His giggle came across and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “This is our anniversary.”What hit me more was the flashing between Faris and Zeke in his eyes. He was fighting Faris even in a place like this. Cupping his cheeks, I brushed my nose against his.“Zeke, what is going on?”His eyes fell for a moment. “It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired.”Pulling him back, I shook my head. “I’ve been watching you. It’s not just when you’re tired. It’s getting worse. I mean, I had to force Faris back yesterday. You were like a ghost all this afternoon. You need to be able to talk to me about this. Let me help.”He smiled. “It’s nothing, Vale. Really. It happens from time to time. It’s a bloodline issue. This is probably the fourth time or so it’s happened. It can range anywhere from a couple months to year.”“Why haven’t you told me? Or talked about it?”“I just…it’s not a bad thing. Faris knows his limits and how to handle himself. He just doesn’t know how to properly communicate. The
I was never one to really cry. I’d done it a few times but this woman made me want to burst into tears. To cower in the seat as her just passive power washed over us. I was trying to keep myself from shaking but it meant my leg was jumping up and down at a ridiculous pace. Zeke though seemed nervous but not the same way as I was.“You’re…you’re Pipsqueak’s contact?”Her eyebrow rose for a moment before she nodded. “That’s right. I was told that I would be meeting someone tonight who needed my help. She didn’t give me much more details than that.”Zeke started to move closer to her and I slammed down my hand on his thigh, hard. His eyes looked down at my hand and then up at my face. I kept it as passive as I could but trying to warn him not to go any closer to her. She seemed to be watching this exchange but her eyes were mostly on Zeke.“We were requesting to speak to the Fey King. We are wanting to have a meeting with all the leaders. The Mother Witch and Vampire King have already ag
***Hector’s POV*** I arrived at the Crescent River pack after three days of travel. This time I didn’t need to worry about needing to be there in a timely manner. Outside of Vale calling me twice a day asking if I had spoken to Gale, the head witch and turns out the Mother Witch. It was the equivalent to the King or Queen of the witches. They sought her guidance and when something was too dangerous, she would be the one to shut it down. She also did inspections on different covens, much like what Vale was planning on doing after the talks with the leaders.Vale left me to speak to her because of our previous relationship, which I warned him wasn’t much. However, I think I would have been more surprised that he actually listened to me rather than kicking me out the door before he even went on vacation. Rubbing the back of neck, I knocked on the door of the castle pack house. The door was thrown open and Luna Naomi hugged me in the same way as she did when we left the years before.“I’
Their coven always surprised me. A lot of covens had moved more towards the modern, city approach. Much like the packs now a-days. However, this particular coven still stuck with the grass roofed huts of the old days. They didn’t have dirt floors but they did have treated natural wood from the surrounding area. It was a sight to see and really made you feel like you were in a far more magical place than normal.I followed Gale into one of the larger huts I knew to be hers. She kept many of the spell books and other larger items used in rituals and casting. They would either be borrowed or they would be done under her supervision within her hut. Alpha Evan had gone off with some of the children as they were planning on giving some of the celebration decorations as well as sharing truffles once they were cleaned. It left me with Gale alone.We walked into her hut and it smelled of earth and forest. It was as close to feeling like home, smelling like Auri as I had gotten in a long time.
I had taken Gale’s advice up. After finishing my business with her, I headed to the vampire archives. It turned out that there were so many that it took several months just to go all of them. The issue was, none of them had the information I was looking for. I knew from what Vale had actually told me, one of the Alpha Kings ran across experiments done by vampires but there wasn’t even record of that. Somehow though, there was a record of six Vampire kings previous and even single one of his nightly sex routine he had with woman and men of all races.Finally, after months, I broke down and called Morgan. At the very least he could point me in the right direction if I gave him a little bit of information. He did, which helped narrow my search down a bit and I found what I was looking for but not really. It went into the specifics of how the experiments were done but not that they had ever been successful and definitely not the after effects of one who had gone through them.Feeling hope
My hand froze on the wooden gate that had shut behind Morgan as he struggled to walk towards the house. Swallowing hard, I looked up to see Auri, standing in the doorway. Rydere howled loudly and I felt my knees go weak. Goddess, she was beautiful. In her arms looked like a tiny fey child who was clutched to her. She was wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a deep green apron that covered most of her front. Her bright blue hair was short, shorter than the years after Micah had cut her hair off, barely reaching her shoulders. It reminded me of when she was Astra all those years ago. Hell, she looked as young as she had been back then as well.Her eyes went from Morgan to me, standing frozen at her gate. I braced myself for anger but the only thing I received was a smile. The grip I had on the wood tightened as I started to sway.'Mate!' Rydere purred like a kitten.“Sorry, Princess. We have a wayward werewolf vampire who is worried about his future.” Morgan turned to me, now grinning like
Getting up, I stormed out of the dining room and out the front door. Striding through the garden, I swung the gate open. It slammed behind me as I flung the car door open. Grabbing a pack of cigarettes, I lit one and took a drag.It was already getting dark but according to my watch it was barely 7 p.m. Blowing out the smoke, I closed my eyes. This was too much. All of this was too much. I was so overwhelmed and lost in this sea that was Auri’s life now. Morgan fit, as he always did. Hell, he even abandoned her and she forgave him, eventually. It was five years later but it happened. Was there still hope?“May I?”My eyes widened and I slipped from my lean against the car. Auri had snuck up on me. She was holding out her hand. Putting the packet of cigarettes in her grasp, she easily tapped one out but lit it from a flame she produced from her finger.“Normally, I don’t like smoking around the house. The kids and the garden. But I’ll let it slide tonight.” Auri leaned against the car
We didn’t say anything else for a while. My eyes closed and I rested my cheek on her head, reveling in the dance that were the sparks between us. Goddess, comparing me to Logan was a knife that continued to dig further into my heart. Rydere had been right and deep down I knew it. I just couldn’t stop hating myself. For what I did. For how weak I was. Everything I did to her.“Hector, I never hated you. Not once. Even when you left. I felt you struggling because you never brought your walls up when you were with me.” Auri nuzzled further into my chest. “But can you stop hating yourself? Can you forgive yourself? Can you move on?”I lifted my cheek from her head and pressed my lips back down. “I don’t know, Auri. I hate…”She shook her head against me, cutting me off. “No. Stop hating. I don’t regret it. If I had to do it over again, Hector…if the Moon Goddess sent me back in time right before I swapped places with Ezekiel, knowing the outcome, I would do it all again.”Auri stepped bac
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