Excerpt:

The excerpt below contain explicit adult language and sexual content. By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

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Pepper's Journey Home

Copyright©2022

All rights reserved, Huatau Studios, Ltd

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“Where am I?” she asked, thankful that she was able to form words this time. Her voice was hoarse and sounded like she hadn’t used it in a long time.

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The two men shared a glance as they talked telepathically. She frowned for a moment as she thought about that. Talking telepathically for most in the world would be odd, but for her, it was normal. She talked with her sisters telepathically when she was able to. They—

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Pepper cried out as pain burst behind her eyes. She lifted her hands and pressed her palms against her eyes as a kaleidoscope of memories slammed into her. The compound, Aristos, the treatments, and everything that had been done to her to further develop her psychic talents. She had grown up in that compound, and there were only two memories that held warmth and not ice-cold pain. Melaina and Parris. They had been held there, too, and they were as close as sisters. She remembered her escape, pushing Rafael psychically to do what she wanted him to do. She remembered the trunk and driving toward safety. Grey River was where Melaina told her to go, and that was where she was heading when she made Rafael drive off the road. Then—

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“Oh God! I killed him!” she cried out as she remembered pushing the guard who had tormented her for all these years away from her and against a tree. No, not pushing him, she hadn’t actually used her hands, she had used her mind and thrown him against that tree. He hit four feet from the ground and was impaled on a branch. She had killed him.

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“Pepper!” She heard the voices of the two men calling her name, their hands stroking her hair and her hands, trying to get her to calm down, but the memories kept coming. She made it to Grey River and to Parris. Melaina had told her that if she could just make it to Parris, then she would be safe. She met men who helped her instead of hurting her. Two men in particular, Tomas and Diego Reyes—they were the men in the room with her. She had waited for Melaina, and true to her word she had come. Then, hard on her heels came the devil himself. Aristos Christakos.

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Aristos had taken some of the treatments that had enhanced her psychic abilities. He attacked, and Pepper had fought him with her sisters. To save Melaina, she had thrown herself into the abyss, burning herself out completely until she flamed out and was drifting toward death. She went happily because she had taken Aristos out of the world and her sisters were safe!

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Then, she felt something pulling her back. She struggled for a moment until she felt the presence of two beings pulling her back into life. She immediately sensed Tomas and Diego. They were saving her, pulling her back from the darkness, and she had turned to go to them, but then it stopped. She was stuck, somehow lost in the darkness.

Pepper had floated in space. Or at least that was what it had felt like. There was no sound, no light where she was, no heat, no cold, and no sensation whatsoever. Just Pepper, floating in the dark with her thoughts. When she had first become aware of where she was, she had been okay. This was her happy place, and she’d told Melaina as much that day they had all ended Aristos. But after a while, she started to feel scared. She hadn’t moved on to the next life or regained consciousness. She just floated. The pull had gone, and there was nothing.

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After failing to draw herself out of her own mind like she had so many times in the past, she had called out to Melaina and Parris for help. Then when the panic became almost unbearable, she had started to shout, begging for Tomas and Diego to come and save her.

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Pepper knew it was strange for her to call out to the two wolf shifters for help. It wasn’t as if they knew each other very well. But as odd as it had seemed, she had felt safe with them from the day they walked into her hospital room, and for someone who had lived in fear most of her life, feeling safe was unheard of. But they never came. They never came!

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Pepper threw back her head and screamed, “You never came! You left me there!”

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She opened her eyes and glared at Tomas and Diego, both of whom looked pale and concerned. They were leaning over the bed toward her.

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“Pepper, calm down,” Tomas said. “Please, baby, this is killing me, just calm down.”

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“You left me. I called for you, and you didn’t come.” Pepper could hear the hysteria in her voice and felt it rising within her.

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“Pepper, baby, you aren’t making any sense.” Diego cupped her face in his hand, and she stared up into his face. “We were always there, we hardly ever left your side.”

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“Liar!” she accused, and pushing to sit up, she threw her hands out from her body. Both men grunted as they were thrown across the room and slammed hard against the wall opposite her bed. They hit with such force she heard the wall crack, and the painting that had been to the left crashed to the ground.

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The edge of her vision was blurring, but she fought against it and held the men with ease. “You left me.”

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“No, cariño, we didn’t, we—” Tomas ended on a grunt as Pepper used her ability and applied pressure to his chest.

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“Shut up!” she snapped. “You left me, you fucking left me in the dark. You dragged me back from death, and then you left me there in the darkness. I called for you. Over and over, I called for you. But you never came. You left me. You left me!” Pepper knew she was screaming hysterically, but she couldn’t stop. The darkness that had been edging into her vision now swept in, and she cried out. It washed over her once more, and her last thought before she was plunged back into it was that maybe this time she would never make it out. 

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