VICTOR I carved a hand through my hair as the blistering water cascaded down my taut muscles. The sweltering heat did nothing to rid my body of its tension. My guilt refused to swirl down the drain with the soap suds from my body and hair. Maybe it wasn't even guilt anymore. Maybe it was the fact that I missed Saint. I found myself seeking her out during my day. When I needed something done, I'd begin to instruct her only to realize she wasn't there. When I needed to share something, I sought her out. When the pack house was finally complete I couldn't even step into it. I could barely step into my apartment without being reminded of the girl. The girl who never got the chance to fully live. Once the doctor had cleared Dea, she returned to her usual routine. I saw her on the weekends now, unable to bear the thought of entering my apartment. Besides that, I had a lot of work to complete in the sanctuary. Tania had placed a ward around the sanctuary's border. Only wolves I trusted c
DEA"Dea, Angel, I'm home." Crystal blue eyes glimmered up at me from the living room rug, filled with mirth and warmth like I had never known. "In here, Papa," she yelled as she pushed herself onto her feet. Angel was ten now. She was a surprise to both Victor and I. We weren't trying for her. At the time, we spent more time apart than we did together—me pursuing my career while he did his thing as alpha. It worked out for us in the best possible way. I managed to go on exhibitions and tours, conduct experiments, and travel the world with Victor. Two years of living that life until one morning I found out I was expecting. And then everything changed. Now she was ten. Now I lived in the sanctuary as a full-time mom and Luna of the pack, and I didn't regret a thing about it. Especially since I couldn't explain my lack of aging to the people around me. Erica was the only one from my outside life to visit me, otherwise, I didn't care for the rest.Victor filled the doorway with his
***Author's Note:This is the sixth and final book in the Mate Series. You may not understand what is going on without reading the first five books in the series. Those are as follows:Book one: P.S. You're my mateBook two: She's my mateBook three: I'm his mateBook four: His warm-blooded mateBook five: The queen's mateAll books in the series are unedited so you will find flaws, spelling and grammar errors, and other errors. The books do improve over time from the first one since the first book was written in 2019-2020. Enjoy the series. ____________________________VICTORI never thought of myself as anything special but the world around me and the Goddess had labeled me special from birth. My life wasn't easy. I had witnessed atrocities I never thought were possible and made mistakes that led me to where I was today. Being an Alpha wasn't my choice. It wasn't my birthright but rather something thrust on me by a depraved man. Now, I stood as the ruler of the rogues. I was their
DEAIt was my fault. I should have paid attention and seen exactly where I was walking. Then again, I would have been able to see better if I knew where my damn glasses were. I was in a rush and my mind was so preoccupied that I had left my apartment without them. It was for that very reason I always kept a spare set in my handbag. One could tell this wasn't my first time displacing my glasses. You'd think I would have learned my lesson considering I had worn them for the majority of my life. I thought getting contact lenses would help my cause but they only made things worse. They were a pain to put in and take out—but beauty was pain and I, apparently, liked to suffer. I rifled through my handbag—a handbag filled with junk I needed to clean out but never found the time considering my busy schedule—for my extra set of glasses. My head was down, that was my mistake. I should have, at the very least, glanced up once. That was the logical thing to do. But, it wouldn't have made a diff
VICTORDea.Her name rang in my head like a symphony on repeat. I almost wished I had a tongue so I could roll the beautiful name off it and hear the way it sounded in my gruff, accentuated voice. She was human that was why she couldn't feel the electricity that passed between us. Even if she had felt it, her mind probably didn't linger too long on the sensation. She didn't know. She couldn't know. I was out running errands when I caught a whiff of her cherry blossom scent. It carried on the wind, enticing me to follow her. The beast beneath my skin bristled impatiently as I tracked her through the throngs of people, aching to set my eyes on her. I couldn't believe it. Even after finally seeing her, the disbelief of it all still plagued my mind. I thought I was slowly going insane, that I wasn't on the brink of insanity anymore but I had fallen over and had lost all my senses. But no, there she was. My mate. Dea was gorgeous. She hadn't noticed me at first as she dug into her hand
DEAI wondered how many people found themselves awake at night, simply glaring up at the ceiling while they contemplated their life. My thoughts made it impossible to sleep, or maybe that was the cup of coffee I drank before bed. No, it was probably both as well as Jason's snoring.He sounded like a hippocampus giving birth. How was anybody meant to get sleep with that sound incessantly booming in their ears? I shuffled beneath the sheets until I was on my side, facing him. Jason Yates was good-looking, I suppose. He had the average male height and build going for him with soft features. His reddish-brown hair had streaks of silver through it and crow's feet lined his eyes. He was starting to wear his age even at the young age of thirty. There was a fresh coat of stubble on his jaw and cheeks—which weren't that well defined since he had a tiny double chin and his lips were two thin, pale lines on his face. It never mattered to me how he looked, though. It was always the way he thoug
VICTORI was convinced I had the shittiest fate. There was no wolf out there who was dealt a shittier hand than me. As if finding out my mate was a human wasn't bad enough, she was both a scientist and had a boyfriend. She was in a relationship with someone I assumed she loved, or she wouldn't have been with him. I had been through this once and wasn't about to go through it again. The last time, it was my fault. Sydney, the Alpha of Alphas, had her fated mate but I still chose to pursue her. That ended badly for me. I rubbed the phantom ache which emitted from the four, blazing red claw wounds going across my chest. It was during the first attack from Quade's—Sydney's mate—pack that I earned these. That was the night I had to give Sydney up. But she ended up with the person she belonged with. Whereas, I ended up alone and taking over one of the largest 'packs' in the world. There were so many rogues across the world and I was an Alpha to them all. It meant that my pack expanded all
DEA"You know, maybe if you tell me what's bothering you, it will stop bothering you," Erica mused as she stirred yet another sachet of sugar into her coffee—she was probably on the fifth packet, I lost count after the third. We were in my favorite coffee shop for lunch since it was a rare day when we both weren't completely swamped with work. I sipped on my pumpkin spice ice latte and sighed in relief. Truly, ice coffee was the essence of life, and of this, I was a hundred percent certain—I was a scientist with a doctorate, after all, I knew my shit. That made me sound like a conceited peacock flaunting my shit. I grimaced at the thought and placed my ice latte on the table, "Something happened last night and it's been bothering me ever since.""Okay, that much I've established. You walked into work with a sour face and it's gotten worse," Erica deadpanned with a tight-lipped smile when I cut her a glare, "you wear your emotions on your face, Dea. It's difficult not to notice when
DEA"Dea, Angel, I'm home." Crystal blue eyes glimmered up at me from the living room rug, filled with mirth and warmth like I had never known. "In here, Papa," she yelled as she pushed herself onto her feet. Angel was ten now. She was a surprise to both Victor and I. We weren't trying for her. At the time, we spent more time apart than we did together—me pursuing my career while he did his thing as alpha. It worked out for us in the best possible way. I managed to go on exhibitions and tours, conduct experiments, and travel the world with Victor. Two years of living that life until one morning I found out I was expecting. And then everything changed. Now she was ten. Now I lived in the sanctuary as a full-time mom and Luna of the pack, and I didn't regret a thing about it. Especially since I couldn't explain my lack of aging to the people around me. Erica was the only one from my outside life to visit me, otherwise, I didn't care for the rest.Victor filled the doorway with his
VICTOR I carved a hand through my hair as the blistering water cascaded down my taut muscles. The sweltering heat did nothing to rid my body of its tension. My guilt refused to swirl down the drain with the soap suds from my body and hair. Maybe it wasn't even guilt anymore. Maybe it was the fact that I missed Saint. I found myself seeking her out during my day. When I needed something done, I'd begin to instruct her only to realize she wasn't there. When I needed to share something, I sought her out. When the pack house was finally complete I couldn't even step into it. I could barely step into my apartment without being reminded of the girl. The girl who never got the chance to fully live. Once the doctor had cleared Dea, she returned to her usual routine. I saw her on the weekends now, unable to bear the thought of entering my apartment. Besides that, I had a lot of work to complete in the sanctuary. Tania had placed a ward around the sanctuary's border. Only wolves I trusted c
DEABeep. Beep. Beep.The sound was the pinnacle of annoyance. It wasn't my alarm going off. Maybe it was Victor's. Maybe he needed to be somewhere. Then, why wasn't he switching the darn thing off?With a groan, I peeled my eyelids open. A blur of white and baby blue assaulted my weak vision. Then the burning scent of disinfectants trickled up my nostrils. Memories of the last time I was conscious came rushing back like a river overflowing its banks during a storm. It swept me off my feet, drowning me in the current. The beeps grew louder and more feverish with every memory that flashed behind my unblinking gaze. I extended my arm out, feeling around for my glasses. When I felt them, I perched it in place with a sound of irritation scratching the back of my throat. The colors solidified. A blindly white ceiling glared back at me. Baby blue walls encased me. The beep was not from an alarm but from multiple monitors hooked up to my arm and body. I was in some sort of hospital room b
VICTOR"Dea!" I had shifted when I watched the horrific scene unfold. She was attacked and I was nowhere near her to help. My claws swiped at the underbelly of a rogue wolf, penetrating deep until guts spilled from the bloodied incisions. They were all going to die. My remorse bled from my wounds and stained the ground, not a drop remaining in my system. Not when one of them had gotten so close to ripping the best thing that had ever happened to me away. Their numbers were finally dwindling while the death count on my land grew at an alarming rate. I wasn't a superstitious man when it came to death but even I had reservations regarding starting a life on land tainted with so much blood. This made me angrier. I tried to do a good thing, tried to help these creatures that were revolting against me, and this was my payment—them going after the person I loved. "I think I've figured out who their leader is."I heard the drawl of Julian's voice before I saw him. A breeze tousled my lon
DEAI had never witnessed murder before. Not with my eyes at least. I went from a wide-eyed, wet-behind-the-ears scientist to this—whatever this was. Jason's death was something that haunted my dreams. In the darkest hours when the shadows grew thicker and the cold was icier, the ominous sound of his neck snapping under pressure weaseled its way into my dreams. Daylight hours were easier to ignore the relentless echo of it which gnawed at my sanity like a dog with a bone. This. This was different. This wasn't murder. This was a massacre and all I could do was sit back and watch as if this was some morbid scene out of Twilight. Except, the vampires didn't shimmer here and the wolves were far more feral. This wouldn't worm its way into my dreams. This would become a night terror, stuck on repeat each time my eyes fluttered shut. I'd never crave the warm embrace of sleep ever again. Because, now, it felt more like claws peeling layers of my skin back instead of the reprieve it was mea
VICTORMy paws thundered against the earthen floor, snapping fallen branches and dried leaves in my wake. A flurry of heavy breaths and howls sounded as a pack of five of us cut our way through the forest toward the sanctuary. Alec had enlisted two other wolves to help him with his breaking and entering abilities along with the theft of blood. We hadn't had to go to a blood bank at all. There was a local blood drive in town to encourage people to donate. We simply tapped into their supply. I was sure they wouldn't miss the ten bags we had nabbed. We made sure to snatch the common types so they could be easily restocked. I accompanied them—along with Saint—to make sure things went as planned and none of the wolves got any nefarious ideas. The duffle hung from my jaw, sharp teeth piercing through the knitted handles. I was as gentle as I could be as I dodged thick roots that arched from the ground and large boulders that served as unrelenting obstacles in my path. A foreboding sensatio
DEA"Hands up or your opponent will easily strike you. Protect your face at all costs so you can anticipate their next strike," Quade ordered. We were only fifteen minutes into my usual hour combat class but I already heaved for air while my lungs threatened to vacate my body to find a new owner that would take better care of them. I had gone to work this morning with three wolves patrolling the building. Victor had even ordered a wolf to trail Erica. As my best friend, she had a target on her back. Or, at least, that was what Sydney implied and Sylvain agreed—something about that happening to her mother's best friend. Of course, I didn't have the heart to tell Erica about everything that was happening. She was already keeping in tune with the office gossip for me. According to the latest office news, a rumor had spread like wildfire that Jason had eloped with one of the interns. Apparently, he and the intern had a relationship for over a year behind my back, and now that Jason and
VICTOR I inhaled deeply, held my breath for five seconds, and then exhaled slowly and steadily as I shut the door. Dea's thoughts were so loud throughout the night I had to build up a mental block between us until she learned to protect her thoughts. Her worry echoed down the bond. Her fear reverberated through my body. Her love spilled into my heart and slithered into the marrow of my bones. I had allowed her thoughts to bombard my head, allowed them to infiltrate like a feral animal gnawing at my sanity. But when her thoughts of loving me fluttered around my mind like a beautiful fragile butterfly that could be squashed at any given moment, I built that wall and kept it up. Everyone had dispersed to their respective rooms. It was late and I didn't want to risk driving back to the city at this hour. The chances of us getting ambushed were high and I had confidence that I could protect Dea. However, I wasn't about to fool myself into thinking I could take out a pack of rogues when I
DEA I wasn't sure what to make of it. After everything that happened with Jason, I thought we had cleared all our hurdles. At least, that was a hurdle in the relationship Victor and I shared. This was a different kind of hurdle entirely. This was not only an attempt on Victor's pack, but also on his life. It put things into perspective. I acknowledged the risks that came with being in a relationship with Victor. Acknowledging them and facing them in reality were two very different things. The thought of losing Victor had a sharp, acidic tang of bile crawling up my throat. I forced it down but the bitterness coated my tongue. It scared me. My fear was palpable and no doubt loud by the way Victor clasped my hand in his and offered a reassuring squeeze. It drowned out my insecurities about Sydney being here. By the way Victor regarded her with an almost cold exterior, I almost felt sorry for the girl. She didn't deserve the knotted ball of wool t