“Goddess, Willow,” Kane says and kneels next to me, taking my hands in his. “Do you understand the risk you took? What if Carmine didn’t die of poisoning? What if Logan ripped his throat out, or--”“Thomas asked Logan how he did it…he wouldn’t have asked if the cause of death was obvious.”Kane let out a stuttering breath. “What did you see?”“His aura…it looked like the black smoke that came out of the oath box.” I looked at the box on the table. It looked innocuous, just sitting there, but we both know the terrifying magic contained within. “And…I could smell it. I’ve never smelled an aura before. It was like…rotten meat and garlic.” I gagged a little. “He wants you dead, that’s all I know.”“The box would have rejected his oath. I could have killed him based on that.”I shake my head. “I can’t tell you how I know this, but…no. He has a way around it.”“Shit,” Kane says and falls back on his ass. “This is bad. If he found a way…it means others…Goddess, what are we doing to do?”“Tom
Kane's POV On my orders, and to make it easier for Willow, the Alphas and kings enter one by one. I watch her from my perch on the platform as she nods to each of them to go inside. It takes more than an hour, but no one triggers her internal alarms. When the last of them is inside, Glenn closes the double doors and Willow magically seals the room. “Settle down,” I bark. The wolves quiet down, but not a lot. The room is bursting with nervous energy. The wolves know that something big is coming, and they’re excited that they’ll finally be able to kill something. Glenn takes Willow by the elbow and leads her through the crowd of wolves so she can stand next to me. Justice is already on his feet, ready to challenge my decision to have Willow on the war council. “Excuse me, King,” he says loud enough for everyone to hear. A hush falls over the gathering. I raise my eyebrows at Justice. “What?” I snap. He sweeps his hand in the direction of my mate. “A she-wolf? In the war room? Pleas
Kane's POVWe stare at the television in my office in silence, watching as yet another pack is wiped out by The Templars on live television. This is the seventh pack in four weeks that is being annihilated. A small pack that belongs to another king, but it doesn’t matter…the whole world’s werewolves are my responsibility now.Innocent’s feeding us the information as promised, but always on very short notice, never giving us enough time to launch a proper defence, or for the targeted Alphas to prepare.After the third attack, I contacted one of my Gammas, Shawn, who was posing as a Templar. I made sure to establish a mind link with him before he left with Innocent. He had taken Lester’s place as Innocent’s second in command, and he swore up and down that The Pope was giving me the information as soon as he received it.The story we concocted to explain Innocent’s absence was relatively simple: Drummond captured him on the night of the failed attack on Silver Star, but with the help of
I sit in the stupid fucking strong room, quietly cursing my mate for excluding me from the battle that’s to come, but knowing he doesn’t deserve it because I’m not meant to be a part of it anyway. I'm supposed to be here, I know it, but I want to be angry with someone, and it's just easier to sit here and blame Kane.This is exactly what Silke told me would happen on the day we met.She plucked a hair from my head and told me everything she thought I needed to know. “You are too gentle, Queen,” she said. “You have to harden yourself. Difficult times are coming. Soon. Many will die. Don’t allow yourself to grieve for the ones you’ve never met. It steals your power.”I didn’t know what she meant until The Templars started attacking the smaller packs. The first time it happened, I cried for hours. Seeing all those dead wolves, feeling my mate’s pain as he watched them die. By the third time I felt almost nothing. I chose to stop feeling. It weakened me. Interfered with my magic.“There w
I feel around the dark until I find one of the bunk beds and sit down. I am numb. The magic I used did something to me, stole a part of my soul. Arlene blunders around the room, cussing as she slips in blood and bumps into furniture in the cramped space. Soft blue light fills the interior. The she-wolf found an emergency light. “What happened?” Arlene asks. “What did she do?” “Nothing,” Tully says. “That’s what we’ll tell people. She did CPR and resuscitated the baby.” “Yes,” Arlene agrees. “Yes, I think that’s for the best.” I stare at Adare who is sitting on the bed next to Tully. He notices my eyes on him and gives me a big smile. He turns onto his belly, slides feet first off the bunk and runs over to me. He pats my leg. “Mama,” he smiles, drool running down his chin. “Ada luh.” I smile, but it’s a conditioned response. There’s no emotion behind it. “Mommy loves you too, my big boy.” I pick him up and hold him close. “Ada luh,” he says and pats my back. The numbness slowly l
Erica takes Adare from me the moment we enter her apartment. “I hear you delivered Mina’s pup today.” “Karla,” I say. I’m so tired of everyone's attitude towards the poor baby already. “Not Mina’s pup.” My mother-in-law just rolls her eyes. “I just wanted to say well done.” She wrinkles her nose at me. “Maybe you should wash. You are a bit…stinky.” I look down at my dirty clothes. The blood and amniotic fluid has dried and smells horrendous, but I hardly even notice. “That’s a good idea.” “You look like you could use a nap,” Erica says. Or a silver bullet to the brain. “Yes.” “I’ll take care of this little man,” she says and tickles Adare’s belly. My baby lets out a loud little squeal and gives us a proper belly laugh. Whatever else Erica may be, she’s a fantastic grandmother. I glance at Arlene who gives me an encouraging nod. “Okay.” I smile at my baby and mother-in-law. “Thank you." Kane isn’t back yet by the time I’m done with my shower. I find one of his t-shirts, close t
Kane's POV A long time later, I still watch Willow sleep. Her strange rollercoaster emotions are concerning me. It’s almost as if she’s trying too hard to think with her head and not her heart, and when she needs her head, she goes with her heart and vice versa, and it's fucking her up. I’m convinced Silke has something to do with it. She changed after she met the völva. I get up to fetch Adare for the night, hoping that Willow doesn’t wake up again. She doesn’t know, but she wakes frequently during the night, calling out various names – mostly her father's, but every so often her mother’s or Innocent’s will make an appearance. The nightmares are riding her ragged. I remember reading about a mythical creature called a Mara. I don’t know if they’re real or not, but I’m starting to think I need to find out. I wash, then go in search of my son. My mother is sitting on the porch with him, watching the mid-summer sunset. “It’s late,” I say. “He needs to be in bed.” “You need to eat and
Kane's POV I hope to the Goddess that Willow’s tears this time are tears of joy. She’s all over the place with her emotions, and I can’t keep up anymore. I put Adare on the bed, and he quickly bounces up to sit on her lap. “Thank you for my present,” she says and gives him a hug. I sit next to them on the edge of the bed. “When is your birthday?” she asks. “Twenty-five August. Open it,” I say impatiently. “That was after we met.” “Yes, but I was here. Remember? I ran away.” She laughs softly, and tears into the little gift Adare was holding in his hands. She opened the velvet box and stares at me in confusion. “What is it?” she asks and pulls the key out, holding it between her fingers. “The key to our new place. They finished a week ago.” Her eyes light up. “We have a home?” “Yes,” I smile. I can feel genuine excitement and joy now. “I had it furnished, but you can change anything you don’t like.” She doesn’t seem to care, but she had been eager to get out of my mother’s ap
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