike us they won't be so forward about it." Silvery grey eyes met the dark blue ones that burned like hot pokers. "They'll slit your throats in the middle of the night, and use your beloved country to attack the Pack."

"Thanks for the warning." She stood tall, scowling dangerously. "But my answer is still the same."

"Mum!"

Gwen's gaze snapped over to the girl being held by the van. "Julia..."

"I figured it would come to this." Alpha King Leopold strode towards the Queen of Ishgard. "So I'm afraid I had to get some insurance."

Gwendolyn sprung at him, her eyes glowing with rage as she struck at him. At least, she would've, if Alpha Blythe's hand hadn't cracked down on the back of her neck.

"I suppose we'll have to take her back to Blagmoor and talk some sense into her." Leopold sighed, running a hand through his black hair. "We've got her mate locked up in the underground cells back home, but he's far too pig-headed to realise the danger he's putting Ishgard in..."

"Leo..." Blythe pointed at the terrified girl standing opposite them. "We should probably pick up that little Princess too."

"Are you volunteering?" He asked, watching as Juniper started running away.

"Apparently so." Blythe sighed, stepping into Leopold's shadow, vanishing in a swirl of black mist. He soon stepped out of Juniper's shadow, grabbing the little eight-year-old by the shoulder, throwing her back towards the other Alphas.

"Whoa." Silvery grey eyes stared down at the girl as she staggered to her feet in front of them, blood dripping down from her hairline. "Easy, Bly. She's just a little kid!"

"A tough little brat." Blythe muttered, striding back towards the group. "I'd have thought she'd be unconscious after a fall like that."

"Well, she might have a Gift known as Resilience..." Green eyes narrowed.

"No, Lucian." The man with exceedingly pale blonde hair spoke, his white eyes narrowing on Juniper. "My gut is telling me there's more to this kid than that."

"I'm guessing you're the Seer...?" Juniper said. "Seeing as how I recognise all these other ugly mugs from the pictures my mum showed me."

"I think we might need to wash this brat's mouth out after we're done here." Blythe said, slamming his hand through the space Juniper had occupied only seconds before.

"Lucian." Leopold turned to the other Alpha, staring at Juniper as she held herself perfectly upside-down atop Blythe's outstretched arm, swords tumbling down out of their sheaths which had been neatly concealed under the girl's frilly skirt.

"On it." The green-eyed man said, lifting a hand, blowing the weapons away with a gust of wind. "Want me to bind her while I'm at it?"

"If you please." Leopold nodded.

Juniper smiled at Alpha Blythe, ignoring the odd tingling sensation travelling up her arm, flipping back, eyeing up his shadow. Somehow her body knew what to do.

That was how she found herself stepping into the shadows, smiling widely as black mist swirled around her, taking her into the Shadow Roads. She stepped forwards, her hands clenched into fists as she emerged out of Alpha Lucian's shadow, ready to attack.

Instead, a tanned hand wrapped around her arm, pale blonde hair whipping in the wind that had picked up. Lyra blinked, feeling another tingle travelling up her arm as she stared into the eerie white eyes of the Seer. "Don't touch this child without gloves."

"What are you on about...?" Leopold asked, swiftly pulling on a set of black leather gloves.

"Blythe doesn't need to bother, seeing as she's already copied his ability, but the rest of you shouldn't make skin contact with her."

"Why are you OK?" Lucian asked, grabbing a hold of Juniper's other arm with one gloved hand, watching as Blythe pulled out a set of little handcuffs.

"My ability as a Seer should be well out of her ability to copy." He said, keeping her still as Blythe snapped the silver handcuffs around her tiny wrists, effectively blocking her Gift. "No one in the entire world should be able to copy a Seer's Gift. It's a Gift given directly from a God or Goddess... So you'd have to be blessed by a God or Goddess in order to copy it, and I'm sure I don't need to tell you how ridiculously rare that is. I think I'm the only Blessed in the entire world right now."

"So..." Leopold trailed off, staring at the girl in shock. "Her Ability... Her Gift... It's Copycat, isn't it?"

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ILLENIS HERE

Juniper is probably a bit OP... well, in terms of her ability.

Oh well.

Hope you're all enjoying this second book of mine so far.

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