I’m a nervous wreck by the time Kane shows me to Erica’s room. She’s on the bottom floor, clear on the other side of the castle. “I’ll wait for you in my office,” he whispers and leans over to brush his lips over my cheeks before he disappears down one of the many, many halls. Shaking, I lift my hand and knock on the door. Immediately, an Omega opens the door and bows to me as I enter. It’s clear, just by looking around, that Erica lives a very different life. She has servants at her beck and call, and unlike Kane, she doesn’t have a living room, but something resembling an old-fashioned parlour. This woman somehow managed to get herself stuck in the 18th century. “Good afternoon, Queen,” the Omega says. “Will you please take a seat?” “Thank you,” I say, and push the buggy carrying Adare deeper into the room. “Would you like us to take care of the prince while you enjoy refreshments?” “No, he’s fine right here.” The Omega looks surprised, but I have a feeling the older woman has n
Kane's POV “Come in,” I say before Willow can knock. The door swings open, and my heart skips a beat when she enters. My reactions have been strange lately – it’s almost like it used to be in the beginning, when I saw her for the first time, but a hundred times more intense. “How did it go?” I ask, throwing my pen on the desk and getting up to help her with the pram. “Fine. We had a good talk.” “You did?” I ask, surprised. “With my mother?” “Yes. Maybe…she’s very proud and set in her ways. If you go to her, she’ll talk to you too, I think.” “I have tried that…but you have a way about you. People trust you. Want to talk to you.” “I just have one of those faces,” she says dryly. I laugh and undo Adare’s straps and lift him into my arms. He’s wide awake, staring at me with bright, curious eyes. “Hello big guy. Did you have a good visit with grandma?” “She prefers Nana.” “Oh come on,” I say. “No.” She shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. If it makes her happy, why not?” “You surprise
Kane's POV I take Adare up to the apartment with me. By the time I’m done changing him, he’s asleep and doesn’t wake up when I lie him down. For a pup that gave his mother such a hard time while she carried him, he’s a very chilled little guy. I stand in the bedroom, looking at him for a long time. It’s difficult to believe that one day he’ll carry the weight of the entire werewolf world on his shoulders. “Maybe it won’t happen,” Dario says. “Maybe we can prevent it.” “No,” I answer. “It will happen. Once The Goddess sets you upon your path, there’s no going back.” I lie on the bed, scrolling through my phone, reading emails and messages I haven’t gotten to these last few weeks. I barely notice the time going by, but when I reply to the last email and put my phone away, two hours have passed. Adare stirs in his cot, getting ready to sound off. “Willow?” I ask trying to mind link with her, but there’s nothing. She’s not blocking me, but she does not answer me. “Adare is waking for a
Kane's POV “Kane?” Glenn mind links me just as I step outside the castle. “We found Ashley and Kaylee.” “Where?” “Your cabin.” I stop dead. “The cabin? All the way out there? How?” “They shifted. You’d better get here.” I peel my clothes off and shift, running full-out to the cabin. It’s faster than driving. I try to catch Willow’s scent as I run, but I can’t. There’s nothing. Just like that day she went back to her coven. It’s like she disappeared into thin air. “They’re masking her scent,” Dario says. “Yes.” “Witches?” “That would be my first guess. They want their high priestess.” “We have to kill them. Kill them all. It’s the only way to keep her safe.” I don’t disagree with him. If the witches do have her, they will die. Today. I’m done talking, and I’m done trying to make deals with them. Twenty minutes later, I run up to the cabin. Glenn and Carl see me coming and start coming towards me, shifting back to human as they run. I do the same once we catch up with each ot
I am in the darkest dark I’ve ever experienced. Even in the Crystal Rose dungeons, we had some light filtering through the gaps in the roof and under the doors. Here there’s nothing. Just the muddy ground under my ass and the cloying smell of rotting plant matter. It’s cold and uncomfortable. For some reason, they took off all my clothes before they threw me in their little magical prison. I sit against one of the rudimentary dirt walks, my legs drawn up to my chest, shaking as the temperature starts to drop even faster. “Kane?” I try for the hundredth time to mind link with him since he broke our last link, but I can’t. They’re blocking our connection. I don’t know how he broke through their spells earlier, but whatever magic he used wasn’t enough. I could barely make out anything he said. I fall over on my side, clutching my knees to my aching breasts. Inhaling the scent of the wet earth, and trying not to think about whatever’s in the hole with me. I can handle bugs and spiders,
Kane's POVI sat under that damned tree for hours, feeling the energy Willow and I created on the day she marked me and we made love for the first time. It was almost like the earth grabbed it and held on to it for us, like it knew we'd need it one day.I could feel her all around me, smell her, hear her. I closed my eyes and concentrated on her, trying to find our connection, which was supposed to always be there.We’re not unique in that sense. All fated mates share a connection after they’ve marked each other, but our bond is so much stronger than other wolves’. Deeper.I sat there, the cold seeping into me, numbing me to the point where I couldn’t feel my legs and arms anymore, and as night gave way to day, I started doubting. I doubted that we’d be able to break through the powerful magic the witches used to block our connection.But then, at dawn, I heard her. Faintly. A whisper on the breeze. “Kane?”And I felt her. Barely, but it was there. Just a flicker. Fear. Panic. Regret.
The moment our warriors attack the witches the spells blocking my magic lift, a few minutes later, the cloaking spells and protection spells break too. I hold out my hand and summon the energy around me, their energy, to cast a light. Holding the glowing, blue orb in my hand, I do a full turn, and for the first time, I can see my prison. It’s just a round hole in the ground, shallower than a grave, but not much bigger. My heart lurches. Did they plan to keep me here until I die? But no. That can’t be right. If they wanted me dead, they would have killed me on the spot. They wouldn’t have cast a sustenance spell that keeps me alive without food and water. “We need to get out,” Suri says. I listen to the wolves’ muted growls and snarls, the witches’ panicked screams. “After the fight. The warriors are in a frenzy.” “They won’t kill us. They know us.” I close my hand, and the light disappears. “Can you break out? Are we strong enough?” “Yes.” For a moment, I lose control of Suri, b
Kane's POV While I watch Glenn mark the little witch, way too soon but he’s left with little choice, Willow walks back to the hole and sits next to it, her feet dangling into the pit. Tully lets out a sharp cry as Glenn’s teeth pierce her skin, momentarily pulling my attention away from Willow. Tully comes across as slightly timid, weak, and is definitely prejudiced against wolves, her head filled with nonsense by her father. I don’t know if she’ll ever fit in with a tribe of Lycans, and if Glenn starts loving her, that might become problematic. “Mark him back,” I say without thinking. “Whu- what?” she asks, her hazel eyes wide and fearful. “It’s the full moon in two days. If you have a slumbering wolf, you have to mark him back so you can wake her.” “What if I don’t want to be a werewolf?” Tully asks. She has a little fight in her after all. I hide my amusement and give her a stern look. “I am not asking you. I am telling you, bite him back.” I’ve never ordered anyone to mark so
Dear readers, I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Willow and Kane's story. This has been one of the longest books I've ever written, and when I started out I did not expect it to turn into this epic saga, but I regret nothing. Nothing I tell you :). I fell in love with Willow and Kane, and I am genuinely sad to say goodbye to these two, but unfortunately all stories must come to an end. Thank you for your support througout this wild ride. It means the world to me. I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until we meet again. All my love, Celice
Kane Madden, Lycan King of Felan, wakes up to an unearthly racket right outside his bedroom door. Slightly concerned, he glances at his heavily pregnant wife and smiles despite his annoyance at his oldest son’s shenanigans in the hallway. Willow Madden, his mate of fifteen years is heavily pregnant with their second set of twins, two boys this time, and Kane sincerely hopes this is the last time. Goddess knows he loves his children, all eight of them, and he’s sure he’ll love numbers nine and ten just as much, but it’s getting difficult to keep up with all the pups. They are exhausting. For a time, he was sure that they’d never have more children, but after one wild afternoon in the forest, Willow did get pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, as their remarkable son predicted. She named the twins Josiah and Jocelyn, after the previous occupants of their home. Kane thought it was macabre, but Willow insisted, saying they had to honour their ancestors. That would be the same twins wh
It’s a beautiful summer’s day, and the drive up to the cabin is pleasant enough. Kane and I have found a peaceful kind of comfort in each other’s silence, and we rarely need to fill the quiet with inane background chatter. We are content, just being together. I inhale the lovely fresh air, remembering the first time I came here. The night Suri was born, the sheer exhilaration of feeling my wolf come to life...and that was all thanks to Agatha. Dear, sweet Agatha who never found a final resting place because we went to war and in the chaos, we forgot all about her. Our funeral home has since been bombed off the planet, and we just take care of our dead our own way as we'd done during the war. There aren’t that many of us left anyway. The few surviving wolves live here now, and those that refuse to come to safety are dying off – Templars bearing a lingering grudge either murder them, or the wolves yield to their unrelenting urge to join a good war. Kane once told me that wolves had be
Kane's POV I wasn’t sure what would happen in the months and years that followed after we signed the peace treaty, so we went with the tried and tested 'go with the flow' method. For a time, everything went back to normal. Drake and Patrick ran the business, and more and more my little brother took over my duties in the company. Proof, Willow liked to remind me, that Omegas are just as competent as any other wolf. The overseas wolves went home, and as soon as they were sure the threat had really passed, the European wolves followed suit. The only ones that stayed were the humans. I claimed the human town as part of my territory during the peace talks, and the residents now affectionately call it Wolftonia. Leif left, taking his strange sister with him. Only later did we learn that Silke’s time on earth was limited and that she had foreseen her own death long before she ever came here. Unbeknownst to all of us, including Willow, a völva’s dying energy projects outwards, and what we m
Adare runs around the garden with Roland. The two boys growl and stalk each other like prey. My motherly instinct is to jump up and stop them before one of them gets seriously hurt, but Rosie quickly grabs me and pulls me back to my chair. “No Queen,” she says. “That’s how they learn. They won’t hurt each other.” “Are you sure?” “I’ve seen them play this game a hundred times. I’m sure.” Dammit. My throat burns and I have to fight against the tears. I’m so happy that my son is home, but I’ve missed so much. He is the size of an average three-year-old and when I talk to him, I sometimes forget that he’s not even two yet. I choose not the think about it. I choose to focus on the here and now. My family is whole and complete and that's what matters “Mama! Look!” Adare squeals and tackles Roland to the ground. “Good job, buddy,” Kane says behind me. I look over my shoulder at my mate. “You’re back early.” “Yes. Peace talks broke down.” “Why?” “Clement wants my humans.” “I thought
Kane rolls over to my side and pulls me into his embrace. I don’t even bother to open my eyes. It’s been a wild few days. “Oh Goddess, no,” I complain. “Haven’t you had enough?” He laughs breezily in my ear. “Never…but for now, yes.” He flutters kisses over my jaw and neck. “How do you feel?” “Like I got run over by a penis-shaped bulldozer.” “Hey, you wanted it.” I finally manage to drag my eyelids apart. “I did.” I smile at my impressive mate. “The first two days were great.” “I know.” He rolls away and swings his legs off the bed. “The last day always feels more like a punishment than pleasure.” I turn over onto my side and stare at his broad back, the strong muscles flexing under his skin. “No regrets though, right?” He looks over his shoulder at me. “None.” He gets up and stretches, scratching his ass as he walks to the bathroom. A minute later, I hear him open the tap. We don’t have electricity yet, but I’m not so sure I miss it. Life is kind of peaceful without the cons
Kane’s POV I sit on the couch in the dark living room, watching the glowing embers in the fireplace, trying to ignore the call of Willow’s heat and the fever that's trying to consume me. I'd go to her, but she's still asleep. t’s not time, she can’t feel it yet, but she will in another few hours. I should be sleeping, prepare myself properly this time, but I can’t switch my milling thoughts tumbling through my head off long enough so I can go to sleep. I’ve already sent orders out to bring the power stations back online and ordered our army to stand its ground. There’s nothing else to do now but wait for Clement to come back so we can finish up the peace agreement. In the absence of entertainment or imminent danger, the only thing I have to keep myself occupied is my own thoughts, and all I can think about is the possibility that Willow will get pregnant. Here, in the quiet of the night, all by myself, I have to admit the truth. I never want her to get pregnant again – not becaus
Kane’s POV For the next few hours, we talk about the meeting with Clement, the future, and a whole lot of nothing. There’s something comforting in it, just friends having a chat about life, love, and everything in between. I glance at my watch, surprised to see that it was well past midday. “That’s it,” I say and get up, stretching my too-tight muscles. “We’re taking the week off. I don't know about you, but I've had enough of war to last me a lifetime.” “Shall I collect Adare?” Zael asks on our way out. “Not yet. I don’t…Willow thinks he’ll be safe here, but I want to make sure.” “If what she said about The Goddess is true, she’s probably right. She hasn’t been wrong so far, has she?” I scrunch up my face and rub my forehead. “I don’t know. I can’t think straight anymore.” Zael nods. “I know the feeling.” “Did you get any retaliation over the Raymond thing?” “Of course I did.” “And?” “And nothing. I handled it...it won't come back to you.” “Do you think this war is over?”
Kane's POVIt had been weeks since we slept comfortably, and even though we both sort of hinted at passing the night making love, neither of us could actually gather the energy to do more than snuggle down in each other’s arms.For the first time in weeks, perhaps months, I wake with a smile on my face, completely relaxed and almost happy. The only thing I need to complete my joy is my son, and he'll be here soon enough.I stretch languidly, and slip out from under Willow and go to the bathroom to get ready for my meeting with Clement. I hope against all hope that Willow misunderstood The Goddess and that there would be no human war. I hope, and I pray, that Clement would listen to my advice and stop it before it even starts.The castle is freezing, and I’m shivering so much that I cut myself several times while I shave. Rattling like an excited dog, I run back to the bedroom, pull an extra blanket over Willow, then rush to the closet so I can dress in one of my suits and my long, thi