Eventually, I have to let go of Adare. He needs to sleep, and I need to eat. I slip out of the bedroom and go in search of adult company. Now that night has fallen, the place is crawling with surly vampires, giving the werewolf guards that are on duty during the day a break. I doubt any humans will get in here, unless they use unbelievable magic, and it looks like they’re aiming all their magic at Felan right now. At least I know my baby’s well protected, and when I inevitably go back to Kane, that will be one less thing I’ll worry about. Just as I walk out of the house and onto the lawn, I feel a surge of unbelievable lust from Kane. I stop dead and focus on it. I’ve felt it before, when I was in heat and when Dani went back home. Immediately, I’m unreasonably angry. What the hell is he doing, and who is the bitch that thinks she can make a move on my mate? “Kane would never cheat on us,” Suri says. “You don’t know that.” I wouldn’t even blame him if he turns to another woman. I ha
Kane's POVFor once, I know when the vampire will show up. He gave me an exact time, and Zael tends to be punctual. Two minutes before he returns, I send everyone away and walk into the garden to wait for him.Willow’s angry with me, but under all the superficial crap, I can also feel a deep joy mixed in with a good helping of sorrow. She didn’t want to leave Adare, but I had no other choice. We have the perfect opportunity to capture the elusive Lord Milner, and I can’t do it without her by my side.Zael lands in the garden. His feet barely touch the ground before Willow launches herself out of his arms and straight into mine. “Oh,” I exclaim and grab her just in time.She wraps herself around me like an octopus, her arms and legs snaking around my body. She grips me tightly and won’t let go. “I missed you too,” I say.“I thought something happened to you.”Something did happen. “Nothing bad,” I say.“Everyone’s okay?”“Yes.” She finally lets me go, dropping to the ground. “I…” She s
Kane's POV A few days ago, we organised the several thousand smaller squads into bigger, more manageable regiments, each with its own leadership. Strictly speaking, I’m not even supposed to be actively fighting. I’m supposed to be coordinating the attacks from a command centre with my council’s help, but I’ve never been the kind of wolf that could sit back and send others to fight for me. The rest of the war council felt much the same, and currently we’re spread out across six regiments, communicating to each other through our mind links and conveying orders and strategy that way. My regiment will be the last to attack. Glenn’s will go first, an hour later Patrick’s will attack. “Remember,” I say to Glenn right before he attacks. “No women and children.” “I know, I know,” he says. “Good luck.” He goes quiet. The minutes tick by. Next to me, Willow squirms and scoots closer. “I hate waiting,” she whispers. "I hate not knowing if the others are okay." I put my arm around her shou
It didn’t occur to me that Kane would take me shifting and running away like that as a bad sign. All I knew was that I needed to get away from that mother and her baby. I was angry with her for no good reason, and when she defended the child’s father like that, I wanted to tear her head off.“Willow!” Kane says in my head. “Stop.”I didn’t look where I was going, and I suddenly realise that I have no idea where I am. I am not even sure I’m running in the direction of the castle. Kane is right behind me though, as always I can trust that he'll be there to catch me when I fall.I stop running and shift to human. Dario dashes through the trees, the golden wolf shimmering in the moonlight. “I’m here,” I say softly.He shifts and runs up to me. “I know,” he says, breathing harder than he usually does. “I always know where you are. Why did you run?”“I was angry. I didn’t want to hurt her.”“Yeah,” he sighs and runs his hand through his hair, “I get that.”Goddess, he’s magnificent. Sometim
Kane's POVPatrick goes around handing out glasses of whiskey while we settle in to wait for Zael.Tully is overjoyed to see Willow. The young Beta throws herself in Willow’s arms, laughing and crying at the same time. For her part, my mate’s just as happy to see her old friend. “You have to tell me everything that happened since I left,” she says.“Glenn didn’t tell you?”“Ugh,” she scoffs. “You know how they are, always trying to protect us.”Willow’s eyes cloud over and she gives me a pleading look. “Not right now,” I come to my mate’s rescue. “We have to talk about what our next steps are. Where is Alfred?”“He took the witches we rescued to their camp.”“I take it that things went well tonight?” Glendora says from the open patio door.Her voice washes over me like hot fudge. Patrick and Glenn shiver and Tully gives the nymph an ‘I’ll fucking kill you,’ look. It would be very funny if it weren’t so uncomfortable to have the nymph here while my mate is sitting right across from me.
Kane's POVI call a halt to the meeting soon after. Willow can barely keep her eyes open, and Zael doesn’t look like he has recovered from his trip to the other side quite yet. “We’ll pick it up tomorrow after we’ve had some rest.”I expect the vampire to argue, but he just does what he always does. Disappears.Willow hugs Tully goodbye. “It’s so nice to see you again. I’d love to see some pictures of your boy if you have any?”My stomach tightens in a nervous knot. When I brought it up, Tully exploded at me. The fact that I’m her king didn’t matter to her in that moment, all that mattered was that she had to leave her son. “Sure,” Tully says. “And do you have any new photos of Adare?”“I do, yes.”Stunned, I stare at the two she-wolves. It must be some mother thing I’m not understanding.Patrick excuses himself and rushes down the hallway to his bedroom. He hasn’t been back to his own lodgings since Mina left. She checks in with him, but other than that he hasn’t seen her in months.
Kane's POVI finish up with Luke, giving him clear instructions that he needs to convey to the Omegas. I didn’t lie when I told Glenn I’ll hand The Templars over to the Omegas. They are very upset, and to them, keeping the humans alive is a slap in the face.As Luke leaves, Drake arrives, throwing a newspaper on my desk. “Where did you find this?” I ask, picking up the folded newspaper. “Nineteen-eighty-nine?”“It’s not funny. Read the headline.”My eyes fly over the front page article. “Damn,” I sigh, and sit back.“As of today, all known werewolf businesses are prohibited from operating. They’re seizing our bank accounts.”“Yeah,” I say. “I can read.” I suppose their new strategy is to starve us to death. Next, they’ll come for our land. “I have prepared for this.”“Have you? How?”“I have human aliases, Drake. I’m not stupid, you know.”He slammed his finger on the second to last paragraph. “Everyone who associates with or does business with werewolf-owned companies will be fined.
Kane hands Milner a bottle of water and a bar of chocolate wrapped in gold leaf. “I’ve been told it’s your favourite,” he says and indicates to the bunk for Milner to sit back down. Milner gracefully accepts the chocolate and water. “Indeed it is. You are too kind. Have you tried it?” “No,” Kane replies. “I have not.” “It’s simply glorious. The flavours of the chocolate are so complex.” “I am not a big fan of chocolate.” "I always mistrust people who don't enjoy chocolate," the human says. "Well, I'm not a person, am I?" my mate replies smoothly. Milner finally sits back down and looks past my mate at me. I’m just here to ensure that the man is being honest and isn’t hiding anything magical from us. The vampires already checked and made sure he's magic-free, but Kane trust me more than he trusts them. “And you must be the charming Miss Jones. I’ve heard much about you.” “I prefer Willow,” I say. “Or if you really must, Missus Madden.” Milner inclines his head in my direction,
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