Amaya's Storm (Book One)

When we landed Alanza’s parents and clan leaders greeted us. After we shifted, we grabbed clothes and slipped into them. “Welcome to our clan,” the alpha, Mucamutara Bianchi, said.

Alanza called for the clan’s healer before greeting her parents, and laying into them. “What language is she speaking?” I heard Matt ask Jax.

“North Amazonian Arawakan. Her clan is classified as an uncontacted indigenous tribe of the Amazon. Alanza speaks several languages, as do many of them, but they speak Arawakan here for the most part,” Jax explained to him.

“Amaya?” I heard a voice behind Alanza’s parents and the alphas.

“Berto?” I said, as Alanza’s brother walked through everyone. He walked up to me and wrapped me in a hug, picking me up and spinning me.

“It’s been too long Amaya. Way too long,” He said once he set me down, “Thanks for helping rescue Nalda.”

“Always, but why weren’t we called in for her rescue?” I asked.

“We didn’t know she had been captured by hunters, let alone where exactly she was. You know she’s a target for a lot of people. We were working on finding her. If we had known, we would’ve called,” Berto wrapped me in another tight hug.

Fox cleared his throat beside us, making me look over at him. I almost laughed at the jealousy clearly on his face. I pulled away from Berto as he motioned between us, making me roll my eyes, “Berto this is my mate, Fox. Fox, this is Alanza’s brother, Humberto.”

Berto gave me a big smile before stepping around me, and offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” they shook hands, and Berto breathed in, “You’re human?” He looked over at me, “your mate is human? Seriously.”

Fox raised an eyebrow, “I-is that a problem?”

Berto crossed his arms, staring him down until Fox looked over to me for help. “No it’s not a problem. Is it Berto?” I asked him as Alanza joined us.

Alanza walked up and put an arm around Berto, “Are you giving Fox a hard time?”

“Yep,” Berto said, not letting up on the protective friend bit.

I rolled my eyes, but Alanza smiled, “Good. He definitely deserves it.”

Berto’s brow furrowed, “Have you been giving her a hard time?”

I stepped between Fox and Berto, “It’s nothing I can’t handle, Berto. Now leave him alone.”

“Fine, but if he tries anything, I’ll kick his ass.”

Jax walked up just as Berto said that, “I’ve already tried that, big shoots. Amaya fully loses control of Niamh, and then she almost kills you. It’s only fun for a minute, right up to the point she almost kills you.”

“Goddess Jax, you’re so dramatic. I did not almost kill you.” I said, rolling my eyes, “Almost killing you implies I actually took action against you. The way I remember it, you were beating the shit out of my mate, and I pulled you off of him and that was the end of it.”

Fox wrapped his arms around my waist, “I’m going to check on the guys. Nice to meet you Berto.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek before walking over to the SEALs.

“So why didn’t your parents tell you about Nalda?” I asked, wanting to shift the conversation.

“Some bullshit about them not wanting to distract me while I was at work,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“It’s true Anza. You have no idea how much they worry about you,” Berto said, before turning his attention back to me. “We’re training in a bit. Want to join in?”

“Yeah, just let me have a chat with Mucamutara first,” I said before walking over to the Alpha of Ketഽi Kailesa.

She gave me a slight bow, which I returned, “Thank you for helping bring Nalda home. I’m guessing you would like to talk about the hunter you brought with you?”

“I would. I’m willing to let you have him, however I would like to question him before I hand him over for whatever you decide to do.”

She nodded, “That sounds like a good idea. How long will it be before your clan goes home?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m hoping it isn’t too long, but I need to check in with Daniel first. Once I do that and once I get an estimated time as to when he will get here, I will let you know.”

She nodded again, “Our clan is open to you for as long as you need it.”

“Thank you Mucamutara, for everything,” she bowed slightly before walking to her daughter. I walked over to my bags and dug out my sat phone.

Daniel picked up immediately, “Amaya? Did you make it to Alanza’s clan?”

“Yeah. We were attacked by wyverns on our way though. Bad news: they got Joseph. Good news: Ian met his mate. The wyverns had a sorceress with them. She was helping them block our attacks, but only because they have her sister,” I said with a sigh.

“What makes you think you can trust her?”

“She was in irons at their camp, and she willingly put irons back on.”

“Okay be careful with whatever you do. I’ll be there in four or so hours. I’ve been having a mini reunion while Kachina and Lavi worked.”

“I will. Have a safe flight down. Love you.”

“Love you too,” he said before disconnecting.

“Who do you love?” Murphy, the junior member of Fox’s team, asked from behind me.

I turned to him, “My dad. If you’re done eavesdropping, I’ve got training to get to.”

“Just don’t hurt him,” Murphy said before I could walk away, “I don’t know how much of all of this I believe, but if the whole soulmate thing, or whatever, isn’t true and you hurt him, it will break him. He really likes you.”

I just nodded, not really knowing what to say, before walking to the training field. “Can you watch and make adjustments as you see they need to be adjusted?” Berto asked as I walked onto the field.

“Sure. Are you not training?”

“Just leading for now. It’s the first step in me taking over as head warrior for Mom and Dad,” he said with a sly smile, “Why do you ask?”

“Just making sure you aren’t getting rusty,” I said with a sly smile of my own.

He laughed, “I’m sure. We can spar after.”

I sighed dramatically, “Fine.”

We trained the warriors together, and once we were done he walked over to me. “Still up for that fight?” I grinned, causing him to sigh, “Okay, let’s do this.”

We went round and round, neither of us giving much to the other. He got in a couple good hits before I could block them, causing me to growl and him to smirk. “He’s getting cocky,” Niamh told me. “Keep toying with him, and he’ll leave himself open.”

I let a few more hits go, growling as they land. “Oh come on Amaya. You can’t be losing control already,” Berto baited.

I just growled in response and made a calculated misstep, making it seem as though I was losing my temper. He attempted to capitalize on my misstep, leaving himself open for the take down to end the fight. After he tapped out, I stood and pulled him to his feet. “Fuck she’s good,” I heard one of the SEALs say.

“You were just acting the entire time. Weren’t you?” Berto asked.

I smiled, “You shouldn’t let yourself get so cocky, Berto. You leave yourself open to a lot of things when you get cocky.”

“Fuck Amaya. How do you just know how a person is going to fight?” He asked, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

I shrugged, “You just have to watch and wait. Niamh doesn’t hurt either though.”

“Yeah Niamh is always the one to beat. You’re hard on your own, but then you get Niamh in the mix and all of the sudden I’ve lost the fight.”

“Yeah yeah. She’ll still try to kill you if you try anything on our mate. No matter how much you flatter her,” I said, stepping away from him.