SYLVIAHunter rounded on us, his face scarlet from rage. I cringed internally noticing his large hands curl into fists, but I refused to let my fear overtake me.“He’s not Drake. He won’t hit me.” I told myself repeatedly in my head.Before I got a chance to explain, Madame Helen interrupted. She tugged on Hunter’s shirt sleeve, ignoring his blazing eyes that would have withered any wolf.“Alpha, you must protect this girl. She is your mate, right? I sense that she herself is very powerful, but the child she is carrying is of great importance. But they are both in grave danger. I saw it in the water. This evil is hanging over them, a vulture ready to swoop down.” She wrung her hands, appearing nervous. “It’s not safe here. You must go. Go now.”He nodded to the older woman as he gripped my arm firmly and dragged me with him to his car. Tasha still stood in front of the house, uncertain of what to do.“Hunter…”“Save it, Sylvia!” he growled out and I snapped my mouth shut. “Tasha, Luna
SYLVIAChef Louis kindly brought our lunch to our suite. He wanted me to try all sorts of different dishes he meant to serve at our next banquet, but I just didn’t have the strength for it. I fell on the bed exhausted after eating way too much. Hunter went to speak to his father about Joffrey. I declined to go with him because I missed my little girl and needed to spend time with her.Nina brought an armful of soft toys with her and sat with me on the bed, playing tea party with our leftovers. A soft knock at the door interrupted our playtime.“It’s Tasha.” Nina piped up, jumping off the bed to open the door.Her werewolf senses were sharp for her age. Nina dragged a protesting Tasha in by her hand.“Sorry for disturbing you, Luna.” She tried to pry Nina from her legs, but she clung like a limpet.“Tasha can join our tea party.” Nina demanded. There was no denying her as she had almost everyone wrapped around her little finger.I laughed, motioning for Tasha to sit amid the mess of
SYLVIA “What happened?” I asked, shocked to the core. Now I understood why Hunter was acting so out of control. “The woman I spoke to said the whole house reeked of dark magic. It must have happened right after we left.” He laid his forehead against mine and I cupped his face in my hands, our eyes meeting. “Have you spoken to Father? What did he say you should do?” King Lucien certainly would suggest something. “Yeah, there’s the thing… I wanted to speak to him, but knowing Father, he would want me to put down Joffrey. Sylvia, I can’t do that.” He uttered a pained groan. “Either that or start a war in the witch community, wipe them all out. I know Father has a deep-seated hatred of their kind.” “But Selena…?” “Is a healer. I already told you.” Hunter answered me, tight-lipped. I threw my hands up. “Fine! She is a healer.” Whatever. I turned away from him, shuffling papers around on my desk. Aldine previously put everything in meticulous order, there was no need for me to check o
SYLVIA“Is he never going to leave us alone? Am I competing with a ghost now, Angel?” Hunter pushed me away from him, getting off the bed.“Hunter…” I reached for him. How do you have control over what you dream? I never loved Drake. I couldn’t have. If only I could remember.“No. No, Sylvia.” He turned around to leave.“Hunter, where are you going?” My heart sank, it was as if my nightmare was manifesting right here in our bedroom.“To sleep in the guest room.” He closed the door behind him, leaving me behind wondering what the hell was I supposed to do.I felt like screaming. If only I could let my wolf out and go for a run. This was frustrating.“Kira?”“He’s mad at us,” she whined.As if I don’t know. “Not helping.” I buried my face in my pillow. Drake haunted my dreams almost every night. But this was the first time I dreamt that I said I loved him. Was it real? It felt like a real memory. It horrified me to think I could have had loved him, the monster that hurt me, killed my l
SYLVIA “Who? Who found us?” I held on tight to Nina who clambered onto my lap in a panic. The white mist surrounded the vehicle making it impossible to see anything outside. Even the sounds of the waves along the shore fell silent. As if the mist swallowed everything.“The coven.” Selena whispered. “They’ve come for me.”Hunter let out a fierce growl. “They will have to go through us first.”“I told you this was a bad idea. Didn’t I tell you? We shouldn’t have come, Hunter. Now you’re all in danger. Just let me deal with them.” Selena’s hand reached for the handle, but Hunter prevented her from opening the door.“No!” he slammed his hand over hers. “I promised to protect you. Teo and Tasha, with me.” He locked eyes with me, and the message was clear: Stay put.The three of them got out of the limo. Out of the dissipating mist three figures appeared. Two men and a woman dressed in black robes their faces hidden by their hoods came closer and stopped in front of Hunter and the twins fl
SYLVIA“What have you been hiding from us, Selena?” Janus shoved at Hunter’s broad shoulders to get to Selena but received a warning look from him.Rowan uttered a bitter laugh, “Now that I’ve seen your ugly mug everything is wonderfully clear to me,” he said. “Arno, come and meet your… parents.”“Rowan…” Selena reached out to Rowan, but he lifted up a hand to stop her.“Save it, Selena.”A tall, slender young man dressed all in black approached the group. He had long flowing hair, dark as night and eyes the color of storm clouds.I took Nina by the hand, and we left the limo together, curious to see their reactions. The man called Arno could have been a carbon copy of Janus.“Oh, shit!” Teo laughed, clapping a hand on his thigh. Tasha aimed another blow at his head which he dodged.“Well, I’ll be damned.” Hunter muttered.It took a few moments for Janus to collect himself. He was speechless.“I’m sorry, Rowan. I would rather you to have been his father. You must believe me.”Rowan ig
SYLVIA Henri turned around in his seat and we saw his face. His eye sockets were deep black holes filled with black fluid that seeped out and over his cheeks. Nina screamed and hid her face in Anro’s shoulder. All of us were frozen in shock and horror, watching speechless while his mouth opened, and a black smoke emitted from it.“Elementals!” the sound seemed to come from everywhere in the vehicle. I grabbed Hunter’s arm in a panic. He pulled me into his embrace, a low rumbling growl rose in his throat. How do we protect ourselves from an unseen enemy?“Elementals, heed my warning,” the ominous voice droned on, “you won’t rob me from my prize. It will not end well for you.” Shrill laughter echoed through the limo. Henri’s neck bent back in an unnatural position. “Consider your fate.”An awful snapping sound followed, and the driver slumped in his seat. The black smoke disappeared.We sat like statues for a few second. Then Teo and Tasha scrambled out of the vehicle to get at the unf
HUNTER My father had the ability to make me feel like a ten-year old. He went on and on about how witches were not to be trusted. As if I didn’t know. Apparently, Selena didn’t fall into that category. I’m sure Janus would disagree with him. As much as I disliked the witch, I couldn’t blame him for being angry at Selena for what she did.But what do we really know about their relationship? I believe there were always three sides to a story: My version, your version and the truth. As long as they behave themselves and keep their promise to help us with this Madame Sophie, I don’t really give a fuck.I need to keep my family safe. That was priority.Of course, as expected, Father browbeat me into revealing all the facts about Joffrey and the death witch. That was when the shit really hit the fan.“Are you out of your mind, Hunter Slater?!” He slammed his fist against his desk it split the wood in two. Not again. We were running out of antique desks to replace the ones he’s destroyed ov
SYLVIA Home at last. Safe in my own bed with my handsome mate and my pups. All four of us cuddling together. Magnus held onto Hunter’s finger while sleeping at my breast and Nina lay in my free arm, snoring softly like a cat.“This is heaven.” Hunter smiled at me, his amber eyes glowing with a soft light. “I couldn’t ask for anything more than this, my Angel.”I couldn’t agree with him more, this was more than I ever wanted, my own family with the one I loved. I felt complete. He kissed me gently, careful not to disturb his sleeping son.“Don’t ever leave me again, Love.” I whispered to him. “I couldn’t live without you, you know. Promise me we would die together.” I thought about Marcelle and how Joffrey’s life ended. The horrible sight was never far from my mind.Hunter tapped me on the nose. “Stop it. We’re going to grow old together and fill this castle with our offspring.” He winked, “And we do have a lot of rooms.”I laughed softly. “That’s what you say now. Remember how much t
SYLVIA“Let’s go.” I said, running toward the open mausoleum. Hunter grabbed my arm and pulled me back.“I go first.” He was taking no arguments.“Wait!” Selena snapped. “You need protection.”Rebecca held her hands out in front of her and a shimmering light shot out from her fingertips and surrounded Hunter and me. It formed a bubble around us. I touched it and it moved with my hand without bursting. It was cold to the touch.“That ought to last a while. It will hide you from them. Be quick.” Rebecca urged us on.“She probably knows we’re here already. Do you have the wand?” I heard him ask Selena as we moved towards the gate.“Yes.” Selena said.I didn’t look back. Hunter held my hand, and we went inside. The stench of death and decay made me gag. We walked in silence down the narrow passage. Debris and old broken coffins lay strewn about, the bones long gone. A large stone sarcophagus stood in the middle of the crypt.“Look there’s something underneath it.” Hunter said and he moved
SYLVIAHis crib was empty. I could still smell his newborn scent. I ran from the room down the passage, colliding with Tasha.“Luna Sylvia, what is it? You shouldn’t be running around like this.”I grabbed her by the shoulders. “She took Magnus! She took my baby!”“Who?”“Aldine! We must find them, Tasha. She’s taken him to Joffrey.” I was in such a state I couldn’t think properly.“I’ll alert the castle guards.” I watched Tasha’s eyes turn opaque while she sent a mind link to the guards.I rushed to King Lucien’s rooms, not caring that I wasn’t properly dressed, and it was not proper for me to go to another male’s room in the middle of the night.King Lucien opened the door to my insistent hammering. I fell into his arms, babbling incoherently and crying.“Gods, Sylvia! Whatever has gotten you into such a state?” He pulled me away from him and held me at arm’s length. I didn’t even notice Tasha had followed me. She stood in the doorway.“She took him, Father. They took my son to the
HUNTER As soon as the alpha wolf submitted, the whole pack followed. It was not my intention to take over the pack, but I had no choice. They accepted us, welcoming us into the pack with whines, displays of submissions and licking our faces.“This is so gross, but so awesome.” Teo said through our mind link.“There’s no telling how they would react if we should return to our human form.” I was worried about the young alpha. He would have to take his pack back when we leave, and it won’t be easy for him.“What would King Thorin do when we arrive at his village with a real wolf pack?” Teo laughed.I didn’t think the wolves would go that far though it may be out of their territory. The pack moved higher up the mountain and we followed. They led us to their den, a large opening between two rocks – it could hardly be called a cave. There were a few cubs and omegas, the lower ranks looked after the pups. At first, they were wary of us, but soon welcomed us and the pups sniffed at us, being
SYLVIANo, this can’t be happening now. The baby was coming, and Hunter wasn’t here. I was not ready!“Just breathe, Sylvia. Breathe.” Selena grabbed hold of my hands.“I can’t… give birth now…” I panted and cried out when the contractions racked my body.“You have no choice! This pup wants out. Work with me, Sylvia. Breathe.” Selena turned to Arno. “Call the King. Now.”Arno rushed from the room.“Why?” I asked. Why did she call for King Lucien. I needed my mate. Then I remembered the horrible vision. He was in danger far from here.“Be strong, Sylvia. For your child’s sake. Now push!” she demanded.I howled in pain as another contraction made me bend backwards. The door burst open, and I sensed King Lucien, followed closely by Tasha and Aldine.King Lucien grabbed my hand. “You’re doing fine, my child. We’re here for you.”Pressing down on his strong hand I looked up into his blazing blue eyes. He smiled down at me, wiping my sweat drenched hair from my face.“Father, Hunter is in d
HUNTERI was bored out of my mind. Will this day never end? Gods! Some of these Alpha’s were like old women, carrying on and on about things and not coming to a point. Teo fell asleep at some stage, head thrown back and mouth agape, snoring softly. He had partied himself to exhaustion with the unmated she-wolves. Lucky bastard.Feeling spiteful, I kicked the chair from under him and he crashed to ground amidst raucous laughter. Blushing a deep red, he picked himself up, righted the chair and mumbled an apology.King Thorin chuckled. “Looks like our she-wolves kept you up all night, young Teo. I thought the Blood Fang pack’s warriors had more stamina?”Teo for once was tongue-tied.“He needs more practice.” I said, winking at the king.Teo smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck with one hand.***The meeting went well, new alliances were formed, and some old issues were resolved. Kane pulled me to the side while the others went back to the feast.“I hope you don’t mind, Hun
SYLVIA I received countless messages and photos from Hunter, saying he was so bored, but it looked like he was having a great time. The photos he sent were of people dancing, tables laden with all sorts of food and drink. They were busy wrapping up the Alpha Meeting, but the party was still going on until the end of December.My phone rang in the middle of the night. It was him.“Hunter?” I breathed, half asleep.“I miss you.” His voice slurred.“Are you drunk?” I asked laughing.“Maybe.”Werewolves don’t get drunk easily.“They have no end. These people are in party mood, and they don’t take prisoners,” he groaned.I giggled; I can’t imagine him being drunk. I’ve seen him slightly tipsy when he drank too much Absinthe and then he was horny as hell.“Are you alone?” I asked, a little apprehensively. There better not be another she-wolf after him.He laughed softly, “Of course, Angel. Teo is having a blast here. He’s proving to be a huge hit with the she-wolves here. So funny.” His
HUNTERGetting on that plane was one of the hardest things I had to do. This annual Alpha meeting couldn’t have come at the worst time. At least I get to see Kane. But leaving my angel behind especially with everything we went through drove a knife in my heart.I will make it up to her, I promised myself. At least Father was there, and I had more confidence in the witches to protect her. Selena assured me the castle grounds were well protected that no supernatural force was going to break through. I believed her because I saw how powerful they were. It helped assuage the guilt I felt for leaving.Teo babbled non-stop on about the gods knew what. I tuned him out, lost in my own thoughts. Thinking about Sylvia clinging to me and crying like she was never going to see me again. I was worried about her. Could be the effects of what happened, I tried to reason her behavior away. Or maybe just the pregnancy hormones affecting her. I sent a text to Selena to keep an eye on her and maybe give
SYLVIAWinter was upon us. The days were colder and grey as December drew near. Not that cold ever bothered us. I watched from my windows as the clouds rolled in low over the grounds. Winter always made me restless, and I longed to be out there with the wind in my hair and the scents of forest around me.“Will it snow, Mama?” Nina danced around the room. She spent a lot of time with me here in the castle as Hunter refused to let me go out.“I don’t know, Nina.” I smiled at my little princess who seemed to be growing up way too fast. She was turning into a formidable little fighter as well, according to Tasha who trained her diligently. Tasha adored Nina and Nina adored her right back.“I hope it will. I love snow.” She announced, spinning dizzyingly around and around until she fell at my feet, giggling and out of breath.“Oh, you do? Well, let’s hope it does so we can build a snowman.” I knew it probably won’t snow, but you never know…Hunter came to check up on me. He kissed me deepl