Kane's POV:
Dragging myself away from Willow borders on painful. Most males will spend the first week with their mates in confinement, but with everything going on, I don’t have that luxury. I can’t risk a she-wolf up here to guard her, so I have to call on Carl again.
He accepts the order, but I can tell he’s annoyed. He’s not guard material – his heart is outside with his squad. “I’m sorry about this,” I say while I finish my coffee. “But I don’t trust anyone else.”
Despite his irritation, his chest puffs out and he stands a few inches taller. “It’s not a problem, king.”
“It is…and I know what an imposition this is for you.”
Most Gammas I know dream of the day that they’re promoted to the royal guard, but Carl is happy being a squad leader. I have several young Gammas in need of squads, but I already decided that no one would get Carl’s until he willingly retires. “It’s just a few days, king. It’s no imposition at all.”
Kane's POV:While I wait for Charmaine, I drag the growing stack of paperwork toward me. I had planned to reschedule all the meetings I had to miss over the last three weeks, but I just don’t get around to it.While paging through the stack of papers, I call my assistant on her cellphone. She’s bristling. “Where the hell have you been? I’m holding this place together with staples and glue!”She’s human, so I can’t tell her much of anything that’s going on. “Oh come on, Layla, give yourself more credit than that, you can handle it. I have an ongoing family crisis.”“What kind of crisis?’After working for me for three years, she knows she won’t get an answer, but she always asks. “You know better than to ask. Did you relay everything important to Mister Willis?”Over the years, I’ve put failsafes in place in case werewolf business
I wake sometime around midday. I’ve spent another day just sleeping. During my time with Crystal Rose, I’ve seen a lot of pregnant women, and their pregnancies never affected them this way. I try to keep Kane’s warnings in mind, try to remind myself that a werewolf pregnancy is different, but surely it’s not supposed to be this bad.The whole day I cycled between freezing cold and boiling hot. Covered in old and new sweat, I feel disgusting, sticky, and dirty, and all I want to do is take a shower but getting from the bedroom to the bathroom feels like an impossible task.It takes me several minutes just to drag myself into an upright position, and even the slightest bit of movement hurts.Carl finds me sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily, somewhere between crying and laughing. “Queen?” he asks from the doorway. “Are you okay?”“No.”“Can I help?”I shake m
For the first time in two days, I wake up feeling almost good. Most of the aches and pains are gone, and the crushing fatigue is now merely annoying – something that is hanging around to remind me I’m busy growing another living being.I take a long shower, sighing with pleasure as the warm water washes away the last several days’ agony. I even have enough energy to change the linens, and since no one’s been in here to clean for a while, I decide I might as well get on with that too.I’m unsure what this emotion is I’m feeling. I have felt it before, but I’m loathe to even think of the word because it never lasts. I’m happy. I can count the few times I’ve been this cheerful on one hand. The last time I was this happy was a month ago when I met Suri.Singing a lullaby Aunt Mildred taught me, I make my way to the living room, expecting to see Carl or Kane, but it’s Glenn who waits for me today. His head h
Kane's POV:I stare at Willow sleeping next to me. She’s pale and breathing heavily. The shift was harder on her than it should have been, and she couldn’t control her wolf. I spent the whole night keeping Suri in check while also controlling Dario. It was an exhausting night.Despite the fact that I’m bone-tired, I get up and go to the kitchen. Whether she wants to or not, Willow has to eat. Yawning, I pull meat from the freshly stocked fridge, and despite the fact that I know she won’t bother with it, I take out some vegetables and start to chop them up. “Kane, are you awake?” Glenn asks in my head.“Unfortunately.”“Yeah, I know the feeling. How is Willow?”“She’ll be okay. The shift was hard on her. How are you?”“Looks like I’ll live.”I sigh. I know how he feels. Right now, he’s wishing and hoping and praying fo
Kane's POV:The three massive Gammas, emissaries from Vickus’s kingdom, look at me like I just hit them with a wet fish. “Forgive me, king,” one of them says. “You want us to decide Vickus’s fate? Why?”“You were his warriors. Your lives were impacted by his actions the most. What is your process?”“Our process, king?”“Hm. Do you have a hearing or a court or…how do you deal with traitors?”“Vickus just…executed them. Publically.”“Well, we don’t. We gather our Gammas and decide their fate together.”The emissaries look at each other like it’s the most amazing thing they’ve ever heard. “You trust them?”“Yes.”“Why?” The oldest of the Gammas, Blake, asks. He’s the one I almost killed the night in the forest.“That’s ho
It’s almost midnight by the time Kane comes home, and I’m about ready to climb up the walls and start killing shit. I have so much energy that I don’t know what to do with myself, and sitting in this apartment with nothing but my own company to keep me occupied nearly drove me insane.I take one look at Kane’s face when he steps inside, and decide to say nothing about it. He’s exhausted, he’s irritated, but mostly he’s angry. “You’re still up,” he growls at me, clearly displeased“I couldn’t sleep,” I answer honestly. I tried, but I guess after more than a week in bed, my body’s done resting. “Can I bring you something to eat?”“Did you cook?”I snort in answer. “Of course not. James brought up a tray.”He growls again, but I know it’s only his new instincts doing it. “I’m going to miss him.”“
While we’re eating breakfast, Kane tells me about everything that happened yesterday. I’m not surprised to hear about Tyler. I know from experience how depraved people can be. “Bryce took an under-aged mate too….Is that a thing with werewolves?” “No. It’s against the law, but if we don’t know someone’s breaking the law there’s not much we can do about it.” “How did no one notice his mate was only fifteen?” Kane shrugs. “They probably lied about her age.” “So what now? What will you do with Tyler?” “I don’t know. He didn’t murder anyone. He didn’t commit treason. I want to kill him, but he didn’t break any laws that warrant a death sentence.” “What does it warrant?” “A lengthy prison sentence. Sometimes a sentence of slavery.” “Slavery?” I ask, not shocked at all, just curious. “Why?” “So they’ll understand what their victims went through.” “Ah,” I grin. “A tit for tat punishment.” “Something like that, but I can’t give him a sentence of slavery, because my grandfather outlaw
Kane's POVI am just about to settle in with Vickus’s Gammas so I can try to guide them towards some kind of resolution to the Vickus issues when there’s a knock on the conference door. I am tempted to ignore it, but my new inner voice tells me that I really need to talk to the person on the other side. “Just a moment,” I say to the annoyed-looking Gammas and get up to answer the door.Kaylee, one of Willow’s guards, stands on the other side, looking terrified. “King,” she says through stuttering breaths. “It’s the queen.”I haven’t felt anything from Willow that concerns me. A little anger, a little jealousy, some pangs of fear and concern, all normal emotions for a pregnant she-wolf. “What about her?” I ask, closing the door behind me.“She, ah, she’s on her way to see Maria.”“So?” I still don’t know why the guard is
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