***Max’s POV***
“Good to see you, Maximillion!”
A hand clamped down on my shoulder as I walked into the grand ballroom. It was lit with chandeliers and candelabras but somehow the room still felt dark and dreary.
“High Councilor Oran, lovely seeing you.” I forced a smile, shaking the man’s hand.
“We were worried you weren’t going to make it!”
I could hear the underlying threat. “There was some business that needed to be finished off before I was able to leave my post.”
Oran tsked. “I heard you were dealing with some drug smuggling vampires in Russia, nasty business. I’m glad you were able to make it though! Enjoy your time this evening!”
He strode off into the crowd and I quickly grabbed a glass of champagne, not even letting myself taste it as I threw it down my throat. I grabbed another one from a stunned waiter and made my way through the crowd. They were dressed in evening wear, laughing and some even dancing
The next two weeks went by and were uneventful. The Alpha King stayed far out of my way and I appreciated the man knew when to not poke a sleeping bear. I found myself over the days getting more and more curt, more and more anxious. Normally I would have liked to reach out to Morgan. Between not having contact within the castle and also not knowing if he would even answer his phone, it didn’t matter. I was on my own to figure out if I could weather this so called treaty talk. Cyra probably was the only one who soothed my anxiety. Truthfully, for the past 200 years, we had a friendship that had evolved into what the kids called friends with benefits. Since she joined the council, we didn’t have as much freedom but whenever I started to come to the meetings, she would meet me in my room every night. She wouldn’t talk to me about the meetings, she couldn’t but she at least knew how to pacify me and make me forget for a moment. Now, I was standing in front of the mirror,
Two days had passed. Two days of meetings that everyone had hit an impasse. The BloodHunter Coven wanted territory where they could do with what they wanted, the High Council refused the lands that they wanted. It went back and forth. Some were pack lands, some where too many humans, too less humans. Killing was limited to a certain amount a month. It was disgusting watching the back and forth. Everyone decided that today would be a rest day. There would be a gathering this evening of everyone where we could relax and drink. Then we would be back to the meetings in the morning. So again, I found myself in the ballroom, this time a bourbon on the rocks in hand, staring out into the crowd. The BloodHunter Coven had also been allowed to attend. “Staring daggers at them isn’t going to kill them.” Young came up and clinked his glass against mine without me moving. He quickly downed everything in his glass. “I think I have some stakes in my trunk if you wanna…” “Yo
My eyes went wide as I somehow still managed to keep up with the song. This broken little twig of a werewolf was Auri. She was alive, barely. So many things were running through my mind as I jumped into the second song. Morgan would have torn the whole hall a part but he wouldn’t have lived at the end of it. May not even have been able to free Auri in the process. She was a slave. A broken doll to Micah. However, Micah would have never brought her over if he knew who Auri was, not with the close relationship we had with Auri. Had she not revealed anything about her but just broke? I stumbled again over the keys but her voice didn’t waver once. There was no passion though, no emotions in her singing. She sounded beautiful but it was hallow and soulless. How could I free her? How could I even get a damn message out of here? If she left this place with them she would be gone again, probably forever. The Bloodhunters popped up when they wanted to and otherwise you would never kn
Young and I went over the different scenarios that could happen. I had access to my own wealth, which was pretty sizable considering my age but I knew Morgan wouldn’t mind me dipping into the funds of the mafia if it meant purchasing Auri. That was if Micah would let her go. He seemed proud of her. Proud enough to parade her into a High Council meeting. “You ready?” Young leaned over while we were in the meeting room. The meeting had gone pretty much the same as the other two days. Each side volleying wants and the other side saying no. “No. I feel like I’m gonna pass out and throw up at the same time.” I was not built for this kind of stress. “Well, suck it up.” I had to lean into the lonely vampire, lonely musician persona. Mafia Italian bachelor who was sick and tired of women. Sick and tired of their bullshit and ready to have someone obey me at every turn. I had to sell it because Auri’s life depended on it.
I didn’t give a shit about the rest of the meeting. I didn’t give a shit what the Bloodhunter coven did or the High Council did right now. I needed to get Auri far away from here. I spoke to Cyra and told her something had come up and to give me the details once they were done. She was still little pissed at me, having overheard the request I made of Micah, as well. I was not going to explain it to her though. “Follow.” I told Auri as well left my room and walked down the hall. I still hadn’t gotten used to the command list. At first, I had tried to not use it. She was unresponsive to the point where she didn’t eat for hours and realized I was in way over my head with this. I kept a quick pace and she struggled to keep up with me but I yanked my phone off the table as we walked out of the castle. The valet was already pulling my car around. I threw my suitcase in the trunk and I opened the passenger side door for Auri. She stood there, waiting. “Get in.” Her
We spent the next few days falling into a routine. She spent time in the morning memorizing the different floors of the house while I made breakfast. We then would go outside and either lounge by the pool or sit on the rocks by the water. She seemed to enjoy being outside the most. We would come in, have lunch and then I would read to her from one of the books in the library. She sat quietly on the couch as I read aloud. She would make dinner and I would try to get some work done on the computer. Morgan was back to not answering his phone and I just had to trust that he was actually hurrying back at some point. She would go to bed after that and it finished out our day. Tonight though, a storm had rolled in. I was sitting on my bed, reading through some emails that had come in. One specifically came in from Micah giving me the directions on where to send his ‘gift’. I sent a message to the men at the warehouse to go ahead and proceed with the shipment. As I hit send, I heard
***Morgan’s POV*** I sat back in the lawn chair. Max sat on the rocks while Auri played in the water. She would smile as the waves crashed against the rocks and sprayed her. It was like raising a child again. Except so much harder. Max was actually doing really well considering. He was never one for gentle and subtle but he handled her with the softest touch. We decided to not tell Logan. Not yet. Not until we could see if there was any chance of rehabilitation. It had taken a bit for her to trust even being around me. Now, she didn’t shy away from me but it wasn't the same. She still didn’t speak, but she sang more and more in the house. There were still days I had to pinch myself. Still confirm I was on this world and not another. That she was actually in front of us. What she made abundantly clear though was that we could not touch the collar unless it was bath time. We didn’t know what made her panic but we had to leave it alone.
***Logan’s POV*** Bryan and Hector picked me up off the floor and set me down on the couch in my office. Hector shoved a glass of bourbon in my hand and after controlling my breathing, I gulped down the drink. I gave him a smile and he gave me a quick nod back. I looked around the room. Bryan was leaning against my desk, Hector taking up his usual post in the doorway, Denise standing next to Leandra, and Leandra was sitting on the edge of the couch next to me. It took a minute to recall what had just happened, but I looked down at the phone I had dropped. I started to have a hard to breathing again. Leandra tried to put her hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off. “Everyone, out. Please. Except Bryan.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “And when I mean out, I mean out of the packhouse. I don’t want anyone in the packhouse for the next hour.” “Alpha?” Hector looked confused. “OUT. NOW.” I yelled, letting some of my Alpha authori
Hey everyone. I can't believe we are here. We made it. This is truly the end. This journey has been an epic one and I am both happy and sad all of you could ride this crazy ride with me. It took a long time to get here. Much longer than I wanted, felt needed to, but here we are and it's done. The King's Alpha has finished. I'm sure everyone has the STRONGEST of opinions on my choices of where to go but in the end, I think, I always knew where it was going to end up. And it was here. It just was a struggle to find the right roat to get there. I want to say thank you. To all the mad ones. To all the sad ones. To all the happy ones. To the ones who have stuck by me and given me notes of encourangement through this. To the ones who have left comments telling me that they won't ever read anything of mine again because I haven't finished this story. I thank each and every one of you. Because it means that at some point, my story made you feel something. Made you fall in love or hate
I sat on the balcony overlooking the plains and forest behind it. I’d taken a liking to getting up early, smelling the morning dew as the world slowly woke up. A shot of cappuccino and a bowl of yogurt with fruit and just a drizzle of honey was on the table in front of me. My tablet also was sitting but there wasn’t much in the way of news to capture my attention away from the view.Rowan had called me yesterday from Egypt. He moved there after he found his mate. At first, I thought they might want to both step up as Beta, much like AJ and Jax did back in the day but they started to follow their own paths. Rowan was far more subdued. Taking after the bookworm side of Vale and maybe my introverted side. Reagan didn’t. Reagan was a fists first fight the world kind of girl. She stayed with Golden Moon, though she dragged her poor mate with her wherever she went.She was the Alpha King Nathan’s, Beta and had been for many years now. I had four grandkids and I got to see them as often as I
“Mom!” Syf and Freya both threw their hands around me and I held them close.Týr stood but didn’t say anything. Logan stayed seated next to him, his eyes unfocused as he looked ahead. I wiped the cheeks of my two girls and smiled.“Come on, Vale would be mad that we cried this much over him.”Freya chuckled. “He would say we are being over dramatic about it. Or that we were thinking of other stuff so we would tear up and make him feel better.”I nodded. “We all know it was you two who made him cry most of them time.”“I…we…” Syf looked at her twin before the two of them chuckled. “You’re right.”“I know, I’m right. I’m your mother.”Freya snorted. “Not looking like that you aren’t. I can’t believe you’re de-aging. That’s crazy, Mom. If I didn’t see the effects in you and Hector I would say you were lying.”I tried to smile but it just couldn’t get there. Admitting how much pain I went through wasn’t something I was going to dump here and now. They didn’t need to know. It was the same
We stood gathered on the Italian countryside. It was cloudy but there would be no rain. For the first time in a long time, everyone stood together. Werewolves, witches, vampires, and fey stood side by side to pay their respects to the Alpha King. Vale was encased in stone now. A sarcophagus that stood on the hill of the memorial spot we had chosen. It was carved with running wolves following the one wolf, their king. People came forward and spoke. Spoke of how Vale touched their lives in some way or another. Not just for him though. For Jax, for the wolves we lost in the battles and the ones who went back to their own packs. For Wendy and in my heart all the ones who had lost their lives to Oran’s sick and twisted desires.Hector was sitting on my right, his hand on my knee. Both my hands though were clasped in Zeke’s. Reagan and Rowan were sitting behind us with our kids. Luckily, all four of them made a complete recovery. Only certain things came up, sometimes being alone in a dark
Hector and I stayed by Vale’s side for a while. He held me together as I threatened to fall to pieces. After a long time, I finally spoke. “Oran is dead. Vale incapacitated him and I dusted him. He’s ash in the wind.”“He’s gone. For good.”“But at what cost, Hector? Was the cost worth it? Jax is dead. Wendy is dead. Vale…my son…my king…”Absently, I leaned down and moved a hair out of Vale’s peaceful face. My jaw clenched as I held back another wave of sobs, trying to keep myself together. My body started to shake and Hector turned me away from my son. I looked at him, his eyes as dark and stormy as the clouds above, raining tears down his cheeks. It broke me. Broke my control and I cried out.He put both hands on my face and held me, my hands covering his. It was my fucking fault. It was my fault. My Vale was dead. Our Vale, was gone. Joining the list of ones I loved who left me alone. Absently, my mind thought to the pain of living painfully long and outliving your family. I had co
*** Auri’s POV ***I had killed nine of the monsters that Oran kept in the arena beneath the castle. Nine of them, each one as mutilated and grotesque as the next. They were powerful though and it had taken me too long to kill them all. Too long put them all out of their misery as their minds begged me over and over again to do. Uriel had reached out to me and told me that he had the pups and had left the castle. All that was left was the battle Vale and Zeke were currently fighting.Running as fast as I could, I slid down the hall. I knew the High Council intended that Vale was going to rule inside the castle with them, but I didn’t know they had already built the throne room for him. When Vale first mind linked me about the room and that Oran was waiting for them, I wasn’t necessarily surprised. He was, if anything, a dramatic asshole.I stopped in front of two huge doors that were on the north side of the castle. Using my power, I touched the wood and it turned into a pile of wood
I wiped the blood out of my eyes, trying to focus on the where Oran was in the room. Vale was standing near the center of the room. He didn’t look nearly as bad as I did but that wasn’t saying much. Oran was playing with us but we still couldn’t compare to his strength. Holding up his broken sword, Vale parried Oran’s knife but was thrown back with the power behind the hit. Staggering up, I ran, only shifting my claws since I couldn’t shift my whole body anymore. I caught Oran’s arm as he was making a stab for Vale. My claws dragged across his skin and he dropped the knife.“Well, aren’t you the useful little mate.”I put up my arms to cover my face, sensing an attack either by his fists or foot. Vale though, grabbed the knife and me, pulling us back away and out of reach of the strike. We both were breathing heavily and on our knees. “Vale…we need…”He nodded. “I know. I know, Z. Just hold out a little longer.”Vale lifted up off the floor before brandishing the knife as his own wea
The castle looked empty. At least walking into it from the now ridiculously large exploded hole. Auri, King Uriel, Vale and I stepped over the rubble and the dead bodied of the witches to enter it. Everything was eerily quiet, as though no one had been in here at all. Had all the forces emptied out the different exits just now? Or were they lurking somewhere deeper?“The castle has an underground area as well, correct? If I saw the building plans correctly.” King Uriel looked at the three of us.Vale was the one who answered. “Correct. It has a full underground stadium area and most likely where they are keeping the pups. Or in one of the catacomb areas. It’s a huge labyrinth down there.”He hummed. “We should split up.”Auri frowned. “I don’t know. We don’t know what’s ahead. What we are up against.”“I think he is right, Mom. I think we need to do this. Uriel, if you would take the upper floors. I have a feeling there will be more witches and some other vampires who are able to deal
As expected, the wolves came first. Their snarling and pounding of their paws drowned out every other sound in the forest. Our side had quieted as we waited for their attack. Auri stepped up though, out of the line. Her fur rippled like water as an immense flow of power left her, filling the forest. She barked out a single command and all the wolves we could see coming towards us shifted to their human forms. The sound of their bones assembling back into their body on a massive scale reverberated through the forest.Hector raced forward ahead of her, chomping the closest wolf’s, now confused human’s, head off. It was all that was needed. Our forces surged forward and around us. Vale started to go with them but my paws were planted firmly in the ground. Stopping and turning, Vale looked at me with his gold eyes.‘Can you do this, Z? It’s okay if…’My eyes widened as a wolf came from behind, leaping right at Vale as his back was turned to me. I stepped forward, one step, then another. S