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Chapter66 Reconnaissance
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Bab terkait
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter67 The Lakehouse
Ava’s jaw dropped open as they rounded the final bend in the long, winding, private driveway, revealing a large A-frame cabin sitting along the bank of a pristine lake. The home was nothing if not majestic, comprised as it was of thick stacked timber logs that ended in a gorgeous cobblestone foundation. Several sets of floor-to-ceiling windows made up the front and back faces of the building. And, best of all, it was surrounded by thick woodlands, making it as private as possible. “Welcome to Shady Oak,” Noah said. “The town, not the house. Although, I think the lake might be called Shady Oak, too, but don’t quote me on that.” Ava turned to him, not bothering to hide how stunned she was, “Is this where you live?” In the admittedly short amount of time that they’d known one another, Ava and Noah had only ever met at the club or in public venues. If pressed for an answer, she’d have guessed that he either had an apartment in Rochester or a home in one of the ritzy ne
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter68 Ambush
When the group of shadowy figures leaped from the darkness and onto their makeshift camp, they were ready. Xavier, Dylan, and Liam had spent the afternoon trading war stories from their days in Alpha training back and forth. The hours had stretched on for longer than any of them had anticipated, but not once did they let their guard down. Whoever these people were, they were far from amateurs. The sun had fully set before any of them had heard the first twig snap underneath the weight of a hefty boot. Only a decade of conditioning had kept the males’ muscles relaxed, their banter light. None of them were willing to let their surveyors onto the fact that they were hyper-aware of their presence. Their stalkers became more vigilant after that, taking even more time to gather themselves and prepare for an offensive ambush. When the rogues finally did engage, the ambush was silent, sudden, and larger than Xavier and the others had anticipated. “That looks like a hell of a l
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter69 Fortune’s Favor
The scene was almost too idyllic for words to describe. The crisp mountain air had just a hint of a bite to it, signaling the coming fall season. Growing up in upstate New York, Ava had seen plenty of trees in her day, but even further up north, the foliage took on a life of its own. The outdoor market was a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors, from the ripe produce to the sunlight glistening off of the crystalline blue of the nearby lake. It was a gorgeous day, and it felt as if all of Shady Oak had come to partake in the day’s festivities. “Can you believe that people live like this all of the time?” Bren gaped, as entranced with the novelty of a small-town farmer’s market as she was. “I know, right? It’s like the world’s ugliness just skipped over this place,” Ava replied. “Yeah, it’s something else, alright,” Aiden walked up to them, balancing a trio of iced lemonades in his hands. He handed them off to Ava and Bren before taking a drink from his own. “Thomas wasn’
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter70 Hidden Agenda
The coordinates brought them to the base of a mountain ridge about five miles out from the campsite. At first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the area. The woods were as dense here as they were throughout the rest of the forest, the lack of a clear trail leading to their theory that the rogues operated in small groups. Fewer people gathered at one time meant that there was a smaller chance for their activity to be detected. Upon reaching the coordinate’s origin point, Xavier and the other Alpha’s spent an hour surveying the area, sticking to the shadows, and waiting for further signs that the area was occupied. So far, they’d detected nothing but a couple of cameras hidden in the branches of a few trees pointing at the base of the mountain. Dylan picked up a rock and tossed it past one of the camera’s line of vision. When it didn’t move to track the motion, he did it again, only this time leaning forward, allowing the camera to catch sight of his hand th
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter71 The Witch and the Wolf
“You want to read my cards?” Ava asked, looking at the deck of cards sitting on the clothed table skeptically. “If you’re up to it,” the teller said, her voice dripping in challenge. “The cards usually find my regular clientele pretty boring. But they…well, I wouldn’t say they like you, as much as they’re drawn to your energy. There’s a lot about you that’s left to be uncovered.”Ava’s eyes flicked back and forth between her and the card deck. The stack of illuminated tarot cards looked benign enough – they were covered in beautifully detailed hand-painted drawings, and the fine patina covering the thick cardstock looked natural instead of cheap tea bag and coffee stain tricks that could create a similar effect.Arresting as they were, they gave Ava pause. In the way that some old things did, this deck of cards gave off its own energy, as if the weight of the cards’ own history was too immense to be contained within the age-weathered packaging. And this wasn’t even accounting fo
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter72 Arcana
“What does that mean?" Ava asked, staring warily at the nine cards that were gently floating in the space between herself and the witch. “Are they bad?” Marnie stared at the cards, engrossed in some hidden meaning that Ava was unable to ascertain, “The cards are neither good nor bad, Were-girl. They’re just an interpretation of events happening around you that you may or may not consciously understand.” “Then why do you look so concerned?” She questioned. “Because the story these cards are telling suggests that there’s a lot more left unspoken than I’d originally thought.” Marnie’s eyes shifted from the cards to Ava, “Whatever it is you’ve got going on, I highly doubt it’s going to be sorted out today.” Ava sighed, “What will this tell me, then?” Marnie shrugged, “That’s technically up to you to decide on account of, I don’t know you or your life. But, hopefully, it will give you some perspective. Help you identify some areas in your life that need attending
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter73 Alpha Killer
“This is some insidious shit, right?” Dylan’s question lingered in the air between them, calling into stark attention the weighty apprehension that pervaded the Green Light Club’s small meeting room. As they stared down at the pile of useless paper trail littering the table, the small leather pouch of pixie dusk seemed to taunt them with everything they didn’t know.At this point, Xavier had to agree. Forces that had been carefully kept apart for hundreds of years were suddenly bleeding into one another, and not in a “Hi, neighbor!” kind of way, either. No, what lay before them was clear and indisputable evidence of cloak and dagger bullshit of interdimensional proportions.“What stakes do the fae have in any of this? The rogues must be offering them something that they want, but their realm has everything they could possibly need.” Liam said from where he sat, doggedly parsing through each sheet of paper they carted back from the bunker, searching for any discernable bits of inform
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter74 A Good Morning
Two weeks in Shady Oak felt like a lifetime spent anywhere else but in the best way possible. Every night, she fell asleep with the freedom of knowing that nothing was expected of her whenever she woke up. There was no danger of meeting someone she knew, or worse, some horrible person she didn’t know. There was no lingering threat of having to pay off some perceived misdeed. The very first time Ava had met Noah, she’d experienced the curious feeling of falling down the rabbit hole, as if meeting him had set into motion a chain of events that would change her life for good. For the better.And as the sun’s morning rays warmed her face, she knew that she’d been right. She felt…amazing, and with every kiss Noah trailed down her stomach, she felt even better.Ava opened her eyes, peering down her body to where Noah laid slow kiss after slow kiss down the length of her midriff until he came to her belly button. When he reached the small divet, he paused, causing her to groan, feeling sudd
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Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter150 Keep Calm And Carry On
The helicopters hovered above the arena as long dark ropes unfurled from the gaping voids of their cockpits, and soldiers in white began to descend into the Trial grounds. The largest chopper in the group tilted downward, and Xavier watched in horror as gun turrets descended from the vehicle’s hull.Just as he shouted a warning, it was drowned out by the spray of rapid machine-gun fire that bathed the stands where his people, his allies, his mate stood watching on in bewildered shock. It was a stroke of luck and good fortune that Emmaline and Marnie Adair had insisted on attending the Trial along with several other representatives from their coven.The witches were quick to respond, throwing up glimmering shields that did an excellent job of deflecting the rain of bullets, sending them careening off to join the hundreds of other projectiles currently reducing the two-hundred-year-old structure to little more than kindling.Xavier roared his fury and shifted, sna
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter149 Trial By Fire
The weeks leading up to the next month’s Blue Moon and the Trial by Combat scheduled for that night went by surprisingly quickly and quietly. The calm before the storm.Ava, for her part, spent most of that time talking, getting to know as much as she could about her newfound allies. There was a host of information that the spellcasters and the shapeshifters had to bring to the table; doors that she had never known were there to open. Her analytical tactician's mind was thoroughly stimulated at the influx of new information.She had to be thankful that Marnie and Emmaline’s coven had deemed their cause worth investing their time and resources into. And the Selkies? Ava was under no naïve misconception that their involvement was due to anything less than desperation. It just so happened that desperation was as good a motivator as any.Slowly, ever so carefully, Ava worked with Emmaline, Marnie, and the Selkie diplomats to covertly spread the word of th
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter148 Changing Tides
“The nerve of you is astounding, Adair. What, pray tell, did you think you would accomplish by bringing them here?”The hostile vibe Ava had picked up even from a dozen yards away and through several inches of bulletproof glass somehow didn’t manage to improve by coming into close proximity to the…finfolk? The Selkies, Marnie had called them. People who could turn into seals.It seemed ridiculous, given her own circumstances, that…well, anything really, could surprise her at this point. And, to be fair, it wasn’t the existence of seal people that was currently throwing her for a loop; it was being hit, once again, with the staggering realization of just how little she actually knew about the world around her, her own wider community.And it wasn’t just Ava, either. Through their bond, she could feel Xavier’s mind whirring, struggling to quickly process the new influx of information. Even now, after all this time,
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter147 Give and Take
“Alright, alright, shock aside, this is good for us, right?”“That we’re so out of touch that we didn’t even know that there’s an ancient order of witches ruling the world?” “I’m having a hard time tracking your logic, sweets.”“First, to be clear, the institution is ancient, not the witches,” “Well, save for a few that I can think of, but none that we know personally.”“All that aside,” Ava reiterated through gritted teeth. “We all want the same thing! We came here looking for allies to start a new society, and here you all already have irrefutable proof that our plan has legs.”“In theory,” Emmaline emphasized. “Once again, I feel the need to impress upon you the fact that we have no real insight on the inner workings of these pan-supernatural communities outside of the fact that they exist. Much less whether something of the like would
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter146 Into the Woods
Ava and the Alphas gaped as the two embraced. One female, one woman. One Wolf, the other a human witch. And yet, somehow, they claimed to be sisters. It wasn’t just a turn of phrase or empty words, either. Now that the idea had been spoken, Ava saw the glimmers of recognition solidify into irrefutable shared features between the two.The piercing emerald green of their eyes, the deeply rich, almost black of their hair, even the shapes of their noses and their general bearings were the same.“You’re sisters?” Ava asked.“You’re Alpha?” Liam asked even louder.Emmaline cocked her head to the side in the same bold challenge that Marnie was good for adopting pretty much anytime she found herself speaking with any Wolven male. Ava was beginning to realize that the habit was probably born of more than simply dealing with male bravado.“Why wouldn’t I be?” Emmaline asked, her supple voice thick with saccha
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter145 Grave Crown Rising
“No.”The line went silent as Ava blinked rapidly, her neurons firing at all cylinders struggling to process the fact that her brother had just blatantly shut down such a simple request for information and why on earth that would be.“Excuse me?” She finally asked. “What do you mean no?”“I mean that I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go meddling in Grave Crown affairs,” he said, his voice stern and giving no quarter. That was all well and good that he felt so strongly, but as long as he was also giving her no answers, ‘no’ wasn’t going to cut it for her.“Grave Crown affairs are Alliance affairs, Aiden. You know that,” she replied.Her brother huffed on the other end of the phone – a frustrated sound. “Even if the Alliance still existed, you, I, and everyone else knows that hasn’t been the case in a long time.”“Bullshit,&rdquo
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter144 Witch, Please!
Ava blinked in and out of consciousness as searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Whenever she surfaced, the renewed shock of pain would cause her to take a quick breath inward that would send yet another, even more, intense wave rocketing through her, sending her back into oblivion.It took a couple of tries and several hours for Ava to wake and stay awake; the pain finally dulled to a thrumming ache. When she could finally open her eyes without her eyelids feeling as if they were made of lead, the first thing she saw was Jack’s pensive face hovering over hers.And the second thing she registered, along with an intense sense of déjà vu, was Xavier’s equally pensive face a little ways off, slumped in a nearby chair.“This feels awfully familiar,” she quipped, her dry throat making her joke sound more like a croak.“Really? And to think that I was just beginning to forget what it was like trying to glue you back togeth
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter143 Watch Them Scatter
First came the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns. Then came the screams.All around her, bodies flew into motion as she stood with her phone gripped numbly in her fist.“Ava,” she heard Noah’s desperate voice faintly through the other end of the line as if through a fog. “Ava, what’s happening? Talk to me! Has it already started, damn it?!”Without a word in response, Ava ended the call with a flick of her thumb, far too thrown by just how quickly the tide had shifted today. Neia hadn’t just crossed a line – she’d obliterated it and re-drawn a new one in her image.Ava sprung into action, doing the first thing that came to mind as she ran to the nearest emergency call button and smashed it. The system was relatively shiny and new, having only been installed after her run-in with those sadistic bastards in room 701.Now, flashing warning lights lit up every hallway in the building. The blaring alarm made it im
Alpha's Caged Mate Chapter142 Homecoming
Eight months ago, if someone had told Ava that just the sight of the Green Light Club’s garish neon sign would be enough to make her smile, she would have laughed in their face. Alright, well, she probably wouldn’t have, but she certainly wouldn’t have believed them either.And yet, here she was, grinning from ear to ear, at the prospect of feeling something familiar, even if the majority of her memories of the place were of the variety that was best left forgotten. She was fairly sure that there was probably some sort of clinical diagnosis with a long name used to describe the contextually perverse sense of relief she felt at her first glance of shiny black lacquer and crushed green velvet. Goddess, this place was awful, and she was so glad to be back.Then again, the journey getting back to the club had been fraught enough to make her eager to climb under the first black silk duvet she saw, regardless of the fact that it could never, under any cir
