ALICE
"He's not the same without you," Nixon paused and brushed some of my hair behind my ear, "We both want you to have the life you want Alice, but Linden misses you. You need to come home more, find a better balance, WE need you, and the pack gets restless without you there to ground them."
"They have Marcy."
"You’re their Alpha,” he levelled me with an impassive look that I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at.
"I'll come home soon," I relented, "but I have things here I have to tend to-"
{Like a mate}
Just the mention of him made me stutter my words, feeling the creep of heat onto my face as my senses flooded with the caramel notes of Ian's scent. It
ALICE “I’m sure you look hot as hell,” I yelled through the bathroom door, “get out here and let me see.” “I look ridiculous,” Cynthia slumped her shoulders as she tried to cover her sports bra with her hands, “could you imagine running into someone that I have to deal with regularly?” She made a half-shocked and wide-eyed face as she looked around for something to cover up with. “You look amazing,” I winked and hurried into my room in search of a sweater, “Brock’s gonna want to forgo the gym,” I came back out grinning, “or take you into his office… but here,” I tossed it her way and she immediately slipped it on. It was a bit oversized and I’d cut the hem off a bit so it should have been crop length, but her workout leggings were high-waisted, so they met together nicely leaving no skin.
ALICE "I think you owe my girl some gratitude," his deep voice sent Amara into a lovesick puppy coma as she rolled around on the floor like a cat overdosing on catnip. Of all the places, he had to be here. I would think he was following me if I hadn't decided on this outing last minute. Does Brock know what he is? I refused to turn around. Logically, I needed to in order to get myself out of this room that his huge ass was now blocking, but I refused. "I didn't know you were seeing someone yet," Cynthia leaned in and whispered to me thinking she was being discreet. We were in a small room full of people, never mind that he could hear someone whispering a mile away. Her eyes were dancing between me
ALICE "I'm so sorry Cynth," I got her in the vehicle, "are you ok to get home?" "You're not coming back?" She looked confused and then surprised, "Ohhhh," she wiggled her eyebrows. "No. Don't you start too. I'm nothing to him." "That wasn't how it looked hun," she glanced behind me and even though he hadn't come outside, I knew he was watching. I could feel Amara pushing towards him and being impatient with the conversation I was having because she wanted to get back to him. The only reason I was even staying behind was to drive home a threat. I refuse to let Cynthia get caught up in this. "Look, he's bad news. His friends are bad news and if they hang out here, I know I'm not your mother, but I don't wa
ALICETed and I drove to my warehouse that wasn’t really a warehouse.It was more like a glorified storage facility with heat and security so that we could keep the things we needed for jobs somewhere, and to store some of the more one-of-a-kind pieces that I picked up along the way with nowhere to use them yet.An hour later we were sifting through mail as Ted set up to catalogue some of the new arrivals.He was such a nerd in the best way, the organization to my chaos. He loved to take photos of new items that arrived and keep a flipbook on his tablet so that when we were on a job I could easily find what I was looking for."Apparently there's a package at the gate," Ted looked up from his p
ALICE “Mr. Kavanagh,” Ted started as we drove to meet the new client, “doesn’t do interviews or photos, so you won’t see his face on a bus bench, but he’s a self-made real estate mogul who specializes in only the highest of the high-end clientele.” “Did he say what kind of space he wanted us to look at redoing for him?” “A new purchase, the whole house I believe, but it’s for him personally. His assistant eluded that there was ‘potential’ if Mr. Kavanagh was pleased, and I mean if you could end up adjacent to his payroll and get a contract outfitting his newly acquired properties, that would be huge.” “He buys a lot for personal use? Or does he own spaces he rents out?” “He owns rented spaces,” Ted leaned over and p
ALICE It was easy to be distracted, but Amara was acutely aware when the female assistant from the other night came into the room, interrupting and causing Ted’s rambling to come to an end. She looked a bit more frantic than the other night. Her outfit was creased in various places, and the remnants of curls in her hair were falling flat and beginning to frizz. A surge in heat flooded through me, tensing the tops of my shoulders and jaw as a heaviness developed across my chest and I wondered if SHE was the reason that he was late. “We were just wrapping up on this floor,” Ted hugged his tablet to his chest and saved me from spiralling even further, “would you like us to go over our notes with you from the third floor, or should we continue on to the main floor and discuss after?”
ALICE “The house getting completed in a timely manner is important to me and I’m prepared to pay whatever it takes. As soon as you can clear your calendar of other commitments we can begin. Mine has already been emptied to take part in this project and to be at your disposal as it comes together.” He wanted to participate? An active client can be hard to handle, but this? This was a nightmare and a dream all wrapped in one. “Absolutely, I’ll get Ted on clearing things for this and will reach out within the next few-” “I would like to start tomorrow,” he interrupted, and a slightly smoky scent filled the space around me. The harshness of smoke didn't exist here, it was smooth and almost tangible as I could feel it sliding along my skin like fine silk made of sedu
ALICETed grabbed his bags as I got out, “You need time to get ready, and I need time to actually clear the schedule.” I scowled at him but he just shrugged, “I wasn’t about to tell Mr. Kavanagh no, besides, the reveals we can slip in after-hours or something, we’ve built up a team that can get the jobs done without us for a reason.”I was led into the shower as Ted and Viv tried to argue over my dress choices and it was the first real moment alone I had to think about what I was doing.What was I doing?Agreeing to go out with my mate, with one of my mates.This was a good thing right? Ian being my mate was bad news, a Vamp when my brother was hellbent on killing all of them. Eas
ALICE **6 months later** Sebastian held me from behind, sitting up on the bed with his hands carefully tucked under mine, holding Tiernan up to feed as I slept against his chest. It always woke me, but it was adorable that he tried to let me sleep through the feedings. His lips lazily grazed my shoulder and neck, sensing I was awake, as Rian’s stronger scent announced his arrival with the sweet notes of fruit. 'Always scanning my thoughts for movements,' I teased, and when I opened one eye slightly to look at him, he was standing there with a smug smile on his face, not caring in the least. I looked down at our little greedy bundle of love and with each look, somehow the pain of the longest pregnancy in life subsided.
NIXON **6 months later** Rest in peace, Ian. You had a nice life. A fine life. One you clearly don't value too much when you're trying to argue with the woman carrying your offspring and my mate. A strong shiver crept up my spine at the thought. Nope. Even I'm not that crazy. "She does what she wants," Bridget announced, the rose notes in her scent rising as if to remind you that in her beauty is also thorns. My mate was correct, even in her oddly robotic
NIXON Alice's hand was tucked into mine, her other arm reaching across her body as she pressed into my side and lazily stroked my arm. This was the conversation I'd been waiting for since my parents left. Linden was standing on my other side, his arm pressed up against me as he showed his version of support. He wasn't as outwardly affectionate as Alice, and while he hardly initiated contact, he also wouldn't stop me if I reached for his hand right now. Their mates had given us this moment alone, Mountain and Ian were learning to give Alice some space the more they were here, but they never went far, always hovering in the background like she'd disappear if they took their eyes off of her. Well, she might. But it was drawi
LINDEN I still can’t believe the giant monster curled up casually outside of the house. Alice has been home for over two weeks, which was also so unheard of that I was beginning to wonder if I was dreaming. The blue scales on his body rippled as his lungs expanded, the horns coming back from his face shaking a bit as he seemingly got comfy and pups crawled all over him. They were sliding down his tail, where Sebastian and Nixon were on watch in case they needed to flash to catch anyone who fell off. Patient, yes his beast was that. Careful, cautious, really any kind of safe, he was not. ‘I don’t think I ever want to leave,’ Alice leant her head on my shoulder and I wrapped my hand around her as we watched them and she ate some… kale? She’s always eat
ALICE Rian's knot was nestled into me, the feeling of just how much it stretched me out being accentuated by the way my body was stretched up, slightly tugging at my entrance. My hands were tied together with a soft silky type of fabric that looped through a ring on the ceiling as Sebastian circled around me. He flashed to deliver little nips of his fangs all over my body, while Rian laid back and watched us like we were his entertainment. Sebastian loved knot time almost as much as I did... this was his time to take my submission that he craved freely. Rian let me play with Sebastian alongside him once, and oh was his perfect ass red, but I preferred handing the control over to them. He continued to edge me until I was a vibrating mess, begging him to let me find my
LINDEN Later that day, after a well-deserved nap, I came back out to check on Nixon but found Alice’s mates sitting in front of his fire with her. She was sitting backwards on Rian’s lap as he sat cross-legged on the ground and sideways to the fire. Her cheek was resting on his shoulder and her face pointed in the direction of the fire, although it didn't surprise me that she would be keeping an eye on Nixon. What did surprise me was when I rounded her and her eyes were closed. Was little volcano finally sleeping? She hardly ever slept when Nixon rebirthed, only admitting defeat after several days if his episodes lasted long enough. Al was always afraid that she would miss something, that he would wake without her and she wanted us to be the first thing he saw when he did.
LINDEN Terran confirmed his support of the two coupling and offered to help build Nixon a nest, but it had to be me and Alice, no one else ever has, or ever should, although we did allow him to construct a platform the nest would go on top of for us to be able to carry it easier. Once Ayana was let go, she left with Cato and Terran to solidify the truce with the other Fae bloodline holder, Baylin. Alice's mates were getting increasingly handsy, but her attention was solely on Nixon. She always had the natural ability to manage people without them feeling managed, Goddess knows she's managed us our whole lives, and she knew what her mates needed in order for her attention to be elsewhere soon. As I started to collect the bigger logs Alice began weaving some smaller bra
ALICE My chest began to heave up and down as I stared at Sebastian, the pain of him leaving me in the middle of the night flooding back to me. “Why didn’t you come back to get us so that we could have done this together? You let me think you left me? That you’d betray me?” Sebastian’s eyebrows scrunched together, his jaw flexing with tension, “I had to get us close enough with minimal risk, I was working on a way to get you here alone-” “Nixon is dead,” I interrupted him, cocking my head as I took a step towards him, “Terran could have died… Linden could have died… again!”
ALICE Jasper looked to Sebastian behind me, but his cruel red hues narrowed like he didn’t find what they were looking for. His anger turned to surprise and a slow ember type of light started to shine through his veins, turning the skin above, and then around them, to ash as he fell to his knees. My blood, and anywhere it touched, was burning him alive. The few screams of agony that he let out were like ecstasy wrapped in more ecstasy, drawing the attention of the very bloodied and probably broken prince’s. Linden’s eyes started to bulge not because of what was happening with Jasper, but because of the water that was filling his lungs. Panic filled me as my body tried to leap into action but Sebastian’s hold hadn’t let go of me yet and his voice boomed out