Despite his best efforts, Ann did not succumb to Adam's less-than-subtle efforts to force her into relaxation for the rest of the day. She agreed to a compromise and didn't leave the room until lunchtime, still concerned that her absence had put additional strain on Lexi and Allen that they didn't deserve. They had already been in the Enclave a full day without any input from her, let alone a welcome, and she felt awful. "Ann, slow down, they aren't going anywhere." Adam chastised gently as they swept through the hallways. "I know, I just want to make sure that they know they have my support if needed," Ann answered absent-mindedly as she poked her head through the crack in the doorway of yet another room that lay at the side of the corridor but found no sign of Lexi or Allen within. "Besides, I need to talk with Lexi. I don't think she fully understands what it means to have Allen as a mate for her position in our society." She muttered as she sighed impatiently and closed
There was no answer from Batholomew when they arrived at his office, but knowing full well that it was probably the safest place that they could talk openly, the four of them went inside to wait for his return. "So what are you going to do about the dirty old perverts?" Lexi asked as she took a handful of cashew nuts out of the snack bowl on Bartholomew's desk and began tossing them into the air one by one and catching them deftly with her mouth, crunching happily once she had caught them. "Which one?" Ann snorted. "Precisely my point, Queenie." Lexi smirked in reply, "Who's to say that it was just rapey Linus involved and not others alongside him?" "We'll interrogate him today and get the ball rolling on that. I want him locked away as soon as possible." Lexi nodded thoughtfully and glanced across at Allen briefly, pausing awkwardly before speaking. She was obviously hesitant to speak whatever it was that was on her mind, causing Ann to frown slightly. She had never ha
"We'll discuss the issue of Felix's brother later on, but for now, I would request that you all treat him with respect whilst we work on the solution for the rogues." Ann said as she allowed her gaze to drift slowly over Allen before settling on Lexi and frowning at the look of rebellion in her eyes. "That means you as well Lexi." Ann continued with a meaningful look. Lexi snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'll be civil, but he'll get no respect from me." "Lexi you have to understand that in our position we sometimes have to hold onto our feelings and withhold our emotions in public." Ann said softly as she approached her friend, "You can rant and scream and cry in private, take your anger out on a punchbag at a gym, run until you've worn yourself out, pretty much whatever it takes, but publicly, we have to remain calm in order to avoid reprisals." "You might have to, but thankfully, I don't. I'm not a member of your royal family, Queenie, so none of your ridiculous rules and p
"Nobody will force you to change who you are Lexi. I would never allow that." Ann said as she and Lexi clasped their hands together. 'I forbid it too. Life would be insufferable without her backing me up when you need some sense knocking into you...' Maeve nodded wisely. 'Hey! That was one time!' Ann protested. 'Yeah… and the rest…' Maeve sniggered as Ann fumed silently and blocked her out, a sullen pout forming on her lips as she turned back to Lexi. A halfhearted smile finally graced Lexi's lips as she saw Ann's expression. "I suppose I have to stick around and at least try it for Maeve's sake. She'd go mental if she was left alone to handle you." Ann scowled at her and pushed her shoulder in mild irritation. "You two are going to drive me to insanity, do you know that?" she said finally as she wrapped her arms around Lexi and hugged her tightly. "You won't be alone in any of this Lexi, I promise you." She nodded silently into Ann's shoulder, her face still a little
Although the walk to the cells was made in relative silence, Ann's mind was in overdrive. Whenever she thought she was making some headway toward solving issues, something else invariably cropped up and added to her ever-mounting list of things that needed sorting out. She was rapidly starting to gain at least a little understanding of why her father just handed everything over to the Elders. The constant issues were like a suffocating weight on top of her, that just seemed to fight harder to drown her with every passing day. But she wasn't her father. She wasn't going to give in that easily. As they reached the entrance to the cells, the door swung open in front of her, startling her for the second time today and she frowned as the figure of Cornelius froze in front of her with a look of abstract guilt plastered all over his face. The low growl that emanated from Adam's chest forced him into recovery rather quickly, and he hastily bowed in front of her, keeping his head lo
Ann peered into the darkness that seemed to engulf the inside of the cell that Linus was holding in but couldn't see any movement from within. The cells were tiny, designed for security and not comfort. The cells that were allocated to hold wolf shifters were constructed of walls of reinforced concrete which had been infused with wolfsbane and nightshade before being coated with silver. There was no chance of escape for the shifters held here, even if they did manage to get out of the chains that held them. Lexi leaned up against the shatterproof pane, protected on the prisoner's side by thick bars of steel coated with silver that ran the full length and width of each wall. "So where's old rapey?" She sniffed, sounding a little disappointed as she turned to Ann with a pout, "I was looking forward to asking him a few uncomfortable questions." "You'll still get to ask them, Lexi." Ann said with a serious face, "He's in there, we just can't see him. I do wonder if he's still r
A low growl emanated from Linus's chest as he bared his teeth at Lexi who was finding the whole situation far too amusing and was doing her best not to double over with laughter. "Impressive… I'm surprised your wolf is still alive in there." Lexi remarked as she gasped for breath. "I believe you haven't been introduced to my second in command, The Alpha Queen's Beta, Lexi." Ann introduced her casually with a warm smile. Linus looked as though his eyes were about to pop out of his head as he spluttered and choked on his own saliva in indignation. "This... this… no… NO! There has never been a half-breed in a position of power within the Enclave and I will not stand for it!" He raged. "Too bad you old fart, it is what it is." Lexi smiled sweetly down at him. "Over. My. Dead. Body!" He snarled viciously, straining against his chains in an effort to reach Lexi. She was completely unfazed by his display of fury and instead, bent forward until her face was level with his own a
Adam and Allen's faces were stony as the door closed to the cell, and Lexi was still fuming about Linus's comments. "Don't let it get to you," Ann said gently, "Those comments were meant to infuriate and provoke us into a reaction. Most likely so that he can claim mistreatment at our hands." she continued with a grimace. "He's a disgusting piece of shit. How can an Elder hold such a high position and still live by those archaic standards? It's people like him that make the world such a horrendous place for people with mixed heritage to live in…" She fumed before pausing and turning to Ann with a sigh of regret, "I wish you'd have let me rearrange his face just a little bit." Ann smiled wryly and raised an eyebrow at her as Lexi smiled half-heartedly at her. "I would have settled for choking him until he passed out, you know…" Lexi offered as Allen looked at her with a mixture of pride and horror. "No, you wouldn't." Ann laughed, "You and Maeve seem to be cut from the same c
As their convoy of cars and moving vans rolled up the driveway, Ann's stomach twisted uncomfortably as her anxiety set in. Regardless of what her babies were doing to her insides, the effects that her heightened emotions were having on her far eclipsed any discomfort that her pups were causing. She took a deep breath as she tried to calm the anxiety that knotted her insides and made her heart ache painfully. As far as she knew, her father was still living within the palace and she still wasn't sure that she could forgive him for everything that she had been put through because of his choices. In the worst-case scenario, she could always extend the palace to encompass two main living areas so that she wouldn't have to deal with tolerating his presence. She didn't even want to think about how she would explain to her children that they couldn't ever meet the incredible woman that her mother was because her father had an affair, broke the mating bond, and allowed his mistress and
"Right, I think that's the last of them," Adam grinned as he jogged through the huge doors of the Enclave's entrance hall to where Ann was pacing restlessly and Bartholomew was watching with mild amusement. "Finally," Ann sighed as she rubbed her belly with a grimace, "At this point, all I want to do is get my home back to what it used to be." Adam leaned forward and planted a kiss on Ann's forehead. "Are they making things difficult for you?" He asked gently, rubbing her back. Ann reached for his hand with a scowl and placed it palm down on top of her belly and grimaced as another flurry of movement rippled under her skin and Adam blinked in surprise. "Are they fighting in there?!" He asked in shock. "With two stubborn Alpha's for parents, I wouldn't put it past them." Bartholomew chuckled as he made his way over to them, smiling kindly. Ann lifted her gaze and her face softened as she looked at the kindly face of the old man that had been there for them through so muc
When Coral had returned with the Omega that worked as a nanny to the nobles, the baby boy was handed over to her and she waddled off happily, cooing at the baby in her arms as it gurgled happily back up at her. Coral began to work through updating the schedule for Ann as she dictated, adding additional notes that she shared with Allen's device. He would see to their schedule tomorrow as he had several days worth of reports to hear from Adam as to what had happened within the businesses and the Dark Moon Pack while he was away. Lexi made her way back to her room with both Allen and Greyson following behind her. She paused outside her door and turned to them both with a smile. "Sorry to disappoint boys, but I don't feel like getting frisky right now. Quite honestly, I just want to soak all of this crap off me." They nodded at her as she looked at them thoughtfully. "We really should sit down and have a discussion about how this is going to work between us all, you know." she
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that." Ann said a little breathlessly as she looked between Lexi, Allen and Greyson. Adam shared the same concerned expression as she did at the revelations that Eromaug would clearly stop at nothing to get his hands on Lexi. "You're absolutely sure that your father is willing to ally himself with us?" Ann asked as the baby in her arms began to stir and protest at the noise and unfamiliar surroundings it had found itself in. Lexi snorted loudly. "Of course he is. How could he not when his daughter is your right hand woman?" She winked. "We should put it to the council first." Adam said somberly as Lexi groaned loudly. "I'm sure they'll be thrilled at the opportunity," She muttered sarcastically as Ann laughed. "I think we should get hold of Bartholomew so that he can help us find a way to ‘tell' the council of our alliance, rather than ask for their permission." Ann mused thoughtfully, "He's pretty knowledgeable about who supports us,
Ann and Adam stood on the front steps of the Enclave, eagerly waiting for the return of both of their Beta's. Adam chuckled as Ann fidgeted with her hands and struggled to stand still, her gaze fixed on the curve of the driveway. "They'll be here soon, don't worry." He soothed, wrapping his arm around her as she nibbled on her bottom lip. "What if something happened though?" She worried as she rubbed her little bump in an act of self soothing. Adam's eyes glazed over slightly as he linked with Allen and then grinned down at his anxious wife. "Allen said stop worrying, it's not good for the baby. They'll be here in seconds." "But…" As promised, the front end of the transport pulled around the corner of the driveway and Ann let out a sigh of relief. "See, my Queen? Nothing to worry about." Adam chuckled as he watched them pull to a stop in front of them. As soon as the door opened and Lexi's head emerged, Ann broke away from Adam and bolted down the steps towards her.
Lexi knew that she was still conscious, but the pressure that engulfed her head, and the rigidity of her body teamed with the almost distant voices of protest from Allen and Greyson let her know that she had no control over what was happening right now. The initial black curtain that had descended was suddenly filled with hundreds upon hundreds of memories from her childhood, all played out in glorious technicolor and accompanied by sounds and smells that made her heart ache with familiarity and her breath catch in her chest. There was no way that she could catch each and every memory at once, but she could see it clearly. The bond that both she and Eromaug had shared at an early stage was filled with love and an intensity that she had known only with Allen and Greyson. By the time the images had begun to fade in her mind's eye and her vision returned, she was overwhelmed with emotions. As she sat there trembling, clasping her hands together tightly so that she wouldn't cry wit
Lord Brarthroroz guided Lexi over to one of the chairs around the table and gestured towards the flap of the tent. "Make sure no one enters for the time being, Steve." He said with an air of resignation to his voice as he took a seat next to his daughter. Steve nodded expressionlessly as he moved to the open flap, released the material to close it and ducked through to stand outside. "You two should sit as well," Lord Brathroroz advised as he gestured to the seats across from Lexi, "This isn't easy for me to talk about." He continued with a grunt. Greyson and Allen moved to comply and took their seats next to each other, both of them focused on Lexi. Lord Brarthroroz sighed as he turned back to his daughter and cupped her face fondly. "Before I start, I want you to understand that before your mother and I had you, neither of us realized just how deeply we could love and the desire to protect you from harm eclipsed everything else in our lives completely." He said gently a
It hadn't taken their force long to clear the halls and clean up the bodies that were left behind. The losses had been minimal on their part and considering the forces that they had thought they would be up against, their plans had meant that they had been far better equipped than the coven itself. The Coven had left very few prisoners alive, and the ones that were still breathing were in pretty bad shape. Lexi and the other healers and medics had done what they could but there was no growing back limbs…no matter how proficient of a shifter you were. Lord Brarthroroz had stationed huge numbers of his daemons within the winding passageways and caverns that the coven had previously inhabited and returned to the surface with his portalmancer Steve at his side. He strode angrily across the makeshift camp to the command tent and paused at the entrance, glancing across at the medical tent where Lexi had been working. Currently, she was cleaning her hands off as her mates watched
She stood and with one last look at the lifeless body below her, turned her attention to the chaos at the other side of the room. Narcissa had no problems keeping the attacks of the wolves at bay and Lexi could feel the emotions of the past few minutes bubbling wildly inside of her as she stormed towards her, her eyes blazing furiously. Her father was still making little headway against Eromaug, but she wasn't concerned about his survival, he was more than capable of taking care of himself against his bastard of a brother. Narcissa on the other hand…she had a lot to fucking answer for. Lexi strode through the fighters battling the twisted Daemons that had emerged from the shadows, throwing her magick lazily towards the monstrosities as she passed, a sneer curling at her lips as the shifters watched her in terrified awe. It wasn't long until Narcissa noticed her approach and her face split into a sneer that matched Lexi's as she swept her arm in front of her, knocking the ma