Jess and Jason catch up to me outside the conference room, and Jess hugs me. “Thank you for protecting my sister.” “She sacrificed herself for this pack. It’s the least I could do,” I say, pulling back. “Are you guys leaving today with Alpha Peter and Luna Rachael?” I ask as we walk down the hallway of the pack house. “Yeah. We’re leaving in about half an hour,” Jason says. “Make sure you guys find me before you go, okay?” I say as we walk outside. “Of course, we wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” Jess says. “We’ll find Alpha Peter for you.” “Thanks,” I say, and they walk away. I hear a crash come from inside, so I run back into the pack house and hear yelling from the kitchen. “Did you seriously think you could leave our pack without repercussions?” I hear a male growl. As I run into the kitchen, I find Beta Stephan holding Lauren by the throat against the kitchen wall. “Get your hands off her,” I growl. “This is none of your concern, Alpha,” he growls back, keeping h
“Are you okay, Athena?” Andreas asks as he sits next to me on the sofa near the window of the pack house. “I’m monitoring Cassia,” I say as I watch her and Michael out the window. Andreas places his hand on my leg. “She’ll be okay. She’s a strong woman.” “She’s important to me,” I sigh as I turn away from the window and snuggle into Andreas’s chest, wrapping my arms around him. “I’ll do everything in my power to protect her.” “You can’t protect everyone, baby girl. You have to let people stand on their own two feet,” he says as he rubs my back. “You don’t understand. She took a chance on me when she asked me to be her Delta, and when she was staying with me at Mom’s, we became really close. I’d do anything for her.” “And I can tell she’d do the same for you. But you asked her to stay as Luna for a reason. You need to trust that she can protect herself.” “I know you’re right. I guess it’s just hard to stop being her Delta,” I sigh, breathing in his scent. I hear the door open, a
Later That Night“Are you sure you’ve had enough?” I ask Andreas, worried that he still can’t stomach much food.“I think if I eat anymore, I’ll throw it all back up again,” he says, moving the plate away. I give a little growl, upset that it’s taking so long for him to heal.He chuckles. “I’m okay, baby girl. The Doc is looking after me,” he says with a smile as he cups my cheek. “It’s just going to take some time.”I sigh. “I’m sorry. I just hate seeing you like this,” I say, placing my hand over his.‘Alpha, we need you at the pack house,’ Tony mind-links.‘Is it important?’ I ask.‘Felix got in contact with Harry. Alpha Leon wants to meet.’‘When?’‘In an hour.’I sigh again, cutting the link. “They need me at the pack house.”“Then let’s go,” he says with a smile and gets up from the bed. #We walk hand in hand down to the pack house; the moon shining bright in the night sky. As we walk up the porch steps, we hear arguing from inside.“What’s going on?” I ask as we walk into the
I slow down as we enter the Shadow Rock territory, Enyo on high alert as we observe our surroundings, focusing her hearing on anything out of the ordinary. The smell of burning wood can still be smelt from the fire, making me nauseous as I sniff the air to see if anyone else is in the area. I slowly walk out of the thick brush, my head down low as I cautiously approach the clearing where the barn used to be, my ears back as I let out a warning growl for the figures I can see in the opposite tree line. I stop where I am, not leaving the cover of the trees, as I wait for them to make a move. Around ten people step out into the moonlight, and I see one of them is Alpha Leon. “No need to be afraid, Alpha Athena. We mean you no harm,” He calls out. Ryna shifts behind me and comes to stand by my side. “Show us that you’re unarmed,” he yells back. Alpha Leon lifts his suit jacket and turns to show he has no weapons hidden. “And your people, too,” Ryna calls out. Alpha Leon motions for
“Athena!” Andreas shouts, grabbing my arm. “I’m okay,” I tell him as he inspects my arm, but I start to hear growls from behind me as my pack starts to rise from the ground, snarls filling the air as Alpha Leon laughs. “That was just a warning shot. The next one won’t miss.” Andreas’s head snaps up, and he lets out a murderous roar. Cassia roars as well, and they both surprise me by shifting and running toward Alpha Leon. The rest of us roar and shift, and we run toward Alpha Leon and his pack as they shift and run toward us. We clash in the middle of the field. The sickening sounds of bodies colliding, and the tearing of flesh fill the air as both sides attack each other. I finish subduing one of Leon’s wolves, and I look around for Ares and Ellie, and I realize they ran past Alpha Leon’s men and are trying to get the shooter out of the tree. I watch as Ellie and Ares pull the shooter down from the tree by his ankle, and his screams fill the air as they kill him. But I notice on
“How long is this bloody tunnel?” I ask, my breathing shallow as I try to fight the claustrophobia I’m feeling. “I think I see a light up ahead,” Cassia says. “We’ve been down here for nearly thirty minutes. Where do you think it leads to?” Elder Andino asks. “I have no idea, but we need to be quiet and prepare for what’s on the other side,” Athena says, the glow of her blue eyes helping light the way through the pitch-black tunnel. ‘Is Enyo in control?’ I ask her. ‘No, why?’ ‘How are your eyes blue if you’re in control?’ I ask her, confused. ‘I don’t know. It just happens sometimes. It’s like I can draw on a power from within me, and when I do, it’s Enyo’s eyes, but I’m fully in control,’ she explains. I nod, not really understanding. “Maybe you should shift,” I whisper. “Just in case there’s more of Alpha Leon’s men or the rogue pack waiting for us.” “I agree,” Elder Laskaris whispers back. Athena stops, quickly undresses, gives me her clothes, and then shifts. Enyo shakes
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Alpha Leon screams from the back of the pickup as Harry brings it to a stop near the cellar doors. “We didn’t do this,” I tell him as Harry pulls him down from the back of the pickup. “LIAR!” He screams, dropping to his knees as he looks over the bodies on the ground. “WHERE’S MY MATE AND SON?” “Alpha, you need to listen to me and hear the words I am saying. We. Did. Not. Do this,” I tell him slowly. “We found everyone like this.” He looks up at me with a broken look in his eyes, then turns to look behind him at the trucks. “Where’s Roy?” I motion to Harry to get Roy out of the truck. “Alpha, why didn’t you feel this happening?” Elder Andino Asks. “You should have felt the pain of losing the connections to your pack as they died.” “We hadn’t performed my ceremony yet,” he explains sadly. “So, you’re not even this pack’s Alpha? You held the meeting with us tonight under false pretenses?” I growl angrily. “I was going to be!” He yells. “So you say,” Ryna says
Near the cabin, looking over the pack’s land, I place a bouquet of white calla lilies at the base of the wooden cross that now marks the final resting place of Dad and his mate, Teresa. Tears stream down my face as I think back to the ceremony we held for them this morning, and I kiss my hand and place it on the cross.“Love you, Dad. I hope you’ve found peace with your mate. Tell Daddy I love him,” I cry.I wipe the tears from my face as I stand and turn to look out over the Blood-Moon territory. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to keep warm from the cold and take a deep breath as I try to calm down. So much has happened in the last few months, and I haven’t had time to sit back and process any of it properly.I’m Alpha, and this is my territory to protect now. It still feels surreal.Flashbacks of the last few days fill my mind, and I close my eyes and try to block everything out, especially the horrors of last night. The memory of us all silently sobbing as we watched an entire