Lost & Found Book 1

Carmen's PoV

I looked around before hearing some more snarling, it was coming from upstairs. I looked down at Spade questioningly and he tilted his head to the side as if in deep thought.

"Friend or foe?" I asked, getting both Jake and Kyla's attention as well. They took a moment and listened as well. I looked up the stairs for a moment before a body came crashing down, I yelped and jumped back causing Spade to growl and tense. It was a member of the wasp clan, taking a few steps forward I looked back up and saw a burgundy colored wolf looking down at me. The wolf tilted his head to the side before turning away and howling, Spade sprinted in front of me and went into a protective stance and growled at the wolf. The wolf looked down at us before lowering his head to the ground. I side-stepped Spade and put my hand on his head, he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Carmen! What are you doing?" Kyla exclaimed, I sighed before turning my head to look at her.

"If the wolf at the top of the stairs were a threat we would have been attacked by now." I stated, earning a confused look from her. Looking down at Spade I asked, "is he or she a part of your pack?" He looked up and seemed to be out of it for a minute before looking at me and nodding. I smirked and started to make my way up the stairs, with Spade close behind. I nodded towards the wolf and looked around, we seemed to be in a really large mansion. Fighting wolves, vampires, witches and warlocks everywhere. I saw a head of blue fighting a warlock and a vampire, and watched for a minute as Leona kneed the warlock where the sun don't shine to interrupt his spell-casting and grab the vampires arm, dodging the hit and snaked her other arm around his throat and snapped his neck before letting him drop to the ground. I watched as the warlock got back up shakily, I growled, causing Leona, the warlock and several others to snap their heads in my direction. I don't know why I growled, but a part of me felt threatened and I didn't know why. Clenching my jaw shut I looked around before sensing something or someone above and behind me, so I looked towards where I sensed what I sensed and gasped. Standing on the second floor, looking down at me with fury clear in her familiar blue eyes was a woman, wearing a white summer halter dress, she was resting a hand on the banister before she pushed her curled reddish-brown hair behind her shoulder. I felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of my head as I was looking at her.

"Mom," I finally whispered. Her eyes darkened and she growled. I wanted to take a step back but instead ignored the feeling. I was shocked to say the least, I mean, my mother who I thought was dead was pretty much standing in front of me. I heard Spade growl but didn't pay him any mind. Gulping harshly, I regained my composure as best as I could before taking a quick look around. Everyone was looking at my mother, or the woman who looked like my mother.

"I am not Sophia. I am Jade, her despised twin sister." She sneered. I snapped my gaze away from the rest of the room and stared at her. I was speechless for a moment before asking the only question that had entered my mind, "what do you mean by that?"

She laughed, I shivered and resisted the urge to run and hide. "Your mother hated me, well then again, I'd hate me too. Especially after what I did right after you were born." I gulped as I remembered her next words, the same words that my mother once said when I was six, "When I took your brother. Your twin brother." She smiled and I could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped about thirty degrees. I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

"Where is he," I asked as sternly as I could. Feeling the hairs on the back of my neck raise and goosebumps make themselves known when she laughed again.

"Colin, come here won't you. Your little sister wants to see you." She called out coldly. I watched as a boy came from one of the many hallways, his brown hair the same shade as mine, and emotionless brown eyes scanned the room before landing on me. I could have sworn I saw relief and happiness when he looked at me, but if I did he quickly masked it. I took in the rest of his appearance as he continued to walk over to Jade. He looked frail, I was able to see that he hadn't eaten in a while. He was wearing a black t-shirt that looked like a dress on him and black slacks. "Yes, m'lady." He said looking at the ground. I felt a growl form in the back of my throat, I heard Spade and several others growl as well. Jade looked down at me then back at Colin, I felt a slight tug at my mind and avoided looking in the direction it came from as I dropped my barrier and allowed whoever it was to speak. 'Carmen, stay alert. We'll get him out of here if he comes down.'

'Who is this exactly?' I asked trying not to divide my attention, and listened as Jade told my brother to come down to me. 'It's Jake, Kyla's mate. I'm making my way over to you so I can get a better view. I've already informed Spade of what I'm going to do so don't be too surprised.' I inhaled sharply as I watched Colin nearly slip on the stairs, grabbing the railing with his bony hand. I saw out of the corner of my eye as Jake went to stand to my left, still holding on to Lucas, Kyla at my cousin's other side. When Colin finally got down the stairs, he walked cautiously over to me. I took in some more of his appearance, he was only a few inches taller than me, and I noticed the faint scars on his arms. I growled when I saw them. He froze and inhaled sharply. I looked up at Jade, pissed as all hell. Her eyes glimmered with amusement at my sudden growl before turning into a scowl.

"You've abused him." I stated, my words sounding more like a growl. She smirked before saying coldly, "Of course, someone had to keep him in line when he misbehaved." I growled again. Wanting to so badly rip her head off of her shoulders. Tearing my gaze away from my supposed Aunt I looked over at my brother, I felt my features soften a bit. As he looked at me with fear in his eyes I held out my right hand to him. He walked over, with caution in each step. He finally took my hand and I pulled him gently behind me. I looked back up at Jade as she frowned at my action. Shaking her head she opened her mouth, but before she could say something she snapped her mouth shut and looked behind me. Shaking her head yet again she smirked before saying, "Isn't that cute, the younger protecting the older. Too bad it won't last for long."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, another growl forming. She looked at me quizzically and muttered something that sounded a lot like, 'Just like Sophia.' Spade growled and went to stand in front of me. I briefly looked down at him, 'You ready?' I almost jumped when I heard Jake speak to me through my mind. My hold on Colin's hand tightened a bit before I responded with a 'Yes.' Jade's eyes widened when Jake snaked his arm through mine quickly and before she could even comprehend what happened we vanished. The mansion we were in was replaced with familiar surroundings. I glanced around and noticed we were in the infirmary. I released my hold on my brother just as Jake dropped his arm from mine. He and Kyla walked Lucas over to one of the available beds and laid him down gently. Once he was down Kyla jumped up and went to find a healer. I looked over at my brother and motioned for him to follow me as I made my way to the empty bed next to where I assumed Shina was.

"Kyla's gone to go get a healer to tend to our cousin's wounds. I'm going to go grab some food for you and I real quick, so stay put." I said firmly, he looked at me and nodded appreciatively. I watched him take in his surroundings before taking off for the cafeteria.