Juniper We escaped a world of chaos in one realm, and entered a completely different type of chaos in another. The clearing we landed in was filled with fairies of various types — although they were mainly Fae — and the Midnight Moon pack members. The real pack members, not the ones from the illusion planted in the courtyard by my mother’s strong Fae trickery magic. My birth mother, that is. They were chatting and talking, and the pack children were running around and playing, completely carefree and without a worry about what was happening back on their pack lands. The volume of the gathered people slowly diminished as they saw us, and saw Myles bleeding in his mate’s arms. The dull roar became dead silence, broken only by one shrill scream. “My baby!” my mom — Sofia — cried out, tears streaming down her face as she ran towards us to see her injured son. Leo growled slightly as she reached out to touch him, pulling Myles closer to his chest. She snarled and raised her gaze to h
Lukas After the howl ended, and the pack and gathered fairies left to retreat to their quarters for the evening, I stayed in the clearing, leaning against the tree with my mate in my arms. Her presence and the love I felt flowing towards me from her end of the bond — even without us being marked — helped a sense of momentary peace to settle within me. Losing my parents was painful, but having her with me made it seem bearable. I closed my eyes and buried my face back into her neck, inhaling her scent, which was now even more intoxicating than it had been when I first discovered our bond. When I opened my eyes again, we were on the floor of the clearing. My back was against the giant tree, and I held my June tightly against my chest, her eyes closed and her breathing deep and even in her sleep. I kissed her forehead, letting my lips linger there for a moment. My hand lazily stroked the skin exposed by the open back of her dress, then I lifted my head and let myself take in the bea
Lukas We followed Lyssa out of Myles’s room and into the open air, winding around the paths that connected the trees to each other in silence. It was late, and most everyone was asleep now, save for those of us who had been in Myles’s room. I heard footsteps behind us, and I turned to see Drew and Everly following us, their hands clasped together tightly. :Sorry, Alpha,: Drew winced. :I’m feeling extra protective of the Princess again right now,: he mindlinked me. I just nodded to him, and he visibly relaxed, then wrapped his arm around Everly’s shoulder and pulled her closer to him. :You ok?: I asked her. :At least I could save Myles,: she replied. I swallowed back the lump in my throat. :I love you,: I told her. She blinked, and Drew looked down at her and then at me, his eyes filled with the same sadness as my sister’s. “I love you too, Luke,” she choked out. Drew squeezed her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. I felt tingles on my hand, and I turned around to see
Juniper “I am Matthias Aidamir, and this is my mate, Alessia Drakos.” “Drakos?” I breathed out, and at the same time, Lukas said, “Aidamir?” “I don’t understand,” Lukas continued. “The scroll I read said you both died.” “We did,” Alessia said. “Or, at least, we almost did,” she clarified. “Almost?” Lukas asked. “Wait,” I interrupted. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but I am so lost. Who are you? How do you have our surnames? Or, I guess, how do we have your names?” Alessia smiled. “We were the first interspecies mates,” she told me. “They’re like us, beautiful,” Lukas murmured, pulling me to his side and speaking against my hair. “A Fae princess and a werewolf prince,” he finished, looking back at the couple. “But I’ve never heard of either of you,” I said. “There is no mention of a king and queen of either kingdom with your names.” “There wouldn’t be,” Matthias sighed. “Come. Break bread with us while we speak.” He gestured to his left, to where there was a small floo
JuniperAfter a long day, and an even longer night, we were finally alone.When we had finished talking with Alessia and Matthias, my mother had led us out of the reception room, stopping only when Lukas pulled Matthias to the side to whisper to him in private for a moment.She showed us to the treehouse we would stay in while there, letting us know there was clothing provided for us within. Then she left us on our own.I walked around the room, examining the interior of the treehouse.The room was carved out of the inside of the tree, with large windows looking out into the canopy of the trees and providing a view of the star dusted heavens above. The bed was large and low to the floor, topped with an ivory duvet and a plethora of pillows of varying sizes. Small shelves wound their way up the curving interior wall of the tree, and a dainty vanity and dresser carved into the walls made up the rest of the furnishings. A door led off to the side, into what I assume was the bathroom.I t
Myles A warm hand pressed against my forehead, once again pulling me out of my already restless sleep. “I swear to Gaia, Mom, if you ask me one more time if I’m —” I cut myself off when I opened my eyes and found not my mother, but my mate — I still wasn’t used to saying that — staring at me, his hand pulling away from my face as he blushed. Well. That was adorable. He had a guarded look in his gray-green eyes as he watched me, and he fidgeted with his hands in his lap. He was clearly uncomfortable, even after everyone had finally left us alone in my room. “I think I should be the nervous one, considering your dad was the one who shot me,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. His eyes widened. Okay. Wrong tactic. I tried to backpedal. “I just meant… you know… he raised you and—” I smacked myself in the forehead. Not even a mental smack, mind you. An actual smack. Why was it I could talk to every other person I met with ease, except for the one person who was meant to be mine
Drew My hands twitched again as I sat in the chair next to the bed where Everly was sound asleep. It had been happening off and on since around the time Lukas left to go to the palace, and had grown substantially stronger after he returned. I had been able to successfully hide it from everyone, had ignored it, mostly, as we were facing greater challenges and stresses at the time, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t ignore the involuntary spasms that shot through my limbs like a shockwave. I couldn’t ignore the little seed of my magic that was no longer stagnant, but burrowing itself deeper and deeper into my very being, growing roots and spreading through my soul, and entwining with my wolf. I didn’t understand. My magic, my witch half, had always been so small, so insignificant compared to my werewolf side. My dad said it was because there were no true hybrids. That one side or the other was usually more dominant, and since he was of beta blood, my werewolf side was dominant
Chloe “Oh goddess, I hate you,” I growled, hunched over the toilet, with Finn holding my hair back while I puked. “I know,” he said sagely, nodding his head in acquiescence. “You told me this morning, and yesterday, and the day before that, and—” “Shut the fuck up,” I spat, just before my guts came hurtling out again. “You would have been better off just leaving it at ‘I know’,” my dad said from the other side of the door. “Trust me, I speak from experience,” he added. Finn snapped his head towards the door. “With all due respect, sir, don’t you have your own treehouse to sleep in?” Dad cleared his throat and muttered something that I couldn’t hear over the sound of my puking. I reached my hand back and shooed Finn away. I didn’t want him holding my hair back if he was just going to be a smart ass, and I wanted my dad gone. After hours, or maybe a few minutes, Finn poked his head back inside the bathroom. “He’s gone,” he mumbled, looking everywhere and at everything but me. I s