~Kiki~ "Siren abode?" "Our home in the ocean. You've seriously been living under a rock, haven't you? No wonder we never saw you before." Her laughter echoed across the water, bouncing off the curious stares of the two sisters. "Do you remember the first time we met?" I shook my head as if a thick fog was obscuring my past. "Well, the siren abode is closer to where we first crossed paths," Haley continued, her voice turning gentle. Every full moon, sirens from all corners of the world gather there. It takes us just a couple of hours to swim from Storm Moon Pack, but for those farther out, the journey starts the night before. You see, not everyone can leave the ocean. We're the lucky few." "Um, so your mate is..." I trailed off, unsure if I was overstepping. A blush bloomed across Haley's cheeks, and her fingers unconsciously traced the pendant around her neck. "He's the Alpha King's nephew. I never knew sirens could feel such emotions until I met him. He's—" Eleanor cut in, he
~Nyla~ The Grand Hall pulsed with anticipation. My heart fluttered with happiness as I took slow steps, accompanied by my best friend, Maya, and my lovely sister-in-law, Rachel. "My Luna Queen, you look beautiful." My good old friend Olivia greeted me at the door. The feeling of being loved by everybody filled me to the brim with contentment. The most awaited moment of the year had arrived. And there he was! Alpha King Kian stood on the dais, sporting an extra dazzling smile today. He was dressed in a well-fitted charcoal gray tuxedo and a striped purple bowtie, which he was forced to wear at my insistence. I wanted something on him to match my flowy purple dress. His deep green eyes caressed me with such adoration as I climbed up the dais and stood next to him. I resisted the urge to claim his lips and act out of character in front of so many people and packs. Everyone had been waiting for us while I lost track of time and spent too long in my dead husband's bedroom. Wyatt's me
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER~Ari/Kendall~Lightning bolts, thunderclaps, and colossal waves.Rain was pelting down relentlessly. I was caught in a raging storm, with my body swaying back and forth at the whim of the waves. I tried to scream, begging to be rescued, but ended up swallowing a good amount of water."Mamma..." I cried out, coughing and trying to stay afloat.Salty water stung my eyes and nose, filling up my lungs as I struggled to stay conscious. Darkness engulfed me now and then, and I could feel my body drifting off out of control, caught in massive tidal waves. Everything was pitch black, but I woke up again to find myself in the same situation. Angry waves were colliding with raging winds, throwing my body at high speeds into random directions. The only difference was that it was now night instead of day.Something didn't make sense. A shiny blue tail kept presenting itself to me. I thought it was some large fish following me, or mor
~Kiki~Walking to the farther end of the horseshoe driveway, I got into a new black RAM 2500. It was a loaner car the dealership gave my dad when he dropped off his old pickup truck for servicing yesterday. I used his pickup truck solely for doing my job and walked to school or beaches and other places.My parents drove fancy cars while Megan inherited my mom's old Chrysler. She was going to get a nice loaded BMW on her eighteenth birthday next year. I was hoping they wouldn't trade in the Chrysler and give it to me instead.I took a sip of my delicious hot chocolate and set it in the cup holder before keying the car.Wait, what? Why would my dad bring a loaner with a manual transmission? He knew I sucked at driving a stick shift.Checking my watch, I hopped out of the car and darted towards my friend Benjamin's house, which was next door.All the elite warrior families were treated on par with the other high-ranking members. We didn't need
~Kiki~I froze at the look of his fuming face and shut the engine off. Pushing the door open, I was about to step out when I saw that I had knocked off one of the bike mirrors when swinging the door open.Why doesn't the ground next to the curb just open up and suck me in? He looked like he was going to swallow me whole when the earth refused to help me escape."What the fuck, Kiki? Are you drunk driving or what?" His usually deep and calm voice was seething with anger and agitation, and so was his face, which was typically void of any expression when he saw me.I bit hard on my lower lip to stop my chin from trembling and shifted on my feet anxiously. He moved his hands off his hips and yanked his damaged bike from under the car.To be honest, it didn't really look that damaged except for the missing mirror. And perhaps a few scrapes here and there. Oh well, everywhere. Damn!After several beats of silence as he inspected the damage,
~Kiki~A pool of anxiety coiled inside me when I heard those words. Where was I going to go?I only knew how my actual parents looked. I had no idea who they were or where they lived. Were they even alive and would they want me back after finding out I had no wolf?"Are my actual parents werewolves?"Crying didn't bode well with Alpha Dimitri in the past, so I wasted no time on tearing up and begging him to keep me. He sounded like he had made up his mind to kick me out already. Alpha Kayden will have to say the words, and I will be banished once the bond with the pack breaks.Alpha Kayden... my toes curled at the mere mention of his name in my thoughts."Didn't you hear me? Alpha Wyatt's your dad. He was one of the strongest alphas to have existed. He would have made a great Alpha King if not for your scheming mother, who got him killed and handed everything over to an asshole alpha from the Storm Moon Pack."Storm Moon Pack, huh. No
~Kiki~I sucked in a sharp breath, and I swear my heart was ready to burst. Can there be anything more embarrassing? I threw his shirt on the floor behind me and stood there like a statue.Once I found my voice, I came up with a bullshit explanation."The omega who... who d-does the laundry wanted to check if anything needed to be taken out for la-laundry so that I could take them to the laundry for the omega who does the laundry."Jeez!"Okay, the omega will do the laundry. But why was my shirt pressed to your nose?"He towered over me, wrapped in a towel, with beads of water clinging to his hard abs and taut chest muscles. More water dripped from his hair, but that was not where my attention was. I licked my lips at the sight of the hard-on tenting up under his towel."I-I didn't d-do that," I choked out. I was talking about the shirt, but my eyes were fixed on what was under the towel.His eyes had tu
~Kiki~ My adoptive parents were back before dinner, and they had some news for tomorrow. Twelve days from now, on the full moon night, Alpha Kayden's chosen mate was supposed to be sworn in through the Luna Ceremony. I was feeling quite apprehensive about it lately. His chosen mate, Sienna, has been his girlfriend for years. About five years, to be precise. When he returned to Thunder Bay Pack at the age of sixteen, he brought her with him. She was a White Warrior wolf, a wolf who wasn't bound by the mate bond or pack rules, unlike a common werewolf. White Warrior wolves were born fighters and loners who were exposed to rough, life-endangering conditions by their parents right from a young age. They were typically attracted to the alphas of various packs, probably because they are equals in strength and endurance. I had been jealous of her from the moment I laid my eyes on her. I was only twelve then, about to turn thirteen, when I bumped heads with h
~Kiki~ "Siren abode?" "Our home in the ocean. You've seriously been living under a rock, haven't you? No wonder we never saw you before." Her laughter echoed across the water, bouncing off the curious stares of the two sisters. "Do you remember the first time we met?" I shook my head as if a thick fog was obscuring my past. "Well, the siren abode is closer to where we first crossed paths," Haley continued, her voice turning gentle. Every full moon, sirens from all corners of the world gather there. It takes us just a couple of hours to swim from Storm Moon Pack, but for those farther out, the journey starts the night before. You see, not everyone can leave the ocean. We're the lucky few." "Um, so your mate is..." I trailed off, unsure if I was overstepping. A blush bloomed across Haley's cheeks, and her fingers unconsciously traced the pendant around her neck. "He's the Alpha King's nephew. I never knew sirens could feel such emotions until I met him. He's—" Eleanor cut in, he
~Kiki~The feeling of despair and hopelessness was soul crushing.Alpha Kayden had broken my heart countless times, every single time I saw him with Sienna, when he threw me into the dreary dungeons, and when he ignored the mate bond to choose Willow over me. But I had no control over those situations and could only hope for better days. Today was harder. It was me leaving him behind and choosing the ocean over him.The look on his face as I swam away from him would haunt me forever. I fancied believing so bad he actually wanted me the way he wanted his chosen mate.The only reason he slept with me was the mate bond. The bond was too powerful and it forced him to protect me from his pack and Victoria. He wouldn't have spared me another look if I wasn't his fated mate. He wouldn't have jumped into the ocean without thinking for a second if not for this pointless bond. None of these arguments eased the pain I felt when his face flashed through my mind. I had to do it. To let go of wh
~Alpha Kayden~"Kade!!! Fuck!!"I heard my Gamma's words before the howling wind took over, blowing my hair into my face as I made a nosedive to meet the raging waters below. Brilliant streaks of lightning blinded my vision while I strained to see if we were going to hit any sharp rocks that lined the rugged coastline.My heart was pounding in my throat, not out of fear of dying but with fear of losing Kiki. I was still midair with a plummeting feeling in my stomach when I heard a loud splash followed by a gasp as her body crashed against the water's surface.Frigid salty waves splashed and stung my eyes moments before my body collided with them. The currents were super strong, they pulled me down violently, tugging my body deeper and deeper. Peals of thunder now sounded distant as I tried to swim underwater, making my way to calmer deeper waters, away from the coast.I knew Kiki went this way because I would have easily caught her if she had managed to make it to the shoreline. It wa
~Alpha Kayden~Thirty Minutes EarlierMy meeting with Alpha Brandon went much better than I had imagined. Given that I already irked the Alpha King Kian, only a fool would go ahead and piss his loyal ally off as well. And I was that fool when I told Alpha Brandon that I could not go ahead with what my grandma had proposed.Grandma had pinned high hopes on this alliance and spoke on my behalf without consulting me. Once Willow left Thunder Bay weeks ago, I assumed it was over. But grandma and my Gamma Nash reached out to Alpha Brandon again and gave their yes before I even got to Dark River Pack.I expected Alpha Brandon to be furious for rejecting his daughter a second time. But instead of spewing angry threats and challenges, all he did was ask why I was turning her down. And when I told him I found my mate, he seemed to be completely convinced his daughter wouldn't be happy with me as my chosen mate while my true mate was around me.He just had one request for me: "Willow is very se
~Kiki~"Get some rest. We will do this again later tonight." Cel purred in contentment at her mate's words as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. I couldn't help pouting as he moved away, instantly missing the feel of his arms."I'll miss you.""I know, Kiki! Don't want to leave at all but I have to meet someone before the ball." I loved the way my name sounded rolling off his lips. He kissed me again and pulled the covers over my naked body.I watched his chiseled back as he picked his clothes from the floor. I wanted to memorize everything about him and about our time together. His delectable scent as he hugged me tightly, those gray eyes and the way they darkened so many times today, and that heavenly feeling when he was inside me.I closed my eyes, relishing every moment of the last few hours, about how Alpha Kayden let himself go. The sound of heavy footsteps slowly faded away as I drifted off into a blissful delirium.Not sure if it was the rumbling sky or the hushed whispers of P
~Alpha Kayden~Every day had been pure torture since the day I found out Kiki was my mate. I heard so many things about how powerful the mate bond was, had seen my dad wallow in grief for a good chunk of his life after losing mom, and had also seen how blissfully happy some of the couples at Thunder Bay were. Even the manwhore Alpha Blake was suddenly a different person. But nothing prepared me for when I found my mate. No amount of words came close to what it actually felt like once I knew Kiki was mine.My heart ached for her every single moment, and Axel was yearning to see her belly to be swollen with our pups. It breaks my heart that it would never happen. We would never know the beautiful babies Kiki could have given us. I wouldn't even know how she might have looked with my mark on her neck. This was agony. Pure fucking agony. My chest tightened every single time I thought about rejecting her.I have been desperately trying to keep myself together but failing. No matter how
~Kiki~ I cracked the window open to let the cool breeze in. It was right before dawn, and the sky was laden with dark rain clouds. Taking a deep breath, I closed my burning eyes. They were dried up of all tears after hours of crying and failing to catch some sleep. Despite the stuffy nose, I could still smell the pinecones and dandelions that were over a mile away. But it wasn't the smell of grass and wood I opened this window for. Cel was restless. The pain of being left high and dry by our mate was too much to handle. She couldn't feel his scent anymore. It was weak for the most part of the night, and now it was gone completely. Dark River Pack was huge and extended for several miles. Alpha Kayden was probably somewhere in the woods, running. Was he also not able to get any sleep? My wolf was pathetic. I tried so hard to convince her to stop thinking about him, but she kept me up all night, lying in the dark and getting her hopes up every time there was a faint noise in the hallw
~Kiki~"Oh no! Alpha Kayden will be furious. I'm not going to be the one telling him this news." Poppy started walking back and forth near the doorway, still holding the bags of chips she brought from Thunder Bay.It wasn't really my fault, was it? Did I ask him to break into my bedroom and sleep with me? He should be pissed at himself, and I should be mad at him too because that little bit of pain I felt moments ago was pretty bad when the heat hadn't even started. I could only imagine how much worse it was going to get when the actual heat kicked in.'Our mate is going to continue ignoring us. We don't have to wait for him. There are many others who would be happy to put us out of our misery.' Cel had turned rogue.She was the biggest fan of Alpha Kayden until he made out with Willow. She was so hurt she stopped saying good things about him since then. That didn't stop her from yearning for him all these days. But now she was just a lustful beast? It was scary that she wanted a mate
~Kiki~My mind was swimming in thoughts as we reached Alpha Blake's pack. How could the frail old woman be Moon Goddess's evil sister?Sibyl! Some things did make sense now.She disliked werewolves and never let Benji or Megan anywhere near her cottage when they had accompanied me in the past. She had also looked strangely disturbed when I showed her the mark on my back.She tricked Alpha Dimitri into believing that she was a seer. She was no seer. She was an imposter. Now I was pretty sure she was responsible for those rogue attacks she pretended to be foreseeing to make herself valuable to Alpha Dimitri and his pack. I bet she had a lot to do with Skinwalkers showing up in Thunder Bay pack lands too.Alpha Kayden was right about Skinwalkers. They weren't capable of attacking someone who had lost their mate. And yet, I found Alpha Dimitri fighting for his life when half a dozen of them were pitched against him. Sibyl brought them in and took care of their dead bodies before the warr