"She is not ready."

Raphael shook his head as he watched Hannah through the veil.

They had returned to their realm to hold court with the celestial elders of what was going on in the human realm.  The throne room, filled with members of all supernatural factions, waited for him to continue.

"All of your kind will suffer this great peril, the demon king, is creating armies as he tries to gain the upper hand."

"But what does he want, What does he pretend to accomplish?"  Nyx, an emissary of the Fae council stepped forward.

"To distract us," Calysta, a water nymph, interrupted. "To distract by creating strife and turmoil among our kind."

The room erupted into whispers.

"He wants to gain access to this realm," Michael spoke up and all whispers died down. Worried gazes were exchanged with the factions.

"It is impossible. He does not have that ability."   Zadkiel frowned shaking his head.

"He does now because you made that possible," Raphael said angrily.

Michael immediately placed his hands on Raphael's shoulder as his gaze clashed with his elder brothers on the throne.

"I did what I had to do, there was no other way," Metatron shot back.

Frustration filled within Raphael but his anger was too great that he could not say a word, he could only look away.

"The human realm is home to not only humans but to descendants of our race that we abandoned on the saviors' orders.  To meddle now in this war will cause confusion and will make things worse," Another supernatural, Freya, spoke up as a burst of agreeing whispers followed.

"So what?... we leave this to fall on the shoulders of a Seraph. The sacrificial lamb that will save us all?" Raphael chuckled humorlessly as his gaze landed on all of them accusingly as they stopped whispering. 

"Brother...." Uriel began.

"Don't..," Raphael shook his head.

He looked up at all of them suddenly feeling the speculative gazes mixed with pity in their eyes. How dare them? They all were to blame for what is to come. They turned a blind eye to him in his time of need.  But then the moment the Moirai  mentioned how important Hannah would be,' the being of an angelic bloodline whose ancient powers will awaken through a bond.' -Deadly powers that can either kill all of mankind or save them; They held councils deciding her fate without him for centuries until they saw that she was no threat. She was tucked away safely in Hanaels' care under her tutelage.  But it seemed that what the fates predicted would come to pass anyway. Too soon for him to have stopped it.  But then they panicked the moment she was cast out.

Now they listen. 

Now...they need her and depend on her.

He won't have it.

"She is not ready for this," he said again, "I won't have you all sitting here on your pedestals looking through the veil; watching my daughter put her life on the line for any of you."

The throne room burst into chaos as some gasped and others repeated what he had said. It was an uproar of chatter and movement as the factions tried to grasp what he just said.  He did not know if it was pride or relief that welled up in his chest for admitting it.

Micheal stood stone-faced as Uriel and Gabriel gave him an amusing stare.

"If the Demon King wants to destroy centuries of peace, then so be it. We have turned our backs when much worse has been done. But I will not let any of you manipulate Hannah into thinking she is the only one that can save them." He said looking directly at Gaia as she walked slowly into the throne room.

"Gaia, come forward and tell us what you think."  Zadkiel gestured for her to come closer.

Gaia stepped forward with measured steps. She lowered her head and acknowledged the council then the dais.

"It was prophesied more than a millennia ago that a celestial being born of a rare union, a benevolent one, would rise up and cast all demons from the human realm and send them back to hell," She said.

They all remained silent as she continued.

"That celestial being is Hannah, the daughter of Raphael, an Archangel, and Artemis, a Deity,"  she then looked at Raphael. 

The throne again erupted onto chaos. Slowly the whispers died down as Megatron rose his hand.

"Continue, Gaia," Zadkiel insisted.

Slowly she walked closer to Raphael. Gentle fingers rose up to rest on the archangel's arm in a plea for understanding. But his jaw clenched. His will would not bend.

" I know that you feel wronged and that you don't feel that she should take on such a task but you have to accept her fate as the chosen one. She is destined to rid the earth of demons once and for all."

Raphael shook his head.

"You speak as if she can do it all alone. As if she alone can solve this age-old war of good vs evil, Gaia," he tried to defend his reason.

Gaia stepped closer for one last try in getting him to understand.
"Maddox and the lives of every shapeshifter and other supernatural's life depends on Hannah. You don't see how powerful she is because you see a fledgling.  You feel that she is the equivalence of a young human girl:  frail, naive, and innocent. But you have no idea what I feel and see while we are training her, " she squeezed his arm.

"What do you see, Gaia?" Metatron leaned in curiously eyeing her.

She smiled.
"When she is at her angriest, I see...an immense power within her that would make all of you quiver where you stand. And that is where she can not fall into the wrong hands. Metatron, the Demon King must not get to her."

Those around them began to murmur.

"If he does, " she began.

Then all is lost.

                                                                           ***************

"You were amazing today." He mumbled softly as he helped her undress.

Exhaustion and fatigue spread across her face as she gently sat on the bathrooms vanity and watched Maddox kneel before her.

"It didn't feel amazing," she whispered.

He looked up at her midway to untying her laces to her sneakers. He lowered his head in silence and didn't respond as he removed them.

Slowly he stood and faced her. Lately, she has been beating herself up with self -criticism. She was not fast enough, strong enough...tough enough... but deep down, beneath her soft and beautiful exterior, there was a lot of that she failed to see. Her anger would not let her.

He reached up and tilted her chin up. For a moment, he observed her.

"Maddox?" she said lowering her head.

He frowned some. "What? I'm not "Male" this time?" he teased.

"I thought you do not want me to call you that," she shook her head in confusion but paused as she watched the side of his lips curl into smile. Innocent brown eyes ate him up before blinking slowly to focus on her question.

"Are you not upset that I am not...the right mate for you," she sadly sank back and watched as his gorgeous face turned to stone.

The middle of his brow dipped low. Dangerously low.

"Why would you ask that?"

She fidgeted some and immediately her chin was tipped sturdily upward  for her to look at him.

"Why would you ask that , Hannah?" Immediately Koda was on the prowl.

" Because I know I am not ..." she began but he stopped her roughly pressing his lips to hers. Heat coursed through her along with his emotions of assurance.

'You were meant for ME. Understand?' his voice hissed as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss until she melted in his arms. He held her close before breaking the kiss and watching as her head lulled back to look at him. Breathless and shaky from the kiss, he eased back some to finish undressing her. They remained silent doing so.

He pulled her gently into the shower with him and with gentle care, he rubbed the soft loofah filled with her fragrant body wash over her skin and washed away all the dirt and sweat from the days training.

"Don't let any one tell you that you are not the right mate for me. Because you totally are, "  he pulled her close in his arms.

Lulled by the warmth of the water on her skin, of his embrace, security and love, she dreamily sighed and leaned into him. Drowsily, she mumbled her love for him. Blinking slightly and yawning some more. He chuckled and helped her out of the shower and dried her off then placed her in their bed, shortly joining her.

With a sigh of relief he pulled her close. Emotionally, they were both drained. Physically for him not much but he knew she was as she moaned softly and curled deeper into his side.  A part of him felt anxious about her question. Her doubt.

It was written way before they were born, that they were meant for one another. It was prophesied. She found him for a reason. and he was drawn to her for one as well. And no matter how the stars charted their path, love was the compass. He loved her.

His skin prickled with the thought and Koda preened proudly with the knowledge of it. She was his. She was his fated mate. Bound by their souls. That's what mattered.

He pulled her possessively tight and gazed down at her.  "You're mine." he whispered , placing a kiss on her lips. A gentle growl of approval grew from his chest as he nuzzled his nose against her skin and inhaled her scent.

Drowsily, he fought to keep his eyes open. He wanted to watch her sleep.

Only for a moment. He yawned and Koda followed.

His wolf walked slowly in circles.

Only...for.. a moment...

But her warmth pulled him under and he fell asleep.

A weightless deep sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddox knew he was dreaming

Nothing else could explain the rising goosebumps on his skin watching himself from afar as he  approached Hannah. The out of body experience was beyond his control as he stood mute and watched with a terrifying feeling who appeared to be him, yank Hannah close.

"I don't like you," she retorted. Her voice shaky with the urge to cry.

He looked down at her. She was glancing up at him; her head tipped back. The expression in her gaze swirled with a mixture of tender deference and temperamental defiance. Their heated words from earlier, long ago dissipated into thin air replacing it with so much tension.

He snorted derisively followed by a teasing grin that sent a tingling sensation through her. "Such words and emotions are not your forte. Tinkerbell."

Just looking up at him like that took his breath away. He contended himself in teasing her, irritating her, and he enjoyed every bit of it. There was nothing more exciting to him then ruffling her feathers just to see those enticing eyes sparkle with feistiness and her lips whisper their saucy retorts. "I am a Seraphim, that does not mean I lack emotions or feelings."

This ethereal creature was a handful, and she intrigued him beyond comprehension.

He cocked his head to the side. He couldn't resist provoking her. "Feelings?"

She frowned curiously. "Yes, is that not what I am supposed to have?"

He bit back a smile. There was no point in explaining what human feelings were about or felt like and if she would feel the same way. She wouldn't understand.

Suddenly his amusement faded. He studied her for a while.

She was infuriatingly innocent, and at times it bothered him when he treated her so.

She was his mate.

He didn't have the heart to reject her. So he decided its best that she loathes him and said the words. He was prepared for living eternally incomplete. But, He'd found himself increasingly drawn to her.

The enticing sheen of her lips called to him, hungrily his gaze followed, his head lowered and tasted them. That conflicting sensation to be distant and leave her be, fluttered away immediately as their lips touched.

Brushing his lips lightly across their softness, he savored the gentle friction. She was soft and so delectable that he pulled her tight against him, enjoying the subtle electrifying jolt that forms when their skin touches.

Even more, the sizzling heat the kiss was creating. So he deepened it and possessively tasted the recesses of her mouth with his tongue. He felt her body melting into his, and the kiss became scorching and intense that he felt her shiver with a breathless sweet whimper that gripped him bone deep.

Reluctantly he pulled away slowly with an erotic and purely hedonistic tug of her lips.

She stared up at him with a surprised dazed expression, lips parted and slightly plumped. He read so much in the depths of her eyes that it was unmistakable that what stared back at him was desire. His lips still tingly from their kiss slowly flashed a sexy wicked grin. His gaze hot with an inviting challenge lazily held hers before gliding the tip of his finger gently along her jaw.

"Careful Tinkerbell or your Halo will go up in flames with such feelings."

Not catching his words quick enough, it wasn't until he turned away that she gasped.

Before she could say a word, he had disappeared.

At a distance, he watched her lower her gaze and dash away a tear, and it burned in his chest. Of all the mates the Moon Goddess could have given him, she let the Celestial Elders intervene, and they sent him the one mate that was not safe with him. An Angel.... She was all wholesome, innocent, kind, sexy, and irresistible all at the same time. Pure temptation with wings. His jaw clenched, and his wolf growled. What the hell were they thinking?

He needed to drive her away from him and did his best trying to do it. He was callous, mean, and heartless. She was a distraction he did not need at this moment. Not now....

Not ever.

No. No. Nooo -  That's not what he felt. He shouted but his lips were not moving. He fought with every inch of his being to break free. But it was useless.

He watched as the mirror image of himself turned then to face him. A devious smile formed on his lips as he walked towards him and morphed into someone else.

"Why fool yourself?" he hissed, "Something so benevolent and pure does not belong with you."

He fought to speak. He tried to mindlink with her.

Immediately large hands shot out and wrapped around his neck in a death grip. The man before him changed and shimmered into a vile looking creature that grew and sprouted ragged wings.

The wings began to flap.

Suddenly he is dangling in the air by his neck.

"Hannah!" he managed to breath as he was flown higher , higher and ....higher.

"That sheltered, sweet and naive angel has no place in your world." he shook Maddox furiously.

He shook his head unable to fight.

"She will never be safe with you." He growled and suddenly let Maddox go.

The night rose up around him as his legs flailed and his arms shot out. A kaleidescope of the cities lights swirled around him with dizzying chaos as he tumbled into the edge of darkness.

And was swallowed whole.....

Maddox jerked awake. The soft brown curls of Hannah brushed his shoulder as he looked at her face. Beautiful and breathtaking even in sleep, he settled beside her on his pillow. The sight of her grounded him, her warmth and softness anchored him. ALWAYS . He closed his eyes and mentally reached for her. HE felt the calmness of Mia..... of Koda.

His racing heart  that thumped furiously in his chest began to quiet some. It was Just a dream.!

He tightened his eyes shut and tried to calm his spinning senses and the sensation of still falling.

Taking in a deep breath, he settled in close to her and stared up at his ceiling. The dark confines of his room was deemed safe.  She was safe.

With him....She will be safe.

*************************************************************************************

Here you go ...Im so sorry I havent updated in a while but so much has happened since. BAre with me as I try to finish this story.

For those of you that have reached out to do a"Quarantine collab". I am so sorry ..I thought MS Teams would work but I have no clue how to work it. So, I signed up for Zoom....ugh I have no clue how to use that either but I'm still looking interested in using it. For those of you who have been sharing my stories and tagging them, YOU are the bomb and have seriously answered my prayers, that's the only way I will get noticed and will be able to put out more stories.....

So...until my next update ....stay safe, wash your hand , cover your face and be blessed....

Join me but send me a quick IM so we can collab....