I’m numb.I can’t feel anything; not even Andreas’ blows against my face as he hits me with all his strength. He’s angry, I know, but it doesn’t even touch the way I am feeling right now. We’re in the underground pits underneath the mansion, the only place I could think of coming to after what happened with Umiko.Andreas stops hitting me, and I fall to my knees without any will to get up again. I can feel the wounds and broken ribs already starting to heal, and the wheezing because of my punctured lungs slowly goes away as well. It should be painful, it should hurt like hell and take slow to heal, but for some reason, Baron is preventing my inevitable death. “Are you going to fight back or stand there feeling sorry for yourself?” Andreas' voice is thick with fury as he chastises me; his tattooed fists are a mess of our blood mixed from him punching me so much.I look up at him through the blood dripping down my busted eye and scoff.“The only reason you’re not dead right now is beca
Baron has been quiet ever since, so I decide to break the silence and speak with him./“Are you okay?”/ I ask, and he opens his crimson eyes./“You nearly killed her and ignored my warning after telling me that I would kill her in the end. No, I am not okay,”/ he growls in annoyance.I sigh. /“I know, and I apologize for that. It is the reason we’re going to Him for help; I need to know if he knows what happened.”//“We can not trust your father,”/ he says the words I already know. My father is the last person I would come to for help, but I have a feeling that he knows a lot more and has been keeping crucial information from me.I notice that Andreas’ anger has disappeared when I walk into the garage and spot him standing next to our motorcycles. He looks up when he sees me and smirks.“Your Luna is something else,” he remarks, picking up his gloves. “Hot-headed, sort of like her mate.”“Watch it,” I chuckle and shake my head. “She was just worked up.”He scoffs. “Worked up? She fuck
Fenriz didn’t come home last night. I waited up until the sun started peeking through the drapes, but there was no sign of him. Just after midnight, I heard a motorcycle pulling into the mansion, but only one. That means that he didn’t return with Andreas; that means he’s not here.I still can’t believe that I smacked his Beta without thinking. That man has the power to rip my throat out without a second thought, and I just went up to him and slapped him because he hit Fenriz. Why the hell did I do that?! Fenriz is an Alpha and much stronger than Andreas anyway!/“Because you care for Fenriz, even though it has only been a few days,”/ Ahmya says and rolls her eyes. /“Oh, do you suddenly not like our mate?”/ I say with a chuckle. Before, she used to be all for him, but now she seems to be put off./“He nearly killed my host, so yes, I do not like him right now!”/ she exclaims in a huff, causing me to laugh. Oh, well, I’ll leave her to stew for the day. As tired as I am, I know that I
I have been wandering this dense forest for the last two days with no end in sight and zero sleep. Alpha Erik Helseth of the European Five now rules Norway in our stead and has given me a safe passage to speak with the people from my old village. The elders led me here to find a hermit, but so far, I have not seen a soul. I fall to the earthen floor and breathe out a growl of frustration with sweat dripping into my eyes. Even Baron has been quiet since we stepped onto Norse soil; this little act alone has alarm bells ringing. With no Pack Mind Link, no cell phone, and no one to talk to, I have been left with my own thoughts. That itself has been Hell on its own. Unwanted memories on repeat, the screams of my first and second wife, the absolute heartbreak of finding Mia dead and knowing I did it. I knew that I had to deal with this soon, that I would be face to face with the pain I had caused. I hate that I am such an enigma; I can kill without remorse, yet I lament over the three
I don’t know what I expected from Fenriz, but his rudeness wasn’t what I banked on. Yes, I changed my image a little, but that gave him no right to break my spirit./“You changed because of what that witch said!”/ Ahmya huffs as anger fills her aura. /“I told you to ignore their taunts and pressures!”//“I know,”/ I say as I wipe the makeup from my face at the vanity and kick off my heels. /“I just wanted him to like me.”//“You’re his mate; HE ALREADY LIKES YOU!”/ she says, not helping at all. I sigh, remove the clinging red dress from my body, and settle on the lilac summer dress and my flats. After using a beauty wipe, I remove the last remnants of the over-done makeup and look at myself in the mirror.Plain. Everyone has always called me plain for as long as I can remember. I wasn’t graceful and timid like my mother or beautiful like my sisters. I barely had curves and an average cup size - there was nothing noticeable about me except the fact that I was just. so. plain. I turn
I don’t know what to fucking do anymore. Do I still pretend to be the cold, indifferent Alpha around Umiko or just drop the fucking act altogether? I understand that a certain brutality comes with being in my position, but does that need to extend to my mate? Fuck it; I need to kill something. “We have a problem,” Andreas says when he walks inside of my office and leans over my desk. His eyes have split, which tells me he’s so much more than pissed off. His claws have extended, and he looks down as he tries to control his breathing before looking back up at me. “The fucking hunters are back,” he says. Those five words and his anger are justified. A few years ago, we had a group of hunters from a specific guild attempt to take out every supernatural creature in Vegas. The Sirens in my clubs were first before they nearly took out the Fae Folk in my casinos. To say that they were more than a pain in the ass is putting it lightly. “Are you sure?” I ask through gritted teeth, and he n
I lay and stare up at the ceiling while listening to Fenriz’s light snoring. Yesterday I had a plan, and it required me to take vengeance on Fenriz for the deaths of his wives. I was ready to go through with it once I got strong enough, but last night’s talk with him… just threw that out of the window entirely. He wants to trust me, he wants to show me the work of an Alpha, and he wants to be my friend. From what I heard, the other wives were all confined to the compound without seeing the heart of the city, but this morning he would bring me along! Not only that, but he opened up to me slightly about his wives and even told me the name of his beast. If that is not him willing to put his trust in me, then what is? /“Why are you still awake? We have a big training session scheduled for tomorrow!”/ Ahmya’s voice echoes in my head, and I cringe. Ever since her attitude towards Fenriz changed yesterday, I have been slightly cautious around her. She wanted me to trust him, but the mom
Not only does my mate want to try with me, but Kai and Konstantin have found Lilith alive. Barely hanging on with what she has been through, but still alive nonetheless. Umiko holds on to my every word as I recall my relationship with Lilith over the years and why I let her go. She knows about prophecies all too well; apparently, it is why her father sent her to me. He had a dream about Umiko and me being married.This little bit of news actually pisses me off; I’ll have to file it away and look into it at a later stage. The fact that Kaen was given insight into what would happen between his daughter and me doesn’t sit well with me.After a comfortable breakfast with her, I take her to the hair appointment at 10 am, but my phone rings again before I can drop her off. This time it’s Gabriel Priest.“Priest,”“Fenriz, glad I caught you,” he says in an odd, broken voice, and I frown. “Are you free to talk?”“I am for a few minutes; what’s the problem?” I ask and gesture for Umiko to giv
I look at Arkyn laying in the middle of the water and starting to stir; today, he turns five years old and will awaken once more. He looks just like Fenriz, but my Asian features are prominent as well, especially the shape of his eyes. I've allowed his hair to grow out too, just like his father's. The last few years have been hell but worth it in the end. This morning Hikari climbed the snowy mountain, and when she put her hands on Arkyn, a bright smile spread over her face. “They’ve stopped,” is all she said before telling me that she’ll be on her way to collect Fenriz and bring him to us. Then she looked down at my swollen belly. “She will be ready to emerge as well.” The last time Fenriz visited me, he knotted me without thinking. Not that I’m unhappy that it happened, but we’ve already had to face this with Arkyn… now I might have to stay up here for another five years. Hikari rushed my pregnancy along so that we can see if this will be the case again. To be honest, I don’t wa
Andreas Acting Alpha is nothing like actually being Alpha, but it still means that I have to put in the same amount of work as Fenriz. I was trained by my uncle to be a Beta to the Vega Alpha, and it helped a lot that Fenriz was actually my best friend already; he trusted me, and I would lay down my life for him. For the last few days I’ve had to be acting Alpha so I didn’t even have time to spend with Freyja; just when we were getting closer too. She speaks to me more and tells me about her hopes and dreams for the future; I get giddy when she does because I’m always in the plans with her. I never would have thought that the Goddess would bless me with a second chance mate, but here I am and every day I get to see her face is a blessing in itself. She doesn’t even see the ugly scar, the same as Kalea; in fact, she says it makes me even more beautiful in her eyes. I scoff at this memory, but a stupid smile still manages to find its way onto my lips. /“Send a car,”/ Fenriz’s voice
The only thing I got from Hikari’s words was that my son has been in constant pain since the day he was born; a pain we weren’t even aware of. Someone back home will die for their incompetence. “Is there anything we can do to take away his pain?” I ask, holding my arms out to Hanabi so she can hand over my child. “There must be something we can do to make this transition easier.” Hikari looks at Arkyn in my arms before settling her eyes on Umiko. She remains quiet for a while, a long fucking while if you ask me, but when a wistful look crosses her face, I knew that whatever she’s about to say can’t be good. “There is; we normally reserve it for clan members who can’t control their spirits and require a tranquil place to set things right,” she starts. “It is a lake inside a cavern in Mount Yōtei, they lay in the waters, and it takes the anguish and discomfort away until they’re ready.” “Okay, well, can we go right now? Is it possible?” Umiko steps closer to me and asks, her worrie
The last few days spent with my sister ended up being some of the most memorable ones! We went shopping, we stayed up late to chat, Fenriz had amiable chats with the Takahashi brothers, and I learned more about my sister than I ever have before. The only thing that still worries me to death is the fact that Arkyn is still the same; the whimpering, the sleepless nights, and shedding tears without actually crying out loud. Homura thinks that I missed that look on her face when she touched Arkyn, but I didn’t. She felt something when she touched my son, but now she’s refusing to admit it. She’s a sorceress, albeit not stronger than our eldest sister, so she must have seen or felt something. Now it’s our last day at her estate, and she’s still refusing to speak with me about it. I don’t know how else to get the information out of her; begging doesn’t seem to help, nor is nagging. “I saw nothing, Umi; stop this now!” she says for the umpteenth time, huffing out an annoyed sigh. “Don’t
I wanted to say no to taking a week off, but the defeated look on her face took the words right out of my mouth. Not to mention Andreas and his bitching about me needing this and how it would be good not only for me but for Umiko and Arkyn as well.Her actions by sucking me off while I was busy with important business partners nearly made me put a stop to it, but then I saw her naked on my desk and lost all reason.So here I am, getting ready to leave the private jet at Osaka International with a wife who’s nearly jumping up and down at the thought of seeing her sisters again. Arkyn didn’t rest well on the flight over at all, so how is she so excited and pretending like we barely slept for five hours on the trip over?It must be a mother thing.“There they are! There they are!” Umiko cries out when we see two parked Bentleys on the tarmac and just as she steps out of the plane, so do two women who, oddly enough, looked like younger versions of their mother. The only thing different is
I thought Fenriz was cruel before, but now I know he is. Rushing out of his office and feeling mortified to my core, I run to our bedroom and lock myself in the bathroom. Of course, Fenriz wouldn’t take his anger out on me with violence, he’ll find something else to torment me with. And he knew exactly how to do it. Oh, I am so angry right now! Not sure if it’s at Fenriz or myself, but I feel incredibly frustrated to the point that I want to scream! /“It’s called being sexually frustrated,/” Ahmya chuckles in my subconscious, and I seriously want to punch her right now. /“Hey, don’t give me that look! The best you can do is to get him back for doing it.”/ Her words are like iced water on my burning anger, and I frown. /“Get him back? Just so he can do it again? I don’t think so!”/ She shakes her head. /“No, I don’t mean stopping his release, but prolonging it,”/ she says. /“Ahmya, I’m not some sexual vixen who knows how to seduce a man. Where would I even start?”/ I sigh before
I knew something was off as soon as I smelled a different scent, but I didn’t expect to see Umiko wrapped up in the arms of another man.“Someone better explain to me what the fuck is going on before I start breaking necks,” I groan as I get to my feet, still completely out of it and feeling woozy. Umiko runs over to me and places my arm over her shoulder. “I’m not… going to ask again.”The anxiety is thick in her scent when she peers up at me, but then she looks over to the man standing next to what I can only assume is Kaen’s dead body. She sighs, then smiles at the man. It’s only when I look up at him that I notice that he looks suspiciously like Kaen himself.“His name is Asahi-”“I don’t give a fuck what his name is, Umiko. I want to know why he’s here and what the fuck happened while I was out.” I grumble, then look back at the man…then he bows.“Apologies if I have offended you, Alpha Fenriz. Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Kaen Asahi, and Umiko is my youngest sister,”
Fenriz“Are you sure?”“Affirmative, Alpha; Kaen has just landed and is departing his private jet with his entourage in tow.”Umiko, Andreas, and I look at one another with the thrum of something unspoken passing between the three of us. We’ve planned for this since Ahmya told us of his plans, and now we have to act on it - Kaen dies today, and that’s the end of it.After our defenses were breached without me even being aware of anything, I decided that it would be best to have witches back in theUsuallyormally the pack leaders back in Norway would get the best witches to match the pack, but since my father had all the witches killed last time and Erik Helseth is conspiring against us, I couldn’t risk it.I’ve had to ask Kai for help, so two days ago, he sent his own witch to fortify my barriers. It’s been working better than I hoped; I can sense whenever a non-Vega pack member enters my territory.All but Kaen - the bastard must have cloaked himself.“Funny that he should come on the
A knock on the bedroom door gets my attention while I’m burping Arkyn, and when I look up, it’s straight into Freyja’s green eyes. She hasn’t left her bedroom for over two weeks and refused to see anyone, even Andreas, so the fact that she’s here leaves me surprised.“Freyja, love,” I murmur and beckon her over to sit next to me on the bed after I’ve put Arkyn back in his crib. She sighs, then walks over and sits in the space I’ve gestured, but when she eventually looks into my eyes, I see a broken woman.One I can relate to.“I was born today twenty-six years ago,” she whispers, then looks down again, and tears fall into her open palms. “Frigga and I always said that one day when we escape out of the hole, we would shift and run for every birthday that follows to signify our freedom, but now… now I’m alone and without the person I loved more than myself.”Her shoulders don’t even shake as she silently cries, but I can tell from her racing heart and melancholic scent that no matter ho